It must be said that the pressure of public opinion used by Zhao Shijie has put a lot of burden on the hearts of those gentry, and as the news spreads more and more, some businessmen have spontaneously joined forces to discuss, how to get Shen Youlong to approve this policy in their favor as soon as possible.

Once the businessmen take action, their power is also very great, not to mention that there is Shen Youlong behind this matter, and some people are even more fearless.

It is said that some people have separated their property from the gentry, and there are two of them, so the influence is growing.

The pressure of public opinion is tantamount to pushing the gentry class and the merchant class to an opposite, which was originally the two sides of the cooperation between the upper and lower levels, because the sudden appearance of public opinion orientation has become the opposite, which is indeed a bit bad for the gentry class

Zhao Shijie has walked around several counties in Guangzhou in the past few days, seen some things, and done some things, one of which is to give Shen Youlong such an idea.

It can be said that the gentry class is already a little panicked at this moment, and they have asked Shen Youlong that this phenomenon should be suppressed and not expanded, otherwise what is the law and discipline of the court.

Even some people want to let their backers who are officials in the DPRK and China participate in Lao Shen.

Since Lao Shen is determined to promote commercial tax reform, how could he be frightened by such a few words, not to mention that the imperial court has no time to do so much now.

Zhao Shijie ended the investigation and returned to Guangzhou, Zhao De immediately came to visit, the current situation can be said to be a little out of control, it was he who came up with the idea to let Zhao De do this, but now those gentry and businessmen seem to have become incompatible.

"Minister Zhao, this situation now needs your help, otherwise I am afraid it will get out of control."

Zhao De's words were actually what Shen Youlong wanted to say, and it was inconvenient for him to come directly. So let Zhao De ask from the side.

"It's a good thing that there is confrontation, and if there is no confrontation, this new policy will be difficult to implement, so you should increase the heat, and if you can, increase the price of all kinds of items, so that more people can join in supporting you."

Zhao Shijie's statement simply made Zhao De a little embarrassed. So if you don't control it well, something big will happen.

Don't worry, if the gentry class does not compromise, it will eventually be them, and now the situation in the entire Ming Dynasty is in chaos, Zhao Shijie's approach is to lead the people's grievances to the gentry.

It can be said that this is very dangerous for the gentry, and once it is not well controlled, it will indeed bring them a lot of trouble.

Under the instruction of Zhao Shijie, various prices began to rise in the city centered on Guangzhou. The reasons for the rise were directly aimed at the gentry class.

Why is it rising, because Lord Shen wants to promote a new deal, if this new deal is promoted, it can greatly reduce the price of various items, and the gentry and lords everywhere seem to be very dissatisfied with this.

A simple explanation, which does not require much rhetoric at all to arouse everyone's grievances, is not difficult for those businessmen.

So after someone raised the price, some ordinary people began to spill their resentment on the heads of the gentry and old men, but the object of their hatred has changed.

This transformation made the image of the merchant instantly rise to the top. And it also contains everyone's sympathy for them.

Mobilizing the sympathy of the common people and using their grievances to force the gentry into submission was not a novel method. This is a common practice used by some public relations firms in later generations.

It can be said that the effect is very significant, and some of the gentry have begun to relent, because more and more people are pointing the finger at them, which makes them feel very uneasy, and every time they go out, they will feel that someone else wants to kill them.

Unease brought them to mention uncompromising.

Shen Youlong welcomed this, so every gentry who agreed would go to Lao Shen to sign and sign to express his consent.

With the help of the pressure of public opinion, the gentry class was brought to its knees. This is something that Shen Youlong didn't expect, he originally thought that this method would not work, but now it seems to be really good, and it is very good.

When someone takes the lead, more and more people will sign it. The herd mentality, believing that most of what they are doing is right, is what many people think.

Five days passed, basically the gentry from all over the country took the initiative to sign and sign and express their support, which made the merchants see for the first time the power of unity, and together they can defeat all forces, and even some of them have begun to wonder if they should follow the example of the Australians in the future and make a bill to improve the status of merchants.

When more and more people signed and supported the pledge, Shen Youlong felt that the time was almost up, and it was time to convene a meeting of the businessmen.

Of course, it is impossible for him to negotiate with the businessmen himself, and someone has to be responsible for this matter, and who will be responsible, naturally Zhao De.

Zhao De has risen so fast in the past two years, he knows that he has a relationship with him, and he has a certain influence in the business circle, so it is absolutely not wrong for him to talk to businessmen.

Zhao De, who received the order, was a little flattered, the Governor let himself have full authority to negotiate with the merchants on his behalf, such an honor is extraordinary, in order to be responsible for this matter, Zhao De attaches great importance to it.

He kept the conversation in one of his mansions. And followed Zhao Shijie's suggestion to provide food and accommodation for these people for free, although it was just a small food and accommodation, but it would give people a very different feeling, in addition to further enhancing his status among businessmen, and at the same time leaving a good reputation.

"Brother Zhao, it seems that this Governor is going to prepare to learn about Hong Kong, but I don't know if the imperial court can agree." In fact, what this person asked is also the question that everyone is most worried about, if the court does not agree, it will be in vain, so it is better to ask clearly.

However, at the moment, these businessmen don't have much choice, most of them have already fallen out with the gentry, it is impossible to go back to the past, and the other party will definitely make things difficult in every way, so many people actually have no way to retreat, so they can only follow Shen Youlong.

"Don't worry about this, Lord Shen has already played the imperial court and explained the current situation."

That's true, Shen Youlong did play the court, but he was going to come to a first cut and then play, and the music was folded, basically in the hands of the emperor, it is estimated that it will not be able to arrive in half a month, and it will not be solved in a year after waiting for the approval of the will.

And most importantly, if it is really effective in this year, it can also provide a plan for the reform of the Ming Dynasty. (To be continued......)