Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 95 Curve connects the world

Wang Daoqiu readily agreed to put the Nanjianhe Steel Plant into full operation within one and a half months, which made Emperor Jiajing very happy.He quickly ordered Lu Fang to remove the four dishes and one soup from the tables of Lu Bing and Wang Daoqiu, and bring five of the "hard dishes" on his own table.

Lu Fang accepted the order, but he didn't know whether Emperor Jiajing had any confidential matters to discuss with Wang Daoqiu and Lu Bing, so Lu Fang did not dare to call His Highness's maids and eunuchs to come up.So he inserted a fly whisk into his waist, and then took matters into his own hands, helping Lu Bing and Wang Daoqiu to serve the dishes.

The dishes were brought over one after another, and Lu Fang also reported the names of the dishes to Wang Daoqiu and Lu Bing one by one.Roasted swan, crispy pig ears, shredded tripe lungs, sturgeon and bream, pork and dragon pine soup, it’s still four dishes and one soup.

After Lu Fang finished his work, Wang Daoqiu thanked Lu Fang and Emperor Jiajing, then sat down and ate again.In order to please Wang Daoqiu, he deliberately ignored the court etiquette when eating, and just stuffed big mouthfuls into his mouth quickly. Emperor Jiajing and Lu Bing laughed "haha", and repeatedly blamed Wang Daoqiu for being polite. There is no image of the number one scholar in the Celestial Dynasty.

While eating, laughing and cursing, Lu Bing suddenly changed his attitude and complained: "The Number One Scholar has such a good appetite! But I, Lu Bing, am miserable. Seeing that the weather is getting warmer, there is no need to wear a thick coat during the day. , my briquette business is getting more and more deserted. Hey, poor!"

"Poor! You can't do it, Governor Lu? This winter's briquette business, you Jin Yiwei's 20 taels of silver must have made some money, right?" Seeing Lu Bing crying about poverty, Wang Daoqiu retorted hurriedly and unconvinced.

Seeing that Wang Daoqiu did not believe that he was poor, Lu Bing also said with an aggrieved face: "No. 20 Scholar! To be honest, this winter, in the briquette business, I, Jin Yiwei, did earn more than 10 taels of silver. But you, No. [-] Scholar, also You know, the number of people who work in the yamen openly and secretly in our Jinyiwei is tens of thousands. Add to that the orphans of martyrs over the years, and the old brothers who quit our Jinyiwei because of old age and infirmity. , added together, that’s more than [-] people.”

"To these 10 people, I gave out more than 70 taels of silver just for the New Year's reward last year. Plus some other New Year benefits and New Year's pay, that's millions of taels of silver! To be honest, Number One Scholar, your briquette business has allowed me, Jin Yiwei, to earn more than 20 taels of silver. You helped the emperor replenish his inner treasury and allowed me to beg for help from the emperor and get 10 taels of silver. And I went to Baiyun Temple to fight. , Qiu Feng got 10 taels of silver from them in the medicine and vulcanization business. Adding the above items together, I got a total of more than 40 taels more than in previous years. That’s why I closed this year. I owe you nothing to my brothers. Now that the weather is getting warmer and I have no income from briquettes, do you think I, Lu Bing, will be short of money from now on?"

this!This is indeed true. With so many people, each person is given a few taels of welfare, which is hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Lu Bing's expenses are indeed quite high.Thinking of this, Wang Daoqiu lowered his head and pondered for a while, and then he said to Lu Bing: "Master Lu, the weather is getting warmer and the canal should be busy. What about the money in it?"

"What? Zhuangyuanlang, are you asking Lu to reach out to those businessmen? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The court has customs to collect taxes, and all the money has to be put into the national treasury. If Lu If Bing dares to figure this out, all the princes in the court will have to strip Lu off his skin! This won’t work, this won’t work.”

When Wang Daoqiu mentioned the canal, Lu Bing thought that Wang Daoqiu was asking him to set up a toll point in front of the canal to collect money from passing merchant ships, just like the Jinyiwei in the Zhengde Dynasty, and compete with the court for tax sources.So he waved his hands repeatedly, indicating that he didn't dare to do this.

Seeing that Lu Bing had misunderstood, Wang Daoqiu smiled and shook his head, and then explained to Lu Bing: "Master Lu, you have misunderstood. I am not asking you to collect money from merchants, but to earn money from merchants. "

"Is there any difference between collecting money from merchants and making money from merchants?"

"Hey, Mr. Lu, look at you, what do you want me to say to you? Forget it, I'll explain it to you clearly. Mr. Lu, those merchants brought whole ships of goods to the capital, are they looking for you? Buyers, want to sell these goods? At the same time, do they want to buy some profitable goods in the capital and take them back to sell?"

"For example, in my hometown of Huzhou, there are high-quality silk and some mountain products produced there. These can be sold in the capital for big profits. At the same time, cattle and sheep, various furs, Chinese herbal medicines, and ironware in the north are ours. Huzhou, my hometown, is in short supply. In this way, silk is loaded from Huzhou, sold in the capital, and then some cattle and sheep, furs, and ironware from the north are bought, and shipped back to Jiangsu and Zhejiang for sale. Make a lot of money.”

After saying this, Wang Daoqiu paused and gave Lu Bing some time to think.But after waiting for a long time, Lu Bing showed no sign of enlightenment.So Wang Daoqiu had no choice but to explain: "What do businessmen need after they arrive in Beijing? They need personal safety protection, a safe storage place for goods, and information on the supply and demand of goods. Sir Lu, if your Jin Yiwei is in Tongzhou At the wharf, build a large warehouse for merchants to store their inventory, and build a large inn with one-stop services for food, drink, and entertainment, so that merchants can live there.”

