Road (7)

I can't give you what you want, but what I want is what you don't want. Gao Deyong quietly held Qing'er's hands, not knowing what to say or how to express it. A pain in his heart, who was already numb by the smell of money in the business world, had caused no reason to be hurt. For some reason, this little girl can always touch his tenderness, from the first sight of her from the human traffickers until now.

"Master, when I was a child, I heard that there was a Venice in the Mediterranean. The merchants bought management rights from the king themselves. When you are tired of making money, let's go there." The little girl on her back said from her nostrils with tiredness.

"I have also heard of that place. If you have time, let's go and take a look. It is said that the people there respect the most who can make money." Gao Deyong agreed with a sigh that if it is possible, he would rather buy an enclave on the southeast coast. After all, it is closer to home. Qing'er is a person without a hometown, and he, Gao and fat man, dreaming of his own country wherever he goes.

A few low coughs came from outside the house, and Gao Fu, a native of the family, reported outside the door: "My master Xu, Mr. Xu of Xu and Mr. Zhan from Zhan Ji Insurance Bank are asking for a meeting!"

"Please ask them to go to the living room to use tea, saying that I will go out after I finish the bill." Gao Deyong agreed reluctantly, then patted Qing'er's hand and signaled her to go to receive the guests together. Xiao Qing'er pouted and kissed Gao Deyong, rubbed her from his back, and tidied her clothes for the two of them.

"Brother Gao, do you really need Wu Hou to come out of the mountain after three visits?" In the living room, Xu Zhichen, the shopkeeper of Xu Jibiao No. , asked with some dissatisfaction.

Fatty Gao laughed dryly and replied modestly: "It is enough to have you two share the worries for Marquis Wu, so how can you use Gao? Besides, Gao was originally silly and had a sloppy business, so it was really hard to get out of it."

"Come on, if your fat man Gao's business is chaotic, our business is just a mess. Who doesn't know that your Gao family's industry has been opened from the river to Yizhou? I think you are reluctant to leave the golden pit of the Beijing stock market." Zhan Zhen said without forgiveness. His performance today was very strange. He was the same shirkish attitude as Gao Deyong, showing confusing enthusiasm.

"Gao really has something to do this time. I was just redeeming the account with Qing'er. If you don't believe me, please ask her. Didn't you be very busy two days ago? Why, I suddenly have time this time?" Gao Deyong looked sincere and said that he dared to swear to the sky.

"Okay, you say duck, Qing'er will definitely say a flat mouth for you. I won't compete with you master and servant." Zhan Zhen was a little embarrassed by Fatty Gao's question, and did not hide it for himself. While making Gao Deyong joke, he explained: "Fatty, I really didn't want to go to the capital before. It was under the feet of the emperor, and it doesn't look like a place for our businessmen to stay. But yesterday Uncle Zhang Wu looked for me, and he said it well, why can't we huddle down on the wings of Marquis Wu for the rest of our lives? Now Wu Hou talks for us. In the future, if Marquis Wu doesn't have time to pay attention to us, or doesn't want to talk for us, we will meet such a huge capital city.

Who should I go to? Since the emperor and the marquis look down on us this time, we will at least give Beijing a chance to do business. Since ancient times, the officials do business, the government does not need to look at us directly, and ordinary people look down on us, let alone literati, eat us, drink us, and ruin us. The guys in the south make trouble in the court every day, so we will not give ourselves a second chance. It’s just that our idea is not true. The emperor doesn’t like to listen to us, and at least we have stayed in the court and said what we want to say. In the future, when the men who do business mention our brothers and three, they have to give us a thumbs up and call me.”

Fatty Gao was slightly stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that the Urban Wolf could say such words. In comparison, he seemed timid and ungrateful. In amazement, he heard Xu Zhichen say again:

"To be honest, my son is still young and cannot go to the exam room. If he is older, I will send him to the capital for the competition next year. If he goes to high school, he will not forget his origins. He will not think that his father's colleagues are shorter than who is. He can really write books and give us a glimpse. We who are eating in a business shop in Beijing and have paid so much money to the court, so we have to win some status for ourselves."

"It's not that my master is not going. My master thinks that everyone has to figure out how to deal with it in front of the emperor. He is moving forward in a hurry, afraid that good intentions will not be rewarded or things will be reversed." Qiao Qing'er was unwilling to let Gao Deyong lose to Xu and Zhan in terms of momentum, so she quickly stood up to smooth things over for the fat man.

