The young man's name was Feng Jing. His father was Feng Shi. Although he was from Yizhou, he was also a tea merchant in Tengzhou.
Tengzhou is Teng County, Guangxi in later generations. Because the quality of tea in Yunnan and Guangxi is good, there were many businessmen engaged in this industry in Guangxi at that time.
Feng Shi was dragged here today by a friend, but he ran away in a hurry halfway through listening. This matter has nothing to do with him.
The imperial court had not yet opened the Jiaozi office in Guangnan West Road, so he couldn't help even if he wanted to. Moreover, after knowing the whole story, he had already made up his mind not to participate.
After leaving Fanlou and returning to the inn where the Feng family father and son were staying, Feng Jing was still sulking. Seeing his expression, Feng Shi went to make tea for himself and said, "Jing'er, you are indeed smart, but sometimes you must not show off too much. This is my father's advice based on decades of experience in business, and it won't harm you."
Feng Jing couldn't help but say, "But father, we are also tea merchants. What the court is doing is really disadvantageous to us. We are not a wealthy family. If the income from the border is cut off, half of our family income will be lost. Aren't you worried at all?"
"I'm worried, but what's the point? Over the years, I've seen what happened to many merchants who defied the government. Some lost everything, while others committed suicide by jumping into the river. Who can stand up to the imperial court?"
Feng Shi raised his teacup. The freshly brewed tea was still a little hot. He blew on it and said, "So, as businessmen, we can be greedy, but we must never forget our lives for the sake of money."
"Well, father is very wise, and I am ashamed of myself."
Feng Jing replied lazily.
Feng Shi looked up at his son and said with a smile, "Alright, I know you're not convinced. You'll understand this later. Anyway, what's your plan? Are you still trying to instigate them to rebel against the imperial court?"
Hearing this, Feng Jing perked up and said with a smile, "Those tea merchants in Bianliang are calling on the tea merchants from Chengdu simply because they have all their money deposited in the Chengdu Jiaozi office. Now that both Bianliang and Chengdu accept Jiaozi, many Chengdu tea merchants already have Jiaozi with them. They want to pool their money and use the Chengdu Jiaozi to exchange for Bianliang currency."
"Um."
Feng Shi nodded.
The use of Jiaozi in Chengdu has become very mature. Compared with the more conservative Bianliang merchants, Chengdu merchants are very clear about the benefits of Jiaozi.
So when the imperial court opened the Jiaozi office in Bianliang this time, the news quickly spread to Chengdu. Many merchants who happened to be going to Bianliang to do business were very happy when they learned about this, and they deposited a large amount of money into the Jiaozi office in Chengdu.
With Jiaozi, they could reduce the space occupied by copper coins in the cabin, and also reduce the expenses on board such as guards and porters. Therefore, Chengdu merchants flocked to them.
This time, the imperial court was able to obtain nearly two million strings of cash in deposits at once, with Chengdu merchants alone contributing more than one million.
But this money has not yet been transported to Bianliang.
After all, Chengdu merchants went out to do business with only a small amount of Jiaozi, and it would take more than 20 days by boat to reach Bianliang. However, the Chengdu Jiaozi Office had a total of more than 2 million strings of money on deposit, which weighed more than 13 million kilograms. How could it be transported in such a short time?
Therefore, the deposits of Jiaozi Bureau in Bianliang are still more than 500,000 strings of cash, and the imperial court is still purchasing grain and grass in the market. I believe that the deposits of Jiaozi Bureau in Bianliang are not much.
If tea merchants were to run a large number of withdrawals at this time, it would be possible that the imperial court would be embarrassed and put in a difficult situation.
This is Zhou Yunsheng and his team’s plan.
However, Feng Jing said, "Mr. Zhou and Mr. Wang's idea is good, but they only focus on a small number of Chengdu tea merchants. A run on the bank of just 200,000 or 300,000 guan is not enough to cause any major problems for the court. Unless they can gather all the merchants who exchange Jiaozi in Chengdu, they will not be able to succeed."
"Um."
Feng Shi took a sip of tea, smiled at his beloved son, and said approvingly, "Yes, I think so too. Although Chengdu has deposited a lot of money due to the newly opened Jiaozi business in Bianliang, the Chengdu tea merchants are still too small. The rest of the merchants, such as salt merchants, cloth merchants, grain merchants, spice merchants, and timber merchants, together account for the majority of the money. At most, they can only raise 300,000 strings of cash, which is already the limit."
Feng Jing said, "So, I think if we all continue to raise funds, gather all the tea merchants in Bianliang who are resisting the cash payment system, and deposit half of our money into the Bianliang Jiaozi Bureau, we can use the other half to buy grain and rice on the market and drive up the price. With this two-pronged approach, I think we can force the court to comply."
Feng Shigang was still leisurely drinking tea, but when he heard his words, his face froze. After thinking for a moment, he raised his head and looked at his smug son in shock.
This move is so cruel!
It can be said to be cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron!
It seems like I gave birth to a monster.
If this plan was adopted by Zhou Yunsheng and others, it would cause a huge commotion.
Fortunately, I stopped him at that time. If he had said it at the meeting, once the court found out, I'm afraid...
Thinking of this, Feng Shi looked his son up and down carefully, and seemed to feel that he was a little strange.
For the first time, he realized that his son was actually smarter than he had imagined.
After a brief thought, Feng Shi put the teacup down heavily on the table with a thud and scolded, "How foolish!"
Feng Jing asked in confusion, "Father, what's wrong?"
"You're still too young. You overestimate the tea merchants of the world. Do you really think they're as united as you think?"
Feng Shi pointed outside and said, "As you said, if they obeyed, the imperial court's money law would definitely not be implemented. But you underestimated the people's hearts and the imperial court's determination. Even if it succeeded, what would it matter? Do you know how the imperial court dealt with those rebels?"
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