Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 374, Tianjin Gathering

On the cement road from the capital to Tianjin, more than a dozen four-wheeled carriages drove very smoothly on the platform and the open concrete road. These more than ten four-wheeled carriages were very luxurious, and the workmanship and decoration were also extremely exquisite. Even the horses that pull the carts are top-quality horses from the grasslands.

The color of the horses in each four-wheeled carriage is the same, or uniform white, or uniform red, making these carriages suddenly become the focus of the bustling road, and the surrounding crowd are all guessing which one it is. The big shots are out.

In one of the carriages, British Duke Zhang Mao, Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu, and Dingguo Duke Xu Guangzuo sat together. Compared with traditional carriages, this kind of four-wheeled carriage is larger, wider and wider. smooth.

Walking on the concrete road is very stable, and it is becoming more and more popular now. While riding in a carriage, invite three or five friends on the carriage to have a drink and chat together. It is definitely the best way to pass the boring journey. .

"I haven't been to Tianjin for several months, and here it is more prosperous and lively."

Xu Guangzuo opened the window and curtains of the car, and saw people coming and going on the concrete road, which was very lively. Then he looked at the Tianjin New City in the distance, where tall buildings rose from the ground, and there was a busy scene everywhere.

"Yeah, I still feel that Tianjin is more vibrant, tsk tsk, this tall building has seven or eight floors, we can't build it so high here in the capital."

Zhang Mao also expressed emotion that cement and steel buildings are very popular in Tianjin now, and of course this was also brought out by Tianjin Real Estate.

Tianjin Real Estate is a real estate company under Liu Jin's command. It specializes in building and selling houses. In addition to high-end and high-end communities such as Moon Bay, Tianjin Real Estate has also begun to learn from later generations and built some seven or eight-storey commodity suites. to sell.

The price of this type of house is relatively low, and a house only costs a few dozen taels of silver. The supporting facilities are very complete, except that there is no elevator for later generations, running water, toilets, and kitchens are all provided. Although the house area is small, it has all internal organs, so it is very popular now.

Once it was launched, it became popular immediately, and the profit was higher than that of Jianyue Bay, so now it has become a new product that Tianjin Real Estate mainly promotes.

Because Tianjin took the lead in the industry, many people also saw the profits of commercial housing, so many people also started to develop this real estate just like Tianjin Real Estate, which in turn drove the development of the entire Tianjin New City.

"I heard that His Royal Highness and Liu Jin are also planning to learn from Tianjin here in the capital and build a new city outside the capital. Do you know about this?"

Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu carefully looked at the Tianjin New City in front of him, everything was planned neatly, spacious roads, clean streets, tall buildings on both sides, and extremely busy shops on both sides, dense flow of people, everything Everything is different from here in Beijing, it looks very novel and full of vitality.

"I've also heard about this, and I'm planning to find a time to ask Liu Jin. This kid won't take us with him when he gets rich. It seems that I have to find another time to introduce beautiful women to him."

Zhang Mao nodded, then stroked his beard and said.

He has one reason for doing things now, that is to follow Liu Jin, and he will do what Liu Jin does, and keep it to make money.

"Cough cough~"

Hearing Zhang Mao's words, Xu Guangzuo couldn't help coughing a few times, I'm Liu Jin's brother-in-law, can you say that in front of me?

"This time he asked us to come to Tianjin, so we can take this opportunity to ask him carefully. To build a new city, the investment is all [-] taels of silver. If we can't make money, wouldn't it be a heavy loss? It's better to ask clearly. it is good."

Zhu Fu thought for a while and said.

Since ancient times, the construction of a new city has been a very huge project. Generally, only the imperial court can do it. It is only by recruiting hundreds of thousands of ordinary people to build a city that a new city can be built.

The investment is very huge.

If the power of the imperial court is not used to build a new city, the investment will be very terrifying.

Zhu Fu didn't even dare to imagine how much money was needed to invest in this new city. If millions of taels of silver were poured in casually, it is estimated that even a splash would not be seen.

