Chapter 1041 I was hit by the Song Dynasty again

Su Shi groaned, and turned the topic back to the original question: "Leaving people, you have been going overseas in the past few years, doing business...... It must have been hard. You don't know, Boda (Su Shi's eldest son Su Mai) gave birth to another child last year, named 'Fu'...... Shuji (Su Shi's second son, Su Yi) also got married this year, and his wife is the sixth daughter of Ouyang Di, the son of Wenzhong Gong (Ouyang Xiu). ”

Zhao Xing nodded and replied: "I heard that Ma Zhengqing (Ma Mengde) saw me in Hangzhou, and I have sent someone to send a sum of money to Brother Boda to let him settle down and buy a house...... It is estimated that there will be news back in the near future. I asked them to send the news directly to Jingshi. ”

Since Su Shi became a Beijing official, Ma Mengde has not continued to follow Su Shi. Because most of the Beijing officials do not need staff. It happened that Zhao Xing needed manpower there, he stayed in Hangzhou for a few months, and after the children of Cheng Jiaao, who had been taught by him, informed Zhao Xing of the news, Zhao Xing asked Ma Mengde to be in charge of managing the industry in Hangzhou.

Su Shi smiled awkwardly, he shook his head and said, "Leave people, you misunderstood." Well...... I think at the beginning, I just gave you a few pairs of calligraphy and paintings, this is to thank you for taking care of Huangzhou, but you always say that I have an investment in your industry. It's easy to talk about other industries. Only maritime merchants can't do it - the imperial court has an order: the family of Shilu is not allowed to compete with the people for profit, powerful officials are not allowed to engage in overseas trade, and officials are not allowed to buy goods from foreign merchants privately.

Taizong's edict said: ...... The civil and military bureaucrats inside and outside the country dare to send their cronies to the foreign traffickers, and they are known by their names. -- This edict was originally issued to ensure the smooth flow of maritime trade and prevent powerful officials from competing with the people for profit......"

What? Officials are not allowed to participate in foreign trade, and if officials are cronies, they must publicize them - publish their names in the newspaper - "smell by name".

Zhao Xing took a few breaths and said, "Teacher, in fact, why do you care, this is a matter between the two of us, as long as I don't say anything, who can know?" Are they going to come to my house and copy my house and find out the ledger? ”

Zhao Xing underestimated the consciousness of the Song people to abide by the law, and Su Shi sank his face: "With the evil of Lu Huiqing and Deng Juan, I don't dare to buy the goods of foreign merchants privately, and privately send my cronies to sell foreign goods-do you want to leave an infamy in history for your teacher?" Also, when did I copy someone else's home? ”

What Su Shi said was the truth, in fact, not only Cai Qu, Lu Jiawen, and Deng Xuan, but even the later traitor Cai Jing did not dare to violate this law - turning foreign traffickers.

In addition, there is also a common practice in the officialdom of various dynasties - selling the wives and children of criminal officials and making them official prostitutes. There were official prostitutes in the Song Dynasty, but most of them auctioned off the families of the sinners to pay for the sinners' exile, and never touched the wives and children of the families of the convicts. Because the Song Dynasty implemented the family motto of "ruling the world with scholars", even the most corrupt officials were only exiled and never raided their homes.

This is the uniqueness of the Song Dynasty. Its respect for private rights is not suitable even for modern Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing touched his nose on this "unique", he smiled wryly, touched the tip of his nose and replied: "If this is the case, wouldn't it: in case I am admitted to the Jinshi and get an official, I also need to give up maritime trade...... Not even family members? ”

Su Shi nodded.

Zhao Xing glanced at Chen Gongchuan, and replied with a roll of his eyes: "In this way, let's settle it...... It's not good, I've been running out of cash lately, I've just bought an island near Mayi, and I've bought some land in Da Yue country, and the goods shipped back from overseas haven't been sold yet—the teacher can't ask for these sea goods, right? ”

Su Shi hurriedly replied: "If you leave someone, you have to misunderstand what I mean." In the past few years, you have taken enough care of my family, I mean: If you still have the original account, you will go home and burn it, will it be easy. ”

"That's not good, doing business, relying on credibility, without credibility, what am I doing with that pile of dead money? Money I have to give...... In this way, I will give the teacher 300,000 yuan, and it will be counted as an account from now on......"

Su Shi's eyes were dark, and the pen in his hand fell to the ground with a "snap", his dizziness was terrible, and he only felt that everything in front of him was shaking.

He could have thought that Zhao Xing would become very rich after engaging in maritime trade, but he didn't expect Zhao Xing to be rich to this point.

