Water Margin people

"Today is the celebration banquet for my army, what are you doing here?"

Sun Lei asked, looking at the merchants lying on the ground and not daring to move.

"We are here to congratulate Your Majesty. Your Majesty personally led the army on an expedition to defend the country. His hard work and merit are indeed a blessing to the people. We have a small income and raised some military expenses. We are here to present it to Your Majesty and briefly report to Your Majesty. Ron!”

One of the leading merchants took out a gift slip from his arms and held it with both hands above his head. However, he was still kneeling on the ground, his head lowered and not daring to look directly at Sun Lei.

A soldier stepped forward and took the gift list and placed it in front of Sun Lei.

Sun Lei flipped through it casually, and the numbers above surprised him. The sum of money, grain, cloth and other items amounted to a million dollars.

In this battle in Liaodong, Sun Lei captured a lot of money. He confiscated the properties of the Liao and Jin countries. There were countless money and materials. A million dollars was nothing in Sun Lei's eyes, but he could get hundreds of dollars for free. Wan Guan Sun Lei was also happy to see it. After all, no one would mind having too much money.

"If you are serious, these people are guests, so set two tables for them!"

Sun Lei looked at Sister-in-law Gu and said, stretching out his hand but not hitting the smiling person. These people had given such a big gift, so it was not easy for him to just drive away.

Sister-in-law Gu smiled and greeted the soldiers to set up two tables of banquets.

"Get up and rejoice together!"

Sun Lei looked at the merchants who were kneeling on the ground and did not dare to move and said, "These people are very sensible. They kept kneeling on the ground without moving, and they were quite disciplined."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

All the merchants saluted and stood up.

The banquet continued, and the merchants sat upright one by one, not daring to act in the slightest. This was in sharp contrast to the casual and lively soldiers around them, who were laughing and toasting each other.

Sun Lei continued to drink with a smile, eat some food from time to time, and then talk casually with the generals around him.

All this fell into the eyes of those merchants, who were filled with horror. This was not a palace banquet. There were no royal rules at all. It was just like an ordinary village banquet. Everyone laughed and was quite casual. Some soldiers even ran to the emperor. There was a toast beside His Majesty, and His Majesty the Emperor also smiled and raised his glass.

"Is this really His Majesty the Emperor? Why does it look like a street banquet?"

A middle-aged merchant asked the people around him in a low voice. Although they were merchants, their status as merchants in the Song Dynasty was not low. Many merchants even spent money to buy official positions. They were very familiar with the officialdom, let alone the celebration banquets in the palace. Even ordinary state capital celebration banquets are not so casual.

The banquet was not over until all the soldiers had had their fill of wine and food. The soldiers returned to camp to rest, and the defenders of Xijin Mansion began to clean up.

"What? The food and drinks in the army are rough, are you not used to it?"

Only then did Sun Lei look at the merchants. The food and wine on these people's tables had not been moved much.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. We are so excited to see the beauty of the sky. We are already so satisfied that we can eat delicacies from mountains and seas or drink wine and dew. I can't eat anymore!"

The merchants spoke repeatedly.

"Okay, stop flattering me. It's late at night and I'm tired. If you have any questions, just tell me!"

Seeing that the merchants were pretending, Sun Lei waved his hand tiredly.

The merchants lowered their heads and exchanged glances with each other. There must be a reason why they took the risk to see Sun Lei at this time, but when asked so directly, they didn't know what to say.

"Your Majesty, we heard that mountains of gold, silver, and copper were discovered overseas!"

Luggage, a merchant in his late fifties asked.

"Your Majesty, this person is Zhu Que, the president of the Huizhou Chamber of Commerce. He has numerous properties and operates numerous inns, hotels, and shops. People in Huizhou call him Zhu Banzhou!" Sun Xin whispered beside Sun Lei.

"That's right, I discovered something good. Did you know it so quickly?"

Sun Lei looked at Zhu Que and asked. Zhu Que is a Huizhou merchant and he actually came to Xijin Mansion at this time. This is quite positive.

"This is the first time I've seen that bull-headed gold nugget!"

Zhu Que spoke.

"It turns out that I know it from this, that is, I got it by chance!"

Sun Lei nodded and said, He let the navy publicize the nugget gold, and now it seems that it has spread all over the world.

"Please introduce yourselves first, I don't know who you are yet! Where are you from!"

Sun Lei didn't wait for everyone to speak and asked first,

As a representative of Huizhou merchants, Zhu Que was the first to introduce himself. In addition to Huizhou merchants, there were also Central Plains Chamber of Commerce, Shanxi merchants, Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, Shuzhong merchants, Quanzhou merchants, and the farthest Guangzhou merchants.

"It's true that everything in the world is for profit!"

Sun Lei sighed unconsciously, Shuzhong has always been closed off, the road to Shu is difficult to travel, and Guangzhou is a barren land in Lingnan. In this era, being sent to Lingnan is a very heavy punishment.

And a piece of nugget gold attracted merchants from all over the world.

"I didn't expect that someone I haven't seen since I conquered Tokyo actually met today! It seems that you are really pure businessmen!"

Sun Lei jokingly said that these people can endure the change of dynasties, but for a piece of nugget gold, these people can travel thousands of miles.

"Your Majesty, we don't want to participate in the power struggle. We just want to do business well. Although we all have some property, we only have bigger houses and more shops. We will never dare to get involved in the land!"

Zhu Que heard the ridicule in Sun Lei's words and quickly explained.

The people who came this time were all pure merchants. They did not participate too much in the land annexation. After the arrival of the Qi State, they also handed over all the excess fields in accordance with the laws of the Qi State. The servants' deeds of sale were burned, and the family members There were no slaves, only hired hands. The prices in shops were also in accordance with the regulations of Qi State, and there was no hoarding.

It is because everything is done in accordance with the regulations of Qi State that these merchants dare to come today. They know very well that the Emperor of Qi State is a man of rules. As long as they abide by the laws of Qi State, they can do business safely and make money.

"Do you want to go overseas for business? Do you want to know the location of Jinshan?"

Sun Lei looked at the merchants and asked.

"Your Majesty, we dare not argue with you. Your Majesty discovered the gold mine. Naturally, it belongs to your Majesty and belongs to Qi! But the overseas country is vast and there are more than one mine. We would like to ask your Majesty for your grace!"

The Guangzhou merchant said.

Guangzhou Port has always been engaged in overseas trade. They are very aware of how wealthy overseas are. Although the Song Dynasty focused on commerce, its military strength was not enough to deter overseas countries. This often made it suffer from dumb losses in trade.

But Qi is different. The Song Dynasty is cowardly, but Qi is not strong, but truly domineering. If you don't obey, I will kill you. If I want it, I will rob it. This is Qi.

This kind of domineering country is what merchants most want to see. Merchants have no shortage of brains, people, and money. The only thing they lack is a strong backing.

Now that the first fleet sent by Qi State has found Jinshan, Yinshan, and Tongshan, the intention of opening the sea has been very obvious.

The alien races that have troubled the north for thousands of years have also been wiped out. Qi will definitely look overseas next. The merchants have a very keen sense of smell. They know that this time is a rare opportunity in a thousand years. If they keep up with Qi’s pace, their family will Will go to the next level. (End of chapter)