The first meeting broke up unhappily.

In today's situation, the leaders of Tokyo simply can't connect because they don't trust each other.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, all the leaders of Kaifeng City were related to the powerful people in the court, and most of them belonged to the spokesmen of the royal family.

The reason why the royal family did not end up in person was because the brothers Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi severely punished the powerful for disrupting the market. Later, a routine gradually formed, that is, they each cultivated white gloves, they were able to get benefits, and the court also saved face.

Only when the matter is made big, the court will punish it.

For example, the coal industry has caused public resentment in Tokyo to boil, and even a large number of people have frozen to death in winter, followed by a stampede of coal grabbing.

The imperial court couldn't stand it anymore, so it simply flipped the table, and the government became the largest wholesaler and retailer. As a result, the government monopolized the market, manipulated coal prices and made the people's livelihood miserable, and was forced to open up the private market under the pressure of public opinion.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the first to punish were the magnates of the previous dynasty, and then forcibly split the migratory wang clan.

The heads of all walks of life in Tokyo lost their backers in an instant, and some of them were even implicated in raiding their homes.

After the end of the first year of material control, the big merchants began to take refuge in the new magnates. Subconsciously follow the old method and want to cooperate with the royal family, clan relatives and relatives.

It's a pity that except for Zhu Guoxiang and Zhu Ming's father and son, the royal family of Daming are all underage.

Bai Qi was barely one, but he was never in the capital.

And what about relatives?

The Zhu family's father and son are extremely strict, and they have no way to start, and they are not even allowed to live in the capital!

Cabinet ministers and important ministers at the level of Shangshu generally do not come into contact with the head of the line.

Because—it's a drop.

At most, the subordinates of the important ministers make money, and then honor the important ministers in the name of gifts.

Therefore, the big businessmen in all walks of Tokyo are all courting the descendants of the powerful, as well as the middle and lower-level officials of the Sixth Ministry.

In last year's major case, the six ministries were investigated and punished by a bunch of officials, and even the descendants of the powerful suffered from it, and the big businessmen once again lost their backers.

When people are panicking, how dare these big businessmen dare to make trouble in tandem?

……

Li Dunyi rode home in a luxury carriage and went straight to see his old father.

"How?" Li Mao asked his son.

Li Dunyi replied: "I was scared, what else could I do?" ”

Li Mao nodded and said, "It's okay to be slow, you can't go against the prince." My Li family can continue to be rich for 200 years, relying on obedience to the imperial court. ”

Putting aside the royal relatives and the powerful of the family, only talking about the businessmen inside and outside Tokyo, the Li family is definitely the richest man in Tokyo!

When they were doing business in Kaifeng, even Zhao Kuangyin didn't have a yellow robe.

During the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the northwest frontier was in an emergency, and the imperial court was not financially adequate, so it borrowed money from wealthy merchants in Tokyo.

The Li family alone borrowed more than 200,000 yuan, and afterwards the imperial court directly failed to repay the debts, and only gave a few Li clan people official titles to pay off the debts. And all of them are junior officials in Beijing who are eight or nine grades, and they have no real power at all, and they can't be promoted if they continue to spend money (similar to the kind of official position that Qian Chen donated money to buy).

This matter was written into the history books, and his real name was not even mentioned, only "Li's merchants", "Li's wealthy merchants in Beijing" and so on.

Because they don't deserve it!

The Li family also hired famous teachers to educate their children to take the career route. But the children and grandchildren grew up in a honey pot, and few were willing to study hard, and there were only two Jinshi in more than 100 years.

It stands to reason that as the richest man among the businessmen in the capital, there are serious jinshi in the family, and the road should be opened with money.

The actual situation is just the opposite, the family of relatives that the Li family took refuge in deliberately pressed the Li family to prevent a smooth promotion.

The Li family has changed from a merchant to a gentry, so how can I control it in the future?

You'd better continue to do business honestly!

Not only did the powerful suck blood from the Li family, but the imperial court often reached out to ask for money, and every time they sealed petty officials to pay off debts.

It's not easy to be the richest man in Beijing.

When the Ming Dynasty investigated and punished the powerful people of the previous dynasty, the Li family immediately sold their backers. When the capital was short of materials, he donated cloth to the imperial court, which was used to distribute to the soldiers to make clothes.

Even last year's big case, the Li family was able to calmly withdraw, but they were fined 200,000 yuan.

"Grandfather, father!"

Li Wenzhong walked in with his hands and saluted the two elders.

Li Mao instantly changed into a kind smile, beckoned to his eldest grandson, and said, "Da Lang, come here." How's your homework done today? ”

Li Wenzhong walked up to his grandfather: "It's okay." ”

Li Mao took his grandson's hand: "Although you failed last year, you can still retain your fame twice." Even if you fail to make the list twice, you have to take the test again, and you have to be admitted to the Jinshi. If there is no non-commissioned officer in the family, even if he is rich in the world, he will be bullied, and the millions of family properties are nothing less than a passing cloud. ”

Li Wenzhong said: "The Ming Dynasty is not the former Song Dynasty, as long as you abide by the law and do business, you will not be exploited." The child heard that the imperial court had issued bonds many times, and the first two batches of war bonds issued in Sichuan had now been repaid to the merchants with interest. ”

"You know what?"

