At the side door of the royal residence in the west of the city, a Hui merchant came.
This man is about forty years old. He is wearing a cotton Taoist robe (pleated robe) and a large round hat. He has a calm and graceful appearance. At first glance, he looks like an official in casual clothes.
He was very generous and gave his disciple twelve taels of silver. He said without being humble or arrogant, "Please inform me that Huizhou businessman Huang Chongde, a disciple of Lu Sect's Xinxue, has come to see Academician Wang."
The Wang family's gatekeeper has been replaced, but he still collects money when he should. He just doesn't dare to isolate visitors privately anymore. The gatekeeper stuffed two white coins into his arms and immediately went in to report. Soon someone took Huang Chongde away.
Enter the mansion.
Wang Yuan did not come to the courtyard to greet him this time. He was just a businessman, and it was already a great honor to agree to meet him.
"This experiment shows that water has three forms. When it cools down in winter, it freezes into a solid state; when it is heated by cooking, it melts into a liquid state; when it continues to heat up, it vaporizes into a gaseous state!"
"Since water has three states, what about other objects? Common iron is in a solid state, and blacksmiths calcine it into a liquid state (it is actually an iron alloy, and the ancient furnace temperature could not reach the melting point of pure iron). If the temperature continues to rise, can gaseous iron be obtained?"
"We might as well continue to do experiments, find different substances, and discover their solid, liquid and gaseous states."
"..."
When Huang Chongde came to Gewutang, Wang Yuan was summarizing experiments. There were more than a dozen disciples listening carefully, while Huang E quickly took down what Wang Yuan said in his notes.
After Wang Yuan finished speaking, the servant said: "Master, the guests are here."
Huang Chongde immediately raised his hands and saluted: "Huang Chongde, who was born late, has met Bachelor Wang!"
This guy was already in his forties, but he claimed to be a late-born man in front of Wang Yuan, and he behaved like a scholar.
Wang Yuan asked: "Do you have the title of life member?"
Huang Chongde replied: "When I was young, I went to school and passed the examination to become a scholar. I gave up my studies and started doing business according to my father's order. My father was also a civil servant and reached the seventh rank of county magistrate. Now he has become an official due to illness."
Wang Yuan asked the students to continue doing experiments and took Huang Chongde aside to drink tea: "You are practicing Lumen Xinxue?"
Huang Chongde replied: "If the children of Huizhou merchants study, most of them believe in Lumen Xinxue."
"It's interesting." Wang Yuan couldn't help laughing. He really didn't expect that Lu Jiuyuan's Xinxue actually had a group of businessmen followers.
Huang Chongde did not talk about business, and said in a roundabout way: "I came to Beijing this time to listen to Yangminggong's lectures. Wangmen's Xinxue and Lumen's Xinxue both started with 'heart', but they each have their own explanations. It really made me enlightened.
"
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Your Excellency, you are here just for a heart-to-heart talk? If you have anything to say, just tell me."
Huang Chongde was stunned. In the past, when he dealt with officials, he always relied on the Four Books and Five Classics, poems and songs to get closer. As long as he made the officials happy and made enough money, the rest of the things would be very easy to handle. Unexpectedly, he was so famous
Academician Wang actually doesn't like this.
Huang Chongde handed over his hand and said: "Xueshi Wang, although I am originally from Huizhou, but I started my business in Qilu. I am mainly engaged in the cotton and grain business, especially cotton and cotton cloth."
Wang Yuan asked: "Did I steal your business?"
"I don't dare," Huang Chongde said with a smile, "I just want to do business with Bachelor Wang."
Wang Yuan said: "If you want to do business, go directly to Tianjin and talk to my shopkeeper."
"He can't make the decision." Huang Chongde said.
"It seems like a big business." Wang Yuan said with a smile.
Huang Chongde said without scruple: "Shandong has been hit by military disasters for two consecutive years, and many large local cotton merchants have lost their homes. I took the opportunity to take over the cotton collection channel. Now at least half of the cotton in Shandong is sold by me. Shandong
I have dealt with all the health officials in various prefectures and counties. They have been local officials for generations and have a good relationship with local merchants. They collect cotton from farmers and sell it directly to me."
Wang Yuan declined to comment and said: "Continue."
Huang Chongde added: "If Mr. Wang wants to harvest cotton, I will cover the cotton from Shandong next year, provided that Mr. Wang cannot accept cotton from other companies. And the cotton in my hand will be sold to Mr. Wang first, until Mr. Wang can no longer harvest it.
After it is finished, I will transport it to Jiangnan for sale."
Wang Yuan asked curiously: "I just have a small workshop. Is it worth a trip in person?"
Huang Chongde explained: "I have inquired, and it turns out that Wang Xueshi only has a few hundred spinners. But the cotton yarn purchased by Wang Xueshi and the cotton cloth sold are the output of only two to three thousand weavers. Wang Xueshi must have the latest styles.
