Liu Jin was extremely busy here, busy discussing future colonization plans with the top people in the Ming Dynasty. On the other side, Du Mingen, who had just returned, was also very busy. He became a legend in the Ming Dynasty.
In more than a year, Du Mingen became rich overnight. He went to Golden Continent and earned more than 9 million taels of wealth. It is no exaggeration to say that he is as rich as anyone in the country.
But this is nothing. He was originally a businessman. The status of businessmen in the Ming Dynasty was very low. They were scholars, farmers, industry and merchants, and businessmen were ranked last. Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, disliked businessmen very much and implemented a policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business.
There was a lot of suppression, and the law of the Ming Dynasty even explicitly stipulated that merchants could not wear silk or satin.
Of course, these regulations are not in line with reality. In fact, the life of merchants in the Ming Dynasty was quite free, because the business tax was very low, with a tax of one for thirty. Even if you gave the officials some money, this small tax would
No need to pay.
By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the big businessmen in Jiangnan even got involved in the court. If anyone said that they wanted to increase business taxes or the like, they would immediately kill them.
It can be seen that status or status is actually determined by economic basis. If a businessman has money, even if you stipulate that he has no status, does he really have no status?
Of course, at least on the surface, businessmen have no status.
But Du Mingen was different. When he went to Golden Continent, he not only brought back huge wealth, but also brought back huge wealth for Emperor Hongzhi.
More importantly, he brought back several high-yielding crops from Golden Continent. These high-yielding crops can prevent the people of Ming Dynasty from famine again. This is a great contribution!
Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi personally met with Du Mingen, Lin Shuhong, Tian Erniu and other key members of the fleet at the Jinluan Hall, and the generous Emperor Hongzhi even knighted them.
Du Mingen was granted the title of Marquis of Taiping, a marquis, and it was a hereditary one, which meant that as long as the Ming Dynasty existed, his family's Taiping Marquis could be passed down as a hereditary one and shared with the country.
The title of Marquis of Taiping was also discussed repeatedly by the Ministry of Rites, who believed that the title of Marquis of Taiping was the most appropriate, because Du Mingen's main contribution was to bring back three high-yielding crops.
With these three crops, there will be no famines in the Ming Dynasty from now on, and the world will naturally be peaceful and the sea will be clear and the rivers will be feasting.
Lin Shuhong, Tian Erniu and other captains and main members also caught an earl, and all of them were transformed from ordinary people to the ranks of the nobles and gentry of the Ming Dynasty in an instant.
This is a legend!
Not only did he become rich overnight, he also transformed from a businessman to the Marquis of Taiping in the Ming Dynasty. The key was that no one in the government or the public had any objections. Even the usually pedantic civil servants expressed their support.
Gold and silver are nothing. Three high-yielding crops have made the Ming Dynasty no longer famine. This contribution is so great that no reward can be exaggerated.
In front of Du Mingen's mansion in the capital city, there is a bustling market and busy traffic. Every day, people from all over the Ming Dynasty come to visit Du Mingen and this legendary figure.
Of course, Du Ming'en is a legend, and it's good for everyone to get to know each other at once. There are plenty of opportunities and time, but the real reason is actually for money.
Regarding the details of the fleet's voyage and everything the fleet encountered during the entire voyage, the Ming Dynasty Morning Post also carried out a large-scale special report.
Liu Jin reported everything about the fleet in detail. Liu Jin did not hide anything. He reported the gold mines, silver mines, various rich resources and minerals discovered by the fleet, the fertile land, and the golden continent that was easy to deceive.
All the descendants of the Yin and Shang dynasties were published.
It can be said that it was already very hot, but now it has been completely detonated.
The gold mines in Yuxi, and the snow-white fur that was brought back without a trace of mottled color; the golden lake here at Qianhekou, the fertile land; the gold and silver mines on the west coast of the Golden Continent, the gold and silver of the Inca Empire...
In the entire Beijing-Tianjin area, almost everyone is discussing these things and is deeply attracted by them.
In the living room of Du Mingen's mansion, Du Mingen was meeting a group of businessmen and gentry from the Jiangnan area. Du Mingen himself was a Jiangnan native and was born in Jiangnan.
Among this group of people were Cheng Bo'an, Zhu Benduan, Feng Xiang and Ye Li, representatives of Huizhou merchants. These four people were not only representatives of Huizhou merchants, but also representatives of large salt merchants in the Jianghuai region.
These salt merchants are having a very hard time this year. Because of the price war with Changlu Saltworks, they have suffered a complete defeat in the northern region. It can be said that they almost lost their crotch at a loss.
The four big salt merchants, plus other big and small salt merchants, raised tens of millions of taels of silver to compete with Changlu Salt Farm, and ultimately lost 77,888.
