Wu Xiang is a scheming person, seeing that everyone enthusiastically agreed, everyone warmly approved of Wu Sanfu as the president of the Jiliao Chamber of Commerce, knowing that the general trend had been decided, and if he interfered and obstructed it, it gave people a very fake feeling, so he didn't say anything more.

Wu Sanfu was still very modest, grinning, "No, thank you, classmates, friends, brothers, uncles, do you think I look like a president?" I don't sleep until noon every day, I can't get up at all, and if you want to count on me for everything, then this chamber of commerce will probably go out of business in one day. ”

Wu Sanfu's words made everyone laugh, and the atmosphere was even more relaxed.

However, the more Wu Sanfu resigned like this, the more determined everyone was to push him to the stage.

This is the authentic Chinese organizational philosophy, the boss doesn't have to be very powerful, but the popularity must be good, and the kind of person who can talk to everyone and be tolerant can be the boss. If you do things, you will hand them over to the second and third children, these two positions need to be capable, and it is best that the people in these two positions are not in harmony, and the boss is often needed to coordinate the relationship from them, and a similar troika is the most stable and efficient.

This is called the way of checks and balances.

There are advantages to checks and balances, but there are also obvious disadvantages, and many times, everyone is afraid of making mistakes, so they don't work, and the game is rotten, and it's a good thing if they don't make mistakes anyway.

In particular, public offices are all overstaffed.

If you want to check and balance, divide them into two factions. Because they fight back and forth, they will be safe. Many politicians divide their men into two factions and keep each other at bay.

If you want to create chaos, you must use the method of balance of power and let them fight among themselves, and only by constantly fighting infighting and stirring up troubled waters can they have a chance and turn trouble into profit.

To eliminate the chaos first, it is necessary to cut off the average strength, so that they have no ambition, and even if they have ambition, there is no force to support the existence of ambition. Don't just foster one faction to oppose the forces, this is the right to make yourself the object of struggle, and you should nurture two factions. will be stable.

"If the power is even, you will fight", but if the strength is certain or the pattern is clear, everyone does not need to fight.

This is all a general knowledge of information and governance, and it is regarded as a treasure book by many officialdom.

However, in order to make the two groups of internally opposed people form a balance of power and achieve an equal match, neither of them can help the other's situation, which requires the boss to have a very high skill, which is difficult to do. Those who can do it, one counts as one, and they are all super great people.

In this regard, Wei Bao admired the Manchus very much, the Yuan and Qing dynasties were also ruled by foreign people, but why did the Qing Dynasty rule longer than the Yuan Dynasty?

The Sinicization of the Manchus and the non-sinicization of the Mongols were one of the reasons, and the ruling peoples who were larger than themselves could only ally themselves with their own upper strata.

Britain did not rely on localization to govern the colonies, but to win over one faction to balance the other, to win over the preferential treatment of the aristocracy and oppress the people, and to make full use of the local aristocracy.

The main reason was that the Mongols did not form an alliance with the Han landlords, gentry, and scholars, and reused the Semu and the Han people at the bottom, which greatly reduced the power and interests of the influential Han people in these places. Therefore, when there was a civil unrest, these landlords, gentry, scholars, etc., immediately joined the rebel army and rebelled against the Mongols. The Mongols did not govern according to Han Chinese customs, which led to a decrease in the efficiency of control over the common people. In some areas, the Mongol or Semu rulers did not respect the local customs, which often led to popular uprisings.

Without centralized power and excessive decentralization and autonomy, local forces were huge, and after civil unrest, they established themselves as kings or refused to obey orders to suppress them.

The Manchus were just the opposite, and after moving into the Central Plains, the high-ranking officials and titles were Houlu to appease the military officials of the previous dynasty, and did not shake the status and interests of the landlords and gentry, so these landlords and gentry and other interest groups immediately supported the Manchu emperor.

Through the restoration of the imperial examination, the ruling position of Confucianism was retained, and various privileges and honors were given to scholars to win over them and make them loyal to themselves.

Use the Han forces to eliminate the resistance, and after sitting on the throne, slowly and gradually replace them with Manchus and Han people who you can trust, eliminating hidden dangers.

The Manchus did not delegate power, but strengthened the centralization of power, through the way of the Manchu and Han factions fighting each other with the emperor as referees, using Han ministers to check and balance Manchu ministers, and using Manchu ministers to balance Han ministers, to ensure the absolute prestige of the imperial power, and the two factions will not check and balance each other, and the two factions will not appear to be so big as to threaten the imperial power.

Therefore, when there was a civil unrest in the Qing Dynasty, not only the Manchus took their lives to be loyal to the emperor to suppress it, but also the Han people, landlords, gentry and other interest groups would also resolutely support the Manchu emperor.

The Manchus' initiative and rapid sinicization also made the Manchu rulers better understand the rules of the game in the Han land and play cards according to the Han people's routines.

Under the balance of power, either you abandon your martial arts and seek self-preservation, or you forge ahead and destroy your opponent, there is no third way. There is no such state that I have strength and security.

This is something that strategists should keep in mind when judging power.

In fact, in addition to the 'last emperor' Chongzhen the Great, almost every emperor above the Ming Dynasty is good at this kind of checks and balances, Chongzhen, the stunned green, the biggest problem is that it is easy to be stubborn, self-willed, want to recall, want to kill, but also have an extreme personality, love and hate people are very fanatical, do not like to reserve.

