Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Yangzhou City is a rare wealthy city in the Ming Dynasty. The layout of the city shows obvious class divisions.

The northwest area is the residential area for officials and gentry, the southeast area is the salt merchant area, the northeast area is the commercial area, and the southwest area is the general residential area.

Due to the rapid growth of Yangzhou City's population and the fact that more and more salt merchants have chosen to settle here, Yangzhou City is now at a premium for land, and many people have even proposed the idea of ​​building a new city.

Of course, in this era, you can't just repair it if you want, even if you pay for it yourself. You have to ask the person in the Forbidden City for permission.

Jiangdu Qianshi is located in the northeastern commercial district. It is an inconspicuous shop at the end of an alley turned from the northern section of Shili Long Street.

Although the shop's signboard is just a small black lacquered and gilded plaque, the front shop inside is very spacious, and there is also a reception area, and inside is the silver vault guarded by a strong man.

"Member Liu has five thousand taels of silver in his pocket!"

"Executive Zhang, please keep your deposit slip!"

"Ten thousand taels have been entered into the account. This is a deposit payable on sight!"

…

After all, this is a dead end, and few people usually come here, but today it seems to be particularly lively, and some people can't help but come here with gold and silver in hand.

On weekdays, even tens of taels of deposit certificates are rare, but in these two days, there were large deposit certificates ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands taels. It was like a world of ice and fire.

Qiansi undoubtedly represents the highest level of the financial industry in this era. However, the financial environment of Ming Dynasty does not yet have a large chain of large banks, and now they only operate deposit and withdrawal businesses.

After all, a simple wealthy businessman cannot keep a large amount of wealth, and powerful high-ranking officials have to consider being in the dark. Therefore, they still need to wait for the emergence of large business groups with financial resources and court influence, so that it is possible to have a regional chain of large banks.

Now, the amount of money deposited in this humble money shop has soared from a few taels to tens of thousands taels. Naturally, it is not that the reputation of Jiangdu Money Shop has suddenly soared, nor is it the current financial industry that is taking off, but that it will serve as a channel for transferring money these days.

The money currently received by Jiangdu Qianshi is actually only for two or three days, and then the money of hundreds of thousands of taels will be divided up by others.

Just like the silver boat that night, they quietly divided up the money where no one could see it, and enjoyed the wealth that power brought.

Learning is valuable than anything else.

No matter which dynasty or generation you are in, those who can truly own wealth are often those in power, or large business gangs that integrate government and business.

“Is it really safe to deposit money here?”

"Don't worry, I've always made money here!"

"Next time if you really have to do something, replacing it with a banknote here will be better than anything else!"

…

As Wang Yue worried, some new salt merchants would inevitably be worried about storing thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver here, but some old salt merchants seemed to be disapproving of this.

In fact, many people don't know that if the sudden arrival of the imperial envoy hadn't disrupted the plan, this Jiangdu money store, which had been used for "official and merchant transactions," would not have been exposed to new salt merchants.

Although some new salt merchants were worried about the safety of their property and chose to retreat, most of the new salt merchants deposited the money they brought with them at Jiangdu Money Store and received deposit checks issued by Jiangdu Money Store.

On the day of the transaction, there were three flower boats parked on the pier, which departed at three times at noon.

Some salt merchants came to Siqian Wharf with their deposit slips. After checking the deposit slips, they took a flower boat and slowly went along the inner city river towards the water gate in the north, as if they were leaving Yangzhou City.

"Walk!"

Hu Jun has been here to monitor the movements of the flower boats in Si Qian Pier. After seeing that the second flower boat had sailed away, he quietly led people away from here.

Not long after, Zhang Cai led a group of Jinyi guards disguised as servants and showed up with a box of stones, heading towards the Jiangdu Qianshi located in the dead end.

Although depository checks do not pay as much attention to anti-counterfeiting as banknotes, it is not easy to counterfeit them.

Deposit checks are generally made of expensive paper. First, a small row of specific patterns is designed, and then painted with special pigments. In addition, a special engraving seal is used to stamp the paper. Coupled with the uniqueness of the Qian Si writer's handwriting, it is almost There is no room for fraud.

But a magical scene happened. Although Wang Yue entered the dead end with a cart of stones, he quickly walked out of the dead end with a deposit check of 20,000 taels in his hand.

Regarding the difference between 20,000 taels of silver and 20,000 taels of silver deposits, Wang Yue taught his grandson a vivid lesson with his actions.

