In the temple, all the officials had been secretly paying attention to the purge operations in Shaanxi and Gansu during this period, and did not dare to miss any news.
But for merchants all over the world, they are more concerned about what is happening in Jiangsu during this period.
It turned out that just over half a month ago, scholar Huo Zhengyuan was suddenly appointed as the "Southeast Patrol Envoy" by Emperor Deqing.
This official position is newly established by the imperial court, and its powers and responsibilities are unclear. There is not even a clear official location. It seems to be able to take care of a little bit of everything, but it seems that it can't take care of anything. It feels like a sinecure.
, but also like a weakened version of the Imperial Envoy.
But since he is the "Southeast Patrol Envoy", he has the power to interfere in all matters in the southeastern provinces. Naturally, the various forces in the southeastern provinces do not dare to neglect.
After Huo Zhengyuan received the appointment, he left the center of the capital the next day and took a boat south along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. Such quick action obviously had a big agenda, and it also attracted more and more attention from all the forces in the southeastern provinces.
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When Huo Zhengyuan arrived in Suzhou, headed by Huang Yourong, the governor of Southern Zhili, local officials, merchants, gentry, and scholars all showed up to greet him. It was a grand scene.
During the ensuing reception banquet, people from all walks of life in Jiangsu showed goodwill and closer relations, while taking the opportunity to inquire about Huo Zhengyuan's mission and purpose.
However, Huo Zhengyuan always avoided talking about the repeated tests from all walks of life in Jiangsu, and did not reveal any information at all. After the reception banquet was over, he hid directly in the governor's office of Nanzhili. He has been living in seclusion, but
He and Huang Yourong would discuss matters in secret every day, which made people feel even more mysterious and unpredictable.
Under such circumstances, all walks of life in Jiangsu were unable to obtain exact information from Huo Zhengyuan, so they all turned to Huang Yourong.
Ever since Huang Yourong resigned as Pavilion Elder and left the center of the temple, he and Zhao Junchen have turned enemies into friends. After a series of close cooperation, the relationship between the two parties has become closer and closer. Huang Yourong can now serve as the Nan
The position of governor of Zhili was also due to Zhao Junchen’s full support!
Today, in the eyes of all parties, Huang Yourong is a close ally who wears the same pants as Zhao Junchen. As a close friend of Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan talks secretly with Huang Yourong every day. It is obvious that Huang Yourong also knows the truth.
However, in the face of temptations from all walks of life in Jiangsu, the "Smiling Tiger" Huang Yourong, who has always been easy to talk to, was also very cautious this time and did not intend to leak any information at all.
As a result, all walks of life in Jiangsu became more and more concerned about Huo Zhengyuan's mission and intentions, thinking that it must be something very important. They all paid close attention to it and did not dare to miss any signs.
In this way, three or five days later, under the close attention of all parties, Huo Zhengyuan finally took action.
First, with Huang Yourong's assistance, Huo Zhengyuan took over all the properties that had been seized by the "Eight Kings Shipping Company", and then sold off these properties one after another for large sums of money, leaving only the ocean-going ships.
;
Then, Huo Zhengyuan posted notices to recruit merchants, sailors, and shipwrights with ocean-going experience, and also spent money to customize more ocean-going ships!
Then, Huo Zhengyuan announced his future yamen residence, and there were three places as soon as he announced it, namely - Songjiang Prefecture in Jiangsu, Guangzhou Prefecture in Guangdong, and Xinghua Prefecture in Fujian! He also said that he would take turns to go there in the future.
These three yamen handle official business.
What do these three places, Songjiang Prefecture, Guangzhou Prefecture, and Xinghua Prefecture, have in common? That is - they are all excellent natural seaports, and they are all located at key locations on ocean waterways, and they are all places with convenient water and land transportation.
, most suitable for developing ocean trade!
In addition, Huo Zhengyuan has been collecting ocean-going ships during this period and recruiting sailors and shipwrights...