It's okay to be an idol star in the entertainment industry with this kind of character, but it's definitely not okay to be so capricious as an emperor.

Not to mention being an emperor, a person with a too rigid personality may not be able to be a petty official, because his colleagues can't get along with him happily.

Willing to play like the carpenter emperor all day long, it is normal for Daming to play for another half century and a century, maybe Chongzhen can play for a few more years, dragging over the Xiaoice River, even if the political system of the entire country is still corrupt and incurable, but it can be delayed for several more years, a hundred years, two hundred years, until the eight-nation alliance fights, who can say for sure?

Perhaps, if it drags on any longer, the capitalist sprouts of the Ming Dynasty will really blossom and bear fruit on their own, the bourgeoisie will really develop, and the country will undergo drastic changes.

It's a pity that history has no ifs.

Wei Bao felt that the key policy of the feudal dynasties in the past dynasties to maintain their rule was how to curb land annexation.

Meng Yuan completely ignored the experience of his ancestors and adopted an attitude of abandoning treatment for land annexation, and his life was short.

Although the Ming Dynasty also adopted certain measures to suppress it, there was no restriction on the clan, and the clan occupied the land was the mainstream, and secondly, after the middle of the century, the bureaucracy became more and more lacking in control, so it was destroyed by the exiles by the end of the Ming Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty learned the lessons of the Ming Dynasty to a large extent, so it was very strict with the clan to occupy the land, and adopted the means of apportioning the land into the mu, never adding to the endowment, returning the fire to the public, and paying the gentry as an errand (this article was unfortunately abolished by Qianlong, or the Qing Dynasty may live a little longer, Qianlong abolished this article in front, and Jiaqing encountered the White Lotus Rebellion in the back) and other means, so the restriction of land annexation is better than the Ming Dynasty, and better than the Yuan Dynasty, so it has continued for a long time.

But according to the traditional law, the Manchu Qing Dynasty even carried the White Lotus Sect, and it was difficult to resist the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At this time, the modern powers invaded, changed the way of playing, and relied on the Westernization Movement to continue their lives for decades.

However, the problem of displaced people is becoming more and more serious and has never been solved, and solving the problem of eating and dressing the common people is, in Wei Bao's view, this is the dead knot of the last days of all dynasties.

One of the main points of the emperor's art is that there are no good people and bad people, loyal ministers and traitors in the eyes of the emperor, only those who can use and those who can't. If you can use it now, you will throw it away if you can't use it in the future, and you can't care if this person is good or bad, this is the difference between an emperor and an ordinary person.

In practice, it is a balance of rights. It is necessary for an emperor to face a problem, that is, the power of the whole body is either not divided and grasped by himself, then the value is that one person decides everything, and it is necessary for him to deal with all the work of the empire, large and small, and he will die of exhaustion sooner or later.

The typical representatives of this kind of emperor are Qin Shi Huang, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, and Yongzheng, these people have a great desire for power and are also extremely diligent in government. There is another category, that is, the vast majority of emperors don't want to die of exhaustion and don't want to take care of too many chores, so it is necessary for them to divide the imperial power and assign it to others to do things for them. To the prime minister, to the relatives, to the minister, to the eunuch. An emperor who does not want to die of exhaustion needs to appropriately distribute the power to these people, and the best situation is that the strength of each is balanced, and the emperor will decide. If the strength of one side is too great, the emperor will support the opposing forces to balance it.

When the prime minister has great power, the emperor has to support eunuchs or relatives to restrain him. If the emperor does not want to die of exhaustion, he has to transfer the power to others.

Balance is the most important, can not let one side dominate, demand restricts a certain party, often bad morals but strong lethal people to check and balance, such as the eunuch to resist the best of the ministers.

The emperor was not unaware of the harm of eunuchs, but he asked them to silence the chattering ministers.

Once this set of imperial balancing techniques is played, it will be overturned at least and killed at worst.

Regarding the use of imperial techniques, Wei Bao likes to watch "Ming Dynasty 1566" in modern times, and this TV series depicts Emperor Jiajing's imperial techniques very well.

Emperor Jiajing lived in a simple house, busy with alchemy all day long, and the empire was good, in Wei Bao's opinion, at least stronger than the imperial era of most emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

It can be called the most scientific and cost-effective emperor for the time arrangement, of course, Emperor Jiajing can never be regarded as a competent emperor. If the emperor has a title, Wei Bao will give him a super title! Super Engineer. No matter how powerful the talent is, it can't stand up to almost inaction.

Seeing that Wu Sanfu's position as the president of the Jiliao Chamber of Commerce has been recognized by everyone, Wu Xiang has no objection, so in the future, the scale of this Chamber of Commerce will grow, which is something that can be imagined, and Wei Bao is also very happy.

Wei Bao then explained to Wu Xiang and Yang Qi that he wanted to develop a piece of stone and establish a new central business district in western Liaoning in the form of a triangle with Funingwei, a stone city and the Bulao Pavilion as the main body.

In fact, the main thing is to introduce to Wu Xiang that this kind of thing, Yang Qi, a flowing official, doesn't matter.

