Chapter 17. Intimidation and Intimidation (Part 2).
When Zhao Junchen came to the hall, he saw more than ten people waiting quietly in the hall.
These more than ten people are among the top businessmen in Shanxi. Some are leaders of salt merchants, some are leaders of camel gangs, and some are bank bosses. But in this era, they all have a unified title, and that is "Shanxi merchants"!!
The hall was very quiet, and the Shanxi merchants also obeyed the rules and did not make any noise. Most of them just drank tea in silence, occasionally communicating and whispering softly.
Zhao Junchen was very satisfied with the performance of Shanxi merchants.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen was also very polite. As soon as he arrived at the door, he bowed his hands to the Shanxi merchants and said, "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for so long. I'm late!!"
"I've met the Imperial Envoy!"
After seeing Zhao Junchen appear, all the Shanxi merchants also showed respect and knelt down to salute.
"There is no need to perform such a grand ceremony. This is the private residence of Magistrate Liu, and I have invited everyone in my private capacity. This kind of official behavior is not necessary!!"
While talking, Zhao Junchen personally helped these Shanxi merchants up one by one with a friendly expression.
Although Zhao Junchen is now very well-connected and powerful, so he is not afraid of the power of Shanxi merchants, but this meeting with Shanxi merchants is for cooperation, so he will not neglect them.
After everyone sat down, Zhao Junchen picked up the tea on the table and said with a smile: "I came here for the first time, and I didn't bring anything with me. Only this West Lake Longjing was given by your Majesty, and I love it the most."
Drink, I brought it with me to entertain you all, and please don’t laugh at me for being so shabby.”
A group of Shanxi merchants dared not even say that.
One of the older Shanxi merchants even said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you are very polite. If I taste it correctly, your tea is the best from Shifeng Longjing. It is said that only dozens of teas can be produced every year."
Jin, its color is green, its fragrance is rich, its taste is mellow, its shape is beautiful, it is mellow and sweet, and its sweetness lasts for a long time. Such good tea can only be found in the palace, and I will never drink it more than once in my life.
How could it feel shabby? If this is considered shabby, then I won’t know what to use when entertaining adults in the future.”
Zhao Junchen nodded with a smile and said: "You made it clear, but I don't understand how I drink it. I have always drank it from cows. I just think it tastes good. If I let those who love tea see me drinking tea on weekdays,
I'm afraid most people will accuse me of chewing Ganoderma lucidum and hoarding natural resources."
Hearing Zhao Junchen laugh at himself, all the Shanxi businessmen couldn't help but smile.
Zhao Junchen continued: "Everyone knows my identity, but I am new to your place and I am not familiar with you. Qingyan, why don't you introduce me to me?"
When these Shanxi merchants came to the mansion, Xu Qingyan was responsible for receiving them. He had put in a lot of effort before, so he knew much more about the identity and origins of these Shanxi merchants than Zhao Junchen.
After Xu Qingyan nodded in agreement, he first pointed to the old man sitting on the left side of the guest seat and said: "This is Big Boss Guo Linxiang. He is the general manager of Tongrui Bank, the largest bank in the north."
Although he had already saluted before, when Xu Qingyan introduced him, Guo Linxiang still stood up, bowed to Zhao Junchen again, and said, "Guo Linxiang has met your Excellency."
"Please have a seat, please have a seat."
Zhao Junchen raised his hand and said.
Xu Qingyan pointed to the middle-aged man on the right side of the guest and said: "This is Boss Chen, Chen Xinggong, the largest salt merchant in the north. For many years, Boss Chen has been responsible for the salt and grain sales in the northwest provinces."
"Chen Xinggong has met your Excellency."
Like Guo Linxiang, Chen Xinggong also stood up and bowed to Zhao Junchen again.
"This is Boss He Zenghe. The largest boat gang in the Yellow River and the largest camel gang in the northwest are all industries under the name of Boss He."
"Have you ever seen your lord before?"
…
Seeing the polite and respectful appearance of all the Shanxi merchants, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but nodded secretly, feeling that the Shanxi merchants' disciplined and cautious style was indeed well-deserved.
