There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 121 Hui Merchants (Two in One)

"I can't believe that the city of Jingzhou under the rule of the rebels is even more prosperous than the one under the government!" Wang Xingyao walked on the west city street of Jingzhou, looking at the pedestrians and merchants passing by, and couldn't help but exclaimed in amazement.

Wang Er, the attendant behind him, couldn't help but ask, "Boss, I told you I was in Jingzhou years ago. Back then, Jingzhou wasn't much different from what it is now. Why do you say Jingzhou is even more prosperous than the one under the government?"

Wang Xingyao chuckled when he heard this, then pointed at the street vendors and asked, "Look carefully at these vendors. Are there any differences between them and those in other big cities?"

Wang Er observed carefully for a long time and actually noticed a slight difference: "These vendors seem to have their own fixed stalls... How should I put it? They look very neat and tidy, giving people a refreshing feeling at first glance."

"Yes," Wang Xingyao nodded and said, "This traitorous official in Jingzhou City must be a man of ability and insight. He has integrated and utilized these originally undisciplined peddlers and hawkers, and taught them the rules. With rules, many things can be done more easily and successfully."

As he spoke, Wang Xingyao took out a string of copper coins from his sleeve, which he had exchanged on the way here.

Although silver was a hard currency in the Qing Dynasty, and even during the Qianlong period, there was a period of inflation due to the excessive amount of silver, but these were only for merchants, landlords, wealthy families and scholars. The real common people at the bottom of society, when they could use silver throughout the year, it was almost always to pay taxes to the government.

Wang Xingyao took the copper coins and approached a vendor. He looked like a farmer, dressed simply and with a tan. He sold mostly agricultural and sideline products, such as chicken and duck eggs.

Wang Xingyao simply bought some eggs, brought them back, and said, "Waiter, look what this is?"

"Eggs?" Wang Er was puzzled.

Wang Xingyao nodded. "Eggs are not rare, but it's quite rare to find them at this farmer's stall. Rural farmers live a hard life, barely saving much money year-round. Even those who raise hens and poultry either give their eggs to landlords or sell them cheaply to the rice shops run by landlords and gentry to pay taxes. Not to mention that very few farmers move into the city, and even if they do, they mostly sell their produce to restaurants and hotels, where demand is greater and it's easier to make a profit."

After hearing this, Wang Er understood and was even more surprised.

Because he saw that there was not only this one farmer selling eggs and agricultural products, but also many vendors.

There were even a few people who didn't sell eggs, but simply sold chicks. Chicks were not rare, but it was very rare for farmers from the countryside to come in large numbers to sell chicks.

This is the truth about the so-called "germs of capitalism" in ancient times!

It is said that the commercial economy of the Northern Song Dynasty was developed, and the commercial tax revenue could support half of the Song Dynasty, and the "sprouts of capitalism" appeared. However, anyone who has truly studied the history of the Northern Song Dynasty would never say this.

What kind of "sprout of capitalism" is this? It is purely a deformed "capitalist economy" born out of the dynasty's forced intervention in the market.

Without the dynasty's intervention, the collapse of this "capital economy" would be even faster than that of the traditional market economy.

Because the essence of commercial activities is the circulation of goods and currency, and the circulation of goods and currency requires a group with consumption demand, that is, the people must have stable and continuous consumption demand.

As for the Northern Song Dynasty, the "sprout of capitalism" that marketing accounts often talk about, although the data on paper is so terrifying, the annual commercial taxes are frighteningly high. However, this outrageous commercial tax revenue did not lead to a prosperous commercial economy, but instead local uprisings broke out one after another, and the people were living in dire straits.

To give a simple example, during the reign of Song Huizong, the territory of the Northern Song Dynasty reached its largest area. It recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and the Hehuang area of ​​Longyou, allied with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, and fulfilled the century-old wish of the Song Dynasty. He was indeed a "wise ruler" in a prosperous era!

What? After the Jin Dynasty conquered the Liao Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty conquered the Song Dynasty and completely lost the Longyou and Yanyun areas that they had recovered.

Wang Xingyao, holding an egg in his hand, said, "First, the landlords' land was distributed to the common people, then taxes were reduced and slaves were freed. Now, even ordinary farmers can make their own livings and go to the city to sell eggs and chicks. This rebel general has the potential to become a great leader!"

Wang Er reminded: "No matter how powerful a leader is, he is still a rebel. If he is a rebel, he will be wiped out by the government soldiers and the court sooner or later."

Wang Xingyao shook his head and laughed: "Haha, that's true, but this traitorous leader also has capable officials assisting him, so it's hard to say what the future holds."

