Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 122 Not Losing to Tang Zong Hanwu
"The two opinions are very different?"

Fang Wenzhen became interested and asked, "Brother Kang, can you explain it carefully?"

"It starts with the delivery of grain." Kang Wanwan said, "After receiving the letter from Lubutang, I will deliver 1.5 shi of grain to Shanyang at a price of 50 taels per stone..."

"Send 1.5 taels per stone to Shanyang?" Fang Wenzhen was stunned, "Then you won't lose money?"

"Who says it's not?" Kang Wanwan said, "Before leaving Yangzhou, the eunuch Qu Shangzhong levied a tax of 3 yuan per stone, including labor costs, depreciation costs of grain ships, and storage of bad rice. Money, I can’t even get back the cost of 9 qian per stone, this time it’s purely to repay Lu Butang’s favor.”

Fang Wenzhen nodded and said: "Lu Butang is different from those people, he is a real worker."

"Not only the Lubutang, but also the prefect of Yangzhou, Ma Mingjue, and the prefect of Huai'an, Fan Zhongjie, are also rare and good officials." Kang Wanwan snorted lightly, and continued, "Although the Donglin Party only covers the sky with its hands, it is like the Lubu Party. There are still many officials like Tang, and it is because of people like them that the Ming Dynasty was able to come to where it is today."

Fang Wenzhen nodded and said: "If it weren't for the presence of Lubutang and the others, we merchants would have been swallowed by those people long ago, leaving nothing left."

……

At this time in the doctor's hall of the Imperial College.

Zhu Cihong asked Chongzhen: "So, the emperor specially invited Kang Shaojing and other Yangzhou merchants to come to Nanjing in the middle of this month, so that they can bid for the cultivated land of the criminal gentry in the north, right?"

"Yes, not right." Chongzhen replied ambiguously.

Now not only Zhu Cijiong was dumbfounded, but Zhu Cihong was also confused.

Chongzhen said with a smile: "Father called Kang Wanwan and the others to Nanjing, not to ask them to buy land for payment, but if they also want to buy land, it's okay, it's as simple as that."

"Aren't you going to buy it from them?" Zhu Cijiong said, "Who is Father planning to sell it to?"

Chongzhen heheed twice, and asked his two sons: "Long'er, Jiong'er, do you think that the richest salt merchant in the world is a salt merchant like Kang Wanwan?"

Zhu Cihong hurriedly said: "Father is rich all over the world, and the richest person in the world is naturally you, Father."

"Brother Huang, come on, don't say such things." Zhu Cijiong said unhappily, "Father is so poor that he wants to sell himself, and he is rich all over the world, rich ass."

Zhu Cihong couldn't help frowning when he heard the words.

I thought that the third brother had some disadvantages after getting along with those barbarians for a long time, and his words became rude.

After hearing this, Chongzhen didn't think he was disobedient, but rather pleased, he laughed and said, "Jionger, you are right, the emperor is so poor that he can't open the pot now, so he can only bring you two brothers to the Imperial College to have a meal. There is nothing rich in the world."

Having said this, Chongzhen straightened his face and said: "Come back to business, it is not wrong to say that the richest salt merchants in Ming Dynasty are salt merchants like Kang Wanwan. These salt merchants are all worth millions. Some salt merchants may have Tens of millions of family assets, because of the lessons learned by Shen Wansan, these businessmen are the best at hiding their clumsiness."

Zhu Cihong nodded and said, "My son thinks so too."

Chongzhen went on to say: "But how many rich businessmen are there?"

Zhu Cilang thought for a while and said, "I'm afraid there will not be more than ten wealthy businessmen like Kang Wanwan, but there should not be a few wealthy businessmen with household assets of one million taels, and even more wealthy businessmen with household assets of [-] taels."

"However, no matter how many of these rich merchants there are, they are far inferior to the honored gentry." Chongzhen said in a deep voice, "If you only compare the financial resources of a single family, the honored gentry in Jiangnan may not be as good as the salt merchants, but if you compare the financial resources of the entire group, then Yangzhou Salt merchants, Huizhou merchants, and even merchants from all over the world are tied together, and they are far inferior to honored nobles and gentlemen."

"Is it honorable and noble?" Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cijiong were thoughtful.

Chongzhen said quietly: "For example, the Duke of Wei, Duke Bao, Marquis of Lingbi, Marquis of Huaiyuan, and Bo Cheng have passed down their families for nearly three hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. How much wealth do you think they have accumulated in such a long time? Jiangnan gentry, after the Jiajing Dynasty, the official land in Jiangnan was eaten up by them, and they profited more than [-] million yuan every year! They said that I was poor in Ming Dynasty, and such a large amount of land rent went into their private pockets, how can I not be poor? "

The faces of Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cijiong gradually became serious.

Chongzhen went on to say: "This is just land rent income. Relying on people in the court, the Jiangnan gentry extended their black hands to the silk, grain, wine, salt, oil and even iron smelting industries, and some gentry even got involved in the sea trade. , The wealth they have accumulated in the past hundred years is beyond your imagination."

The silver flowing into America and Japan basically belonged to this group of people.

Zhu Cijiong said: "So what my father wants is for these people to buy farmland in the north?"

"What they bought was cultivated land." Chongzhen nodded with a smile, and then his smile turned cold, "But it's not cultivated land either. One day my father will let them return all the ill-gotten gains that have been in their stomachs for nearly a hundred years. return!"