"The idea is good, but some bookish spirits." After listening to Wei Bao's explanation, Wu Xiang immediately vetoed it, "If Liaoxi is really like what Wei Gongzi said, it will be like Jiangnan." On the one hand, the climate and geography of the north are limited and unlikely. The population is not that much either. In addition, Liaoxi and Liaodong are really rich, will the imperial court still use so much silver to subsidize our border army every year? Wouldn't the imperial court be afraid that the border army would lose its checks and balances? There are also slaves who often come to commit crimes, where will we have the space to do business in a down-to-earth manner? ”

"This is an old problem, you are not even afraid to go to Liaodong to Tuntian, and you are worried that Liaoxi will be beaten by Jiannu? If Jiannu really has the ability to take Shanhaiguan, wouldn't the entire Liaodong be taken by Jiannu? Wei Bao laughed. He was now able to talk to Wu Xiang in a very equal way: "As for the climate and geographical environment, I don't think the north is so bad, things are man-made, at least better than what is being done now, why not?" The imperial court will not stop providing military salaries and food because of the economic development of Liaoxi and Liaodong, right? ”

"People are terrible, you are still too young, don't you see that all the big families are very low-key? A little bit of silver is also hidden, who is as high-profile as you all day? Wu Xiang looked at Wei Bao with a smile.

Wu Xuexia and Wu Sanfu were very relieved to see that their father and Wei Bao could have such a conversation, and they could see that Wu Xiang had regarded Wei Bao as half of his own.

The reason why Wu Xiang's attitude towards Wei Bao changed so quickly was mainly because of Wei Bao's proposal for the Jiliao Chamber of Commerce, as well as the matter of supporting Wu Sanfu to the president of the Jiliao Chamber of Commerce.

In Wu Xiang's opinion, Wu Sanfu is the president of the Jiliao Chamber of Commerce, and there is no difference between himself being the president, or even better, his son is the one who is on the board, and he is behind the scenes, which is definitely much stronger than in the past when he personally took the lead in everything. It's just that I didn't think that my son had the ability to gather so many connections.

But he didn't expect this, and Wei Bao helped him do it.

"Each family will pay 10,000 taels of silver, on a first-come, first-served basis. 10,000 taels of silver is nothing for a large family, it is up to them to do so, I think it is okay to let it be. Wei Bao smiled at Wu Xiang.

Wu Xiang heard Wei Bao say this, and felt that it was also the same reason, the matter of 10,000 taels of silver is indeed not a big deal for any big family, how much silver did everyone lose to Wei Bao? Each family is at least 50,000 taels, compared to this, is this 10,000 taels of silver still called silver?

Therefore, under Wei Bao's persuasion, Wu Xiang has no opinion on Wei Bao's concept of Funingwei-a stone city-Weijiazhuang outside the Bulao Pavilion triangle in the new center of Liaoning, and let the young people get it themselves. Anyway, the biggest beneficiary is his Wu family and a large group of big families in western Liaoning, and the benefits that Weijiazhuang can get from it are limited, just to facilitate Weijiazhuang's trade with the outside world.

During this period, the trade environment of the Ming Dynasty was still relatively relaxed, and the overall situation was relatively stable.

Wei Bao has to say that Wei Gonggong's 'governance' is relatively efficient, at least, the current Ming Dynasty, the overall situation is good.

With the development of urban transportation, the commercialization of agricultural products and the development of handicrafts, a huge commercial network has been formed in the country. At that time, Nanjing and Beijing were the largest commercial cities in China; Xi'an is an important town in the northwest, and along the North-South Grand Canal, a large number of emerging commercial cities such as Qingjiangpu, Jiningzhou, Linqingzhou, Tianjinwei, and Hexiwu have emerged; In and around the old cities, a number of new small and medium-sized cities have emerged one after another.

Private trade activities are carried out on a regular basis. at the state and county level, there are five or six per month; two or three per month in townships; Fucheng has one episode per day; In some places, there are Yaowang temple fairs; To the north of the Huai River and to the east of the Qin and Jin Dynasties, merchants from all parties transported goods and entered the city as a city. At that time, foreign trade was divided into two types: "tributary trade" and private trade. The overseas smuggling of "maritime merchants" and "Haihu Dajia" on the southeast coast is also active; "The people of Zhangfu and Fujian are trading and selling goods with Fanboyi, and they come and go on the sea."

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the policy of "emphasizing the original and suppressing the last" was pursued. Zhu Yuanzhang once said: "If there is a person who does not farm, specializes in the end of the author, and is a vagrant, he will be arrested." There were even regulations prohibiting the wearing of silk yarn in the homes of merchants.

In the third year of Longqing (1569), the scholar Gao Gong Shangshu "Discussing the Merchants' Money Law to Sujingyi People in Poverty", reflecting the sorrow of merchants and the embarrassment of commerce, and asked the Longqing Emperor to take measures to eliminate the old evils. After that, Zhang Juzheng proposed the cause of the prosperity and decline of agriculture and commerce, and further affirmed the role of commerce.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the status of merchants improved, and some scholars believed that they were successful in business, which was equivalent to reading in value, and the phenomenon of "Yi Jia Yi Confucian" and "abandoning Confucianism and becoming Jia" also began to appear.

In addition, books for commercial use began to appear. For practical purposes, merchants wrote such books about transportation, customs, and commodity conditions along the trade routes. The earliest surviving such book is the Map of the Unification Journey.

