Chapter 736: Bidding! The higher the price will win!

In fact, King De and King Heng did not have much money in their hands. Their wealth accumulation was far inferior to King Lu's family in Yanzhou Prefecture. If the private property of the two was not calculated, King De would be at most 300,000 taels of silver. After several storms, King Heng might have less than 100,000 taels of silver. As for jewelry, jade, etc., it would have to be sold before it could be turned into silver.

It is indeed a bit difficult if they use this money to do business. If they are good at doing business, they can naturally borrow money to make money and earn more money. The principal of 100,000 taels of silver is not a small amount. However, if they are not good at doing business, 100,000 taels of silver will lose a loss, and the risk is indeed great.

Zhang Zhun's method is indeed the most appropriate. If you deposit the money in the first money house of the Hu Ben Army, as long as the Hu Ben Army has existed for one day, the first money house of the Hu Ben Army will not be liable for the debt. Of course, this method is also the slowest to make money. Only a little interest per year may be enough for the daily life of a small family. It is absolutely impossible to live a luxurious life like before. There must be gains and losses, and they are indeed a little undecisive.

After glanced at the two princes, Zhang Zhun said slowly: "If you feel that staying in Shandong is unsafe, you can move to Jiangnan at any time. I can order you to let you go out of the country. You can take them away."

King De and King Heng look at me, and I look at you, both of them shook their heads at the same time. Although they did not have the courage to resist and were indecisive in character, they were not fools. As long as they could survive in Shandong, they worked hard to go to Jiangnan to do something at a huge risk? Do they go to find an excuse for the people there and kill their heads?

Although you are a vassal king, once the crime is confirmed, the fate will be very tragic. If you don’t believe it, look at the example of the King of Tang. The King of Tang responded to Chongzhen’s imperial edict and organized troops to prepare to go to the capital. As soon as he left the country, he was arrested by the Jinyiwei and demoted to a commoner. The charge was that he left the country without authorization. At present, the King of Tang was imprisoned in the clan mansion in Fengyang, and the light of day was not seen all year round. Such a life was worse than death!

Because of the Li Guorui case in the capital, both princes were very worried. If they made a mistake and fell into Chongzhen's hands, Chongzhen would definitely find an excuse to lock them up and confiscate all their property. To be honest, Chongzhen would be much more serious than Zhang Zhun. Zhang Zhun might save some money and wealth for them, but Chongzhen was absolutely impossible. Once they left the country without authorization and went to Jiangnan, their money would soon become Chongzhen's.

The main purpose of their meeting with Zhang Yan was actually to learn about the Li Guorui case and see how Li Guorui would be dealt with in the end. Chongzhen took action against his relatives for money, and there was no guarantee of their safety. There was no guarantee of safety in Chongzhen's hands, but it might be safer in Zhang Zhun's hands. The irony here was indeed a little too strong.

Moreover, with the strength of the Hu Ben Army, it will not be difficult to control Jiangnan after controlling the northern country. Now that we leave, we will still fall into the clutches of the Hu Ben Army. If we don’t cooperate well this time, Zhang Zhun may not be too lazy to see them in person next time. Maybe, the Hu Ben Army’s butcher knife will be raised. Who can tell the future of things?

Seeing King De and King Heng worried about gains and losses, Zhang Yan's mood was also very complicated and it felt very uncomfortable. Obviously, under Zhang Zhu's strength, anyone from the Zhu family's royal family tried to resist Zhang Zhu, which would only ruin her life in vain. As a woman, the greatest effort she could do was to preserve the lives of the two of them as much as possible.

Perhaps, without her Zhang Yan's appearance, King De and King Heng would not be able to bear the face and secretly surrender to the Hu Ben Army. But when Zhang Yan came, she uncovered the knot between the two of them, and they could easily go into battle. The reality is so cruel. If you don't surrender to the Hu Ben Army, there will be only a dead end. Zhang Yan has no other choice.

The mighty wind blows, and there is silence on the banks of Daming Lake. Zhang Yan, King De and King Heng are all thinking about their own thoughts. It is indeed difficult for Zhang Zhun to accept the words. However, no matter how difficult it is to accept, they must accept them. Otherwise, the outcome will be even more miserable.

Zhang Zhun stood up and said with a solemn expression: "You guys think about it slowly, I'll leave first!"

Regardless of their response, Zhang Zhun said goodbye and left.

When Zhang Zhun returned to the prefect's office, Tian Feng came up to report the matter.

After the Hu Ben Army controlled Jinan City, all yamen at all levels in Shandong were abolished, and all officials were sent home. Now, Jinan Prefecture is an ordinary prefecture, directly under the jurisdiction of the Government Department of the Great Governor's Office of the Hu Ben Army. Because of his outstanding work before, Tian Feng was directly promoted from the county magistrate to the prefect of Jinan Prefecture.

