People live in the Ming Dynasty, evil spirits are soaring into the sky

Chapter 425: The merchants here used to be lawless
Everyone actually knows that the prefect of Ningbo once served as the magistrate of Wenzhou Prefecture.

But we didn’t know that it happened to be the year when a major disaster occurred, so everyone was quite surprised.

I guess no one would have thought that the prefect had such a connection with the saint.

It is estimated that the saint at that time would not have known that her previous unintentional action, or good deed, actually saved the people and so many officials.

The most surprising thing is that Guo Feixue herself probably never thought that just one good deed would lead to such a reward.

First of all, she certainly didn't think that she could save so many officials. She did those things under the joint arrangement of the White Lotus Sect.

So at that time I didn’t think about doing anything for those officials.

Second, what was everyone thinking when they were doing this?

The idea was to promote the reputation of the White Lotus Sect, because at that time the Jiangnan branch was not very famous in the underworld.

By taking this opportunity to save the people, more people can see what the White Lotus Sect has done, and it is also for publicity.

I just didn't expect that the publicity would bring such a reward.

I never expected that I would continue to reap the rewards today.

The Wenzhou Tongpan has now become the prefect of Ningbo. The Ming Bank's plan to repair the official road just needs the support of the government and business people throughout Zhejiang.

Although Princess Ning'an is the eldest princess, she does not have the face to ask everyone to participate.

But unexpectedly, Guo Feixue, who originally came to compete with Princess Ning'an, would have such face in Zhejiang.

This is really a case of searching for a needle in a haystack but still not finding the way, it's all effortless.

Guo Feixue Shang herself did not expect that she still had such a face.

I didn't even expect that a small thing a few years ago could help Daming Bank so much.

The Ningbo prefect clapped his hands and said, "Your Highness, I have no choice but to say, Princess. I felt that the construction of the official road was a bit irrational and I had some resistance in my heart.

But since the Saint has come and wants to support the renovation of the official road, then those of us who were once protected by the Saint have no choice but to stand up.

Don't worry, anyone in Ningbo Prefecture who dares not to participate and give us face will not be given face when they work in the government office in the future."

After this was said, many officials followed suit.

Princess Ning'an said, "Governor Lin, your heart is good, but you can't do things like this.

How can the government pick on people because of personal matters? The government still has to do its job for the people, how can you say such things? "

The Ningbo prefect quickly apologized, "Your Highness, I just said the wrong thing. I just wanted to say that such a good thing has happened, but some businessmen, because the Duke also carried out a bloodbath on those greedy families in Jiangnan, deliberately did not give the court face and even interfered.

Such people must be severely punished, otherwise they really think that the court is begging them to do things, but they don’t know that this is also a great thing for them. "

This is true. After all, some businessmen really think that since the court has given them so much face, they should be more dignified, otherwise they will lose face.

Local officials like the Ningbo prefect knew too well what was going on in the minds of businessmen.

On the one hand, they want all the profits to belong to themselves, but on the other hand, they don't want to cause themselves any trouble, and even hope that others will peel the meat and put it into their mouths.

Even though good things like building official roads have been clearly told to them, and they will surely reap a lot in the future, there will still be many people who just watch from the sidelines and are unwilling to take action.

Some people even think about letting others be the first to eat the crab, so that they will come up if the crab doesn't pinch them hard enough to make them bleed.

But it is these people who, on the one hand, are unwilling to take action themselves, and on the other hand, will ridicule and mock those who dare to take action.

They say there is no profit at all and only fools would do such a thing.

Because of the existence of such people, many people hesitate.

That's why the Ningbo prefect said this just now, because he has been in Zhejiang for so many years, he knows what business people in Zhejiang are thinking, and he has seen many such people.

So when I heard that Princess Ning'an wanted to unite merchants here to build this official road but encountered trouble, I knew what was going on.

After the prefect finished speaking, he was reprimanded by Princess Ning'an. Immediately afterwards, a county magistrate stood up and said, "Your Highness, you may not know that the businessmen here are as shrewd as foxes. They will not even think of taking action unless they see benefits.

Even if you tell them there will be benefits in the future, these people still won't act rashly.

Especially after being massacred by the Duke, these people all had obvious resistance to the decisions made by the government.

I am afraid that these people will not submit. Even if the Saint uses her prestige to gather these people, they may just be willing to give them some face, and they may not cooperate with the court sincerely. "

When the magistrate said this, Princess Ning'an immediately asked him, "What do you want to say by saying that the business environment here is so bad? Do you have any good ideas? Just say it here so that everyone can discuss it.

I just don't believe it's such a good thing. Are all of you so short-sighted?

It is said that businessmen, especially you Zhejiang businessmen, keep your eyes and ears open. If there is any good news or good opportunities, they are the ones who can see them most easily.

How come none of you businessmen can see such a good thing now? This is strange."

As soon as Princess Ning'an said this, officials of all ranks began to discuss it.

An official directly stood up and said, “Your Highness, you may not know that the reason why Zhejiang has been doing big business in recent years is, to put it bluntly.

On the one hand, Zhejiang merchants have been wealthy and talented since ancient times.

The family has nurtured many scholars who have passed the imperial examinations and have connections and power in the court.
Many businesses with the imperial court were directly handled by Zhejiang merchants.”

As soon as this topic came up, many officials took over and said, "For example, in previous years, the transportation of tax silver to the Ministry of Revenue was personally escorted by officers from the imperial guards.

But for some reason, in the past two years, the transportation has become done by local merchants.

