In the busy life, time often flies by very quickly, and more than ten days pass by in a flash.
First of all, after receiving Shang Yi's invitation, Lin Chen from Lin's Shop immediately came to Mulingguan from Qingzhou. He evaluated Shang Yi's inventory of valuables and calculated that the total value was between 230,000 and 270,000. Between two taels of silver. After negotiation between the two parties, the transaction was concluded at a total price of 200,000 taels of silver. Although it seemed that Shang Yi had suffered a loss, he was eager to realize the cash on the one hand, and he also wanted to leave a certain profit margin for the other party. , so there is nothing to be dissatisfied with.
Although the price was agreed upon, Lin Chen also pointed out that the Qingzhou branch of the Lin family did not have the ability to eat all the items in one go. They could only pay Shang Yi in installments, and of course they could also pick up the goods in batches.
Shang Yi had no objection to this point. After all, in any era, there were not many businessmen who dared to cheat the government. Therefore, Shang Yi simply suggested that the Lin family shop could pick up the goods in two installments and settle the bill every two months in the future. One time, 40,000 taels of silver each time, settled in five installments. After the second settlement, the remaining half of the goods can be taken away.
Lin Chen naturally agreed to such favorable conditions. At the same time, Shang Yi also proposed that the payment method would be half silver and half rice, and the rice could be divided at the price of four taels and one stone, which means that each payment is actually 20,000 taels of silver and Five thousand shi of rice. Lin Chen estimated that although in Shandong and Hebei areas, the price of rice remained at a high level of six to eight taels per shi, in the Jiangnan area, it was actually only about 2 taels. Even after deducting freight and losses, there are still It was quite a profit, so I agreed immediately.
For Shang Yi, these things can be exchanged for one hundred thousand taels of silver and twenty-five thousand stone meters, which is also a very ideal result. This business can be said to be a win-win result.
After negotiating the price and payment method, Lin Chen immediately returned to Qingzhou to prepare silver and rice and prepare to pay the first payment.
At the same time, Fu Fanji, a missionary who led a team to explore the iron ore mines in Zibo, also sent a reply. He found out that he had surveyed an abandoned mining site. It turned out that this mining site was originally built by the local people, but the Qing army During the attack, the mine owner was killed, the miners fled and were caught, and production was completely stopped. In fact, it was a complete mining site with various factories and buildings, and some mining equipment could be used. It only required a small investment. With some funds, it can be put into operation immediately. Lao Cheng Yi Jing started to take action, but there was a lack of mining workers. Only sixteen people were hired locally, so Shang Yi needed to mobilize a large number of labor forces.
After receiving this news, Shang Yi was very happy, because now he had a ready labor force on hand, that is, the prisoners of the Qing army. In addition to the 200 people sent to Beijing as prisoners, there were still a total of 683 left. People are now working as coolies in Muling Pass. However, the infrastructure construction of Muling Pass has basically been completed, and this group of people will soon have nothing to do. Mining will come in handy. Although Shang Yi does not advocate killing prisoners, But for this group of people, we still have to limit all their surplus value, which can be considered very humanitarian.
Therefore, Shang Yi immediately ordered a company of soldiers to escort 300 captives to work as coolies in the mines. This company was also stationed in the mines, responsible for monitoring these captive coolies and protecting the safety of the mines. The remaining The prisoners below are temporarily staying in Muling Pass to prepare for the future sapphire mining in Changle.
As soon as this matter was settled, Meng Honggong, the outgoing prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture, Han Zhi, the newly appointed prefect, and Xiao Wenjun came to Mulingguan together. Firstly, they visited Shang Yi, and secondly, they also brought the news that had just been sent to Qingzhou from the imperial court.
Official documents from the government.
It turned out that after Zeng Hualong's recommendation, Han Zhi and Xiao Wenjun, one of whom was appointed as the prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture, and the other was appointed as the prefect of Jinan Prefecture, both got the opportunity to be promoted. However, whether they left office or took office, they were all favored by Shang Yi.
Therefore, drinking water and thinking about the source, it is natural to come and see Shang Yi. Shang Yi is about to start mining in these two places, and the two newly appointed prefects are his acquaintances, so of course it is the best.
In the official document sent by the court, everyone was granted official positions in response to Shang Yi's request. However, the Beijing court also urged Shang Yi to prepare as soon as possible and strive to send troops as soon as possible. It turned out that Wu Di could not withstand Chongzhen's repeated requests.
He will leave Beijing at the end of May to go south to supervise the division and set up his frontline stronghold in Luzhou. Therefore, he urgently hopes that Shang Yi can send troops south as soon as possible.
After Shang Yi read the official document, he threw it aside and ignored it. Now that he has returned to his own three-thirds of an acre of land, it is naturally my territory and I have the final say. Should I leave the clan? It is up to me to decide.
At the same time, Shang Yi also received another news: Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of the cabinet, was ordered to commit suicide by Chongzhen's order.
It turned out that after Shang Yi left Beijing, Jin Yiwei collected a large amount of evidence that Zhou Yanru lied about military information in Tongzhou and submitted it to Chongzhen. Naturally, Chongzhen was furious, but at this time Chongzhen did not intend to kill Zhou Yanru, but just dismissed him.
When he returned home, he also thought of his meritorious service and gave him a hundred taels of silver as his travel expenses back home.
