Why war? Who will fight? Will the elder brother be in danger? What exactly is the bureau that the senior brother is talking about? Who set up this game? What is his purpose? I don't know, I don't know anything, I just know that I absolutely can't use my own money to fight my brother. - Mo Xiangsi

***

"Ma'am, what's wrong?" Fang Zhong only listened to Jin'er talk about Mo Xiangsi's abnormality in the teahouse, and he was also surprised, so he hurriedly rushed back from Qianzhuang.

But when he came back, Mo Xiangsi seemed to have made up his mind, and he had completely calmed down, and he was no longer the dejected appearance he had just been in the teahouse. She looked at Fang Zhong's eyes solemn and firm: "Steward Fang, I have something to ask you." ”

Fang Zhong looked at Mo Xiangsi's appearance, and he didn't know what Mo Xiangsi had heard during the day he went out, but he also hurriedly said, "Madame, excuse me." ”

"Steward Fang, if Zhongzhou and Qi Linguo go to war, will they ask the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce for money? Will the Fang family come out? How? ”

Fang Zhong was puzzled when he asked, so he had to reply seriously: "The imperial court has had this precedent before, at the beginning, when it was at war with the Qilin Kingdom, the imperial court was defeated by the empty treasury, and a total of 50 million taels of silver were designated to the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce before and after, and ordered to hand over the ......."

"Fifty million taels?!" Mo Xiangsi gasped.

Fang Zhong nodded to Mo Xiangsiyan: "Yes, at that time, Zhongzhou was in danger, and the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce was also ruined, and the president of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce was also Guan Guangzhan, the head of the Guan family. Leading the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce also set up an unwritten rule, when Zhongzhou is in danger, as long as the imperial court comes down to collect salaries. Regardless of war or disaster relief, in addition to leaving the money necessary to maintain business, the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce will hand over half of the excess idle money, and if it is not enough, half of the surplus will be handed over...... This is the case until it is paid. ”

Mo Xiangsi said: "Then there won't be someone who cheats and deliberately doesn't pay the silver?" ”

Fang Zhong nodded and said, "There have been some of them, but the few shops that were discovered were all punished for the crime of collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country." Raid your home and destroy your door! And every time the state levies silver, there will be Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce who invites the above people to come down and check the accounts of each family. Those people were all sent down by the subordinates, and many of them were old shopkeepers in the capital for decades, and their eyes were poisonous, so it was basically impossible to fish in troubled waters. ”

Mo Xiangsi took a deep breath. Finally made up his mind and asked Fang Zhong: "Steward Fang, what did you say at the beginning, what did the Fang family rely on?" ”

"Fields."

Mo Xiangsi said: "If the two countries are at war, is the grain and grass also to be replenished by our Suzhou and Hangzhou?" ”

"Not bad."

Mo Xiangsi said in a deep voice: "That is to say, if the land and property of Suzhou and Hangzhou are in our hands, when the time comes, the court will beg us." ”

Fang Zhong listened to Mo Xiangsi's words, and suddenly felt shocked: "Madam, what do you want to do?!" ”

Mo Xiangsi's eyes looked at Fang Zhong firmly: "Let's learn from our ancestors." Start buying land! Whose hands are the land in Suzhou and Hangzhou now? ”

Fang Zhong only felt uneasy in his heart, but after all, he answered Mo Xiangsi's question: "Most of the land around Suzhou and Hangzhou is owned by some suburban landlords. However, most of the merchants in Jiangnan were also willing to buy some of their land, and there were many fragments of land owned by the people. ”

Mo Xiangsi asked again: "What about taxes and grain?" How about each year? ”

Fang Zhong said: "Every year, there is a fixed grain levy for each mu, but looking at the way this year, I am afraid that it has been flooded and there is no harvest." And once this happens, the merchant is better. Don't hand over a little more silver, which means that the situation can be mixed up. However, once the ordinary people's homes are flooded, not only can they not pay the taxes, but also there is no rice to cook at home for a year, so they will have to transfer grain from Shandong and other places to provide disaster relief. ”

Mo Xiangsi twisted his eyebrows: "Is Shangjia better?" ”

Fang Zhong sighed: "It's not good, it's just that most of those landlords and rich people have their own grain in stock, which can be handed over to the top, and the other is to pay more filial piety to the prefect with some silver, so that the prefect can make a complaint to the court and reduce some taxes." However, Suzhou and Hangzhou, a rich place, the prefect is also very dark, once the land in his hand is harvested, the merchant will make money exponentially, but once it encounters such a year, the number of people who are honored by the prefect Zheng Lu is afraid that it is not much different from the tax. It's better to say that it's just not as desperate as ordinary people. ”

Mo Xiangsi nodded: "Okay!" Now listen to me, where is the matter of the silk village, you can hand it over to the shopkeeper who is in charge of the silk village below, and now you personally take people to buy the land. ”

Fang Zhong looked at Mo Xiangsi, shook his head and said, "Madam! In this matter, it is difficult for the old slave to obey his fate! This is too dangerous, you still have such a grudge with the prefect Zheng Lu now, once this matter hits his hands, then it will not be a problem that money can solve. ”

Mo Xiangsi looked at Fang Zhong, but shook his head and said, "No, it's not Zheng Lu, it's Long Yuan!" Now in Suzhou and Hangzhou, the biggest is Longyuan! When I do this, I naturally have to get Long Yuan's support first. As long as he, the king of Langxiang, agrees to cooperate with us, then when the sky falls, someone will naturally help us bear it. ”

Fang Zhong's brows furrowed tightly, he still felt that Mo Xiangsi's decision was too bold.

