I'm really not doing business

Chapter 809: The damage is not great, but the insult is very strong

The censors opposed the establishment of the Governor-General's Office of Jifu. After all, they had already reached southern Africa, a sea distance of more than 20,000 miles. It was so far away, and there were no local specialties worthy of the Ming Dynasty's favor. It was really too radical to establish a Governor-General's Office so far away.

Moreover, the investment is not small, and there is no money in the national treasury. The court is also stopping Your Majesty from borrowing money. Where the investment will come from becomes a problem, and the censors will of course strongly oppose it.

However, since the Strait of Magellan was blocked, Governor-General Gifford's Palace became extremely valuable.

The Xinri Canal cannot be repaired in a short time, and the construction period of 30 to 50 years is too long. Another option is to go around the West through the Western Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

"Wang Qian, you should be more restrained. Sometimes, you should be more relaxed and don't make enemies everywhere. The money is not yours." Wang Chonggu talked about the affairs of Wang Qian's Yanxinglou Trading Company. This job was too offensive.

Wang Qian said solemnly: "I know what Dad meant, but I won't change."

"You don't listen to the advice of the elderly and you are suffering now. Why are you becoming more and more like Hai Rui? There are no so many things in this world that can be done cleanly." Wang Chonggu was helpless. A grown-up son is no longer under the control of his mother. Wang Qian is old and Wang Chonggu really can't control him anymore.

Wang Qian took a deep breath and answered firmly, "They'd better kill me! Yao Guangqi was willing to risk his life to take a blow from the pirates for thousands of kilograms of kelp. He was defeated by me, but he was willing to do so. So can I!"

"I went to Yanxing Tower."

Wang Qian refused to continue communicating with Wang Chonggu. He knew very well what he was doing. His battle with Yao Guangqi, from being a rich young man to competing in the officialdom, was not only about making achievements, but also about fulfilling some seemingly empty ideals, such as living for the people and bringing peace to the world for all generations.

After Wang Qian arrived at Yanxing Tower, he summoned all the officials of Yanxing Tower and held a small meeting on the fifth floor of Yanxing Tower.

Wang Qian took a deep breath and said, "I will state a few conditions today. If any of the following characteristics meet any of the conditions, you don't need to report to me. I won't approve it."

"Unless you can persuade His Majesty to issue an imperial decree, otherwise, you will not be able to get through me."

"First, skilled craftsmen do not have personal shares. These shares are only in the hands of the boss, the boss's relatives, the chief shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper's relatives. There is no need to report it. It is not allowed."

"Second, profits have not increased significantly and have even begun to decline. Most of those who rely on relationships with their employers to maintain their profits do not need to report this and it is not allowed."

"Third, before entering the market, if a large-scale dividend is suddenly distributed to major shareholders, resulting in insufficient cash on the books to support operations, and the reason for doing so is to replenish liquidity, there is no need to report it and it will not be allowed."

"Fourth, if the profit source of a private house is too single, and if the profit source accounts for more than half of the profit, there is no need to report it and it will not be allowed."

"Fifth, the private owners of the market are compradors for the imperial court. They do not need to be reported and are not allowed."

"Sixth, we must personally investigate the assets. Even if his iron or copper mines are in Juezhou or Taixi, we must personally go there to investigate and confirm that they are true. Those who are vague about it do not need to report it and will not be allowed to do so."

"Seventh, we cannot penetrate the information and cannot find the real controller. We can only find the brokers who hold the shares on behalf of us. There is no need to report it. It is not allowed."

"Eighth, those who cannot provide tax payment receipts, have not passed the tax inspection by the tax inspection office, and have a record of tax evasion and tax avoidance do not need to report it and will not be allowed."

"Ninth, within the three generations of the direct lineage, if there is a criminal, there is no need to report it. It is not allowed."

"Nine prohibitions! Whoever reports this must go to the Northern Pacification Division and be interrogated by the imperial guards!"

The personal share system was already very common in the Ming Dynasty. Even skilled craftsmen were also one of the owners of the workshops. Although they held a small number of shares, and most of them were fake, they had no decision-making power, only the right to dividends, but this was enough.

