Chapter 762 of Gui Zi Scroll: I am deafening and enlightening, and people’s hearts are with me.
It was he who proposed the Jiangnan businessmen's visit to Beijing. They originally wanted to talk about the development of Nanyang and even Annan, but they didn't expect the Weng family's reply to say that more guests would come. The Zheng family and Shen were mentioned.
Feng Ziying's family, Xu family, Xu family and many other people were greatly surprised.
Feng Ziying used to deal with Jiangnan businessmen mostly with the Weng family. Occasionally, the Zheng family would also participate. Others usually did not meet formally, and they mostly just talked with each other. However, this time Weng Qiming mentioned in the letter that the businessmen had some ideas.
Feng Ziying vaguely guessed something.
Of course he won't refuse.
In other words, I originally had some ideas in this regard, but I haven't considered them yet and feel that some conditions are not yet mature. However, the influence of Jiangnan businessmen cannot be underestimated, and we may be able to get more information from them.
In the past few years, the relationship between Feng Ziying and Jiangnan merchants seemed to have become much less apparent, but on the inside it was getting closer and closer. From the development of Nanyang to the prosperity of the Yangzhou Stock Exchange, everything touched upon the greatest interests of Jiangnan merchants.
Jiangnan merchants indeed have a keener business sense than Shanshan and Shaanxi merchants, and their actions are more radical. In contrast, Shanshan and Shaanxi merchants are more willing to follow up under the guidance of the court, while Jiangnan merchants like to go first and win by themselves.
The first choice, because eating soup is always the most profitable, and the last one comes to the court for protection.
However, Feng Ziying's intuition and vision are further than those of the Jiangnan merchants, which also makes the Jiangnan merchants feel that Feng Ziying is the real leader of their Jiangnan merchants. Whenever they have new ideas and paths, Feng Ziying's guidance can refresh them and make them overjoyed.
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Because of this, countless Jiangnan businessmen lamented why Feng Ziying was not a Jiangnan scholar.
They felt that Feng Ziying's temperament made it impossible for him to be a scholar from the North, let alone from Wu Xun. But it was precisely this person who, over the years, started from proposing the strategy of opening up the sea and walked down step by step.
He has become the most caring and agreeable partner and ally of Jiangnan merchants, and no one can match him.
Gu Bingqian and Xu Guangqi are both authentic Jiangnan gentry, but one is obsessed with fighting for power in the court, and the other is immersed in agricultural science. The expelled Huang Ruliang and even more Jiangnan gentry still tend to be those land gentry, so this also makes
The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River increasingly feel that geographical boundaries are no longer an issue. The key is who can represent their interests and who can bring them benefits.
No one can do it except Feng Ziying.
Facing an era of change, Jiangnan businessmen certainly have their own eyes, channels and connections in the court. The cabinet change next spring will become the focus of everyone's attention.
Although the development momentum of the Great Zhou Dynasty has been very good in the past few years, the cabinet and even the DPRK and China are constantly entangled in disputes, which has also affected many policies.
Every class and group hopes that their interests should be protected and supported, and their wishes should be reflected.
In particular, the industrial and commercial class believes that industrial and commercial taxes increase at a very high rate every year, which of course gives them stronger confidence.
Therefore, they hope to have a good talk and communication with Feng Ziying and express their feelings.
Feng Ziying was a little surprised that the Weng brothers arrived at the same time.
In my impression, the Weng brothers never appear together, either Weng Qiming or Weng Qiyang.
The same is true for the Jiangnan merchants themselves, the Dongting merchants or the Longyou merchants. It is almost rare to see these two appearing in a public and formal event at the same time, probably only at family gatherings or ancestor worship of the Weng family.
get.
Two representatives from the salt merchants came. In addition to He Tingfa, there was also Gu Zuming, the representative of the Huizhou salt merchants.
Although Yangzhou Salt Merchants are nominally Yangzhou salt merchants, they are actually mainly composed of Huizhou salt merchants, Shanshan salt merchants and Yangzhou local salt merchants.
But since the Ming Dynasty, these salt merchants from Shanshan and Huizhou have been living in Yangzhou for generations. Although their ancestral home is Shanshan or Huizhou, they have already settled in Yangzhou, and they should be regarded as new Yangzhou people.
However, over the past hundred years, some people from their hometown have continued to come to Yangzhou to develop and start businesses, so they have also continued to add new blood to the salt merchants from Huizhou and Shanshan. Therefore, there are still some differences within the group of Yangzhou salt merchants.
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The merchants on Jiangyou were mainly Anfu merchants, and two of them came.
Two merchants from Longyou also came.
The majority of sea trade merchants are from Fujian and Zhejiang, with one from Fujian and one from Zhejiang.
This makes the scale quite large, a full ten people.
In the past, Feng Ziying would only meet with three or four Jiangnan businessmen at most, and most of the time it would be two or three, but this time the number has more than doubled, which shows how seriously Jiangnan businessmen attach importance to it.
