Tang Bohu had a wide circle of friends when he was young, and he was known to everyone in South Zhili.
Even though he was deprived of his fame, he often became a guest of the gentry and wealthy businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River. He mainly collected money to write epitaphs for people, or painted paintings to celebrate the birthdays of the gentry and wealthy businessmen, which was one of his sources of livelihood.
The maritime ban in South Zhili is strictly controlled, and maritime merchants and pirates have almost disappeared. Decades ago, the pirates were forced to have no choice but to unite to attack Chongming Island. As a result, they were killed by the officers and soldiers, and all the remaining forces fled into Zhejiang.
sea surface.
To be honest, if there were not six small imperial courts in Nanjing, it would be very comfortable to open a sea in Nanzhili.
The local gentry must support opening up the sea, because their goods must be transported to Zhejiang before they can be smuggled.
In Suzhou, Changzhou, Songjiang, Taicang and other state capitals, the handicraft industry is very prosperous and developed, and goods from all over the country can be transported by water. If a port can be built at the estuary of the Yangtze River, the transportation cost will be far better than that in Hangzhou, and there are also
Large shipyard!
Unfortunately, Nanjing is too inconvenient.
There are a lot of retired officials in the small court there. They are very active when something happens, and they hope to be promoted and transferred. Wang Yuanruo went to Nanzhili to open the sea, which was annoying to death. He had to spend all his energy fighting with others all day long.
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Wang Yuan's overall idea was to open up the sea in Hangzhou first and use huge tariffs to silence hundreds of officials. Then he would open up Guangzhou (Guangdong), Zhangzhou (Fujian) and Dengzhou (Shandong) one after another, and then open up Ningbo and Fuzhou one after another.
Chaozhou, Tianjin and other ports, and finally Shanghai in South Zhili!
In the entire north, the best port is not Tianjin, but Dengzhou in Shandong.
Even if Fujian and Zhejiang merchants want to go to Japan for trade, they have to land in Dengzhou for supplies, which is the place where ocean currents and monsoon winds must pass. Starting from Dengzhou, with the help of ocean currents and monsoon winds, it can take at least three days.
Can go to Japan!
No more gossip.
Let us say that after Tang Bohu became an aide, he was directly sent by Wang Yuan to South Zhili and told the gentry and wealthy merchants there: "The Wang Zongzhi in Zhejiang is going to sea. We have already contacted the sea ships. You only need to transport the goods to Hangzhou to sell them."
Dropped. And before the Qiantang Tide comes, the customs clearance fee at Beiguan in Hangzhou will be halved, and we will not wait until the expiration date!"
At first, Su Songhaoshang didn't believe it.
Gradually, news came from businessmen traveling north, saying that after Governor Wang came to Zhejiang, Zhejiang Chaoguan would no longer extort money. Well, the merchants heard the news and took action. No matter whether he could open the sea, they would send the goods to Hangzhou first. At least they could pay less.
Half of the customs duty.
In the past two years, due to the low price of Tianjin cotton, Jiangnan cotton has lost a large part of the northern market. It can still be sold in Shandong and Henan, but cannot be sold into Hebei, let alone Shanxi and Shaanxi (the Shaanxi market is mainly sold to Sichuan and Huguang)
cotton domination).
Jiangnan cotton was unsaleable in the north, which indirectly contributed to the rampant smuggling in Zhejiang. The cotton they produced had to find a place to sell it, and if it couldn't be sold domestically, they could only look overseas.
In this way, a large amount of goods gathered in Hangzhou, and there was simply not enough warehouse storage. They could only be piled near the unfinished port and covered with tarps for safekeeping. Wang Yuan sent fire rifle soldiers to patrol and protect them every day.
Tang Bohu successfully completed the task and brought back a widow - Yang, the head of the Xu family, the richest man in Jiangyin, and Xu Xiake's great-great-grandmother!
Yang's deceased husband was named Xu Jing, and he and Tang Bohu were close friends.
It was thanks to Xu Jing that Tang Bohu was involved in the imperial examination fraud case, and his career was hopeless, and the two families were cut off from each other.
But Tang Bohu had long taken these things lightly. He had a falling out with Wen Zhengming when he was young, and they had reconciled a few years ago. Yang asked to come to see her, but Tang Bohu did not refuse, so he brought the widow to Hangzhou.
