Chapter 46: Raking In Money

Because Madam Ke had suddenly been sent to the Laundry Bureau and then committed suicide, the entire capital seemed to have been startled.

Both the imperial palace and the court were unprecedentedly quiet.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed. Zhu Youxiao, due to Madam Ke's death, had lain in bed for over half a month. Though he recovered from his illness, his mental state was terrible—he had no heart for handling state affairs, nor for carving. What he did most often was sit in a daze in the Imperial Study.

At court, Grand Secretary Ye, who had already submitted a memorial requesting to lay down his armor and return to the fields, ultimately never left. He now struggled to keep the court situation under control.

However, Zhu Youxiao hadn't done nothing these past days. He pardoned everyone involved in the Madam Ke and Wei Zhongxian case, except Wei Zhongxian himself. Though there was opposition at court, this time, under Zhu Youxiao's forceful insistence, it ultimately passed.

Zhu Xu had less time to go to the Imperial Study for exchanges. Every day, aside from going to Kunning Palace to chat with Empress Zhang for a while, the rest of his time was his own.

The courtyard east of the city.

In Zhu Xu's mouth, it was called the workshop.

"Your Highness, right now we're spending more than we take in. If this continues, this humble one won't be able to hold on." Li Deyong said with a bitter face, complaining to Zhu Xu.

Zhu Xu, dressed in a patterned short jacket and fine long trousers, hands clasped behind his back, smiled: "Others sell for one wen, you also sell for one wen, and the market is only so big—it's already been carved up long ago. If you can keep from losing money, that's already pretty good."

Seeing that Zhu Xu had no intention of blaming him, Li Deyong breathed a slight sigh of relief, but still poured out his grievances: "Your Highness, if this continues, it really won't work. At most, we can only last three more days."

Zhu Xu casually took Li Deyong's record book and flipped through the progress, nodding from time to time. Li Deyong was indeed devoted and diligent, capable and quite shrewd.

While looking through it, Zhu Xu asked: "Old Cao, how much silver do we still have?"

Cao Wenzhao held many concurrent posts, one of which was the chief steward of Jinghuan Palace. Hearing this, he quickly replied: "Adding up everything here and there, we still have less than fifty thousand taels."

"Fifty thousand taels—that should be enough to last a bit over a month."

Zhu Xu calculated silently for a moment and said, then gave a thoughtful hum and added: "It seems some things will have to be done ahead of schedule."

Li Deyong didn't care much about the fifty thousand taels; what he cared about was what other plans His Highness Prince Hui still had. Working under him, there was no scolding or beating, it was relaxed and easy, and the silver was plentiful—but this current assignment, he felt, was about to come to an end.

"Your Highness, what are we going to do?" Li Deyong asked.

Zhu Xu closed the record book and handed it back to him, smiling: "Well done. From today, all steamed buns, flatbreads, pastries, biscuits, and the like—everything gets a ten percent discount. After ten days, twenty percent off. After twenty days, thirty percent off. After a month... fifty percent off!"

Li Deyong's eyes went wide, staring at Zhu Xu in shock: "Your Highness, rice and flour are very expensive right now. If we lower prices, we'll lose a lot."

Zhu Xu looked at him and said: "I don't need you to guarantee making money. What I need is market share. A month from now, if everyone in the entire capital is buying their steamed buns and pastries from us, then I'll be happy. Don't worry—in a month, I'll provide you with new materials. All you have to do is be responsible for selling the goods."

Li Deyong's mind immediately conjured many possibilities—for instance, that the Ministry of Revenue had moldy rice and flour that needed to be dealt with, that someone was bribing His Highness Prince Hui with rice and flour, or even that it was 'stolen goods' from the imperial palace.

But to Li Deyong, none of this mattered at all. Things far more disgraceful than this had been done in the palace more times than one could count. He immediately rushed to ingratiate himself: "Rest assured, Your Highness. I'll have them put their full effort into it right away."