If it was just a transportation issue, no one would say anything, but it is really infuriating.

Local officials discovered many times that while transporting tax silver, these merchants were able to use the court's official ships for free to transport their private goods.

One can imagine the profits this brings to them. Many Zhejiang businessmen have large fortunes in Beijing. What do they rely on?
The reason why we could use official ships for free was that we reduced transportation costs by an unknown amount.

Without this fee, their goods in the capital would be much cheaper than those of other merchants.

How can other experts compare with them?
Especially the precious items such as silk, porcelain, tea, etc. that were loved by the dignitaries in Beijing.

Their prices are generally 10% to 20% cheaper than other merchants. With this 10% to 20% discount, they can squeeze out other buyers and sellers. In addition, Zhejiang is close to the sea and has been shipping since a long time ago. In fact, in previous years, many goods of the imperial court were transferred by sea.

However, in recent years, many officials have responded that the sea is unsafe due to the presence of Japanese pirates, so they have abandoned sea transportation.

However, as far as we know, most of the shipping is still normal.

It is smuggling, and officials have reported it, but nothing has been done. Either no one is paying attention, or if it gets out of hand, there will be many people who will take the blame.”

This incident caused a lot of disgust among people at that time.

But who can say anything bad?

You have to know that their power is complex and intertwined.

Whether at the local level or in the imperial court, they have enormous power, and these people can be said to be protecting each other for their own interests.

Even if the officials below have something to convey, they will be stopped by others.

They even have countless lines along the local level, and every move of the officials below can be seen clearly by them.

For example, the governor of Zhejiang who was killed by Chen Han.

Their family has been doing business in Zhejiang for generations.

Although their ancestral home is not in Zhejiang, but in Shanxi.

After all, we have to avoid the rule in officialdom that prohibits serving as an official in one’s native place.

After they moved their family to Zhejiang, they started doing business. Their business was booming until Chen Han killed them.

Everyone has to give face to their family, if for no other reason than that if he could become a governor in Zhejiang, he would definitely go to the imperial court to become a minister of one of the six ministries in the future.

Moreover, he was also the Minister of War at that time.
It is because of this relationship that their business is doing so well, and it is the same for other businessmen.

It is precisely because there are so many officials in the court and in local areas that those people can be so powerful.

Speaking of these local petty officials, each of them feels so aggrieved.

He clearly wanted to do something for the court's laws, but because of such officials interfering, everything came to naught.

"Your Highness, you don't know how many of us were killed by hired assassins while in office just because we anonymously reported their illegal activities and were found out."

One official had tears in his eyes.

Because the official who was killed was his father.

His father couldn't stand the arrogance of the salt merchants, so he reported it in a secret memorial.

I originally thought that it was a secret memorial that other officials would not be able to see.

But he underestimated the power of those businessmen in the court, and also underestimated their desire for revenge against him.

After knowing his secret, they immediately hired several assassins. Shortly after his secret report was submitted, he was assassinated in his study.

He even pretended to be hanging, and the matter was later dropped.

Despite his family's repeated petitions, there was still no effect.

Even when he went to the capital, he only got the last piece of news that he had committed suicide.

When they reached this situation, they realized that the power of that group of people was so great that they had actually controlled the entire court long ago.

Even if the emperor wanted to see what was happening below, it would be impossible, as he even became blind and deaf.

The so-called secret letter is a joke. It was opened directly when it reached the top.

Princess Ning'an and Concubine Guo heard the officials say that these businessmen were so arrogant, it was no wonder they were killed by the Duke.

They even realized now that this is how these people do business.

It's not based on normal business competition, it's entirely based on relationships. Their relationships are really too strong.

At this point, the officials said, "It is because of these businessmen's actions that we want them to cooperate, but they are reluctant to do so.

Most of their business is not done through legitimate means. They themselves do not have much so-called foresight and foresight, and most of their business relies on relationships.

Some people even blatantly say that they have connections but don't use them and just go about their business normally. That is extremely stupid.

These people are used to doing business this way, so how could they be willing to do normal business?

After hearing these words, Princess Ning'an and Concubine Guo Xue suddenly realized.

Princess Ning An looked at Guo Feixue and said, "Now you understand why. I must ask you to come forward and call on these businessmen to follow the court to do this, right?
Merchants throughout the southeast coastal area do business this way. How could they easily give up convenience? So do you understand now?
It's not that I don't want to bring them along, but I'm powerless. After listening to Princess Ning'an's words, Guo Feixue understood her, and finally realized how difficult it is for her to accomplish these things in Zhejiang now.

However, he was far away in the capital and did not understand her. Instead, he felt that Princess Ning'an was using him.

But after listening to what these officials said and thinking about what I had seen and known, I finally understood.

So she said nothing more, and instead said to Princess Ning'an: "Since my sister can use me here, and I have some influence here, it would be a disregard for the overall situation if I postpone it any further.

Okay, this time when I go back with you, I will first gather the old seniors who have influence in the underworld, and then find a way to gather together the merchants who have received favors from our White Lotus Sect before, and let them speak freely.

See what they think, and at the same time inform them that we are now planning to build the official road.

Let them evaluate and if they are willing to cooperate with the court, we will find a way to bring them over and expand our influence.

At the same time, it also allows more people to see the court's attitude towards this matter.

After all, those merchants had been frightened by the Duke, so it was difficult to get them to cooperate with the court immediately.

But I believe that with my eloquence, there shouldn't be any big problems."

……

(End of this chapter)