The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 171 The way out

In the west of Nanjing, on the bank of Mochou Lake, there is a fairyland-like manor. It is praised as "the red lotus flowers are deep and the boat is painted, and it seems that the fairy house is Penglai." .

Mochou Lake is recorded in the "Taiping Huanyu Ji" of the former Song Dynasty: "Mochou Lake is outside Sanshan Gate. In the past, there was a prostitute named Lu Mochou who lived here, hence the name."

At that time, the location of Mochou Lake was Bailuzhou in the Yangtze River.

During the Hongwu period in the early Ming Dynasty, Mochou Lake underwent large-scale renovation and development, and more than ten towers were built along the lakeside. Emperor Hongwu once played chess with Zhongshan King Xu Da at the Shengqi Tower. He named it "Tang Mu Yi" and gave it to Xu Da.

Later, Mochou Lake became the villa of the Xu family, a descendant of Xu Da and Duke of Wei. The garden is surrounded by mountains and a lake, offering great views. There are pavilions and pavilions such as "Simeitang" and "Shengqi Tower", making it one of the famous gardens in Jinling. Wang Shizhen praised it as "the first scenic spot in the old capital". Zhu Zhifan, the number one scholar in the imperial examinations, listed Mochou Lake as "the first scenic spot in Jinling" in his draft "Forty Scenes of Jinling".

However, when the Qing Dynasty invaders ravaged the south of the Yangtze River and occupied Nanjing, the last Duke of Wei led his troops to surrender. Although the Xu family was not massacred, all their family property was deprived of them, and they were later demoted to common people. They eventually fell into poverty and failed to recover. Since then, Mochou Lake has declined, its pavilions have collapsed, and its pavilions have collapsed.

When Sun Kewang came to Nanjing and controlled the Nanming regime, Shao Bingcan (Shao Zhengyuan's father), a big businessman doing import and export in Guangzhou, relied on the increasingly prosperous Qi trade to rise rapidly. With the cooperation of the government, he almost monopolized nearly 40% of the mainland's tea exports and accumulated a fortune of tens of millions.

In the past, when Sun Kewang replaced the Qin Dynasty with the Ming Dynasty, Shao Bingcan made a one-time donation of 500,000 taels of silver to show his loyalty, which shows how wealthy he is.

It was at that time that Shao Bingcan bought an abandoned courtyard and abandoned pavilion in the former Wei Guogong Mansion by Mochou Lake and used it as Shao's villa in Nanjing. He invested huge sums of money in repairing and rebuilding it.

After more than 40 years of history, this manor, which was renamed "Shao Garden", is not only more beautiful than before, but also larger in scale. It surrounds almost half of Mochou Lake. It is also a lake, a view, and a garden. Yifu is so beautiful that it can be called a famous place in Nanjing.

The entire "Shao Garden" covers an area of ​​about 280 acres. It is large in scale, beautiful in scenery, superb in gardening art, and rich in content. It is known as the "Crown of the South of the Yangtze River".

The beauty of this garden not only attracted dignitaries and literati from all over the world to come here for banquets, but it also served as a venue for the imperial court's diplomatic activities many times.

When the Shaw family built this garden, in addition to maintaining some of the elegant scenery of the former Wei Duke's mansion, they also built hills, built lake embankments, added stages, waterside pavilions, pavilions, and pavilions, and expanded the area to twice its previous size.

There are lush pines and cypresses in the small hillock in the garden, and the lake next to the hillock covers an area of ​​​​100 acres. It is connected to Mochou Lake and has cruise ships for lake tours. The garden is not only decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, but also has extraordinary momentum. Moreover, there are tempting fruits such as citrus, peaches, pears, apricots, apples, and persimmons. There are also peacocks, deer, mandarin ducks, as well as native Hanxiong (koalas), Xishi birds (lyrebirds), and Weiyuan birds from Hanzhou, Qi State. Birds of paradise and other animals are happy.

To the east of "Shao Garden" is the meandering Qinhuai River. In the distance is the sunken Zhongshan Mountain, with painted boats and fishing boats looming in the river. The Haishan Fairy Pavilion near the shore is surrounded by a high wall. Within the high wall is a vast lake, with three mountains, two towers and numerous pavilions, corridors and pavilions, standing on three sides of the lake.

