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In the temple, all the officials had been secretly paying attention to the purge operations in Shaanxi and Gansu during this period, and did not dare to miss any news.
But for the merchants all over the world, they paid more attention to what happened in Jiangsu during this period.
More than half a month ago, scholar Huo Zhengyuan was suddenly appointed as the "Southeast Patrol Envoy" by Emperor Deqing.
This official position is newly established by the imperial court, and its powers and responsibilities are unclear. There is not even a clear official location. It seems to be able to handle a little bit of everything, but it seems to be unable to handle anything. It feels like a sinecure. , and like a weakened version of the Imperial Envoy.
But since he is the "Southeast Patrol Envoy", he has the power to interfere in all matters in the southeastern provinces. Naturally, the various forces in the southeastern provinces do not dare to neglect.
After Huo Zhengyuan received the appointment, he left the center of the capital the next day and took a boat south along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. Such swift action clearly had a big agenda.
When Huo Zhengyuan arrived in Suzhou, headed by Huang Yourong, the governor of Southern Zhili, local officials, merchants, gentry, and scholars all showed up to greet him. It was a grand scene.
During the reception banquet that followed, all walks of life in Jiangsu showed goodwill and closer relations, while taking the opportunity to inquire about Huo Zhengyuan's purpose.
However, Huo Zhengyuan always avoided talking about repeated tests from all walks of life in Jiangsu and did not reveal any information at all. After the reception banquet was over, he hid directly in the governor's office of Nanzhili and lived in seclusion. He would have secret discussions with Huang Yourong every day, making people feel even more mysterious.
On the other side, Huang Yourong has turned enemies into friends with Zhao Junchen since he resigned as Pavilion Elder and left the center of the temple. After a series of close cooperation, the relationship between the two parties has become increasingly intimate and closer. Huang Yourong can now Taking up the position of governor of Southern Zhili was also due to Zhao Junchen's full support!
Today, in the eyes of all parties, Huang Yourong is an ally who wears the same pants as Zhao Junchen.
Under such circumstances, after all walks of life in Jiangsu were unable to obtain intelligence information from Huo Zhengyuan, they all asked Huang Yourong for information. However, Huang Yourong was also very cautious this time and did not intend to leak any information at all.
As a result, all walks of life in Jiangsu became more and more concerned about Huo Zhengyuan's purpose and mission, thinking that it must be something very important. They all paid close attention to it and did not dare to miss any signs.
In this way, three or five days later, under the close attention of all parties, Huo Zhengyuan finally took action.
First, with Huang Yourong's assistance, Huo Zhengyuan took over all the properties of the original "Eight Kings Shipping Company" and then sold off these properties for cash, leaving only the ocean-going ships;
Then, Huo Zhengyuan posted notices to recruit merchants, sailors, and shipwrights with ocean-going experience, and also spent money to customize more ocean-going ships!
Then, Huo Zhengyuan announced his future yamen residence, and there were three places as soon as he announced it, namely - Songjiang Prefecture in Jiangsu, Guangzhou Prefecture in Guangdong, and Xinghua Prefecture in Fujian! He also said that he would take turns going to these three yamen in the future to handle official business.
Songjiang Prefecture, Guangzhou Prefecture, and Xinghua Prefecture, what do these three places have in common? That is - they are all natural and excellent seaports, and they are all located at key locations on ocean waterways. They are also places with convenient water and land transportation, and are most suitable for the development of ocean trade!
In addition, during this period, Huo Zhengyuan was collecting ocean-going ships and recruiting sailors and shipwrights...
After combining this information, many sharp-minded businessmen suddenly became excited!
Could it be said that the imperial court planned to follow the Longqing switch of that year, loosen the maritime ban again, and carry out ocean-going trade?
Could it be that the imperial court appointed Huo Zhengyuan as the "Southeast Patrol Envoy" just to put him in charge of ocean-going matters?
What's more, considering that Huo Zhengyuan is Zhao Junchen's confidant, perhaps the imperial court's ocean-going plan was driven by Zhao Junchen!
In the eyes of Ming Dynasty merchants, Zhao Junchen was definitely the most profitable god of wealth in the world! The plan promoted by him is naturally a big deal!
What's more, who among the world's merchants knows the astonishing benefits of ocean trade?
After guessing these situations, the Huizhou merchants could no longer sit still. They rushed to the governor's Yamen to visit Huo Zhengyuan with heavy sums of money, hoping to participate.
On the other side, when Huo Zhengyuan was still in the center of the capital, he had discussed the details of the ocean-going plan with Zhao Junchen many times.
At that time, Zhao Junchen also expressed several opinions to Huo Zhengyuan.
"In the early days of the development of ocean trade, various expenses were extremely huge. Even if we have His Majesty's full support, we are still stretched thin. It is difficult to see results quickly... Under such circumstances, we must not just use the money in our hands. work!
In fact, at any time, if you want to do great things and make a lot of money, you must learn to be good at other people's money! It just so happens that there are many wealthy businessmen in the southeastern provinces. They have endless money in their hands, which can be used!
However, our initial main goal in developing ocean trade is to alleviate the court's food shortage dilemma, so we must not allow those merchants to have too much say at this time! Merchants are only pursuing profits. If they are given the power to make decisions, they will inevitably give up the less profitable grain trade and only focus on those more profitable commodities!
Therefore, we must not only try our best to win the full support of merchants, but also secretly prevent merchants from interfering in the specific operations of ocean trade... Under such circumstances, it is naturally not easy to get the best of both worlds. Merchants will inevitably feel that they are at a disadvantage and invest in shares. Your enthusiasm will be greatly reduced!