The distribution of personal shares is more reliable and reasonable than the employment relationship.

The shareholding system is a new production relationship that encourages production enthusiasm, actively improves production tools, and increases production efficiency and productivity. It is a production relationship based on the free employment production relationship.

The fact that skilled craftsmen have no shares in the family means that this workshop has no future and no motivation to produce.

The second type of favor business is the worst of all.

For example, some time ago, Wang Qian rejected a private business. This private business completely relied on his brother-in-law to supply the Ningbo Ocean Trading Company. Today the brother-in-law is here and the business is going on. Tomorrow the brother-in-law is in jail and the business is gone immediately. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter, leaving a mess behind.

The third point is that the large-scale dividend distribution before listing leads to insufficient liquidity. This is basically a preparation to sell Minfang to Yanxinglou investors. By buying these valuable tickets, you can become a big boss.

Fourth, the source of profit is too single, representing the rise and fall, honor and disgrace of this folk house, and is highly tied to the source of profit. Ninety-nine percent of them involve interest transfer, and ninety-nine percent of them are threshold transactions. What I can do but others cannot is the threshold.

For example, last year, General Hai Rui launched an anti-corruption campaign against the Nanya Longjiang Shipyard and arrested fourteen such private companies.

The fifth point is to act as a comprador for the imperial court and government offices, mainly because the payment is too slow.

The yamen was rather rigid, and sometimes, the compradors who worked for the yamen starved to death, and the silver approved by the yamen had not yet completed the process.

The layers of auditing have caused great rigidity, and the possibility of sudden death of such civilians is even greater than Wang Qian's death in an assassination attempt.

Your Majesty, a sponsor who gives money first, is rare, so this kind of project is built with great fanfare, funded by the emperor, supervised by the six ministries, and is carried out as quickly, as quickly as possible, and with the best quality, so there will basically be no major problems.

There are very few people who can do your Majesty's business.

Article 6 conceals the main assets and fails to provide accurate information. Secondly, it is vague. This is simply a scam to defraud Yanxinglou of its money!
Wang Qian suffered this loss before. A private farm in Shandong claimed that they had raised tens of thousands of acres of kelp. However, after a while, all the kelp became sick and died. The next year, the kelp miraculously grew again. Finally, Wang Qian stopped the business and after a thorough investigation, he found out that there was no kelp at all and it was a scam.

Wang Qian reported this kind of people directly to the Tax Inspection Office, asking the tax inspectors to question their ancestors for eighteen generations.

Article 7 is impenetrable and not allowed. Just like Article 6, if someone comes to cheat people out of money, controls the market themselves and finds some proxies to hold the shares, and does not want the court to hold him accountable, then you cannot enter this market.

When something goes wrong, we have to find the person responsible. Whoever did it must take care of it.

Article 8. Taxes have been paid, which means that the accounts have been carefully examined by the Tax Inspection Office, so the accounts can generally be trusted. If the main accounts are examined again, there is a 99% chance that there will be no problems.

Article 9. Criminals should not come to Yanxing Tower to join in the fun. In this era when breaking the law can be redeemed with silver, those who have a criminal record are all vicious criminals who have committed serious crimes involving criminal charges.

"Aren't the nine prohibitions too strict?" An official stretched out his hand tremblingly and whispered, "If you ask someone to say it, it's not allowed, right?"

Wang Qian tilted his head, looked at the clerk and said, "Who sent people to lobby? Tell me, I will tell His Majesty, and let His Majesty talk to them!"

"We can't afford to offend the ministers, but can the ministers afford to offend His Majesty? Disrupting the stability of the market where everyone can be a shipowner is disrupting the cause of opening up the sea, and is opposing the Wanli Reform! It's treason!"

Wang Qian put a series of big hats on him. He was also a Jinshi and a scholar-official. He knew everything that the lowly Confucian scholars knew!

Either don’t do it, or do it to the extreme!
This is the life experience summed up by Wang Qian, the playboy. Even though they have fallen out, they still think about how good you are and how polite you are to each other. So why do they have to fall out again?
"Censor Wang, I have a case here. It was sent to me by Wang Ci Fu." A clerk took out a case and handed it to Wang Qian in a very low voice.

