Above the Huangpu Restaurant by the Huangpu River in Songhu, a group of people were drinking tea and looking at the Huangpu River leisurely, seeming to be patiently waiting for something.
Each of these people was dressed in extraordinary clothes and had a large number of entourages around them, making it easy for people to know at a glance whether they were rich or noble.
"My lord, even if Liu Jin is now the left minister of household affairs, there is no need for us to be so fawning to him, right?"
Next to Wei Guogong Xu Er, Hu Xian looked at the rolling Huangpu River, thought for a while and said to Xu Er.
The Duke of Wei, Xu Erren, was already in his fifties, but he was in very good health, with not even a trace of gray hair on his hair. Hu Xian, who was talking to him, was a middle-aged man in his forties. He used to be a censor in the court, but later because of
He was dismissed by Emperor Hongzhi for falsely claiming disaster.
The Duke of Wei is the top family in Nanjing and in the entire Jiangnan. The Duke of Wei has basically been the garrison in Nanjing and the representative of the military generals group.
One School and Two Dukes refers to Wei Guogong and Ding Guogong after King Xu Da of Zhongshan. Wei Guogong guarded Nanjing for a long time, while Ding Guogong was in Beijing, one in the south and one in the north. One door and two kingdoms were the only one in the entire Ming Dynasty.
The Hu Xian beside him is not an ordinary person. The Hu family is one of the top big families in the entire Jiangnan. The family power is huge. From the government and the public to the local government, the power of the Hu family is everywhere.
The Hu family can be regarded as a representative family of the Jiangnan family.
My ancestor was a businessman. He started his business and accumulated wealth. Then he began to sponsor the family's children to take the imperial examinations, and built an extremely large network of relationships through marriage and other means.
Since ancient times, Jiangnan has been home to many talented people and literati. In the Ming Dynasty, officials from Jiangnan accounted for half of the country, so the influence of a large Jiangnan family like the Hu family was very huge.
"No matter how high Liu Jin is, I won't have to curry favor with him. Even if he is the chief minister of the cabinet, he is not worthy of me taking the initiative to befriend him."
Xu Yan smiled and replied.
He has this self-confidence. He is the Duke of Wei. After Xu Da, King of Zhongshan, he will be an iron rice bowl for generations. If the Ming Dynasty is not destroyed, his iron rice bowl will always be there and he will be with the country.
Therefore, no matter who is an official or how big an official he is, it has nothing to do with him. As long as he does not rebel, no one can shake his status.
"Then Mr. Xu, why did you ask us to come here to Songhu to meet Liu Jin?"
Hearing Xu Yan's words, someone next to him asked. This man was a middle-aged man in his thirties, dressed in a gentle and elegant manner, and handsome in appearance. His name was Zhang Yuan, the contemporary head of the Zhang family in the south of the Yangtze River.
The Zhang family is one of the most famous families among Hui merchants. It is as rich as the country and has many talented people. It is a big family that can rival the Hu family.
"Of course it's for the money!"
Xu Yan smiled and said.
"for money?"
When the others heard this, they were slightly surprised and looked at Xu Ren, not quite understanding what he meant.
"In addition to being the Left Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Liu Jin is also known as the God of Wealth in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Everyone who follows Liu Jin has become rich. Even idiots like Jianchang Bo Shouninghou have become rich because of following Liu Jin.
You can earn tens of millions of taels of silver a year."
"Guess how much money the British Duke, Ding Guo Gong, and Cheng Guo Gong can earn in a year?"
Xu Yan looked at them and asked.
To be honest, he, Xu Ergui, is the Duke of the country. If he wants to go further, he can only wait until he dies and be crowned the king later. Moreover, he must make great achievements to do so.
Therefore, in the officialdom, these military generals and noble groups generally have no ambitions, and more of them pursue wealth and money.
Not only should you be rich, but you should also be rich. Not just ordinary wealth, but great wealth.
After hearing Xu Yan's words, everyone couldn't help but slightly widen their eyes.
Everyone said that people from the north are richer than people from the south of the Yangtze River. Everyone still felt a little unconvinced. But now that they heard what Xu Min said, they all understood.
Thinking about the new businesses, factories, workshops, etc. that everyone has invested in in the past two years, you immediately understand why Xu Ren came to Songhu to meet Liu Jin in person.
Xu Yan looked at everyone and immediately smiled.
The Duke of Ding and Duke of Wei are both descendants of King Xu Da of Zhongshan, so they naturally have a special relationship with each other. Xu Ru also regularly exchanges letters with the Duke of Ding, Xu Yongning, and is very aware of the wealth that the Duke of Ding currently possesses.
In the past, the Duke of Wei guarded Nanjing because of the times, and he was the garrison of Nanjing. In a prosperous place like Jiangnan, the Duke of Wei's family would naturally be made richer by the Duke Ding's family in the north.
But now, in just a few years, Duke Dingguo's family has followed Liu Jin's footsteps, and the wealth they now possess will easily destroy the Duke of Wei's family.
This made Xu Ren envious. Now that Liu Jin was going on an expedition to Annan and passing through Songhu, he naturally seized the opportunity and prepared to meet this master's disciple here in Songhu to see if he could catch up with Liu Jin.
ship and follow him to make a fortune.
