A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 880: The pros and cons are explained to gather people's hearts, and three routes attack Luo Sanshangli

In an unnamed house in Runzhou, Bai Qingfeng was giving a passionate speech, encouraging various companies to set up a joint chamber of commerce.

Although Bai Qingfeng's words made sense, and even pointed out the pros and cons, they touched their hearts.

But they still have big concerns.

"Brother Qingfeng, although we are very interested in your proposal, will the court allow a Beijing merchant to appear in Jiangnan?" Gu Shi, the head of the Gu family, has always been conservative and very loyal to the court.

He vaguely felt that this matter was not that simple.

After hearing Gu Shi’s words, the other families and wealthy merchants who were originally somewhat excited suddenly calmed down.

Yes, if the imperial court disagrees, it will definitely order a ban. Then their actions will not only fail to protect their own interests, but will even arouse the imperial court's fear. Even more seriously, the imperial court may send troops to suppress them.

You must know that Jiangnan is an important tax-collecting area for the imperial court. The ability to support more than 200,000 imperial troops is almost entirely dependent on the financial resources of Jiangnan.

Seeing that everyone's minds were disturbed by Gu Shi's words, Bai Qingfeng had to reveal a secret:
"Even if you want to protect your homeland, will the court allow you to do so? Will the people endure such heavy taxes?"

"Jiangnan is not just Suzhou and Hangzhou, it includes most of the southern region. The people there are not as wealthy as those in Suzhou and Hangzhou. The taxes there have been in arrears for more than ten years."

"As far as I know, the imperial court intends to collect the rents and taxes owed by various places from the 13th year of Tianbao to the 2nd year of Shangyuan."

"What do you think the people in the south who can't pay the rent will do? And you are also familiar with the military forces in various parts of Jiangnan."

"The rebels are causing chaos, and the various places in Jiangnan are unable to suppress them. Cities have been lost, and the court will have to mobilize northern troops to go south to quell the rebellion. Northern troops have always been brutal, and they are foreigners. They are like a comb when they pass by. You should know what it's like."

"Isn't the Henan case enough to alert you?"

Jiangnan has enjoyed peace for a long time. The previous Liu Zhan Rebellion was already the biggest war in a hundred years. The soldiers in Jiangnan are slack and most of them are old, weak and sick. If there is a rebellion, it will be impossible to suppress it.

When the troops from the north came south and saw the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River, they could not help but be greedy.

At this time, someone suddenly raised his hand and said, "Isn't there still the Henan Jiedushi Bai Shixiang? The Duzhishi is the son of Bai Shixiang. Can you ask Bai Shixiang to dispatch a well-disciplined army to the south? We can provide all the money and food."

Bai Qingfeng sneered, "Prime Minister Bai has already said that once the rebels in Henan are eliminated, he will resign from all his official positions and return home. Who can predict who will come by then? Maybe it will be Hou Jing."

When they heard about Hou Jing, the people present couldn't help but feel fear. When Hou Jing led his troops south, he caused great psychological trauma to these southerners.

Seeing that most people were interested, Bai Qingfeng prepared to play his last card:

"Everyone, everything is difficult at the beginning. We couldn't get together before because we were under constant surveillance by the eunuchs. Now that Lord Bai has finally been appointed as the Revenue Commissioner, we should take this opportunity to unite."

"When the White Envoy leaves office and the eunuchs take office again, will we still have to bow down and serve the emperor with our entire lives and property?"

"Haven't you learned from the previous experience of Zhang family in Haiyan?"

The Zhang family of Haiyan was originally a powerful salt merchant in Haiyan County. They held salt permits issued by the imperial court and controlled 90% of the local salt fields. Their assets amounted to more than 10 billion yuan, making them one of the most powerful families in Jiangnan.

However, due to a dispute over interests and uneven distribution with his superiors, he rejected the proposal of his new superior, Li Debao, the Jiangnan Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner, to revise the profit ratio.

Li Debao, relying on his power and his status as Li Fuguo's adopted son, falsely accused the Zhang family of colluding with pirates to smuggle official salt. The entire family was sentenced to exile, the male members were imprisoned and executed, and all the family property fell into Li Debao's hands.

After hearing about Zhang's fate, Qian Zuen, the head of the Qian family, no longer hesitated and immediately stood up and said:

"I think Brother Qingfeng is right. We can't just sit there and wait for death. Our Qian family is willing to unite with the Bai family."