Due to the development of commerce, various localities have begun to produce a large number of goods with local characteristics and distribute them to other places, making the regional division of labor increasingly obvious.

With the failure of the circulation of the "Da Ming Bao Banknote" issued during the Hongwu period of Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, the entire monetary system turned to the silver standard.

After the middle of the 16th century, the large inflow of silver from Japan and Latin America also further promoted the economic development of the middle and late Ming Dynasty, when the Ming Kingdom accounted for about 12% of the world's silver demand.

Another characteristic of the economy of the Ming Dynasty was the prosperity of the town economy, and the surrounding cities such as Jining, Huai'an, and Yangzhou were very developed due to the continuous flow of merchant ships along the canal. Due to the prosperity of the commodity economy, the southeast region has become the economic distribution center of the whole country. Due to the prosperity of the commodity economy, the Ming Dynasty formed merchant groups differentiated by origin, called "merchant gangs", such as Huizhou merchant gangs, Jin and Shaanxi merchant gangs, Guangdong merchant gangs, Fujian merchant gangs, Suzhou Dongting merchant gangs, Jiangxi merchant gangs, etc. These merchants used the "guild hall" as a place of contact, supported each other, and became bigger and bigger.

During the Jiajing and Wanli periods of the Ming Dynasty, silk, wine and meat, vegetables and fruits, tobacco, crops, porcelain and other commodities were sold in various places, and a large number of foreign exchange income was earned from exports; Many foreign things are sold in Chinese cities, such as Western clocks in Europe and tobacco in the Americas.

At that time, the commercial metropolis was the most commercial city in the south of the Yangtze River, including Nanjing, Yizheng, Yangzhou, Guazhou, Suzhou, Songjiang, Hangzhou and Jiaxing, etc., and other commercial cities in central China included Nanchang, Huai'an, Wuhu and Jingdezhen, Chengdu in the southwest inland, Beijing, Jining and Linqing in North China, and Fuzhou and Guangzhou in South China.

The demand for overseas trade is becoming stronger. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the struggle for the prohibition of the sea and the opening of the sea reached the central government from the local level, and the confluence of private overseas trade with the Japanese invaders became a major problem affecting the stability of coastal society, which was unprecedented. After the opening of the sea ban during the Longqing period, a large number of Chinese goods flowed into Europe and the Americas through Southeast Asia, which stimulated and influenced the innovation of European industrial technology to a certain extent, and contributed to the rise of Western capitalism.

Linked to the development of overseas trade, the monetization of silver became a remarkable phenomenon in the late Ming Dynasty and even the Qing Dynasty. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, copper coins and banknotes were used as legal tender, and silver was prohibited from circulation.

However, due to the government's failure to control the amount of paper money, the credit declined, and gradually disappeared in name, and the copper coins were difficult to meet the needs of circulation due to the lack of coin materials. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court was forced to relax the ban on the use of silver, and the large amount of silver flowing into China through overseas trade just made up for the lack of silver mines in the country. When Zhang Juzheng implemented the "One Whip Law", he stipulated that taxes were levied in silver, indicating that the use of silver by the people has become relatively common. Silver is used for large transactions, and government finances are also calculated in silver. As a currency, silver has the advantages of not being deteriorating, easy to divide, and high value, and its monetization is the product of the development of the commodity economy, which in turn further promotes the development of the commodity economy.

Wu Xiang felt that the population in the north was a big problem, and Wei Bao felt that it was not a problem.

After the establishment and unification of the whole country by the Ming Dynasty, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty implemented the policy of recuperation and recuperation, and the country's agricultural production was restored to a great extent under the background of the long-term large-scale war in the Mengyuan and Yuan dynasties.

Control over the people has also been strengthened. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, on the basis of the census of household registration and land properties, various registers were compiled, and the law of protecting the first and the law of guan was enacted, so that the people were firmly bound to the land.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of slaves were emancipated, and the tenants in Sichuan and Jiangnan also improved their status due to the crackdown on the landlord power. In the early Ming Dynasty, the autocratic and centralized central power once cracked down on the powerful landlords and purged the rule of officials, which was conducive to curbing mergers and alleviating class contradictions. At this time, the status of handicraft workers also improved. All these are conducive to the development and progress of society, so the "rule of Hongwu" and "the rule of Xuande" in the early Ming Dynasty appeared.

The peak of the Ming Dynasty's hukou occurred in the late Ming Dynasty, but for the specific time and population, the official statistics are now 130 million people.

But in Wei Bao's view, the actual population of the entire Ming Dynasty must have exceeded 200 million, and it is very likely that it has even reached about 250 million, because there are too many displaced people, and there are also arable land that lie about it, and the problem of population concealment is serious, and at least a small half of the people are 'black households'!

For a purely agricultural country like the Ming Dynasty, and it is a feudal era, with a population of 250 million, it is very scary, okay? How many people were there at the end of the Qing Dynasty?

In the TV series, the TV series in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, didn't they shout '40,000 compatriots' at every turn?

After talking to Wu Xiang for a while, Wei Bao chatted with Yang Qi and Yang Hongyi again.

After talking to Yang Qi about the scene, Yang Qi was particularly enthusiastic because Wei Bao was now a disciple of Sun Chengzong.

"Master Wei, I have a great friendship with Master Inspector, I am Lord Inspector's old subordinate." Yang Qi said with a smile.

