Most of the wealthy Jiangnan merchants present here are grain merchants and silk merchants, and many of them are engaged in salt industry, tea industry, medicinal materials, fur, raw silk, etc. Some of their family businesses involve overseas. They are all worth millions, and they look like rich people in every gesture.

The breath hit my face.

Seeing everyone saluting, Wu Buju chuckled, bowed to everyone, and said with a smile: "Everyone, shopkeepers, please take a seat."

Although he appears to be kind on the surface, he is still arrogant in his heart. After all, the Wu family is considered a "scholar" class among the four people. It is a typical combination of officials and businessmen. Officials are merchants, and business people are officials. Compared with others who are purely engaged in business

The family is more high-end.

Wu Buju unceremoniously sat at the top of the table, his eyes slowly swept over everyone, and when he saw everyone was seated, he said: "I think everyone has received the news, Wu will not beat around the bush, Donglin

, Fushe has united, and we are also required to cooperate in boycotting commercial taxes, what do you think?"

The wealthy businessmen in the circle below chatted with each other for a while. Naturally, they were unwilling to pay taxes. Even if they made a lot of money every day and spent a lot of money by the Qinhuai River, they were not willing to take out a tael of silver to pay taxes, let alone the current draw of 1 out of 10.

Wu Buju drank tea and did not raise his head to urge, letting everyone discuss it.

"The prince's diversion has already caused heavy losses to us, and now he has to impose commercial taxes, which is getting more and more excessive!"

"Yes, he can't imagine this kind of bad government that competes with the people for profit. Is his Zhu family crazy because of poverty?"

A wealthy businessman reclining on the Taishi's chair seemed to have drunk too much, and he was cursing, which immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding businessmen.

The person next to him hurriedly said: "Shopkeeper Zheng, be careful what you say!"

The man surnamed Zheng took another sip of the price and sneered: "Be careful, once the court starts to collect commercial taxes again, I'm afraid it will be 10% today and another 10% tomorrow. If one yamen collects it once, that yamen will also come.

If you collect it once, it will not be easy for us to do some business. Do we have to give all the money we earn to the Zhu family?"

The surrounding businessmen nodded in agreement, and several people expressed their opinions that tax collection was the court's biggest mistake.

Seeing that everyone's emotions were aroused, Wu Buju pressed his hand to signal everyone to stop talking, and said: "The crown prince is young and energetic, has low political awareness, or is instigated by treacherous ministers, so he did such things that boiled public resentment.

I suggest that you all unite and go on strike collectively to show our indignation and condemnation!"

"A collective strike?"

Everyone applauded one after another, saying that Mr. Wu was worthy of being a scholar, and he was indeed a sophisticated strategist. The merchants jointly went on strike, which was a big killer.

Nearly half of the tradable grain in Southern Zhili is controlled by everyone here. Once everyone goes on a collective strike, the price of grain alone will increase several times in just a few days. There will also be a variety of other industries in Southern Zhili. This will bring great pressure to Southern Zhili.

It caused tremendous turmoil.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the rapid development of industry and commerce in Jiangnan made the industrial and commercial class extremely arrogant, and a large number of court officials became their spokespersons. It can be said that the local economy was completely out of the control of the court.

As long as the interests of businessmen are harmed, they will unite and play whatever they want, and the government will be helpless.

For example, during the Jiajing period, when private money was rampant, the imperial court banned the minting of private money in various places. As a result, merchants from all over the country went on strike and prices soared. The imperial court had no choice but to abolish the ban.

Not to mention the Suzhou tax resistance incident during the Wanli period. Even several eunuchs were killed. The eunuch who came from Si Li was chased and found a place to hide for two days before escaping at night. If he was caught, he would definitely have to die.

cold.

Wu Buju glanced at the crowd and said, "In that case, the shopkeepers who agree to go on strike, please raise your hands."

As soon as the words fell, more than half of the people immediately raised their voices in agreement, while some timid people did not dare to make up their minds and hesitated.

Wu Buju expressed regret and said: "This can't be done. Some people go on strike, while others operate as usual. This is not called a strike, but making money."

The half-drunk businessman immediately slammed the table, pointed at the businessmen in front of him who had not raised their hands to agree to the strike, and said fiercely: "If you guys want to do business in Nanzhili in the future, I will follow my surname!"

His remarks were generally appreciated by the surrounding businessmen, who all criticized and insulted those businessmen who did not raise their hands. Some people said righteously: "Yes, block them! Make it impossible for them to do business in Jiangnan!"

Several decent businessmen couldn't bear the humiliation and walked away on the spot. They firmly supported the crown prince and would never do such unscrupulous businessman actions that disrupted the market.

More businessmen could not bear the pressure from their peers and reluctantly raised their hands to agree to participate in the strike.

Wu Buju smiled and said: "Don't worry, everyone, with the help of their scholars and our efforts to create momentum, the momentum of the boycott of commercial taxes will be even greater than that of the Wanli Dynasty!"

A wealthy businessman surnamed Zhou quickly echoed, saying: "The public sentiment is turbulent during the introduction, the crown prince will surely wake up, and maybe like Ruan Dacheng, he will be driven out of Nanjing City. From now on, all the shopkeepers can run their business safely and freely!"

Wu Buju nodded with satisfaction, stood up, and said: "In that case, we will pick a date for a collective strike. During the strike, no shops will be allowed to operate. Once discovered, don't blame your colleagues for being unkind! Wu

I hope everyone can work together to safeguard the rights and interests of our merchants!"

...

In the sixth year of Apocalypse, Emperor Apocalypse issued an edict to demolish Donglin Academy. The Donglin Party members suffered a severe blow, and many ministers serving in the government were killed.

In the second year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen ordered the restoration of the reputation of the Donglin Party members and the restoration of Donglin Academy.

At this time, in the Yiyong Hall of Donglin Academy, there was a famous couplet written by Gu Xiancheng, the leader of the Donglin Party, hanging in his ears: The sound of wind and rain and the sound of reading can be heard, and everyone cares about family affairs, national affairs, and everything in the world.

Outside Yiyong Hall, a large number of Jiangnan scholars gathered, numbering over a thousand. They gathered in the academy and prepared to collectively attend the Jinling Conference on the first day of the year.

Since they are going to cause trouble and resist, they naturally need to be louder. Thousands of people march to Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, and they will inevitably have a great impact on several counties along the way. This is the effect that all those who oppose the New Deal need.

A young man dressed as a scholar, wearing a Confucian robe and a square scarf on his head, climbed up and shouted: "The harm caused by business tax is actually exploiting people's interests. In the early days, businessmen were poor and few people were there, people's livelihood was withered, and the disaster of Wanli was just around the corner.

!”

There were waves of indignation when the Donglin Academy was neutralized. Everyone righteously denounced Zhu Cihong's bad government, and some even scolded him for being unworthy of being the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. Even if he became emperor in the future, he would be a coward and a tyrant, causing the Ming Dynasty to fall into darkness forever.

"Businessmen are going on strike, and we are going on strike as well. We are going to unite all Confucian academies to boycott business taxes, boycott the so-called new education, and restore the status of Confucianism!"

"Yes! Smash those so-called universities!"

The new education had just been introduced and had not yet been formally implemented, which aroused resistance from traditional education. Frightened by the Jiangnan Gongyuan incident, the scholars did not dare to express their opposition on a large scale for fear of being liquidated.

At this time, Zhu Dadian was assassinated, and some people took the lead to oppose the New Deal and take action, which immediately triggered a series of chain reactions. The powder keg that all classes had been holding in for a long time was finally about to explode collectively.
Chapter completed!