Zhao Wenji knew Chen Zizhuang and knew that since he was so sincere in promoting group training, he must have the confidence to pinch the gentry of the province. Zhao Wenji had no choice but to exert his strength from another aspect.

"Mr. Chen, I don't know where the money needed for this group training comes from?" Zhao Wenji took the initiative to ask.

Chen Zizhuang took the chopsticks and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhao, our proposal for today's matter is not an agreement. Although we gentry have the intention to hold group exercises, in the final analysis, we still have to agree with the imperial court. It's still over the Governor's side, let's talk about it. ”

Zhao Wenji saw that Chen Zizhuang's response was not leaking, so he only thought about returning to Zhaoqing and discussing with the governor Shen Youlong.

After talking about business, everyone is about to disperse. Chen Zizhuang was very interested, he went to the door of the house to see him off, and asked a few gentry to come back in a few days to talk about it, the meaning is obvious, the matter of group training, everyone must not be Zhao Wenji to make up their minds.

"Zhaoji, are you going to leave too?" Chen Zizhuang saw Li Zhaoji surrender and took the initiative to ask.

Li Zhaoji said: "This is Guangzhou, the younger generation has publicly revealed his whereabouts here, if you don't leave quickly, I'm afraid that General Lin will embarrass me." ”

"I really don't know, what kind of suspicion do you have with Mr. Lin. Can you talk to the old man, and the old man will mediate one or two for you, how about it? Chen Zizhuang regarded the group training as a major event, whether it was a group exercise or a silk ticket sale, if he could get Lin Cha done, he would do things a lot more smoothly.

Moreover, Chen Zizhuang also felt that Li Zhaoji didn't need to be so sneaky in Guangzhou.

Li Zhaoji smiled, stepped forward and whispered beside him: "Master Chen, Lin Cha's finger was cut off by me personally. If he can let it go, I have no opinion, and it doesn't hurt to admit his mistake. ”

Chen Zizhuang's face changed greatly, who is Lin Cha, he knows very well that the hereditary military household has a great influence among the military households in Guangdong, otherwise he would not have taken over the post of chief soldier after Chen Qian. Lin Cha has always been arrogant, Li Zhaoji can cut his fingers, it is definitely not a mistake, based on this alone, Chen Zizhuang knows that this is not something he can mediate in a few words.

"The matter of group training and the matter of foreign trade raw silk are two major events. If you don't talk to the old man thoroughly, you just leave, but it's not good. Chen Zizhuang took Li Zhaoji's hand, but Li Zhaoji insisted: "Make an appointment again, Master Chen, the younger generation is timid, it's better to be appropriate." ”

Chen Zizhuang said: "Then when and where will we talk about it next?" ”

Li Zhaoji smiled faintly: "I haven't thought about it yet, please be patient with Master Chen, the younger generation will naturally come to visit when he finds the right time." ”

Chen Zizhuang had no choice but to go home, he thought that Li Zhaoji would delay for some time, but he didn't expect that in the middle of the night, Li Zhaoji would visit.

It turned out that Li Zhaoji had been arranging for someone to monitor the Chen family, and since the banquet was over, no one came to the door, and no one came in or out of the house, so Li Zhaoji felt safe, so he went directly to the door.

Chen Zizhuang walked into the study with clothes, and seeing Li Zhaoji's radiant spirits, he complained: "You are still young, it doesn't hurt to sleep less, at the age of the old man, it is not easy to sleep well." ”

Li Zhaoji smiled: "If it is inconvenient for Master Chen, the juniors will come again next time." ”

"Look at you, you can't tell." Chen Zizhuang immediately said: "Since you're here, let's get straight to the point." Let's talk about the foreign trade raw silk first, now the silk ticket trading has come to an end, with the high price, Haishuzu has significantly reduced the acquisition, this should be what you mean. ”

Li Zhaoji nodded, the purchase and sale of silk tickets depends on poor information. After Chen Zizhuang called Hai Shuzu that day, he decided to cooperate with Li Zhaoji, and the gentry attending the meeting immediately intervened to buy, and these people had great influence, and others also bought, and the price of silk tickets naturally went up.

