Wang Yuan looked at this person carefully. He had a big head, beard, short stature, and small eyes. He looked a bit like Yan Chixia played by Wu Ma.
"A friend is a judge?" Wang Yuan asked.
Zhang Cong cupped his hands and said: "In the eighth year of Hongzhi's reign, he passed the national examination and failed in the sixth national examination."
Wang Yuan was speechless for a moment. This man had almost caught up with his own age when he took the examination. It took him eighteen years to pass the imperial examination!
Zhang Cong also lamented in his heart that the governor in front of him was too young. Moreover, he was a rare scholar, but he could rise to the position of minister. In comparison, he seemed to have lived like a dog at his age.
Wang Yuan did not ask for knowledge and asked directly: "Friend, what do you think of Kaihai?"
Zhang Cong said: "There are advantages and disadvantages."
Wang Yuan asked: "What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages?"
Zhang Cong said in detail: "In Zhejiang, there are many official fields, and the small people are miserable; in Fujian, there are many people and little land, and the people live in poverty. Therefore, the good family members have abandoned their hometowns and crossed the sea to survive regardless of life and death. If they can
With the opening of the sea, all the people in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces can make a living, and industry and commerce can also prosper. For the country, business taxes can also be greatly increased, making the Ministry of Household Finance rich and reliable."
Understand people!
Wang Yuan only knew Zhang Juzheng, but did not know Zhang Cong, the "pioneer of Ming Dynasty reform". However, just hearing these remarks, he must have real ability.
Zhang Cong added: "The disadvantages come from agriculture. If the sea is opened successfully, industry and commerce will surely prosper. People will seek profits but neglect farming, and mulberry, hemp, and cotton will all use fertile land. As a result, the grain supply of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces will decrease sharply, and the two provinces will
We need to purchase grain from outside. Once there is a major disaster in Huguang, Zhili, Zhejiang, and Fujian, I am afraid that grain prices will skyrocket and famine will be everywhere!"
Wang Yuan nodded and said: "This is very true."
In ancient times, transportation costs were very high, and it was difficult to purchase large amounts of grain from other provinces. Coupled with the existence of profiteers, if there was a big disaster, how many people would starve to death! An overseas grain base must be established, and it must be supplemented by force, otherwise it will be very difficult.
It is difficult to ensure food security in a province open to the sea.
Wang Yuan asked again: "If you want to open the sea, what should you do?"
Zhang Cong asked: "Do you know, Mr. Wang, who is the largest maritime merchant in Zhejiang?"
Wang Yuan said: "I don't know."
Zhang Cong said: "The largest maritime merchants in Zhejiang are all Fujianese! Because Fujian has more people but less land, and is good at building ships, they have the strength to sail long distances. Not only in Zhejiang, but also in the entire Ming Dynasty, the largest maritime merchant is Fuqing
Xue!"
Wang Yuan was a little surprised and asked: "How many Jinshi have been produced by the Xue family in Fuqing?"
Zhang Cong said: "For more than a hundred years, the Xue family in Fuqing has produced only two or three Jinshi. However, the Xue family and the Lin family have been married for generations, and if the Lin family includes side branches, there have been dozens of Jinshi! Xue
The lineage of the Lin family not only spreads throughout Fujian, but has also spread to Zhejiang and Guangdong."
Pang Jian, who was a pirate, didn't know much about these inside stories, so he had to ask someone like Zhang Cong.
Wang Yuan asked: "Are there no maritime merchants in Zhejiang?"
Zhang Cong said: "Yes, but not on a large scale. Anyone who wants to be a maritime merchant in Zhejiang, whether they are gentry or fugitive pirates, must go to Fujian to order sea ships. And Fujian sea ships are controlled by Fujian rich families, how can they
Let Zhejiang maritime merchants grow? The local wealthy gentry in Fujian are mainly land merchants. They buy goods from all over the place and sell them to Fujian maritime merchants to sell in Japan."
The pirates in the Zhengde period were really not good enough. Under the suppression of the wealthy maritime merchants, it was impossible to form big pirates like Wang Zhi and Zheng Chenggong.
