"The two people's opinions are completely different?"
Fang Wenzhen became interested and asked, "Brother Kang, can you explain it in detail?"
"This starts with transporting grain." Kang Baiwan said, "After receiving the letter from Lubu Tang, I transported 500,000 stones of grain to Shanyang at a price of 1.5 taels of silver per stone..."
"Send 1.5 taels per stone to Shanyang?" Fang Wenzhen was shocked, "Then you must not lose money?"
"Who says otherwise?" Kang Wanwanjie said, "Before leaving Yangzhou, the eunuch Qu Shangzhong imposed a tax of 3 yuan per stone, including labor costs, depreciation of grain ships and warehousing of grains.
Money, I can’t even get back the cost of 9 yuan per stone, this time it’s just to repay Lu Bu Tang’s favor.”
Fang Wenzhen nodded and said: "Lu Butang is different from those people. He is a real worker."
"Not only Lubu Tang, but also Yangzhou Magistrate Ma Mingluo and Huai'an Magistrate Fan Zhongjie are also rare good officials." Kang Baiwan snorted lightly and continued, "Although the Donglin Party covers the sky with one hand, like Lu Bu
There are still many officials like Tang Tang, and it is precisely because of people like them that the Ming Dynasty was able to reach what it is today."
Fang Wenzhen nodded and said, "If it weren't for Lu Bu Tang and the others, we merchants would have been swallowed up by those people, even our skins and bones, and not even a scrap would be left."
…
At this time, he was in the Doctoral Hall of the Imperial College.
Zhu Cixiang asked Chongzhen: "So, my father specially invited Kang Shaojing and other Yangzhou merchants to come to Nanjing in the middle of this month, just to let them bid for the cultivated land of the criminal gentry in the north, right?"
"Yes, that's right." Di Zhen replied ambiguously.
Guang Fangchao Jiong was stunned, but Fang Chaoyun was also clear-headed.
Chongzhen said with a smile: "My father called us to Nanjing to buy land to raise wages, but we must also want to buy land. It's just that complicated."
"Are you looking for us to buy it?" Fang Wenjiong asked, "Who is this father planning to sell to?"
Chongzhen chuckled and asked his two sons: "Xun'er, Jiong'er, do they think that the richest people in the world are not salt merchants like Lubu Tang?"
Xiu Sheng Temple Danghe said: "My father is rich in the seven seas, and the richest person in the world is naturally you, my father."
"Brother Imperial, come on, don't say that kind of thing." Fang Chaojiong said angrily, "My father is so poor that he even wants to sell himself. He's not as rich as Qi Hai, and he's not rich enough."
Xiu Sheng Temple could not help but frown when he heard this.
I thought that it was not good for my eighth brother to spend a long time with these barbarians, and his words became rude.
After hearing this, Chongzhen thought he was dissatisfied, but instead felt happy. He laughed and said: "Jiong'er is wrong. My father is so poor now that it is obvious that he is making trouble. He can only take his two brothers to eat outside the Imperial Academy."
, there is no such thing as Nanami."
Speaking of that meal, Chongzhen straightened his face and said: "Getting back to the subject, it is not wrong to say that the richest people in Xiao Ming are salt merchants like Lu Butang. All of those salt merchants have millions of dollars, and individual salt merchants
I’m sure I don’t have a fortune worth tens of millions, because as a lesson learned, those businessmen are the best at hiding their clumsiness.”
Xiu Shengsi nodded and said, "I think so too."
Chongzhen continued: "But how many wealthy businessmen are there?"
Xiu Shengsi thought for a while and said: "I'm afraid there will be more than ten wealthy businessmen like Fang Chaoyun, but the number of wealthy businessmen with a household capital of one million taels should be in the majority, and the number of wealthy businessmen with a household capital of one hundred thousand taels is even smaller.
"
"However, no matter how small the number of those wealthy businessmen are, they are far inferior to the noble gentry." Chongzhen said in a deep voice, "They are definitely only competing for the financial strength of a single family. The noble gentry in Jiangnan may be like salt merchants, but when competing with the financial strength of the entire group
, so Yangzhou salt merchants, Huizhou merchants and even Tiantian merchants are tied together, they are as noble as Jin gentry."
"A noble gentleman?" Fang Wenjiong said at the Xiu Sheng Temple without thinking.
Chongzhen said quietly: "For example, the Duke of Wei, the Duke of Bao, the Marquis of Lingbi, the Marquis of Huaiyuan, and the Count of Jieyi have been passed down to the family for nearly 800 years since the founding of the Xiaoming Dynasty. How much wealth have they said we have accumulated in such a long time? Why?
Without the Jiangnan Jin gentry, before the Jiajing Dynasty, the official land in Jiangnan had been cannibalized and divided up by us. We profited from it more than 70 million every year! They say that you, Xiao Ming, are poor. If such a small amount of land rent goes into our private pockets, can you be poor?
?”
Fang Chaoyun and Fang Wenjiong's expressions gradually became solemn.
Chongzhen went on to say: "It was just a land lease refund. Jiangnan Jin gentry took advantage of the fact that there was no one in the court, and extended our bare hands to the silk, grain, wine, salt, oil and even iron smelting industries. The Jin gentry who had not yet even
By getting involved in maritime trade, the wealth we have accumulated in the past hundred years is beyond their imagination."
The silver flowing into America and Japan basically belongs to that group of people.
Fang Wenjiong said: "So what your father wants is for those people to buy farmland in the north?"
