This year's drought in the customs and bandits blocked the trade routes, even with Fengzhou is also tight, from the customs to import the urgently needed food, cloth, the inventory of silver has been left, if there is no silver input, the collapse of Fengzhou is inevitable, fortunately, there are willing to invest money in the customs businessmen, but the richer people in this world, the more people are fine, the conditions are not good, no one will put the silver into your pocket. The officials bargained with the businessmen during the day, and held meetings to discuss at night, and they were busy and dizzy, even the young and strong Li Jianji also felt a little unbearable, Li Fugui also kept warning everyone that the silver was in his mouth, and he had the ability to eat it all over the place, and if he couldn't endure all the hard work of the past few years, everyone was frightened and had to work hard.

The focus of the dispute between the two sides is the control of the banknote bureau, Fengzhou's financial strength is too weak to occupy an advantage in the share capital, but they also do not want to be at the mercy of others, and the businessmen are more reluctant to send their money to others easily, both sides want to grasp the power of the banknote bureau, make a lot of noise and do not give in to each other, and then pull out the power of Toyozhou, the businessmen were surprised to find that the council is really a good thing, with the help of the council to discuss political decisions, you can justifiably seize power to defend their rights, and Toyosu will certainly not give up power, The two sides quarreled over the distribution of power in the House of Representatives, and the negotiations gradually reached an impasse, and as time went by, the pressure on Toyosu increased, and the Great Commander's Office was clearly in a bad situation.

"Prepare to give in, I have nothing, and I won't suffer a loss by exchanging the authority I picked up for nothing." Li Yu said with a big grin.

"Nonsense, your authority was earned by the blood and sweat of the people of Fengzhou, how can you give it up easily." Ortai drank it dissatisfied, Liu Zhilun and Li Huai opened their mouths but had nothing to say, and immediately lowered their heads again.

"It's up to us! If you delay for one more day, the danger will be exacerbated, and it is time to give in," Li Fugui shook his head and said in an accentuated tone, "The banknote bureau will give it to them, but the council cannot let it, and it must be reorganized, and we must also occupy a place in it, I said before that the public assembly system is extremely imperfect, and it has been a formality over the years, what is the use of a lot of people, a group of ignorant ordinary people, what can they do except applaud and coax, this time they will simply abolish it, and use the council to act as the public council." ”

"It's true, our general assembly is always chaotic, like a market to come as soon as you want, as long as the decree is announced, applaud and cheer, ask about the right thing but stupidly at a loss, so sooner or later it will be used by bad people, I read the books of Taixi, and found that in ancient times, there was a story of selecting five hundred virtuous people to ask about state affairs and the rule of the country, which is similar to my Toyoshu." Yun Rong nodded in agreement.

"Yes, we must also govern Fengzhou with virtue, and in the future, all those who do not pay taxes and serve, do not read and write, and have no military merits will not be allowed to participate in the pre-election or be elected as councillors, and those idlers and gangsters will be excluded."

"Also, the power of Toyoshu can only be held in the hands of the people of Toyozhou, and if you want to participate in the preliminary deliberations, you must naturalize Toyozhou."

"Parliamentarians can't be elected by all the people, they know something, and our Grand Commander's Office must also select councilors."

Everyone came up with ideas, and Li Fugui waved his hand: "I will have a showdown with them tomorrow, and the officials who participate in the confidential affairs and the officials of the branch bureau will go." ”

Early the next morning, Li Fugui led a group of officials into the main hall of the council with their chests held up—the place was chosen by the merchants, saying that they were spacious there, but in fact they wanted to take advantage of the home field. The officials were stunned when they entered the door, people did not distinguish between the main and secondary tables and chairs, several tables were put together in a row, chairs were placed on both sides, and the guests and hosts sat on one side, Li Fugui couldn't pose, Li Jianji almost sat in the middle of Shen Shoulian and Sun Tingyao, and only after being pushed did he remember that he was also an official, and the businessmen secretly laughed proudly - it can be regarded as finding someone to bully, dealing with the government in the Guannai, and not daring to kill him.

