Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

Hearing the question surnamed Hong, Zong Zhen straightened up, his face glowed, and he smiled and said: "Yes, Mr. Wu said, come over later, so we can see you. Brother Hong also knows that my younger sister married The only son of the Elder Master is all relatives. The brother invited the Elder Master here because of his good talk."

When Hong Yanxiao heard his words, his expression lifted, and he sighed: "Hero Zong has become a nobleman this time. In the future, when I travel in Hebei, I will rely on Big Brother Zong to take care of me. This time you said that there is a big benefit to be taken care of." Brothers in the cheap arena, I wonder if I can reveal a little bit in advance?"

Seeing his respectful expression, Zong Zhen's biggest shortcoming is his good face, and he just feels that today is the best day for him.But his expression was still calm and he said: "As for this benefit, Zong Zhen didn't dare to say more without the boss nodding. After the boss comes over to talk to everyone, naturally Master Mei from the Yan Division will talk to you about it." Explain, and just wait."

When the two of them were talking, the other salt owls pricked up their ears even though they seemed to be chatting with others.

Among them, Boss Bai, who was sitting next to him, was even more focused, moving the finger on his left thumb faster.

Seeing Zongzhen's tight mouth, he felt anxious.

However, the transfer envoy of the salt department is a figure like a feudal official, one in the sky and the other on the ground with the private salt dealer.This time, all the twenty or thirty biggest salt owls in Hebei were invited here, which must be a big deal.

Just as he was wondering, he heard footsteps coming. Looking up, it was an official wearing a red official robe and a handsome scholar in his early twenties approaching.

Zongzhen took the first step and knelt on the ground: "Cangzhou Zongzhen, a grassroots man, has met Mr. Wu and Mr. Mei."

Hearing that it was Wu's transfer envoy, the other salt lords were shocked, and they also knelt down at the same time, knocking their heads loudly: "I have seen the elder, I have seen Wu Qingtian!"

Wu Shiqi looked very kind, and after helping the leading salt lords up, he asked them their names one by one.

When the person who was asked had seen such a high-ranking official, Yan Xiao put it bluntly, although the wealthy family was a local tyrant, but in the eyes of the government, he was just a local ruffian, not as good as a salt merchant with a merchant status.If you really want to punish them, one yamen servant is enough.

Being supported by such a big official today, I suddenly felt that my bones were two catties lighter. When I announced my name, I always trembled, and some people even burst into tears.

The salt lords were able to come here today, all because of Zongzhen's face.I didn't believe that Zong Daxia was able to invite such a big master, and I was half-believing in the way of making money he said, but when I met him today, I believed it completely.

After the Yan Xiao who was the leader met, Wu Shiqi coughed lightly, and in an instant, the hall was so quiet that the sound of a needle falling could be heard.

"I heard that you are all good citizens in the local area, and they are anxious for justice. This summer is really a disaster, flooding several county towns, and the imperial court asked our company to raise a certain amount of relief money. Please come here today, I just want to discuss this matter with you. Here, I would like to offer a toast to the people of Zhending, and I will do it first!"

As he spoke, Mr. Wu raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"Don't dare!" All the salt owls hurriedly accompanied them to drink.

After drinking, Wu Shiqi smiled and pointed to Su Mu beside him: "As for how to help the victims and how to raise funds, I have a little opinion to discuss with you. This Master Mei will explain the division of names to you later, I have official duties, so I can't stay for long, so I bid farewell!"

"Send off, my lord!" All the salt lords bowed down at the same time.

As soon as Mr. Wu cupped his hands, he went downstairs surrounded by a group of yamen servants.

In fact, Lord Wu is an old-fashioned figure. He asked him to come and talk to this group of desperadoes and local bullies, but he was very unwilling in his heart. According to him, if so many salt lords gathered in Cangzhou, he should send soldiers to kill them all. .

It's a pity, on the surface, it seems that these guys are all local landlords and wealthy households. Some people, like Boss Bai, have millions of property and thousands of hectares of fertile land.Although some of them are secretly engaged in smuggling salt, they have their own business on the surface, and some of them are doing very well.For example, Xie Jiuwu, who came from the south of Shandong Province, started his business by profiting from private salt, and now he has monopolized the cotton and hemp yarn in the south of Shandong Province, and his business is booming.Such a person who has hundreds or thousands of people under his command has long since stopped going out in person.If you want to arrest someone, there is no evidence at all.

Moreover, when he came, Su Mu also explained to him that whether the salt ticket could be issued smoothly this time would have to fall on this group of people, but the salt merchants in Cangzhou were unreliable.

As for other serious businessmen, even if they sell salt tickets like them, I'm afraid there will be many onlookers with bad hearts and doubts.

Su Mu is so generous this time, the first shot must be fired.

As long as this shot is fired, there will be no need to sell it by yourself in the future, and some people will come to the door to buy it with money.

For this reason, Master Wu could only bear with himself.

But seeing this group of ruthless gangsters, the old man was still disgusted in his heart. After saying these two sentences, he left in a hurry and refused to stay any longer.

