After Yu Qiuping said a "newly coined word" that was completely absent in Japanese, everyone present was a second monk and was confused. Yu Qiuping smiled slightly, and then explained: "In short, I just need your merchants in Sakai Town and Ishiyama Town to continue to deliver me all the grain, building materials and other goods I need; It is also necessary for His Royal Highness Hatakeyama to order the wealthy families of Hanoi to stop following the Miyoshi family and support the Yuqiu family. ”

After Yu Qiuping said these words, the six businessmen present and Hatakeyama Takamasa were not in a hurry to oppose or speak out. Because they all knew that Yu Qiuping would definitely give a corresponding reward for making such a ridiculous request—they were looking forward to seeing what that reward was, and if it wasn't suitable, it would never be too late to refuse.

"I know this is a difficult and even impractical request for you." Yu Qiuping first turned his head to look at the merchants in Sakai Town and Ishiyama Town, and said in a low voice: "For you, whether you are doing business with my Yuqiu family or doing business with the Miyoshi family, the profit difference is not big. And the Yuqiu family is much weaker than the Sanhao family, and it is too risky to support the Yuqiu family. You are all businessmen, and you are all very good at accounting. So, I'll give you enough rewards that are worth the risk you took to support the Yuqiu family! Stay tuned! ”

"And His Highness Hatakeyama," Yu Qiuping finished speaking, and turned his head to look at Hatakeyama Takamasa, "You have always been unwilling to follow the crowd, but insist that everyone should abide by the laws and disciplines of the past, and will not compromise for the sake of worldly interests. I'm also prepared to convince you to support me, so wait and see. ”

As soon as Yu Qiuping spoke, he snapped his fingers and motioned for Long Zi to take up a huge scroll and slowly spread it out among the crowd. I saw a huge triangle drawn on the scroll, and at the three vertices of the triangle, a few large characters were written in red ink: Yuqiu House, Congress, and Court. And underneath these three names, there are many words densely written in black ink. The merchants and Hatakeyama Takamasa both squinted at each other, but they couldn't quite understand it.

"I'll explain it to you." Yu Qiuping clapped his hands, attracted everyone's attention, and then whispered: "In short, it is my Yuqiu family, together with your merchants, and His Royal Highness Hatakeyama, each as an independent individual, united to form a government. The three of us are equal in the position of government, check and balance each other, and neither can dominate the other. Then our government will expel the Miyoshi family, take the land near Hanoi and Sakai Town, and complete the establishment of the state. ”

After listening to Yu Qiuping's explanation, everyone was still very puzzled in their eyes. Yu Qiuping laughed twice, and everyone didn't understand it as he expected. So he apologized to Hatakeyama Takamasa, and then turned to the merchants of Sakai and Ishiyama, intending to explain to them the meaning of the Diet first.

"This parliament is for the merchants of Sakai and Ishiyama. Not only Sakai and Ishiyama, but also merchants from can join this parliament if they wish. The National Assembly initially set 100 seats, and each person could only enjoy a maximum of one seat. Every time the National Assembly decides something, these 100 people vote on it, and the minority obeys the majority, and the final decision is reached. ”

"I know this, it's about the same as our guild." Tachibana Mataburo smiled and said, "Then what is this parliament for?" ”

"It may scare you to say it, but please believe every word I say next." Yu Qiuping paused and looked at the businessmen with gradually solemn expressions, "Because the power I have given to this parliament will be unprecedentedly huge. I also relied on this concession to persuade you to give up the powerful Miyoshi family and risk the danger to support the weak Yuqiu family. ”

"The first power of Congress is to legislate. In the future, all the laws in the territory controlled by the Yuqiu family, large and small, except for military law, will be enacted by this parliament composed of you merchants! Yu Qiu said in a deep voice: "Including the law of taxation, the law of tariffs, the law of trade, the law of market construction, all the laws of all sizes are formulated and revised by you!" In other words, if the Yuqiu family can take Sakai Town from the Miyoshi family, you will have to decide how much tax you have to pay each year! ”

As soon as Yu Qiuping said this, the businessmen were all stunned, unable to say a word - this is a power that is even greater than that of the Joint Conference of Heavy Ministers.

They are all businessmen and will not fail to understand how important the law is. In other words, they can decide for themselves how much tax to collect each year, whether to collect customs duties, whether to collect transaction taxes, etc., by enacting or amending tax laws. If the power of legislation is in the hands of merchants, they can create a country that is extremely conducive to the development of commerce, and this will be a paradise for their big businessmen to sweep their wealth.

Because the samurai always looked down on the merchants, they only coveted their money. Regardless of the daimyo family, the laws and systems for merchants are quite harsh. Not only did they have to pay high customs duties and transaction taxes, but they seriously restricted the development of trade, and caused merchants to tie their hands and feet, and to tax their property and regular taxes. Sakai Town is subject to relatively few restrictions due to its autonomy, but it still has to pay a large amount of donations to the Miyoshi family every year, as well as various taxes.

But if the laws in the territory controlled by the Yuqiu family are made by the merchants, they have the final say on how much tax they want to collect! That's a lot of power!

"Is this true?" Sueyoshi Sunshiro was the first to lose his breath and asked with some excitement, "Is His Highness Jibu serious?" ”

"As I just said, everything I say next is serious." Yu Qiuping nodded at him, "Please don't interrupt me, the power of the Congress hasn't been finished yet?" ”

"Not done yet?" At this moment, even Imai Munehisa and Tsuda Muneshi and the two scheming businessmen couldn't hold back and cried out in surprise.

