I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 520: Going to Jiangnan! Jiangnan Trading Company Does Not Purchase National Debts
August 4th, early morning.

On the Bian River.

A two-masted merchant ship slowly sailed out of the dock and headed south.

On the deck, Su Liang, Cao Yi and Wang Anshi stood side by side, gazing into the distance.

Guard captain Liu Sandao stood at the rear, responsible for the guard.

At this time.

Su Liang said: "Brother Jingxiu, Jiefu, we are going to Hangzhou on a tight schedule and with a heavy mission. From now on, the three of us will be medicinal herb merchants. Without my permission, unless your life is threatened, you must not reveal your identity and the purpose of this trip."

"Understood." They both bowed at the same time.

It took about twenty days to travel from Bian Jing to Hangzhou by water, and the three men arrived in Hangzhou at the end of August.

September 15th is the deadline for local state residents to purchase government bonds.

This deadline will definitely not be extended.

The three must find out why Jiangnan merchants are unwilling to buy national debts and fill the national debt gap in the Jiangnan region before September 15.

In addition, the imperial court has stated that the purchase of government bonds is voluntary and will not be forced.

In order to avoid being criticized, some businessmen were allowed to think that the imperial court was forcing them to buy government bonds.

It would be safer for the three of them to investigate as businessmen.

This time I went to the south of the Yangtze River.

The three men's mission was to find out who was preventing some merchants who wanted to buy government bonds from doing so, even if they could not get the Jiangnan merchants to make up the remaining 80 million strings of government bonds.

This move is of a bad nature.

Preventing others from serving the court is a great evil.

If they are not brought to justice, Jiangnan's commerce will surely be thrown into even greater chaos in the future.

at the same time.

Liu Sandao has sent a group of intelligence soldiers to Jiangnan to collect intelligence. They will synchronize the information they obtain to Su Liang and the other two as quickly as possible.

……

August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The ship arrived at Chuzhou Wharf.

Su Liang ordered to rest for a day to replenish food and drinks.

That night.

On the deck, the moon was as round as a disk, and the bright moonlight splashed on the canal.

Su Liang, Wang Anshi and Cao Yi sat at the same table.

Su Liang and Cao Yi drank wine, and Wang Anshi drank tea.

The three of them chatted aimlessly, talking about court anecdotes, folk jokes, or the legends of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal...

at this time.

Su Liang suddenly asked, "You two, do you know the difference between Kaifeng merchants and Jiangnan merchants?"

Kaifeng and Jiangnan, one in the north and one in the south.

They are the two richest regions in the Song Dynasty, and the merchant group determines the local trade situation.

Cao Yi thought for a moment and replied: "Kaifeng merchants rely on officials, and they value building relationships between officials and merchants, and they value reputation more than profit; Jiangnan merchants rely more on the people, and they value commercial profits more than reputation."

Su Liang nodded in approval.

Compared with Kaifeng merchants, Jiangnan merchants were obviously more distant from the imperial court.

If you do business in Kaifeng Prefecture, you have to deal with the government, otherwise you will not be able to gain a foothold.

In Hangzhou, as long as there is a business that can make money, one can rely on the common people to do it without relying on the government, and even have help from colleagues in the same field.

and.

The merchants in Jiangnan are far more united than those in Kaifeng.

In the northern part of the Song Dynasty, it was basically the common people who had no hope of passing the imperial examination and had no special skills who chose to do business.

But in the south.

Nowadays, the status of imperial examinations and business is almost equal. Most people study not necessarily for the imperial examinations, but also for business.

At this time.

Wang Anshi said, "There is another point. Kaifeng merchants are happy to enjoy themselves after they have achieved a small success, while Jiangnan merchants are more hardworking in doing business, and not many of them are greedy for pleasure."

Hearing this, Cao Yi shook his head.

"Jiefu, you may only know one side of the story. Merchants in Jiangnan enjoy life better than merchants anywhere else, but they prefer to keep their circles to themselves, unknown to the majority of the people. In fact, they are even more extravagant."

This immediately attracted the interest of Su Liang and Wang Anshi.

Immediately.

Cao Yi then told a series of stories about some Jiangnan merchants who liked to keep prostitutes in their homes, secretly have mistresses, gamble privately, and exchange concubines and maids.

"It's...it's so dirty? Is there no one to care?" Wang Anshi said with eyes wide open.

These things are not against the law, but they are bad customs.

Su Liang smiled helplessly. "You can do anything unless it is prohibited by law. Besides, these businessmen are not officials, and there are too many who do not care about their reputation!"

Cao Yi nodded and said, "When they have money, they love to seek excitement, but as long as they don't break the law or get caught, the government can't punish them."

"But when I, Wang Anshi, came, everything changed!" Wang Anshi puffed out his chest.

"No, no, Jiefu, don't use your moral standards to demand the people of the world. If everyone in the world is like you, I'm afraid the business of brothels and theaters will not be able to do well!" Cao Yi said.

