Xinshun 1730

Chapter 862
A few days later, a group of wealthy businessmen and officials waited anxiously outside Songjiang Prefecture.

Not counting the officials, the merchants paid far less attention to whether the emperor came to the Songjiang Mansion than Liu Yu's visit to the Songjiang Mansion this time.

They sent people early to pass on the news, and after Liu Yu came to Songjiang Mansion instead of following Yujia from Qingjiangkou, the merchants immediately got ready.

It is estimated that it will be here soon, and I am waiting outside the city gate early in the morning.

A few servants came running from afar, only to say that they were almost there, and immediately the gongs and drums rang out.

Businessmen are naturally concerned about their interests.

Will the matter of the Western Trading Company be successful?
Nanyang trade, what does the imperial court mean?
These things concerned them more than the emperor's southern tour.

There were all kinds of rumors and rumors before.Some people are impatient and want to inquire about it, but they inquire and inquire, but they don't inquire about anything.

Now that the news is finally coming, whether it is good or bad, it is finally a stone in my heart, and it saves many people who have not been able to sleep well for several months.

When Liu Yu arrived, after the crowd congratulated Liu Yu on becoming a duke, Liu Yu said to the Governor of Songjiang who came to greet him, "I'm here for business."

"Since you are an official and a minister, you must put public affairs before private affairs."

"Your Majesty ordered me to supervise business affairs. I have no direct relationship with you."

"You have the Six Governments and the Temple of Heaven's Blessing to control you. As for me, the Six Governments can't control me."

"But since it is the supervision of industry and commerce, this business has to be done with these businessmen. It's a welcome banquet, so I won't go to you. Although there are some things with you, but the importance of the matter."

The Governor of Songjiang also knew Liu Yu's style, seeing what Liu Yu said, he knew that he was trying to reassure the anxious businessmen who were waiting these days, so he cooperated and said, "Since it is for His Majesty, it is natural to put public affairs before private affairs. Your Majesty, please let me go."

He also heard Liu Yu say that there were still some matters, and the matter was serious, so he knew that Liu Yu was talking about the [-]th tax.I don't know if it will be successful or not.

My heart is not as uneasy as these businessmen.

It's good if it's done, but it's okay if it doesn't.

After chatting a few more words, the Governor of Songjiang left first with his people.

A group of businessmen were really enraptured by Liu Yu's words.

Now who doesn't know that Xing Guogong is a big celebrity around the emperor.

Although it sounds like this errand is a bit like the tax supervisor and mine supervisor of the previous dynasty.

But after all, it is not a eunuch, but a military meritorious minister.

The emperor asked such a military meritorious official to manage the industry and commerce. It seems that the matter of the Western Trading Company has been completed.

Even if you don't say something that can't be done, the attitude of the court this time has made many rumors that have been circulated before self-defeating.

For the cheapest businessman to be supervised by such a minister instead of a eunuch is already a major signal.

Seeing this, several leaders prepared to invite Liu Yu to a banquet to welcome the wind and wash away the dust, but Liu Yu asked directly: "Are you ready for the banquet?"

"Returning to the Duke, I have already prepared it."

Liu Yu said: "There is no rush to eat. I will call some people's names, and let me talk about some things first. If you don't get the names, just go to the banquet and wait."

After all, he quickly took out a pamphlet, and immediately counted the names of sixty or seventy people.

These six 77 people are all well-known wealthy businessmen over the years, and they can be regarded as the top group of businessmen.

There is a very simple evaluation standard for whether a businessman is top-notch: net worth.

After all these names were clicked, those who didn't get their names were inevitably disappointed, thinking that they were still not qualified after all.To use what Xing Guogong used to say before, this is called "it is not enough to have a small meeting, the smaller the meeting, the bigger the matter".

But this kind of thing doesn't have to be a different emotion.Not enough wealth is not enough.

There are also some people who are open-minded. Although Xindao is not qualified to hold a small meeting, it is still better than those who are not qualified to participate in this banquet, isn't it?

Those who were named were secretly delighted, thinking that they were "luxury merchants" certified by Xing Guogong.

If it is certified by the court, you may be afraid, thinking that this is a certified big fat pig.

Xing Guogong's reputation and reputation over the past ten years are here, which is different from the concerns of the imperial court's certification.

These businessmen have also dealt with Liu Yu for many years. They know Liu Yu's strange mentality, and they also know that Liu Yu doesn't like to delay when doing things.

After responding, they hurried into their respective carriages.These carriages are not luxurious in the eyes of businessmen, but knowing Liu Yu's favorite style is rather "weird", so they deliberately made it look very mechanical.

As for the sedan chair, there is none.

What is purely good from the top must be effective from the bottom.Because everyone present knew that the current Nanyang Protectorate used to be Liu Yu's servant, but Liu Yu let him be a man.

From this matter, some people understand what this means.It has nothing to do with the West, and since ancient times sitting in a sedan chair has been regarded as a bad habit by some orthodox scholar-bureaucrats.

Wang Jinggong once said, "Since ancient times, princes and princes have never dared to replace animals with humans, even though they are not righteous."In traditional culture, sitting in a sedan chair is an act of treating people like animals.

Now that there are stories and rumors about how to go from servant to guardian, those who specialize in analyzing how to "be good at the top and follow the example at the bottom" will of course refuse to sit in the sedan chair.

At least he won't sit in a sedan chair in front of Liu Yu, looking for trouble.

