Chapter 2047
Chapter 2047
Chapter 2047
Zhangzhou is Xu Xinsu's hometown, and it is also the starting point of his fortune. Since he was supported by Haihan, Zhangzhou's status has also risen, and it has gradually become the political, economic and cultural center of the entire coastal area of Fujian.The tradition of one person attaining enlightenment and ascending to heaven is also vividly displayed in Zhangzhou. Under the protection of Xu Xinsu, members of the Xu family poured into the shopping malls and officialdoms. In the past ten years, there have been many people who have been promoted and made a fortune. They have gradually become the number one rich family in Fujian. .
The industries directly or indirectly controlled by members of the Xu family have spread all over Fujian, and there are many projects that have obtained huge profits through monopoly operations. The trade channel under the name of the Xu family entered Fujian, and one can imagine the richness of the oil and water.
Controlling the most profitable part of the business in all walks of life like this is the method that the Xu family currently uses the most.It is not uncommon in the officialdom to use the privileges in your hands to make money. Many officials with real power will have unexplainable gray income.However, it is still very rare in Daming that the Xu family can control a province like this.
But even Xu Xinsu himself probably doesn't fully understand how many industries in Fujian are under the control of the Xu family and how many people are working for the Xu family.Therefore, when the Haihan people came to the door and asked for assistance in investigating the local merchants in Fujian that had trade relations with the Spanish, Xu Xinsu did not dare to immediately declare that this matter had absolutely nothing to do with his family business, but asked Xu Yuxing to conduct internal investigations to avoid risks. , lest the Haihan people take advantage of it.
This job is simple and simple. After all, Fujian has such a large circle of businessmen engaged in cross-border trade. If we further narrow down the scope according to their trading partners, and then make a list of suspicious persons to investigate one by one, we will be able to find what the Haihan people want. tracked target.But it is complicated and complicated. Most of these profitable transactions have various backers, and they may even be one of Xu Yuxing's uncles and brothers.Businessmen are all about profit. If Xu Yuxing wants to check their business, these people may not be willing to cooperate.
This is one of the reasons why the Haihan people do not want to investigate themselves, but ask Xu Xinsu to provide assistance in the investigation.If the Haihan people were to investigate this matter, the resistance they would encounter would only be greater, and it would easily arouse dissatisfaction among the people, far less effective than Xu Xinsu's speaking out.
Although this job is not so easy to handle, Xu Yuxing has already been ordered by Xu Xinsu, and he has no room to shirk, even if he knows that he will offend others, he can only bite the bullet and do it.But after all, Xu Xinsu has the bottom line on this matter, so there won't be any big troubles.
As the spy chief, Xu Yuxing usually has all kinds of information, and soon made specific arrangements for how to investigate this matter.
"Go and invite shopkeeper Liang from Fumao Commercial Bank, shopkeeper Qin from Huifeng, and shopkeeper Luo from Four Seas Shipping to come back, and tell me that I have something to ask." Xu Yuxing returned to his place and immediately gave the order.
There is a reason for him to start the investigation so eagerly. The Haihan people have already stated that they will follow up on this matter, so he has to complete the investigation of his own property before the Haihan people intervene to avoid risks.The companies he named are all self-owned industries under the name of Xu Xinsu, and they have trade channels in the direction of the South China Sea. These shopkeepers should also know the sales of products in the South China Sea on the market. It will save a lot of time to ask them for relevant information. .
In addition to the basic trading functions, the commercial organizations under Xu Xinsu's name have also gradually followed Haihan's model in recent years, letting the overseas personnel of these organizations take on the task of collecting intelligence information, and even Xu Yuxing's intelligence agency Send people to complete these tasks as commercial staff.So maybe outsiders don't know the real identity of Young Master Xu, but these shopkeepers more or less know that Xu Yuxing is not a hermit who devotes himself to cultivating Taoism, but a secret intelligence officer with special power in his hands.
The first person to report was the treasurer Luo of the Four Seas Shipping Company.In fact, the location of the Four Seas Shipping Co., Ltd. is on the bank of the Jiulong River outside Zhangzhou City, and it is also the farthest place among the three people who have been notified. Street, so he was the first to rush over when he was notified.
