Chapter 356 The Last Feast of Worsted Wool
Being kind but not in charge of soldiers and loving soldiers like sons may seem contradictory and opposite, but they actually mean the same thing.
On the battlefield that determines fate, Ci does not control the troops and cannot retreat no matter what, because behind the army are the people of the Ming Dynasty. Only by loving the soldiers like children on weekdays can we win in major battles. , to complete the mission that a violent machine should have.
The emperors of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, Renzong Zhu Gaochi, and Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji, were all able to go to the capital camp to conduct military exercises for several years. However, Yingzong Zhu Qizhen took this opportunity because he ascended the throne at the age of nine. Xiang Gei stopped. In the Battle of Tumubao, the combat effectiveness of the Ming Jingying camp was far less than before, so defeat became a matter of course.
Military operations have always been like this. No matter what the outcome is, there is only one purpose of military operations, and that is victory.
Zhu Yijun did not want his soldiers to take risks, because he loved his soldiers like his own sons, and it was also for economic reasons. In the Ming Dynasty, silver has now formed dams in major cities, and it will take some time to digest it. The worsted woolen fabrics of the Ming Dynasty It can reflect the liquidity of silver. When the price of worsted wool rises steadily, it means that the liquidity of silver is declining. When the price of worsted wool fluctuates violently, it means the liquidity of silver is increasing. Worsted wool The sharp decline represents the stability of Ming Dynasty's monetary policy.
The Ming Dynasty's demand for silver was unlimited, just like a glutton eating as much as he could, but the digestion speed, that is, the speed of silver circulation from the city to the countryside, needed to be controlled.
Zhu Yijun is the biggest trader in the worsted woolen market. The slowdown in the inflow of silver is not entirely a bad thing for the Ming Dynasty.
"Wait a little longer. If the big ships from the West don't come within five years, our big sailing ships from the Ming Dynasty will go there. Ocean-crossing ships can indeed cross the ocean, but the Ming Dynasty does not have enough crew to operate the big ships. Foreign." Zhu Yijun looked at Deng Zilong and made his final decision.
Looking at Deng Zilong’s slightly puzzled expression, he further explained: “The old case of the Seven Voyages to the Western Ocean contains many pictures of how to lead stars across the ocean. We can completely digest these and update the needle picture. , digest the known routes and then explore.”
"Captain Antonio gave a lot of treasures, but his most precious navigation experience was not shared. This is an area that needs to be explored by ourselves."
"The general thought that Antonio had little chance of winning when he competed for the Portuguese throne. Geometry? "
Deng Zilong understood the reason why His Majesty did not conduct ocean exploration for the time being. The Ming Dynasty had its own mature shipping routes. The map of crossing the ocean left by Zheng He still has guiding significance for today's sea trade. , Daming needs to digest these charts and understand the ocean better before exploring and taking risks.
"He should be able to win. He got twelve five-masted ships!" Deng Zilong was very optimistic about Antonio. With the investment of the Ming Emperor, Antonio's success rate in fighting for the throne in the West would be further improved.
"I think it may be difficult for him to succeed." Zhu Yijun is not optimistic about Antonio's journey. Felipe II has extremely strong martial arts and his army is very capable. Antonio only has the support of the civilians. , but where are these civilians? In the struggle for the throne, how much influence does the support of the common people have?
This battle situation cannot be controlled by twelve five-masted transoceanic ships.
Deng Zilong actually understands His Majesty's pessimism very well. The reason is very simple. Antonio's foundation is very weak.
Deng Zilong chatted with His Majesty for a long time, and then left Xiyuan. Deng Zilong will stay in the capital for half a month, and then return to Luzon after his ship is repaired.
Zhu Yijun took out a miscellaneous newspaper. An article in it caught Zhu Yijun's attention, discussing whether to start another war with Anda Khan.
Huang Yuezhong, a Kunmingshan native, opposed another war against Amada Khan. The starting point of his opposition was that the Ming Dynasty continued to invest in the conquest of Amada Khan, which in turn increased Amada Khan's worth.
