Fuzhou City.

In the cold winter, the city of Fuzhou has also entered a severe winter climate, and the people in the city have changed into thick cotton clothes, or put on several layers of thick linen clothes to resist the cold.

On this day, in the famous Yujialou in the city, more than a dozen famous maritime merchants from all over Fujian gathered here, and all the Yujialou was packaged, and there were many businessmen's servants at the door early in the morning, and the guys of the restaurant were also busy welcoming the merchants one by one.

"Oops! What kind of day is this, look at the Chen family and the Xu family, they are all famous maritime merchants in Fujian, why did they all come here to gather? ”

"You don't know yet, do you? It is said that they are going to entertain the head of our Daming Chamber of Commerce, and the father-in-law of Liu Yan, the first assistant of the current cabinet: Wang Jing! This is a character who stomps his feet, and all the businessmen of the Ming Dynasty are going to be shaken! ”

"It's no wonder, what is the Chen family and the Xu family, compared with the head of the Chamber of Commerce, they are also small roles and small people, no wonder our sea merchants in Fujian are so together, it turns out that they want to welcome such a big man."

Outside the Yujia Building, many onlookers and businessmen were discussing, and the crowd kept exclaiming, vying to gather around to see the demeanor of the big man.

It didn't take long for famous maritime merchants from all over Fujian to stand at the gate of Yujialou, and there were more than a dozen people, all of whom were famous in Fujian.

But these big men, all standing in the cold wind waiting for the object of the feast, did not long see an unpretentious carriage coming from a distance.

The carriage doesn't seem to have too much decoration, but those who know know that this is a "limited edition" new carriage produced by the Huangming Vehicle Workshop, the body is made of fine red pine, and the wheels are wrapped with the latest wheel skin produced by Shandong Yanzhou Fu Trading Company, which is said to be made of rubber produced in Nanyang, and the wheels are also equipped with so-called shock-absorbing steel springs, which are said to be smooth no matter what road the carriage is traveling on.

In addition, it is said that this limited edition carriage has various facilities such as incense, and it can be said that it is very comfortable to ride. Of course, the price of this kind of carriage is also very expensive, the usual new carriage only costs one hundred and eighty-eight taels of silver, while this limited edition of the new carriage requires a high price of at least five hundred silver coins!

"It's coming!"

Everyone stepped forward one after another, only to see the carriage stopped, under the gaze of everyone, Wang Jing, the head of the Huangming Chamber of Commerce, poked out of his body, and there were already entourages who put the wooden steps made of huanghuali and helped Wang Jing get out of the carriage.

"Hehe, meet the head of the king!"

"Wang Huishou has worked hard all the way, hard work!!"

Wang Jing looked at everyone and said with a smile: "It's a shame that you are waiting here, you are in a hurry along the way, or let you wait for a long time, sin, sin!" ”

Where did everyone dare to be, they complimented one after another, and then surrounded Wang Jing into the Yu family building.

Today, Yujialou was wrapped up by everyone, but the place of the banquet was in the private room on the third floor.

Wang Jing entered the private room surrounded by everyone, only to see that there were only two large round tables in the room, and there were already sumptuous delicacies on the table, and the wine had also been scalded with special wine utensils.

"Hehe, you are too polite, although life is better now, but this is too much."

Everyone said: "The king will be the first to arrive, and it is right." ”

Then Wang Jing beckoned everyone to sit down, and everyone sat at two tables, and then began to stagger.

After three rounds of wine, Wang Jing entered the theme and said to everyone: "Hehe, this time the old man went south to Fujian, just to join hands with all the powerful maritime merchants in Fujian to sell my Ming Dynasty's tea, cement, porcelain, glass, shochu, soap, sea salt and other commodities to Western countries, as well as North Korea and Japan. ”

"The old man's ugly words are ahead, this time the maritime merchants are earning the profits of resale, and the old man and the workshops and trading companies of the Chamber of Commerce are earning the profits of production. How about we all work together to make a fortune from the Yiren? ”

Everyone agreed, Wang Jing's identity is unusual, his son-in-law is Liu Yan, the first assistant of the current cabinet, with the endorsement of the Ming court, what else do people have to worry about?

It's just that a maritime merchant named Chen Dongmin said: "If the words of the head of the meeting are true, we will definitely follow the head of the king and work together to make a fortune." It's just that among the Westerners nowadays, the Dutch and the Great Buddha are the leaders, and the Yi people of these two countries are very arrogant. ”

At this time, the Ming Dynasty collectively referred to the Spaniards and the Portuguese as the Franc machine people, but they were distinguished by the big Franc machine and the small Franc machine, and the big Franc machine was the Spaniard.

"The head of the meeting may not be very familiar with the situation in the South Seas, now the Dutch occupy the south of Taiwan, and also occupy a lot of islands in the South Seas, while the big Buddha Lang Ji people occupy the whole territory of Luzon, these two countries are the most powerful among the Western countries, and their merchants are also very arrogant, and they trade with us on weekdays, and there is a lot of oppression."

Wang Jing laughed and said: "Now that the imperial court has taken over Zheng Yiguan's authority in Nanyang, whether it is the Dutch or the Great Buddha Langji, as long as they pass through the waters of Nanyang and Taiwan, they have to pay taxes to the imperial court, and now they are only arrogant!" ”

"You don't have to worry, this time there is an old man, and the pricing power of all my Ming commercial goods is in our hands, whether it is the Dutch or the big Buddha man, as long as you want to purchase and make money, you must follow our rules."

