Wang Yuan led many merchants to pay homage to Mazu at the Tianfei Palace in the north of Haier Street.
The reason for simple worship is because the official date of the sacrifice is clear, and it is illegal to hold large-scale sacrifices in normal times.
The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs.
Sacrifice to gods was a very sensitive matter in ancient times. If Wang Yuan dared to worship the imperial concubine indiscriminately, the consequences would be more serious than killing the Zhejiang Dusi, and he could even be labeled as treason.
"Bye! Xing!"
"Bye bye! Xing!"
"Three obeisances! Get up!"
Wang Yuan stepped forward to offer incense to Mazu, and then the merchants also offered incense one after another. Finally, they swore an oath in front of the Concubine Tian——
"The wonderful spirit of protecting the country and the people Zhao Ying Hongren Puji Tianfei is above. We, the officials and the people, hereby swear to work together... We must abide by the law, benefit the country and the people, abide by the rules, and watch and help each other..."
"The eighteen rules of dental practice in Hangzhou are as follows:"
"First, the top ten dental shops in Hangzhou should strictly abide by the "Da Ming Law" and the regulations of the Hangzhou Shipping Department. They are not allowed to sell grain, copper, iron and other prohibited items to the sea..."
"Secondly, merchants and people on land and sea are treated equally. If merchants buy cheap and sell expensive, merchants will definitely suffer losses, and there may be the disadvantage of confusing people with real goods. Therefore, merchants and merchants gather together to negotiate the price of goods and sell goods privately.
Shared responsibility;”
"Third, when merchants from other places come to Hangzhou to trade with maritime merchants, they should agree on the price of goods with our bank so that the selling price is fair. If there is any private pricing or secret purchase, the ten banks are jointly responsible for it;"
"Fourth, after the price of the goods is agreed upon, it is not allowed to pass it off as good. If anyone deceives the maritime merchants with inferior goods, the ten companies will be jointly responsible for it;"
"Fifth..."
After more than a hundred merchant ships went out to sea, the merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang were finally convinced. Even the prominent families in Ningbo had to follow suit and finally agreed to jointly build Yahang.
A total of forty-six merchants jointly invested in the top ten tooth shops, including Huang Chongde, the father of Wang Yuan's disciple.
The original intention of establishing Yahang was, of course, to maintain order in receiving and selling goods, and to balance price fluctuations to a certain extent. At the same time, these forty-six merchants were all carefully selected by Wang Yuan. After they formed a community of interests, they were bound to
Efforts should be made to maintain the situation of opening up the sea in Hangzhou so as not to let Wang Yuan bear the pressure of the sea ban alone.
There are many mainland merchants and few maritime merchants, so the competition will become increasingly fierce in the future. Yahang also speaks for the mainland merchants.
Let’s take an example. In the tenth year of Hongzhi, the Japanese tribute envoy received goods in Ningbo. Because the official price was too high, and the price of Ningbo’s rich families was also high, the Japanese tribute envoy contacted ordinary people in Ningbo to buy the goods.
A man surnamed Zhu accepted the order at a very low price and packaged the goods of the Japanese tribute ship. As a result, he lost more than a thousand taels, and all the goods were not confiscated. What to do if the goods were insufficient? This man stuffed his son into a container and gave it to the Japanese
Send it and get it as a family gift!
The son who was used to deliver the goods was named Zhu Jin, and was renamed Zong Suqing in Japan. He was one of the two protagonists in the Jiajing Dynasty's tribute battle, which directly led to the Jiajing Dynasty's ban on the sea and triggered Japanese rebellions in several coastal provinces.
After the establishment of the top ten dental shops in Hangzhou, as long as the rules are strictly enforced, there will no longer be losses when doing business with maritime merchants. Once private transactions occur, they must be severely cracked down to prevent small dental shops from disrupting the market.
After the oath was made, Wang Yuan smiled and said to the merchants: "Gentlemen, let's watch the tide in Qiantang tomorrow and let's have a good time celebrating!"
"I obey the order of the King and Governor!" all the merchants shouted.
As a time traveler, Wang Yuan believed in atheism, but he always felt that there was some power in the dark. Anyway, the officials and people of Zhejiang believed in Mazu, so Wang Yuan followed suit, so the place for making the oath was set at Tianfei Palace.
.
Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, abolished the prohibition of obscene worship, deposed all the gods, and only recognized fourteen gods.
Among these fourteen gods, some are worshiped once a year, and some are worshiped twice a year.
Mazu is worshiped twice a year, and its official status is very high. This is due to an incident that happened at that time. In the early Ming Dynasty, due to the blockage of the Grand Canal, military rations from the north were often transported by sea. Millions of stones of military rations from Liaodong were encountered in storms, and tens of thousands of people called for help.
When he died, he shouted the name of Mazu. Suddenly the situation turned around and the military supplies arrived safely in Zhigu. Zhu Yuanzhang then canonized Mazu as the "Holy Concubine".
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there were Tianfei Palaces everywhere along the Grand Canal, and Mazu was already serving as the God of the Canal. Not only that, people along the coast also worshiped Mazu when praying for rain, and she also served as the God of Rain.
Zhejiang is even more powerful, confusing Mazu with Bixia Yuanjun. Bixia Yuanjun is the mountain god of Mount Tai, also known as the Empress of Mount Tai, the Empress of Sending Children, and the Empress of Eyes. From this, Mazu's status has been expanded again, and she is also the mountain god and the goddess of sending children.
, cure eye diseases and other clerical duties.
Wang Yuan asked these merchants to swear an oath at the Mazu Temple, which was somewhat of a deterrent effect.
The next day.
Wang Yuan led Zhejiang officials and many merchants to Renhe County to watch the tide.
To watch the tide at this time, there is no need to go to Yanguan, because the Qiantang River has not yet changed its course. The Qiantang River entrance is straight, not S-shaped. Later, the other side of the Yanguan tide watching point in Haining was all water in the mid-Ming Dynasty. For example, Xiaoshan
The land of the international airport still belonged to the sea during the Zhengde period!
It is estimated that the Hangzhou seaport can still be used for 30 to 50 years. A large amount of sediment is deposited every year. It will be unusable decades before the Qiantang River is completely changed. Large sea-going ships with deep drafts will inevitably run aground.
At that time, we must move to Zhapu Port.
"President Wang Zhi, the tide is coming!" Li Long, the governor of Zhejiang, said holding a telescope.
Wang Shao, the chief envoy of Zhejiang Province, said with a smile: "This year's Qiantang tide, with the arrival of Mr. Wang, will surely bring another prosperous time to Hangzhou. We might as well write a poem to cheer it up."
"Wonderful!" Tang Mu, the chief envoy on the right, clapped his hands in agreement.
"I'm coming!"
The officials held telescopes and saw that on the eastern sea surface, where the water and the sky met, a silver line suddenly appeared, rushing towards the shore from far to near.
Wang Yuan also carried a telescope. This thing is no longer rare in the north, but it is very rare in Zhejiang. Wang Yuan brought eighty pairs of telescopes south, but now only a few pairs used by his own people are sold.
Merchants and pirates rushed to buy it, and officials were willing to spend money.
Wang Yuan earned tens of thousands of taels of silver just by selling telescopes, which were a necessity for maritime merchants.
The tide is getting closer and closer, and the back wave pushes the front wave and rushes in like a destructive force. For a moment, thunder rushes across the sky, like the shouts of thousands of armies, the silver mountains roll, the snow houses collapse, and the clouds and water in the river are filled with anger.
The forty-six merchants who joined Yahang sent out their pioneers one after another.
Most of these trendsetters are local gangsters, but there are also people who have self-confidence and bravery who gather there.
On the shore, cars and horses were passing by, blocking the roads. They were densely packed for ten or twenty miles, and people watching the tide were standing everywhere. The wealthy gentry and the common people hung colorful curtains, the talented and beautiful ladies exclaimed and cheered, and there were countless gongs and drums to support the show.
I saw tide-goers holding colorful flags and rushing into the sea to ride the waves. Facing the overwhelming sea tide, some were walking on stilts, some were dancing in the water, and some groups were performing water operas.
"ah!"
Waves nearly ten feet high hit the shore, and countless screams rang out from the shore. Those who were riding the tide were instantly swallowed up.
After the waves receded, some people stood as before, while others were tossed around, but everyone was laughing wildly.
Wang Yuan clapped his hands and cheered repeatedly. It was really comfortable to have fun with the people, and it was much more interesting than killing people and slaughtering cities in the Western Regions.