The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 1662 Ge Yiming

"Tell me the whole story clearly." Fang Yun said.

Dong Wencong nodded and said: "Xiangzhou has a superior geographical location, a suitable environment, a dense population, and is very rich. Especially after the human race's water transportation capacity improved, the city of Baling near the river rose. With developed water transportation, the things needed for the workshop can be low The price enters and the workshop outputs Things can be transported quickly, so there are many workshops in Baling City. There are rivers and lakes in the north and west of Baling City, which are most suitable for hydraulic institutions. Therefore, the North Gongfang District and the West Gongfang District are formed. You can go to the military building. ...No, I must have seen it when I was at Yueyang Tower."

Fang Yun nodded slightly and said, "That's true."

"Years ago, even though Baling had great advantages and formed a continuous workshop area, it only made life easier for some people in Baling City and did not benefit the people of Xiangzhou as a whole. Because all the scholars or outstanding craftsmen in the workshops They are all Qingguo people, and they only give Ba the simplest, dirtiest and most tiring work. The people of Lingcheng. Moreover, they purchase items such as logs, medicinal materials, and grain from Xiangzhou at low prices. After making paper, patent medicines, or other goods, they will give priority to selling only the remaining goods to Qing State or other countries. They will be sold to people in Xiangzhou, and the price is higher than those sold to other places.”

"Hearing this, others will definitely ask why Xiangzhou people don't buy goods from other places, but you must know that because the Qing Dynasty established a Xiangzhou Association, the import and export of all goods is decided by the Xiangzhou Association, and the Xiangzhou government has no authority Management. The members of the Xiangzhou Association are all major trading houses in Qingguo, and the real owners behind all the major trading houses in Qingguo or Shengyuan Continent are aristocratic families, royal families, wealthy families, or high-ranking officials from various countries.”

Fang Yun nodded slightly.

Dong Wencong continued: "In the rest of the Qing Kingdom, these big trading houses still have some face. After all, they have to preach for the people of the Qing Kingdom at all times. If they go too far, they will be criticized by the educated people in the Qing Kingdom and other countries, and even shake the foundation of the country. But Xiangzhou does not Same, so the Qing State condoned the Xiangzhou Hui. The Xiangzhou Hui was not a government official, they didn't need face, they only needed money, so they used all their means to squeeze the people of Xiangzhou. Until now, what they really needed to control the lives of the people of Xiangzhou was not. The government, but the Xiangzhou Association.”

"I also know something about this matter." Fang Yun said.

"Xiangzhou will control all aspects of Xiangzhou. In the first year when Xiangzhou was taken back by Jingguo, Jingguo stood still. They did not give up Xiangzhou. They only made compromises, such as increasing the wages of factory workers and lowering the price of goods sold. price, such as wooing Xiangzhou’s But starting from the second year, Jingguo's business houses began to enter Xiangzhou. However, Jingguo's business houses were all aware of the power of Xiangzhou Association. It’s all done piecemeal, only shops are opened, not workshops.”

"After testing, Jingguo Commercial Bank discovered that Xiangzhou is a treasure land to make money, so it prepared to enter Xiangzhou. However, Xiangzhou Association immediately used some tricks to make those commercial banks realize the power of Xiangzhou Association and hesitate. Until recently, Zhao's Trading Company officially broke the deadlock and began to build a large-scale papermaking factory in Beigongfang District. After the workshop is completed, the paper produced can at least satisfy the needs of the whole government. Before the Zhao's workshop was completed, it began to promote that workers were treated equally, and the price of paper was in line with the entire human race, which was equivalent to poaching all the people near Baling City. The roots of papermaking workshops, and 70% of the papermaking workshops in Baling City belong to Qingjiang Trading Company," Dong Wencong said.

"Is it Ge Wanwan's trading firm?"

