In the banquet hall of the Li Mansion, Li Maocai quietly changed the tea for his father and the two distinguished guests.

The candlelight flickered, the lights were dim, and the atmosphere was far from harmonious.

Zhang Juzheng's explanation did not satisfy Li Chunfang. He was not a three-year-old child. How could he not know that once sea transportation became the main force, the status of the canal would be weakened, and then the entire canal transportation group would be marginalized. Then the day when the canal would be silted up and the coastal cities would decline would not be far away.

Although Li Chunfang's hometown Xinghua County is under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture, it is geographically closer to Huai'an and has closer economic ties. Although his brother has become one of the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou and has original shares of Jiangnan Group, he can be said to have a golden rice bowl. But no one wants to see his hometown decline when he is in power. How can he explain this to his parents and fellow villagers when he returns?

Moreover, he was not acting purely out of selfish motives...

Li Chunfang sorted out his thoughts and said in a deep voice, "I am not exaggerating. Before the grain transport by sea, the grain transport workers were already in an uproar. It is said that the nobles in Nanjing even thought of kidnapping Master Zhao, but he used the same trick to frame them. He forced them to send their children to Suzhou to surrender, and then sent them to Xishan Island to do forced labor. With these hostages in his hands, the grain transport group was afraid to act rashly and dared not to act again."

Gancao Guolao was also well-informed. Even Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were unaware of these things.

"Really?" Gao Gong frowned slightly, thinking that he knew that boy was not a good person.

Zhang Juzheng's anger flashed across his face and no one knew what annoying thing he was thinking about.

"But one Royal Shipping is already the limit of their patience. Now there is another Ministry of Revenue Shipping, how can they be allowed to live?" He glanced at the two men and lowered his voice and said, "Even rabbits bite when they are angry, not to mention that they are hundreds of thousands of strong men!"

"Mr. Yuan's concerns are justified, but I have already discussed this with Mr. Ge." Gao Gong knew that Li Chunfang represented the Caoyun Group at the moment, so he had to respond carefully to avoid any future trouble.

"In the future, shipping can be jointly managed by the Ministry of Revenue and the Canal Transport Office. The Qingjiang Shipyard will build seagoing ships, and the canal workers will be transformed into sailors. Wouldn't that solve all the problems?" Gao Gong looked at Zhang Juzheng and said with a smile, "You can come forward later and ask your son-in-law to give us some guidance and give us some business. Although the Royal Shipping has the name of the royal family, to put it bluntly, it is still a private merchant group. How can private enterprises monopolize shipping? The right way is for officials and civilians to help each other. They should help us more, because we represent the court."

"Hehe..." Zhang Juzheng smiled and nodded, responding vaguely.

"When the time comes, our departure point will still be Huai'an. Now Mr. Yuan has given an explanation to the elders and fellow villagers, right?" Gao Gong suppressed his impatience and said to Li Chunfang.

"Mr. Xuan has thought it through very thoroughly. I am deeply grateful." Li Chunfang nodded with emotion, but then asked in a low voice: "But I would like to ask one more question. How big is the scale of this shipping fleet?"

"The ships have to be built slowly. In the future, we should have at least 400 1,000-ton sea-going ships, right?" Gao Gong replied.

"I heard that seagoing ships don't need tows or oars, they rely entirely on sails, so they need very few sailors. Four hundred thousand-ton ships would only need eight to ten thousand sailors at most, right?" Li Chunfang said with a worried look on his face, "It won't work if we only use ten thousand sailors for the hundreds of thousands of sailors. It will cause a big mess."

"Another million canal workers' livelihood depends on this?" Gao Gong finally couldn't help but snorted coldly, "The court should have let go of this big burden long ago. But we won't rashly lay them off. We'll just keep them employed for a few years and then slowly find a way out for them."

"Mr. Xuan thinks the problem is too simple." Li Chunfang shook his head decisively and asked mysteriously: "Do the two elders know Luo Sect?"

"I've heard of it. It's also called Wuwei Sect." Gao Gong nodded and said, "I heard that it was founded by a Shandong man named Luo Qing in the early years of Jiajing. It has developed rapidly in the past few decades. It is based on canal sailors and has many believers."

In the Ming Dynasty, there were endless folk religions, which were magnificent. There were such sects as Bai Lian, Wen Xiang, Wu Wei, Mahayana, Maitreya, etc. There were dozens of successful ones, which were the main support for the common people to resist exploitation by the government and gentry.

"Do you two know why the Luo Sect has developed so fast?" Li Chunfang asked again.

"I heard that the canal workers and the people along the canal basically believe in Wuwei. They use the places where the canal workers stay as their headquarters. They are well organized and their doctrines are very simple. It is said that they do not establish any written words or worship idols. As long as they are empty and pure and do nothing, and have a devout faith, they can return to their 'unborn parents' in their 'homeland of emptiness' after death." Zhang Juzheng replied:

"It is also said that converting people to religion can bring merit, so wherever the canal ships sailed, the sailors would spontaneously spread the word. As a result, in just a few decades, Wuwei Sect had become a major sect with millions of followers. It is said that many scholars and officials also became their 'old officials'."