At Siqian Pier, the last of the three flower boats originally parked here is left, and this flower boat is about to be full, and some people are even urging them to leave.

Painted boats ride on the spring dawn smoke, and the city is filled with silk pipes and elm money.

There are many elm trees planted along the riverside in Yangzhou City, and there are also a few beside the pier. At this time, the crowns of the trees have sprouted new leaves and are swaying in the spring breeze.

"Hurry, hurry up!"

Zhang Cai and others rushed over on time, carrying a sedan chair down the stone steps.

Wang Yue pretended to be anxious and came to Siqian Pier and said to Master Li: "Master Li, these subordinates are too procrastinating in doing things. I didn't miss the time?"

"Exceptor Hu, if you are even half a minute late, the last boat will really leave! You came just in time, the time has come, and the boat will leave soon!" Master Li is here to check the identity of the personnel and deposit the tickets. Seeing Wang Yue, he smiled knowingly.

It's not that he has a special fondness for Wang Yue, but that Wang Yue has subscribed for five thousand pieces of salt, so he will be able to get a valuable reward.

The reason why the upper and lower parts of Yangzhou can form an iron bucket is not only because the owner Li Zhi of the Qing Dynasty took care of him, but more importantly, everyone can eat meat and drink soup from it.

Wang Yue naturally knew that he was catching the last ship, so he immediately waved his hand with fake joy and said: "Let's go, follow me on board the ship, don't miss the ship!"

"Exceptor Hu, wait a minute!" Master Li was about to check Wang Yue's deposit, but when he saw that Wang Yue wanted to bring eight of his men on board, he immediately stopped him.

The more Wang knew that he wanted to get rid of this group of traitors, he became more diplomatic, and immediately pretended to be confused and said: "Master Li, what's going on?"

"Except Member Hu, our rule is that no one is allowed to bring any entourage on board the ship!" Master Li looked at the group of people behind Wang Yue and immediately stated the rule.

"No, who knows if you are a black ship!"

"Yes, what should I do if my master has any shortcomings?"

"What bullshit rules? We just have to get on the boat to protect my master's safety!"

…

Naturally, Zhang Cai and others had already figured out the rules of landing, but in order to distract Master Li, they immediately launched a protest tunnel.

It's not all acting. After all, Wang Yue is already an old man in his sixties. Once this group of people finds out the clues, they might really dare to throw the dignified imperial envoy into the river and drown him.

Originally, they had always believed that as long as they had the emperor's orders, they could kill whoever they wanted, just like in Huguang, as long as they had evidence of their crimes.

But this time I was assassinated on the way here, and I witnessed the deaths of Wang Chunlai, the transfer envoy to the Huaihe River, and Wailang Guandong, a member of the Nanjing Household Department in Yangzhou and Chaoguan, who slipped and drowned. I knew that this place was more dangerous than Huguang. hundred times.

If one thing is handled improperly, this time it is not the imperial envoy who says "If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't get the tiger's cubs," it's the imperial envoy who is the sheep entering the tiger's mouth.

Because of this, they had always opposed Wang Yue's risk of boarding the ship, especially when they learned that only one person could board the ship, but they could not defeat Wang Yue.

"This is the rule for boarding the ship. All personnel are treated equally. It's useless for you to make trouble here!" Mr. Li knew very well that Mr. Hu had some background and origins, so he pointed at the people on the flower boat and emphasized.

Naturally, Wang Yue did not really want to force Zhang Cai and others onto the boat, and immediately reprimanded him: "Don't make trouble here! Zhang Cai, take two people and wait here. Everyone else should go back to their residences and stay there." , don’t cause trouble!”

"Yes!" Although Zhang Cai was worried about Wang Yue's safety, he still obeyed Wang Yue's will and said.

Wang Yue was about to take the opportunity to board the ship, but Master Li reached out to stop him.

"Except for Mr. Hu, please forgive me. All personnel need to have their tickets checked before they can board the ship!" The reason Master Li can sit in this position is precisely because he is meticulous in his work and has never made any mistakes. Now he made a serious request: .

this……

Zhang Cai and others thought they could get away with it this time, but when they heard that Master Li still wanted to check Wang Yue's deposit, their hearts immediately rose to their throats.

Although the emperor allocated funds to them through the Weaving Bureau, it was impossible to send them 20,000 taels. Therefore, there was only one way for them, and that was to forge a deposit check of 20,000 taels.

