I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 492 The Rich Merchants of Ming Dynasty
Regardless of how poor the Ming court was said in history, in fact, there are still many rich people among the people.

Needless to say, Shen Wansan in the early years of the dynasty was a rich man who was able to help the court build a third of the city wall of Nanjing by himself.

What kind of era did Shen Wansan live in? It was an era when the Yuan people had just been expelled from the Central Plains, the people of the Central Plains had just recovered a little vitality, and everything had just begun to recover.

In such an environment, he was able to strive for a huge net worth. Although there are reasons for Shen Wantian's prodigy, it is more because of Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of hiding wealth from the people.

From the early years of Hongwu to the present, this policy has been implemented for five or sixty years.

What is the concept of five or sixty years? Think about the later generations from the reform and opening up to the beginning of the 60st century. In just 21 years, how many billionaires have emerged on the land of China.

Although the environment in Daming was not as open as that of the later generations, the city's industrial and commercial tax was the lowest in history. If the tricks were clever, you wouldn't even have to pay the tax.

Under such a unique environment, within such a long period of time, with the natural characteristics of hard work and bravery of the Chinese, if there were not a few wealthy businessmen worth tens of millions, it would sound unbelievable.

Although this era is not as famous as Shen Wansan's big businessman.

The environment for doing business is better, and the society is more stable. It is the best time for businessmen to make profits.

There may not be many rich merchants with tens of millions, and even if there are, they may be those old noble family owners, but there are still a lot of small wealthy merchants with more than one million in the Shen family.

Not to mention, the big salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River who have controlled the salt road for many years are only those Shanxi merchants in the capital who can fight with the royal bank, and there are not a few of them worth more than one million.

This is only in the capital city. If you look at the whole world, there will be eight hundred if not one thousand people. They are the actual controllers of Daming's wealth.

It has to be said that Zhu Yuanzhang's strategy of hiding wealth from the people is very successful in some respects.

Of course, although there are quite a few wealthy people gathered here today, they are far from reaching all of Daming.

Due to Li Tian's different emphasis, at least half of these hundreds of people today are nobles and businessmen from Fanbang.

Don't underestimate these foreign businessmen.

As far back as the Han Dynasty, countless businessmen from the Western Regions had poured into China to do business, and it reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty.

Although the Huren traders in the Ming Dynasty were not well-known and did not have as much influence as in the Tang Dynasty, the number was no less than that in the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Anyone who has read Ming history in detail will know that Zheng He's seven voyages to the West brought back not only envoys from various countries, but also many businessmen who yearned for the prosperity of the Central Plains.

They take advantage of the huge price difference, and they can make ten times and a hundred times the profit as soon as they change hands, and they have cultivated a large number of wealthy merchants.

Don't think that people in the Ming Dynasty don't know how to do business. Compared with the Song Dynasty, which was famous for its prosperous business and industry, the commercial activities of the Ming Dynasty are actually not bad at all.

Shen Wansan was able to make so much money in such a difficult social environment, mainly because he opened up overseas markets.

It can be said that he earned most of his net worth from overseas.

In fact, there is another ironclad proof that Ming Dynasty's commerce is prosperous, and that is the sunken ships on the bottom of the East China Sea and South China Sea.

At the end of the 21th century and the beginning of the [-]st century, many people were keen to salvage those sunken ships, and some people counted them afterwards.

Under the incomplete scanning of advanced instruments, it is confirmed that hundreds or even thousands of large ships full of treasures have sunk along the coast of China.

Even with so many sunk, it is conceivable how many fleets arrived successfully.

Before the Ming Dynasty, China could only trade with the Western world through the Silk Road, which was not far away.

However, following Zheng He's several voyages to the West, not only did the businessmen of Daming realize the vast overseas market, but also let overseas people know that Daming is a land of abundance and gold everywhere.

With the Silk Road on land not cut off and sea passages opened, anyone who has read a little bit of history may scoff at this if it is said that Ming’s overseas trade is not as good as that of the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Li Tian's era may not have ushered in the heyday of overseas trade, but this does not mean that there are no smart foreigners in Daming at this time, coming to Daming to make money.

At this time, the troubled times of the Warring States Period in Japan across the sea have not yet come, Japanese pirates have not yet invaded the Central Plains on a large scale, and the Ming Dynasty has not closed the country and sealed off the sea.

It was the honeymoon period between Japanese Koryo merchants and Daming.

These neighboring countries account for almost half of the foreign businessmen in the capital.

Coupled with the fact that the surrounding small countries have the habit of sending princes to Daming to study and exchange all the year round, the capital is home to a large number of foreigners with stupid people and rich money.

This time Li Tian sent out invitations with a tendency, and almost wiped out all these people.

Not only did they not have any feeling of being cheated, but they also felt complacent about being invited, which was a very happy thing for Li Tian.

Ever since Prince Wang knew that Shen Lingfeng might befriend a big shot, he became more enthusiastic. Before the auction started, he dragged him around and introduced him to all the circumstances of his investigation.

"Brother Shen, look quickly, that is a famous name from the Wa country, don't think he is not tall, he is a bit ugly.

It is said that he has monopolized more than [-]% of the silk and porcelain business in Nara, and his net worth is much higher than many nobles present. "

"Have you seen that big man? It is said that he is the son of the leader of a large tribe in Oala. He lives in the capital all year round. Don't underestimate him. Their tribe can provide thousands of war horses for our Ming Dynasty every year."

"There is also that guy with a big beard and a big piece of cloth wrapped around his head. It is said that he is from the Great Food Kingdom. This guy is even more amazing. I heard that he brought a whole boat full of treasures to Daming last time.

All the things he brought were sold like crazy at the Sea Lion Building, especially the gems, which were sold at sky-high prices almost every moment. At that time, my brother spent more than 800 taels of silver to finally snatch one that was not in good condition. "

Listening to Prince Wang introducing him one by one, Shen Lingfeng felt more and more that the world is vast.

"Unexpectedly, there are so many wealthy businessmen besides my Ming Dynasty! Thank you, Brother Wang, for the introduction, I have gained a lot of knowledge today..."

As he spoke, he involuntarily turned his gaze to where Li Tian was,
"Anyone here has such a background and an extraordinary background. This guy surnamed Li, who can come here, is it possible that he is really a deep-seated person?"

(End of this chapter)