Li Zhaoji asked Hai Shuzu to stop in time, fortunately, Li Zhaoji took the lead in this matter, and he had already bought 1,300 silk tickets, and these silk tickets were all silk tickets of Chunsi, as for others to follow, Li Zhaoji was also helpless, the moment this matter was seen through by Chen Zizhuang, it became 'Christmas', if you don't give candy, you will be trick-or-treating, and if you don't let the gentry make money, they will inevitably make trouble.

Of course, Li Zhao's basic capital is also limited, and these silk bills have already put most of the money earned from Manila, although he still has a lot of cash in his hand, but to maintain the operation of the trading company and the construction of the Tamsui area, investment is required, and Li Zhaoji needs a certain amount of cash flow.

"You have decided on the rules for going to Nagasaki to trade?" Chen Zizhuang asked.

Li Zhaoji said directly: "In April, the southwest wind was together, and I personally led the fleet to go. At that time, you and a few lords' goods, you can also take a boat, I only take 10% of the freight. ”

Chen Zizhuang nodded slightly, and said: "Today, you mentioned the formation of group exercises, this matter is promising, the group training is compiled, plus the pirates fight and kill a few back and forth, the Pearl River Estuary will be quiet sooner or later." But this trade matter can not be a one-shot deal, in the future, how your trading company and my Guangdong gentry will do this business for a long time, we must also have a plan. ”

Li Zhaoji said: "Actually, this matter is easy to say, raw silk is a rare thing in foreign trade, and all countries in Taixi are eager to go to Nagasaki, because there is more gold and silver in the Japanese country, and the profits are also greater. As long as our first trade is successful, the matter of trade can also be determined.

Of course, even if the trade with Nagasaki was not so successful, it did not matter, and the sale of Manila and Batavia would make a direct profit from the Spaniards and Dutch. Sold to Malacca, it can be sold to Arab merchants and Indian merchants.

The trading company has armed merchant ships, and it has good relations with the Netherlands and Spain, so there is no problem on my side. The key is whether you can get a steady source of raw silk on your side. ”

Chen Zizhuang said: "Speaking of which, every gentry has a grange and manages a lot of population, and silkworm farmers and weavers cannot escape the control of the gentry. ”

"What Master Chen said is unreasonable." Li Zhaoji did not show mercy to Chen Zizhuang, and said bluntly.

Chen Zizhuang smiled embarrassedly, he didn't feel angry at Li Zhaoji's arrogance, after all, the Chen family was an heirloom, and he was unfamiliar with the way of buying and selling, even if he did. Chen Zizhuang's participation in these things is not only for money, but also for influence.

"You are a trader, and you know the truth best. You can talk to the old man. Chen Zizhuang said.

Li Zhaoji said: "What you said is the reality, but the raw silk and silk fabrics in the hands of the gentry may not necessarily be sold by my trading company. Not to mention anything else, let's join forces once this year and sell raw silk to Nagasaki, then the Zheng family will inevitably rebound next year.

I will think of a way at will, for example, the Zheng family will send people to buy the goods in the hands of the gentry at a high price, and our alliance will be self-defeating, and then return to the point of scattered sand in the past. Now, by chance, everyone has finally united once, and it is necessary to form a system, form rules, and form an unbreakable alliance. ”

Chen Zizhuang nodded slightly, in fact, the Guangdong gentry had long wanted to unite to deal with the Zheng family's monopoly on foreign trade, and they had always been divided by it, and their tricks were similar to what Li Zhaoji said every time.

"What do you say?" Chen Zizhuang asked.

Lee said: "Establish a bank and make the silk ticket business bigger and stronger. ”

Chen Zizhuang was a little puzzled, and after a little thought: "Bank, you mean Qianzhuang." ”

Li Zhaoji waved his hand: "The bank looks similar to the bank, but there is a fundamental difference, the bank is just a primary financial institution ........ Li Zhaoji wanted to explain the difference between the two with Chen Zizhuang, but after thinking about it, why bother, even if what he said was easy to understand, this guy who was full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, and who kept his mouth shut might not be able to understand.

