"A bunch of bastards!"

Zhu Yuanzhang slapped the table hard, frightened Zhu Biao next to him, and hurried over and asked, "What's wrong with you, Father, why are you so angry?"

"You can see it yourself!" Zhu Yuanzhang threw a memorial into Zhu Biao's arms angrily.

Zhu Biao caught the memorial and opened it, but found that it was a memorial sent by the Ministry of Personnel, mainly reporting the list of officials who attended the funeral last month.

Although there is no explicit regulation on the funeral of the Ming Dynasty, according to the customs that have been passed down before, officials will go to the funeral after the death of parents, uncles, brothers, etc. The mourning period is also different depending on the distance of relatives. For example, if parents die, they must be mourned for three years, and when grandparents die, they must be mourned for one year.

Zhu Biao looked left and right, but couldn't see any problem with the memorial, so he asked, "Father, this is just a routine memorial, there should be no problem, right?"

"Why is there no problem!" Zhu Yuanzhang was still angry, "I remember clearly that last month, there were only nine officials who went to mourning and mourning, but last month it turned into seventeen. They went home to mourning and mourning, and I also had to pay them a salary. It would be outrageous if I just took money and didn't do anything!"

Zhu Biao was also amused and crying when he heard this. Although he had long been used to Lao Zhu's unreasonable trouble, he still felt that his father was a little too harsh this time. However, he still patiently advised: "Father, no one can do anything about birth, old age, sickness and death. After all, his relatives have passed away, so we must not let them go back to mourn, right?"

"Why can't it? There are so many people in Li Jie's family. He still has to work for me if he doesn't have to do it?" Zhu Yuanzhang glared with big eyes and even took Li Jie out as an example. He never thought that all of Li Jie's relatives were killed by him.

"This..." Zhu Biao didn't know how to complain when he heard this. Li Jie was completely different from others. Others worked to make money, but Li Jie worked to make life. He wanted to rest, but his harsh father was staring at him. Do he dare to rest?

"Father, it's not easy for officials. They are busy with government affairs. By taking a break during mourning, they can show their father's compassion for their subordinates!" Zhu Biao held it in for a long time, and finally came up with another reason.

"Busy?" Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly when he heard this, "Can they be as busy as me? Can they be more busy than you, the prince? When did you see me throwing away major affairs in the court and running to mourn others?"

"Father, aren't you an orphan?" Zhu Biao scratched his head and asked back.

I have to say that Lao Zhu is so shameless. His parents died long ago, and all his brothers and sisters died. Even if he and Zhu Biao wanted to mourn, they could not find anyone to let them submit.

"What did you say?" Old Zhu was exposed by his son's words and immediately became angry. He habitually reached out and wanted to grab the inkstone. However, he finally stopped halfway through his hand. After all, he had promised not to hit Zhu Biao again.

Zhu Biao was frightened when he saw his father stretching out half of his hand and burst into tears. He immediately admitted his mistake: "Don't calm down, my son has lost his words!"

Lao Zhu was also angry at this time, but he was not good at venting his son, but he soon found an excuse to vent his anger. He snatched the memorial from the Ministry of Personnel and said angrily: "This system of mourning must be changed, otherwise if a person has five or six mourning periods in a row, wouldn't he have to rest for several years?"

In fact, Lao Zhu's words make sense. It is indeed too time-consuming to go to mourning and mourning, especially in this era, the transportation is underdeveloped. If the deceased relatives are far away, it may take one year to go back and forth on the road. If several mourning periods are connected together, it is not impossible to mourn for more than ten years. The lifespan of the ancients was relatively short and they could not withstand such consumption.

Zhu Biao pondered for a moment when he heard this, then nodded and said, "The emperor's words also make sense, but how should we change them?"

"Let the Ministry of Personnel come forward and write a letter to lift the system of attending funerals for hundreds of officials. Except for their parents' death, the remaining period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the period of the

"Father, wise!" Zhu Biao had no objection to this. Although this policy would definitely cause criticism from some officials after it was promulgated, as long as they were used to it, there would be no problem after they got used to it.

"By the way, Li Jie treats guests at the Fufu Department today. Have all the wealthy businessmen gone?" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly thought of Li Jie again at this time, so he asked. Of course he knew everything about Li Jie in the Fufu Department clearly.

"Mao Xiang personally sent the invitation, how dare those rich businessmen not go?" Zhu Biao smiled when he heard this, but then he said in confusion, "But why Li Jie invites so many rich businessmen to do? Is it because he wants to force these rich businessmen to donate money?"

"This kid definitely can't do such a thing!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with great certainty. Compared to Zhu Biao, he saw Li Jie more thoroughly. Perhaps Li Jie's behavior seemed a bit out of line, but he had some of his own persistence and bottom line, so he would never do some things.

"If it weren't forcing, what could he use to get the rich businessman to take out the money?" Zhu Biao asked again in confusion when he heard this. Li Jie himself would definitely not be able to get that much money. The only way was to get the rich businessman to get the money.

