Survival of the Chongzhen Emperor Chapter 334 The success or failure of the Battle of Jinzhou is related to the life and death of some Shanxi merchants!
Chapter 334 The success or failure of the Battle of Jinzhou is related to the life and death of some Shanxi merchants!
Although the war between the Ming and Qing Dynasties has not stopped in the past few years, the war is still going on, business transactions are still going on, and products such as enamel and kerosene are still flowing into the hands of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. However, Guan Ningjun, a second-tier dealer, was cut off from the relationship.
The connection with the Ming Dynasty and the influence of the Ming army's proximity to Daning only made the commercial exchanges between the two parties more difficult.
Xuanhua Zhangjiakou was once the most prosperous border trade port in the Ming Dynasty. It is still prosperous now, but the total trade volume cannot be compared with Gubei Port. This is the legendary base camp of Shanxi merchants, and almost all famous Shanxi merchant leaders are here.
shop.
In the inner hall of a shop with the sign "王" on the street, several figures wearing melon-skin hats were sitting inside. The inner hall was shrouded in mist, and a group of people were lighting cigarettes and puffing away the mist.
A middle-aged man in his forties took a puff of cigarette and asked the person next to him: "Huang Silang, has your family done any business there this year?"
"I've run a few times! The situation is not good, and it's becoming increasingly uneconomical to run over there." The man next to him took out a cigarette from the carton, lit it for himself on the oil lamp, and replied slowly.
"People over there send messages from time to time. Lao Fan sends his children here every now and then. They seem to have high hopes for us."
"What should I do with them? Lao Fan is desperate. He has no choice but to work hard. Let's follow him and get involved in this mess. Be careful of getting yourself involved. If Lao Fan wants to do business again, give him a message.
Let him wait in the Mongolian territory of Horqin. The most we can do is send the goods to Zhelimu, where we can order and verify the capital. We'd better not go to Manchu territory anymore." Huang Silang whipped fiercely.
While smoking, he told the questioner his true thoughts.
"It's not easy to go to Zhelimu. They have to raise the price." A person at the bottom interjected, then took a sip of tea from the cup.
"These things are easy to handle. The key question now is that Lao Fan brought us here and asked us to buy some things that are not allowed to be sold at the port. Can we agree to this?"
"If Mr. Wang has connections, go and do this with them. Our Huang family has a small business and we can't do this. If Mr. Wang does it, don't let me know, lest there be any involvement and it won't be clear when the time comes."
After listening to the middle-aged man's question, Shiro quickly shook his head like a rattle and refused quite simply.
"Our Tian family can't do this either. It's safer to do the businesses on the list. Our family's business is too small to do big business. This summer, the Cao family was uprooted by the court. More than a dozen members of the family were beheaded, and nearly a hundred people were beheaded.
I was punished to do hard labor in the quarry. To tell you the truth, Lao Tian scared me so much that I couldn't sleep for several days. The small business on the list was more reassuring. Lao Tian, I also figured it out. I have to spend my money with my life.
, Lao Fan has now gone to Liaodong, and his life is probably not very good, otherwise he would not have sent people here to look for oil and water. "
Several people below almost unanimously expressed their disapproval of Shopkeeper Wang's proposal. They are not as bold as they were in previous years. The Fan family ran to Liaodong with their families. This year, the Customs Department teamed up with Jin Yiwei and the Ministry of Punishment.
A group of people who were smuggling and dealing in contraband were also investigated and punished, which made the Shanxi merchants become disloyal when talking about contraband. They did not want to be like the Fan family, and it was better to do business and live in the Ming Dynasty.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Wang Dengku understood in his heart that the situation now is really different from before. Who among the people here didn't want to have relations with the Manchus? But now, the gold trade route that he was originally flocking to seemed to have lost its appeal.
.Obviously, people here don’t want to let go of doing business with the Manchus. If they are allowed to treat the Manchus as their masters and work desperately for them, no one will take this risk again because of the benefits the Manchus provide.
It is no longer enough to hedge risks.
Supervision is becoming more and more strict. From the Navy Office to the local government, as well as the Jin Yiwei, everyone is staring at them, trying to achieve performance indicators from them. It is becoming more and more uneconomical to do this. In addition, in the past two years, other methods have also been used.
If you can make money, why do you have to go up to the pole to kill people and exterminate people? Get some enamel from the factory area on credit, and they can export it to the vast grassland for business with only a customs fee. In the past, business on the grassland did not go to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
It was attractive because the Manchus could produce more valuable goods. Gold, silver, furs, ginseng and Dongzhu could all be used as hard currency, but there were few valuable goods to trade on the grasslands. But the rise of the wool trade changed everything.
, compared to getting expensive goods from the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, it was mainland goods like wool that made merchants more profitable.
The business models in the world can be roughly divided into two types. One is the expensive goods business, which is of high value and seems to make a lot of money in one transaction. The other is the volume goods business, where the single value is not that big and the profit is not that high.
Profit depends on volume. But most of the big businessmen in the world since ancient times were born in the volume business. Why does this happen? The reason is that the volume business has a much larger plate than the expensive business! Ginseng, fur,
How many people in the Ming Dynasty can afford these Dongzhu gadgets? Except for a few wealthy people, ordinary people have no access to them. But the wool and sheepskin can be cashed in immediately after being shipped back. The transaction cycle of this kind of business is short, and the market is almost
It is infinite, there are no empty trips back and forth, and no specific relationship is required, which naturally makes it easier for businessmen to make money.
"The business situation in the Manchus is just like that now. This has a big impact on our family! I met the Chang family a few days ago. Judging from their appearance, they have relied on routines to do nothing in the past two years.
It is very nourishing to make a fortune less." Seeing that everyone was not interested in the business of beheading, Wang Dengku changed the topic. In short, for these people here, they still have to find a stable way to make a fortune. Otherwise,
Shanxi merchants will be at a disadvantage in the competition.
"Not only has the Chang family been prosperous in the past two years! Even the Kang family's humble settlement is now extremely prosperous. I heard that they have conquered Governor Chen and Governor Sun, and even the gangster territory in the Central Plains, their Kang family's goods are all over the place.
You can pass without any worries, the stalls are very big now!”
Not all Shanxi merchants are making fortunes by doing business with the Manchus. In fact, Wang Dengku, Fan Yongdou and others are new Shanxi merchants. If it were not for the dirty trade line of the Manchus, they would not be considered a big Jin at all.
Shang. Later, after the Qing Dynasty took over the Central Plains, they could no longer rely on this line of hard work to gain profits, and many of them fell into decline. In other words, the changes in the trade situation in recent years have made these guys who are struggling to make a fortune feel in advance
It's just a crisis.
"I heard that if we go west, there are still some big Mongols over there. Shouldn't we think of something from this direction? With the court's attitude, it won't make peace with the Manchus. We have to get out as soon as possible, otherwise
When the imperial court really resolves the Liao affairs, the Manchus will definitely turn us in, and then we will have no place to stay."
"Brother Tian, do you think the imperial court is really capable of solving Liao affairs?"
"It's hard to say that the emperor doesn't even care about his internal troubles. It seems that he is very concerned about the Liao affairs. If the court stands firm in the recent battle of Jinzhou, the life of the Manchu people will definitely become more and more difficult."
"Brother Tian, are you saying that the success or failure of the Battle of Jinzhou will have a great impact on us? If the court succeeds in this battle, we must quickly break away from the relationship with the Manchus?" chapter