"That's right. Another major power of your parliament is to approve the budget of the Yuqiu family. Yuqiu paused and explained in a different way: "Before the beginning of each quarter, the Yuqiu family has to declare the money to be spent in this quarter to you for review. If you are not satisfied with this budget, you can not approve the money to the Yuqiu family. In other words, the treasury of the Yuqiu family is in your hands! ”

The merchants' eyes widened again when they heard this, and they were so shocked that they were about to speak. There is no need to explain how important the treasury is to a family!

"These two are just the most important powers, and there are many details, which are written here." Yu Qiuping pointed to the dense black letters below the Congress and said in a low voice. As soon as the merchants had recovered their senses, they rushed to the side of the scroll like hungry tigers, and pointed to the words with their fingers, looking at them one by one. The further down they looked, the more exaggerated the consternation on their faces became. By the end, everyone was already sweating profusely.

"Is this really true?" Although Sueyoshi Sun Shiro had already asked once before, and Yu Qiuping had also given him an answer, he still couldn't help but ask again: "Since Amaterasu, there has never been a samurai minister who has given us grass people so much power!" If I hadn't heard it with my own ears and seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed such a thing! Your Highness didn't lie to us, did you? ”

"It's not." Yu Qiuping shook his head very firmly and said, "To tell you the truth, I used to be a settler and very shrewd. I'm not going to give you so much power for nothing, it's an equivalent exchange. Now the Miyoshi family is much stronger than the Yuqiu family, as long as you stop transporting goods, the Yuqiu family is a dead end. In order to win you to give up the powerful Miyoshi family and take great risks to support the Yuqiu family, I must make enough concessions. ”

Yu Qiuping pointed to the various articles under the Congress as he spoke, and said in a low voice: "And this is the concession I gave you." ”

After the initial shock, the merchants gradually came to their senses. Although it is still difficult for everyone to imagine the power in their hands, they are all wealthy businessmen, and they can be regarded as having some self-cultivation, so they will not be surprised all the time. After taking a few deep breaths, Imai Munehisa asked Yu Qiuping in a low voice, "His Highness has given us such good conditions, what do you need us to do?" ”

"Didn't I just say that I want you to continue to deliver goods to me." Yuqiu said in a flat voice, "Ensure that Changpan will have no food, ensure that the people will not freeze to death, and ensure that Changpan will prepare armaments." After all, if you are willing to join this Congress, you and the Yuqiu family will be both prosperous and humiliated. If I can't beat the Miyoshi family, everything will be wild, and the power given to you will not be implemented, so I need your help. ”

"But although His Royal Highness Miyoshi Shixiu didn't say it explicitly, it means that we won't be allowed to send any more supplies to Maple Mountain City." Hasegawa Munehito whispered with some fear, "Ishiyama Town is okay and is not affected too much, but after all, our Sakai Town is still controlled by the Miyoshi family, if it makes His Royal Highness Shikyu unhappy, wouldn't it be self-defeating?" ”

"I understand, but you've all been merchants for so long, so it's not difficult to find a way to secretly ship the goods out." Yu Qiuping smiled and tapped his fingers on the floor and said in a low voice: "And this is a matter with huge risks. If it weren't for that big risk, I wouldn't have given you so many benefits, and pie wouldn't have fallen from the sky. ”

Akihei's words are clear: if the merchants of Sakai choose to support the Miyoshi family, they will not take any risks, as long as they stop delivering goods to Akihei, the Akihei family will collapse without a fight, but the benefits from this will be very limited. If the Yuqiu family can't give a lot more benefits than the three good families, the businessmen will still choose to follow the safe three good families.

And Yu Qiuping is now giving them a lot of power in order to win their support. If they choose to support the Yuqiu family, they can gain the power to legislate and control the finances, which is a dream power for every businessman. But this also means that He Yu Qiuping has become a grasshopper on a rope, and once Yu Qiuping fails, they merchants will not be able to eat and walk away.

These six businessmen are also veterans who have been in the business world for many years, but at this moment, they are sweating profusely, their faces are warlike, and they don't know what to do. With such a large piece of fat in front of me, it's really uncomfortable not to eat it. But the risk is that they may go bankrupt.

"I once heard a great man say," Yu Qiuping said leisurely after seeing that the merchants had hesitated for a long time and could not make up their minds, "once there is a proper profit, the merchants will be bold." With fifty percent of the profits, they take risks. With ten percent of the profits, they dare to trample on all laws. With thirty percent of the profits, they dare to commit all crimes, even at the risk of being beheaded. ”

"The profit in front of you right now may be 100% or more. Bosses, do you still have to hesitate? ”

Yu Qiuping's words, like a spark, ignited all the enthusiasm of the businessmen who were like dry firewood. They finally no longer hesitated, but raised their heads excitedly one after another, waiting for Yu Qiuping's next words. Because if Yu Qiuping talks wildly, it may be a blank check. After all, he is on the verge of despair at the moment, and it is very likely that he will fight to the death regardless of anything. If he doesn't give enough guarantees, nothing will be possible.

Their excitement just now is nothing more than the instinct to seize business opportunities as businessmen. But whether this business opportunity is reliable or not is not necessarily.