On Zhu Gaochi's side, after receiving orders from his elder brother, he immediately returned to Prince Yan's Mansion and told his mother about the matter.

After listening to this, Xu Yihua smiled and said, "It seems that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince really trusts you very much. He even wants to entrust such an important matter to you."

Zhu Gaochi replied: "But mother, how can I do such a big thing well?"

"What Big Brother has entrusted me with is too important. Moreover, it involves a huge number of things. I have no confidence at all. I am afraid that I will fail Big Brother's expectations in the end."

Xu Yihua said: "Chi'er is confused. When it comes to big things, it's never enough for one person to do it alone. You should ask for support from everyone."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaochi bowed and said, "Please teach me, mother."

Xu Yihua nodded and began to tell the story.

The Ming Dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang. The most powerful family was naturally the Zhu family. However, when the Ming Dynasty was founded, there were twelve other top families. They had enjoyed high positions and generous salaries for generations, but they could do whatever they wanted. Even after they broke the law, even the highest judicial institution, the Ministry of Justice, had no right to arrest them. Only the emperor could decide their fate.

After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he summarized historical experiences and lessons and wrote a book called "Huang Ming Zu Xun" for future generations to follow. In this book, Zhu Yuanzhang clearly stipulated:

"If any of the royal relatives commit a crime, the successor emperor will make the decision himself. Except for treason, which is unpardonable, for other crimes, minor ones will be discussed with the relatives in the capital, while serious ones will be discussed with the kings outside the capital and the relatives in the capital, and all will be decided by the emperor. The family of the offender is only allowed to be reported to the judicial department, and is not allowed to be arrested and questioned without authorization."

In other words, if these royal relatives committed a crime, the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Inspectorate could only report it to the emperor but could not arrest them for interrogation.

Regarding personnel, Zhu Yuanzhang also made clear regulations in "Huang Ming Zuxun".

One is the relative of the Zhu family.

It mainly includes the Queen's family, the Imperial Concubine's family, the Eastern Palace Concubine's family, the Prince's family, the County Prince's family, the Prince Consort's family, and the Yibin's family.

Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants were all people of status. Some became emperors, some became crown princes, some became princes, and some were conferred the title of prince of a county. The emperor's daughter was conferred the title of princess, and the prince's daughter was conferred the title of princess.

Any family that marries into the above-mentioned people is considered royal family and therefore can enjoy special privileges.

In addition, these people also enjoyed generous salaries. According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty;

"The prince has 10,000 dan of rubles, the duke has 2,000 dan of rubles", "The princess and her husband's wife have 2,000 dan of rubles, the duke and his attendant have 800 dan of rubles".

After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the families of the empress, the imperial concubine, the eastern palace concubine, the prince's concubine, and the prince's concubine would all be granted certain official positions and titles.

For example, the two brothers-in-law of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty both received titles, Zhang Heling was granted the title of Duke of Changguo, and Zhang Yanling was granted the title of Marquis of Jianchang.

In addition to generous salaries, these royal relatives would also be rewarded with large estates and lands, "some covering hundreds or thousands of hectares, occupying fertile areas and spanning counties and towns."

For example, the family of Queen Wang of Emperor Jingtai owned 23,000 hectares of land, the family of Queen Zhang of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty also owned more than 20,000 hectares of land, and the family of Queen Xia of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty also owned more than 20,000 hectares of land.

The second is Zhu Yuanzhang’s relatives and old friends.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang killed many meritorious officials, he was still very caring towards some people, such as the families of Duke of Wei, Duke of Cao, Duke of Xin, Marquis of Xiping, and Marquis of Wuding.

Duke of Wei refers to Xu Da, Duke of Cao refers to Li Wenzhong, Duke of Xin refers to Tang He, Marquis of Xiping refers to Mu Ying, and Marquis of Wuding refers to Guo Ying. They were all founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty and had a special relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang.

Xu Da and Tang He were old friends of Zhu Yuanzhang, and later became relatives.

Li Wenzhong was Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, Mu Ying was Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted son, and Guo Ying's sister was Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite concubine.

These people were originally founding heroes and enjoyed hereditary titles, and their families also enjoyed wealth and prosperity.

Zhu Gaochi naturally knew these people, but through Xu Yihua's narration, he had a clearer understanding.

Because behind these people, there are more than just individuals.

As the saying goes, when one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit.

Behind them, there are huge clan forces. These clans, relying on nepotism, have unique advantages whether they are officials or doing other business.

Some close relatives, even local county magistrates or prefects, must be treated with courtesy.

In terms of business, it can be said that everything goes smoothly without any obstacles. It can be said that they will make huge profits based on their own power.

After listening to this, Zhu Gaochi frowned and asked, "I am familiar with all the families that mother mentioned, but what about Jiangnan?"

