When it got dark, almost the entire Yangzhou city knew that the eunuch of Dongchang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, the chief soldier of Xuzhou, and the prefect of Yangzhou were guests at Wang's house at this time.
Naturally, the highest standards must be met when entertaining distinguished guests. For example, the Wang family invited the most famous chef in Yangzhou City, and brought out the fine Fenjiu wine that had been collected for decades to entertain the guests. Gao Jie screamed excitedly, secretly glad that he did not run away in the afternoon. Go out and "watch" Kuang Ren and the others.
The conversation continued during the dinner, mainly about Chang Yu and the Wang brothers further discussing cooperation matters. The others were really just accompanying the guests. After all, it was Chang Yu’s personal matter and the big one was Dongchang’s official business. No one else dared to intervene at will. .
In the end, Chang Yu and the Wang family decided on two business cooperations at the dinner table. The Yangzhou branch of Daming Bank was fully owned by the Wang family, with a 20% commission from the head office. The Wang family was also designated as the general distributor of Yangzhou official salt, with its own professional personnel for specific matters. Come back and contact us later. Of course, we may cooperate on other businesses in the future.
To be honest, just these two things are enough to take the Wang family's business to the next level. You must know that in this era, the Grand Canal is an important logistics channel for merchants, and opening a national chain bank in an important town like Yangzhou can imagine the business. Not to mention the salt industry, which was strictly controlled by the imperial court.
The Fan family was so grateful for this pie that fell from the sky that they insisted on donating some food and salary to the court to show their gratitude. They really let Chang Yu shirk him no matter what, but the two brothers refused to comply and even asked to donate 100,000 taels of silver. As expected, they were very wealthy. Very.
Do you think Chang Yu really doesn’t want it?
How can it be!
Fools don’t want it for free! The reason why he repeatedly declined was just to play hard to get and to get more from others: "Well, since the two are so thoughtful, I would like to thank you for your kindness on behalf of the people, soldiers and the court of the Ming Dynasty, but I...hey, that's not the case now either. If you are an outsider, I will tell you straight away. The first business of Daming Bank Yangzhou Branch should be done to me."
The Wang Zhaoyi brothers were immediately confused, and Shi Kefa and others were also at a loss. What are you talking about? Why do you want to do your business if you haven't even written your horoscope yet?
Ren Minyu reacted quickly: "Could it be that the governor wants to borrow money from the Yangzhou branch?" This sentence woke up the dreamer, and everyone came to their senses.
Chang Yu did not deny it: "You all know the current situation of the imperial court better than the governor. We need money and food, but there are endless natural and man-made disasters, especially in the capital area. A large amount of grain was originally stored in Xuzhou for the army to go south, but all of it had to be transported back to Beijing for relief. It was a drop in the bucket..." Everyone's faces were solemn after hearing this.
At the end, Chang Yu sighed: "I would like to borrow a million from you two to purchase grain and provide relief to the capital."
million! Shi Kefa and Ren Minyu looked at each other and were surprised. This must be too much.
But Chang Yu's expression was calm. He believed that the Wang family could afford this small amount of money. The reason was very simple. They had bribed Duduo with 300,000 gold to stop him from killing innocent people.
Do you know how much three hundred thousand taels of gold is worth?
Some people would say three million taels of silver.
No, no, no, it's much more than that. The ratio of gold to gold and silver has never been fixed at one to ten since ancient times. In the Western Han Dynasty, the exchange rate was one to three. At that time, gold mining was difficult, and silver was equally difficult. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the exchange rate became one to ten, but in the Song Dynasty, it was one to thirteen, and on the eve of the Opium War, it was one to thirty. These data are not random talk, but have official historical records.
In the Ming Dynasty, especially in the late Ming Dynasty, it reached one to twenty. This is because the mining speed of gold is far slower than that of silver. Secondly, because the international price ratio of gold and silver has always exceeded that of China, so at least since the Ming Dynasty, there have been a large number of Foreigners transported silver to China and then converted it into gold and shipped it out, making the price of silver in China lower and lower and the price of gold higher and higher.