Wei Bao nodded and smiled: "In the future, I will have to rely on Lord Yang to carry me." ”

"Help each other, help each other, hehe." Yang Qi smiled: "I heard that you have a good relationship with the dog, which makes me very happy, Hongyi should make more friends with people like Wei Gongzi." ”

Yang Hongyi also smiled: "Speaking of which, when Wei Gongzi made a fortune, I can be regarded as indispensable, right?" Without my help to get the guide, Wei Gongzi is still doing business in western Liaoning, where did he come out of western Liaoning? ”

Wei Bao hurriedly picked up his wine glass: "I salute Yang Gongzi with a glass of wine, this kindness, Wei Bao often remembers." "That's what he said, but Wei Bao secretly complained, is that because you urgently need my viagra? You still owe me I don t know how much viagra money I don't pay the bill, and I am embarrassed to take the initiative to mention it.

Yang Hongyi was very happy, and also picked up the wine glass and touched it with Wei Bao, and the two of them laughed and drank a glass of wine.

There were only two large tables in the whole large private room, but because there were too many people, two tables were added, and everyone drank and chatted, and the atmosphere was so joyful.

"Wei Gongzi, is there any more elixir? I've run out. Yang Hongyi looked left and right, and then whispered into Wei Bao's ear, looking mysterious.

Wei Bao smiled and replied softly: "The old Taoist who has a friendship with me is dead, and I am afraid it will be very difficult to get the elixir in the future!" ”

"Huh?" When Yang Hongyi heard this, half of the three souls and seven spirits were scared away at once!

"Master Wei, don't you lie to me? You won't sell me medicine just because you don't need to rely on me anymore, right? Yang Hongyi turned to be a little angry because of impatience. Because he loves to play with women too much, he has already hollowed out his body in his thirties, and if he does not have the help of viagra, it will be difficult to have a normal life for men and women in a month or two.

Wei Bao sweated, secretly wondered if you really guessed right! My Viagra is originally a consumable, and I don't have the ability to develop it right away, the quantity is limited, and the sophistication is very expensive! I am now doing business all over Beizhili, wouldn't it be good to sell it for a lot of money in Beijing? If you refuse to pay the cash, what will you do?

Thinking so, Wei Bao smiled and defended: "Young Master Yang, if you think of me like this, I will be wronged to death, you are underestimating the friendship between us." ”

"How many elixirs do you have? Wei Gongzi, I will buy silver from you, this is finally done, right? Yang Hongyi heard that there seemed to be a door, and hurriedly said.

Wei Bao said quietly: "Yes, there is still a little bit, but it is all for me to keep for myself, although I am not officially married yet, but you also know that it is, I have to go to the Qinglou to play, and I have to deal with my hundreds of little maids." ”

Burst! Hundreds of little maids?

Yang Hongyi didn't know whether what Wei Bao said was true or false, and he felt like a fellow believer: "Master Wei, that kind of thing hurts your body too much, you are only so young, it is better to be modest." Sell them all to me first, right? How many elixirs do you have? ”

Wei Bao smiled, thinking to himself, should you keep your words? However, although Yang Gongzi is only in his early thirties, he is indeed not young, the average life expectancy of this era is only about forty years old, although the average life expectancy of the landlord class is definitely more than that, eating well and dressing well, he can generally live to be fifty or sixty years old, but he is over seventy years old, and Yang Gongzi's life is almost half. Shouldn't you be more modest?

"There are more than 200 elixirs, right? I didn't count them either. Wei Bao concealed and said vaguely. The main thing is that I don't know what price Yang Hongyi can get, if the price is not good, sell it to him again this time, and there will be no more in the future.

"Give it all to me, I'll give me fifty taels of silver and one elixir, how about it?" Yang Hongyi hurriedly said: "Master Wei, what kind of friendship do we have?" You can't forget what I helped you in the first place, if I hadn't helped you open the way, you would still be a local small trader in western Liaoning, right? ”

Wei Bao was a little unhappy when he heard Yang Hongyi say this, but he didn't express it, "Young Master Yang, where did I forget?" You don't have to keep mentioning it, do you? The key is a little bit. I don't have enough of it. ”

"Hongyi, Wei Gongzi, what are you talking about so lively?" Yang Qi asked.

"Ah, Dad, it's nothing, tell Wei Gongzi something academic, hehe." Yang Hongyi said with a dry smile.

Wei Bao smiled slightly and nodded yes.

"Wei Gongzi, I'll have 23,400 taels of silver! You give it all to me! I'll give you all the money! Yang Hongyi turned to urge Wei Bao softly.

Wei Bao smiled: "I'm not around, and if it's less than three hundred taels of silver and one elixir, I'll die!" ”

"Three hundred taels of silver and an elixir? Wei Gongzi, you're too ruthless, aren't you!? Yang Hongyi was a little angry: "If you are happy with a woman, you will need three hundred taels of silver?" You can buy a row of shops! ”

"What's the solution? Do you still have to use it when you need to use it? I really don't want to sell any of them, otherwise, I'll give two to Yang Gongzi! Wei Bao said in a big way.

Poof, Yang Hongyi was almost not angry, two? Send me two? When my name is Hanako? The point is, what is the use of two? You can only play for one night, which is even more uncomfortable!