"Brother, what you mean is to integrate the many families in Jiangnan to form a force to work for our Ming Dynasty."

"But I have lived in Peking for a long time and know nothing about Jiangnan."

Zhu Gaochi was also very clear that as far as the current Ming Dynasty was concerned, it was said that the taxation in Jiangnan was the highest in the world. It could be said that when it came to doing business, Jiangnan was absolutely indispensable.

The level of wealth in the Jiangnan region is comparable only to that of the capital.

It can even be said that at the beginning, even the capital city had a huge gap.

That is the present capital. Under the management of the eldest brother, business has become increasingly prosperous and is already showing a trend of catching up with the Jiangnan region.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yihua couldn't help but reveal a look of reminiscence on her face.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaochi remained quiet and did not disturb them.

After a long while, Xu Yihua finally spoke: "If we talk about Jiangnan, there is one family that we absolutely cannot avoid."

"If Chi'er can deal with this family and integrate Jiangnan, it will become very easy."

Zhu Gaochi said quickly: "Please teach me, mother."

Xu Yihua sighed slightly, with some memories and some sighs in her tone: "That is the Zheng family, known as the number one family in Jiangnan."

There is a huge family in Jiangnan, which is said to have lived together for nine generations. They have lived together and eaten together for more than 360 years, spanning the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. At its peak, more than 3,000 people ate from the same pot. They were commended by the court many times, and Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang personally bestowed them with the title of "the first family in Jiangnan."

The first family in Jiangnan, also known as Zheng Yimen.

In fact, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Zheng family was once named the number one family in the world.

The last emperor of the Yuan Dynasty was called Yuan Shundi, and his reign was called Zhizheng. Yuan Shundi was both cruel and stupid.

He dismissed loyal officials and sent them into exile; he obeyed the treacherous officials. He ate, drank and had fun all day, not caring about the lives of the people.

The common people hated him so much that they rose up in rebellion. The situation was turbulent and the emperor's throne was about to fall.

At this time, Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty became panicked. On the one hand, he sent troops to suppress the various rebel forces. On the other hand, he used his deceptive tactics and sent a senior official to Zheng family of Zheng Yimen in Pujiang County, Jinhua Prefecture, Zhejiang Province to check the report that "crows and magpies live in the same nest, cats and dogs live in the same kennel, and brothers have the same mind". He wanted to publicize the peaceful scene of Zheng family of Zheng Yimen to win back the hearts of the people and consolidate his ruling position.

The imperial envoy received the order and traveled day and night to Zhejiang.

A few days later, they arrived at the entrance of Zhengyimen Village in Pujiang. The imperial envoy looked up and saw a thousand-year-old camphor tree at the entrance of the village. On the tree was a large bird's nest, with flocks of crows and magpies circling around it.

He nodded and praised: "It is true, crows and magpies share the same nest, what a peaceful scene!" After that, he asked the local officials about the Zheng family's "cats and dogs sharing the same nest" and "brothers of the same mind". The local officials did not dare to neglect him and hurriedly led the imperial envoy into the Zheng family to sit down and rest.

After the tea, the elders of the Zheng family led the imperial envoy to check the situation of "cats and dogs living in the same nest and eating the same food", and also checked the account books of the Zheng brothers who shared the same labor and money. They did not dare to neglect even a little bit.

The imperial envoy was very satisfied. When he returned to the central hall, he suddenly took out a package wrapped in yellow silk from his arms and shouted, "The imperial edict has arrived!" Zheng's parents and brothers were shocked when they heard the voice and knelt down to receive the edict.

The imperial envoy opened the package, took out a silk scroll and announced: "I govern the world with benevolence, promote loyalty and filial piety to prosper the country, and praise trust and loyalty to comfort the people. Now I hear that you are loyal, filial, trustworthy and righteous, so I specially give you two snow pears to praise your virtue.

So decreed! "

After the announcement, the imperial edict was placed on the incense table.

The Zheng family kowtowed to express their gratitude.

The imperial envoy said again: "Your Majesty, these two pears should be shared equally to show your loyalty."

The Zheng family has so many people, how are they going to share these two pears?

It turned out that the imperial envoy wanted to use this method to test them. The Zheng family thought hard but could not come up with a solution.

Later, they had to seek advice from the famous local teacher Song Lian. After Song Lian explained it to them, they finally came up with an idea.

Zheng immediately put the pears into a stone mortar and pounded them, and boiled a pot of water, poured the boiling water into the pounded pear juice, and then scooped them out in small bowls, one for each person, just the right amount, not too much, not too little. Then, the whole family raised their bowls and drank together.

At this point, the imperial envoy was satisfied. After returning to Kyoto, he reported to Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty the true situation of Zheng Yimen in Pujiang: "crows and magpies share the same nest, cats and dogs share the same kennel, and brothers share the same heart."

