Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 74

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It can be said that Young Master Zhang returned home with a full reward for his trip to Wuxi. He not only successfully prevented the veterans of the Donglin Party from attempting to use the Donglin Conference to sabotage their plan to raise funds for disaster relief, but also succeeded in resonating with a group of young and energetic Donglin Party members. Their understanding and support, at least on the surface, divides and disintegrates the largest enemy team in fundraising operations.In addition, Young Master Zhang also took advantage of the spring breeze of the Donglin Conference to make a fortune at the conference and raised a huge amount of donations. The amount of money donated by Donglin students and Jiangnan literati at the conference was calculated on the spot. , even the rich young master Zhang was shocked, a total of 190 taels!That’s not counting the amount that Shi Kefa and others promised to donate afterwards!This made Young Master Zhang very emotional, "As expected of the Donglin Party, he is rich. No wonder Jiannu wanted to slaughter the city to get money after he came to Jiangnan. I would be jealous!"

The money raised by the persuasion and donations is gratifying, and the results in other aspects are even more gratifying. With the appeal of the Donglin Conference, Master Zhang discovered two scientific geniuses, Bo Jue and Song Yingxing, in Wuxi County alone. Incorruptible and practical officials who pretend to be classics and can manage water conservancy, as well as talented pirates and sea generals like Zheng Yiguan and Shi Daxuan, and some outstanding literati who sound familiar to Master Zhang but can't remember their identities, Unknowingly, he established the future talent team of Young Master Zhang.In addition, Young Master Zhang also resorted to anti-buy tactics, buying Zheng Yiguan at a higher price and getting rid of Qian Qianyi—but to be honest, a clown like Qian Qianyi is really not worthy of being Young Master Zhang's opponent , so Young Master Zhang didn't take him too seriously, kicked Liu Wuwei and took him into the yamen for interrogation.

Qian Qianyi did fail in life. He hated Young Master Zhang to the bone, and regarded Young Master Zhang as a sworn enemy, but Young Master Zhang didn't take him seriously at all, and he didn't even spend all his time on him. I have put a lot of thought into Bo Jue—in order to make Bo Jue, a mechanical lunatic who has no intention of career, use it for himself, Young Master Zhang worked hard to stay up all night to draw a sketch of a rifled gun and a sketch of a spinning jenny, annotate them, and then On the first night before leaving, I found the inn where Bo Jue was staying, threw two sketches in front of Bo Jue, and said: "I have plenty of these things, if you still want them, come with me to become an official, and I will fight for funds for your research. Make it, I figured it out, go to the inn to find me at noon tomorrow." Then Young Master Zhang turned around and left, but as soon as Young Master Zhang walked out of the inn, Bo Jue chased out with simple luggage on his back, screaming loudly, " Imperial envoy, I will go with you, wherever I want to go with you."

"Okay, but I have one more condition." Young Master Zhang ordered: "In the next few days, you should get out that spinning machine first, I need it urgently."——Forgot to explain, Young Master Zhang was a civil servant in his previous life Back then, the town he worked in had the textile industry as its main economic industry. Young Master Zhang was naturally very impressed with this thing.

On the seventh day of June in the fifth year of the Great Ming Dynasty, Master Zhang and his party ended their trip to Wuxi. They first dispatched officials to send Tiqi to box and seal the money raised from the donation to Nanjing, and then notified the twelve literati from Jiangnan who volunteered to serve as disaster relief supervisors. They gathered in Nanjing at the designated time, and then Master Zhang and his party went north along the canal, and rushed directly to Yangzhou, the third stop of the trip to the south of the Yangtze River!And Young Master Zhang’s two good brothers, Wei Liangqing and Fu Yingxing, went directly to Yangzhou a long time ago, and wrote that they lived in Long Yuqi’s house in Lianghuai Yanfa Road. After finishing the work in Wuxi, rush to Yangzhou as soon as possible to study with them how to drive and train thin horses.

The reason why Young Master Zhang chose Yangzhou for the third battle after he came to the south of the Yangtze River, Sima Zhao’s heart was naturally aimed at the rich Yangzhou salt merchants. When mentioning these Yangzhou salt merchants, Young Master Zhang simply hated his teeth. The price of salt in the Ming Dynasty was so high. Expensive, the official selling price reached [-] Wen per catty, but these salt merchants only pay the imperial court two Wen per catty of salt!Except for a small amount of cost, freight and officials' money, most of the price difference falls into the pockets of these salt merchants, but these salt merchants have nothing at all except for building luxury houses with silver, playing with women, gold and stones, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings. Thought about giving back to the society and the country, and still trying to evade taxes, buying Donglin party members as a protective umbrella to deal with court officials who collect taxes for the country—the number one think tank in front of Wei Zhongxian, the former governor of Huaiyang, Cui Chengxiu, would have been defeated by them, if not Cui Chengxiu took refuge in Wei Zhongxian when he saw the opportunity, and his head had already been taken down by Gao Panlong, the leader of the Donglin Party.So this time, before Young Master Zhang left for Jiangnan, Cui Chengxiu told Young Master Zhang privately, "Brother, avenge my brother, find a way to beat those salt rats hard! If something goes wrong, my brother will take care of you in front of the nine thousand years old." Take it!"