"Okay, three hundred taels of silver is three hundred taels of silver, I managed to get together 30,000 taels of silver, but, Wei Gongzi, you have to give me 10 elixirs!" Yang Hongyi gritted his teeth and said, "Tomorrow morning, I will send someone to the Heaven and Earth Firm to fetch it!" How much do you have on you now? ”

Wei Bao smiled: "Young Master Yang, you are too anxious, right?" I don't have it on me, just Weijiazhuang saved a little bit, I will definitely not be too late tomorrow morning, I have to go to Beijing to catch the exam, you let people go to the Tiandi business in the afternoon to recruit white stewards to take it. 110 elixirs, 30,000 taels of silver, one hand to pay and one hand to deliver! ”

"Done!" Yang Hongyi gritted his teeth, "There will be one in the future, right?" ”

"That's not a good thing to say! That old man is dead, I don't know if there is a way to find someone like him, or there will be no more. "Wei Bao doesn't say anything to death, what if there is still a place to use Yang Hongyi? And the price given by Yang Hongyi is not low, and it is secretly sold in the capital, which is almost three or four hundred taels of silver and a viagra. After all, people who are very rich and in need are not something that can be met when they meet. If you want to meet the right person, you have to make sure you look at each other.

Wei Bao has just negotiated business with Yang Hongyi, and Wei Bao secretly thinks that he can't use 10,000 taels of silver to drink today, which can be regarded as someone reimbursing, hahaha.

At this time, Wu Xiang beckoned again, asking Wei Bao and Wu Sanfeng to change positions, meaning something to say to Wei Bao.

Wei Bao looked at Wu Sanfeng, who was very unhappy, and said, "Otherwise, let's just say so?" Or do I find a place to have tea with Master Wu alone? Let Wu Dagongzi get up, isn't it right? ”

Wu Sanfeng was also so angry, he didn't expect his father to let himself get up in order to talk to Wei Bao? In front of so many people, how faceless is this? He didn't take Wei Bao's words as good intentions in the slightest.

"It's fine." Wu Xiang smiled: "Just find a place to have a cup of tea, everyone, miss me for a while." ”

After Wu Xiang got up, he greeted everyone present very gracefully.

Everyone hurriedly got up and said please.

Yang Qi whispered to Yang Hongyi: "This Wei Bao is not simple, have you seen it?" The Wu family and a group of big families in Liaoxi and Liaodong have been pitted by Wei Bao so many times, and now they all accept him! You also have to deal with Wei Bao. Not to mention that Wei Bao is still a disciple of Master Inspector. ”

Yang Hongyi nodded and said, "Dad, don't worry!" But I thought in my heart that I had a relationship with Wei Bao, at best, it was a business relationship, if I didn't want to buy and sell elixirs, I really didn't have much to do with Wei Bao.

I couldn't find any quiet place, so Wu Xiang called Wei Bao, took Wei Bao and Wu Xuexia, and opened a first-class guest room behind Shanhai Tower, which was specially used to drink tea. The world of the rich is so luxurious.

These two taels of silver are the most exclusive rooms for one night, just for drinking tea, if the people of the small people know, how much they hate it?

"Xiaobao, don't you mind if I call you that, do you?" After entering the house, Wu Xiang went straight to the point.

Wei Bao sweats, what do you do with such affection? Do you really want me to be your son-in-law?

Wu Xuexia was also so ashamed that her face was flushed, the eldest brother and the second brother were there, but Daddy wanted to let herself accompany her, or talk to Wei Bao alone, and I didn't know what Daddy was going to say?

Wu Xuexia was rare, quiet, and silently made tea for her thirsty father and Wei Bao who drank wine on the side. looks like a well-behaved little daughter-in-law.

"Lord Wu calls me that, I can't ask for it!" Wei Bao hurriedly bowed and saluted.

"Sit down, sit down, it's just the three of us here, and there are no outsiders, let's talk for a while." Wu Xiang smiled: "Don't be too restrained. ”

Wei Bao looked at Wu Xiang's rare smile on his face, with a bustard-like smile, and secretly thought, You don't owe me any money? This laugh makes me a little uncomfortable, huh? However, he still sat down according to Wu Xiang's instructions.

"I just heard from everyone that you want to use 30 million taels of silver, divided into six times, and buy grain in Liaoxi within two months?" Wu Xiang asked.

Only then did Wei Bao know that Wu Xiang was looking for himself for this matter, and he sighed: "There is indeed such a thing!" ”

"In these words, I'm afraid there is moisture, right? Xiaobao, do you have 30 million taels of silver? "Wu Xiang is not easy to fool, and he grasped the main problem at once.

Wei Bao sweated, he didn't expect Wu Xiang to ask this first, and thought that Wu Xiang would ask why he bought so much grain!

The grain prices in the western and eastern Liaonings of the Ming Dynasty were very unstable.

After the Ming Dynasty unified China, the Mongol rulers withdrew from the capital to the outside of the Saiwai, but they still retained a fairly strong military force, which often posed a serious threat to the security of the Ming Empire.

Due to the special national defense situation in the north, the Ming government had to make active defensive arrangements on the northern border. Therefore, starting from the Yalu River in the east, reaching Jiayuguan in the west, and along the defense line of the Great Wall (according to the Great Wall starting from Shanhaiguan in the east and ending at Jiayuguan in the west), nine important towns of Liaodong, Jizhou, Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, Yansui, Ningxia, Guyuan and Gansu were set up successively, collectively known as the nine sides, each with heavy troops, and unified with generals.