As soon as these words were spoken, the West Flower Hall of Yanxing Tower became extremely quiet, and one could hear a pin drop.

Wang Qian, don't sound so righteous. Right now, your own father has sent someone to recommend a case for you, and they want you to do a favor. Can you do it?

After Wang Qian finished reading the case, his eyes became brighter and brighter. He slammed the table, scaring everyone.

"Okay, okay! Everyone, let's submit a joint petition to impeach Wang Ci Fu! These nine prohibitions just happen to be in need of a sacrifice! Come on! Everyone has a share!"

The officials looked at each other in bewilderment. They all knew Wang Qian well and knew that the Wang family had some misfortunes. The father had set a trap for his son to cheat in the imperial examination. If he wanted to get promoted, he could only rely on luck, there was no other way. The son was always complaining to his father, and the scenery of the capital with the seven-star ring-handled sword was also well-known.

However, the fact that the father was so loving and the son so filial was simply jaw-dropping for everyone!
Not only is this not giving any convenience, it is also impeachment!
Wang Qian's impeachment memorial was written very smoothly, fluently and in one go, as if he had it all planned out and had a final draft already.

"This is inappropriate. After all, Wang Ci Fu is the censor's father. It has been a tradition since ancient times for relatives to protect each other. It's not good to impeach him so directly. We just need to deny this case." Seeing that Wang Qian was serious, an imperial censor stepped forward to compromise.

The censors and clerks wanted Wang Qian to express his opinion. Your father has favors, so will you give him some convenience? If you don't give him favors, then it's fair and fair. If you treat everyone equally, then there's nothing to say. No one has any objection. If it's not allowed, then it's not allowed.

Many laws are corrupted from top to bottom, not from bottom to top. This was discussed very clearly when the tax law was being revised. Since Wang Qian did not even give face to his own father, but only gave face to His Majesty, there is nothing to say and the system can be implemented.

They didn't expect that Wang Qian was also planning to impeach Wang Chonggu, which led to the strange scene of a son suing his father.

But it doesn’t matter. Zhang Juzheng was also impeached by his own students, so they can be said to be in the same boat.

Nowadays, the relationship between teacher and student is based on Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teacher. A disciple is half a son. Zhang Juzheng was impeached by his disciples, and now Wang Chonggu is being impeached by his own son.

Wang Qian dried the ink, his eyes sparkling with excitement, and said loudly: "Haha, if you don't dare, I will impeach him myself. If you have a little courage, just sign it. He, Wang Ci Fu, can't wield the Seven-Star Ring Sword anymore!"

The Ming Dynasty court was not all about fighting and killing, there were also human relationships and social etiquette, and Wang Chonggu was bound to have times when he couldn't save face. The people who came forward to lobby had a relationship with Wang Chonggu, but the relationship was not that close. It was probably just an ambiguous relationship, and those who understood would understand.

Even if this matter was reported to the imperial court, Wang Chonggu would be helpless as long as he insisted that it was not his order.

It's not very harmful, but it's extremely insulting.

Later, when Wang Chonggu and Zhang Juzheng quarreled, Zhang Juzheng only needed to say, "You have been impeached by your son," and Wang Ci Fu had no way to retort.

"No one signed it?" Wang Qian passed the written memorial around and found that none of the censors and clerks wrote their own names.

"Wang Yushi, if you offend Wang Cifu, at most you will go home and kneel in the ancestral temple for two days. But if we offend Wang Cifu, we may be exiled to Yehai City tomorrow because we entered the door with our left foot." An censor explained, "Please don't make things difficult for us."

"That's true." Wang Qian handed the memorial to the clerk and said, "Send it to the Ministry of Public Administration and report it to the court."

Once the memorial was handed over to the office of impeachment, it meant that the impeachment process had officially begun, which meant that Wang Qian's impeachment of his own father had begun to go through the administrative process.

According to the established rules of the Ming Dynasty, once the process begins, the matter must be made clear, especially when it involves the issue of ministers.