Mo Xiangsi looked at Fang Zhong, knowing in his heart that if this matter was not approved by Fang Zhong, he would still be very troublesome, so he said to Fang Zhong: "Steward Fang, do you think, the current ghost weather is destined to have no harvest in Suzhou and Hangzhou this year, who doesn't want to let go of the field in their hands and let this disaster out?" So the price of buying a field at this time will definitely be very low, and we happen to have this spare money in our hands to buy land. Taking a step back and thinking about it, once the grain production in Jiangnan is reduced and the famine is caused, and the war is about to start outside, then it means that if the money in our hands cannot be spent, it will become disaster relief silver and military salaries collected by the imperial court, and our silver will not be able to be kept.

At this time, if we buy this field at a low price, only lose a year, after all, everyone knows, 'Suzhou and Shanghai are ripe, the world is full', you also said, such a heavy rain, ten years rare, Suzhou and Hangzhou will rarely have such a flood, and next year we can earn all the money back or even several times! ”

Fang Zhong still felt that it was inappropriate: "But this truth, the businessmen in Jiangnan know it, who would be willing to sell the land to you?" ”

Mo Xiangsi's eyes were bright: "Yes, because I have increased the profit of the bank, everyone thinks that the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce will run on the Fang family, and the Fang family will inevitably go bankrupt at that time!" ”

Fang Zhong looked at Mo Xiangsi and frowned, still not understanding what Mo Xiangsi meant. Isn't that dangerous?

Mo Xiangsi looked at Fang Zhong so unenlightened, and said anxiously: "Oh, that is to say, the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce will run on the Fang family, but they will not run on the Fang family before the imperial court collects grain, so that the Fang family is still in the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, and they have to pay money in the Chamber of Commerce, and the total amount of money must be paid, and the Fang family will pay money, which is equivalent to them paying less money." And once the money is paid, the Fang family will be finished, and they can run on the Fang family and make the Fang family bankrupt. At that time, the Fang family's land and real estate were all theirs, and when they divided them, it would be the same.

And before that, the Fang family took their land, on the one hand, they got the Fang family's silver for nothing, and also let the Fang family bear the burden of paying taxes to the imperial court, exempting them from a sum of expenses to the prefect, how could they not be willing? Naturally, they were happy to sell us their land. And the common people don't need to say it, you just say buy their land, then we naturally don't have so many people to farm, we still have to hire them, they only take the silver and don't have to pay taxes, as long as the silver we give is reasonable, why don't they do it? ”

Speaking of this, Fang Zhong finally began to understand a little: "However, madam, you have already said how the Fang family will be defeated, why do we still do this?" ”

Mo Xiangsi jumped to his feet in a hurry: "Didn't I tell you, that's what they thought, and we have Long Yuan!" I'll go talk to Long Yuan now, after all, this is his money, and I'll give him another share of the profit, and try to pull him to my own boat." In this way, once there is a flood at that time, Zheng Lu will not reflect it to the court, and Long Yuan can. And after all, he is a prince who has been valued by the emperor, if he can take care of the disaster relief and the raising of money in Jiangnan on his head, then, when the time comes, who will dare to touch us? ”

Fang Zhong finally understood what Mo Xiangsi meant, but he was also admiring how Mo Xiangsi came up with these various relationships, so now it seems that the most important thing is Long Yuan's link, but: "Madam, how can you be sure that King Langxiang will definitely help us?" What is the relationship between you and King Langxiang? ”

Mo Xiangsi asked, and was also stunned, me and him?

"I have nothing to do with him!"

"Then why do you conclude that the Eighth Prince will help you?"

Mo Xiangsi said: "How do I know his thoughts? I just felt that he would help me, and if I asked why, it was because he actually lent me a million taels of silver, and it was the kind that I could not pay back! Don't you think it's hard to explain this with common sense? I don't know why, but I know that he is a very sinister and cunning man, and if he helps me, there must be a reason why he needs to help me. In the same way, he will help me last time, and he will definitely help me this time! ”

Fang Zhong was speechless, what kind of crooked truth is this?

Mo Xiangsi was full of confidence: "Yes, it must be so, yes!" Steward Fang, you go and do what I say first, and I'll talk to him!" ”

The last time she went to Long Yuan to borrow money, Mo Xiangsi was reluctant in her heart, but this time, it was Mo Xiangsi who wanted to beg him, she was determined, no matter what, she would let Long Yuan stand on her side.

Because this time, it is not for himself, not for the Fang family, but for the sake of one day in the future, maybe he can help the senior brother.

****

Ask for subscriptions, ask for rewards, ask for tickets, ask for collections...... (To be continued)

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