Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

To solve this problem, we must not only rely on Li You's personal wisdom, but also widely solicit opinions from the talents under his command.

After a long period of observation and adjustment, Li You has discovered that many of the suggestions put forward by those who followed him in the rebellion are quite useful and more in line with the social realities of ancient times.

The Yin family father and son, Chao Yang, Dou Jun, and Wang Fangde, while their individual abilities were naturally inferior to those of Fang Xuanling and Du Ruyi, could still accomplish great things if they made good use of each other's strengths.

……

The first person summoned by the King of Qi to report on his work was Dou Jun.

"Let's talk about Jiangnan first."

"Jiangnan?"

Dou Jun found it strange; he had thought his lord wanted to talk to him about printing books.

"You come from a merchant family in Yangzhou. Yangzhou is located north of the Yangtze River, very close to the south, so you should know the area quite well. According to the reports from the assassins, Runzhou and Changzhou in the south are famous for silk, while Suzhou and Huzhou are famous for grain. Is that correct?"

Dou Jun nodded and said, "What you say is true, my lord. In fact, silk is produced in all twelve prefectures of Jiangnan, but Runzhou is more famous. The silkworm pupae of Runzhou are different from those of other places. Some merchants can harvest silkworm pupae eight times a year, so it is the most famous. As for the grain-producing areas, in addition to Suzhou and Huzhou, Yuezhou in eastern Zhejiang is also rich in rice. They can all be called the land of fish and rice."

Upon hearing this, Li You immediately became interested: "Silkworm pupae mature eight times a year, what does that mean?"

"This refers to silkworms that can spin cocoons eight times in a year. This type of silkworm is unique to Runzhou and is not known to outsiders. Other prefectures may have silkworms that can spin six times, but most prefectures can only achieve four times."

"Spinning cocoons eight times in a year...that's truly a fighting silkworm among silkworms. I've also heard that among all the textile industries in the world, Yangzhou is second to none. How many times can the silkworms raised in Shu be successfully produced?"

"In Sichuan, people can generally achieve three types of silk processing, while some highly skilled silk artisans in Yizhou can achieve four types."

Li You was taking notes on paper while talking to Dou Jun.

As a time traveler, you must chat with people from the past to obtain useful information.

Compared to the three-times-harvested silkworm, the six-harvested silkworm can produce twice the output of the latter, which explains why Jiangnan became the center of the Tang Dynasty's textile industry.

"In your opinion, what social conflicts exist in the Jiangnan region right now?"

"Social contradictions?"

"For example, when officials force the people to rebel, bandits run rampant, bullies dominate the market, and people fight over land, and so on. As long as we discover conflicts, our Huang Chao army can intervene and expand our influence in the Jiangnan region."

At this point, Li You had a sudden inspiration and briefly explained the plot of "Da Ming Dynasty 1567" that he had seen in his previous life to Dou Jun.

"Changing rice paddies to mulberry fields? This emperor is truly incompetent. What's the point of having so much silk? Silk can't be used to fill stomachs. If all the people die, who will produce it?" Dou Jun couldn't understand the actions of the "clean household emperor" described by Li You.

"You're right. Such a short-sighted approach will surely lose the support of the people and incite riots. If such an event were to occur, my Huang Chao army would be able to put our fists to use."

Dou Jun thought for a moment, then said, "My lord, what you just said about 'seven parts mountains, one part water, and two parts farmland' may not match the actual situation in Jiangnan. Among the various regions of the court, Guanzhong, Hebei, Shandong, and the Central Plains have little land but a large population, and are considered 'narrowly populated areas'; while Jiangnan, Shannan, Jiannan, and Lingnan have much land but a small population, and are considered 'widely populated areas'. The people have a lot of land, and the price of land is not very high."

"Land prices aren't high... so how often is land being resold privately?"

"Such land sales mostly occurred among wealthy families in Jiangnan, and sometimes they were part of the dowry during marriage alliances. Ordinary people did not sell their land much because of the need to make a living."

Through his conversation with Dou Jun, Li You understood that at this time, the Jiangnan region was economically developed, the people lived in peace and contentment, and the population was far from the crowded levels of later generations, so various conflicts were not very prominent and it was not easy to take action.

"Dou Jun, Huimin Bank is expanding too rapidly. As the saying goes, 'The tallest tree catches the most wind,' and I'm worried that it will attract the attention of the authorities. So, after the New Year, you will be in charge of opening a new bank in Yangzhou. It will have the same structure as Huimin Bank, with its main branches spread along the north and south banks of the Yangtze River. Consider it a backup for Huimin Bank."

"The bank's name... is Yangzhou Bank."

To be honest, Li You is really worried for the merchants of the Tang Dynasty.

Why didn't you ancient people think of replicating such a great project and such an excellent idea from Huimin Bank?

Even Xiaomi can copy Porsche, but your ancestors couldn't even copy properly.

If Huimin Bank becomes the dominant player, it could easily attract the attention of the government, which might then take action to shut it down.

However, if four or five banks suddenly emerged to compete with each other for defense, the imperial court would feel much more at ease.

Since the merchants of the Tang Dynasty didn't know how to copy, Li You could only help them copy.

Upon hearing this, Dou Jun was overjoyed.

He had been a member of Huang Chao's army for some time now.

Watching Yin Shaokang navigate Chang'an and Luoyang with ease, making a fortune, Dou Jun was filled with envy.

Born into a merchant family, he believed he was no less capable than Yin Shaokang, but he simply lacked the opportunity.

"Thank you, my lord!"

"We've also secured contracts for two copper mines near Hangzhou. We'll open a new mint there, and the copper coins produced will be directly supplied to the Yangzhou Bank. This mint location is extremely important; you must personally oversee it and ensure it doesn't get discovered by the authorities, understand?"

Dou Jun suggested, "My lord, I am not familiar with Hangzhou. How about setting up the mint in Yangzhou, transporting the copper ingots obtained in Hangzhou to Yangzhou for casting?"

Li You nodded in agreement: "Alright, you can handle the specifics; I won't interfere much. Also, Huimin Bank's branches in Jiangnan can be used interchangeably with Yangzhou Bank's. Try to develop other related businesses that you can. Furthermore, when the new grain from Jiangnan and Jiangbei comes to market, you should also set up private warehouses and stockpile large quantities, understand?"

"My lord, it means 'general'..."

"Your new Yangzhou Bank branch can open right next to Huimin Bank!"

"Oh, I see, I see..."

After chatting for a while, Dou Jun said, "My lord, you just asked about social conflicts, and I suddenly remembered that many powerful families in Jiangnan are raising private soldiers and assassins. These private soldiers are somewhat wicked; anyone who disrespects a powerful family is likely to meet a violent end. The government doesn't dare to investigate similar assassination attempts because the officials themselves are afraid of being killed."

"Private soldiers of powerful families?"

"That's right, within their aristocratic family, they call it a 'retinue'."

Li You thought about it and realized that this was indeed a new situation.

So he recorded this information and sent his henchmen to investigate.

"Alright, go back and think carefully about how to open this Yangzhou Bank, how many copper coins and manpower you need, the establishment of the first phase of branches, and so on. Put together a plan, and we'll discuss it further."

"promise!"