Chapter 893 Conditions for joining the Chamber of Commerce
Needless to say, the benefits of the Chamber of Commerce are not without their drawbacks. But will he tell them now? Of course it is impossible.
If we want to control the price of food, this chamber of commerce must be established as soon as possible.
"Mr. Gu, you are talking about the advantages of establishing a chamber of commerce, but what about the disadvantages? There are none, right? You can't avoid the important ones and ignore the easy ones!"
Xia Hongji was not stupid. When he looked at Gu Chengyu, he only talked about the benefits of the Chamber of Commerce. He thought that Gu Chengyu must have concealed the disadvantages. The purpose of Gu Chengyu's establishment of the Chamber of Commerce must be to control the increase in rice and grain prices.
He sneered, if the imperial court really had a ban to curb the rise in rice prices, how could Gu Chengyu not take it out? After going through such a big circle, it can be considered that the agency has exhausted it.
Gu Chengyu raised his eyebrows and looked over, and found Xia Hongji looking at him with a proud expression. He couldn't help but sneered.
"What Mr. Xia said is true. There will naturally be disadvantages in establishing a chamber of commerce. Because as long as you join the chamber of commerce, you cannot raise the prices of goods arbitrarily. Of course, the court will not care if the price is increased appropriately. But if it is too outrageous, the court will definitely
will intervene. The difference is that in the past, officials were sent to prohibit it. After the chamber of commerce is established, the chamber of commerce will give a warning in advance. If you really don't listen, then report it to the court."
"Actually, the Chamber of Commerce is quite free. Members are usually restricted by the Chamber of Commerce, and most of them are ignored by the court. This is all for your convenience. Please consider it carefully. I think that for such a disadvantage that is not considered a disadvantage, I think
The pros far outweigh the cons.”
Gu Chengyu felt a little sleepy, and he was actually a little tired.
There was too much information today, and he was afraid that these people would not be able to bear it, so he planned to postpone the matter.
Because he had to discuss this with the emperor in advance before he could implement it.
As for the disadvantages, it is actually far more than this. If there are more wealthy businessmen in the chamber of commerce, the officials of the imperial court will find ways to win over the wealthy businessmen and make them their own influence.
Especially those princes who are far away in their fiefdoms. Although they are not in the capital, they can still control it remotely because there is someone to do it for them!
At that time, the Chamber of Commerce will become another vanity fair. It is absolutely impossible to prevent such incidents from happening.
We can only think of ways to control such things within the control of the Chamber of Commerce.
As for the establishment of a chamber of commerce, according to usual practice, the emperor would not leave it to himself.
He is the one who comes up with ideas, and other officials will naturally do the implementation.
Therefore, Gu Chengyu planned to retreat completely after establishing the Chamber of Commerce. This Chamber of Commerce really had no influence at all.
When it comes to agriculture, industry and commerce, merchants are ranked last. If a chamber of commerce is established, the status of this merchant in the court will be virtually improved a lot.
This threatens the status of officials in the DPRK. If there are more members in the Chamber of Commerce, it is enough to shake the entire dynasty.
Gu Chengyu naturally couldn't let this happen, he had already thought of countermeasures.
"The affairs of the Chamber of Commerce cannot be accomplished overnight. However, the price of rice and grain remains high and even continues to rise. I will never allow it. I would like to advise you, don't lose big because of small things. Don't talk about me when the time comes.
The official turned his back and refused to acknowledge me. Before I came to Jiangnan, the emperor also gave Shang Fang a sword and a gold medal. If you don't listen to my advice, it's okay to kill him first and then report him."
Gu Chengyu slightly raised the corners of his lips, with a sneer on his face.
Upon hearing about Shang Fang's sword and gold medal, all the officials present looked envious, but the wealthy businessmen were not so calm.
Among them, Mr. Ning was the most uneasy. He was restless and thinking, there is still so much food in the granary, should he sell it at a low price now?
But if it was really sold, would he still be heartbroken to death?
Xia Hongji's face suddenly turned pale. He had collected a lot of rice. Should he sell it all at a low price? No way!
This matter must be reported to the clan leader early. Gu Chengyu is an imperial envoy after all, so he will inevitably be constrained in his work. The only option is to ask the clan leader to write a letter to the chief minister and ask him to transfer Gu Chengyu back to the capital.
Thinking of this, he suddenly thought of Min Feng.
Min Feng is Xia Shoufu's young disciple, but why didn't he see Min Feng at the banquet this time? This is really strange.
Even though I couldn't stand this foreigner who had taken over the family's resources, he was Xia Qing's close disciple after all.
Now that he didn't see anyone at the banquet, he had to ask questions whether it was emotional or rational.
Suddenly, he had an idea. Min Feng was in Jiangnan, so why should he leave the opportunity to the clan leader?
It would be better for him to make good friends with Min Feng and let Min Feng put in a nice word for him in front of Xia Shoufu after he returns.
Li Yuhuan on the side did not take the increase in rice prices to heart at this time, but he was very tempted to join the Chamber of Commerce.
"Sir Gu, our Li's Trading Company is not hoarding rice grains, and we will not raise grain prices any more. Please rest assured, sir. There is just one thing that remains unclear to the common people. Are there any conditions for becoming a member of the Chamber of Commerce?"
Li Yuhuan's words attracted the attention of everyone present.
They also want to know the conditions for entering the Chamber of Commerce. In their opinion, there are many benefits to becoming a member, far beyond the points mentioned by Gu Chengyu.
Gu Chengyu gave him an approving look, a boy can be taught!
It's just that he just asked for money from these people today. Wouldn't it be bad to ask for money now?
That's right, Gu Chengyu's ultimate goal is to better manage these merchants to avoid raising prices from happening again.
The second reason is for money. Of course, the income from the Chamber of Commerce will not be much at first. But as more people join the Chamber of Commerce, the money will follow.
"As you all know, if everyone is qualified to join the Chamber of Commerce, wouldn't the members of the Chamber of Commerce be uneven and mixed? To join the Chamber of Commerce, you must meet several conditions at the same time. I have to report this to the Holy One. After it is drawn up,
I will explain it to you. Don’t worry, the Chamber of Commerce will not be established in a day or two. You just have to wait patiently."
Conditions, the most important condition is of course money.
Gu Chengyu's plan is that those who join the Chamber of Commerce must pay an annual membership fee of two thousand taels, which is still the lowest level. Secondly, they must pay a deposit of five thousand taels.
20% of the membership fees were used to maintain the expenses and operations of the chamber of commerce, and the rest was handed over to the court and became another source of income for the court.
After all, although the chamber of commerce is almost controlled by the merchants themselves, it still needs the constraints and intimidation of the court, right?
The imperial court spent a lot of energy on the Chamber of Commerce, so the money should be taken for granted.
As for whether these people were willing to pay, Gu Chengyu wasn't worried at all.
When the time comes, you can think of some gimmicks to raise the level of your membership, and you won’t be afraid that these people won’t be willing to spend money.
Even if these two conditions are met, it still needs to be inspected by the Chamber of Commerce.
If the credibility and reputation are not good, the Chamber of Commerce will also refuse this person to join the membership.
Anyway, Gu Chengyu gave a lot of examples in the past two days, but now is not the time to come up with them.