These bad entertainment habits have existed since ancient times and are the by-products of the accumulation of wealth among the people.

Inevitable.

Su Liang on the side also nodded in approval.

If everyone in the world could hold themselves to Wang Anshi's moral standards, the Song Dynasty would have already been prosperous.

……

August 21st, near noon.

Su Liang and his party finally arrived at the central area of ​​the Jiangnan region.

Hangzhou City.

He walked down the dock, looked at the bustling streets ahead, and couldn't help reciting Liu Yong's poem.

"The southeast is a beautiful place, the capital of the Three Wus, Qiantang has been prosperous since ancient times, with willow trees, painted bridges, green curtains, and hundreds of thousands of houses... The market is lined with pearls, and every household is filled with silk and satin, competing in luxury..."

"What Mr. Liu Qi said is true."

Hangzhou City is the capital of Liangzhe Road. It has a current population of over 500,000 and is the richest state in Jiangnan.

There are many mountains, rivers and lakes inside and outside the city, and its textile and brewing industries are known as the best among all states.

Many scholars who have traveled to Hangzhou believe that this place is more livable than Bianliang.

soon.

The three of them followed Liu Sandao to a prosperous area in the city, a house that had been arranged long ago.

Su Liang, Cao Yi and Wang Anshi are all well-known figures.

Many officials and businessmen knew them, so renting a residential house was less likely to be discovered than staying in an inn.

Then, everyone had a fish feast.

After a short rest, they began to assign tasks to their subordinates according to the division of labor arranged on the ship.

Cao Yi was responsible for investigating the merchants in Hangzhou City.

He will compile the information of all the big businessmen in Hangzhou within two days.

On the one hand, he wanted to find out which merchants refused to buy the government bonds and why; on the other hand, he wanted to bring back Sun Ran, the silk merchant who wrote to him saying that he was threatened and did not dare to buy the government bonds.

Wang Anshi was responsible for investigating the officials in Hangzhou City.

He will investigate the top officials in Hangzhou within two days to determine whether the incident was caused by the officials' dereliction of duty and their inability to encourage businessmen to buy government bonds, or whether some officials were in cahoots with some businessmen.

Su Liang was responsible for investigating the people of Hangzhou.

He will collect all recent tabloids and state newspapers in Hangzhou within two days to understand the Hangzhou residents' views on the national debt and the major events that have occurred in Hangzhou recently.

Hangzhou's tabloid culture is comparable to that of Bianliang City and is the best channel for obtaining local information.

……

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

August 23rd, afternoon.

Su Liang, Wang Anshi and Cao Yi gathered in the back hall.

Wang Anshi was the first to say: "The publicity efforts of the Hangzhou Prefecture Government on the purchase of government bonds are acceptable."

"This matter should have been handled by Yu Jing, the transport commissioner of Liangzhe Road and the governor of Hangzhou. However, he suddenly fell ill and was about to retire, so the matter was handed over to Gu Yue, the magistrate of Hangzhou."

"Gu Yue is quite competent. He has been promoting the purchase of national debt. There are proposals for the purchase of national debt posted outside the provincial government office and in places where merchants often appear. They are changed every two days. Gu Yue has also visited merchants in person. Unfortunately, the effect is minimal..."

Cao Yi continued, "The businessman that Hangzhou Tongpan Gu Yue went to see is the president of Jiangnan Trading Company. His real name is unknown, but everyone calls him Zhisou."

"This wise old man, who is over 70 years old, is involved in many industries. He controls nearly 70% of the textile and printing industries in Jiangnan, as well as the maritime trade industry."

"According to investigation, none of the members of Jiangnan Trading Company purchased government bonds."

"In the Jiangnan region, only those with a net worth of more than 50,000 and who have deposited 20,000 strings of cash in the Jiangnan Trading Company are eligible to become members of the Jiangnan Trading Company after undergoing an assessment."

"In Hangzhou, all those who bought the national debt were not merchants from Jiangnan Trading Company. In addition, silk merchant Sun Ran went out to sea three days ago, and it may take half a year for him to return. I think he may have been forced to go out to sea."

……

At last.

Su Liang said, "The information I got from the tabloids and discussions among the people on the street is not much different from yours."

"Hangzhou Tongpan Gu Yue was quite attentive and responsible about the national debt, but the results were minimal. Moreover, he and Hangzhou Zhizhou Yu Jing were not very popular because the previous Hangzhou Zhizhou Han Qi was too outstanding."

"In addition, merchants have many complaints about the purchase of government bonds. Some even call it robbing the rich to help the poor. The court will not be able to repay the money with interest in the end. The source of this news is still under investigation."

……

Wang Anshi concluded: "At present, it seems that the local officials have not made any major mistakes. The problem is most likely with this Jiangnan Trading Company. We must investigate it thoroughly."

Su Liang and Cao Yi both nodded in approval.

(End of this chapter)