Seeing that Cao Shuyu had finally returned, Uncle Quan hurriedly stepped forward and said in his ear, "Master, Old Man Jiang has personally come to visit." ”

Cao Shuyu was taken aback, quickly glanced at him, and asked, "You have already sent a famous sticker?" ”

Uncle Quan shook his head: "Before it was sent out, the person arrived." ”

Cao Shuyu quickly returned to normalcy and asked, "Where is he now?" ”

"The old slave told him that you haven't returned yet, he laughed and said it's okay, just wait, so he went to the Banshan Pavilion......"

"That's it," Cao Shuyu pondered for a moment, "invite him to the study." ”

"Yes, master," Uncle Quan took the order and went out.

In the half-mountain pavilion, Jiang Dayong stood in the pavilion, and the surrounding scenery was unobstructed, in fact, this was just an ordinary house, and even the scenery seemed ordinary, not from the hands of a famous artist, and it was far from the other business he had at the foot of Lingyan Mountain.

But the head of the Taigu Cao family, the richest man in the world, chose to live in seclusion here, but it also has a bit of a sense of seclusion in the city, and no one can really imagine it if there is no one to guide them.

He remembered that he had come today, not on a whim, in fact, he should have come to visit a long time ago, and he had heard that he was in the capital some time ago, and he had just left at that time. Later, Liangzhe came back after a circle, and heard that he had returned to Liuhe...... Everything is providential.

Liuhe is actually a good place, and it was in Yangzhou before...... Thinking of Yangzhou, Jiang Dayong couldn't help but sigh. When it comes to Yangzhou, who doesn't mention salt merchants, who doesn't mention the salt farms in Lianghuai? A heavy rain in May, the flood in June came as scheduled, the imperial court gave relief to two Huai, Lu Si, Yudong, Yuxi and other 20 times, and postponed the collection of taxes this year...... A tidal disaster last autumn caused heavy losses to the stove households, and they have not fully recovered. This year is stronger than last year, but looking at it now, I am afraid that it will be another year of no harvest.

With all the stoves in such a situation, can the life of the salt merchant be better? Not to mention anything else, let's just say that private salt is rampant, the power of salt lords is expanding, even if the salt merchants are poor and extravagant, they will not rob their homes and do illegal things, if this goes on for a long time, not to mention the two Huai salt farms, even Yangzhou may tend to decline.

Of course, it would be best if the imperial court could put the salt industry in order, if that was the case......

"Old man Jiang, the master has a ......" Uncle Quan was already waiting outside the pavilion.

Jiang Dayong's thoughts turned back, looked at him and smiled slightly, stretched out his hand and said, "Please." ”

After a stick of incense, Jiang Dayong was already in Cao Shuyu's study.

There are several large bookcases in the middle hall, full of books, in front of the bookshelf stands a black lacquer screen with luodian inlay, a square table of Yuemei luodian, and the same type of Luodian courtyard figure Nanguan hat chair is placed on both sides. The rest of the furnishings are much simpler, and the overall look is still heavy but gorgeous.

Compared with the courtyard, the style of the study is much more luxurious, and Jiang Dayong only glanced at it hurriedly.

After serving tea, the little girl withdrew from the study, only Uncle Quan was by his side, and after the two of them drank, Jiang Da used this to explain his intentions.

"I took the liberty to visit, and I also asked Cao Gongzi not to be surprised. The old man came today, in fact, he wanted to cooperate with the Cao family......" he said straight to the point.

Cao Shuyu kept a smile on his face and waited patiently for him to continue.

"That's the case, the old man just came back from eastern Zhejiang, where I heard that Cao Gongzi set up a money office in Shanghai County is not bad, what about the old man, Xi is the leader of the two Huai business, and there are still some shops and contacts all the way in Zhejiang, so I think about whether I can cooperate with Cao Gongzi and you......"

Cao Shuyu is cautious, even if he already wants to cooperate with Juqian Zhuang in his heart, but because of the habits formed in the mall, he still needs to know more.

"Does Old Man Jiang have any considerations?"

"Hehe..." Jiang Dayong smiled, his attitude was humble, but there was an undoubted light in his eyes: "The old man has two sentences, I don't know whether to say it or not?" ”

"Old man, please talk about ......," Cao Shuyu said.

"I'm afraid that Cao Gongzi's big money won't be just in the six-in-one land, after all, this is not the real Jiangnan. In the real Jiangnan, most of the land is in the hands of the gentry and wealthy families, and if you want to get land from them, I am afraid it is not such a simple operation as luring land prices. The old man thought, firstly, this money is probably not a small amount, and secondly, in fact, the old man is not very clear about what method Cao Gongzi wants to use? I can get land from the scholars......"

Cao Shuyu smiled and said nothing.

Jiang Dayong continued: "...... It wasn't until the old man knew about the money office that he understood it somewhat. Then the remittance bank can not only make bills of exchange, but also lend large amounts, right? Mortgage on land...... As long as the interest is not high, it's good, but ......"

"But what?" Cao Shuyu asked again.

"I don't dare to say that I can understand it completely...... For example, Cao Gongzi must also know that nine out of ten Hui merchants are pawns, and the old man started as pawns. The rule of pawning is 'Valuation one tael, stop borrowing three coins of silver; If you take the land as a pledge, the valuation is 321 acres, and you can only get about 10 taels, right? To tell the truth, this transaction is not very cost-effective, after all, the big landlords in Jiangnan are not poor peasants, and they will not sell their land cheaply. ”

"What the old man said is true, but what if the land worth thirty taels of silver can be loaned three hundred taels?"