Wang Er didn't say anything else. The shopkeeper couldn't say it, so then it wouldn't be easy to say it!
Anyway, no matter how big a commotion this rebel causes, it is only in Huguang. Wang Er is from Huizhou, so it has nothing to do with him.

"Okay, we'll be at the Chen residence in just a little while. Let's go hand in the visiting card first!"

Soon, they arrived at the Chen Mansion.

"Haha, Manager Wang, you have come from afar, and I hope you won't blame me for not welcoming you in person!" The old patriarch Chen and his youngest son Chen Xingye warmly welcomed him.

Wang Xingyao was also very polite. He bowed and smiled, saying, "Old Patriarch Chen, your words are very kind. I am just a merchant. I do not deserve such a great welcome from you."

After some greetings, Wang Xingyao was welcomed into the front yard. The old master Chen accompanied him personally and sent someone to the government office to ask his eldest son to come back first.

After sitting down in the reception room, a maid came over to serve tea. The tea was of high quality, but the maid made Wang Xingyao raise his eyebrows slightly.

Because the maid was a little older and her appearance was very ordinary, she did not have the style of a maid kept by a wealthy family in the capital.

The old master of the Chen family seemed to have noticed as well. He put down his teacup and said, "Don't be disgusted, Manager Wang. The General has already issued a decree that no one can force slaves or maids into their homes. They must sign a servant contract, and it must be mutually voluntary. My Chen family has been blessed by the General, so naturally we must strictly abide by this law to live up to his trust and respect!"

This was a nice statement. At least Wang Xingyao couldn't hear anything wrong with it, nor could he find any flaws.

The servants who served tea to herself and to Master Chen and his youngest son were all of similar appearance and age. Some of them might even have children, and they looked completely like women. They were more like maids than servants.

No, they were originally maids hired under formal contracts. At least the current Chen family would never be able to, and would not dare to, openly keep slaves as maids.

Wang Xingyao took a sip of tea and, without beating around the bush, got straight to the point. "Master Chen, you've known our company for many years, so let's be frank. The company is taking a risk by sending me here. Please don't make fun of me or the company!"

Originally, the main trading company behind Wang Xingyao had no plans to come to Jingzhou. Although their Wang family was not a prominent family, they could still rank among the Huizhou merchants.

Jingzhou had become Han territory, effectively falling to the outside world. Naturally, the Huai salt business there was no longer viable. Without Jingzhou's Huai salt business, the company behind Wang Xingyao wouldn't be seriously affected, at most causing significant financial loss.

It hurts, but it’s not completely unbearable.

The reason why Wang Xingyao took the risk of disguising himself this time was because of the sudden contact from the Chen family, which not only indicated that the Chen family was still there, but was also willing to introduce the Huai salt business to the company.

The Huai salt in the area under the jurisdiction of the Han Army was banned by the Qing government. The business company behind Wang Xingyao knew about this, and because of this, they felt that the Han Army's influence would not last long.

Even though the business cannot be expanded, it has to be done. The profit from salt is several times or even dozens of times higher than that from edible salt, and other materials can also be sold.

Selling out the country? What is selling out the country?
What they are doing is at most smuggling, just a normal business. Didn't the famous eight imperial merchants make their fortunes by smuggling and selling out the country?

If Shanxi merchants can sell out their country, then Huizhou merchants can naturally do so too!
Patriarch Chen smiled and said, "Don't worry, Shopkeeper Wang. Let's eat first and talk about it after we're done."

Wang Xingyao saw this, but he did not doubt it, because it was indeed time for dinner, and social interactions were common, and talking business meant eating and drinking.

The banquet was prepared quickly and the few people didn't have to wait long. During this time, Chen Xinghuai also came back, and he didn't even have time to change into his official uniform. It might be that he did not change on purpose.

Ordinary people may not be familiar with this style of official hat with brim, but Wang Xingyao was well-educated and loved watching operas, so he recognized at a glance that this official uniform came from the previous dynasty, and even had a rough idea of ​​its rank.

(That's about it, just watch it!)

Wang Xingyao was not stupid, so he naturally understood that the other party could not have worn the official uniform of the previous dynasty just to look good. That could only mean that the Chen family had really joined the rebels, and even the eldest son had become an official under the rebels.

Wang Xingyao thought about it, then stood up and bowed, saying, "I greet Mr. Chen!"

The more courtesy you give, the less blame you will get. If you make the other person unhappy because of polite address, you will suffer a great loss.

