.Although the two sides are interested in contact now, both silent and Jinshang Group are undoubtedly extremely cautious.
For the Jinshang Group, although they are rich enough to rival the country, their conservative personality and satisfaction with the status quo make them unwilling to take the risk of offending Fujian and Zhejiang maritime merchants and rashly speculate on a business project that has not yet revealed its prototype and is even more uncertain.
To be honest, he actually had no good feelings for the Shanxi merchants, because he once took a train in his previous life and read books on this area when he was idle. It was about the history of the people who made a fortune. It was said that it was these people who smuggled food, salt and iron from the Later Jin Dynasty in order to gain profits, regardless of the ban on the state, and turned the imperial seal order into a piece of paper, so that the Jurchens could survive the most difficult years. In the later period, it became even worse! All the gunpowder, 80% of the grain and more than 60% of the metal were provided by these profit-oriented and forgetful things.
What's even more hateful is that they also betrayed various intelligence to the Jurchens - you should know that they basically monopolized the supply of the Ming army's military supply, and their understanding of the situation of the Ming army was even more thorough than that of the generals who led the army. In addition, they have been corrupting and enlisting the central and local civil and military officials all year round, and they also know the eastern wings of the imperial court. Such a group of people were indeed defeated by the Ming Dynasty!
However, it is now the 36th year of Jiajing, and Nurhaci's father is not married yet. Of course, such a crime cannot be imposed on the Shanxi merchants. The disgust is always in my heart, making the silence unable to be relieved for a long time.
If he had sex, he would even be willing to drink and have fun with Wang Zhi, nor would he have any connection with these people.
But in fact, since he is determined to change something, he must bury his personal likes and dislikes forever in his heart, unite all forces that can be united - even if he is evil and is full of evil, he will definitely go to the nineteenth level of hell after death, and Xu Hai, who will never turn over forever, if he can use it for me, he will also support him and turn him into China's Drake... Speaking of which, Captain Drake, the British sea demon king, is less than twenty years old. If possible, silent hopes that he will be called... the Demon King of Xu Hai in Britain. Although this hope is slim, he still hopes to try it.
There is no good or evil, only right or wrong. This is the code of conduct set by diligence and silence for one's life.
Therefore, he could not let go of the hope of dragging Shanxi merchants into the water. He was just in distrust of these people. He reminded himself to be cautious and not to give some money to others after being sold.
That night, he stayed in the prefect's office. The next morning, when he was having breakfast with Wang Chonggu, an aide outside hurried in, hid in Wang Chonggu's ear, and whispered a few words.
Wang Chonggu nodded after hearing this, whispered a few words to the staff, and then asked him to retreat. He pondered for a while before slowly saying: "The people from the Lu family have arrived in Songjiang."
The silent movements of drinking porridge were paused for a moment, but then they returned to calm and asked, "When did it arrive?"
"Last night." Wang Chonggu said: "I stayed in Huating Inn."
"It seems that there is indeed a master." Chen Si smiled and said, "As soon as I moved, the other party guessed my intention." Last night, he had already told Wang Chonggu the whole story in detail.
"Well, that's true." Wang Chonggu nodded and said worriedly: "It seems that they are going to destroy you."
"If they succeed, I will be finished." Chen Shu smiled and put down his job, saying, "If you have something, please help from Zhenchuan."
"What's the matter?" Wang Chonggu asked without comment.
"Help me take care of Caobang Wharf," said silently: "The 200,000 stones of grain there are my confidence. If there is any mistake, I will have to let the mermaid meat."
This kind of thing is just a small task, and helping others is to help yourself. Wang Chonggu finally nodded and said, "Okay, don't worry, I'll send someone here now, and I will take charge of it if necessary." In the final analysis, he is not afraid of those people.
"That's great!" Chen Si said happily: "Thank you, Mr. Jianchuan!"
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Since he was in the opposite direction, of course he had to hurry up. After breakfast, he left the prefect's office, boarded the carriage waiting at the door, and headed straight for the "Xu Family Big Wall Gate" in the south of the city.
I heard that local officials are called high-ranking officials and wealthy gentry's residence is called "big wall door", and middle-ranking, small landlords' residence is called "basket door". Although the two are of clear rank, there is no possibility of a leap. For example, if a landlord's son wins a Jinshi and strives to become a high-ranking official and noble, it will inevitably bring about the sublimation of the entire family, from a wall door to a large wall door.
The destination of this trip, Xu family, is the most typical representative of the father of Xu Ge Lao. He was an unsuccessful scholar. He worked hard all his life and became the second-in-commander of Xuanping County, Zhejiang Province. Although he felt that his life was quite a failure, he at least achieved poverty alleviation and prosperity. He bought land in his hometown and guarded hundreds of acres of fertile land, becoming a small landlord. His family is also called "Xu Family Wall Gate".
By the Xu rank generation, the Xu family was completely developed. He became the second-level assistant in the cabinet and was a powerful first-rank official in Songjiang. Naturally, he attracted countless people to be inclined to attract power, and those who "dedicate land" flocked to him. The land of the Xu family has surged year by year, and it is said that it is as large as 200,000 acres. But even the Xu family themselves cannot explain clearly how much, as it is, it is right that it is always growing continuously.
