Chapter 414 Twenty-Four General Merchant

The news that Li You relied on the guild to set up a general merchant spread to the Salt Transportation Division on the same day, and the entire Transportation Division was in an uproar. Hundreds of officials had no intention of doing official business, and kept discussing the affairs of the general business.

They waited for several days, preparing to deal with Li Youqing's investigation of the salt law, but unexpectedly, Li You's drunkard did not mean anything about the salt transportation department at all, but started the idea of the salt merchant with a false shot.

Before, the officials of the Salt Transportation Department didn't think that Li You could play any tricks here with the salt merchants, after all, the relationship between Li You and the salt merchants had always been very stiff, and it was still in a cold state to this day. So everyone felt that it was impossible for the salt merchants to cooperate with Li You, and they never expected that Li You could break the convention.

Although the establishment of the general merchant seems to have nothing to do with the Salt Transportation Division, the impact on the Salt Transportation Division is no less than that of the Salt Transportation Division.

If the general merchant system is formed, then the officials of the salt transportation department will no longer face a scattered group of merchants in the future, but an organized, systematic, and unconstrained salt merchant guild and salt merchant leaders.

Although the power of the Salt Transportation Division is not less, but the object has changed, and I am afraid that it will not be as easy to handle as before.

For a group, even the worst organization is more powerful than the unorganized, and the salt merchants are no exception. What's more, according to Li You's assumption, the general merchants were directly appointed by the imperial court after their own election, and did not need to be recognized from the Salt Transportation Division, which greatly weakened the Salt Transportation Division's close control over the salt merchants.

Gao Yuntong couldn't hold it back, and hurriedly came to the Ding Yun embassy to discuss countermeasures.

Ding Yunenvoy sighed: "Li You is only afraid that from the time he took office in Yangzhou, he had this premeditated plan in his heart. He probably felt that the southern tour of the Son of Heaven was approaching, and the time had come, so he couldn't wait to jump out and implement this matter. ”

Gao Yuntong said angrily: "The Yun Envoy has always been tolerant of that Li You everywhere and never fought back head-on, no wonder Li You became more and more unscrupulous, thinking that my dignified Yun Si was weak and easy to bully." ”

"It's useless to fight back on small things, and what can you do to him. is like Yang Guozhong in the Tang Dynasty, who made fewer small mistakes? If it hadn't triggered the An Lushan rebellion, who would have fought him? Ding Yunenvoy said lightly.

Gao Yuntong asked: "Dare to ask the envoy, is this time a big or a small matter?" It is no different from directly excavating the pile foundation of the embassy hall. ”

"Big deal, of course." Ding Yunenvoy calmly analyzed: "The matter of the general merchant is not invulnerable. In fact, Li You did not have any substantive documents and edicts, and he did not have a close relationship with the Gang Shang, so the enthusiasm of the Gang Shang was just a trust in Li You's power and prestige. The matter of the general merchant is still in the air, and it is all supported by the prestige of Li You, so that the salt merchant has the confidence to follow. Once this confidence is shattered, the matter will naturally be closed. ”

In the end, Ding Yunenvoy made a decision, "Needless to say, I have my own ideas!" On the same day, Ding Yun's envoy wrote two documents, one was sent to Nanjing urgently, and the other was sent to the governor's yamen.

It is said that in Yangzhou City, for three consecutive days from the seventh day of the first month of March, the business of food, wine, singing and dancing troupes suddenly boomed.

The reason for this lies in the selection of the general merchant. Now there are 50 people left, and according to the intention of Lord Li of the rectification of the salt law, half of them will be wiped out in the final round of elections on March 10.

These fifty people, except for a few who know that they are lucky but lack of strength, who doesn't want to become a general merchant?

According to the calculations of those who are well-intentioned, the total number of merchants is 300, divided by 300 by 25, and 12 is about the average number. If you can attract the support of about ten small businesses, plus your own vote, you can almost be shortlisted for the final list. Of course, the more small merchants are pulled, the heavier the weight and status will be after becoming the general merchant.

But the big and small merchants are all rich people, and the silver bullet offensive is not very useful. As a result, in the three days set aside by Master Li, the outliners could only use their own connections, relatives, friends, and forces to launch a fierce wooing and digging of the wall, and related transactions became popular. …,

For small and medium-sized salt merchants, this time is quite happy, and I have never seen so many outline merchants show favor to themselves. Many small businessmen who are still resistant to being attached to others can't help but think that it doesn't seem too bad to be able to elect the general businessman...

However, in Li You's heart, it doesn't matter who is selected as the chief merchant this time, because he is the one who controls the rules of the game. The salt merchants entered his rules, just like Sun Wukong in the palm of the Buddha's hand.

Jin Million probably doesn't have to worry about him, as one of the seven giants, if he can't even get one or twenty tickets, it will really be a fool for so many years.

It's just that it is more dangerous for another salt merchant Xu Changrui to take refuge, so Li You swaggered through the city to sit in Xu's house and help him build momentum and get a few votes. After all, a powerful general businessman is the ideal object of attachment in the hearts of many people, and if Xu Yuanwai has Li You as a backer, it is also very worth considering.

On the 10th day of the first month of March, 300 merchants gathered again in front of the Gongdao Hall of the Xin'an Guild Hall and began the final round of promotion under the nose of Master Li.