Chen Xinghuai returned the greeting with a bow. "Manager Wang, you're very polite. Under our Han army, we no longer pay attention to addressing people as "Sir." "Sir" is a bad custom passed down from the pseudo-Qing dynasty. It's written in the scriptures that only princes, nobles, people of high moral character, and parents and elders can be addressed as "Sir." How can a commoner address an official, or a subordinate address a superior, as "Sir?" It's simply because the barbarians don't understand etiquette."

Wang Xingyao: “…”

He couldn't respond to that!
Although this was the territory of the rebels, he was still a Qing Dynasty member after all. If someone said that the Manchus were barbarians in front of him, he would be in a dilemma whether to listen or not.

The question is, if he is not allowed to call me "sir", what should he do?
Chen Xinghuai smiled and said, "Manager Wang, you can call me Chen Zhifu. Thanks to the general's support, I am now the local prefect of Jingzhou, in charge of all civil affairs in Jingzhou."

Wow, it’s only been a year since we last met, and the Chen family has already produced a prefect.

Although he was a prefect under the control of the rebels, he was still the local leader. As a businessman, Wang Xingyao became more confident.

Without further reminiscing, everyone arrived and it was time to serve the food. The food was not extravagant, reflecting the Chen family's limited financial resources. They had already decided to marry into the general's family, essentially tying themselves to the rebellion. If successful, they would be considered founding fathers and relatives of the emperor. If unsuccessful, they would be the entire family.

A little bit of wealth was naturally not a problem. The Chen family was originally prepared to spend all their wealth to help the Han army buy salt.

But no more now.

When all the dishes were served, Wang Xingyao felt very restrained because the person sitting opposite him was a fourth-rank prefect, a rebel prefect who was also a prefect, which put too much pressure on him.

It's true that Wang Xingyao came from a Huizhou merchant family. Huizhou merchants were fabulously wealthy, even surpassing Shanxi merchants at one point and monopolizing the salt industry. But this had nothing to do with Wang Xingyao. He was merely a illegitimate offspring of a side branch of the family. If he were a legitimate descendant, he wouldn't have traveled extensively as a shopkeeper, disguised himself, and risked his life trying to sell salt in rebel territory.

After the meal, Wang Xingyao had no appetite and didn't drink enough wine.

After a quick banquet, the maid brought snacks.

Chen Xinghuai said enthusiastically, "Shopkeeper Wang, this dim sum was passed down from the General's Mansion. It tastes very good. Let's try it first."

Wang Xingyao, who was about to say something, was choked, but he still reached out and picked up a piece of dessert, took a bite and was about to say it was delicious to get the matter over with.

"Ok?"

Wang Xingyao was stunned and quickly took another bite: "No, this dessert..."

Chen Xinghuai smiled: "Haha, Shopkeeper Wang, this snack comes from the General's Mansion, it must taste good."

Not bad, more than not bad!

Wang Xingyao took two bites at a time and stuffed the entire snack into his mouth. He greedily picked up another piece and chewed it. The more he chewed, the more frightened he became.

It has the delicious taste of dim sum and the incredible salty fragrance of dim sum.

That’s right, it’s a salty and fragrant taste, without any impurities or bitterness!

As we all know, regardless of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the salt purification and filtration technology was not up to standard. From the salt boiling method to the salt drying method, it essentially only improved the efficiency of salt production, but the bitter taste of salt could never be solved.

Coarse salt is called coarse salt, which means it is bitter and cannot be eaten. Refined salt is called refined salt, which only reduces the bitterness, but it still tastes bitter.

For example, at the banquet just now, all the dishes Wang Xingyao ate had the bitter taste of salt, which could only be covered up with other spices. He got used to it after eating it for a while.

But getting used to it doesn't mean you can't taste it, especially the after-meal snack that Wang Xingyao has now. It doesn't have any bitterness at all, but is full of the original salty fragrance. Combined with the delicious taste of the snack, it tastes better than any snack he has ever had.

Wang Xingyao's keen business sense, developed from years of traveling around the country, allowed him to instantly understand the Chen family's purpose.

"Where does this salt come from?" Wang Xingyao asked after wiping his mouth after eating four pieces of snacks in a row.

Chen Xinghuai said: "This snack comes from the General's Mansion, and this salt naturally comes from the General's Mansion as well!"

After saying that, without any nonsense, he took out a small box. When he opened the box, he saw snow-clear salt inside, and almost half of it had been used.

Wang Xingyao stretched out his finger, tapped it lightly, and put it in his mouth to taste it.

Salty!