300,000 yuan, he still had a very apologetic look, as if he had treated Su Shi badly, which made him very embarrassed.

How much is 300,000 guan? In the Song Dynasty, 3,000 guan was considered a middle class. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, when prices soared, one acre of the most fertile fertile land in Huzhou was ten taels. 300,000 yuan, this money can now buy the equivalent of two good fields the size of Tokyo Bianliang City.

It's only been three years. Su Shi saw with his own eyes that when Zhao Xing went to sea, all the money on his body bought land in Hangzhou, as well as cheap frosting. And when he came back, as soon as he stretched out his hand, he was willing to pay 300,000 yuan to buy the short shares in Su Shi's hands when the funds were tight.

Not only that, Zhao Xing was also explaining: "Teacher, not long ago, I asked Ma Mengde to bring 30,000 yuan to Brother Boda (Su Mai), as well as some seafood worth 20,000 yuan, and the receipt of Brother Boda has not yet come......

In this way, Uncle Ji (Su Shi's second son Su Yi) got married, and I don't have any gifts, so I'll give him a congratulatory gift...... Don't shirk the teacher, the court can manage business, how can it manage the exchange of gifts between their own people - just send five boxes of Tubo (during the Northern Song Dynasty, the territory of Tubo reached the Indian Ocean, including Burma, Laos and Cambodia) red sapphires, a box of Zhenla (Angkor Dynasty) jade, two boxes of tortoiseshell as a dowry, and a liter of pearls.

In this way, plus 300,000 yuan in cash, it should be enough. ”

What is enough? This is simply destroying Su Shi's nerves, the gemstone jade tortoiseshell is in the box, and the pearl is measured by liters, this kind of shot scares the person to death.

"Leave people, don't scare me, all I gave you was a few pictures of calligraphy and paintings, and the things you gave were too heavy. In the past few years, your housekeeper has given me a huge sum of money every year, saying that it is a bonus for me to make a living. I'll take the money, but if you do it again, it's over. This is your hard work overseas for many years, how can you ...... I don't want it, I don't want it! A congratulatory gift for the child, a few things are enough, you will frighten the child's ......"

"What, it's too heavy...... Teacher, let's 'our own people'! I have always admired Wen Zhonggong (Ouyang Xiu). 'The meaning of a drunkard', a famous sentence through the ages. Can't wronged the granddaughter of Duke Wen Zhong. Besides, when the second son got married, my brother took the opportunity to buy some family property for his brother, which is also the right intention...... Teacher, don't care, this is my business with my second son. As for the money, 300,000 yuan, it's not much......"

Su Shi had forgotten to write the chapter. Chen Gongchuan turned a blind eye to the heated quarrel, and he did not seem to be shocked by this huge wealth at all. The two were arguing, and he leisurely picked up a manuscript of poetry on the table, and admired it there.

After several excuses, Su Shi was only willing to accept a maximum of 1,000 yuan, and Zhao Xing finally gave in to 50,000 yuan, and he resolutely refused to back down. The two of them were gasping for breath as if they were fighting, but they were not gasping for money, they were trying to push.

"I often hear that the generation of Renzong, the gentleman of the Manchu Dynasty, I can be regarded as seeing the **** style today", Chen Gongchuan put down the poem manuscript and high-fived in admiration. Then, he persuaded and said: "That's it, I'll do it: 10,000." Congratulatory gifts are not counted, and the bachelor can accept them all. In addition, I heard that the bachelor has a real estate in Changzhou, and he has not taken care of it for many years, so I asked the brother to come forward and renovate the house for the bachelor, and then clear it twice, so good? ”

Although this amount was extremely far from Su Shi's wish, considering that it was even farther away from Zhao Xing's wish, Su Shi was silent for a moment and nodded slightly.

Later, Su Shi recalled Zhao Xing's three-year arduous voyage and his rise in the past three years, and couldn't help but say with emotion: "Liren, sometimes I admire you - the world regards navigation as a daunting path, but you dare to go all over the seven seas and earn such a big family business with your bare hands, it's not easy, it's not easy!" ”

In fact, this is the gap between the times. Others go out to sea and don't know where the other side of the sea is; I don't know how to walk in the middle of the sea. When they came to the sea, they were like a blindfolded person running wildly through the dark streets, full of fear of the future and timidity of mysterious things, but Zhao Xing was different.

He had a map of the world in his mind, and he knew that he would never lose sight of land when he sailed westward, with the entire continent of Africa in front of him. Walking along this continent, you can always get supplies...... So he has no fear of the unknown.

In ancient times, people went out and couldn't figure out the direction, and even at some point, they were not allowed to have a sense of map in their hearts, because in this era, the map was a symbol of "imperial unity", and the map hidden in the house was evidence of rebellion.

