Unconsciously, it was already noon. ** took Yunxi to a place located in the east of Beishi. Before Yunxi could get closer, he smelled the aroma of the food and said to **: "This is Beishi. Where is the restaurant?"
"Yes, sir," said **: "Fan merchants in the North City are prohibited from leaving the North and South City. Some merchants do not cook, so we cannot let them starve. Therefore, Zhang Tiju set aside such a place in the North City to allow Businessmen from various countries opened restaurants to provide food for foreign merchants. At first, only people from the Ming Dynasty opened restaurants here, and later people from foreign countries also came to open restaurants."
"I have been an official in several places before, including Bashu, Huguang, and Guangdong, but I have never seen most of the dishes here."
Hearing what he said, Yunxi also became greedy. There were many exotic delicacies that he had never tasted or even heard of! It was simply good news for foodies.
Yunxi ate a lot here, feasting on countless delicacies that he had never heard of in his two lives. Of course, he still attached great importance to cleanliness and chose restaurants that were relatively clean according to the government.
During the meal, ** was very excited. 'I am dining with His Majesty! Many officials of the fifth and lower ranks have met the emperor once in their lives - when they were named on the gold list or when they were selected from the Imperial Academy. Some officials have never met the emperor, but I am lucky enough to have dinner with the emperor!'** thought to himself.
In the afternoon, Yunxi left Bei City and headed to Nan City.
There is no difference between the Southern City and the Northern City, except that one is dominated by Han people and the other is dominated by Fan merchants. Moreover, the Fan merchants who came to Ming Dynasty to do business also tried their best to behave like the Han people, and there was basically no difference.
It's just that Yunxi has basically seen all the goods in Nanshi: they are all made in China, and even if there are one or two surprises, there is nothing surprising.
When he walked to a shop selling silk, Yunxi pointed to a relatively large courtyard and said, "Which merchant's courtyard is this? Does his family occupy so many shops?"
"Your Majesty, this is a business jointly opened by several merchants, mainly the Li family in Suzhou and the Zhao family in Huzhou. Their family accounts for 16 of the total 30 silk shops, so they can build such a business in Nanshi. Big yard." ** glanced at it and knew which house it was.
The Li family in Suzhou, the Zhao family in Huzhou and the Su family in Hangzhou are the three largest merchants in the silk industry of the Ming Dynasty that Yunxi knows. It is not surprising that two of the families join forces and account for more than half of the shops.
Yunxi walked in personally and took a look. There were quite a few guests inside, and soon hundreds of pieces of silk and satin were ordered out.
Suddenly a strong and powerful man came over, saluted him first and said, "The common people have seen Zhang Tiju."
** said: "Get up, there is no need to be polite. Shopkeeper Xiao, why did you come out from behind?"
"I heard from the guys that Zhang Tiju is here, so I naturally want to come and pay my respects." Xiao Zhuo smiled and said to Yunxi, "I wonder who this sir is?"
Yunxi said: "I am from Zhongshushe, your majesty's side. I am here to inspect the Shipping Department on your majesty's behalf."
"I've met Mr. Zhongshu." Xiao Zhuo saluted again and said.
"No courtesy." Yunxi said.
Xiao Zhuo was a little puzzled: How could this seventh-rank official be more official than the sixth-rank official like **? But he was relieved immediately: those around the emperor were naturally different.
Yunxi then asked some questions, and Xiao Zhuo answered half-truths and half-falsely. After a while, Li Taiyuan and others came over one after another to pay homage to ** and Yunxi.
Yunxi imitated later national leaders and said: "Every time you sell some goods, the country can receive some tariffs, so you businessmen in the Shipping Department also contribute to the country. Guanzi said at that time:...
"
Yunxi said a lot, and finally said: "If you have any questions, you can talk to the officials of the Municipal Shipping Department, or you can talk to me now."
Several people present were very excited by what Yun Xi said. Since the Warring States Period, merchants have been regarded as one of the five beetles in the past dynasties and despised, especially officials. Now an official has affirmed their contribution, although
It was a small affirmation and made them excited.
After hearing Yunxi's last words, Li Taiyuan couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, I am a member of the Li clan in Suzhou. Our Li family's main business is silk and satin. Since silk and satin are our main business, we need a lot of second-class land to plant mulberry trees.
Mulberry leaves.”
"But now the imperial fields only collect grain as taxes, so farmers who grow mulberry trees can only use money to buy grain, which results in their tax burden being higher than that of ordinary farmers who grow grain."
"Lord Zhongshu, can you advise Your Majesty that in the future, farmers who plant mulberry trees will directly pay taxes in silver according to the area of their land?"
However, although Li Taiyuan had the courage to speak up about this issue, he regretted it after he said it: the official was just being polite, but he actually took it seriously! He prayed in his heart that the official would not hate the Li family for this.
Yunxi's initial answer was as expected: "It is better to pay taxes on grain. The court also needs a lot of grain."
"But," Yunxi's next words were beyond their expectations: "Buying food does not have to be limited to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. You can buy food from overseas!"
"Buying food from overseas?" several people asked in confusion.
"Just buy grain from overseas. The land of Nanyang is extremely rich. I heard that in some places, grain is harvested three times a year. There are few people there, so the price of grain is extremely cheap. After taking into account the travel expenses, it is cheaper than the grain in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. You guys
Why don't the Li family try it and buy grain from Nanyang and pay taxes?" Yunxi said.
He had long wanted to talk to the big merchants about this matter, but when he was in Suzhou, the head of the Li family and the Shang family didn't mention it, and he couldn't let Yang Zirong mention it. It happened that he encountered this problem when he arrived at the Shanghai Shipping Company.
Yunxi expressed his thoughts.
Several people present were all thoughtful masters. After hearing Yunxi's words, they immediately thought: Is this what His Majesty the Emperor said before, that he wanted a big businessman to buy some grain from Nanyang and come back to test it, so this
Did the Chinese scholar mention this method?
Since it is His Majesty's will, even if the food in Nanyang is more expensive than that in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, we must try it.
Several people looked at Xiao Zhuo, and Xiao Zhuo also understood what they meant: only he who had been on the sea and had connections with maritime merchants could try buying food from Nanyang.
Xiao Zhuo bowed and said: "Master Zhongshu, the common people must buy some food from Nanyang."
Yunxi knew from Xiao Zhuo's reaction that he had misunderstood, but he did not explain it. Their misunderstanding would not be harmful to his plan, so just let them continue to misunderstand.
On the contrary, Yunxi said a few more words that seemed specious, which made them even more misunderstood.
After Yunxi left their shop, Li Taiyuan immediately said to Xiao Zhuo: "Brother Xiao, you are the only one who has access to the sea. Contact us to buy grain from Nanyang."
Xiao Zhuo also did his part: "I'll take care of it. It's just that all my old connections are in Ningbo, so I need to go to Ningbo. The business here is a lot of trouble for a few of you."
Several people discussed it for a while, and it turned out that Xiao Zhuo had the temperament to do whatever he said, so he later chose the person who would go to Ningbo with him.