There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 288 Huizhou Merchants Cannot Survive, Yet Huizhou Merchants Can Survive!

Wang Xingyao made no attempt to conceal anything and revealed everything: "The Prince of Han once personally received me, mainly to inquire about the specific composition of the Huizhou merchant guild, how many members there were, and whether they had overseas trade channels."

"Didn't they make any other promises?" Wang Xingye asked, frowning.

Wang Xingyao smiled and asked in return, "If I gave it to you, would you believe me, brother?"

"..."

Wang Xingye paused for a moment and then said, "So, the Prince of Han really has no designs on us Huizhou merchants?"

During the daytime banquet, Chen Lin told them about the Han Dynasty's attitude towards Huizhou merchants, but the Huizhou merchants referred to here are the merchants in the Huizhou merchant group. Wang Xingye wanted to know the specific attitude of the Han Dynasty towards the Huizhou merchant group.

After all, the Huizhou merchants were a wealthy merchant group that could rival the Yangzhou salt merchants and the eight major Shanxi merchants. Their financial resources were not to be underestimated. While it might not be possible to influence the situation of the world, the fact that the Han Dynasty had the strong support of the Huizhou merchants meant that it could certainly rapidly build up an army in a short period of time.

Wang Xingye did not believe that the Prince of Han was truly without any suspicion towards the Huizhou merchants. Even if he was lenient towards merchants, merchant groups were not the same as individual merchants.

Upon hearing Wang Xingye's words, Wang Xingyao slowly suppressed his smile and solemnly said, "The Prince of Han did not issue a clear decree, but he did give me a hint: the Huizhou merchants can be kept, but the Huizhou merchants cannot be kept."

The words were a bit awkward to pronounce, but Wang Xingye understood them instantly.

He, who had been full of hope, suddenly became somewhat lost in thought, and his mood plummeted to rock bottom.

Wang Xingyao glanced at him and continued, “Although the meaning of the Prince of Han was not clearly expressed, I can still understand some of it. The Huizhou merchants are too powerful. When we Huizhou merchants are separated, we are indeed a group of lowly merchants, but once we gather together as a merchant guild, we can form a force that can rival the eight great Shanxi merchants and the Yangzhou salt merchants. Even now, the Yangzhou salt merchants have to temporarily avoid our sharp edge.”

"Such enormous wealth, if left outside the control of the government and the imperial court, even if the Prince of Han could rest assured, the officials under him would not. Ask yourself, if you discovered that one day a powerful merchant group had emerged besides the Huizhou merchants, would you be at ease?"

Wang Xingye opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, and then sighed: "Of course I'm worried."

Wang Xingyao nodded: "So, according to the King of Han, he can tolerate the existence of Huizhou merchants. As long as they operate legally, they are subjects of our Great Han. But the Huizhou merchant guild cannot continue to exist. Once Huizhou Prefecture officially submits to the Great Han, you, as the guild leader, must take the lead in disbanding the guild!"

Upon hearing Wang Xingyao's affirmative reply, Wang Xingye understood why Chen Lin had brought Wang Xingyao to the banquet—there were some things that couldn't be said openly at the banquet.

After all, the Huizhou merchants had just sided with the Han Dynasty and were about to help the Han Dynasty take over the entire southern Anhui region and open up the trade route between Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

As a result, the big man was about to kill the Huizhou merchants. Although he did not touch their property, the Huizhou merchants were about to come to an end.

After only a moment of contemplation, Wang Xingye made a decision: "Alright, once Huizhou Prefecture is returned to the Han Dynasty, I will officially disband the merchant guild. From now on, there will only be Huizhou merchants, and no longer the Huizhou merchant guild."

Wang Xingyao finally smiled; his mission was complete.

He wasn't surprised that Wang Xingye made such a quick decision. As a businessman, one must learn to act decisively. If one is indecisive, one would have been devoured by rivals long ago in the fierce business competition.

Wang Xingyao added, "There's no need to go to such extremes. The King of Han also said that Huizhou merchants cannot survive, but they can survive. This means that as long as Huizhou merchants no longer operate as a merchant guild, but simply do business normally, or a few of them jointly establish a trading company and engage in overseas trade, that's not impossible."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xingye's eyes lit up. He astutely grasped the key phrase in Wang Xingyao's words: "The Great Han does not intend to close its borders and impose a maritime ban?"

