Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 26 Reverse Push
Tongling, known as Dingling in ancient times, was named after copper, so it was renamed Tongling, which is the most famous copper capital since ancient times.

It is rumored that copper mines have been mined here since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and in the Tang and Song dynasties, it became the center of copper mining, copper smelting and copper coinage.

Li Bai has a poem:

The fire illuminates the world, red stars chaotic purple smoke.

Zang Lang Mingyue night, the song moved Hanchuan.

This song "Qiupu Song" describes the grand occasion of copper smelting in Tongling at that time.

Tongling is the second stop of Taichang's secret investigation. Because the copper mines here have been severely reduced, he does not have enough materials to cast Taichang Tongbao. Moreover, Bi Maokang and Sun Yuanhua both feel that the new muskets and artillery can only be made of copper. , it can't be made with iron at all, and there will be more places where copper will be used in the future.

It should be said that this is the second time he has come to Tongling, because he was on the shore of Tongling Wharf last time, but he just passed by last time and didn't check everywhere.

This time is different, but he came prepared, ready to investigate.

As for the way to investigate, he hadn't thought about it yet when he went south, but this time Bi Maoliang led him to Wu's house in Xinan, but he made a good move by mistake, which made his thinking clear in an instant.

Of course, this good chess is not referring to Wu Wan'er, Wu Wan'er is just an accident.

What he refers to as good chess is to use the status quo of merchants and other low-level civilians to reverse the corrupt behavior of officials. Just like the troubles of the Wu family in Xinan in the salt business, he quickly learned about the tricks in the taxation of the salt department. , and so on, other aspects should also be able to understand from the bottom, and inversely deduce the corrupt behavior of relevant officials.

Moreover, when investigating other aspects, he can also use the personal connections of the Wu family in Xinan to make breakthroughs.

You must know that the business of Huizhou merchants spreads all over the world, and as the leader of Huizhou merchants, the relationship between the Wu family in Xinan naturally spreads all over the world, not to mention Nanzhili, this is their old nest, basically they only need to do business. Industry-related, they all have acquaintances.

This time, he also specifically asked Wu Yangchun for someone to help him introduce acquaintances in the business field. This person is Wu Yangchun's second brother, Wu Yangchun.

Of course, Taichang didn't tell Wu Yangsheng that he was here to investigate secretly, he just made up a reason, saying that the government of Chengguo took out the treasures, antiques and calligraphy and paintings that had been collected over the years, ready to be turned into cash after the Jiangnan buys some industries.

This time, when he came to Tongling, Wu Yangsheng wanted to introduce him to the Sheng family, known as the owner of Tongling mines.

Of course, the owner of the Tongling mine does not mean that all the copper mines in Tongling belong to the Sheng family, but the copper mines belong to the royal family. What the mine owner means is that most of the copper mines in Tongling are contracted by the Sheng family for mining and even mining. smelted.

After the group arrived in Tongling, Wu Yangsheng set up a large mansion, and placed Wu Wan'er and a group of married maids in it. Taichang left Liu Shiyou and more than 20 Jinyiwei masters in it to guard, and then took them with them. Followed the others to the Sheng family compound.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty actually had strict regulations on the scale of various buildings. Unless it was a family of officials and eunuchs, ordinary people could not have more than three houses, and the lobby could not exceed three.

Therefore, the homes of wealthy merchants are generally a large house surrounded by walls, which are all small courtyards with single doors and single houses, and a single courtyard does not violate the prohibition of the imperial court.

This may be the reason why people build large mansions, which has been the case for hundreds of years in the following years. Of course, these are all things to say later, so I will ignore them for the time being.

In short, the Sheng family's house is quite large. Although it does not have the style of the twelfth floor of the Wu family, its area is larger than that of the Wu family.

It is rumored that the Sheng family has been prosperous since the Song Dynasty. During the Xiangfu period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Sheng family had a scholar named Shengdu. 's official.

However, the officials of the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, would definitely not admit it. By the Ming Dynasty, the Sheng family had completely turned into a merchant.

