Qin Zhan got Fang Yuan's hint, and regardless of the occasion, he directly opened his voice and shouted at the rich businessmen of the Jinling Merchant Gang and asked, "Boss Zhao, this giant ship, Nanjing City has never appeared!" ”

Zhao Mingyi, the president of the Jinling Merchant Gang, saw this giant ship, and was sincerely appreciative, and estimated whether to build a small one another day, as a brothel on the sea, the business must be very prosperous, and he praised it, "This giant ship is simply majestic, unprecedented!" ”

Qin Zhan said, "Although the giant ship is majestic, it also spends a lot of silver!" It costs silver to build a giant ship; The renovation of the Longjiang shipyard costs silver; Send troops to protect the Longjiang wharf and ask for silver. This back and forth, at least more than one million taels of silver were spent, and the silver of the horse master was not blown by the wind. Boss Zhao, you Jinling merchants help Fujia Nanjing City, donate some silver if you have silver, give us Jinyiwei, and the brothers of the Xuanjia Army give some tea money, haha! ”

Fang Yuan couldn't help but laugh secretly, he originally wanted Qin Zhan to hint at the wealthy businessmen to donate silver, but he didn't expect Qin Zhan to go straight to the point and ask for silver directly, simple and rude.

In the face of Qin Zhan's naked blackmail, the wealthy businessmen from the Nanjing Jinling Merchant Gang headed by Zhao Mingyi looked at each other and didn't know how to deal with each other.

Collusion between officials and businessmen, Shi Kefa is used to it, a big warlord like Fang Yuan with heavy troops, and the local rich businessmen are usually willing to spend some silver to make friends in exchange for protection, which is actually a change of direction of protection money.

But there is no obscurity in blackmailing silver like Fang Yuan, Shi Kefa has never encountered it, and he said unhappily, "Master Horse, as soon as you arrive in Nanjing City, you blackmail the rich merchants in the city, this is insulting to Sven!" ”

Fang Yuan moved out 5,000 Xuanjia sergeants and acted for most of the day, just to make some money and go back to make up for the expenses of building a giant ship, not to mention, since the Xuanjia Army wanted to protect Nanjing City and used manpower and material resources, they couldn't work in vain, so why didn't they care if it was insulting?

"What Shi Shangshu said is reasonable!"

He smiled, and shouted at Qin Zhan again, "Fourth, I told you a long time ago that this is a voluntary donation, and those who don't want to donate can't be reluctant, and the Xuanjia Army and Jinyi Wei are not robbers!" ”

Qin Zhan got his instructions, and said to the rich businessmen, "The horse said, this is a voluntary donation, not blackmail, those who are willing to donate stay, and those who are unwilling to donate are invited to sit down there." ”

The two sang and harmonized, who would dare to leave without giving Fang Yuan face in front of everyone without giving Fang Yuan face?

Qin Zhan coughed and shouted, "Boss, none of the Jinling Merchant Gang have volunteered to donate!" ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Okay, okay, then please take a seat!" ”

Although Fang Yuan was smiling, there was something behind the smile, these rich businessmen were completely bottomless, all of them were panicked, and their eyes all fell on the chairman Zhao Mingyi alone.

They are a bunch of wall-to-wall grass, and whoever can protect the safety of their wealth will follow them.

In the current situation, Zuo Liangyu's wolf ambition to capture Nanjing City has been revealed, and after the last defeat, he will never give up. Relying on the group of Ming officials in Nanjing City alone, it is a fool's dream to defend Nanjing City.

Nanjing City will really change hands in the future, and the first unlucky ones are their fat pigs with thousands of dollars and thousands of acres of fertile land. Their only best choice is to bet on the bullish side first and buy the back road, so as not to think about credit to avoid disasters after a lifetime of war, it will be too late.

These wealthy businessmen of the Jinling Merchant Gang have a sharp eye, and they have long secretly compared Fang Yuan and Zuo Liangyu, the two big warlords around Nanjing City, in an all-round way.

Zuo Liangyu's army has 200,000 or 300,000 people, and Jiangxi only has a fixed source of wealth for Jingdezhen porcelain, so how can it be supported by land endowment and commercial tax revenue? The Left Army usually relied on raids to keep the army running. The left army is like a locust, eating all the way, and it will not even vomit bones.

However, Fang's original cabinet had a clear policy program, which released the government's shackles on businessmen within its jurisdiction, allowed free trade, and even had a place for businessmen in the cabinet. Although it is not as good as the national policy of integrating officials and businessmen in the Ming Dynasty, giving merchants more status and power, in addition to not allowing businessmen to intervene in the administrative field, the economic field is almost fully opened, which can be regarded as making huge concessions.

What's more, Fang Yuan occupied the richest state capital in Nanzhili and Zhejiang, and his financial situation was very good, except for wantonly confiscating fields and family property in Shaoxing Mansion, he had never robbed the gentry and wealthy merchants. All the wealthy businessmen who returned to Shun early, such as the Dongting Merchant Gang, could be retained intact, and even held important positions in the cabinet. And the wealthy merchants of Shaoxing Mansion who did not return in time attracted a catastrophe.