The Four Seas Shipping Company owns hundreds of large and small merchant ships and cargo ships, and it is considered a large shipping company in the whole of Fujian. Its trading scope is even larger than that controlled by Haihan, and the Philippine Islands are naturally among them.And the shopkeeper Luo who is in charge of the Four Seas Shipping Co., Ltd. is not an outsider. He joined the Xu family in the early years, and now he can be regarded as half of the Xu family.It's just that Xu Xinsu and Xu Xinsu are only distant relatives, so shopkeeper Luo can only regard himself as a subordinate in front of Xu Xinsu, and does not dare to show off his relationship.
Xu Yuxing didn't tell the other party the specific things he wanted to investigate, but only asked him whether the Four Seas Shipping Company had business dealings with the Spaniards in the Philippine Islands recently.
"Third young master, what are you singing about? The trading between the ship company and the Spaniards stopped at the end of the year before last. It has been more than a year! At that time, the master personally ordered that our merchant ships were not allowed to go to Manila. Later, It took a few months to find out that there was a war there." Shopkeeper Luo quickly explained the situation to him: "Didn't the area in Manila belong to the Haihan people after the war? It is said that the Spaniards retreated further south. , we purchased native products from the local area, and changed to doing business with Haihan people. But speaking of doing business with these two, there are pros and cons, and it’s hard to tell the difference.”
"Oh? How do you say that?" Xu Yuxing was also very interested in information beyond his own knowledge, so he immediately asked shopkeeper Luo.
Shopkeeper Luo replied: "The Haihan people are quick in doing business, they are trustworthy, and it is convenient to settle money and goods; although the Spaniards are a bit difficult to deal with and like to delay the checkout, they buy our goods at a much higher price than the Haihan people. And The Haihan people have a well-developed shipping industry. They purchase goods from Fujian and ship them to Manila. The cost is much lower than what we ship and sell to them. Therefore, when our ships go to Manila, there are often not many things that can be sold locally. The income of trade routes is naturally much lower than before."
Xu Yuxing pondered for a while before continuing to ask: "Then do you know that other local businessmen are quietly continuing to do business with the Spaniards? Is there any way to avoid supervision?"
Shopkeeper Luo replied: "There should be people who secretly do business with Spaniards. After all, Spaniards can afford to pay... If the master hadn't set a rule not to continue doing business with Spaniards, then the villain would also want to go every time. Earn more money and come back! As for avoiding supervision, you only need to pack the things the Spaniards want to buy when you go, go to the Spaniards’ place to complete the transaction, and park in Manila for a few days on the return trip, and buy some things there. It's seamless. This method is simple and easy to do, and there must be others who can think of such an operation, but who is actually doing it... The villain does not know, after all, the person who does it will definitely not take the initiative to show off this kind of behavior. Criminal matters."
In order to cooperate with Haihan's material blockade against the Spanish colonial authorities, Xu Xinsu announced new rules to Fujian maritime merchants last year, that is, it is forbidden to trade with the Spaniards in the Philippine Islands.After this rule came out, it did effectively restrain the relevant trade, but it may not be able to achieve the effect of complete prohibition.And the plan mentioned by shopkeeper Luo can indeed effectively evade the supervision of the government and Haihan. There will definitely be businessmen who want to take advantage of the opportunity of the trade blockade to make a fortune and continue to maintain trade relations with the Spaniards.
After seeing off Shopkeeper Luo, the second person to arrive was Shopkeeper Qin from Huifeng.Huifenghao is actually a commercial institution whose main business is a bank, which can provide businesses such as gold and silver exchange and silver-money delivery for the private sector. It is also the main business partner of Haihan Bank in Zhangzhou.Haihan Bank has only one office in Zhangzhou, but Huifeng has multiple branches, and can deposit and redeem the checks issued by Haihan Bank, which is very convenient for local businessmen engaged in cross-border trade, which makes this Local banks have a relatively stable source of customers and business.
Although this shopkeeper Qin is not from the Xu family, he is the nephew of Dong Yanyun, Xu Xinsu's number one aide, and later married a woman from the Xu family, which can be regarded as a reliable in-law relationship. The shopkeeper Luo is much higher.A considerable part of the Xu family's cash property has been placed in Huifeng as working capital all the year round, which also shows that Xu Xinsu trusts him more.
