The actions of the merchants not only saved their lives, but also saved the Li Tang royal family. Li Tang lowered the agricultural tax by 30%, which was supplemented by the commercial tax, but increased the national strength. The main reason why Li Tang can be so powerful and prosperous is that the common people live a good life. The reason why the common people live well is because taxes have been reduced, the country has become richer, and the army has become stronger. But the most critical problem that the people don't know is that Datang's businessmen have traveled all over the world, sold Datang's specialties to people all over the world, and brought foreign specialties back to Datang. One in and one out, not only increased taxes, but also brought the vast majority of the world's gold and silver back to Datang. Because in contrast, Datang's things are sought after, and foreign things are not in great demand for Datang, and the positive proportional difference has led to Datang becoming the most profitable, and a large amount of gold and silver has flowed to Datang.

Although after the Tang Dynasty, the power of the Central Plains is getting weaker and weaker, but the demand is still the highest. The needs of the people, the luxury of the powerful, all need merchants to circulate. Jin merchants are undoubtedly the most powerful merchant team, and there is a saying that "no Jin can not be a business". Although in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Hui merchants gradually rose, but still could not replace the position of the Jin merchants at once.

"Yun Xiangsheng" is an inconspicuous Jin merchant firm, a merchant name that is not too famous in everyone's eyes. But its owner is not simple, at least in the eyes of some, the purpose of the existence of this business is not simple. "Sheng" is the name of a store in ancient times, whether it is an official or a businessman, they like to rise step by step, so there are many people who call their own business name what they are literate. It is said that the first owner of "Yun Xiangsheng" had a dream before the initiation, dreaming that he was floating in the clouds. Later, the first old owner resolutely embarked on the same path as his hometown and went out to become a businessman. Gradually, he had his own family business and established this "Yunxiangsheng" business name. "Yun Xiangsheng" has its own store rules, that is, "be innocent and do business honestly." ”

Now "Yun Xiangsheng" has been passed down to the seventh generation, and the old owner is a scholar who once served as a magistrate. However, the old owner no longer cares about it, and handed over the management rights to his son, the young owner of "Yun Xiangsheng". However, this young owner is very mysterious, and there are not many people who know his name, and the guys below don't know what this young owner is like. Only a few old buddies and the shopkeeper of the semicolon vaguely knew that this young owner was an official. But it seems that he is not an official now, but he may be an official again.

In fact, everyone doesn't know that the young owner of this "Yun Xiangsheng" is Qin Tai. A Qin Tai who made the court up and down, and the yamen everywhere were terrified. Qin Tai is not only the nightmare of all corrupt officials, but also the "trouble" that all officials have always considered. As long as he meets this Qin Tai, no official will have a better time. The officials in question are worried about what Qin Tai will find out, and even the officials who have no problem are worried about what Qin Tai will find out about the problems of his subordinates. Qin Tai once found out seventeen problematic officials at once in a small place. There were only twenty-one high-ranking officials in this small county town, and seventeen of them were taken down at once, and only four officials could work normally. No matter how capable the four officials were, it was impossible for them to accomplish so many things. As a result, when people from higher departments came to this county, the administrative affairs of this county were almost paralyzed. Everyone said that it was the misfortune of the officials to meet Qin Tai, and it is estimated that no official would be willing to go to the place that Qin Tai had dealt with.

Generally speaking, officials are not allowed to do business, and even if they do, they cannot do business in person. The first is because the political status of businessmen is low, and officials doing business in person are tantamount to lowering their own status. The second is because the imperial court does not allow officials to count money all day long and forget their own work. Third, officials are influenced by the Chamber of Commerce to the attitude of scholars to gain fame. Don't let too many people value money too much, or even give up studying to go into business. But Qin Tai's business was allowed by the imperial court, at least tacitly approved by a few bigwigs.

Qin Tai's money was far from being able to cover his own expenses, so from the beginning, Qin Tai often used his own money to pay for expenses. Later, the imperial court acquiesced to Qin Tai to find a way to get money by himself, and after each case was completed, the expenses were settled together with the results. But in fact, the amount of expenses promised by the above each time was far less than the amount reported by Qin Tai. Qin Tai is a real person and never falsely reports the number of accounts, so most of his office expenses are paid by himself. The people above also knew this fact, so they allowed Qin Tai to figure out his own way. Qin Tai needs to investigate the case secretly and needs a cover identity, so this "Yun Xiangsheng" young owner is a good cover identity.

