My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 167: Excited Noble Sons

When Xu Qin told them about the official positions here, they were pleasantly surprised. There were so many official positions, including third-rank positions, which they had not thought of before.

And just now they heard Xu Qin say that as long as they have the ability, they can get these positions. Now they just want to know how Xu Qin will evaluate them.

"Marquis of Haozhou, how do you consider us?" One of the young men from the noble families stared at Xu Qin and asked.

"We'll talk about it later. Everyone isn't here yet, but the mission of calling you here is very important. There are also many opportunities. It's not impossible for you to be granted a title of nobility or appointed as a prime minister, but your abilities still need to be tested. Now, everyone take a rest. We'll start when the time is right." Xu Qin said with a smile, and the others also laughed.

But Xu Qin was not in a hurry. It was indeed a little early now, and besides, people were indeed coming in from outside one after another.

"Come, second brother, have some tea!" Xu Qin saw that there was no tea in front of Zhu Gang, so he immediately picked up the teapot and prepared to pour tea for Zhu Gang. However, Zhu Gang also reacted quickly. He immediately stood up, grabbed Xu Qin's hand, and said quickly: "I'll do it myself, do it myself, you sit down, now everyone still wants to know about the Trade Bureau, including what the Trade Bureau should do in the future?"

"Well, it's nothing. We just sell goods. We buy goods from the Ming Dynasty, send them abroad, and then buy goods back from abroad. However, a very important point is why we let you, the sons of military honors, come to the Trade Bureau. Because we not only sell goods, we also have two naval forces under our Trade Bureau, and they will follow our ships to the sea in the future.

If the countries we sell goods to are obedient and willing to trade with us, then everything will be fine. But if they want to rob our goods or blackmail us, then we're sorry, because our navy will have to be deployed at this time, and you too will need to be deployed, and then those lands will become the lands of our Ming Dynasty.

Coming to the Trade Bureau gives you the opportunity to expand your territory, what do you think?" Xu Qin said as he looked at them with a smile.

When they heard this, they all looked at Xu Qin in surprise. They were children of military honors and also hoped to achieve great things, but the prerequisite was to be able to get money. If they had money, they would want to make great achievements, but if they had no money, they would think about how to make a living.

Then Xu Qin chatted with the sons of military honors. Unconsciously, it began to darken. Xu Qin felt that almost everyone had arrived, so he asked his subordinates to post two copied position tables, and red papers with salary and bonus ratios on the back.

When the sons of nobles saw this, they thought, wow, the third rank is not worth mentioning, this is Xu Qin's position, the third rank, the annual salary is 3,000 taels, and the bonus is 8,000 taels. The fourth rank, the annual salary is 2,500 taels, the bonus is 7,000 taels, and the fourth rank. Even the lowest seventh rank, the annual salary is 500 taels, and the bonus is 3,000 taels.

They looked at the two pieces of red paper, their faces flushed with excitement. Now they just wanted to know how Xu Qin would assign positions to them and how to pacify them so that they could obtain these positions. Of course, there was a more important thing. There were hundreds of people here, and there were also many who had not come. With so many people competing for these positions, it was not known whether they could get in.
Xu Qin had said before that the children of military honors who were not in the capital could also participate, but the news was transmitted very slowly, and it would take time for them to come to the capital, so Xu Qin would reserve some places for those children who had not yet arrived in the capital.

"Everyone watch first. After you're done, I'll tell you how I'll assess you this time. Don't worry, it's very fair this time. Of course, I will definitely arrange a few people, but not many. Most of the positions will be open to competition." Xu Qin said with a smile as he sat there.

"Hehe!" When those people heard this, they all smiled at Xu Qin with good intentions. What's the big deal about arranging a few people? There are so many positions here. Even if all of them are arranged by Xu Qin, they dare not have any objections.

At this time, Xu Qin's servant moved a chair to the top and waited for Xu Qin to come over.

Xu Qin waited for a while, and when he thought they had finished watching, he stood up and walked to the front center. All the people also stood up.'

Xu Qin sat down at that position, and seeing that everyone below stood up, he pressed his hand, and then asked the servant to post a list of needed goods.

Everyone was also staring at the list of goods, which was the list that the Trade Bureau carried out its first overseas voyage.

"Everyone, most of you are older than me, and I guess you know what this list means. Yes, just as you think, this time, it depends on who can get these goods.