The mutual conquest between the Ming Dynasty and Anda Khan lasted for a full twenty-five years during the Jiajing and Longqing years. On this card table, every time the Ming Dynasty placed chips, Anda Khan used military victories to gain more with small gains. The chips raised his own worth.
After Longqing negotiated peace, Anda Khan was no longer able to increase his worth through military games with the Ming Dynasty, and with the rise of the peacemaker represented by Sanniangzi, Anda Khan's worth continued to be subject to internal strife. If the Ming Dynasty continues to invest, it will undoubtedly give Anda Khan an opportunity to play the game, or a reason to regain complete control of the Ming Dynasty.
Huang Yuezhong's point of view is very novel, and Zhu Yijun found that what he said made sense.
Ada Khan rarely suffered defeats during his military life, and he suffered a few losses from Ma Fang and Qi Jiguang. If war breaks out between the Ming Dynasty and Anda Khan, Anda Khan's military talents can be brought into play. , by that time, things became unfavorable to Ming Dynasty.
Huang Yuezhong’s idea is to wait until Anda Khan dies. Anda Khan is already very old. As long as he waits for Anda Khan to die, the main fighting faction in the Northern Barbarians will become leaderless. At that time, it was the best time. Before that, Ming Dynasty should be prepared and train enough cavalry.
For this miscellaneous report, Zhu Yijun asked Yu Dayou, Qi Jiguang and Tan Lun to study it. Even the most radical Tan Lun was a little moved by Huang Yuezhong's statement. Your Majesty is only seventeen years old, so you can Wait, but Anda Khan is already old, so old that he cannot effectively contain his headquarters.
Qi Jiguang believes that what Huang Yuezhong said is not unreasonable. The main reason is that the Ming Dynasty can't do anything now. Without cavalry, the crusade against Anda Khan is to send food to Anda Khan, and to send military and military supplies to Anda Khan. The capital for political struggle is also the reason and excuse to send economic blackmail to An Dahan.
The training of war horses is not to put the horses on the grassland and then select them to get war horses. If you do that, no matter how good the horse is, it will have a big head, a thick neck, short ears, a short body, and short legs. As the horse becomes shorter and has less endurance, it is said that the body shape of the horse is actually very close to that of the donkey. To breed war horses, you need a good stallion with a large frame and strong endurance. Then you need to raise it with grain for a few years, cross it with similar good horses, and then breed from the offspring. Selection.
The training of war horses takes a very long time. The process of forming the Ming cavalry is not slow. It depends on whether Anda Khan dies of illness first or whether the Ming cavalry acquires strong combat effectiveness first.
The content of another miscellaneous newspaper is a civilian newspaper, which contains some interesting cases that make people laugh.
There was a wealthy family in Xicheng whose surname was Zou. Zou Dalang was the only son of the family. Because he was stupid, he never got a wife. A matchmaker came to propose marriage. The mother-in-law had a hard time, but she couldn't see her new daughter-in-law. As a result, she paid After paying one hundred and twenty taels of silver, I still haven’t seen the other girl.
The old mother of the Zou family felt something was wrong, so she went to the Shuntian Mansion Yamen to report the case. After investigation, she found that the matchmaker, mother-in-law, and new daughter-in-law were all pretended to be the matchmaker, playing the role of the triangle, and deceived Zou Dalang's family. , this is a lie, the old mother of the Zou family wanted to pursue it, but Zou Dalang refused. Instead, Zou Dalang wanted to marry the person according to the matchmaker's words.
This matchmaker is twenty-four years old. She has lost her husband, is a mature woman, and still has her charm. Zou Dalang insists on marrying her. This matchmaker does not want to be exiled, so she has no choice but to marry. As a result, she has only been married for two months. This Zou Dalang worked too hard and died immediately!
This suddenly became a strange case. The old mother of the Zou family was crying, and the new daughter-in-law was also crying. The Prime Minister of Shuntian Mansion, Yi E, and everyone were a little stupid. How to judge this?
What’s more interesting is that later the old mother of the Zou family went to the Yamen to close the case because the new daughter-in-law of the Zou family, the matchmaker, was pregnant. The old mother of the Zou family felt that she had an heir, and the new daughter-in-law was really pregnant. A son was born.