When Qin Tai was dealing with the problem of building food in Fujian, Qin Tai used his family's "Yun Xiangsheng" to solve many practical problems for the local people. After Zhang Juzheng found out, he allowed Qin Tai to use "Yun Xiangsheng" as a cover to help the imperial court do some things. Tan Lun and others, who have a good relationship with Qin Tai, often use "Yun Xiangsheng" to communicate and transport things privately. There is a taboo among officials and they should not get too close, otherwise they will be reported to have colluded with each other and formed parties for personal gain. But some officials really need to get to know and communicate with each other privately. Therefore, "Yun Xiangsheng", a business name like "Yun Xiangsheng", is the safest and will not attract the attention of outsiders. When Tan Lun was an official in Datong, he needed to know every move in the capital, and he needed to know about major decisions and cognitive transfers. But you can't ask for clues from the capital openly, and it is impossible for someone to give Tan Lun news openly, so the people of "Yun Xiangsheng", with the tacit consent of the young owner Qin Tai, helped Tan Lun pay attention to the news in the direction of the capital, and tried to tell Tan Lun the latest news in a timely manner. "Yun Xiangsheng" also became a tool for Zhang Juzheng and others to contact Qin Tai, and Zhang Juzheng and others passed on the information and news that Qin Tai needed through the business name.

After Qin Tai arrived here, he first found an inn to live in. The second is to go to the "Yun Xiangsheng" here to inquire about the news. "Yun Xiangsheng" originally had no semicolon here, but there was a Jin merchant club here. Almost everywhere there are Jin merchants' clubs, and of course there are them here. The Jin Chamber of Commerce is nominally a place for merchants to rest, but in fact, it is a place to inquire about news and send and receive letters. Many Jin businessmen who do business abroad contact their families through the club, and they also learn about the market conditions in various places through the club. "Yun Xiangsheng" is a member of the Jin merchants, as long as he can report the name of his own business name, it is worthy of the code word, he is a member of the Jin merchants, and he can know some internal information through the club. Jin merchants will also use this method, which is equivalent to letting everyone know that they are here. If you have your own letter or news, it will be the first time to get here, and the guys in the club will inform you. Of course, this method not only requires a fee, but also requires the cooperation of the people in the club. Fortunately, the people of the Jin merchants were more united at that time, and they all helped each other when they were outside.

Zhan Xiaoxiao asked Qiu Xiaoqiu to go to the club in the name of Qin Tai, and asked if there was any letter from Qin Tai while registering the information. Not only did Zhang Juzheng and others know that Qin Tai was here, but even Qin Tai's parents, who were far away from home, also knew that Qin Tai was here. If there is news or letters, these people will be transported in this direction.

Qiu Xiaoqiu brought back a letter, and the outer packaging said "Yun Xiangsheng" and the uncle of the young owner gave the words "Yun Xiangsheng" to the young owner. Qiu Xiaoqiu held the letter, and there was an indescribable amusement in his heart. Because the person who wrote the letter was not only not the uncle of his cousin Qin Tai, but also had no relationship at all. Every time this is mentioned as a so-called "uncle", everyone will find it funny. It just so happened that Qin Tai was a little unhappy in his heart, and his letter would definitely make Qin Tai a little happier.

This so-called "uncle" was caused by the mistakes of the people in the clubhouse. The person who wrote the letter is not small, he is Zhang Juzheng, the second assistant of the current imperial cabinet and the teacher of the new emperor. His status and future are something anyone can predict, and he will not only become the emperor's master, but also the first assistant to the cabinet in the near future. He is not very old, and it will not be a problem to be the head of the cabinet for twenty or thirty years like Yan Song in the future. In addition, the little emperor was taught by Zhang Juzheng, and it is unlikely that the emperor will squeeze out the teacher. So as long as Zhang Juzheng does not have physical problems, as long as Zhang Juzheng does not make major decision-making mistakes, it is impossible for anyone to bring down Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng's uncle is the eldest child, which was given to Zhang Juzheng by his teacher back then. This word is only known to a few of Zhang Juzheng's seniors and friends. Zhang Juzheng's juniors and subordinates did not dare to call Zhang Juzheng "uncle", either calling Zhang Juzheng "Lord Zhang" or "Zhang Gong", even if he was an official about the same age as Zhang Juzheng, he also called Zhang Juzheng "Zhang Taiyue" or "Brother Taiyue". As Zhang Juzheng's status gets higher and higher, as Zhang Juzheng's predecessors Xu Jie, Gao Gong and others grow old or leave, fewer and fewer people know that Zhang Juzheng is called "uncle". However, Zhang Juzheng and Qin Tai had a relationship with each other, and in front of Qin Tai, Zhang Juzheng called himself a brother, and all the letters to Qin Tai called him "uncle". The people in the Jin Chamber of Commerce didn't know this, and thought that this person had mistakenly written "uncle" as "uncle". So every time I handed over a letter to Qin Tai, I said that Qin Tai's uncle sent a letter to Qin Tai's nephew. Zhang Juzheng also laughed when he found out, feeling that he had finally received something in return. According to the actual age, it is okay for Zhang Juzheng to be Uncle Qin Tai, so Zhang Juzheng simply makes a mistake every time he writes a letter indicating "Yun Xiangsheng", and the uncle of the young owner sends a letter to the "Yun Xiangsheng" young owner, please forward these words. Who would have thought that this was an important letter from a big man to a "bad man"?