Chapter 561 T-shaped Scroll Chest Tibetan Splendid

   The lobby fell silent.

   People who can sit in this position, even if they are not considered the top group of people in the Shanshan-Shaanxi Merchant Gang, they can still be called the mainstay group.

  They have huge business networks and industries in Beizhi, Shandong, and even Liaodong. Needless to say, in Shanshan and Shaanxi, even in the place of foundation, they were able to rely on their early capital advantages to go deep into the south of the Yangtze River in the pre-Ming and Zhou dynasty.

  It was only with the rapid growth of the local merchant gangs in Jiangnan that their power was counterattacked by the new merchant gangs in Jiangnan and Huguang.

  In their view, the opening of the sea ban in the Great Zhou Dynasty is a huge opportunity. It may be an opportunity or a crisis. If the Shanshan Merchants Group cannot participate, then it will be an opportunity for Jiangnan merchants and a crisis for Shanshan merchants.

So it seems that the opening of the sea is mainly a matter of Jiangnan maritime merchants, and it has some connection with these merchants who rule the roost on land, but the relationship is not too big, but the real leaders can naturally see farther and see this. hidden crisis.

At present, the Shanshaan merchant gang can exert a greater influence in the imperial court, and only the logistics support brought by Kaizhong and France to the nine borders, but this situation is due to the fact that the imperial merchants and noble families and even the court The phenomenon of "occupation of nests" caused by nobles with ties to Zhongzhong ministers wantonly asking for salt is becoming more and more serious and quickly disappearing.

  The law of Kaizhong has been declining day by day. From the beginning, 90% of the food in the border areas was transported by Kaizhong merchants, or the grain supply of Kaizhong merchants' commercial villages has dropped sharply to less than 30%.

  This brought about a soaring price of grain in the border areas, and more grain from the border areas was transported from various places, with high prices and low quality, but the influence of Shanxi merchants on the court also declined rapidly.

   "Then Mr. Fan, how should we deal with it?" Finally someone interrupted, and the others also echoed.

   "Shaoquan, what do you think?" Fan Gong ignored the group of people who said what they said, but asked the representative of the new force of the Wang family in front of him.

"To untie the bell, we need to tie the bell. We haven't got a glimpse of the whole story of this sea-opening strategy. Although we have obtained a lot of information from various channels, they are all scraps and pieces. We still have to find Feng Keng, the person who proposed the idea." In order to understand the final thoughts of the imperial court, it’s just that this guy doesn’t know whether he is waiting for a price, or he is confident, or the imperial court intends to let him do this. It is reasonable to say that such a big move is impossible without the support and contribution of our business gang. Could it be that the imperial court really intends to exclude us Shanxi merchants?"

Wang Shaoquan's words made the old man surnamed Fan with a sour face on the opposite side shake his head decisively, "Shaoquan was wrong about this matter. How could the imperial court let the Jiangnan merchants dominate? But the reliance on Jiangnan merchants is inevitable. We're at a disadvantage."

   "Fan Gong, I'm afraid we can't sit still and wait for death. We have to take a multi-pronged approach and find a way from all aspects. Don't wait until the overall situation is settled and we can't even share the leftovers, then..."

Wang Shaoquan said carefully, "Judging from the situation in the past few days, this Feng Xiuzhuan mainly went to Wenyuan Pavilion when he went out. Well, he also went to Rongguo Duke's Mansion. According to the news I inquired about, he will take a rest tomorrow. Accompany his mother to Dinghui nunnery to offer incense."

   "Oh?" The old man surnamed Fan's eyes lit up slightly, "Rongguo Mansion? What is his relationship with the Jia family?"

"It should be a family friend. Feng Keng has a close relationship with Jia Lian, the eldest son of Jia She, the Duke of Rongguo, and it is said that Jia Baoyu, the first son of Jia Zheng, and Jia Huan, a member of the Ministry of Industry, serve him as brothers..." Wang Shaoquan obviously did something wrong. Kung Fu, "Feng Keng went to Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River before. It is said that he stayed in the Lianghuai capital for a long time, and the salt envoy Si Yamen stayed in the Lianghuai capital.

  The old man surnamed Fan stroked his beard and nodded, "He is going to Dinghui Nunnery tomorrow, can Shao Quan go?"

  Wang Shaoquan knew that the old man surnamed Fan couldn't sit still, so he nodded: "If Mr. Fan is interested, Shaoquan will be his companion."

  ********

  Suzhou Hutong, Dongting Guild Hall.

  Compared to the grandeur of the Shanshan Guild Hall, the Dongting Guild Hall is much smaller and more refined.

   But the small scale does not mean that the energy is small.

  Dongting does not refer to Dongting Lake, but refers to Dongting Mountain, located in Suzhou.

  Suzhou has always produced officials, this was the case in the Ming Dynasty, and it was even more so in the Great Zhou Dynasty. However, at the same time, Suzhou gentry, merchants and officials had the closest relationship.

  Dongting Guild Hall is also the gathering place for the elites of Suzhou business gangs.

   "Is this son so difficult?"

  Several people sat in the official hat chair, drinking tea casually with light expressions.

   "A representative figure of northern scholars, whose teachers are Ge Lao and the left deputy capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, how can he be a kind person?"

   "It's just that seventeen years old is too exaggerated?"

   "I heard that the poems and songs are not good, but they are especially good at current policy theory, which just fits the way of today's imperial examination competition."

