Early the next morning, Li Fugui entered the official room, Li Jianji, Sun Tingyao and Shen Shoulian came over, the three guys obviously didn't sleep well last night, and their eyes were still a little red, but they were all combed and dressed, their hair buns were re-tied, and their clothes were changed into satin Confucian clothes.

"Li Xiangli, I taught the two of them a lesson last night, they both admitted their mistakes, and promised to do some good things for Fengzhou, you might as well listen to what they have to say, and give them a chance to repent." Li Jianji opened his mouth and said.

Shen Shoulian glanced at Li Jianji, took out the military tickets from his arms and asked: "Li Xiangli, let me remind you, Fengzhou is afraid that there are people from the White Lotus Cult, you look at the petals on this military ticket, as well as the watermark of the word 'Zhong', which is exactly the same as the logo of the White Lotus Sect." ”

Li Fugui looked at the military ticket disapplausively, and threw it aside casually - this is a good thing that Wang Fang did, according to himself, there are a lot of masters of printing money in the Guannei, and it is difficult to guarantee that no one will pass it off as the real one, if the Fengzhou military ticket has the White Lotus Sect logo, whoever prints it will lose his head and the whole family will be unlucky, not only the common people dare not steal the print, but even the government does not dare to imitate the print, so as to prevent the appearance of counterfeit tickets. Zhang Zongheng also sent Senator Zhu Yiqian to inquire about the matter, but Li Fugui refused to admit it, and the matter was finally settled.

"Nonsense, this is the petals of a wild chrysanthemum on the grassland, which is not related to the lotus wind horse cow, and the word 'Zhong' in the watermark is taken from Buddhism, you don't understand this, we are here as the territory of Lamaism, can we enter the cult?" Li Fugui waved his hand, and said with a cold face, "The three of you have discussed it, and tell you all your plans." ”

"It's okay if you don't have it, let's just remind you," the three of them glanced at each other, and Shen Shoulian said with a smile, "Li Xiangli, I and Lao Sun went down to look around and felt uncomfortable, the people's lives are too hard, several families live together, they can't eat enough, and they use paper as money, we plan to do something good for the people, we are the best at money, just leave it to us to take care of." ”

"You plan to do a money business, this is a big business with a lot of profits, I'll listen to you talk about how to do this business." Li Fugui said with a sneer.

The three of them talked about it: the current situation is like this, Daming is short of money - since Longqing relaxed the sea ban, opened Zhangzhou Yuegang to trade, coastal merchants also competed to open private ports, do sea trade, Taixi countries and Japanese silver shipwowed to Daming, so that there was silver all over the market. But now it is not good, Wanli Dynasty Zhang Juzheng implemented the "one whip law", the implementation of tax discount and payment of silver, the demand for silver soared, and the silver mining of the Wa State was exhausted, and the Taixi countries did not know what happened, the silver imported into the Ming Dynasty suddenly decreased sharply, and the Liao affair was even worse, and the imperial court levied five or six million taels of Liao salary from the customs every year to the outside of the customs, and the silver on the market was even more scarce. In order to maintain business, the merchants had to eat the old book in the silver cellar, and the imperial court was also anxious, and the coins were a mess, and the copper coins that used to be eight and two lead in color can not even keep the copper six and lead four, and the treasury silver that used to be ninety percent and five can only maintain a little more than ninety percent now, and the shortage and chaos of coins are extremely evil, so that Jianghuai also has a scene of depression in all industries. The three of them are people of insight who are dedicated to serving the country, and after exhausting themselves, they finally came up with a good idea - minting coins and issuing money, but the Ming court will ignore them, and it is likely that they will be arrested and imprisoned and killed.

"Phew, it's your turn to mint and issue money, I've been doing it for a long time, don't talk nonsense, just say what you want to do? How much benefit can we get? Li Fugui was impatient.

"The benefits are great, what kind of business is comparable to the business of making money, you have the benefits," Shen Shoulian said to Li Fugui with flying eyebrows, "Li Xiangli, do it together!" The three of us plus you, one family occupies a share, you pick the head and we run errands, mint the silver into silver coins and send them to the Guannai, and we also issue the banknotes in Fengzhou for you, anyway, we have the silver to cash, you don't have to worry about anything, just wait for the money. ”

"It's a big crime to make money privately, and if you want me to pick my head, this is to lose my head, I won't do it." Li Fugui shook his head and said.

