One Piece of Song Dynasty

After the meeting, Li Xin called Gao Ping and said, "Gao Ping, are you familiar with maritime merchants?"

Gao Ping replied: "I have dealings with a few maritime merchants. I don't know what's going on with the prince."

Li Xin said: "Call them all together tomorrow, and I will meet with them at Lin'an Tianxiang Tower to discuss something."

Gao Ping nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

The next day, all the big businessmen hanging around Lin'an were invited by Gao Ping to Lin'an Tianxiang Tower to whisper. It is unheard of for a prince to invite merchants to tea since ancient times. I don’t know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.

"You don't even have to ask if they are bleeding our brother." Yang Erlang, who was present, said. Yang Erlang, a giant businessman in Jiankang, started his career as a yakuza, but later turned into a maritime businessman. He owned thirty large and small ships. Other merchants include: Zhang Yuan, a giant businessman from Wenzhou who was engaged in pan-ocean trade and each owned fifty large merchant ships, and Zheng Bangjie, a native of Mingzhou. Yang Ke, a large merchant from Quanzhou with ten Qinglong ships and a fortune of hundreds of millions, is as rich as anyone in his country. Wang Gui in Guangzhou actually had more than large and small sea-going ships.

Before he finished speaking, Xiao Dezi opened the door and came in, saying that the prince had arrived. Zhang Yuan and others hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed to the prince. Li Xin, dressed in casual clothes, came in with Gao Ping, sat down, and asked them all to get up and talk. Everyone stood up, sat down half-assedly, and Gao Ping introduced Li Xin one by one.

"Today, my king invites you to drink tea and chat casually. You are all famous businessmen who have seen the wind and waves. There is no need to be rigid." Li Xin saw that everyone was doubtful and worried, so he enlightened them in a gentle tone, "A huge boat crosses the sea, and there are big winds and waves." Urgent, how to avoid danger?"

"We have a compass and a chart, and we know the monsoons and the reefs, so when we go across the ocean, it's like walking on flat ground," Zhang Yuan said.

Li Xin took out the compass: "This thing is called a compass. Having it means that the boat has eyes."

"Your Majesty's compass has long been out of date. Your Majesty, please take a look. This compass is the latest model." Yang Erlang interrupted Li Xin and took out his compass from his arms with a smile and handed it to Xiao Dezi. Li Xin took the compass from Xiao Dezi and looked at it carefully. Yang Erlang said, "It has 4 directions. The magnet is artificial and the positioning is more accurate."

Li Xin looked at it carefully, nodded frequently, and asked: "A ship with a load of stone can load jin, and a ship is jin. Do you have that much capital?"

Yang Erlang explained: "In addition to delivering the goods ourselves, we also assemble the goods and let the small businessmen assemble a shipment of goods to go to sea."

Li Xin asked: "If you have any difficulties in operating overseas trade and need help from the imperial court, just ask."

"Your Majesty, most of our exports are silk, porcelain, soap, and colored glaze. The supply of soap is okay, but the supply of colored glaze products is low. However, since the Jingkang period, the quality of silk and porcelain, which had a wide variety of exquisite craftsmanship, has declined year by year. , gradually became a decline." As soon as Zheng Bangjie took the lead, everyone started to complain. Li Xin asked: "I have heard of Longquan porcelain in Chuzhou. Unfortunately, the Longquan kiln was destroyed by the war. Are all porcelain kilns across the country also destroyed?"

Zheng Bangjie said: "The Jun kiln and other five major kilns were completely destroyed by the Jin army and thieves. What is most lacking now is high-quality ceramics. To put it bluntly, what we sell is craftsmanship. The craftsmanship must remain leading, and the core craftsmanship must not be leaked to the Tibetan people. .”

Li Xin nodded frequently and wrote it down secretly. Zhang Yuan added: "There is also the issue of maritime safety. The first fear of sea trade is weather, and the second fear is pirates."

Li Xin assured: "This is no problem. I will let the navy fleet eliminate all pirates along the coast. At least ensure that there are no pirates in the waters near our country."

Yang Ke asked: "I dare to ask, why does the prince care so much about our maritime merchants?"

Li Xin stood up and leaned on the railing to look at the lake: "Good question. I am looking for you today to expand our overseas trade. Overseas trade is extremely profitable. I want to expand overseas trade to make money and raise troops. When the troops are strong and the horses are strong, why worry about the Central Plains not being able to regain our country?" The king asks you, the Imperial Salt Bank has been open for three years, have you ever taken out a loan?"

Yang Ke replied: "Your Majesty, I have tried to get a loan, but not much. Now there are too many people who want to get a loan from the Salt Bank. The interest rate of the loan from the Imperial Bank is low. Everyone wants to get a loan from the Imperial Bank, but after all, the bank There are limits on loans.”

Li Xin turned around and said: "Okay, I promise you that the Salt Bank will allocate a special sum of money to lend you money to build sea-going ships and help you expand your fleet."

"The imperial court specifically lends money to invest in shipbuilding. This is an unprecedented event. Your Majesty, I am so grateful." Everyone knelt down excitedly. Li Xin also said that he would also help them improve their porcelain, silk and various craftsmanship. All the maritime merchants burst into tears of gratitude and shouted long live.

Li Xin pressed down his hands and said: "Since the imperial court has provided so many conveniences for you maritime merchants to do trade, shouldn't you also give back to the imperial court?"

Everyone's hearts skipped a beat, and their thoughts came true. Li Xin continued: "Since ancient times, wealth has moved people's hearts. Once this person has a huge amount of wealth, he will have many thoughts that he shouldn't have, like those in the former Qin Dynasty. Lu Buwei was a giant businessman before he became prime minister. I think some of you should know what the final outcome was, and how Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty suppressed merchants. I think some of you should also know. Why did this scholar, farmer, industrialist, and merchant have the lowest status? Because merchants have gathered a lot of wealth in their hands, which can even affect a lot of the country's wealth. I know that all your money is earned by yourself, but I also know the huge profits from sea trade. Just make one or two trips a year. Earn hundreds of millions or even billions of Chinese dollars, do you dare to say that the first pot of gold you earned was clean?"

Everyone felt chills running down their spines when they heard this. Wang Gui swallowed his saliva and said, "Your Majesty, just tell us what to do. We all listen to Your Majesty."

Li Xin smiled and said: "That's right. You all know that the imperial court is short of money. The imperial court provides convenience for you to expand the fleet. If the fleet expands, you will earn more. I don't want more, except for taxes. % of your annual sea trade profits will be handed over to the court, and the court will publicly say that this money is donated to the country. To give you a good reputation, I can also create a letter for you. This % will never be paid. Change."

Zheng Bangjie clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Li Xin said: "I know that you are not the only ones engaged in maritime trade. I hope that you will inform other maritime traders of this news after you return today."

Everyone replied: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Li Xin finally said: "Sea trade is a national priority. I hope that soon we will see our Song Dynasty's huge merchant fleet sailing everywhere in various sea areas."

"With the prince acting as a backstage boss for us and thinking about me, I dare you not to try your best." Yang Ke thanked everyone on behalf of everyone. Li Xin nodded and left with Xiao Dezi. All the maritime merchants stood up and respectfully sent Li Xin out.