Emperor Shundi of Yuan Dynasty was so inspired that he wrote the five characters "The First Family in the World" and gave him a national treasure "Purple Crow Cup". He also sent officials to Zhengyi Gate to commend the gift along with the imperial edict.

After Emperor Shundi of Yuan Dynasty sent people to Zheng Yimen in Zhejiang to bestow a Chinese character, he went to the inner palace to drink and have fun. When the prime minister learned about Emperor Shundi's bestowal of a Chinese character, he asked Emperor Shundi in a hurry, "I heard that Your Majesty bestowed a Chinese character on Zheng family in Jiangnan. Is this true?" Emperor Shundi said, "Yes."

"Which words?"

“The best in the world.”

"So which family does His Majesty belong to?"

Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty was stunned.

The Prime Minister said urgently: "Your Majesty is the 'First Family in the World'. No matter how meritorious the Zheng family is, they cannot be called the 'First Family in the World'. I hope Your Majesty will think twice."

Emperor Shundi of Yuan Dynasty regretted deeply when he realized that he had written the wrong word.

His stomach turned, he gritted his teeth, and made a "kill" gesture with his hand.

He immediately issued an edict and sent a general with hundreds of light cavalry to kill the entire Zheng family of Zheng Yimen in Pujiang, who was known as "the number one family in the world."

The troops arrived at Zheng Yi Gate and surrounded the house. The general looked out the gate and was stunned.

It turns out that the huge plaque on the door does not read "The No. 1 Family in the World" but "The No. 1 Family in Jiangnan".

After listening to this, Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but laugh and said, "The Zheng family is quite smart. They know they can't bear the title of the world's number one family."

"But the Zheng family is really amazing. It has existed since the Song Dynasty, and has survived through the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor bestowed upon it the title of 'the first family in Jiangnan'."

Xu Yihua smiled and said, "Chi'er only knows one thing. At the end of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, when you were the general, could you retreat so easily? How could you not kill the people who came?"

"The Mongolian cavalry are the most vicious and greedy. How could they let the Zheng family go just because of the plaque of the No. 1 family in Jiangnan?"

Zhu Gaochi was stunned, and immediately realized that there was something hidden behind this.

So he asked, "Then how did the Zheng family escape from the Mongol general?"

Xu Yihua said: "Not only the generals of the Yuan Dynasty, but also the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, we have to give enough benefits."

"In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, when His Majesty personally bestowed the title of 'First Family in Jiangnan', he was also somewhat curious about this, so he asked the Zheng family how they had escaped."

"The Zheng family naturally dared not not answer, and the matter did not spread, but your father knew about it, and he also told your mother."

"There were 3,000 Mongolian cavalrymen at the time, and even the smallest cavalryman was given 100 taels of silver. The general in charge received a full 100,000 taels of silver before he agreed to let the Zheng family go and return to report."

"And the Zheng family also paid 80,000 taels of silver to the Mongol Emperor."

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but ask curiously: "How come the general got 100,000, but the emperor only got 80,000?"

Xu Yihua said: "Because the emperor is easier to fool than the general."

"The general is holding a knife in his hand. With just one order, the Zheng family will be wiped out. But the situation is different for the emperor."

"The general's sword has no constraints, but the emperor's decree has many constraints on powerful officials."

"Of course, the Zheng family spent only these 600,000 or 700,000 taels of silver to get through various links in the Mongol Yuan Dynasty court, and bribed the confidants around the Mongol Yuan Emperor, spending more than 400,000 taels of silver and a large number of antique calligraphy and paintings, which made the Mongol Yuan Emperor withdraw his decree."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaochi immediately started to think about it in his mind.

The total amount is more than one million taels.

Among them, three thousand soldiers received 300,000 taels of silver, and the Mongolian general received 100,000 taels of silver.

The Mongol Emperor received 80,000 taels of silver.

But in the end, he not only spent more than 400,000 taels of silver to establish connections in the imperial court, but also paid with antique calligraphy and paintings of inestimable value.

By this calculation, the ones who spend the most are the civil servants and the least are the emperor.

Seeing his mother's meaningful eyes, Zhu Gaochi suddenly understood many things in his heart.

But at the same time, he was also a little curious: "Grandpa Emperor bestowed the title of Jiangnan Family, so doesn't the Zheng Family have any expression?"

Xu Yihua smiled and said, "With your grandfather's ability, how could he grant it so easily when he imposed such heavy taxes on Jiangnan?"

"As far as I know, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, among all the families in Jiangnan, the Zheng family has paid the most."

"Behind the title of the No. 1 family in Jiangnan are three million dan of grain, three hundred thousand taels of gold, five hundred thousand taels of silver, a thousand acres of fertile land, a thousand fine horses, and countless pieces of cloth, silk, and other goods."

"It can be said that the entire Zheng family's assets were emptied by your royal grandfather, and only then did they become the number one family in Jiangnan today."