On the top of the Huangpu Restaurant on the side of the Huangpu River in Songhu, a group of people looked at the Huangpu River leisurely while drinking tea, and seemed to be patiently waiting for something.

These people are all dressed extraordinarily, and there are a large number of followers around them, so that people can know at a glance that they are either rich or expensive.

"Grandpa Guo, even if he Liu Jin is now the left servant of the household department, there is no need for us to be so stammered with him, right?"

Wei Guogong Xu Li's side, Hu Xian looked at the rolling Huangpu River, thought about it and said to Xu Li.

Xu Liren, the Duke of Wei, is in his fifties, but his health is very good, and there is no trace of gray hair in his hair, and Hu Xian, who speaks to him, is a middle-aged man in his forties.

Wei Guogong is the top family in Nanjing and in the entire south of the Yangtze River, and Wei Guogong is basically the garrison of Nanjing and the representative of the military generals and noble groups in the past dynasties.

A two-country duke, it is said that after the king of Zhongshan Xu Da, Wei Guogong and Dingguo Gong, Wei Guogong guarded Nanjing for a long time, Dingguo Gong is in Beijing, one south and one north, one door and two dukes, and the whole Ming Dynasty is also the only one.

Hu Xian beside him is not an ordinary person, the Hu family is also one of the top families in the entire Jiangnan, and the family power is huge, from the government and the opposition to the local government, there is the power of their Hu family everywhere.

The Hu family can be regarded as a representative family of the Jiangnan family.

The ancestor was a businessman, who started as a businessman, accumulated wealth, and then began to sponsor the children of the family to participate in the imperial examination, and built an extremely large network of relationships through marriage and other means.

Jiangnan has many talented people since ancient times, and there are many heroes of literati, and in the Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan officials occupied half of the country, so the influence of the Hu family in Jiangnan is very huge.

"No matter how big an official Liu Jin is, I don't want to befriend him, even if he is the first assistant of the cabinet, it is not worth me to take the initiative to make friends."

Xu Li smiled and replied.

He has this self-confidence, he is the Duke of Wei, after Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan, he has been an iron rice bowl for generations, and the Ming Dynasty will not be destroyed, and his iron rice bowl will always be there, and he will rest with the country.

So no matter who is an official, how big an official he is, it doesn't have much to do with him Xu Li, as long as he doesn't rebel, no one can shake his status.

"Then Duke Xu, why did you call me and others to come here to Songhu to see this Liu Jin?"

Hearing Xu Li's words, someone next to him asked, this person is a middle-aged man in his thirties, dressed gently and elegantly, and his appearance is also handsome and chic, his name is Zhang Yuan, the contemporary head of the Zhang family in Jiangnan.

The Zhang family is one of the most famous families among the Hui merchants, rich and talented, and it is a big family comparable to the Hu family.

"For the money, of course!"

Xu Li said with a smile.

"For money?"

When the others heard this, they were slightly surprised, and they all looked at Xu Li, not quite understanding what he meant.

"In addition to being the left servant of the household department, this Liu Jin is also known as the God of Wealth in the Beijing-Tianjin area, and the people who followed Liu Jin have made a fortune, and even Jianchang Boshou Ninghou is a straw bag because of following Liu Jin, and he can earn tens of millions of taels of silver a year."

"Guess how much silver this British duke, Dingguo duke, and Chengguo duke can earn in a year?"

Xu Li looked at them and asked rhetorically.

To tell the truth, he Xu Ligui is the grandfather of the country, and if he wants to go further, he can only wait for his death to be posthumously crowned as the king, and it is only possible to make great contributions.

Therefore, in the officialdom, generally these generals and noble groups have no ambitions, and are more in pursuit of wealth and money.

Not only to be expensive, but also to be rich, not to be rich in general, but to be rich and expensive.

Hearing Xu Li's words, everyone couldn't help but widen their eyes slightly.

Everyone said that the northerners were richer, richer than them, and the Jiangnan people were richer, and everyone still felt a little unbelieving, but now when they heard Xu Li say this, they suddenly understood.

Thinking about the new investment houses, factories, workshops, etc. in the past two years, I immediately understood why Xu Li came to Songhu to meet Liu Jin in person.

Xu Li looked at the appearance of everyone and immediately smiled.

This Dingguo Duke and Wei Guogong are both descendants of Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan, and naturally have an unusual relationship with each other, and he Xu Li also has regular correspondence with Dingguo Duke Xu Yongning, and he is very clear about the wealth that the Dingguo Mansion now has.

In the past, the Duke of Wei guarded Nanjing because of the times, and they were all garrisons of Nanjing, and in a prosperous place like Jiangnan, the Duke of Wei was naturally made richer by the Dingguo Mansion in the north.

But now, in just a few years, the Dingguo family is behind Liu Jin's ass, and the wealth he has now is about to explode the Wei family's family casually.

This made Xu Li also envious and jealous, now that Liu Jin is going on an expedition to Annan and passing through Songhu on the way, he naturally also seized the opportunity to meet this master here in Songhu to see if he could catch Liu Jin's boat and follow him to make a fortune.