The environment is everything, and people who grow up in this environment dare not imagine what they can encounter if they leave the land they are familiar with. And Zhao Xing knew what was waiting for him in front of him. There are places that he has even visited in the modern world. It was the small differences that made him never afraid of traveling, and it also made him more big-picture than the merchants of his time.

This is the secret of his rapid rise, but this secret cannot be told to others. So he pretended to be shallow and proud about Su Shi's praise, and his expression was complacent.

"So, when I leave, I'll write the recital first...... By the way, today is the Spring Festival, and a few of your classmates want to go to the courtyard to help take care of it, and when I finish writing the recital, we will talk again. Su Dongpo knew that Zhao Xing was very researched in cooking and had a very good opinion in organizing and deploying people, so he simply entrusted the hospitality work to this disciple who "didn't learn and didn't know how to do it".

In the first year of Yuanyou (1086), the minister Fan Chunren recommended Zhang Lei to participate in the examination of Taixue Academy. Also recommended to participate in the exam this time were Huang Tingjian, Chao Buzhi and others, who were proposed by Su Shi, a bachelor of Hanlin, and the results of the examination were all three of them were promoted and entered Taixue. Recently, Qin Guan was ordered to enter Beijing as a doctor of Taixue.

In this way, the four juniors that Su Shi values the most, Huang Tingjian, Chao Buzhi, Zhang Lei, and Qin Guan, are all complete. Huang Ting, who was only eight years younger than Su Shi, resolutely worshiped Su Shi and became a disciple. Later, these four doctors of Taixue were called the "Four Bachelors of Sumen". Today is not the day of the court meeting, Su Shi returned home early, that is, Huang Tingjian is going to come to pay homage.

Maybe it's to add a note to the quarrel just now, Su Shi has just finished ordering Zhao Xing, and Xiao Shi Gaoyan has already broken into the courtyard with a large team of people, and the leader of this pair of people is Chen Buqun, the son of Chen Yu.

These people said that they were going to move luggage, but Su Shi understood when they saw it - they were going to move luggage, they were obviously going to move goods, and directly used Su Shi's yard as a warehouse, more than 100 long wooden boxes were spread out on the ground, and after a while, there were only two mat-sized open spaces left in the yard.

"Well, there are some toys, clothes, and quilts in the box, as well as silk and cloth for the teacher, and study utensils for the teacher...... Each box had a name mark written on it, and the teacher asked them to come out and identify them, and who moved back to their rooms...... I also need a few people to be introduced by the teacher, those blank boxes with no stickers...... It's a gift I bring to them. ”

Su Shi was stunned for a moment - gift, isn't this just bribery?

Zhao Xing came to the capital this time, in addition to participating in the imperial examination, one more thing was to pay bribes.

Three years ago, when he left Huangzhou, he left two formulas for the Cheng people in Huangzhou, one for the application of alkaline flour and lime.

The alkaline flour is mixed with oil, and the thing that is boiled out is soap, and after adding some specific spices, it is soap. The application of lime is to bleached the paper to make the paper more snow-white.

When Zhao Xing was leaving, he instructed the Cheng family to add the word "Dongpo" in front of the two products, which were called "Dongpo Balsam" and "Dongpo Snow Paper" respectively. Paper belongs to stationery, and the Cheng family, in accordance with Zhao Xing's instructions, fabricated that this is a secret recipe for papermaking left by Su Dongpo in order to thank the Cheng family for taking care of them, and Su Dongpo himself also has shares in the paper mill.

However, in the case of the balsam factory, those people did not follow the instructions. Perhaps they were worried that this kind of thing with spices and used for women's bathing would be preceded by the name "Dongpo", which would make people have a fragrant association, and nearly damage Su Dongpo's reputation...... As a result, something happened to this balsam factory.

The balsam factory produces products that are marketed to noble ladies. Because after bathing with it, the body will exude a faint fragrance, so it is highly sought after by those wives and concubines who compete for favor, and after the new governor of Huangzhou found out, in order to please the queen mother in the palace, he immediately sent the balsam into the palace as a tribute. As soon as the palace maids tried it, they immediately issued an order to "buy and buy".

The so-called "and buying" means that the government stipulates the quantity and price of compulsory purchase of goods.

It is said that the price given by the palace is not low, and the price of each piece of pancreas is given five times. Buying at this price, the Cheng clan can also make huge profits...... But if you think that these five runs can be sent to the Cheng people, that is, you don't understand the "national conditions".