However, no matter how genuine they are, the fake is still fake after all, so it is very likely that Master Li will see through the fake depository here.

"Please take a look!" Wang Yue thought, as if he suddenly remembered it, he reached out and took out the fake deposit ticket from his sleeve.

Why!

Zhang Cai and others were paying attention to Master Li's every move. They originally thought that Master Li would not take it for inspection because they were so familiar with them, but unexpectedly they reached out to Wang Yue.

When Master Li took the deposit check, he knew just by the feel of it that it came from Jiangdu Bank. The origin of this kind of paper was quite secretive, and there was nothing wrong with the seal and pattern on it.

"Master Li, how long do you want me to wait? Hurry up and set sail!" A middle-aged fat man sitting on the flower boat looked very impatient and suddenly urged loudly.

As soon as these words came out, they immediately aroused protests from the people on the ship, and some even threatened to get off the ship and leave.

Master Li hurriedly handed the deposit back to Wang Yue. He first made a respectful gesture of invitation to Wang Yue, and then said to the fat middle-aged man on the ship who was the first to complain: "Commander Su, the ship is sailing now!"

Wang Yue took the deposited ticket back and couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He finally passed this test for himself.

Today is a beautiful and sunny day, and the new leaves of the elm money tree look very green in the sunshine.

As Wang Yue boarded the boat, the flower boat slowly sailed to the water gate in the north city, and then left Yangzhou City through the water gate.

To the north of Yangzhou City is the Bianshui River. There is a three-story official ship parked here. The people who came earlier on the flower boat have already arrived on the official ship.

Wang Yue and the last group of salt merchants boarded the official ship. When they arrived at the lobby on the second floor, dozens of big salt merchants from all over the world gathered here.

I thought the official ship would leave soon, but the official ship still stayed and seemed to be waiting for people.

Wang Yue chose a corner to sit down and quietly observed the bustling Salt Merchant Association, looking at the door from time to time.

The reason why he risked his life this time was to find out the origin of the salt and how the gang could ensure that the salt could be redeemed before other salt and how they would divide the spoils. The people who came to participate Who else?

Aju!

Su Bancheng was chatting happily with the salt merchants present, and had made an appointment with several big salt merchants to go to a brothel to drink together in the evening, when he suddenly sneezed loudly and heavily.

When he finished sneezing, he looked up and saw Wang Yue sitting quietly in the corner. Believing that there must be some providential arrangement, he clapped his fan in the palm of his hand and walked towards the little old man.

"Su Yuanwai, what's going on?" Wang Yue had just noticed the mercurial Su Yuanwai and asked with a smile.

Su Bancheng noticed Wang Yue's extraordinary temperament and pointed to an empty stool in front of him very politely: "Executive member Hu, can I sit here?"

"Please take a seat!" Wang Yue originally did not want to interact with such a salt merchant, but he still said with a smile on his face.

Su Bancheng had just sat down when he said shockingly: "Executive member Hu, you don't look like a businessman!"

"How do you say this?" Wang Yue was secretly shocked and said calmly.

Su Bancheng stared into Wang Yue's eyes, pointed his fan at his forehead and said, "Intuition!"

"Intuition?" Wang Yue thought the other party had seen through something and couldn't help but laugh.

Su Bancheng looked at Wang Yue's clothes and said clearly: "When we businessmen are in such social situations, we will always wear a jade pendant on our body, or hold an ancient fan in our hand, or if it's not good enough, we will wear a jade plate on our fingers. But you don’t seem to have anything valuable on you!”

"I was in a hurry when I was exchanging money and forgot about it!" Wang Yue didn't expect that he would actually reveal his flaw, so he just said it in a rhetorical way.

Su Bancheng opened the fan in his hand, but shook his head gently and said: "What you said is even more inappropriate! You only need to let your subordinates handle things like exchanging money, or keep an eye on it in the teahouse opposite the money shop, so why be so busy? What if you don’t match your own clothes?”

"I've always liked to do things myself!" Wang Yue pretended to be calm and was prevaricating.

Su Bancheng gently fanned the fan in his hand, but looked into Wang Yue's eyes and said: "If you are really a hands-on shopkeeper, you are new to salt matters, and now you should seize this opportunity to get to know the old salt merchants present. This will allow us to communicate with each other in the future, but you are sitting here in silence, isn't it strange?"

"If I'm not a serious businessman, if I'm not here to buy salt, why are I here?" Wang Yue knew that there was indeed a flaw, so he asked in a nonchalant manner.