Therefore, the 300,000 gold bribed by the Wang family to Duduo at that time was equivalent to at least five to six million silver. Of course, that may be the entire Wang family's wealth, so Chang Yu only borrowed one million.
Sure enough, the Wang brothers did not disappoint Chang Yu: "Does the governor want cash in cash, or the equivalent in grain?"
This is the vision and mind of businessmen. First of all, Chang Yu gave them the opportunity to invest in shares and make big money. You can't refuse people's requests due to circumstances or reasons, let alone asking for a loan or not.
Secondly, there are so many big shots testifying that given the young eunuch's character and the fact that he represents the imperial court, it is absolutely impossible for him to rely on this debt. If he wanted to, he would just smuggle the loan directly instead of using the account of the Ming Dynasty Bank.
So since they have this ability, of course they have to do this business, not only do it but also do it beautifully. If you want money, I will give you money, if you want food, I will help you purchase it, and if you borrow it, I will donate it. One hundred thousand taels and one penny is quite a lot.
These words really made Chang Yu happy and grateful. He stood up and toasted the Wang brothers with wine. This was the first time he took the initiative to toast tonight and stood up. The Wang brothers were flattered and drank three large glasses of wine in a row.
People are in high spirits during happy events. Chang Yu, who usually drinks less, was dizzy after drinking tonight, but he still looked like he was not drunk. The Wang brothers put their arms around each other and had a short chat, which made Ren Min watch. Yu was stunned, Shi Kefa smiled bitterly and shook his head, Gao Jie rolled on the ground holding the wine jar, muttering I want ten...
It was the first time in his life that Chang Yu had drank Duan Fang. When he woke up, he was already in the Yamen guest room with a splitting headache. Lian Xin used a wet towel to apply on his forehead, but it didn't work. She also brought him some concentrated liquor that had been brewed long ago. Tea, I drank half the pot in one breath and squatted at the door with my head in my hands: "Whoever lets me drink again will have to chop him up."
"You can pull it. Yesterday I advised you to drink less. If you yelled at someone who wouldn't let you drink, you would chop him up..." Gao Jie came over at some point, looking top-heavy and hungover.
Chang Yu rolled his eyes: "Stop talking nonsense, before I got drunk, I clearly saw you rolling around on the ground with a wine jar..." Gao Jie blushed: "How is that possible? You must be dazzled by drinking too much..."
While the two were arguing with each other, Ren Minyu learned that Chang Yu came to see him when he woke up, and told him that Wang Zhaoyi had come to the Yamen early in the morning to greet him, and was waiting in the lobby at this time.
This made Chang Yu feel that the Wang brothers were really caring.
After washing up, it was almost noon. Chang Yu went to the lobby to see that only Wang Zhaoyi was there. He said that his brother Wang Zhaode was busy purchasing food. Chang Yu asked for details and learned that the Wang family had sent people to purchase everywhere. Anyway, whether it was along the river or The land along the river is a land of plenty. As long as you have money, you can receive food, and the prices are more reasonable than Octopus. This gave Chang Yu the idea of letting the Wang family do purchasing in the south of the Yangtze River as Octopus.
Wang Zhaoyi was very excited after hearing this and said that the matter was negotiable. The two of them were talking and it was dinner time before they knew it. Wang Zhaoyi invited Chang Yu to go to the Wang Mansion for a banquet again, but Chang Yu declined. He still had official business to deal with. Then Wang Zhaoyi was sent away, and someone from Octopus came to contact him about purchasing grain and grass.
The yamen had a light tea and light meal for lunch, but Gao Jie disappeared without a trace. Chang Yu, Shi Kefa and Ren Minyu chatted while eating. Shi Kefa asked when he was leaving, and Chang Yu frowned slightly: "They should be here too."
Shi Kefa and Ren Minyu were surprised: "What should have arrived?"
"You two will know later." Chang Yu gave it up and took a nap after lunch. He was about to wait for Lian Xin to go shopping for some items when a bodyguard came to report eagerly: someone brought it.
who?
Jiangyin Sangong, Yan Yingyuan, Jiangyin Dianshi, Chen Mingyu, Jiangyin Dianshi, Feng Houdun, Jiangyin Xundao.