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I can't understand this, but since he dared to invite the rich businessman, he obviously had his own plans, and he also brought Yun Yu with him, probably to let him learn something."

"Yun's changes have been very big recently. He seems to be more confident and has more courageous in speaking and doing things. All of these are Li Jie's contributions!" When talking about his son, Zhu Biao also said happily. Since he gave up prejudice, he has also paid a lot of attention to Zhu Yun's changes, and he has seen them all.

"Yun Yu is indeed a good child. You have ignored him too much before. In addition, Yun Wen cannot just let him study hard. If necessary, arrange some practice for him!" Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while before speaking. In his heart, Zhu Biao must have inherited his throne, but who can replace Zhu Biao depends on the performance of Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yun Yu.

"My son understand!" Zhu Biao also felt aware of this and immediately said politely.

At this moment, a eunuch came in to report that it was Li Jie and Zhu Yunxiu who asked for a meeting. This made Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao both shocked and immediately let them in.

Soon, Li Jie and Zhu Yunyu walked into the warm pavilion with a happy look on their faces. The two saluted Zhu Yuanzhang and his son one after another, and Zhu Yuanzhang asked anxiously: "How much money did you raise?"

"Grandpa Emperor, you can't guess. Those rich businessmen are rushing to send the money to Li Bandu, as if they are afraid that Li Bandu will not want it!" Before Li Jie could speak, Zhu Yunxiu took the lead with excitement.

Li Jie next to him smiled slightly. After he expressed his sincerity, the wealthy businessmen quickly showed their sincerity. Especially after they learned that their current efforts were proportional to their future income, they even rush to send money to them. Li Jie couldn't help but he couldn't help but raise the money in the end.

"Don't keep it a secret, how many are there?" Zhu Biao couldn't help asking.

Only then did Li Jie take out a list from his sleeves, and then put it on his hands and said, "Please read by Your Majesty!"

Zhu Yuanzhang snatched it, and when he saw the number above, he was also shocked: Gu Xuewen, 100,000 guan; Lu Yang, 80,000 guan; Yu Sanqi, 70,000 guan...

The three people who donated the most in front alone had already reached an astonishing 250,000 guan. Of course, these three people had the strongest financial resources, and the wealthy businessmen who donated a lot less, but the least one also donated 10,000 guan. The more than 20 wealthy businessmen donated a total of 830,000 guan, which was more than twice the 400,000 guan that Li Jie agreed to at the time.

When Zhu Biao stretched his neck and saw the amount on the list, he was so happy that he could hardly stop talking.

But unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang was happy at first, then gritted his teeth and said, "This group of profiteers is so rich. I am the emperor, but I have to worry about lack of money every day. It's simply outrageous!"

Lao Zhu's ancestors, eight generations of poor peasants, had a natural hatred for rich people. Even if he became an emperor, he would not change his original intention. Otherwise, Shen Wansan would not have ended up exiling. It can be said that he hated others showing off his wealth in front of him the most in his life. Although these wealthy businessmen donated money to the court, they still aroused Lao Zhu's dissatisfaction.

Seeing that his father's red-eye disease was recurring, Zhu Biao was also a little amused and laughed. He immediately stood up and advised: "Father, merchants buy and sell things to accelerate the circulation of goods. Although they have accumulated a lot of wealth themselves, they are also very beneficial to the country and the people. As the saying goes, scholars, farmers, industry and commerce are indispensable!"

Li Jie also curled his lips secretly. He had long been used to Lao Zhu's unique logic.

Although Lao Zhu was angry, he did not lose his mind. He quickly calmed down and then looked at Li Jie and asked again: "As the saying goes, there are no businessmen, these businessmen will definitely not spend so much money for no reason, right?"

"Your Majesty is wise. These wealthy businessmen are willing to take out the money, but they have to put forward three conditions. However, two of them have nothing to do with the court and need to discuss with Zhang Dingbian and others. The only thing the court needs to agree to allow their fleet to follow Zhang Dingbian and others to go to sea, and they can also freely travel between Japan and the Ming Dynasty in the future!" Li Jie smiled again.

Li Jie played a trick during the negotiations of wealthy businessmen. When he proposed those three conditions, he did not obtain Zhu Yuanzhang's consent in advance. However, in addition to the right to go to sea, they all needed to negotiate with Zhang Dingbian. Zhang Dingbian and others were a bunch of poor people. As long as the rich businessmen paid for the money, they would agree to whatever the conditions were. The only troublesome thing was Lao Zhu. If Lao Zhu didn't nod, the rich businessmen's ship would not be able to leave the sea.

To put it bluntly, Li Jie played with a free-knitted wolf. He first made a promise to the rich businessman, and then used the amount of donations given by the rich businessman to convince Lao Zhu. Next, it depends on Lao Zhu's choice. If Lao Zhu wants to get the money, he must agree to the wealthy businessman's fleet going to sea.
Chapter completed!