"There are eight salt merchant families in Yangzhou and twelve families. The eight families have been passing down salt to their families for more than a hundred years. They have been engaged in this business since the Ming Dynasty, while the twelve families only slowed down after the founding of this dynasty.
Among those that are slowly becoming prosperous, six of the eight households are merchants from Zhongshan and Shaanxi, and two are merchants from Huizhou. However, among the twelve households, there are only three merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi, and the remaining nine are all Huizhou merchants."
Wang Wenyan patiently introduced to Feng Ziying the top powerful group among the Zhou merchants - salt merchants.
It's not that they have great power, but that they have enough money to ignore others.
"Based on the literature, if I want to persuade these businessmen to buy Kaihai bonds, or persuade them to invest in Tonghai Bank, how sure is it? How much money can be raised?"
Feng Ziying didn't beat around the bush. After collecting so much information, could it be that he was really doing it for fun? Then he would definitely not give up until he achieved his goal.
Whether the most satisfactory results can be achieved in terms of quantity depends on the ability of each company.
Wang Wenyan laughed and said, "Your Excellency has set up a government office here. The salt merchants are all shrewd people who adapt to the changing circumstances. How could they not understand your intentions? It's just that they are the most astute and cunning in business.
People like you, naturally have to weigh the weight of adults and use various methods to test or negotiate conditions."
Feng Ziying's face was full of interest and she wiped her non-existent beard on her chin, "So it seems that everyone is tacitly understanding it and it's nothing more than bargaining?"
"Absolutely." Wang Wenyan also made the same judgment, "But depending on who you open the gap from, the effect may be quite different."
Feng Ziying was thoughtful.
The salt merchants are definitely not monolithic. This can be seen from the fact that the so-called eight households and twelve households are divided into two eras and two places. Wang Wenyan's opinions are naturally broken down one by one, and then contrasted, forcing them to follow Feng Ziying's
Intent comes into play.
But he didn't intend to do so.
Although they belong to different groups, their nature is the same.
The source of profit for the salt merchants was monopoly. At this point, it can be said that this group did not make much contribution to the Great Zhou Dynasty. It would be fine to just build gardens, develop drama culture, and raise thin horses.
If they directly intervene from the beginning, they can achieve some results, but it will definitely be difficult to achieve the best results, because the threshold determines the upper limit, so they will subconsciously draw a line for themselves.
After looking at the posts piled on the table, Feng Ziying picked up a few and read them.
I receive more than a dozen posts like this almost every day, even though they know they won't see any visitors, but these people still work tirelessly.
Even Lin Ruhai would convey some irresistible messages from time to time, so much so that Lin Ruhai said that she originally thought that she rented this small courtyard to use the salt transportation from the Huai River to the Huai River to make the Si Yamen famous, but now it seems
Some are reversed.
"Sir, do you have an idea?" Wang Wenyan naturally knew that Feng Ziying would not easily follow the method he recommended to him.
If he had followed his own ideas in everything, it would have been impossible for this person to reach such a high position at such a young age.
Just like Dongfan reclamation and salt affairs, in Wang Wenyan's view, this is simply a stroke of genius. No one would have thought that a seemingly inadvertent piece of useless information could have such a wonderful effect, but it is based on his understanding of the situation in Dongfan.
On top of understanding.
Therefore, Wang Wenyan was also surprised that the other party knew that the coastline of Dongpan near Penghu was extremely suitable for salting, and even the salt content in the sea water was higher. These situations are not something ordinary people can do.
"Well, I have some thoughts. Good food must be tasted last. They all know that my target in Jiangnan is them, so let them suffer first." Feng Ziying picked up the tea cup, opened the lid, and flipped it
, took a sip, "There will always be times when they come in handy."
Wang Wenyan understood and smiled, "Sir, are you planning to burn out the fire?"
Glancing at Wang Wenyan, he saw that this man was smart and resourceful. No wonder he was able to serve as the Donglin Party's think tank in his previous life. However, he should have a better performance stage under his own command.
"First make the fire full, and the food will cook naturally." Feng Ziying responded, which seemed to have a little rhyme.
"Then where do you plan to start?" Wang Wenyan found that following this new owner, he could feel and learn new things almost every day, and his sophistication and maturity made people doubt his age and experience.
It's completely disproportionate and can only be explained by the genius.
"There are emblems everywhere in Dongting, let's start with the Dongting merchants. It is said that they are the best at judging the situation. I would like to see what they think of my trip to the south of the Yangtze River and the imperial court's strategy of opening up the sea.
Feng Ziying casually raised another letter in her hand and said, "A letter from my other father-in-law has also arrived. I should give him some face."
Feng Ziying also found it quite interesting that both of her parents-in-law came from Suzhou.
The Shen family is a famous and scholarly family in Suzhou, and the Lin family is also a wealthy family in Suzhou, but they are from a noble family. Well, to be precise, they can be regarded as martial arts, but they declined quickly. There is no shadow of martial arts in Lin Ruhai's generation.
