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Zhu Jun arrived in Haidu after the three southwestern provinces delegation landed at the port of Haidu.37 to the Ministry of Rites officials welcomed, cabinet scholar Zhou Mubai personally led the team, first led them to visit some of the historic sites in the city, now Zhou Mubai because of the focus on the economy of Haidu, a year down, also quite experienced, always hanging in the mouth production, workshop, production, business rate and other professional words, full of a later generation of economic brick family appearance, the squire and eunuchs of the delegation because of Grandma Liu into the Grand View Garden, feel that everywhere is strange.

After walking around the city for a few days, Zhou Mubai began to lead the businessmen to the opening area, along the road there are many workshops, all kinds of horse-drawn carriages to pull goods shuttle back and forth, the gentry and businessmen of the inspection group looked at the opening of the district again and again, and waited until they arrived at the opening area in the middle of the opening area, Zhou Mubai took out various reports to show the gentry businessmen.

"In Haidu, there are 1,120 workshops with more than 200 craftsmen, and every day the goods produced need to be pulled by thousands of wagons to the port or warehouse, and the profits made by the workshop owners are at least a few hundred taels of silver a year." Zhou Mubai stroked his mustache, shaking his head and shaking his head proudly, but he single-handedly handled the opening of the district, which was both his political achievement project and his heart.

In order to do a good job in the opening area, Zhou Mubai rarely slept a few times in the past year, got up before dawn every day, first went to the court, and then symbolically went to the cabinet to go around, and Yang Side discussed some major events in the court, after breakfast, he took a carriage to the opening area, every day to the workshops to inspect, and then to the opening of the district yamen to deal with some materials, in the afternoon, he went to meet a few businessmen who were interested in opening a workshop, and was busy until the night, but also asked about the issues of the merchant council, if it was feasible, it was allowed to pass, After tossing like this for a year, Zhou Mubai has lost a lot of weight, but he has added a bit of fairy wind and bones, as for the party dispute, he has not much interest, he used to always want to get power, but after the emperor refuted it last time, his niece is about to become a concubine, so there is no need for him to consolidate his position and fight with others, on the contrary, since he started to open the area, because of his business refinement, he has not only won the praise of all businessmen, but also made those colleagues in the court look at him differently, Although life is a little harder, there are always busy things, but my heart is comfortable, and I also have a sense of accomplishment that changes with each passing day.

"The tax silver in the opening area is only one in twenty, but the tax silver of the imperial court is also a full 230,000 taels a year, and dozens of large workshops have been added this year, and the tax silver will increase by several percent." Zhou Mubai proudly introduced to more than 100 members of the delegation.

The gentry and businessmen stared, and they admired Zhou Mubai beyond measure, this kind of shock is unique, two million taels of silver, this is the tax silver of a province in the Qing Dynasty, and the tax silver collected by this hundred hectares of land is as much as a province, no wonder the Ming army was well-equipped when it entered the city, and even the military uniforms were made of silk.

At this time, there was a creaking sound of going down the stairs from the second floor of the office yamen, and seven or eight Haidu businessmen wearing precious silk brushed their beards and went downstairs, came to the main hall of the yamen, saw Zhou Mubai in the crowd, and hurriedly came over with a smile to say hello to Zhou Mubai.

The gentlemen and businessmen of the inspection group felt even more strange, Lord Zhou was a dignified cabinet scholar, he was the prime minister in the past, and he was also a very popular minister in the Manchu Dynasty.

When the merchants of Haidu walked out of the yatang with relief, Zhou Mubai obviously saw the doubts of the gentlemen and businessmen, and said: "They are the merchants on the second floor of the business council to discuss the terms of the commercial law of the district, in Haidu, as long as the businessmen are willing to buy a certain number of interest-free bonds, they can get the honorary lord of the peace, and they have the right to see the officials and not worship, do you see the peace medal on their chests?" That's it. ”

Zhou Mubai's expression is kind, not big at all, this is also an experience he has summed up since the opening of the district, in fact, for many businessmen, it doesn't matter if they make money or not, what they need most is not money, but status and respect. When Zhou Mubai such a high-ranking official meets them, if they can give them a certain respect, not to mention anything else, that is, the workshop merchants who lose money are willing to invest, in this era, the discrimination of the whole East against merchants has reached the point of no return, merchants have been in a lowly existence, exploited by the governments of various countries, Haidu City is unusual, suddenly elevated the status of merchants, and threw out the honorary title of Justice of the Peace, coupled with Zhou Mubai, a seemingly amiable old man, businessmen from Nanyang countries naturally flock to it, Lai Haidu never wanted to leave again.

Zhou Mubai stroked his beard and invited the mighty delegation to the second floor, which is the meeting place of the Chamber of Commerce, and the clubhouse of Nuoda is occupied by an oval long table, and hundreds of benches are placed on both sides of the long table, Zhou Mubai sits on it himself, so that all the other businessmen can sit down.

