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Chapter 519 Shanxi Merchants 2
Let’s first talk about the policies that Shanxi merchants relied on to get started. This is closely related to the military system established by Zhu Yuanzhang.

When the Ming Dynasty was first established, border troubles in the north were very serious. In order to curb the continuous southern invasion of the Bei Yuan regime, most of the troops had to be piled up in the northern border area. Nine defense points were built from east to west, collectively known as the Nine Borders.

According to the records of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, during the Yongle period, a total of nearly 70 troops were deployed in Jiubian Town. During the two hundred years, the military strength rose and fell, reaching its peak during the Wanli period, with the total military strength exceeding 90. Even if Liaodong Town was abolished at this time, there were still more than 70 troops.

With so many troops gathered in a border area that is not originally very prosperous, has a sparse population and has been ravaged by wars, it is bound to encounter a big problem. How to solve the logistical problems?

If we relied on the relatively backward transportation lines at that time to transport materials from the south to the northern border, it would not only consume a lot of labor but also cause huge material losses. The cost was too high and the court could not afford it.

However, without arranging so many troops for defense, he could not stop the invasion of the northern Mongols, so Zhu Yuanzhang patted his head and came up with what seemed to be a brilliant idea, Wei Suo System.

Let soldiers change their profession into their status. When the enemy comes, they pick up weapons and become soldiers; when the enemy leaves, they pick up hoes and become farmers. Then allocate him a fixed number of acres of land, and stay in the guardhouse to look after his home and courtyard for generations, making him self-sufficient. In this way, no matter how many soldiers he raises, the court does not have to worry about running out of food.

It cannot be said that this method does not work. It did solve the big problem of logistical supply at the beginning. But it still could not satisfy the consumption of all the frontier troops, so Zhu Yuanzhang came up with another idea based on the suggestions of Shanxi officials, opening the Central France.

The so-called Kaizhong method simply means that the imperial court publishes a list of how much supplies the border towns need, and then the merchants take the initiative to undertake the tasks of purchasing and transporting them. After delivering the supplies to the place, take the receipt to the local government in exchange for a delivery note for salt and tea, and then take the receipt to the designated salt farm or tea farm to pick up the corresponding amount of salt and tea.

Salt and tea in the Ming Dynasty were government monopoly products. Whether in ancient or modern times, any goods labeled as exclusive products had a particularly high profit of 10,000%.

In order to make money, businessmen went to great lengths to find the supplies they needed, and carefully transported them to the border at the lowest cost. Although the imperial court paid for part of the monopoly, it solved the logistical supply problem for the border army at a moderate cost. It seemed to be a win-win situation.

Shanxi merchants were the biggest beneficiaries of the opening of the Central France, because three of the nine important towns were in Shanxi, and most of the threats in the early and mid-Ming Dynasty came from the north of Shanxi and Shaanxi, rather than the Liaodong region.

Having experienced years of war and being in the border zone between farming and nomadic life, Shanxi businessmen have extraordinary courage. When they saw that opening China to France was profitable, they immediately took advantage of the geographical advantage and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to it.

But Shanxi businessmen soon discovered one thing. The loss of grain purchased from the mainland and transported to the border was still a bit high, so they tried to hire refugees to open up wasteland and farm near the border, and began to produce and sell themselves, which was called business. Tuen.

As a result, most of the competitors were quickly beaten down by the cost. No one dared or was unwilling to go to Shanxi to open up wasteland and farm. Gradually, Shanxi and some Shaanxi businessmen formed a monopoly, almost contracting the vast majority of the northern areas. Logistics supply business in some border towns.

In addition to farming, they also travel around the country with huge sums of money. They can be found wherever the price of summer harvest grain is low and the price of autumn harvest rice is low. After purchasing large quantities of grain, they transported it back to Shanxi and Shaanxi for storage. To this end, thousands of cave dwellings were dug on the dry Loess Plateau specifically for grain storage. It is said that if the climate is suitable and the cave dwellings have constant temperature and dryness, food can be stored for more than ten years without deterioration. When grain prices rise, these old grains will be taken out and converted into salt tea according to the grain prices at that time, effectively increasing profit margins.

In fact, Hong Tao is not opposed to doing this. In addition to public rights, the law cannot help but do it, which is very reasonable. If it feels that Shanxi merchants are making too much, the court can promptly amend the law, such as prohibiting the use of old grain for more than a few years to offset the income.

But Shanxi businessmen were more radical than he thought. As their business grew bigger and bigger, they had more and more money in their hands. They were no longer satisfied with being just porters and began to look for official agents in the court. This turned what was originally a relatively fair transaction into a mutually beneficial exchange of money and power, which is similar to the bureaucratic capital in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

However, with the support of power, the Shanxi Merchant Group was not satisfied, but instead intensified its efforts. Because the protective umbrella does not come in vain, it is exchanged for real money. In other words, transaction security increased, but transaction costs also increased significantly, and a large part of the profits went into the pockets of court officials.

Wealth itself is not bad, and power itself is not evil, but these two things are like accelerants and combustibles. As long as they come together and add people, amazing energy will inevitably burst out. In most cases this energy is uncontrollable, and the result is destruction.

This is the case for Shanxi merchants. In order to make up for the loss in profits, they have to find ways to make more money. However, the needs of the border troops were basically fixed, and the amounts of salt and tea obtained were roughly the same, so profits could not be significantly increased.

Since you can't get more from opening China, let's expand your business. The first thing that catches your eye is border trade. In order to effectively curb the development of nomads in the north, the Ming Dynasty regarded bilateral trade as an economic weapon and actively controlled exports.

The northern nomads have always had an urgent need for tea, cloth, ironware, food and other materials. Most of their southern invasions were to snatch these things from the Han people, and the lack of them really affected their lives.

However, these materials were prohibited from being exported at will by the Ming Dynasty. Look, some people desperately want them, and some people have sufficient supplies. This creates a supply and demand relationship, and it is also a seller's market, with high profits.

After controlling the salt and tea trade in the north, coupled with the huge profits gained from border smuggling, Shanxi merchants were still not satisfied and set their sights on official careers. Yes, they are preparing to train their own people to enter the court, and then influence the decisions of courtiers and even the emperor, and formulate policies that are beneficial to Shanxi merchants.

After hundreds of years of careful management and cooperation, the influence of Shanxi Merchants Group in the court is no less than that of the Zhejiang Party and the Donglin Party. The reason why it does not show off its appearance and does not even attract Hong Tao's attention is really not its influence. Too small, but what you want is different.

Officials of the Shanxi Merchant Group are not very enthusiastic about political ideals and do not intend to advocate any ideas of governing the country and ensuring peace of the country. Their ultimate goal is to make more money. As long as it does not affect their fortune, no matter what faction they belong to, they can be friends, and vice versa, they are definitely enemies.

(End of this chapter)