Chapter 234: Don't Be Afraid of Being Prepared Beforehand
Two days later, the memorial requesting Zhang Zhixian of Shanghu County to open the sea finally arrived in the capital.
Yunxi carefully read the contents of the memorial and ensured that Zhang Yanfang was executing it in accordance with the rules he had set, so he approved it with the word "accurate" and regarded July 26 as a good day and determined it as the day to officially open the sea for trade.
On July 23, the memorial was returned to Shanghu County. Zhang Yanfang took the three officials in Shanghu County, namely the county magistrate, the Dianshi, and the chief clerk, as well as the squad leader, the catcher, and the six-room clerk.
Officials, as well as more than 20 officials from the Shibosi Yamen who had just arrived in Shanghu County this month, were called to the lobby of the Shibosi Yamen and circulated the memorials that had been approved.
As they watched, Zhang Yanfang said: "Comrades, Your Majesty has officially approved the memorial, and we will officially start sailing in three days."
"This is the first time that the Ming Dynasty opened the sea and allowed merchants from foreign countries to come to our country. Your Majesty and the important ministers of the imperial court attach great importance to it. Your Majesty also personally drafted the regulations with Qi Shangshu and Yang Shilang."
"So there must be no mistakes in this matter! If there are mistakes, then none of us will be left behind."
Everyone present knew the importance of this matter. Judging from Shanghu County’s information on this matter, they could basically be approved and sent back to Shanghu County on the same day they arrived in the capital. Also, the efforts made in clearing out pirates a while ago
You can see it when it's big.
So everyone lowered their voices to listen to what Zhang Yanfang said next.
Zhang Yanfang began to give instructions: "Cao Xian Cheng, Dian Zhushu, Xu Dianshi, all the affairs in Shanghai County that have nothing to do with Kaihai have been handed over to you in the past few days. Cao County Cheng, if there are complaints from the people, as long as they have nothing to do with Kaihai, they will be handed over to you."
Come and collect the petition."
The man named Cao Xian Cheng agreed: "Yes, your Excellency the County Magistrate."
"You've taken more care of the warden's book, food, horses, and patrol matters."
The administrator knew that most of the servants would be transferred to the Municipal Shipping Department, so there would be insufficient people in Shanghai County Government, so Zhang Yanfang would say sorry. However, the administrator believed that if nothing happened, he would be the one to blame.
His achievements, so he bowed and replied: "Yes, sir."
"Xu Dianshi, all the county's official documents, promotion of charity and charity, etc. are all entrusted to you."
Xu Dianshi agreed: "Yes, sir."
Zhang Yanfang then turned to the squad leader and the catcher said: "Squad leader Zhang, catcher Xing, you two should be more busy these days. Now there are many merchants gathered there with goods at the Shipping Department. Although each of them has
We have our own guards, but we still have to patrol more."
"If something big happens, whether it's a fire or a lot of goods being stolen, it could go to heaven. If there are merchants from foreign countries, there's a risk of affecting diplomatic relations."
"Besides, we can't always let the soldiers from the guard station be on duty. Wouldn't it be a loss of face for our Shanghu County?"
In fact, Bantou Zhang and Capt. Xing don't care about face. They are not officials who received benefits a while ago, but are servants with no hope of promotion, so they are not very interested in Zhang Yanfang's words. But they dare not refute the county magistrate's words.
So I could only say: "Yes, sir."
Zhang Yanfang knew what they were thinking and said with a smile: "The officers of the Shipping Department are being recruited. They will be available soon. By then, you won't have to be so busy."
"Besides, if you do well, the county will promote you to the rank of patrol inspector! I, Zhang Yanfang, will do what I say and will never break my promise!"
Zhang Bantou and Xing Bantou suddenly felt different. They bowed and said again: "Yes, sir." There was more serious emotion in their voices.
Zhang Yanfang turned around and said to the officials of the Municipal Shipping Department: "I don't know why your Majesty sent all the officials here instead of the staff, but since this is the case, you must not slack off."
Officials from the Municipal Shipping Department promised.
Zhang Yanfang gave a few more instructions and said, "It's getting late today. Let's all disperse." Everyone dispersed.
The government in this era didn't have much awareness of confidentiality, so by night the local people knew about it.
In a house in a village outside Shanghu City, but not far from Shanghu County, Xiao, Lu, and Duan, who came from Haiyan County, Jiaxing Prefecture a few days ago, sat with a local and listened.
The servant of the Shipping Department was talking.
The officer said: "...and then Mr. Zhang asked everyone to go back."
The local man was dressed in coarse cloth. He was about forty years old and not rich. However, from the underwear occasionally seen through the coarse cloth, it could be seen that he was not a poor man.
After hearing what the servant had said, the man ordered: "Go down." At the same time, he motioned with his eyes to the steward who was standing by.
The steward took out five taels of silver from his pocket, handed it to him and said, "Take it, this is your reward today."
The man was surprised and happy, and said: "Mr. Wang, Butler Wang, I usually receive favors from the Wang family, how come I still take money today!" But the hand was holding the silver tightly.
Butler Wang smiled and said: "You can take it if it's given to you. Whatever Magistrate Zhang has to say in the past few days, whether it sounds related to Kaihai or not, write it down and tell us."
The yamen servant saluted and said, "Don't worry. Even if I forget my biological father's surname, I can't forget Zhang Zhixian's words!" Then he bowed again and left.
After he withdrew, Butler Wang also bowed and retreated. Only then did the middle-aged man named Mr. Wang begin to speak.
He said to the three people from Jiaxing: "Brother Xiao, Brother Lu, and Brother Duan, what are you doing? What are you going to do?" From the tone of his voice, it seemed that they had discussed it many times before.
Xiao Zhuo, the leader of the three, took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Brother Wang is a landlord, and someone in his family is an official in the court. Of course we all listen to Brother Wang."
The man named Wang Rende also laughed and said, "Brother Xiao, aren't you looking down on me? How dare I, Wang Rende, compare with the three of you?"
"Songjiang Prefecture is located at the exit of the Yangtze River. The imperial court conducted very strict inspections in the past few years. There was no business at all, and the fleet had to disperse. We could only survive on the harvest of the land. If the imperial court did not open the sea,
, I can only disperse this big family."
"Jiaxing is close to the sea, and the three brothers are in Ningbo all year round, where there are many rocks. Although the three brothers do not go to sea personally, there are many small boats for barging cargo. They do a lot of business with maritime merchants and have strong capital."
"So for this transaction, I am focusing on three brothers."
Wang Rende's words seemed reasonable, but the three people opposite him didn't give it in vain. They knew that he was only telling the truth 70% of the time, and they couldn't believe it either.
Moreover, the three of them came here to do business in a serious manner. Since ancient times, strong dragons have not suppressed the local snakes. In order to do business peacefully in the future, they cannot take the majority.
So the three of them declined one after another. After a while of humility, the four of them reached an agreement, with Wang Rende holding 40% of the shares, and Xiao Zhuo and the others together holding 60% of the shares.