Another merchant said worriedly: "What if those Yi people don't agree??" ”

Today's Wang Jing is no longer the owner of the oil mill in Wangjiazhuang back then, and his many years of experience as the head of the Chamber of Commerce have given Wang Jing the bearing of a superior, and he said loudly at this time: "Don't agree? Nowadays, the merchants of Western countries have no cards, and if they abide by our rules, they can trade with us normally and make some hard-earned money. If they don't follow the rules, huh! ”

"The old man can guarantee that those unruly Westerners don't want to make money, and whether they can leave Nanyang alive is a question!"

Everyone was shocked, although the national situation of the Ming Dynasty has been much better now, but the Dutch and the Big Buddha Lang Ji people occupy the southern part of Taiwan and the Nanyang Islands after all, no matter how strong the Ming Dynasty is, it is beyond the reach of the whip.

Several maritime merchants expressed this concern, and after Wang Jing laughed, he said: "You don't look at it, now that the imperial court is ready to send troops to recover Liaodong, the defeat of the Manchu Tartars is just around the corner." When the imperial court recovers Liaodong, where will it point its troops? ”

Everyone was enthusiastic when they heard this, and everyone hadn't thought about this problem.

Wang Jing said loudly: "Today's court is not the court that was established in the past, and the old man can assure you that the eyes of the court are always looking outward, and the court now also attaches importance to commerce and trade." If we let the court know that we businessmen are being oppressed by the Yiren, what will we do? ”

A picture suddenly appeared in everyone's minds: the huge sailors of the Ming Empire appeared on the choppy sea of the South Seas, the fleet of the Dutch and the Great Buddha was beaten to the ground, the islands of the South Seas were full of smoke, and countless soldiers of the Ming Dynasty roared to land on the beach and began to expand their territory in various parts of the South Seas!!

A thin maritime merchant asked, "Chief, will the imperial court really use troops in Nanyang for us?" ”

Wang Jing said with a smile: "Now that the attention of the imperial court is in Liaodong, it is natural that it will not rashly use troops in Nanyang. ”

"But now in the imperial court, at least half of the taxes are paid by us merchants, and a considerable part of the remaining general taxes are paid by us. It can be said that we businessmen have become a major source of finance and taxation for the imperial court, if we are oppressed by outsiders, or even damaged property, then the imperial court will eventually be greatly affected, and the army of the imperial court will definitely not sit still!! ”

Wang Jing took the wine glass and toasted with everyone, and then said: "Therefore, the waist of our businessmen must be straight, and we must be tough in the next negotiations with the Dutch and the Big Buddha Lang Jiren." ”

"We have a large number of valuable goods in our hands, those Yi people will not give up, we can continue to raise prices, maximize benefits, if there is really a dispute, you must be ready to sacrifice for the country, to create an excuse for the country to send troops, this is a good opportunity to leave a name in history!"

Speaking of this, everyone's faces changed greatly, but more of them were excited and longing, after all, as long as the businessman has enough interests, he can do anything risky.

Wang Jing continued: "The old man is here to make a guarantee, if anyone really sacrifices his life for the country in the trade with the Yi people, the dynasty will not only avenge him, but also the dynasty and my Emperor Ming Chamber of Commerce will be generous, and his family and descendants will soar into the sky!" ”

Everyone immediately cheered, and after the banquet was over, Daming had a group of very radical maritime merchants, and there was also one more big businessman who had a sufficient supply of goods.

It was also from this day that the Dutch and Spaniards who traded with the Ming folk merchants suddenly discovered that the Ming merchants, who were gentle and even a little weak in the past, turned into wolves, and they all turned into wolves, and they constantly surrounded the wolves of the Western merchants.

Although the Dutch and Spaniards were also able to earn benefits, but the profits were greatly reduced, and they had to face the suppression of the Ming merchants, this change made the Dutch and the Spaniards unacceptable, and the conflicts between the two sides continued to increase, and with the increase in the scale of commerce, the contradictions between the two sides were also getting bigger and bigger.

However, Wang Jing was not worried about these situations, but was very happy, and in his temporary residence in Fuzhou, Wang Jing wrote a report on the recent business situation, and then sent a fast horse to Beijing.

After Liu Yan received Wang Jing's report, he was more alert in his heart, whether it was the Dutch or the Spaniards, Liu Yan had never had a good impression of these Western colonizers, and now doing business with them was just to enrich the private merchants and increase the business tax for the imperial court.

As long as the Ming Dynasty frees up his hands in the future, whether it is to recover the southern part of Taiwan, or to control and control all parts of the South Seas, it is all within Liu Yan's plan, and the Ming Dynasty cannot only be limited to the mainland after all, but must go to the ocean, reproduce the feat of Zheng He's fleet going to the Western Ocean seven times, and truly open the maritime era that belongs to China!

It didn't take long for Wang Jing to sell two batches of commercial goods to the Dutch and the Spaniards, cement, glass, soap are the most popular commodities, followed by sea salt, tea, silk, etc., these transactions, under the leadership of Wang Jing and others, the Ming merchants made a lot of money, and the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance also collected considerable commercial taxes and tariffs, and there were also many businessmen competing to join the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber of Commerce collected a large number of dues.

At the same time, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Equipment also took advantage of these trades to purchase some artillery and firearms from the Dutch and the Franco-man, but after sending them to Beijing, Liu Yan took Xun Jingyun, the secretary of the Ministry of Equipment, and a group of officials to check them.

In addition, Liu Yan also believes that at this time, the firearms equipped by the Ming Dynasty are actually no worse than those of Westerners, and both sides have their own merits, Liu Yan also temporarily gave up the idea of introducing firearms on a large scale from the West, and instead focused on the equipment department to constantly update and develop new firearms.