Shinong Industry and Commerce.

Guan Zhong once said that "the four people of Shinong, industry and commerce, the stone people of the country are also", and later generations seem to like this statement very much, but unlike Guan Zhong, who regarded the four people of "Shinong and industry and commerce" as the cornerstone of the country, later generations distorted this sentence, and they directly floated away the last sentence "the stone people of the country". Instead, he used this sentence to divide the people of the world into four levels from high to low, from the foundation of the state to the division of waiting. And in this level, there is no doubt that the merchant is the lowest level, especially after the Qin Dynasty, on the grounds that the merchant is treacherous and does not produce, all dynasties have taken the suppression of business as their responsibility.

However, after the Xingqian year, this view was broken. Not only because of the reinterpretation of the words of the ancestors led by the government, but also because of the reinterpretation of the words of the ancestors, "the four people of Shinong, industry and commerce, and the stone people of the country" once again returned to its original meaning, and the status of merchants was re-recognized. What really changed the status of businessmen was the official recognition on the one hand, and on the other hand, as their economic power grew, they were constantly improved, and many businessmen were named "Justice of the Peace" because of their enthusiasm for public service. Its status has risen far beyond that of previous dynasties.

The status of merchants has a lot to do with the increase in their economic power, and even the official recognition of them is based on their huge financial resources.

Money, in many cases, always plays a role that people don't expect.

When Tian Jingyuan "traveled" in the territory of the Ottomans, where he tried to twist all the opposition into a rope, inciting them to rebel, to revolt, to revolt, to overthrow the Turks. In a certain hall in Zhongdu, another group of people also exchanged their interests at the dinner table. This is a group of businessmen, and unlike the officials, who are also a little bit of a cover-up, for the businessmen, in the face of real interests, they are often undisguised, naked and straightforward.

Today's east is Li Yi, the president of the Qinghe Chamber of Commerce, the Qinghe Chamber of Commerce is the largest chamber of commerce in the Ming Dynasty, but as we all know, who is the real owner of the Qinghe Chamber of Commerce, is the royal family, after all, the royal family is also a big businessman, as for Li Yi, although the president, and is also a well-known businessman in the capital, everyone knows that in the Chamber of Commerce, there is also a vice president is very critical, but, because of her special status, she will not participate in the ordinary meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, after all, she is from the palace.

At this moment, he saw Li Yi, who was the president, dressed in brocade, and stood up with a red face and toasted to everyone present: "I am really honored to have you to enjoy the banquet today. ”

"Chairman Lee is so gracious. President Lee set up such a grand banquet to entertain us and others. I should be grateful to Chairman Lee. ”

An old man at the banquet smiled with his beard in his arms. He is the president of the Nanzhili Chamber of Commerce, each province has a provincial chamber of commerce, but also have their own interests, these years, the provincial chamber of commerce, competition is more than cooperation, especially after the development of industry, because the fierce competition caused by the market is not only limited to one place, but spread to a province and even the whole country and all parts of the South Seas.

Behind this seemingly harmonious atmosphere on the surface, the competition in the secret has never stopped. Sometimes, they even use the power of the government to suppress their competitors. All this has long been strange.

"Yes, President Li has a banquet, how can we not go."

Another well-dressed middle-aged man chimed in.

"There, you've really won the prize. We are all colleagues in the business world, and we should be good friends with each other, so we have set up this banquet for all of you to sit together. ”

Li Yi said humbly.

"Indeed, we and other business colleagues should indeed communicate more, so that we can communicate with each other for the benefit of the people."

Shang Jia, who spoke with a Cantonese accent, said with a smile.

South Zhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Qinghe plus North Zhili, most of the chamber of commerce in the Ming Dynasty are gathered today, the chamber of commerce is a very special existence, they do not seem to be a formal body, the so-called president is just elected by the members of the chamber of commerce, but their influence on the local area, even no less than the local council bureau, after all, many members of the council are themselves members of the chamber of commerce.

At the beginning, everyone was only talking about business matters, but slowly they began to talk about the market, and intentionally or unintentionally talked about the market that was already saturated.

