Although the distance from Suzhou to Yangzhou is not particularly far, the transportation is also very convenient, and it can be reached in six or seven days. However, the cost of mobilizing 500 people to Yangzhou is still not small.

According to Lin Daguan's estimates, the cost of action is at least about 1,000 taels of silver, and this money will have to be borne by the community.

If Lin Daguan was willing to take out this money, he would have bought the white beauty of Suzhou Oiran a long time ago.

But the nature of the incident and the long-term benefits are different, Lin Daguan, as the leader of the association, would rather spend 1,000 taels of silver to send 500 people to Yangzhou than spend 1,000 taels on Oiran.

Because long-distance training and going to other places to fight away from home, it is a rare and all-round training opportunity for club members, which can significantly improve the organizational ability of club members and have great benefits in the long run.

Therefore, a thousand taels of funds can be used to train the members of the community, but it is not worth wasting on women, which is the basic quality of a successful community leader.

At night, Gao Changjiang and Yu Gongjing, the leaders and deputy leaders of the 500-person regiment, sat on the shore of the journey, drinking wine and chatting about the future.

After a few glasses of wine, Gao Changjiang said thoughtfully: "Do you think you have the intention of opening a branch in Yangzhou?" ”

Yu Jingjing had never thought about this, and asked in surprise, "Won't it?" We are not a government, how can we build a branch church in a foreign country? ”

After all, this era is still a rural society in general, and the grassroots power in most places is closely linked to the countryside, forming a semi-closed small "plane".

The organization of the community is different from the business gang, it needs to seize the power of the grassroots township, so if you think about it a little, you can understand that it is difficult for the community to take root in the countryside.

Gao Changjiang said: "Before I set off, I studied the customs of Yangzhou, and this place in Yangzhou is different from other places.

In the early years of the dynasty, Yangzhou was dilapidated, there were few household registrations, the population withered, and there was no prosperity of the previous dynasty and today.

Later, Emperor Taizu Gao moved Suzhou people in large numbers to enrich Jiangbei, so many people in Yangzhou Prefecture and counties are from Suzhou.

Later, the salt industry implemented the method of opening up the middle, and only by transporting grain to the border towns could it be exchanged for salt, and a large number of people from Shanxi and Shaanxi came to Yangzhou in order to support salt nearby.

Later, Huizhou merchants rose, and a lot of Huizhou people moved to Yangzhou in order to do business.

Nowadays, the population of Yangzhou City is diverse, the migration is frequent, and the salt industry and commerce are extremely developed, but the agriculture that is closely related to the countryside is almost meaningless.

Therefore, in today's Yangzhou City, the customs are really different from other places, and the local consciousness is much weaker than elsewhere.

To put it more intuitively, there is no obvious distinction between locals and outsiders in Yangzhou. It can even be said that the people in the city have been going up for generations, and all of them are outsiders.

After thinking about it like this, do you also think that it is not impossible to establish a branch in Yangzhou City? ”

Yu Gongjing was taken aback, and subconsciously asked: "Sitting in the hall and dispatching five hundred people to travel four hundred miles, do you really have this intention?" ”

Gao Changjiang replied: "It's hard to say, even if this time is just a temptation, but since then, there are hundreds of people who know Yangzhou City, and anything can happen in the future." ”

Yu Jingjing could only say: "If this is the case, the pattern of the hall is really big, and I actually want to expand to other places to open branches." ”

Gao Changjiang sighed: "How big is the layout of the hall, I'm afraid you and I can't imagine it." ”

Yangzhou City is the northern gateway of the Jiangnan region, the throat of the Grand Canal, a geographically unique transportation hub, and a commercial metropolis where wealth gathers.

If Lin Zaoguan really wants to plant a flag here, it is tantamount to locking Jiang Zuo's throat and economic lifeline, and the plan seems to be not small.

Gao Changjiang is a storyteller and is familiar with historical paragraphs.

If it is placed in the setting of the Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it feels like Lin Zaikan must at least be a character at the level of the eighteen-way anti-king.

If it is not an anti-king, who will ponder the ability to train 500 people to fight for hundreds of miles?

To tell the truth, if there are really 500 core soldiers who can run for hundreds of miles and still do not collapse, and then coerce a group of blind streams, it will not be a big problem to encounter troubled times and seize Jiangnan.

On the same night, Lin Daguan and his newly met local friends Lu Junbi and Zhu Nexia sat on a painting boat and wandered on the city river in Yangzhou.

Although the city river is not called the small Qinhuai River at this time, the preliminary scenery has been formed.

The biggest feature of this scenic line is that there are many bridges, and you can see a bridge of different styles when you walk on the water for a while, which is also in line with the name of "Twenty-four Bridges".

Functionally speaking, it is not possible to build so many bridges, the "Little Qinhuai River" runs through the whole city directly from the middle, and a large number of bridges must be built in order to ensure the smooth flow of traffic between the east and the west.

But Lin Daguan's interest is not in the scenery on the bridge, nor in the lights of thousands of homes on both sides, let alone in the singers around him.

Instead, he kept talking to Lu Junbi, inquiring about all kinds of stories, such as asking: "Who are the people on the streets of Yangzhou City?" ”

Lu Junbi asked in confusion: "What do people understand?" ”

Lin Daguan explained simply and clearly: "When a disaster needs relief or needs to repair bridges and pave roads, who will take the lead in organizing it? ”

Lu Junbi suddenly realized, and replied without thinking: "The people who do this kind of thing in Yangzhou City are all salt merchants!"

There are more than 100 salt merchants in the city, large and small, and if there is anything to do on the streets, it is organized by the salt merchants. ”

Lin Tailai subconsciously sighed: "It's a little tricky." ”

Lu Junbi didn't understand, "What's tricky?" ”

Lin Daguan snorted and said: "When it comes to the most developed commercial towns in Jiangzuo, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Yangzhou are the most famous, but these three are different from each other.