Li Jianji sneered and said, "Li Xiangli, are you also afraid of losing your head?" Have you done less to dig the corners of the Ming Dynasty over the years, the officials and soldiers of Shanxi Town have carried your smuggled salt to the streets and alleys, except for the government pretending not to know, the people of Shanxi know very well, anyway, it should have lost their heads a long time ago, and it doesn't matter if they add one more crime. ”

"I know what kind of calculations you are making, I don't dare to do it, so I pushed us to the front, and by the way, I also put the money of Fengzhou in the palm of my hand, and then pinch our necks, and borrow our force to take care of your family and nursing home, not to mention that you have made a windfall, and it is possible to manipulate the wealth of the world. You're fooling us! Treat the Ming court as a blind man! Li Fugui slapped the table and yelled.

Li Jianji also became angry: "Do you think it's easy for us, you don't have silver in Fengzhou, and the silver won't fly to Fengzhou by itself, if you don't have silver, you can mint a fart silver coin, you have to rely on us to find a way to get the silver over, what's so great about the imperial court, is our money bank ticket number a vegetarian, and those rice bucket officials can find a fart, so you just say it's okay?" ”

Sun Tingyao's face also became stiff: "If you don't do it, forget it, pay it back, bring 80,000 taels of silver, and we will leave immediately." ”

"Do you think I can't afford it, I don't want to bully you! Our land and pastures here are not only 80,000 taels, but 800,000 taels are also worth it, and we will roll them up and leave, and they will be cleared from now on, but I remind you that if you can't hold this land and is robbed by the Chahar people or some horse thieves, it has nothing to do with us. Li Fugui sneered.

"Harmony makes money, harmony makes money, everyone is a friend, why bother to turn your face for that bit of broken money, drink saliva first, sit down and talk slowly." Shen Shoulian was taken aback, he didn't want to be slaughtered by barbarians for defending the territory.

Everyone sat down, after all, no one would have trouble with money, so they had to continue talking, Li Fugui sent someone to call Li Yu and several other key officials, but only Yunrong and Ma Qi came, saying that Li Yu had gone out with Hadari and Richard Brother early in the morning, and Li Huai was still on duty and couldn't come, and Ortai went to the guard house with Wang Ziyong to check the resettlement situation.

Shen Shoulian told in detail: the world's business is nothing bigger than making money, since the Han Xiaowu Emperor cast "five baht money", all dynasties were controlled by the imperial court, the Ming Dynasty is no exception, Emperor Taizu was founded at the beginning of the country with treasure money as money, and copper money as a supplement, but the Poppy scoundrel born Lao Zhu did not understand the money law at all, indiscriminately issued treasure money to do no business, copper mining money is far less than the former Song Dynasty, so the early Ming Dynasty money law chaos can not communicate with the goods, to the orthodox years, the court had to allow silver money to be used, with the Longqing Dynasty open the sea ban, A large amount of foreign silver poured in, and it was logical that silver became the currency of the Ming Dynasty. But silver for money also has drawbacks, its fineness, the amount of messy transactions caused by complexity, and the value is too high is not conducive to small transactions, another huge hidden danger is that the Ming Dynasty produces very little silver, must rely on imports, silver imports more will be coin inflation, less imports will be coin tightening, fortunately the Ming people have the habit of saving money, a large amount of silver is hidden in the silver cellar, although the silver is more and the price does not fall, the official price of five coins and a stone of grain has been maintained for nearly a hundred years, miraculously overcome the coin inflation, but the coin crunch is not easy to do, When there is a shortage of money in the market, prices are soaring and all industries are depressed, which is the current situation in Daming. So we have the opportunity to do money business, profits are not a problem, such as when a tael of silver coins, the fineness of the silver according to the treasury silver ninety into two, the amount is reduced to nine dollars and five cents, there is more than a penny in the middle, we will cut corners and the profit will be greater, the Ming is making a money shortage, the market must be acceptable, and the biggest opportunity to make a fortune is to wait for the silver coin to have credibility and then issue silver money, is there more profitable than paper money in the world?