"Yes, it is the famous Ge Wanwan's business. However, although everyone is used to calling him Ge Wanwan, his wealth already includes billions of taels of silver. Of course, you should know that that wealth does not entirely belong to him. He He's not the owner of Qingjiang Trading Company, he's just the boss of Qingjiang Trading Company." Dong Wencong glanced at Fang Yun after finishing speaking.

Fang Yun smiled slightly and nodded lightly. He knew this kind of thing. Those families with emerging high-ranking officials or families that were inconvenient to do business directly for various reasons would cooperate with a certain businessman and let the businessman show his face. They would wait behind the scenes to collect money.

Since it is illegal for high-ranking officials to use their power to make money, which is said to be dirty hands in some places, these businessmen are like clean gloves covering up the dirty hands of these high-ranking officials, so these businessmen are also called white gloves.

Ge Wanwan is the biggest white glove in Qingguo.

Fang Yun has known Ge Wanwan's identity for a long time. Although he hates this man's collusion between officials and businessmen and his disregard for the lives of the people, he is still quite sure of his own abilities. If it had been anyone else, even with the support of high-ranking officials, Qingjiang might not be able to succeed. The trading house has done so much.

Fang Yun thought for a while and said: "The person who incited the people of Baling to take to the streets this time should be Ge Wanwan's distant nephew, Ge Yiming, a wealthy Jinshi scholar in Xiangzhou, right? The Ge family probably hates me deeply, so yesterday I just finished my inauguration meeting, and today I can’t wait to incite the people of Baling to take to the streets. On the surface, it’s a fight against Zhao’s business, but secretly it’s to undermine my prestige.”

Dong Wencong praised: "You are really 'sitting at home and knowing the world's affairs'. Although Ge Wanwan is the boss of Qingjiang Commercial Bank and is able to move among high-ranking officials and powerful people, his status is not high after all, and he is most afraid of someone else. So, his nephew Ge Yiming in Xiangzhou suddenly appeared in everyone's sight. This person was Jin. A scholar's words are often unexpected, but they are reasonable. The key is that this person recruits talents, has a wide network of scholars, and is good at creating some small incidents to make the common people remember. Most common people feel that although this person is valuable, He is a wealthy scholar, but he is very confident, so he is also very popular among the people. "

Fang Yun smiled slightly and said, "This Ge Yiming, after returning to Xiangzhou from Kongcheng and becoming a Jinshi, his literary reputation began to soar. It should have been seven or eight years ago."

Dong Wencong said, "Whether it is those wealthy families that have accumulated wealth for many years or the families that have risen in recent years, whose children are as flamboyant as Ge Yiming? Absolutely no one. Why? The Ge family is unstable. Because Ge Baiwan wanders among the powerful people in Qing State, he will be ruined if he is not careful, and it will be difficult to protect his family. In order to avoid disasters and the loss of wealth, he must transfer part of his wealth to Ge Family, Ge Yiming has the highest literary rank, and is the most suitable candidate. Ge Yiming's previous self-degradation was nothing more than promoting his literary reputation. Once his literary reputation is sufficient, even if Qingjiang Commercial Bank changes drastically, Ge Baiwan will be over as long as he dies. Those people will not kill him, and will let Ge Yiming live a stable and wealthy man. "

"A dog that bites does not bark. When I faced the persecution of Liu Zicheng, Liu Zizhi and Ji Zhibai, I wanted to use all means to enhance my literary reputation, just to make them afraid to act rashly. Now, even if I face the Zong Lei family, I will not publicize it." Fang Yun said.

"That's the reason. However, Ge Baiwan is indeed a dragon among men. He is a wealthy businessman in the country. If he is a writer, he may become a great scholar. As for that Ge Yiming, he was cultivated by Ge Baiwan with all his strength, and naturally he is far superior to ordinary people in all aspects. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is one in a hundred, but those Hanlin or university scholars occasionally evaluate him with only four words, above average. "Dong Wencong did not hide his dissatisfaction with Ge Yiming.

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