Afterwards, Li Dan took off the lens of the telescope and showed them the effect of magnifying things.
"Three uncles, don't worry. As long as the lake bandits are wiped out and the place is peaceful, there are many things we can do and a lot of money we can make. These are just introductions." Li Dan said with a smile.
But the three of them were already glowing with excitement, and their eyes were full of stars. "Have Sanlang shown these to others?" Xu Xian asked carefully.
"No!" Li Dan shook his head like a rattle: "To be honest, my nephew came back this time and received a lot of support and sponsorship from your mansion, so I started to look at him differently. Earlier, my nephew was quite restrained when he lived in Li's mansion. The two families had little contact, and it was not until this time that they had the opportunity to get close to their three uncles. My nephew has already decided to base his business in this county and rely on Raozhou Prefecture to expand his business to the entire Jiangnan West Road and even beyond! But my nephew He is good at military and political affairs, but it is not convenient for him to show up. He is not good at business operations, and he lacks connections in this area. Therefore, he needs to rely on the wisdom of his uncles in this area. He is short of a ruler, there is no way! This specialized thing requires specialized people. It’s the right thing to do. Do you three think this is true?”
"Yes, yes, yes!" The three people nodded like chickens pecking at rice and responded repeatedly.
In fact, since Li Dan regained control of the north of the city from the "Eighteen Tigers of the South" and protected the West City, he has been observing the business and trade of this era, as well as the business and political relations.
He discovered some interesting phenomena that were different from the same period in his previous life.
In his impression of the knowledge left over from his previous life, businessmen were a very despised class in the agricultural society because they did not engage in production but only enjoyed material benefits. Therefore, the scholar-bureaucrats would go to any lengths to squeeze out merchants.
This is evidenced by the fact that after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, merchants were not even allowed to wear silk damask. But this life is very different!
After the Tang Dynasty, the chaos and separatism of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms led to uneven regional development and blocked the circulation of goods for a long time. The so-called commercial activities can only be barely maintained under one separatist regime.
When the former Song Dynasty (Northern Song Dynasty) seized power from the Later Zhou Dynasty and launched the war of unification, a large number of businessmen stood behind the soldiers. There were also scholars like Zhao Pu who had close relations with the wealthy merchants and wealthy merchants to provide advice and raise funds and food.
In order to restore the morale of the people as soon as possible and establish the prestige of the unified dynasty, the former Song Dynasty showed unprecedented tolerance to merchants. In addition, ideological restrictions were reduced, and technology was developed and advanced, which made great progress in both inland and maritime commerce.
This situation was not interrupted by the Tatar invasion. Instead, it underwent new changes after Jiangnan was incorporated into the unified empire.
The originally interrupted land routes between China and the West were reopened, continuing the Silk Road that had been flourishing since the Tang Dynasty.
However, these were interrupted in the last years of the previous dynasty due to the mutual opposition and conquests between the imperial vassals, as well as the outbreak of resistance in the Central Plains. Although sea trade continued to some extent, land trade shrank sharply.
During the same period in the previous life, although Zhu Ming formally completed the task of expelling the Tatars after the Great Rebellion, the actual unification war continued intermittently for decades, until it gradually came to a halt in the late years of Ming Xuanzong.
The consequence was that the focus of the Ming Dynasty's foreign policy was Tatar. To this end, it concentrated all national efforts to deal with it, but curtailed almost all colonization in western Liaoning, Nurgan, and the southeastern coastal areas.
The military and political stagnation led to a shrinking of commercial trade. This situation did not ease again until Zheng He went to sea, but the missing market has been filled by ships from the Middle East and Europe.
Later, the anti-Japanese maritime ban caused Zhu Ming to completely lose its maritime advantages and market position, and the decline of maritime trade continued until the early years of the Qing Dynasty.
But this is not the case now. The Zhao royal family of this dynasty considers themselves to be descendants of the former Song Dynasty, and of course they follow the national policies of the former Song Dynasty as much as possible.
For example, giving preferential treatment to scholars and attaching importance to obtaining scholars through the imperial examination; for example, attaching importance to business activities and providing a relaxed atmosphere and conditions;
There were also incentives for the invention and promotion of new technologies, the publication of books and articles, etc., which made the commercial activity of this dynasty more and more prosperous after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The children of businessmen can become officials or officials through scientific examinations and appointment by local officials to realize or express the opinions, thoughts, ambitions, etc. of this class.