It was a pure salty taste, without a hint of bitterness, and tasted purer than any refined salt he had ever eaten.

"call!"

Wang Xingyao exhaled lightly and said, "The Chen family is really good. They actually mastered such a powerful salt-making method. With this salt-making method, there will be no Huai salt, Guangdong salt, Sichuan salt in the future... All salt merchants in the world will have to make way for your Chen family!"

Chen Xinghuai shook his head: "This is not the Chen family's method, it is the method of the general. This salt was also given to the Chen family by the general."

"what?"

Wang Xingyao was stunned, obviously he had not expected this. Looking carefully, Chen Xinghuai's expression did not seem fake, so it was really the work of the traitorous general.

The rebels actually mastered such a powerful salt-making method?
Almost in an instant, Wang Xingyao thought of more things. The rebels already had this method of making salt, so why did they need Huai salt? Wouldn't it be better to make salt by themselves?

No, the rebels found the Chen family, asked them to contact themselves and the business behind them, and took out the salt. It was obvious that they had big plans.

Wang Xingyao narrowed his eyes slightly: "What does the general want?"

Haha, dealing with businessmen is convenient. You don’t need to say too much. Their own business acumen can solve most problems.

Chen Xinghuai said with a smile, "The general plans to sell this new salt to the merchant company behind Shopkeeper Wang. If Shopkeeper Wang's merchant company can't take it all, then we'll sell it to the Huizhou merchants. You can all sell this salt together. My Han army will provide the salt, and you Huizhou merchants will be responsible for the sales. We'll split the profits 50-50."

Wang Xingyao raised his eyebrows. "Isn't this a bit overbearing? We Hui merchants are responsible for sales and relationships, but in the end, we only split the profits 50-50..."

Chen Xinghuai still had a smile on his face. "Manager Wang, this is brand new table salt, without the slightest bitterness. It will sell faster than any other salt. Even if you offer the same price for salt, one with a bitter taste and one without a trace of bitterness, whose salt do you think the common people and the wealthy will buy?"

"With just a little bit of maneuvering, the Huizhou merchants will be able to monopolize the salt industry again. Once the salt industry is monopolized, the money will flow like water!"

When Wang Xingyao heard this, he had to admit that he was tempted to use the new salt to create a monopoly.

This approach is indeed feasible. Even without Chen Xinghuai suggesting it, Wang Xingyao himself had come up with many ways to use this new salt to defeat Huai salt, Guangdong salt, and Sichuan salt. The simplest way was probably to offer it as tribute to Emperor Qianlong.

The emperor is also a human being and needs to eat salt. No matter how much he gets used to eating bitter salt every day, it is still bitter. He just has no choice.

If there is better salt, the emperor will also become obsessed with the new salt.

After that, he bribed the local officials and promised to give them a share of the profits and provide them with new salt for free. It was only a matter of time before the new salt was monopolized again and Hui merchants returned to the list of the richest people in the Qing Dynasty.

Wang Xingyao gradually made up his mind, but pretended to hesitate and said, "But this 50% profit..."

Chen Xinghuai's smile faded: "Manager Wang, this new salt is in the hands of my Han army, and your company is not the only Huizhou merchant."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xingyao hurriedly said, "Master Chen... Prefect Chen, we have something to discuss. This new salt is not off the table. A 50% profit is fine. However, our company wants to know the complete salt-making process behind this new salt. If the general is willing to give it to us, our company is willing to give up all the profits from the past two years, not a cent!"

Chen Xinghuai shook his head. "Impossible. The new salt production method is top secret. Even this prefect doesn't know it, so Shopkeeper Wang, forget it."

Wang Xingyao was somewhat disappointed, but he also understood that it was not that simple. He added, "Then the Han army must promise that from now on, the new salt can only be sold to our company. Even if our company cannot handle it for the time being, the Han army cannot unilaterally contact other companies to provide them with new salt channels."

Chen Xinghuai said, "Of course. Since it's agreed that the Huizhou merchants will have a monopoly, then naturally we'll sell it exclusively to you. However, this only works under the pseudo-Qing rule. The new salt in our Han army territory is mainly state-owned, so don't even think about interfering."

"This is natural," said Wang Xingyao.

He understood this principle. The supply of salt from his own territory must be ensured. It is impossible to contract it out to any businessman. It can only be run by the government to maintain stability.

After finishing the business of selling salt, Chen Xinghuai relaxed and started chatting about other businesses.

"In addition to the new salt, the general actually has a few new items. Could you please take a look at them, Manager Wang?"

"Oh? There are other goodies?"

"..."

(End of this chapter)