The two sides sat down in turn, Fengzhou officials naturally gave up the middle position to the scheming Li Fugui, but the middle of the other party sat not the old opponent Shen Shoulian or Sun Tingyao, the two respectfully sat around a middle-aged man with a white face and a slightly chubby demeanor - there was a head and face among the businessmen, this person Zhou was stunned, the word Nangui, Suzhou Mansion people's family, only learned people, less than thirty years old he was admitted to the Jinshi, and he was released FJ to be the magistrate of the county, and then transferred to the Beijing Division as the head of the household department, because his hands and feet were not clean, he was dismissed from the official and cut his nationality, Since then, he has changed his career to do business, trafficking goods between the north and south of Beijing all the year round, this guy is multifaceted, astute, less than ten years mixed into a net worth of millions, and has close contacts with the relatives of the Beijing Division, the eunuch, it is said that he is also a distant relative of the current Queen Zhou's family, and people with such status even the giant businessman Shen Shoulian and Sun Tingyao also have to give three points.

At the beginning of the negotiation, Li Fugui and Zhou Yi did not speak first, but stared at each other, as if they were competing, and the others also learned to look at the opposite person coldly, and the atmosphere was a little tense for a while. Li Jianji and Sun Tingyao happened to be facing each other, and the two of them didn't bother to look at each other, and after a while, they began to smile and smile.

"Today's weather is good, but the snow outside is a little heavier, Erzeng, what it feels like to be an official, okay?" Sun Tingyao had nothing to say.

"I think it's good, Birch, you're in a nice dress, you look pretty imposing." Li Jian replied lazily.

"Of course, Lao Shen gave me a new military uniform, and I saw that there was no tiger head embroidered on my chest, I led the merchant army to fight meritorious, and the commander specially approved the guerrilla products." Sun Tingyao proudly showed off.

"The woolen cloth from the woolen mill is beautiful to make military uniforms, and the Ordnance Department has already placed an order with me, Li Xiangli, your official uniforms should also be ordered from me." Shen Shoulian immediately pulled business.

Off topic, Li Fugui tapped his fingers on the table a few times, stared at Zhou Yi and asked, "Let's talk about the banknote bureau first, or the council first?" ”

Zhou Yipi said with a smile: "It's not in a hurry, we have to find out who we are cooperating with first, whether Li Shuai is the naturalized general army of the Ming Dynasty, or the great commander of Fengzhou, or the great Jinong of the Mongolian Khanate?" It doesn't matter what banner you play, but we are good people loyal to the Ming court, why should we follow you? To be honest, it's not a big deal for us to come up with a million taels of silver, it's up to you to do it. ”

"Are you a good people? I can't see it at all," Li Fugui sneered, slammed the table and shouted, "Smiling Tiger, I know your details best, don't pretend here, what banner is my business, it's not your turn to talk too much, if you want to work together, just talk about the conditions, and if you are afraid of things, get out immediately." ”

"Zhu Datou, you dare to say that I am cowardly and afraid...... Zhou was stunned and jumped up, and when he saw Li Fugui's eyes staring at him wrong, he immediately changed his words and said, "Li Xiangli, we are taking a big risk to cooperate with you, no matter how big you are in Fengzhou, you can't bully customers, let's put it bluntly, you have no power in your hands and can't keep your family wealth these days, if you want money, you can exchange the authority of Fengzhou." ”

"That's it, let's talk about it, what kind of banner is our business." Shen Shoulian and Sun Tingyao hurriedly pressed Zhou Yi down, but they were wondering in their hearts - why is Li Xiangli's surname Zhu again, this guy's water is too deep.

"Say, what do you want? There are a lot of businessmen who are officials in our place anyway, but the ugly words are in the front, it is easy to be an official, but you must be naturalized in Fengzhou, don't fish for three days and dry the net for two days and can't find anyone. Li Huai said contemptuously.

"Take a few official positions and want to exchange us for money? Where can money buy official positions, we have to enter the House of Representatives to discuss and decide on political affairs. Isn't it naturalization, I expected you to come here, as long as we talk well, we can immediately swear to abide by the "Naturalization Oath" and be loyal to the Grand Commander. Zhou Yi laughed, and the merchants also laughed together, shouting for naturalization, forgetting that they were good citizens loyal to the Ming court.

Shen Shoulian immediately said: "Brother Nangui is right, the Council was initiated by the Chamber of Commerce, of course we should be in charge, you just need to fight a good battle, set up industry and commerce, operate and manage finances, collect taxes, and supply money and food to us, and serve Fengzhou." ”

"And the officials who oversee the officials, and examine the money, so that no one will spend our money indiscriminately if his hands and feet are unclean." Sun Tingyao also interjected.

