"We must ensure the supply of mulberry leaves. Otherwise, all plans will be ruined." Li Yaoer warned again and again.
Zhao Yingong was naturally excited. He was so interested in buying "tip leaves". In addition to this being a safer and cheaper way to purchase mulberry leaves, he also noticed another thing: when Ye Xing sold "Tip Leaves" to silkworm farmers,
When harvesting leaves, you can also sell on credit. It is agreed that cash or raw silk will be used as the condition for repayment of principal and interest. In this way, Ye Xing actually plays the role of a lender.
If this method can be used, then his small loan plan will have a reliable and convenient channel to implement.
He did what he said, and Zhao Yingong immediately asked Cai Shi to prepare invitations and gifts, and he would visit the Jin gentry in the city one by one. Among these Jin gentry were those who expressed their intention to participate in the investment promotion bureau, and there were also "directors" of Cihuitang.
When setting up a charity factory, it is most appropriate to attract these two groups of people to protect you.
Zhao Yingong's investment plan has caused a great stir among the gentry circles in Jiangnan. Countless people want to buy shares. Even at the "sky-high price" of 1,000 taels per share, many people are flocking to it and changing trustees.
I want to buy a share or two.
Silver inflation in the late Ming Dynasty was not as serious as that in the Qing Dynasty. Fifty thousand taels of silver was a huge sum of money. Most of the wealth of ordinary gentry families was reflected in land. It was not easy to raise several thousand silver in cash immediately. Therefore, the subscription
Despite the enthusiasm, not too many "big investors" appeared. This avoided the situation that Zhao Yingong once worried about that some big investors would buy up half of the shares at once.
Zhao Yingong came from Guangdong, and the things he sold were all the goods of "kun thieves" - the "kun thieves" who once turned Guangdong upside down. The Jin gentry in the south of the Yangtze River are now gradually knowing a thing or two.
The Jin gentry were different from ordinary people. The relationship between colleagues in the same year was as close as a cobweb. Through the letters exchanged with each other, they could grasp the news in many places. The various news coming from Guangdong and the various Australian goods that began to flow into Jiangnan attracted Zhao Yingong and "Kun".
"Thieves" are connected together. Zhao Yingong and Kun Thief must have a close connection in private. This has become a consensus among many Jin gentry in private discussions.
With such a background, there is no doubt that in addition to the Japanese route, he probably also has channels for the now popular "Australian goods". This made many gentry have a strong interest in Zhao Yingong. Some people began to look for and
Opportunities to make money by cooperating with him. As soon as the prospectus of China Merchants Group came out, many people got wind of it and started to take action.
The Catholic gentry in the south of the Yangtze River greatly approved of his actions - not only because of his strong support for the church, he has become the hidden "pillar of the church" in Hangzhou. Moreover, the Catholic missionaries of the Hangzhou church also opened the door to Japan.
The navigation channel was regarded as a major opportunity for the church to re-enter Japan. Therefore, several religious gentry in Hangzhou were the quickest to respond and quickly raised 6,000 taels of shares. Among them, Sun Yuanhua's family contributed 2,000 taels of silver.
——One thousand taels of them were obtained privately by Xu Guangqi’s family, not for profit. All the profits from the named shares will be used by the church.
As for the other gentry who are always bold and want to make money from the frying pan, they naturally don't care about the relationship between Zhao Yingong and Kun Thief. Anyway, the free money is the same everywhere, so why not have someone help make money.
Including Wu Zhixiang, who came to Jiangnan to promote his own fame, also paid one thousand taels of silver.
There were even people in Fushe who made money. Sun Chun went straight to Wanbi Bookstore without hesitation and bought a share. Zhao Yingong originally thought that it would attract Zhang Dai, Fang Yizhi and other heavyweights from Fushe to take shares, and
A prospectus was also specially distributed to them.
Unexpectedly, it was Sun Chun who arrived! Zhao Yingong knew Sun Chun. He was a key figure in Fushe, equivalent to a secretary-general. But his reputation was not obvious. Even in Fushe, many members had no idea about Sun Chun's true status.
I still don't have a correct understanding, I just regard him as a logistics backbone similar to "serving tea and delivering water".
It is quite intriguing that such a person invested money in Fushe. Zhao Yingong felt that Fushe still valued him rather than trusting him. Zhang Pu, the "Tongtian Cult Leader", was still observing him.
Zhao Yingong quickly raised 50,000 taels of silver, with a total of thirty-six investors, including not only the Jin gentry from Southern Zhili but also some businessmen who had dealt with Zhao Yingong.
However, these shareholders are not members of the board of directors of China Merchants Group. Zhao Yingong does not need so many decision-makers. These thirty-six people can just sit and wait for dividends. There are only two actual board members: himself and the Shen family. The other shareholders just sit and wait.
Just enjoy the bonus.
This loss of dividends can be tolerated for the time being. First of all, the Senate urgently needs to rely on Japanese resources. Secondly, the next activities to be carried out in Hangzhou also need to be protected by such an interest network.
