There is not just one English duke in the capital.

seemed to say it casually, but Xu Sicheng's eyes suddenly lit up. exclaimed.

"Childe, you mean the lord of the capital!"

Smiling slightly, Shi Yiwen said.

"Now the Ming Dynasty into the climate of the gentry group, nothing more than two shares, one is the Jiangnan gentry, the other Shanxi salt merchants, the former relies on the prosperity of Jiangnan culture and education, two hundred years of courtiers most of the from the Jiangnan, and they have relatives in the Jiangnan gentry, fellow villagers and other intricate relationships, is the natural umbrella of the Jiangnan gentry, and Shanxi salt merchants? They rose to transport grain on the nine sides, relying on bribery in the early days, and smashing a channel in the officialdom for their children in the later stage, like Zhang Siwei is a salt merchant in Shanxi, and they will naturally protect their families. But what about me? ”

Looking at Xu Sicheng, Shi Yiwen asked rhetorically.

"Nothing, nothing but technology, I have neither the power of the Jiangnan gentry, nor the power of the salt merchants. What can I rely on? Only technology! ”

Shaking his head, Shi Yiwen smiled slightly,

"What do you do with technology? It is to use real interests to draw some people into their own groups, compared to officials, Xunchen is undoubtedly the best choice, because the relationship between officialdom is intertwined, I don't know if they can send charcoal in the snow, but it is human nature to fall into the well and see the wind and rudder, but the lords are different, they are not restricted by regional friendship, and even with civil officials are full of contradictions, from Chengzu began to restrict the lords from the system to participate in politics, and then to Sejong to favor the nobles, a large number of nobles were appointed to participate in politics, for decades, There are constant conflicts between the lord and the civil official, why was the British Duke impeached? In the final analysis, it is not because of the conflict between the two groups, although the lords are now suppressed after Emperor Sejong, but they can still maintain their hereditary status. What I need now is to bring the group of lords into my own camp and use them to protect Lu Gou......"

Turn your lords into industrial and commercial capitalists!

With the participation of the nobles, not only can the immature seedlings of industry be protected and survive under the blows of the traditional industrial and commercial groups in the south of the Yangtze River, but also the out-of-control civil and official groups in the Ming Dynasty can be controlled, and even with the help of the power of the nobles, the group can be disintegrated.

Of course, deep down, Shi Yiwen also has a plan, that is, while destroying the civilian group with the help of the nobles and even the clan, he will also use the hands of the civil officials to disintegrate the nobles.

Whether it is a noble or a civil official, it is a cancer on the body of the Ming Dynasty, the civil official is the disaster, the noble is harmful, and the people are the sufferers. "Snipes and mussels compete, fishermen benefit", how to use the contradictions between them, when they struggle, let the people benefit, let the Ming Dynasty benefit, this is Shi Yiwen's real purpose.

The problem now is to coax them into the boat first, and then take advantage of the situation to protect themselves, and after self-preservation, it will naturally be...... With a cold smile, Shi Yiwen said.

"At that time, Lugou will be safe."

"In that case, why didn't the son come to the door and beg them?"

Xu Sicheng asked puzzled.

"Asking for someone at the door, it's different from others begging you, the meat that comes to the door...... Not fragrant. ”

Shi Yiwen said with a smile.

"Driven by profit, in the end they will still come to the door, these nobles, suppressed in the officialdom, in fact, in the business field, they are not comfortable, don't forget that those nobles in our court are not necessarily rich, but there are so many businesses to make money, they will eat some leftovers from Jiangnan and Shanxi, you can rest assured, they are more anxious than me, after all, the family is big, and there are more places to spend money when the stall is big!"

The so-called lords are just glorious on the surface, just like the British public, in addition to maintaining a decent life, hundreds of relatives inside and outside his family, relying on the British prince's wealth, I am afraid that they can't even drink the northwest wind, and they don't want to find a way to make some money, what do they eat, drink, and use?

"So, Childe is waiting for them to come and beg us?"

Nodding, Shi Yiwen smiled.

"That's right, but ah, if you want them to come and beg us, you have to let them see the benefits first. Otherwise, they won't be able to pull it off, so let's wait, wait until they can't wait any longer, and come to the door to beg us. ”

Face can never be eaten for dinner!

This sentence is a deep understanding for Li Yingchen, as the earl of the Ming Dynasty, although he has his own money, but for the eight generations of Xiangcheng Uncle, that money is not enough to support the family, a family of more than 1,000 slaves, old and young, if you only point to that point, you will have to starve to death.

But no matter what, the count's dignity must be maintained, and he must go out in a sedan chair...... In fact, in his heart, he wanted to change to a light two-wheeled carriage, not because it was fast, but because it was cheap, but the count was decent.

As usual, seeing that the weather was getting colder and the year was coming to an end, Li Yingchen, who was the uncle of Xiangcheng, had to find a way to "survive" this year.

"Twenty deer, thirty roe deer, thirty roe deer, fifty pigs, one hundred sheep, ten oxen...... and two pockets of hazel, pine, peach, and apricot...... 100 stone of wheat, 100 stone of variegated grain, a cart of dried vegetables of all colors, and 860 ......taels of silver for take-out of grain and livestock."

Listening to the housekeeper reporting the "New Year's goods" sent from Zhuangzi, which were actually tenants, his face looked a little dull.

"Hey, that's it."

A casual remark made the bowing butler say.

"Back to the uncle, this is a Zhuangzi, and there are others, the old slave hasn't finished speaking."

"I know, but it's not enough!"

Li Yingchen said sullenly.

"The third uncle added a grandson a while ago, according to the rules, the first month in the house has to pay thirty taels of silver, this year is three hundred and sixty taels, plus the festival, this one person, how to take four hundred taels a year, and every month to pay a stone of grain, this big business, always out of the money."

Looking at the housekeeper who was laughing with him, Li Yingchen said helplessly.

"I don't know that firewood, rice, oil and salt are expensive, when I didn't attack the lord in the past, I only thought that this earl was a scenery, but when I became this earl, I knew that this scenery was on the surface, so many years, put aside the family, I was eager to break a penny into two petals, but just a little silver, it's still not enough......

If Li Yingchen's words are spread, maybe the people will be scolded to death, and the dignified earl's family has a great cause, and he will actually say that there is no silver, who will believe it.

Others don't believe it, but the housekeeper has to follow the words.

"Uncle is working, how can the little ones not know."

"What's the use of knowing, knowing,"

Waving his hand, Li Yingchen instructed the housekeeper.

"After the New Year, you go to inquire and see if there are any people who are willing to contribute, these many people, if there are not many Zhuangzi, I am afraid that they will not be able to survive themselves...... Also, call success over, how did he teach his son, he actually spent nearly three thousand taels of silver this month, no matter how big the family business is, it can't withstand such a scourge from him! This ruined son will have to destroy the Li family's family business sooner or later......"