Feng Ziying had met most of these people and even had dealings with them, but there were also some who had only heard of their names but had never met them. However, since they could represent the local business gangs, they were naturally the most influential among them.
Looking at it, Feng Ziying couldn't help but sigh. If these people wanted to fully support them, they would have to spend hundreds of millions of silver. They represented the most powerful capital group in this era, and even Shanxi businessmen were a little less coquettish.
It is a pity that the officials in the court have subconsciously ignored this power. They are still obsessed with the reputation of the scholars and the reputation of the land gentry, but they do not know that capital has the ability to change everything, and this era is coming.
The atmosphere was not serious. Feng Ziying was even in the mood to joke with the businessmen and talk about the business of this year and the coming year.
"Keding, Dongfan has become your sphere of influence. I heard that Dongfan has established a prefecture, but the prefect often listens to the opinions of you Anfu merchants. Do you think this is a good phenomenon or a bad thing?
Is it a sign?" Feng Ziying said with a smile.
Liu Keding is the chief representative among Anfu businessmen. He has been happily cooperating with Feng Ziying over the years, and he has unswervingly followed Feng Ziying's baton, participating from Dongpan to Palawan and then to Ezo.
However, the Anfu businessmen preferred the south side. The great success of Dongpan greatly strengthened the Anfu businessmen's confidence, and they began to cooperate with Duan Xigui to develop Palawan.
The number of immigrants in Palawan is increasing day by day. Immigrants from Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi are beginning to enter Palawan. They are very adaptable to the climate of Palawan, but it is a bit difficult for them to go to Ezo.
Rice cultivation on Palawan Island can produce three crops a year, which is unmatched by these places on the mainland.
Of course, the threat and impact of typhoons every year is also a problem, causing great fluctuations in food cultivation here. However, for the tenant farmers and laborers who are accustomed to poverty and have no land in their hands, they can be given a piece of land that they can cultivate and plant on their own, and they can make their own decisions.
The land simply gave them a second life. No matter what difficulties and obstacles they had, they could not stop their enthusiasm and passion.
Palawan's reclamation has entered a period of rapid development, but Feng Ziying knows very well that Palawan cannot accommodate many people. Annan and Old Port are the future.
However, there are still some promising places around Palawan, such as Panay Island and Mindanao, places with good water and heat conditions for rice production. The Francois are expanding, but they are unable to do so.
A great opportunity for Anfu businessmen.
There are too many islands in Southeast Asia with good water and heat conditions. Even if any island is not as good as Dongfan, it is still similar.
As the exploration of Nanyang becomes increasingly in-depth, the most detailed map of Nanyang is now on the desks of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Ministry of War, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Commerce, and Ministry of Agriculture. How to further strengthen reclamation has also become a priority for the Zhou court.
A national policy direction.
As the Great Zhou Dynasty entered a period of stability, the explosive growth of population was inevitable. So how to solve the livelihood pressure brought by these population growth, in addition to working on crops, relocation and cultivation has become a national policy.
Feng Ziying attaches great importance to Anfu merchants because he knows very well that in the next few decades, the Great Zhou Dynasty will have to force the court to expand, whether it is external commercial development needs or internal population pressure. Going north and west is a strategic necessity, but going south is a strategic necessity.
This is due to population pressure.
Liaodong in the north is okay, but further north, it is unrealistic to say how many people can be accommodated. The same is true in the west. Unless the Yarkand Kingdom is completely solved and the Fergana Basin is entered, it may be possible to absorb some of the population, but
Without 20 to 30 years of operation, it is estimated that it will be difficult to control that area.
In comparison, Nanyang is much easier.
The three major naval forces are now useless, and the imperial court is already questioning the necessity of spending a lot of money on it, so it is inevitable that the navy will go south to escort the immigrants and open up new areas.
Reclamation is not a simple matter. It requires careful planning and deployment, and involves too trivial and complicated matters.
Anfu merchants have been in business for so many years and have become very familiar with the business. If another group of people does it, they may not be able to master it in a few years.
Therefore, Feng Ziying attaches great importance to this group, especially the large number of management talents cultivated by this group.
"Sir, we have always respected the laws of the government. The situation in Dongfang may be more special. The newcomers to the government may not be familiar with some aspects, so we often ask for help. However, we seek truth from facts and provide suggestions for the government.
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Liu Keding's answer made all the businessmen present laugh. This was a beautiful statement, but it could not conceal the influence of Anfu businessmen in Dongfan.
But it’s no wonder that when a new government was established, the officials who went there didn’t know anything about it. I wonder what else they could do if they could rely on Anfu businessmen to gradually get familiar with it?
"Keding, you Jiangxi people can also select some trustworthy people to enter the government. Jinshi is unrealistic. As for the promotion of people and scholars, you can also be white. Wouldn't this complement each other?" Feng Ziying suggested leisurely: "In addition, the imperial court intends to recruit people in the future.
When reforming the imperial examination, we should not only examine classics, meanings and current affairs, but also include examination of things, business calculations and laws..."
It was deafening and enlightening, and everyone stood up for a while.