"It's not easy for me to come all the way, if you want to take a few official positions to send people, then I'll leave immediately." Jia Jingzong, a big grain merchant from Wuchang, shouted.

Yun Rong was happy: "We worked hard to establish Fengzhou, but in the end we became your family caretaker, is there such a reason in the world?" Well, since you like the Council, let you take a step, you haven't elected two hundred councilors so far, to get together two hundred people, our Grand Consulate will also appoint two hundred councilors, everyone is half to half, it's fair! ”

"It's not fair, that's not what you say, our Chamber of Commerce also has to appoint another two hundred councillors." Xu Hengchen, a grain merchant in Jinan, shouted.

Yang Tingfang, a businessman in Datong, also said: "We are just rushing out of the council, why should we let you press it?" ”

The businessmen were noisy as if they were frying up, but Shen Shoulian hung his head with a red face - the council was indeed not angry, according to his original idea, it was best to put together 13 or 400 people in the council, stuff all the obedient businessmen into it, and then find a large group of stupid farmers and herdsmen to be the support, when discussing the government, there are many people and the scene is grand, and it can also brag nonsense to represent the will of the people, and the Grand Commander's Mansion has to give three points. But the Chamber of Commerce is too smart, when formulating the constitution of the Chamber of Representatives, it deliberately excludes the qualifications of officials to be elected as councillors, Fengzhou has a special situation, smart and capable people can be officials, ordinary people are good fools, and dare to go to the public assembly to follow the coaxing, but they are rarely willing to show their heads, especially the Han people from Guannei, it is not easy to elect a representative of the people, Zhang Mengcun and Wang Fang can't pull the head, and they don't let the Chamber of Commerce have a good time, and they must limit the number of businessmen elected as councillors, and the result is that the fight is now, There are only one hundred and fifty or sixty members of the House who are recognized by all sides.

The two sides quarreled and quarreled for a morning, and after a simple lunch, they continued to quarrel, and finally everyone was tired of arguing, Li Fugui yawned and said to Zhou Su: "Smiling tiger, there is no result in such a quarrel, it is better for everyone to take a step back, the power of the public assembly and the council of the council is handed over to the council, and you also promise us to appoint the councillor, the current situation in Fengzhou, Lao Shen and Lao Sun know best, let's do things first, and then discuss again after three years, okay?" ”

Shen Shoulian nodded: "It's really not possible to have a Grand Consul's Mansion in Fengzhou, but the number of designated councilors can only be given to one hundred, and our Chamber of Commerce and the Grand Consul's Mansion each designate fifty, and the three-hundred-person meeting is the future public assembly." ”

"Just a hundred, but we can only appoint them, but we can guarantee that at least thirty of them are merchants."

Zhou Yi thought for a while and replied: "You first promise me three conditions, first, allow military households to move freely in Fengzhou, we are short of people to work, you fix people in one place, what should we do?" Second, we are allowed to naturalize in Toyosu while retaining our Kannai household registration, for the reason that you all know that we can swear loyalty to Toyoshu and the Great Commander with the "Naturalization Oath" in hand; Third, we are allowed to sell bonds to raise money, and the first phase will sell 350,000 taels, which is exactly the debt you owe over the years, and you can't always delay and not pay it back, but you can rest assured that all the bonds that cannot be sold will be taken over by us. ”

"What about the banknote bureau?" Li Fugui asked quietly.

"The total share capital is 1.2 million taels, counting your 20% shares, the prime minister's affairs are sent by us, and the affairs of the prime minister are sent by you, how about it? We're generous enough. Zhou said with a smile.

"No, we don't have to worry about how many shares we have, but one thing is clear, the banknote bureau must have our consent to make decisions."

"That's it, take advantage of you!" Zhou Yi and the surrounding businessmen whispered a few words and waved their hands in agreement.

"We sold ourselves cheaply, and we can't keep our family wealth in the troubled times, you are just gambling with us." Li Huai replied coldly.

