Chapter 94: I was hit by the Song Dynasty again

Su Shi pondered and turned the topic to the original question: "Divid, you have been going overseas in the past few years and are engaged in business dealers... It must be very hard. You don't know that Boda (Su Shi's eldest son Su Mai) gave birth to another child last year and named it "Fu"... Shu Ji (Su Shi's second son Su Hui) also got married this year. His wife is the sixth daughter of Ouyang Fen, the son of Duke Wen Zhong (Ouyang Xiu).

Zhao Xing nodded and replied: "I heard that Ma Zhengqing (Ma Mengde) had met me in Hangzhou. I have sent someone to send me some money to Brother Boda to settle down and buy a property... I guess there will be news coming back in the near future. I ask them to send the news directly to the capital."

Since Su Shi became a Beijing official, Ma Mengde has not continued to follow Su Shi. Because most Beijing officials do not need staff. Zhao Xing happened to need staff. He stayed in Hangzhou for several months. After the Chengjiaao child who had been taught by him notified Zhao Xing of the news, Zhao Xing asked Ma Mengde to be responsible for the management of Hangzhou's industries.

Su Shi smiled awkwardly, and shook his head and said, "Li Ren, you misunderstood. Well... I thought that at the beginning, I just gave you a few calligraphy and paintings. This was to thank you for your care in Huangzhou, but you always said that I have investment in your industry. Other industries are easy to say. Only maritime merchants can't do it - the court has a order: a family of food and wealth is not allowed to compete with the people for profit, powerful officials are not allowed to operate overseas trade, and officials are not allowed to buy goods by private merchants.

Taizong issued an edict:... The civil and military bureaucrats at home and abroad dared to send their close friends to the outside world to sell their goods, and their names were known. - This edict was issued to ensure the smooth flow of maritime trade and prevent the powerful and noble officials from competing with the people for profit..."

What? Officials are not allowed to participate in foreign trade. If officials are trusted, they must make public announcements - publish their names in the residence newspaper - "report by their names."

Zhao Xing took a few breaths and said, "Teacher, why do you care? This is a matter between us. As long as I don't say anything, who can know? Are they going to come to my house and search my house to find out the account book?"

Zhao Xing underestimated the Song people's awareness of law-abiding, and Su Shi calmed down: "Due to the evils of Lu Huiqing and Deng Wan, they dare not buy goods privately, and send their close friends to sell them outside the Huanhua - do you want to be your teacher to leave a bad reputation in history? Also, you said you were searching your home, when did I, the Song Dynasty, confiscating someone else's home?"

Su Shi was talking about the facts. In fact, it was not only Cai Que, Lu Jiawen, and Deng Wan, but even the later traitor Cai Jing did not dare to violate this law - Huanwei Trading.

In addition, there is a common example in the officialdom of various dynasties - selling off the wives and children of criminal officials to become official prostitutes. There were official prostitutes in the Song Dynasty, but most of them auctioned off the families of criminals to pay for the exile of criminals, and never touched the families of criminals. Because the Song Dynasty implemented the family motto of "ruling the world with scholars and officials", even if the corruption was severe, they were only exiled and never searched their homes.

This is the uniqueness of the Song Dynasty. Its respect for private rights was not even adapted to the modern Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing was disappointed in this "unique". He smiled embarrassedly, touched the tip of his nose and replied: "If this is the case, wouldn't it be: If I pass the Jinshi and get an official, I need to give up the sea trade... I can't even have family and relatives?"

Su Shi nodded.

Zhao Xing glanced at Chen Gongchuan, and his eyes turned around and replied: "That's it, let's settle it... No, I have less cash recently. I just bought an island near Mayi and bought some land in Dayue Country. The goods shipped from overseas have not been taken yet - the teacher can't ask for these seafood, right?"

Su Shi quickly replied: "Don't leave me and misunderstand what I mean. In the past few years, you have taken care of my family enough. What I mean is: If you still keep the original account, go home and burn it. Wouldn't it be worry-free?"

"That's not possible. Doing business is reliable. Without credibility, why should I keep that pile of dead money? I have to give the money... This way, I will give the teacher 300,000 guan, and it will be a calculation from now on..."

Su Shi's eyes went dark, and the pen in his hand fell to the ground with a "splash". He was so dizzy that he felt that everything was shaking in front of him.