What is a Dianshi? To put it simply, he is a handyman for the county magistrate. Although he is an official but not high-ranking or popular, he is responsible for arrests. He is an official in the prison with a monthly salary of one meter and three stones, similar to the auxiliary police in later generations?
But it was these three low-ranking officials who led the people of Jiangyin to fight to the death with the Tatars when the county magistrate, county magistrate, coastal defense, academic history and other leading groups in the yamen collectively resigned and left. For eighty-one days, everyone died in battle and martyred their country.
Chang Yu must use this kind of people. Although they are all unknown at this time, he must give them a platform to display their ambitions. Therefore, after he took charge of Dongchang, in addition to helping the emperor with some dirty work and gathering information, he also He also did two things, one, find people, and two, kill people.
Find some loyal people in history who bravely resisted the Tatars and sacrificed their lives for the country, and kill the two Japanese who led the way.
After all, the memory of the past life is limited, and many people have to go through contact before they can remember it. When they think of someone, they either find him or kill him. For example, when he was fighting in the Gyeonggi area before, he had no time to think about the people and things in the south until he settled Bai Wang this time. After returning to Nanjing, he realized that Jiangyin was not far from here. When he left Nanjing, he sent people to Jiangyin to find the three people who agreed to meet in Yangzhou. The three of them were in public office, so it was not difficult to find them.
Of course, when he ordered to go to Jiangyin to find Sangong, he also secretly ordered Jinyiwei and Dongchang to go to Henan to kill Fang Heng. Even before the Tatars conquered Henan, he had already taken the initiative to kneel down to greet Fang Heng, a Jinshi of the Ming Dynasty who was sent to Jiangyin as the new county magistrate. His level of disgust is no less disgusting than that of Sun Zhixian.
Yan Yingyuan and the other three people had the same reaction as others who were approached by Dongchang, which was panic. They didn't know what they had done that could alert Dongchang to come and get someone.
But they soon calmed down a bit, because they were not yoked, and the people were very polite along the way, saying only that someone wanted to see them in Yangzhou.
I just racked my brains along the way and couldn't figure out who wanted to see them, until I arrived in Yangzhou and met someone I never dreamed of, the eunuch of Dongchang.
Seeing that the three of them were in their prime, Chang Yu felt more and more fond of them. He immediately got to the point: "I want to give you three a future. Should you become an official or join the army?"
Not surprisingly, the three of them were stunned.
Pie in the sky falls out of nowhere, no one is confused. It's like a person begging for food on the street and suddenly being taken away by several people and met by a super rich man who told him that he was his father.
After a lot of effort, the three finally determined that this was not a prank, and that the other party wanted to give them a future for no reason, either as an official or in the army.
Being an official requires fame, and at least one must be above the rank of a civil servant. However, a civil servant can only be a small official below the county magistrate at most. If you are lucky, you can be a small county magistrate in a remote area.
Although the three of them have no fame, it is not a problem to be appointed as a county magistrate with a big backer like Chang Yu, but there are conditions, that is, they must be transferred to Henan and Hebei, which are the places that have suffered the most natural and man-made disasters in recent days.
The reason is very simple. The fact that these people died for their country shows that they have noble character. Even if they don't have outstanding talents, they will never harm the people under their rule.
If you choose to join the army, it is naturally impossible to be a general. First, the general or general Qian can be trained in the army and promoted through military merit.
But whether joining the army or becoming an official is far more promising than being a low-ranking clerk in Jiangyin Yamen. The three of them are naturally excited but can't make a choice at the moment. Chang Yu is not in a hurry to let them make a decision immediately. In the Yamen The three people were really flattered by hosting a banquet and having Minyu as their guest, but they couldn't figure out how to win the favor of the young eunuch.
In the end, Yan Yingyuan and Chen Mingyu chose to join the army, while Feng Houdun chose to serve as an official because he was trained. Chang Yu asked Yan and Chen to go to Jinan and Octopus with Ma Yingkui to go to Puzhou to defect to Li Yan. As for Feng Houdun, he returned to Jiangyin first to wait for the officials. Instrument of Appointment.