"Then use the power of your Jin Yiwei to stop the small government officials and the gangsters on the streets from extorting businessmen, and provide protection for the personal safety of the businessmen and the safety of their goods. Do you think those businessmen will be willing? Stay in your inn and rent your warehouse?”

Damn it!That’s right, isn’t what businessmen fear the most is extortion from the government and local gangsters?If the Jin Yiwei is willing to come forward to protect them, then those businessmen will not be willing to pay the protection fee with both hands!In this year, there were tens of thousands of merchants and merchant ships from various places traveling to and from Beijing. From them, the Jin Yiwei earned ten taels of silver per person, which was several hundred thousand taels of silver!Yes, the freezing of the canal will make money from briquettes, and the opening of the canal will make money from businessmen.This is a good idea, this is a good idea!Thinking about the beautiful "money scene" of his Jinyiwei, Lu Bing was also excited. He took Wang Daoqiu's hand and shook it, and kept expressing his gratitude to Wang Daoqiu.

Knowing that Lu Bing was very excited now, Wang Daoqiu didn't worry and just accepted Lu Bing's thanks.When Lu Bing said there was nothing more to say, he shut up.Wang Daoqiucai continued to point out: "Master Lu, after these merchants and goods come under your wing, if you only want to earn the accommodation, catering, and storage fees for the goods, then you will be too petty."

"What? Zhuangyuanlang, besides the accommodation and catering and the storage of goods, can we earn other money?" I heard from Wang Daoqiu that in addition to the accommodation and catering, and the storage of goods, we can also earn other money. Lu Bing was confused.So he looked at Wang Daoqiu innocently, waiting for Wang Daoqiu to answer his questions.

Seeing Lu Bing's useless look, Wang Daoqiu continued with a look of disgust: "Of course! Mr. Lu, although you are not a businessman, but you are eager to buy things. Things from all the merchants in Beijing are placed here. In front of you, you can shop around and pick out the best quality and lowest price? At the same time, if you sell something, don't you wish that people from all over Beijing who want to buy this thing can come to you to ask for the price? "

"Master Lu, this is a business opportunity! Let's put it this way, Master Lu, after you build the warehouse and inn, you can be a little more tired and build a market next to your warehouse and inn, so that buyers and sellers can buy food on the street. It’s the same as selling vegetables. Those who sell things rent your stall to sell things, and those who buy them shop around and choose whatever they want. Mr. Lu, tell me, if this is the case, how much will you earn from stall fees this year? Also, If there is a merchant in your market who likes a large batch of goods, but he does not have that much silver with him at the time. Then you lend him the silver for a while, and then charge him [-]% interest for three months. Pretty reasonable, right?”

"Of course, in order to let the shopkeeper who is on errands know how much money can be lent to whom. Mr. Lu, you have to ask your Jinyiwei brothers to find out the background of each big merchant in their jurisdiction. For example, this merchant How much land, how many businesses, how many houses does he have in his name, and how is this person’s usual credit? Then sort this information by province and prefecture, and sort it out for him one by one. If this businessman borrows money from you, Jin Yiwei, , you lend money based on this information. For example, if a merchant has a land worth 1 taels in his name, then why not lend him 5000 taels, Mr. Lu? Anyway, his business is profitable, and Jinyiwei is making profits. If his business fails, , you Jin Yiwei will go and take over his house and land, and you will be able to make a profit no matter what!"

Damn it, you get a huge profit with no risk!Listening to Wang Daoqiu's words, Lu Bing counted on his fingers how much Jin Yiwei could earn in a year if he did as Wang Daoqiu said.

The numbers kept getting bigger and bigger, and Lu Bing gradually lost count.And just when Lu Bing couldn't figure it out, Emperor Jiajing and Lu Fang were calculating in their minds, and they were a little confused.But one thing they understand is that there are great benefits in this.

Faced with such a huge profit, Emperor Jiajing didn't care. Anyway, according to the rules, he took [-]% of the big share and Lu Bing took [-]%.Emperor Jiajing, who holds the big head, may be indifferent, but Lu Fang, who represents the interests of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, does not care. He wants to fight for a share of the benefits for the Supervisor of Ceremonies.

So after thinking about the words, Lu Fang held a fly whisk in his hand, saluted Emperor Jiajing and said: "Your Majesty, the trouble is serious, I think the Guangjin Yiwei family is behind this matter..."

"Lu Fang, why are you so greedy here with the emperor? Not long ago, you snatched the steel factory from Laozhi. Now you are shameless and want to rob Laozhi again. Do you think that we are... We grew up together, and I can't bear to beat you!"

"Lu Ermao, please stop being stupid, I'm here to help you."

"Go away, you still have the nerve to lick your face and say help me? I'm telling you Lu Fang..."

…………

Seeing that Lu Fang was trying to steal business again, Lu Bing immediately stopped and rudely interrupted Lu Fang's "greedy talk" with Emperor Jiajing.Then the two quarreled there.

Ignoring the conflict of interests between Lu Fang and Lu Bing, seeing Lu Bing and Lu Fang's enthusiasm for this matter, Wang Daoqiu was secretly proud, and silently laughed at Lu Fang and Lu Bing, saying: You two, the situation is small!When the commodity economy develops and the reputation is established, after that, as the goods extend in all directions, the derived financial industry will be connected to the world, and that will be a huge profit.hehe!
(End of this chapter)