In later generations, people often put Shanxi merchants alongside Hui merchants and Zhejiang merchants, thinking that they were representatives of merchants in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. But in fact, in Zhao Junchen's view, compared with Hui merchants and Zhejiang merchants, Shanxi merchants
There is an essential difference.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were many Shanxi merchants with century-old businesses, but century-old Huizhou merchants and century-old Zhejiang merchants are rarely heard of. Why?
On the surface, compared to Huizhou merchants, Zhejiang merchants have always been high-profile and luxurious, but Shanxi merchants have always been low-key and disciplined. It is often heard that this Hui merchant network official, that Zhejiang merchant is fighting with officials, but there are few Shanxi merchant groups.
There are such rumors, but there are often initiatives to donate money and materials to assist the court in its affairs.
As a result, when the Ming and Qing dynasties attacked merchants, they would always subconsciously ignore Shanxi merchants and turn to Huizhou and Zhejiang merchants.
In the Qing Dynasty, this situation became even more obvious. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty clearly raised Huizhou and Zhejiang merchants as meat pigs. Whenever they were short of money, they would attack them, and then train the next batch of Zhejiang merchants and Huizhou merchants.
At the same time, Shanxi merchants could continuously obtain various business privileges issued by the imperial court.
The root cause of this differential treatment is that merchants from Shanxi and Huizhou and Zhejiang have essentially different business strategies and profit-making methods.
The reason why Shanxi merchants are so rich is that they are "privileged merchants", or "bureaucratic merchants". They have many business privileges. Although few can get rich overnight, they can still develop steadily.
As for the profit-making methods of Zhejiang and Huizhou merchants, in addition to geographical location and special products, most of them were mainly smuggling. In fact, the famous Zhejiang and Huizhou merchants in the Ming and Qing dynasties were basically the largest smugglers at that time.
Although Shanxi merchants also engaged in smuggling, for example, He Zeng, who owned the camel gang and boat gang industries, was a famous smuggler in the north, but it was not the mainstream after all.
And this is why Shanxi merchants are more polite to people in the government, because they are more dependent on the court. Although in detail, compared with other merchant groups, whether in local or central areas, Shanxi merchants are more
The influence must be greater.
…
"In this way, we are all acquainted." After a polite exchange, Zhao Junchen said with a smile: "You must have heard the news during this time, but can you guess why I came to you this time?"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, all the Shanxi merchants looked at each other. Guo Linxiang stood up on behalf of all the Shanxi merchants and replied: "Your Excellency, are you referring to disaster relief? We also know that now there is a locust plague in Lu'an Prefecture and the people are in poverty.
, but it has not been easy for the court over the years. Although it has allocated funds for disaster relief, it is still insufficient. The reason why we businessmen are able to survive today is precisely because of the support of the court and the help of the people in our hometown. At this time, naturally
We cannot stand idly by, if you are in need, our Guo family is willing to donate a thousand tons of food."
As soon as Guo Linxiang finished speaking, Chen Xinggong also stood up and said: "Boss Guo is right. Our Chen Family Trading Company is also willing to donate a thousand tons of grain."
He Zeng also said: "My He family is also willing to donate a thousand tons of food."
"The Zhang Family Trading Company is willing to donate 700 dans of grain."
"We, Fuhe Trading Company, are willing to donate five hundred dans of grain."
"My Wang family is also willing to donate 800 tons of grain."
One after another, Zhao Junchen secretly counted that in just a short period of time, Shanxi merchants had donated nearly 10,000 tons of grain. Although these grains were just a drop in the bucket for the disaster relief food and grass gap, they were only a drop in the bucket for the Shanxi merchants.
, but it is considered to be a great honor to Zhao Junchen.
In fact, in the eyes of the Shanxi merchants, Zhao Junchen's invitation to them to gather this time was a routine blackmail by the government. Because of Zhao Junchen's noble status, they doubled the amount of food they donated.
However, this time they thought wrong.
Zhao Junchen shook his head with a smile and said, "You have misunderstood. This time we meet, I want to do a business with you."
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PS: The computer suddenly restarted and half of the chapter needs to be rewritten. Sorry for the late update.