Chapter 209: If This Road Is Passable, Then It Is Passable

Wang Chonggu returned home from the side hall of the Zhao Wenhua Palace, sitting in the main hall with a furrowed brow, somewhat distracted.

"Father, did His Majesty not blame you?" Wang Qian was very worried about the trouble he had caused. He, who was restless, waited until his father returned and immediately went to ask.

Wang Chonggu ignored his son's inquiry and was still distracted. He was thinking about a question.

"Father?"

"Son, do you think His Majesty knew from the very beginning that the price of fine woolen cloth would soar?" Wang Chonggu asked a terrifying question. He actually already had the answer in his heart, which was that His Majesty had long known that fine woolen cloth would definitely become what it was now.

His Majesty discussed this issue starting from the use value of fine woolen cloth.

Fine woolen cloth is a rare fabric, like silk, and is a top-tier luxury item. The fact that the woolen mill produces no more than 5,000 pieces a year destined it to be rare. Moreover, it has strong coloring, moist and lustrous colors, long and fine wool, is comfortable to wear, the woolen material is stiff and not easily wrinkled when made into clothing, is wear-resistant, has excellent warmth retention, etc. Except for being easily moth-eaten, it is a top-quality product.

As a symbol of wealth and status, it is most easily pursued by people, and the pursuit by powerful families becomes natural.

Back then, when Wang Chonggu asked His Majesty whether fine woolen cloth should be banned from sale like silk, His Majesty said to prioritize ensuring the palace's needs, and allowed civilian use. In terms of ritual and law, fine woolen cloth was not listed as an act of usurpation.

If a family didn't have a few pieces of fine woolen cloth, how could they have the face to say they were a powerful family?

"To distribute silver to the common people, to the craftsmen, to the kiln workers, blacksmiths, lime craftsmen, and firewood carriers—if this road to Liaodong can be fully opened, then it will be the greatest blessing for Great Ming." Wang Chonggu once again clarified the purpose of building this road: to explore the logic of Great Ming's redistribution and create a class that supports the New Policies.

Zhang Juzheng's guess was correct. From the moment fine woolen cloth appeared, Wang Chonggu had discussed with Shi Mao Hua why silk had to be banned from sale, and even civilian use was regarded as usurpation. Even so, fine woolen cloth still flowed into the workshops.

"Someone will ask, why not raise sheep in the Great Ming hinterland to obtain wool? Because Great Ming's hinterland doesn't even have enough land to farm, let alone raise sheep."

Shi Mao Hua finally chose to compromise and agreed to His Majesty's mining method because Great Ming truly needed silver. After clearing land, returning land, and checking households, the Single Whip Law was to be implemented. And the core driving force of the Single Whip Law was silver. How to make silver circulate instead of piling up under pigsties was a problem Shi Mao Hua inevitably had to face.

"770 taels per piece, I want 200 pieces!" A woman with a slightly wealthy figure stood up and shouted with a ferocious face.

"Wooden tracks are not durable, easily damaged, and cannot be built very long. Plus, the influence of the terrain, at most, they can only be a few miles long. This time, the road from the Great Ming capital to Ningwei will be supervised by the Minister of Works, Guo Chaobin." Wang Chonggu thought about it and decided to build it.

But His Majesty asked questions, and Chen Xuehui could answer them all. His Majesty asked how many people there were, whether they had found wives, how many children they had, whether they had bought seven feet of cloth for new clothes for the New Year, etc. These were all normal questions, and Chen Xuehui answered truthfully, not daring to have any deception.

Shi Mao Hua finally sighed and said: "Your Majesty, is it possible that they actually know this is a big gamble, and are just betting that they won't be the last one to take over? Just like in a gambling den, thinking they won't be the unlucky one?"

"From the moment the cloth appeared, the price of cloth has risen from one coin to 4.7 taels, and it will keep rising. Besides being made into clothing, it can also be used for large-scale transactions..."

