The heavy rain fell for five days and five nights before it changed to a drizzle. It was still endless, as if the rain for a year was about to be completed in these days.

The rain is endless, but the busyness is not stopped at all.

On the dock, piles of goods were unloaded from the ship and then pulled away by large trucks, densely packed and in full swing.

"Oh, fortunately there is this new way, otherwise these goods would have to be ruined!"

"No, I heard that there was no new road built in Dezhou. Many ships were in tears and were all wet by heavy rain."

"Fortunately, the imperial court spent a lot of effort to dredge the canal, otherwise it would be unlucky."

"I'm afraid this pier is only comparable to Ying/Tian."

The boatmen gathered together in groups of three or three, stood on the boat, monitoring the laborers' unloading, and chatted with gratitude.

A middle-aged man who looked like a manager came out from inside, looked at the sky, and said, "Stop chatting, go down to move together, there are hundreds of boats waiting behind him."

Several boatmen quickly agreed, and one of them laughed and said, "Yes, but Second Master, we can really sell it out if we ship so much good cloth?"

Someone spoke, and someone immediately continued, saying, "Yes, our batch of goods is enough to make 50,000 or 60,000 pieces of clothing. If it is better, there are many people and many rich people, it will definitely be sold quickly. Why did you have to transport it to the capital?"

The middle-aged man was not at ease. He smiled and pointed to the unloading helpers, saying, "Guess how much money these people can earn in a day?"

Several boatmen were stunned, looked at the helper who was unloading the goods with bare hands, thought for a while, and said, "Can you earn thirty cents?"

The middle-aged man glanced at the few people and said, "To be honest, it was fifty cents per hour, which is still low. Once there are too many ships, the price will be raised!"

Several boatmen were shocked, and one of them said: "Wouldn't that be, you'll have to pay six or seven taels of silver in a month?"

This is enough to catch up with the manager of an ordinary wealthy family.

The middle-aged man looked at the sky and said, "It's rare and weird. I'll go unload the goods for me. If I didn't unload it before it rains, I'll deduct all the money for you."

The boatmen quickly laughed apologetically, but didn't take it seriously, rolled up their sleeves and went to unload the goods.

The middle-aged man looked at the hazy and visible Bei/Beijing City in the distance, and said softly with a smile on his face: "The new Chongzhen Dynasty is really different..."

Not only canals, but also the official roads in various places, as long as cement roads are built and rainproof are done, the vendors who come and go back and forth are not delayed. They are riding horses, transporting cars, traveling south and north, and the excitement is not much reduced.

People with keen eyes discovered the "business opportunities" and joined the road construction team. The county governments in the Ming Dynasty were spread all over the Ming Dynasty, and there were long road construction teams everywhere.

At the same time, with heavy rain in the capital, other places have stepped up dredging river channels, and even re-excavated them, opening river channels, one to prevent heavy flooding and the other to resist drought.

The entire Ming Dynasty seemed to have entered a certain craze, building roads and digging rivers, and reclaiming wastelands, and the prosperity is in full swing.

within Huitong Trading.

Zhu Xu, Fu Tao, Fu Changzong and others were all here, listening to the half-year report of Wei Liangqing and others.

The first one is Wei Liangqing. He held a thick account book in his hand, looked at Zhu Xu, coughed lightly, and said, "Your Majesty, Master Fu, the deposit of Huitong Trading Bank this year is 90 million taels, most of which come from our cooperative chamber of commerce. This is a constant, and there are even 20 million taels of ounces several times. Our surplus is 8 million taels, and the loaned funds are still 5 million taels that have not been recovered."

Zhu Xu nodded when he heard this. Huitong Trading Bank could simply reflect the overall operating conditions of the Ming Dynasty, but it was still improving.

After he finished speaking, it was He Yunshan from the Huimin Chamber of Commerce. He continued: "The Emperor, Lord Fu, the eldest son, and the Huimin Chamber of Commerce have now spread to most county governments. It is expected to cover the whole country this year, with more than 5,000 branches and branches of all sizes, and nearly 10,000 merchants in cooperation. The surplus in half a year is 2 million taels. As long as the sweet potato harvest is a bumper year, it is expected to exceed 6 million taels throughout the year."

Zhu Xu smiled and said, this was what he cared about the most and an important channel for disaster relief.

He Yunshan was quite nervous, and after saying that, he stepped aside.

Zhou Jianyu stepped forward, bowed slightly to Zhu Xu and the other two, and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Fu, the ship travel is still developing rapidly. The profit of the canal transportation exceeds two million, and the shipping is 500,000 taels. In addition, the Nanyang side has made a lot of profits, about three million taels, and there is no settlement yet."

Zhu Xu also smiled in praise. He could roughly know this through customs. As the customs gradually took shape, merchants going overseas also began to get used to it. The customs alone had more than one million in taxes in half a year, which shows the profits of overseas trade.

Then Fu Tao stood up and said to Zhu Xu: "Emperor, father, and other cooperative chambers of commerce of all sizes, including the previous Huijin Commercial Bank, several major chambers of commerce in the south, salt, silk, medicinal materials, etc., the profits were more than three million taels. The specific figures will not be calculated clearly at the end of the year."

Zhu Xu heard what Fu Tao said. In fact, these are all income from the account book. If they are really calculated clearly, they may have to be much more.

He tapped his fingers on the table and thought to himself that the income of several major chambers of commerce has been rising steadily, which made him feel relieved. In addition, summer grain is imminent, and sweet potatoes are also ripe for digging. For him, the emperor, he could really breathe a sigh of relief.