"Master, the ship has arrived~"

At this moment, the servants of the Wei Mansion hurriedly came to remind.

"Let's go, let's go and meet this master's son."

When Xu Li heard this, he immediately came to his senses and took the lead to walk towards the Huangpu River wharf.

At the wharf of the Huangpu River, Liu Jin's boat slowly docked.

As soon as Liu Jin stepped off the boat, a large group of people such as Xu Li, Hu Xian, and Zhang Yuan came over, and before they arrived, they saluted Liu Jin and said, "Liu Gong~"

When Liu Jin heard this, he was slightly stunned, he was called Liu Gong when he was only in his twenties, and he called himself old all of a sudden, and then looked at these people, none of them knew each other, but they were all dressed extraordinarily, and they also responded with a smile.

But soon someone around Liu Jin introduced Liu Jin one by one, and after listening to the introduction of these people, Liu Jin couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

"The big families, big businessmen, and big landlords in Jiangnan are here?"

"What is this for?"

Liu Jin greeted Xu Li, Hu Xian, and Zhang Yuan one by one, but he was thinking about it in his mind.

These people will definitely not come to find themselves for no reason, although they are the left servants of the household, but in terms of the status of these people, they will not take the initiative to come to Songhu to meet themselves, there must be something.

"Liu Gong came from afar, all the way to the journey, I prepared a little thin wine in the Huangpu Restaurant, and asked Liu Gong to appreciate it."

Xu Li looked at Liu Jin in front of him carefully and said with a smile.

"Duke Xu, don't call me Duke Liu anymore, that's tormenting me, you are Wan'er's uncle, it stands to reason that I should call you uncle."

"You just call me Liu Jin."

Liu Jin slightly sorted out the relationship between Dingguo Gong and Wei Guogong in his mind, Xu Li in front of him is the fifth generation of Wei Guogong, the sixth generation from Xu Da, and Xu Yongning, the fourth generation of Dingguo Gong, is the fifth generation from Xu Da.

Xu Wan'er is Xu Yongning's granddaughter, and she is considered the seventh generation, so Liu Jin wants to call Uncle Xu Li.

"Haha, then I'll take care of it again."

Xu Li immediately laughed happily when he heard this.

Soon, everyone came to the Huangpu Restaurant, tasting the food while looking at the Huangpu River, and talking and laughing at the same time.

"Liu Jin, let's try our hairy crab in the south of the Yangtze River, this crab roe is a rare delicacy in the world."

Xu Li gently pushed a plate of crab roe in front of Liu Jin and said with a smile.

"I've long heard that Jiangnan hairy crabs are a delicacy in the world, and this time I finally have the opportunity to taste them."

Liu Jin looked at the plate of crab roe in front of him, picked up the spoon, and took a bite gently, and a burst of extreme deliciousness bloomed between his lips and teeth.

"Tsk, in these two lives, it is the first time I have tasted authentic hairy crabs, and this is still a pure wild hairy crab, this taste is indeed delicious."

Liu Jin couldn't help but take another sip and carefully aftertaste.

After getting acquainted with each other, we slowly talked about national affairs, and naturally we would talk about Annan and Nanyang.

"This small country of Annan, Yelang is arrogant, and has repeatedly provoked my Daming, if I don't punish him with the fury of thunder, I am afraid that all countries in the South Seas will learn from Annan."

"My Ming merchant ships walked in the South Seas, and they were expropriated by these small countries, and even not long ago, merchant ships were sacked by South Sea pirates."

Speaking of this, Hu Xian, Zhang Yuan and others seemed angry, these big families and big merchants in the south entered Nanyang relatively late, so the silver they earned was far inferior to those trading houses in the north, and the scale and number of plantations were not as good as those in the north.

Now the countries of the South Seas have begun to levy heavy taxes on the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty in response to the Ming Dynasty vassal treaty issued by the Ming Dynasty at the end of last year, and in response to the Ming Dynasty's refusal of their tribute.

Of course, there may also be a sense of trying Daming's reaction in it, and if there is no reaction from Daming's side, they will naturally become more and more excessive.

This move by the countries of Nanyang also seriously touched the interests of the major commercial banks of the Ming Dynasty, especially the emerging commercial banks in the south are the most uncomfortable.

They have not yet earned much money, and they have not eaten much of the benefits, but this heavy tax, pirates, thieves, and so on, have also fallen on themselves.

Therefore, these big businessmen, big families and other places in Jiangnan are very supportive of the imperial court to send troops to the South Seas, not only are there no opposition from the court, but they even strongly advocate not only to destroy Annam, but also to clean up all the countries in the South Seas.

Let them know the power of the Ming Dynasty, in this way, they will not dare to levy heavy taxes on the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time, these pirates, thieves, etc. in the South Seas region will be swept away, and their merchant ships and plantations will be safer.

Liu Jin looked at the indignant looks of these people, and thought of the previous officials of the DPRK and China who opposed the ban on opening the sea and opposing the levy of commercial taxes, at this moment, this scene is too similar, but it is the other way around.