This time, everyone was familiar with the way, and it went quickly, and the results came out in more than half an hour. The votes of fifty people were lined up in order, and they were neatly presented in front of Master Li.

More than 300 people in the audience held their breath silently, waiting for the final verdict.

Li You has long been accustomed to being the center of attention, and the gaze of more than 300 people is just a small scene. He took the list and said slowly: "Speaking of Yangzhou, who doesn't know the moonlit night of the 24th Bridge." I also heard that there are twenty or thirty salt merchants who are called big, and they are almost the number of twenty-four bridges and bright moonlit nights..."

Master Li was talking nonsense for a long time, and everyone could only listen patiently, "Therefore, the number of general merchants nominated this time is set at twenty-four!" ”

This is similar to the conjecture of the Gang Shang, who expected Master Li to cut off about half of the last fifty people, but the exact number is disputed.

Li You said conclusively: "Looking at the results, the seven giant merchants are worthy of being the leaders of the salt industry, and they are all selected." In addition, the 16 companies with the most votes were elected, and the number of the seven giant merchants was 24! ”

There were soft cheers in several places in the crowd, and more than 20 people came out in line and stood at the front, all of them looking excited, as if they were the glory of the township examination. If Lord Li asks the imperial court for an edict, then they will be different officials and businessmen from now on!

A general businessman who was less than thirty years old was overly excited, and said to Li You: "Li Taishou seems to have counted one less, the sum of seven and sixteen is twenty-three, not twenty-four." ”

This... Li You found that he had miscalculated for a while. It's a shame to be embarrassed, everyone has such a time, how did it appear at this moment...

His mind turned sharply, and at the same time he chuckled a few times, looked down at the roster of the general merchant, took up the pen to erase a name, and said disdainfully: "What kind of general merchant can you be with your IQ?" Replace the next one and make up for it! ”

Immediately, another gangshang happily rushed forward and occupied the position, his votes were just one short, he was depressed to death, but he was happy to fall from the sky, and actually let him replace the person in front!

The other general businessmen next to him shook their heads secretly, this little brother is too young, everyone else is pretending to be confused, what are you going to do smartly, ask for your own hardship! Li Taishou obviously deliberately left a seat for his own use, maybe everyone will have to give some salt to the newcomers in this position in the future, isn't this the case for all officials?

So after Lord Li punished the person who was not long-sighted, under the acquiescence of the merchants, he embezzled a general merchant quota in a daze.

After that, he continued to explain: "Among the twenty-four general merchants, seven are big merchants, no, eight are large merchants, and the remaining sixteen are ordinary general merchants, all of whom are guild managers, and the guild general managers are still outside the guild managers. Where there are small things in the salt industry, they can be discussed by the eight general businessmen, and major matters can be discussed by the twenty-four general businessmen! These regulations shall be carefully drawn up by your general counsellor and submitted to your own officer. ”…,

The more Jin Million, who was successfully promoted to the rank of chief merchant, became more and more shocked by his son-in-law's wrist, and he instigated himself to propose the establishment of a salt industry guild, which turned out to be an ambush for today.

In the past, the Salt Industry Guild was spontaneously organized by the merchants in order to protect themselves when they faced unpredictable dangers. Then, quietly, today, the son-in-law wants to turn the guild into a semi-official guild organization recognized by the imperial court or government.

After Li You's teaching, Jin Million carefully studied the affairs of ancient times and Xia Shang Zhou in his spare time. The Three Hundred Gangshang was originally a loose general term, just like the tribes of the ancient ancestors. Each eats its own nest, each has its own way, and can help each other because of the relationship between fellow villagers, but they do not belong to each other.

Desirelessness is just the truth, with **, there is weakness, with **, you can be manipulated, what Li You did was actually to create a new ** for them who made money and did not pursue it.

Now they were first lured into forming an alliance, and then they were divided into hierarchies and strata, and with hierarchies and strata, there were naturally interests and struggles.

Jin Million learned from the past, and even felt that he saw the future. This time the competition for the position of the general merchant, I am afraid that it is just the beginning, everyone is clumsy, it seems tepid, and the analogy in history is just Xia Qi's killing of Boyi, who opened the record.

So what about after the Gang Shang gradually got used to the competition? Don't the general merchants want to let themselves have a few more small businessmen under their hands? At that time, who will be the beneficiary of watching the fire from the other side and profiting from the fisherman?

After the collapse of Yao Shunyu's reign of the previous kings, the beneficiaries were none other than Xia Qishang, Tang Zhouwu, and others. This time, Li You's tricks probably haven't been finished, and the beneficiary must be the mysterious person behind him.

I thought of Li You's looming royal background again. Jin Million exclaimed in his heart, could this be the legendary imperial technique?

Li You is also proud of his precise layout, full of sense of achievement, and the plan in his heart is half completed.

The salt industry of the Guochao Dynasty was a planned economic system from beginning to end, with a strong directive color from production to sales, and the salt merchants relied entirely on the salt policy to make money. Therefore, the interest class of the salt industry is extremely closed, and outside the imperial court, it is basically the salt transportation department and the merchants.

The redistribution of benefits only involves these people concerned, and the scope of the impact is extremely narrow, and it will not destabilize the entire society and system. As long as the upper echelons are determined to change the existing mechanism, it is easy to go with the flow.

At the same time as today's election, a contingent from Nanjing slowly drove into Yangzhou City, which brought some variables to Li's great cause of innovation.