Wang Xingyao shook his head: "I don't know either, but when the King of Han met with me, he talked most about overseas trade routes and the current situation of overseas countries. It's strange, the King of Han started his career in Hubei, which is an inland province. However, although the King of Han can't be said to know everything about the situation of overseas countries, he knows far more than we do. He can even talk about the United States, a new continent thousands of miles away."

"The United States, thousands of miles away?" As the head of the Huizhou merchants, Wang Xingye was not completely unaware of news from overseas, even though the Qing Dynasty had implemented a policy of isolationism.

He vaguely remembered hearing about this America from an English businessman he'd met a few years ago; the businessman had mentioned it quite vividly. The businessman had said that America had once been an overseas territory of the English emperor (king), but later rebelled and declared independence, abandoning the emperor.

When Wang Xingye first heard about the United States, he found it unbelievable. How could a country not have an emperor?

This is complete chaos!

Oh, and there's also England, that tiny, barbaric overseas nation, who dared to usurp the title of emperor—it's utterly rebellious!

Wang Xingyao didn't dwell too much on the overseas topic, and continued, "The Huizhou merchants are definitely gone in the future. Not only the Huizhou merchants, but also the Yangzhou salt merchants, the Eight Great Shanxi merchants, and other merchant groups from various regions will all be banned. Such a large merchant group that can interfere with the decisions of the imperial court is doomed to perish sooner or later, even if it weren't for the Prince of Han. Since that's the case, it's better to disband now and receive the protection and support of the Han Dynasty. We Huizhou merchants were among the first to serve, and we are sure to have a bright future!"

After Wang Xingyao finished explaining his thoughts in one breath, Wang Xingye had completely understood and nodded repeatedly: "Brother, you are right. I have benefited greatly from today's conversation!"

Good heavens, once he figured it out, he even started calling himself "my virtuous brother" and "my foolish elder brother."

It's very simple. If the Huizhou merchants were forcibly separated, Wang Xingye might still feel resentful. But if the Yangzhou salt merchants, the eight major Shanxi merchants, and other merchant groups from various regions were all broken up, then there would be no problem.

People are not worried about scarcity, but about inequality!

With all merchant guilds disbanded, everyone is on the same starting line, so no one will resent the imperial court anymore. Instead, they will gloat while simultaneously racing to get a head start in the fierce competition.

Because the Han Dynasty first disbanded the merchant guilds, and then lifted the maritime ban, allowing merchants to resume overseas trade.

It's like slapping someone and then giving them a sweet treat.

Although there was no explicit government order, Wang Xingyao's side had already given very clear hints. Wang Xingye was no fool; how could he not understand?
The Han Dynasty's plan to reopen maritime trade was incredibly attractive to powerful merchants like them.

Just how profitable was maritime trade can be seen from the rapid rise of the Thirteen Factories of Guangzhou.

As the only customs port open to foreign trade after Emperor Qianlong's policy of isolationism, the merchants of the Thirteen Factories here were beyond description in terms of wealth. Their riches were beyond words and unimaginable to ordinary people.

From the time Emperor Qianlong closed the country to the present, in just forty years, the number of foreign ships passing through the Thirteen Factories has increased tenfold, and tax revenue has increased more than fourfold, exceeding the two million taels mark.

This is just one item of customs duties, equivalent to one-thirtieth of the Qing Dynasty's national treasury. For the Qing Dynasty, which had implemented strict maritime bans and a policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, this was simply unbelievable.

The Thirteen Factories of Guangzhou were so wealthy that they were aptly described as "a mountain of gold and a sea of ​​pearls, the emperor's southern treasury."

The Thirteen Factories were not only merchants granted a special license by Emperor Qianlong to monopolize maritime trade, but also his private treasury in the south.

In addition to donating 100,000 taels of silver to the Qianlong Emperor's treasury every year, the merchants of the Thirteen Factories were also responsible for funding various procurements of jewelry and goods for the imperial court. They even donated more than 5 million taels of silver to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion in history.

By the early stages of the Opium War, the merchants of the Thirteen Factories of Guangzhou had actually surpassed the wealth of the Yangzhou salt merchants and the eight major Shanxi merchants.

Of course, prosperity inevitably leads to decline, and the formation of a monopoly in any industry is a disaster for ordinary people.

Nie Yu had no intention of letting the Thirteen Factories continue to operate. He even planned to abolish and dismantle his own Huizhou merchants. How long the Thirteen Factories could enjoy their good days depended on when the Han army attacked Guangdong.

(I'm working overtime today, so I'll only post one chapter now. I'll continue writing after get off work tonight. Sorry!)

(End of this chapter)