Time flies, winter goes to spring. In the blink of an eye, the two years of Daming Jingtai, which is still calm, have passed, and now it is the March season of the third year of Jingtai.

This is a good season for everything to recover, the grass grows and the warbler flies, and all that can be seen is a piece of purple and red, which makes people feel joy and joy when they see it. And at this time, if you are in the south of the Yangtze River, sitting on a painting boat gently rippling on the West Lake of the Pearl of Hangzhou, the paradise on earth, it is easier for people to give birth to immortals, but it is just so sighing.

If the table in front of you is full of wine and delicacies, and there are gentle Jiangnan people singing and dancing in front of you to accompany the wine, it will be even more immersive, even if there is more sorrow, it will be thrown out of the clouds, and only enjoy this boundless wind and moon.

However, there are always exceptions. At this time, several guests on this luxurious painting boat obviously looked preoccupied, even if Hangzhou's famous Oiran Wanyu tried her best there, it didn't make them really happy. Even, when the boat drove to the middle of the lake, several guests waved their hands and quit the second-floor cabin.

For the incomprehensible amorous feelings of these people, even though the women on the painting boat were unwilling, they did not dare to express the dissatisfaction in their hearts. Because they knew these middle-aged benefactors, they were all well-known wealthy businessmen in Hangzhou, and with just one sentence, they could make it impossible for everyone on the ship to gain a foothold in the city.

As these unrelated people retreated one after another, the atmosphere in the cabin became more and more oppressive, and no one said anything for a long time. After being silent for a long time, he looked at the youngest white-faced man before he took a sip of the wine glass and said, "Everyone, we are not here to drink flower wine, some things should be clearly stated." ”

"Brother Xiao is still so impatient, so let's let me, a half-cut person, start this." A sixty-year-old man coughed lightly and said, "Everyone, don't hide it anymore, we have lost a lot in the past six months, right?" ”

"What Qi Lao said is that in the past six months, the goods that my Chen family has easily transported to the outside can no longer be sold at the original price, but also nearly half of them have been brought back. This is something we haven't had in years, no, decades. Even when the Xie family was here, they were never so aggrieved. ”

"It's the same with our family. At the beginning, the good tea that the people of the Japanese Kingdom flocked to could have been sold for ten taels of silver per catty, but at the beginning of this year, how much did they offer? It's only two taels! It's just a little more than we can ship to the north, isn't that a big loss? ”

"The same is true of my silk. In the past, the things that could be sold were reduced in price this year, and this trip to the sea was carefully calculated, and it was a loss of thousands of taels of silver. After all, the expenses of going to sea are really not small! ”……

Since someone started, everyone else couldn't help it, and they complained about their bitterness one by one, and the sound of sighing was endless. Yes, the well-dressed and well-dressed wealthy merchants of Hangzhou who are sitting here today are all businessmen engaged in overseas trade, or smuggling trade.

In other words, although as early as the time of Emperor Taizu, the imperial court explicitly forbade the people to go to sea without permission, and even more forbidden Ming merchants to sell things to other countries. However, as one of the richest places in the world and the most developed place in commerce, Zhejiang can be a local businessman who secretly sells local specialties overseas.

In fact, the local government also understands this. But this kind of businessmen who break the rules are all big families, and even have backers in the court, and they are all very good at being people, and they dare not eat alone, and they have already divided part of the smuggling proceeds to deal with the whole yamen, so the local officials will turn a blind eye to this, and they will only treat it as if there is no such thing.

In the early years, because of the existence of the largest smuggler, the Xie family, colluding with pirates and pirates, the business of the other families was not very big, and at most they could only drink soup. But since the eleventh year of orthodoxy, which made the Xie family completely finished, these businessmen can be regarded as happy, and their business is doing even better.

In the past few years, their net worth has increased several times, and now they have faintly become one of the few wealthy families in Hangzhou, much better than those merchants who honestly do ordinary business. At the same time, they also continued to have a good relationship with the local court officials, and now they all have a lot of backers.

They had thought that such a good thing would continue forever. Unexpectedly, things suddenly changed last year, and the original stable and profitable business suddenly ceased to be a big deal, but there was a possibility of losing money by selling cheaply, which was unacceptable to several of them, and it was also the reason why several of them got together today.

