Chapter 112 New Business
"Daming Foreign Trade Group? Daming Bank? Is Chen Cao really thinking about it? Does he really think that the eunuch can do whatever he wants now that he has the power?"
The Chengyi Mansion can be said to be the oldest noble residence in Nanjing since Liu Ji became the uncle. Judging from the history books of later generations, the Chengyi Mansion has a deep-rooted foundation in Nanjing.
Liu Kongzhao looked meaningfully at Pu Xiang, who came to work as a lobbyist, then picked up the tea cup and said: "Brother Pu, I'm not telling you that if you follow them, there will be no good results. If you don't believe me, just wait and see."
If Pu Xiang didn't understand this situation, it wouldn't be possible, so he stood up and raised his hands towards Liu Kongzhao: "Brother Liu, I'm going to leave now and stay..."
"Sincerity Uncle Liu Kongzhao is the lord who attacked last year. This guy is really not a good guy. According to the information collected by his subordinates in various commercial banks, this guy is a serious man. Last year, the thug in the gambling house under his name was beaten. Shangyuan County did not dare to take care of his death, so the victim complained to Yingtian Mansion. This guy was a good guy. He was one of his own, so he gave him one tael of silver to get rid of the problem." Zhao Xin said and laughed awkwardly: "One tael of silver. It’s not even enough to bury people.”
Chen Cao and Zhao Xin stood not far outside the gate of Uncle Chengyi's Mansion. They saw Pu Xiang walking out of the gate, looking a little unhappy, so they hurried forward and called Pu Xiang.
Pu Xiang turned around and saw that it was Chen Cao who was coming, so he handed over his hand and said, "Brother, I'm ashamed... I really underestimated him, Liu Kongzhao."
Chen Cao smiled slightly, and then said: "Yesterday, the Duke sent someone to deliver a message and told me about this guy. Otherwise, I wouldn't come to him personally today."
When the servant guarding the door saw another man wearing an earl's uniform, he hurriedly walked down the steps to Chen Cao, bowed and said, "I have little eyesight. I wonder which uncle is here?"
Zhao Xin was dressed in a crimson flying fish robe, holding his head high and holding a sword: "This is Uncle Dingwu."
The servant hurriedly saluted: "I have seen Uncle Dingwu now. Uncle Dingwu came to my house, but he wants to see my uncle?"
Zhao Xin said again: "Go and tell your uncle Chengyi that Uncle Dingwu will come to visit."
Pu Xiang was too embarrassed to go again, and Chen Cao didn't want to take him with him, so he asked him to leave first, and took Zhao Xin into Uncle Chengyi's mansion.
Liu Kongzhao stood at the door of the lobby and bowed his hands to Chen Cao very politely: "Brother Chen, you are really a rare visitor to my residence..."
Although Chen Cao and Liu Kongzhao were both earls, there were differences in levels. The title of Liu Kongzhao was much higher than that of Chen Cao.
The titles of the Ming Dynasty were divided into Kaiguo and Jingnan. Under Jingnan, they were divided into three categories: Fengtian Jingnan, Fengtian Yiyun, and Fengtian Yiwei. The most honorable was naturally the founding auxiliary Yun Gong Hou Bo, although he was not sincere. The renewal was during the Jiajing period, but the title of renewal was still Uncle Tuicheng Chengyi, the founding auxiliary of the country, which was much higher than Chen Cao, the Fengtian Yiwei Tuicheng Dingwu Bo. Besides, to be honest, the title of Chen Cao It is the lowest grade in terms of title.
Therefore, when Chen Cao met Liu Kongzhao, he had to bow.
After all, in this era of seniority ranking, it is very important.
"I've met Uncle Chengyi." After Chen Cao saluted, he became normal: "Uncle Liu, I'm here this time to discuss business with you."
Since we are talking about business, Chen Cao will not be polite to him, so he said: "Uncle Chengyi, the Marquis of Jinshan has come to see you before, Uncle Chengyi. I wonder if he told you my plan?"
Seriously speaking, Liu Kongzhao had no interest in Chen Cao, but now he wanted to integrate his business with others and then distribute his own profits to others. This kind of scapegoat could only be done by a small business like Pu Xiang. Young people are stupid and have a lot of money to do it.
"It's not that I don't want to do business with you, Brother Chen. It's just that my business is small. As you know, it's just some restaurants and banks. They only earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year. Plus there should be a lot of money every year." There is not much money left in my house. You see, my house is also big. There are more than two hundred servants and maids, and the expenses are not small. If there is no income for a month, my house will have no income. It won’t work.”
Liu Kongzhao seemed to be complaining, but he was actually telling Chen Cao that he didn't want to do any business at all.
Chen Cao has been treated like this since then. Of course, there is nothing he can do, so he can only implement the second plan. So he smiled coldly and said: "Uncle Sincerity, Chen came here this time because he wanted to protect the country." For my sake, I invited Uncle Chengyi to come in and share a piece of pastry, but Uncle Chengyi insisted on not doing business together, and Chen would not force me. If there is anything I can’t do with my business in the future, please bear with me. .”
"Are you threatening me?" Liu Kongzhao immediately changed his face and looked at Chen Cao with a cold expression.
When Chen Cao saw this, he immediately showed a harmless smile: "Sincerity, please don't misunderstand me. I believe Jinshan Hou has just carefully told you about the business plan of our bank and company, especially the bank, which involves lending businesses such as banks." , if there is a conflict with Mr. Chengyi’s voice, please don’t be angry, Mr. Chengyi. In business, there must be competition, but Chen here assures Mr. Cheng that this kind of competition must be healthy competition and will never be suppressed maliciously. .”