Sun Tingyao went on to say: There must be three prerequisites to do this business, one is that there must be enough force to hold the money-making stall, which is good in Fengzhou, the Mongolian iron cavalry is famous all over the world, and the Yansui refugees are also strong soldiers in the world after training, and what is more powerful is that almost all men, women and children in Fengzhou can ride horses and shoot arrows, even if Fengzhou is strong, it is difficult for others to gnaw his nest, at least if the official army of the imperial court comes out of the customs, it will definitely not be able to beat the women and children of Fengzhou; The second is that money and goods can freely enter and exit the side wall, at this point the current situation in Fengzhou is also very good, under the banner of the Ming Dynasty but doing lawless deeds, by the way the officials and soldiers on the side wall are also dragged into the water, plus there is a group of Shoukouyi people from Fengzhou to work on the side wall, this side wall is not so much the Ming to guard against the north, but rather to say that Fengzhou to guard against the Ming, now Datong, Shanxi two towns guard the border officials almost with Fengzhou wear a pair of pants, law-abiding fools can't get along at all, do too beautiful, This problem is also solved. The third is the most difficult and critical, the silver must be in, retained, and out, this can only depend on us to find a way, Li Erzeng's influence in Shanxi is very large, and he must come forward in this matter.

Li Jianji nodded and said: Daming is not short of money, but it is by no means no money, the rich people's silver cellar has silver, the key is that you have to give enough benefits, people will transport the silver into Fengzhou, stay in Fengzhou, more favorable is that the Ming Dynasty is in chaos in the north, not surprisingly, next year's Kaichun Mountain Shaanxi Liukou rebellion will enter the climax again, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to clean up in the future, the more chaotic the Ming Dynasty, the more opportunities we have, this time the Pingyang and Zelu businessmen who came with me put it bluntly, just want to leave a way back for their net worth, But it's up to you to say whether you'll stay or not. Our businessman is a pig slaughtered casually in the eyes of the Ming court, but you can't also be a pig in Fengzhou, don't you shout agriculture, animal husbandry and industry and commerce, then we want to occupy a place in your Fengzhou, you can get in and keep the silver, as for the silver coins, how to get out, this is not difficult, we have a pawnshop in the bank, and in private there is a thing called a money ticket, you will know the magic in the future.

"Li Xiangli, our money is not easy to come by, it is the income of the hard work of several generations and more than ten generations, we are also afraid, if you are sincere, continue to talk, otherwise we will leave, even if we make friends, you can look at the money owed to us." Shen Shoulian said very sincerely.

"Fengzhou since the beginning of the establishment of the industry does not use the Han law, but follows the former Yuan Dynasty heavy business law, and does not promote the imperial examination, only the use of talents, such as Ma Qi, Fan Yongdou and so on although born in business, are entrusted with important tasks, the public is willing to ask for it, as far as the charter can be opened, Fengzhou will never treat everyone badly." Li Fugui replied tactfully.

Shen Shoulian nodded and said yes, and the three of them put forward the idea of discussion: each of the four parties raised a total of 200,000 taels of silver as the capital to reorganize the silver banknote bureau in Fengzhou, and the banknotes and coins in Fengzhou were exclusively issued by the silver banknote bureau, and the military bills that had been issued were all withdrawn and discarded. Fengzhou allows merchants to do business freely, and there are no restrictions on opening mines and factories, making iron and drying salt, and setting up pawnshops and workshops and shops, and the personal and property of merchants are not allowed to be disturbed; Merchants have the right to participate in the deliberations and decisions of the Lordship, and they must have seats in the Presidential Palace, and all decrees and decrees involving commerce and merchants must be notified in advance and approved by them in order to be valid.

Yun Rong sneered after hearing this: "In this way, you can ride on our necks, and we will give Fengzhou to you, do you dare to ask for it?" I believe in freedom and equality, no slavery, no nobility, no one can bully anyone, you people have not come to bully us! ”

"The Department of Industry and Commerce has decreed that anyone who does business in my territory must obtain Kanhe, and you are no exception, if you want to do business, come to me to apply for Kanhe, rest assured, I will not bully you." March quipped.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will never oppress the Lord with guests, we are really afraid!" Shen Shoulian replied with a sad face.