There is a large stage built on the lake, which can accommodate many famous drama stars to perform here. Surrounding the lake is a winding embankment paved with stones. There are three mountains on the lake, one is high and the other is low. The high one is built with stone paths, which are winding and winding, and can be climbed up by climbing the steps. The low one is full of strange rocks and greenery. There are two towers, one in the east of the lake, with five hexagonal levels and carved with marble; the other in the west of the lake, cylindrical.

"This is such a grand scene!" Qi Weining, the Dan King of Qi State and the visiting envoy to Qin Dynasty, stopped in a pavilion and looked at Mochou Lake showing sparkling waves under the slanting sunlight of winter. A luxuriously decorated painting boat stopped at the pavilion. On the shore, more than ten stunning singers were sitting or standing on the boat, singing and dancing, which made people feel relaxed and fascinated.

"People are like dreams, and guests are like immortals when they sing. Tonight I will be happy and drunk, and tomorrow I will ride on the wind and turn into a paper kite.

The weathered love is in vain, the flowing water is fluttering, and the world of mortals is more or less faint under the moon.

Unexpectedly, the weathered rain and dew moistened the spring mud, and the wanderers in the world always depended on each other in dreams.

Who can send a message to three strangers to add fragrance to my dream soul, and spread it all over the universe without leaving a trace?

A curtain of weathered clouds dispersed and turned into smoke, leaving no trace of dreams lingering in the world of mortals.

Bai Meijiao, free and easy, how much lovesickness is thrown away in the world of mortals.

Tired of living in a foreign country, I often go around my hometown hut, where the spring breeze turns rain into hooks for fishing.

When I return home, I have a dream. Don’t look at the white clouds as usual. The weather has faded and the temples have faded with time.

Thousands of years of weathering and rain, thousands of miles of snow and frost in the northern Xinjiang, the soul of the world is my hometown.

The young man has become a crane in the clouds, and the old man still thinks about the wind and the wind. There are so many vulgar people in the world, and there is no basis for a dream in life. "

A Confucian scholar in his forties stepped forward, stood by the lake, waving a paper fan, and very appropriately sang in front of everyone, taking the opportunity to show off his poetry, which also attracted high-fives from the guests present.

Qi Weining nodded and praised with a smile on his face, but he couldn't help but feel cursed in his heart.

Could this bunch of Da Qin scholars deliberately make me look embarrassed?

Let’s talk about our overseas experiences, strange news in the world, and major events in the world, and we’ll leave you speechless!

Looking for excerpts of chapters and verses, and showing off poems, even I, a Daqi scholar, am no match for those rotten literati who are poor at reading and looking for old books in piles of old papers!

"Your Highness, King Dan, would you like to sit in the boat for a while, sip a cup of tea and listen to a little song to relieve the sleepiness of winter?" Shao Zhengqian quickly came to the rescue and said: "This garden is humble and the hospitality is not good. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

"Shopkeeper Shao's words are too modest!" Qi Weining said with a smile: "This garden is as elegant as your Shao family's Yue Huaxuan in Guangzhou. It is truly a grand view of Jinling."

When he arrived in Guangzhou by boat for rest in August, the Shaw family also took the initiative to give him a warm reception. The head of the family, Shao Zhengyuan, personally came forward and invited their uncles, nephews and members of the mission to stay at Yuehuaxuan, the Shaw family's residence. During the period, they held several banquets, which were attentive and thoughtful.

At that time, they witnessed the financial resources and luxury of this wealthy man in Great Qin.

Later, when taking a boat all the way north, Shao Zhengyuan's third brother Shao Zhengqian accompanied him all the way and arrived in Nanjing together.

During several months in Nanjing, Shao Zhengqian invited guests from Qi from far away to "Shao Garden" for banquets and feasts, and he treated them with all his hospitality.

The business of Shaw's "Taishunxing" is the tea export monopoly trade, and its main trading target is the people of Qi.

With the help of the privileges granted by the imperial court, Shaw Brothers successively obtained tea export franchises at four treaty ports: Guangzhou, Shanghai, Fuzhou and Ningbo.

