Three days later, in the Central Council Hall of Zhenhaiwei.

Zhu Ying sat at the top, and below him were Chai Bai, the commander-in-chief of Zhenhai Guard, and the thousand households, who were kneeling on the ground.

Picking up the teacup, Zhu Ying blew gently and then tasted it.

"This tea is pretty good. Where did it come from?" Zhu Ying asked casually.

Chai Bai below breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. They had been kneeling for a quarter of an hour, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince finally spoke.

Without thinking, he replied, "Your Highness, this tea is West Lake Longjing, produced from the eighteen tea trees in front of Hu Gong Temple at the foot of Shifeng Mountain. The new leaves produced this year are absolutely top-notch."

"Among all the teas in Hangzhou, none can compare to Longjing. This is the fine bud before the rain. Take a flag and a spear from it. It is especially precious. There are not many produced, so it is precious."

When he spoke of the latter part, Chai Bai even began to show off his literary talent.

Zhu Ying chuckled: "It seems that Commander Chai is not only experienced in marching and fighting, but also very fond of showing off his literary talent."

"Uncle Zhang, how much does this new sprout before the rain cost in the market now?"

Zhang Bo bowed and replied, "Your Highness, ordinary Longjing tea is not expensive, but Commander Chai just said that this tea comes from the eighteen tea trees in front of Hu Gong Temple at the foot of Shifeng Mountain."

"That's the most expensive place in the entire West Lake Longjing tea. According to the current market conditions, one tael of tea from this place costs 88 strings of cash, and there is no market for it."

As soon as these words were spoken, Chai Bai below immediately broke out in a sweat.

Knowing that I had failed because of this tea, I now regretted it so much.

I had originally thought that when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince came, I would of course treat him with the best food to show my loyalty.

Normally, no one would ask about the prices when drinking tea, so Chai Bai didn't think much about it at the time.

When Uncle Zhang was speaking, he suddenly remembered.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but also the owner of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce. He knows the market prices of various goods very well.

Aren't you just setting a trap for yourself?

The thousand households behind also began to tremble.

If something happens to the commander, none of these thousand households will be able to survive well.

I'm afraid it would all be taken away in one pot.

Just when everyone was panicking, Zhu Ying said, "That's enough. You've been kneeling for quite some time. Get up and sit down."

When everyone heard this, they couldn't believe it and no one spoke for a long time.

Finally, Chai Bai said tremblingly: "I dare not."

Zhu Ying said: "Why should we be afraid? The Cao Gang can do anything like that. They can make a lot of money every year."

"You are so brave! I asked you to sit down and talk, but you don't dare to do that?"

Plop.

Just as two captains were about to muster up the courage to stand up, they knelt down again as soon as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince spoke these words.

Not to mention Chai Bai. Sweat was dripping on the ground in front of him like water drops, as if he had just taken a shower.

"Don't be so nervous. According to what you said, aren't you my direct descendants?"

"Since you are my direct descendant, what is there to be afraid of?"

Zhu Ying said with a smile.

But the words that were spoken made everyone feel cold in their hearts.

They had only said these words in the parliament hall, but now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said them out loud.

It's terrifying.

Could it be that there is a traitor among the crowd?

"Okay, sit down and talk. Tell me the whole story about the Cao Gang."

Zhu Ying waved his hand and spoke directly.

After several rounds of conversation, Chai Bai and others' psychological defenses had completely collapsed, so they could only tell the truth.

The establishment of the Cao Gang was based on the canal transportation. Zhu Ying was also very curious as to how the Cao Gang, which was supposed to appear during the Qing Dynasty, had already appeared now.

After listening to Chai Bai and others' stories, it turned out that the source of the problem was himself.

Originally speaking, there was not much difference between Zhenhai Guard and other guards. People like Chai Bai were commanders, and at most they could make some money.

The flapping of the butterfly's wings allowed the Zhenhai Guard to taste the sweetness of smuggling snowflake salt, which led to the establishment of the Cao Gang.