Behind the counter, there was a board hanging. On the board were written the purchase price, selling price, and the quantity available for sale. If one wanted to sell fine woolen cloth, one could register at the counter and hang the tag with the number on the appraisal certificate. The price on the tag was the seller's asking price.

Gao Yueli said with a smile: "Master, follow me."

The auction, in fact, is an auction. Starting from the 4th year of Wu De of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the auction extended from the items left behind by deceased monks in temples had become increasingly sound. In the 3rd year of Chongning of Emperor Huizong of Song, the *Chan Garden Rules* described the process of the auction: posting posters, previewing goods, estimating, and drawing shares, which were already very perfect.

The second floor of Great Ming Tower had also been renovated. A famous courtesan from Jiangnan was singing. If Luo Bingliang were there, he would discover that this man was the courtesan from Sun Kehong's painting boat. Sun Kehong sent this courtesan to the capital to make money.

Great Ming's Wang Qian had become waste paper. In fact, Great Ming's currency was salt vouchers, but with the two maternal relatives of the Xiaozong era completely destroying the salt voucher system, the value of salt vouchers dropped significantly. Even so, salt vouchers still possessed use value and exchange value and were Great Ming's de facto paper currency.

The courtesan was telling a story according to the script, talking about scarcity. There was only so much grass, only so much wool, and only so much fine woolen cloth. The scarcer it was, the more precious it became.

The censor officials' requests and Shi Mao Hua's thoughts coincided. They all requested that the Emperor set fine woolen cloth for imperial use only and ban the buying and selling of fine woolen cloth. They still said the same old thing: "The loss of the people's hearts by the ruler often starts from hoarding. If the ruler likes hoarding, then the profit-seeking ministers will inevitably cater to the ruler's intentions, exploiting the people's wealth. This is why people are resentful and the world is poor."

If His Majesty had thought of today long ago, that would truly be too terrifying.

Yan Xinglou requested to go to Baoqisi to see, not to see where the Emperor lived, but to see sweet potatoes—or more accurately, potatoes. Shaanxi was not suitable for growing sweet potatoes, but it was very suitable for growing potatoes. Yan Xinglou was grateful to His Majesty for personally engaging in agriculture. Shaanxi didn't have snow last winter, and there was a late spring cold this spring, with a severe drought for thousands of miles. If it weren't for hoarding a little bit of potatoes, I fear there would have been a major disaster.

"Father, does it mean that this was a trap set by His Majesty from the beginning?" Da Ning said with extreme fear, holding 300 pieces of goods to smash the market but failing to smash it down. The Emperor directly took out 1,700 pieces, which would definitely affect the price.

Wang Chonggu's methods were ruthless and without any regard for feelings.

Wang Chonggu said helplessly: "The Grand Minister of Justice hasn't already sent a letter to the Northwest, asking the third lady to send the cousin and children back? The third lady also agreed. Is the third lady going to break her promise?"

The woolen mill was already an extremely profitable industry, but its profit margin was only 35%. However, rising from one coin per foot to four taels per foot only took ten days. If money were invested in it, it would only take ten days or so to increase tenfold. What kind of terrifying wealth myth was this?

The courtesan was furious. Who was tearing down the stage!

"Then I have no choice. I have already smashed the market, but they still refuse to come over." Gao Yueli said, shaking his head.

"So that's how it is." Wang Chonggu considered this answer accepted.

The layout of the Gao Yue Tower was different from other places. As soon as one entered the building, it was noisy and lively. One could see a long counter, and behind the counter were more than a dozen servants running around constantly.

Shi Mao Hua's opinion was to immediately restrict it, completely banning it from flowing into the workshops, and regarding civilian use as usurpation, so that there would be no poison of strange goods harming people. Shi Mao Hua had exhausted all his efforts to protect the powerful families in the Emperor's hands.

The facts were indeed so.

After seeing the craftsmen, farmers, soldiers, and local officials, Wang Chonggu brought a cabinet to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to pay respects to the ancestors and make a work report for what he had done this year.