Su Mu called Wu Shiqi this time, mainly because he wanted to tell the salt lords that this salt ticket was issued by the Changlu Salt Department, it has legal benefits and is guaranteed by the official salt.As long as he shows up, he has completed the task.

After Wu Shiqi left, Su Mu took a sip of tea, cleared his throat and talked about the use and benefits of salt tickets.

He was originally a university teacher, and he was very eloquent.

He spoke eloquently, in a manner that was both solemn and humorous, causing everyone to chuckle from time to time, and they all said in their hearts: This Master Mei is good at speaking, but we can understand what he said, and understand what's going on.

After introducing the salt ticket, Su Mu said: "First of all, this time the salt ticket will be underwritten by Cangzhou Development Bank, and I will be in charge, with Zong Zhen as the assistant manager. At the beginning, I plan to use 100 million taels of silver as the start-up capital."

Hearing that he had given away so much money, all the salt lords gasped.

Su Mu: "The salt coupons sold this time are mortgaged by the official salt produced by the Salt Division next year. The salt coupons can come to the Cangzhou Salt Division to extract official salt at any time, which is equivalent to the previous salt quotation."

Hearing that he could use official salt as collateral, the salt lords felt a little more at ease.

You know, the world's official salt is divided into ten programs, each with 20 quotations.And Changlu Salt Division, as the second-ranked place among the three major salt fields in the world, has won the three key points, which is 60 citations.

Calculated on the basis of [-] catties of imported salt, it is [-] million catties, and with such a huge amount of salt as a guarantee, what are you afraid of?

However, there are still people who are not interested.The so-called salt owls, many of them were just brave farmers or rogues before they started this business, and they didn't have such a long-term vision.

They were afraid of Mr. Wu, trembling and sweating in front of him, but after he left, they returned to normal, and they were not afraid of mere Master Mei.

Someone asked loudly: "Master Mei, it is true that we have so much cash on hand that there is nowhere to go. It turns black and moldy every year in the cellar, and 1 taels of silver will be weighed for more than ten months. There will always be a loss of more than a hundred taels." If it is used for other businesses, it should not be a problem to earn a few thousand taels a year. If you buy development silver or something..."

"bank."

"Yes, if you buy a salt ticket from your bank, it's only a [-]% profit, so it's meaningless!"

"Yes, yes." Several salt owls nodded in agreement.

Su Mu was not in a hurry, smiled and waited for everyone to finish talking, then began to explain the convenience of this salt ticket, and introduced in detail how much cost could be saved if the salt ticket was used in commercial transactions.

And looking forward to the future, he said that once the development bank becomes larger in the future, it will also set up branches in major cities in Hebei. At that time, cash can be withdrawn by ticket.Of course, if you want to raise table salt, you have to come to Cangzhou Salt Division Yunyun.

Ordinarily, the reasoning has been made very clear, but the salt owl who asked the question before still shook his head and said: "[-]% profit is really too little. If I invest my money in other businesses, with luck, it is possible to double it."

Su Mu was not in a hurry, and turned his attention to Boss Bai.This person is the president of the Lianshan Association, and he has a lot of economic power and prestige among the crowd.This person is not a rude warrior, but very scheming.

Just now when Su Mu found out that he was talking, the old Yan Xiao had been thinking about something with his head down, so he probably understood.

At this moment, suddenly, someone shouted, "I'll buy 5 taels."

"Si!" Everyone in the hall took a breath, and at the same time turned their heads to look over, but it was Xie Peng Xie Jiuye from Lunan.

The Yan Xiao who questioned Su Mu earlier cheered: "Master Jiu is so brave."

Xie Jiuwu stood up and laughed: "Old Lin, don't you think the profit is small? Yes, yes, a 10% profit is nothing more than a petty profit to you. How can you take it seriously. Let me tell you the truth. , the cotton and hemp yarn business I have in my hands, Lao Jiu, is only [-] to [-] cents a year if I invest a few [-] taels. This is the case for serious businesses, but it is not comparable. Lao Jiu, I intend to develop my business in Hebei recently. This salt There is a [-]% profit on the ticket, and it is convenient to carry and trade, which is just right for me.”

The one named Lao Lin was angry: "Master Jiu, who is not doing serious business?"

Boss Bai turned back and shouted: "Old Lin, sit down and listen to Master Jiu to finish."

Only then did Lao Lin sit down resentfully: "Boss Bai, what do you think about this?"

Boss Bai smiled, stood up suddenly and bowed his hands to Su Mu: "I subscribed for 6 taels, and I will release the money tomorrow. Please take care of me in the future."

Everyone cheered at the same time, they all knew that Boss Bai was a prudent person, although he didn't talk much, he was very important.

In fact, after hearing what Su Mu said just now, everyone was not interested.It's just a [-]% profit, and you have to get the money out first.It can't compare to smuggling salt. If you make a trip, you will get twice the profit immediately.

The reason why Boss Bai is willing to spend so much money must be that there must be benefits that people cannot refuse.

"It's easy to say." Su Mu smiled and cupped his hands.

Boss Bai: "Mr. Mei, other people don't know the truth, but the second son understands the truth. How about I explain it to everyone?"

Su Mu nodded: "Okay, then I'll go back to the bank first and wait for the good news from Boss Bai."