"This is the Merchant's Land Council. Every month on the first day of the month. All businessmen who have obtained the title of Justice of the Peace are available

Procedure. There will also be officials from the Yamen Prefecture who will come to observe. But they were not allowed to consult with each other, and the results were written down by the officials of the Yamen. Which workshop has what needs. Which merchant ran into what trouble. Whether it's custom commercial law. Or trivial. can be raised. It was up to the officials of the Yamen Prefecture to help solve the problem. ”

The gentry and merchants were dumbfounded. Especially those who have been in business for generations. All of them turned red. Making money is nothing to them. None of the local businessmen who were able to participate in the expedition had a first- or second-generation family background. But this Lord of the Peace, who made them feel excited. Can a businessman still discuss politics? You can still see the official without worshipping. This is a dream for many businessmen.

"Your Excellency. The villain has a son in his family. I also learned some poetry books since I was a child. If you buy treasury bonds, you become a Justice of the Peace. Is it possible to test for fame? A thin businessman looked at Zhou Mubai and asked.

According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. Merchants belong to the untouchables. Heirs are not allowed to take the examination as an official. Unless you declare that you are no longer in business. And after three generations you have not been engaged in the untouchables. It was only in the fourth generation that such rights were made. Therefore. Most of the ministers in the Ming Dynasty were peasants or children of the squire. This is the case with the so-called farming and reading heirlooms. Merchants though have a lot of money. However, the status of peasant land is much higher than theirs.

Zhou Mubai smiled and held the long table. He didn't know how many times he had answered this question. But all the merchants who planned to mix land in Haidu came to him to confirm. After all, children are the most important thing for Orientals. Even if it's for the sake of the heirs. I am also willing to come to Haidu to do business and post money.

"Now that the scientific examination of the Ming Dynasty has been restructured, no matter whose children are involved, they can not be an official first, they can only be officials, and after he is familiar with the work, he can be gradually promoted, and it is not impossible to be an official."

"Huh?" There was another burst of exclamation, all dynasties and dynasties were scientific examination officials, and now the Ming Dynasty actually used scientific examination to take officials, what is there to test this soap? Many people can't help but be disappointed.

Zhou Mubai continued to explain: "Due to the huge amount of officials in the imperial court examination, three or four out of ten in the examination are much better than studying hard for more than ten years in the cold window, taking the exam every year, and failing the list every year. What's more, future officials will be selected from among the officials. The emperor said that a good test may not be able to do things, everything starts from the bottom, and Xu Tu is promoted to be a talent.

”

The businessmen were immediately relieved, Zhou Mubai was right, the examiner is naturally difficult, there are so many scholars in the world, but there are only so many officials, and it is good to be able to get one of the hundred exams after screening down the layers, but the examiners are much simpler, and in the future, if the officials do well, they can also be officials, and it is also a way to accommodate themselves.

"In fact, today's Ming Dynasty is heavy on business, what's the good thing about being a official, you can let your sons and nephews learn from their fathers to do business. When the opening of the area was prepared, the emperor once said that 'private property is sacred and inviolable', as long as the established taxes and silver are paid, not only the officials are not allowed to take it by force, even if it is the emperor himself, he must not seize a stitch and a thread of the subjects of the Ming Dynasty in the world. Zhou Mubai squinted slightly and said, a year ago, Zhu Jun was shocked when he said this, the shore of the land, it is not the king's land, the world is the emperor's private property, he never thought that the emperor would say such a thing, and now, he finally understands the emperor's painstaking efforts, the emperor said such a thing, and wrote it into the law of the Ming Dynasty, so that the businessmen can do business with peace of mind, and get rid of a heart disease.

The gentlemen and businessmen were amazed again, the Ming Dynasty is good, it is better to be the landlord of the Ming Dynasty, it is better to be the businessmen of the Ming Dynasty, and the private property is protected by the national law, this clause alone is enough to make the world's businessmen pour into the sea capital, if nothing else, just to be able to make money and live here with peace of mind.

"Okay, let's go to the canteen on the street for lunch, and in the afternoon, Lord Ben will take you to see the workshop, then the Beibu Gulf in Guangxi, Kunming in Yunnan, and Chengdu in Sichuan will establish such an open area, you can go to see the process in the workshop in Haidu." Zhou Mubai looked a little tired, and stood up in a hoarse voice.

The gentlemen and businessmen got up one after another, hugged Zhou Mubai and returned to the yatang, they already had a choice in their hearts, no matter whether this business was profitable or not, they had to try it.

Everyone went to the nearby restaurant inn to have lunch, took a nap for a while, and then followed Zhou Mubai to various workshops to investigate...

…

Three days later, the first group of delegations, still in the prosperity of Haidu and looking forward to the future, boarded the passenger ship home, and they will become the pioneers of the opening of the three provinces of Yunchuan and Sichuan, just waiting to take root in another land. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in*, more chapters, support work, support genuine reading!) )