"Xu Guangzuo, you are also Liu Jin's brother-in-law. Do you know why he asked us to come to Tianjin this time?"

Zhang Mao nodded, then thought about it and asked Xu Guangzuo.

"Mr. Zhang, I don't know, but since he asked us all to come together, there must be some big project."

Xu Guangzuo thought for a while and said.

"This kid has a bit of conscience~"

Zhang Mao nodded in satisfaction.

While the three of them were chatting, the carriage they were riding in arrived at the gate of Liu Jin's mansion, and Liu Jin, who had heard the news, had already come to greet him at the gate.

"Mr. Zhang, Mr. Zhu~Brother Xu~"

Liu Jin greeted Zhang Mao, Zhu Fu, and Xu Guangzuo with a smile on his face.

"Stinky boy, do you have any plans to get rich?"

Zhang Mao put his arms around Liu Jin's shoulders and asked with narrowed eyes.

It must be a good thing for Liu Jin to ask them to come here, and it is definitely related to making a fortune. Here in Tianjin, the industries of the few of them are very large, with a large number of fishing boats, making money every day, and many seagoing boats. Every month, they go back and forth between Japan and North Korea, and they can bring them millions of taels of silver every month.

"Everything can't be hidden from Mr. Zhang~"

Liu Jin smiled and nodded.

"Haha, even if you have a conscience, it's not in vain for me to be your matchmaker."

Zhang Mao immediately became happy. His favorite thing is to get rich. As the Duke of the state, he has no chance to be promoted. Didn't think about it.

For him, only silver is the most real thing.

Under the leadership of Liu Jin, the three of them came to the living room. Zhu Houzhao had already been waiting with his legs crossed.

"I have seen Your Highness~"

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao was there, Zhang Mao, Zhu Fu, and Xu Guangzuo hurriedly performed the etiquette of a monarch and minister, and then looked at each other, and immediately laughed even more.

This business seems to be very big, Liu Jin even called His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

As long as His Royal Highness participates in the business, it is definitely the most profitable business. They are very clear about this, such as glass factory, sea trade, Miyun proposal, Changlu salt field, etc., these are the most profitable businesses.

"No, no~"

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and said casually.

Then he looked at Liu Jin and said, "Old Liu, everyone is here, so hurry up if you have anything to say."

"Good~"

Liu Jin nodded, thought for a while and said slowly: "I called everyone here today mainly because of two things. The first thing is about the Changlu Salt Field."

"During this period of time, those salt merchants in the south have competed with us for the market. You must also know that the price of salt has dropped to more than ten yuan per catty, so the profit of our Changlu Salt Farm may drop sharply this year. Shareholders Have a count in your heart."

The investment in Changlu Salt Farm is very large. The major shareholders are Zhu Houzhao and Emperor Hongzhi. Liu Jin, Zhang Mao, Zhu Fu, and Xu Guangzuo are all small shareholders. Salt and this thing are known to be huge profits.

Now competing for the market with salt merchants, the price is very low, and the profit will not be so much. Liu Jin feels that it is necessary to vaccinate them with them to make them psychologically prepared.

"We all know this, as long as these salt merchants can be killed, not to mention a sharp drop in profits, it's okay to lose money. I've seen those salt merchants unhappy."

When Zhang Mao heard this, he immediately said very unhappy.

He also wanted to intervene in the salt business before, but even if he was the Duke of the State, he couldn't get in. It would be no problem to take some salt from the salt farm to make a little money.

But if he wants to eat cakes like those big salt merchants, it is impossible at all. He is the Duke of the country, but he doesn't have much power at all, and the salt merchants are not afraid of him at all.

There are people behind the salt merchants, and they are all civil servants who hold real power in the court. Although they don't have titles, they hold real power and the right to speak, so they don't care about them.

Even the most arrogant Zhang brothers, they can't get involved in the salt business. This is where the salt merchant Niucha is.