"Old official" is a respectful title among Luojiao believers. Zhang Juzheng even knew this, which shows that he is more knowledgeable and has a better memory than Gao Gong.

"You two really know everything." Li Chunfang couldn't help but sigh. It was so sad to be in the cabinet with these two people. If it were decades ago, I, the Prime Minister, would not be bad. But when I met these two dazzling people, I seemed mediocre.

"There is another fundamental reason why Luojiao has developed so fast, and that is that the boatmen have such a hard time." Li Chunfang changed the subject and said, "They are the ones who pull the boats all the way to Beijing. Not only is the labor intensive, but they are also exploited by the Canal Transport Office and the General's Office. The sluice gates and dams along the way are also exploited. They work hard for a year and can only feed themselves. If the boat capsizes, they have to pay for it themselves. If they can't pay, they will be beaten and imprisoned. They are very depressed and see no hope."

"The emergence of Luojiao not only gave them spiritual sustenance, but also gave them an organization to fight against the government, which allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief. Therefore, the canal soldiers became more pious, and Luojiao became more powerful. Even the canal transport commander's office did not dare to confront them head-on." Li Chunfang sighed and said:

"The foundation of the Luo Sect lies in the canal and the grain transport workers. No matter from which angle, they will strongly oppose the grain transport office to switch to sea transport." He said firmly: "I dare to say this. When the grain transport office switches to sea transport, it will be the day of chaos along the canal. Mr. Xuan must be careful!"

Gao Gong certainly understood what Li Chunfang meant. To Luo Jiao, it was no problem for the canal to maintain its status quo. In fact, the worse the situation of the canal workers was, the stronger they would become. Therefore, whether from the perspective of maintaining their own authority or for the purpose of eliminating the internal contradictions of the canal workers, they would strongly oppose the canal workers going out to sea.

"The canal can't sustain big waves. If you have built a strong fence, are you afraid of a cult rebellion? If those nobles in Nanjing can't even handle their own subordinates, I will just start a new group and make them roll as far away as possible!" Although Gao Gong was alert in his heart, he said nonchalantly, "If you are like Wu Dalang hunting - afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind, then there is nothing to do."

"Oh, okay. Anyway, I have said everything that should and should not be said, Mr. Xuan." Li Chunfang nodded and said no more.

~~

After that, the three prime ministers tacitly stopped talking about business and began to recall how they were in the Hanlin Academy, drinking and singing poems, and giving advice to the world.

When the clock struck nine, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng toasted Li Chunfang with a final glass of wine, wishing Yuan Weng a safe journey and a happy old age, and then said goodbye and left.

With the help of Li Maocai, Li Chunfang escorted the two university scholars out the door. At that time, the waning moon was like a hook, and the east wind was intoxicating.

No matter what, it was enough for him to finish what he wanted to say. Whether Gao Gong listened or not was none of his business.

After watching the two sedan chairs leave for a long time, Li Chunfang sighed with loss. His career as the prime minister above everyone else was completely over.

After seeing Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng's performance today, he knew that he had no hope of recovery... The Ming Dynasty would definitely be turned upside down by these two. Even if the emperor really wanted to ask him to come out of retirement, Li Chunfang would never dare to wade into this muddy water again.

It’s good to stop thinking about it, and go home to enjoy life with peace of mind.

Thinking of this, he asked Li Maocai beside him: "Are you going back with me, or are you staying?"

"My son, you're back at the academy. I haven't finished editing the Ancient Economic History that our master asked me to do." Li Maocai said as a matter of course.

In fact, if his father had not retired, he would never have returned to this "rotten and smelly" home.

"Oh, what is Ancient Economic History?" Li Chunfang was quite open-minded and didn't force him to go back with her to study. Besides, what better place to study than Xiangshan Academy?

"It is to sort out the changes in productivity and production relations in successive dynasties from the vast sea of ​​historical materials; the severity of taxes and corvée labor; the burden and income of the people, as well as their living conditions. It is also necessary to conduct an in-depth study of the industrial and commercial dynamics of each dynasty to gain a glimpse of the overall picture of social and economic development in each dynasty."

Li Maocai said proudly: "Master said that the academy will offer a compulsory course in economics in the future. I will be the teacher's substitute when the time comes."

"This is quite interesting." Although Li Chunfang seemed to understand, his eyes lit up and he said, "The longer I deal with state affairs, the more I know that moral articles are useless in governing the country and benefiting the people. It is indeed necessary to learn this knowledge well."

He patted his son on the shoulder and said, "Learn from your master and work hard. You may not be worse than your father in the future."

"Of course." Li Maocai raised his head proudly. Then he remembered that his father had become the Prime Minister of the Cabinet... It was difficult to be as good as him.

"You can go back tonight." Li Chunfang hardened his heart.

"Ah? The son has to see his father off tomorrow." Li Maocai asked puzzledly.

"Just come back tomorrow morning." Li Chunfang lowered his voice and said, "Tell your master everything you heard tonight. This will be your way of apologizing to him."

"Yes, father." Li Maocai then realized that his father wanted him to go and report the news.