Chapter 243: Storm Rising, Entering the Mountain Gate
When the profit is more than ten times, businessmen will dare to abandon everything and take risks!
——Content excerpted from the 43rd letter between Lin Ye and An Zisheng.
Capital city, prime minister’s residence.
An Zisheng, who is only thirty-four years old, already has a few strands of white hair on his temples.
The woman standing at the gate of the yard looked at her husband's lonely back with a look of heartache on her face.
Outsiders only saw her husband's glory as prime minister, but only she knew how hard her husband had worked over the years.
Every time I go home, I have to review official documents and am often busy until late at night. In the first few years, I couldn't sleep at night. It was better in the first few years, but starting this year, my husband has returned to his old ways.
The gray hair of young people is the best proof of this.
She is a woman, and women don't understand officialdom or national affairs. All she can do is manage the household for her husband.
But she knew that her husband's appetite would definitely not be bad today.
In the past, whenever her husband received a letter from Shangyang City, his mood would improve. He would not only sleep well but also have a good appetite.
After her husband finished reading the letter, the woman brought a bowl of ginseng tea from the kitchen and walked into the yard.
"My husband, what do you want to eat today?"
The woman put down the ginseng tea and walked over to brush the rain off her husband's coat.
"Same old."
Hearing her husband's answer, the woman frowned. As usual, it meant that her husband had a poor appetite. In the past, when he received the letter, her husband would take the initiative to ask for a dish that he used to like.
Is this belief no longer effective?
"My husband, this time this letter is not a panacea?"
Although she had never interfered in her husband's official affairs, even the envelope, which had been a panacea in the past, was of no use. She was filled with worry and could not help but ask.
"Medicine...if you drink too much, it will become stubborn."
An Zisheng had a wry smile on his face. In the past, when he encountered problems in the reform, he would write to Lin Ye, and Lin Ye would give him some ideas in his reply. However, this time, when faced with his problems, there was no answer in Lin Ye's letter.
Starting from the first year of the Great Shang Dynasty, the status of merchants has gradually improved, and the capital and some county towns have indeed become more prosperous than before. There have been no natural disasters in recent years, but even if there have been natural disasters, the common people will not die.
Because ordinary people could choose to work in these merchants' workshops, and the court's treasury revenue increased year by year due to the rapid growth of commerce, the Ministry of Revenue's annual tax revenue is now equal to that of the five years before the reform.
Officials throughout the court now supported the reform, and scholars no longer abused him, but instead praised him as a wise prime minister, comparable to Prime Minister Guan a thousand years ago.
An Zisheng was not carried away by these praises. On the contrary, his worries grew heavier.
Businessmen are becoming more and more important.
The importance here does not refer to status, but to the influence of the businessman.
For example, the Sihai Trading Company in Beijing has more than 3,000 workers under its umbrella. Behind these 3,000 workers are 30,000 families. The Sihai Trading Company affects the lives of 100,000 people. In the past one or two years, he has received many complaints about the Sihai Trading Company's crimes, such as bribing officials, hoarding grain, and even hiring hundreds of thugs...
These behaviors were not allowed. Some officials who were bribed turned a blind eye, while some who refused the bribes wanted to run the Sihai Trading Company. However, before these officials could take action, workers of the Sihai Trading Company gathered at the gate of the yamen to plead for mercy.
It is easy to mobilize the Sihai Commercial Bank, but how to ensure the lives of hundreds of thousands of people?
Sihai Trading Company is just one of the representatives. There are five or six such trading companies in the capital, and the situation in each state is similar. These merchants have kidnapped the people and are already able to compete with the court.
An Zisheng is not an official who does not care about the lives of the people, otherwise he could arrest the heads of these businesses with a thundering strike, but he has to consider the people and even more so the impact.
For this reason, An Zisheng wrote a letter to Lin Ye, in which these issues were mentioned.
Lin Ye only replied him with one sentence.
When the profit is more than ten times, businessmen will dare to abandon everything and take risks!
He agreed with what Lin Ye said, but the key issue was how to solve this problem.
"Sir, Mr. Lin is so talented, why don't you invite him to the capital? Even if he doesn't want to be an official, he can be an aide to the master and give him advice."
After hearing her husband's explanation, the woman realized that most of the reforms her husband had proposed over the years were from the hands of Master Lin from Shangyang City.
"He doesn't want to be an official, and he doesn't want to come to the capital."
An Zisheng smiled bitterly. If Lin Ye was willing to come to the capital and serve as an official in the court, he would have handed over the position of prime minister to him long ago.
“He is a practitioner.”
With one word from a practitioner, the woman stopped trying to persuade him.
As the prime minister's wife, she naturally knew that practitioners would not get too involved in secular affairs.
"Is there really nothing we can do?"
"There is a way, but this method..."
Although Lin Ye only had this sentence in the letter, it was also a hint to him: It is businessmen's nature to pursue profits, and no one can change that. Only by making businessmen feel afraid can their greedy nature be suppressed.
kill!
Kill a group of businessmen!
"Sir, you can't kill them. Merchants are the focus of reform. If you kill them, then this reform..."
Although the woman did not understand the officialdom, she also knew that the status of businessmen was improved by their husbands, and many businessmen even enshrined their husbands' tablets at home.
“Reform will not be a problem.”
An Zisheng was not worried about the reform. Even if he killed this group of businessmen, the next group would appear, but he himself would definitely be attacked.