"Yes, I think we should first check the plan and answer the emperor, and don't throw ugly things to the world in front of the civil and military officials of the court. This is called... what's there to do? Be prepared for any trouble." The cooperation between Fatty Gao and Qing'er was perfect, which made Zhan Zhen envious of why he didn't raise such a good helper.

"When walking, I suggest walking on the sea route. There are few people on the boat and it is easy to speak." Xu Zhichen saw that Fatty Gao let go, so he didn't wait too much for a moment.

The three of them said it and agreed to leave tomorrow, and take a carriage from Beiping along the cement road built in recent years to Tianjin, and take the sea route to Beijing. First, the time is faster, and second, there is no obstacle at the sea, so there is no need to worry about bandits. Third, if you think of any problems at the moment, you can discuss it on the ship.

To sell Xu Zhichen's face, Tianjin Zhouji Kedu specially arranged a cargo ship that the navy retreated for the four people and their entourages to sail to the sea. It was midsummer, and the sea was changing, and it was sunny and rainy. When it was sunny, white gulls circling the masts, and when it was raining, the black clouds pressed against the mounds. The scenery was very different from the inland. It was so happy that the sun was chirping, which was even happier than the water birds in the sky. Gao Deyong did not have the mood to see the sea. Except for taking a few steps on the deck a day, he locked himself in a luxurious private room with Zhan Zhen at other times. Xu Zhichen pondered the countermeasures after leaving for the capital.

According to the analysis of the three people, the signs of rising prices first appeared. As Wu Anguo said, one is that after the sea ban was lifted, the outside world demanded a lot of materials for the Central Plains, and silver was inflowed in large quantities. The second is that domestic emerging industries have large profits, and a large amount of private deposits were attracted to the market. The third is that after the silver pit in Yunnan and other places cancelled the government's franchise, the output increased and the Ming army's overseas wars. As Qing'er said, after the price rises, the people who suffer from their pain are the common people, especially refugees and tenants who do not have constant real estate. In contrast, the wealthy families will not care about the increase. With this little living expenses, farmers with land were less affected by the rise in local products. Therefore, when there was no time to calm prices, the focus of solving the problem was to transfer the money in the hands of rich people to the poor people, or the government came forward to earn a chance to guarantee life for refugees. All three of them were rich and agreed with Fatty Gao, that is, no matter what, the court should not let the businessmen have the idea of ​​paying money, and if they want them to pay, the emperor must exchange for something of the same value, whether it is power or land. Otherwise, they would rather die than follow.

"From the roots, I think the first thing to do is to let those countries that owe the Ming Dynasty compensation to repay their debts with gold or grain, wood, salt, copper and other Ming needs instead of silver. There is no need to worry about the silver pits in Yunnan. The silver is not worth much, and the miners will naturally reduce their manpower and reduce their output." Inspired by the strategy of the Ming Dynasty to transfer the food crisis to neighboring countries last year, Zhan Zhen proposed a way to transfer the crisis.

"I think this idea is good. The Japanese have always called themselves the country of gold. Their silver is too cheap. While General Cao Zhen's army is still there, he will hurry up and modify the treaty." Fatty Gao also has no good impression of the Japanese. Being able to divert attention from the emperor is the ending he most hopes to see.

"I think we have to pay attention to the transactions of the three of us. Try not to charge cash when we can collect gold, and try not to deposit cash when we can save gold. Otherwise, the money will become less and less valuable, and we will suffer the loss in the end." Xu Zhichen's main business is the billing number, and he deals with the most with silver. When he thinks about the money of the billing number, he can't help but worry.

"I'm afraid that if all the small merchants in the world have saved this idea, the money will be even less valuable. I think it's better to have a place to spend money. Even if it flows into the stock market, it's better than making people unwilling to deposit money." After thinking for a while, Fatty Gao felt that the way to reject money was not good. His usury loans were all silver. The faster the silver depreciated, the more he lost.

"That's right, the silver is really bad, and the most unlucky one is Lao Gao." Zhan Zhen frowned and said justice, "Think about it, I lent the silver that I could buy two dou of rice in spring, and agreed to pay back the money in autumn. In autumn, I would buy less than one and a half dou of rice in the money with capital and interest. Then he cried at the account book all day long."

"To be honest, I'm not the only one who cried," said Gao Fatty, who relied on the ship without outsiders, said with confidence: "The most profitable person in the world is the current emperor. His money is more than me. In the past two years, tens of thousands of soldiers fought bloody battles in front of him, and he snatched back many times. Now that he is about to lose the price, how can he not be in a hurry? Hehe, it is said that the world is the world of scholars. If I want to see, the emperor should be the grasshopper on the same rope as us."