Zhao Yingong had everything ready, so he set out with several gentry members of the Hangzhou church to visit the Yamen of Hangzhou Prefecture and Qiantang and Renhe counties.
Originally, the directors of the Cihui Hall at the foot of Phoenix Mountain were mainly religious gentry from Hangzhou City, and the charity hall’s influence was not great. When Zhao Yingong built a large-scale refugee camp at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, it attracted a lot of attention from some people.
of surprise.
However, Zhao Yingong and his Cihuitang soon became famous. During the severe drought in northern Zhejiang in 1633, Cihuitang, with its fastest response and efficient management, quickly carried out refugee relief activities and opened porridge
Factories, sheltering refugees, burying road collapse... Especially the hungry people in Sixiang, which once caused great trouble to the local area, almost all received relief from Cihuitang to survive, and thousands of refugees were also organized to be transported out
Land reclamation - greatly reduced the possibility of local "civil unrest" and stabilized social order, which won great favor among local gentry and ordinary citizens.
Therefore, after the drought eased slightly in October, Cihuitang was taken seriously. Not only was Zhao Yingong praised by the officials of the first government and two counties in Hangzhou, but also the gentry who were keen on fame and fortune or who were really enthusiastic about their family also came in droves to join Cihuitang.
On top of that, put the name of the director on it.
As a result, the name of Cihui Hall became famous - there are government-run charities at both the prefecture and county levels in Hangzhou, but they are poorly managed and wasteful. Some of the facilities are old and useless - although it is said to have a Salesian Bureau and a charity organization
There are various facilities such as courtyards, etc., but most of the buildings were built in the early Ming Dynasty. They were renovated in the middle period and have long been unusable, let alone the resettlement of refugees. As for the handling personnel, most of them are the staff and relatives of the chief ministers and junior ministers in the prefecture and county yamen.
Isn't it just controlled by rich and powerful local people? Although the county government allocates a certain amount of money and rice every month and has a certain number of shelters, they are actually all swallowed up by the handling staff and have no effect at all.
Therefore, although famine relief has always required money and food from the government, the specific management was often entrusted to the local gentry. In the increasingly difficult economic situation of the court in the late Ming Dynasty, the bulk of the money and food for relief had to be raised by the local government. Therefore, the gentry was responsible for
Its role in disaster relief and famine relief has been further enhanced.
Although Zhao Yingong was an outsider, he had gained considerable popularity in the gentry circle through his active activities, especially through his relationship with the gentry who taught the gentry and restored society. This time, the relief was so impressive that he became known as "
"Relief of shortage of talents".
Therefore, at the end of last year, after the drought ended, the Hangzhou government established a aftermath bureau, and Zhao Yingong also became a member of the aftermath bureau. Since Cihuitang did an excellent job in sheltering and relieving refugees, the aftermath bureau took over all the refugee reception and relief work.
It was given to Ci Hui Tang. Speaking of which, he was a very bad person as a committee member - this job cost money, food, and energy, and if it went wrong, it would easily trigger civil unrest. The money and rice collected by the aftermath bureau and the government's allocation
It's just a drop in the bucket.
In the end, Cihuitang still handled the matter in an orderly manner. After entering the cold winter, there were no large groups of refugees gathering on the road. Even the corpses collected on the road every day were more than half less than usual. You must know that this is a famine year after a disaster.
In the past, there would have been at least hundreds of corpses taken from the city to the cemetery for burial early in the morning.
No one knows how much Mr. Zhao has invested in Cihuitang, but everyone knows that it is impossible to solve the current situation with just a little allocation from the government and money raised from wealthy people. Let alone the refugees.
To settle down safely and not suffer from cold, hunger and diseases - this not only requires money, but also requires being able to do things.
Such talent and financial resources could not help but impress the local gentry. In addition, everyone vaguely knew that he had the background of Xu Ge Lao, and he also had contacts with Zhang Pu of Taicang, so they knew that this man was by no means an ordinary scholar in Guangli.
.As a result, his position in the aftermath of the crisis has become increasingly important. Officials in one government and two counties must be polite to him when they see him.
What he was going to do today was an official matter of the aftermath. Zhao Yingong felt that as long as he made the right decisions, it would not be difficult to gain support from the government.
Since the beginning of spring this year, things have been going smoothly in Hangzhou, and things are gradually getting better in various places, so the affairs of the aftermath bureau have gradually become sparse. However, the disaster relief work is far from over.
After a major disaster, the victims have often sold all their means of production and living in order to survive, leaving them empty-handed. There are no seeds or cattle. It is difficult to quickly carry out production and self-rescue activities, and it is already late March, and in the blink of an eye it is the "Fifth Five-Year Plan".
"Six months of drought" is a time of drought. If we cannot help the victims in time to produce and help themselves, it will inevitably cause another large-scale exodus of victims. Then the relief work of the previous year will be in vain.
Today, Zhao Yingong is going to the aftermath bureau to talk about this matter. A few days ago, the Hangzhou prefect had summoned the members of the aftermath bureau and asked them to continue to "think of ways and come up with an idea."