This method is more popular after the opening of the sea in Longqing, because everyone hopes to get the corresponding status after earning huge profits, and the status of the merchants is very low, but the status of the official gentry is the highest.

This method reached its peak in the Wanli Dynasty, and many merchants enthusiastically donated more than 100,000 taels or even hundreds of thousands of taels, turning a generation or even several generations into official gentry.

However, in the Apocalypse Dynasty, especially after Gonggong Wei took power, no one dared to donate, because the gang of corrupt officials led by Gonggong Wei was really terrible, once they knew that your family had a huge amount of money, they would blatantly come to take it!

A Huangshan Wu Yangchun case, almost turned Huizhou, the birthplace of Huizhou merchants, into a hell on earth, corrupt officials squatted in Huizhou, forcibly grabbed, unjustly imprisoned, wantonly bullied Huizhou merchants, and constantly looted the people's fat and ointment, and there was a posture of not robbing all the merchants in Huizhou and not stopping, and a large number of Huizhou merchants were scared to flee, leaving their hometowns, and they didn't even dare to return home, and the Wu family was even charged with the crime of the behind-the-scenes financier of Donglin, and was almost wiped out!

If this kind of thing happens, who dares to donate, you dare to donate, don't you make it clear to tell the corrupt officials in the court, you are very rich, lure them to take it by force, it is still a trivial matter to be killed yourself, don't implicate your family, implicate the clansmen, implicate your fathers and fellow villagers!

Therefore, after the Tianqi Dynasty had a Huangshan Wu Yangchun case, the relationship between the merchants of the Ming Dynasty and the imperial court fell to the freezing point, even if they had money, even if they let the silver be moldy at home, they would not donate a tael of silver to the imperial court, even if Chongzhen was poor in urine and blood, no merchant would take care of him.

To put it mildly, they would rather fund Jiannu and seek skin with the tiger than deal with these corrupt officials in the DPRK and China, because these people are much more ferocious than Jiannu!

Of course, after Zhang Bin came, the situation has changed a lot, at least in Fuguang, the merchants are willing to pay money to fund the original governor of Fujian, Zhang Bin, the governor of Fuguang, because Zhang Bin is not a corrupt official, but a good official for the country and the people, and he has a very good reputation, you donate silver, he can let you get benefits, he can also protect everyone from being exploited and framed by corrupt officials, and even, after he leaves Fuguang, everyone can also get help from local officials and garrisons, which he did quite well, You can rest assured that you can make money in Fuguang boldly, and you don't have to worry about corrupt officials coming to take it by force.

It is precisely for this reason that as soon as he issued a call, the big merchants of the four major merchant gangs basically came, not for anything else, just to repay the kindness, and not to forget their roots, it was Zhang Bin who made them earn so much silver, and now he organizes everyone to donate food, this money, get.

However, this fundraising was really full of twists and turns, ups and downs.

First of all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Zhang Bin held a banquet together to entertain everyone, giving everyone enough face;

Then Zhang Bin said a sky-high salary of more than 10 million taels, which frightened everyone;

In the end, Zhang Bin threw out a "Donation and Salary Law", telling everyone that as long as you pay for it, even the court officials of the fifth or even the fourth grade can buy it!

If this is said by other officials, everyone will definitely scoff at it, want to cheat everyone's money, and dream!

However, the effect of Zhang Bin's public announcement is different, and everyone believes that this is absolutely true.

All of a sudden, all the big merchants below were excited, silver, they have, even, a big merchant gang to make up more than 10 million taels of silver is not a big problem, the question is whether the silver is worth it.

If you give money for nothing, you can give Zhang Bin face, and each person will take out tens of thousands of taels, and the right will repay the favor at that time, and it is basically impossible for them to take out more than 100,000 or even hundreds of thousands of taels each.

As soon as this "Salary Donation Law" was thrown out, it was different, and it was really unexpected that you could buy a big official with money.

Is it worth 500,000 taels to buy a court member of the fifth grade?

Is it worth a million taels to buy a court member with four products?

It's worth it, it's worth it!

Merchants are the most deformed social class in Daming, they have money, but they have no status, they can't wear silk and satin, they can't live in mansions, they can't travel in sedan chairs, and they are not even qualified to enter and leave the women's branch of the official sect.

Although in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, this restriction has been loosened, as long as the merchants do not show off everywhere, you wear silk and satin, live in a mansion compound, and travel in a sedan chair is not a big deal, but these are all premises, the premise is that people do not compare with you, once you encounter corrupt officials and corrupt officials to compare with you, you can be bankrupt with these things!

