Chapter 337

Yangzhou, the same age as the Grand Canal, has been a place of prosperity since ancient times because of water transportation. "Yangzhou is the richest in the world"; "One hundred thousand dollars around the waist and ride a crane down to Yangzhou". Yangzhou once had a glorious scenery. No exaggeration can be exaggerated, so that no one will care about the authenticity of the legends depicting the extravagance and debauchery of businessmen.

Yangzhou Salt Merchants, also known as Lianghuai salt merchants, are not all Yangzhou people, but overseas Chinese living in Yangzhou and engaged in salt industry.

After emperor Chengzu moved his capital to Beijing, in order to resist the continuous invasion of nomads to the south, he built nine borders from northern Shanxi to Shanhaiguan to guard Beijing. The border garrison needed food, so the government asked businessmen to transport food to the border, "easy with salt".

Merchants took the salt voucher, salt lead, also known as salt banknote, to take salt from the Huaihe and Huaihe regions and sell it at the salt border, which is historically known as "opening China and France". At that time, Shanxi and Shaanxi were close to the nine sides. Recently, Shanxi and Shaanxi businessmen rose rapidly.

However, the transportation of grain and grass was dangerous and exploited by local bureaucrats. Businessmen were overwhelmed, became unprofitable and no one was willing to do it.

Those in power gradually realized that this kind of physical exchange system was inappropriate. During the Hongzhi period, ye Qi, the Minister of household, presided over the salt policy reform. Businessmen no longer need to transport grain for salt. As long as they accept silver, they can get salt introduction, which is called color folding system.

At this time, Huizhou merchants who began to accumulate capital by transporting timber since the Southern Song Dynasty seized the opportunity and came to Yangzhou one after another. "For those who are rich and powerful, Xinan (Huizhou) is pushed in the south of the Yangtze River, and Shanyou (Shanxi) is pushed in the north of the Yangtze River. Xinan tycoons, fish and salt are their industry... Shanyou is either salt, silk, or cellar millet...".

In Yangzhou at that time, Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants had occupied the main position.

However, the rapid expansion of salt merchants' power will not be until the establishment of the Outline Salt System in recent years. During the Wanli period, through the form of registration, the government delegated the qualification and power of salt trading to a group of licensed merchants. This quota and seat are called nest and root. Nest is hereditary. The famous and holding nest on the outline are large salt merchants with strong capital strength, and the outline is nameless People without a nest can't get salt lead, so they have to buy salt lead with big salt merchants.

This Yanyin is equivalent to securities. There is a long north-south street called Yinshi street in Yangzhou city. As the name suggests, it is the place where salt Yin is traded. Coupled with the rise of pawn shops and banks, it is undoubtedly the Contemporary Financial Street, which is equivalent to the wall street of later generations.

How rich are salt merchants? The capital of Yangzhou Salt Merchants has reached 30 million liang of silver. What is this concept? The national treasury of the Ming Dynasty didn't have so much money. When Yangzhou salt merchants were rich, the imperial court also obtained huge salt tax revenue. Half of the national taxes came from the salt class, and the salt class of the two Huaihe River ranked half of the world, and the salt class of the two Huaihe River ranked half of the world. When the salt class of the two Huaihe River was the world's rent, it donated profits and losses, moving the country's plan.

At present, there are 16.9 million yuan (1.69 million yuan), which are contracted by more than ten merchants. For each 370 yuan, the market price is only 10 Wen, and it is strange to add 3% of the silver, but it is only 7 Wen. If it is transported to Hankou or above, the price varies from 50 to 60. The farther it is, the more expensive it is, and the more mixed the salt color is.

This account is easy to calculate. It comes from the wholesale of salt farms and is then transported to Hankou and other upstream cities. The price of salt rises from a few Wen per kilogram to 50 or 60 Wen, and the profit is as high as 56 times. Yangzhou salt merchants have obtained amazing wealth from this huge purchase and sales difference. Over the years, Yangzhou Salt Merchants are extravagant, and those below one million are called small merchants.

There is no doubt that Lianghuai salt merchants were already incomparable business giants in the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century. These local tyrants had too much money to use, so they changed and squandered. One salt merchant made 10000 liang of gold into a very thin gold foil and took it to the top of the pagoda of Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang, throwing it against the river wind, making the sparkling river more dazzling; At the turn of spring and summer, cherries are the most expensive among the fruits. A salt merchant bought cherries from several surrounding towns with a lot of money, mashed them into pulp in a magnifying bucket, dumped them in the river of Yangzhou City, and dyed the blue river red in an instant; There are also salt merchants who build a house in the middle of the pool, surrounded by expensive glass imported from the West. They mechanically lift the water to the reservoir on the roof, and then pour it down from the surrounding outlets. In the hot summer, the "water curtain cave" is as cool as autumn.