"Now, the most critical is the market, in the past, we always feel that as long as the cloth is woven, there are always people to buy, but now look at it, but this is not the truth, the current steam yarn factory, cloth factory, a factory can top 10,000 people, more and more yarn factories around the country, the same is true of cloth factories, this goods are naturally more, Gu Feng is cheap, from last year to now, the yarn price has fallen by one to five, the price of cloth has also fallen by one percent, in the final analysis, or because of the yarn factory, cloth factories are more and more, the output is getting higher and higher, and there are more things that are naturally worthless......"

"Isn't this the truth, in fact, this market is not nothing, Tianzhu's market is very large, and the population is about the same as that of the Ming Dynasty, if that market is opened, we will not have to worry about eating and drinking."

"How big is the market? That's not our ...... after all."

"Even if it's not ours, it's just a matter of finding a way to become ours."

"How did it change? Is it difficult to fight over? ”

Seeing this situation, Li Yi just smiled and listened to the complaints of the public, from Tianzhu to Japan, from Japan to Korea, almost everyone felt that the current imperial court was too conservative.

"Just like that North Korea, it's true that my Ming clan is a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, but this vassal has not opened the market so far, so how can it be a Ming domain? In my opinion, the imperial court should send an envoy to open the market like Zhuxia, so that its people can enjoy cheap Ming goods......"

"Oh, North Korea is not Zhuxia after all, but these are all for the sake of the Koreans, and the imperial court should really consider these things, shouldn't it."

What Liu Gong said was very true. But speaking of wanting to come to the court to do this, naturally there are their reasons, we as the people, naturally have to obey the court, obey the emperor's order, besides, now the price of yarn seems to be falling, but compared with the Wanli period, it is still a lot higher, that is, now, the profit of gauze is at least forty percent, in the final analysis, the decline is still because the profit is too high, if the market is really saturated, how can there still be people investing in yarn factories? ”

It was Qi Zitao from Beizhili who spoke, as a banker, he has been inclined to stand on the position of the imperial court recently, of course, everyone knows the reason, he is running for the "Justice of the Peace" past, his eldest brother has been seeking the title of "Justice of the Peace", but because Fidelity Bank has rarely participated in public utilities in the past, it has always been excluded.

"If you want to get, you have to pay first", those Shanxi veterans who have been careful all day long, in the selection of justices of the peace, there is a problem, because there are few rich people who are enthusiastic about public undertakings and fund charities, and in the end, the only justice of the peace is still a local gentry who donated money to build many schools, and there is no justice of the peace in the business world.

Because of this, the entire Shanxi business community is all for this, and then they have donated money to repair roads, build schools, and repair almshouses, but the more utilitarian they are, the less likely the return is. Because the reward of a justice of the peace is not more than anyone's money.

How exactly do you get this title?

The Qi family was very anxious.

Especially under the report that there are several justices of peace in Beizhili, but the Qi family, which is based in Beizhili, does not have this title, this gap makes them more and more anxious.

This disparity does not refer to the strength or weakness of money or personal strength. It's the gap in reputation and status, which even directly affects the status of the Qi family in Beizhili - a person who doesn't even have a "title", how can he preside over the Chamber of Commerce?

The title of Justice of the Peace seems to be just an honorary title, but for businessmen, it has a special significance, which is a title similar to that of a knight and a public officer, not only an honor, but also a very substantial benefit, which is the premise of entering the local council.

The Qi family needs this title, but now this title is becoming more and more rare. Even when the Qi family invested in Yanjing Academy and founded the Jimin Medical Institute, there were still some shortcomings, and for this reason, in the past many years, the Qi family has always stood on the side of the government, blaming up for the government, lest they disagree and lead to a failure.

"President Qi, you can't say that. When people are not far-sighted, they must have near-term worries. ”

Li Yi, who broke the silence, shook his head and said.

"Oh? Could it be that Chairman Lee also thinks like this? ”

Qi Ziying secretly thought to herself, could it be that they want to incite attack on North Korea or Japan? If this is the case, maybe we can find a way to get involved, such as sending doctors from the Yeji Minmin Medical Center to the front line to treat the wounded, and the expenses will be borne by the Qi family.

