The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 724 Putting the Long Line, Catching Big Fish

They first saw a young general, followed by the prefect Hong Mozhang.

Ordinarily, when Wang Pu was in the past, his attitude towards the prefect was more respectful and polite, and prefect Hong usually took the lead.

This is good, everyone can see at a glance that this guy named Ding Yi is very arrogant.

"Grassman Fan Yongheng——"

"Grassman Wang Xiuye—"

Everyone kowtowed to see the magistrate, Ding Zongbing.

Hong Mozhang did not dare to snort, but when he saw the general, he said in a deep voice: "Get up, General Ding is not here. My name is Yan Xiong, and I am the deputy general of Datong." Call it first.)
Damn, is he a deputy commander?Everyone cursed in their hearts.

Fan Yongheng didn't care, he sent the gift list first, and seeing this posture, he handed it directly to Yan Xiong.

It is said that the shopkeepers are training for Ding Zongbing and doing their best.

Yan Xiong opened it in front of him and looked at it.

Fan Yongheng's face showed shock, because few generals in the Ming Dynasty could read and write.

"5000 taels of silver, [-] shi of grain and rice, [-] mules and horses, and [-] tans of salt—" Yan Xiong read it again, and everyone in the hall looked embarrassed.

Now those who receive gifts are not embarrassed, but those who give gifts are a little embarrassed.

Yan Xiong reckoned that all these items would be worth around 5000 taels to 2 taels, which is considered a big deal.

But there are more than 20 merchants on the scene, on average, there are not many.

"I thank all shopkeepers on behalf of Zongbing Ding. Come and have a seat." Yan Xiong was also old-fashioned, and he did his part to sit at the top.

From the corner of his eyes, Fan Yongheng saw the magistrate Hong Mozhang carefully sitting next to him.

Looking at the prefect's virtue, he can guess how crazy Ding Yi is in Datong.

Everyone sat down one after another, flattering each other, saying that with the arrival of Zongbing Ding, Datong has taken on a new look, and the soldiers at the gate have become more elite.

This is not nonsense, it is indeed different from before, and they can clearly see it when they enter the city gate.

It is these elite soldiers and horses, the same cashier.

They sometimes give money secretly, and Ding Yi's soldiers and horses also accept it.

Because of Ding Yi's order this time, they are temporarily allowed to accept it.

If all of Ding Yi's soldiers and horses were upright and selfless, most of these shopkeepers would not dare to come here today.

Yan Xiong waved his hand to signal them to stop and stop flattering.

"I called all shopkeepers here today because I have something important to discuss and study with you."

All the shopkeepers immediately became serious.

"The day before yesterday, a fire broke out in the magistrate's yamen for some reason, and many books and books in the warehouse were burned out."

"I heard that all those present were operating coal mines. Unfortunately, these coal mine books were lost in the fire."

Everyone kept calm and continued to listen to Yan Xiong.

Yan Ran said: "Originally, you still have a copy in your hands. Originally, our intention was to re-sign according to the copy in your hands."

Everyone nodded one after another, it should be so.

"But." Yan Xiong's tone suddenly changed: "This coal mine looks inconspicuous, but it is actually a matter of life and death for the soldiers and civilians in Datong. Jiannu can be used to smelt iron, make armor, keep warm in winter, and light fires for cooking. "

"It can be seen that this coal mine is an important asset of the country and cannot be operated by the people."

There was an uproar at the scene, and many people blushed in disbelief.

Coal mines, which were not valued by the imperial court before, have now risen to the level of the country's most important thing?Is this about to be robbed?The shopkeepers were shocked and angry.

Datong's previous military commanders have never been as shameless and greedy as Ding Yi.

Who would pay attention to such things as coal mines among the former generals and governors.

Just when the crowd in the hall was excited, there was a sound of armor shaking outside.

It was only then that everyone remembered that they were in the magistrate's yamen, someone turned their head, and they could vaguely see the flashing of swords and armor like clouds outside.

The hall quickly fell silent, and many people saw the scene with chills and sweat on their faces.

"General Yan Shen is right. Caomin is willing to hand over the Fan Family Coal Mine to the imperial court." Fan Yongheng suddenly got up, and bowed heavily, with a flattering expression on his face.

"Okay, you are from the Fan family? Who are you, Fan Yongdou?" Yan Xiong smiled.

"Yongdoo is my cousin."

"Alright, the Fan family understands righteousness, and the imperial court and Zongbing Ding will not forget you."

Fan Yongheng was overjoyed.

When Wang Xiuye ​​saw it, he quickly followed, willing to hand over the Wang Family Coal Mine to the imperial court.

Yan Xiong praised again, the Wang family is loyal to Daming for the country and the people.

Wang Xiuye ​​couldn't close his mouth with a smile, but he despised Yan Xiong in his heart. They were loyal to the Wang family, of course they were loyal to Yinzi and Manqing.

As soon as these two big households opened their mouths, other small merchants and small households had no choice but to express their willingness to hand it over to the imperial court for management.

Yan Xiong praised them one by one, and then looked at Fan Yongheng.

Fan Yongheng suddenly thought of something, quickly took out the contract he brought, and tore it into pieces in front of Yan Xiong.

Everyone followed suit, many scolding Ding Yi for being greedy and shameless.

Here, the Fan family has a wide range of businesses, and it's okay to lose a piece of coal, but there are people who rely on coal for a living, and they will hate it in their hearts, but they dare not speak out.

Everyone thought that was the end of the matter.

Unexpectedly, Yan Xiong said again at this time: "The magistrate's yamen in Datong will set up a new Coal Mine Bureau, and reassign the coal mines in Datong to contract out. All shopkeepers should be interested. You are welcome to continue to participate."