Dashun's special foreign trade environment made these monkey-spirited businessmen understand that foreign trade still depends on the backing of the imperial court. If Duke Xingguo is upset, the chance of making a fortune will be gone.

Since Duke Xingguo doesn't like people sitting in sedan chairs and has rather weird aesthetics, it's natural to pretend that it doesn't take much effort.

Not only sedan chairs, but some people deliberately bought old-fashioned water steam engines and placed them nondescript in the exquisite Jiangnan gardens.

Usually cover it with something so as not to affect the appearance. When Liu Yu or goes, he can burn coal to smoke, or even use it to lift water in a boring way.

Except for the large docks, the old-fashioned water steam engines are mostly found in Songjiang Mansion—but the meaning is the same as the stone lion at the gate and the rockery in the garden. They are decorations.

It's not that Liu Yu doesn't know, he knows that this is how King Chu starved to death in the palace, but he is also happy to do so.Even pretending is better than not pretending.

Such a group of wealthy merchants got into their carriages and soon arrived at a masonry building next to the banquet.

When everyone arrived, Liu Yu was straightforward.

"The matter of the Western Trading Company has been completed. Don't be too busy to be happy, it's not that there is still bad news, but you will be happy at the reception banquet later."

"There is one more thing I want to tell you. In my opinion, it is also a good thing. I will listen to what you think."

After these businessmen restrained their excitement, they briefly talked about Cao Mi.

"The situation is like this, and the thing is like this. I don't read much, but I also know that Wang Jinggong introduced the young crop law back then because it was aimed at small farmers. Even now, I doubt that in the future, such small loans will be very difficult. Do it, and it’s easy to pay it off, and it’s hard to supervise.”

"Yes, this kind of thing is different from a trading company."

"For a trading company, ten taels is not too little, and a million is not too much."

"But it's better to find a capable contractor for things like Caomi plantation. If something goes wrong, it's easy to manage; if nothing happens, it's easy to supervise."

"6 taels, [-] shimi a share. There is no small amount."

"So I didn't look for them at all, I just looked for you first. Now that you know the matter, tell me, what do you think?"

After listening to these dozens of people, they were all stunned for a while.

Not scared.

It's that the news is a bit too good, like it's fake.

For a long time, Lin Yunwen, who was the earliest acquaintance with Liu Yu, asked: "Guogong... about this... Well, maybe some people in the court don't know the price, but Guogong must know. If Nanyang buys rice in large quantities, You can also buy it with five silver coins."

"The price of one or two taels given by the imperial court...if it was someone else, we would naturally be delighted. But how can the Duke not know the price? This...this..."

It's been a long time, but nothing happened.What I thought in my heart was that I only heard that the imperial court sucked blood, but had I ever heard of the imperial court's bloodletting?

Liu Yu laughed and said, "Nonsense, what's wrong with this? What's the difference between salt merchants and this? If the imperial court can have salt merchants, why can't there be rice merchants?"

"You think the court has lost, but the court still thinks it has won."

"Why are you pretending to be ignorant of human affairs here? It's not that you don't know. Six million stones of rice a year have sunk, lost, flooded, worn out, taken away by the Dragon King, eaten by the tracker, etc. The annual income is 600 million."

"Now 600 million can be solved, of course the court has made money. The court is not a businessman, how can it only consider money?"

"Besides, isn't there a consideration for the imperial court to go to Nanyang? Who asked you to buy it? Let you build a plantation."

Although these people trusted Liu Yu, and saw Liu Yu tell the true purpose of the court, it still felt a little unreal.

"My lord, we also know that Nanyang crops three times and four crops a year. The land in Java is also fertile. Didn't even Fuguang plant there before?"

"The imperial court...doesn't the imperial court use this money to cultivate land? It seems that this is more economical? How can such a good thing fall on us?"

Liu Yu laughed out loud.

"Reclamation?"

"I'd like to borrow Wang Jinggong's Qingmiao Law and tell you about it. You said, if private loans are not repaid, is it normal to sell children and daughters to pay off debts?"

These people nodded without even thinking about it.

What's wrong with this?
Selling children and daughters is nothing, even selling their wives to pay off their debts.

Liu Yu said again: "Then if the imperial court enacts the Green Crop Law, the money will not be paid. Is it normal or not for the imperial court to force people to sell their sons and daughters, and the imperial court to steal houses and land? Will the world accept it?"

"Uh……"

With just one sentence, everyone was silent.

"Isn't the imperial court not sure what can be done by the imperial government's official reclamation? The former court engaged in military household farms, and in the end, it turned into a group of beggars."

"Taking history as a mirror, taking history as a mirror, the Song Dynasty definitely took the history of the Tang Dynasty as a great lesson, and this dynasty naturally took the history of the Ming Dynasty as a great lesson."

"When the time comes, the whole people will revolt, and it will be the imperial court that will resist!"

"It's a big difference if you give it to you. You squeezed too much, they just hate you, and the court can come forward to mediate. After all, the court is good, you are bad, against you, not against the court, right? "

"You said Lian Fuguang just now. Lian Fuguang knows the Nanyang affairs best. Why did the court let the Guiyi army submit to the court about the slave labor in the sugar factory back then?"

"If the sugar factory was run by the court officials, the things they do would be returned to righteousness. Loyalty Hall would have been renamed Juyi Hall a long time ago!"

(End of this chapter)