Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 140 Network Collection 2
Yangzhou City is a rare and prosperous city in the Ming Dynasty, and the layout of the city presents a clear class division.

The northwest area is a residential area for officials and gentry, the southeast area is an area where salt merchants live, the northeast area is a commercial area, and the southwest area is a general residential area.

Due to the rapid growth of the population of Yangzhou City, and more and more salt merchants choosing to settle here, Yangzhou City is now very expensive, and many people have even proposed the idea of ​​building a new city.

Of course, in this era, it is not that you can repair it if you want, even if you pay for it yourself, but you have to ask the permission of the Forbidden City.

Jiangdu Qiansi is located in the commercial district of Northeast China. It is an inconspicuous shop at the innermost part of an alley turning from the northern section of Shili Chang 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 strong men.

"Liu Yuanwai deposits 5000 taels of silver!"

"Mr. Zhang, please keep the deposit ticket!"

"1 taels have been credited to the account, this is a deposit check payable at sight!"

……

After all, this place is a dead end, usually very few people would come here, but today it seemed particularly lively, and some people could not help but come here with gold and silver.

It is rare to see deposit certificates of even tens of taels on weekdays, but these two days turned out to be large deposit certificates ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of taels.

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

After all, a simple rich businessman can't keep a large amount of wealth at all, and a powerful high-ranking official has to consider his black hat, so he still needs to wait for the emergence of a large business group with financial resources and influence in the court, so that a regional chain of large banks may appear.

Now this humble money shop has soared from a few taels to tens of thousands of taels. Naturally, it is not because the reputation of Jiangdu Qian Si has suddenly soared, let alone the current financial industry is taking off, but because it will serve as a channel for cash transfers these days.

The deposits received by the Jiangdu Qiansi are actually only for two or three days, and then this amount of money, which is as high as 10 taels, will be divided up.

Just like the silver boat that night, they quietly divided up the silver and enjoyed the wealth brought by power in a place where no one could see.

Learning is valuable than anything else.

No matter which dynasty or generation it is in, those who can really sit on wealth are often the people in power, or the big business gangs that integrate government and business.

"Is it really safe to deposit silver here?"

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

"Next time if you really want to do something, it will be better to change it to a deposit ticket here!"

……

Just like what Wang Yue was worried about, some new salt merchants would inevitably worry about storing thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver here, but some old salt merchants seemed to be unimpressed by this.

In fact, many people don't know that if the imperial envoy's sudden arrival disturbed the plan, the Jiangdu Qiansi, which has been used for "official and business transfers", would not have been exposed to new salt merchants.

Although some new salt merchants were worried about property safety and chose to get cold feet, most of the new salt merchants still deposited the money they brought with them in Jiangdu Qiansi, and got the deposit certificate issued by Jiangdu Qiansi.

On the day of the transaction, there were three flower boats parked at the pier, which departed in three time slots at noon.

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

"go!"

Hu Jun has been here to monitor the movements of the flower boats in Siqian Wharf, and after seeing that the second flower boat has sailed away, he quietly led people away.

Not long after, Zhang Cai led a group of Jin Yiwei disguised as servants to appear with a box of stones, heading towards Jiangdu Qiansi located in the dead end.

Although deposit checks do not pay as much attention to anti-counterfeiting as silver bills, it is not easy to forge them.

Deposit certificates are generally made of expensive paper. First, a small row of specific patterns is designed, and then painted with special pigments. In addition, special engraved seals are printed on the paper. In addition to the uniqueness of Qian Si's handwriting, it is almost There is no room for falsification.

But a miraculous scene happened. Although Wang Yue entered the dead end with a load of stones, he quickly walked out of the dead end with an extra 2 taels of deposit in his hand.

Regarding the difference between [-] taels of silver and [-] taels of silver deposit certificate, Wang Yue taught his grandson a vivid lesson with his actions.

Siqian Wharf, the last of the three flower boats that were moored here, and this flower boat is about to be full, and some people have even urged them to leave.

Painted boats take the spring to break the dawn smoke, and silk pipes blow elm money all over the city.

Many elm trees are planted on the banks of the inner city river in Yangzhou City, and there are also a few trees beside the pier. At this time, the crowns of the trees have spit out new leaves and are swaying in the spring breeze.

"Quick, quick!"

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

Wang Yue pretended to be in a hurry, and came to Siqian Wharf and said to Master Li: "Master Li, these subordinates are too procrastinating, the old man did not miss the time, right?"

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

It's not that he has a special affection for Wang Yue, but that Wang Yue has subscribed for five thousand Yanyin, 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 of the care of his master Li Zhiqing, but more importantly, everyone can eat meat and drink soup from it.

Naturally, Wang Yue knew that he was catching the last boat, so he waved his hands pretending to be happy and said, "Come on, follow me to board the boat, don't miss the boat!"

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

Wang Yue knew that if he wanted to get rid of this gang of traitors, he had to be tactful, so he pretended to be confused and said: "Master Li, what's wrong?"

"Except for Hu members, our rule is that all personnel are not allowed to bring their followers on board!" Master Li looked at the group of people behind Wang Yue, and immediately stated the rules.

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

"That's right, what should I do if there is something wrong with my master?"

"What nonsense rules, we just want to board the boat to protect my master's safety!"

……

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

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

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

It’s just that I was assassinated on the way here, and I also witnessed the accident and drowning of Wang Chunlai, the governor of the transshipment envoy of the Huaihe River City, and Wailang Guandong, a member of the Nanjing Household Department of Yangzhou Chaoguan. I know that this place is more dangerous than Huguang. hundred times.

