Domineering Daming

Zhu Xu was led to the second floor by the waiter. It was indeed a good place, just in the middle of the table.

Zhu Xu sat down, picked up the melons and fruits on the plate, then looked up at Cao Bianjiao who was standing beside him and said, "Come, sit down."

Cao Bianjiao bowed slightly, but did not move.

Zhu Xu shook his head and said, "You are not as enlightened as Lao Cao."

Cao Bianjiao didn't speak, but looked around vigilantly, saw several familiar figures, and made a gesture.The guards behind him quietly left.

Zhu Xu looked at the table, there was no one on it, but the spectators below were bustling, and it didn't take long for the seats to be full, chatting and laughing loudly.

Zhu Xu listened carefully, and vaguely heard the word "spring tea".Chewing nuts in his mouth, he listened carefully.

A group of people on the left were led by the waiter and walked straight to the table on Zhu Xu's right.

Cao Bianjiao looked up and down, made a gesture with his right hand, and the two quietly walked between the two tables, separating the group of people.

There were three people in total, all in brocade costumes, they looked very dignified, and each of them had a faint smile on their faces as they strode forward.

"Treasurer Li, you have thousands of acres of tea fields and several tea mountains, and you are going to make a lot of money this year!"

"No, no, it's the shopkeeper Fan Da on the right side of the mountain. I heard that he has three thousand acres of tea fields in Sichuan alone, not to mention several mountains in the south of the Yangtze River..."

"I'm so greedy, I can't do it. You all have made money. I have lost a lot this year. The quotation is invalid, and more than 100 million taels of silver have been thrown into the water!"

The three sat down talking and laughing. Shopkeeper Li was a middle-aged man. He looked at the stage and said, "Qingyunlou's salted duck, carp, Jiang Yunyao's daughter Hong..."

"Hey, shopkeeper Li, today is generous, just these few items will cost more than a dozen taels..."

Shopkeeper Li waved his hand and smiled quite reservedly.

The three are Li Hanshan, Sun Yongzheng, and Qian Zhongyong. They are all wealthy businessmen from Jiangnan.

Sun Yongzheng started his business as a cloth shop. Later, he was involved in making money from silk and satin, porcelain, private salt, tea, etc. He is now the richest man in Suzhou, and his in-laws have a close relationship with the Weaving Mansion.

Li Hanshu is a native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang and Jiangxi. He started his business by water transport, and now his main business is tea. He is not the first in Ming Dynasty, but he is one of the few. His ancestors were the inspectors of Zhejiang.

What Qian Zhongyong is doing is rice grain. In recent years, grain from the south has been sold to the north and sold at a high price. Cheap, but also a millionaire.

The business of the three people is intertwined and they help each other, and they have long been "best friends".

Sun Yong was looking at Li Hanshan's big handwriting, glanced at the two of them, shook his head and sighed: "I am not as good as Brother Li, the imperial court changed the salt policy, and half of my net worth was lost in it."

Li Hanshan looked at Sun Yongzheng, shook his head and said with a smile: "Brother Sun, don't lie to us, we know your net worth, a mere million taels, how can it shake your foundation?"

Qian Zhongyong looked at the two of them, and said bitterly: "You two are rich, and you have a lot of money to come to, but my brother, I am miserable. The water transport yamen is useless, and it is completely managed by that Huiyun shipping company. Most of the previous business was done. No, in just a few months, I lost several 10 taels, dozens of boats were parked at the pier and couldn't get out, and I don't know when I will have business again..."

Li Hanshu's water transportation business has long since ceased, his expression was stunned, and he asked tentatively: "I heard that the shipping company is owned by Mr. Fu's eldest son?"

Chapter 210 Tea Tax

Sun Yongzheng's complexion changed slightly, and he quickly lowered his voice and said, "Brother Sun, speak carefully."

Qian Zhongyong glanced not far away, looked at Zhu Xu on the stage all the time, sneered and said: "It's okay, I'm just a little kid, let's talk about ours."

Qian Zhongyong's voice was neither loud nor soft, Zhu Xu and Cao Bianjiao beside him could hear it clearly.

Cao Bianjiao looked cold and was about to move forward. Zhu Xu looked at the stage and waved his hands without changing his expression.

Cao Bianjiao looked at them coldly. A guard not far from him came over and whispered in his ear, "General, you are from Dongchang."

Cao Bianjiao nodded, and the emperor left the palace. Cao Huachun knew that it was normal to send someone to protect him.

