Late Ming Dynasty: Conquering the world starting from riding and cutting

The old man Deng Wentian's understatement and cold words were like the declaration of death. The entire hall immediately became silent. The place that was bustling just now seemed to have turned into a deserted mountain and a ruined temple.

"Old man Deng, why do you say such unlucky words in such a wonderful gathering today?"

The head of the Bai family was a little puzzled and even complained. He shook his fat body and asked the elders in front of him for advice.

Deng Wentian rolled his eyes at the plump young master Bai, and asked: "My dear nephew, the pair of jade thumb rings on your hand are emerald green. I guess they are good materials. I wonder how much you spent on them?"

"Also, I heard that the new house you built is many times better than my small dwelling, and it is said that it also costs a lot. Also, you have several opera singers raised in your outer house in the provincial capital. , I wonder how much money you spent to buy their lives? It’s probably a lot of money to feed these beauties every month!”

Deng Wentian's question made Master Bai stunned for a moment, and he couldn't help but curse in his heart: Your old man, I came to your place to drink, how did you expose me, and how did you get this information.

Young Master Bai was about to refute when he was interrupted by Deng Wentian. He ignored Young Master Bai's somewhat embarrassed expression and turned to ask everyone: "Dear nephews, I know that you all have quite a lot of land in your family. There are more than five or six A thousand acres, sometimes close to a thousand acres, and there are also trading shops in the market. In the past few years, we have made a lot of money and become prosperous. However, let me ask you, Lingnan is now full of wars and revolutions. Why did it come about? Why is our Jinping County uniquely peaceful and undisturbed?"

"Also, why are you able to earn a huge amount of money while food prices are so low in all parts of the country? You don't have to worry about food and clothing?!"

A series of questions hit everyone's hearts like cannonballs.

Yes, why is that? This question indeed touches on their knowledge blind spots.

In the past few years, everyone has been busy making money, but they have never thought about why they can earn this money.

After all, as long as you make money, you can do it. Why do you want to do so much? This is what everyone in the hall is thinking.

"If one day, your business can no longer make money, and even has to lose money, think about it, can we still drink fine wine and eat such dishes?!"

Perhaps because of his excitement, Mr. Deng's eyes seemed to be on fire, and his wrinkled old face was suddenly covered with a sickly blush.

"A bunch of idiots who don't know their death is coming!"

In the past, he was very happy to have such a group of people. With them, the Deng family could highlight their prominent position in Jinping County. However, right now he was filled with anger.

Deng Wentian took out the cane beside his seat and waved it towards the huge gold basin placed in the center of the table.

With a "clang" sound, the golden basin inlaid with gold dragons and silver phoenixes, symbolizing the rolling wealth, was knocked over on the table. Pork, mutton, prawns, fish balls and other items inside were scattered everywhere along with the oily soup.

"It's so hot! It's so hot!" Several prominent people at the table screamed and jumped up, shaking off the oil on their bodies.

Seeing Deng Wentian being so furious, the juniors of the five families were so shocked that they knelt down and tremblingly bowed their heads in apology.

After a short pause, Deng Wentian calmed down his breathing. After sitting down, he ordered the maid to take away the leftovers, clean up the leftover soup and water in the hall, and make tea for the guests again.

"Dear nephews, I would like to ask, if the shop no longer makes money, how much money can be exchanged for the rice harvested in the fields? Is the harvest in one year as much as the profit in one month in your shop?"

Some of the elders of the five ethnic groups sitting on the seats curled their lips in disapproval and said, "Old grandpa, I'd say it's January, but even half a month can't last! Most of the goods sold in our grandson's shop are products produced in Keelung. of hardware and iron utensils.

Nowadays, Lingnan is in chaos and bandits are attacking. People from all over the country have formed villages to protect themselves and organize team training. Every day in Sun'er's shop, squires from nearby counties come to buy knives, guns and other items, so that they can protect themselves and their families. How can the profit from these iron tools be compared to the small benefits from cultivating the fields? ! "

Since the first year of Chongzhen, because it is close to the provincial capital of Lingnan, adjacent to the promontory, and has geographical advantages such as convenient transportation to Hong Kong Island, families of all sizes in Jinping County have discovered a new way to make money quickly, that is, becoming a member of the Hong Kong Island The distributors and agents of "Qinhan Trading Company" have been established in warehouse warehouses.

They sell large quantities of ironware, iron pots, kitchen knives, shovels, shovels, hoes, plowshares, and of course an ocean-sized amount of salt, cotton cloth, sugar, porcelain, rice, meat porcelain jars, cooking oil, etc. at low ex-warehouse prices. price to buy.

Then they took advantage of their local advantages and sold them to various parts of Lingdong through the shops of the five major families. The five major families made huge profits through such trade.

It can be said that in the surrounding villages in the large Lingdong area, new houses are being built with cement produced in Keelung, and even the wages of masons have gone up.

As for the rice in their fields being sold for no price, or even no interest, they didn't take it into consideration. Anyway, there are shops on the streets and markets where money comes from, so the rice at home just piles up there, fighting against the sun. A shop with a lot of gold is worth a fortune, but who can still guard a land that makes little money all year round?

"If I tell all my nephews, the good days of making money quickly are coming to an end. Even the money we made in the past few years will soon be lost. By then, the land will produce The rice cannot be sold for money, so I see how everyone has lost all their wealth.

From simplicity to luxury is easy, from luxury to simplicity is difficult. When the ancestral legacy is completely wiped out, I think we should also follow the example of those strong bandits in Lingxi who went to raid homes and rob homes, right? ! "Two eyebrows that were almost missing were beating angrily on Deng Wentian's forehead, declaring the anger in his heart at this time.

Then Deng Wentian ordered someone to take out a letter, wave it in front of everyone, and said: "A few days ago, I received news from the county government, saying that a Keelung businessman planned to purchase the land in Shanpu. Our magistrate has already agreed, and we are just waiting for the seal of the house to be sealed!"

The other four major families were not surprised at all that the Deng family was able to obtain such secrets from the county government.

We are all members of a family that has been operating in Jinping County for hundreds of years. We all know tacitly about small matters such as having a few spies and ears in the county government, otherwise we would not be worthy of being called a prominent local family.

But it is awe-inspiring to be able to find out such new information, and it is a matter of conspiracy between the county magistrate and Master Kong.

Everyone couldn't help but praise in their hearts: This old man of the Deng family is really a treasure trove. The smart ones among them are already trying to figure out what benefits this news can bring to them.

It was normal for other families to hear this. Buying, selling, and even grabbing land were commonplace in the thousands-year-old agricultural civilization like the Ming Dynasty. What's more, it's just a promontory, so it's not unusual.

However, the children of the Deng family were different. After hearing this, they immediately became agitated, some cursed, and many cried.

There is no other reason. There are their houses and shops in Shanpu. The Deng family’s fishing boats, cargo ships, and passenger ships come and go here, bringing them a lot of money, which is the basis of their livelihood today.

"Grandpa, are you serious about this?!"