"The proprietors of many businesses in Jiangxi and Fujian have been invited by the local government to talk and have been granted bail, and in the past half a month, more than a dozen businesses have decided to withdraw from the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce......

Li Shi knew the content of An Jinzhi's report, but An Jinzhi knew more about these withdrawn firms, and even knew the general reason. The background of these businesses is official business, business is not the bones, before taking advantage of the situation is still unclear, with Li Xi as a cover to ride the wall, now I feel that Li Shi's way is getting more and more wrong, the local government a little hard, just retract the head and body, as for the business in Guangdong, and even the membership fee paid to Li Shi, it is like the tail of the gecko, straight away.

"What's going on in Hunan?"

Li Xian is more concerned about the situation in Hunan, the previous glass and cement industries, in Hunan has spread a considerable scale, and the cooperation with several large businesses in Hunan has also deepened.

"The governor of Bihuan Nian Qianyao has not yet arrived, and Hunan businessmen, such as Lao Han and Lao Yu, are still sitting firmly on Mount Tai. They and the proprietors have also gathered the officials below, just asking for a posture of spectatorship, even if Nian Qianyao comes, it is estimated that there is nowhere to go. ”

An Jinzhi was not too worried about Hunan, Li Shi shook his head slightly, but he didn't say much, An Jinzhi naturally didn't know what role Qianyao was this year. This year, Tang Yao, followed by Li Wei, Tian Wenjing, and Orshan are all the same kind of people, in the words that Li Xian was familiar with in his previous life, these guys are all ruthless people with explosive execution, and they will never act tepidly. But Nian Qianyao is not comparable to Li Wei, he is familiar with the operation of the official face, familiar with government affairs, although he is not familiar with military affairs now, he can come out of the troubled place of Sichuan, how can he know how to order troops.

Kangxi put Nian Qianyao in the middle of the road, and his intentions were very deep...... "Now the imperial court is afraid of being too deeply implicated, and it has not attacked the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce, or even the Sanjiang Ticket Company, but if the brain is really hot for a while, he will directly seal the trade route, not to mention how to deal with businessmen from other provinces, let's just say that we Guangdong businessmen, commercial goods can't go out of Guangdong, how should we live?" ”

An Jinzhi asked the question he was most worried about, now the situation is too weird, Li Xi is secretly fighting with the imperial court, and the Guangdong Merchants Association is basically kidnapped by Li Xi by monopolizing the trade routes and silver streams, and he is also a victim. But because Li Shi gave them a room to make money, they secretly hoped that the new order in Guangdong could be maintained forever.

The Qing court did not see the situation clearly, and they still thought that the merchants and Li Shi were all the way, and they were afraid that Li Shi's details had not been fully understood, and at the same time cut off the flow of Guangdong business, which had too much impact, and had not yet reached a consensus on the disposal strategy of the Guangdong Merchants Association and the Sanjiang Ticket Bank.

Li Xi smiled and asked, "Master An, what will be the consequences of cutting off the flow of commerce in Guangdong?" ”

An Jinzhi blinked his eyes, and his fingers flicked quickly, which was an estimate. After playing for a long time, he finally shook the fat on his face helplessly, and sighed: "I can't count it, it's unimaginable." ”

Li Xi nodded, it is indeed unimaginable, this is why Kangxi and the Qing court did not dare to deal with the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce at the first time, and it was even difficult to make up their minds to break their wrists and prepare to fight with Li Xi in Guangdong.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty took Jiangnan as the core of grain tax, and took the household department compilation in the eighteenth year of Shunzhi as the standard, and the Qing court in Jiangnan Province, that is, Jiangsu and Anhui, had a land quota of 4.6 million taels and 2.7 million stone of rice. In Guangdong, it is only 850,000 taels and 20,000 stones. During the Kangxi era, the tariff quota of Taiping Customs and Guangdong Customs was not much, estimated to be no more than 100,000 taels, and the Qing court levied taxes in Guangdong every year was one million taels. 【1】