After combining this information, many sharp-minded businessmen suddenly became excited!
Could it be said that the imperial court planned to follow the example of the Longqing switch and loosen the maritime ban again to carry out ocean-going trade?
Could it be said that the imperial court appointed Huo Zhengyuan as the "Southeast Patrol Envoy" just to make him specifically responsible for ocean trade?
Considering that Huo Zhengyuan is Zhao Junchen's confidant, perhaps the imperial court's ocean-going plan was driven by Zhao Junchen!
In the eyes of Ming Dynasty merchants, Zhao Junchen was definitely the most profitable god of wealth in the world! The plan promoted by him was naturally a big deal!
What's more, who among the world's merchants knows the amazing benefits of ocean trade?
After guessing these situations, the Huizhou merchants could no longer sit still. They rushed to the governor's Yamen to visit Huo Zhengyuan with heavy sums of money, hoping to participate.
On the other side, when Huo Zhengyuan was still in the center of the capital, he had discussed the details of the ocean-going plan with Zhao Junchen many times.
At that time, Zhao Junchen also made several suggestions to Huo Zhengyuan.
"In the early days of the development of ocean trade, various expenses were extremely huge. Even if we have His Majesty's full support, we are still stretched thin. It is difficult to see results quickly... Under such circumstances, we must not only use our own money to do things.
!
In fact, if you want to do big things and make a lot of money at any time, you must learn to be good at other people's money! It just so happens that there are many wealthy businessmen in the southeastern provinces, and they have endless money in their hands, which can be used.
!
However, our main goal in the early stages of developing ocean trade is to alleviate the court's food shortage dilemma, so we must not allow those merchants to have too much say! Merchants are only pursuing profit. If they are given the power to make decisions, they will
They will inevitably give up the grain trade with lower profits and will only focus on those goods with higher profits!
Therefore, we must not only try our best to win the full support of merchants, but also secretly prevent merchants from interfering in the specific operations of ocean trade... Under such circumstances, it is naturally not easy to get the best of both worlds. The merchants will inevitably think that they are at a disadvantage and invest in
The enthusiasm for investing in shares will also be greatly reduced!
But fortunately, the world's temperament always likes to compromise. If you tell the businessmen directly from the beginning that you will only let them take out money to invest in shares and dividends, but will restrict their participation in specific operations, they will definitely disagree; but
If you show that you want to monopolize ocean trade from the beginning, as if you want to monopolize the benefits and prevent anyone from participating, the merchants will be willing to give up the right to make decisions, and they will be satisfied with just buying shares and dividends
Well…at least it will be like this in the early days!”
Naturally, Huo Zhengyuan deeply believed in these statements made by Zhao Junchen and took them as the basis of truth!
It is precisely for this reason that after Huo Zhengyuan arrived in Jiangsu, he kept Zhao Junchen's ocean-going plan secret, as if he wanted to monopolize it.
Because of Huo Zhengyuan's attitude, many wealthy businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang also kept their attitude extremely low when they visited Huo Zhengyuan to express their intention to participate in the ocean-going project. Their highest goal from the beginning was just to buy shares and receive dividends.
, from beginning to end, no one expected to have the right to participate in decision-making.
As a result, Huo Zhengyuan's plan is progressing smoothly. In just over ten days, more than 20 wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang have invested in shares, totaling more than three million taels of silver. This also allows Huo Zhengyuan to plan for the ocean.
I feel a lot more comfortable when it comes to trade.
*
On this day, Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong once again met with four wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the governor's office of Nanzhili.
These four wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are Lin Yunpu, Dai Fengfu, Bai Mingyu, and Xie Bingde. They are all real big figures in the business world of the Ming Dynasty. Even Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong did not dare to underestimate them.
Compared with the wealth of these wealthy businessmen, the wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang that Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong met a few days ago can only be regarded as small shrimps.