"Most of the Cao Gang members are elderly or injured brothers from the garrison."

"There is not much to do in the garrison on weekdays, so I was assigned to manage the Cao Gang and train the new recruits at the same time."

"There are about 400 brothers in the Cao Gang now, and several thousand followers."

After Chai Bai finished explaining, he raised his head cautiously. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was in deep thought, and he felt a little complicated.

Things have come to this point, and Chai Bai now seems much calmer. If he really is going to lose his head, there is no way to save it.

"According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, in your situation, let alone execution, even lingchi or chariot-drawn would not be excessive."

"Corruption is clearly prohibited by law, but you took the risk and abused your power to commit illegal acts."

"But speaking of it, everyone here has made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. Well, I will give you a chance to make amends for your crimes."

Zhu Ying pondered for a while and then spoke.

For soldiers, especially those who founded the Ming Dynasty, some things can only be dealt with in a compromise way.

Even if he is an old man, this is probably the only thing he can do.

After all, it was these soldiers who conquered the Zhu family.

As the saying goes, when the water is too clear, there are no fish.

If we really follow the laws of the Ming Dynasty and execute all the thousand households including the commander-in-chief Chai Bai, it will easily discourage other soldiers.

Even the common people, including those oppressed businessmen, would not applaud or cheer, but would instead mourn the death of the rabbit.

It sounds ridiculous, but this is the real situation in today's world.

Especially for merchants, although they seemed to be oppressed by the Cao Gang, a relatively stable order had actually been established in secret, although this order was not openly protected by the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Strictly speaking, it is an illegal act, but if there were no Cao Gang, the interests of merchants would be more vulnerable to exploitation.

In the past, when merchants moved goods, they needed to bribe officials of all ranks, and if they encountered some greedy ones, they would ask for too much.

Not only will you lose money, but sometimes you may even lose both your money and your life.

Although Zhenhaiwei was an established Caogang, they were from the military and were more particular about order. In many aspects, they had a clear price tag.

Once you have paid enough, you don't have to pay any other fees along the way and you will be safe on the journey.

It also creates a relatively fair business environment.

In fact, during the Qing Dynasty, this behavior of the Cao Gang was finally recognized by the government and gained legal status.

When this interest was tapped, even if Zhu Ying ordered the forcible disbanding of the Cao Gang, large and small Cao Gangs would still emerge in the future.

In the early Ming Dynasty, all kinds of people had their own space to survive, and even the government could not get rid of them if it wanted to.

Now that the Cao Gang has taken shape, it is better to control it in our own hands.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your grace. Thank you, Your Highness, for your grace! I will immediately order the Cao Gang to be completely disbanded."

I thought I was at the end of my rope, but unexpectedly there was a new hope.

At this moment, Chai Bai's heart was in a state of roller coaster. With the term "making up for one's crime with merit", not only his life was saved, but even his position as commander might be lost.

Zhu Ying waved his hand: "No, not only should you not disband the Cao Gang, but you should make it even bigger."

Chai Bai was a little confused and didn't quite understand what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince meant.

Including the other thousand households, they all looked at each other in confusion.

Zhu Ying was too lazy to play tricks and said directly, "From now on, the rules of the Cao Gang must be revised and re-established according to my wishes."

"Not only your Zhenhai Guard, but all the guards along the Yangtze River can slowly absorb the retired and wounded soldiers."

"But the accounts need to be reclassified, including the tolls collected, which also need to be reasonable. They cannot be too much, nor too little."

"You have done a very good job now. Since you have received the money, you must do the job. From now on, the accounting issues of the Cao Gang will be handed over to the Qunying Chamber of Commerce to handle together."

"The overall benefits are divided into 70% and 30% respectively. I will take 70% and the Cao Gang will take 30%. Is there any problem?"

Chai Bai immediately shook his head like a rattle, how could he have any opinions?

