Liu Zhuji, the number of Tianliang layman. Originally, it was a procurer in a nobleman's mansion in Nanjing. After the Jianghai Joint Defense Agreement that year, a large number of Nanmi trading contracts were sold by the sons and daughters of the nobles at the Xiaguan Wharf in Nanjing, and they made huge profits in an instant. As a family member in the house, he is naturally the first to get the moon near the water.

Relying on the convenience of running errands for the master in the house, and relying on his identity as a family member of a high-ranking family, Liu Ji Ji eats at both ends. How do you eat at both ends? In a cultural word, it is "to blackmail officials to bully businessmen, and to hold businessmen to gain officials." "What, you still don't understand? Let's be clearer. In front of those rice merchants, he represents the nobles, "The masters of this business said that they would ask for this price." If you don't give this price, not only you can't buy it in our house, but you can't buy it in the whole city of Nanjing! "This is the so-called blackmailing of officials to bully businessmen. Then, it would be better to hold a business and be an official. The business is negotiated, and according to the rules, you should go back to the house to pay the account. He had to delay it for at least ten days and a half months, and put the silver outside for an account period to earn an interest penance. Then, when he returned to the house, he complained about his grievances in front of his masters, complained about his poverty, said that there were too many grain and rice contracts, how difficult the business was, and so on. What is a big head and a small tail, with underreporting more, yin and yang contracts and other means emerge in an endless stream, and reap the benefits from it again. Anyway, whether you are a noble or a businessman, you will be ruthlessly picked up by this Liu Tianliang.

In just a few years, Liu Tianliang has jumped from a small procurement to one of the few large grain merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, and the annual grain and rice contracts are at least millions of stones. Not only did he deal in grain, but he also took advantage of the convenience of frequent exchanges in various places to start a foreign exchange business with the Cao Gang, and also operated a car and ship trade between various towns and cities.

However, this person is good at observing words and looking at the direction of the wind, which is innate. After Duoduo went south from the north of the Yellow River, he quietly took advantage of the convenience of grain merchants and got in touch with the Qing army through the relationship between the four towns in Jiangbei, saying that as long as the Qing army crossed the river in the south, he was willing to do it. However, in Nanjing, the officials who surrendered could not be seen, where was the idle man who took care of him as a businessman? So, he was left unused.

Bolo went south from Nanjing this time, but he gave Liu Jiji, who was watching the scenery at home and waiting for the opportunity, a chance. He decisively contacted the same party and dedicated Jiaxing City. As the chief general of the first army, Bolo naturally wants to be rewarded for his merits. When asked what reward Liu Juji wanted, he replied very cleverly and flatteringly, "I don't want to be an official, I just want to be a good slave for my master, and get money for my master to be an errand messenger." ”

As a result, Liu Juji took on the task of raising food and grass for his army as a servant of Bolo's coating.

Jiamulou Teahouse is the industry club of Jiaxing grain merchants. Whenever there is any big or small thing in the industry, such as discussing the unified increase in wholesale prices, reducing discounts and other things, the Rice Industry Association will convene a meeting here. On weekdays, the merchants exchange goods with each other, inquire about the market, have any disputes and other affairs, and they are also here to contact and discuss solutions. This is also a must-visit place for Yanagi almost every day.

Today here is no exception, the front hall, the second hall, the left and right wings, the flower hall, full of people. Jiaxing, Huzhou, Tongxiang and other attached states and counties of the rice grain store owners also whether they are members of the Jiaxing Rice Industry Association have come, can be regarded as full of friends, winning friends like clouds. Well, if it weren't for the hundred and ten wolf-like Qing soldiers with swords and guns in front of the door, and the Qian Zong who was on the recliner at the door and watched everyone go in and out, this conference would be more harmonious.

"Phew! Blue Shopkeeper's! Huang Dongjia?! Why don't you two go in and sit down and stand here and talk? Under the veranda, Yuan Yangqing, the second shopkeeper of Liu Jiji, had a smug smile on his face, and his expression was like a person holding the power of life and death, looking at the dying prey under his minions.

