Chapter 238 The winner is the king, the loser is the enemy
"This is the madness before the peace talks."
When the officials of the Ministry of Rites learned that the enemy had raided Datong, they were not worried but happy.
"So, the envoy is coming?" Zhang Da asked.
"Exactly."
"That's good."
Zhang Da felt relieved, holding the teacup, and sipping the tea slowly. At this time, someone passed by outside.
"...Most of the troops of a small banner died in the battle, and only one person returned."
"Just the usual pension."
"Yes, there are always deaths every year."
"You never know when it will be our turn."
"I heard that the Beijing Guards are conducting a purge, but I don't know what's going on."
"Hey! Why is this wind so warm?"
"It's spring!"
……
While the spring breeze makes people's faces numb, the wedding is also progressing in an orderly manner.
Spring is also the season when businessmen are ready to take action.
"Shopkeeper, the weather hasn't warmed up yet and the roads are muddy. How about we wait a while before shipping?"
"Bullshit! The sooner you ship, the sooner you can make money. Hurry up!"
Guo Feng, who was in his thirties, scolded the manager, and after the manager left, he stood there motionless.
"Old Guo, what are you thinking about?" In the hall was Guo Feng's good friend Li Si.
"We have been in the fur business for many years, Lao Li, you may have noticed that the recent trend is not right."
"You mean...someone started lowering the price?"
"Yes, furs used to be in short supply, and there was no demand near the end of the year. But it was different at the end of last year, when many stores were open to selling furs."
"I know something about this."
"Why?" Guo Feng turned around and went in.
Li Si sat upright and drank tea. He ate a piece of preserved fruit slowly, wiped his hands with a cloth handed by the maid, and said, "The day before yesterday, I was drinking with someone. The brother-in-law of that person was the manager of a powerful family. He drank too much and said..."
Li Si lowered his voice, "He was drunk and cursed Long Wilbur."
"There are so many people who curse Long Wei Bo." Guo Feng disagreed.
"After a few curses, the man said one thing. The court is now preparing to contact Altan Khan's tribe. If successful, I'm afraid those furs will flood in like a tide. Old Guo, the duck knows first when the river water warms in spring!"
"Those merchants smelled something and sold off their stockpiled furs..."
"That's right. I came here today to remind you not to hoard them and sell them quickly."
"Who is in charge of this?" Guo Feng subconsciously prepared to use connections. "If I can use my connections to get the qualification to trade with the grassland... Lao Li, that would be a huge fortune!"
"That's the one."
"Who?"
"Chang Wei Bo, Jiang Qingzhi!"
"Tsk! This guy! I can't figure him out. But who doesn't love money?"
That afternoon, someone asked to see Jiang Qingzhi.
"I said that I have long admired your name, and when I learned that you would be in charge of the communication with the Altan tribe, I came to ask for an audience."
Fu Cheng said disdainfully: "These businessmen are like maggots, they will find any gap they can find to get in."
"A real villain is better than a hypocrite." Hu Zongxian said with a smile.
Jiang Qingzhi shook his head. "He came here to seek connections. I won't see him for now. I said I'll have news in a few days."
Jiang Qingzhi then entered the palace.
Halfway through the journey he met Lu Bing.
Lu Bing brought a few Jinyiwei with him, looking very majestic.
"You, the Jinyiwei, can take charge of that matter now," Jiang Qingzhi said.
"The staff is already prepared. If there is any delay due to you..."
"That's my business."
"Be polite!" Zhu Hao sneered, "It was you, Jiang Qingzhi, who asked the commander for help. Don't be ungrateful."
"Shut up!" Lu Bing stopped Zhu Hao and said, "I think this matter should be handled jointly by the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue, but since His Majesty favors you, then I, the Jinyiwei, will fully cooperate. But if you do not handle it properly, don't blame me for impeachment."
"I said, it's my business." Jiang Qingzhi said lightly.
When I met Dao Ye, he was appreciating calligraphy and paintings, which was a rare occurrence for him.