After seeing the impeachment memorial, Wang Chonggu almost fainted in Wenyuan Pavilion!
But he still had to follow the procedure and write a petition, stating the problem clearly. The petition was very long, meaning that he did not understand the specific situation, but he would take responsibility and request to retire.

After all, if a minister is not strict with his subordinates and has a bad family tradition, it is also a sign that he cannot manage his family well in the Ming Dynasty. According to the traditional value system of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Chonggu is not suitable to continue to serve as the deputy minister. "It's nothing, this Huishengminfang is engaged in the rice, flour, grain, oil and woolen business. Among the nine prohibitions, only this one is for the court comprador, which does not conform to the rules. The other eight are all acceptable."

"Wang Qian is here to take advantage of the situation." After reading these memorials and understanding the details of the matter, Zhu Yijun could only say that Wang Qian was really suitable for being an official. It would be difficult for him to promote the Nine Prohibitions on his own, so he could only borrow his own father's reputation to gain the approval of His Majesty.

There is no problem with the case. They started out specializing in the primary processing of Suiyuan wool and gradually expanded to rice, flour, grain and oil. Among the nine prohibitions, only one did not meet the requirements, and that was being a comprador for the court. The payment period for the main business of primary processing of woolen cloth was a bit long.

If you do business with the government, you may get the money, but you don’t know how long it will take.

Because of this, Huishengminfang was blocked from entering the store.

The Ming Dynasty had been arguing for a long time about whether Yanxinglou Trading House should be allowed to raise funds from private houses. Eventually, the four major ocean-going trading houses successfully entered the market, which officially opened the door. However, after the Ningbo Ocean-going Trading House case, the entry regulations of Yanxinglou Trading House have been tightening.

A political decree is always like this, with ups and downs, before it can finally reach a state of harmony that everyone can accept.

Now, the most stringent nine prohibitions have come, but it is difficult to implement them. Wang Qian's power is somewhat weak, and he has to rely on his reputation and the authority of His Majesty.

Zhu Yijun exhaled, thought for a long time, shook his head and said: "At first, I wanted to avoid such a serious division between the north and the south, and let the powerful and wealthy in the north share the dividends of the opening of the sea, so I established a trading house on the ruins of fine wool and silk coins."

"I thought about closing this trading house when the powerful northerners have a say in maritime trade, but many things cannot be changed by human will."

"Wang Ci Fu should be fined half a year's salary as a minor punishment. Wang Qianzi should report his father and demote him by one rank as a warning."

Zhu Yijun made a decision to give both of them fifty lashes. In this matter, Zhu Yijun could only play it safe. He needed Wang Chonggu to continue to serve him, but also had to support Jiu Buzun.

I can only learn from Shen Shixing, the master of balancing water.

Wang Jiaping is still in Guangzhou. Wang Chonggu has really retired. Is the emperor personally in charge of the affairs of the Labor Party? If Wang Cifu is not punished, then should the Nine Impermissibles be implemented? Let those scammers come to Yanxinglou Trading House to defraud money?
So we can only give each of them fifty lashes like this.

"I obey your order." Feng Bao accepted the order.

This was the first time Wang Chonggu was punished since he had a lock of hair cut off and placed in the palace in the third year of Wanli. A fine of half a year may not seem like much, but if this kind of thing continues to happen, it will definitely not be as simple as a fine. As the second assistant, the loss of authority and face is the loss of actual benefits;

The emperor’s meaning was very clear: if you want to cheat people out of money, don’t go to Yanxinglou Trading House.

Zhu Yijun tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Destroying someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. Helping someone get rich is like providing food and clothing to their parents. What Wang Qian did is a bit offensive. When you announce the decree, remind Wang Qian to be careful."

"Your Majesty is wise." Feng Bao received the imperial edict and went to the Wang family to announce it. He went to announce the edict personally. He wanted to watch the fun!

Old Wang’s house must be very lively now!
As for the far-reaching impact of the policy, we need to see the effect of its implementation, but today the Wang family must be in unrest. No one will benefit from being punished with fifty lashes each, and who knows what kind of fun the father and son will have.