They urgently need to gain social status, train their offspring to go to the imperial examination, gain fame, and even donate money to buy officials, and it is also for this reason that they are prosperous.

Even in the past, they could buy a casual official below the seventh grade by donating at most, and many people flocked to it, because with an official position, their social status was different.

If you want to wear silk and satin, you can wear it casually;

If you want to live in a mansion compound, you can live casually;

If you want to travel in a sedan chair, you can sit casually;

If you want to go to the women's branch of the official branch of the teaching department, you can go casually;

Not to mention that the county master has to bow his head in front of him, at least those nine-grade sesame officials and even unpopular officials don't dare to be arrogant in front of him.

Also, if you can make a note on the genealogy, someone will be the ambassador of Zhongshu or Guanglu Temple in a certain year, and the gold content of this genealogy will be different, it is really called a glorious ancestor.

Now, Zhang Bin actually told them that even the court officials of the fifth and fourth grades can buy it, what kind of concept is this, even the county lord has to kneel in front of them and call the adult, and even the prefect has to treat each other politely and sit on an equal footing with them!

Also, make a note in the genealogy, someone is the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple or the Shaoqing of Taifu Temple in a certain year, this is okay, this is no longer a matter of honoring the ancestors, this is to glorify future generations, and be praised by their own children and grandchildren.

Therefore, as soon as Chen Zilong finished reading the "Salary Payment Law", the whole scene was a little out of control, and the big merchants below disregarded etiquette and discussed excitedly.

"Lao Wang, do you want Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, if you don't want it, lend me some silver first."

"Lao Zhao, do you want any store in Jinling, if you want it, I'll give it to you immediately."

"Lao Zhou, I want to donate a priest of Taifu Temple, you can do me a favor with the payment last month, hurry up and settle it for me."

This guy, if Chongzhen sits on it, he will have to be mad, you don't exist if you don't exist, right, so loud and noisy.

Zhu Cihong is different, he doesn't have any displeasure, at this moment he is asking Zhang Bin vigorously how much food and salary can be raised.

Zhang Bin is quite calm, because he knows that this food and salary will definitely be available, his uncle Huang Peng and cousin Huang Cheng are there, and the other four major merchants can't make up the silver taels, they will be rounded, who will be too many of the court members of the fourth and fifth grades, if his old Huang family can produce a few, it will also be the real glory of the ancestors, anyway, Dongshengtang has money, this official, don't be in vain!

To his surprise, there are still loopholes in this "Donation Law", or in other words, this "Donation Law" is a little different from this donation activity, so Li Lao, the helmsman of the Jiangxi Business Gang, asked on behalf of everyone: "My lord, Xiao Lao'er wants to ask, is there a quota for this Shaoqing of Taifu Temple and Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, if according to the existing regulations of the imperial court, this quota is a little small, and it will not be able to make up more than 10 million taels of food and salary." ”

His words seemed to be reminding Zhang Bin that he was afraid that Zhang Bin would not be able to make up more than 10 million taels of food, but in fact, he was telling Zhang Bin that the places of Shaoqing of Taifu Temple and Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple were not enough, because according to the existing regulations of the imperial court, there were only two Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple and only three Shaoqing of Taifu Temple, but they had four major merchant gangs here, plus the Fujian merchant gang represented by Huang Peng and Huang Cheng, that was the five major merchant gangs, such a limited number of places, how to divide them!

Zhang Bin really didn't consider this problem, he secretly calculated in his heart, and suddenly wanted to smoke himself a big ear, this guy, according to the existing regulations of the imperial court, can only make up six million taels if he sells all the official positions of Guanglu Temple and Taifu Temple, and it is nearly half of it, and it makes no sense to let his two uncles Huang Peng and Huang Cheng pay the bill.

People can buy a four-grade Taifu Temple Shaoqing for one million taels, you are more than five million taels for nothing, and you don't have any official position, isn't this a brain disease!

He nodded awkwardly, signaling that he had heard, and then pretended to bow his head and discuss with the prince.

Actually, there is no need to discuss this matter, anyway, just make up enough military expenses, Chongzhen doesn't care how many officials you sell, anyway, those two yamen are idle yamen, and the officials inside have almost been transferred to other yamen by Chongzhen, and the position has been vacated, as for how many people are stuffed in, it doesn't matter, as long as these merchants are not too crowded.

He asked hypocritically: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, you see, how about doubling the number of officials below the Zhengqing level of this Taifu Temple and Guanglu Temple?" ”

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?

The master hadn't called himself like this for a long time, he turned his head to look at Zhang Bin inexplicably, and when he saw the corners of Zhang Bin's slightly twitching eyes, he realized that this was the master who asked him to cooperate in a play.