Zhu Yijun likes to read miscellaneous newspapers very much, especially this people's newspaper that does not talk about current affairs and only cares about people's lives. It is Zhu Yijun's favorite miscellaneous newspaper.
“Have there been no movement among the wealthy households in Xitucheng since Yao Guangqi left?” Zhu Yijun asked about the Zheshe households who migrated to Xitucheng. Yao Guangqi, a representative figure, left and left Xitu. The cohesion of the wealthy urban households has dropped a lot.
"Your Majesty, people like Yao Guangqi are not easy to find. He has been fighting with Wang Qian for so long, and he never loses. He can occasionally take advantage of him. There are only so many wealthy households in Xitucheng, so we will look for him again. There are no such people anymore," Feng Bao explained with a smile.
The work Yao Guangqi did, at best, was to compete for the right to speak for the wealthy households in Xitucheng. At worst, it was to test on the edge of death. Fortunately, the Ming Emperor was a reasonable person and did not detain a few shit basins. On Yao Guangqi's head, otherwise Yao Guangqi would have died long ago.
There are not many people like this in the first place. Among the rich families in Xitucheng, there are even fewer people who dare to have such a leader.
Zhu Yijun hoped that there would be a few figures like Zhang Siwei and Cheng Ji in Xitucheng. Zhang Siwei ordered the servants to enter the palace and burn the palace, while Cheng Ji used a sword to attack and stab them in the back, and the emperor died in his chariot. middle.
In this way, the contradiction directly intensifies to an irreconcilable state, and then the mild civil struggle can be directly upgraded to a violent struggle to counter the rebellion, and the entire Xitucheng will be razed to the ground.
Obviously, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was very radical in this regard, and the wealthy households in Xitucheng were not stupid. They moved wealthy households to enrich the capital. This was because the Ming Dynasty treated the wealthy households somewhat poorly and relocated them to their homeland. Wealthy people have lived in the 14th Mansion of Nanya for generations, but the emperor issued an edict to move their whole family here. Your court asked me to move my family, and I obeyed the order. Your court also wanted to kill my whole family, that is The country has lost great trust.
The wealthy families who migrated here knew very well that as long as they did not make any principled mistakes, the Ming court had no reason to be too harsh.
Everyone thought that Deng Zilong came to the capital to ask the emperor for a five-masted crossing ship. The atmosphere inside and outside the capital was still very peaceful. Everyone was less interested in Luzon, an isolated vassal state overseas, than in Luzon. The interest of Mr. Guo in the Song Dynasty. He has 108 concubines in Luzon. He has countless gold and silver mountains in Luzon. He is the illegitimate son of the old Zhu family and other similar rumors. Countless.
Soon, no one cared about what Deng Zilong was going to do when he came to Beijing, because the price of worsted woolen cloth began to fall. It was originally thought to be a technical adjustment, but soon, the price of worsted woolen cloth dropped sharply. It plunged four times, and while all speculators holding silk coins were still wondering why it suddenly plummeted, a piece of news spread like wildfire.
This year, the overseas sailing ships failed to arrive as scheduled, and the news that the silver inflow was about to be cut in half spread throughout the capital like it had wings. At this time, everyone knew what the price of worsted woolen cloth was. It will plummet.
The Jin Party, headed by Wang Chonggu, had already left the market at the beginning of last year, because luxury households like Wang Chonggu are very afraid of risks. Violent price fluctuations do represent profits, but they also represent huge risks. Some large investors received the news in advance and shipped goods together when Zhu Yijun started to smash the market. The price of one foot of worsted wool plummeted from seventeen silver to seven silver. After a brief rise, it fell directly to the next price. Japan plummeted to the point of triple silver.
Zhu Yijun held a large amount of worsted wool, and he chose to ship it directly to hit the market. In fact, he was telling all speculators that if they didn't sell, they would have nothing to do with it.
On the fourth day of April in the seventh year of Wanli, when the trading house on the first floor of Yanxing Building opened, countless speculators poured into the first floor of Yanxing Building and began to put their worsted woolen products up for sale. The panic triggered by this plunge caused prices to drop again.