What is this operation?Fan Yongheng was also dumbfounded at the scene.

Forcibly occupying it in the name of the country's most important weapon, and then taking it out again to let people contract it?

Is this considered shameless to the extreme?All the shopkeepers were manipulated by Yan Xiong, Lei's inner tenderness and outer burnt.

Hong Mozhang lowered his head and didn't dare to raise his head, as if to say, I don't know Ding Yi, I don't know Ding Yi, I don't know Ding Yi.

For scholars, this is too shameless.

There was a shitty silence in the hall.

Yan Xiong's face was also a little red, Master Ding's operation was really earth-shattering.

A moment later, when the atmosphere was a bit awkward, it was Fan Yongheng again, and he asked cautiously: "Dare to ask General Yan, if Cao Min re-contracts, how will it be calculated?"

"The annual rent is divided according to the size of the mining area, with a minimum of 1000 taels and a maximum of 1 taels."

Everyone's eyes lit up, the rent didn't change much, it was about the same before, but they gave the big money to the officials, thus lowering the rent.

"But you have to pay taxes." Yan Xiong said again at this time.

"How much is the tax?" Wang Xiuye ​​asked quickly.

"Tax [-]%, or collect silver, or collect coal." Yan Xiong said.

"Hiss" gasped, some felt shocked, while others found it acceptable.

In other words, Ding Yi now obviously wants to take [-]% of all of them's coal.

Considering that Ding Yi's rent is not high, big coal mines like Fan's and Wang's can still operate without much loss.

Wang Xiuye ​​thought for a while and asked again: "After we pay the tax, do we still have to go around?"

This means, if you pay taxes to you, should you give money to others.

In the past, most of their money was paid to the local government tax department and other officials, so as to get their low rent and taxes.

It is that the two sides gain benefits together and damage the Ming Dynasty.

Now it's just a different partner. Ding Yi benefits from working with them, so that the Ming Dynasty will continue to suffer.

"Can General Yan guarantee it?" Some people didn't believe it.

"After paying the coal, whoever dares to take your money again will be killed." Yan Xiong said coldly.

The shopkeepers looked at each other, and Wang Xiuye ​​said first, "It's done."

Done, done, all shopkeepers gritted their teeth and decided to sign the lease contract with Yan Xiong again.

Ding Yi was doing these things in June, recovering all the coal mines, iron mines, copper mines and other mines in Datong. Anyway, Ding Yi didn't recognize the original contract when he arrived and signed it again.

There are scolding voices everywhere in Datong, but the scolding is nothing but scolding, everyone can still make money with the new contract, and the shopkeepers can only hold their noses and recognize it.

Then coal mines receive a [-]% tax, and metal mines receive a [-]% tax.

The tax rate is extremely high, but some people still do it. After all, whether it is coal, iron or copper, it is very profitable.

Because it is too close to the Qing Dynasty, the iron and copper sold in the past, at least ten times or even fifteen times the profit.

Ding Yi transported iron materials from Japan to Dengzhou to sell, and the profit was only five times.

Because of the high profits, everyone can afford Ding Yi's high taxes.

Yan Xiong asked Ding Yi afterwards, why didn't he grab it directly?Do it yourself?
Ding Yi smiled and said that there is no rush, we have to put a long line to catch big fish, we just came to Datong, we have a lot of things to do, we can't spend too much energy on it.

Let the local businessmen do it first. These state-owned assets will of course be confiscated when I unify Daming in the future, and they will be auctioned again.

The point is, he has to let the eight major Shanxi merchants see that he is greedy and can cooperate.

More than half of the eight major Shanxi merchants are in the territory of Taiyuan, and some are in the territory of Xuanfu. Ding Yi is thinking about how to catch them all.

He used the mining contract to stabilize the Shanxi merchants, and met with a few visiting Shanxi merchants in private, and took the money given by others directly.

Not long after, the Shanxi merchants decided that the newcomer Ding Yi was greedy and his appetite was several times greater than when Wang Pu was there. As long as he had money, there was nothing he would not dare to do.

Ding Yi was willing to collect the money, signed a contract with them, and acted according to the contract. In the eyes of Shanxi merchants, this was still acceptable.

Also willing to strengthen cooperation with Ding Yi.

At the beginning of July, Ding Yi, in the name of establishing the Shanxi Merchants Association, wanted to call all Shanxi merchants to Datong for a meeting, and invited the owners and managers of each family to come.

But because Ding Yi didn't talk about martial arts, Shanxi merchants were very careful when dealing with Datong generals in the Daiwangfu.

On the fourth day, Datong General Military Mansion.

The Zongbing Mansion is very lively today. A large number of Shanxi merchants have basically come, especially the eight important Shanxi merchants.

After all, the foreign trade of the eight major Shanxi merchants, one shipped from Xinpingbao, Datong, and the other shipped from Zhangjiakou, Xuanfu, all passed through Datong's territory.

Everyone didn't dare to offend Ding Yi, the commander-in-chief of Datong, so everyone who could come came except for some patriarchs who didn't show up.

But when Ding Yi saw the roster, he found that the eight major Shanxi merchants, Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa, had not arrived, and only sent clan members or stewards to the scene.

The reason why each family didn't show up was the same. They were doing business outside and didn't have time to return, but each family brought a heavy gift to honor Ding Zongbing.

Ding Yi smiled secretly when he saw the roster, the eight major Shanxi merchants should be careful, it is not easy to call them here.

It seems that we have to think of other ways.

(End of this chapter)