Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 774 Tea Horse
In the city of Zhangjiakou, countless business gangs are busy and busy. Hearing that the Sunite people come to pay tribute to the trade, the shopkeepers are urging the shopkeepers to put their goods on the counter and at the door for display. After they entered the city, they looked at the goods and traded them.

Yongjuxiang, Hengzhongheng, Dadexing, Dadecheng, Jushengchuan, Hengdahuan, etc. one after another, there are more than 100 tea houses, and fur business, cattle, sheep and camels. There are horses, ghee and mushrooms. There are countless shops of all kinds, many of which are centuries-old.

Many of them are well-known Shanxi merchants in the late Ming Dynasty, but careful people will find that these Shanxi merchants are still there, and even many old shopkeepers are still there, and the guys are also there. But there always seems to be something different.

In fact, the biggest difference is that these Shanxi merchants have been reorganized, indicating that the previous family is still operating, but in fact the imperial court has already completed the investigation and statistics of these Shanxi merchants through factory guards, especially the so-called Eight Emperors of the Qing Dynasty. business.

After the recovery of Beijing, many of the eight major Shanxi merchants ran away directly with the Tartars, and some families bet on both sides. On the one hand, they sent some children to follow outside the customs, and continued to operate inside the customs. Both sides wanted to please, and neither side wanted to miss out. .

But how could the emperor tolerate their behavior of eating inside and outside.Before the recovery of Gyeonggi, Tuguo, BMW, Guozhu and others secretly traded with them, which was only a special situation during the war, but as soon as Yanyun and Zhaojin were recovered, they immediately started to attack them.

It’s just that the relative method is a little more clever. There is no simple raiding of the house and sealing the shop. Instead, first invite the owners, shareholders, and big shopkeepers of these Shanxi merchants, big and small, to Beijing. The factory guard invites them to drink tea. Of course, it will not be comfortable.

There is a price for drinking tea, that is, they hand over the business of their respective companies, etc. After the handover is clear, the emperor will give them an amnesty and send them to Hainan Island to settle down, where each person will be given ten acres of land and ten silver dollars , Start a new life again, and write off the previous one.

If you refuse to cooperate, refuse to hand over, or even conceal, you will be responsible for the consequences. Not to mention how professional the interrogation methods of the factory guards are, let alone being able to hide it from the factory guards. The best end is to have a chance to commit suicide, and they resist The most likely end was exile in a labor camp.

Now the emperor has abolished the punishment of Han people being slaves, no matter what crime they commit, they will not be reduced to slaves, but this does not mean that it will be easy, because they can be exiled to do hard labor, dig mines, log plants, and go to those deep mountains and old forests or Hainan. Going to Taiwan, Taiwan and other islands and working hard for a lifetime is actually no different from being a slave.

Women will also be sent to the teaching workshop, which is even more tragic.

I have to say that Jinyi Weidong Factory is indeed a time-honored brand. They are really good at doing this kind of work. Even the old traitorous families like the Eight Shanxi Merchants, no one can hold them for three days.

If you behave well and cooperate actively, you can get some preferential treatment, good tea and wine, good food and good food. Not only will you not be beaten or tortured, but you can also reunite with your family.

So now those traitorous Shanxi merchant families and their business names have basically been taken over by the Shaofu Supervisor. The old business remains the same, and the previous goodwill relationship is still there, whether it is a bank, a tea shop, or a leather shop. , everything is business as usual, and the trade with Mongolia is still going on.

Of course, the loans to the Mongols have to be repaid.

The two big two long-branded brands that have been granted royal licenses by the Qing court, namely Changyuchuan Changshengchuan and Dayuchuan Dachangchuan, are all specially granted imperial merchants by the Qing court and hold red dragon tickets bestowed by the Qing emperor. It is a special pass, from purchase to transportation, all the way to the hinterland of Mongolia. It is protected by all parties. When Mongolians see this red dragon ticket, they will rush to trade and look for their business name.

But now, the owners, shareholders, and shopkeepers of the four major tea houses have changed, and the Daming Royal Shaofu supervisor sent someone to take over, but the original business and relationship are still there, and even the emperor has now awarded them red dragon tickets. , retaining everything from the original.

