Chapter Thirty-Seven Business Strategy of Yingzhou (9)
Cui Cheng has been delayed here for more than a month since Liucheng was occupied by Li Chengzhong. In addition to the war horses being detained, he also has a large amount of goods hoarded in the warehouse in the city. Originally, Cui Cheng planned to solve the war horse matter and then collect the goods with him.
They boarded the ship and headed south together, but the issue of the war horses has been delayed until now.
When Cui Cheng heard that Li Chengzhong had returned to Liucheng, he was not in a hurry. He had long written a letter and sent it back to Youzhou after describing it in detail. After that, he also got a letter from Youzhou. The letter was from Cui Ji'an.
Written in his own handwriting, the letter told him to wait patiently and stated that everything was under the control of the general. When Li Chengzhong returned to Liucheng, he would obediently send the war horse to him. Cui Ji'an also told Cui Cheng that he should be neither humble nor arrogant when facing Li Chengzhong.
, neither flatter the other party or bring shame on the general, nor deliberately create difficulties. If Li Chengzhong intends to get closer to the general, Cui Chengke can comfort him and contact him on his behalf.
The letter also revealed that the general would send a group of close confidants to take up posts in Liucheng, implicitly reminding Cui Cheng that he must actively work hard to establish a foothold in Liucheng, and that he must abide by the promise of how much food he needed, and not miss important events.
Cui Ji'an is the younger brother of the General's first wife, Mrs. Cui. He works in the Administrative Office of the General's Mansion and has a high position. His words represent the meaning of the General's Mansion. With this letter, Cui Cheng felt much calmer.
Then he waited at the Furu Inn in Changbao to receive the assassination from Liucheng Military Mansion.
In the first few days, he seemed very indifferent, and even often found excuses to go out and walk around. According to his opinion, aren't you, General Li, very arrogant? I wanted to see you before, but you put on airs and refused to see me, and now you have gone.
You should know my background after traveling to Youzhou, right? If you want to see me, I will ask you to wait! But after waiting for more than ten days, no one from the Liucheng Military Mansion came to pay attention to him. Cui Cheng was a little angry. He imagined
When the other party comes over, you should humiliate them with cruel words, or just ignore them coldly. In short, you have to regain your face.
Just when Cui Cheng was getting more and more angry, someone finally came to the door, but it was not someone from the Liucheng Military Mansion, but Cui Er, who was in charge of the goods in the store's warehouse.
Cui Er held an invitation and handed it to Cui Cheng, saying: "Third Uncle, this is sent to our shop by Chang Shi's Mansion. He said that he would like to invite you to come and have a talk the next day."
Cui Chengxin said: "You can't bear it anymore, right?" He snorted heavily: "Huh! Did you remember that we came just now? What were you doing earlier? Who sent the invitation?"
Cui Erdao: "The person who came here calls himself Mr. Luo from the Commercial Department of Changshi Mansion."
Cui Chengqi said: "What business department? What Luo department member?"
Fortunately, Cui Er was smarter and had already inquired before he came, so he explained: "Third uncle, the commerce and commerce department is a newly established yamen of the Changshi Mansion, which specializes in business matters. The clerks are the tolerance of the commerce and commerce department."
Cui Cheng suddenly realized: "I remembered that the Changshi Mansion held some kind of 'civil service examination' not long ago. Is this it?"
Cui Erdao: "That's right. The person in charge of the commerce and trade department is called the section chief, and the one below him is the deputy section chief, and the one below him is the section member."
When Cui Cheng heard this, he couldn't help but burst into anger: "Isn't this person the lowest eunuch? Feng Dao'er really doesn't care about anyone!"
Cui Er whispered: "It seems that they are not official officials. They also have official status, and they are from the ninth rank."
Cui Cheng said angrily: "That's just looking down on someone! If we come back, we won't go!"
Cui Er hesitated for a moment and said: "I heard that all the merchants in Liucheng have received invitations..."
Only then did Cui Cheng realize that he was not specially invited to Ganqing's house, let alone an apology, so he became furious: "It's really too much of a lie! There's no sincerity! There's no sincerity!" He was so angry that his face turned red.
He grabbed a tea bowl next to him and threw it to the ground.
Cui Er was so frightened that he shrank his neck and complained secretly. Fortunately, he was a sensible person and knew that he and others were now on someone else's territory and could not fall out with anything. Moreover, he felt that many merchants were invited to Chang Shi's Mansion this time.
There must be something important to discuss. It would be bad if you really don’t go. So he waited, and when Cui Cheng’s anger subsided a little, he said again: “Third uncle, why don’t we go and listen to it?”
Although Cui Cheng was angry, he had been doing business for a long time and was not a fool. He calmed down and thought about it carefully. He knew that he really had to go and see what was going on. But he couldn't swallow this breath, so he said: "When the time comes, tell me about a certain disease."
Already."
When the time was notified by Chang Shi's Mansion, Cui Er came to the government office with an invitation. After the concierge checked it, he invited him into the main hall of Chang Shi's Mansion. Cui Er looked at it and saw that the people who came were all businessmen from Liucheng.
Some are local, and some come from other places like Cui Ji. In total, there are about twenty shops, some big and some small.
After everyone arrived, three people came out from behind. The one walking in front was a fat man, with a smiling expression on his face. He looked indescribably kind, but there was a shrewdness and cunningness in him. Following the fat man was a
A thin young man with a cold expression. The last one was Mr. Luo Ke who came to deliver the invitation that day.
After the two of them sat down, Officer Luo took a step forward and said to everyone: "To disturb you all, I invite you to come here today to discuss the future business affairs of Liucheng. Let me introduce to you first, this is the new Chief Shifu.