You are all well aware of the rumors in the capital over the past two months. Those civil officials have controlled the workshop owners, forcing them not to ship goods and not to sell goods to the previous weaving bureau, making it impossible for the weaving bureau to ship goods out to sea. So now, it all depends on your ability.'

I will ask the servants to start the registration later. You will come to receive the task. Please write down clearly what goods you are willing to obtain and how much you want to obtain. I will divide the goods equally among you according to your completion of the task and the difficulty of the task. At the same time, I will draft your official positions and send them to His Majesty for approval. Also, don't exaggerate. If you can't obtain so much goods and cannot enter the Trade Bureau, don't blame me.

Of course, you can also work in a group. For example, seven or eight people can work together to get a batch of porcelain, and good porcelain can be obtained by another seven or eight people. It can also be done by five or six groups of people. For example, for our daily necessities, such as combs, only two people are needed. We don't need so many. Ten thousand at most will be enough.

For example, you don’t need a lot of scissors. Two or three people are enough to get the goods. The quantity is also indicated on it, 10,000 pairs!

There are also bronze mirrors. The demand for bronze mirrors is even greater. However, this time, when you go to get bronze mirrors, you must tell the owners of the bronze mirror workshops to stop producing so many in the future. There will be substitutes by then. If they expand production because we want so much, they will be the ones who lose money.

There are also various things that you can all work together to deal with, and I will take care of it when the time comes!
Now, everyone, think first, consider first, eat first, and drink first, it’s up to you. If you mess up things because of drinking, don’t blame others. However, there’s no harm in drinking a little.

Come on, serve the food and wine!" Xu Qin said, waving his hand.

Soon, the people from Cuiyueju started serving the dishes. Today, there were more than 30 tables set up in the main hall of Cuiyueju. Of course, there were also more than 30 tables in the private rooms upstairs.

Xu Qin naturally wouldn't eat here, as there was almost no room for people to stand here.

"Everyone, have your meal ready. I will come down in an hour and ask my servants to start the registration. The registration will last for ten days. After ten days, I will need to load our goods onto the ship and ship them out to sea. At the same time, on the tenth day, I will assign positions to some of you based on your merits. Also, you will be assigned positions to lead the troops out to sea. You should think carefully about this. You are going to go out to sea. You will be subsidized two taels of silver per day. Basically, our merchant ships go out to sea for almost two months, and there are sixty taels of silver per day. In addition, in future promotions and transfers, those who have been out to sea will be given priority.

So if you don't want to go to sea, don't sign up. As for whether it is dangerous to go to sea, of course it is! But we are all children of military honors, and we will join the army soon, and fighting is probably inevitable. So, there are dangers, but there are also opportunities. Everyone should consider it carefully.

That's it. I'll go upstairs to eat first. Everyone sit wherever you want. You don't have to say anything about seating by seat. Just sit at a table with the people you can discuss with and start discussing!" Xu Qin said to them with a smile, and then he started to walk upstairs.

But the others immediately started looking for people, thinking in their minds, what goods can they get, where their family has connections, what can be produced in the places with connections, and whether their family connections can get those goods?
Soon, the group of people began to gather in groups of three or five, and then they found a table to sit down. No one of them even looked at the food on the table. The opportunity was here, and it depended on themselves whether they could seize it. Who would still think about eating at this time?

Xu Qin went to the private room upstairs, found a table and started eating by himself. Xu Qin also knew that they were not in the mood to eat now, so he would not wait for them and would eat first.

Soon, the second floor also became lively. Xu Qin sat there eating and listening to them talking.

"My father works in Quanzhou, and he knows some people in the pearl farm. But I'm worried that my father can't handle it alone. Your fathers also work in Zhangzhou. What do you think? We can work together to get pearls. The quantity of pearls is quite large. We can take 30% or half of it. How about that? Do you have the courage?" one of them said.

"Okay, let's take 30% first. I guess they have connections in Hangzhou and Taizhou, so we need to unite. Otherwise, we won't be able to defeat them."

"Yes, pour the wine, let's have a drink first, and then we'll go register!"

This group of people are now all discussing how to get the goods. For them, such an opportunity is very rare and if they miss it, they miss it. They also believe that their father will definitely agree to such a thing. What's more, they are not going to rob but buy, which means a bit of forced buying, but they will not lose a penny.

The reason why it was a forced purchase was that those civil officials went too far. Those civil officials gave orders to the local county magistrate, and the local workshop owners dared not disobey the county magistrate. But with this group of people going there, it wouldn't matter. The local county magistrate couldn't do anything about this group of people.

(End of this chapter)