Feng Ziying walked in confidently without much expression on her face. She just searched the hall and noticed several vacant positions.
To these businessmen, indiscriminate kindness will only lead to contempt, especially since he is less than seventeen years old. I am afraid that many people still regard him as lucky enough and with a strong background.
All kinds of thorough preparations had been made before, including considering that the gentry and merchants in Fujian and Zhejiang might be delayed due to distance, so when he went to Yangzhou, he had already asked Wang Wenyan to notify the merchants from various places.
If he was really interested in participating in this matter, he should have been waiting here when he arrived in Yangzhou, and he delayed it for a few days, hoping to give these people enough time to prepare.
Unexpectedly, someone would make a mistake and be late or not arrive.
Feng Ziying is not sure what the reason is. It is simply that she feels that there is someone behind her who has a background, or she feels that she can be dealt with, but that is not important anymore.
"Everyone, please take a seat." Feng Ziying raised her hand, looked around, and raised her hand again to signal, "Sit down, sit down, everyone here today is a group of elites who are interested in opening up sea trade for the imperial court. We still have several Time will come to discuss it carefully, so don’t think about it while standing like this..."
Everyone was still wondering about this young editor who was responsible for heading south to deal with the opening of the sea first.
Those who are well-informed have already got the news. Although this person is young, he proposed the strategy of opening up seas, banning sea trade and promoting maritime trade. He also has the approval of the cabinet and the emperor, and has a profound background.
But when I heard this person's words, he didn't seem to have that arrogant and unconventional temperament. He seemed to be very humble.
"Everyone is here?"
Turning his head slightly, Duan Xigui bowed, "Sir, there should be fifty-seven people, but in fact there are forty-nine, and there are still eight people who have not arrived."
"Well, what should I do if the time is up and no one has arrived? We can't just sit and wait for them, right?" Feng Ziying casually ordered: "Remember, if anyone does not arrive this morning, then it will be regarded as automatic If you give up your sea trade qualification, if you are late for less than one hour, the charter fee will be increased by 10%, if you are late for less than two hours, the charter fee will be increased by 20%, and so on. I estimate that we will not discuss it for three hours, so we will follow this example. ,..."
"Since you don't respect the imperial court's business of opening seas, and you don't respect me and the princes who came on time, then you are either relying on your own wealth, or you are too high-minded and don't take the imperial court seriously, so it is very useful to set an example. If necessary, please supervise everyone..." Feng Ziying looked around with a smile, "I am new here, and I don't like the kind of behavior that frequently establishes authority, but I need to maintain the dignity of the court, so I should handle it this way. You can take note of it. Let’s see if this is done in the future..."
Before he finished speaking, two people hurried in under the guidance of the servants. When they saw the room full of people, there was silence, and they were stunned.
"Look, this is rich and powerful. How long will it take? It won't be time for a cup of tea. Tsk tsk. I won't say anymore. Let's invite the two of them to take a seat. Since the rules have been set, in the end we have to follow the rules..."
Feng Ziying didn't bother to ask who it was. She delivered it to her door. It wouldn't be enough to scare the monkeys by killing chickens, but it was necessary to pay more money to make everyone remember.
"Okay, let's get down to business. Ruixiang, I will send the book to everyone. Please read it first. If there is anyone who is illiterate or unclear, you can ask each other. I will give you two sticks of incense time,..."
Ruixiang had already distributed the prepared books and information to everyone in advance. After hearing what Feng Ziying said, everyone started to read through them.
This method of meeting on time, pre-distributing materials in advance, reading first and then explaining the explanation, then asking questions and clarification, and finally making a comprehensive summary is actually very common in modern administrative management systems, but it seems too unconventional in this era.
Especially when this volume of information is prepared in advance. Although I have said hello in advance that I hope that the representatives who come can be literate, there are always only a few literate people in this era, and there are still many merchants who are illiterate or can only recognize some. Common words, it is a bit difficult to read such a document.
Jia Lian and Duan Xigui felt inexplicable feelings in their hearts when they looked at Feng Ziying, who was sitting in the lobby with a calm look.
Although they all know that this Brother Keng, who they have known for many years or watched him grow up since childhood, is different today, after all, they still heard more and had less direct feelings in the past. Most of the time, they still learned from other people around them. I heard about Brother Keng’s demeanor.
But today is different.
They watched helplessly as dozens of gentry and wealthy businessmen from the south of the Yangtze River were overwhelmed by Feng Ziying's momentum. Although they did not recognize the two people who came behind them, they took their seats and knew that one was Han from Ningbo Prefecture. Home.