"Discuss it after the New Year." Wang Chonggu was still unwilling to deal with Zhu Yijun. After all, Zhu Yijun was truly useful. Wait until after the New Year to talk about it. Wang Chonggu used the "drag" tactic to deal with it.

After the soldiers and soldiers left, the last one Wang Chonggu saw was the local official.

"Now, start bidding. 500 taels per piece." The courtesan finally finished the story and started the bidding session. One piece of cloth was 20 feet, and the starting price was much more expensive than what was sold outside. However, it was sold by the piece, not by the foot, which determined that it was more expensive than outside.

The crazy bidding began. Gao Yueli looked at this scene, looked at the crazy appearance of these people, and could only shake his head. He actually arranged a few shills. If no one bought it, he would also have people call out prices, left hand to right hand, just for the sake of the account.

The courtesan waited for the noise to gradually quiet down before revealing an extremely tranquil smile and said: "Even if you haven't gone to the grassland to do business, you have heard others say that the water and grass in the grassland are not lush, and they fight each other constantly, so they must maintain a certain number of horses for mutual attack."

The courtesan was still blowing fine woolen cloth, which was also cloth.

Wang Chonggu once again clarified the purpose of building this road: to explore the logic of Great Ming's redistribution and create a class that supports the New Policies.

Wang Chonggu disagreed with Shi Mao Hua's idea and insisted on his own opinion: do not make any disposal, and do not allow Zhu Yijun's retirement memorial, insisting on his own view that the third lady taking the son and running away was just visiting relatives.

The courtesan was still blowing fine woolen cloth.

Building such a road is naturally for military needs, and also for economic needs. The expansion of the woolen mill, the increase in lime usage, and the wool of the Tuman tribes all need this road to be transported to the capital.

Wang Chonggu disagreed with Shi Mao Hua's idea and insisted on continuing to sell like this to seek huge profits, hoard and profit, find the silver buried in the pigsties by the landlords, and let that silver join the market circulation to adjust Great Ming's money shortage.

On the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, Gao Yueli met Chen Xuehui, the Chen Xuehui in the story told in the 50,000-word memorial.

The sound of silk and bamboo stopped, and everyone sat down. The courtesan stood up, came to the front of the stage, and said with a smile: "Everyone, gathering here today, all are people with fate. The owner of Great Ming Tower has eyes that reach the sky and has found all kinds of strange treasures under heaven for everyone to appreciate. The most precious item today is this 137-jin dragon ambergris, but the most eye-catching is the fine woolen cloth."

The local official was the Shaanxi Viceroy Yan Xinglou. Yan Xinglou strongly expressed the beautiful vision of restoring the Ordos Loop and expressed his worry about not restoring it. If it is not restored, once the three borders encounter consecutive years of severe drought, I fear Great Ming will have the disaster of overturning. Because Shaanxi has little grain and many soldiers, and consecutive years of severe drought will inevitably lead to civil unrest.

"Watching the excitement?" Shi Mao Hua discovered that the young Emperor truly liked watching the excitement.

All these services are not free. A service fee of 3/1000 of the transaction amount will be charged, which will maintain the operation of Great Ming Tower and is also the imperial court's tax, entering the national treasury and inner treasury, split equally.

Gao Yueli sat in the Taishi chair and suddenly said loudly: "Singing, you cannot graze, but you can also plant pasture to raise sheep. Why is the quantity limited?"

Gao Yueli said very affirmatively: "I am smashing the market, hoping that the powerful families of Great Ming will be sober. Heaven will not drop pies, nor will it drop sky-high wealth. With so much money, even if it were used to build manual workshops, it would be better than buying these."

And fine woolen cloth became a very good tool for hoarding silver.

Wang Chonggu was just for the sake of Great Ming's revitalization.

The courtesan bowed to thank the sponsors of the powerful families. She smiled very sincerely, a smile from the heart. This time, the auction earned enough for her to redeem herself.

But obviously, the censor officials did not intend to drag it out for the Emperor. On the 5th of the first lunar month, just after the holiday ended, the memorials of the censor officials floated into the cabinet like snowflakes.