It's a great way to make a name for yourself.

"This market is always limited, if you are just trapped in the country, then sooner or later, this market will always be saturated, so it is extremely necessary to open up overseas markets."

Maybe it's because I've drunk a little too much, someone said without hesitation.

"Actually, overseas expansion is itself for the market, we should encourage the imperial court to expand, if they don't want to, we can be like the Dutch, set up the East India Company, let's do it ourselves!"

And his suggestion is also a common idea of many people present. In their opinion, the conservatism of the imperial court has restricted the development of commerce, and for the development of commerce, it is necessary to learn from the Europeans, set up a company, and then that company solves some problems for the imperial court.

"It's not that we do it for the imperial court, but to solve the trouble for the imperial court, after all, this overseas use of troops is huge, and we can always save the expenses of the imperial court ......by paying out of our pockets."

They talk about the imperial court, but in fact, everyone knows that what they want to think is nothing more than for profit, for the market, they yearn for the power of those concessionaires in Europe, and only by establishing that kind of company can they be able to fight for overseas markets according to their own wishes. And knock down the countries that block free trade.

"Oh, I said, what are you all thinking? Is it possible, do you still want to build an army? Those Westerners are Westerners, and those people are just barbarians without kings and fathers, how can we follow suit? ”

A fluttering sentence reminded them of a reality, this reality could not be simpler, the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to allow merchants to have armies, even under the premise that maritime merchants had armed merchant ships.

Facing everyone's lamentation, Li Yi said with a smile.

"It seems that you are dissatisfied with the imperial court! But everyone should also be considerate of the imperial court. After all, now the Manchu Qing Dynasty has not been appeased, in the next few years, the northwest is the focus of the Ming Dynasty, the elimination of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the pacification of the northwest is what the imperial court really cares about, as for overseas, just temporarily unable to pull away, in fact, if we are interested, we might as well change the way. ”

"Oh, why did Lee say that?"

Qi Ziying asked after a pause. The others present also pricked up their ears one by one. Seeing everyone's reaction like this, Li Yi was naturally quite proud.

"We really can't do it directly, but we might as well borrow someone else's hand! Anyway, all we need is the market, isn't it? ”

Looking at everyone, Li Yi expressed his intention to invite them over.

"Now, there is an opportunity, and if we seize this opportunity, not only can we set up a franchise company that is completely owned by us, but we will also have access to an extremely large market!"

Businessmen have always valued profits, and as soon as Li Yi said this, everyone present immediately asked with great interest.

"Oh? I wonder what the opportunity is that Chairman Lee is referring to? ”

In the face of everyone's inquiries, Li Yi did not answer immediately, but stood up and said.

"Well, today I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a friend!"

As he spoke, he clapped his palms and stepped out of another box a middle-aged man who walked into the room and smiled at the bewildered crowd.

"In Shimoda Chenggang, I've seen you!"

Tian Chenggang, no one knows him, and half a month ago, Li Yi also didn't know this Tian Chenggang, and even, sometimes he doubted that there was no Tian Chenggang in this world.

Doubt is doubt, but there are some things that do not need to be doubted.

"I don't know, Mr. Tian is high there."

Qi Zitao asked with a smile.

He noticed that this Tian Chenggang did not have the slightest businessman's temperament, this person was probably not a businessman, who could he be?

"Mr. Qi, actually, in the past, we have dealt with each other."

Tian Chenggang looked at Qi Zitao and said.

"When you and Brother Ling inspected the construction of the railway in Xi'an, you stood on the side."

Tian Chenggang had a smile on his face, reminding Qi Zitao that they were "acquaintances", and his reminder made Qi Ziying's brows jump suddenly, and then said.

"Oh, I see...... I know! ”

He was standing next to him, who was standing next to him at that time? It's the people of the army!

This man represents the military!

After having this understanding, Qi Zitao immediately said.

"Chairman Lee, whatever you say next, I agree!"

。 m.