The blue shopkeeper and Huang Dongjia were enthusiastically holding Yuan Yangqing's hand, and kept accompanying the smiling face, "Yuan shopkeeper, we haven't seen each other for a long time." No, when I saw it today, I thought about it together first, and see how to understand Mr. Liu's meaning, and eat his old man's words thoroughly, so as not to delay the error, right?! ”

As he spoke, a casual little gesture had been completed. Under the cover of his sleeves, a small piece of paper folded had been stuffed from the hand of the blue shopkeeper into the hand of the second shopkeeper. From the touch coming from his fingers, Yuan Yangqing could vaguely distinguish the denomination of this golden ticket.

Originally, the acceptance bills jointly issued by Longshengxing and other merchants in Nanzhong, each with a denomination of 500 yuan in silver, in order to make it convenient and safe for merchants from all over the world to trade and trade, and there is no need to carry a large amount of silver money when trading in this troubled world, which is coveted by heroes from all walks of life. However, because this thing is so convenient and the gold content is too high, it has not only been quickly recognized by people everywhere, but also gradually has a well-known name in all parts of the Yangtze River, "Golden Ticket!" It means that this piece of paper is like gold!

"Well, at least a thousand silver dollars. This guy surnamed Lan still knows what is going on! ”

On the other side, Huang Dongjia couldn't stop holding Yuan Yangqing's right hand with his two hands and shaking, and the same action was performed again.

"Mr. Yuan Er, what is the matter with this Liu Dadong family bringing us all together? Is the Rice Industry Guild going to be re-elected? You just have to order it down, go back and tell the big owner, if his old man is interested, this will be the head or the director, that is not his old man's words! ”

"That is, when voting, let's just watch what Liu Dadong's family wants! Whichever one he says to vote for, we'll vote for it! He said that coal is white, let's say whiter than snow! ”

After getting this attitude of the two rather honest businessmen, the shopkeeper of Yuanyang Qingyuan was naturally quite satisfied, "Okay! When the meeting is held, you have to follow Mr. Big's orders! Follow his old man's house, and everyone will benefit in front of the master! After saying this, Yuan Yang Qing Shi Ran hugged his fists and bowed, and continued to greet others in a graceful manner.

"Alas! A thousand silver dollars, and they were thrown into the water. "The blue shopkeeper and the Huang Dongjia both had this idea in their hearts. Now, although the Qing army occupies half of the rivers and mountains in the south of the Yangtze River, compressing the territory of the Southern Guangdong Army in Songjiang Prefecture, only Shanghai County, Wusongkou, Baoshan, Jinshan and other places remain, although it is better in Hangzhou, but it is also under the pressure of the Qing army. However, business and finance are not diverted by military superiority. And it seems to be inversely proportional to military superiority. The more the Qing army had the advantage, it seemed that the silver dollars, tongbao, and gold bills representing these currencies issued by Nanzhong became stronger. The reason is also very simple, that is, in the trade process of Nanzhong merchants, the settlement currency is only charged with Nanzhong silver dollars and Tongbao. The words of the people are also very direct, "There is too much money in Jiangnan and the mainland, and it is too indiscriminate." The value of the currency is not easy to calculate, not to mention, if we accidentally collect fake money, then we can't find the temple gate crying? "If you don't want to use the Nanzhong silver dollar as the basic unit of currency, then the only thing left is barter. Settle with raw silk, tung oil, silk, tea, porcelain, and population.

Some people will also ask, since the two sides fought to the death, then why has trade activities not been banned by the Qing army? The reason is actually very simple, in order to meet the needs of the army for food, and also to meet the luxurious living needs of nobles, generals, and officers at all levels, the trade activities between the merchants of Jiangnan and the merchants of Nanzhong have not been affected, but have become more prosperous. Of course, you can't drive the fleet to the Nanzhong merchants generously as before. Smuggling has flourished like wildfires in the spring.

Therefore, 1,000 Nanzhong silver dollars, for a medium-sized businessman, cannot be said to be a loss that hurts the muscles and bones, but it is also a bit painful. "Alas! If you go and sell some soju snuffboxes or something, at least half of the profits! Huang Dongjia shook his body a little distressed.

"Two gentlemen, what a Yaxing! There are cigarettes, tea, snacks, and fruits in it, why don't you go in and talk? It was Liu Juji's son who spoke, Liu Qing, who was known as "Qing Gongzi". So, the two wealthy people had to deal with it again, and once again took out the golden tickets on their bodies to carefully check one or two.