On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month of the 4th year of Wanli, Shi Mao Hua and the young Emperor had a fierce argument in the side hall of the Zhao Wenhua Palace. The content of the argument was related to the price of fine woolen cloth.

Chen Xuehui's story is the core story of the "Memorial on Relieving the Poor and Flowing People," and Wang Chonggu highly agreed.

Antonio brought a type of pasture seed called corn grass, which is a top-grade forage. One mu of land can cut more than 10,000 catties of forage every year. But this thing, the growth environment is the North, and it needs a large amount of irrigation. Irrigation is a major problem in those years.

In the private room, one couldn't see anyone at all, but this question had to be answered.

1,700 pieces of fine cloth sold for 820,000 taels of silver, completely exceeding Wang Chonggu's expectations. The average price per foot exceeded 11 taels of silver, which also meant that the powerful families believed the price of fine cloth would rise above 11 taels.

Wang Qian, a piece of paper could represent one tael of silver. That was complete plunder. Therefore, the price of Wang Qian started to fall continuously from the moment it was issued. When the price of Wang Qian became waste paper, new Wang Qian would replace it, change it, and continue to be issued. Even so, every time the Emperor of the Hu Yuan used this clumsy method, he could cheat money.

Xishan coal mining is very hard. It requires going down the well. The well is more than 70 zhang deep. It is not an open-pit coal mine, let alone an English coal mine where there is coal after one zhang. Great Ming's Xishan coal mines are all kiln wells. The deepest is more than 70 zhang. Mining accidents happen from time to time—water penetration, collapse, explosion are all normal. Chen Xuehui didn't understand at all why His Majesty the Emperor met him.

The Minister of the Court of Ceremonial Rites submitted a memorial requesting retirement on the last day of the 4th year of Wanli.

"Master, you are not deceiving me." Wang Chonggu looked at the people in the private room. Their eyes had already become hot. When the price of woolen cloth soared, everyone was blinded by huge profits, just like gamblers who had lost their minds, always thinking they were the winning one.

Thanks to the physical military salary promoted by Wang Guoguang, the border defense troops could finally stop fighting on empty stomachs. Even if the salary given was not enough, they could plant some sweet potatoes to survive. Being able to eat was the only way to defend. This was what General Qi Jiguang Jiguang said when he first met the Emperor, and the soldiers were extremely grateful for the physical salary. Only after eating could they have the heart to defend.

Zhang Juzheng asked in a low voice with some confusion: "Your Majesty, I am confused. Why did Your Majesty release so many at once?"

The courtesan was very slow in making her rounds to offer toasts, and by the time she reached the private room of Gao Yueli, the place was already empty. Gao Yueli had finished his silence and finished his business, so he had naturally left. As for the courtesan, if she were to meet him, Feng Bao would have to throw her into the Yongsheng Woolen Mill for resettlement again.

He could hoard silver into his own hands, but he had no way to send the silver to the hands of the poor and laborers. Under the political correctness of "oppressing the powerful and saving the common people" shaped by Gao Yueli, the imperial court could send silver to the hands of the poor and laborers through miracles and major construction. Therefore, it was necessary to give the national treasury a share of the silver.

As soon as the fine woolen cloth opened for market, the price started to soar to the low position of 11 taels at a terrifying speed again.

It is not that troublesome; just don't see them.

Chen Xuehui was already 47 years old. His figure was not tall, about the same height as the young Emperor who was 17 or 18, very thin, and his skin was dark. When he saw the Emperor, he knelt on the ground and didn't dare to get up. Finally, he was helped up and sat on a stool before he could stammer out what he wanted to say.

Zhang Juzheng looked at the busy counter, feeling dizzy. Sure enough, as he expected, the Emperor was the biggest manipulator, because the biggest consumer of fine woolen cloth from the woolen mill was His Majesty himself. His Majesty had the most fine woolen cloth in his hands.