How about doubling the number of officials below the Zhengqing level of the Taifu Temple and Guanglu Temple?

He doesn't know!

However, it doesn't matter if you don't know, the master must know, he thought about it pretendically, and then asked, "Master, what do you think?" ”

He basically doesn't call Zhang Bin his mentor according to the rules, because he was used to calling the master when he was a child, and as soon as the mentor called out, he told Zhang Bin that he knew that it was acting, master, you can do whatever it takes, I'll just watch it.

This apprentice is really clever, Zhang Bin pretended to groan for a while, and then pondered: "The emperor must want to make up the military expenses this time, if the officials below the Zhengqing level of the Taifu Temple and Guanglu Temple are doubled, it is just right, or double it first, special treatment in special circumstances, and then change it back." ”

Zhu Cihong hurriedly nodded pretending and said, "That's okay, I think my father also means this." ”

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince nodded, even if the matter was settled, Zhang Bin immediately stood up and said loudly: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that the number of officials below the Zhengqing level of the Taifu Temple and Guanglu Temple has been doubled, so it should be about the same, right?" ”

This feeling is good, and the old shopkeeper Li immediately said without hesitation: "Thank you, Your Royal Highness the Prince, I pledge to donate one million taels." ”

Originally, he was worried that the three Taifu Temple Shaoqing would not be enough, and if he robbed someone else's, it would be troublesome if everyone was unhappy, but now it's okay, it's become six, and one of the six is accounted for, and he doesn't let it go, and others have nothing to say.

This guy, just start it so simply, Chen Zilong hurriedly picked up the brush prepared in advance, and then looked at Wang Chengen.

Wang Chengen has been a city manager here for a few years, and he naturally knows all the big merchants in the four major merchant gangs, so he doesn't need others to report his home, he just tells Chen Zilong directly.

The helmsman of the Jiangxi merchant gang, Li Lao, opened his mouth, and the helmsmen of the other merchant gangs immediately followed, and one by one they pledged to donate one million taels, and the merchants at this time are richer than the merchants of the Wanli Dynasty, especially the merchants of these major merchant gangs, taking advantage of the opening of the sea ban in Yuegang and Zhuhai, they have done business in Nanyang, Persia and even Europe, that guy, it's really called a huge profit, there are many merchants with assets of millions, and the helmsman of the merchant gang is the master who has millions of assets, one million taels, Gritting their teeth, they still took it out.

The helmsmen of the four major merchant gangs all spoke, and Huang Peng and Huang Cheng were not polite, one of them pledged one million taels and took down the remaining two Taifu Temple Shaoqing of the four products.

This guy, no one knows how much money Dongshengtang has, but they all know that Dongshengtang is quite rich, and it is no exaggeration to say that the money of all the merchants of the four major merchant gangs is not as much as that of Dongshengtang, because the assets under the hands of a big shopkeeper can almost top a big businessman's gang, I heard that Dongshengtang has a total of eight big shopkeepers!

Such a super giant, even if the six Taifu Temple Shaoqing of the four grades are all covered, everyone dare not have an opinion, they only ask for two, which is already quite polite.

Huang Peng and Huang Cheng, Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, who are in the fifth grade, don't seem to be interested, and the four major merchant gangs did not rob them, one merchant gang and one another, and everyone was very kind.

Next is the Taifu Temple priest of the sixth grade, the price is 100,000 taels of silver, the original is four, and now it is eight.

This is quite popular, and everyone even began to scramble, why is this?

In fact, there is no special reason, just because the temple ministers of the Taifu Temple of the sixth grade are larger than the magistrate of the seventh grade, and the general merchants will deal with the magistrate at most.

The so-called "three years of Qingzhi County, 100,000 snowflakes of silver." Okay, I now spend 100,000 snowflakes of silver to buy a big official who is six products, when you see me, you have to call an adult, and dare to exploit it, one book is played, you can't afford to be guilty of just despising Shangguan.

Next, the Guanglu Temple priests from the sixth grade are also very popular, bigger than the county, that's all, the next ones are from the seventh grade down, and after a scramble, the Guanglu Temple temple ministers are settled.

What kind of books, records, supervisors, supervisors or something, a bunch of messy official positions did not cause a robbery, but they did not fail, they were originally ready to donate tens of thousands of taels of silver to Zhang Bin to support the field, and there were also official positions after the hand, why not do it.

In less than half an hour, more than 60 subordinate officials of Taifu Temple and Guanglu Temple were sold out, raising a total of more than 12 million taels of silver, even more than 1 million taels more than expected.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Cihong was stunned again, these guys are really rich!