Since these nine important towns are all stationed with heavy troops, and there are more soldiers, the demand for food will naturally increase. On the other hand, on the other hand, the price of rice often fluctuated due to natural (e.g., poor soil, insufficient rainfall, early cold climate) and man-made (e.g., devastation caused by war) natural (e.g., poor soil, insufficient rainfall, and early cold climate) in various parts of the northern border. Because the fluctuation of rice prices is enough to affect the lives of the garrisons in the border areas.

In the Ming Dynasty, the grain consumed by the population of Liaodong was also very important, in addition to rice (rice), millet (millet).

The price of rice in Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty, from the orthodox period (1436-1440) to the early year of the Apocalypse (1621), although there were changes together, but from a long-term point of view, there was obviously a long-term upward trend.

During this period of nearly two centuries, there were three periods in which the price of rice rose in particular, namely the 14th year of Chenghua (1478) (4 taels of silver per stone), the 37th and 8th years of Jiajing (1558-1559) (78 taels per stone), and the 46th year of Wanli (1618) (3 taels per stone) to the first year of the Apocalypse (1621) (12 taels per stone). The peaks of the three rice price rises before and after this period have a tendency to catch up. In other words, if the price of rice in the 14th year of Chenghua is taken as the base period, the 37th and 8th years of Jiajing will be twice as much, and the first year of the Apocalypse will be three times as much.

As far as the price of millet in Liaodong is concerned, the price in the Wanli period (1573-1620) was several times to more than ten times higher than that in the Chenghua period (1465-1487) a century ago.

Jizhou Jizhou Town was formerly governed in Jixian County, Hebei Province, and its sub-garrisons included the Great Wall from Waishanhaiguan to Juyongguan in the north of the present-day River.

Although the price of rice in Jizhou did not fluctuate as much as the price of rice in Liaodong during the long period after the 14th year of Orthodoxy (1449), it also rose around the middle of Jiajing (1622–1666) and Wanli (1573-1620), and then in the third year of the Apocalypse (1623), taking Shanhaiguan rice as an example, it rose to four taels of silver per stone, about 13 times that of the middle of the 15th century.

Xuanfu Xuanfu Town is in Xuanhua County, Chahar, and its sub-garrison is the Great Wall from Yanqing County, Chahar to Datong, Shanxi.

The price of rice in Xuanfu in the Ming Dynasty was quite cheap around the middle of the 15th century, selling about four to five yuan of silver per stone; However, in the 15th and 16th centuries, when the price of rice was high, it cost about two taels of silver or nearly two taels per stone; Later, in the mid-16th century and the thirties of the 17th century, the price of rice per stone rose to 5 or 4 taels of silver.

Datong Datong Town is located in Datong County, Shanxi Province, and its place is the Great Wall outside the west of Shanxi.

The price of rice in the northern part of Shanxi in the Ming Dynasty was almost exactly the same as the trend of rice price change in Xuanfu. In other words, the price of rice per stone in Datong was worth about four taels of silver in the mid-15th century, and then it tended to rise, and in the mid-16th century and the thirties of the 17th century, it rose to more than three taels or four taels of silver per stone.

Yansui Yansui Town was originally in Suide, Shaanxi, and in the ninth year of Chenghua (1473), it moved north to Yulin, Shaanxi, so it was also known as Yulin Town, and its sub-garrison included the northern area of Shaanxi from Yan'an to Suide.

The price of rice in Dai Yansui was as low as two taels of silver per stone before the Chenghua period (1465-l487), that is, around the middle of the 15th century, and then rose and fell, but in the eleventh year of Jiajing (1532), it rose to five taels per stone, and about a hundred years later, in the fourth year of Chongzhen (1631), it rose to four taels per stone.

In addition, there is also Gansu, which is far away from Liaoxi and Liaodong, and the chief military officer of Gansu Town in the Ming Dynasty was stationed in Ganzhou City (now Zhangye County, Gansu Province), and its sub-garrison was from Zhuanglang North to Jiayuguan, that is, the Great Wall in the northwest of Gansu.

The trend of rice price change in Gansu is very similar to that of Yansui rice, except that it was particularly expensive in the ninth year of Zhengde (1514). The price of millet in Gansu, like the price of rice, was relatively cheap around the middle of the 15th century, and rose in the 20s and 30s of the 16th century.

Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the price of rice in the northern border towns has been rising for a long time.

Seasonal changes in rice prices in northern border towns during the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the supply and demand of rice in the northern towns often changed depending on the season during the year, so the price of rice was often relatively low when harvested in autumn, but very expensive in spring when it was not harvested.

Therefore, Wei Bao wants to take advantage of the lowest price in this wave to absorb it!

In February of the tenth year of Jiajing (1531), Li Chengxun, the secretary of the Ministry of War, said: "The price of rice in the border towns, regardless of the abundance and ferocity, the winter moon is still acceptable, and one person is in early spring, and it is becoming more and more expensive." The merchants abandoned their homes and became very rich. "The price of rice fluctuates seasonally on the basis of the day's rice merchants.