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The boundaries between the two classes "Confucian scholars" and "country gentry" and "merchants" became increasingly blurred, and countless country gentry and officials' children (especially the common people) devoted themselves to business.
With the support of sufficient funds, a large number of children of merchants studied, took imperial examinations, and entered the ranks of officials or officials. Of course, there were also those who still managed farming and mulberry farming and made a living by renting.
Often there are squires, Confucian scholars, and merchants in a family. The three are closely related, and they interact and help each other. Merchant families like the Xu family are rare, and more are like the Wu family and Xiao family in this county.
If he wants to take the imperial examination route, he must look for someone among merchants who is willing to act as his agent or comprador. This is what Li Dan suddenly thought of in Wannian.
He made an appointment with Wang Jintang and Wang Jinsheng, and it was with them that he tried to set up his own agent in Wannian. .
From the moment he was greeted outside the city gate, Li Dan felt that Xu Tong had been approaching him intentionally and provided help and support as much as possible. He felt that the other party saw that he had weapons in his hands, so he wanted to take advantage of him.
And his thoughts actually coincided with Li Dan's. Since everyone is interested, why not make it clear so that we can cooperate better in the future?
Li Dan just wanted to see their true thoughts and attitudes at this meeting, and now the other party's willingness to cooperate has been made clear.
"My dear nephew, to be honest, the reason why we cooperate with you is actually selfish." Xu Tong said.
"Second uncle, who can be without some selfish motives? But we don't engage in intrigues and plots against each other. Just make our words clear."
Li Dan had finished eating at this time. He put down his chopsticks and picked up the tureen to drink tea: "I don't know what Xu Mansion's selfishness is, but can this junior help?"
"Sanlang, it's like this. It can be said that the Xu family in this county is now quite large due to the efforts of the grandfathers and fathers.
But as someone who has been outside, you should know that if you put this achievement elsewhere, or on Jiangxi Road as a whole, it is actually just looking at the sky from a well and being arrogant. There are mountains outside the mountains! Xu Bu pondered and then said:
"With the Xu family's own efforts, it is difficult to expand the business on a larger scale, especially... you see, each of my three brothers is in charge of his own business, so we cannot help each other.
There is no way, we can't throw away this stall passed down by our elders. But how to break the situation has always been a big problem! "
"The new things you just showed us gave me some inspiration." Xu Tong continued what his brother had said:
"You mean, we can participate in some transactions, but we don't have to take care of everything ourselves. So, can we treat the transactions we have now similarly?"
What he meant was that he wanted me to leave the business to others and develop new business myself. Li Dan understood immediately, waved his hand and answered:
"I don't recommend doing this. You are already familiar with the original business, and this is your foothold. It is not prudent to throw away the existing business before the new business has established itself.
If Uncle San has a relatively reliable manager candidate, I suggest you give him a small amount of dry shares and some options. "
"We understand stocks, but what are these options?"
"Options mean that everyone agrees on a slightly longer time period, such as to what extent the business will expand or develop in three years, or how many new stores will be opened, how much sales will be achieved, and how many times the profit will increase. Then the operator can be allowed to take a lower to purchase a certain share of the stock held by shareholders at an agreed price.”
Seeing the stunned expressions on the three people's faces, Li Dan smiled: "It's too easy to get the shares, and the other party won't pay attention to it, and lacks the energy to make follow-up efforts. But if there are options, he will try his best to help the master's family in these three years." achieve these goals.
Of course, this goal must be reasonably designed and recognized by both parties. After agreeing, everyone will sign the "Option Agreement Protocol", each holding one copy, and honor it as agreed. "
"Hey, this is a good idea!" The three brothers immediately became excited. They are all foxes with thousands of years of experience. Seeing the beauty of this, they immediately realized that if this method is implemented, it can quickly increase the work enthusiasm of their subordinates.
Even Xu Xian has thought that this thing can be used not only by his confidants, but also by those big guys.
It is also applicable to accounting offices, but the share can be reduced step by step.
They began to discuss the implementation details of the options lively with each other, while Li Dan filled in the gaps and patiently answered the questions raised one by one.
The three brothers of the Xu family have always suffered from being confined to the surrounding areas of Yugan. If they do not have a foundation to expand overseas, they will easily be squeezed out by local guilds and chambers of commerce.
Although this dynasty encouraged business, it was only in attitude and did not establish relevant laws.
On the other hand, chambers of commerce and guilds have sprung up in various places in the name of protecting local businesses, but various protective walls have been formed invisibly. Therefore, doing business across regions is actually a matter of cost and risk.