Yangzhou's record of painted boats summarizes: "Yangzhou's salt business is extravagant and beautiful. It often costs hundreds of thousands for weddings and funerals, hall food, clothes and horses."... For a moment, it is difficult to win, rich and willful. Naturally, Yangzhou's salt merchants have little social reputation. At that time, they were called salt nerds and salt Kaizi, which is equivalent to the local tyrants of later generations.

Of course, not all the salt merchants invested their money in the performance art that only wanted to make them happy for a while. They knew that their monopoly position in the salt industry benefited from the salt policy of the imperial court. Therefore, pleasing the imperial court and bribing dignitaries became a major business of salt merchants.

It can be said that salt merchants became the group of people who made the most money, came the fastest and spent the most money at that time.

If Liu bu used to buy two carriages and ten thousand gold to buy beauty, it was extravagant, but compared with these people, it was far from being a small Witch.

Liu Bu knew that these salt merchants were equivalent to later coal bosses and real estate bosses. Their money came very easily. They easily made a lot of money in collusion with the special class. The money came so easily that they didn't frown at all.

Fortunately, there is no other way to spend money except eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. If these people are left in future generations, it is estimated that they will play private planes, Super Yachts, help female stars make movies and so on. This is the real way to spend money.

Liu bu also understood that these people are really rich. They have no place to spend their money and don't know how to spend it.

These people are rich, but the people are poor, but the Ming court is poor. In a small land of Yangzhou, the total capital of salt merchants is more and richer than the state treasury of the Ming Dynasty. That is, because they are so rich, Liu Bu has the idea of beating them up.

This is equivalent to the Liu family in the past. They are so rich but have no power, which makes the people around them make his ideas. Now these people seem to be more powerless and richer than the Liu family. It's not strange that others are making their ideas.

Of course, Liu Bu was not the only one who made up his mind. He was definitely not the first one to make up his mind, but they were all resolved by the other party.

You know, these salt merchants are very rich and make friends with dignitaries. If they don't, they can't maintain their prosperity.

But Liu Bu understood that their so-called making friends with dignitaries was only a tiger skin after all, which could be used to fake the tiger's power, but if they met a real tiger and dared to fight with two tigers, their power would not shake up.

Liu Bu is a real tiger, and even Hong Chengchou is annoyed, which shows that he is a real big tiger and dares to eat with people.

So after Liu Bu got along with his wife, he enjoyed the pleasure of fish and water and became a man. After that, he hugged Zheng zining to sleep, talked in bed and talked about the local customs. The first thing he said was Yangzhou.

Liu Bu is a greedy person. In fact, Zheng zining is even more unbearable. She was born as a real pirate. Robbery is common for her. She saw that the salt merchants in Yangzhou are so rich that they are richer than the Spanish gold fleet she robbed. It's strange that she can't afford to be greedy?

The Spanish treasure carrying fleet is escorted by artillery and warships. Zheng zining dares to rob them. These salt merchants in Yangzhou have no protective measures. For her, they are equivalent to a group of fat sheep. If she didn't care about the imperial court, she didn't dare to visit. It is estimated that she would have commanded the fleet to wash here.

When the couple talked about this, they still felt very sigh. Looking at such a large piece of fat, they couldn't seven fingers. Both Liu Bu and Zheng zining felt some regret.

Liu Bu, as the commander-in-chief of Yangzhou, is sure to get a lot of benefits and a lot of respect for ice and carbon. It's not a problem if he earns more than twenty or thirty thousand a year, but it's only twenty or thirty thousand, which really can't fill their ambition and appetite.

You know, these salt merchants have spent more than twenty or thirty thousand a year buying a Yangzhou thin horse and raising a group of drama teams. His Liu Bu is not a Yangzhou thin horse, let alone a drama team, but a big tiger. The big tiger wants to eat meat.

So both of them could not help thinking about this aspect as they talked.

Zheng zining's most direct thought was that she was a pirate. When she saw something good and wanted to rob it, there was nothing special. Although she was a pirate, her men kept a huge fleet, which needed a lot of money. Without enough money and food, her fleet would easily collapse and control this huge fleet. As the commander of this fleet, There are many things for her to consider, which is to get enough money and food to feed her army.

This is not Zheng zining. She is very greedy for gold and silver. These salt merchants, like rich merchants, have made a lot of money. There is no other way to spend money except eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. She can only bury the money in her own cellar. When she is free, she will take it out to bask in the sun and count. There is no other happiness.

In fact, Liu Bu and Zheng zining are a perfect match. After their parents-in-law took care of the matter, they slept together. They didn't talk about home affairs or talk about their feelings. Instead, they directly talked about the Yangzhou salt merchants. They were all making the ideas of these Yangzhou salt merchants.

These salt merchants are too rich, but they think they are too poor. They raise so many troops. They are called rich and powerful. In fact, their life is far worse than these salt merchants. Even Liu Bu feels speechless. He used to spend 10000 Liang to buy a famous prostitute, which is like a big black sheep, but compared with these salt merchants, In fact, he is just a pediatrician. Since these people are so rich, they don't know how to spend it. Why don't I help them spend it?