Emperor Zhu Yijun of the Ming Dynasty quietly came to Yanxing Tower with a group of people in the afternoon. He looked at the human tragedy on the first floor with a calm expression. He did not pity these speculators because everyone regarded Yanxing Tower as a A big gambling house, everyone here is a gambler.
“The price is still too expensive. Back then, a foot of cloth only cost seven taels of silver. Now there are still 2 taels and one taels of silver. It’s still too expensive.” Zhu Yijun stood on the railing, looking at the human tragedy. He said to Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu in a rather cold tone.
This plate needs to be smashed.
"Your Majesty, the hearts of the people are so weak that they know this will happen, but they are sure that I will not be the unlucky one in the end. They beat the drum and pass the flowers around, but in the end the flowers still fall into their own hands." Zhang Juzheng looked at those people. He said without any concern for human despair.
Wang Chonggu's face was extremely complicated. He smiled and said: "Your Majesty, these people have extended their hands to the poor coolies, and it is time for them to despair."
Zhu Yijun's behavior of smashing the market, It is not a temporary idea, but a rule that was set at the beginning of the worsted woolen business. Zhu Yijun and Wang Chonggu said that once these speculators reach out to the people, they will overturn the table, and these speculators The guests are really ready to extend their hands to the people.
The smallest trading unit of worsted woolen cloth is one foot. Ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty would never be able to afford it. However, speculators were selling a kind of cloth ticket in the cloth shop. Holding this cloth ticket would cost ten Zhang can exchange for a foot of worsted woolen cloth. When this kind of business first appeared, Zhu Yijun launched a sell-off. Coupled with the negative news that the Thai-Western sailing ship could not arrive at the port as scheduled, the dual effects triggered this incident. Terrible sell-off. Zhu Yijun did not interfere too much with the worsted woolen cloth. As a banker, he would naturally not lose money, and he rarely interfered with price fluctuations. However, this game of drumming and passing flowers cannot change from the carnival of speculators to the hard work of the poor. Spend all your money on gambling.
"Who are those people?" Zhu Yijun frowned and looked at the gate of Yanxing Building, and found a group of people wearing silk and satin pouring into the trading room. Inside.
Feng Bao immediately whispered a few words into the ear of a small yellow door, and the small yellow door walked downstairs and disappeared around the corner of the stairs.
Zhu Yijun immediately realized that there were new players entering the market, causing the price of worsted wool to plummet. In addition to the panic caused by the emperor's selling and bad news, there was another reason: the big players in this market had less money. .
And now, new big players have begun to enter the market, and new money has entered the market.
"Today, I will eat all the worsted wool." As soon as these people entered the door, the leader took out a handful of banknotes and placed them on the table facing the counter. Man, shout loudly.
The waiter said with a smile on his face: "May I ask where you guys are from? There is a lot of worsted woolen fabrics today."
"You are opening the door for business, and you are still inquiring. Don't you have a good family background? I have a lot of money!" The man said impatiently: "I'm not the master, I just use money to do things, so just call me Huang San." "Your honor, Mr. Huang." Please come here." Upon hearing this, the clerk understood that Huang San was a pseudonym, and his identity was probably the housekeeper of a wealthy family, or the broker and comprador of a bank. There was no reason to extrapolate Yanxing Building's opening to business.
Huang San’s triangular eyes hung upside down, with a fierce light looming, and the look was born from his heart. Huang San is indeed ruthless in doing things, and he never shows mercy. He holds millions of silver in his hands. These silvers are not His was given to him by some Zheshe households behind him. Huang San has been waiting for the opportunity. Now the price of worsted wool has plummeted to the point where he thinks it is appropriate to enter the market.
Huang San followed the waiter into the side room. Not long after, the price of the worsted woolen cloth began to rise. From two liang and one qian per square foot, the price immediately soared to seven liang and four qian. The rebound in prices made the atmosphere in the entire trading house more cheerful. Those who originally listed the shares immediately chose to delist them, and the prices became higher.