"To put it nicely, salt tax accounts for half of Daming's treasury revenue. If something really happens, not to mention you Cui Chengxiu can't afford it, even the old eunuch Wei can't afford it!" On the way to Yangzhou, he sat on the bow and watched the scenery When the young master Zhang was bored, recalling Cui Chengxiu's instructions, he immediately snorted, and then murmured to himself: "But you are right, if I don't hit these salt rats hard, I will really be sorry for the country. I’m sorry for the people, and I’m sorry for my own wallet. The question is, how can I make them take money obediently?”

"Wow!" Zhang Qing's loud scream suddenly sounded in his ears, and he was so frightened that he was concentrating on his thoughts. Young Master Zhang cleverly covered his ears and screamed: "Mr. Zhang, how old are you, why are you still playing with these little things?" A child's trick? My ears are deafened by you."

"You deserve it, why are you always ignoring me?" Zhang Qing sat next to Young Master Zhang, and asked very dissatisfied: "You tell me, after I accompanied you to Jiangnan, how many words did you and I have in total? My sister dragged me to you, and that's how you brought my knowledge to the world?"

"Busy, didn't you see that I have to stay up until the third o'clock every night before going to bed?" Young Master Zhang replied casually, "Besides, you don't fit in well. I kindly asked you to play with women, but you still took it?" Throwing the teacup at me, is there anyone in the world who doesn't understand good people like you?"

"Fuck, I'm too lazy to imitate your eating, drinking, prostitution and gambling, don't lead me down!" Zhang Qing blushed and spat, fearing that Young Master Zhang would talk about some kind of ice, fire and poisonous dragon, he quickly changed the subject and said: " By the way, I forgot to congratulate you. At the Donglin Conference, you raised more than 9 taels of silver in one breath, and you still convinced those Donglin students and Jiangnan literati to donate voluntarily. You have made such a great contribution, If the news reaches Beijing, the emperor and Wei Zhongxian will definitely promote you."

"What is this? There are more than 5000 people in the Donglin Conference, and the average donation from each person is less than 20 taels of silver. To them, it's just a drop in the bucket." Young Master Zhang said this, but his expression was very smug, and he pointed Looking at the north, he said: "See if we are going to Yangzhou, that is the real gold-selling nest in the world. If I fish out silver from the pockets of salt merchants in an incomparably rich country, it will be called the real gold mine." Credit."

"It depends on your ability to take money from the pockets of Yangzhou salt merchants." Zhang Qing said with a smile: "When I set off from the capital, my father said that Yangzhou salt merchants are the richest people in the world. , is also the most stingy and difficult person in the world, if you don’t pass the Yangzhou salt merchant’s hurdle to raise funds for disaster relief in the south of the Yangtze River this time, I’m afraid this errand will be very difficult.”

"Zhang Guogong is right. I have to pass the hurdle of Yangzhou salt merchants." Young Master Zhang nodded solemnly, and then asked curiously: "By the way, there is one thing I wanted to ask you a long time ago. How did your sister persuade you?" Zhang Guogong asked you to come to the south of the Yangtze River? After a prince like you, instead of sitting in the capital to enjoy the blessings, go out to eat and sleep outside, your father and mother will not worry?" Speaking of this, Young Master Zhang added mysteriously Said: "Or, Zhang Guogong sent you to monitor me?"

"Damn! Don't speak ill of my father. What are you, you deserve to be watched by me?" Zhang Qing kicked Young Master Zhang in dissatisfaction, but Zhang Qing also suspected that his father would ignore his mother's firm objection and agree. He and Zhang Haogu came to the south of the Yangtze River to raise funds for disaster relief, maybe he really asked himself to keep an eye on Zhang Haogu?Thinking of this, Zhang Qing quickly shook his head, pushed the thought out of his mind, and only threatened Young Master Zhang: "I warn you, my father is a gentleman, you are not allowed to think so badly of him! I just want to ask you, How do you plan to get money out of the pockets of Yangzhou salt merchants?"

"I haven't come up with a good solution yet, so I can only take one step at a time." Young Master Zhang spread his hands and said the truth.Zhang Qing blinked his big eyes and said with a smirk: "I have two ways, maybe they can help you."

