Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 1646 Huge profits

  As soon as Qi Zhiyuan was mentioned, many small shopkeepers were eager to try.

The treasurer of Xishan Jianye's Nanjing branch said: "This Qi family is in South Zhili and owns a lot of land. His ancestors have been officials for many generations. Because of this, many people came to donate land. The Qi family's land is naturally There are more and more... It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the number one high school in Nanzhili."

  Dedicate land...

   This word is not new at all, and there are not many such things in other places.

   But in Jiangnan, it is a common occurrence.

   After all, there are talented scholars in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are a lot of people with fame. Because of fame, not only can they be officials, but they can also be tax-free.

Although...the excess land area is logically taxable, the problem is that those who can be officials and have fame often have great prestige in the local area. Rely on them.

  People like this... they want to conceal the land and get the privilege of exempting food tax, isn't it easy?

  So...the largest source of food tax for the imperial court, the entire Jiangnan, this heavy tax was not imposed on the famous families like the Qi family, but on those ordinary people who didn't have much land.

  The land of the small people is not only inferior, but the rich ones are no more than tens of acres, and the poor and humble are even worse, only three to five acres, and they can’t even eat. Can they still pay such a heavy tax?

So... someone set a precedent. Since Emperor Wen, some people began to simply hand over their land deeds to high-ranking families like the Qi family. If the land is under the name of the Qi family, it can be exempted from paying taxes. In this way, it is equivalent to giving the land to the Qi family, cultivating for the Qi family, and becoming a tenant. Of course... the Qi family will often donate The people of the land, give some favors, for example, reduce some favors.

  They obtained the land easily by relying on their fame and fame for no reason.

It doesn't cost a penny, the land is more and more, and the family's status will naturally rise, so... more people come to contribute, and the Qi family has gradually become a leading wealthy family, almost on an equal footing with the six officials in Nanjing. Yes, all of them are senior officials of the third rank or above, and the in-laws of the children in the mansion are either ministers or servants. As for how much land they have hidden in their hands, and how many tenant farmers have become their hidden households, only God knows.

   Such things have long been common in Jiangnan.

  As a result, there are fewer and fewer people who own land, while those who hold land have innumerable lands under their names. The tax that the imperial court can receive has not increased. Almost all the favors of the Ming court, after more than a hundred years, have all been attributed to the scholarly family like the Qi family.

  The state grace they have received is unprecedented in all dynasties, so that when it comes to precious land, in all dynasties, the tyrants in those places still have to rely on robbery to obtain it. But in the hands of people like the Qi family, they don't even need to plunder by force. Relying on Daming's extreme favor to the scholar-bureaucrats, they are almost lying down and waiting for the little people to send the ancestral land to them with tears in their blood. In front of him, not only does he not hate you, but he also needs to be grateful to you, as if it is because of your special kindness that he took away his land and his family was able to live.

  The shopkeepers of the semicolon enthusiastically reported the situation of the Qi family.

  Wang Jinyuan just lowered his head and listened quietly, then nodded his head: "If the Qi family can sell it first, then...the land price will definitely collapse. They have too much land in their hands."

   "But a person like this will never be short of money, so how can he easily sell his ancestral property?" Wang Jinyuan said lightly: "Unless...he must sell it."

  ...

   A few days later, news came again that the emperor ordered Zhang Mao to lead his army to the south and come to Nanjing.

  As soon as the news reached Nanjing, people felt more uneasy.

   Duke Wei's mansion began to become more and more suspicious.

  The gate of the palace was closed tightly, and the commanders of the guards no longer dared to pay homage.

  As for Nanjing No. 6, they began to become extremely nervous.

  The snowflakes of impeachment were sent to the cabinet.

  As for the cabinet...the princes couldn't help smiling wryly when they saw this memorial.

  His Majesty has not shown up for more than a month.

  Even... the three cabinet ministers suspected that His Majesty was already seriously ill, otherwise why there was no news from the palace.

   Logically speaking, in such an emergency, His Majesty should call all the ministers to play the right thing.

  But the news in the palace is just for the cabinet to handle it according to its discretion.

  Liu Jian had no choice but to write down, and asked Zhang Mao to step up and lead the troops southward, so as to be prepared.

   On the other hand, merchants from the capital suddenly arrived in Nanjing and brought a terrible news.

  Because of the simplicity and confusion of the situation in the south of the Yangtze River.

  Xishan decided to suspend all business dealings in Jiangnan and cancel the purchase of grain, raw silk, cotton and other goods.

  This Xishan, who has always been powerful, suddenly canceled the acquisition, which immediately aroused speculation among merchants in Beijing and China.

  People realized that a rebellion in Jiangnan might be about to start.

   What's even more terrifying... is the whole of Nanzhili, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

  Suddenly no merchants came to collect raw silk, camellia oil, wine, cotton, these economic products, for the gentry who hoarded a lot of goods, it was nothing more than worse.

