In terms of the combination of government and business, the businessmen in the southeast half have done a good job. They didn't take the initiative to rely on officials when they had already made their mark. In fact, when the official has already made a fortune and has become powerful, and you take the initiative to post it, the cost of currying favor will be very high. Even the average wealthy businessman can't afford it. Moreover, such a way of currying favor can hardly stand the test. Once the officials have the slightest concern, they dare not come to the rescue.

On the contrary, when officials have not yet made a career or are even in trouble, take the initiative to post them and please them, and you can easily gain their heartfelt favor. Officials are also human beings and need to live, and like ordinary people, they also have seven emotions and six desires, and they will also be moved. For those who have helped them, most people will keep it in mind. If there is a chance in the future, it will definitely be reciprocated by the grace of dripping water and springs.

There is only one guy like Hai Rui in the world. In fact, after Hai Jui's death, his family was also taken in by wealthy businessmen. It's a pity that Hai Jui doesn't have a son, otherwise, his son will definitely be heavily funded by wealthy businessmen and taught by famous teachers, and it is very likely that he will continue to embark on a career in the future. This does not mean that the wealthy businessmen have a conscience, but a consensus has been formed. Such an investment is definitely worth it.

If you continue to push forward a little and train your own officials, then the cost will be lower. Give a child the best conditions for studying, and when he becomes a scholar and embarks on a career as an official, it is estimated that it will cost a few hundred taels of silver. Compared with the gift list of tens of thousands of taels of silver, it is almost negligible. However, the relationship between officials and businessmen will be closer, and even integrated.

Why are the various academies in the southeast region very developed, and they never worry about the source of funds? Can even the poorest students succeed in their studies? Could it really be that the businessmen of that time were so caring? Of course not. The most fundamental reason is that businessmen feel that there is value in investing. The assets they have invested in the academy, as long as one of the students in the academy has a good interest in the future, they will be rewarded ten million times over.

From an early age, children select good seedlings, send them to famous academies, and ask powerful famous teachers to teach, which has almost become a fixed pattern in the southeast coastal area. Even if your family is very poor and can't afford to read at all, it doesn't matter. As long as you have the potential to study, you don't have to worry about financial resources. Someone else has a lot of money to support you.

The only thing you need to do is to keep your ears open to what's going on outside the window and concentrate on reading only the books of the sages. County exams, government exams, hospital exams, township exams, meeting exams, palace exams, unfinished papers, unfinished test questions. If you have the ability, you will be the champion, and you will come up step by step. If you can win three yuan, congratulations, you can be famous all over the world in an instant.

Even if you can't be three yuan, as long as you can squeeze into the list of Jinshi, then you will have no worries about food and clothing in this life. The so-called ten-year cold window no one asked, and the world knew that he became famous in one fell swoop. The spring breeze is proud, and you can enjoy the feeling of the title of the gold list. As for the sound of the wind, the sound of the rain, the sound of reading, the sound of the ear; Family affairs, state affairs, world affairs, everything is concerned, that is a matter for the future, don't worry about it for the time being.

Many officials at the end of the Ming Dynasty, especially those from poor backgrounds, were more or less sponsored by others. Some of them even made it to the university degree. Most of them, of course, are grateful to those who support them, and they are doubly rewarded. Officials trained in this way will spare no effort to take action when the business encounters danger, even if the officials themselves have concerns.

Because of the close and inextricable relationship between the merchants behind the scenes, it was only natural that the officials trained from these academies formed a group. They protect each other, shield each other, unite with the outside world, and compete for power and profit. Politically, they actively promoted their leading boss to climb up until they reached the position of the first assistant. As long as his boss is the first assistant, the younger brother below will naturally be able to mix.

In business, they find ways to benefit their group. Any laws and regulations formulated by the state that may harm their interests will be vigorously obstructed, or even impossible to pass. The commercial tax of the Ming Dynasty was originally thirty taxes and one, which was already so low that it could not be lower. However, under the pretext that they could not compete with the people for profit, they eliminated all this last bit of commercial tax. Business is completely tax-free!

