Chapter 189 Problems encountered by the Datong Chamber of Commerce
"Mr. Liu, how has the Chamber of Commerce been operating in the past two months?" Zhu Gui asked Liu Jing.
Liu Jing stood up, saluted Zhu Gui and then said: "I have written a letter about the specific operation of the Chamber of Commerce and handed it over to Butler Wang. I will now give you a detailed description of the situation of the Chamber of Commerce."
So the next half hour was Liu Jing's performance time. Zhu Gui was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that he wrote an economics book for Liu Jing before he left. The other party can now understand it to such an extent, which shows that the ancients
His wisdom is no less than that of Zhu Gui's later generations.
If Liu Jing had lived in the era before Zhu Gui, I'm afraid he would have been at least a mentor-level existence, but now he is serving Zhu Gui, which makes Zhu Gui feel a lot of emotion.
However, he finally understood that the Datong Chamber of Commerce is currently expanding in a very scary situation. In addition to having a branch in Nanjing, it has also opened branches in several neighboring provinces.
Moreover, a very complex network of connections has been formed. In this network, not only the products produced in Datong Prefecture and specialties from other places are transmitted, but also information.
Now even Zhu Gui's intelligence chief, Ye Ye Dao, has sent people to settle in the Datong Chamber of Commerce. This can be said to be a trend.
However, with this rapid expansion, many problems have also been exposed. One of them is that after leaving the boundaries of Datong Prefecture, it is relatively common to encounter bandits and robbers.
And this situation has intensified during the past two months. From the beginning of every Monday question to now, one-third of the caravans will be hijacked. However, some caravans hire bodyguards, and the robbers are not always hijacked.
Will succeed.
This has had a very serious impact on the development of the Datong Chamber of Commerce. If it is not resolved, it may have a very negative impact on the development of the Datong Chamber of Commerce. From then on, the goods produced in Datong Prefecture can only be sold in Yunzhou.
Regarding this issue, other representatives of the Datou Chamber of Commerce have also expressed their opinions. In summary, they want to set up an escort agency to escort the caravan for commodity transportation.
However, the current situation is that Datong Prefecture has established several escort agencies, but they are still too weak compared to the strength of the robbers.
What they meant was that the garrison of the Datong Prefecture would train the escort agency's logo, and they even wanted to purchase firearms from the Dai Wangfu to strengthen the caravan's self-protection capabilities.
"Mr. Liu, what do you think about purchasing firearms?" Zhu Gui asked this question to Liu Jing.
What Liu Jing just told was an objective description of the development of the Datou Chamber of Commerce, and was not mixed with personal opinions. That's why Zhu Gui asked this question.
"Back to the prince, I feel that we should be cautious about firearms, because once the firearms are leaked, they may pose a very serious threat to the prince. We should avoid this at all costs." Unexpectedly, Liu Jing actually stood in Zhu Gui's perspective.
After considering it, this point is very similar to Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude.
They all feared that the threat of firearms would have a very negative impact on the royal family.
Before Zhu Gui expressed his opinion, someone immediately stood up and said, "Mr. Liu, are you worrying too much? The development of firearms is the general trend. Our caravan's purchase of firearms is just following the trend, so why bother with other issues?"
"That's right, even if firearms are flowing out, they may not necessarily flow out from our caravan, so why bother to hold on to this?"
"Yes, only firearms can teach those arrogant robbers a lesson now."
Everyone started a heated discussion, but the mainstream opinion still wanted to buy firearms from Prince Dai's Mansion to deal with the threat of robbers.
Faced with everyone's objections, Liu Jing said calmly: "You only think about the benefits of firearms, but have you ever thought about what we should use once the robbers get hold of the firearms?"
Liu Jing's question made everyone look at each other in confusion. They had not considered how to deal with the robbers having firearms.
The scene became a little awkward for a while.
"Okay." Faced with this situation, Zhu Gui finally spoke.
"I have heard everyone's opinions, but I think Mr. Liu's idea is indeed worthy of consideration. Firearms must not be easily leaked out, and starting from today, firearms control will be implemented in Yunzhou. No individual is allowed to hide or use firearms.
, once discovered, must be severely punished.”
Zhu Gui expressed his attitude.
The expressions of everyone in the room were a little complicated, but as a prince and a local vassal, Zhu Gui did have the right to issue decrees, but some people had some ideas about this decree.
Zhu Gui can also understand the thoughts of these people. After all, even in later generations, there are differences in many countries on whether to ban or hold guns.
Not to mention that the environment around Datong Mansion at this time is not considered safe, which is a threat to the chamber of commerce and caravans.
Therefore, if Zhu Gui cannot solve this threat, some people will doubt his authority.
In response to this problem, Zhu Gui continued: "As for the problem of bandits and robbers, I have already thought of a solution."
When everyone heard Zhu Gui's words, they immediately became energetic. This was a matter related to their vital interests.
"The emperor has allowed me to form three bodyguards. This article can mobilize two thousand bodyguards to form a team dedicated to suppressing bandits. What do you think?"
Zhu Gui said very confidently.
Everyone's faces showed joy when they heard this.
"Okay, I believe what the prince says. The prince has never let us down so far. Is that right?"
"Yes, I also agree with the prince's approach, but I don't know when this bandit suppression team can start working?"
Facing the expectant looks of everyone, Zhu Gui had no choice but to say: "Establishing the three guards is not something that can be completed in a short time, but I can first let the Yunzhou Army carry out the work of suppressing bandits. Let's do this. Starting from tomorrow, the guards of Datong Prefecture will
The defending army and the Yunzhou Army began to take turns to suppress the bandits."
With Zhu Gui's assurance, everyone nodded. This problem could be considered a solution, but the effect would depend on future results.
"Mr. Liu, are there any other problems with the development of the Datong Chamber of Commerce?" Zhu Gui looked at Liu Jing and continued to ask.
Liu Jing nodded and said: "The scale of development of the Chamber of Commerce is really too fast. Many product categories are duplicated. In some areas, vicious competition has developed. If not managed, the development of the Chamber of Commerce is likely to be restricted."
Zhu Gui nodded, but acknowledged what the other party said.
Although he is not very good at the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, compared to the experts of later generations, compared to these businessmen of this era, he can be regarded as crushing.