"Goose plucking" has always been the unspoken rule of officialdom, not only in the Song Dynasty, but also in the Ming Dynasty, folding three (30% of the "plucking rate") is a "government action" approved by the government, and the official language is called "drifting". In the Qing Dynasty, "fire consumption" was added to it...... Later, the meaning of "goose plucking" has completely changed, it refers to: the wild goose flies in front of the door, the goose body stays, pluck a feather and let it float away.

The palace ordered 10,000 pieces of balsam, with a total price of 50,000 yuan. When it was withdrawn from the inner treasury, it was this amount of money. When I arrived at the household, the money was "unspoken" by 30%; The household department went to the Jinglu Transshipment Division, and the money was reduced by 30%, and the Jinglu Transshipment Division was transferred to the Jingxi Transshipment Division, which was 30% less conventionally...... When the Huainan Western Transshipment Division handed over the money to Huangzhou, the Huangzhou Prefecture also uncoveredly took a handful, and when it was sent to Chengjiaao, only 692 pieces were left.

What is it called? This is called "Duanyan treatment".

After the duanyan was used as a tribute, it was also similarly "and bought". Not only that, because of the fame of Duan Yan, officials everywhere regard it as the top grade of bribery and gifts, so the money paid is peeled layer by layer, and the number of levies is increased layer by layer, so that later, whoever will do Duan Yan needs to commit suicide with his family.

Similar to the "Duanyan Incident", after the villagers of Chengjiaao received the order to pay tribute, they also felt very honored and thought that it was because their ancestors had accumulated virtue for eight lifetimes, and they were favored by the emperor. For this reason, they also call each other "to be edicted" in accordance with tradition. But the subsequent arrival of the "and buy" purchase order left them dumbfounded.

Originally, they thought that even if they lost a little, after gaining the reputation of tribute, they could make up for the loss inside the embankment, but the number of purchases on that list defeated them. As for the price of 692 guan, apart from suicide, the Cheng family couldn't think of any other way to thank him.

Zhao Xing returned to China after three years of wandering overseas, and at this time, Cheng Yuan, a child of the Cheng family who was in charge of Hainan Island, also reached the prescribed rotation period. According to the agreement, he can return to China to receive 10% of the share capital of the balmmy factory, plus 20% of the management bonus, and be responsible for the operation of the balsam factory. But when he returned home, he found that the pancreatic factory could not operate at all......

He could only cry to Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing was furious! He wasn't worried, though.

Because no matter how ugly the Song Dynasty was, it was only one thousandth of the ugliness. This is the case with the "Duanyan Incident", after the matter was known to Bao Zheng, he sternly rectified the phenomenon of reaching out at all levels, and in the end, Duanyan was passed down as a national culture.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xing strengthened his determination to stab the matter of the fragrant pancreatic factory into the sky, as long as this matter is exposed to the sun, see who dares to be greedy!

Visiting officials - according to the unspoken rule, no door bag is not possible. Zhao Xing plans to spend enough money at one time, so that those cool officials will completely lose their thoughts about Cheng's industry......

Su Shi was also angry after hearing it - he is now serving as the "Zhizhi Edict", that is, the draftsman of the emperor's holy decree, and the Empress Dowager Gao in the palace is still his fan, and his words can directly "reach the heavens". After Zhao Xing explained the experience, he immediately angrily pulled a piece of paper: "If you leave someone, you don't need to find someone else, I'll write a bullet stamp, I'll say it for you!" ”

"Teacher, it's not good, you are just worried about these private coins, and there is a ...... of maritime trade before the matter is clear, why add new things, isn't this a disaster?" Zhao Xing hurriedly persuaded him.

"No, I don't know about it, but I already know it, how can I not say anything? What's more, this is still a matter of leaving you, you just said 'your own people', I can't ignore this matter", Su Shi replied stubbornly.

(PS: I admit that I was wrong, the description of the location of Su Shi's house in this book is all wrong.) According to modern research, the closest street to Baijia Lane where Su Shi is located is "Pharmacy Street", and the closest shop is "Song Jiasheng Pharmacy", but this book drags the nearby Panlou Street to the vicinity of Su Shi's house for the sake of the plot.

o(∩_∩)o, I was wrong, but I intend to keep it repeated. For the sake of the plot, the descriptions of the scenery of Bianliang City in Tokyo in this book are intended to follow this principle: the details are precise, and the directions are chaotic. Here, I would like to remind all travelers to note: do not use this book as a "shopping guide" when traveling to the Song Dynasty, otherwise, you will not even be able to find the north.

The editor's notice is on the shelves, and it will be updated more in the morning, and it will be on the shelves in the afternoon, I hope that readers will continue to support! ）