prosperous age

In the evening, Wei Guangde returned home. After he got out of the sedan chair, Zhang Ji came over and whispered in his ear, "Master, this afternoon, the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion, the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion, and the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion all sent people to deliver invitations, saying that the head of the family would come to your house for a chat."

When Wei Guangde heard that three dukes came to his house at once, he frowned.

"Do you know what it is about?"

Wei Guangde had just thought about it, and it seemed that nothing had happened to offend the nobles recently.

Even if it involves the survey of land of the powerful and wealthy, haven't they realized by now that it cannot be concealed and there is no point in looking for him.

"Well, after their housekeeper came over, the servants also asked about it, and they all said they didn't know."

Zhang Ji replied in a low voice: "But I guess it's not that simple.

Normally, it would be normal for one person to come to the mansion, but all of a sudden, the Duke of the capital came to visit. This was not right no matter how you looked at it.'

Wei Guangde had already received the visiting cards from the three families from Zhang Ji, but he was stunned when he saw the visiting card from the Duke Chengguo's Mansion.

Because it’s not Duke Chengguo written on it, but Crown Prince Zhu Yingzhen written directly.

After a moment, Wei Guangde realized that this Zhu Yingzhen should be the son of the former Duke Chengguo Zhu Shitai, and the grandson of Zhu Xizhong.

In the first year of the Wanli reign, Zhu Xizhong died of illness.

In the second year of the Wanli reign, his son Zhu Shitai inherited the title in April, and then died of illness in September.

Then, naturally, it was Zhu Yingzhen's turn to inherit the title.

However, the court had a rule that one could not inherit the title before the age of 18, so Zhu Yingzhen could only manage the Chengguo Mansion as the eldest son of Chengguo and become the de facto Chengguo Duke.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde suddenly asked Zhang Ji, "How old is Zhu Yingzhen, the prince of the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion? I think he is less than fifteen."

Wei Guangde was puzzled. Did the dukes come to him to help Zhu Yingzhen and let him inherit the title as soon as possible?

But that doesn't make sense. The court has its own laws. Even if he is in charge of the cabinet, there is no way he can help him accomplish this. The Ministry of Rites will be the first one to not agree.

Under normal circumstances, when Zhu Yingzhen reached the age of succession, the Ministry of Rites would naturally arrange for him to inherit the title.

If they don't do it, or deliberately delay it, those people in the Ministry of Rites will forget about staying in the officialdom.

Although the Ming Dynasty's government was controlled by civil officials, the emperor would never condone civil officials to oppress the nobles, let alone a first-rank duke like Duke Cheng.

"Fifteen."

Zhang Ji thought about it and said.

It can only be said that because there is no legitimate inheritance of the title, the Chengguo Mansion has been relatively low-key in the past two years, so Wei Guangde felt a little unfamiliar.

After all, during the reign of Zhu Xizhong, Emperor Jiajing sent him as the emperor's representative to perform many ceremonies.

Well, now most of these tasks fall on the heads of Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi and Duke Yingguo Zhang Rong.

"Then you should prepare yourself and entertain the guests when they come over later."

Wei Guangde said this and walked quickly into the backyard.

When Wei Guangde walked into the backyard, Xu Jianglan came to greet him and asked if anything had happened in the court recently.

"Why, are you nervous because you know that the three dukes are coming to our house tonight?"

Wei Guangde guessed it as soon as he heard it. How could the news in the mansion be hidden from the mistress of the house?

"Yeah, they all came to our house all of a sudden, so there must be something wrong."

Xu Jianglan did not hide anything and spoke directly.

It's normal for Duke Dingguo to come to our house, since they are relatives after all. But if Duke Yingguo and Duke Chengguo also come, it must be a matter related to the nobility.

"Hey, don't think too much, I'll go meet them tonight and you'll know.

Anyway, there is nothing happening in the court recently that has anything to do with them.

If we must say there is, it is the matter of measuring the land, and perhaps they have many farms outside. "

Wei Guangde couldn't imagine what happened among the nobles that would cause the three dukes to come to him.

The Duke of Wei's residence in Jinling knew about the land survey and only wrote a letter to ask about it.

Wei Guangde explained the pros and cons and explained that it was a matter of great importance to the court for generations to come, so even if you don't support it, don't do anything small.

It's nothing more than a little more silver, but it's just material possessions. Even if the Duke of Wei's Mansion spends a huge amount every year, it is impossible for it not to come up with a little tax silver.

In fact, up to now, there are no specific regulations on whether the new tax law will be determined according to local expenditures or whether taxes will be levied uniformly according to the grade of land in the south and north of the Yangtze River.

Wei Guangde hoped that after the land was measured, the grade of the land could be directly determined and a unified tax could be levied. No matter who the land finally fell into, the tax would be levied according to the same standard.