Such groups, to some extent, already have the rudiments of a modern organization. The power of so many people is much greater than the power of one person. If you do something bad, the harm is much greater than that of a person. Among these groups, the most famous group is, of course, the Donglin Party headed by Donglin Academy. In fact, at that time, there was no such name as the Donglin Party, and outsiders called them all Donglin people.

The Donglin Party is definitely more than just these people who appear on the surface. The people who float at the top are just the bosses of the Donglin Party. In fact, among the middle and lower-level officials, there are countless people, more or less, who have some relationship with Donglin Academy. They are the backbone of the Donglin Party. Even if the upper layer is destroyed, the lower foundation remains. As long as there is the right opportunity, they will immediately resurface and continue to show their strength.

Such a huge network is intertwined with each other, with intertwined powers and entangled interests, even if Wei Zhongxian wants to deal with it, he will be tied. There is no way, the strength of the Donglin Party is indeed too huge. From the perspective of the traverser, the Donglin Party is not a big deal, and it can be easily cleaned up. But at that time, the Donglin Party was indeed a giant existence. Unless there is a stronger, more advanced party, they can replace them.

Of course, the area of the Ming Dynasty was so large and there were so many officials, it was impossible for only the existence of the Donglin Party. At that time, the world was not the Donglin Party's family. On the southeast coast, it is indeed the Donglin Party that dominates. To be precise, it is in the southern part of Jiangsu. However, in other places, there are also their own parties, which are also a model of the combination of officials, merchants, and academies. If the Qi Party in Shandong, the Xuan Party in Anhui, the Zhejiang Party in Zhejiang, the Chu Party in Hunan, and so on.

Perhaps, the Qi Party, the Xuan Party, the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party, etc., alone are not opponents of the Donglin Party, but once they are united, they will have enough strength to confront the Donglin Party. In real history, it was Wei Zhongxian who united these parties and launched a ferocious attack on the Donglin Party. Therefore, the struggle between Wei Zhongxian and the Donglin Party is definitely not just Wei Zhongxian's personal behavior, but more of a partisan struggle. Even after Wei Zhongxian's death, the party struggle has never subsided, and when it comes to Nanming, it will be even more popular.

…… Well, that's a long way off...... The merchants in the mainland do not have such a atmosphere. There are few well-known academies in the mainland, and few people are willing to pay for students. They prefer to give gifts directly, directly with money, and pull officials who are useful to them over as their own talismans. For example, Sun Dakun's leopard skin is like this. This way of doing things is quite a bit of the meaning of not respecting the Buddha and clinging to the Buddha's feet in a hurry. Compared with the merchants in the southeast half of the wall, it can be said that it is a few streets sluggish. It's actually very unreliable.

Sun Dakun tried to change this way early on. He decided to invest a little more capital in Xu Xingxia and establish a close alliance with Xu Xingxia. If you are not mistaken, this Xu Xingxia is definitely the dragon and phoenix among people, and he will definitely not succumb to others. In the future, once he soars into the sky, the status of the Sun family will naturally be indestructible.

Xu Xingxia said with concern: "Boss Sun, is there an eyebrow in the matter of Yuegang?" ”

Sun Dakun said with relief: "There should be some turnaround." The latest news came from Yuegang, saying that the people of our Sun family had been released from prison and could move freely. As for the seized goods, they also went to see them, and they did not miss a lot. It's just that it is not clear when the ban will be completely lifted and when the goods will be able to go to sea. ”

Xu Xingxia nodded lightly and smiled slightly. Since Sun Dakun said that there was a turnaround, that is, Fang Congzhe did receive the leopard skin, and he secretly made a move. With Fang Congzhe's surname, if he really wants to wrestle with Ye Xianggao, he will definitely not make a show. He will only hint at the Ye family in the most gentle way, don't go too far. The face of the current Shoufu Lord, it is estimated that the former Shoufu Lord will also give a few points. It's not good for the two sides to have a stalemate.

I hope this incident passed unharmed. It is estimated that after this business is taken off, the Sun family will never interfere in the business of Yuegang, Fujian again. The meaning of the Ye family is already very obvious, that is, they want him to withdraw from Yuegang. This port is the territory of their Ye family, or the Donglin Party. If the Sun family is still ignorant and continues to meddle in Yuegang, the Ye family will definitely make another move. When the time comes, it is estimated that Fang Congzhe's face will not be very effective.

