The name on the greeting card was Pu Shougeng, the head of the Pu family in Quanzhou, Fujian Road.
Yuan Ji also smiled and said: "It came quickly enough."
"Well, Jun Shi, you take Zhang Shijie and leave first. Xiao Tian, let Pu Shougeng come up."
After a while, Xiao Tian led the two of them up to the second floor, made a gesture to me, turned around, closed the door and left.
This Pu Shougeng is tall. Although he is over sixty years old, his face is red and energetic. From the appearance, he does look like a Westerner in many places. He has bearded hair, a high nose and blue eyes, typical characteristics of a Westerner. Together with Pu Shougeng
The one who went upstairs was his son Pu Wenfeng. Relatively speaking, Pu Wenfeng's appearance was basically the same as that of Han Chinese.
Pu Wenfeng returned to Quanzhou that day and told Pu Shougeng what happened in Fuzhou. Pu Shougeng was immediately panicked after hearing this. According to Pu Wenfeng, he did not dare to discuss it with others. After thinking about it alone for a night, Pu Shougeng took Pu Wenfeng to Fuzhou and
After talking secretly with Chen Xinshu for half a day, he immediately took Pu Wenfeng and Pu Wenyong with him and set off north to Lin'an.
Pu Shougeng was confirmed by Chen Xinshu that Mr. Huyan of Shifeng Trading Company in the capital was the current emperor. With Pu Shougeng's knowledge, he felt that good and bad fortunes were unpredictable. It has been said since ancient times that businessmen do not fight with officials. What's more, Chen Xinshu also said that the current emperor's magnanimity
Extraordinary, with a keen mind, far better than the late emperor Lizong. After weighing the pros and cons, Pu Shougeng made a decision in a very short time and went north to the capital to meet Mr. Huyan.
Pu Shougeng knew that whether it was true or not was only a matter of the emperor's thoughts. No matter how powerful the Pu family was in Quanzhou, they were far from being enemies of the imperial court. Instead of waiting for death, it was better to take the initiative, so that there would be a chance. Since the emperor gave Chen Xinshu a chance
, and released Pu Wenfeng, which showed that the emperor did not want to get rid of the Pu family. Pu Shougeng had been in the shopping malls and officialdom for decades, so he naturally understood the importance and was able to recognize current affairs.
According to the normal historical process, decades after the Pu family was demoted to the Yuan Dynasty, the descendants of the Pu family actually maintained a large power and competed with the Yuan Ting for profit. The Yuan Ting sent troops to invade Quanzhou, causing serious damage to the Hui and Islam in Quanzhou.
"Every man from the Western Regions will be wiped out. Anyone with a beard or a high nose will be killed accidentally. He will be executed behind closed doors for three days." The descendants of the Pu family thought they were righteous. If they had half the wisdom of Pu Shougeng, they would not have ruined their families.
After entering the capital, Pu Shougeng left Pu Wenyong near Shifeng Trading Company and warned that if he and Pu Wenfeng could not get out, Pu Wenyong would immediately return to Quanzhou, Fujian, pass the title of head of the family to Pu Shoucheng, and end the business.
No need to ask why.
Pu Wenfeng met me when he was in Fuzhou. After entering the house, he took his father and knelt down with him. He kowtowed three times respectfully and said: "Caomin Pu Shougeng, Caomin Pu Shiwen (Pu Wenfeng's courtesy name Shiwen) pays homage to Mr. Huyan."
.”
"Pu Shougeng?" I sat on the chair and looked at Pu Shougeng.
"Young Master, you are a common man."
Regarding Pu Shougeng, I have not thought about how to deal with it.
As one of the largest traders in the Song Dynasty, Pu's Trading Company contributed to the revitalization of Quanzhou's economy and even the export trade of the entire Song Dynasty. The Pu family was a typical official businessman. Although Pu Shougeng only served as the governor of Quanzhou for three years
Although he was a shipping company, he was able to "be good at profiteering for nearly thirty years", so he could obtain profits through various "legal" means. His firm had a monopoly on overseas trade such as Quanzhou spices for nearly 30 years. Later generations recorded that the Pu family "used
The good merchants traveled to and fro on the sea, resulting in a fortune of tens of thousands and a family of thousands of children." This shows the power of the Pu Shougeng family.