Under the balance between the two, the Jinling merchant gang, the most powerful in Nanjing City, had already made a decision. The Ming Dynasty in Nanjing City can't protect them, and Zuo Liangyu, who is like a wolf and a tiger, can't provoke them, and the only choice is Fang Yuan, who is now the governor of Zhejiang.

Before Zhao Mingyi came to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony, the Jinling Merchant Gang reached a consensus and was ready to take refuge in Fang Yuan, and said with a smile, "Governor Fang came to Nanjing City, which really made Peng Shen shine, and our Jinling Merchant Gang had already prepared some small gifts, 800,000 taels of silver, and I hope that Governor Fang will not hesitate to accept it." ”

800,000 taels of silver, which is already a lot of money, Fang Yuan smiled with satisfaction when he heard that these wealthy merchants in Nanjing City were quite knowledgeable, "Since that's the case, I'm not welcome." If you are interested, you can also join my business association and participate in the election of the cabinet candidates of the business association! ”

There is a difference between relatives and relatives, compared to the relationship between the Dongting Merchant Gang and Fang Yuan, the Jinling Merchant Gang is still 108,000 miles away, the cabinet candidate is not expected, if you can register in Fang Yuan's business association, even if the Jinling Merchant Gang goes ashore safely, it will not be liquidated by Fang Yuan afterwards.

Zhao Mingyi hurriedly said, "Since Governor Fang looks down on our Jinling Merchant Gang, it is a blessing from the Jinling Merchant Gang, then it is better to be respectful than to obey your fate!" ”

Since the wealthy merchants of the Jinling Merchant Gang have all given silver, the squire representative who came with him, Liu Jing, who had been admitted to the Jinshi meritorious service, also stood up on behalf of the squire class, "Governor Fang first came to Nanjing, and our old folks in the township have nothing to entertain Governor Fang. ”

He took out a thick stack of land deeds from his arms and handed them to Qin Zhan, "This is the 50,000 acres of fertile land that our township has honored to Governor Fang, and I hope Governor Fang will accept it with a smile." ”

Fang Yuan's 'glorious deeds' of confiscating one million acres of fertile land in Shaoxing Mansion made these Nanjing squires and big landowners shudder, and they gathered 50,000 mu of land deeds in advance to give them away, which was regarded as a promise to buy peace from Fang Yuan. Otherwise, if Fang Yuan sent the Xuanjia Army to take it, it would not be 50,000 acres of fertile land that could easily pass the test.

Fang Yuan ordered Qin Zhan to collect the land deeds, and comforted them and said, "The squires of Nanjing City can also participate in the People's Congress and participate in the selection of cabinet candidates. ”

Liu Jing nodded respectfully and said yes.

Shi Kefa saw that Fang Yuan said that he did not covet Nanjing City, but as soon as he arrived in Longjiang, he began to fight with the rich merchants and squires in Nanjing City, and it was clear that he had other intentions. But Fang Yuan did not meddle in the military and political affairs of Nanjing City, but only had an eye with the rich merchants and squires, and the government couldn't control it, and Shi Kefa could only suffer this dumb loss.

What's even more infuriating is that in the previous war with Zuo Liangyu, Shi Kefa raised silver from the Jinling merchant gang and squires, and these rich merchants and squires cried poor one by one, and in the end they only gave 20,000 taels of silver and 5,000 stone of grain to make up the number. And at the moment, the original was just hinting that the Jinling Merchant Gang was 800,000 taels of filial piety in front of everyone, and the squire also gave away 50,000 acres of fertile land, and he did not shy away from his Shi Kefa's face, which was a naked slap in the face!

These well-informed and well-informed wealthy businessmen and squires with a wide range of channels are the most realistic political weather vanes, and they are willing to give Fang Yuan good land and silver, but they are not willing to give Shi Kefa, that is, they are completely optimistic that Fang Yuan will become the new master of Nanjing City, and they will go to the Ming Lord first.

Shi Kefa was angry and anxious, but he was helpless.

Fang Yuan was secretly funny, Nanjing City was such a sensitive and important town, and it was criticized by the world and became the target of public criticism. It is better to slowly infiltrate the rich merchants and squires of Nanjing City, as long as the economic resources of Nanjing City are hollowed out, at that time, Nanjing City will be just an empty city without defense, and it will be snapped down by the fingers.

When Shi Kefa was annoyed, Fang Yuan leaned close to his ear and whispered, "When people's hearts are scattered, it will be difficult to lead the team." Shi Shangshu has done his best, how can he force everything, but he is worthy of his heart! ”

Fang Yuan's words were in one sentence, and he said Shi Kefa's current state of mind and helplessness, and he was even more sincere in his words. Shi Kefa suddenly found that it was difficult for the Ming Horse to really get angry with the governor of Zhejiang in front of him, so he could only smile helplessly.