From the point of view of money and grain, the important surnames in Guangdong are not very prominent. But what is terrible is that Guangdong is an important export of the two economic circles of Jiangnan and Huguang. Huguang's grain, tea, porcelain, and Jiangnan's silk, raw silk, cotton, and cotton cloth, etc., whether they are finished products or raw materials, a large part of them depend on Guangdong for digestion. The southwest region, including Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, also has Guangdong as its main market. However, the types of local goods transported by Guangdong to other provinces are obviously small, and finished products such as sugar, salt and ironware are the mainstay. 【2】

It can be seen from the commercial exchanges in Guangdong that Guangdong is the center of the reading economic circle, absorbing a large number of finished products and raw materials, most of which meet their own needs. However, unlike the Jiangnan Economic Circle, Guangdong's economic composition is very diverse, with Dongguan's handicraft industry, sugar industry, Shunde's pond fish and mulberry sericulture, and Foshan's iron industry. From the perspective of modern economics, Guangdong's commodity economy is not only developed, but also has a very fine division of labor.

Then when it comes to foreign trade, this important surname of Guangdong is even more prominent. In the Kangxi era, there were "four ports of commerce", but in the Nanyang trade, Guangzhou always occupied a dominant position. The reason is not only because of the geographical location, but also because of the existence of Macao, a "special zone for foreigners", as well as the historical habits and humanistic qualities accumulated by Guangdong's trade with Nanyang for thousands of years.

Guangdong not only digests commercial goods from all over the country and exports a number of important materials, but is also the gateway of Nanyang trade, if the trade routes in Guangdong are cut off, it is not clear whether Li Shi, who is making trouble in Guangdong, will starve to death, and the business flow of the surrounding provinces is blocked, how many people will be affected, Kangxi and the Qing court can not help but weigh it. At least in their opinion, those who are barefoot and are not afraid of wearing shoes are really going to blockade Guangdong, Li Xi may not starve to death, and most of the world will rarely be peaceful.

"For the imperial court, the blockade of trade routes is to fight poison with poison, and they would rather attack with a large army, just like cutting my cancer directly with a knife, rather than drink that bottle of poison."

"But...... They will definitely use this trade route to do something, and what articles they can make depends on whether there are such smart people in the court and the surrounding provinces. ”

Li Xi was thinking about the scheming of the Qing court and the governors of the four surrounding provinces, and it was estimated that he was also thinking of starting from all aspects, drawing the roots of the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce, so that those merchants would no longer walk with him on the road.

"So the question is how to stabilize the Cantonese Chamber of Commerce."

An Jinzhi has been working hard, and now he is following Li Shi, on the one hand, the people and money have been too closely linked, and there is no way to get out. At the beginning, I thought I had taken a fancy to a fast son-in-law who rode the dragon, but I didn't want this son-in-law to be too powerful, and it was so strong that it was difficult for the court to tie up. On the other hand, he is not too scrupulous, and receiving the intention of the head of the Cantonese Chamber of Commerce can also be interpreted as stabilizing the situation in Guangdong, and through the relationship with Guan Yuanzhong, this intention can also be transmitted to the court.

At this moment, the two of them were already standing on a high ground in Huangpukou, and when they heard An Jinzhi's words, Li Xianhe chuckled: "Since you are a businessman, you can only think about two things, one is where to have good goods, and the other is where to sell the goods." ”

Relying on the money from the Sanjiang Investment Circle, as well as the protection fees collected by the Cantonese Entrepreneurs Association, not counting the four or five million taels of silver circulated by the Sanjiang Ticket Bank, Li Xi was not only able to close his own financial deficit, but also had a surplus of several hundred thousand taels. If you count the money that will be held in the next step, he will be able to hold millions of taels of silver in his hands, and these silver investments can only be called "light" industry in the field until now, and commercial goods such as glass and cement are definitely the objects of businessmen flocking to grab them.

But it is not enough to have a product, there must also be a market, and spreading to the surrounding areas will make the Qing court more and more frightened, forcing them to break their wrists ruthlessly.