Relying on the quality of exported tea and the credibility of the trading company, "Taishunxing" quickly grew in size, became famous at home and abroad, and made a lot of money. By the 1722th year of Qianyuan (), it had become one of the largest trade exporters in Guangzhou and even Daqin, and Shao Zhengyuan naturally took the top position of the Guangzhou General Chamber of Commerce.

It has to be said that Shao Zhengyuan is indeed a business wizard, with a keen business sense that transcends Da Qin's era. After inheriting his father's business, he quickly made the family business stronger and bigger.

Shaw Brothers not only owns a large number of gold and silver, land, tea mountains, shops and other assets in China, but also invests extensively in overseas projects, including railways, plantations, mining, finance and insurance industries in China and overseas territories. "Thailand" Shunxing" even became the largest individual shareholder of Nanyang Railway Trading Company for a time.

According to some speculations, with the assets owned by the Shaw family, he may have become the richest businessman in the Qin Dynasty. Whether he is the richest man or not is unknown, but he is definitely as rich as the country, with a family fortune of tens of millions.

Legend has it that Shao Zhengyuan boasted one time after drinking that the total property of "Taishunxing" exceeded 19 million silver dollars, and the cash available at any time was as high as more than 3 million silver dollars.

In comparison, the richest man in Qi during this period, Zhou Zhenxian (the owner of Zhou Ji Baiye United Trading Company), had total assets of only 2.8 million gold dollars, which is equivalent to more than 8.9 million silver dollars, which is much less than the Shaw family. More than half. If we talk about cash flow, it is even worse.

However, the world only sees others being dignified in front of others, but never sees him suffering behind the scenes. Merchants like the Shaw family, who have millions of dollars in wealth, only rely on the monopoly of trade in the empire. They are nothing in front of the real power of the nobles.

Just as the people of Qi commented with disdain (jealousy) on the situation of these wealthy businessmen of the Qin Dynasty: "Although these businessmen are rich, they will be awe-inspiring when they meet humble officials in the government. If they show off their power for the imperial court, they will all tremble with fear." .”

And if they see court officials or princes and nobles, they can only look to the side in fear. Even when they face each other, they don't dare to look directly at them, and they can only keep their heads down and make a small gesture.

With a house full of gold and silver, as a businessman, how can Shaw feel at ease?

Hundreds of years ago, Shen Xiu (Shen Wansan), a wealthy businessman in the former Ming Dynasty, was extremely extravagant, especially those in Jiangnan. However, due to Emperor Hongwu's taboo, his family property was confiscated and he was exiled to Yunnan and died in a foreign land. Wealthy businessmen have no ability to protect themselves, so how can they survive the bustling market with gold, attracting covetous attention from all parties.

For decades, all kinds of extortion, extortion, and robbery have followed one after another, making the Shaw family, the leader of the business, miserable and terrified.

In the fifth year of Qianyuan (1687), the Qin Dynasty launched an offensive against the remnants of the puppet Qing Dynasty entrenched in Monan. The Shaw family helped pay taels of silver.

In the ninth year of Qianyuan (1691), the Hao family established its own country by separatizing Annan's Liangshan, Xinzheng (today's Hongji Port, Vietnam) and other areas. At Annan's request, the imperial court sent troops to suppress the country, and an armed confrontation broke out with the Qi State. The Shao family responded to Guangdong's request. The governor requested that he and the guild merchants jointly donate one million taels of silver.

In the eleventh year of Qianyuan (1693), Jiangxi was flooded, and Shaw donated taels of silver.

In the eighteenth year of Qianyuan (1700), the Qin Dynasty launched a counterattack against Junggar in the Western Regions, and the Shaw family helped pay taels.

In the 1704nd year of Qianyuan (), the Qin Dynasty immigrated households to the Western Regions, and the Shaw family once again donated money and materials totaling taels.

In the 1712th year of Qianyuan (), floods broke out in the Jianghuai River and Shanxi suffered a severe drought. Shaw donated taels.

In the thirty-eighth year of Qianyuan (1720), the Northern Ming Dynasty invaded the Hunchun area of ​​Liaodong (now Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture) from Xianning North Road in North Korea, and the second Qin-Ming War broke out. The war lasted for three years, and the Shaw family successively provided one million taels of salary.

