“Once commercial affairs are completely liberalized, the status of merchants in the Ming Dynasty will be greatly improved.
But the premise of all this is that His Majesty completes the rectification of the business environment, and the most important of these is the expansion of department store supply and marketing cooperatives. "
“In other words, the existence of department store supply and marketing cooperatives is to use coercive power to control business affairs instead of the imperial court and local officials.
Therefore, I just told you not to make a fuss about this matter, otherwise His Majesty will not be able to spare you, and no businessmen in the world will let you go, and even our Dongting Business Gang will be wiped out.
But I would also like to remind you that once it is completely liberalized, it will do its best to collect commercial taxes, and the court will definitely do its best to investigate and deal with it.
Once tax evasion is discovered, the person may be fined dozens of times and confiscated, the person's business qualifications may be revoked, or the family may be confiscated and the family may be exterminated.
I said this, you guys understand! "
Huh...huh...
Everyone's breathing was quickened.
The old man's voice was very calm, as if he was describing family affairs.
It was like thunder in everyone's ears, and they were shocked to the point of wandering to the sky.
Not only the Ming Dynasty, but all dynasties in the past have always advocated the strategy of "rule by kings, respecting the basic and suppressing the weak, and focusing on agriculture and grain". They only focused on agriculture and ignored industry and commerce.
Even the two Song Dynasties, where commerce was extremely developed, could not change this status quo. It can only be said that it was much better than other dynasties.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, through the efforts of several generations of merchants, the status of merchants was greatly improved and they had some say. As a result, several major events occurred.
For example, the Hannan merchants sold grain during the disaster, the eight major locust merchants betrayed the country and collaborated with the enemy, the Confucius family colluded with wealthy merchants to enrich themselves, Suzhou merchants united against the government, and Nanjing merchants collaborated with the government.
The hard work of generations and decades was instantly reduced to nothing.
Today's businessmen don't say that everyone shouts and beats them, but they definitely don't like to see them.
People in the government did not dare to contact them, for fear that the court would find out and detain them for abusing power for personal gain.
The people didn't want to see them and called them rich and unkind.
Now they have the opportunity to make up for their wasted efforts, and even get the same status and attention as farmers, how can they not be happy.
As for levying commercial taxes, isn't that right? A tax of thirty is far lower than that of previous dynasties.
Everyone cheered for the upcoming event.
But the old man secretly thought: What is so brilliant about the emperor's move is how much is the agricultural tax? Thirty million taels of silver a year.
But as long as the commercial tax is done well, it can reach 50 million taels at least. If the two special projects of tea and salt are done well, 100 million taels a year at the peak will not be a big problem.
What does the court do with so much money? Are you going to stay in Taicang to give birth?
Absolutely not!
According to the emperor's pattern, he must take what is from the people and use it for the people, repair bridges and roads, remove silt and blockages, restore people's livelihood, and strengthen the army...
"Perhaps the oath His Majesty made when he ascended the throne will really come true one day in the future. In this case, would you like me to fight for a spot on the mutual market advisory group and contribute a little bit?"
"Old Xi, what are you talking about?"
"It's okay!"
The old man chuckled, then coughed. The cheering crowd slowly quieted down and looked at the old man.
"It's hard to say when the imperial court will completely liberalize business. It could be as short as one year or as long as three to five years. What we need to do now is to take care of the immediate situation and find a place for the circulation of goods.
The Ningyuan Mutual Market, which has not been divided up by all parties, is the best choice. Therefore, I said that we must strive for the Ningyuan Mutual Market.
Even if there is a loss in the early stage, if you look at the time in ten or twenty years, you will definitely make a profit, and it will still be a big profit and a steady flow of money. "
"Mr. Xi, please arrange it. What percentage of the share should we get?"
"Yes, since we have guessed the court's future trends, let's try our best to win more!"
“This is a sure-fire way to make money, so don’t miss it!”
"Put all your wealth into it and leave a fortune for future generations!"
…
Listening to everyone's expressions, the old man chuckled: "Do you believe me so much? If I make a mistake in judgment, all your efforts over the years will be in vain!"
"Old Xi, as long as Dongshan is still there and Dongting is still there, even if we fail, we can still get up in a few years.
Our Dongting Merchant Gang is later than the Shanxi merchants in Shanxi, the Hui merchants in Anhui, the Chaozhou merchants in Guangdong, the salt merchants in Fujian, etc., but we can occupy a niche. We are not in vain, so you can rest assured! "
"Brother Qiming is right. Anyone who is willing to participate must sign a commitment letter. Anyone who dares to cause trouble afterwards will be spit on by everyone!"
"You can have this!"
…
Everyone expressed their opinions one after another with firm eyes, which made the old man very happy. If the business gangs in one place are not united, they will not develop in the long run.
"Since you all think so highly of me, I will boldly say something. The most famous ones now are the top ten business gangs, such as Guangdong and Fujian. It's hard to say. After all, they are too far away.
It’s hard to say whether the other business gangs will also guess the court’s future movements.
I think that if there are more merchant gangs present, it will be half, if there are few, then it will be 10%, and at most it will be 15%.
Eating alone is something the court does not want to see. Eating too much can easily lead to being targeted by other merchant gangs. "
"Half percent?"
One person exclaimed: "Mr. Xi, is it too little?"
"Have you forgotten what I just told you? The imperial court may reopen the sea ban. Once the sea ban is lifted, there will be dozens or twenty moon ports like Zhangzhou, Fujian.
What is the role of a port? Loading goods out of the port and entering the port for inspection will be such a bustling experience.
Ningyuan Mutual Market will not start until April or May next year at the earliest. It will take a year or two to make a profit.
If the imperial court imposes a maritime ban during this period and increases the number of ports, would you like to build some shops or something in the ports? You have invested all your money in Ningyuan, can you still get a share of the pie in the port?
It is even said that we need to build merchant ships, recruit sailors, etc. to prepare for going to sea for business, which all require a lot of money. "
Everyone was stunned again.
They had been to Yuegang before, where ships gathered, merchants gathered, and farmers were all mixed together. They traveled to the sea as if they were in the market, and they were all supplied by the sea day and night.
There is a poem that says: The town is prosperous, and in ancient times it was called Yuegang, Little Suhang.
One town can rival Suzhou and Hangzhou, and you can imagine how prosperous it is.
Although it is in decline now, once the imperial court imposes a sea ban again, it will definitely regain its vitality immediately.
The wealth there may not be as good as Shang Ningyuan, but it is better than the number of open ports.
"Mr. Xi, this junior is stupid!"
The old man waved his hand and looked at everyone, his eyes full of questions.
Everyone also shook their heads, indicating their agreement with the share just now.
Seeing this, the old man said with a serious face: "The shares are determined, now let's talk about the distribution of benefits!"