The idea of supporting Li Dan came to Xu Tong's idea after he heard that he had returned to his hometown with troops.
At first, they just wanted to use his strength to help the Xu family get a better position or even take the lead on the main line, or to use his hand to form a confrontation with the Zhao family and the Wu family. The appearance of Zhao Jingzi at the reception banquet that day made Xu Tong change his mind. Since Li Dan was already in contact with these royal children, why not use this opportunity to help the Xu family's ship go further?
At first, Xu Bu and Xu Xian were a little hesitant, thinking that this was just a boy under the age of sixteen. Do they value him so much? But what Li Dan showed them one after another at the table today not only made them see unlimited prospects, but also convinced the second child's vision of people. "Second brother, it seems you are right." Xu Bu said softly to his younger brother when he took the opportunity to go to the toilet: "It is true that we cannot treat him the same as ordinary teenagers. We are all careless."
"The elder brother is so complimentary. In fact, the younger brother is also shocked. I really don't know how these things came into his mind and how he made them one by one." Xu Tong shook his head and said in admiration: "And each one is quite practical. But there is no cleverness at all. Brother, about that matter... you don’t object now, do you?"
"Haha, how can I object? If this can happen, I won't be happy before it's too late! But..., you should also have heard the rumors between him and the second girl Chen Tijie..."
"Hey, brother, we were all young and ignorant at that time. Even if there was intention, there was no written agreement between the two families. Now the Chen family has been sent to the west to serve, and the hope of coming back is slim." Xu Tong stopped and lowered his voice: "This is a treasure. If the Xu family doesn't grab it quickly, so many people will break their heads after the war ends!"
"Well, from his tone, he is very satisfied with the Xu family's helping hand. With this foreshadowing, I hope this matter can go smoothly."
Xu Bu looked around, leaned closer and asked, "What do you think we should do next? Do you want me to send a matchmaker to your door immediately?"
"No!" Xu Tong waved his hand: "If we come here now, if someone says 'a war is imminent', won't we be easily blocked? It's too early to be a matchmaker, but we can do more to pave the way."
"What kind of foreshadowing?"
"I heard that this little Qian family raised Li Sanlang and that Sanlang was very respectful to his adoptive mother. I plan to ask someone to make a secret visit to see who can talk to his aunt."
"Oh! That's right. With the adoptive mother here, Xiao Qian will naturally make the final decision on marriage matters." After Xu Bu said this, he suddenly remembered: "Your sister-in-law once talked to Mrs. Lao about Ying'er's marriage. She seemed to have heard her talk about the separation of the family. It was the third mate, Shu, who helped Xiao Qian to speak, so the second mate, Gao, didn't dare to say anything later. If this is true, then Xiao Qian's wife should be very grateful to Shu..."
"That's a good idea." Xu Tong nodded, then shook his head: "But the Shu family has already gone to Nanchang, and I'm afraid the battle will be over when she comes back!"
"Haha, are you so impatient?"
"Isn't it for Ying'er and the future of our Xu family?"
"Then... how about letting Mrs. Lao go and find out her voice first?"
"That's a way. But..." Xu Tong pointed in a certain direction: "What if we let the two children meet first?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a sweet cry not far away: "Oh!"
"Who is there?" Xu Bu asked, and when he turned his head to look, he was stunned. "Ying'er, why are you here?" Xu Bu suddenly blushed, perhaps because he had just talked about his daughter with his brother in private.
But the little girl's back immediately turned around
When two girls came out, Xu Tong's face turned red: "W-what's going on? Why is A-Lian here? What's wrong with your feet?"
"My sister stepped on it." A-Lian is Xu Tong's daughter. She is only eight years old this year. She is limping and grinning in pain. She was probably the one who called just now. The person supporting her behind is Xu Bu's eldest daughter A-ying. The maid's name is Yutong.
"You are such an adult, why are you still so careless? Look at how you stepped on this girl!" Xu Bu said in a scolding tone, but his tone was not so harsh.
"Who told you to whisper about others behind their backs?" A Ying muttered in a low voice. She is a girl with pleasant features, a slightly round face, a straight bridge of nose, and an upturned corner of her mouth that always seems to be smiling, so when she feels wronged, people think it is just a coquettish act. Just now, she overheard her father and her second uncle discussing her marriage behind the doorway. She was so panicked that she turned to run away, but accidentally stepped on Alian's foot, which exposed herself.
Alas, if I had known why I was so panicked, I might as well have sneaked away!