From the first year of Jianping (1674) to the fortieth year of Qianyuan (1722) of the Ming Dynasty, the Shao family donated more than four million taels of silver, and the rest of the money they extorted privately was countless.

Shao Bingcan, the first generation head of the Shaw family, once sincerely sighed during his lifetime: "I would rather be a dog than a business leader."

In view of the fact that wealthy businessmen in the past dynasties have not had a good end, the Shaw family, in addition to continuing to operate the tea trade exclusively in the mainland, has also increased its foreign investment to diversify potential political and economic risks.

As the largest trading partner of "Taishunxing", the State of Qi was also its largest financial owner. The Shaw family was naturally close to the State of Qi, constantly transferring close relatives, family members and property to the State of Qi, and purchasing large quantities of Qi State's treasury bonds and issues issued by large trading companies. of stocks.

Chang'an, Daxing, Weihai (now Cairns, Australia), Jianye, Guangning (now Cilegon, Indonesia), Nanping (now Cam Ranh, Vietnam) and other places have real estate and properties purchased by Shaw.

Weiyuan (now New Guinea Island), Xuanhua (now Timor Island), Kaihua (now Java Island), Jingping (now Sulawesi Island), Jinzhou (now Sumatra Island), Malay Peninsula and other overseas countries In the governor's territory, the Shaw family owned no fewer than twenty plantations.

It can be said that if one day the Great Qin court wanted to confiscate the Shaw family's property, their many investments in the Qi mainland and Nanyang territories would allow the Shaw family to continue to live a luxurious and wealthy life.

Not to mention, Shaw stores almost half of its working capital in the Daqi Huaxia United Bank established in Guangzhou and Shanghai - by the way, Shaw is also the third largest individual shareholder of the bank, with the power of Qi State. , ordinary Qin officials did not dare to go to this bank to plunder their Shaw family's assets.

Over the years, although Shaw's main trading business has been within the territory of Daqin, in fact, in terms of asset investment, it has long been closely tied to the Qi State.

The royal family of Da Qi is visiting, especially the eldest grandson of the direct emperor and the future emperor of Qi. How can this not make the Shao family fawn over and receive them wholeheartedly?

Originally, he planned to take advantage of a suitable opportunity to stuff a beautiful granddaughter of the family into the pillow mat of the emperor's eldest grandson, in order to build connections with the Qi royal family.

It is a pity that His Royal Highness the Emperor's Grandson does not seem to like such lively social activities. Instead, he likes to take a group of imperial guards around Nanjing City to experience the customs of the Chinese mainland and feel the traditional Chinese civilization.

Therefore, Shao Zhengqian could only do the next best thing and treat His Highness Dan Wang of Da Qi attentively. Although he was just an "idle" prince who did not hold any real power, he was still a direct descendant of the Da Qi royal family and a big shot in the top inner circle of Qi State. .

To put it bluntly, if one day I can no longer stay in Da Qin and have to flee to Qi State, I only need one word to protect my entire family's property and life safety in Qi State.

When it comes to the safety of property and life, Qi is really the best place for rich people. Over the past ninety years, this country has established a relatively complete legal system, which fully protects the private legal property of its people, and the government generally cannot deprive it of it at will.

At that time, Emperor Taizu of Qi State issued an edict stating that "private property shall not be subject to any infringement except for reasons" and included it in the general principles of the "General Code of Civil Law". Moreover, in the following decades, Qi's royal family and cabinet strictly followed this policy, and never confiscated businessmen's assets at will like the emperors and governments of previous dynasties.

More than thirty years ago, there was a prince in Da Qi who allowed his family to embezzle and seize the property of a wealthy gentleman from mainland China. This was accidentally exposed and published in the newspapers, causing a violent public outcry in Qi.

Later, under the serious concern of the abdicated Emperor Taizu, the prince was severely punished. Not only was he ordered to return the stolen property, but he was also exiled to Yinzhou (today's America), and was not exempted from pardon. The specific participants were also sentenced to hard labor. And dispatched overseas.

What is "the prince who breaks the law is as guilty as the people"?

Gemo is so!

Shaw also learned through various channels and on-site inspections that in Qi State, even if a businessman really commits a crime, his family will not be implicated, let alone lose all his family property. Punitive fines.