When Feng Bao arrived, he saw a very peaceful house. Wang Chonggu did not come with a ring-handled sword to chop Wang Qian, and Wang Qian did not run around making a mess of the house. Both father and son had relatively calm reactions.

After Feng Bao announced the decree, he realized that the incident had become a big deal.

"My lords, how great can the hatred and resentment be between this father and son? Is Wang Qian going to move out of the Wang family's house? Not at all." Feng Bao asked in surprise.

Wang Qian was kicked out of the house by Wang Chonggu!
"As long as my grandson is here, I don't care whether he lives or dies. I tried my best to persuade him to be more restrained, but he didn't listen and even sued his own father. I can't tolerate him. He can go wherever he wants!" Wang Chonggu said angrily, "Zhang Juzheng's students sued him, and my own son sued me! The first and second ministers of the cabinet have all suffered this punishment. It's a disgrace to me!"

"He is capable now, rich, and can buy his own property. He can go wherever he wants. Just leave his grandson to me. I will just pretend that he is not my son!"

Wang Qian did not hesitate. He knelt on the ground, kowtowed three times, put the packed luggage in the car, and left the Wang family's house with his wife.

"Oh." Feng Bao watched Wang Qian leave and sighed. This was equivalent to telling everyone that the father-son relationship had been severed.

They did this to protect their little grandson, so that even if Wang Qian got into a big trouble in the future, their Wang family would not be extinct.

Wang Qian left resolutely because he knew that the path he was taking was a dead end from ancient times to the present, or in other words, the Wanli Reform itself was a dead end. It was just that Your Majesty was wise and powerful, so Wang Qian wanted to give it a try and follow Your Majesty to try it.

If it succeeds, that’s the best. If not, I’ve tried my best.

These are the martyrs that Legazpi mentioned over and over again. China has never lacked martyrs. No matter which class they are from, they can all become part of the backbone.

"Take care, Wang Ci Fu." Feng Bao shook his whisk and went back to the palace with the eunuch.

Wang Chonggu's expression didn't change much, but he still stared blankly at the street intersection for a long time, as if he saw himself in the past.

He was also so resolute when he killed the Japanese pirates in Yangzhou, killed the Tartars in the northwest, and formed the Jin Party. Later, he became a treacherous minister.

The older people get, the more conservative they become. They completely trust their past experiences and become more and more afraid of things. They worry about their reputation after death and that their children will not be able to take care of themselves after they die. The more afraid they are, the more conservative they become and the more they act according to established experience.

Wang Chonggu could understand Wang Qian's idea, but he did not support it. In the end, the father and son came to this point.

"Misfortunes often go hand in hand with blessings, and blessings often go hand in hand with misfortunes. Who knows what will happen in the future?" Wang Chonggu shook his head and went back to look after his grandson's studies.

Wang Qian's affairs soon spread throughout the capital. After everyone had watched the excitement, their attention was immediately attracted by another piece of news.

That is, there is very clear information indicating that there are a large number of gold mines in Juezhou!

The news came from the Governor-General's Office of Luzon, which specially dispatched a ship to offer auspicious signs. It arrived at Songjiang Prefecture, and on the ship were discovered natural gold nuggets.

The Ming Dynasty's stargazing ship obtained a thirty-jin nugget of natural gold while trading with the indigenous people. Because it looked like a rooster, it was also called the Juezhou Golden Rooster.

This batch of auspicious things includes more than thirty pieces of natural gold nuggets weighing more than five kilograms.

This piece of news immediately set the entire Ming capital on fire. Moreover, this gold mainly came from the habitable area to the southeast of Juezhou, not the desolate area in the west where no birds had flown away and no people had been seen in the thousands of mountains and paths.

Gold was not used as currency in the Ming Dynasty, not because the Ming Dynasty did not want to use it, but because the Ming Dynasty did not have mountains of gold and silver for it to squander, so it could only use copper coins.

This large amount of natural gold nuggets of Juezhou Golden Rooster were landed at Tanggu Port in Tianjin three days before the Mid-Autumn Festival in the 15th year of Wanli, and then escorted to Chaoyangmen Station by train. After undergoing strict inspection at Chaoyangmen Station, they were sent to Tonghe Palace by the imperial guards.