Sun Dakun suddenly said: "Xu Qianhu, I heard, can you get glass?" ”

Xu Xingxia smiled and said casually: "What? Boss Sun is also interested in glass? ”

It is estimated that it is the goods of the Sun family, and there is indeed hope of being released, Sun Dakun's mood is much better than before, and he said calmly: "Xu Qianhu, you should ask, which businessman is not interested in glass." The glass that arrived at Fujian Yuegang changed hands, and it was two or three times the profit. If you get to Shanxi, the price will continue to rise. There is nothing in Shanxi, but there are many rich people. They all like to build a big mansion in their hometown, if they can decorate a few or dozens of glass, it will be a face-saving thing! ”

Xu Xingxia nodded with a smile.

This Sun Dakun speaks much more straightforwardly than Liu Zhiqiang.

Sun Dakun himself is a native of Shanxi, and his comments on the rich people of Shanxi are indeed very in place. At that time, compared with the merchants in the southeast, the Jin merchants were indeed a little rigid in terms of thinking. What kind of respecting teachers to run schools, paving roads and building bridges, and benefiting the township, these things will basically not be done. The first thing they thought of was to find a place, dig a cellar, store all the gold and silver, and then build a big house on top of the cellar, marry an aunt with a few rooms or a dozen rooms, and comfortably pass the son of a rich man.

In later generations, Shanxi did leave a lot of mansions, like the ancient city of Pingyao, there were a large number of mansions. If it weren't for the war, there would have been at least tens of thousands of mansions in the whole of Shanxi. The famous TV series "Mansion Gate" seems to be talking about Shanxi Jin merchants. It can be seen that Sun Dakun's statement is very well-founded.

If you can put a few pieces of transparent glass when building a house, it is indeed a very eye-catching thing. This is an opportunity to implicitly show off, and it is estimated that the local local wealth will not let go. The glass of a window, even if it costs a few hundred taels of silver, they can fit dozens of windows. Whoever has more glass windows in his house will have more face.

According to the research of later generations, the Ming Dynasty never lacked silver, but this silver was not in the treasury or in the treasury, but in the hands of big bureaucrats, big landlords, and big businessmen. Their net worth is so rich that they can offset the country's finances for a year by copying the homes of a few big corrupt officials.

Xu Xingxia said bluntly: "Yes, I can indeed get glass, and the amount is very huge." If you like, I can give you a share. ”

Sun Dakun hurriedly said earnestly: "Xu Qianhu, please take care of our Sun family." After our Sun family withstood this blow, it was indeed a little sluggish. If you want to get back up, you have to rely on Xu Qianhu to take care of it! In the future, as long as it is Xu Qianhu's order, our Sun family will go to the soup and go to the fire, and we will not give up! ”

What he said was the truth. The Sun family is actually not particularly strong in the Jin merchants, and it can barely be regarded as second-rate. This time it was carried out by the Ye family in Yuegang, Fujian, and the Sun family's losses were indeed a lot. Up and down, a lot of silver was gone. The Sun family's family is almost hollowed out. At present, if the Sun family does not have a good financial route, I am afraid that it will indeed sink from now on, and it will be difficult to cheer up. If you accidentally offend a giant like the Ye family, you will have to break your muscles and bones for anyone!

Xu Xingxia said happily: "No problem, when I get a lot of glass, I will give it to you!" I will exclusively give you the right to sell glass in Shanxi! ”

Sun Dakun was overjoyed, hurriedly bent down to salute, and said eagerly: "Then thank you Lord Qianhu!" ”

After finishing speaking, Sun Dakun's face was slightly hesitant. He seemed to have something to say, but he was too embarrassed to say it.

Xu Xingxia said with a smile: "Boss Sun, you might as well say something directly." ”

Sun Dakun hesitated for a long time before he said embarrassedly: "I don't know if Xu Qianhu can put forward one more condition for letting Gugele go back this time?" A small condition. ”

Xu Xingxia asked curiously, "What is a small condition?" Speak up and listen. ”

Sun Dakun said a little embarrassed: "Our Sun family wants to buy all the bezoars of the Hellerjin tribe. ”

(To be continued)