Finally, the deliberations of the Rice Industry Association began.

"Colleagues, the prince's military order has been explained. In order to crusade against the rebel thieves who resisted the heavenly soldiers, we also sent envoys to our Jiangnan rice industry colleagues. I am a dignified soldier of the Qing Dynasty, a righteous banner, and a rebel against the rebels, so we naturally have to help each other, so as to accumulate some merits for our children and grandchildren, and try to be a wife and a son, and glorify our ancestors. ”

Although the table was full of tobacco, tea, snacks and fruits, the rice merchants present did not have the slightest idea. The ears were full of all kinds of noisy voices of Liu Jiji, if it weren't for the fact that the courtyard around the discussion was full of Qing soldiers standing there with bad intentions, I was afraid that someone would have scolded them a long time ago. "In order to get the Nanmi contract from the Nanzhong businessman, you almost washed your ass and asked someone to sleep with you, but at this time, what did you say about the rebellion of the heavenly soldiers, what did you do back then? In order to get the contract, you can let it go, any aunt and daughter! At this time, he jumped out and said that you want to help Shun and help Wang Shi?! Phew! ”

However, how dare people not bow their heads under the low eaves? Of course, this can also be regarded as a worker and service staff in various special entertainment venues to advertise himself, "The slave family is forced by the situation, and the artist does not sell his body." "At night, the devil will know if you sold it! How do you survive in this environment without selling?

Finally, Liu Jiji threw out the purpose: "The messenger handed over from above will send 200,000 stone grains, rice, oil, salt, and shochu to Daying within five days." Colleagues, how do you think this mission can be handled? ”

The large and small grain merchants secretly scolded themselves, you are the largest grain merchant in the south of the Yangtze River, and you were the first to speculate on the contract of southern rice at the Xiaguan Wharf in Nanjing. Don't say 200,000 stone grain rice, it is 1 million stone of good Nanzhong japonica rice, you can also take it out immediately!

In the originally quiet conference hall, the "buzzing" sound became continuous in an instant, and the large and small grain merchants lowered their heads and spoke to their counterparts one after another, venting the resentment in their hearts.

"Everyone, please be silent! Quiet! Liu Jiji waved his hands and tried hard to calm people down, but by doing so, you were undoubtedly snatching money from everyone's money bags, how could you make these greedy and crazy people who saw money like flies seeing blood quiet down and listen to your vernacular?

Seeing that Liu Zhuji waved his arms for a long time and failed to calm people down, he immediately stood up, put the pipe on the small coffee table on the side, and pulled out the waist knife from his waist without hesitation.

The sound of "Cang Langlang" was not loud, but it made the people in the room hear it clearly. Outside, the Qing soldiers who were indoors, immediately took a step forward, holding the hilt of their swords tightly in their hands.

"Dangdang, dang!" That Qian always banged on the coffee table with a copper-skinned scabbard, "Straight lady thief!" Let you discuss things, all of them are as noisy as shrimp toads! Can't you just listen to Chairman Yoo finish speaking?! If there is any more noisy forehead, don't blame us for being unkind! ”

Under the deterrence of knives and guns, the flower hall of the proceedings became extremely quiet in a blink of an eye, and the people who were still noisy just now suddenly didn't even dare to take a breath, but just stared at the bright waist knife in the hand of Mr. Qian.

"Alas! Today's 2,000 silver dollars were thrown into the water for nothing. I'm afraid that the people of the Liu family won't help me say a word for a while. Huang Dongjia was still hurting the two-thousand-yuan bill of exchange he had offered with both hands, he peeked at Liu Qing who was sitting next to Liu Jiji, and saw that the young owner who was in charge of the car and boat business for Liu Zhuji had a normal face, not like he was going to kill someone, so he forced his heart back into his stomach.

"Liu also said just now, the soldiers and horses of the Qing Dynasty are heavenly soldiers, Wang Shi, how can they be like the soldiers and horses of the former Ming Dynasty, forcibly expropriate civilian goods? It's just that a certain family just said this mission, and you don't want to listen to the latter words, so you just take care of yourself and make a noise, this is not the ability to do business! Seeing that people were no longer noisy, Liu Juji just stared at him with a pair of eyes, and a burst of pride arose from the bottom of his heart, and then he slowly opened his mouth.