"Hang up the sign. We will be trading in the market tomorrow. We have prepared enough tea bricks this time. We must grab enough goods." The new big shopkeeper confessed.

A clerk was writing a sign with a pen.

"One big sheep, one catty of brick tea, ten catties of tea and one cow."

A piece of tea brick is four catties, which can be directly exchanged for four fat sheep, and two and a half pieces of tea brick can be exchanged for a cow.

This is Chang Yuchuan's signboard for tomorrow's transactions. It is simple, direct, and very traditional. When trading with the Mongols, tea and sheep can be used as the basic pricing units.

The transaction price of tea bricks and sheep is the simplest and most practical exchange rate.

A catty of brick tea is exchanged for a big sheep. The price is not high, even a little low, but it is a fair trade for both parties, and it is not forced to buy and sell. Such a price can only show that the market is like this, and the Mongolians need tea more. , The supply of cattle and sheep is large.

Changyuchuan directly purchased cattle, sheep, camels, wool and sheepskin, etc. in Zhangjiakou, traded them with brick tea, and then shipped them back to Beijing, Tianjin or Taiyuan, which made a high profit.

They used to go directly to the hinterland of Mongolia to trade, the price was lower and the profit was higher, and they even lent money directly to the Mongolians.

It is better to be without food for three days than to be without tea for one day.

Sometimes they will directly exchange tea bricks with Mongolian herdsmen for several calves, but they do not take them away directly, and let the herdsmen keep them. After three or four years, they will grow up, and then they will collect and take them away, and transport them back to the mainland. They can be sold several times or even Ten times the profit.

These tea bricks are processed and sold to herdsmen in the interior, which is relatively cheap, while the tea for princes and nobles is very high-end, and the price is naturally expensive.

If the same tea is exported from the customs, such as 26 taels of black tea and 24 taels of green tea, and sold to Mongolian princes, the price will at least double or triple. The first half of taels of silver, or even a few dozen taels.

In the past, Shanxi merchants did business on the Mongolian grasslands, selling them tea bricks, iron pots, medicinal materials, cloth, silk, salt, sugar, shredded tobacco, etc. Not only were they expensive, but they were also cheap, and the shrewd Shanxi merchants also took advantage of the herdsmen. Livestock has a long growth cycle, and various loans have been developed for herdsmen.

First, sell all kinds of inland goods they need to the herdsmen. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have money, set the price, and then make an appointment to wait until autumn and winter, when the livestock grows and fatten up, and collect the capital and interest together.

When the season came, they rode over and took the ledgers to the yurts to collect the bills.

They even invented that every autumn and winter when the cattle and horses are fattened, they go to collect livestock and skins. After taking away the livestock, they don’t give them money or goods, but give them a money sticker stamped with the company’s mark, and hand it over to them for storage. Well, in the spring and summer of next year, their company's cargo convoy will pass by. At that time, the herdsmen will come to buy the goods they need, and then pay with money.

Of course, no matter whether it is lending money to herdsmen or receiving money from herdsmen, it is actually a commercial credit relationship, which has a lot of risks. All major companies are also actively working hard to maintain their business credit and win the trust of herdsmen.

A business name that can establish a name on the grassland is actually quite good.

Many businesses have been built up by generations of people. From one or two people, to a caravan, and then to opening a semi-colon, many camel caravans entered and exited the grassland, and it was not easy to build a big business that is well-known in the grassland. Most of them are now taken over by the royal family because of the captives.

In some cases where the cooperation with captives is not serious, shareholding reforms have also been carried out, with the royal family or the imperial court participating in the shares, or the nobles buying shares, etc.

After all, with the business model of Shanxi merchants operating outside the customs, it is impossible not to get in touch with captives, so they will get involved to some extent. Originally, it would be a serious crime of copying the family and exterminating the clan if it was strictly investigated, but now the imperial court can give them a way out, just give up some shares. It is still kind, and they dare not have any dissatisfaction.

