Ye Yueqing listened to the boss's instructions, her eyebrows slightly frowned, and after the boss finished speaking, she couldn't help but reply:

"Boss, these are all the assets of the entire Chamber of Commerce. If we add in the loans, it will take the Chamber of Commerce several years to recover, or even..."

At the end, Ye Yueqing could not bear to continue. If the boss continued to act like this, not only would the entire Chamber of Commerce be completely emptied, but there would also be a huge amount of debt.

The reputation of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce is so great that it has connections with countless other large chambers of commerce, not to mention the entire Ming Dynasty. At such a critical juncture, don't expect others to help you, as they will only add insult to injury.

Although grain lending is not like a casino where you get 9 out of 13 returns, the high interest rates can easily bring down the Chamber of Commerce, and by then the entire Chamber of Commerce may fall apart.

The impact involved is not only related to the Ming Dynasty, but also involves the Western Regions, the desert, and the grassland. Years of operations will be destroyed in an instant.

"What you said makes sense, but I have my own considerations. Let's take the issue of money and grain first. As for who to borrow grain from, there is no rush for now. I will make a list later and we can borrow from those on the list."

"If you want to borrow money, feel free to do so. No matter how high the interest rate is, just accept it. If someone is not on the list, don't pay any attention to them even if they actively ask to borrow money."

Zhu Ying did not refute it outright, but explained lightly.

As the saying goes, there is no hero without poison.

As for the grain loan, he never thought about paying it back from the moment he borrowed it. Not only did he borrow and not pay it back, he also wanted to bring down all those black-hearted chambers of commerce one by one.

The Qunying Chamber of Commerce has relied on the huge profits from Snowflake Salt in the Ming Dynasty for many years. It is very familiar with some of the top chambers of commerce in the business world and knows their general background.

To put it bluntly, in the first 25 years of the Ming Dynasty, large-scale chambers of commerce were established. Each of them was extremely wicked and colluded with ministers, nobles and generals in the court.

The Guoheng case in the 18th year of Hongwu is a microcosm of this.

The case implicated the twelve provincial governments of the Ming Dynasty, including the Minister of Rites Zhao Mao, the Minister of Punishments Wang Huidi, the Vice Minister of War Wang Zhi, the Vice Minister of Works Mai Zhide, etc., with a total loss of 24 million shi of grain.

However, the actual losses were far more than this. The part that was recovered was from officials, while the part from grain merchants was difficult to recover.

Such cases are relatively large, and there are more small ones. Corruption is always difficult to avoid, it just depends on the size of the matter.

The Qunying Chamber of Commerce also runs a grain business and is very familiar with some major grain traders.

This is the situation. If you want to become bigger and stronger, you can't avoid some shady means. The key point is to see where the shady means are.

The grain business of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce is basically to buy more and sell less, and use the profits from Snowflake Salt to fill the gap.

Most of the dirty money made by the big grain traders came from hoarding goods and selling them at high prices.

Zhu Ying had no psychological burden at all when taking action against these grain merchants.

Besides, the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce is not a formal merchant organization, and they have always done business without any capital.

Ye Yueqing was still a little confused at first, but when she heard Zhu Ying say this, she immediately understood.

This trick of offering flowers to Buddha can be said to be really powerful.

After all, the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce attaches great importance to its reputation in order to conduct better business in the Ming Dynasty, so it will definitely have a good effect in the area of ​​grain lending.

Zhu Yuanzhang listened quietly at the side, with a smile on his face and feeling very relieved in his heart.

The eldest grandson is truly a student who is better than his father.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew best that people, especially those who work as emperors, cannot be pedantic.

The eldest brother Zhu Biao was good in everything and had impeccable skills in both civil and military affairs. The only thing that did not please Zhu Yuanzhang was that he was a little too pedantic and had some bad habits of a scholar.

In fact, in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, when it comes to governing the world, one cannot be too particular. Some things must be suppressed in order to maintain the dignity of the royal family, rather than just tolerating them.

As an emperor, if he is still restrained by his ministers, what kind of emperor is that?

However, Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that someone like his eldest brother Zhu Biao was already very good, at least he had no problem governing the world.