He could have thought that Zhao Xing became very rich after engaging in maritime trade, but he did not expect that Zhao Xing was so rich.

He had 300,000 yuan, and he looked very guilty, as if he treated Su Shi so badly, which made him very embarrassed.

What is the equivalent of 300,000 guan? In the Song Dynasty, 300 guan was considered a middle class. In the late Southern Song Dynasty, when prices soared, the most fertile fertile land in Huzhou was ten taels per mu. 300,000 guan, and this money can now buy two fertile lands that are the size of Tokyo Bianliang City.

All these changes took only three short years. Su Shi saw with his own eyes that when Zhao Xing went out to sea, all his money had been bought in Hangzhou and cheap frosting. When he came back, he casually reached out and was willing to spend 300,000 yuan to buy the short shares in Su Shi when he was short of funds.

Not only that, Zhao Xing was also explaining: "Teacher, I asked Ma Mengde to bring 30,000 guan of money to Brother Su Mai not long ago and some seafood worth 20,000 guan. Brothers' signing and receiving bills have not come yet...

Let's do this, my uncle (Su Shi's second son Su Cheng) got married, and I don't have any gifts, so I'll give him a gift... The teacher shouldn't refuse. The court can manage business, so how can I control the gifts between our own people - I will give five boxes of Tubo (During the Northern Song Dynasty, Tubo's territory went straight to the Indian Ocean, including Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia), a box of real wax (Angkor Dynasty) jade, two boxes of tortoiseshell as betrothal gifts, and a liter of pearls.

In this way, plus 300,000 stags of cash, it should be enough."

What's enough? This is simply destroying Su Shi's nerves, gems, jade, tortoiseshell, pearls are measured by raising. This kind of action will scare individuals.

"Li Ren, don't scare me. I only give you a few calligraphy and paintings. The things you give are too heavy. In recent years, your housekeeper has given me a huge sum of money every year, saying that it is the bonus of my copybook business. I have received the money, but if you do this, you will pass. This is your hard work overseas for many years. How can I... I don't want it, I will definitely not! A few gifts from the child are enough, and you will scare the child like this..."

"What, the courtesy is too heavy... Teacher, we are 'our own people'! I have always admired Duke Wen Zhong (Ouyang Xiu). 'The Drunken Old Man's Meaning', a famous saying that has been passed down through the ages. You can't be wronged by Duke Wen Zhong's granddaughter. Besides, when the second son gets married, my brother takes the opportunity to buy some property for his brother, which is also the right thing to do... Teacher, don't worry, this is my business with the second son. As for that money, 300,000 guan, not too much..."

Su Shi had forgotten to write the memorial. Chen Gongchuan ignored the fierce quarrel, and he seemed not shocked by this huge wealth at all. The two were arguing. He leisurely picked up a manuscript of poems on the table and admired it with one sing and three sighs.

After several refusals, Su Shi was only willing to accept up to 1,000 guan of money, while Zhao Xing finally gave in to 50,000 guan, and refused to give in. The two of them were breathing, but they did not breathe in order to grab the money, but they did not breathe in order to give in.

"I often heard that the Renzong generation and gentlemen in the dynasty were seen today." Chen Gongchuan put down the manuscript of poetry and high-five to praise. Then he persuaded him, "Let me do it like this: 10,000 yuan. The congratulatory gifts are not included, and the bachelor can accept all the bachelor. In addition, I heard that the bachelor has a real estate in Changzhou. I haven't taken care of for many years, so I asked my brother Li to come forward to renovate the house for the bachelor, and then clear the two things. How good is this?"

Although this amount is very far from Su Shi's wish, considering that it is even far from Zhao Xing's wish, Su Shi was silent for a moment and nodded slightly.

Later, Su Shi recalled Zhao Xing's three-year arduous journey and his rise in the past three years, and couldn't help but sigh: "Lie people, sometimes I admire you - everyone regards sailing as a fear of a journey, but you dare to travel all over the seven seas and earn such a big family business with bare hands. It's not easy, not easy!"

In fact, this is the gap between the times. When others go to sea, they don’t know where the sea is; when the sea is vast, how to walk is right. When they come to sea, they are like a man running wildly on the dark streets with his eyes blindfolded, his heart full of fear of the future and his timidity towards mysterious things, but Zhao Xing is different.