"Prince Bolo is extraordinarily gracious, and it is not easy to think that we and other businessmen will seek profit. Therefore, in order to send down grace, every stone of rice is purchased at a price. ”

Well? Sure enough, it is the profit-seeking nature of businessmen that determines their way of thinking. Hearing Liu Juji say that the Qing soldiers did not want to forcibly collect the food in everyone's hands, but to buy it at a price, his heart suddenly turned over again, "I don't know what kind of grace the prince gave?" ”

Since the beginning of the Chongzhen period, there have been continuous disasters and famines. It is known as the paradise on earth "Hangjiahu", Suzhou, Songjiang, Taicang and other state capitals, but also natural disasters. In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, even Suzhou Prefecture was in a great drought, and all places were full of locusts, and the price of rice cost four taels of silver for one stone.

In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the locust plague was great in May, and the people cut the bark and sawdust mixed with chaff to eat, or dig the white mud in the mountains for food, and the name is Guanyin powder. In Wu County, Suzhou Prefecture, the price of rice is as high as 323 yuan per stone of silver, and 222 yuan of wheat stone, and the urban and rural houses are dumped in mid-air, and the dead bodies are pillowed.

However, in the eyes of these businessmen, the more natural disasters and the more grain production is reduced, the more they have a good opportunity to make waves in the market. Even if the big ships in Nanzhong are transporting grain one by one, they have the means and ability to let out the wind in the market, "The grain fleet in Nanzhong encountered a strong wind at sea, pitiful!" Hundreds of big ships were all killed! Within half a year, don't think that a grain of rice can be transported from the south! ”

The Cao rice contract in Nanzhong was fried by them from one tael of silver and one stone of rice to the point of two or three times. Then, you have to mix it with necessities such as sand and stones before you can sell them to those small people.

Now, when they heard Liu Jiji say that Bolo was willing to give money to buy necessities such as military rations, oil and salt, these people suddenly forgot the fear when they were facing the threat of death, and their brains immediately "crackled" with a small abacus comparable to a supercomputer.

"Bolo, these Tartars, came all the way from Jiangbei, I don't know how many cities they looted along the way, how many goods they looted, and now they have gold and silver in their hands, but what they lack is grain, rice, oil, and salt. At this time, Lao Tzu should talk about the catty bucket and the price of the board, which can be regarded as doing the right thing for heaven, robbing the rich and helping the poor! For the people of Jiangnan and Jiangbei, I let out this evil breath! The group of businessmen, represented by Huang and Lan, all had the idea of taking advantage of the fire to rob in their hearts.

"The prince is very considerate of us and others. One stone of brown rice is worth four silver dollars, and one stone of japonica rice is worth six silver dollars! Canned food, shochu, oil and salt are also purchased at the current market price. However, the prince gave us grace, and we Jiangnan businessmen can't do without a little filial piety, right? I have already told the prince on behalf of everyone that no matter how much silver there is, the fraction will be erased! Then, according to the rules of Jiangnan, there is a 28 kickback, which can be regarded as our big guy donating some money to the soldiers and horses of the Qing Dynasty to help with military salaries! ”

As for the amount of grain, oil, salt, shochu, the dryness of the grain and rice, and the shelf life of canned meat, it is not the business that Liu Zhuji should manage. Everyone has given enough kickbacks, anyway, these things are not eaten by officers and generals at all levels.

In fact, the situation analyzed by these businessmen is not bad at all. Bolo and the others went all the way south, with a lot of gold and silver in their hands, but what they lacked in their hands was food and supplies. In order to be able to raise enough food, they do not care about spending more money. Anyway, all this silver was robbed, as long as there was enough food in the army, it was a big deal to go to other cities to rob it. I really can't do it, I turned my face and slaughtered these fattened pigs and sheep.

As a result, under the leadership of Liu Juji, the Jiangnan businessmen were full of energy, and within three days, they sent 200,000 stone grains and rice to Daying. For Bolo to hand over 100,000 stone grain and rice to Luckdehun, and at the same time lay a solid material foundation for the march to Hangzhou.

However, Bolo and Liu will not find that with this purchase, the prices in Jiangnan and the areas controlled by the Qing army have gradually soared.

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