"Huh... Haha..."Jiang Dayong laughed a little when he heard this, as if he had heard a strange news, "Which play is this singing by Cao Gongzi?" The old man has lived for so long, and he really hasn't heard of it? ”

Cao Shuyu still smiled slightly, didn't mind, and said politely: "Before this, you need to pay a certain amount of deposit, and the more you borrow, the greater the natural return, and of course, the interest you repay is also ......."

Jiang Da narrowed his eyes, a trace of sharpness crossed his eyes, and after a while, his voice sank and said, "What does Gongzi Cao mean... In fact, it is equivalent to issuing a fictitious silver bill, and then the mortgagor will hold this ticket to participate in the bidding for the land? ”

"Although it is false, I still admit it to Hengchang. And don't forget that once it happens, it will be a huge profit, so tempting, who doesn't have a gambler's mind? Cao Shuyu asked directly.

Jiang Dayong stared at him for a long time, and finally sighed secretly, is it because he is old, and he has long lost the ruthlessness of his youth...... But even if you are young, you will never think of using such a method anyway.

He had mixed feelings in his heart: "Hey, the old man understands...... Cao Gongzi is really young and promising, no wonder he became the head of the Cao family at a young age. ”

Cao Shuyu bowed slightly and said, "False praise." ”

"Then the old man simply asked again, what is the purpose of Cao Gongzi using this method to gather so much land in his hands?"

"Hey......" Cao Shuyu sighed and said, "Don't hide it from you, old man, it's just for ...... It's like you're involved in funding the post reform. ”

"Hehe," Jiang Dayong laughed, and then he fully understood: "It turns out that I want to go together." ”

"Then can your aggregator agree to join the money industry office below?"

"Hehe, naturally!" Jiang Dayong said.

————

Jiang Dayong got up to say goodbye, and Cao Shuyu sent him out of the door before returning to the study.

When he returned to the study, the servant brought the meal, only to find that it was past noon and he had not yet eaten.

I used it briefly, and then I went back to the east room, sat in front of the table with a red and golden dragon pattern, and picked up the map and studied it.

Uncle Quan made a pot of tea for him and said, "Master, can you rest for a while?" ”

Cao Shuyu snorted, picked up the teacup and took a sip, his eyes still looking at the map.

Uncle Quan thought for a while and asked, "Master, will you continue to speculate on high land prices next?" ”

Cao Shuyu put down the map when he heard this, looked at him and said, "Naturally, I can't bear the wolf with the child." ”

"Master, did you say that Your Majesty would agree? If only ......"

Cao Shuyu knew what he wanted to ask: "I should agree." ”

"Hey, if Your Majesty can agree, then your master's efforts over the years have not been in vain, but I don't know if Old Man Jiang will be the same as we think?"

Cao Shuyu smiled: "If it is possible, he should ask His Majesty to fulfill his Jiang family's monopoly position in the salt industry." ”

"Oh, that's good to say......"

Jiang Dayong walked out of Cao's house, and the old courtenary was already waiting outside the gate, and the two got into the carriage and drove to Beiye outside the city.

On the way, the old courteer asked, "Master, what do you think of this Cao family master?" I haven't dealt with much before. ”

Jiang Dayong couldn't help but sigh: "He is a powerful person, and the old man is not as good as him!" ”

What Cao Shuyu said in the study just now is still buzzing in his ears, trying to understand what kind of operation he is doing? Equal to empty gloves white wolf! Make a game, deliberately raise the high price to attract people into the game, and then tempt the pawn to pawn the land, but what the pawn actually gets is a piece of paper. Then use this piece of paper in exchange for land that has exceeded the actual land price, and also pay high interest and redemption money for it. Once the breach is not paid, then the pawned land will forever become someone else's.

And the cost he Cao Shuyu paid for this is probably not even one-tenth.

"Then sir, will you continue to collect the land next?"

"Collect, why don't you accept it? In addition to Liuhe, isn't there also the land of Xuzhou and Baoding? Aren't all three economic zones? The three places come in turn, as long as we are not the last to take over the land, we will make money! And sooner rather than later. ”

"Yes, I forgot that there are two other places."

"Let's see, Liuhe is about to become a pool of muddy water, and it won't be long before the world will be muddy."

"Hehe, master, this analogy is appropriate, isn't it just right to fish in troubled waters?"

In the yamen, Fang Siwei, who tasted the sweetness for the first time, decided to hold another land auction, he had been thinking about it for a long time, but he was a little daze when he looked at the map.

The master and the second official were also in his study, and the four of them were in a daze like this, contemplative and contemplative......

"Honorable, I'm afraid there must be a limit to this auction, right?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"As soon as we come to our yamen, the official land is limited, and the grassland in the mountains and mountains occupies a lot, and it is not easy to auction it out because it does not rely on post roads. And it is necessary to engage in the release of public land, how can there be so many lands to auction? ”

"Hey, this official is also thinking about this problem......"

"And recently, the good land near the post road has been bought by the merchants, and the lower officials are wondering, will they sit on the ground and raise the price?"

"Sit on the ground and start up...... Jokes, right? Who is the starting price to sell? ”