"The market is in ...... Over here! ”

Li Shi stepped on his feet, a certain sport in his previous life made the Chinese people miserable, but in this era, it is a special medicine.

"Here? Whampoa? ”

Ahn Jinzhi hasn't figured it out yet.

"I'm going to build a new city here."

Li Xian's words shocked An Jinzhi's fat face and became a horse's face again, it is not enough to build a city in Yingde, continue to build it in Guangzhou?

"Baicheng is just a big manor, and the future Huangpu may be more lively than the current Guangzhou City."

Li Shi is this plan, cement, glass, pottery, steel and many other industries need a concentrated display of "model projects", this is a way out of commercial goods, which is equivalent to him to create a "***] type" hot market. Of course, after the development of Huangpu, there will definitely be no way to make as much money as the real estate industry in later generations, but with a little bit of marketing, the development cost can at least be recovered.

"A brand new city...... How much money does it cost? ”

Even if An Jinzhi is rich, he still feels a bit fantastical about building a city.

"I just set up the shelves and then fix the samples...... District, all kinds of conveniences, all according to Baicheng, Master An, do you think anyone will want to buy a house like that? ”

Li Xian's question, An Jinzhi nodded again and again: "If it is built according to Baicheng, I have to buy a garden!" ”

The infrastructure of Baicheng is in charge of the masons of Lao Liu Village, but they are no longer masons, but a separate infrastructure department of Qingtian Company. In the past few years, they have practiced underground engineering, water supply and drainage, temperature control and other technologies very skillfully. The result is a house that retains its traditional appearance and is far more comfortable than it was of its time. Before, An Jinzhi was very satisfied with his residence in Baicheng, and he had been thinking about how to get another set in Guangzhou, but the relevant supporting facilities could not be realized in the old Guangzhou City.

"To build a new city, even if it is just a small piece of display, it will take a lot of time, and there are not too many related commercial goods, which is not enough to reassure the hearts of all merchants."

An Jinzhi asked, looking at the wasteland, as if he was thinking about where his future garden should be built.

"Of course, for commercial goods such as tea, silk, and porcelain, I have also arranged another place to go."

Li Shi's tone became a little solemn, and An Jinzhi didn't pay attention to it, until he heard the latter sentence, and the whole person froze.

"Master An, you businessmen, it's time for you to change."

Turning his head with difficulty, An Jinzhi still had a little pleading in his eyes.

"Ah, do you really want to do something to the customs and merchants? Isn't it already modeled on the Taiping customs regulations and handed over to the customs bank to be responsible? ”

Li Shi patted his father-in-law on the shoulder, this matter did damage the interests of the merchants, but he had to take this step and not damage their interests, and the Cantonese Merchants Association would not be able to share more benefits.

"Master An, I just want to twist all the merchants into a rope, everyone has blessings and shares, and there are difficulties together, just like the Cantonese Chamber of Commerce, no, it is stronger than the Cantonese Chamber ......of Commerce."

The merchants are different from the industry and commerce targeted by the Cantonese Chamber of Commerce, which is completely capital operation, so it cannot be mixed together, but must have another set of operation processes. In the original history, in another five years, the merchants of Canton would also be screwed together to form the so-called "public bank" in the form of an alliance, but they were finally dissolved despite the pressure of the British. It was not until later that it was promoted by the Qing court and a fixed foreign bank system was formed.

Li Xi wanted to go further, to organize the merchants in the form of shares, and he wanted to control the majority of the shares, and he wanted to hold this portal firmly in his hands. The reason why the Manchus lost all the affairs of foreign banks to the people and merchants was because of the defense of Huayi and the reluctance to directly contact foreigners from the official plane, which led to the creation of comprador capital. He Li Shi has no such scruples, and he doesn't want to let a role like comprador exist.

"Master An, didn't I mention Nanyang Company before?"

Li Shi smiled toothily at An Jinzhi.

"It's time for it to be officially established."

An Jinzhi's brain was a little dizzy, and when he saw the smiling Li Shi, he was in a trance like seeing a tiger wolf with his fangs exposed.

(To be continued)