Li Zhaoji said: "In the past, the silk ticket was that the landlords and gentry lent money and grain to silkworm farmers, and silkworm farmers used raw silk to repay the loan at the agreed time. The interest and repayment methods vary from house to house. We simply set up a bank, and the gentry invested in shares, and the banks stepped in and lent money and grain to silkworm farmers and weavers, and then these people handed over raw silk and fabrics to the banks.

And then sell it overseas, Master Chen thought, those gentry who have shares in the bank, even if they want to sell the raw silk to the Zheng family, the raw silk is not his. ”

"But after all, not every gentry can take a stake." Chen Zizhuang said.

Li Zhaoji laughed: "That's natural, but as long as a few big gentry and I join forces, we are the most powerful in the Guangdong silk ticket industry." How did those small families compete with us? Besides, we don't just make this one, we also have another.

During this period, I traveled back and forth between Macao and Guangzhou, and found that the price of local grain and rice was very sufficient, and it was often more than one or four yuan for one stone of rice, and even up to two taels in the spring. Overseas, grain and rice are cheap, and the rice in Manila is only nine cents of silver, while the rice of Malacca is only six cents.

Imagine that in the future, when the ships of the trading company go south to trade and come back with cheap rice, we can reduce the interest on the money and grain loaned to the silkworm farmers, and those small households will inevitably follow suit, and when they have no profit, we still have profits, and these people will quit the silk ticket industry. ”

Chen Zizhuang's eyes burst out with some bright light, but then dimmed, and he said: "Isn't this offending many people, how can people get into trouble?" ”

Li Zhaoji laughed: "Isn't there a group exercise, we organized a group drill and wiped out the four pirates surnamed the Pearl River Estuary, this Guangdong Sea is ours, who dares to embarrass us, and his ship can still go to sea?" You have swords and soldiers in your hands, and you are a gentry leader yourself, are you still afraid of some small families disturbing you?

When the time comes, those are just a mess of the wind and nothing to worry about. ”

"But even so, the old man still felt that something was wrong." Chen Zizhuang waved his hand, in the end, he had read too many books and five classics, and he always wanted to be kind to others.

Li Zhaoji couldn't see it, so he could only say soft words: "What the younger generation just said, that's an extreme situation, you are the head of the gentry in Guangdong, you are kind to others, loyal and benevolent, and you will not come to such things unless you have to."

In fact, where can it get to that point, Guangdong is a province with a population of millions, and our banks will not be confined to a province, but will also be limited to the field of raw silk, and sugar in the future. , iron, porcelain, and the like, all have to be involved.

There are so many industries, how much investment is required, the bank is short of funds, and it is not necessary to finance the rest of the gentry, and there is a profit, that is, it can pull people one by one onto our ship, and when the time comes, not only will it not be evil with life, but it will make you respond to it.

When the time comes, so many gentry will support you, and the cabinet in the capital will always have you in the chair, Master Chen, do you think what you said is reasonable? ”

This is really to Chen Zizhuang's heart, at the beginning he was imprisoned because he was considered by Emperor Chongzhen to be 'frustrated and imprisoned', and he was ransomed and returned, and now the national disaster is at hand, he has long had the intention of serving the country, but he can't wait for a long time to recover the holy decree.

can only establish academies and indulge in landscapes, and when the group training and the bank are established, he will gain influence in Guangdong, and he will make a contribution to exterminating the four surnames, and with the current situation in the court, it will inevitably recover.

Chen Zizhuang does not love money, but fame and power are what he loves, and after all, it is used by Li Zhaoji because of this.

"Reasonable, reasonable, thanks to you, the old man knows the stakes." Chen Zizhuang high-fived and praised.

After Li Zhaoji finished painting the pie, he naturally had to make a request, he said: "The future, let's not talk about it for the time being, there is indeed one thing in front of us, and you must be in charge, otherwise our next plans will be affected." ”

"What?"

"Regarding the trade with Japan, the younger generation feels that the Zheng family is afraid that it will be difficult."