....

The three of them talked and were worried about their future prospects. In the end, they felt that in the current situation, the right way was to make the people and the court not lose confidence in the money. Of course, the way to not lose confidence was to spend money, but this money was not something that could be spent just by wanting to spend. There must be corresponding things on the market to buy.

"That's easy to deal with. Just buy whatever you value." Qiao Qing'er didn't know when she got into the cabin. She heard everyone talk enthusiastically and interjected with her.

"The most valuable thing is arms, but people don't want to buy it." Fatty Gao has a deep understanding of the price of artillery. This iron guy is more expensive than gold.

"That's true." Zhan Zhen and Xu Zhichen agreed with Fatty Gao's opinion. His Highness Yan is so rich that he cannot afford to be equipped with the second Zhenbei Army. The entire Zhenbei Army has been developing for so many years, but it is still the same man. There is nothing in the world that is more expensive than fighting.

"I think it's a warship, with great investment and great benefits. There are so many countries overseas in the Ming Dynasty, so I don't like it. I drive the warship over to squat at my doorstep. Isn't it because I want anything?" Xu Zhichen is very enthusiastic about plundering. Su Ceyu's Liao Menglian is one of the major shareholders. When it comes to borrowing military power, he is also considered a marrow-eating smell.

"There is also road construction. His grandmother's road from Peiping to Liaoyang has made me suffer. The cement road is like it was posted with silver foil. I calculated it and it was about the same price as silver foil of the same size." Zhan Zhen complained loudly that after more than three years of construction, their brothers got angry when they picked it up. They thought it would make money, but who knew that it was so expensive to drive a road with quality and quantity on the raw land. Basically, they spent all the money they had obtained when contracting and had to pay for it from other industries.

"Old Zhan, don't complain. Who doesn't appreciate the benefits of this big and small business dealer in Peking, and think about why your insurance industry is so popular in recent years? Isn't it that everyone gives you face? Merchants travel around the world, and reputation is more important than silver. I think this road construction is a good way. Let the emperor order the local cities to communicate the roads, so that we can do business and business. Didn't Master Wu suggest that the emperor sell titles? Does the emperor think it's not good in name? Let's change the emperor's explanation. Whoever has the money to donate to build roads and bridges will praise his kindness according to the amount he donated, and grant him a title. The government took the money to build roads, and unemployed refugees from all over the country also found a job to do their jobs, which was equivalent to giving the money to them in disguise."

"Yes, why didn't I expect that Boss Xu's mind is fast. The roads on the ground should be built, and the roads on the sea should be explored. Just like you, Peking, have you paid money to Feng Ziming to explore the sea routes, which has brought many benefits to the Ming Dynasty? I think we also mentioned to the emperor that those who have made contributions to exploring sea routes for the Ming Dynasty should be rewarded like road construction." Fatty Gao patted his fat legs and said, "If the court is willing to adopt our suggestions, I will accept it if I pay some money. After all, this matter is good for everyone."

Qing'er saw Fatty Gao's face swept away his sadness and knew that he had found the best solution to the problem. She went into her cabin and took out paper and pen, found a chair to sit down, and carefully sorted out the results of everyone's discussion just now, and said while writing: "The man just said three methods, one is to expand the army. The Ming Dynasty and Mongolia were in a difficult situation. You proposed this to the emperor. The second is to build a ship, which was also to expand the army at that time. Long live the prince's navy, and he was willing to spend money.

The three are road construction, so that refugees can have a good meal and not rebel, and that everyone can be convenient for business transactions. The little woman is not talented, but also thinks of one thing, that is, to use money to invest in mines and merchants, and to turn the silver absorbed by us and many merchants in Peking and the stock market into other goods that can be circulated on the market. Later, the little girl wrote a memorial, and the man signed his name later as a letter to the emperor. Can everyone see it?”

"That's it, Xiao Qing'er, you don't need to write your fourth suggestion. After we return to Peking, we discuss this matter privately and let Uncle Wu and others join in. Don't let everyone suffer a loss." Xu Zhichen said seriously that he was unwilling to let the court participate in the business affairs in the market, so he did not agree with Qing'er to write the fourth solution into the memorial. Deep down in his heart, he felt that the less the court participated in the development of private business, the better. If everything was approved by the government, there would be more and more tricks here, and everyone's chances of survival would be less and less.
Chapter completed!