After Qian Zhongyong finished speaking, Li Hanshan glanced at Zhu Xu, and saw that he was staring at the stage without any response, so he moved closer and said in a low voice: "I heard that this Mr. Fu is very powerful. I'm afraid the salt ban will be lifted. Much of the salt will fall into his hands."

Qian Zhongyong hurriedly followed up, and said: "I have inquired about it. The imperial court abolished the salt department. The salt produced by the salt field will be directly shipped to several major chambers of commerce, and the major chambers of commerce will be ordered to deliver to other places. You can get the salt with a certain amount of money, and if you don’t have it, you will hand it over to the local government directly..."

Sun Yongzheng's eyes wandered around the two of them, the anxiety in his eyes gradually faded away, and he looked very calm.

Li Hanshan and Qian Zhongyong looked at each other, Li Hanshan looked at Sun Yongzheng and said: "Brother Sun, I heard that you have some personal relationship with the shopkeeper Fan Da on the right side of the mountain?"

The Chamber of Commerce established by Fan Jinxiong and Shanxi Merchants is currently under the control of Fu Tao and is an important part of the reform of the salt administration.With the help of several major chambers of commerce, it has developed extremely rapidly.

Sun Yongzheng saw through the two people's intentions, took a sip of tea slowly, and said, "That's right, the last time shopkeeper Fan Da came to Beijing, he discussed the private salt matter with me."

Qian Zhongyong went on to say: "I heard that the storekeeper Fan Da has a lot of friendship with Mr. Fu. Mr. Fu's several chambers of commerce, private salt, and water transportation have given him a lot of benefits. Brother Sun, can you introduce it to us?" One or two?"

Sun Yongzheng's expression remained unchanged, but he smiled wryly in his heart.If he really had a lot of friendship with Fan Jinxiong, why would he stay in the capital for several months to clear up the relationship?

However, these two people in front of him are of great help to his business, he pondered, and said: "The salt ban is about to open, and Master Fan is expected to come to the capital soon, and I can try it out then."

"Okay!" Li Hanshan was overjoyed and said, "If we can join hands with shopkeeper Fan Da, we will have the final say on the tea price this year! The tea tax collected by the imperial court is only 6 taels a year. As long as I join hands with shopkeeper Fan Da, we will have the final say! You can earn 300 million taels more! I can earn it back without private salt!"

Zhu Xu looked at the babbling on the stage, but his mind was not on it. Hearing the discussion of the three, he frowned unconsciously.

He didn't pay attention to the tea tax, but he didn't expect that there would be so much profit!

With nuts stuffed in his mouth, Zhu Xu began to think.

After Li Hanshan finished speaking, he looked at Sun Yongzheng who was still calm, and said with a smile: "I will visit Mr. Han of the Tea Department later, as long as the transshipment departments in various places are cleared up, just like in previous years, it will be the same again. A good year for a good harvest!"

Listening to Li Hanshan's words, Qian Zhongyong smiled more. He has a closer relationship with Li Hanshan. As long as Li Hanshan's business is good, his will be good too.

"Guest officer, I've bought you the food and wine you asked for."

The waiter, carrying the brocade box, ran up courteously.

Li Hanshan was in a good mood, so he definitely threw the money over and said, "Okay, these are your rewards."

"Thank you, officer, you three are slow to use!" The waiter tidied up quickly.Seeing Zhu Xu's table, he quickly ran over again, looked at it and said, "My lord, do you want to order something?"

Just as Zhu Xu was about to refuse, Li Hanshan over there waved his hand quite grandly and said, "Give that young master a copy too, and it will be on my account."

After finishing speaking, she looked at Zhu Xu with an arrogant and polite expression.

Cao Bianjiao frowned, his expression indifferent.

Zhu Xu knew what Li Hanshu meant, he just wanted to stop him from talking too much, threw away the shell in his hand, clapped his hands and stood up, and smiled at the waiter: "No need, I am happy today, everyone here today, My son invites you."

After finishing speaking, he walked around the chair and went downstairs.

The waiter was overjoyed, followed Zhu Xu and said, "My lord is generous, I thank you on behalf of the guests here."

Qian Zhongyong watched Zhu Xu pass by, and he couldn't help but asked with hesitation: "This kid is a bit complicated, will he leak our conversation?"

Li Hanxi was not afraid at all, and said: "It's just a child, it's nothing more than the favored son of that family, what's so scary!"

Sun Yong was thinking about what he said just now, it didn't matter, so he didn't worry anymore.