Chapter 751 Southern Tour - Meeting with Xuan Merchants
Yunxi set out from the capital on the tenth day of September. Because the speed of the flat-bottomed fortune ship was extremely slow, he sailed on the Yangtze River at the speed of one province per day. He passed Zhenjiang on September 11th, passed Changzhou on September 12th, and passed Suzhou on September 13th.
, On September 14th, we arrived at the Shanghai Shipping Department located in Songjiang Prefecture. Because passing Songjiang Prefecture is the sea, the fleet escorting Yunxi had to rest in Songjiang Prefecture for a day to overhaul all the ships - especially the
The lucky boat that Yunxi took was in case there was any problem with the boat after going to sea.
Because the ship needed to be fully overhauled, Yunxi also got off the ship and moved into the Shanghai Shipping Division Yamen where he had lived for a few days.
Since he came to the Shanghai Shipping Division, Yunxi would of course pay attention to the situation here. In the evening, he called the boss of the Shanghai Shipping Division to him and asked about the current situation.
"Your Majesty, as of the end of August this year, the Shanghai Shipping Department has collected a total of 2,573,369 guan from customs duties, which is almost the same as last year." ** said slightly uneasily.
"This is normal." Yunxi smiled at him and said: "The Bao'an Ship Division was established at the beginning of last year. Many businessmen from Southeast Asia will definitely go there. The number of merchants coming to Shanghai Ship Division to do business has decreased significantly.
Normally. It is very difficult for the Shanghai Shipping Department to avoid reducing the amount of tariffs. I have to praise you."
**They, the officials of the Municipal Shipping Department, knew very well that their job responsibility was to increase tariffs for the Ming Dynasty, so they were very panicked when the tariffs did not increase. Yunxi also understood the matter in an instant, so he immediately expressed comfort to prevent it.
He was thinking wildly.
**As expected, he breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Yunxi's words, and his expression became much more relaxed.
After that, Yunxi asked several more questions, and ** answered them one by one. But the last question Yunxi asked surprised him very much.
"I remember that the last time I came to Shanghu Shipping Company, there was a businessman selling raw silk and satin in Suzhou. Is it called Li's? In partnership with several other businessmen, they occupied more than half of the silk and satin shop here?" Yun Xi
asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty." ** still remembered that two years ago, he accompanied the emperor, who was pretending to be a seventh-grade master, to wander around the Shibo Company. The emperor had a few words with one of the partners, which later caused a stir among him.
The Nanyang merchants who had a headache brought food to sell. So it is not surprising that Your Majesty remembers them.
But what Yunxi said next was very strange. "I remember that one of their partners was named Xiao, named Xiao Zhuo. I later sent someone to investigate this person. Although he was indeed from Jiaxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, he was still a
Tong Sheng, but his identity is not ordinary, he is not an ordinary merchant. Is this person currently working in the Shanghai Shipping Department?"
"Your Majesty, this person is still in the Shanghai Shipping Department." ** agreed. Although Xiao Zhuo was unusual - he also investigated Xiao Zhuo after taking office in the Shanghai Shipping Department, although he did not find out much.
I also know that he is unusual. But even so, he is just a businessman, how can he deserve the emperor's attention?
"Send someone to call him over. I will see him early tomorrow morning." Yunhe ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty." No matter how strange it felt, ** did not dare to go against Yunxi's words.
After that, Yunxi had nothing to say, so he bowed and left.
Yunxi stretched and went to the temporarily arranged sleeping hall to rest.
But before taking a break, Yunxi asked Li Sha'er: "Did you know a businessman named Xiao Zhuo when you were here at Shanghai Shipping Company?"
"We know each other, why don't we know each other? He and several other people jointly own more than half of the silk and satin shop of the Shanghai Shipping Company, and the business is very large. Moreover, he has been at sea for several years before, and he and his brother also worked together when he was a pirate.
We have dealt with him before." Li Shaer said.
"What did he do at sea?" Yunxi suddenly became interested and asked.
"I do everything, mainly smuggling goods, smuggling various goods from the Ming Dynasty overseas, and smuggling goods from overseas to the Ming Dynasty. Now, more than half of the merchants in the Shanghai Shipping Department are such merchants," Li Shaer said.
.She knew that Yunxi had no intention of pursuing this matter, so she told the truth.
Yunxi didn't know what he was thinking, and said: "I'm going to see Xiao Zhuo tomorrow. You can help me ask him questions."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Sha'er agreed immediately without any doubt.
"What was your life like at sea back then? I haven't heard you talk about it yet." Yunxi said again.
Li Sha'er was very reluctant to tell Yunxi about her and her brother's life when they were wandering at sea. Yunxi also knew about it, so he only asked about some general things. But now that Yunxi asked, she didn't dare not to tell.
I picked out what I could say and said it.
"Your Majesty, life at sea is of course not easy. In the past, there were Ming naval forces in the offshore. Once caught, the ship would be destroyed and everyone would be killed. The Ming navy was rarely willing to capture pirates; the navy in the far sea would not go, but there are others.
Merchants, they are more dangerous than the navy of the Ming Dynasty. At sea, pirates and merchants cannot be distinguished..."
Yunxi listened for a long time, and finally hugged Li Shaer and said: "It's okay, now you are my concubine, and your brother is also a registered military general of the Ming Dynasty. Your previous precarious days are completely over."
"Your Majesty, I also know that I am very satisfied with my current life." Li Shaer said with a smile.
…
…
Before dawn on September 15th, Xiao Zhuo was waiting at the Shanghai Shipping Department. He was currently in the lobby, restlessly waiting for an interview with a senior official who was said to be very senior.
Xiao Zhuo was very puzzled by this. How could he, an 'honest and responsible' businessman, have high-ranking officials want to meet him? Although the Ming Dynasty has relaxed restrictions on businessmen, in essence, the status of businessmen is still lower than that of ordinary people.
Different. On weekdays, except for the officials from the Shanghai Shipping Department, even the people from Songjiang Prefecture don’t deal with them. Why would a high-ranking official see him?
His doubts did not last long, and soon a low-ranking official from the Shanghai Shipping Department came over and took him to meet this 'big official.' But Xiao Zhuoyue became more and more confused as he walked out of Shanghai.
I went to the city shipping office, walked into the dock, and finally walked to a large ship.
"Liu Cheng, is the official who wants to meet me the official who came to Shanghai with the emperor?" Xiao Zhuo asked the familiar official in front of him in surprise.
But the official named Liu Cheng did not answer. He did not know who wanted to meet Xiao Zhuo, so he could only remain silent.
"But this makes sense. Apart from His Majesty and his entourage, I haven't heard of any high-ranking officials coming to the Shanghai Shipping Department recently. Only the officials brought by Your Majesty may receive me. Could it be that His Majesty treats us businessmen
You are interested, so you asked an official next to you to ask?" Xiao Zhuo didn't get annoyed when he didn't hear Liu Cheng's answer, and muttered to himself.
Immediately, a man got off the boat, said a few words to Liu Cheng, looked at Xiao Zhuo up and down, and said, "Come up with us."
Xiao Zhuo thought his eyes, voice and self-promotion were strange, but he didn't think much about it and followed him onto the boat.
After that, Xiao Zhuo waited on the boat for a long time, from when the sun just rose to when the dazzling sunlight shone on the earth, until he felt like sleeping after waiting, and then the man who led him onto the boat came over again and said: "Come on