Zhu Yijun looked at the twenty or so natural gold nuggets in front of him. After a long while, he said, "It really is gold."

Pure gold has a bright luster, but all natural gold nuggets are not pure and have some black spots embedded in them.

The surface of the Juezhou Golden Rooster is very smooth, without any edges or corners, and there are some small honeycomb-shaped pits. All signs indicate that this is not a false auspicious sign presented by the Governor-General's Office of Luzon to please the emperor, but a real auspicious sign.

"Governor Yin said: The concentrated discovery of these natural gold nuggets indicates the existence of a large gold mine in the southeast of Juezhou, and a coastal defense inspector has been sent to investigate." The person who escorted the gold into Beijing was Zhu Yijun's nominal son-in-law, Yin Zhengmao's youngest son Yin Zongxin.

This is when he is at work, so Yin Zongxin naturally refers to his position.

Zhu Yijun looked at his son-in-law, who was only two years younger than him, and said solemnly, "Gold mines are very important to the Ming Dynasty, especially in the 25th year of Wanli, when it may be necessary to issue treasure notes."

"At first I thought that I only needed to open the sea and let silver flow in continuously. Later I found that I needed copper. I gradually found that if Taixi tightened the silver supply, I would be strangled and unable to move. Now, silver is not enough, and copper is barely enough."

"I am indeed the Son of Heaven, but if I want to issue treasure notes, I must have something to make the people believe that I can redeem them."

"So, by any means necessary, bring the gold back."

"I obey your command." Yin Zongxin bowed his head and accepted the order. The Luzon Governor-General's Office had made such a big fuss in order to obtain the emperor's edict. Only with the emperor's order would it be convenient to take action.

There is another reason for making such a big fuss and widely advertising it, and it is actually very simple: there are not enough people.

It's not that there are not enough forced labor, but that there are not enough Han people, who hold the majority position. Mining gold is no small matter and must be managed carefully.

Zhu Yijun initially thought that Yin Zhengmao deliberately made up a story about gold everywhere in Southeast Asia to trick the Ming people into going to Southeast Asia because of the population gap.

But when he met Yin Zongxin, Zhu Yijun was very sure that the Luzon Governor-General's Office was serious.

For such a big matter, the prince consort was escorted to the capital, which meant that he had taken on this responsibility. No more gold would flow into the Ming Dynasty, and he would be charged with deceiving the emperor.

"What do you need?" Zhu Yijun asked about the difficulties of the Luzon Governor's Office.

Yin Zongxin was not polite, and bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, we need more stargazing ships, geomancers, and boat masters. We need naval garrisons to ensure the safety of mining and smelting, and the safety of shipping routes. We need more firearms to deal with jumping rabbits and natives."

"Without these, the Luzon Governor's Office alone cannot consume so many gold mines, and Luzon does not need so much gold."

A natural gold nugget was discovered in Womagang, forming a large mining area.

This time, dozens of natural gold nuggets were discovered. From prospecting for minerals, mining and smelting, to road construction and safe sea transportation to Ming Dynasty, this mining area requires strong support from Ming Dynasty. It would be impossible to succeed in several lifetimes relying solely on the Luzon Governor's Office.

"Sit down and talk. Zhang Banban, make Zongxin a cup of good tea." Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand and said to Feng Bao, "Go to the imperial farm now and deliver this batch of natural gold nuggets to the imperial farm. Make it as conspicuous as possible so that everyone in the Ming Dynasty knows that I have found a treasure and discovered a large gold mine in Juezhou."

Feng Bao obeyed the order and went to the imperial farm with the eunuch. He set up a display cabinet outside the gate and arranged several guards to guard it to display the large number of natural gold nuggets.

Natural gold nuggets are extremely precious. Even in the Ming Dynasty imperial collection, there were no natural gold nuggets this large and numerous.

The outdoor display will last for three days, and then they will be placed in the most conspicuous position of the imperial farm. Anyone passing by the imperial farm can see these natural gold nuggets shining brightly.

To achieve the best effect, Feng Bao even added two lime blowtorches to illuminate the gold nuggets.

(End of this chapter)