But silence cannot accuse the Xu family of greed, because in the past century, the prevalence of land's "dedication" has become a terrible social atmosphere - the so-called "dedication" means to dedicate land to the royal relatives, nobles and gentry free of charge. This kind of dedication is divided into "dedication" and "self-dedication". The former refers to the common people's land. It is dedicated by the "crawling people" to their own careers or "own-free land" to the powerful and powerful people; it refers to the common people, even small and medium-sized landlords, who dedicate their own land to the official and powerful families free of charge.
When Chen Ji first came to this world, he heard about this phenomenon. He was very surprised at that time. Didn’t it be said that land is the lifeblood of the people? Why did the people of the Ming Dynasty abandon it like worn-out shoes?
If the agricultural tax is high and the people cannot afford it, it is easy to understand, but the agricultural tax in the Ming Dynasty was never high. The various donations combined together never exceeded 20 taxes, so it was never too late to afford it.
Later I learned that it was not that the people were willing to be proletarians, but because the weight of corvee labor was even greater than taxes and grains. Corvee labor was shared according to the number of land and acres. The specific content was varied, and hundreds of tidy bricks collected from thousands of miles away were transported to Beijing, which may be to send the military supplies produced in the south to the northern front line; it may be to serve in the inn for half a year, or to carry sedan chairs to the government officials for half a year - it was the turn of families who transported errands thousands of miles away, and the ending was often bankrupt; even the latter seriously affected the personal production labor of the people and made them unable to harass them!
However, the high-ranking officials enjoy the right to be exempted from labor. Once they become their servants, the farmer's tenants or even slaves can be exempted from being a national servant under their guise. The unsustainable farmers often devote themselves to the nobles' families in order to avoid the hardships of the service. Even small and medium-sized landlords, in order to avoid harassment from the government, relied on the power of the government, joined the army of sacrifice and became a glorious servant.
The consequences of the dedication are obvious. In addition to reducing the tax revenue of the imperial court, the free labor service can be mobilized is also less and less, so we can only send additional services to the remaining people. The remaining people are desperate and have to follow the imitation of the dedication. The wind is getting stronger and stronger, which makes people worry, if this continues, who should the imperial court collect taxes? Who should use to build the Yellow River, build the Great Wall, and transport grain and rice?
Therefore, from the Hongwu period to now, emperors of all dynasties have issued an imperial edict that is strictly prohibited from offering, and that the "land of offerings is confiscated, and the person who gives sacrifices is exiled." However, there are policies from the top and countermeasures from the bottom. As long as the contributor and the contributor go through the procedure of selling the document, they can legally buy and sell the coat of clothing and cover up the fact of illegal offerings.
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The Ming Dynasty was founded for 170 years, and the style of offering never stopped. However, the object of offering has changed from royal relatives, nobles and military generals at the beginning of the country to the current civil servant group... There is nothing strange about this. The relatives of the vassal kings were raised like pigs, and military generals and nobles had long lost their former glory. They bowed and survived in front of civil servants who were born in Jinshi. Such "noble people" themselves are easily bullied by civil servants, so they naturally cannot bear the responsibility of protection.
So the common people turned to officials, and basically, when the scholars entered the countryside, they were always offered to the rich. For example, after Shen Mo learned about the Yuan Dynasty, hundreds of people came to his house to contribute, and on average, they also brought ten or eight acres of land. The most was Liu Laoliu, who was said to have 200 acres of fertile land. This little landlord who was richer than him was willing to commit himself to his house and became a gatekeeper. If he had not seen this in person, how could he believe such a ridiculous scene?
When Shen Mo won the top scorer and became the six-headed poem of Shen Liushou, the people who offered sacrifices came one after another. Although he was very disliked, he could not contradict the social atmosphere and had to pretend not to know. But Shen An said that the fertile land at home had exceeded 10,000 acres.
I think it is his original intention that Xu Ge’s hometown has more than 200,000 mu of land, tenants, and thousands of families. However, it is always certain that the crime of acquiescent condonation is always true.
While he was thinking about it, the carriage arrived outside the wall of the Xu family's gate. Shen Mo ordered Tiezhu to submit a message, and he opened the curtains to get some breath. When he looked out, he saw a carriage with exquisite decoration coming from the street and slowly stopped beside him.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and a handsome face appeared in front of Shen Mo. As soon as he saw him, his eyes were blazing fire, and his eyes were as if they were about to nail to his face.
Youdao, is it because the enemy is not meeting? The person who came was Lu Ji and Lu Ziyu who had been blackmailed by him and then put back.
Facing the resentful, resentful and angry look, Shen Mo smiled and said, "The weather is really good today. Ziyu, why don't you ask for good advice when you meet Uncle Wei?"
Lu Ziyu gritted her teeth and said, "If you have the ability, you will smile later!"
"Of course I have the ability." Chen Si blinked and said, "Do you have no confidence in me?" He said, "Ziyu, are you a man or a woman?"