It all depends on Lin Ruhai’s own reading ability.
If Lin Ruhai hadn't married the Jia family's daughter, Lin Ruhai would really have nothing to do with Wu Xun.
Dongting merchants are the leading representatives of Suzhou merchants. Their business categories are almost all-encompassing. Although each has its own emphasis, they are spread almost throughout Jiangnan, Huguang and even the north. Although this group is not as famous as Shanshan merchants and Huizhou merchants,
But in fact, it is the appearance of a new force.
"Agree to meet us?" Xu Chengdong finally breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, it won't be in vain for us to follow from the capital to Jiangnan. Where is the Weng family?"
"Weng Gong is still in the capital, but the news that came back is that although the official met with Weng Gong, he didn't say much. He only said that the court was in difficulty. He hoped that the gentry and merchants would understand the difficulties of the court. As for the strategy of opening up the sea, he said
All matters are dealt with in a perfunctory manner, without being discussed in detail..."
The person who sent the message back spoke cautiously.
Xu Chengdong was silent.
When he went south, he went to Dongchang Mansion to visit Shen Jue, and he spent a lot of time on it. Lord Shen, the prefect, also wanted to take a further step in his official career. In addition, he had not had much contact with him before, so he only got a promise from the other party that he would Write a letter to Feng Ziying, but that's it.
It seems that progress in the capital is not going well either.
Guan Yingzhen was from Huguang and was even more difficult to deal with. Weng Qiyang also failed to achieve many results.
And looking at this attitude, Feng Ziying went south to Yangzhou with the attitude of having special orders and full authority to make decisions with a single word. His teacher had great trust in him.
Zhuantian Dongting does not just mean that Dongting merchants travel to many places or make a wide range of business, but it also means that Dongting merchants have a more accurate and thorough understanding of the current situation.
Needless to say, doing business in the Zhou Dynasty is a small matter. If you want to become successful without having any judgment and grasp of changes in the political and political situation, it will not last long. This is true for individuals and even more so for groups.
At first glance, it seems that the opening of the sea has little substantial connection with the current livelihood of Dongting merchants. It is more related to maritime trade or overseas reclamation. Although it has some relationship with the current livelihood of Dongting merchants, it is not deep.
However, they all felt something different with their keen sense in this regard. The imperial court's big move in this regard was unprecedented, and its impact on the entire Zhou Dynasty situation was even greater. It can be said that the Great Zhou Dynasty situation will definitely be affected by the opening of the sea. Suddenly, a big change comes.
They all have a feeling that if they cannot keep up with this pace, perhaps Dongting merchants will be like a flash in the pan, or even become a second- or third-rate business gang.
Seeing Xu Chengdong silent, the man next to him whispered: "Mr. Xu, can you make some preparations?"
"Preparation? What preparation?" Xu Chengdong said calmly.
"Well, as usual,..."
"Do you think this little Feng Xiuzhan is an ordinary official?" Xu Chengdong's body, which stood upright, seemed to relax, and he walked around the flower hall with his hands behind his back. "If he is like that, he can settle it." If it’s done, why do we need to go from the capital to Yangzhou?”
"Perhaps they are waiting for a price?" The people nearby were a little unconvinced.
"The word "wait for price" is used accurately, but the words "price" and "selling" are probably not as simple as you think. If he only looks at money, then I really should gouge out my eyes and throw them away. ." Xu Chengdong sighed: "The plan is big."
"Then Mr. Xu, what do you think this little Feng Xiuzhan is planning?"
"I don't know. If I knew, why would I need to think hard again?" Xu Chengdong said leisurely: "It seems that we can just sit on the sidelines, but my intuition tells me that if we don't dare to take this trip, it seems that we will miss a lot, or even miss a lot again. No chance to catch up,..."
Intuition? This reason is really strong enough, but facing the person in charge of the Xu family of the "Weng Xu" family of Dongting merchants, others naturally dare not refute him outright.
"Then Mr. Xu, what should I do?"
"The soldiers came to cover up the water and the earth, and we just used it as a sign of attack." Xu Chengdong also put away all his thoughts and said calmly: "This Xiao Feng Xiuzhuan has waited for us for so long before seeing us. Naturally, he has some ideas. But,
I really want to know what this little Feng Xiuzuan wants us Dongting merchants to do."
If we want to talk about the biggest difference between Dongting merchants and Hui merchants, Shanshan and Shaanxi merchants, I am afraid that the Dongting merchant group is not just merchants. Such a group not only engages in business, but also includes a group that runs workshops.
The silk workshops and printing workshops in Suzhou, the cotton workshops and dyeing workshops in Songjiang, the pharmaceutical workshops in Jinling, and the ceramic kilns in Jingdezhen are all inseparable from the presence of Dongting merchants.
Is it really this reason that made the other party put Shanshan merchants and Hui merchants aside and see themselves first? Xu Chengdong pondered.