In terms of age, shopkeeper Qin is a full round older than Xu Yuxing, but in terms of seniority, the two belong to the same generation, so
When they meet, they still call each other brothers, and they are much closer than shopkeeper Luo before.
"Brother Qin is invited to come here today. I want to know if any merchants have exchanged large sums of Spanish silver coins for official silver recently?" After sitting down to watch tea, Xu Yuxing asked the other party straight to the point.
In 1521, the Spanish colonists occupied the Mexican region of North America. In 1535, the "New Spain Governor's District" was established there, and in the same year, the first mint in the Americas was established to produce and mint silver coins.
.In the middle of the 16th century, the use of silver in Mexico accounted for one-third of the total silver consumption in the world, and a large number of silver coins were shipped to all parts of the world through maritime trade routes for trade payment.Until the independence of Mexico in the 19th century, the silver coins produced there were one of the currencies used by Spain in its overseas colonies.
Mexican silver coins marked with "M" on the coin face are also in circulation in East Asia. The Spanish colonial authorities have used them as the main means of payment since the last century, and the maritime merchants of Ming Dynasty are also very happy to accept this kind of craftsmanship and uniform quality. The standard silver coins, which are far better than the scattered silver coins of various colors and weights in the Ming Dynasty.
Since the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, a large amount of Spanish silver coins have continuously flowed into China through transnational trade.Historically, until the Qing court lost the first Opium War 200 years later and signed the "Treaty of Nanjing" with the British, the monetary unit of all compensation in the treaty was still the Spanish silver coin called the silver dollar. This shows that The influence of this currency is far-reaching.
Of course, due to the appearance of Haihan in this time and space, the popularization of Spanish silver coins in East Asia may not be as smooth as in the original history.Although Haihan's currency in circulation is paper money, there is enough gold behind it as a credit guarantee. In addition, Haihan has been using trade means to vigorously promote its own financial system, which has also led to the emergence of Spanish silver coins and Haihan banknotes in parts of the southeast coast Universal spectacle.
However, at this time, the people of the Ming Dynasty still had some scruples about using Spanish silver coins, and they had not directly become currency in the market as in the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, after the Spanish silver coins collected by maritime merchants from trade were brought back to China, they often needed to be transferred through some private channels. It is converted into official bank, so that it is convenient to use in some formal channels.As a bank, Huifenghao has such a business of exchanging Spanish silver coins for official silver among its business projects.
Of course, this kind of exchange is not free. Even if the Spanish silver coins of good quality are converted into official silver, a certain fee will be charged in proportion.The big boss behind Huifeng is Xu Xinsu. With his influence in Fujian, to turn these Spanish silver coins recovered by the bank into official silver is nothing more than building a casting workshop, and the operating cost is extremely low.
Xu Yuxing believes that silver coins may be a breakthrough in the investigation work, and as the operator of the Huifeng account, Shopkeeper Qin will naturally have a better understanding of the circulation of silver coins on the market.
Shopkeeper Qin knew it when he heard Xiange, and immediately responded, "Do you want to judge from this whether there are still merchants doing business with the Spaniards?"
"Brother Qin's expectations are good. My younger brother is currently investigating a case related to the Spaniards. The person involved is most likely a Fujian businessman who does business with the Spanish. I hope that Brother Qin can help my younger brother and provide some valuable clues." Seeing that the other party immediately guessed his intentions, Xu Yuxing admitted it frankly.
Shopkeeper Qin did not immediately respond positively, but said to him: "Although Mr. Xu banned the trade with the Spaniards last year, he did not ban the circulation of Spanish silver coins in the market. You know that from the Wanli period to this time, there are several Hundreds of thousands of Spanish silver coins flowed into Daming, and at least half of them were in Fujian. There are far more silver coins in circulation than you think, and there are always merchants who exchange silver coins for official silver. If only It was the act of going to the Huifeng to exchange the official bank, but it is actually difficult to determine that it is the result of trading with the Spaniards."
Xu Yuxing said: "Brother Qin's words are indeed reasonable, but maybe we can filter out some special objects, for example, the time interval for each exchange has a certain regularity, the amount of each exchange is particularly large, and the The industry I’m engaged in happens to be maritime trade.”