But it just happened that on the day when Chongzhen issued an order to depose Zhou Yanru, he spent the night in the palace of his favorite Concubine Tian, and unexpectedly discovered that Concubine Tian's embroidered shoes were actually embroidered with the words "Zhou Yanru worships". This time
But Chongzhen was offended. He immediately denounced Concubine Tian and should not associate with foreign ministers. At the same time, he immediately issued an order to order Zhou Yanru to commit suicide. He also replaced Zhou Yanru as the chief minister of the cabinet with Chen Yan.
Concubine Tian also fell out of favor, and died in depression in July. The power of the country's abbot Tian Hongyu naturally declined too much, and she never recovered. As a result, the disappearance of Chen Yuanyuan from Tian's mansion was also submerged in this series of major national affairs.
It didn't attract anyone's attention at all. Wu Sangui also arrived at Shanhaiguan and took office. Ming Dynasty was still like another time and space, sliding step by step into the abyss.
Although Shang Yi knew this result from experience, he still felt a little sigh after actually knowing it. However, due to his own intervention, history has still undergone some subtle changes, and at least two people's results have completely changed. One is
Chen Yuanyuan, she no longer has to bear the crime of being a beautiful woman; and the other one is Wu Hong. In another time and space, he finally completely annoyed Chongzhen because he refused to go south to supervise the division. In August of this year, he was sent to Yunnan.
Xu Jin's tooth guard has completely disappeared since then. But now Wu Di is out of the capital to supervise the division and is still active on the big stage in the late Ming Dynasty.
After sighing, Shang Yi warmly received the three people, ordered a banquet, and invited Zhou Shiqi and Tang Zhen to accompany him. After three drinks, the atmosphere gradually became lively, and Shang Yi proposed to Han Zhi and Xiao Wenjun
, he planned to open mines in Zibo and Changle, and asked the two new prefects to provide convenience, and Han Zhi and Xiao Wenjun also agreed.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty has always practiced the principle of civil servants respecting military officials and controlling generals. Therefore, although Shang Yi was a second-grade military attache, his actual status was lower than that of a fourth-grade prefect. If it were normal times, Shang Yi should have taken the initiative.
It's right to meet Han Zhicai. But now the world is in chaos, civil servants are worthless, and military generals are popular. As a result, everything has been reversed. Now Jinan Prefecture and Qingzhou Prefecture have to rely on Shang Yi's protection. Although they know that the court prohibits private mining, the two newly appointed
The prefects can only turn a blind eye and forget about it. Besides, they can't take care of it even if they want to. So what can they do if they don't care.
However, Han Zhi and Xiao Wenjun also took the opportunity to ask Shang Yi for help in clearing out the bandits in Qingzhou and Jinan.
There were originally three large-scale bandits in Qingzhou, namely Lao Miaozi from Baihu Mountain, Jueshan Hu from Shahugou, and Lao Luotuo from Qinglang Peak. When Shang Yi established a militia, Lao Luotuo was wiped out.
During the rescue of Gunzhou, Jueshanhu defected to the bandits and was maimed. Now there is still the old Miaozi from Baihushan, who is the strongest of the three groups of bandits. In addition, after the Qing army looted,
Because many people had no choice but to turn to thieves, they looted their homes and villages. Therefore, this was also the most troublesome problem faced by Han Zhi and Xiao Wenjun after they took office.
Shang Yi listened and agreed. Although he would lead his troops south, he would still leave at least one regiment of troops and a reconnaissance company in Muling Pass, which was enough to deal with the bandits. At the same time, he would wipe out the bandits.
You can also get some food supplies, although it's only a small part, but it's better than nothing.
Seeing Shang Yi agree, they both breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little more confident, so they started drinking happily again.
After drinking a few more glasses of wine, Meng Honggong said: "General Shang, I have a daughter who is 17 years old and has not yet been married. I have always admired military men, so I have always wanted to find a military general for my daughter.
I don’t know if the general has a general of the same age as my daughter under his command. I would be very grateful to be able to accomplish this beautiful thing."
Shang Yi was also startled. He did not expect that Meng Honggong planned to find a son-in-law among his generals.
Because the status of military generals in the Ming Dynasty was very low, let alone a general, even a dignified general, he was not as good as a fourth-grade prefect or a fifth-grade prefect. Therefore, Meng Honggong's so-called admiration for military personnel is absolutely nonsense. But now is a troubled time, and
I don’t know when it will end, but military generals have become popular. Everyone has made friends with several powerful military generals. This was exactly the case when Tian Hong met Lalong, Wu Sangui and Shang Yi. Meng Honggong wanted to use this kind of marriage to build a better relationship with Shang Yi.
for a close relationship.
Although according to Meng Honggong's idea, the most ideal result is to marry his daughter to Shang Yi. But Shang Yi married a wife, and when he came back from Beijing this time, he also brought back a beautiful concubine. Meng Honggong is also a concubine after all.
The provincial chief envoy would never give his daughter to Shang Yi as a concubine, let alone a second concubine. He had no choice but to retreat and marry one of Shang Yi's generals, which was also considered as Shang Yi's.
There is a place to stand in the group.
Although the effect of this will be worse, and it can only be regarded as a peripheral member of Shang Yi Group at most, from another perspective, it can advance, attack, retreat or defend, and the room for maneuver is much larger.
If he loses power, or the trend of the court changes, he can still escape as soon as possible to save himself. If he really marries his daughter into a merchant, he will be completely tied to Shang Yi, sharing weal and woe. So this is not a bad idea.