To put it bluntly, the eldest grandson's performance just now was inevitably a bit despicable, but Zhu Yuanzhang felt very happy to see it.

The imperial means are the real source of controlling everything. Don't be intimidated by the title of emperor.

After Zhu Ying finished talking about the food, when Ye Yueqing was leaving to make arrangements, he once again reminded her: "You must strictly tell all the doctors who go to Henan to treat the plague that they must wear masks and protect their noses and mouths tightly."

"Especially drinking water, which must be boiled before drinking. All clothes that have come into contact with patients with the plague must be mixed with mugwort and boiled together."

"Not only doctors, but everyone's clothes, especially underwear, must be changed every day and washed with a mixture of mugwort and boiling water. Anyone who does not comply with this order will be detained without permission."

Hearing Zhu Ying's serious warning, Ye Yueqing also understood that nothing was too small in the face of the plague, and nodded seriously and replied: "Yueqing understands, I will pass it on directly."

Zhu Ying nodded and said, "Okay, then let's go and help with this matter quickly and let Commander Jiang Li handle it together."

Then he turned to the old man and asked, "Grandpa, is everything okay?"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "We are so happy, how can there be any problem?"

After hearing this, Ye Yueqing bowed and went out to find Jiang Li.

Such a large mobilization is not just the Chamber of Commerce’s business. Naturally, it still requires the use of Ming Dynasty resources related to the post station in order to provide rapid support.

"Grandson, what do you mean by boiling water on the mask?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with some confusion.

He could understand both words, but when it came to the plague, it was inevitable that he didn't understand them.

Zhu Ying was not surprised to hear this. The concept that hot water can cure all diseases still does not exist in the Ming Dynasty today. Without industrial pollution, many people do not boil the water they drink.

As long as the water is clear, we just drink it directly when we get it home. There is no concept of boiling it. This is how everyone has lived for generations.

Zhu Ying explained, "When I was in the Western Regions, I established a medical school to train doctors. The main purpose was to treat injuries during military service, which saved many lives."

"The Medical School not only studies trauma, but also has a certain understanding of various diseases, including plague."

"The greatest fear of the plague is that it is extremely contagious. It seems impossible to prevent it, so we began to study the transmission pathways."

"After long-term research, we found that the plague is like an invisible poisonous insect that attaches itself to the air between breaths and enters through the nose and mouth. Therefore, simply blocking the nose and mouth can reduce the possibility of being penetrated."

"Under such circumstances, after joint discussions in the medical school, masks were produced to prevent the spread of the plague."

After hearing the explanation from his eldest grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately understood the situation of the plague.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang had read a lot, he was still lacking in knowledge of medicine and other subjects, just like business. However, after his eldest grandson's explanation, he immediately understood.

But he continued to ask, "What about boiling water? Could it be that boiling water can kill this invisible evil miasma?"

Zhu Ying nodded. The old man was very smart and understood everything immediately. He then explained:

"This is another discovery of the medical school. It is one thing to use mugwort to drive away miasma, but the effect of boiling water is more direct. These miasma, under the high temperature of water, are actually equivalent to being burned to death by fire. It can completely eliminate the spread of plague to a large extent."

"Also, miasma can attach to water. Boiling the water and drinking it can also eliminate the miasma to a large extent, preventing you from being infected by the plague."

"In fact, miasma and poisonous insects are everywhere. They exist even in water sources without plague. They just won't cause serious harm. When drinking water, it is best to boil it. This way, the risk of disease will be reduced."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang basically understood how to effectively isolate the plague. What the eldest grandson said was also easy to understand, and the concept of boiling water was deeply rooted in people's minds and left a deep impression on him.

"If there is such a method, we will inform the Imperial Hospital and other medical departments and ask them to pay attention to it," said Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Ying took out a book from the bookshelf, handed it to the old man and said, "Here are some relevant records. You can take it to the imperial doctors to have a look."

Zhu Yuanzhang took it and flipped through it briefly. There were not many records about medical skills, but more about some precautions, and there were not many pages.

However, what surprised Zhu Yuanzhang was that he saw a breakpoint here.