  In the beginning, all kinds of rumors and rumors caused panic, but now the refusal to buy makes the situation even more uneasy.

  Land prices began to fall slowly.

  Of course...Because most of the land is monopolized by those big gentry after all, naturally, the decline is still limited.

   Qi Zhiyuan felt at ease when he heard that the imperial court had sent a large army.

It seems...the imperial court did not believe the imperial envoy's words. If they really believed it, there was no need to send troops. They only needed to send an order to Duke Wei's mansion. After receiving the order, Duke Wei's mansion would definitely be excited. They would immediately start to send troops to get rid of Cao Yuan as the leader, Qi Zhiyuan and others. A group of henchmen.

  The sudden transfer of troops shows that the imperial court still has great precautions against the Duke of Wei. After all, most of the military power in the south of the Yangtze River is still in the hands of the Duke of Wei.

  Qi Zhiyuan heaved a sigh of relief, his mentor...had died a worthy death, and next, Wei Guogong, I'm afraid there will be no good fruit to eat.

  I sit firmly on the Diaoyutai, anyway... I don't have much grounds for this conspiracy, especially when my mentor died, there is no proof.

It's just... the only thing that bothers him is the continued plummeting of the land. After all, what he hits is the Seven Injury Fist, which hurts the enemy a thousand and hurts himself eight hundred. The essence of spreading rumors is to attack the Duke of Wei and force the Duke of Wei to rebel. But such rumors, for the Qi family who owns a huge majority of the land, are not without great harm.

   Just when he was thinking about it, Menzi hurried over and said, "Master, the shopkeeper of Xishan, Wang Jinyuan asks to see you."

  Wang Jinyuan...

  This person... can be said to be a household name, everyone in Jiangnan and Jiangbei knows that this person is Fang Jifan's chief steward, and also Xishan's pocketbook, every move is of great importance.

  It's just this time... Why did the people of Duke Qi seek him out?

  Qi Zhiyuan is extremely afraid of Duke Qi's mansion, because others play their cards according to common sense, but this dog-like Duke of Qi is elusive.

   "Please come in." Qi Zhiyuan quickly ordered the door.

  Qi Zhiyuan naturally knew very wisely that such a person should not be offended.

When Wang Jinyuan came in, Qi Zhiyuan hurriedly got up, with a smile on his face: "Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang... There is a long way to welcome, some time to welcome, Mr. Wang is like a thunderbolt, but... Isn't Mr. Wang always in the capital? Why is it so sudden? Did you come to Nanzhili?"

  Wang Jinyuan sat down with a smile on his face, when someone poured tea, he took a sip of tea calmly and said, "On the order of Duke Qi, I'm here on business."

  Qi Zhiyuan didn't expect that Wang Jinyuan would be so straightforward, and he couldn't help muttering in his heart.

   Has Qi Guogong started to get involved in Nanjing's affairs? If you want to get involved, why...you send someone to find you?

  Qi Zhiyuan asked: "Business, what kind of business?"

  Wang Jinyuan said: "Isn't the land in Nanjing falling? Xishan Bank, take this opportunity to buy some."

  Hoo...

  When Qi Zhiyuan heard this, his heart sank suddenly, and his teeth were about to be gritted.

   This dog thing is really straightforward enough, and the land is collected again. After the land is collected, is it rent-free again? This is not giving the old man a way out.

After all, he is the person who has been in charge for many years. He sneered in his heart, but his face was silent: "So it seems that Qi Guogong is determined to win, and this time he can take this opportunity to make a lot of money. It's just... the recent situation in the south of the Yangtze River. Mister knows it, I'm afraid... these lands are quite hot, if there is a real rebellion, there will be thousands of miles of red fields, ten rooms and nine empty spaces, I'm afraid..."

  Wang Jinyuan shook his head and said: "The Duke of Qi has taught him that wealth and wealth are sought in danger."

  Qi Zhiyuan thought to himself, this is in line with Fang Jifan's temperament of a dog.

  He then smiled and said, "Since that's the case, why doesn't Mr. Wang take over the land in Yahang, what are you doing here?"

  Wang Jinyuan spat out two words: "Cooperation."

  Qi Zhiyuan: "..."

   Is this guy... crazy?

  Wang Jinyuan restrained his smile, became a little more serious, and said: "The current land price is constantly falling, brother Qi knows?"

   Qi Zhiyuan kept silent, he suffered a lot from this matter.

  Wang Jinyuan said again: "It's just that the fall is still too little. This benefit alone is not enough to get between the teeth. It would be better if it fell a little more."

  Qi Zhiyuan stared at Wang Jinyuan, couldn't stop laughing, and said with a sullen face, "This may not be what you want, after all, the land price will fall if you want, and rise if you want?"

   "There is a way, it is useful to keep it." Wang Jinyuan looked at him meaningfully and said, "That's why I came to look for Brother Qi. As long as the matter is successful, you and I will inevitably make huge profits from it. I just don't know, is Brother Qi interested?"

  (end of this chapter)