It's still the old rule. After coming to the gate of Shengfu, Taichang didn't come forward. This time even Bi Maoliang didn't come forward.

Not long after the post was put in, a burly old man with a red face and beardless opened the door and greeted him with a large group of servants.

This is already the boundary of Chizhou Prefecture. It is naturally unlikely that the Sheng family's patriarch will see Huizhou Shuangbi. As for the current emperor, he has never seen it, so he has no idea who these two are.

He hurried forward and directly cupped his hands to Wu Yangsheng: "Oh, Master Wu, what kind of wind is blowing your old man, why don't you send someone to let me know, little old man can go outside the city to meet him. what!"

The Wu family's five Zhongshu Shiren, the old man Wu Shouli and Wu Yangchun's four brothers are all officials, and the businessmen in the entire southern Zhili know that, so they are all called Wu family brothers Wu adults.

Wu Yangsheng is so embarrassing, I'm just a small character who leads the way, why are you being so polite to me?
He hurriedly returned the salute and said, "The shopkeeper Shanda is very polite. Come, let me introduce you. This is Young Master Zhu, and this is Master Bi, Shilang Bi."

Bi Shilang is the boss of Shuangbi in Huizhou, and Bi Maoliang, the minister of households, has heard of this Sheng Huaixuan.

Who is this Zhu Gongzi?

Could it be the one who has been spreading crazy in the past two days!

In the past two days, the news that Xu Guoda's grandson and Linhuai Hou Shizi were beaten have gone crazy. It is estimated that they have already spread to Jinling City. Chizhou Prefecture, which is adjacent to Huizhou Prefecture, has naturally spread long ago. .

This young man is incredible, even the Prince of Linhuai dared to beat up, and after beating, nothing happened. After the Prince of Linhuai got a big mouth, he ran back to Jinling in a daze. The backstage of the son is hard.

In front of these merchants, a servant of the household is a big man, not to mention a big man who even dared to beat the prince of Linhuai Hou.

Sheng Huaixuan even bent his knees and said in fear: "Oh, the little old man has no eyes, I don't know that it is Master Zhu and Shi Lang who are here, forgive your sins, forgive your sins."

Bi Maoliang really knelt down when he treated him, so he raised his hands and said, "This time, Young Master Zhu and I are looking for you for personal matters, so you don't need to be so polite, get up, get up."

Private matter?

What personal affairs can you guys have with me?
Sheng Huaixuan got up with a puzzled face, and was stunned for a while, then he patted his forehead and bowed: "Little old man's head is confused, Master Zhu, Master Bi, everyone, please, please, please, please. ."

After the group came to the reception hall of Shengfu, the master Sheng Huaixuan didn't dare to sit on the main seat. He invited Taichang to the main seat and sat down, and then invited everyone to sit down attentively, and then served the fragrant tea with his own hands. , Only then did he imitate Cao Huachun's appearance, stood respectfully aside, and asked cautiously, "Master Zhu, Master Bi, dare to ask what is going on with the little old man?"

Taichang said bluntly: "It's like this, I heard that the shopkeeper Shanda used to specialize in copper mines. In recent years, it seems that because of lack of money, I have no money. I just have some spare money, so I want to ask the shopkeeper Shanda to come out and help me. Tongling's copper mine is fully contracted, and it makes a small profit."

Uh, you are courting death!

Sheng Huaixuan hesitated for a moment, and then said sadly: "Master Zhu, I advise you not to do it. The reason why I haven't packaged copper mines in recent years is not because of lack of money, but because I can't make any money from mining mines. already."

Taichang pretended to be curious and said, "Why can't I make any money from the mine? I was in the capital, but I heard that the current emperor wants to cast Taichang Tongbao. The demand for copper mines will be quite large in the next few years. This is a good opportunity! "

What do you know?
Sheng Huai Xuan couldn't help but look embarrassed when he heard the words.

He hesitated for a while, but he didn't speak.

This guy really knows the tricks in it!

Seeing this, Taichang hurriedly winked at Wu Yangsheng, motioning him to beat the side drum.

(End of this chapter)