Zhang Yanling wants to take revenge. .

He had no courage to kill the monarch, so he could only punish the person who made him lose his power, and this person was Chen Xi.

Because the person I was looking for did not complete the task of assassinating Chen Xi, Zhang Yanling planned to ask Boss Song to go out to find someone. Although Boss Song was a servant of the Marquis of Jianchang, he had been a bandit before and later went to prison. Later, he had some relationships in the world and was often used by Zhang Yanling.

This time, he asked Boss Song to look for all the people in the city, which was similar to the thugs raised by the Marquis of Jianchang before.

After asking Boss Song to find someone, Zhang Yanling was very unwilling to accept it. However, it was New Year's Eve that day. Zhang Yanling had just come out of the Ministry of Justice prison and was exhausted. He could only calm down and go back to his room to rest. Even if he just sleeps with a yellow-faced woman with a boy's hair, it would be better than continuing to be a lonely person.

The first day of the Lunar New Year is in a blink of an eye.

The capital was very lively that morning, and the snow on the streets was basically cleared out, which facilitated the officials in the North Koreans to visit relatives and friends to greet each other.

On that day, Xie Mansions were crowded with people coming to greet New Year's greetings.

After Liu Jin's death, the Chinese civil servants in the court were led by Xie Qian, and an atmosphere developed from the Liu Jin era was that they were charming. The officials who stayed in the court were somewhat snobbish, and whoever got the power would gather in his house.

Xie Qian met several people that morning and felt a little uncomfortable because the person he wanted to see was Chen Xi who had recovered from his injuries.

But until the sun rose to mid-air, Chen Xi was not seen. Xie Qian thought to himself: "Isn't it that the little brat wants me to go to his house to pay New Year's greetings, right?"

On the other hand, after seeing several officials who wished New Year in the mansion in the morning, He Jian came to Xie’s mansion to pay New Year’s greetings. Xie Qian invited He Jian to the study room, and the two sat down to talk.

He Jian said: "...I haven't been idle since the morning and now I'm going to trouble Yu Qiao's mansion again. Yu Qiao won't dislike him?"

Xie Qian looked at He Jian and asked in confusion: "How many houses did you visit early in the morning?"

He Jian smiled and said, "There are many people in the mansion, but if you say it, you are the first and last ones. It's almost noon, and you'll go back to reunite with your family when you take a tea and take a break."

Xie Qian nodded and said nothing, but he was a little psychologically balanced.

He Jian said: "Zhihou didn't come?"

"he?"

Xie Qian sneered, "You said he was a young man who abides by the rules. How about it? I haven't seen anyone yet... If I hadn't helped him, he would have been an inconspicuous sesame official in Hanyuan. After decades, he would have been a lecturer. How could he be like now... He still regretted it."

He Jian sighed: "I heard about something early in the morning. Come and talk to Yu Qiao... Do you know the specific matters about Zhihou entering the palace yesterday?"

Xie Qian looked at He Jian and asked, "Where do you want to ask about the specific situation? Could it be that boy went to your house?"

He Jian smiled and said, "Zhihou didn't go, but Dehua visited him. I have talked to him for a long time and told me in detail about yesterday's meeting with the saint. Yesterday, Zhihou took the initiative to take on the responsibility of raising grain, and I am afraid he will not be idle today..."

Xie Qian frowned and said, "Why did I hear that the Ministry of Revenue has transferred out the grain?"

"It's just a small part."

He Jian said, "As long as the quantity is not large, it will not hurt the foundation of the country. Yu Qiao, you are so strict with the granaries of the Ministry of Revenue. It is not easy for Your Majesty to collect some food."

Xie Qian glared at He Jian and said nothing.

He Jian also said: "With Dehua's intention, his Majesty will make up for the military ration gap in the northwest before the Spring Festival. It will require at least hundreds of thousands of loads of grain. This is not a small amount!"

"Hundreds of thousands of taxis?"

Xie Qian looked at him disdainfully, "Can he get such a big number? Could he make it up? Could it be that he intends to move the local granary?"

He Jian shook his head, not wanting to argue with Xie Qian, but the smile on his face remained the same.

Xie Qian said: "That means that he has started preparing today? There are many merchants in the capital. Today, they may gather together to celebrate the Spring Festival. Zhihou may take the opportunity to discuss the issue of paying food with these people..."

He Jian shook his head: "What Zhihou wants to do, I don't know anything... Yu Qiao, have you sent anyone to see it?"

"I'll send someone to see what he does?"

Xie Qian looked bad, "From he started preparing for the Northwest battle, I will not plan to meet him, so as not to lobby with me... Don't say good things to him in front of me again."