His deputy, the general of Jinan Prefecture, was named He Zheng, who was originally the prosecutor of Jinan Prefecture. Because he was honest and dared to speak out, he offended his superiors and was eventually imprisoned. He was rescued after the Hu Ben Army arrived. This man was indeed a good man in his work. After Tian Feng arrived in Jinan Prefecture, he quickly got started with He Zheng's help.

Nowadays, Jinan Prefecture has a variety of tasks that are comparable to Laizhou Prefecture and Dengzhou Prefecture, but compared with Qingzhou Prefecture, it can still be taught at the same time. Liu Guangxin, the governor of Qingzhou Prefecture, is actually very talented, but due to the resources and conditions of Qingzhou Prefecture, it is indeed very difficult to develop Qingzhou Prefecture quickly.

When Tian Feng met, he said, "Governor, we need some money."

Zhang Zhun asked lightly: "How many?"

Tian Feng said cautiously: "To complete all the work, it will take about 200,000 taels. Before May, it would be even better if we could allocate about 50,000 taels to us."

Zhang Zhun nodded and said casually: "No problem."

Tian Feng was relieved immediately.

The prefect and magistrate He Zheng next to him were stunned. Tian Feng asked Zhang Zhun directly for money? And Zhang Zhun didn't ask much in detail and just sent the money down. Is the Hu Ben Army doing things in this way straightforward or hasty and ruthless? Two hundred thousand taels of silver, that's not a small amount. Even if he knew what the money was used for, He Zheng still felt a little incredible.

After the Hu Ben Army took over Jinan Prefecture, there was a lot of work that needed to be done, and all aspects were indispensable. Relief of refugees required money, reconstruction after the war required money, rectifying public security required money, reclaiming land, laying road sewers required money, building bridges and culverts required money, and building water conservancy facilities required money... everything required money. It took Tian Feng and him several days to barely count a basic number, which was the 200,000 taels mentioned by Tian Feng just now.

He Zheng originally thought that when Zhang Zhun approved it, he would definitely cut half of it. This was also the custom of the court. The court said that the first thing to do was to deduct 3,000 taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue was to deduct 3,000 in the Ministry of Revenue, and when he arrived at the Shandong Provincial Administration, he would deduct another 3,000. In the end, there might be only four thousand in Jinan Prefecture. Continue going down, you have to deduct 3,000 layers. In the end, the actual amount may be less than one thousand taels.

Moreover, the quality of these four thousand taels of silver may not be very sufficient. The so-called foot-colored silver can only be obtained when you are lucky. Most people get seven cents of silver. The so-called seven cents of silver means that only seven cents of silver in the silver ingot is inferior goods, and the other three cents or even more. Only God knows what it is.

When Zhang Zhun saw He Zheng’s strange look, he smiled and asked, “Old He, what’s wrong?”

He Zheng hurriedly said, "Sir, we will use every penny of money to practicalize it."

Zhang Zhun smiled and said, "This is the best."

Tian Feng was thinking about his affairs and stood up to say goodbye. He Zheng naturally followed Tian Feng to say goodbye.

Zhang Zhun suddenly thought of something and raised his hand and said, "Old He, wait, I have something to ask you. Tian Feng, don't leave, sit down and listen."

He Zheng hurriedly said, "Master, please ask."

Tian Feng sat down again.

Zhang Zhun said: "How much do you know about the chamber of commerce, associations and so on in Jinan Prefecture?"

He Zheng said seriously: "I only know a Qilu Chamber of Commerce, but I am not very clear about the others. If I want to know more about it, I will definitely know that if I ask Zhu Baowei to come."

Zhu Baowei is the president of the Qilu Chamber of Commerce. He was present when Zhang Zhun attended the banquet at Prince De's Mansion last time, but this person has always been low-key and rarely speaks. He did not speak at the last banquet, so Zhang Zhun has not had a deep impression of him. When Zhang Zhun thinks about it now, he seems to have a little impression. He vaguely remembers that this person is a standard fat man.

Zhang Zhun nodded and said, "Okay! Call him here!"

He Shi immediately got up and sent someone to summon Zhu Baowei.

At present, the Hu Ben Army is in the limelight and hot, and Zhang Zhun is a savior and evil star coexist. When Zhang Zhun is looking for him, no one dares to neglect. Soon, Zhu Baowei, president of the Qilu Chamber of Commerce, arrived. Zhang Zhun's memory is indeed correct. This Zhu Baowei is indeed a standard fat man, perhaps only 1.6 meters tall and weighs absolutely close to 200 kilograms.

Zhu Baowei dared not be arrogant in front of Zhang Zhun, or even did not dare to laugh too much, so as not to cause Zhang Zhun's misunderstanding. He asked respectfully: "Governor Xuan Xiaoren is here, don't you know what you have to care?"

