Clearly, none of them realized they had fallen into a trap, so the five gentry and wealthy men all became excited and looked at Zhu Yunwen.
They never expected that before they could even figure out how to profit from Zhu Yunwen's scheme, he would invite them to join him.
So they all spoke up, asking Zhu Yunwen to suggest a solution.
Zhu Yunwen smiled and said:
“We can start a fundraising campaign, and let the wealthy people in the city donate money and grain. After we collect all their grain and money, we can divide half of it and use the other half to help the disaster victims.”
Upon hearing this, the eyes of the five gentry and wealthy men lit up.
The fat, wealthy man stood up excitedly and said:
"Your Highness is truly talented! Such a method is absolutely brilliant! It doesn't use the court's grain or embezzle its funds. We're simply distributing the donated portion as a reward for our hard work. Isn't that fair?"
Everyone nodded in agreement:
"Not at all, not at all, not even a tiny bit is excessive!"
However, Zhu Yunwen frowned and said:
"The idea is good, but there's still a problem: why should people make money? Why should they donate food?"
Upon hearing this, all five gentry and wealthy men were stunned.
Thinking about it carefully, it's true. As gentry and wealthy people, they were the richest and had the most grain in Hukou County. If they didn't donate, why should they ask other rich people and people with grain, or even ordinary people, to donate grain and money?
Isn't that unreasonable?
The problem has reached a stalemate.
Everyone fell silent, seemingly unable to come up with a solution.
Seeing everyone's worried expressions, Zhu Yunwen knew they had taken the bait again.
Then Zhu Yunwen's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said:
"I've got another idea!"
The five gentry and wealthy men immediately looked at Zhu Yunwen excitedly, and Zhu Yunwen said:
"Someone needs to take the lead!"
Upon hearing this, everyone agreed that the logic made sense.
The old man said:
"But the person who takes the lead cannot just be anyone; they must have a reputation and prestige."
The fat, wealthy businessman said:
"A certain level of credibility is also required."
The middle-aged man from the prominent family stood up and said:
"You need to have a certain status first."
The other two wealthy businessmen said:
"They need to contribute more money and more food so that they can motivate others."
Zhu Yunwen smiled!
See? These little fat sheep are very clear about their own positioning.
Most importantly, these little sheep have fattened themselves up to be quite plump.
But he sat down in front of Zhu Yunwen, thus exposing himself.
The key issue is that they haven't realized they themselves are the fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
Zhu Yunwen pretended to look worried and said:
“What you say makes a lot of sense, but where in Hukou County can we find someone like that to take the lead?”
The five gentry and wealthy men looked at each other, then stood up and said:
"That's us, isn't it?"
Zhu Yunwen was taken aback:
"Really? You...you guys are it? Oh, yes, you guys are it."
His surprised expression was immediately followed by a statement to the five excited gentry and wealthy men:
"But...wouldn't that be too unfair to you?"
The five gentry and wealthy men all shook their heads:
"I'm not wronged, I'm not wronged at all!"
In their view, how could they possibly feel wronged by such a lucrative opportunity?
Zhu Yunwen looked relieved upon hearing their words.
"Then let's do it this way: you five gentry and wealthy people will take the lead in donating money and grain, and in this way, the other rich and ordinary people in this county will also have no choice but to donate money and grain."
"At that time, everyone here will have their money returned in full. We'll split the raised grain and money fifty-fifty. We'll keep fifty percent, and the remaining fifty percent will be used to provide relief to the disaster victims."
The five wealthy gentry members slammed their fists on the table in excitement:
"Your Highness is wise!"
"The imperial grandson is truly a divine being!"
"We follow His Highness the Imperial Grandson's lead without question."
"Of that fifty percent, no matter how much His Highness the Crown Prince gives us, we will be more than happy to accept it."
For them, this is a way to make money with no risk and high returns.
Because in their view, the food and money they led the donation of would eventually be returned.
He was just setting an example for everyone.
However, they are able to share in the money donated by others, which is of course a costless thing.
Seeing how excited they were, Zhu Yunwen was also very excited.
Because he used this method to get these gentry and wealthy people to donate money willingly, ultimately giving them an empty reputation.
Even if they don't pay back the money, there's nothing they can do.
We can't make a big fuss about this and say they're just putting on an act, can we?
What about the reputation of those gentry and wealthy people?
Therefore, Zhu Yunwen has them cornered in this round.
And they were helpless about it.
After all, Zhu Yunwen was the emperor's grandson, so what could they possibly do to a grandson of the emperor?
Although the gentry and local elites have a great influence on society.
However, their mere gentry clan of one county was unable to incite more gentry clans to cause a major upheaval.
After all, what they did was something that couldn't be done openly, and they couldn't even publicly state the reasons behind it.
If your teeth are broken, you can only swallow them; you absolutely cannot spit them out.
With the plan finalized, Zhu Yunwen prepared to have dinner with these gentry and wealthy people.
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