He Jian smiled and said, "Zhihou didn't even tell you, what should I do to talk to you? Yu Qiao, it's not too early, I should go back for lunch, so I won't disturb you from meeting you. Now, I have to go to the palace to attend the banquet in the afternoon, and I don't have much time left."

After saying that, He Jian got up and was about to leave. Xie Qian stood up and said, "Why stay and have a meal together?"

He Jian shook his head: "Today is the Spring Festival. Yu Qiao, you will gather with your family more often. After the New Year, there will be a lot of things in the court. Then you will be busy... Public is public, private is private. Don't be too indifferent when you meet when you give a banquet. Besides, if Zhihou comes to visit, don't turn him out!"

Xie Qian said angrily: "I want him to come... In my opinion, this kid has long known what etiquette is. I regret marrying his granddaughter to him now. Look at his current virtue!"

He Jian saw that Xie Qian was right and wrong, so he stopped arguing with him. Xie Qian sent him out of the Xie Mansion and went home.

...

...

Just when He Jian and Xie Qian met, Shen Xi was meeting with representatives from various local chambers of commerce at the Fujian Association of the Capital.

The chamber of commerce at this time was different from the local chambers that were popular later. Its status was not very high. It was just a spontaneous alliance organization and did not form an effective commercial liaison mechanism, which seemed very loose. However, due to the prevalence of local protectionism, the chamber of commerce had the necessity to exist, and negotiations between each other could increase a lot of bargaining chips.

The Fujian Guild Hall is very lively.

Regardless of whether these people support Shen Xi’s new measures on industrial and commercial tax reform, it is a great courtesy to meet with merchants. There are many more merchants coming than Shen Xi expected. Obviously, these people are proud to be able to get along with Shen Xi.

The representative of the Fujian Chamber of Commerce is neither someone else nor Song Xiaocheng.

Song Xiaocheng was once the leader of the chariot and horse gang. Although the chariot and horse gang were later disbanded, after Shen Xi gained power, Song Xiaocheng made the Fujian Chamber of Commerce very popular with Fuzhou and Tingzhou. Among all the chambers of commerce, Fujian merchants were regarded as the most representative merchant organization in the Ming Dynasty. Many regulations and internal operating rules were imitated and copied by other chambers of commerce, and most of the terms were formulated by Shen Xi.

The rules and regulations formulated by Shen Xi in various places are basically used by the chambers of commerce, and they enjoy various conveniences, but they do not know who the initiator is, and they will not appreciate it.

On the second floor of the Fujian Association Hall, Song Xiaocheng recommended representatives from various chambers of commerce to Chenxi one by one. Chambers of commerce usually come to each place.

Among them, the largest number of representatives of chambers of commerce in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Nanzhili and other places is mainly related to the detailed division of these local chambers of commerce. Many regions form chambers of commerce in provinces, while the wealthy areas in Jiangnan are more subdivided. Usually, there may be a chamber of commerce in one prefecture. Moreover, these chambers of commerce are fiercely competitive and do not have much interaction with each other. Instead, they will fight because of a dispute over interests.

Song Xiaocheng said: "...Sir, the people in the chamber of commerce who came to the banquet today can basically speak in all chambers of commerce. They basically arrived in the capital at night after getting the news."

Chen Xi nodded, sat down without it, and stood like the chamber of commerce representative present.

Those merchants should have knelt down when they saw Chen Xi, but Chen Xi spared their great gifts. Of course, he would not return the gifts rashly regardless of his identity. No matter what, the people are people, officials are officials, and the noble and humble still exist. These merchants would kowtow even if they saw a magistrate.

After almost all the merchant representatives from all over the country were met, Chen Xi calculated that the most people came from Jiangnan, while the Jiangbei Chamber of Commerce was relatively few, among which most of them were the chambers of commerce around the capital. Chamber of commerce in Henan, Shandong and other places also sent representatives, but the number was much smaller.

As for the Hui merchants and Shanxi merchants that later became popular, they are still in their infancy, have not formed a system, and have no branches in the capital.

Chen Xi first asked merchants from all over the country to sit down. As the person with the highest position, he made his opening remarks.

"...You are all the best merchants in the Ming Dynasty. They travel around the world and buy low and sell high as a means of making a living. I believe you have a wealthy family."

Chen Xi's way of speaking made the people present very uncomfortable. At the first place, he did not act as an official air, spoke non-constrained in classical Chinese, and made everyone understand it in a plain language. At the first place, he went straight to the point and pointed directly at the core of the problem.

