"The reason why businessmen like us are able to achieve today's climate is precisely because of the support of the imperial court and the help of many people in our hometown..."
"At this difficult time, we cannot stand by and watch."
"If you are in need, my family, Luo Dayou, is willing to donate 500 tons of food."
Here, Luo Dayou's words had just finished.
Ye Zixiu stood up a second later and said, "Boss Luo is right. Our Ye family is also willing to donate five hundred tons of food."
When Bai Xiangnan saw this, he also raised his hand and said, "My Bai family is also willing to donate five hundred tons of grain."
"The Zhu Family Trading Company is willing to donate 500 dans of grain."
"Liu's Shop is willing to donate five hundred tons of grain."
"Wang's Goods Store is also willing to donate 500 dans of grain."
In the hall, the voices of merchants were heard one after another. He Shen counted secretly. In just a short moment, these twenty or so Qin merchants had donated tens of thousands of tons of food.
This food is enough to feed millions of people for a week...
Although these 10,000 tons of grain were just a small profit for the Qin merchants, it was also a great honor to Heshen.
In fact, in the eyes of Qin merchants, He Shen's invitation to them to gather this time was just routine official blackmail...
Because He Shen, as an imperial envoy, had a distinguished status, they went out of their way to more than double the food they had prepared to donate.
These Qin merchants wanted to use this to stop He Shen's mouth.
However, this time, they guessed and thought wrong.
"..."
I saw He Shen, on his side, smiled and shook his head, and then said.
"You have misunderstood. I invite you here this time because I want to do business with you, not to blackmail you."
When they heard the word "deal", some Qin merchants couldn't help but perked up out of business instinct, raised their heads, and showed serious expressions on their faces.
However, more Qin Shang's faces were more cautious and vigilant.
The basis for doing business between both parties is fairness, but between officials and businessmen, there is no fair business to negotiate...
The relationship between officials and businessmen is nothing more than a transaction of power and money, or a relationship of extortion and extortion.
"…………"
Many Qin merchants thought about all the bad things that happened in their previous contacts with officials, and secretly thought that something was wrong...
Several Qin merchants were already thinking about countermeasures in their hearts.
The power of Qin merchants is not only deep-rooted in Taiyuan and Shaanxi, but also backed by officials in the center of the imperial court...
Although Heshen was deeply favored by Emperor Qianlong and was an imperial envoy who came on behalf of the emperor...
However, if Heshen's request is too excessive, Qin merchants may not be willing to be squeezed, at least they will put up a fight!
"…………"
Therefore, after the Qin merchants looked at each other, Naluo Dayou still stood up and asked on behalf of all the Qin merchants.
"I don't know, what kind of business does the imperial envoy refer to? If there is a need for us, as long as we can do it, we will not refuse."
He Shen could naturally hear the expectation and caution in the words of Luo Dayou, the leader of the Qin merchants.
"…………"
When He Shen heard this, he smiled slightly and did not explain too much. He just took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to He Er beside him. He then motioned for He Er to hand it over to Qin Shang who was present...
Then, He Shen spoke again: "Now, everyone must have some understanding of the financial situation of our Qing Dynasty. At this moment, the country is in a troubled time..."
"In all provinces, money is used everywhere. In recent years, the national treasury has been suffering from poor liquidity and cannot make expenditures."
"I am trusted by the current emperor. I serve as one of the departments in the Ministry of Household Affairs. I am in charge of some financial affairs. I am responsible for the emperor's salary and loyalty to the emperor..."
"I have been quite worried about the country's dire situation. After thinking hard day and night, I finally came up with a solution..."
"Let's take a look at my plan first and see if it can make a lot of money..."
"…………"
the other side!
Looking at the contents of the letter in his hand, Luo Dayou knew that this was the business He Shen was talking about.
Out of curiosity, Luo Dayou opened the letter after being polite and looked at it carefully.
However, within just a moment, Luo Dayou's hands holding the letter began to tremble, his face flushed, and he was obviously extremely excited.
Seeing Luo Dayou's expression, other Qin merchants' faces showed anticipation and curiosity...
I don't know what was written in Heshen's letter, but it actually made Luo Dayou, one of the largest businessmen in the north, so mature and prudent.
Seeing this scene, all the Qin merchants looked impatient and stared closely at the letter in Luo Dayou's hand. They were just concerned that He Shen was present and could not move to watch the same thing...
Seeing this, He Shen smiled slightly, seemed to understand something, waved his hand and said.
"You're all welcome, just come and watch together, so that you can give me some advice."
Hearing what He Shen said, all the Qin merchants confessed to He Shen, and then quickly walked to Luo Dalun and looked at the letter in Luo Dayou's hand together...