"Master, the ship has arrived~"
At this moment, a servant from Duke Wei's mansion hurriedly came over to remind him.
"Let's go and meet this master's disciple together."
When Xu Yan heard this, he immediately became energetic and took the lead to walk towards the Huangpu River Pier.
At the dock of the Huangpu River, Liu Jin's boat slowly docked.
As soon as Liu Jin stepped off the boat, a large group of people including Xu Er, Hu Xian, Zhang Yuan, etc. came over. Before anyone arrived, they all saluted Liu Jin and said, "Mr. Liu~"
When Liu Jin heard this, he was slightly startled. He was called Liu Gong when he was only in his twenties, and he was suddenly called old. Looking at these people, he didn't recognize any of them, but they were all dressed in extraordinary clothes.
He responded with a smile and raised his hands.
But soon there were people around Liu Jin introducing them to Liu Jin one by one. After listening to these people's introductions, Liu Jin couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
"All the big families, big businessmen, and big landowners from Jiangnan are here?"
"What is this for?"
While Liu Jin was greeting Xu Er, Hu Xian, and Zhang Yuan one by one, he was thinking about it in his mind.
These people will definitely not come to see me for no reason. Although I am the left minister of Hube, but given the status of these people, they will not take the initiative to come to Songhu to greet me. There must be something going on.
"Mr. Liu has come a long way, and it has been a tiring journey. I have prepared a small amount of wine at the Huangpu Restaurant, and I would like to invite Mr. Liu to appreciate it."
Xu Yan looked at Liu Jin in front of him carefully and said with a smile.
"Xu Gong, please don't call me Liu Gong again. That's trying to offend me. You are Wan'er's uncle. Logically, I should call you uncle."
"Just call me Liu Jin."
Liu Jin sorted out the relationship between Ding Guo Gong and Wei Guo Gong in his mind. The Xu Yan in front of him was the fifth generation Wei Guo Gong, which was the sixth generation from Xu Da. Ding Guo Gong Xu Yongning was the fourth generation Ding Guo Gong, starting from Xu.
Da is considered to be the fifth generation.
Xu Waner is the granddaughter of Xu Yongning, considered the seventh generation. After all, Liu Jin will call Uncle Xu.
"Haha, then I'll give it a try."
When Xu Yan heard this, he immediately laughed happily.
Soon, everyone arrived at the Huangpu Restaurant, tasting delicious food while looking at the Huangpu River, and chatting and laughing.
"Liu Jin, come and try our Jiangnan hairy crabs. This crab roe is a rare delicacy in the world."
Xu Er gently pushed a plate of crab roe in front of Liu Jin and said with a smile.
"I have long heard that Jiangnan hairy crabs are a delicacy in the world, and I finally have the opportunity to try them this time."
Liu Jin looked at the plate of crab roe in front of him, picked up the spoon, and took a sip. The ultimate deliciousness bloomed between his lips and teeth.
"Tsk tsk, this is the first time in this life that I have tasted authentic hairy crabs, and these are pure wild hairy crabs. The taste is indeed delicious."
Liu Jin couldn't help but taste it again and savored it carefully.
After a while of drinking and drinking, and after everyone got acquainted with each other, they gradually started talking about national affairs, and naturally they also talked about Annan and Nanyang.
"In this small country of Annan, Yelang is arrogant and has repeatedly provoked me, the Ming Dynasty. If I, the Ming Dynasty, do not punish me severely with the fury of thunder, I am afraid that all the countries in Southeast Asia will learn from Annan."
"My Ming merchant ships traveled to various countries in the Southeast Asia, but they were levied and plundered by these small countries. Not long ago, there was even a merchant ship being robbed by pirates in the Southeast Asia."
When talking about this matter, Hu Xian, Zhang Yuan and others became angry. These big families and businessmen in the south entered Nanyang relatively late, so the money they earned was far less than the size and number of plantations of those trading houses in the north.
Not as good as the trading houses in the north.
We arrived late, and the good places were occupied by people from the north. Now the Southeast Asian countries have begun to impose heavy taxes on Ming merchant ships in response to the Ming vassal treaty issued by the Ming Dynasty at the end of last year and in response to the Ming Dynasty's rejection of their tribute.
Of course, there may also be an intention to test Ming's reaction. If there is no reaction from Ming, they will naturally go further and further.
This move by various countries in Southeast Asia also seriously affected the interests of major commercial banks in the Ming Dynasty, especially the newly emerging commercial banks in the south.
They haven't earned much money and haven't reaped many benefits, but heavy taxes, pirates, thieves, etc. have all fallen on them.
Therefore, these big businessmen and families in the south of the Yangtze River are very supportive of the imperial court sending troops to the Southeast Asia. Not only is there no opposition from them in the court, they even strongly advocate that not only Annan should be destroyed, but Annan should also be destroyed.
With him, we will clean up all the countries in Southeast Asia.
Let them know how powerful the Ming Dynasty is. In this case, they will not dare to impose heavy taxes on the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, these pirates, thieves, etc. in the Nanyang region will be wiped out, and their merchant ships and plantations will be safer.
Liu Jin looked at the indignation of these people and thought of those officials from the DPRK and China who opposed the sea ban and the levy of commercial taxes. At this moment, the scene was too similar, only in reverse.