Zhou Yi smiled even sweeter: "Even so, but our risk is greater, I still don't understand, you are so poor that you can't afford to eat, what do you want to do in a hurry?" Don't fool us with those vain slogans, Li Dashuai has actually divided one side, does he want to be the emperor or do he want to be the king? Let's hear it, we want to share the benefits too. ”

"Nonsense, you don't know our commander at all, he has worked hard to this day, just to let the people who follow him live, and look at power like dust, otherwise it would not be your turn to point fingers here," Na Mu'er held back his anger today, couldn't help but get up, pointed at the businessmen and roared, "We Fengzhou people are poor, but we live with dignity and dignity, and you, think about you kneeling on the ground to send money and bribes to court officials, and even pimping to send women, I feel disgusted, Fengzhou people look down on you, In another 500 years, you will still be the same. ”

Yun Rong grabbed Na Mu'er, dragged him and walked out, Li Fugui greeted the businessmen, and took the officials to leave, today's negotiations ended here, but the businessmen were pale and silent, standing in place and silent.

"Brother Nangui, your words are too heavy, and you won't say this when you understand the people of Fengzhou." At the end of the officials, Li Jianji turned around and said a word to Zhou Su.

Zhou was stunned and sighed, and whispered to Shen Shoulian and Sun Tingyao: "Brother Yongnian put forward the idea of building the party, and the younger brother has figured it out now, we people can't always be slaughtered by others, and we should also do business with dignity and dignity to make money, our party advocates 'free business, free trade', then call it 'Freedom Party', and the newspaper can also be called "Liberty Daily". ”

"Then take advantage of everyone's presence and settle this matter immediately, and we can do it together inside and outside the Guan, the position of this party leader is none other than Nangui!" Shen Shoulian replied immediately.

"No, I shouldn't be the leader of the party, and you can't be either, doesn't Li Shuai's wife like to be in the limelight, it's better to choose her as the party leader." Zhou shook his head and said.

Shen Shoulian and Sun Tingyao immediately smiled knowingly, and three days later, the Freedom Party was formally established, and Wu Langha announced the party's purpose to the whole party comrades at the inaugural meeting - to believe in the principle of "freedom, equality, and benevolence", with the goal of establishing a peaceful world of great harmony in the world, and finally realizing "free business and free trade".

Li Fugui took the officials back to the Grand Commander's Mansion, Li Yu was having dinner with Liu Zhilun - Liu Zhilun's hometown is thousands of miles away in SC Yibin, and there is only one family by his side, Liu Er, Jin Sheng got Yang Sichang's approval two days ago to go back to his hometown in Huizhou to recuperate, and the lonely and miserable are pitiful enough, and now only Li Yu is his closest person, and the two are together almost every morning and evening.

"You came back just in time, the old man has a charter for the reform of the military system, you can take it and take a look." Li Yu clapped his hands and put a stack of official documents on the table - this time the army has been transferred to the outside of the Guan, the inside of the Guan, the casualties are huge, but the spoils of war are not much, especially the troops have been changed back to the original structure, many people have been demoted to their original posts, the soldiers have emotions in their hearts, the military affairs department of the praise painting suggested that there be two associations above the battalion, and it is planned to set up two associations for the infantry army, two associations for cavalry, and one association for artillery and artillery, and each association will set up three battalions, so that the number of soldiers in the battalion will remain the same, but the official positions have increased, and everyone will have the opportunity to be promoted.

As long as the army is not expanded, the Grand Commander's Office will have no opinion, Li Huai immediately agreed, and then dejectedly explained the process of today's negotiations, and also judged that those businessmen not only took advantage of it now, but also set a trap for seizing power in the future.

"These profiteers are so hateful, if they are in the Guannai, I must drive them out." Liu Zhilun was so angry that he slapped the table and scolded after reading the negotiation record.

"I'm not a saint, are you a saint?" Li Yu asked, everyone shook their heads, and continued, "We are not saints, so we can't predict the future, of course people have to take advantage of so much money in Fengzhou, this is better, the bigger the advantage of the businessmen, the deeper they will fall, and in the end, they themselves will rack their brains for Fengzhou, why don't we do it." ”

Li Fugui nodded and said: "We have to ask for others, and we can't do it if we don't give in!" However, have you found out, their target today is by no means Hermes-Epitek, but the Great Commander's Office, Yushan, they are interested in the authority of your Prime Minister's Office, and the Great Commander's Office will also consider restructuring earlier! ”

Li Huai covered his head and pondered after hearing this.