(End of this chapter)
Zhangzhou is Xu Xinsu's hometown, and it is also the starting point of his fortune. Since he was supported by Haihan, Zhangzhou's status has also risen, and it has gradually become the political, economic and cultural center of the entire coastal area of Fujian.The tradition of one person attaining enlightenment and ascending to heaven is also vividly displayed in Zhangzhou. Under the protection of Xu Xinsu, members of the Xu family poured into the shopping malls and officialdoms. In the past ten years, there have been many people who have been promoted and made a fortune. They have gradually become the number one rich family in Fujian. .
The industries directly or indirectly controlled by members of the Xu family have spread all over Fujian, and there are many projects that have obtained huge profits through monopoly operations. The trade channel under the name of the Xu family entered Fujian, and one can imagine the richness of the oil and water.
Controlling the most profitable part of the business in all walks of life like this is the method that the Xu family currently uses the most.It is not uncommon in the officialdom to use the privileges in your hands to make money. Many officials with real power will have unexplainable gray income.However, it is still very rare in Daming that the Xu family can control a province like this.
But even Xu Xinsu himself probably doesn't fully understand how many industries in Fujian are under the control of the Xu family and how many people are working for the Xu family.Therefore, when the Haihan people came to the door and asked for assistance in investigating the local merchants in Fujian that had trade relations with the Spanish, Xu Xinsu did not dare to immediately declare that this matter had absolutely nothing to do with his family business, but asked Xu Yuxing to conduct internal investigations to avoid risks. , lest the Haihan people take advantage of it.
This job is simple and simple. After all, Fujian has such a large circle of businessmen engaged in cross-border trade. If we further narrow down the scope according to their trading partners, and then make a list of suspicious persons to investigate one by one, we will be able to find what the Haihan people want. tracked target.But it is complicated and complicated. Most of these profitable transactions have various backers, and they may even be one of Xu Yuxing's uncles and brothers.Businessmen are all about profit. If Xu Yuxing wants to check their business, these people may not be willing to cooperate.
This is one of the reasons why the Haihan people do not want to investigate themselves, but ask Xu Xinsu to provide assistance in the investigation.If the Haihan people were to investigate this matter, the resistance they would encounter would only be greater, and it would easily arouse dissatisfaction among the people, far less effective than Xu Xinsu's speaking out.
Although this job is not so easy to handle, Xu Yuxing has already been ordered by Xu Xinsu, and he has no room to shirk, even if he knows that he will offend others, he can only bite the bullet and do it.But after all, Xu Xinsu has the bottom line on this matter, so there won't be any big troubles.
As the spy chief, Xu Yuxing usually has all kinds of information, and soon made specific arrangements for how to investigate this matter.
"Go and invite shopkeeper Liang from Fumao Commercial Bank, shopkeeper Qin from Huifeng, and shopkeeper Luo from Four Seas Shipping to come back, and tell me that I have something to ask." Xu Yuxing returned to his place and immediately gave the order.
There is a reason for him to start the investigation so eagerly. The Haihan people have already stated that they will follow up on this matter, so he has to complete the investigation of his own property before the Haihan people intervene to avoid risks.The companies he named are all self-owned industries under the name of Xu Xinsu, and they have trade channels in the direction of the South China Sea. These shopkeepers should also know the sales of products in the South China Sea on the market. It will save a lot of time to ask them for relevant information. .
In addition to the basic trading functions, the commercial organizations under Xu Xinsu's name have also gradually followed Haihan's model in recent years, letting the overseas personnel of these organizations take on the task of collecting intelligence information, and even Xu Yuxing's intelligence agency Send people to complete these tasks as commercial staff.So maybe outsiders don't know the real identity of Young Master Xu, but these shopkeepers more or less know that Xu Yuxing is not a hermit who devotes himself to cultivating Taoism, but a secret intelligence officer with special power in his hands.
The first person to report was the treasurer Luo of the Four Seas Shipping Company.In fact, the location of the Four Seas Shipping Co., Ltd. is on the bank of the Jiulong River outside Zhangzhou City, and it is also the farthest place among the three people who have been notified. Street, so he was the first to rush over when he was notified.