Then, just like Luo Dayou, all the Qin merchants couldn't help but get excited when they saw the contents of the letter...
He Shen could even clearly hear the rapid breathing of the Qin merchants.
"…………"
If you were reborn in ancient times, which business would be the most profitable? This is a very interesting question.
In different historical periods, due to the different economic conditions of each dynasty, different industries may show different profit conditions...
In ancient times, the ten most profitable industries were considered to be the most profitable: salt industry, bank, copper and iron business, pawnshop, dye trade, spice trade, silk trade, porcelain trade, tea trade, and wine trade. …
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the most profitable business was traveling along the Silk Road...
During the Han and Tang dynasties, Chinese silk, tea, porcelain and other commodities were extremely popular in the markets of the Western Regions and West Asia, and could be exchanged for equally important gold and silver...
The caravans along the Silk Road made huge profits and created two powerful empires, the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty!
The most profitable industries in the Song Dynasty were financial institutions such as banks and pawnshops.
In places such as Kaifeng and Hangzhou, there were a large number of silver shops. The emergence of Jiaozi and silver notes allowed merchants in the Song Dynasty to exchange a piece of paper for real gold and silver.
When talking about the silver taxation in the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, we have to mention the "Interrogation and Deposit Law" promulgated by the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty.
This law uses state means to control merchants who sell and trade with Jiaozi and banknotes, and even to the extent of government monopoly.
Due to the heavy weight of silver and copper coins, it was extremely inconvenient to do business, so the tax revenue from Jiaozi and banknotes was very sufficient.
The credit tax revenue from Jiaozi and banknotes was an important part of the fiscal revenue of the Song Dynasty. The proportion and total amount of fiscal revenue were very considerable...
It can be said that the emergence of Jiaozi and banknotes played a great role in finance.
The income from merchant transactions in the Northern Song Dynasty was definitely not only much higher than that of the previous Tang Dynasty, but in a certain year, a transaction tax of 30 million yuan was collected.
In order to facilitate the collection of taxes from merchants during trade, the governments of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty also specially set up the "Invoice Settlement Law" in the capital, which "will add stamps to banknotes and banknotes!"
"…………"
Mining was also one of the most profitable industries in ancient times.
After the Qin Dynasty, with the promotion of iron tools, the mining of copper, iron ore, silver ore and other mines was vigorously developed.
Countries with mining rights have made huge profits from it,
However, after the "Copper and Silver Official Management" system, the government has very strict management of the mining, production and sales of copper, iron ore, silver ore and other mines.
Of course, the most profitable industry in ancient times was the "salt industry".
In the ancient feudal period, the salt industry was a veritable monopoly industry, white gold...
Human beings need salt. Without salt for a long time, the human body will have big problems.
…
Of all living things, humans have the greatest demand for salt.
Among all animals, the human body is not very strong. With bare hands, he cannot defeat all large animals of the same level...
However, human endurance is the best and is suitable for long-term work. This is the evolution of human beings over a long period of time...
However, in order to meet the long hours of work, humans must also bear the corresponding price.
Working continuously for a long time will generate a lot of heat in the human body, and this heat must be dissipated...
For this reason, humans shed a lot of hair, and there are sweat glands distributed all over the body.
In this way, during long working hours, through sweating, the heat in the body can be dissipated to maintain the normal operation of the body...
This is unusual in the animal kingdom. Most animal sweat glands are located in the tongue or palms and soles, which can reduce sweating and reduce salt loss.
This also leads to poor endurance of animals.
At least, you can't work like a human being for more than twelve hours at a stretch, or even longer.
"…………"
In addition, table salt can also supplement the sodium ions needed by the human body and maintain the normal function of muscles and joints. Therefore, humans cannot do without salt.
In addition to this, because there were not many seasonings and spices like today in ancient times, salt was the only condiment that ordinary people used in daily life. People's daily lives are inseparable from salt...
In ancient times, there were no refrigerators, and food storage was difficult...
Common people need to pickle food with salt, make it into pickles or dry it before preserving it...
If oil is the modern “black gold,” then salt is the ancient “white gold.”
The salt industry was so profitable that the ancient countries were bound to take it into their pockets.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the reason why the State of Qi had perennial hegemony among other countries was largely due to the implementation of Guan Zhong's "official mountains and seas" policy. The mountains produced iron...
In the Han Dynasty, during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were frequent wars with the Xiongnu and insufficient military expenditures. The salt industry was completely returned to the official business and included in the national finance. Only then did they defeat the powerful enemy the Xiongnu...