"One side of water and soil raises one side of people, and also raises one side of lambs. The wool produced in the hinterland can only be used for coarse spinning, not for fine spinning. Even the wool from the grassland has very little that can be used for fine spinning." The courtesan was furious in her heart, but she still answered the question with a smiling face.

This kind of road is very expensive, but expensive is not the shortcoming of the road. It is that Great Ming is poor. It doesn't matter if it is not built well. Anyway, the expenses for the road from the capital to Ningwei are sponsored by the powerful families of the capital.

Zhang Juzheng stood in front of the Great Ming Tower gate and finally clearly knew that the manipulator was not him or Gao Yue, but the Great Ming Emperor.

But the shills arranged by the young Emperor didn't play any role at all. This scene didn't need warming up.

"This determines that the quantity of wool and the quantity of fine woolen cloth are limited, and very few. Even for the noble people in the palace, they cannot take them as they please."

Great Ming, or the money shortage of the Central Plains dynasties, is a fact that has existed widely since ancient times.

"Memorial on Relieving the Poor and Flowing People" is the memorial submitted by Zhang Juzheng, which Wang Chonggu highly agreed with.

"I should have thought too much." Zhang Juzheng waved his hand powerlessly. He was unwilling to hold malice to guess the holy will, but according to past experience, the price of fine woolen cloth was likely anticipated by His Majesty long ago.

After inspecting the Baoqi Office, Yan Xinglou finally took his leave of His Majesty, fully satisfied.

Gao Yueli and Shi Mao Hua communicated about the official road and post road from Ningwei to the capital. The official road from Ningwei to the capital had to be fully hardened. And in order to transport goods more conveniently, Wang Chonggu believed that a horse-drawn carriage track with concrete sleepers and iron rails should be built.

During the Hongwu era, Great Ming's Wang Qian had already become waste paper, but Great Ming still stubbornly issued it for two hundred years. Casting money would not be cast, and there was no gold, silver, or copper. How to cast money?

Fine woolen cloth needed a place for trading, and the wealthy merchants of Great Ming chose this place to be Great Ming Tower. And on the way to watch the excitement, Gao Yueli also asked Zhang Hong to call Zhang Juzheng to come and watch the excitement together.

The gentry were betting that the price would continue to soar.

His Majesty's methods were not glorious, but they were useful.

After the farmers left, they were the minor officers and soldiers of Great Ming, coming from all sides and also from the Capital Battalion. These minor officers and soldiers chatted in detail about their lives. The guiding principle for the reorganization of the Capital Battalion was to save the common people, while the soldiers of the border towns mainly talked about the hardships of life.

The biggest thing done was to liquidate the party led by Zhang Qiwei, preventing the further deterioration of the Northwest feudalization.

The subsequent auction seemed boring. Dragon ambergris was not for sale, just to show Great Ming Tower's ability to reach the sky. This piece of dragon ambergris would be sold in the imperial manor at 20 silver per tael after processing. And Wang Chonggu also bought a good item.

Wang Chonggu brought Shi Mao Hua and Zhang Juzheng to the private room on the second floor.

Wang Chonggu chattered for a long time, especially that "Memorial on Relieving the Poor," which the Emperor specifically had someone copy and burn for the ancestors.

In the eyes of the young Emperor, powerful families were silver mines. Digging out their silver and letting it enter the market circulation was an inevitable thing. Raiding their homes would only make the powerful families bankrupt, but using deception could make them heavily in debt.

This is entirely the business of the imperial manor. Why give the national treasury a share? If the Emperor controls more silver, doesn't he control more power? Isn't such tax and court sharing breaking one's own leg? It is simply stupid!

Shi Mao Hua wanted to compromise and ease this contradiction, but Wang Chonggu refused to give an inch and wanted to intensify this contradiction.

It is that if the ruler likes hoarding, the profit-seeking ministers will exploit the people's wealth, people will be resentful, the world will be poor, and the Emperor will lose the people's hearts.