“Your Majesty, this person’s name is Huang Zhaoxun, nicknamed Huang San, who is from Haining, Zhejiang. Behind this person is the Haining Chen family, which started with Chen Shiliang in the Later Tang Dynasty and originated in the early Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, Emperor Gaozong’s favorite concubine Wu Fei fell ill. "Chong, the ancestor of the Chen family was an imperial doctor, and he was given the imperial fan to rejuvenate himself. He served as an official in the Hanlin Academy, where he was awarded the Golden Purple Physician, and supervised the internal and external medical staff, and he prospered so far." Feng Bao told everything he had learned. told His Majesty.
"Medicine seller." Zhu Yijun immediately understood the origin of this family.
Those who sell laughter can't outsell those who sell medicine, and those who sell medicine can't outsell those who sell sugar. The business of selling medicine is more profitable than selling laughter, which shows that his family background is really rich.
And this Huang San is the family dog of the Chen family in Haining. He is also the comprador broker for the wealthy immigrants in Xitucheng. The worsted woolen business has obviously been coveted by these wealthy immigrants for a long time. Now the time has finally come.
The panic was contained and the price of silk coins began to stabilize.
"Your Majesty, do you want to continue putting out silk coins?" Feng Bao asked hesitantly. It is up to His Majesty to decide whether to continue to smash the market or not.
"Don't be anxious, just play with him. Not many people know about the news that the big sailing ship will not be able to arrive as scheduled this year. I want to see how long he can be stable." Zhu Yijun stretched out a With a hand, he signaled to Feng Bao not to worry. The panic had not yet reached its peak, and the current wave of selling had not reached its peak either.
Zhu Yijun thought for a while and said: "Tishuai, please let people spread the news."
"I obey the order." Zhao Mengyou obeyed the order of the leader and left. The efficiency of passive dissemination of news, It is far less fast than active dissemination, and various versions of the news gradually appear.
The news that the large sailing ship has not arrived at the port soon turned into the fact that the Ming Dynasty was defeated by the Hongmao Fan in Nanyang. Not one tael of silver will flow into the Ming Dynasty this year.
The relationship between worsted woolen fabrics and the inflow of silver has long been known to speculators in the Ming Dynasty. After learning the news, more people poured into the trading houses.
Huang San has been sitting in the trading house. As he said, he took all the worsted wool in Yanxinglou today. The price of spun woolen fabrics still plummeted downward at a speed visible to the naked eye. When the market closed in the evening, the silk currency closed at three taels and five yen per foot.
In the afternoon of the next day, Zhu Yijun came to Yanxing Tower. Huang San was still there and the price was still dropping.
"He panicked. He probably didn't have enough money to cover his pocket." Zhu Yijun leaned on the back of his chair and said with a smile: "First try his silver by smashing a thousand horses."
Jing The price of woolen cloth was six cents lower than yesterday, reaching twenty-two-nine cents, and Zhu Yijun sold a thousand pieces, each fifty feet, and these thousand pieces were worth one hundred and forty-five thousand silver.
When a thousand pieces of worsted wool were thrown down, Huang San was obviously a little panicked. He was sweating profusely, but he still managed to eat the thousand pieces of worsted wool with great difficulty. .
Zhu Yijun already knew about Huang San's pocket, and it was probably bottoming out. In addition to Zhu Yijun, the banker, who was smashing the market, there were also a large number of speculators who were panicking and listed it for sale, and they were smashing the market together.
"Sir, some words are not so absolute. He said that the Zheshe households in the Ming Dynasty had a general tacit understanding. But sir, you see, they no longer have such a tacit understanding. When a disaster comes, the husband and wife will fly separately. Not to mention this kind of tacit understanding." Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and threw a boomerang.
Zhang Juzheng has eaten too many boomerangs over the years, so what does it matter? The general tacit understanding among Zheshe households is real, but now in this difficult situation, they all seek to protect themselves very tacitly. Bless yourself.
Indeed, according to the general tacit understanding, all Zheshe households should stop selling at this time, let the price stabilize, then find someone to take over, and sell out the inventory bit by bit. This one thinks this way, that one thinks so They all think so, they all think so, and they all want to get out of the trap.