No one thought that the salt production capacity of the Changlu Salt Farm was so terrifying, not only meeting the needs of the northern market, but also being able to satisfy the large-scale purchases of big salt merchants like them.
It can be said that there is as much salt as you want.
In the end, there was no solution. These salt merchants failed completely. Fortunately, Changlu Salt Farm had not yet entered the southern market, so it still had a breath left.
What they thought was a very profitable business turned out to be a loss, and it is estimated that next year the Changlu Saltworks will enter the southern market, and by then they will no longer have a share in the huge salt cake.
But there was nothing they could do about the Changlu Saltworks.
The Changlu Saltworks was the property of Emperor Hongzhi, the Crown Prince, Duke Ying, Duke Dingguo, Duke Chengguo and others. It was not that they had not tried to use the power of the civil service group to bring down the Changlu Saltworks.
But as long as that civil servant dares to come forward, several major cases in the hands of Emperor Hongzhi have not yet been concluded. One by one will die, and no one will dare to use these methods again.
Therefore, even if they are reluctant to part with the huge benefits of salt, they have no choice but to give it up. And next year, the southern market will definitely be occupied by Chairman Lu Salt Factory, and they will have to withdraw from the salt market.
This is very uncomfortable for salt merchants and Anhui merchants.
suffered huge blows one after another.
The recent case involved several large Huizhou merchants, but mainly Huizhou merchants involved in grain merchants. Because of reselling military rations, passing off substandard goods, etc., their homes were confiscated and exiled by Emperor Hongzhi, which dealt a heavy blow.
In addition, the theft of official warehouses hit Hui merchants, Jiangnan merchants, and scholars, and also weakened the power of the entire Jiangnan region's major merchants, gentry, and scholars.
These were all done by Emperor Hongzhi, and they were attacks from above.
What is really scary is the attack from the foundation. What Liu Jin did was to dig into their foundation.
With the rise of emerging capitalism, capitalism in the northern region, especially the Beijing-Tianjin region, has developed extremely rapidly, and industry has been very, very fast.
The cement industry, shipbuilding industry, and textile industry developed extremely rapidly. The strength of the emerging capitalists in the north expanded rapidly, which in turn had a huge impact on the big businessmen, big landowners, gentry, etc. in the south.
Not to mention anything else, just in the textile industry, with the emergence of new spinning machines and looms, spinning mills and weaving factories have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain in the Beijing-Tianjin area.
The cloth produced by machines is not only of good quality, but also of high speed and low cost. Naturally, these cloths will be sold throughout the Ming Dynasty, and even now they have been sold to North Korea and Japan.
The Jiangnan region was originally an important textile production area, mainly relying on traditional household textiles. Faced with this huge impact, the textile industry in the Jiangnan region suffered a complete defeat and was completely defeated by the impact.
Naturally, the interests of these merchants, landlords, and gentry in the Jiangnan area were also affected.
A few years ago, when everyone in the Ming Dynasty talked about wealthy people, they must first refer to them, Hui merchants, and among Hui merchants, they were the salt merchants.
But now, it has only been a few years. When people say they are rich, the first thing they think of is these emerging capitalists in the north. Business in the factories in the Beijing-Tianjin area is booming.
The business of the cement factory is so good that cement is now popular throughout the Ming Dynasty, and is even sold to Japan and North Korea. The demand is very huge.
Emerging capitalists in the Beijing-Tianjin area are blooming all over the Ming Dynasty, opening new cement factories everywhere, each with a larger scale and a larger output. The number of employees in each factory was only a few hundred in the past, but now it is tens of thousands.
There are already many large human factories.
The emerging capitalists are accumulating wealth many times faster than those who rely on traditional methods to accumulate wealth. Just like one is using traditional handicrafts and the other is weaving with emerging machines, there is no difference at all between the two.
Comparability.
This is a huge and menacing wave of wealth, but these big businessmen, big landowners, and big gentry in the south have not yet participated.
So they can't sit still now!
Especially with the return of Du Mingen's fleet, which brought back 30 million taels of silver in one go. Under the impact of such huge wealth, no one was jealous and no one could remain calm.
So this time, these big businessmen, big landowners, and big gentry from the south also came to Beijing and Tianjin, and they also wanted to participate in this new wave of wealth.
At the court, the people who mobilized them asked Emperor Hongzhi to open more ports in the south. They originally opposed the sea ban and now actively requested the sea ban. Only they themselves know the huge changes and are the most capable.
I have a deep understanding that in the final analysis, the benefits that can be brought by opening a sea ban are greater than continuing the sea ban.
That's why they support the establishment of a sea ban, and mainly demand the establishment of a sea ban, in order to participate in this huge wave of wealth.
In addition to the activities above the court, below, these big businessmen and big landowners also found Du Mingen, obviously hoping that Du Mingen could cooperate with them and lead them to participate in this wave of wealth.