For example, Yan Qisheng, a Fujian pirate during the Tianshun period, was the "ancestor of the opening of Macau" and once traversed the South China Sea. Even so, Yan Qisheng only dared to roam around the South China Sea, mainly engaged in Southeast Asian trade, and did not dare to come to Zhejiang and Fujian to compete with wealthy maritime merchants.
Business.
Even the pirate organization system was learned from Fujian Maritime Business, with positions such as ship owner, ship owner, financial deputy, general manager, and direct treasury.
Among them, the ship owners are the most powerful. They are in charge of navigation command, ship and cargo trading, liaison with the government, etc. They are the real "dana". Some ship owners simply do not go to sea themselves, but only spend money to build sea-going ships, recruit maritime merchants, pirates, or
Just rent out the boat and collect commission.
Wang Yuan carefully sorted out his thoughts and asked: "Who is the largest land supplier in Zhejiang?"
"Ningbo Yang Family." Zhang Cong answered all questions.
Wang Yuan continued to inquire: "What is the influence of the Yang family in Ningbo?"
Zhang Cong said: "At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the entire county belonged to the Yang family. Emperor Taizu attacked Haoyou, and the Yang family's lifang line was directly exterminated, and the yifang line abandoned their family and property, leaving only a few thatched cottages.
The Yang clan leader and his wife could not even find a cemetery to bury them, so they died without a burial place. They were even falsely accused and could not even save a few thatched cottages, so they had to move again to rent a house."
Wang Yuan lamented: "This Yang family has been in so many troubles, but it can actually make a comeback."
Zhang Cong said: "Although Yang left his family and career, he never abandoned his books. His family passed down the Yi, Shi, and Shu, and he understood all three classics. He believed in Lu's philosophy of mind."
He is also a believer in Lu Sect’s Xinxue. It seems that all businessmen like Lu Jiuyuan.
Wang Yuan asked: "The Yang family doesn't even have land and houses anymore. How do they make a living?"
Zhang Cong said: "I teach in private schools and barely make a living."
Wang Yuan asked again: "How did you get rich?"
Zhang Cong said with a smile: "The Yang family is proficient in the three classics, which was very rare in the early days of the Kingdom. They built a big house of three or four people just by teaching. They also followed the Lu family's philosophy and were quite proficient in the ways of merchants.
By cultivating goods, one’s family wealth will be abundant.”
Wang Yuan asked: "Since poetry and etiquette are passed down to the family, there must be many officials."
Zhang Cong said: "During the Xuande period, the Yang family began to produce candidates. During the Jingtai and Chenghua dynasties, in just over twenty years, the Yang family produced six Jinshi, three of whom were officials to the rank of Shangshu!"
"hiss!"
Wang Yuan took a breath, Ningbo Yang Family was so terrifying!
Wang Yuan asked again: "What about now?"
Zhang Cong smiled and said: "It's strange to say that since the Hongzhi Dynasty, there has not been a single Jinshi in the Yang family, but there have been a lot of people."
To be honest, Wang Yuan admired the Ningbo Yang family very much.
This is a family that was so attacked by Zhu Yuanzhang that it could not even save its thatched cottage. After the death of the patriarch, he could not find a place to bury him. But relying on family knowledge, he suddenly rose up again, with six Jinshi in one family and three ministers in the family!
Reading changes your destiny.
If he can win over the Yang family of Ningbo, Wang Yuan will get twice the result with half the effort by opening the sea. If the Yang family is stubborn, then Wang Yuan will not mind being the governor of the ruined family, so that the Yang family can once again return to a situation where they can't even live in thatched cottages.
Wang Yuan suddenly stood up and came forward, took Zhang Cong's hand and said, "Mr. Bingyong is a great talent, would you like to stay as my guest?"
Zhang Cong smiled and replied: "It's what I wish for."
Wang Yuan said: "I have an important task for Mr. Bingyong to persuade the Yang family of Ningbo to cooperate in opening the sea!"
Zhang Cong asked: "How does the general management plan to open the sea?"
"Small drive, drive quickly..." Wang Yuan stepped back and spoke to Zhang Cong in detail.
After Zhang Cong heard this, he couldn't stop smiling, and said with cupped hands: "In this case, how confident I am depends on whether the Yang family understands current affairs."
Wang Yuan said domineeringly: "If he doesn't know the current affairs, I will force him to know the current affairs!"