The real formation of Ningbo merchant gangs in history was in the late period of the Opium War. With the Qing Dynasty's retreat and locking the country's door was bombarded by Western strong ships. Ningbo, as a key business place for five ports, Ningbo merchants, who had already had a strong commercial atmosphere, began to develop continuously, thus forming a real Ningbo merchant gang, also known as Ningbo merchants.

In fact, during the Ming Dynasty, the commercial atmosphere of Ningbo along the coast was very developed. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, due to the change of dynasties and the destruction of the Qing army to the south, the booming Ningbo business community was in a slump. After Kangxi ascended the throne, the country stabilized and Ningbo merchants began to gradually recover. Later, the Three Feudal Rebellion and the recovery of Taiwan and other wars of Ningbo merchants were affected, but their development did not stop. By the 47th year of Kangxi, Ningbo merchants had returned to the scale of the mid-Ming Dynasty. In addition, Ningbo merchants monopolized the Beiyang route from the Yangtze River Estuary to the coast of Liaodong, and its development speed was getting faster and faster.

Today, the six most famous businesses in Ningbo are the Ye family, Yu family, Wang family, Bao family, Zhao family, and Yan family. In addition to these six businesses, there are twelve well-known businesses and nearly a hundred businessmen who are dependent on these big businesses.

Among the six great masters, the Ye family has the longest history. The Ye family made a fortune in the medicinal materials trade. It opened a medicinal materials business in Beijing as early as the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and has continued to this day. The main business of the Yu family and the Yan family is the garment industry, and Ningbo tailoring is famous all over the world. This is the main foundation of Ningbo's garment industry and tailoring shops. Similar to the medicinal materials business, it also opens a shopping mall in Beijing. In addition to the traditional industries in Ningbo, the Wang family, Bao family and Zhao family also operate Beiyang routes and fisheries, with their main business at sea.

On this day, in the Ye family mansion, Ye Guoji, the head of the Ye family, sat together with the other five heads of the family. Although there were sumptuous dishes and wine on the table, everyone had no intention of touching them with chopsticks. They were all frowning and looked restless.

"Tell me, I will go to the banquet tomorrow. There is no good banquet at this banquet. What are your plans?" Seeing that everyone was silent, Ye Guoji, who was the master, coughed and preached. As soon as he finished speaking, everyone sighed and shook their heads.

"Brother Ye, you said that there is no good banquet. This is the opposite... The rebel army entered the city, and no one knew what would happen next. It was light to lose money. I just hope that we can save our lives by chance." The person who spoke was Bao Yangsheng. The Bao family made a fortune for only nearly fifty years. Bao Yangsheng, as the second-generation head of the Bao family, operated maritime trade. Although it was risky, it made a lot of profits.

Bao Yangsheng's words are the truth. Everyone in Ningbo's business world is well-known, and he understands the truth that people are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones. Before, Jiang Jin brought people to the door under the banner of Master Hong to invite them to the banquet. Is there a good banquet? It is clearly the Hongmen Banquet. Although the thief entered the city and did not break into the houses of the merchants, it seemed like a lucky person on the surface, but everyone knew in their heart that the other party's purpose was their wealth in the end.

There is a difference between merchants and landlords. Merchants mainly rely on commercial means to accumulate capital, rather than landlords who simply produce money like investing wealth into land. Furthermore, Ningbo merchants’ business names are mainly in major cities, especially capitals like Beijing. It is true that merchants have money, but on the one hand, the money needs to be invested and turned over, and on the other hand, it is also scattered in the hands of various merchants. Although Ningbo is the hometown of Ningbo merchants, except for Ningbo’s houses and some property, most of the funds are not directly in their hands.

In the eyes of these people, Zhu Yi clearly wanted to take their family members as hostages and slowly squeeze out all their family wealth. This is also the main reason why the rebels did not simply and roughly break up their homes after entering the city. It is also the basis for the concerns of these people now.