"Mr. Yang, the widow of the Xu family in Jiangyin, has met the governor!" Ms. Yang bowed down.
Wang Yuan glanced at Mr. Yang, who was half-year-old but still charming. He wondered if he was having an affair with Tang Bohu? He immediately asked, "Why do you want to see me?"
Yang said: "My lord, please step aside."
Wang Yuan immediately laughed. He said this to the pirates a few days ago. After waving the others away, Wang Yuan said: "Say it."
Yang said: "I have two daughters under my knees. The eldest daughter is almost in her hairpin years. She is gentle, virtuous, talented and beautiful. She is willing to marry Mr. Wang as my concubine. The dowry includes 500 acres of fertile land, 10 acres of official hills, and 100 acres of land.
Ten acres of mountains, twenty acres of tidal flats, and twenty acres of pasture, please accept it, Mr. Wang!"
If Wang Yuan agrees, she will be a good concubine, and her status will be much higher than Xiangxiang.
Wang Yuan did not refuse directly, but asked: "What do you want?"
Yang said: "I have three sons. Please ask Mr. Wang to take over my apprenticeship. The second son and the youngest son will all be worshiped by Yangming Gong. In addition, please give me a Tianjin loom. If it succeeds, the profits from the Xu family weaving factory will be
, I would like to dedicate 10% to Mr. Wang every year."
"You are a woman, but you have good calculations," Wang Yuan couldn't help laughing, "Are you blatantly bribing me?"
Yang said: "The truth is that we have no choice. I am struggling to support the family business and cannot survive, so I need help from noble people."
Wang Yuan muttered: If he takes concubines again, the grape vines in his family will fall down.
"What did Mr. Wang say?" Yang didn't hear clearly.
Wang Yuandao: "If you really want to marry a daughter, I have a disciple named Huang Xu, who is about the same age as your eldest daughter. His father is Huang Chongde, a wealthy businessman from Lianghuai."
"Thank you, Mr. Wang, for suggesting the marriage!" Yang agreed immediately.
Huang Chongde is still very famous in Jiangnan. He made his fortune from Shandong cotton. In recent years, he has been involved in the Lianghuai salt industry. He can be regarded as one of the pioneers of Huizhou merchants involved in the salt industry.
Although the Xu family is known as the richest man in Jiangyin, since the death of Xu Jing, it has long lost its former glory, and nearly half of the family property has been embezzled. If they can marry Huang Chongde, a Huizhou merchant, and he is also a disciple of Wang Yuan, then the Xu family can be considered as found.
Now that we have a backer, we no longer have to worry about relatives and brothers colluding with officials to continue to rob the family property.
Wang Yuan suddenly said: "I can give you the Tianjin loom. When the time comes, our two families will build a factory in Jiangyin. I will hold 40% of the shares, the Xu family will hold 60% of the shares, and the cotton cloth will be sold to Huang Chongde. How about it?"
Yang was overjoyed: "Thank you, Mr. Wang, for your support!"
Mrs. Yang heard that Wang Yuan had a good official reputation and was very rich, so she dared to come to offer her daughter for care. If it were another official, she would not dare to do this. What if the entire family fortune was taken away?
The Tianjin loom is said to be an artifact in the Jiangnan textile industry. If this technology can be obtained, the Xu family's industry can slowly recover.
Wang Yuan is also not at a disadvantage. Tianjin has not been able to open sea in the past few years, and it must be sold in Jiangnan. If he wants to extend his business tentacles to Jiangnan, he must cooperate with local wealthy families, and the Xu family in Jiangyin is a good partner.
A widow can't make any waves if she heads a household.
As for the large-scale loom technology, once it spreads to the south of the Yangtze River, it will definitely leak out. But the northern market will not be affected by this. The banknotes are blocked along the canal. The cost of cotton cloth in Tianjin will always be lower, and there is no fear of competition from these Jiangnan cotton cloths.
Wang Yuan was indifferent to rumors about looms, and even did it intentionally. He stood at the national level and hoped to improve China's overall textile technology. This thing could promote the prosperity of the cotton spinning industry, prompting the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River to rush to overseas sales, and to China Ocean Shipping
Trade helps tremendously.
Alas, Zhu Houzhao, I am so worried about your country!