The Four Seas Shipping Company owns hundreds of large and small merchant ships and cargo ships, and it is considered a large shipping company in the whole of Fujian. Its trading scope is even larger than that controlled by Haihan, and the Philippine Islands are naturally among them.And the shopkeeper Luo who is in charge of the Four Seas Shipping Co., Ltd. is not an outsider. He joined the Xu family in the early years, and now he can be regarded as half of the Xu family.It's just that Xu Xinsu and Xu Xinsu are only distant relatives, so shopkeeper Luo can only regard himself as a subordinate in front of Xu Xinsu, and does not dare to show off his relationship.
Xu Yuxing didn't tell the other party the specific things he wanted to investigate, but only asked him whether the Four Seas Shipping Company had business dealings with the Spaniards in the Philippine Islands recently.
"Third young master, what are you singing about? The trading between the ship company and the Spaniards stopped at the end of the year before last. It has been more than a year! At that time, the master personally ordered that our merchant ships were not allowed to go to Manila. Later, It took a few months to find out that there was a war there." Shopkeeper Luo quickly explained the situation to him: "Didn't the area in Manila belong to the Haihan people after the war? It is said that the Spaniards retreated further south. , we purchased native products from the local area, and changed to doing business with Haihan people. But speaking of doing business with these two, there are pros and cons, and it’s hard to tell the difference.”
"Oh? How do you say that?" Xu Yuxing was also very interested in information beyond his own knowledge, so he immediately asked shopkeeper Luo.
Shopkeeper Luo replied: "The Haihan people are quick in doing business, they are trustworthy, and it is convenient to settle money and goods; although the Spaniards are a bit difficult to deal with and like to delay the checkout, they buy our goods at a much higher price than the Haihan people. And The Haihan people have a well-developed shipping industry. They purchase goods from Fujian and ship them to Manila. The cost is much lower than what we ship and sell to them. Therefore, when our ships go to Manila, there are often not many things that can be sold locally. The income of trade routes is naturally much lower than before."
Xu Yuxing pondered for a while before continuing to ask: "Then do you know that other local businessmen are quietly continuing to do business with the Spaniards? Is there any way to avoid supervision?"
Shopkeeper Luo replied: "There should be people who secretly do business with Spaniards. After all, Spaniards can afford to pay... If the master hadn't set a rule not to continue doing business with Spaniards, then the villain would also want to go every time. Earn more money and come back! As for avoiding supervision, you only need to pack the things the Spaniards want to buy when you go, go to the Spaniards’ place to complete the transaction, and park in Manila for a few days on the return trip, and buy some things there. It's seamless. This method is simple and easy to do, and there must be others who can think of such an operation, but who is actually doing it... The villain does not know, after all, the person who does it will definitely not take the initiative to show off this kind of behavior. Criminal matters."
In order to cooperate with Haihan's material blockade against the Spanish colonial authorities, Xu Xinsu announced new rules to Fujian maritime merchants last year, that is, it is forbidden to trade with the Spaniards in the Philippine Islands.After this rule came out, it did effectively restrain the relevant trade, but it may not be able to achieve the effect of complete prohibition.And the plan mentioned by shopkeeper Luo can indeed effectively evade the supervision of the government and Haihan. There will definitely be businessmen who want to take advantage of the opportunity of the trade blockade to make a fortune and continue to maintain trade relations with the Spaniards.
After seeing off Shopkeeper Luo, the second person to arrive was Shopkeeper Qin from Huifeng.Huifenghao is actually a commercial institution whose main business is a bank, which can provide businesses such as gold and silver exchange and silver-money delivery for the private sector. It is also the main business partner of Haihan Bank in Zhangzhou.Haihan Bank has only one office in Zhangzhou, but Huifeng has multiple branches, and can deposit and redeem the checks issued by Haihan Bank, which is very convenient for local businessmen engaged in cross-border trade, which makes this Local banks have a relatively stable source of customers and business.
Although this shopkeeper Qin is not from the Xu family, he is the nephew of Dong Yanyun, Xu Xinsu's number one aide, and later married a woman from the Xu family, which can be regarded as a reliable in-law relationship. The shopkeeper Luo is much higher.A considerable part of the Xu family's cash property has been placed in Huifeng as working capital all the year round, which also shows that Xu Xinsu trusts him more.
