Volume A: Qilu is still young, Chapter 10: 'Maturity'
"What kind of business is Mr. Xue planning to do when he comes to Linqing?" Feng Ziying remained unmoved and continued to ask.
It was quite shady under the big locust tree in the courtyard. Feng Ziying stood on the verandah, while these people stood under the locust tree.
Feng You was leaning on the steps beside the gate and the courtyard wall. He kept silent. He just put his hand on the handle of the narrow-edged knife at his waist and watched everything coldly.
To be honest, he was surprised by Brother Keng's performance. In his impression, this young master was not like this at all.
Although he has been practicing martial arts since he was a child under the pressure of the master, but to be honest, he is at this age after all, and he cannot endure much hardship. He is mostly showy. However, the doctor Zhang who has a close relationship with the third master likes Brother Keng very much.
I usually teach some medical skills to Brother Keng.
This is martial arts training. At most, it just barely lays a foundation for physical fitness.
It gave Feng You the feeling that Feng Ziying seemed to be a different person today.
He knew that Feng Ziying had been to the Imperial College for several months, but how many months could the Imperial College transform Feng Ziying?
No matter how he treats people or talks, he seems to have matured a lot. It seems that he didn't feel like this on the road a few days ago. Could it be that a serious illness made Brother Keng wake up?
During this question and answer, Brother Keng was really methodical and well-founded, so Feng You left it to him.
Anyway, these people are under his control. If anything happens, he can defeat the enemy with one move at any time.
The businessman surnamed Xue doesn't care much about a child's questioning. At least he has provided you with a shelter. Especially under such circumstances, some requests are normal.
"Well, I can't answer my brother's question. To be fair, our Xue family is quite famous in Jinling, but business has been difficult in recent years. Our Xue family also hopes to open up some other avenues.
We have some contacts here in the North. Linqing has always been the most flooded and drought-stricken wharf in the North. We have passed by it before, but we have not had much contact with it. This time, our family also hopes that we can come and get to know it first and see what businesses are available.
Do it." The man surnamed Xue answered quite well.
"Although we are here to make a front stop, we should at least have a general scope, right? Grain, cloth, salt, ironware, antiques, silk, medicinal materials,...?" Feng Ziying asked casually: "You Xue family can't do everything, right?
?”
"My brother is right. The Jinling family's money and silk business has a bad reputation. In addition, the medicinal materials business is also similar to that of Bashu in Huguang, so..."
The man named Xue cupped his hands and answered calmly.
Feng Ziying thought for a moment, then saw the thin, dark boy standing aside, and waved.
The young man was stunned for a moment, as if he felt that Feng Ziying's attitude could not be refused. Thinking of the huge owner of Feng's house, he felt a little reluctant, but he still came over.
"What do Guozi Lane and Ma Market Street do for a living?" Feng Ziying asked in a low voice that everyone around could hear.
The young man thought for a moment and then said: "The fruit alley sells silk and satin, but Ma Shi Street sells a variety of things, including leather goods, fruits, and seafood. Of course, that section of Ma Shi Street also has the most pawnshops."
Feng Ziying nodded slightly.
The money business is nothing more than banks and pawn shops. If you are new to Qing Dynasty, it is unrealistic to say that you want to open a bank. Without several years of business contacts and reputation accumulation, no one will believe it.
However, pawnshops are relatively simple. There are about seventy or eighty pawnshops in Linqing City, large and small, and there are at least ten or eight that open and close every year.
Guozi Lane is the most famous silk and satin street in Linqing City. Silk sales from Jinling and Suzhou and Hangzhou are concentrated on this street.
When Feng Ziying first came here, she also bought five pieces of gold-woven damask, which cost a total of forty gold, just to return to Beijing to honor her parents.
This question can't explain anything, but at least it can prove that the other party is not lying.
If you lie about these small details, it only means that there must be something wrong with this person.
If you didn't lie, you can't say there's nothing wrong with the other party, but if you lied, there would definitely be something wrong.