So he said to his eldest grandson in a joking manner: "You read so many books, but you still can't punctuate yourself."

Facing the old man's ridicule, Zhu Ying was not embarrassed at all. Instead, he said solemnly: "Regarding punctuation, I have never studied it seriously, but it is precisely because of this that I discovered an extremely important thing."

"Oh, grandson, tell me about it."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, a simple joke could give his grandson some strange ideas, he was truly gifted.

He discovered that every idea of ​​his grandson seemed very simple and obvious, but contained profound meanings that were difficult to express.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang now attaches great importance to every suggestion made by his eldest grandson.

Zhu Ying said, "My grandson discovered this problem when he was reviewing memorials. Although it was difficult to read, he was able to get used to it after persisting for a period of time. He also experienced a similar situation when he was studying earlier."

"It was at this time that my grandson realized the difference between the so-called scholars and the common people. The use of punctuation almost completely distinguished the common people from the scholars, especially in elegant writing."

"Ordinary people are not all illiterate. Some smart people even know quite a few words and can write some simple letters themselves."

"However, the existence of elegant writing and punctuation not only prevents these common people from reading the classics, but also puts all the right to speak in the hands of the literati."

"Punctuation seems simple after we get used to it, but different punctuation can actually lead to many different ways of doing things. It is precisely because of this gap that some officials deceive their superiors and subordinates and do whatever they want."

The look in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes when he looked at his eldest grandson at this moment was no longer just shock and astonishment. Such quick thinking was completely beyond his imagination. However, some of his eldest grandson's earlier stories.

Zhu Yuanzhang also reacted quickly.

Da Sun is always able to understand his own principles from seemingly ordinary things. He is truly wise.

"I have actually discovered this problem, but I have never really thought about it in depth. Many scholars always laugh at me, saying that I am an old farmer who has not read books. Even the imperial edicts I issued are all plain words."

"But how could they have thought that our edicts were meant for those old farmers and the common people who are not familiar with elegant writing? What we are worried about is that these lowest-level officials will misinterpret our meaning."

"Who wouldn't understand such plain talk? We are going to make it impossible for those officials who are trying to get something for themselves to do so."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with some emotion that in fact, he had not yet understood the meaning of the earliest edict written in plain language.

He just thought that when he was a poor man, those officials always held the notices from above and expressed their own opinions. So after he became emperor, he wanted the people below to be able to understand them directly.

But I have never thought about this aspect of literati.

With the explanation of his eldest grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly understood the key point. In fact, elegant writing and punctuation have been the ideological constraints imposed by scholars on the common people since ancient times.

This evolved from the culture of the previous dynasty and the talents and knowledge mastered by aristocratic families.

There is no poor family in the world. Aristocratic families control knowledge and form a barrier to talent and learning. Even if you can read, what's the use? Without the education of an aristocratic family, you can't even understand books and classics, and may even misinterpret their meaning, making it difficult to become a great talent.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt somewhat emotional about the Mongols.

In the past, the land of Ming Dynasty was ruled by aristocratic families. It was rumored that aristocratic families are permanent, but dynasties are transient.

In the Tang and Song dynasties before the Mongols, the emperor shared the world with the literati and officials, not with the common people.

For a poor person like me, even in the last years of a dynasty, without the recognition of the aristocratic families, it would be impossible for him to make a name for himself.

To a certain extent, I am really grateful to the Mongols for being able to establish the current Ming Empire. If it were not for the Mongols who slaughtered and exterminated these thousand-year-old families in the past hundred years, how could I have achieved what I have today?

But at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly changed color and asked: "It seems that your eldest grandson wants to abolish the elegant language of punctuation and use plain language for all levels."

"But have you ever thought, Grandson, that if the people were enlightened, wouldn't the world be even more chaotic?"

Today is different from the past. The current Zhu Yuanzhang is no longer the poor peasant he was back then. This world belongs to the Ming Dynasty and the Zhu family.

As Confucius said, the people can be made to follow a principle, but they cannot be made to understand it.

Of course Zhu Yuanzhang had also read it, and was deeply touched and approved of it, which led to the emergence of the eight-legged essay.