The Han family is not simple. Not only is his family one of the top ten squire landlords in Yin County, his cousin serves as the censor of Henan Province in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and he also has a nephew who serves as the magistrate of Chongqing Prefecture in Sichuan.
One is from a Jinshi family, and the other is from a Juren family. They can be called a standard gentry family.
But Feng Ziying didn't give him any face, and the other party didn't dare to have any attitude.
The other family is the Ding family, a large merchant from Dinghai County, Ningbo Prefecture. It owns dozens of ships. Of course, it cannot be recognized by the outside world. It is said that it is also connected with Japan and Ryukyu, but at this time, it does not even have a head. He dared to lift it up, but he just huddled in his position with his tail between his legs, not daring to say a word.
Since they were allowed to ask each other, the hall quickly became lively.
Some are indeed illiterate and need to ask friends, while others do not quite understand some of the terms and need to discuss them with each other.
Feng Ziying ignored him and just picked up the tea and sipped it carefully.
Seeing this situation, most of the people in the hall felt relieved. It seemed that this person had already planned the entire strategy. Now he is sending it to everyone, probably to make everyone familiar with it so that they can implement it in the next step.
"I would like to advise you to take a serious look at it. Don't think it doesn't matter. It seems that the imperial court has already decided and letting you come is just a formality. If you are determined to work in the sea trade industry for a long time, you may even want to do it. If you want to be bigger and stronger, then you should at least understand the court's intentions and ideas, and then think about how you can cater to the court's strategy and combine your own advantages to earn more money, so that Waking Up can also give you the greatest support. ,..."
Feng Ziying's half-truthful reminder made some people feel shuddering. Could it be that this master editor had seen through their thoughts again?
I have to pretend to read it carefully, so as not to make the editor unhappy.
Once the time for two sticks of incense was up, Feng Ziying began to take over the scene.
"Everyone, I believe that everyone has already understood the preliminary thoughts and plans of the imperial court. Well, it is basically written in this book. You can think about it carefully. This book will be taken back later. In the future Even though there are still some improvements, I believe once the big principles are finalized, there won’t be any big changes.”
Feng Ziying sat up straight, like a lion standing tall, looking straight up, "You may not know me well before, of course some may know about me privately through various channels, but it doesn't matter. Everyone will come into contact with me more in the future. I understand. The most important principle is integrity. We must do what we say and don’t say what we can’t do. So I also hope that I will adhere to this principle when dealing with everyone.”
There was no sound in the hall.
Just listen to these words. A young man under the age of seventeen, um, from the sixth grade Hanlin Academy, even if he has the opportunity to stand up for this maritime trade matter, he still has to say such big words. , is a bit exaggerated, even Guan Yingzhen would not dare to speak so loudly.
Feng Ziying didn't care either. If it were him, he wouldn't be able to believe it easily, but it didn't matter. There would be plenty of time and opportunities for them to get to know him in the future.
"Let me first give you a brief introduction and interpretation of the purpose and significance of the imperial court's opening of the sea. Of course, it also includes the imperial court's plans and practices, as well as some policies and support..."
Feng Ziying got straight to the point, "... I know that everyone may find it difficult to open up the channels between Ezo, Haixi, and Savage Jurchen, but the imperial court has a clear attitude. The exclusive right to trade between Japan and North Korea will be inconsistent with this. Things are tied together. Maybe you all here already know that some Fujian and Zhejiang maritime merchants, um, have voluntarily left Fujian and Zhejiang for Denglai, and are willing to take such a risk, because they know that they cannot compare with you, so they must Go give it a try. The imperial court welcomes such adventures, so of course we must support it, but the imperial court also welcomes everyone here to try it..."
These words caused a sensation among everyone in the hall.
Japan's sea trade is an important target second only to Luzon, Manlajia, Folangji and Hongmaofan. There are too many people watching.
Although judging from the current situation, the Tokugawa family controls most of Japan and has adopted a closed-door model of cutting off sea trade and leaving only one or two ports. However, when the Great Zhou Dynasty began to fully liberalize sea trade, this situation was obviously not good. Will it be allowed to continue for a long time? How can it be possible to exclude Dazhou maritime merchants from entering a market like this?
The same is true for North Korea. The tone revealed by this great editor has already stated that the tribute system will be completely abolished and replaced by fully liberalized private trade, and the smooth flow of this trade must be ensured.
No one can say clearly how big these two markets are, but they will definitely not be small.
And if trade cannot be realized smoothly, then the naval fleet that the imperial court has worked hard to build will come in handy.
No wonder the editor-in-chief has repeatedly emphasized the need to open up the path between Ezo, Haixi, and Savage Jurchen. If we don't give the army an explanation like this, how can we make the naval fleet truly dedicated to maritime trade?