In this way, the problem of land annexation can be avoided directly.

You can annex land on a large scale, but you have to pay the corresponding taxes for the land according to the tax set by the court.

With land data as a basis, the court's annual tax collection was basically guaranteed.

Unless there is a natural disaster and the court exempts local taxes, local governments must pay taxes according to this figure.

However, the current system in the Ming Dynasty is not like this. The imperial court is only responsible for collecting taxes and does not care about the expenses of local governments. Therefore, local governments will impose miscellaneous taxes according to needs.

This results in the situation that when the local officials are honest, the people have to pay less taxes, but when the local officials are greedy, they impose heavy taxes and the people have to pay heavy taxes.

Wei Guangde believed that local governments had too much power over taxation and that it should be taken back.

The annual local fiscal expenditure was determined according to the prefectures, counties, and the collected taxes were retained locally, then remitted layer by layer and finally to the imperial court.

Although the idea was good, he also knew that once it was decided, it would cut off the source of money for those officials below.

If you want to make money, you have to find ways to increase miscellaneous taxes and levies. This is how the saying "Three years as a clean magistrate earns you 100,000 silver coins" came about.

If he takes away the right to impose taxes on local governments, it is conceivable that local officials will fight him to the death.

Not to mention Wei Guangde, even Zhang Juzheng was hesitant when he first heard Wei Guangde's idea.

The key is that the situation is different in each place.

It's easy to deal with in wealthy places, as some expenses can be covered by asking local gentry to make up the difference. But in poor places, I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble.

It's a project that should be repaired but the government says it doesn't have the money and can't raise the money. In the end, something terrible happens. Who is to blame?

However, in the evening, Wei Guangde was stunned when he saw the three dukes chatting.

He was a little stunned when he held the woolen cloth handed to him by Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi.

"You mean you want to do this woolen business too?"

Wei Guangde asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Shandai, haven't you always told us that there is so much silver that can be dug out from the fields? It would be better for us to focus on setting up a workshop and selling goods overseas like you did.

We listened to you and have not purchased any land in the past few years. We have used the money to set up workshops. We have even stopped doing the salt permit business."

Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi began to complain on behalf of the nobles, "Although we are all nobles and seem to have a large family, our expenses are actually very high. If there is no income, the mansion will be in trouble."

Wei Guangde looked at the three men. Zhang Rong was not young anymore, in his forties or even fifties, Xu Wenbi was in his thirties, about the same age as him, and there was Zhu Yingzhen, a fifteen-year-old boy. Wei Guangde felt a little overwhelmed.

After thinking about it, it seems that the nobles have not been buying land on a large scale near the capital recently, but I don’t know about places farther away.

These mansions do have huge expenses. Although some mansions seem to have only a few masters, they are the descendants of the hereditary nobility.

They are all descendants of several generations, and have already branched out into countless numbers.

In fact, most of the human race still rely on the government for their living, and few of them set up their own homes.

The government also pays monthly allowance to these clansmen according to their levels as supporters.

It is impossible for each family to only allow the main branch to have enough food and clothing, while leaving the other members without clothes to wear and without food to eat. If this gets out, they will lose face.

The royal family members are so fertile, and the situation of these dukes is similar, except that each family is responsible for their own children.

Those who are capable would get official positions in the court for their descendants.

He is lazy and likes to eat. Just give him some monthly salary to keep him busy and he won't starve to death.

If you want to know how much money these dukes' mansions really have, it is actually not necessarily true.

“How did you come up with this business?”

In fact, what Wei Guangde was most puzzled about was the woolen cloth business. How did these nobles discover it?

How long has this been on the market?

I'm afraid that the products haven't even been put on the store shelves yet, but they are like a cat smelling blood, they will know it and find their way here.

"Master Wei, every business you invest in is profitable.

Last year, I heard from my subordinates that the Northern Chamber of Commerce had developed a piece of fabric that was very effective in keeping out the cold, but I searched the market and couldn’t find any.”

At this time, Duke of England Zhang Rong spoke.

"Northern Chamber of Commerce?"

When Wei Guangde heard them mention this word, his eyes turned to Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen, who had remained silent.

The child did not inherit the title, he was only the crown prince. Although they were both from a duke's mansion, his speech could not be compared with the other two adult dukes, so he was relatively quiet after coming in.

Seeing Wei Guangde looking at him at this time, Zhu Yingzhen did not lower his head guiltily to avoid Wei Guangde's gaze, but boldly walked up to him.

Wei Guangde withdrew his gaze. He had already guessed that if they checked the Northern Chamber of Commerce, they would definitely find that he was one of the shareholders of this chamber of commerce, and his share was not small.

As for why Wei Guangde went to see Zhu Yingzhen, it was naturally because he had tried to cover it up. Normally, no one would be able to find out about his whereabouts.