Song Xiaocheng spoke as a representative in front of everyone present: "Sir, we have made some hard money, and we can't say that our family is rich."

Chen Xidao: "Don't think that this official is unattainable. Speaking of which, this official is also a merchant and has a lot of understanding of your business methods."

The merchants present looked at each other, and the civil servants were ashamed of doing business. The famous priest in the court actually publicly admitted that he was from a businessman's family, which was tantamount to depreciating himself... Although it is not a secret that Chen Xi was from the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce, even the emperor today knew about it.

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Based on the Chamber of Commerce, commerce and trade in various places have developed certainly, which is of great help to the exchange of goods in various places, the prosperity of the people's lives, and the stability of the local governments. Therefore, the court does not oppose business, and even encourages them greatly. However, in order to seek selfish desires, local governments have many difficulties in business operators, seizing money, goods and other things happen from time to time. Before the official was awarded the imperial examination, he had experienced it..."

Chen Xi's words were simply in the hearts of the merchants attending the meeting.

It is common for merchants to be extorted. Not to mention the government, even the militias set up by local clans will set up checkpoints to exploit them. The projects that tax merchants on the road to the government are not simply the tax yamen set up by the court.

Moreover, no one has ever appealed for merchants. In order to pay less taxes, many merchants can only walk some remote mountain roads and dare not even walk on official roads.

It’s okay if you can’t meet a card, but once you encounter it, you may lose all your money.

Although Chen Xi said to the point, these merchants still do not take the reform of industrial and commercial tax and the voluntary donation seriously.

The local government is staring at our purse. Is it not our purse that you, Shangshu, valued?

Even if you are a bigger and more greedy official, you have to raise military funds to fight now, which is a bottomless pit. If we merchants are going to raise soldiers, there will not be enough money to fill in.

Seeing that the people present looked wrong, Chen Xi knew that things were not as easy as expected... If these people were to bleed, they would either use forced and coercive means or exchange interests.

Chen Xidao: "I don't want to go around the circle with you. The court will start a war on the grassland this year. It lacks food and food. The court cannot spend so much money and food to support the war. I can only ask for your help."

A Shandong merchant stood up and saluted: "Mr. Shen, it's not that we are unwilling to help each other. We are really unable to do it. It's not that we are not easy to do business this year. Don't you also know the actual difficulties we are facing?"

Speaking on such occasions requires courage, especially when speaking out, the merchant was watched by many people, and some even sighed secretly, thinking that this person was in trouble.

Chen Xi looked at this Shandong merchant, about forty years old, with a mustache and looked smart.

Chen Xidao: "The court will not use people in vain. If you have any requests, you can tell me in front of me. If I can make the decision, I can agree here. If I can't make the decision, I will go back and ask Your Majesty for your decision."

"ah?"

The merchants present couldn't help but be shocked.

It was a great honor for them to see Chen Xi. This person was the Minister of War of the Court, and he was not an ordinary person who could see him.

Now they can not only make requests to Chen Xi, but they can even convey what the emperor knows. Naturally, they have a little more glory in their hearts, as if they have flew up the branch and turned into a phoenix.

The Shandong merchant before continued, "Mr. Shen, aren't you lie to me? Your Majesty is arrogant and will you hear the demands of us, the people?"

Chen Xidao: "If you can help the court fight this war, you will be a hero. Your Majesty will naturally not treat you badly. Now you are just asking about your requests. Before my official arrived, Your Majesty had inquired about this matter, and even instructed you to convey your true thoughts directly to the Holy Listen."

The people present talked a lot about whether what Chen Xi said was true.

In their perception, officials are not trustworthy at all, but officials at the level of Chenxi seem to have no need to make fun of them.

Chen Xi asked again: "What do you think? Just say it out. I want to hear your opinion, instead of letting me sing a solo show."

The Shandong merchant wanted to say something just now, but finally sat down, as if he wanted to discuss with the people next to him.

Suddenly, a famous merchant from Nanzhili stood up and said, "Mr. Shen, it's not that we don't trust you, but we are the people who dare not have expectations for the court. If the court wants us to pay the donation, we have no choice but to do so, but we have limited ability."

Someone came out to sing the opposite tune, which made the people present anxious. After all, with Chen Xi's identity and status, it is unlikely that they have a good temper. If they become angry, not only will the person who says the wrong thing be punished, but the rest will also be affected.

Chen Xidao: "The ability is not high or low, or... what the court wants to ask for from you will give equal feedback. If you do not want to make a request, the court will think that you have no appeal. In the future, you will be bullied locally, or the court relaxes its business policies, and those who do not participate will not enjoy the convenience."
To be continued...