Ming Dynasty: Empress Ma and I swapped clothes!

Chapter 95 Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous intent returned!

The more Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Ma Wenxiang, the more irritated he became. He eventually lost all patience and went straight to the point: "Besides the refined salt method, do you have any other methods for this treasure trove?"

"Use everything you have. The nation is desperately short of money right now. If we can gather this money, we might consider sparing your life. But if not..."

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could finish speaking, he began making threats right there, truly befitting a bandit.

"Then we'll show no mercy. Although we can't take your life or hurt you, don't you have other family members?"

"We're counting on you to figure out exactly what to do."

Zhu Yuanzhang truly was an emperor; his methods as a ruler were indeed insidious and cunning, employing any means necessary.

The word "conscience" probably doesn't even exist in his dictionary.

Ma Wenxiang silently complained to himself.

"Could they still be saying bad things about us right now?"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly smiled.

Ma Wenxiang's body trembled violently, then he shook his head rapidly: "This humble subject certainly has it, certainly does. However, it cannot be developed in a short time; this humble subject needs time."

This sounds reasonable, since even the process of refining salt in the palace took three to five days from start to finish.

Subsequently, under pressure from Zhu Yuanzhang, Ma Wenxiang reluctantly handed over all the technologies he possessed.

In the blink of an eye, a list was copied out in the Qianqing Palace, listing the methods for making refined salt, soap, and icing sugar, as well as various other essential items.

Although it was just a list, the meaning could be understood from the names and words, so Zhu Yuanzhang was able to roughly understand the intricacies of it and asked if they were all records from those nameless ancient books.

Ma Wenxiang immediately nodded in agreement.

Revealing his identity as a time traveler?

Don't even think about it.

He was naturally timid, but not as brave as other transmigrators, so he gave this opportunity to someone else.

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, it was unclear whether he believed him or not.

However, Ma Wenxiang felt that the other party believed him, so he did not investigate further.

"We must develop these methods as soon as possible; the nation needs the money."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke slowly, waving his hand as if to end the topic.

But at that moment, Ma Wenxiang suddenly became bolder and shook his head slightly.

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately smiled.

Is it that Old Zhu is too weak to lift a knife, or is this person in front of him so audacious that he dares to disobey him?

"Kid, if you think you can look down on us just because our sister is protecting you, then you've got the wrong idea."

"This humble subject dares not."

Ma Wenxiang immediately spoke up, "I simply have a suggestion that I would like to explain to Your Majesty in detail."

"Listen to this."

Zhu Yuanzhang, with his legs crossed, stepped out from behind the imperial desk and strode over to Ma Wenxiang with the air of a dragon and the gait of a tiger. His dragon eyes were fixed on Ma Wenxiang, and he spoke, each word piercing to the heart.

"If what you say makes sense, we can forgive you; if it doesn't, we'll calculate the time and torture you thoroughly first, then heal you on the day of the body swap."

"That way, it won't affect our sister."

Upon hearing this suggestion, Ma Wenxiang swallowed hard, and his gaze turned resentful once again.

How come there are so many clever people in this world? They're all playing the time difference game without any scruples?

Ma Wenxiang sighed, then gave up the idea of ​​resistance, and solemnly bowed.

At least this attitude must be maintained, otherwise, with Zhu Tianzi constantly threatening to kill, Ma Wenxiang's fragile heart simply cannot bear it.

"May I ask Your Majesty, what is the purpose of the imperial examination system?"

Ma Wenxiang suddenly said that this topic seemed to have nothing to do with the treasure bowl from earlier.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't think much of it for a moment and answered directly, as was the standard response: "It is to select the most talented people in the world for the court to govern the region."

Isn't this precisely the meaning behind your scholarly approach of governing the world and benefiting the people?

When Zhu Yuanzhang spoke, Ma Wenxiang nodded, then shook his head: "That's one thing. The second is to win over the patriots of the world."

This allowed them to focus all their attention on the imperial examination, spending their entire lives studying the scriptures.

In this way, their energy cannot be diverted to other areas.

Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent, but his gaze toward Ma Wenxiang suddenly flashed with a cold light.

Ma Wenxiang, with his head down, didn't see it and continued his previous topic: "And the same applies to economics and trade."

In this world, it has always been men who rebel, but there has never been any reason for women to rebel.

If one wishes to control all the men in the world and exploit all the women, thereby manipulating them, how should one do it?

It is naturally a matter of money.

If all the men in the world are preoccupied with money, spending half their lives exhausting themselves on their daughters and sons, they will be too weak to do anything else.

If this continues generation after generation, the foundation of our Great Ming Dynasty can be preserved for generations to come.

Ma Wenxiang's words did not intimidate Zhu Yuanzhang, because this method had been practiced and the concept had been expressed by people throughout history, but none as directly as Ma Wenxiang.

"continue."

Zhu Yuanzhang uttered two large words, clearly wanting to see what other arguments Ma Wenxiang could come up with.

After listening, Ma Wenxiang thought that the Zhou emperor was encouraging him, so he became a little bolder than before, chuckled softly, and continued, "So, it is just like the way merchants make profits."

If they were all put on the market of the Ming Dynasty, firstly, even though the economy in the south is developed and prosperous, people would be short of money if they wanted to buy them all, and even if their wives and concubines longed for them, they would not be able to do such a greedy thing.

Therefore, we might as well launch them one by one: first, this year we will stir up the world's profits with the method of refined salt, and when the tide has subsided, we will take the method of soap and launch it into the market.

This ensured that the wealthy and powerful families always had a surplus of money in their coffers, but never an excess.

In this way, during the reign of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty, all these silver coins could be deposited into the national treasury and the imperial palace every year.

In this way, the nation's wealth and the nation's resources can be used for the people's livelihood and the country's well-being, for the front lines, and also to lighten the burden on the ordinary people.

Only after Ma Wenxiang spoke these words did he truly express his thoughts.

It wasn't some vague philosophy of governance, but rather the practical way of business—how to better earn money from wealthy and powerful families.