People say that you should not hit someone with a smiling face. When Liu Kongzhao saw Chen Cao laughing, he was not too angry, so he said: "I know that business is naturally competitive."
Chen Cao stood up and handed over his hands: "Chen said goodbye," turned to leave and then turned around: "By the way, you might as well tell Uncle Chengyi that the people involved in Chen's bank are Bao Guogong, Wei Guogong, Jinshan Hou, and Yingyang You four, I originally expected you to be sincere, but... alas..."
After saying that, Chen Cao left. Liu Kongzhao's expression changed immediately after hearing this, and then he frowned.
...
"Uncle..." Shen Zhuangling stood in front of the bank and greeted Chen Cao personally.
'Da Ming Bank' has just been open for two days, and the business involved is not too extensive. The most important thing now is preparation. There are six big seals printed next to the huge gold-lettered signboard, which are 'Wei Guo Gong Seal' and 'Bao Guo Gong Seal' , 'Xin Guo Gong Seal', 'Zheng Guo Gong Seal', 'Jinshan Hou Seal', 'Ying Yang Hou Seal'. Chen Cao is the boss and shareholder, so naturally he doesn't need to put his seal on it.
There are so many noble seals on the plaque. Anyone who wants to touch the Daming Bank must weigh the importance. The reason why Xin Guogong and Zheng Guogong are included is because Xu Hongji mediates it. Chen Cao thought that since Liu Kongzhao is the strongest If you don't want to invest in shares, then add a few more of them. With their help in the future, the bank will run more efficiently.
Chen Cao walked around the bank twice, then sat down in the reception room, looked at Shen Zhuangling and said, "Good news, Shen Lingmin is already in Jiangxi. Jin Yiwei will escort them all the way. It will take up to ten days for them to arrive by boat at Poyang Lake." .”
Shen Zhuangling immediately knelt down in excitement: "I thank you uncle..."
"Get up. Your affairs are my, Chen Cao's, affairs. I will take care of them for you naturally." Chen Cao took a sip of tea and said, "Have you made any arrangements for what I asked you to prepare?"
"The six nobles' cash was shipped yesterday, totaling three million taels. Uncle, your two million taels were shipped by Zhang Baihu himself a few days ago. They are now stored in the warehouse in the backyard, waiting for you. Uncle, please give me the order." Shen Zhuangling handed the account book to Chen Cao.
Chen Cao didn't look at it either. He trusted Shen Zhuangling, so he put the account book aside, looked at Zhao Xin behind him and said, "How about the things I asked you to do?"
Zhao Xin bowed: "My subordinates arrested seventeen gang leaders of various sizes in Jinling City for the crime of collaborating with Japanese invaders. They also invited the gang leaders from Nanzhili near Jinling to the Zhenfu Division. After some threats from Lao Xu, these people have promised to They won’t cause any trouble to our bank.”
"Well," Chen Cao tapped his fingers on the table: "These young men should be careful not to let them become the guns used to frame us. You have to watch carefully. If any young man dares to cause trouble, the people behind him must find out."
"yes..."
Chen Cao said and looked at Shen Zhuangling again: "Have you figured out all the gambling houses and banks in Jinling City? Have you investigated the black markets for lending money?"
Shen Zhuangling Fu Shen said: "I have all been clarified and recorded in the books. With the help of Mr. Zhao, no one has been missed."
"Well, what's the interest rate on the market?"
Shen Zhuangling registered the summarized information in a book and handed it to Chen Cao: "The profit in Jinling City is okay. It is recognized on the market that the profit is three points, the black market is four points and six points, the highest in Shangyuan is six points, and the profit in Jiangning is four points. Generally speaking, it is not Over six points.”
"How can a poor family repay six cents of profit?" Chen Cao frowned.
Zhao Xin whispered: "Uncle, I don't know. Black market lenders usually conduct on-site inspections. If there are only men in the family, the loan money is generally not high. If there are women, it will be more. If there is no land to finance, it will be more." , we can only sign a deed of sale and sell the woman to a brothel."
"This kind of culture is not good," Chen Cao shook his head: "So many families have been ruined and died because of this. If our Ming Dynasty wants to prosper, we must take good care of the lending issue, otherwise..."
"Uncle, how can we customize the profit?" Shen Zhuangling asked.
Chen Cao knocked on the table and then asked: "How do they repay the loan?"
"It varies from place to place," Xin Zhao replied: "Generally speaking, repayments are half a month or a month, but they all have a standard, which is to lend money to businessmen, and repayments usually take ten days."
"Ten days?" Chen Cao frowned.
Shen Zhuangling nodded: "My uncle doesn't know that when I was in Yunnan, the local black market loan merchants had to repay the loans within seven days. Some commercial banks were unable to turn over funds for a while and were forced to go bankrupt. Their supplies were often obtained by the black market. If you lend one hundred taels, you can earn one thousand taels, and the time does not exceed twenty days. Some of the black market funds for lending are even released by business rivals to deliberately harass the other party."
"No wonder..." Chen Cao nodded thoughtfully: "The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and those who want to stand up will die faster, hehe..."
As long as Chen Cao smiles, nothing good will happen. Zhao Xin has long been used to it, and sure enough.
"Da Ming Bank, with all of you joining us, is a business, but overall it is a job that benefits the people. Naturally, we will not make money from poor people. Of course, we must also make money from businessmen with peace of mind. Otherwise, I will establish this Banks are no different from those people who take advantage of shady money..."
