"Then you have to be qualified to be on the table!" Qian Qianyi said sarcastically from the side.

Li Mingxun smiled at Qian Qianyi and said, "Mr. Qian, if you are talking and writing articles, let alone going to the table, I don't even have the qualifications to enter the door. But now it is not an era where talking and talking can solve problems. Can you tell Li Zicheng to death? No! Now it depends on who is hard, and not talking about it. If I don't have these two battalions of soldiers and dozens of gunboats, I am not qualified to drink with you at the same table!"

Qian Qianyi naturally couldn't hear this, but everyone knew that Li Mingxun's words made sense. Qian Qianyi's people hurriedly grabbed him. Shi Kefa exchanged glances with everyone and said, "This matter is too big. Let me discuss it and give you a reply."

Li Mingxun smiled and said, "Of course, but what I want to say is, don't think that this is me cutting everyone's flesh. Go back and ask your sons and nephews of each family, and who does business with me, Li Mingxun, which one is not making a fortune. I have a way to make money together, as long as you are willing to give me space."

"The mouth is full of stinking!" Qian Qianyi was furious and sweaty on his face.

Li Mingxun smiled, took out a pair of grate from his arms, handed it to Qian Qianyi, and said, "Mr. Qian was sweating heavily and was irritated. His scalp must be itchy. Take the grate quickly and stop itching."

Qian Qianyi pushed away Li Mingxun's hand and scolded: "How can you care about it?"

Li Mingxun smiled and said, "It's not a matter of concern, I just regret it. Today I have taught you how to shave your head. I'm afraid that your scalp will be itchy, so I shave my head. Wouldn't it be my Li Mingxun's sin?"

As soon as these words were said, everyone burst into laughter. Qian Qianyi was either sitting or standing or standing, so he had to leave with his sleeves.

Since Shi Kefa issued the order to expel guests, Li Mingxun naturally would not stay too long. He finally toasted a few glasses of water and wine, and then stood up and left, because the club had always been limited to Chongming, and there were no industries such as his own houses and residences in the Songjiang area. However, Songjiang was near Chongming, and there were too many merchants who had trade with the club. Xu Changxing had already arranged a secluded courtyard for Li Mingxun to rest.

On the second day, the rising sun passed through the sycamore trees in the yard and shone on the stone slabs. Li Mingxun had already gotten up and practiced sword skills. His previous life was an officer, and his habits were already destined. However, in this life, the morning exercises became sword and spear killing techniques. Although the movements were simple, they were all used for battle formations. They were most refined. After practicing for only a quarter of an hour, they were sweating. When the morning breeze in early summer was blew, it was indescribable to express comfort.

"Mr. Li has already gotten up, it's really early." A voice came from the gate of the courtyard. Li Mingxun turned around and saw that it was Lin Shizhang standing there. He had been waiting for a while when he saw his appearance.

"Oh, Mr. Lin, please come in quickly." Li Mingxun's view of Lin Shizhang was still good. The cooperation between the two sides has been smooth. Although Lin Shizhang is also a proud person, he respects all those who deserve admiration. Whether this admiration comes from articles, talent, or strength, it is always better than those of Qian Qianyi and others. He always judges sentient beings by his fame and fame.

Li Mingxun ordered his servant to arrange for Mr. Lin to enter the yard, but he went back to the bedroom to wash. After changing into simple clothes, he came to the yard, but saw that the yard was full of people. In addition to Lin Shizhang and his several servants, there were also Liu Rushi and Li Xiangjun's two daughters. They all brought three or five maids, Yingying and Yanyan, and kept talking in the yard. There were also seven or eight large boxes in the yard. I don't know what was inside.

"Congratulations to Mr. Li for finding a beautiful woman." Lin Shizhang quipped with a smile.

Li Mingxun was stunned for a moment: "What kind of beauty?"

Lin Shizhang turned his body and pointed to Li Xiangjun who was shy behind him, and said, "Of course it's Miss Li Xiangjun. You forgot that you asked me to arrange the redemption last night. Now Miss Xiangjun has left her home and has redeemed her."