After complaining for a while, Qi Lao waved his hand to interrupt these useless words: "Presumably everyone should know the reason for this, right?" Since the imperial court suddenly allowed the opening of the sea ban the year before last, in just over a year, our losses have been so huge. If we continue like this, we won't be able to live at all. ”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Brother Xiao even complained: "I don't know what those positions in the court do, they can't even stop this, and they just let Lu Zhen open a port in Shandong." It's good now, it's hard for us to have as much money as before. ”

"What's more, Shandong not only robbed us of our business, but also sold things much cheaper than ours. The people I sent to Ryukyu made it clear that the goods sold to them were less than half of our original price, and that didn't cut us off our money. ”

"Whoever lets the family go to sea above board doesn't have to give the government any benefits, and naturally the price can be pushed down. But we are different, just to give a few yamen benefits, it accounts for 30%, plus the asking price of the shipwright who goes to sea, and can only sell so much to make a profit. ”

Several of them talked about their sufferings again, as if someone had forced them to take the risk of smuggling. But everyone present is doing this business, so they naturally empathize with it, and they think it is true, and they all bluntly say that doing things in Shandong is too inauthentic, which is completely incompatible with their own family.

"No, this kind of thing must not continue, otherwise our business will be completely undoable. Elder Qi, you are well-informed and senior, come and give us an idea. ”

Qi Lao picked up his wine glass and took a sip slowly: "If you want to say a way to deal with the current predicament, it is not nothing. But there are some difficulties, it depends on what everyone wants to do. Seeing that everyone looked deaf and listening, he continued: "This first method is to ask people to ask those adults in Beijing for help. They don't take our filial piety every year, they can't see death without saving, right? ”

"This ...... I'm afraid it's going to be hard. Someone frowned and shook his head: "I heard before that half of the silver in Shandong went into the hands of the emperor, do you think those adults can still convince the emperor?" Moreover, none of their opposition a few years ago could have come to fruition, let alone now. The wood has been made into a boat, the rice has been cooked, and it is impossible to start from the imperial court. ”

Several others agreed. Most of them have backers in the imperial court, so they naturally know very well what the situation in Shandong is all about. Even if those officials really took the lead for the sake of silver, it would be impossible for the Son of Heaven to take back his fate. After all, it was a huge profit, and no one would spit it out.

Seeing that everyone unanimously rejected their idea, Qi Lao was not annoyed, but just took a sip of wine and moistened his throat before continuing: "Since you feel that this method is difficult to achieve, you can only use a more risky method. As he spoke, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"Please also ask Elder Qi to make it clear."

"Do you still remember how the Xie family pressed us so hard that we couldn't turn over?" Qi Lao suddenly asked. Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they understood: "What do you mean by using the power of those people at sea to deal with them?" A few of them were visibly uneasy when they said this.

"Yes, in the past few years, for the sake of safety on the sea road, we have given them a lot of benefits. Now, if something happens to us, they can't just sit idly by, right? Qi Lao said as a matter of course.

After several people looked at each other for a while, they couldn't help but nod their heads. Indeed, in the past few years, even without the constraints of the Xie family, it is still difficult for them to go to sea, including the problem of pirates and pirates. And as businessmen, all they can do is to use the money to open the way and buy and curry favor with these thieves.

But then, someone hesitated and said, "But, are these widows really credible?" It is not a problem for us to pay them not to harass our merchant ships, but it is not easy for them to be used by us, or even to become enemies of the Shandong government. ”

"Yes, would the Wako be so obedient? No matter how much money we give, they may not be willing to take such a big risk......"

Listening to everyone's opinions one by one, Qi Lao just smiled. It wasn't until everyone had stopped talking that he said, "Under normal circumstances, it would be really difficult for us to convince them to use me." However, it is Lu Zhen who is now presiding over the overall situation in Shandong, which is another matter. ”

"What do you mean by that?" Everyone was stunned again, and some couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the old man.

Speaking of which, Qi Lao stopped selling Guanzi, and said, "Do you remember why the Xie family was beheaded by the whole family in the first place?" ”

Everyone looked at each other a few times, and then a few of them showed a sudden expression: "What does Elder Qi mean, is it that there are people in the Japanese who want to avenge the revenge of the day?" ”

"Yes, I also remember, it was this Lu Zhen who completely brought down the Xie family that day!"

"Not bad!" Qi Lao laughed and said, "There is someone who has been waiting for this hatred for several years, and it is time for him to let out this evil breath!" ”

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