"Uncle You, I'm fine." Feng Ziying said directly without asking any more questions.
"Brother Keng, how will these people be settled?" In the past, Feng You would have made arrangements directly, but today, he felt that it was time to seek Brother Keng's opinion.
"What does Uncle You plan to do?" Feng Ziying thought for a while, "When will the banditry in the city end?"
Feng You shook his head, "Brother Keng, I don't know this, but I thought it would be difficult. The guards are not here, and the people from the Inspection Department are afraid to leave the city gate. Besides, I don't know how to make this effort."
Is such a big mess coming?"
Feng Ziying observed that the businessman surnamed Xue was hesitant to speak, so she looked at him: "Does Mr. Xue know?"
"Well, I know a thing or two." The man surnamed Xue did not hide it. "I have been walking around the city in the past few days. I heard that the palace tax supervisor wanted to increase the miscellaneous tax by 10% to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday at the end of the year. Originally, I
In the few years since Eunuch Chang came to the Qing Dynasty, taxes have been increasing day by day, business has been depressed, and the livelihoods of mechanics in the city and bricklayers outside the city have been unsustainable. They are very resentful, and they have never thought that miscellaneous taxes will be added now. Many machine rooms and
The kilns have no choice but to close their doors, which directly affects the livelihood of countless people, so..."
Linqing is not just a dock for floods and droughts. It is also famous for its local specialties. Linqing Northern Flowers (cotton) and Linqing tribute bricks are the two largest commodities.
Since the pre-Ming Dynasty, cotton planting has been increasingly prosperous at the intersection of Hebei, Shandong and Henan, and the cotton spinning industry has also developed, but it is not as good as that of Songjiang in the south of the Yangtze River. Therefore, it has become a common practice to transport cotton cloth to the north and flowers from the north to the south.
Linqing tribute bricks have been the first choice in the capital and palaces since the Ming Dynasty. However, with the establishment of the Zhou dynasty, Linqing tribute bricks have become increasingly famous, as famous as the gold bricks fired in Suzhou, and their scale has become larger and larger.
Along the canal, from Daijiawan in the south to Wangjiaqian in the north, there are countless kilns. At its peak, there were as many as two to three hundred kiln owners, and there were countless people who made a living by firing tribute bricks.
Thousands of people.
"Suzhou gold bricks" and "Linqing blue bricks" became royal tributes, and gold bricks for laying floors and green brick walls became the custom for using bricks in royal palaces and mausoleums.
Although Linqing Qingzhuan is a major supplier of imperial palaces in the capital, it also produces green bricks for wealthy families in the capital and other areas. The green bricks exported to various places along the canal every year also bring huge income to Linqing Chaoguan.
It can be said that once the cotton and tribute brick business was affected, not only the businessmen were angry, but also the cotton field owners and farmers, the kiln owners and kiln workers, the laborers on the docks, and the ship owners along the line were all greatly affected.
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After hearing what the businessman surnamed Xue said, Feng Ziying also realized the seriousness of the problem.
If it's just the businessmen who are affected by their business, then that's fine. They can tolerate it anyway, but for farmers and kiln workers who rely solely on their own strength to support their families, it will really push them to death.
Already.
When we are really desperate, if there are some people with ulterior motives inciting us, it will be really difficult to control.
"If this is the case, it will be difficult for this chaos to end." Feng Ziying hesitated, "Uncle You, why don't we let them rest in the outer courtyard without making any noise, but..."
Feng You didn't say much. He directed Uncle Fu to arrange for these people to find rooms to settle down, and then he said to Feng Ziying: "Brother Keng, I'm afraid this mess won't be dealt with for a while, and I'm worried that once the chaos outside the city comes in,
I'm afraid that there will be more chaos, and when these chaos people see through the real situation, I'm afraid that we will not be immune here. I plan to go out to take a look at the real situation, and also find out if there is a way out of the city."