Li Mingxun then realized that no matter how careful he was last night, he still got on the pirate ship. He looked at Li Xiangjun and then looked at Liu Rushi. He was at a loss for a moment. Lin Shizhang smiled slightly, pulled Li Mingxun aside, and whispered: "Mr. Li, this is also one of the conditions for the gentry of Jiangnan. Li Xiangjun is your concubine, but you must not take it away from Jiangnan. As Master Shi said, Mr. Jiangnan has no family in Jiangnan. How can he share the same relationship with the gentry of Jiangnan?"

Seeing that Li Mingxun was still hesitating, Lin Shizhang said: "Zuo is just a woman. You have to go to Jiangnan, and you should always have someone to serve you around you."

Li Mingxun shook his head helplessly and thought to himself that this woman was hitting her, but when she thought, it was not her who suffered any loss. In this era, three wives and four concubines are really common, so why should she be an ascetic monk?

"I'll make arrangements first, I have my own arrangements." Li Mingxun nodded slightly and said to Lin Shizhang.

Lin Shizhang laughed and arranged for his housekeeper to arrange the matters. He said: "I discussed it last night. Mr. Li's strategy is feasible, but in the details, we still need to discuss it in detail."

Li Mingxun nodded and said, "Please follow me to the study."

Li Mingxun led Lin Shizhang into his study and was about to serve tea. When he turned around, Liu Rushi also walked in. Seeing her like this, Li Mingxun understood that this woman was not here to send Li Xiangjun, but to counsel the club's affairs in Jiangnan.

"Why, can't I participate in such a confidential matter?" Liu Rushi asked with a smile.

Li Mingxun smiled and said, "Of course not. Not to mention that Hedong Jun's reputation is so famous, even as a representative of Mr. Qian Qianyi, it is enough to sit here. I think Mr. Qian is disdain to negotiate with me."

Liu Rushi's face turned ugly. She and Qian Qianyi had never figured out why Li Mingxun targeted him alone, but Qian Qianyi was indeed extremely uncomfortable and simply couldn't come.

Lin Shizhang said: "Hedong Jun is indeed one of the representatives of Shilin this time."

Li Mingxun certainly understood that although Lin Shizhang had prestige in the Jiangnan Shilin, which was enough to represent, he had one shortcoming, which was that he was too close to the community and could not be completely trusted.

After everyone sat down, Lin Shizhang said: "All the people here are their own people. I won't say anything high-sounding. What the gentry in Jiangnan wants to know is how much military force the club can leave in Jiangnan if we reach an agreement."

Li Mingxun smiled slightly and said, "The two camp battalions removed from Denglai were all left behind, and half of the cavalry camp left behind. The Chongming garrison was expanded into battalions. As for the navy, the Chongming local fleet was expanded, the double-brigged frigates were increased to three, and the single-mast notification ships were increased to eight. Considering the assistance of river defense, the community will also appropriately expand the sailing fleet. Of course, more importantly, provide high-quality and low-cost artillery to set up a turret in the Yangtze River."

Lin Shizhang and Liu Rushi both focused on the key points. Before this incident, they had a relatively detailed understanding of the military power of the club. Although Li Mingxun left few fleets and not even one-fifth of the club's navy's strength, the complex hydrological conditions of the Yangtze River were difficult for the club's navy to exert their strength. If you want to go deep into the inner world to help defend the threat from Huguang, the most worthy of relying on the fort was the fort. However, the strength of the 6th army was enough to prove Li Mingxun's sincerity, and most of the club's mobile power remained in Jiangnan.

In fact, for the community, this is not a loss. Now there is no war in Taiwan. The two left-behind garrison battalions and the strength of their allies are enough to deal with the situation. The cost of raising troops and training troops in Jiangnan is definitely much lower than that in Taiwan.

Among all the supplies required to raise soldiers, Taiwan has the advantage over Jiangnan. Only salt and low-priced rice from Nanyang. Although these two are the main things for raising soldiers, training and raising soldiers are not only needed. The treatment of soldiers by clubs is particularly high. In the final analysis, the cheapest things in Jiangnan are in Jiangnan. More importantly, in Jiangnan, the clubs can recruit sufficient and cheap people from the poor and refugees, and can also immigrate their families to Taiwan.