Zhang Zhun nodded, gestured to let Zhu Baowei sit down, and then said with a smile: "Boss Zhu, relax, I do have good things to take care of your chamber of commerce."

Zhu Baowei asked hurriedly: "Governor, please speak."

Zhang Zhun said with a cautious expression: "How much can you get from porcelain, tea, medicinal materials, silk, raw silk and other goods? How much profit can you make from these goods every year?"

When Zhu Baowei heard Zhang Zhun come to the topic, he obviously came with great potential. He hurriedly replied seriously: "Governor, there are indeed not many local goods in Shandong, and it is difficult to sell them. Among the merchants in Shandong, except for a few close to the canal, others basically do not engage in such a business. Most of our Shandong Chamber of Commerce is engaged in cotton, grain, salt and other businesses."

Zhang Zhun stared at him with a bright look and said slowly: "Is it because of the relationship between the big merchants in Jiangnan? Is it because of their monopoly on the business of these goods?"

Zhu Baowei said helplessly: "That's right. I believe the governor also knows that these goods usually have to go to Nanyang to have huge profits. Selling them locally means making hard money. It seems that goods like raw silk are actually not very profitable in our Shandong. If a tumble of raw silk is sold to Nanyang, you can earn ten taels of silver, but in our Shandong, you can only earn about one tael at most. The time and effort are spent, and the gain is not worth the effort. Therefore, no one is willing to engage in such a business."

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "What if I go to Japan?"

Zhu Baowei frowned and said, "We cannot participate in the Japanese market..."

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "Is it because of Zheng Zhilong's obstruction?"

Zhu Baowei said in a bitter tone: "Governor knows everything, and there is nothing to hide from the small ones. The Japanese market is indeed very large, but unfortunately they are all in Zheng Zhilong's hands and there is no room for us to survive. In the past, we also tried to send a batch of goods from Dengzhou Prefecture to Japan, but in the end, all the goods and ships were detained. Later, we still used silver to redeem people, and the ships and goods were swallowed by Zheng Zhilong."

When it comes to this matter, Zhu Baowei was still a little scared. After experiencing this, merchants from all over Shandong no longer dared to ship goods to the Japanese market, and even did not dare to touch the North Korean market. Because they all knew that these two places were Zheng Zhilong's territory, especially Japan. If Zheng Zhilong discovered it, the consequences would be very serious.

Zhu Baowei further explained that if he could monopolize the Japanese market, he could make at least three million taels of silver a year, which was almost equivalent to the annual income of the treasury. The problem is that this big fat piece of meat has always been controlled by Zheng Zhilong. It is so difficult for the Hu Ben Army to snatch the fat meat from Zheng Zhilong's hands, which is unimaginable!

Finally, Zhu Baowei said carefully that according to the disclosure of those who are interested, Zheng Zhilong made a profit of nearly six or seven million taels of silver every year by relying on the triangular trade in Fujian, Southeast Asia and Japan. This is simply not fat, but gold mine. Since it is a gold mine, Zheng Zhilong will naturally be depressed. If others want to intervene, they will inevitably be strongly attacked by him.

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "If our Hu Ben Army monopolizes the Japanese market, will you be interested in joining the Qilu Chamber of Commerce?"

Zhu Baowei's face suddenly turned happy, and then he looked a little sad. It is of course a good thing to monopolize the Japanese market, and it would be strange if he didn't want to join. The problem is that such a good thing seems to be Zhu Baowei's turn? Let's not talk about whether the Hu Ben Army can expel Zheng Zhilong, even if the Hu Ben Army expels Zheng Zhilong and seizes the Japanese market, there is also the woman Shen Lingfei.

All the upper-class people in Shandong know that Shen Lingfei is Zhang Zhun's concubine. As long as it is a business run by Shen Lingfei, no one dares to participate in the competition easily! Unless Zhang Zhun's personal permission is allowed, who would be willing to make fun of his life?

Zhang Zhun said in an orderly manner: "Shen Lingfei cannot meet all the needs of the Japanese market. We also need other merchants to participate. Don't worry, Shen Lingfei's treatment is the same as that of other merchants. For the Japanese market, I am planning to adopt the access system. Only merchants who have obtained our approval can enter. In addition to Shen Lingfei's family, there are four quotas. I will not settle the quota, everyone will openly bid, and those with the higher price will be awarded. The entry period for each merchant is ten years. After the expiration, you need to re-bid."

Tian Feng and He Shi next to them couldn't help but look at each other.

The governor’s move is really... cruel and poisonous!

There are only four places, so it would be strange if these merchants don’t lose their heads. The final price of this bid must be quite high. If other markets are not good, no one in the Japanese market is jealous! If a merchant in Shandong travels to Nanyang, the distance is indeed a bit far and the cycle is too long, which is actually not very cost-effective. For them, the Japanese market is the most suitable.