If one is handled improperly, this time it is not that the imperial envoy "does not enter the tiger's lair, how can he catch the tiger's cubs", but that their imperial envoy enters the tiger's mouth.

Just like this, they have always opposed Wang Yue's adventure on the ship, especially when they learned that only one person can board the ship, but they couldn't beat Wang Yue.

"This is the rule of boarding. All personnel are treated equally. It's useless for you to make trouble here!" Mr. Li knew that this Hu member had some background and origin, and immediately pointed to the people on the flower boat for emphasis.

Naturally, Wang Yue didn't really want to force Zhang Cai and others to board the boat, and immediately reprimanded him: "You don't have to make trouble here! Zhang Cai, you bring two people to wait here, and everyone else should go back to their residences and stay honest. , don't make trouble!"

"Obey!" Although Zhang Cai was worried about Wang Yue's safety, he followed Wang Yue's will and bowed his hands.

Wang Yue was about to get away with it and took the opportunity to board the ship, but Master Li stretched out his hand to stop him.

"Except for members Hu, please forgive me, all personnel need to check the deposit ticket before boarding the ship!" The reason why Master Li was able to sit in this position is precisely because he is meticulous in his work and has never made any mistakes, and now he made a serious request. .

This……

Zhang Cai and the 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 is impossible to send them [-] taels, so there is only one way to give them, and that is to forge a [-] taels of deposit.

It's just that no matter how real their forgery is, the fake ones are still fake after all, so it is very likely that this master Li will see through the fake deposit check here.

"Look!" Wang Yue thought as if he suddenly remembered, so he reached out and took out the fake depository ticket from his sleeve.

Hey!
Zhang Cai and others were paying attention to Master Li's every move. They thought that Master Li would not take over for inspection because they were so familiar with them, but they didn't want to reach out to Wang Yue.

When Mr. Li received the deposit ticket, he knew it was from Jiangdu Bank just by the feel of his hand. The origin of this paper is quite secret, and the seal and pattern on it are all right.

"Master Li, how long do you have to wait for me, hurry up and sail!" A middle-aged fat man sitting on the flower boat seemed very impatient, and suddenly urged loudly.

As soon as this remark came out, it immediately aroused protests from the crew on the same ship, and some even threatened to disembark and leave.

Master Li hurriedly returned the deposit ticket to Wang Yue, first made a gesture of invitation to Wang Yue respectfully, and then said to the fat middle-aged man on the boat who complained first: "Mr. Su, let's set sail right now!"

When Wang Yue took back the deposit ticket, he couldn't help secretly heaving a sigh of relief, and finally passed this level for himself.

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

Following Wang Yue's boarding, the flower boat sailed slowly towards the water gate of Beicheng, and then left Yangzhou City through the water gate.

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

Wang Yue boarded the official ship with the last batch of salt merchants, and when they arrived at the lobby on the second floor, dozens of big salt merchants from all of you gathered here.

I thought that the official ship would leave soon, but the official ship still stayed, and it seemed that it would continue to wait for people.

Wang Yue chose a corner to sit down, quietly observing the bustling Salt Chamber of Commerce, and looking at the door from time to time.

The reason why he took the risk this time was to find out the origin of Yanyin, and how these people can ensure that Yanyin can be paid before other Yanyin, and how they will divide the spoils, the people who came to participate Who else?

Chirp!

Su Bancheng was chatting happily with the salt merchants present, and made an appointment with several big salt merchants to drink in the brothel at night, but suddenly sneezed loudly and heavily.

After sneezing, he looked up and saw Wang Yue who was sitting quietly in the corner. Out of the belief that there must be a divine arrangement, he clapped his fan in the palm of his hand and walked towards the little old man.

"Su Yuanwai, I don't know what's going on?" Wang Yue asked with a smile as he had noticed this well-rounded Su Yuanwai just now.

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

"Please sit down!" Wang Yue didn't want to interact with such a salt merchant, but he still smiled authentically.

As soon as Su Bancheng took his seat, he said surprisingly: "Mr. Hu, you don't look like a businessman!"

"How do you say that?" Wang Yue was startled inwardly, looking calm and authentic.

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

"Intuition?" Wang Yue thought that the other party had seen through something, so he couldn't help laughing.

Su Bancheng looked at Wang Yue's clothes, and seemed to speak bluntly: "We businessmen will wear jade pendants on their bodies when they are socializing, or hold an ancient fan in their hands, or put a jade finger on it. But you don't seem to have anything of value on you!"

"I was in a hurry when I exchanged the silver, and I forgot!" Wang Yue didn't expect that he would actually show his flaws, so he threw out an excuse.

Su Bancheng opened the fan in his hand, but shook his head lightly and said: "This is even more inappropriate! You only need to let your subordinates handle the matter of exchanging money, or just stare at the teahouse opposite Qiansi, why bother to take care of it?" What about your clothes?"

"The old man always likes to do things by himself!" Wang Yue pretended to be calm, just prevaricating.

Su Bancheng gently fanned the fan in his hand, but looked into Wang Yue's eyes and said: "If you are really the shopkeeper who does everything by himself, you are new to the salt business, and now you should seize this opportunity to get acquainted with the old salt merchants present. This will be good for communicating with each other in the future, but you are sitting here, isn't it weird?"

"If the old man is not a serious businessman, if he didn't come here to buy salt, why did he come here?" Wang Yue knew that he had indeed exposed his flaws, so he asked back.

(End of this chapter)