Pausing for a while, Chongzhen said solemnly again: "I want these silverfish's families to be ruined!"

Zhu Cihong said: "Father, are wealthy businessmen like Kang Wanwan also included in this attack?"

"That's not it." Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "We still have to protect the real merchants. Even if they have accumulated a huge amount of wealth, they can't ask for anything. The superiors must abide by the rules."

"Understood." Zhu Cijiong nodded and said, "Those honorable and noble gentry have accumulated thousands of dollars of wealth by stealing and plundering. They did not follow the rules first, so when the father beat them, they don't have to follow the rules. But if they follow the rules rich merchants, the Ming court should respect and protect them, is that right?"

Chongzhen waved his hand: "No, the rules still have to be obeyed. Even if you attack those honorable gentry, you must use the rules, and you must not trample on the rules. After a while, you will understand that the rules can actually be used, as long as you use them well. , It is even sharper than a sword to kill people!"

……

Shexian Guild Hall, Tianzihao Shangfang.

Kang Wanwan said: "We finally sent the food to Shanyang, but we were told that Lu Butang had already been imprisoned because of the impeachment of the officials, and our food could only be floated on the pier. When it rains heavily, hundreds of thousands of grains of rice seep and rot every day, not to mention how bad it is.”

Fang Wenzhen was furious when he heard the words: "Those people can really do it?"

"Why don't they dare?" Kang Wanwan snorted, "They don't care about the life and death of the border troops in the twenty-eighth towns on the front line of Xuzhou and the millions of refugees. To knock him down!"

Fang Wenzhen said with a dark face: "The state affairs of the Ming Dynasty are ruined by these people, hateful!"

Kang Wanwan sighed and said: "If these people continue to mess around, the Jiangnan trade route will be completely cut off, and I am afraid that merchants will only have a dead end."

After talking for a long time, it was still for the benefit of my own class.

That's why it is said that the ass determines the head, and there is no exception.

"Going off topic, I won't talk about this today." Kang Wanwan waved his hand, and then continued, "Just when we were about to make trouble and put a little pressure on the Governor's Office of Water Transport, Shengjia arrived."

"As soon as Sheng Jia made a move, he calmed down the whole matter easily."

"Lu Butang has returned to the Yamen to take care of the matter, and all the grain has been bought."

"To express our gratitude, we grain merchants offered to ship the bad grain to Xuzhou."

"At this moment, I suddenly received an edict from the Holy Majesty to call me in for an audience."

Imagining the scene at that time, Fang Wenzhen also said with a heavy face: "I would panic if I were replaced."

"It's not just flustered, I even wrote the last instructions." Kang Wanwan wiped his forehead and said, "Brother Fang, you know that my sons are not good enough. Although Xi'er is not inferior to men in ability, she still It's a girl's house, and I was really worried at the time, if I couldn't go back, the family property would be... robbed by a few brothers."

Fang Wenzhen said: "If it were me, I would do the same thing, so I have to guard against it."

Well, what the two of them are talking about here are all cryptic words, of course they are not guarding against their own brothers.

Kang Wanwan said: "At that time, I really went with the intention of going to the execution ground, but after seeing Sheng Jia, I realized that it was not the case at all. The Holy Majesty had no intention of raiding the house at all."

After this pause, Kang Wanwan said solemnly: "The Holy Majesty even asked me if I was in trouble when doing business? Do I need his help? I didn't believe it at all at the time, thinking that the Holy Majesty was just talking to me politely." Since ancient times, it has only been heard that there are emperors who solve problems for scholars and peasants, but have you ever heard of an emperor who solves problems for businessmen?"

Fang Wenzhen said: "I don't dare to think about solving problems. If you don't embarrass us, we will be fine."

"No, I thought so too." Kang Wanwan clapped his hands and said, "But what happened later made me suddenly realize that the Holy Majesty was serious at the time, and he wasn't just saying polite words, because he Not only did they return the tax money that the mine supervisor and tax envoy had levied indiscriminately in the past seven years, they even removed the guard eunuchs in Yangzhou Prefecture!"

"Removed the guard eunuch?" Fang Wenzhen's world view was shattered for the sixth time, "Really?"

"Is this still false?" Kang Wanwan said with a smile, "At present, there is no obstacle for me to do business in Yangzhou Prefecture, and I don't have to pay a penny of tax!"

"This is really..."

Fang Wenzhen's heart was already filled with envy, jealousy and hatred.

"Brother Fang, don't be envious." Kang Wanwan said with a smile, "Huizhou will soon remove the mine supervisor and tax envoy."

Fang Wenzhen sighed and said: "If the Holy Majesty can really issue an edict to remove the mine supervisor and tax envoy of Huizhou Prefecture, we Huizhou merchants will have to raise money for his old man's shrine!"

"There is no need for the Xiusheng Temple." Kang Wanwan waved his hand.

"Although I haven't had much contact with him, I can roughly see His Majesty's temperament."

"This is a heroic master who is as talented as Tang Zong and Han Wu. He only thinks about martial arts and martial arts, so Brother Fang can save the money from the Xiusheng Temple and donate it to the border township. If this is the case, the Holy One may be more happy .”

"It's reasonable." Fang Wenzhen said, "If the Holy Majesty really withdraws the mine supervisor and tax envoy, I will pledge [-] yuan!"

[Monthly ticket feeding port]

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(End of this chapter)