He had a world map in his heart. He knew that he had been sailing westward, and there was a whole African continent standing in front of him, and he would never find land. Walking along this continent, he would always get supplies... so he was not afraid of the unknown world.

When ancient people went out, they couldn't figure out the direction. At some point, they were not allowed to have a sense of map in their hearts, because in this era, maps were a symbol of "imperial rule", and hiding maps at home was evidence of rebellion.

The environment determines everything. People who grew up in this environment dare not imagine what they can encounter before leaving the land they are familiar with. Zhao Xing knows what is waiting for him ahead. Some places he has even visited in modern society. It is such a small difference that makes him never afraid of traveling, and also makes him have a greater view of the situation than the businessmen of this era.

This is the secret of his rapid rise, but this secret cannot be told to others. So he pretended to be shallow and proud of Su Shi's praise, and looked complacent.

"In this way, I will write the memorial first... By the way, today is the Spring Festival. Several of your classmates want to go to the yard to help take care of it. When I finish writing the memorial, we will talk about it." Su Dongpo knew that Zhao Xing was very knowledgeable in cooking and had a good opinion on organizing and allocating people. He simply entrusts the hospitality work to this "unlearning and ignorant" disciple.

In the first year of Yuanyou (1086), Minister Fan Chunren recommended Zhang Lei to take the examination of the Bachelor's College of the Imperial Academy. Huang Tingjian, Chao Buzhi and others were recommended to take the examination this time. The questions were set by Hanlin Scholar Su Shi. The three of them were promoted and entered the Imperial Academy. Recently, Qin Guan was ordered to go to Beijing to serve as a Ph.D.

As a result, the four juniors that Su Shi valued the most were all Huang Tingjian, Chao Buzhi, Zhang Lei and Qin Guan. Huang Tingjian, who was only eight years younger than Su Shi, decided to join Su Shi's disciple and become disciples. Later, these four Imperial College doctors were named "Four Sumen Bachelors". Today is either the day of the court meeting, Su Shi returned home early, or Huang Tingjian was going to serve as a disciple.

Perhaps it was to add annotation to the quarrel just now. After Su Shi had just ordered Zhao Xing, Shi Gaoyan, the teacher of Xiao Shi Gao, had already led a large group of troops into the yard. The leader of this pair was Chen Qing's son Chen Buqun.

These people said they were going to move their luggage, but Su Shi understood at first sight - they were not going to move their luggage, they were clearly going to move their goods, and directly treated Su Shi's yard as a warehouse, with more than a hundred long wooden boxes spread all over the floor. After a while, there were only two open spaces as big as mats left in the yard.

"Well, there are some toys, clothes, quilts, silk cloths for the teacher's wife, and stationery equipment for the teacher... Each box has a name mark written on it. The teacher asked them to come out to recognize it, and whoever moved it back to their respective rooms... I also need the teacher to recommend a few people, those boxes with blank and no stickers... are gifts I brought to them."

Su Shi was stunned - a gift, isn’t this a bribery?

Zhao Xing came to Beijing this time, in addition to taking the imperial examination, another thing was to bribe.

Three years ago, when he left Huangzhou, he left two formulas for the Cheng people in Huangzhou, namely the application of alkaline surfaces and lime.

The alkaline surface is mixed with oil, and the things that are made are soap. After adding some specific spices, it is soap. The use of lime is bleached paper, making the paper made even whiter.

Before leaving, Zhao Xing instructed the Cheng clan to add the words "Dongpo" in front of the two products, namely "Dongpo balm" and "Dongpo snow paper". The paper is a cultural product. According to Zhao Xing's instructions, the Cheng clan fabricated that this was a secret papermaking recipe left by Su Dongpo in order to thank the Cheng clan for his care, and Su Dongpo himself also has shares in the paper shop.

However, for the balm factory, those people did not follow the instructions. Perhaps they were worried that the thing that was added with spices and used for women to bathe was given the name "Dongpo" in front, which made people feel erotic and damaging Su Dongpo's reputation... As a result, something happened to this balm factory.