"Oh, that's great, please give me some advice, Young Master Zhang." Young Master Zhang put on a serious expression of listening attentively.Zhang Qing laughed even worse, and said with a grin: "Then listen carefully, this is a clever plan that I have worked hard to come up with - the first method, you change into a beggar's clothes, hold a broken bowl, Stop at the gate of the Yangzhou Salt Merchant, and shout, "Master and Madam, please give me some money. The second method is to bring a team of fans from Dongchang, and then bring thousands of troops. , go door to door to raise donations, if Yangzhou salt merchants don’t give it, you can grab it, if you are lucky, you only need to grab three or four, and you can collect 50 taels of silver.”

"This is your trick?" Young Master Zhang rolled his eyes angrily, and snorted, "Sure enough, I have no hair on my mouth, and I can't do things well. If I really dare to rob Yangzhou salt merchants, let alone three or four, As long as we rob the family of Wang Fuguang, the number one salt merchant in Yangzhou, we can relieve more than ten catastrophes in Shandong."

"Besides these two methods, what else can you do?" Zhang Qing also spread his hands and said with a smile: "Don't forget, Yangzhou salt merchants are closely related to Li Sancai's Li family business, and Li Sancai's two My son is now sitting in Yangzhou waiting to deal with you, and if their two brothers make trouble, it is possible that the Yangzhou salt merchants will not donate a tael of silver to you!" Speaking of this, Zhang Qing added casually, "Unless you play cheap again , to alienate the relationship between the Yangzhou salt merchant and the Li family firm, and make them at odds, then the Yangzhou salt merchant may donate a little money to you in order to please you, the imperial envoy."

"Separate the relationship between the Yangzhou salt merchant and the Li family business?" Young Master Zhang's eyes lit up, and he thought that this was a promising solution.But Young Master Zhang thought carefully, and still shook his head, saying don't go wild, Li Sancai's business has a history of hundreds of years, with deep roots, close relationship with Yangzhou salt merchants, intertwined interests, how could it be possible to alienate?Besides, what qualifications do I have for a sesame and mung bean official to please Yangzhou salt merchants?

"If it still doesn't work, I have another idea." Zhang Qing seemed to be addicted to playing tricks on Young Master Zhang, and then chattered: "You can also take the army to block the salt field, take away the money bags of the salt merchants in Yangzhou, and force They donated money—of course, if you do this, you'd better buy a sea boat that can escape overseas, and if the imperial court orders you to be locked up in Beijing, you should hurry up and get on board..."

"The more I talk, the more outrageous it becomes. It would be great if I have the right to block the Jiangnan Salt Field." Young Master Zhang wanted to drive Zhang Qing away angrily, but when the words came to his lips, Young Master Zhang suddenly remembered something and blurted out Said: "Qing Yun, what did you just say? What lost the money bag of Yangzhou salt merchants?"

"Why do you call my sister's name? My name is Zhang Qing!" Zhang Qing was a little flustered, and quickly asked: "I mean, take away the money bag of the Yangzhou salt merchant, what's wrong? Is there any problem?"

Young Master Zhang didn't answer, he just hugged his head tightly and lowered his head to calculate.Zhang Qing's heart beat faster, and he was also staring at Young Master Zhang nervously calculating, analyzing whether Young Master Zhang had discovered his identity.And Young Master Zhang suddenly slapped his thigh, stretched his arms to hug Zhang Qing, and said with a big laugh, "Hahahaha, Brother Zhang, I really have to thank you. If it wasn't for your reminder, I would have completely forgotten about Lin Zexu's move." Thank you, thank you, this time I finally have a way to deal with those Yangzhou salt merchants!"

"Let go, let me go!" Zhang Qing was ashamed and frightened by Young Master Zhang, and struggled desperately to escape, then blushed and shouted: "You are so shameless, you and I are men, hug me so tightly!" What are you doing?"

"Haha, Brother Zhang, you are a man, so I dare to hug you. If you were a woman, I wouldn't even dare to hold your hand." Young Master Zhang laughed happily, and looked up and down Zhang Qing with a smirk. He said with a lewd smile: "But to be honest, the more I look at you brother Zhang, the more beautiful I think you are, even more beautiful than my eldest wife Xiong Hu - if you are a woman, and your surname is not Zhang like mine, I will definitely I will marry you as my second wife!"

"Get lost! Dead Longyang!" Zhang Qing blushed and kicked Young Master Zhang away, turned around and rushed back to his cabin.But Young Master Zhang rushed after him, Zhang Qing thought that Young Master Zhang was catching up to apologize to him, so he stood still with a straight face, ready to teach Young Master Zhang a lesson.I never thought that Young Master Zhang would pass by her, shouting as he ran, "Lu Wanling, brother Lu Nian, get out of here quickly, I have something to tell you! Last time I asked you to write the memorial to the family, the handwriting Do you remember?"

"Bastard, dare you ignore me?" Looking at the back of Young Master Zhang hurried away, Zhang Qing was so angry that his teeth itched, and secretly swore, "My surname is Zhang, sooner or later, I will want you to look good!"

(End of this chapter)