Lu Ziyu's face immediately pulled down, as if he heard someone in the car say something. He pulled the door curtain hard and said, "Bored!" and blocked his sight from silence.
The silence also retracted, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared. Ruohan beside him asked in a low voice: "Who is that?"
"He is the one who calls himself Lu Ji." Silently whispered.
"He is Lu Ji?" Ruohan said with a graceful look on the corner of her mouth: "Looking at that coquettishness, she is clearly a girl." Women all have intuition, and the so-called intuition is a feeling that transcends vision.
"Is that so? I'm still confused." Chen Mo quickly pretended to be confused: "I just don't know that Lu Ji, why should I use a fake as a substitute?"
Ruohan smiled and said, "Maybe he is just a girl himself."
"Who knows." At this time, I saw Tiezhu and a young man dressed in a scholar come out, and Chen Shu quickly changed the topic: "You wait in the car, it seems that the Xu family has come out."
Ruohan nodded and said, "Well, be careful in everything."
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Seeing the people coming from the Xu family, Chen Ji did not get off the car immediately, but waited for Tiezhu to report: "Sir, Mr. Xu San is coming out to welcome you in." Xu Jie has four sons. The eldest son Xu Pan is like Yan Shifan. He relies on his father to protect the ether students and become an official in the court. His youngest son Xu Hong also studied in the Imperial College and served his father in the capital with his elder brother.
The other two sons, the second son Xu Qiu, and the third son Xu Ke, served their grandmother at home and managed the family business, which made the huge Xu family bigger and bigger. It is said that they have become the largest landlord in Jiangnan. It can be seen that they are really "management with good family"!
Although Xu Ke was only a student, he was silent as a fifth-rank official when he met the top scholar and was in the fifth-rank official position... But it is no wonder that everyone said that the seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's rank, let alone the prince of the prime minister?
The two of them exchanged a brief greeting. Just as they were about to enter the Xu family, they saw the mighty man Lu Qiang, leading a man who looked similar to Xu Ke, but was much older, and headed straight for the Lu family's car.
Seeing Chen Si looking over, Xu Ke chuckled and said, "That's my second brother, Xu Qiu."
'It seems that in the other party's eyes, his weight is still not as good as that of the Lu family.' Chen Si said in his heart, and nodded quietly and said, "I will see you later."
Xu Ke smiled and said, "Let's go in first if you don't wait for them." Then he reached out and stepped into the door first.
Seeing that he was so contemptuous, Tiezhu's face changed slightly, but was stopped by Chen Si's eyes. The master and servant followed in one after another.
When he entered the Xu Mansion, he passed through countless doors of the house and arrived at the main hall of the Houzhai. Xu Ke said, "Grandma is in the hall, so sir, kowtow to me first."
Silent smiled and said, "It's natural." He had heard that the Xu family was the head of the old lady. Whenever a distinguished guest came to the mansion, he would always visit her first. No matter big or small matters, she would make a decision. Over time, she had a special status. When the word "Lady Xu" was mentioned, people would involuntarily respect her, but some people also despise her strength, thinking that she relied on her son's power and status, and was a bit cruel.
Chen Si followed Xu Ke in, and saw an old woman with silver hair but energetic hair sitting cross-legged on the kang, not daring to be negligent, quickly held her son and nephew's greetings and said, "The younger generation is silent, I have seen the teacher's mother." Then there were a string of congratulations such as 'Blessings as the East Sea, and longevity is better than the South Mountain', and at the same time, they presented Ruohan's carefully selected gifts.
Mrs. Xu was very happy when she heard this. When she saw the gift, she smiled like a ball of chrysanthemums and said, "I heard that Huating won the sixth yuan in a row. Wen Kuixing, who came to our Lin Mansion to be an official, had long wanted to see him, but I, a woman, was shocked to the government and was afraid that someone would gossip." She said with a smile, "I didn't expect that your child would come first. You are so sensible." Then she ordered her grandson to help him up.
The old lady asked for a while, and answered patiently in silence. He spoke very well, which made the old man feel extremely soft and his attitude towards him became more and more intimate. After talking, he finally said that he was in Songjiang: "You are a Suzhou parent official. You won't come to our Songjiang if you have nothing to do. You won't come to see me, the old woman?" The scene of speaking was extremely similar to an ordinary old lady.
"I did come here to visit." Chen Si smiled frankly and said, "At the same time, there is something to discuss with the old lady."
"What's the matter?" the old woman asked with a smile, "Just say it."
"The food prices in Suzhou have risen absurdly recently," said silently. "In order to stabilize the food prices, Wansheng raised grain everywhere. Now it has raised half of it, half... I heard that some of the food stored in the teacher's house is going to be sold, and Wansheng is willing to purchase it."
"It's true that this is the case." Mrs. Xu nodded. Xu's family had enough food to eat for several years. When encountering this once-in-a-lifetime high-priced market, it is natural to cash in some of the high returns: "Who is not selling it, it is naturally sold to those close to each other."
"That's great." Chen Shu bowed and smiled: "I heard that the old lady is extremely kind and has a Buddha from all families. Your actions will definitely be sung by the people of Suzhou for a hundred years!"
Chapter completed!