The troubles in the hearts of big people will never be more serious than those of small people, but they must be more numerous and more complex.
For the little people, their troubles are simply about making a living, but the troubles for the big people stem from all aspects of consideration of pros and cons.
As a big shot, Zhao Junchen faced many troubles, such as the suspicion of Emperor Deqing, the suppression of Zhou Shangjing, and the implementation of the new agricultural reform policy...
But Huo Zhengyuan knew very well which "trouble" Jiang Zheng was referring to at this time.
Therefore, Huo Zhengyuan also gave a direct answer, that is, the Ming Dynasty merchants were conservative and short-sighted!
Take "United Boat Line" as an example.
Since Zhao Junchen founded the "United Shipping Company", this behemoth has become a cornucopia, gradually monopolizing most of the river transportation business in the Ming Dynasty. The term "making money every day" can only be used to describe its profitability.
It can be regarded as sitting in a well and looking at the sky, being ignorant and ignorant.
But everything in this world has pros and cons, and so does the existence of "United Boat Line".
Since Zhao Junchen owned "United Shipping Company", his influence and financial resources have increased rapidly, but he also quickly felt the serious disadvantages of "United Shipping Company"!
The strength of "United Shipping Company" is due to the merchants from Huizhou and Zhejiang joining in one after another. After the merchants from Huizhou and Zhejiang joined "United Shipping Company", they all soon made a lot of money.
But in this era, the inner concepts of businessmen are generally conservative and short-sighted. In essence, they are just a group of landlords who do business part-time. Therefore, after they made a lot of money through the "United Shipping Company", not only did they not have
To further increase investment and expand the scale of "United Shipping Company", most of the profits will be used to acquire land.
In short, for Hui and Zhejiang merchants, landlords are their true responsibilities, and doing business is just a balance. After making huge profits, they just want to buy more real estate and fields. They think that these are actually visible, and only the property that guarantees income during droughts and floods can be considered real.
Wealth, and no matter how amazing the benefits of the "United Shipping Company" are, it is just a mirror and is not a long-term solution.
As a result, the existence of "United Shipping Lines" has caused various hidden worries.
After the merchants spent huge sums of money to annex land, more people were displaced, and the prices of land and real estate in various places also rose rapidly. This situation was not only unfavorable for Zhao Junchen's future promotion of the new agricultural reform policy to the southern provinces.
, which greatly strengthened the hidden worries of the outbreak of refugee rebellion in the Ming Dynasty.
At the same time, because Huizhou and Zhejiang merchants were reluctant to increase investment, the scale of "United Shipping Lines" could not be rapidly expanded, and dilapidated merchant ships could not be replaced in time. Therefore, the freight rates of "United Shipping Lines" had gradually increased, and the expansion momentum
There has also been a slowing down trend.
Zhao Junchen is not a god, and he has always been helpless in dealing with this situation, so he can only be trapped in this trouble.
After all, Zhao Junchen cannot force the Huizhou and Zhejiang merchants to give up the land annexation, nor can he forcefully control the way the Huizhou and Zhejiang merchants use their profits. He can only hope that the high profits of the "United Shipping Company" can gradually reverse the situation in Huizhou and Zhejiang.
The conservative mentality of businessmen.
But if you want to completely change the conservative mentality of Hui and Zhejiang merchants, it will take at least twenty or thirty years, two or three generations. Zhao Junchen doesn't know whether he has the patience to wait for such a long time, nor does he know whether the Ming Dynasty
Is it possible to persist for such a long time without major trouble?
In fact, it was not only Zhao Junchen who had such troubles. Huo Zhengyuan soon had the same troubles after he served as the Southeast Patrol Envoy and was ordered to implement Zhao Junchen's ocean-going plan. After the initial rapid expansion of the ocean-going fleet he established,
Soon there was a stagnation trend, and everyone was unwilling to take risks and increase investment.
Jiang Zheng proposed his own plan in response to this situation.
After traveling around and conducting detailed investigations during this period, Jiang Zheng had a very good understanding of the specific situation of the Jin gentry and wealthy families in Nanzhili. He was also very aware of the various crimes of these Jin gentry and wealthy families, such as concealing the amount of land in large quantities, and
The regulations of the ancestral home are suspected of being overstepped, etc.
As Zhao Junchen's staff and spokesperson, although Jiang Zheng was unable to control the "United Shipping Company", the franchise merchants of the "United Shipping Company" did not regard Jiang Zheng as an enemy. Many things were not deliberately concealed. In addition,
The Huizhou and Zhejiang merchants and the Southern Zhili Jin gentry originally had a mutually beneficial relationship. Even the Song family was a member of the "United Shipping Company", so Jiang Zheng could easily investigate these matters.
Jiang Zheng's specific plan was to take advantage of the intensified conflict between the wealthy Jin gentry and the eunuchs of Huangzhuang in southern Zhili to secretly hand over all the evidence of crimes he had collected to the eunuchs of Huangzhuang.
Let the eunuchs of Huangzhuang use these criminal evidences as an excuse to criticize the wealthy Jin gentry in Southern Zhili, and even publicly make suggestions to the central government to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the specific situation of the real estate and fields of the wealthy Jin gentry in Southern Zhili!
Under such circumstances, the wealthy gentry will definitely be in disarray. At least in a short period of time, they will not dare to annex land and purchase real estate and land on a large scale.