In terms of age, shopkeeper Qin is a full round older than Xu Yuxing, but in terms of seniority, the two belong to the same generation, so
When they meet, they still call each other brothers, and they are much closer than shopkeeper Luo before.
"Brother Qin is invited to come here today. I want to know if any merchants have exchanged large sums of Spanish silver coins for official silver recently?" After sitting down to watch tea, Xu Yuxing asked the other party straight to the point.
In 1521, the Spanish colonists occupied the Mexican region of North America. In 1535, the "New Spain Governor's District" was established there, and in the same year, the first mint in the Americas was established to produce and mint silver coins.
.In the middle of the 16th century, the use of silver in Mexico accounted for one-third of the total silver consumption in the world, and a large number of silver coins were shipped to all parts of the world through maritime trade routes for trade payment.Until the independence of Mexico in the 19th century, the silver coins produced there were one of the currencies used by Spain in its overseas colonies.
Mexican silver coins marked with "M" on the coin face are also in circulation in East Asia. The Spanish colonial authorities have used them as the main means of payment since the last century, and the maritime merchants of Ming Dynasty are also very happy to accept this kind of craftsmanship and uniform quality. The standard silver coins, which are far better than the scattered silver coins of various colors and weights in the Ming Dynasty.
Since the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, a large amount of Spanish silver coins have continuously flowed into China through transnational trade.Historically, until the Qing court lost the first Opium War 200 years later and signed the "Treaty of Nanjing" with the British, the monetary unit of all compensation in the treaty was still the Spanish silver coin called the silver dollar. This shows that The influence of this currency is far-reaching.
Of course, due to the appearance of Haihan in this time and space, the popularization of Spanish silver coins in East Asia may not be as smooth as in the original history.Although Haihan's currency in circulation is paper money, there is enough gold behind it as a credit guarantee. In addition, Haihan has been using trade means to vigorously promote its own financial system, which has also led to the emergence of Spanish silver coins and Haihan banknotes in parts of the southeast coast Universal spectacle.
However, at this time, the people of the Ming Dynasty still had some scruples about using Spanish silver coins, and they had not directly become currency in the market as in the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, after the Spanish silver coins collected by maritime merchants from trade were brought back to China, they often needed to be transferred through some private channels. It is converted into official bank, so that it is convenient to use in some formal channels.As a bank, Huifenghao has such a business of exchanging Spanish silver coins for official silver among its business projects.
Of course, this kind of exchange is not free. Even if the Spanish silver coins of good quality are converted into official silver, a certain fee will be charged in proportion.The big boss behind Huifeng is Xu Xinsu. With his influence in Fujian, to turn these Spanish silver coins recovered by the bank into official silver is nothing more than building a casting workshop, and the operating cost is extremely low.
Xu Yuxing believes that silver coins may be a breakthrough in the investigation work, and as the operator of the Huifeng account, Shopkeeper Qin will naturally have a better understanding of the circulation of silver coins on the market.
Shopkeeper Qin knew it when he heard Xiange, and immediately responded, "Do you want to judge from this whether there are still merchants doing business with the Spaniards?"
"Brother Qin's expectations are good. My younger brother is currently investigating a case related to the Spaniards. The person involved is most likely a Fujian businessman who does business with the Spanish. I hope that Brother Qin can help my younger brother and provide some valuable clues." Seeing that the other party immediately guessed his intentions, Xu Yuxing admitted it frankly.
Shopkeeper Qin did not immediately respond positively, but said to him: "Although Mr. Xu banned the trade with the Spaniards last year, he did not ban the circulation of Spanish silver coins in the market. You know that from the Wanli period to this time, there are several Hundreds of thousands of Spanish silver coins flowed into Daming, and at least half of them were in Fujian. There are far more silver coins in circulation than you think, and there are always merchants who exchange silver coins for official silver. If only It was the act of going to the Huifeng to exchange the official bank, but it is actually difficult to determine that it is the result of trading with the Spaniards."
Xu Yuxing said: "Brother Qin's words are indeed reasonable, but maybe we can filter out some special objects, for example, the time interval for each exchange has a certain regularity, the amount of each exchange is particularly large, and the The industry I’m engaged in happens to be maritime trade.”
(End of this chapter)