Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 658
Or how to say, collusion between officials and businessmen.

In China, without official support, it is difficult to become bigger and stronger.

Although Shanxi merchants claim to be the smartest in business and second to be officials, in fact they are not invested in officialdom, because money means resources.

In the Shaowu Dynasty, nearly half of the civil and military officials were from Shaanxi, and the emperor was also from Shaanxi. How can we fight against this?

Therefore, the past few years have been the most comfortable time for Shaanxi merchants, but Huizhou merchants have gone straight to Beijing.

Shanxi Chamber of Commerce.

"Shame!" Zhuang Ziyan was furious. He raised his head and said to the crowd, "This group of Huizhou merchants can't feed them in such a fast place in the south of the Yangtze River, yet they dare to come and grab our things today."

"Nowadays, the sea transportation is smooth, and there are a lot of exchanges between the two places. Huizhou merchants are greedy for this part of the exchange benefits."

Someone spoke.

"Otherwise, I feel that Huizhou merchants may have discovered something."

"Huh?" Zhuang Yiyan's face changed greatly, and his anger immediately turned into solemnity: "How is it possible? How could this matter be discovered?"

……

On the other side, Huizhou merchants gathered together, happily discussing the business of banks in Beijing.

Doing finance is always the most profitable. Whether it is lending or exchanging, flying tickets are a huge profit.

Since the prosperity of shipping, Tianjin Port has quickly become the busiest area in the north, and its population has continued to grow, exceeding 20 in just a few years.

Silk, porcelain, lacquerware, pottery and other products from the south of the Yangtze River rest in Tianjin, creating a prosperous Tianjin.

But even so, everyone still focused on the city of Beijing, a big political city.

Economics will always serve politics.

"Since Shaanxi merchants went south to Huguang, they took control of Sichuan's salt, tea, and cloth, and Huguang's iron, rice, tea, and mines, and even went south to Guangdong and Guangxi to do business with Xiyi."

"When he was in Nanjing, when the Ticket and Salt Law was implemented, he wanted to seize the salt profit..."

"Nowadays, with the return of the capital to the north, Shaanxi merchants are growing stronger and stronger, and the vast north is almost completely occupied by them. Shanxi merchants are lingering in Shanxi, and it seems that they will be integrated into it."

"It is so powerful that there are guild halls in every province, and there are groups of them. Merchants from all over the world are vying to cooperate with it, and they are forced to sell their profits."

"It is estimated that among the Shaanxi merchants, there are no fewer than dozens of people worth millions, and they are indeed the largest gang in the world."

The first person, dressed in a long robe, is gentle and elegant, as if he is a gentleman.

He is the Anhui merchant who strongly advocates entering Beijing this time. Wang Chao, who is only in his thirties, is famous among Huizhou merchants and has a great say in Wuhu rice market.

These words shocked everyone.

Especially with a net worth of millions, it is inexplicably enviable.

You must know that among Huizhou merchants, only salt merchants can reach millions of dollars, and there are only a few of them. What a powerful family fortune this is!
"did you mean?"

An old man cast a puzzled look.

"Fight, fight as hard as you can."

Wang Chao gritted his teeth and clenched his fists: "Shanxi merchants are so powerful now that even the imperial court may be taboo. It happens that our Huizhou merchants conform to the imperial court—"

As he spoke, he looked at the crowd and smiled: "Besides, there is an extremely important matter this time..."

At this time, in Yuquan Villa, the autumn frost was gradually rising, and the chill was overwhelming.

Zhu Yixi couldn't bear it either, so she found a hot spring and lay down comfortably to soothe her nerves.

"His Majesty--"

Soon, walking out of the hot spring comfortably, Zhu Yixi saw He Yitong and Tang Yongan who had been waiting for a long time.

As early as in Hanzhong, these two businessmen strongly supported him, and then followed the pace of the army to grow step by step.

Now, with the passage of time, both are the families of the wealthy and have great influence among Shaanxi merchants.

In fact, whether it is Shanxi merchants or Shanxi merchants, they are nothing more than extremely loose chambers of commerce, huddling together to keep warm.

After all, they are all rich people, and there are often competitions between them, and it is difficult to mediate.

"sit down!"

Seeing the two, the emperor smiled lightly and said, "From Hanzhong to Beijing, it's been many years, and it's almost gone in a blink of an eye."

The two naturally lowered their heads to accompany the smile, and made a few jokes.

"When I was in Huguang, there was a shortage of supplies and the prices were extremely high. I had to form a guild and bring it into management. Looking at it today, it's time to get rid of it."

Tang and He were shocked and could only bow their heads in recognition.

Back in Huguang, Zhu Yixi established a series of guilds, such as the Grain Chamber of Commerce, the Cloth Chamber of Commerce, and the Iron Chamber of Commerce, in consideration of making the best use of everything and controlling supplies as much as possible.

In this way, most of the merchants are included in the management, whether it is to provide materials or control prices, it is a very good means.

Often, it is the Shaanxi merchants who hold the leadership position of the guild, which is why they expand rapidly, sweeping most of China.

Looking at it now, the guild is no longer viable.

Not to mention the mixed fish and dragons, but to a certain extent, it has created a monopoly.

The right to speak is always controlled by a few big merchants, which makes the strong stronger.

In this way, Shaanxi merchants ran wildly across the country, and even wrestled with Huizhou merchants in the Jiangnan area to enter Huaiyan.

It seems to have become a behemoth.

Therefore, it is imperative to disband the guild.

The emperor also absolutely does not allow a dominant business gang.

Tang and He obviously understood the emperor's thoughts and could only bow their heads in agreement.

"It's good that you agree."

The emperor smiled: "A certain person will never act arbitrarily, but since the two of you have no opinion, then it's fine."

Having said that, Zhu Yixi has always slapped and fed a jujube, and he has also rewarded the loyal Shaanxi merchants for many years.

"I intend to establish a household bank, and you can also call it the Daming bank."

"Its main responsibility is to transfer taxes from various places and transport them to the capital in a timely manner. Considering that there are so many prefectures and counties in the world, I intend to let some banks undertake it."

Hearing this, the two were overjoyed.

In fact, after the implementation of the whip method, due to insufficient transportation capacity and remote places, many poor counties will transfer silver to a trusted bank, and then go to the provincial capital to take it out and transfer it to the treasury.

The local government is convenient and fast, saving freight, and for the bank, this is a living silver.

Even just lying down for ten days and half a month is still a huge profit.

In the Manchu Qing period, this very rare phenomenon became widespread, creating a prosperous period for money houses.

And this method of rapid circulation is more beneficial than harmful to the imperial court.

Because taxes are usually recorded on a monthly basis when they are transported from the local area to the capital, the imperial court is in a hurry to jump due to lack of money, and the huge transportation pressure often makes many people's families ruined.

Moreover, Yunnan, Guizhou, and the now dilapidated northern provinces all need the central government to redistribute the taxes from the south, and the imperial court has to transport them to the provinces, which is too troublesome.

Zhu Yixi naturally wants the benefits of banks or money houses, but it is unrealistic to spread them to every county.

In this way, it is better to let the merchants undertake it, save some shipping costs, and make them grateful.

As for the annexation of taxes, they may be lost, the court is not afraid, and the house will be over.

(End of this chapter)