Fu Changzong looked at Zhu Xu's expression and could guess what he thought. He smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the number of sweet potatoes sowing this year is far more than last year, and it will definitely have a great effect on fighting drought. According to my estimate, at least 30 million stones will be at least doubled compared to tax grain. In addition, the expenditure this year will be reduced a lot, and there will be a large surplus."

The so-called reduction means that the part of the royal family is eliminated.

Zhu Xu nodded and said, "Uncle, sweet potatoes, corn, etc., the number of acres of planting must be increased. All the lands of the royal family will be planted. Then, the governors from all over the country will be ordered to step up the promotion. The wastelands and barren mountains can only be cultivated. Regarding seaside breeding, the large storage of grain in various places must be accelerated..."

Fu Changzong knew Zhu Xu's thoughts well and nodded from time to time to agree.

After talking for a while, Zhu Xu realized that the occasion was not right. After finishing the conversation, he stood up and smiled at Wei Liangqing and the others, "Well, they all did well, waiting for the reward."

When the three of them heard this, they were all overjoyed. The emperor in front of them either did not take action or made a big move. They hurriedly knelt down and said, "The people of the grass thanked the emperor."

Zhu Xu waved his hand and smiled and left Huitong Trading Company. He talked to Fu Changzong for a while, and it took him a long time to leave.

It is rare that there is a less hot weather. Cao Bianjiao is holding an umbrella around him, and Zhu Xu also relaxes, slowly walking on the street, feeling the atmosphere of the capital.

Even if it rains, the streets are still full of people and are very lively, with crowds everywhere, vendors and traffic, and noises are endless.

Zhu Xu bought a few boxes of pastries and thought about going back to give them to Xiao Yongning. He smiled at Cao Huachun next to him and said, "Zhao Han is quite capable. Go back and remind me and give him a promotion."

Zhao Han is Zhu Xu's old man, and he has always been the prefect of Shun/Tianfu, and he feels a little "wronged".

Cao Huachun responded and said, "Emperor, can the emperor think about the replacement candidate?"

Zhu Xu held his hands behind his back, his eyes a little deep, and said, "I have it, Fan Jingwen!"

Cao Huachun was shocked when he heard this. The Secretariat of Wen Zhao Pavilion?

He was really shocked. Looking at Zhu Xu's side face, Cao Huachun didn't say anything anymore, but just responded.

"emperor,"

As soon as Zhu Xu entered the palace, Feng Zhu hurried over and said, "Sun Ge Lao and others are already waiting in the imperial study room, and it seems to be very anxious."

Zhu Xu was stunned. Thinking of some possibility, he strode towards Jingyang Palace.

I felt relieved after hearing this. It was not Huang Taiji, but something happened at sea.

Zhu Xu sat on the chair and said, "You mean, Liu/Qiu was attacked by more than 100 ships and thousands of pirates. Please send troops to clear it out?"

Sun Chengzong was also a little weird and said, "Yes, according to the news from Ryu/Qiu and North Korea, Japan was defeated in North Korea and South Korea last time and had already closed its country. It should not invade Ryu/Qiu again."

Zhu Xu laughed in his heart, afraid that this is not the Japanese country, but the real pirate who was also deeply harmed by it.

I just don’t know if it’s the Zheng family?

Zhu Xu thought for a while and said, "Transfer the order to Xiong Wencan, and then send the order to King Shangfeng, and let Liuqiu set a piece of land to serve as a base for the Southern Navy. Then let the Southern Navy select the most elite ship to go to Liuqiu to encourage morale. Then send the order to Yuan Keli, and let North Korea also set a piece of land between Japan and Japan to serve as a base for the Northern Navy. Then order the Ministry of Works to cast a new ship, which must be large, strong and can be voyageable. As for the pirates, leave it to Xiong Wencan to deal with it."

When Sun Chengzong heard Zhu Xu's arrangement, his expression was a little strange. He always felt that something was hidden inside, but he couldn't guess the specific intention. However, this was indeed beneficial to the pirates, so he agreed.

After discussing for a long time, Sun Chengzong left the imperial study room.

Zhu Xu took a break and then read the memorial again. His life was so boring that he seemed to have nothing else to do except read the memorial.

I don’t know how long it took, but Liu Shimin came in, handed over a memorial, and said, “Emperor, Wen Zhao Pavilion has decided to be the chief examiner.”

"oh?"

Zhu Xu was curious and took it over and was even more surprised.

It’s not Wen Tiren, not Qian Qianyi, nor is it from Wen Zhaoge, but Jiang Dejing.

Zhu Xu looked at it and turned around and said, "Who is this Jiang Dejing?"

Liu Shimin said: "I am a lecturer from the Hanlin Academy. I was carefully selected by Wang Xin. I was not from Wen Zhao Pavilion before."

Zhu Xu nodded thoughtfully. It should be that Zhu Youjian no longer trusted the people around him, so he chose from outside the circle.

"Accurate." Zhu Xu smiled, wrote the big word "Accurate" on the memorial and handed it to Liu Shimin.

Liu Shimin took it and said, "Your Majesty, do you want to meet Mr. Jiang?"

Zhu Xu waved his hand and said, "No, this matter is fully handed over to Wen Zhaoge."

Liu Shimin glanced at Zhu Xu, bowed out, and sent the memorial to Wenzhao Pavilion.
Chapter completed!