Lin Yunpu, a leader of Jiangsu merchants, is not only the president of the Salt Merchants Association, but also the boss of the most popular "United Shipping Company" in recent years. Either of these two identities is of great importance!
Bai Mingyu, a rising star among the wealthy businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, has always been known for his cruelty and decisiveness. It is said that he controls several fleets of pirates and Japanese pirates. Most of his enemies died in mysterious circumstances.
There are also rumors that this person also has a background in the inner court.
Dai Fengfu has always been low-key and unrevealed, but his backer in the DPRK is Zhou Shangjing, the chief minister. However, he was immediately involved in the "United Shipping Company" when Zhao Junchen founded it. He also had two powerful officials, Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen.
trust and support, this method is amazing!
Xie Bingde is the president of the Huizhou Merchants Chamber of Commerce. The Xie family he is from has been a wealthy businessman for a hundred years. Compared with the short life of most Huizhou merchants, the Xie family has not seen signs of decline so far. It ranks among the merchants of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
The deepest and most profound, and has a close relationship with Huang Yourong, the current governor of Southern Zhili.
It was precisely because of the importance of these four merchants that Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong were particularly cordial when they received them.
The vision and vision of these wealthy businessmen also did not disappoint Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong.
But he said that after the two parties met, they exchanged a few polite words. Lin Yunpu quickly got to the point and asked directly: "Mr. Huang Ge, Bachelor Huo, Cao Min and others heard rumors that the imperial court wanted to impose another sea ban.
, and Academician Huo Da was appointed by the imperial court as the "Southeast Patrol Envoy" just to handle this matter in detail, but I don't know if it is true?
If it is true that such good governance is of great benefit to the country and the people, the common people and others are willing to participate in the grand event and devote their efforts to the imperial government's plans!"
As Lin Yunpu finished speaking, Bai Mingyu, Dai Fengfu, and Xie Bingde all looked eagerly and felt itchy, as if they had seen the peerless beauty they had dreamed of.
After Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong looked at each other, a hint of smile flashed in their eyes.
Finally, Huo Zhengyuan said slowly: "You are all well-informed and powerful people, and there are some things that I cannot hide from you... In fact, the imperial court has no intention of imposing a sea ban, but it does have an ocean-going plan!
You should also know that on the occasion of His Majesty's birthday some time ago, Zhao Gechen presented several fairy fruits as a birthday gift, and these fairy fruits came from an immortal whose name was the 'Three Saints of the South China Sea', so His Majesty was inspired to go there.
The thought of searching for immortals in the South China Sea is why I have arranged for me to form several ocean-going fleets in various parts of the southeast to go to various islands in the South China Sea to search for immortals... This matter is a secret, and I hope you will never leak it!
Of course, when these ocean-going fleets go out to sea to search for the wonderland in the future, they can indeed do other things...but just by the way! Well, just by the way!"
As he spoke, Huo Zhengyuan emphasized the word "by the way".
However, after hearing what Huo Zhengyuan said, several wealthy businessmen not only did not feel disappointed, but their eyes became brighter!
Just by the way? It’s great by the way!
If the imperial court imposes a maritime ban, then ocean trade will have to pay taxes to the imperial court!
But if it was just for Emperor Deqing to go out to sea to search for immortals and visit immortals, and "by the way" exchange goods with other countries in Southeast Asia, then naturally there would be no need to pay taxes!
What is this called? This is called official smuggling!
Not only do you not have to pay taxes, but you can also save on administrative expenses!
In the eyes of wealthy businessmen, no business in the world is more profitable than smuggling!
If I had to find one, it would definitely be official smuggling!
"But I wonder if we merchants can contribute to His Majesty's great cause of finding immortals? Of course, ocean-going ships are all huge, and they can also carry some cargo along the way, but that's just by the way!"
When Bai Mingyu asked urgently, he even breathed a lot heavier.
…
I finally felt relieved and resumed normal updates.