Under the intervention of the political secretary and the yamen, the cotton hype storm was temporarily calmed down, but the ensuing aftermath problem did not bother Cao Changhe a lot. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 In the following period of time, most of the manpower of the Yamen of the Political Department was devoted to the aftermath of the cotton turmoil, first by the Suzhou Prefect Yamen came forward to arrest a few stubborn and troublesome leaders, and then to appease those traders who suffered serious losses, and introduced relevant aftermath measures to maintain the stability of the entire trading market.

Cao Changhe is worthy of being an expert in governance, and under his painstaking operation, this turmoil gradually cooled down and gradually calmed down. Among the measures announced by the Yamen of the Political Secretary, the most effective one is this: the Yamen did not close down the cotton cloth trading house, but continued to let it operate, and convened a meeting of the heads of relevant chambers of commerce to discuss and jointly get involved in the cotton cloth trade, and the Yamen of the Political Secretary took the lead in purchasing 50,000 pieces of cotton cloth, and the rest of the major chambers of commerce had to buy a small amount according to the assigned tasks.

In this way, the bankruptcy of many small and medium-sized traders can be avoided, and the losses can be reduced for them, and the violent emotions of the loss-making traders can be resolved. At this time, many traders can only knock out their teeth and swallow them in their stomachs, accepting the fact of loss, especially those cloth traders from other places, who can't care much at the moment, and have hoarded goods in their hands to sell, hoping to return to their hometowns as soon as possible.

At Cao Changhe's request, Sun Yueling's United Trading Company also had to inject funds to contribute to the aftershocks of the turmoil, which just fulfilled his wish - the original intention of the United Trading Company was to purchase a large amount of cotton cloth to sell overseas, but now after so many things and a big circle, it finally returned to the original starting point.

As a result, the people of the United States Trading Company were excited, and at this time, they did not care about the high price of three or two horses, and joined in the purchase of cotton cloth one after another, and for a while the supply was inexhaustible, and the procurement was endless, and there were even many traders who did not hesitate to bribe several principals of the United Trading Company in order to throw away the hot potato in their hands as soon as possible, and were willing to sell to the United Trading Company at a low market price of two or two or even one or two.

At this point, the United Trading Company purchased a large amount of cotton cloth, at least five or six million horses, enough to send it to Nanyang three times back and forth, and there was no longer any need to worry about the lack of sufficient supply. And after several days of trapped packing and inventory, Jiangnan United Trading Company has begun to start the first batch of cross-sea trade to the Southeast Ocean.

On this day on the bank of the canal in the south of the city, watching ten ships loaded with cotton cloth and raw silk docked in the bay, just waiting for his order to set anchor and sail away, Sun Yueling couldn't help but sigh - more than half a year of hard work has finally not been in vain, and now the Jiangnan United Trading Company has finally taken the first step of cross-sea trade, as long as the goods are sold successfully, then there will be a steady stream of sea ships to various countries in the southeast ocean, bringing a large amount of wealth to the merchants in Jiangnan. It also laid a stronger material foundation for the southern half of the Ming Dynasty.

Sun Yueling and Chu Xinying stood side by side, and he smiled at Han Wanshui, Yan Peiyu and the others who were standing in front of him: "Old Han, Boss Yan, the first overseas trade of Jiangnan United Trading Company, please leave it to the two!" ”

Han Wanshui looked resolute and replied, "Rest assured, the master will not disappoint your expectations and send all these goods to the Southeast Ocean." ”

Yan Peiyu even smiled and said: "Master Sun, you are waiting for our good news, this time you will definitely make a lot of money from him, and completely start the name of our United Trading Company, so that everyone will no longer look down on us!" ”

Sun Yueling smiled and nodded, stepped forward and patted the two of them on the shoulder, and said, "In this way, then I will wish the two of you all smooth sailing and a successful first voyage!" ”

Chu Xinying said with a smile: "Fujian Ao Fuyong and Taiwan Zheng Zhilong, we have already said hello, you just need to follow their guidance when you get there, and they will send people to take you to the southeast countries to sell goods." ”

The two nodded in understanding, and Yan Peiyu said with a smile: "Boss Chu won't go to sea this time, without you as the backbone, we will be under double pressure......"

Chu Xinying said to Yan Peiyu: "Boss Yan said with a smile, you will go to Siam in person, what else can I not rest assured of?" Your abilities are well known, and I believe that no difficulty can fail you. ”

"Boss Chu is too prestigious, too reputed, Yan can't afford it!" Yan Peiyulang responded with a smile.