The efficiency of this loom is several times that of the old loom! With such a sharp weapon, if we expand production next year, it will definitely shake up the world's cloth market!"
"You are very well-informed. You even found out the shipment volume." Wang Yuan said with a smile.
Huang Chongde added: "If Mr. Wang expands his production capacity, he will definitely need countless cotton next year, and I have countless cotton in my hands. We will benefit from our cooperation. Mr. Wang can easily buy cotton, and I can save a lot of transportation costs.
.After all, selling Shandong cotton to Tianjin can cost a lot less than selling it to Songjiang."
In order to promote cotton cultivation, Zhu Yuanzhang exempted cotton fields from taxes, and the tolls for cotton merchants were also very low. However, by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the cotton tax had increased several times, and two-tenths of the tax was levied on cotton ships passing through a banknote checkpoint!
In other words, if Huang Chongde sells cotton to Wang Yuan, the tax cost alone can be reduced by 20%.
"That's all? My shopkeeper seems to be able to make the decision," Wang Yuan asked.
Huang Chongde smiled and said: "I want to be the Shandong underwriter of 'Bachelor's Cloth', and 'Bachelor's Cloth' must be sold to me first!"
Wang Yuan took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "You are good at business, I'm afraid it's not just cotton and grain business, right?"
Huang Chongde said: "We also sell some salt."
Salt merchant, no wonder!
In fact, due to the Kaizhong system established by Zhu Yuanzhang, many salt merchants in the early Ming Dynasty were Shanxi merchants. Shanxi merchants were in border areas, so the Kaizhong system was a powerful tool for them, and their profits from selling salt were much higher than those of merchants from Lianghuai.
However, the Kaizhong system collapsed completely during the Hongzhi Dynasty, and the new salt law was introduced. The profits of the Lianghuai salt merchants were actually higher.
Huang Chongde was the first beneficiary of the new salt law. He started his business by operating cotton and cotton cloth in Shandong. He opened up connections with the court and was able to obtain a large amount of salt every year. He also attracted a lot of people named Huang from his hometown.
Become a salt merchant and beat those Shanxi merchants to the ground.
Wang Yuan asked: "If I don't give you priority in selling cloth, will I not be able to buy cotton in Shandong next year?"
"I don't dare." Huang Chongde said with cupped hands.
"Why do I think you dare?" Wang Yuan sneered.
Huang Chongde did not dare to sit any longer, stood up and said, "Scholar Wang, we are just talking about business today, don't think too much about it."
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Sit down. Your method is feasible, but it comes year by year. You sell me cotton for one year, and I will let you sell cotton for one year. If one day you go bankrupt, the cooperation will be cancelled."
.how?"
"It all depends on Master Wang." Huang Chongde's vest was sweating.
Wang Yuan was a popular figure around the emperor. A few slanderous words could wipe out Huang Chongde's share of salt. No matter how strong the relationship behind him was, no matter how big his backing was, he could not compete with the supreme imperial power.
Not only was his salt quota canceled, but his past scandals were also investigated.
Who is a clean salt merchant?
At least you can definitely bribe officials. If you don't pay bribes, you won't be able to get bribes. If you find out, you can directly raid your home.
Huang Chongde's posture became lower and lower, and finally he stood and spoke the whole time, keeping his head bent. He glanced at those doing experiments and said: "I read Bachelor Wang's "Acta Physica Sinica" in Beijing. The science of physics is
The science of heaven and man. I have an merciless request."
"Say." Wang Yuan said.
Huang Chongde bent down and handed over his hand: "My fifth son is thirteen years old this year. He is smart and eager to learn. He boldly requests to join Bachelor Wang's disciples to study psychology and physics."
Wang Yuan finally laughed: "Okay, let him do it."
The stone in Huang Chongde's heart also dropped, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With this relationship, the cotton and cotton cloth business will be stable in the future, and he will also have an additional backer in the DPRK and China.
Of course, Huang Chongde also wanted to reciprocate the favor. He did not need to bribe Wang Yuan. When selling cotton, the price was just a few cents lower, and when collecting cotton cloth, the price was a cent higher.
If Wang Yuan can join the cabinet in the future, the Huang family's share of salt will hopefully increase, provided that he licks Wang Yuan to his heart's content.
Huang Chongde straightened his body and came in, bent down and left. He also paid for the servants of the Wang family who were responsible for guiding the way.
Towards evening, the servant came in again and reported: "Sir, there is someone from Li Ge's house."
"Please come quickly!" Wang Yuan said.
Li Dongyang's old servant came in and said: "Master Wang, my master has been approved by His Majesty to serve as an official. Please take the time to visit your residence."
Li Dongyang, the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, finally retired!