Chapter Five: Using Commerce to Regulate Commerce

A whole large basin of crayfish was devoured in no time.

The four of them—father and sons—all had their hands and mouths smeared with the savory broth.

The youngest, Princess Jiangdu, was still savoring the taste, sucking her fingers with lingering delight.

Such a scene had never before occurred in the Eastern Palace, nor anywhere else within the entire royal household!

“Xiongying, these strange little creatures… uh, no… crayfish, right? Where did they come from? How have I never seen them before?”

Zhu Biao was born during Zhu Yuanzhang’s uprising. He had traveled extensively with his father but had never encountered such a thing.

“Of course, Master gave them to me!”

Whenever he couldn’t find a reasonable excuse, Zhu Xiongying planned to attribute it all to that elusive immortal master.

If anyone had the courage, they could go ask or verify it themselves!

“Oh? You really met an immortal?” Zhu Biao remained skeptical.

“Of course!” Zhu Xiongying nodded confidently.

“Then… did the immortal say anything about the floods?”

He and several ministers had been occupied until nightfall dealing with the threat of floods.

If it really happened, who knew what chaos would ensue!

“No.”

“Did he offer any solutions?”

“No.”

Without hesitation, Zhu Xiongying shook his head.

“Sigh…”

Zhu Biao wiped his hands with a damp cloth and sighed helplessly. “If the floods come true, grain prices will skyrocket. The people won’t have money to buy food, and countless will suffer!”

“Why not just forbid the prices from rising…?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhu Xiongying realized the flaw.

There were no commerce laws in this era; prices were set entirely by merchants.

Each city had only a few large grain merchants, who could easily collude to raise prices as they wished.

At the same time, these merchants communicated with others in different regions.

If they wished, within a few days, grain prices nationwide could be standardized.

They wouldn’t even give you the chance to profit by reselling!

“Sigh! Grain is in their hands; the court can’t just force them!”

Zhu Biao felt even more helpless.

“Then use merchants to control merchants!”

Zhu Xiongying blurted out almost instinctively.

He had completely forgotten that he was now inhabiting the body of a seven-year-old child!

“Use merchants to control merchants…?”

Zhu Biao looked at his son suspiciously and sat down beside him.

“Did the immortal say that too?”

“No, no, no! That was my own idea!”

He couldn’t pin everything on the immortal; otherwise, Zhu Biao would nag about why he hadn’t told him sooner.

He couldn’t possibly tell him everything he knew.

Tell him that Empress Ma would die next year?

That he himself would die in ten years?

That Zhu Yunwen would ascend the throne, Zhu Di would rebel, and the Ming dynasty would last barely two hundred years?

Besides, he couldn’t fully believe it all himself!

Even if he did, it wouldn’t change anything.

Of course, he had no intention of saying these things.

After all, he had transmigrated here.

With the system extending his life.

Relying on knowledge from the future, he could rewrite history!

“Quick! Tell me, how do you use merchants to control merchants?”

Zhu Biao immediately perked up, scooting his stool closer to Zhu Xiongying.

His fervor was as if he hadn’t just scolded his son earlier.

“Well… this ‘use merchants to control merchants’…”

The little boy stood barefoot on the chair, deliberately dragging out the last syllables, making Zhu Biao hold his breath in anticipation.

After a long pause, he finally uttered three words softly: “Crayfish!”

Hearing those words, Zhu Biao felt disappointed.

“Crayfish do taste good! But using them to counterbalance grain merchants? Are you joking? Do you think those merchants are all like you, a greedy seven-year-old?”

He stood up immediately and started to leave.

Zhu Xiongying didn’t hurry to stop him; instead, he leaned against the chair, crossing his legs.

“The coarse salt tastes bitter and harsh. Did you notice a slight bitterness in the crayfish just now?”

Zhu Biao suddenly stopped in his tracks, as if remembering something.

Turning around, he saw the little boy holding a paper packet.

Inside the packet was pure, snow-white, finely refined salt.

Zhu Xiongying had extracted it from the coarse salt used in the Eastern Palace kitchen!

There was no other way—salt in this era was bitter and harsh, even in the palace; it was almost undrinkable.

If he didn’t refine some himself, all he could eat was plain rice porridge!

Zhu Biao rubbed his eyes hard, carefully examining it, still finding it hard to believe.

“This… this… is… salt?”

“That’s right!”

The little boy nodded firmly.

Nearby, Princess Yilun and Princess Jiangdu looked on wide-eyed.

“Wow! Such white, fine salt!”

“I’ve never seen salt this good before!”

Though they lived in the palace and had access to the best salt, this was far superior.

Zhu Biao dipped a finger into the salt and tasted it.

At once, his eyes lit up. “Xiongying, where did you get this?”

As crown prince, he naturally understood the importance of salt.

Putting together what his son had said before, something suddenly clicked.

If this could be mass-produced, maybe there was a way to counter the grain merchants!

Zhu Xiongying pointed towards the backyard and said, “I took the coarse salt from the kitchen’s salt jar and refined it myself!”

Hearing this, Zhu Biao’s eyes shone brighter.

“Oh? So you know how to make this fine salt?”

“Of course! Otherwise, Father, how do you think those delicious crayfish were made?”

“Good, good, good! Excellent…!”

Zhu Biao excitedly lifted his son into his arms. “Xiongying, can you explain in more detail? If the grain merchants raise prices, how exactly can we use fine salt to counter them?”

“First, of course, spread the word that the treasury holds large grain reserves and that grain will be released soon to stabilize prices. This will make the merchants nervous and prevent them from raising prices too high in the short term!”

“Next, find trustworthy people in court to pose as foreign salt merchants selling refined salt!”

“Merchants always seek profit; this move will surely attract grain merchants and wealthy households. Then…”

Zhu Xiongying lowered his voice and explained carefully to Zhu Biao.

The more Zhu Biao listened, the brighter his eyes grew, nodding repeatedly.

“Brilliant! Truly brilliant! Tomorrow I will inform His Majesty early and prepare accordingly!”

Zhu Xiongying smiled quietly, already plotting in his mind: when refining salt, he must skim a profit.

This was something everyone needed.

The profits would be endless.

He would never have to worry about money again!