"The Liu family is willing too." "Count our Wang family in as one."

"The Chen family is also fine."

In the end, seeing that everyone agreed to establish the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, the Gu family did not want to be the only one, so they also got involved.

"Okay, in that case, the establishment of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce has been confirmed. As for the details, each family must send people to discuss it carefully. You must not use force to squeeze other members."

"That's the best." Bai Qingfeng's words were exactly what those small families wanted.

Therefore, the establishment of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce attracted the most attention from small family heads and businessmen with a little bit of wealth, in addition to the big families and wealthy merchants.

October 9, the first year of Baoying
The imperial court mobilized three armies, with Prince Yong Li Shi as the marshal of the army and Yu Chaoen as the military inspector to supervise the three armies. The various military governors led hundreds of thousands of troops to launch a massive attack on Shi Chaoyi, the pseudo-Yan emperor who occupied Luoyang.

The commander of the Western Army, Deputy Marshal Pugu Huai'en, led the Hedong, Shuofang and other camps, as well as the Uighur cavalry and other infantry and cavalry, a total of more than 100,000 troops, and marched from Shanzhou.

The commander of the Southern Army, Deputy Marshal Li Guangbi, led the Shen Ce, Hexi and other camps, the Bashu barbarian soldiers and other infantry, totaling more than 90,000 troops, and marched northward from Ruzhou.

The commander of the Eastern Army, Deputy Marshal Bai Jing, led the Pinglu, Xuanwu and other camps, the river navy and other land and sea forces totaling more than 100,000 troops, and moved from Zhengzhou to block the north and south of the Yellow River.

Naturally, Shi Chaoyi knew the movements of the Tang army. In order to prevent his retreat from being cut off, he first ordered people to build the Heyang Bridge to prevent the Tang army's warships from going upstream from the lower reaches of the Yellow River.

He then mobilized armies from all sides, abandoned Xuzhou, and concentrated all the troops in Henan around Luoyang. He also arranged for a troop of troops from Hebei to be stationed in Huaizhou to be ready for support at any time.

By predicting defeat before victory, Shi Chaoyi was able to command his army to fight a decisive battle with the Tang army with confidence.

He knew that among the three Tang armies, the most important one was the Western Army, because the commander-in-chief Li Shi, the military supervisor Yu Chaoen, and the deputy commander-in-chief Pugu Huai'en were all in this army.

If the Tang army in the west was defeated, the other two armies would retreat without a fight.

October 18

Shi Chaoyi abandoned the defenses on the east and south sides, gathered more than 100,000 troops and lined up in the northern suburbs of Luoyang to face the threat of the Tang army in the west.

The next day, the Tang army and the rebels launched a decisive battle at Hengshui. The fierce fighting blocked the Hengshui River, and the clear water surface was dyed red. All kinds of broken limbs, weapons and flags fluttered on the river.

The rebels were defeated in this battle. The Tang army beheaded more than 10,000 people and captured more than 50,000 people. Shi Chaoyi fled northward. Luoyang was recovered again, and the remaining rebel prefectures and counties also fell into the hands of the Tang army.

On the 20th, Pugu Huai'en ordered all the captives to be beheaded as a military achievement, and reported to his superiors that 60,000 heads were beheaded in this battle.

While the fighting in the north was in full swing and corpses were everywhere.

Jiangnan is still as beautiful as ever, with people coming and going everywhere. However, there is a new building in each major city and county, with a plaque reading "Jiangnan United Chamber of Commerce". They choose the region with the largest number of companies, such as Suzhou, and call themselves "Suzhou merchants".

The head office of Jiangsu merchants was located opposite the "Beijing Merchants Guild" in Runzhou. Correspondingly, there was the "Qi Merchants Guild" of the Qilu United Trading Company not far away. They were all on the same street.

People often call this street "Guild Hall Street".

At this point, in just three years, three business forces suddenly emerged in the world. When combined, each force was no weaker than that of a powerful family that dominated the world, second only to the Bai family and the royal family.

They are the [Beijing merchants] of the "Beijing United Commercial Bank" in the Guanzhong region, the [Qi merchants] of the "Qilu United Commercial Bank" in the Shandong region, and the [Su merchants] of the "Jiangnan United Chamber of Commerce" in the Jiangnan region.

(End of this chapter)