This time for cross-sea trade, the fleet of Jiangnan Lianshe Trading Company will sail from Hangzhou Bay, first to Fuzhou, and then split into two routes, all the way to Siam and other countries under the guidance of Ao Fuyong; All the way to Luzon under the guidance of Zheng Zhilong. Of course, the United Trading Company also reached a preliminary agreement with Aotianmen and Eighteen Zhi, and the profits obtained would be distributed to them according to the twenty-eight kai, with Aotenmen and Eighteen Zhizhi each taking one percent, and the remaining eighty percent going to the United Trading Company.

The purpose of doing this is also to let them get their permission and care for the journey of cross-sea trade, otherwise although Sun Yueling can barely do it with a word, they may not be very comfortable in their hearts. In this way, both parties will gain something, and such a business can be exchanged for a long time, and it will continue to operate under their escort and support.

You must know that if it weren't for Sun Yueling's relationship, if foreign traders wanted to get involved in Fujian's foreign trade, it would be difficult for them to climb to the sky. With the Xu Xinsu gang representing the interests of the military being completely smashed, Aotianmen and Shibazhi, who represent the interests of civil officials, have basically dominated Fujian's foreign trade, Fujian's sea tax revenue has increased dramatically, and Fuzhou has become an important seaport town for trade between the Ming Dynasty and the countries of the Southeast Ocean.

Sun Yueling waved his hand and said, "Time is pressing, let's get on the boat quickly, Xinying and I are waiting for your good news in Suzhou!" ”

……

In the back hall of the yamen of the governor of Jiangsu, Wei Jinjie, the head of the Wei family who was fat and had a bulging belly, said to the governor Mao Yilu: "Lord Mao, this cotton hype storm can make us lose millions of taels of silver, you have to make decisions for us!" ”

Mao Yilu said with a calm face: "Didn't you stop a long time ago?" Who told you to covet profit and inject it again? Now that I have lost my old book, I have come to the official to shout injustice! ”

Wei Jinjie made a bitter face and explained, "My lord, this ...... I can't be blamed for this, if it weren't for the rumors that someone was spreading rumors that the palace urgently needed a lot of cotton silk, we would ...... How can we be easily recruited...... "The initiator of this cotton cloth hype turmoil is he Wei Jinjie, his original intention is also to suppress the Jiangnan United Trading Company, originally everything was as he wanted, the cross-sea trade of the United Trading Company was in vain, and he also took this opportunity to make a profit; But God is unsatisfactory, who knows that after the rumors spread, the price of cotton cloth has soared all the way, he can't help this temptation to inject money into it again, but after the rumors were revealed, he found that he had been deeply trapped, and the large and small merchants who were attached to him Wei family were also recruited, and everyone lost more than three million taels of silver in a few days.

Mao Yilu was silent for a while and asked, "Can Cao Changhe find the person who spread rumors?" ”

Wei Jinjie shook his head and said: "Lord Cao swore that he would investigate this matter thoroughly, but after investigating it for so long, he didn't even have a clue, and it is estimated that there is no follow-up......"

"This treacherous old Cao!" Mao Yilu cursed fiercely and said, "This rumor came from the Yamen of the Weaving Bureau, he naturally didn't dare to investigate it thoroughly, otherwise if it found Li Shi's head, how many people would he dare to touch the people around Gonggong Wei?" ”

Wei Jinjie looked at Mao Yilu's expression, and suddenly said: "My lord, you don't know, on the surface, this matter seems to be done by the Yamen of the Weaving Bureau, I am afraid that the initiator is Sun Yueling of the Fenghua Society, this person is a great traitor, and it is not enough to show his guilt if he is not severely punished......

Mao Yilu frowned and said, "Where did you start with this?" ”

"It's obvious!" Wei Jinjie gritted his teeth and said, "The purpose of the rumor-mongers is nothing more than to confuse the public, so as to achieve their ulterior motives. Judging from this speculation, the biggest beneficiary is Sun Yueling of the United Trading Company, who not only bought a large amount of cotton cloth at a low price, but also made a lot of money in this speculation. ”

Mao Yilu was still puzzled after hearing this, and said slowly: "What you said is not unreasonable, the person behind this turmoil is very likely to be him." It's just that why did the Yamen of the Weaving Bureau want to help him this time, it doesn't make sense, why did Li Shi want to help him? ”

Wei Jinjie was silent for a moment, and finally a sentence popped out coldly from between his teeth, and said: "I'm afraid that this Li Shi has been bought by the Fenghua Society, so I help Sun Yueling, the remnant of Donglin!" ”

Mao Yilu was shocked when he heard this, and couldn't help but think carefully. Li Shi did behave strangely in the hype turmoil this time, first releasing rumors that a large amount of cotton silk was needed in the palace, and then frequently walking around the east and west cotton markets, which boosted the price of cotton cloth. Now that I think about it, these behaviors are clearly biased towards the Fenghua Society, and then I think of the meeting between Liu Dexi and Zhong Buli that this person is the matchmaker, and all kinds of signs show that this person has completely fallen to the Donglin Party, and all his actions are called for the Donglin people.