   "It's no wonder the current Holy Majesty is so favored,..."

   There was a burst of laughter in the hall. It is no longer an open secret that the emperor does not like poetry and prose, and it is widely circulated among the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.

"It's not entirely true. It is said that this son once competed with a fellow student who is famous for poetry and prose at the Enrong Banquet, and he was not inferior. Later, there were rumors that this son just didn't bother to spend more time on poetry and prose. There are different opinions. ..."

   "Hmph, I was born as a warrior, no wonder this kind of vulgarity doesn't know the way,..."

   "Don't hear about the Dao? Then can this master who opened the sea be called the Dao? If it wasn't the Dao, why would you and I bother here, just to meet each other?"

   "You! It's an insult to gentleness, you Xishan people are so..."

   Seeing that several people are about to quarrel, and they no longer have the leisure and comprehension they had before, but no one is willing to resolve it.

   "Okay, it's meaningless to say these things. The situation is stronger than people, and we have to think about our own affairs." An old man in brown shirt who had never spoken at the top finally spoke.

"Mr. Xu, I'm afraid it's not an option to sit and wait like this." A middle-aged man sitting beside the old man in brown shirt also cast a displeased glance at the few people who were still chattering over there, "This son is said to have been with Min The Dihai merchants have connections, and they also have connections with merchants in Ningbo, but we Suzhou people are the only ones left out,..."

"Ningbo merchants are because they want to go north to set up a shipyard. This is the intention of the court. The people in Ningbo may not be willing to go, but I'm afraid they can't bear the pressure of the court." Mr. Xu said flatly: "If you Xishan Xu is willing Participate in it, presumably the imperial court is also happy to see the results."

  Being squeezed by the old man like this, the middle-aged man with a broad face was also a little embarrassed. He was just looking for a topic, but he didn't expect that this wealthy Dongshan businessman would not give face at all.

   "Is there any news from the Huizhou Guild Hall?"

"They haven't made much of a move. Their posts have been sent in long ago, but just like us..." Although the man surnamed Xu felt resentful in his heart, he still didn't neglect the old man surnamed Xu, "But the gang of Longyou People seem to have received the post, but they are not sure yet,..."

   "What? The group of Longyou received the post? Are you sure? What's the reason?" The old man surnamed Xu suddenly became nervous.

  If everyone is out of action, then he can still feel at ease, but if someone other than his idea takes the lead, he will have to be shocked.

The plan to open the sea involves maritime trade only on the bright side, and more importantly, it involves the transformation of the entire commercial system from Liaodong, Beizhi, Shandong, Nanzhi, Liangzhe, Fujian, and Guangdong to Guangxi, and even includes Huguang and Jiangyou along the Yangtze River.

  This means that once the sea ban is lifted, the shipping industry will usher in a huge development, and the huge cost advantage of water transportation compared with land transportation will quickly become apparent.

It turns out that the most important thing is the golden waterway along the Yangtze River and on both sides of the canal, but in a few years, I am afraid that Guangdong, Guangxi, southern Fujian and Zhejiang and Shandong, Jingshi and Liaodong will form another golden waterway for sea transportation. These three waterways connect As a whole, no one can predict what kind of changes will be brought to the commercial trade in the entire Great Zhou territory.

  Even these three waterways will be connected with the future distant sea trade with North Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. With the huge consumer market system and production system in Dazhou, both imports and exports will bring unpredictable benefits.

The man surnamed Xu shook his head, "I don't know about that, and I also learned that Feng Xiuzhuan also sent a post to the Jiangyou Guild Hall, but I don't know who received it from the Jiangyou Guild Hall. "

  The old man surnamed Xu was in deep thought and remained silent. This should not be the case.

  Feng Keng was originally from Shandong and grew up in Shanxi. His teachers were Qi Yongtai Beizhiren and Qiao Yingjia Shanxi. The Shen family he was engaged to was a scholarly family in Suzhou.

You say that he is friendly with the Shanshan-Shanxi Merchants Group, which makes sense. He has contacts with Fujian maritime merchants and Ningbo merchants. He sailed from southern Liaoning to Denglai. However, Huizhou Merchants, Shanxi Merchants, and Dongting Merchants Gang are the most powerful in the Great Zhou Dynasty today. He didn't contact any of the three groups, and even the Huangshang group didn't seem to have received an invitation. Instead, he got in touch with Longyou and Jiangyou merchants. This is unbelievable.

Although Longyou and Jiangyou merchants are not weak, they are inferior to Huizhou merchants, Shanshan merchants, and even their own Dongting merchants. Shaanxi merchants are evenly divided, but when did it ever be the turn of Longyou merchants and Jiangyou merchants?

   "Mr. Weng!"

   There was a mess of tables and chairs in the hall, but an old man was seen entering proudly accompanied by several people.

   "Mr. Weng!"

   "Old Man!"

  His beard and hair are white, but his spirit is strong, even the old man surnamed Xu rarely gets up: "Brother Qiyang."

   This is Weng Qiyang, the second son of Weng Yan, a representative of the Dongting Merchant Gang.

   "Brother Chengdong, this Feng Xiuzhuan is not simple, it can be said that he has a beautiful chest. He connected Anfu merchants and Longyou merchants with the intention of going east." Weng Qiyang made a big move as soon as he sat down.

  (end of this chapter)