The products produced by the balm factory are sold to noble ladies. Because after bathing, the body will emit a faint fragrance, it is sought after by those who favor wives and concubines. After the new magistrate of Huangzhou discovered it, in order to please Empress Gao in the palace, he immediately sent balm to the palace as a tribute. As soon as the palace ladies and concubines tried it, they immediately issued the "Good Buy" order.

The so-called "harmony" means that the government stipulates the number and price to force the purchase of goods.

In theory, the price given in the palace is not low, and each piece of Xiangpan is given a price of five silos. If you buy it at this price, the Cheng clan can also make huge profits... But if you think that all these five silos can be given to the Cheng clan, that is, you don’t understand the “national conditions”.

"Picking the hairs by the geese" has always been an unspoken rule in the officialdom. Not only in the Song Dynasty, but in the Ming Dynasty, the 30% "hair plucking rate" was a government-licensed "government behavior", which was called "flooding". In the Qing Dynasty, "fire consumption" was added... As for later, the meaning of "pulling the hairs by the geese" had completely changed. It refers to: a geese flew past the door, the body of the geese was left, and a feather was pulled to let it float away.

The palace ordered 10,000 yuan of balm, with a total price of 50,000 jin. When it was proposed from the internal warehouse, it was the amount of money. When it arrived at the Ministry of Revenue, the money was "unspoken" by 30%; when the Ministry of Revenue went to the Jinglu Transportation Department, the money was reduced by 30%. The Jinglu Transportation Department transferred the money to the Jingxi Transportation Department, which was reduced by 30%... When the Huainan Western Transportation Department handed the money to Huangzhou, Huangzhou Prefecture also made a secret rule. When it was delivered to Chengjiaao, only 692 jin were left.

What is this called? This is called "Duanyan Treatment".

After Duan inkstone was used as a tribute, it was also similarly "buyed". Not only that, because Duan inkstone is famous, officials from all over the country regard it as a top-quality product for bribery and gifts, so the money paid is peeled layer by layer and the amount of collection is increased layer by layer. So in the end, if anyone who knows how to make Duan inkstones needs to commit suicide.

Similar to the "Duanyan Incident", the villagers of Chengjiaao felt very honored after receiving the tribute order, thinking that their ancestors had accumulated virtue in eight lifetimes and were attracted by the emperor. For this reason, they also called each other "Attached Dian" according to tradition and gloriously. However, they were stunned by the "He Buy" purchase order he arrived later.

Originally, they thought that even if they had a little loss and had a reputation as tribute, they could make up for the loss inside the dike, but the purchase quantity on the order defeated them. For the price of 692 guan, Cheng Clan could not think of any other way to thank him except for suicide.

Zhao Xing has been wandering overseas for three years and returned to China. At this time, Cheng Yuan, a son of the Cheng tribe who was in charge of Hainan Island, also reached the prescribed rotation period. According to the agreement, he could return to China to receive 10% of the capital of Xiangpan Factory and 20% of the management dividends, and be responsible for operating the balm workshop. But as soon as he returned home, he found that the Xiangpan Factory could not continue to operate...

He had no choice but to cry to Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing was angry! However, he was not worried.

Because no matter how ugly the Song Dynasty was, it was only one in a thousand ugly. This was the case with the "Duan Inkstone Incident". After Bao Zheng knew about it, he severely rectified the phenomenon of stretching out his hands. In the end, Duan Inkstone was passed down as a national culture.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xing was even more determined to expose the matter of Xiangni Factory to heaven. As long as this matter is exposed to the sun, who dares to be greedy!

Visiting officials - According to the unspoken rules, there is no way to get a door. Zhao Xing planned to spend enough money at once, so that those cruel officials completely lost their thoughts about the Cheng family's industry...

Su Shi was also angry after hearing this - he is now serving as the "Knowing the Imperial Regulation", that is, the drafting officer of the emperor's imperial edict, and Empress Dowager Gao in the palace is still his fan, so he can directly "go to heaven to listen". After Zhao Xing explained it, he immediately angrily pulled a piece of paper: "If you leave someone, you don't need to find someone else. I'll write a chapter now, I'll tell you for you!"

"Teacher, it's not good. You are worried about these private coins. There are still maritime trade matters before the past is clear... Why bother to add new things? Isn't this causing disasters?" Zhao Xing quickly persuaded him.
Chapter completed!