More importantly, the geographical location of Jiangnan. Among the various strongholds of the club, Jiangnan is in the center and radiates to the surroundings. This is the core hinterland of the Ming Dynasty. All enemies and potential opponents of the club cannot be easily touched. On the contrary, in Taiwan, it is easy to be blocked, and the army settles in Taiwan. Once there is something to do in any direction, you can support it quickly.

"Mr. Li is very sincere. If this happens, I can now express my opinion on behalf of the gentry of Jiangnan. We can continue to cooperate in the next step." Lin Shizhang said happily. When discussing last night, what Shi Kefa was most worried about was that Li Mingxun was perfunctory in military strength and refused to leave enough military strength. Since this goal was achieved, everything else was easy to discuss.

Liu Rushi said: "We have seen the power of your society. How many industries are you planning to expand in Jiangnan? Stores, mansions, shopping malls, all of these, the gentry of Jiangnan is willing to support you."

This question is very clever. This is to show Li Mingxun's trump card. After all, once there is war in Jiangnan, the army and fleet can be withdrawn, but the industries here cannot be sold for a while. Only when the club has enough industries in Jiangnan can the gentry in Jiangnan believe in Li Mingxun's determination to share weal and woe with them.

Li Mingxun asked with a smile: "Shop, mansion, shopping mall, haha, why don't there be acres of land?"

Lin Shizhang and Liu Rushi's faces changed slightly. The fields in Jiangnan were the most fertile and produced high-value commodities such as silk cotton. However, Jiangnan was also the densest-popular area of ​​the Ming Dynasty. Every acre of land here was precious. Which gentry family was not a local wealthy landlord, and the few thousand acres of land were a few thousand. In an era when land was fundamental, if Li Mingxun bought a large amount of land, wouldn't it be a cut from the officials and gentry? Even if those who attended last night agreed, the other gentry would not agree. If they opposed it, they would ruin the cooperation.

"Haha, I'm just kidding you. I don't want to violate everyone's taboos, haha." Li Mingxun suddenly laughed. He knew that if the club bought land, no gentry would come forward to support him.

Li Mingxun stood up and said, "I said that as long as you relax the restrictions on the community, I will reach a win-win situation with you.

"How to cooperate and win-win, and what should we do specifically?" Lin Shizhang asked.

Li Mingxun said: "The club has already planned this matter. Specifically, it is the club that unites with the Gangnan gentry to establish a bank!"

"Bank, what is that?" Liu Rushi asked.

Li Mingxun said: "This is the Western Yi saying, similar to a money house."

"What do you mean is that your society is willing to take out money and lend money in Jiangnan?" Liu Rushi asked. This seemed to be a way. As long as Jiangnan borrows more money from the club, the club will not leave Jiangnan easily. However, usury is also one of the core interests of the gentry and an important means of annexation of land, so it is difficult to operate.

Li Mingxun said: "It's not that simple. The current main business of this bank is small commercial loans. I know that in the early stage, everyone will not have much confidence to invest in the stored silver. All you need to make money quickly through the early stage operations, enhance your confidence and invest more capital."

"Please tell me in detail." Lin Shizhang asked.

Li Mingxun hurriedly said: "At present, Jiangnan provides all the competitive products of the Ming Dynasty to the surrounding areas through sea trade, such as raw silk, silk, tea, cotton cloth, and porcelain. But speaking of this, the truly competitive ones are raw silk and cotton cloth. If the export rights of these commodities are monopolized through banks, the profit will be extremely generous."

“How to monopolize?”

"Actually, it's very simple. Just like what each family does on weekdays, using the spring famine loans, two people know that the land yield per mu in Jiangnan is high, but the taxes are also the most heavy. In order to survive, the common people have to grow cotton and raise silkworms in large quantities, which reduces grain output and increases grain prices. Every time the spring famine, the price of grain rises, and it makes it difficult to survive. They have to borrow money from local gentry to live, and then use raw silk and cotton cloth to pay the debt. The gentry in various places is really embarrassed to eat. There are always things to borrow three dou of spring and pay one stone for one stone in autumn, and we can join forces to agree on an interest that we and farmers can accept. In the spring famine, we will lend grain and harvest silk cotton in summer and autumn. Since the intermediate links are reduced and the cost is reduced, it is not a good thing to make money at both ends!" Li Mingxun said with a smile.

"This will touch the interests of many gentry." Lin Shizhang said.
Chapter completed!