Li Dunyi said disdainfully: "At the beginning of the dynasty, it was natural to keep its word, and Taizong and Taizu of the previous dynasty also punished the business magnates." After another generation or two of emperors, the court will not pay such a respectful measure. While the imperial court is still keeping its promises, my Li family should be an official in the imperial examination, and quickly change from a merchant family to a gentry family! You don't care about the family's business, and study hard wholeheartedly. ”

Li Wenzhong could only say: "Mathematics, physics, astronomy, and geography have been learned very deeply by children, and it is more than enough to take the imperial examination." Even the way of chemistry proposed by the official family last year, the children are also studying it seriously, and often invite students to discuss. It's just that those Confucian scriptures still need to be read hard. ”

"Next year, you will take the Taixue exam," Li Dunyi said, "I have already inquired, and next year's Taixue exam will pay more attention to miscellaneous studies than before." Since you are proficient in those miscellaneous studies, you must be very sure that you will be admitted to Taixue. Alas, if you had known that the official family wanted to advocate chemistry, after you failed last year, you should have reported to persuade the peasants to take the opportunity to study in Taixue with the way of chemistry. ”

The three generations of grandfather, father, and grandson chatted for a while around the imperial examination, and seemed to be completely unconcerned about business.

Suddenly, Li Wenzhong asked, "I heard that the establishment of an exchange by the imperial court has a great influence on the big merchants of various banks in Tokyo. ”

"You don't care about this, it's important to study well!" Li Dunyi said.

Li Mao also said: "My Li family has been able to do business in Kaifeng for 200 years, and it has not fallen after the change of the Song and Ming dynasties, because it knows how to judge the situation and size up the situation. In the previous dynasty, the prince changed the law, and we did not stand up against it. It was only when the old party made trouble that we took advantage of the trend. It's the same now, what the prince wants to do, we also follow the prince. It's just an exchange, and anyone can buy it. With the financial resources of my Li family, I can still make money, but I don't earn as much as before. ”

Li Wenzhong said: "In fact, there are loopholes to exploit, but you must master a degree, don't make the prince anxious." ”

Li Mao looked at his grandson with interest: "Let's talk about it." ”

Li Wenzhong said: "Winter is coming, and the price of coal and cloth will definitely rise. Coal cannot be controlled, and the officials of the coal industry in Tokyo have three private banks, and once the private banks manipulate the price of coal, the official banks will immediately take action. After all, the coal industry in the former Song Dynasty caused a big mess, and the imperial court has always attached great importance to it since then. But our cloth is different, it is not so easy to die, and the court is more tolerant. ”

"When the weather gets cooler, you can sweep the stock on the exchange. Even before the merchants enter the exchange, they directly raise the price to buy the goods. ”

"With an exchange, it's more convenient than before. Because there is a limited delivery period for buying goods on the exchange. As long as we make a move, other big businessmen in the cloth shop will follow suit, and we will be able to increase the price of cloth within a day or two. ”

"Once the price of cloth rises, small and medium-sized businessmen who have already bought the goods will not pick up the goods in order to make a profit. Instead, they grabbed the delivery period and sold the goods list directly, which means that they can make a profit without doing anything. ”

"In this way, it is equivalent to the small and medium-sized merchants who are also controlled by us, and the large, medium and small cloth merchants in the entire capital join forces to speculate and sell cloth."

"The government's response is lagging behind, and they don't dare to do it easily after 400 miles of expedited transfers. Because the 400-mile expedited involves the Ministry of War, it will eventually have to be reported to the Ministry of War and the Cabinet, and if you don't get it right, you will be held accountable. The officials of the exchange will definitely call the big businessmen of the cloth shop to talk first. ”

"We will follow the officials, give them enough face, and let them get the performance of stabilizing the price."

"At this time, the price of cloth has risen to a very high level, and we can release a large number of goods. You know, we are the first to sweep the goods, and we can buy a lot of cloth at a low price, and we can make a lot of money by lowering the price. And we have warehouses where the surplus cloth can be stored. ”

"But those small and medium-sized businessmen who follow the trend and buy at a high price, those who sell early will definitely make money, and those who sell late will be smashed in their hands. They may be raising money everywhere to speculate on goods, and suddenly the price of cloth drops, and the bill of goods has a limited delivery period. If they don't sell at a reduced price, they have to pay a warehouse fee. If they sell at a reduced price, they will lose money. ”

"When the price of cloth continues to fall, countless small and medium-sized cloth merchants will rush to reduce the price. And we sell a lot of cloth when it is high, and when the price of the cloth plummets, we can buy it back at a low price. ”

"Inside and out, I made money twice, and I also gave the government enough face!"

"And doing so many things won't affect people's livelihood too much. After we buy back the cloth at a low price, and then ship it in the warehouse little by little, the price of the cloth will slowly rise back to the normal level. At this time, a large amount of cloth was stored in the warehouse by several large merchants, and small and medium-sized merchants could only buy from us. ”

"As long as the price of cloth returns to normal, the exchange will not rush the transfer of goods for 400 miles."

"If a merchant learns that the price of cloth in Tokyo has skyrocketed, he is in a hurry to go back and ship the goods. By the time they brought the cloth to it, the price of the cloth had already been lowered. We can continue to reduce the price of shipments, so that those merchants can only sell at a loss, and then we take the opportunity to eat the new goods of the merchants at a very low price. ”

"Of course, at this time, it's best not to lower the price too harshly, otherwise the exchange will become an ornament, which is tantamount to offending the prince to death."

"Therefore, it is okay to make money a few times, but you can't completely collapse the market. It is best to let the merchants bring in a new cloth, so that they can make a little profit, and no matter how ruthless they are, they can't lose money. If they lose money, the exchange will be finished, and the prince will use his knife when he is angry. ”

Li Mao and Li Dunyi glanced at each other, and their eyes were indescribably shocked.

Li Mao was overjoyed, grabbed Li Wenzhong's hand and said, "My grandson is really a business wizard!" ”

(End of chapter)