The characteristic of Nanjing City is that it is dominated by the government, while Suzhou City is dominated by various industry offices that are half official and half private, while Yangzhou City is dominated by completely private salt merchants. ”

The output of salt in Lianghuai accounts for half of the world, and the official data has an annual output of 140 million catties. Among them, Huaibei is 40 million catties and Huainan is 100 million catties, which contains million-level profits.

Yangzhou City is thriving again because of the salt industry, and the main commercial activities of the city are basically carried out around these more than 100 salt merchants.

Each salt merchant is not just a merchant, but a group.

Each group includes acquisitions, transportation, and sales, as well as affiliated pawnbroking, dart boards, houses and other industries.

Of course, under today's system, the core asset of each group is "woben", which can be understood as "salt industry purchase and sales qualification certificate".

There is no nest book, and he is not even qualified to pay money to receive salt introduction, and the nest book can be hereditary from generation to generation.

If you want to obtain the qualification to enter the market, that is, the nest, you must first pay a huge amount of silver taels to the government, commonly known as "occupying the nest".

For example, if you want to obtain the "purchase and sale qualification certificate" of 1,000 taels of salt every year, don't even think about it without spending tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Therefore, the salt industry is also a capital-intensive industry, and without sufficient capital, it is impossible to obtain entry qualifications, let alone maintain the operation of the group.

Thinking of this, Lin Daguan shook his head and said casually: "The forces of various families in Yangzhou City are scattered, and they are not xenophobic, so it is easy to grab a piece of the pie in Yangzhou City."

But it is difficult to become a hegemon, at least not at present, because the foundation of the salt merchants cannot be moved, and no one has the strength to influence the salt industry system. ”

Lu Junbi: "."

Grab a turf? Hegemon?

This friend Wang, what did you do when you came to Yangzhou City? Isn't it a self-proclaimed study tour and a visit to the Grand Master?

Lin Daguan had to explain: "My family has always been half Confucian and half businessman, and since I am an adult and self-reliant, I also have to think about making a living and making a profit while studying.

I found that Yangzhou City is a very suitable place for doing business, and I want to develop in Yangzhou, so I thought about it a little more. ”

Half-Confucian, half-business? The Wang family? Lu Junbi suddenly thought of something, and exclaimed: "Could it be that you are a child of the Dongshan Wang family in Suzhou?" ”

The most famous half-Confucian and half-merchant family in Suzhou City is, of course, the famous Dongshan Wang family.

For this rich and noble family who has been an official for three generations after Zaifu, even Lu Junbi, who is far away in Yangzhou, has heard of it.

It can be said that all businessmen want to live like the royal family of Dongshan.

No wonder this friend Wang is sure to come to Yangzhou to have some connections, and he is sure to have confidence.

Lin Daguan responded: "Friend Lu, don't ask!" In the next day, nothing can be accomplished, and I will not speak out of the house outside, so as not to shame the door. ”

Lu Junbi smiled: "I understand, I understand, Friend Wang wants to be a low-key person." ”

Then he immediately said: "If Friend Wang wants to do business in Yangzhou, I have an easy way." ”

Although Lin Daguan didn't need other people's guidance, he still asked curiously, "What way?" ”

Lu Junbi whispered: "I know a big salt merchant surnamed Wang, who has no children under his knees and only one daughter.

Friend Wang should not be married yet, if he can marry Wang's family, why can't he start a career in Yangzhou? ”

Lin Tailai: "."

For a moment, I was moved, but I pressed it again.

His ambition to marry is the eldest lady of the official family, how can he be tempted by the rich.

Lu Junbi added: "Even if the Wang family's financial resources are compared with Zheng Zhiyan, they are not far behind. ”

Lin Tailai resisted the urge to agree, and denied: "Forget it, the eldest husband's life is his own business, how can he trust the woman." ”

Lu Junbi persuaded: "Why should Friend Wang be so pedantic, if it wasn't for the fact that I thought it was appropriate, I wouldn't have brought it up."

I can tell you that the financial resources of the Wang family will definitely not insult your identity as a friend of Wang.

And I really think that this is the best of both worlds, and the Wang family will readily agree. ”

If he can marry the famous Dongshan Wang family, there is no reason for the salt merchant Wang family not to agree.

All the salt merchants who have made a lot of money, without exception, are desperately working hard in their careers, literary circles, prestige, etc.

Otherwise, Zheng Zhiyan spent so much effort to rebuild Pingshan Hall, and what was the picture of the poetry contest?

Lin Tailai didn't expect that making friends casually would cause such a thing.

Ten refused: "The Wang family has a big business, since there is only one daughter, it is better to recruit a son-in-law."

Just like our Taishi master of the Xu family in Tiger Hill, Suzhou, he recruited a Xiucai named Fan Yunlin as his son-in-law.

And I, Wang Yusheng, have no intention of being a son-in-law, so it is not suitable. ”

Lu Junbi didn't continue to persuade him, but he kept counting it in his heart.

He is still quite familiar with the Wang family, and he has a little bit of kinship.

After sending this friend of Wang Yusheng back to his residence for a while, he had to hurry to visit Wang's family overnight.

If the Wang family is really interested in getting married, they should make a move as soon as possible, and strike first, even if they use some means, it doesn't matter!

The unmarried young son of the Dongshan Wang family, and he is also a quasi-talented high-quality stock, and the eight achievements are Wang Wei's branch, which is hard to find!

Even if you smash a few thousand taels out, in exchange for one to marry the Wang family in Dongshan, Suzhou, it is not a loss.

(End of chapter)