With Chen Lingfei's caravan as a role model, merchants are pursuing profits. It is absolutely impossible to say that they are not jealous. Zhu Baowei is right. The current Japanese market is no longer as simple as fat, it is simply a gold mine. There are many large merchants under the name of the Qilu Chamber of Commerce, and the strongest ones can take out 200,000 to 300,000 taels of silver. It is possible to get one million taels of silver with four places.

Zhang Zhun said slowly, "Anyway, that's what it means. Four quotas. If you want to participate, hurry up and prepare funds to participate in the bidding. There will be no store after this village. You have a month to carefully discuss it. Next month, I will host the bidding ceremony in person to see your sincerity."

Zhu Baowei's face turned a little complicated.

Zhang Zhun's suggestion did have a great impact on the Qilu Chamber of Commerce. The Shandong Chamber of Commerce is indeed a bit sluggish now, mainly because it has no major profit channels. A large part of Shandong's business opportunities rely on the canal transportation. Now that the canal transportation is cut off, it means that the business opportunities are cut off. It seems that he has a lot of money in his hands and wants to find business opportunities. However, unfortunately, Zhu Baowei has never felt that there are any major business opportunities.

The Japanese market has indeed stimulated Zhu Baowei. If Zhang Zhun's Hu Ben Army can really open up the Japanese market, then it would be worth it to use hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to obtain an entry quota. As long as the Hu Ben Army can really open up the Japanese market, the profits of these five companies will definitely come. Looking forward to it optimistically, it is not impossible to overwhelm the wealthy businessmen who have passed the south of the Yangtze River in time.

Of course, if you completely ignore Zhang Zhun's proposal, it's OK. Just pretend that nothing has happened. The problem is that if you ignore it, maybe you missed it once in a lifetime opportunity. For merchants, it is absolutely unforgivable to miss an opportunity that may make a lot of money.

Yes, idiots know that Zhang Zhun wants money. The so-called access system actually requires you to pay money in advance and ask you to willingly put all the money in your pocket in the Hu Benjun's pocket. To be precise, it is put into Zhang Zhun's pocket. However, the ratio between input and output is also calculated by idiots. This is why Zhang Zhun dares to speak out loud. As long as there is enough profit, he is not afraid that those merchants will not be crazy.

If the bid price is about 200,000 taels, you can make it back in ten years. The Japanese market is a big gold mine, and no matter how many of the five merchants move it, they can't be called a businessman. If you can't make 2 million taels in ten years, you can't be called a businessman.

Of course, the risk is also very high. If the Hu Ben Army cannot defeat Zheng Zhilong and cannot monopolize the Japanese market, their money will disappear even if it is all hit in the water. However, when doing business, there is no risk? The greater the profit, the more risky the business. Conversely, the greater the risk, the greater the profit!

In fact, what Zhu Baowei is most worried about is not the risks of the Hu Ben Army, but whether he can get a place. His economic strength is actually not the strongest among the Chamber of Commerce. If there are a few up-and-coming stars or a few madmen who are eager to change the status quo and raise the price, it will be really troublesome.

Establish an offensive and defensive alliance and unify the price? Don’t think about it, Zhu Baowei himself doesn’t believe this. For the sake of profit, merchants will definitely try their best to raise the price. If you believe in the so-called offensive and defensive alliance and bid according to the agreement, you will definitely suffer the loss in the end. Zhang Zhun’s proposal happened to be stuck in the neck of the Qilu Chamber of Commerce. The four places are really precious, and no one is willing to give up!

He Zheng was quite studious and asked curiously: "Governor, why should we limit four places? Isn't it good to have more?"

He is not very proficient in the economy and subconsciously feels that since he wants to sell the quota, the more the better. Even if he only costs 100,000 taels each, if he can sell twenty, it will be 2 million taels of silver! Two million taels of silver can do a lot of things.

Zhang Zhun said with a smile: "Old He, if there are too many places, it will be worthless. In the Qilu Chamber of Commerce, there are probably five or six companies that can really afford the price, and they just want to grab it. Besides, too many businesses are pouring into Japan, making it difficult to manage."

He nodded very much like he understood it.

Tian Feng suddenly asked, "Sir, what if there are foreign merchants participating in the bidding?"

Zhang Zhun said with a smile: "As long as you are sincere, we will welcome you."

Tian Feng nodded and stood up to say goodbye.

He Zheng also went there.

Zhang Zhun stood up and paced back and forth in the hall. He was still somewhat satisfied with his proposal. I wonder if this was a strong intervention by the regime in economic activities? It seems that this access system is still quite fast to make money. In the future, as long as you have the opportunity, you will still implement it more. Bidding will be the one with the higher price!
Chapter completed!