In May of the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), the governor of Shanxi, Wan Gong, said: "Three passes (Yanmen Pass, Ningwu Pass, and Yatou Pass, in the north of present-day Shanxi)...... In the autumn of August, one tael of silver can get two stones. …… Postponed to October, if the time is determined, it will only kill eight birds with one stone. …… Extended to February this year, and only one stone and four buckets were killed. ”

In other words, the purchasing power of the same tael of silver, such as rice purchased in the northwestern part of Shanxi, in the spring and February is only about 70 percent of that of the harvest in August last year. In fact, the price of rice in the northern border towns in the north of Shanxi Province was often twice or nearly three times that of the autumn harvest when the rice was scarce in the spring. About the middle of Jiajing (1522–1566), Zou Shouyu wrote the Bian Chu Yi, in which he said: "And the harvest is mostly in July and August, and the price of rice is mostly limited to five or six yuan." …… Next year's spring,...... On the day of wanting to get married, he was sick with the surge of the estimation, and his name was eight dollars, but it was more than one or two. ”

In August of the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing (1558), Yan Song, a scholar, said: "I am quite familiar with Datong recently, and one tael of silver can get nine buckets of rice." …… If it is postponed to February and March of the coming spring, the price of rice will be expensive, and only three taels of silver can be obtained with rice and stone fungus. ”

In the Ming Dynasty, the price of rice in the northern towns was much higher than that in the interior for most of the time. At that time, the northern border town, which was at the forefront of national defense, had to station a large number of troops there in order to ensure the security of the country. When there are more troops, the consumption of food naturally increases. However, in most areas along the Great Wall, the production of grain was very limited due to the barren soil, insufficient rainfall, and early cold climate, so the troops concentrated there depended on the supply of food and other materials from the interior.

However, between the border towns and the mainland, often because of the terrain and difficult transportation, the transportation cost is very large, so after adding the freight, the price of rice in the border town is naturally much higher than that of the mainland.

About the thirty-eighth year of Jiajing (1559), Xu Jie said: "The rice and wheat in the two towns (Xuanfu and Datong) are worth more than three taels of silver per stone. And the sergeant pays seven cents of silver a month, and only buys two buckets and two or three liters of rice and wheat, how can he support him?...... Now in the north of Zhili, Shandong, Henan and other places, relying on the grace of the saint, the two wheat is ripe, and each stone is worth less than four coins of silver. ……”

It can be seen from this that the prices of rice and wheat in Xuanfu and Datong are nearly ten times that of wheat in Beizhili, Shandong, and Henan. In Liaodong, when Xiong Tingbi talked about the price of rice, grain and other items there in the forty-eighth year of Wanli (1620), he said: "One tael of silver per silver should not be used for two coins in the mainland." ”

Later, in November of the sixth year of the Apocalypse (1626), Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Liaodong, also said: "Soldiers are paid two taels of silver per month, isn't the salary thick?" But there is no millet in the tun, the department store is difficult to pass, everything is often expensive, and the silver two taels cannot be used for counting money elsewhere. ”

It is an undeniable fact that the price of rice in the northern border towns of the Ming Dynasty was much more expensive than that in the mainland most of the time.

Therefore, Wei Bao wants to buy grain in Liaoxi, which is a very thankless thing!

In the geographically close border towns, the trend of rice prices rising and falling is generally similar. The northern border of the Ming Empire, starting from the Yalu River in the east and reaching Jiayuguan in the west, because of the vast area, the supply and demand of rice grain in various places are of course not the same, and the changes in rice prices will certainly not be exactly the same. However, if we compare the rice prices of the above-mentioned border towns, we can find that the trend of rice price changes in Liaodong and Jizhou, which are located in the north and east, is very similar, which is obviously due to the geographical proximity of the two towns. Also because of the geographical proximity, Xuanfu, located in the middle of the Great Wall, and Datong, have a similar trend of rising and falling rice prices.

The impact of the loss of agricultural harvest on the rise of rice prices, but in fact, the abundance of rice and grain harvest can only explain the short-term fluctuations in rice prices; This is because this year's grain harvest failure has certainly led to an increase in grain prices, but if other circumstances remain unchanged, grain prices will naturally return to their original low level as long as there is a bumper harvest next year.

However, as mentioned above, although the price of rice in the northern border towns after the middle of the Ming Dynasty has had ups and downs, from a long-term point of view, it is clear that there is a long-term upward trend. In order to understand this trend, it is necessary to examine the supply and demand of rice grain in the north of the Ming Dynasty from a long-term perspective.

Due to the harsh natural environment, the northern border when the Ming Empire was established at the beginning of the Ming Empire, there were vast areas of idle fields and abandoned fields. However, due to the needs of national defense, the Ming Dynasty government stationed heavy troops there, so it had to implement the policy of tuntian to reclaim the barren land in order to increase the supply of grain. At that time, the fields along the border in the north were planted by the sergeants, which were called "military tuns"; Some are cultivated by merchants hired by people, which are called "Shangtun".

When the military camp or merchant camp prevailed, the army stationed in the northern border towns could naturally get a relatively adequate supply of food; However, from about the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the military tuns and commercial tuns were destroyed one after another, and the food problem of the border troops became serious.

"Xiaobao, since you know everything, why do you still buy grain in Liaoxi?" Wu Xiang was puzzled: "You might as well try to buy grain directly in Shandong, even if you add the cost of freight and customs clearance, it is more cost-effective than buying grain in Liaoxi, right?" ”

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