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Chapter 171 169 [Merchant chasing big profits]

Chen Maosheng, as the chief of the Propaganda Department of the General Military Mansion, married a good prostitute who was raped six months ago.

Moreover, Zhao Han personally officiated the wedding!

The news spread quickly, causing a sensation not only in the eight counties, but also spread to further states and counties.

Although there are many critics, the positive effects are also significant, and people's ideas are gradually changing.

That month, more than thirty prostitutes applied to join the mission team...

Zhao Han's policy towards Goulan brothel is very similar to his treatment of concubine status.

If the people do not promote it, the officials will not investigate it; if the people promote it, the officials will investigate it!

In principle, brothels are prohibited and taxed.

But if you don't take the initiative to check, if a prostitute leaves voluntarily, the brothel must not stop it, otherwise the brothel will be banned directly. All told, seven brothels have been closed down, all suspected of illegally confining women's freedom. The declared crime was "forcing girls into prostitution."

Li Fenglai, a grain merchant, was spending time in the brothel.

When he came to Ji'an this time, business was not very easy, because Zhao Han's war and expansion of the army consumed a lot of food, and the remaining food had to be reserved.

Only some large households whose fields were divided still lived a luxurious life, and had to sell grain if they didn't have enough money. There are also some ordinary people who sell grain to the village's Qianliang shop, who then sells it to grain dealers from other places. Li Fenglai continues to collect thousands of kilograms of grain.

Rural money and grain shops have not been completely banned, but loan sharking is prohibited.

Because money and grain shops opened by landlords are very important in rural areas, farmers must rely on such shops to exchange grain for copper coins or silver.

Fei Chun's grain stores could not be spread in every village and town, and one grain store was set up in about two to three towns.

If the landlord's money store is too deceptive, farmers will choose to go a long way and sell their grain to the official grain bank in exchange for money.

After listening to the ditty and drinking the wine, Li Fenglai was helped to bed by the famous prostitute Pan Saisai.

He felt something pressing on the back of his head and reached under the pillow to dig out. It was a copy of "Datong Collection". He immediately laughed and said, "Miss Pan also reads this kind of book?"

Pan Saisai explained: "After this month, I will take the exam for missionary officer. I have to read some articles in advance."

"The madam is willing to let you go?" Li Fenglai asked in surprise.

"How dare she not let go?" Pan Saisai said sarcastically, "If she hadn't begged so hard, I would have left at the beginning of the month. I won't tell lies to Mr. Li. If I can truly be good, who would be willing to do harm to myself?"

Li Fenglai stood up and sat on the bedside and said, "Mr. Zhao has occupied Ji'an Mansion for so long, why is Miss Pan thinking about becoming a good person now?"

Pan Saisai replied: "Since ancient times, prostitutes have never had a good ending. They are just abandoned by a ruthless lover. Before, I was afraid and misunderstood the missionary team, thinking that they would join the army to do that kind of thing. It is different now. Mr. Chen is so noble. , is in charge of the Propaganda Department of the General Military Mansion, but he does not despise our origins and marries a good prostitute as his wife, and Mr. Zhao personally presides over the marriage. Since you have a job, why not go?"

Pan Saisai began to dream about the future, and said with a smile: "I don't want to be too ambitious. I just need to work hard with the missionary team and find someone with good conduct and who can read a few words to marry. If you are really good to me. , it’s okay to be illiterate.”

Seeing this prostitute in a brothel, her heart already flew to the missionary group. Li Fenglai sighed: "Oh, there will be fewer and fewer brothels in Ji'an Prefecture in the future."

Pan Saisai sneered and said: "It would be best if no one in the place harbors filth and evil."

Since Pan Saisai was determined to be a good person, he was too lazy to deliberately please the guests and said whatever he thought.

There may be cases of women being imprisoned in brothels, but this is definitely not the case with famous prostitutes. Now that the government is backing him, Pan Saisai can leave whenever he wants without even paying the ransom.

Li Fenglai casually opened the "Collection of Datong" and was forced to buy a copy as soon as his merchant ship docked.

I was too lazy to read it at the time, but now I am interested in it, and gradually read it with trepidation.

There are only five articles in the "Datong Collection": "Excerpts from Chapters of the Datong Meeting", "On the Distribution of Land in Datong", "On the Mandate of Heaven", "On the Personality", and "On the Good and the Bad".

The author of "The Theory of Gesture" was signed by Zhao Zhuochen. In fact, it had already spread to Nanchang and even other provinces. Cai Maode played a role in fueling the flames.

"The Theory of Good and Bad" was written by Chen Maosheng. It is written in vernacular and is used for dissemination at the grassroots level. Then I asked Wang Tiaoding to polish it and write it with great literary talent, and show it to people who have read the book.

Li Fenglai was born into a wealthy family in Nanchang, but he was a commoner. Otherwise, he would not have to work hard and just lie at home and enjoy the blessings.

After reading these articles, Li Fenglai felt that his family was definitely doomed and tens of thousands of acres of fertile land would never be preserved in the future.

First there was fear, then joy.

Li Fenglai had already established a relationship with Zhao Han, so he could divide the fields among themselves. Anyway, he was born as a commoner, and he had worked hard for many years. All the money he earned went to the family, and he only saved more than 3,000 taels of silver.

Moreover, the more than 3,000 taels of silver were not fully exposed, because most of them were for personal use.

He now wished that Zhao Han would capture Nanchang as soon as possible and force the Li family to divide the family and property. How could he get a few thousand taels? And then rely on the relationship with Zhao Han to make money by doing business, and the money earned will be his own!

