"Haha~! Boss Cao doesn't have to be polite~!"
Li Zexuan gave him a hand, smiled politely, and then said: "Boss Cao previously spent two thousand dollars to support the new carriage in Qiquge Pavilion, and the day before yesterday, he spent thousands more to present hundreds of pots at my wedding banquet. Luoyang Hong, I haven’t thanked Boss Cao for his righteous deeds yet? How can I blame him~? "
When Cao Wendong heard this, he felt slightly relieved, and secretly thought that the money he had spent before was not in vain. With a good atmosphere at the beginning of the conversation, the rest of the matter would be easier to negotiate.
"Sir, please don't try to hurt Cao. It's only a few thousand guan, but for him, it's just a drop in the bucket. Besides, Cao really likes the new carriage in Qiquge Pavilion, so he didn't hesitate to increase the price to get it." , so I really don’t deserve Sir Alex’s gratitude.”
Cao Wendong cupped his hand and said politely to Li Zexuan, "Scholars, farmers, industrialists, and merchants have strict hierarchies, so he couldn't help but be rude."
Previously, he did intend to "raise a hand" to Li Zexuan's new carriage in Qiquge, but this kind of thing should be done but not said, otherwise the effect of "gifting" will be greatly reduced, or even have the opposite effect!
Cao Wendong, who has been at the bottom of society for so many years, is very familiar with the officialdom.
Sure enough, a traceless smile appeared on Li Zexuan's face. Previously, he had retreated in order to advance, and indeed he meant to test Cao Wendong.
Whether it was the voluntary price increase of Qiquge's new carriage or the extravagant act of giving thousands of peonies at the wedding, it was Cao Wendong's voluntary act and not forced by Li Zexuan. If Cao Wendong "repays the favor" because of this, , then Li Zexuan can only wave his sleeves to see off the guests!
He didn't want to make friends with such a scheming person.
Fortunately, Cao Wendong's response made Li Zexuan quite satisfied. He knew how to advance and retreat, was sensible, and understood current affairs. He should be a hero!
"Haha~! Boss Cao is such an open-minded person! However, no matter what, Boss Cao did a lot of work on my wedding. I am still grateful in my heart. I just don't know that Boss Cao is here today. What happened?"
After a little testing and feeling that Cao Wendong was a pretty good person, Li Zexuan stopped beating around the bush and spoke straightforwardly.
"Uh~!"
Cao Wendong was stunned for a moment. Li Zexuan got to the point faster than the officials he had interacted with in the past. This was somewhat different from the "implicit and euphemistic" conversation style that is common in officialdom today!
"Going back to Sir Alex, to be honest, I only came here for one thing. I want Sir Sir to come forward and organize a chamber of commerce. The members of the chamber of commerce can give priority to cooperation with each other. The Scooter, Shenxian Zui, Cao has always wanted to cooperate with the Duke of Wenrouxiang, "Datang Daily" and all the books of Qiqi Culture, but he has no way out and can only work hard at home."
Now that Li Zexuan stopped beating around the bush, Cao Wendong also decided to stop nagging and went straight to the point.
Li Zexuan raised his eyebrows in surprise. He could understand that Cao Wendong wanted to cooperate with him. After all, the businesses he owned were monopolistic. Many people wanted to come in and get a piece of the pie, but certainly not everyone was qualified to come in. . What surprised him was that Cao Wendong actually wanted him to organize the chamber of commerce. Did this guy want to cause trouble?
"Why does Boss Cao want to form a chamber of commerce~?"
Cao Wendong struggled for a moment, then raised his hands and said, "Cao had several business dealings with your father, Mr. Li, but he never expected that the Li family would have a young hero like him, who would become our great master in just a few months." He was a man from the founding county of the Tang Dynasty and held an important position in the Imperial College, breaking the iron rule that our dynasty had always held that "merchants and their children cannot enter the dynasty as officials"!"
"Cao and other businessmen all worshiped and believed that Sir Alex is the hope of our businessmen. So today Cao boldly asked Sir to lead us businessmen to do something great to eliminate the princes in the court and all the people in the world. Prejudice against businessmen~!”
After Cao Wendong finished speaking, he held his fists and bowed deeply to Li Zexuan. He kept his upper body bent at 90 degrees and did not get up.
Li Zexuan was speechless. To be honest, this was the first time he heard that businessmen in the Tang Dynasty could not serve as officials. He had heard that merchants in ancient times had a low status before, but he did not expect that they were so low. This was done by everyone in the world. Classes are being squeezed out together!
According to historical records, the division of the four classes of scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants originated from Guan Zhong, the Prime Minister of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period. He advocated dividing the citizens into four classes: scholars, farmers, workers and merchants, and living in fixed areas according to their respective professions. This was the "four classes of people". This specialized commodity economic model has been respected as the basic form and guiding principle since the Han Dynasty.
On the surface, the "separation of industries among the four people" is an inheritance of the ancient system of the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, but in fact there are great differences. The fundamental difference is that "industry and commerce" and "scholars and farmers" are juxtaposed and regarded as the "stone of the country". civil". Therefore, when Guan Zhong first divided the classes of scholars, peasants, industrialists and merchants, there was no distinction between superior and inferior classes.
It seems that the ancient Chinese did not take business lightly. The Shang people who overturned the Xia Dynasty and established the Shang Dynasty were actually the earliest merchants. This is also the reason why we call businessmen merchants. During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, people were willing and good at doing business and engaged in handicraft manufacturing.
Later, when the founders of the Zhou Dynasty reflected on the lessons of the fall of the Shang Dynasty, they believed that the fall of the Yin and Shang Dynasties was due to the people's enthusiasm for industry and commerce and the desolation of agriculture, which caused impetuous people and an unstable national foundation. Therefore, they turned to implement the emphasis on agriculture that despised industry and commerce. policy. In the weekly system, the status of industrial and commercial workers became very low, and "hundred workers" were often juxtaposed with concubines (male and female slaves) who were in slave status.
In subsequent dynasties, as rulers continued to suppress merchants, the status of merchants became increasingly low.
During the Qin Dynasty, merchants were not allowed to wear silk clothes even if they were extremely rich. During the Han Dynasty, merchants were not allowed to be officials, and handicraftsmen were "untouchables". They had to declare their family property to the court. If the declaration was not true, their property would be confiscated. During the Tang Dynasty, merchants could not enter the court as officials. It was not until the Ming and Qing Dynasties that the status of merchants changed. From wealthy merchants with no career path to wealthy merchants with career paths. Chinese businessman Xianyu succeeded in turning around.
Therefore, it can be said that Li Zexuan was able to obtain an official position as the son of a businessman, which is an unprecedented fluke. The main reason is that he has made great contributions, and Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin have always regarded him as their senior, and they are constantly promoting that This award was awarded once, and in addition, he was a close disciple of the great master Lingxu Zhenren. This identity almost completely cleared his identity as a businessman, and added a lot of impression points to Li Er, so he was able to have what he is now. of baronetcy.
It can be said that his success cannot be replicated by thousands of businessmen in the Tang Dynasty. Even Cao Wendong could not envy him~!
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