Zhu Xu nodded with a beaming smile, took another stroll around, and only then left the workshop.

"Your Highness, what plans do we have next?"

Cao Wenzhao drove the carriage, turning his head to ask Zhu Xu inside.

Zhu Xu leaned against the carriage wall, eyes narrowed, smiling like a fox that had stolen a chicken: "Naturally, the most powerful plan for raking in money."

"Raking in money?"

Cao Wenzhao was completely baffled, not knowing what Zhu Xu was scheming.

As soon as Zhu Xu returned to the palace, he said to Cao Huachun: "Little Cao, have the one who met Zhou Jianyu come see me."

Seeing the urgency on Zhu Xu's face, Cao Huachun quickly said: "Yes, Your Highness."

Soon, Feng Zhu came running over. Before Zhu Xu, he said with a fawning face: "This servant greets Your Highness. Whatever Your Highness commands, this servant will spare no effort to accomplish." He was naturally delighted—last time, the bank draft Zhou Jianyu had given, Zhu Xu hadn't taken a single cent of it and had rewarded it all to him.

"Come here. Memorize and understand everything in this little booklet. What you don't understand, ask me."

Zhu Xu tossed him a small booklet, sat down in his reclining chair, poured himself a cup of tea, and paid no more attention to Feng Zhu.

Not to mention Feng Zhu—Cao Wenzhao and Cao Huachun were also stunned, not knowing what Zhu Xu had written and when.

Feng Zhu was only dazed for a moment before hastily saying: "Yes, Your Highness."

He too was a product of the Inner Palace School. Those who taught them were all Hanlin scholars; by scholarly standards, he could even pass the juren examination.

But when he looked at what Zhu Xu had written, he was instantly dumbfounded.

After a long while, he said in a trembling voice: "Your Highness... you want to open a money house?"

When Feng Zhu's words fell, Cao Huachun and Cao Wenzhao were also stunned, all looking at Zhu Xu in astonishment.

The Ming dynasty's imperial clan stipends were truly not enough to feed an entire household. Every sort of method for amassing wealth existed—those who wanted to do a bit of business were considered among the better ones. But opening a money house—that had never been done before!

Because in this era, opening a money house required credibility. This kind of credibility wasn't a matter of people trusting you just because you were a prince and depositing their money with you. Usually, it took ten or twenty years of reputation before others would believe in you.

Therefore, when a money house opened, the ones that truly lasted and made money were those with decades of credibility. If one suddenly popped up out of nowhere, no one would trust it.

In this era, most people deposited money for convenience or safety, because not only did deposits earn no interest, but a safekeeping fee was also charged.

Zhu Xu drank the piping hot tea, his whole spirit perking up considerably. He smiled at the three of them and said: "Correct."

Seeing the three of them wanting to speak but hesitating, he quickly waved his hand: "Alright. I probably know what you're all thinking. I'll handle it. Feng Zhu, I'll give you three days to memorize it. Come ask me about what you don't understand. I want you to be my mouthpiece—don't botch the performance."

Feng Zhu hesitated, glancing at Cao Huachun, then could only agree, bowing: "Yes, Your Highness."

Zhu Xu waved his hand. After he had left, Zhu Xu looked at Cao Wenzhao and said: "Old Cao, make preparations. In three days, I want to make a trip to my maternal uncle's place."

The moment Cao Wenzhao heard this, he knew Zhu Xu was going for Bi Maokang's sake. He too was curious—did the flintlock His Highness spoke of really have that much power?

"Yes, Your Highness," Cao Wenzhao agreed, then glanced at Cao Huachun and added: "Your Highness, should we take a look at the mountain?"

Zhu Xu shook his head slightly. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but going up there would inevitably mean meeting Bi Maokang. What would a prince be doing going to such a sensitive place? Even if he used his imperial elder brother's banner as an excuse, it would likely arouse Bi Maokang's suspicion and create unnecessary complications.