Although everyone knew that Wei Guangde was involved in business, he had always done a good job of covering it up.

Only the omnipresent Jinyiwei might know what kind of business the Northern Chamber of Commerce was running, after all, they had to buy back a large amount of wool from the northern grasslands.

And that direction has always been the focus of Jinyiwei's attention.

It is worth mentioning that the former Duke of Chengguo, Zhu Shitai, is actually the grandson of Lu Bing, and the Duke of Chengguo’s Mansion has a close relationship with the Lu family.

Because of Yu Dayou's relationship, Wei Guangde saved Lu Bing in his twilight years, and even helped the Lu family after his death. He got in touch with the Lu family and was able to instruct the Jinyiwei to help with things.

As the backer of the Lu family, they did not later turn to Yan Song and Xu Jie. Instead, they were used as sacrifices by Gao Gong during the Longqing period, who used the crimes of the Lu family to blame Xu Jie.

In order to preserve his family, Lu Bing chose to marry into the families of Duke Cheng, Yan Song and Xu Jie.

Originally, he thought that such a marriage relationship was enough to ensure the safety of the Lu family.

Who could have thought that after the fall of the Yan family, they were directly liquidated by Emperor Jiajing, and during the Longqing period, Gao Gong pursued Xu Jie relentlessly, and also involved the Lu family because of their marriage relationship.

The Lu family was confiscated in fact in the fourth year of Longqing when Gao Gong took action against Xu Jie.

“How do you want to work together?”

Wei Guangde was too lazy to think about anything else, whether Lu Yi had leaked his information.

“Shandai, we know that the Northern Chamber of Commerce has opened up various connections and can continuously transport large amounts of wool from the northern grasslands, and woolen cloth is made from wool.

At the same time, the Northern Chamber of Commerce has also established a number of workshops to produce woolen cloth in large quantities.

If we directly purchase goods from the northern grasslands, we are worried that the Tartars will take the opportunity to raise the price of wool, and we will also need to build new workshops, which will really waste time."

Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi spoke at this time, but by this point, Wei Guangde also understood that they wanted to directly invest in the Northern Chamber of Commerce and take advantage of the situation.

As for wanting to forcibly buy the Northern Chamber of Commerce, Wei Guangde believed that even if the nobles united, they would not have the courage to do so.

It takes a lot of courage to snatch money directly from the Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet.

"You want to directly invest in the Northern Chamber of Commerce?"

Wei Guangde interrupted Xu Wenbi and asked.

"hey-hey."

Xu Wenbi was not annoyed when he was interrupted, but just laughed dryly.

If it is someone else's property, they will naturally find a way to seize it.

The nobles have done these things more than once or twice. If there is a real opportunity to make money, they will never show mercy.

Just like the salt administration of the Ming Dynasty, these nobles were involved in the process of corruption.

Why did the Kai-Zhong-Fo Society decline? It was because the salt packages were taken away by the powerful and wealthy, and the salt merchants who were transporting grain to the border had salt permits but could not get any salt packages.

It seems that the nobles can avoid vicious competition by directly investing in the Northern Chamber of Commerce, but in fact, it also means they can get a bargain.

As long as they invest, they can see profits and make money, and they can get through the connections early on, so they don’t need to invest energy in making these preliminary preparations. Why not do it?

"Which nobles want to participate in the investment?"

Wei Guangde just continued to ask, with no expression on his face, but he was also thinking about this matter in his mind.

Before this, Wei Guangde planned to use two years to create a trend through the royal family and his extensive use of woolen cloth, which would influence the choice of winter clothing fabrics throughout the Ming Dynasty.

If woolen cloth really takes over the market, the existing textile workshops will definitely not be enough, and we will have to continue to invest money to build workshops. However, the amount of money that can be actually obtained in the short term will not be much.

However, if we introduce nobles and let them pay to expand the production scale of the workshop, although the shares will be affected, the money earned will not be much less.

Following Xu Wenbi's introduction, more or less all the nobles in the city wanted to take part.

“In this way, the Northern Chamber of Commerce can, in principle, increase its share by 30%, but no more than 35%.

As for how much silver each component is worth, discuss it with the Chamber of Commerce manager.

You can also select a few people and ask them to negotiate the price directly with the shopkeeper in Northern Shanghai.

I don’t care how you divide it, but once we agree on the price, you can buy shares and we’ll share the dividends.”

Wei Guangde said, "The money and resources we invested in the early stage are not small numbers, so this price will not be cheap."

After getting Wei Guangde's answer, the three of them discussed for a moment and agreed.

After all, it would take at least a few years and be very troublesome to establish a new organization like the Northern Chamber of Commerce.

Direct stock can save a lot of trouble. (End of this chapter)