Li Fugui frowned, waved his hand and said, "Don't talk about it, let's go eat first." ”

During the meal, Li Huai also came, everyone drank some wine, sat together and blew nonsense, Sun Tingyao was very envious of Li Huai, saying that if he had the ability to be admitted to a lifting person, he would not be an angry businessman, he was also an ideal person, and he dreamed of being a general who opened up the territory since he was a child; Li Jianji also said that he didn't want to be a businessman, he wanted to be an official like his brother Li Jiantai, if he could enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister and assist the emperor in governing the world; Shen Shoulian ridiculed the two of them for being official fans, his dream was to make money hard, and make the business as big as possible, Ma Qi immediately took Shen Shoulian's hand and said, we have the same dream.

Li Huai, Li Fugui and Yun Rong were very unproductive, Li Huai said that he knew that he would not be able to pass the Jinshi exam, so he went out to discuss a future; And Li Fugui simply said that he was eating and waiting for death, and it was purely God throwing pies on his head to have today; Yun Rong said that he actually wanted to be a teacher, but he didn't expect the nobles of Chahar to look at him unpleasantly and drive him here.

The afternoon negotiations went much smoother, both sides made major concessions, Fengzhou agreed to transfer the right to issue money and coins to the reorganized silver banknote bureau, Li Jianji, Sun Tingyao and Shen Shoulian can also enter the Commander's Mansion to participate in politics, and allow businessmen to form their own chamber of commerce to participate in political decisions, all business-related matters must listen to the chamber of commerce, in addition to a large gift package, after the silver banknote bureau issued money, coins, Fengzhou will use all the inventory of silver to buy money, coins, as the first business of the banknote bureau, Merchants can do business freely in Fengzhou after receiving the Kanhe, and their personal and property are protected; Li Jianji and the three of them also agreed to set up the silver treasury of the banknote bureau in Fengzhou, and Fengzhou had 50 percent of the voting rights in the banknote bureau's deliberation and voting, and Sun Tingyao and Shen Shoulian also agreed to waive the interest of the loan, and at the same time, the three of them lent Fengzhou another 60,000 taels of silver to be used as the capital for equity and the recovery of military tickets, and the 100,000 taels of silver borrowed by Fengzhou before and after could be gradually repaid within five years.

Li Jianji and the four of them left satisfied, and Li Fugui and others went to report to Li Yu - Li Yu actually came back in the afternoon, but he didn't show up, and he didn't interfere with things he didn't understand, which was his consistent style.

"The governor of Datong forwarded a letter from the military department, asking us to send troops to Dalinghe, and I sent the envoy away, just kidding, how can I fight when I am hungry!" Li Yu threw a letter on the table, read the draft charter, sighed and said, "That's it, we don't have money, give up some authority in exchange for some benefits, we don't suffer losses." ”

I know that the military tickets in Fengzhou are almost unbearable, and the cost of resettlement is too great, and the military tickets issued by the Silver Banknote Bureau have exceeded 200,000 taels.

"What are we going to do? The power of the Western religion has come in, and the power of the giant merchants has also come in, what will Fengzhou be like in the future? Li Huai sighed bitterly.

"Yushan has never seen wolves on the grassland, those wolves are very fierce, but as long as wolves from different groups meet together, the first thing they do is not to pounce on the prey together, but to bite and fight with each other, during which they will even protect the prey from being harmed, so as not to be snatched away by other wolves, until the final party wins to drive away the other wolves, and then they will attack the prey." Li Fugui thought for a while and said.

"I understand, this is what Brother Nianfeng said about checks and balances." Yun Rong said excitedly.

"Let him come when he should come, we have nothing to fear, we just want to find a way to survive among the wolves." Li Fugui clenched his fists and shouted.

Li Yu smiled: "Then let's dance with wolves!" ”

"Yes, give them the banknote bureau, and we will immediately set up a branch bureau to take care of the finances, and also manage the tax collection department and the treasury department, although they have a lot of money, but it is not so easy to eat us." Li Fugui replied confidently.