"What we bought is cultivated land." Chongzhen nodded with a smile, and then his smile turned gloomy. "But it is also cultivated land. One day, my father will let us spend all the wealth we have gained from righteousness in the past hundred years."
return!"
After a pause, Chongzhen said solemnly: "I want those silverfish to have their families destroyed!"
Xiu Sheng Temple asked: "Father, are wealthy businessmen like Lu Budang also included in this attack?"
"That's right." Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "You still have to protect the real businessmen. Even if we have accumulated a huge amount of wealth, we can still get whatever we ask for. Those in lower positions must abide by the rules."
"Understood." Fang Wenjiong nodded and said, "These noble gentry have accumulated tens of thousands of wealth by plundering. We are the ones who obey the rules first, so when our father attacks us, we also use the rules to obey the rules, but we must obey the rules."
Wealthy businessmen, the Xiao Ming court is going to insult us and protect us, is that so?"
Chongzhen waved his hand: "Yes, the rules still need to be followed. Even if you attack these noble gentry, you must use the rules, and you can definitely trample the rules. After a while, they will understand that the rules can actually be used, as long as they are used well.
Rules, when it comes to killing people, they are even sharper than weapons!"
…
Shexian Guild Hall, the lower room of Tianzihao.
Lu Butang said: "It's hard for you to send food to Shanyang, but you were told that Fang Chaoyun was impeached by the official and Dang He was imprisoned, so your food can only float under the pier. This
It rained lightly for a few days, and every day hundreds of thousands of rocks of rice were soaked and rotten by water, not to mention it was quite troublesome."
When Zhu Cizhen heard this, he said angrily: "Can these people really do it?"
"What do we dare to do?" Lu Butang said with a snort, "We are the ones who care about the life and death of the frontier troops in the 74th Town of Xuzhou and the millions of refugees on the back line of Xuzhou. We only know that Zhu Cihong ruined our good deeds, so we have to deal with them.
Down with me!"
Zhu Cizhen said with a white face: "The national affairs of the Ming Dynasty were ruined by those people, how shameful!"
Fang Chaoyun sighed and said, "If we let those people continue to cause trouble, the Jiangnan trade route will be completely cut off, and you and other merchants will probably die."
After talking for a long time, it was still for the benefit of my own class.
That's why it is said that the butt determines the head, and there is no way to control it.
"I'm off topic, that's what I'm talking about today." Lu Bu Tang waved his hand and continued, "Just when you were preparing to cause trouble and put some pressure on the Governor's Yamen of Water Transport, the Holy Emperor arrived."
"The tension in the whole matter calmed down as soon as Shengjia took action."
"Zhu Cixiang returned to the Yamen to take charge of matters, and all the grain was bought."
"To express our gratitude, you grain merchants offered to transport the bad grain to Xuzhou."
"At that time, I suddenly received an edict from His Majesty to summon you for an audience."
Imagining the scene at that time, Zhu Cizhen also said with a light face: "It would be panic if it were you."
"More than just being flustered, you have even written down your legacy." Lu Butang wiped his forehead and said, "Brother Fang knows that your sons are all capable. Although Xi'er said that his ability is inferior to that of his daughter, you
After all, this is a girl's family, and you were really worried at that time that if you went back, the family property would be... robbed by a few brothers."
Zhu Cizhen said: "You would do the same thing, either for prevention or for prevention."
This and what the two of them said outside were all cryptic. Of course we were guarding against our own brothers.
Lu Bu said: "You really went there with the intention of going to the execution ground, but you didn't realize until you met the Holy Master that this was exactly what happened. The Holy Master had the intention of ransacking your home."
After saying this, Lu Butang said solemnly: "His Majesty even asked you, did you encounter any trouble when doing business? Do you need my help? You simply believed it at the time, thinking that His Majesty was just following you.
To put it mildly, since ancient times I have only heard of no emperor resolving problems for scholars and peasants, but how have you ever heard of no emperor resolving problems for industry and commerce?”
Zhu Cizhen said: "To solve problems is to dare to think, if it is to embarrass us, we are wrong."
"But yes, you must have thought so too." Lu Butang clapped his hands and said, "But what happened here made you suddenly realize that Your Majesty was serious at that time, and I was not just saying polite words.
, because I only returned the taxes and money that the mine supervisors and tax envoys levied indiscriminately in the next year, and even removed the garrison eunuchs from Yangzhou Prefecture!"
"Removed the guarding eunuchs?" Zhu Cizhen's world view was shattered for the eighth time, "Seriously?"
"Isn't that true?" Lu Butang said with a smile, "Now that you are doing business in Yangzhou Prefecture, if there is any obstacle, you will have to pay a penny in tax!"
"That's really..."
Zhu Cizhen was already filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
"Brother Fang must be envious." Lu Butang said with a smile, "Huizhou will be very slow to remove the mining supervisors and tax envoys."
Zhu Cizhen sighed and said: "If His Majesty can really issue an edict to remove the mining supervisors and tax envoys in Huizhou Prefecture, you and other Huizhou merchants will have to raise millions of dollars to give my old man Kang!"
"Kang Wanwan is a must." Lu Butang waved his hand.
"Although there is little contact, you can tell His Majesty's temperament."
"That is a young man with great talents, a hero who lost to the Tang Dynasty and Han Dynasty. I only think about martial arts and martial arts, so Brother Fang can't save Kang's millions of money and donate it to the border town. In that case,
His Majesty may be even more unhappy."
"That makes sense." Zhu Cizhen said, "If Your Majesty really removes the mine supervisor, you will pledge 700,000 yuan!"