"Ma'am, our son is six years old this year."
The woman didn't know why her husband suddenly asked about their son, but she answered, "Well, I was just about to discuss it with you. Shang'er has reached the age of enlightenment, and I'm going to find a teacher for him."
"No need to look for him. Send Shang'er to Canglan County in a few days."
"Canglan County?"
The woman understood a little bit that her husband wanted to send their son to that Mr. Lin to be taught.
"Okay, I'll go talk to Shang'er."
An Zisheng looked at his wife's departing back and sighed. Giving his son to Lin Ye was not only for Lin Ye to teach his son, but also to entrust his son to Lin Ye in a sense.
He could already smell the storm coming.
…
…
"Is this the son of that guy An Zisheng?"
Lin Ye was speechless when he saw the child that Xu Bo brought into the house. An Zisheng was really good at finding things to do.
"Sir, here is a letter from Lord An."
Over the years, Xu Bo has already known that the former Master An is the current prime minister. It is really fate that makes people laugh. Who would have thought that his own master had imprisoned Master An in the past.
Taking the envelope, Lin Ye opened it and started reading. After reading it, he sighed.
"Okay, let this little guy stay here."
There wasn't much in An Zisheng's envelope, except for praising Lin Ye for his talent. He didn't want his son to learn from those Confucian teachers and become a bookworm.
However, what finally made Lin Ye willing to accept An Youshang was the last sentence in An Zisheng's letter.
"In my life, I have held a high position in the government, but I have always been walking on thin ice and trembling with fear. Looking back on my life, I find that only Brother Lin can be considered a good friend."
"I'm entrusting my son to you. Unfortunately, I'm not Zhuge Liang."
Lin Ye muttered to himself, this guy An Zisheng sent his son to him, it seems that he is really in big trouble.
"Without any worries, I hope you can survive."
…
…
As for how to teach An Youshang, Lin Ye thought about it and came up with an idea. He simply asked Lao Chen to take An Youshang away and arrange him to Kelaiju first. After waiting for a while, he would send the little guy to Home Inn.
Kelaiju is frequented by dignitaries, while Rujia Restaurant is inhabited by peddlers and hawkers. This allows the little ones to understand the lives of the upper class without being separated from the lower class.
"Sir, is this inappropriate?"
When Xu Bo saw that Lin Ye asked Lao Chen to take An Youshang away, he became a little worried. After all, he was the prime minister's son. How could he be a waiter in a restaurant?
"There's nothing wrong with letting a child experience the sufferings of the world in advance. Just don't reveal the identity of this kid to Old Chen."
Lin Ye knew that if Old Chen knew An Youshang's identity, he would probably not dare to assign any work to An Youshang and would treat him like an ancestor in the restaurant.
…
…
One month later!
Three carriages drove out of Canglan County and headed towards the Divine Level Gate.
The day after Lin Ye left Canglan County, a cavalry entered Canglan County and headed straight for the major trading companies. The people in the city discovered that the heads of the major trading companies had been taken away one after another.
The heads of major business houses were taken away, causing the originally prosperous commercial street in Canglan County to suddenly become deserted. Shops closed one after another for fear of being implicated.
Many merchants who were not taken away went to the government office to file a complaint. You have to know that the current Prime Minister An supports them, the merchants. The government arrested people without reason, so they wanted to complain to the court and to Prime Minister An.
However, these merchants received a despairing piece of news at the government office: the people who took away the head of the business company were from the Commercial Supervision Bureau.
It’s just that the imperial court set up a new department, and it was Prime Minister An who fully promoted its establishment.
They are specifically responsible for monitoring merchants. If a merchant commits any illegal act, they can be arrested immediately. If he resists, they can be executed first and reported later.
When the news came out, the merchants were in an uproar, thinking that Prime Minister An had abandoned them.
After finally enjoying a few years of good life, are we going to be back to square one again?
An atmosphere of despair lingered in the hearts of the merchants, and this scene was not only happening in Canglan County, but also in every county town in Dashan.
However, within just one day, branches of the Commercial Supervision Bureau were assassinated by gangsters. At the same time, many county governments filed petitions to the court, accusing the Commercial Supervision Bureau of wantonly arresting merchants, causing panic among the people. Merchants were afraid to do business, prices soared, workshops closed, and many people lost their jobs.
An Zisheng in the capital would never have thought that when he improved the status of merchants, he was opposed by many officials, and now when he took action against merchants, it was still these officials who opposed it.
The old vested interests do not want the rules to be broken, but once they are broken, these people will quickly become the new vested interests.
Officials and businessmen collude to form a powerful alliance.
On the third day, the top scholar selected by the chief examiner An Zisheng submitted a memorial to the emperor, which caused an uproar in the court.
This is a memorial suing An Zisheng.
"He abused his power to abuse his authority, solicited power and accepted bribes, excluded dissidents and formed a group, controlled the government, and deceived the emperor..."
He criticized An Zisheng as a powerful official who disrupted the government.
The Shang Dynasty, which had been peaceful for nearly a decade, encountered its first turmoil.
At this moment, Lin Ye, who had arrived at the gate of the God-level Mountain, looked at the majestic mountains, the magnificent mountain gate, and the rich yang energy that was blowing in his face, and his eyes narrowed slightly .
It is worthy of being the number one martial arts holy land in Nanjiang!