"Take a look." The Taoist waved his hand, and Jiang Qingzhi and Lu Bing walked over together.
The painting is by a famous artist from the early Song Dynasty. It shows a bird standing on a branch, tilting its head as if listening to something.
"Nice painting." Jiang Qingzhi said casually.
"This painting..." Lu Bing talked about the techniques, and it seemed that he had touched the Taoist's heart.
Jiang Qingzhi was extremely bored, so he picked up a Taoist book and started reading it.
To this day, he still feels a little uncomfortable with the vertical version and traditional Chinese characters, so he put the book down after reading one page.
There was a memorial on the desk, just spread out, and Jiang Qingzhi glanced at it.
It was Xu Jie's memorial, which actually mentioned some matters concerning the Ministry of Rites.
Isn’t Old Xu the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and also the head of the Hanlin Academy?
Why are they playing the Ministry of Rites?
After appreciating the paintings, Taoist sat down.
"The envoy from Altan has arrived." Emperor Jiajing said sarcastically, "Before coming, Altan ordered his elite troops to raid Datong, but Zhang Da was well prepared and repelled the enemy."
"Celebrate it."
"The minister is here."
"Zhang Da mentioned you in his memorial, saying that after the two victories, the morale of Datong soldiers was different when they faced the enemy. In this battle, the soldiers shouted for a fierce fight and their morale was high!"
The Taoist priest seemed to be in a good mood. "Altan Khan's envoy is on his way to Beijing. I ordered the Ministry of Rites to consult with you on how to deal with it. Just one thing, you must not bring shame to the Ming Dynasty."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty." Jiang Qingzhi saw the strange look in Lu Bing's eyes. It was obvious that this guy was a little surprised that the Taoist priest handed this matter over to Jiang Qingzhi.
The two resigned.
Walking out of the hall, Lu Bing said: "Many times, more power is not necessarily better. After all, one person is alone and cannot shoulder so many responsibilities." "Are you jealous?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
"You!" Lu Bing's eyes flashed fiercely, "When I accompanied His Majesty, you were not yet born."
"Old Lu, don't talk about qualifications." Jiang Qingzhi said, "People should be content with what they have. Don't hang out with Yan Song and his people, or you will be ruined."
Lu Bing sneered, "Do you know who controls public opinion? Those scholars are now making up all kinds of stories about you. In a hundred years, you will be infamous for eternity."
"Haha!" Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said contemptuously: "It will take ten years for a scholar to rebel. Let's see who will be ruined."
The quarrel between the two was reported to Emperor Jiajing. Huang Jin smiled and said, "I think Lord Chang Wei underestimated the methods of those people. However, his courage is commendable."
"History books...are not unchangeable." Emperor Jiajing said leisurely.
"Can history books be changed?" Huang Jin was a little surprised, thinking that public opinion was in the hands of the literati, and they could do whatever they wanted. Emperor Jiajing also mentioned Zizhi Tongjian last time, and thought that Sima Guang had mixed a lot of private goods in it.
"The winner is the king, the loser is the bandit!"
……
Writing history books has always been the privilege of the victors.
In the business world, channels are king.
Jiang Qingzhi had the news spread that wealthy merchants who were interested in trading with the outside world could go to the Ministry of Revenue to register, and they would gather three days later to discuss the matter, and the highest bidder would win.
All of a sudden, wealthy merchants in the capital city took action upon hearing the news.
"Young Lord, this matter..."
Several wealthy merchants came to Yan Shifan and asked him to open a back door for them.
Yan Shifan sent a message: "Don't get involved in many things!"
What does this mean?
Several wealthy merchants discussed privately, and finally someone suggested, "Zhao Wenhua is greedy, so give him some benefits to test his will."
Sure enough, after the benefits were delivered, Zhao Wenhua sent someone to pass on the message.
