President Luo had just finished speaking, and there was a lot of whispering and discussion in the hall.
Huo Xi looked up the hall.
She has heard about this President Luo. The Luo family operates shops all over the south of the Yangtze River. It is considered one of the largest merchants. The family operates cloth, silk, jewelry, cotton, porcelain, sugar, tea, dyes, and medicinal materials.
Salt and other businesses that bring in money.
It is said that several members of the family are officials in the court and various places. It is a truly big family and is quite famous among the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River.
As soon as he said these words, everyone whispered.
Huo Xi also calmed down. For her, it was reasonable and reasonable for each merchant house in the south of the Yangtze River to contribute a share of the money to dredge the canal.
The imperial court wanted to use the canal to transport a large amount of supplies to the north, as well as various building materials such as wood. Land transportation was not as convenient as water transportation.
The imperial court dispatched tens of thousands of migrant workers to build dams and locks, and people from all over the river were recruited to serve in the canals. However, these businesses that used the canal for profit did not contribute any effort or money, and just sat and enjoyed themselves. How could the imperial court tolerate it?
Although you have to collect money when crossing gates and dams, it is not as good as collecting it from each business house at once and raising a handful of donations.
The imperial court issued orders to the presidents of various trading houses, and the presidents summoned them to discuss the matter.
The purpose of coming today seems to be to get some blood. No wonder all the big and small businesses have been summoned.
Seeing that everyone was silent, President Luo winked at a few of his own people below.
If there is a business, they say: "It should be right. What we take from the people must also be given back to the people. Moreover, this is something that will last a long time and is beneficial to us. There is no reason for us to just watch. I will donate three thousand taels!"
"
Someone immediately followed up: "I will also donate three thousand taels."
"I donate one thousand taels", "five hundred taels"...
Huo Xi didn't know who they were or the size of the business they were in. After staring for a while, he saw Huo Zhong and the people who came with him had a low-key discussion and agreed to donate two thousand taels.
Huo Xi is the only one.
A company as big as Longxing only donated two thousand taels, so a company as small as hers would naturally not be able to surpass others. Shen Qianzhong would just have to follow the steps of companies of the same level as Guangfeng Shui.
.
Sure enough, he heard that several shops similar in size to Guangfeng Shui donated fifty or thirty taels. Shen Qianzhong turned his head and glanced at Huo Xi, who gave him a five.
Shen Qian nodded.
Just when Huo Xi was about to shout, she saw Huo Zhong gesture towards her.
What, she wants to donate 100 taels for two shops in Guangfengshui?
The usual membership fees, donations here and there, taxes here and there, are still less? Another hundred taels?
More than ten acres of fertile farmland in the north were gone. Huo Xi felt heartbroken.
Even if you sell 10,000 kilograms of cane sugar, you won't even make a hundred taels.
Shen Qianzhong also saw the hint given by Huo Zhong, looked at each other with Huo Xi, saw her nodding, raised her hand and shouted: "One hundred taels of Guangfeng water."
Immediately, a boy wrote down something quickly in his notebook.
The shouts came and went.
In less than half an hour, hundreds of thousands taels were raised. Huo Xi couldn't help but be speechless.
It would be fine if it were used on the canal, but if it fell into a private pocket, how much money would it cost? Huo Xi clicked his tongue a few times.
But she also saw that there were two serious-looking people in the hall, standing behind the two presidents. They didn't look like businessmen. She wondered if they were from the imperial court.
This matter was led by the imperial court. It was normal for the imperial court to send people to keep an eye on the merchants because they were afraid of corruption.
Sure enough, the boys took the trays and collected the bills one by one. Shen Qianzhong also put one hundred taels of silver bills on the tray. After a while, there was a thick stack on the tray.
After collecting them all, several servants carried the trays and walked out of the hall, and the two people standing behind the president also followed them out.
The two presidents stood up and sent each other off.
Shen Qianzhong tilted his head to explain to Huo Xi: "Those two should be from the imperial court."
Huo Xi nodded and saw it. What kind of low-status person could be so favored by the president?
Soon, the two presidents returned to the hall. The whispering in the hall died down.
"Thank you all for your help. The imperial court knows about our righteous deeds and will also reward our Jiangnan Trading Company."
Huo Xi's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't want any reward. All the businesses were competing to see which one had raised more money. Aren't they the small businesses that suffered the most?
The DPRK and China ask various business houses to donate a sum of money for any matter, and treat their money as blown by the strong wind?
The two presidents said a few polite words and then talked about the second thing.
"Now that North Korea and China have imposed a maritime ban, our Jiangnan Commercial Bank cannot miss the opportunity. We are here today to discuss this matter."
Upon hearing this, everyone sat up straight and could hear a pin drop in the hall.
"Large merchants have their own manpower, ships, and supplies, so they naturally don't need to share the market share with others. However, small and medium-sized merchants are determined to do maritime trade, but they have no way out. Let's discuss it today to see if everyone is interested in doing this together. Look at how many people a ship goes overseas, how much money it costs, and how many shares are allocated to each ship. Each firm contributes capital according to its own ability."
As soon as he finished speaking, the whispering among each other immediately became louder.
If you have the conditions, you don't want others to dilute your business, so you naturally want to run your own business. If you don't have the conditions, you have no way to ask for help. Now that there is a business firm that is willing to take the lead and guarantee, it is natural that you are absolutely willing.
Huo Xi and Shen Qianzhong looked at each other and remained silent.
After more than ten years of sea bans, sea bans were launched for the first time this year. It is understandable that people are very enthusiastic.
But a smaller fortune ship costs thousands of taels of silver, hires hundreds of sailors and boatmen, dozens of stewards, a ship full of cargo, and the expenses on the way back and forth...
For a round trip, this share is indispensable, at least tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Moreover, I don’t know whether they paid for the goods to be purchased collectively, or whether they only purchased a quota and each house prepared its own goods.
Sure enough, the two presidents and several large companies proposed several operation plans.
The businesses below were eager to try it out, and the discussion was red-faced, and everyone was excited.
If you go overseas, you will earn at least several times the profit. If you ship the goods from this dynasty there, the profit will be several times more than ten times. If you buy the foreign goods and ship them back, the profit will be several times again.
This time, if everything goes well, you will make a fortune in just one trip.
Of course, there are many people who can't even hope to return to the boat.
The company would get a lot of money just by paying the sailors and boatmen their worth.
Does Huo Xi not want to participate? No, she thought, she really wanted to. But now their ability is limited.
I just listened attentively to the discussion of everyone in the hall. As expected, a medium-sized fortune ship over there has twenty places allocated, and each place costs ten thousand taels. There are also people who combine goods, and the stocking silver must be at least five thousand taels.
Huo Xi had the five thousand taels thrown in by Ping Niang in his hand, and he could move two or three thousand taels out of the shop. But in this case, Guangfeng Shui would be stretched thin.
Shen Qianzhong was so excited by everyone's comments that he turned to look at Huo Xi, who shook his head at him.
She didn't want to go abroad this year.
If she can make some money by selling smuggled sugar this year, she will think about it next year.
Huo Zhong turned his head and saw this scene. He pursed his lips and smiled. He didn't know what he said to the young master beside him. The young master glanced in her direction.
Huo Xi only listened to the discussions of the people around her with her ears raised, but did not see this scene.