Although these slave miners have always remained in the mines and show no signs of leaving or being transferred, Daiwang's strength still makes people feel uneasy.
Shen Yiyuan once suffered a loss in front of King Dai.
Last year, in March of the 10th year of Hongwu, Shen Yiyuan saw that the development of steam engines was in full swing, and the fuel for steam engines was coal. The Shen family bought the ten-year operation rights of a coal mine in Pingdingshan, Henan, for 50,000 yuan.
But when the Shen family gathered craftsmen and civilians to dig the coal mine, the steward of the Dai Wangfu came to the door and offered 50,000 yuan to the Shen family to transfer the coal mine management rights.
Shen Yiyuan was naturally not happy.
You must know that finding a mine requires a huge amount of time and labor costs, not to mention clearing the roads, preparing all channels, and purchasing warehouses and ships. The investment cost is not just the right to operate the coal mine.
After rejecting the offer from Prince Dai's Mansion, Shen Yiyuan arranged for the shopkeeper to go to Prince Dai's Mansion to deliver a gift in order to avoid unnecessary trouble. He thought that the matter would just go away, but who would have expected that Prince Dai was so strong that he could not tolerate rejection or even abandon him. He said: The coal mine that I like is what the court likes and the emperor likes. You, a small businessman, dare to compete with the emperor. What are your intentions?
Shen Yiyuan naturally knew that King Dai was bullying businessmen in the name of Zhu Yunwen, but so what? There is no way to complain about this kind of thing. If you really file a complaint, it means that the Shen family and the Dai Wangfu are completely at odds, and it will be difficult to do business in the future.
After weighing the pros and cons, Shen Yiyuan personally visited Dai Wang's palace and not only gave away the coal mine management rights, but also gave all the warehouses and ships to Dai Wang without taking any money.
This kind of wealthy person who spends hundreds of thousands of dollars
His affection and attitude of being aware of current affairs made Dai Wang very fond of Shen Yiyuan, but Shen Yiyuan stayed away from Dai Wang.
Shen Yiyuan didn't like Dai Wang's behavior of wanting to control all the coal mines and suppressing other coal mine businessmen by any means. From then on, the Shen family no longer involved in the mining industry.
Runniang looked at the worried Shen Yiyuan and asked in a low voice: "Even if there are some changes, why do you think that the emperor is in danger? What else are you hiding from me?"
Shen Yiyuan closed the door, walked to the bedside, and said seriously to Run Niang who was following him: "In the past two months, three groups of lobbyists have approached me, hoping that I can take the lead in opposing the imperial court's floating commercial tax and the imperial court's land control. ,Even……"
Thunder was rolling and rain was pouring outside the window.
Qu Yuan looked at the pondering Chang Baiye and said seriously: "The floating commercial tax is too unfair to us merchants. In the Hongwu Dynasty, the commercial tax was only one thirty tax, but in the Jianwen Dynasty it was fifteen tax one. Not to mention, The floating commercial tax has even pushed some goods up to the level of two-for-one tax! Those Cochin wood furniture are subject to five-for-one tax. A set of high-quality furniture costs one thousand guan, and the tax alone costs two hundred guan."
"This is simply treating us like pigs for slaughter. Besides, regarding the control of farmland, who among the Shanxi merchants is not proud of the land acquisition and the large number of acres? The imperial court is doing this nonsense and using people to control the number of acres. This is simply ridiculous. Don’t leave a way for the rich to survive. How many ancestors made their fortunes and accumulated family property by relying on their fields?”
"Brother Baiye, now that the world is conquering the world and there are countless turmoils in the court, Emperor Jianwen has lost the hearts of officials, gentry, and wealthy people, and even some princes and princes are dissatisfied with him. This is the time to do big things, no matter what
Don't dare to delay it any longer. As long as you stand up and raise your arms, businessmen will follow you one after another. It is time for us businessmen to shout out for the common interests! "
Chang Baiye looked at Qu Yuan. This man was the son of Qu Bao, a great Shanxi merchant. He took over Qu Bao and became the manager of his family. This man mostly traveled between Shanxi and Jinling. He had done a steady job over the years and accumulated a lot of money. The family property has quite a say in the Shanxi Merchants Chamber of Commerce.
only……
You are a businessman. When did you become a politician and a lobbyist?
Seeing that Chang Baiye was still unmoved, Qu Yuan looked around and saw that there were no ears or eyes, so he whispered: "Brother, the current situation is different from the past. If we stand up and put pressure on the court now, there are strong enemies outside the court, and there are powerful enemies inside. The collection of corvee will destabilize people's hearts and will definitely lead to regression. At this Chamber of Commerce of the Heroes, we should express our support for the abolition of floating tax rates and the return of commercial taxes to a fixed tax rate of 15 per cent. In addition, the number of private acres should be allowed to be traded freely by the people. The court shall not interfere.”
Chang Baiye put his hand on the teacup and asked calmly: "These words are probably not what you want to say. Someone asked you to lobby me. Who is this person? The King of Dai or the King of Liao, or is it here? Besides the two kings, is there anyone else?"
Qu Yuan shook his head: "Brother, you don't need to ask so many questions. You just need to know that this is the general trend of people's hearts. Those who follow the trend will prosper. Isn't that what you have always told us?"
The corner of Chang Baiye's mouth moved slightly, and he looked at Qu Yuan with a cold look: "Follow the trend, and those who follow it will prosper. Who do you think this trend is, and who gave the prosperity? It's Emperor Jianwen, not the gentry and businessmen, your eyes The potential seen here is nothing but a river
The waves in the stream are not the river itself! Qu Yuan, you probably haven’t forgotten why the imperial court introduced the floating tax rate. Have you forgotten what happened back then? "
Qu Yuan's heart trembled.