"This matter is presided over by Jiang Qingzhi. As a human being, the most important thing is not to stand in the wrong place, otherwise you may make money but lose your life. Everyone just go and join in the fun, don't make a fuss."
So, when the Ministry of Revenue sent the list to Bo's house, Hu Zongxian took a look and said in surprise: "There are quite a lot of people!"
The clerk from the Ministry of Revenue who delivered the list smiled bitterly, "There are quite a few people, but someone is secretly tripping up those wealthy merchants to make them take sides... They said that whoever dares to bid a high price in three days will have to be careful not to spend the money with his life."
"In fact, it's better to leave them alone and do it ourselves." Xu Wei said: "Since we have the power, it would be a waste if we don't use it."
Jiang Qingzhi shook his head. "It's not right for officials and businessmen to be one."
"Are you worried about being impeached, sir? So many powerful people are doing business!" Xu Wei said with a smile.
"It's not that I'm worried about impeachment, but it's not easy for me to take the lead in this matter."
Once this leader does something, he will be watched by countless people.
Very troublesome.
……
"More than a dozen businessmen have said that making money from business is not bad, and if anyone tries to stop them, they will just fall out with them. These people have backers."
Zhao Wenhua listened to the news and sneered, "They don't know who is behind this, the prince consort..."
Cui Yuan coughed dryly and said, "Tell them not to bring trouble to their family."
Guo Feng went out to drink and discuss business, and was stopped on his way back.
"Many things, if done wrong, will be a lifelong problem." The visitor grinned and said, "Don't bring disaster to yourself and the people behind you."
Guo Feng sneered, "Who is your master?"
The man said, "Prince Consort, Cui!"
Strict party!
Guo Feng's eyes narrowed.
The visitor said: "You can participate in this matter, but if anyone is eager to bid, be careful..."
……
"Those wealthy merchants have been warned. Someone sent someone to tell them that they are sorry, Master, and that they will definitely come to show their support to Master that day, but they won't offer...forget it."
Hu Zongxian cursed: "If it was just a tit-for-tat fight, it would be fine, but you resorted to such a despicable trick. Don't you have any shame?"
"This matter must not be presided over by Yan's father and son." Xu Wei said with a playful look: "The father and son are arrogant and care about their reputation. So, it is either Cui Yuan or Zhao Wenhua."
"They have the Yan Party behind them." Hu Zongxian smiled bitterly, "Does Wenchang have any solution for this matter?"
Xu Wei pondered for a long time. "It's still the same method. If they don't do it, we will do it."
"This matter is not as difficult as you think."
Jiang Qingzhi lit up the incense and chuckled, "You are a bunch of bumpkins. We will know the outcome in three days."
Three days later, Guo Feng sighed in front of his parents, feeling that it was really painful to have missed this opportunity.
The servant rushed in and said, "Master, there's a message from over there."
"What?" Guo Feng said listlessly.
"This matter is led by Long Wilbur. Someone has paid the lion's share. The remaining shares will be sold today to the highest bidder."
"Hey! This is doable!" Guo Feng was overjoyed. Li Si had come and had obviously received the news, but he was not optimistic. "Among the merchants who went there today, there must be spies from Zhao Wenhua and his gang. If we actively bid, the revenge afterwards..."
Guo Feng took a breath of cold air.
……
"Don't go too far with this matter, otherwise it will be hard to cover up for His Majesty."
Zhao Wenhua and Cui Yuan are discussing.
"I've made preparations." Cui Yuan said with a smile, "Three of the merchants are my people. I'll ask them to sell at a low price when the time comes."
"Great!" Zhao Wenhua narrowed his eyes. "In this way, we get the business and make money. If we find an opportunity, we can cheat Jiang Qingzhi. However, eating alone will not make you fat!"
Zhao Wenhua stared at Cui Yuan with sharp eyes.
Cui Yuan held up three fingers.
"No, fifty percent."
"I will take charge of this matter."
"Four percent!"
"Three and a half percent!"
"make a deal!"
(End of this chapter)