Thinking of this, Mao Yilu filled his chest angrily, slapped the table suddenly, and shouted: "Li Shi is eunuch, he dares to betray Gonggong Wei, he is killing himself." ”

Wei Jinjie saw that Mao Yilu was angry, and hurriedly added fuel to the fire and said: "My lord, now that Sun Yueling's United Trading Company has begun to operate cross-sea trade, if it is allowed to develop, I am afraid that my Wei family and Li family will decline from now on, and they will no longer have the right to speak and influence in the Jiangnan business community......"

Mao Yilu became more and more depressed when he heard this, not only himself, but all his relatives and friends are dependent on Wei and Li to do some business, Wei and Li are now in the same boat for him, one is prosperous, one is lost, if Wei and Li fall down, he Mao Yilu will also lose his power and authority in Jiangsu.

If Liu Dexi asked him to lock up the Donglin party members, he was still looking forward and backward, having some scruples, and did not dare to do it easily, but at this moment, the financial road was cut off and the back road was dug up, and he was completely angered by Donglin, so he snorted coldly and said: "Don't worry, I will definitely give you the decision in this matter, and I won't just cheapen those people from the United Trading Company." ”

……

After returning to the United Trading Company, Sun Yueling didn't have time to take a sip of tea, and Dongfang Shengping told him a news with a panicked face. After hearing the news, he was in a good mood, and he felt like a fish in his throat, and his chest was suffocated.

It turned out that the Yamen of Jiangsu's inspection envoy actually took advantage of the fact that when they went outside the city to bid farewell to the caravan going to sea, they sent people to seal up several merchants with strong financial resources belonging to the United Trading Company, and not only that, but also arrested Yan Peiwei, Yang Nianru, Shen Yang and others back to the Yamen.

Sun Yueling was furious and asked Dongfang Shengping, "Why did Wang Qitai arrest people?" ”

Dongfang Shengping replied: "Wang Qitai suspects that they spread rumors in the last cotton silk hype, and wants to arrest them back to the yamen for strict interrogation." ”

Sun Yueling was silent when he heard this, and the Yamen of the Inspectorate suddenly made it difficult to arrest people, which showed that the Wei and Li families, who had suffered huge losses in the last turmoil, couldn't sit still, and they didn't know what kind of means they used to trick the Inspector to bypass the Political Secretary and directly intervene in this matter, it seems that he still underestimated the operational ability of Wei Jinjie and others.

It's just that although this rumor was started by his Sun Yueling, the rumor maker was not Jiangnan United Trading Company, but Suzhou Weaving Yamen, Yan Peiwei and others didn't know about it at all, and only guessed that the reason why the cotton cloth was heating up was most likely caused by Sun Yueling's Fenghua Society behind it.

Sun Yueling expected that this matter would not dare to make such a big move, and this matter would have to go through the nod of Governor Mao Yilu, who had long heard that Mao Yilu was the big backstage of the Wei and Li Shang clans, and it seemed that he finally couldn't help but take action in person this time.

After thinking about it, he was determined in his heart that the initiator of the rumors was not their joint trading company, even though Mao Yilu, Wang Qitai arrested Yan Peiwei and others, they didn't know anything about it, so it was naturally difficult to be convicted and questioned.

Thinking of this, Sun Yueling ordered: "Brother Dongfang, you call some people and follow me to the Yamen of the Zhensi to ask for someone." ”

"Good!" Dongfang Shengping's face was full of excitement, and he jumped out quickly after agreeing.

"Yueling ......" Chu Xinying, who was behind him, stopped him, and said with a worried face, "There are many servants in the Yamen, you have to be careful." ”

Sun Yueling laughed and said, "Xin Ying don't worry, I'm here to be reasonable, not to fight, don't worry." ”

Chu Xinying said with a smile: "That's good, I'm afraid you can't help but move your hands, it's an important place for officials, and Wang Qitai is no better than Cao Changhe, this person is said to be a very cool official, and he doesn't look down on us very much." ”

"I know, you can rest assured! No matter how powerful Wang Qitai is, he is just a dog that can bite, and he doesn't dare to mess around without the master's order. "Then he went outside.