"It would be better if you can lose money and eliminate disasters. The so-called "living the green mountains is not afraid of burning firewood, but you are afraid of the other party..." Yan Zhichuan shook his head and sighed, and then said, "In my opinion, everyone should make the worst plan. Anyway, the Yan family will lose my old bones. Even if the hometown in Ningbo is destroyed, my son's foundation in the capital is still there, and when the family business may not be restored in the future."

"Old Yan's words are reasonable. In my opinion, if we can break some wealth, we will admit it. But if we want to destroy our foundation, it will never work!" Yu Mao agreed. The children who were sitting were in various shopping malls or in laymen, holding some of their own resources in their hands. As long as they were not uprooted, their old bones would be lost, but their future hopes of revitalizing.

"Brother Zhao, is there any news in the south?" After Yu Mao finished speaking, he turned his attention to Zhao Jishi. The Zhao family's business route was mainly on the sea. In addition to the Beiyang route, the Zhao family also operated a route to Taiwan. After the city of Ningbo was broken, major merchants in Ningbo also secretly took countermeasures. Because the Zhao family is most familiar with the southbound route, and someone in the Zhao family opened a shopping mall in Fuzhou, he handed over the task of asking for help from the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang.

Zhao Jishi shook his head: "This person was sent out, but it will take some time to go through the journey. Moreover, it is not so fast that the merchants will receive the news and then transfer it to the Governor's Office. Moreover, it is unlikely that the Governor will send troops to recover Ningbo before it is restored. It is probably impossible for a month to take the long water to save the near fire!"

This sentence of the long water cannot save the near fire makes them silent all of a sudden. Indeed, from the distance, even if the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang immediately sends troops to Ningbo immediately after receiving the information, it will be nearly a month later. And the problem they are facing now is right in front of them.

"Where is Zhejiang? Is there no news in the capital?" Wang Fan asked anxiously. In fact, the closest to Ningbo is the capital of Hangzhou. Didn't the emperor send the eldest prince to Hangzhou?

Yu Mao sighed and said, "The rebel army blocked the news from Ningbo outwardly. In addition, Jiang Jin, the ungrateful wolf raised by his mother, was closely watching. It was difficult to spread the news to Hangzhou, but we have tried our best to find a way, but it also takes some time, and it is not so fast!"

This doesn't work, that doesn't work, and everyone has no choice but to take one step after another after discussion. We must go to this banquet tomorrow. As for how much blood will be caused by them and whether they can come back safely, no one is sure.

In the end, no good idea was discussed at the party, and everyone could only deal with it tomorrow. After the party parted, Ye Guoji looked at the banquet that had never been moved before, and his brows were deeply furrowed.

"Old Lin!"

"Master, you give me instructions." Old man Lin, the old servant of the Ye family, replied. Ye Guoji looked at him and asked, "How long have you been in the Ye family?"

"If you want to go back to the master, I am the Ye family's son. When the master was still a young master, the old man arranged for the young master to serve the master. More than 40 years have passed in a flash."

"Yes! More than 40 years have passed..." Ye Guoji sighed. Lao Lin has been by his side for more than 40 years. This is a person who has been with his wife and children for longer, and he is also the old man he trusts most and is the most loyal to the Ye family.

"There is a letter here. Please take it and go out today. I remember your Er'er has a small house in the west of the city, right? If there is something wrong with the Ye family, please bring this letter to Ren'er in the future due to our years of master-servant relationship." Ye Guoji took out a letter that had been prepared from his arms and placed it gently on the table.

Lao Lin suddenly burst into tears. He understood what Ye Guoji said, and he knew more about the reason why he did this. Lao Lin silently took the letter, carefully hid it in his arms, looked at Ye Guoji and hesitated: "Master, the young master is still young, why not..."

"No!" Before Lao Lin finished speaking, Ye Guoji interrupted him: "That's it. While no one is paying attention yet, you can walk quietly through the back door alone, remember not to let people see it."
Chapter completed!