Chapter 927 War and Merchants
Even in modern times, water transportation is the most cost-effective. In this backward era, water transportation has countless advantages over land transportation.
When Yuan Shu vigorously developed the navy and water transportation, all the aristocratic families understood this.
Among the groups of aristocratic families in the world today, the strongest one is still the Yangzhou aristocratic family. Being able to break out of the siege of Yuzhou, Sili and other aristocratic families with deep roots and take the lead as a rising star, the Yangzhou aristocratic family does not just rely on seizing the opportunity.
So simple, and their shipbuilding technology.
When it comes to shipbuilding, who among the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty can compare with the two states of Jingyang? Yangzhou, in particular, is second to none in terms of developed water transportation and has countless outstanding shipwrights. Although Yuan Shu had many regulations and restrictions on merchants, he also
It provides a lot of guarantees, allowing countless caravans and fleets to come and go.
From Yingzhou, Jingzhou, Jiaozhou, Liaodong at the beginning, to Qingzhou and Jizhou now, Yangzhou merchant ships are everywhere.
The advantage of sea trade is eight blocks higher than that of ordinary trade. Even if the merchants of Yangzhou only lose all their worth to buy a ship of linen and rent a ship, they can easily earn back several times or even hundreds of thousands of dollars by successfully traveling to Yingzhou and other countries in the southwest.
Ten times the profit.
The Mi family and the Zhen family, who started their careers with Yuan Shu, are now the richest people in the world. Their status can no longer be defined solely as merchants, but can be compared with ordinary third-rate families.
Don't underestimate this so-called third-rate family. You must know that the low status of merchants in the Han Dynasty is simply appalling. In history, the brothers of the Mi family, who had been working for Liu Bei all their lives, almost lost their money. What did they receive in the end? What could they have?
This kind of treatment is already the result of Yuan Shu's special permission.
No matter how weak the aristocratic family is, it is still an aristocratic family, and how can it be compared with that of a mere merchant.
Although Yuan Shu publicly supported merchants, there was still an insurmountable gap between aristocratic families and merchants. Almost all aristocratic families were secretly wary of and suppressing merchants, and merchants' status was still at the bottom, not much better than farmers and workers.
Of course, this was also the result of Yuan Shu's secret acquiescence.
Don't think that merchants are very weak and kind and think that they are kind and can be bullied. Yuan Shu knew this very well. If he blindly supported merchants and placed merchants alongside aristocratic families, the harm these merchants could cause would be far more terrifying than that of aristocratic families.
Once let go, the integrity of businessmen will definitely be much lower than that of aristocratic families. The demise of the Ming Dynasty is a typical example. At least aristocratic families still value their roots and reputation, but many businessmen are alone, without family restrictions, so what if they are just for profit.
All can be done.
Use aristocratic families to suppress merchants, use academies and poor families to check and balance aristocratic families, and ensure the interests of workers and peasants. This is the fundamental strategy that Yuan Shu has always pursued.
The further he walked, the more Yuan Shu felt how naive his original idea was. There were reasons why the aristocratic family was chosen by this era. Although Yuan Shu had been restricting the aristocratic family and supporting academies, poor families and businessmen, he still did not change the management of the aristocratic family.
The dominant position. Liberating land and knowledge from the hands of aristocratic families is the limit of what Yuan Shu can achieve. It is still necessary for aristocratic families to take charge of this era and launch academies to compete in the arena.
Ultimately, balance is fundamental.
…
Jinling, Longkou Port. A fleet of the Mi family is preparing to go out to sea. Dozens of large ships are lined up in front and back, which is very majestic and spectacular.
On top of the largest cargo ship in the middle, Mi Ling, one of the direct descendants of the Mi family, was looking at the chart on the table with a solemn expression, and kept sketching it with a pen.
On the side, an old man with a kind face was watching this scene with a happy face.
"Uncle De, what do you think of this sea route?" After a while, the young man suddenly pointed to a route he had drawn and asked the old man beside him.
"If the wind blows from the southwest when we pass through the southwest sea, the speed along this sea route will be faster, and we should be able to save nearly two days." The young man's eyes were full of confidence.
The old man smiled and nodded, while pointing to a few points on the map, he said slowly: "Master, you are right, it will indeed be faster to take this road. But this sea road is a little far from our garrison point in Da Chu.
, and the climate in this sea area has been abnormal recently, so it is not appropriate to choose this route this time."
"But young master, you can find that this road is already very powerful. When the climate in this sea area stabilizes, other merchant ships of the family can use this road."
Hearing this, the young man's mouth twitched slightly. Suddenly he turned his eyes and whispered: "Uncle De, what exactly are we transporting to the body this time?"
"Master, why do you ask? Aren't we just transporting some grain, tea and cloth this time?" Uncle De narrowed his eyes, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and said.
"Young Master." Mi Ling rolled his eyes: "The master of the house asked you to follow the boat personally, and also asked me to listen to your words many times. How could it be that it's just some food, grass, cloth, etc. It must not be that simple."
How can he not know if others don't know? Don't look at the fact that the old man in front of you is only a servant of the Mi family in name, but he has been serving the Mi family for decades and has been with Mi Zhu since he was a child. His status is no higher than that of his young master.
How much difference.
"The young master is indeed smart, and the master of the house did not misjudge the person." The old man said with great joy: "Young master, you might as well guess again, what is our luck?"
"Since it is so covered up, it must be something that cannot be told. Could it be that it is prohibited?" Mi Ling thought for a moment and suddenly said.
"We have arranged so many ships to transport body poison. Could it be that the ships are carrying a large amount of ordnance?" Mi Ling suddenly asked in surprise.
"You are worthy of being a young master, and worthy of being so valued by the family master." The old man was not surprised and said with a smile.
"The head of the family is confused!" Mi Ling was not happy at all to be praised in this way. With a look of panic on his face, he lowered his voice and said, "Smuggling arms to a foreign country without permission is a crime of treason. Why does our Mi family do this?"
The old man did not panic at all and said calmly: "Don't worry, young master, the master of the house has always been far-sighted, so how could he do such a short-sighted move? This batch of goods was secretly transported under the order of the government."
"The government asked our Mi family to secretly transport weapons to poison our bodies? Why is this?" Mi Ling asked in confusion.
"Master, as a businessman, the most important thing is to have foresight. You are the leader of this generation of the Mi family, and you must have a long-term vision, and you cannot just focus on business." The old man pointed out.
"As a businessman, the head of the family was able to lead the Mi family to its current position. It was not just about kindness and luck. Only by looking further can we take the right path. War is not only for the army, but also for businessmen.
The best stage. Whether the Mi family can completely gain a foothold depends on the next step."
Chapter completed!