Wang Quan, the chief of the Commerce and Commerce Section, this is Qian Wuchang, the new deputy chief of the Commerce and Commerce Section of the Changshi Mansion, and this is Luo Jingui, a member of the Commerce and Commerce Section. I will not interact with you from now on. If there is any inappropriateness, please bear with me."
While talking, Wang Quan and Qian Wuchang both stood up and saluted the merchants with clasped fists.
When the merchants saw that Section Chief Luo was very easy-going and the two section chiefs and deputy chiefs were also polite and considerate, and their behavior was similar to their own, the atmosphere became much warmer. Several of the merchants also knew Wang Quanhe.
Qian Wuchang, seeing the two of them at this moment, couldn't help but feel very friendly. At the same time, he secretly wondered, how could a businessman also be an official? But now that they are both officials, they are discussing matters in the government hall, and it is not easy for businessmen to go up.
chat.
Wang Quan has been following Li Chengzhong since the time when he conquered Bailang Mountain. He has done a lot of things. Now he has rewarded according to his merits and finally became an official. He only heard him smile and say: "Everyone, General Li and Feng Changshi
The most important thing is commerce. In order to take care of your livelihood, we have set up a special commerce department. Don’t worry, according to General Li’s words, a certain class is dedicated to serving you. If you encounter difficulties in making a living, you can come to a certain class or a certain class.
I will also try my best to help solve the problem. In short, General Li said that we will create a good business environment for you, give you the greatest convenience, let you do business in Liucheng, and try our best to make you make money and make big money!
"
As soon as he said this, all the merchants in the hall looked at each other. Since ancient times, where has the government encouraged merchants to make money? All the money has been earned by merchants, how can the people pay taxes? Some of them, such as Cui Er and others, are smart and immediately
A question comes to mind, does the Liucheng government want to send donations?
Just listen to Wang Quan continue to say with a smile: "Don't have any doubts, many people may not believe it. But General Li said, this is called a win-win situation. Only when you can make money can Liucheng develop. When Liucheng develops, you can earn more."
A lot of money. In order to create a good business environment for you, the Changshi Mansion decided that the government would open business roads in four directions: Pingzhou in the west, Daling River estuary in the south, Huaiyuan in the east, and Raoleshui in the north. Guaranteed.
Your business will be smooth and smooth, and you will be exempted from the fees at various checkpoints along the way. At the same time, the safety of your business in Yingzhou will be ensured. You will not have to worry about dangerous roads in the future. Of course, currently only the business road in the direction of Pingzhou is open, and it will be open in the near future.
The opening of the commercial road to the Daling River estuary and the opening of the Huaiyuan and Raoleshui trade roads are also planned."
Judging from the current situation, Wang Quan is obviously deceiving everyone. There are many forts and checkpoints along the trade route to the mouth of the Daling River. Huaiyuan is owned by the Wukai tribe of Khitan, and the Raoleshui is also occupied by the Xi people. The merchants want to
If you want to travel in these three directions, you must pay a lot of money. These three directions are not currently under the control of General Li of Liucheng, and all the merchants do not believe Wang Quan's words. Even the Pingzhou Business Road is not completely
Controlled by the Pingzhou Army, there are Jizhou and Youzhou to the west of Pingzhou.
But if the Pingzhou Trade Road can be exempted from the tolls at various checkpoints as General Li said, then there is a lot of hope. Now starting from Youzhou, you have to pass through Jizhou and Hepingzhou. There are a dozen checkpoints on the road, and the toll fees are
Extremely high. If General Li can come forward and allow merchants to pass the customs without paying fees, this alone can save half of the cost.
Someone immediately asked: "Can General Li clear the Pingzhou trade route? Is what Section Chief Wang said true?"
Wang Quan smiled and said: "Of course it is true, what is the identity of so-and-so? He is an official now and speaks on behalf of the Chang Shi's Mansion. Naturally, he will not deceive everyone."
"Of course that's good, but I don't know what the Changshi Mansion needs me to do?" There is no such thing as a free dinner in the world, everyone knows this truth.
"It's very simple. You need to obtain the Liucheng merchant qualification."
Everyone had never heard of any business qualifications, so they asked about it one after another, and there was a lot of noise.
Wang Quan spread his hands and pressed them down. The noise in the hall gradually died down. All the merchants looked at Wang Quan, waiting for his explanation. Wang Quan felt very happy. It was indeed a good feeling to be an official secretly.
After laying out the official records, he coughed twice and said: "There are two types of business qualifications, Class A and Class B. Anyone who takes the initiative to pay business taxes to the government will be granted Class B business qualifications. Those who hold the qualification certificate can be found everywhere along the trade route.
Customs fees are exempted at checkpoints. The commercial tax is 20% of the total value of the goods. I need to remind you that if you do not pay the tax voluntarily, once found out, all the goods will be confiscated and you will be held criminally responsible."
The collection ratio of commercial tax is 2 out of 10 taxes. Although this ratio is a bit high, it is much lighter than the checkpoint fees that are often paid along the way. All the merchants are calculating quickly in their minds.
Wang Quan added: "Anyone who has obtained the second-class merchant qualification, opens a workshop in Yingzhou and employs more than ten craftsmen, can obtain the first-class merchant qualification. In addition to not paying customs fees on the trade routes, he can take orders from the government, so
The products are purchased by the government at agreed prices. You can rest assured that the total purchase value arranged by the government this year is 200,000 guan, and it is expected to be 300,000 guan next year. Whether you can earn this money depends on your efforts.
"
This news immediately caused a chaos in the hall. The merchants could not sit still and rushed to ask for the specific details. Wang Quan pressed down his hands again, waited for the scene to be quiet, and said: "The specific details and implementation methods will be decided by Deputy Section Qian
Let me introduce it to everyone."
Even Cui Er, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help but join in the questioning.