But fortunately, the temperament of the world always likes to compromise. If you tell the businessmen directly that you will only let them use their money to invest in shares and dividends, but will not let them participate in the specific operations, they will definitely disagree; but if you From the very beginning, they have shown that they want to monopolize ocean trade, as if they want to monopolize the benefits and prevent anyone from participating in it. Merchants will be willing to give up the right to make decisions, and they will be satisfied just by taking shares and receiving dividends... At least that will be the case initially! "
Naturally, Huo Zhengyuan deeply agrees with Zhao Junchen's remarks and takes them as the most reasonable!
It is precisely for this reason that after Huo Zhengyuan arrived in Jiangsu, he kept Zhao Junchen's ocean-going plan secret, as if he wanted to monopolize it.
Because of Huo Zhengyuan's attitude, many wealthy businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang also kept their attitude extremely low when they visited Huo Zhengyuan to express their intention to participate in the ocean-going project. Their highest goal from the beginning was just to buy shares and receive dividends. , from beginning to end, no one expected to have the power to make decisions.
In this way, Huo Zhengyuan's plan is progressing smoothly. In just over ten days, more than 20 wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang have invested in shares, totaling more than three million taels of silver. This also allows Huo Zhengyuan to plan for the ocean. The occasion of trade is much more comfortable.
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On this day, Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong once again met with four wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the governor's office of Nanzhili.
These four wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are Lin Yunpu, Dai Fengfu, Bai Mingyu, and Xie Bingde. They are all real big figures in the business world of the Ming Dynasty. Even Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong dare not underestimate them.
Compared with the wealth of these wealthy businessmen, the wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang that Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong met a few days ago can only be regarded as small shrimps.
Lin Yunpu, a leader of Jiangsu merchants, is not only the president of the Salt Merchants Association, but also the boss of the most popular "United Shipping Company" in recent years. Either of these two identities is very important!
Bai Mingyu, a rising star among the wealthy businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, has always been known for his ruthlessness and decisiveness. It is said that he controls several fleets of pirates and Japanese pirates. Most of his enemies died in mysterious circumstances. There are also rumors that this person has a background in the inner court.
Dai Fengfu has always been low-key and unrevealed, but his backer in the DPRK is Zhou Shangjing, the chief minister. However, he was immediately involved in the "United Shipping Company" when Zhao Junchen founded it. He also had two powerful officials, Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen. trust and support, this method is amazing!
Xie Bingde, the president of the Huizhou Chamber of Commerce. The Xie family he came from has been a wealthy businessman for a hundred years and has not seen signs of decline. He has the most seniority and richest foundation among the merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. He is the same as the current governor of Southern Zhili. Huang Yourong has a close relationship.
It was precisely because of the importance of these four merchants that Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong were particularly cordial when they received them.
The vision and vision of these wealthy businessmen also did not disappoint Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong.
But he said that after the two sides exchanged a few polite words, Lin Yunpu quickly got to the point and said directly: "Lao Huang Ge, Bachelor Huo, Cao Min and others heard rumors that the imperial court was going to impose another sea ban, and Huo The bachelor is now serving as the "Southeast Patrol Envoy" just to handle this matter, but I don't know if it is true?
If it is true that such good governance is of great benefit to the country and the people, the common people and others are willing to participate in the grand event and do their part for this imperial plan! "
As Lin Yunpu finished speaking, Bai Mingyu, Dai Fengfu, and Xie Bingde all looked eagerly and felt itchy, as if they had seen the peerless beauty they had dreamed of.
After Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong looked at each other, a hint of smile flashed in their eyes.
Finally, Huo Zhengyuan said slowly: "You are all well-informed and powerful people, and there are some things that I cannot hide from you... In fact, the imperial court has no intention of imposing a sea ban, but it does have an ocean-going plan!
You should also know that on the occasion of His Majesty's birthday some time ago, Zhao Gechen presented several fairy fruits as a birthday gift, and these fairy fruits came from an immortal whose name was the 'Three Saints of the South China Sea', so His Majesty had In order to search for immortals, I arranged for me to form several ocean-going fleets in various parts of the southeast to go to various islands in the South Seas to search for immortals... This matter is a secret, and I hope you will never leak it!
Of course, when these ocean-going fleets go out to sea to search for the wonderland in the future, they can indeed do other things...but only by the way! Well, just by the way! "
As he spoke, Huo Zhengyuan emphasized the word "by the way."
However, after hearing what Huo Zhengyuan said, the wealthy businessmen not only did not feel disappointed, but their eyes became brighter!
By the way? That’s good by the way!
If the imperial court imposes a maritime ban, then ocean trade will have to pay taxes to the imperial court!
But if it was just for Emperor Deqing to go out to sea to search for immortals and visit immortals, and "by the way" exchange goods with other countries in Southeast Asia, then naturally there would be no need to pay taxes!
What is this called? This is called official smuggling!
Not only do you not have to pay taxes, but you can also save money on daily expenses!
In the eyes of wealthy businessmen, there is no business in the world that is more profitable than smuggling! If I had to find one, it would definitely be official smuggling!
"But I don't know, can we merchants contribute to His Majesty's great cause of seeking immortals? Of course, ocean-going ships have huge hulls, and they can also carry some goods along the way, but only by the way!"
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I finally felt relieved and resumed normal updates.
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