Judging from the development of the Pu family, they followed a path of combining government and business. According to later generations, their path to fortune was through massive bribery of officials, collusion between government and business, and the evasion of huge tariffs, forming a
The top-down relationship network, from the small inspection of the Quanzhou Shipbuilding Department to the multiple production envoys on Fujian Road, has been pulled into this network by the Pu family. On Fujian Road, it can be said that this network is the real "production envoy"
". Chen Xinshu once confessed that a large part of the reason why he was able to obtain the high position of Fujian Road Deputy Envoy was the "care" from the Pu family.
"Hu Xueyan, Lai Changxing and others who are well-known in later generations may have learned from Pu Shougeng." I thought.
"Pu Shougeng, according to the laws of our dynasty, what are the crimes for bribing officials and evading taxes?" For the "bad guys" I want to recover, I usually give them the stick first and then the carrot.
"Sir, if the amount is huge, you can be sentenced to death." Pu Shougeng said in a low voice.
"Then have you considered whether you are worthy of the death penalty?"
"Sir, the common people are aware of their sins." Pu Shougeng paid his respects.
"Now that you know your crime, you still dare to come to Beijing to see me. You are really brave."
Pu Shougeng bowed again and said: "Young Master is the true Dragon Emperor, who has inherited the destiny. The common people would rather know the death penalty and dare to come to see him. Even if the young master is sentenced to death, the common people want to see the young master's dragon face before they die and listen to it."
Young Master’s teachings will not be in vain in this life.”
"Really? If you meet me once and listen to a few words from me, you will die without any complaints?"
"Yes, sir."
"Pu Shougeng, do you think I will kill you?" I said with a straight face.
"Young master, the common people think that you don't know how to do this," Pu Shougeng said without hesitation.
Pu Shougeng remembered clearly that before entering the capital, Chen Xinshu warned him earnestly that the emperor was extremely wise and must not play tricks in front of him. No matter whether it was right or wrong, even if it was a matter of beheading, the truth must be told.
This way there is a glimmer of hope.
I was slightly surprised and said, "Oh, the reason?"
Pu Shougeng seemed to be confident and said: "Young Master, please forgive the common people for speaking frankly. The common people are still valuable to the Young Master."
I stared at Pu Shougeng expressionlessly, and after a long time I laughed: "Haha, good on you Pu Shougeng. Get up, sit down and talk."
"Thank you, Mr. Pu." Pu Shougeng stood up to thank the gift and sat down with Pu Wenfeng. At this time, Pu Shougeng was sweating profusely, and his clothes were almost soaked through. However, he finally relaxed a little, and he had passed the first level.
Although Pu Shougeng has a strong body, he is old after all. After kneeling on the ground for most of the day, he still felt pain in his waist and back. After sitting down, he took a breath for a while before returning to normal.
"Pu Shougeng, since you guessed that I won't kill you, then guess what I will do to you?"
Pu Shougeng did not speak immediately, but took out a light gray book from his arms, stood in front of me, raised his hands and said: "Young Master, this is the financial balance and expenditure of my Pu family. Please take a look at it."
When Xiao Qi saw me nodding, he walked up to me, took it and handed it to me.
I immediately opened the booklet and read it. The booklet mainly recorded two aspects. One was the Pu family’s total income over the years as of the end of last month, and the other was the list of people who participated in the Pu family’s profit sharing. The Pu family’s total income
It is truly astonishing. In addition to evading huge tariffs, it cannot but be said that the Pu family is well-run, and the list of participants in the share show the loyalty Pu Shougeng expressed to me.
You must know that once this roster is handed over to me, there will be no way for Pu Shougeng to look back. Any official on this list can crush the Pu family to death. Needless to say the big officials on Fujian Road such as Chen Xinshu and others, others
For example, Xia Jing, the commander of the left wing army of the Three Generations of Armed Forces, Sima of Quanzhou, Tian Zhenzi who was responsible for army mobilization, Lin Chunzi who was responsible for city defense, and Yan Bolu of the Quanzhou family, who lived in Quanzhou for a long time, are all tycoons in the Quanzhou officialdom. Others include Pu Shougeng's party aide Sun Shengfu,
You Yongxian, Wang Yu, Jin Yong, etc. are all marked in detail on this list.
Pu Shougeng was gambling. This was the biggest and most difficult gamble in his life. He used all his belongings to bet on the safety of the Pu family. However, the outcome of this gamble completely depended on the Emperor of the Song Dynasty who was sitting opposite him. Pu Shougeng took the initiative to choose
This bet, but he has no ability to influence the course of the bet.
"If you don't bet, you will be dead. If you bet, there may be a chance of survival." At this time, Pu Shougeng calmed down and waited quietly for me to announce the result of the bet.