Not to mention their nobles, even if Emperor Hongzhi wanted to change the salt policy a little bit, he would have encountered countless opposition. If it weren't for Li Guang's case, holding the pigtails facing a large number of courtiers in his hand, this private Don't even try to pass the saltworks.

The power of the salt merchants is definitely the most powerful force in this era, even to the point where even the imperial power cannot be shaken, and they dare to start to interfere with the imperial power.

Zhang Mao, of course, couldn't get in in front of such a huge force, so even if he knew that the salt was very profitable, he could only watch with red eyes.

"Yes, as long as you can dig out their roots, it doesn't matter if you lose money now, it's just money, just smash it."

Zhu Fu also nodded, and said very grandly, now they are really very rich, and all the industries under their command have started to have high returns, making their pockets continue to swell. This statement is also full of confidence .

"We can still make money with salt worth more than a dozen pennies per catty. It's not a big deal to lose money. It's just that our profits will be affected in the short term. But after we defeat these salt merchants, we will increase the price appropriately. Our profits will also be very substantial.”

Liu Jin looked at the appearance of Zhang Mao and Zhu Fu, it seems that he had many conflicts with these salt merchants in the past, and it was probably because of jealousy that they could not eat cakes.

After thinking about it, he said with a smile, Liu Jin’s words also boosted the confidence of the Changlu Salt Farm shareholders present. In fact, they, like the salt merchants, felt that the cost of this salt was very high. Those who were going to lose money now still have money to make.

"Old Liu, you can go ahead and kill all the salt merchants. Hehe~ I've seen them upset for a long time. Last year, they wanted to snatch our property. , have chopped them all up long ago.”

Zhu Houzhao also seemed a little angry. Thinking of what happened last year, he was very angry. These salt merchants, Huizhou merchants, and the Jiangnan scholars behind them were simply daring to meddle in the imperial power.

According to Zhu Houzhao, these people should all be killed. Emperor Hongzhi was still too merciful. He just exterminated several leading Huizhou merchant families and punished some officials from Jiangnan.

"Yes~"

Liu Jin nodded quickly, what he wanted was your words so that he could let go of his hands and feet to deceive these salt merchants.

"Stinky boy, do you have any tricks to kill those salt merchants?"

Zhang Mao looked at Liu Jin, thought for a while and asked.

"Actually, it's not my ghost idea, but they courted their own death."

"Now those salt merchants are buying salt from our Changlu Salt Field on a large scale. They think our cost is very high, and the current price is a loss."

"So on the one hand, they are constantly lowering the market price and subsidizing money to the salt merchants below them. On the other hand, they also eat our salt on a large scale. They feel that if we buy a catty of our salt, we will lose the corresponding money. The more, the more we lose."

"How did they know that although we have to pay two million taels of silver every year and give profits to dealers, our cost is actually very low, very low, and the cost of a catty of salt is only a few pennies."

"The more they buy, the more we earn. Now there is a surplus of salt in the Changlu Salt Field, and they just happened to buy all of it."

Liu Jin explained the current situation to everyone. When he said this, he couldn't help laughing.

After several days of investigation and testing, Liu Jin is now sure that the salt merchants are using this method to bring down the Changlu Salt Field.

This is exactly what Liu Jin wanted. The output of Changlu Salt Field is terrifying. Once it is fully operational, and in summer, the salt produced can definitely kill all these salt merchants.

"Great, now I can take out all their money."

When Zhang Mao and others heard this, they immediately laughed happily.

"It's not so easy to empty them out, and they are not fools. We still need to work hard to make them keep emptying out money, so we will do some superficial work every once in a while, so that They feel that we are losing money, and it is a big loss, and we need to keep losing money.”

"Only in this way can they keep throwing money in and get all their money out."

Liu Jin smiled and said, these salt merchants are all ghosts and ghosts, and it is not so easy to empty out their money, but Liu Jin can also create some false appearances for them to see, so that they continue to take out their money , The more money they take out, the deeper and deeper they will slowly sink in, and finally they will be really stuck in it, unable to get out, they can only follow to the end, and lose nothing in the end.

(End of this chapter)