Zhu Ying smiled and said, "Actually, what you said is correct. You are indeed my direct descendant, but from now on, you can no longer use my name to do things."

"What I just said is not an order to give you half of it. The money is not to be sent to me, but you and the Heroes Chamber of Commerce will share it. Do you understand?"

Chai Bai kowtowed and said, "I understand."

Zhu Ying nodded: "If you have committed any crime, don't expect me to come out and solve it for you. The gang members who broke the rules will be punished as they should be."

"Not only in terms of freight, but also in terms of intelligence from local chambers of commerce, various noble families, and government officials. You also need to collect intelligence on these aspects. When the time comes, I will have the Royal Guards come to connect with you."

Having said that, Zhu Ying's thoughts have become clear.

In fact, to put it simply, it is equivalent to turning the Cao Gang into an underground intelligence organization.

As for the other aspects, they used the name of the garrison to suppress officials from various places.

It has to be said that in today's situation where the imperial power does not reach the countryside, the role of the Cao Gang is much more reliable than that of the officials.

And there is nothing to worry about when doing things.

This kind of thing is impossible for the government to accomplish as they are made up of human beings. Given the national conditions, although there are some hidden dangers, for now, they have no choice but to do so.

If we talk too much about the entanglements here, it will involve the limitations of imperial power itself.

The emperor's power is not reflected in the people, but in the landlords who are also the ruling class.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was able to make arbitrary decisions and kill even the ministers in the court at will was that he united the majority of the landlord class in the Ming Dynasty and gained their support.

Even officials, such as county magistrates and prefects, were representatives of the landlord class, and often the first thing these officials did when they took office was to establish good relations with the local landlords.

If the relationship becomes strained, or goes too far, the landlords will start to make trouble, and to put it simply, the people will suffer, and some policies will simply not be able to be implemented.

Of course, the landlord class is a general term. Landlords in every place have their own ideas and contradictions.

There is no such thing as killing someone with one blow.

Even villages would fight over water, not to mention between landlords.

What Zhu Ying is doing now is to bypass the landlord class and form a completely new force.

With the development of industrialization in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, more and more farmers changed their identities and became workers.

In daily life, we no longer have to rely on that little piece of land. The current social classes are quietly changing.

These are things that only Zhu Ying himself understands clearly.

How to control the emerging forces has become a current problem.

The existence of Cao Gang can be said to be an attempt by Zhu Ying at present.

Because those who worked with the Caobang were not farmers, but workers.

For example, the most basic peripheral members are the porters at the dock.

They are naturally in opposition to the landlords, and the fundamental contradiction between them is the competition for people.

For the common people, there is actually no difference between farming for the landlord or moving goods for the transport gang.

Even now, the salary of a porter is better than that of a farmer.

When the value of the people as human beings is reflected and sparks scramble for them, the treatment they receive will naturally improve.

In the past, people had no choice: if they didn’t farm for the landlords, they would starve to death.

Now that there are more choices, we naturally feel more secure.

Zhu Ying stayed in Zhenhaiwei for four or five days.

The main thing is to make a strict design for the overall framework of the Cao Gang. The previous Cao Gang was very scattered and was completely maintained by some military households retired from the Zhenhai Guard.

What we need to do now is not only better integration, but also to train the core members of the Cao Gang in a semi-militarized form.

Seeing Zhenhaiwei becoming even busier than before, Zhu Ying couldn't help but sigh.

I guess I've taken the wrong path.

A direct conflict with the landlord class in terms of policy would very likely shake the foundation of the country.

There is no other way around it.

From another perspective, the existence of the Cao Gang may really be a great support for Zhu Ying in the next few decades.

It can be foreseen that as the Cao Gang expands across the country, it also means that Zhu Ying's power will be directly presented to the people as workers themselves.

However, just when Zhu Ying was about to write a letter to the old man to tell him about these things.

An express letter from Zhu Ying, which arrived six hundred miles away, forced him to return home early.

There was a big situation on the grassland.