And because the gentry and merchants in Jiangnan originally had a mutually beneficial relationship, this plan was equivalent to curbing the tendency of merchants joining the "United Shipping Company" to annex land, forcing them to use more of their income to invest in various businesses.
activities, either the existing "United Shipping Lines" or the ocean-going fleet that Huo Zhengyuan is building.
Even investing in shops, restaurants, craftsmen, etc., or even casinos, brothels and other industries is far better than allowing them to annex land unscrupulously.
At the same time, this plan has another benefit, that is, it can force Zhou Shangjing to compromise with Zhao Junchen, allowing the "Zhao Party" to take the opportunity to intervene in important yamen such as the Nanjing Inspectorate and the Nanjing Imperial College.
After all, Zhou Shangjing used the gentry and wealthy families in the territory to put pressure on the seventh prince Zhu Hejian. If the offensive and defensive momentum was reversed, Zhou Shangjing would have to seek the full cooperation of the "Zhao Party" to control the situation.
Of course, Jiang Zheng would not disobey Zhao Junchen's instructions and would still cause the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian to suffer a serious setback. He had already found detailed countermeasures in accordance with the court's orders and could control the situation in a timely manner.
All in all, this plan was not very sophisticated, but because Jiang Zheng was extremely familiar with the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the plan was implemented in a well-known and upright manner.
But the disadvantages of this plan are also obvious.
The first is that "Dang Zhao" stabbed Zhou Shangjing in the back at a critical moment. With Zhou Shangjing's vision and wisdom, he must be able to detect the truth. Even if no evidence can be found afterwards, he will definitely take revenge.
The second is that this plan must be carried out secretly, and no one must be allowed to discover the truth. Otherwise, it will arouse the collective hostility of the wealthy gentry in southern Zhili, and will also alienate the franchised merchants of the "United Shipping Company", and maybe it will happen again.
Let the "Zhao Party" completely lose the behemoth "United Shipping Company" as a helping hand.
It is precisely because of these two considerations that Huo Zhengyuan has been unable to make up his mind to support Jiang Zheng's plan.
However, when Jiang Zheng mentioned Zhao Junchen's attitude, Huo Zhengyuan could not help but gradually change his stance.
Just like what Jiang Zheng said, if Zhao Junchen showed up in Nanjing in person, he would definitely support this plan.
*
Just like that, under Jiang Zheng's persuasion, Huo Zhengyuan stopped holding the chopsticks in his hand and no longer just focused on the food in front of him, his expression also changed.
But in the end, Huo Zhengyuan was still unable to completely make up his mind due to his character flaw of lack of courage.
After all, the hidden dangers of this plan are too serious.
After pondering like this for a long time, Huo Zhengyuan took a long breath and said slowly: "Your idea is reasonable, but I also have my concerns... Well, after I return to my residence, I will send a fast horse again to the Suzhou Governor's Yamen
Send a secret letter to persuade Mr. Huang Ge to fully support us!
Although you have collected a lot of evidence, after all, the time is too short, the investigation is too shallow, and it still lacks weight to determine the direction of the situation. But if you can win the full support of Mr. Huang Ge, the South Zhili Governor's Yamen can help us
Providing more relevant evidence will make it easier to control the situation! Therefore, as long as Mr. Huang Ge is willing to support your plan, then I will fully support you!"
After hearing this, Jiang Zheng sighed secretly in his heart, thinking that Huo Zhengyuan was still unwilling to take responsibility for his statement. Instead, he passed all responsibilities to the front cabinet boss Huang Yourong, hoping that Huang Yourong would make the decision.
But Jiang Zheng also knew that since he still couldn't convince Huo Zhengyuan to make up his mind after spending a lot of words, it meant that he had no more persuasion. If he continued to pester and force him, his relationship with Huo Zhengyuan would only deteriorate completely.
Therefore, Jiang Zheng made another suggestion: "This junior wants to go to Suzhou in person and persuade Mr. Huangge face to face, but I don't know what Mr. Huo wants? Otherwise, if Mr. Huangge is still unable to make up his mind, follow the South Zhili
As the situation inside the country gradually became clearer, and the conflict between the wealthy Jin gentry and the eunuchs of Huangzhuang gradually eased, the younger generation's plan missed the best opportunity. Anyway, Nanjing and Suzhou are not far apart, and it only takes one day to return by riding a fast horse.
"
Huo Zhengyuan naturally would not refuse Jiang Zheng's proposal and immediately nodded in agreement.
In this way, Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng finally stopped arguing for the time being. However, because of Jiang Zheng's sharpness, his previous persuasion was too tough and not polite enough, which still made the atmosphere between the two a bit awkward. So next
While the two were dining, they were silent most of the time.
After another half an hour, the two finally finished their meal.
Then, Huo Zhengyuan took Jiang Zheng and several followers and quickly left Guanjiang Tower, preparing to return to their temporary residence in Nanjing.
However, before Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng could board their sedan, a sudden change occurred not far from the street!
A cargo carriage suddenly lost control without warning, and with lightning speed, it crashed directly into the location of Huo Zhengyuan and others!
At the same time, a loud exclamation could be heard faintly.
"Get out of the way! Everyone, get out of the way! There is kerosene on the carriage! There is kerosene!"