The underlying reason why the imperial court introduced the floating tax rate was that Zhu Yunwen wanted to control business, and the direct trigger was businessmen such as Cao Youshan, Liang Wenxing, and Zhou Dajiang who interfered in politics and conspired with the three kings to oppose the imperial court's move of the capital.
The consequences were that these people were killed and their families were confiscated. In order to prevent the imperial court from stifling business, the merchant group had to agree to a floating tax rate for business. Chang Baiye personally participated in the formulation of this tax rate.
Chang Baiye couldn't figure out why Qu Yuan could forget that Cao Youshan's death turned the eight major Shanxi merchants into the seven major Shanxi merchants. Floating tax rates and land control are all policies of the court. When did businessmen have the right to interfere in government affairs?
This time, the invitation from the Heroes Chamber of Commerce was written by Zhu Zhi, King of Liao Dynasty, and Zhu Gui, King of Dai Liao Dynasty. There is something strange about it. When these things are discussed openly, are they not afraid of the emperor's anger?
Chang Baiye didn't believe that the security bureau's power could not discover what the two kings had done.
There is something strange about these things.
And Qu Yuan's role as a lobbyist made Chang Baiye feel even more uneasy.
Qu Yuan stood up and leaned into Chang Baiye's ear: "Brother Baiye, I am doing this for the good of Shanxi merchants. You don't know that the situation in Jinling is subject to change. How long can Emperor Jianwen sit in that position? , I can’t tell clearly.”
Chang Baiye turned his head and looked at Qu Yuan, grabbed the tea bowl with his right hand, and smashed it directly on Qu Yuan's head.
Snapped!
The tea bowl shattered and the hot water spilled.
Qu Yuan raised his hand in shock, covered his head, and looked down at the blood in his hand.
, his eyes became cold.
Chang Baiye grabbed Qu Yuan's lapel and said sternly: "If it weren't for Uncle Qu Bao's sake, you would be dead! Qu Yuan, let me tell you, I, Chang Baiye, will never do anything to treason. !”
Qu Yuan roared angrily: "You don't plan to do big things, so why do you want to train a group of people to enter the Imperial College, isn't it just to be useful in the future?"
Chang Baiye pushed Qu Yuan away and said coldly: "The Imperial College is open to the public. Those who have achieved academic success and are selected by the imperial court are all legitimate. Besides, I arrange for them to learn courses and knowledge, not to fight against the imperial power." , but to loosen the grip on businessmen, and to allow someone in the court to speak out for businessmen! You don’t understand Emperor Jianwen, and you don’t know how terrible he is!”
"What if he dies?"
Qu Yuan let the blood slide from his forehead to the corner of his mouth.
Chang Baiye stared at Qu Yuan: "What do you mean?"
Qu Yuan chuckled: "You know very well what I mean. How many people are dissatisfied with Emperor Jianwen, and it's not just the enemies who want his life? He has harmed the interests of all the gentry. If the gentry stands up and replaces the emperor, it will also It's not impossible. Brother Baiye, if you understand the current affairs, you should stand up and you can still work as an imperial merchant in the future. Otherwise, when the sky changes, there will be no need for the Chang family to exist!"
"Imperial merchant?"
Chang Baiye's mouth moved slightly and he said bitterly: "Qu Yuan, are you convinced by these two words? You are a smart man, don't believe these nonsense! The master of Ming Dynasty is Emperor Jianwen, not anyone else. No one can replace Emperor Jianwen, and no one can replace him! What bullshit emperor merchants, there have been no emperor merchants since the founding of the Ming Dynasty!
"
Qu Yuan shouted: "There were no imperial merchants before, but there can be in the future! In the past eleven years, haven't there been too many new things? Let's bet once. If the bet wins, our children and grandchildren can do business well, and there will be no floating tax rates. There is no longer any control over farmland. It is up to us to decide how much wealth we want to accumulate and how much land we want to buy!”
Chang Baiye stepped forward, slapped him, and looked at the angry Qu Yuan: "You'd better wake up, otherwise, I don't mind sending you to the security bureau! Don't make more money just because you made less money. After paying taxes and losing some land, he clamored to fight against the imperial power. Let me tell you, Emperor Jianwen's biggest mistake was to let people like you eat too much and make people like you too much!"
During the Hongwu period, business was dull.
Although there is wealth among Shanxi merchants, most of this wealth is hidden and accumulated from smuggling trade. However, after entering the Jianwen Dynasty, Emperor Jianwen revolutionized business several times, launched new business strategies, and repeatedly lifted the ban on business, which led to a prosperous business scene.
Eleven years ago, the shops, property, and residential land in the hands of the big Shanxi merchants were meager, and most of them were concentrated in Shanxi.
Eleven years later, the commercial territory of Shanxi merchants has expanded to Shanxi, North Zhili, South Zhili, Shandong, Henan and other places, and even entered the Suzhou and Hangzhou areas!
Various businesses have spread. The scale, the number of industries, the breadth of business, and the wealth are far beyond what they were before.
But even so, this group of people are still staring at the floating tax rate, the amount of land, and the part that is taxed by the court, instead of looking at how much more they have and how much they have left!
The human heart is never satisfied.
Chang Baiye is not satisfied either,
But I am willing to abide by the rules and do business well under management, in order to become the number one businessman in the Ming Dynasty!
But these people are not satisfied and demand that the rules be changed, or even that the person who set the rules be replaced!
This is no longer businessmen intervening in politics, this is businessmen rebelling!