More importantly, the royal family and cabinet government of Qi will never use various means and channels to allow businessmen to continuously "help pay", "donate funds", and "invest in services", and do their best to squeeze and extort. On the contrary, it will have a negative impact on development. Many preferential policies and financial support are provided to businessmen who engage in industry, protect people's livelihood, and promote local economic development.

Can you imagine? In the Nanyang territory of Qi State, if you invest in establishing a plantation, not only will the land price be ridiculously cheap (compared to the land prices in the mainland), but the local government will also be very considerate in "recruiting" a large number of natives for you and providing you with sufficient supplies. of labor force.

You only need to pay a certain initial development cost and a certain amount of "labor usage fees", and then invest in moving some Han people to settle down, relying on the plantation to form a fixed immigrant settlement or village, and then you can rely on the output of the plantation to earn a steady stream of income. income.

If you are willing to contribute some more funds to build some necessary infrastructure locally, the government will definitely favor you and will immediately reduce or reduce certain taxes and land management fees for you.

As for Qi's railways, banks, insurance, ocean shipping, and large-scale industrial and mining enterprises, there are not many restrictions and restrictions on businessmen's investment, and private individuals are allowed to purchase stocks and bonds issued by enterprises. Against the background of Qi's rapid economic growth, annual investment dividends have also allowed Shaw's income to rise year by year, basically achieving the preservation and appreciation of assets.

I would like to ask, is there any place in this world that is more suitable for us businessmen to stay than Qi State?

"Master Shao, what do you mean by this?" As Qi Weining sat in a soft leather chair while boating on the Mochou Lake, drinking wine, listening to the lingering music, and admiring the winter scenery, Shao Zhengqian remained motionless. He handed over a money order issued by Daqi Huaxia United Bank in a seductive manner, with an amount of two hundred thousand silver dollars, and couldn't help but ask with a smile.

Do our Daqi royal family still lack your filial piety?

"His Royal Highness Prince Dan is about to leave for Denglai in a few days, and I, the Shao family, are busy with worldly affairs, so I wish I could accompany you." Shao Zhengqian said with a smile: "On this trip, His Royal Highness Prince Dan and His Royal Highness Huangsun represent the Daqi royal family. Going to pay homage to our ancestors requires a lot of traveling and traveling, so it is extremely hard work. Furthermore, paying homage to the imperial mausoleum must be very expensive. We merchants have always respected the royal family of Da Qi, and this time we express our sincerity a little bit."

"Shopkeeper Shao, you are spending so much money, which makes me feel uneasy!" Qi Weining gently pushed the money order over and said with a smile: "This trip to Denglai to worship ancestors is the decision of our Daqi royal family. The arrangements, expenses and rituals during the period are also customized, so you cannot accept private gifts. If it is passed back to the mainland, it will be another turmoil."

How is it that the Daqi royal family pays homage to the imperial mausoleum in Denglai, but asks a businessman to sponsor the expenses?

Our Daqi royal family cannot afford to lose this person!

In these days, Shaw showed his affection to Qi Weining by presenting exquisite porcelain, handed down paintings and calligraphy, as well as various classics and antiquities, which he happily accepted without making too many excuses.

But if we collect money directly, that would be a bit inferior and give people a corrupt image, which would damage the reputation of our Daqi royal family.

What's more, the amount of money sent by Shaw is still so huge, and it is actually in the name of supporting the royal family's ancestor worship, so he can't take it even more.

Seeing Qi Weining pushing the money order resolutely, and looking at his intentions, he really didn't seem to be refusing to accept it, or resenting that the amount was too small, Shao Zhengqian couldn't help but feel emotional while being embarrassed.

A few days ago, the Empress Dowager of the Qin Dynasty passed away. Someone from the palace quickly found the Shao family and directly asked her to donate 300,000 silver dollars to organize the national funeral ceremony for the royal family.

Faced with this request, Shaw Brothers didn't dare to refuse, so they obediently sent the money over as soon as possible.

When he heard that King Dan and his entourage were about to go to Denglai to pay homage to the ancestral mausoleum built by the Daqi royal family on the mainland, the Shao family prepared 200,000 silver dollars and gave it to them as a donation.

But I didn't expect that people cherished feathers and didn't accept the money at all.

What a shame!

(End of this chapter)