"Throw another two thousand pieces." Zhu Yijun said to Feng Bao very calmly.
When two thousand pieces of worsted wool appeared on the trading house's listing, Huang San stood up suddenly. He had been walking back and forth. He had to make a choice now. After a thousand horses, the price has touched the bottom line of the position he opened yesterday. If he continues to buy, if the price still fails to stabilize, he will be killed by his boss!
Huang San's face was sweating more and more. He slammed the table and still wanted to eat.
Seeing Huang San's reaction, Zhu Yijun said to Feng Bao: "Throw another five thousand pieces."
Seeing this, Zhang Juzheng frowned and asked: "Your Majesty still has something in his hand. How much worsted wool is there?”
“About fifteen thousand pieces.” Zhu Yijun answered his question truthfully. He prepared a total of nearly twenty thousand worsted wool pieces this time. He couldn't precisely control the price of worsted woolen cloth, but he could definitely guarantee that he could stop this game.
As soon as the five thousand horses were hung out, Huang San collapsed to the ground. He knew that everything was over. In the final feast of worsted wool, he became meat on the chopping board.
When Huang Sanji hurriedly put the inventory in his hand up for sale, Zhu Yijun suddenly sold out a terrifying amount of 10,000 pieces. The price of worsted woolen cloth ranged from two liang to one yuan. It dropped directly to seven dollars. At this point, this time the smashing operation was finally over.
Huang San was sitting in the corner blankly. Until now, he couldn't figure out one thing, and that was why the dealer wanted to smash the market.
Who is the owner of Yanxing Tower? The luxury households in the capital can more or less guess. It is either Huangzhuang or Quanchu Guild Hall. Therefore, the dealer of worsted woolen cloth is either the emperor or Zhang Juzheng.
Huang San couldn't understand why the Ming Emperor or Zhang Juzheng was willing to ruin this business. The price of worsted woolen cloth was more than ten silver per foot. The commission of three thousandths makes Yanxinglou earn a lot of money, and the worsted woolen business is a cornucopia!
And the banker was actually willing to smash this cornucopia!
This was completely beyond Huang San's expectations. Which gambling house owner would be willing to demolish a well-run gambling house?
Huang San thought that when the price was low enough, the banker would come forward to tell the truth. Huang San thought that the banker would not be willing to destroy this priceless cornucopia, but when the price touched seven coins per square foot, Huang San knew , today next year will probably be my memorial day.
Zhu Yijun once again glanced at the desperate faces of the speculators indifferently, and left with his hands behind his hands. The worsted woolen business was completely over from today on.
"Sir, I want to enrich the country and strengthen the army. I personally destroyed this trading house. Please don't blame me, sir." Zhu Yijun smashed a cornucopia with his own hands. He wanted to know Zhang Juzheng's opinion on this.
When Zhu Yijun smashed the market, Zhang Juzheng never expressed his opposition and allowed him, the emperor, to do whatever he wanted. Now that the cornucopia has been smashed, how does Zhang Juzheng judge it?
"Your Majesty, I am presiding over the new policy in the name of enriching the country and strengthening the military. It is indeed necessary to amass profits, but it is better not to make some money." Zhang Juzheng bowed his head again and said: "Your Majesty, the people are the foundation of the country. Ben Gubangning, these speculators should never let the common people of Dou Sheng participate in this. "
The reason for smashing the cornucopia is to divide a foot of cloth into hundreds of pieces of cloth. Appeared, this business has reached this point, and the mining of Zheshehu, a rich ore, has deteriorated, and there is no need to continue to exist here.
"Sir, you are righteous." Zhu Yijun knew Zhang Juzheng's temper very well. If he was really dissatisfied with the cornucopia being smashed, he would definitely say it to his face. In the thirty-second year of Jiajing, the Taoist priest was even punished by Zhang Juzheng with a memorial. After scolding, Zhang Juzheng's character is like this, he really speaks out when he has something to say.
Wang Chonggu looked at the wailing speculators and showed a cruel smile.
Recommend a book, Return to 07, others will listen, and I will become a male god
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This is a wonderful story about starting life over again!
(End of this chapter)