Are all wealthy families monolithic?

No.

Many sons of concubines, even legitimate sons, are eager to separate the family as soon as possible, and would rather give up the land than agree to the separation of the family!

Li Fenglai was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night, and ran to see Zhao Han the next day. He was a long-term partner of the General Military Mansion, and he was authorized to send Zhao Han a letter of invitation directly, and he was quickly summoned.

Zhao Han exchanged pleasantries and apologized: "There is a lot of food use this year, and there is no excess food to sell to Li Yuanwai."

Li Fenglai smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, the main town will definitely have enough food next year. I asked someone to find out. The main town will vigorously promote sweet potatoes and other crops in the eight counties this year. There will definitely be more farmers willing to sell food next year."

The eight counties under Zhao Han's rule have a large amount of barren mountainous land. In some poor counties, mountainous areas account for more than 80%.

In this kind of land, the yield of traditional grain crops is very low, even if you grow corn, it is not satisfactory, but growing sweet potatoes will definitely keep farmers full.

Zhao Han reminded: "Liu Yuan is coming to collect grain next year, but don't lower the price too hard. The low price of grain will hurt farmers."

"Please keep this in mind." Li Fenglai immediately understood what he meant. It was okay to lower prices. Grain prices would definitely drop next year, but they must not go too far.

Zhao Han also thought about building grain stations in each town, stipulating that farmers could only sell surplus grain to the grain stations. However, in the long run, this idea was abandoned and farmers were allowed to trade freely. Because there are too many places where grain can be exploited after it is officially run, it will definitely become the hardest hit area for grassroots corruption in the future.

Many policies have good intentions at first, but they turn sour when they are promoted.

For example, regarding the door stall tax, Zhao Han can only charge a fixed amount of tax based on the area of ​​the store and stall and the location of the stall.

If you charge based on turnover, can you believe that after a few decades, all the relevant stores will say that they are losing money and that they have little turnover?

After chatting for a while, Li Fenglai suddenly knelt down: "Headquarters, Nanchang Li Fenglai, I am willing to surrender to the death!"

Zhao Han was confused and quickly helped him: "Why is Mr. Li like this?"

Li Fenglai explained: "Looking at the benevolence of the general town, I will seize the whole province of Jiangxi within a few years. If the general town captures Nanchang one day, I am willing to cooperate with the division of land and family. If there is any news in the future, I will immediately tell you Send someone to report the news.”

Li Fenglai wanted to be an imperial merchant, and after hooking up with Zhao Han, he couldn't wait to leave the family.

Leaving the family is only the first step.

When they become prosperous in the future, the clan members will definitely come to him, and he will be the family talker by then. This was not possible in the past. A commoner could just work honestly for the family.

But the rise of Zhao Han made Li Fenglai see an opportunity, and he was willing to take a gamble.

In the whole of Jiangxi, Ji'an Prefecture is one of the best.

In terms of the number of Jinshi, Nanchang Prefecture ranks first and Ji'an Prefecture ranks second.

In terms of population, Ji'an Prefecture ranks first and Nanchang Prefecture ranks second.

The complete Ji'an Prefecture has nine counties.

Although Zhao Han only occupies three counties, they are all the most elite counties in Ji'an Prefecture. Although Anfu County is inconspicuous, the total number of Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty was more than that in Jishui County (Jishui County was denser). After the defeat of the officers and soldiers, countless poor scholars came out to seek official positions.

Taihe County, which was ravaged by rebels, also had more Jinshi people than Jishui County.

Recently, a large number of gentry and poor scholars have fled to Taihe County, and they are also willing to seek refuge with Zhao Han. Anyway, the land has been taken away, and Zhao Han seems to be able to succeed, so he will gamble his future.

Let's put it this way, the number of scholars under Zhao Han, if Tong Sheng is included, is already explosive.

Many scholars, who did not even have the chance to become civil servants, went to Bailuzhou Academy to attend lectures, hoping to learn Datong theory before seeking official positions.

With so many resources and the important tax town of Linjiang Prefecture, Li Fenglai felt that Zhao Han was certain to succeed.

At least, there is no problem in occupying the whole of Jiangxi, and it is useless for Fujian and Guangdong guest soldiers to conquer.

Li Fenglai was afraid that Zhao Han would not trust him, so he took the initiative and said: "In the main town, I have three sons. The eldest son is fourteen years old, the second son is eleven years old, and the youngest son is only seven years old. Both the eldest son and the second son are willing to be sent to Bailuzhou Academy to study."

This is a hostage.

Zhao Han laughed loudly: "With your help, why worry about the world being unfair?"

Li Fenglai was in the grain business, buying grain from Jiangxi and Huguang, and then selling it to various prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River.

The Li family has shops in many places in Huguang, Jiangxi and Jiangnan. It will definitely be no problem to put two clerks in. Isn't this intelligence network established?

After discussing with Li Fenglai for a long time, Zhao Han began to select intelligence personnel, looking for those who were the most loyal and capable of doing things.

These people were all left to Xu Ying's management.

Half a month later, Li Fenglai took the purchased grain and more than 20 intelligence personnel and led the fleet to Nanchang Mansion.

After he returned, the first thing he did was to send his eldest son and second son to Bailuzhou Academy.

As for the intelligence officers, they secretly ran to contact Xu Ying behind Li Fenglai's back.

I can't fully trust Li Fenglai yet, and Xu Ying's true identity cannot be exposed.

But Xu Ying is having a good time during this period!

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