Even the owners or shareholders of some companies directly let them take the money and withdraw their shares and leave the market. They have to catch up with En Dade. After all, no matter how famous a businessman is, he is just a businessman. , that is just a group of pigs and sheep without the slightest resistance.

The royal family, the imperial court, and nobles entered the venue and took over these border trades very smoothly. At the same time, most of the shopkeepers and guys kept their errands, and even the top shares can still be enjoyed. He also won a lot of praise for the court.

For the imperial court, border trade is very important to Mongolian trade. To maintain trade, not only can they receive a lot of taxes, but also Mongolian tribes’ cattle, sheep, camels, horses, furs, etc. are also commodities that Ming needs very much.

The royal family, the imperial court, and nobles slaughtered the fat sheep of Shanxi merchants, and after they became shareholders, they also got a share of the pie.

Now the imperial court has integrated these Shanxi merchants and taken the border trade rights into its hands, which not only increased taxes, reduced smuggling, but also directly obtained a lot of trade profits.

Not to mention that after the integration of these border trades, the imperial court can directly form an alliance with the princes and nobles of various Mongolian tribes, and directly negotiate the pricing of trade.

This kind of unified trade negotiation is of course extremely beneficial to Daming, after all, it has stronger pricing power.

During the alliance negotiations at the beginning of the year, not only the trade pricing was discussed, but also a new agreement was reached, that is, the Zhuduhufu and Dudufu, which are now established, these princes and nobles who are the governors and governors will allow trade in Mongolia. businessman contracting taxes.

As the guardians and governors conferred by the imperial court, they still enjoy the right to rule over the tribal people on their own territory, so they naturally have the right to levy taxes.

They directly determine a tax amount according to their own consumption needs and the need to pay tribute to the court. In order to facilitate tax collection, the princes cooperate with Shanxi merchants and directly hand over the tax to the merchants for contract collection. write down.

They also discussed and confirmed that the herdsmen can use goods from the business to offset taxes, such as cattle, sheep, horses, camels, fur and medicinal materials, etc., and set various tax credit prices. Pay off on behalf of others, but the herdsmen have to pay interest and pay off the principal and interest on schedule.

After the firm contracted the tax, it had to pay the tax directly to the princes on schedule. In order to facilitate the consumption and payment of tribute by the princes, they directly wrote checks at the household bank of the imperial court or the Royal Bank, or exchanged deposits of silver for exchange certificates and handed them over to the princes.

With the bank notes or exchange coupons, the princes can ask for cash at the merchants at any time, or buy tea, tobacco, porcelain, silk, iron and other materials they need.

This kind of tax package is much more convenient than the princes’ own taxation, especially if they directly exchange it for bank notes or exchange vouchers, whether they are shopping from Han merchants, paying tribute to Beijing, or spending in customs, etc., it is very convenient. You can only collect real cattle and sheep fur, and you have to sell it again.

As for the Han merchants, it is of course profitable to get the right to pay taxes, even if they have to pay taxes first, it is worthwhile. The tax package can not only get the agreed profit, tax and interest, but also grant loans to herdsmen and so on.

Not to mention that in this way, the influence and control over herdsmen can be strengthened.

Nowadays, among the merchants who have gone deep into the Mongolian grasslands, and the merchants in Zhangjiakou and other border towns, many of them are operated by the royal family, or have royal holdings or shareholdings.

Whether a sheep is exchanged for a catty of tea bricks or a catty and a half of tea bricks is basically decided by the royal family now.

Even the taxes of the Tengjisi brothers are now collected by Shanxi merchants on their behalf. They can easily get several 10 taels of tax silver. Buying and buying with Han merchants on the grassland, but unknowingly, he has actually fallen into a trap.

The brave and militant brothers Tengjisi couldn't think so deeply. His son Batu, who was a bodyguard in Beijing, and his nephew Dorji lived a very comfortable and luxurious life in Beijing with the convenience of spending money on bank tickets. Lots of talk.

After all, with 10 taels of silver bills in his pocket, a small backpack is full, which is much more convenient and easier than catching up with [-] sheep to Beijing. How could he know that when he was convenient and happy, he was actually bound by invisible constraints up.

(End of this chapter)