"If this road is passable, then it is passable." Gao Yueli finally concluded with a very strange sentence. This road is naturally the Beijing-Liaodong road, and it is also the heavenly road of Great Ming's New Policies.

Telling a spring dream where everyone can get rich, seducing the powerful people sitting on the stage to enter the arena and fight.

Wang Chonggu clearly stated that restoring the Ordos Loop must be done, but now is not the time.

Under the condition of supply and demand, fine woolen cloth was ignored for its use value and driven up by speculative merchants, which became inevitable. From popularity to madness became inevitable. And His Majesty seemed to be intentionally indulging this kind of price-driving behavior, which made Gao Yueli shudder.

The courtesan walked to a plaque and pulled down the red silk cloth to reveal the number inside, saying with a smile: "1,700 pieces."

Only by opening mines can one be a human silver mine for the powerful families.

The courtesan finally breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "Cloth is actually a type of silk currency. No one can control its quantity. Even the official mill that weaves it has to look at the sky's face. This year the grassland is in a severe drought, the number of sheep has plummeted, so the wool for fine spinning is scarce. If the grassland has favorable weather, even if the number of sheep is larger, the wool for fine spinning will increase, but the official mill's production is just that much."

After this number was announced, it caused exclamations from everyone. You must know that even the wool flowing into the workshops rarely had whole pieces, and they were all calculated by the foot. And this piece was 20 feet. 1,700 pieces, calculated at 4.7 taels, was 817,000 taels. Other strange treasures were not counted. Just the cloth alone exceeded the military expenditure of General Qi Jiguang Jiguang's training in Jizhen for one year.

Shi Mao Hua posted a floating ticket in the memorial, believing that this matter should be punished to a certain extent to calm the wind and public opinion, and a salary fine of half a year was appropriate.

The trading of fine woolen cloth requires appraisal. The means is weighing, mainly to check its weight. After appraisal, every foot of cloth must be stamped on a white paper, and only if the seal on the paper and the seal on the cloth match can it be traded in Great Ming Tower.

"The border reported that they have already entered the pass and will arrive in the capital after the New Year." Zhang Hong hurriedly answered.

And Gao Yueli shook his head. The courtesan was telling a story.

"How much cloth does Gao Yue Tower have?"

"And cloth is being widely recognized."

Zhang Zeduan's *Along the River During the Qingming Festival* is stored in the inner treasury. During the Jiajing era, Yan Song obtained the original, and after Yan Song was raided, it entered the imperial palace. Wang Chonggu specifically went to see the original.

"Raiding homes, they say I am cruel. This way, everyone is happy, I keep my reputation, and the powerful families don't have to be terrified of imperial majesty and dare not do things." Gao Yueli stood up and said with a smile: "Master, follow me to watch the excitement?"

Since the Han Dynasty, there have been large amounts of flying money and iron money used. By the Song Dynasty, even if the two Song dynasties cast 7 billion copper and iron coins a year, they still couldn't meet the needs of circulation. They had to issue money vouchers and Jiaozi. By the Hu Yuan, to solve the money shortage, Wang Qian officially appeared and then quickly went bankrupt.

Horse-drawn carriage tracks are not rare things. This thing was called a road in the Qin Dynasty.

After the farmers left, they were the minor officers and soldiers of Great Ming, coming from all sides and also from the Capital Battalion. These minor officers and soldiers chatted in detail about their lives. The guiding principle for the reorganization of the Capital Battalion was to save the common people, while the soldiers of the border towns mainly talked about the hardships of life.

Qiu Ying's version of *Along the River During the Qingming Festival* is a painting based on the painting structure of Zhang Zeduan's *Along the River During the Qingming Festival*, with Great Ming's Suzhou City as the blueprint. Qiu Ying also added the palace garden part. Wang Chonggu spent 1,700 taels of silver to buy this item.

And Gao Yueli brought Shi Mao Hua and Gao Yueli to watch the excitement, which was the auction, or large-scale trade. The second floor sold not the scattered goods of the first floor, but by the piece.

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