Chapter 263: The Way is Higher than the Marquis of Changning
No matter how reluctant they were, the escort agency had to be taken over by the imperial court and the surname of the emperor was changed to Meng.
Meng Fuguang is a smart man.
He knew clearly what was more important, so after a heart-to-heart talk with Lei Li and Zhou Yi, he nodded and gave up the escort agency after a brief struggle.
It was also because it was Lei Li who came. If it were anyone else, Meng Fuguang, who felt deeply stabbed by the emperor, would not give up the piece of meat of logistics so easily and willingly.
"It was you and Zhou Yi who proposed to establish the escort agency. It was you who helped the second brat develop it to its current size and reach the whole world."
"You should have a share of this escort agency, but you claimed that you only provided the idea and didn't contribute any effort or money, so you didn't ask for any share. It's fate that it's now in your hands."
Meng Fuguang sighed, and looked at Lei Li and Zhou Yi with his old but sharp eyes, more of a sense of relief.
"I'm at ease leaving the escort agency in your hands. But the escort agency isn't just for our Meng family; I'm afraid the other major shareholders won't be so easy to talk to."
The Dayou Dynasty did business through investment partnerships, but there was no clear definition of partners. The terms "shareholder" and "joint venture" were also proposed by Zhou Yi when he proposed that the Meng family attract local forces from various prefectures to join.
In the escort agency, the Zhongchuan Meng family is the largest shareholder, and the escort ship also uses the Meng family's trademark flag.
But in other prefectures, in addition to the Meng family's trademark, a logo of the local major shareholder will also be added, so that people can know at a glance which prefecture under the Meng family escort agency the escort ship belongs to, and at the same time publicize the shareholder who invested in it.
After years of entrenching themselves in power, these shareholders have become stubborn local tyrants. Even the imperial court cannot easily use force to force them to hand over their power.
If they were forced to rebel, it would be a big problem for the emperor.
——Although cutting off the source of the problem is a particularly good tactic, using the imperial force to confiscate property can not only disintegrate local forces and prevent them from growing stronger, but also confiscate their money and enrich the national treasury, but it is not conducive to uniting the people.
So this is the worst option.
And this trick also has great disadvantages.
That is, the government forces of all major cities need to act together, and it must be a surprise attack that the local government itself does not know about, so as to avoid the news leaking out and let the merchants be prepared and rebel in advance.
Peace is still the most important thing.
"I know."
Lei Li nodded slightly solemnly, his eyes subconsciously looking at Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi looked at him and reached out to hold his hand.
On their way here, they had anticipated that this journey would not be easy, so they customized multiple plans to attack from multiple aspects and weak points.
But they will not tell the Meng family about these plans.
Meng Luo has a good relationship with Lei Zhoufufu. Old Man Meng and Second Brother Meng can also see clearly that the court's control of logistics is unstoppable, so they began to gather their forces and restrain their bodyguards in the past few years.
While the Meng family kept a low profile, the shareholders and their bodyguards became more and more flamboyant, traveling in groups in the city. Sometimes even the constables from the government office would give them some ground.
If not for this, the emperor would not have taken back the power of the escort agency so quickly.
"Local officials like the prefect also invested in the escort agency. They have a lot of ulterior motives and have planted many spies in the agency."
Lei Li's peach blossom eyes held no trace of a smile, instead gleaming coldly. "These thorns cannot be left alone. Either remove them or recruit them to avoid further trouble. Those officials in Zhongchuan who deserve to be demoted will be demoted, and those who deserve to be promoted will be promoted. Those who disobey will be controlled by force. A few beatings and a few days in jail will bring them into line."
His family's Jiang just had their first child, Zhou Zhou has never been in a relationship, and his parents are old. It is a good time for them to be surrounded by children and grandchildren and enjoy family happiness. Since this concerns the lives of the whole family, he will not be merciful.
Lei Li today.
He is still the Lei Li who killed a wild boar and caught a snake on the way without batting an eye.
The emperor gave one hundred Kyoto guards, each of whom could fight ten enemies at once. They were the shield protecting the imperial envoy, Marquis Changning, and also the spear of Marquis Changning. Not only could they intimidate local officials and merchants, but their spears could also draw blood when necessary.
Lei Li is vigorous and decisive.
In the morning, he went to the Meng family and got the approval of Mr. Meng. In the afternoon, he held a banquet to entertain the other shareholders of Zhongchuan Escort Agency, including the prefect of Zhongchuan who was the fourth rank.
The Hongmen Banquet.
Although the prefect of Zhongchuan did not know this story, when he stepped into the private room of "A Sichuan Restaurant" in Zhongchuan and saw that all the people sitting inside were shareholders of the escort agency and the Meng family was not there, cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
"Thank you, sir. Please take a seat. We are waiting for you."
Changning Hou Lei Li had a gentle expression, and his upturned peach blossom eyes seemed to be smiling.
Next to him sat the tall and burly wife of the Marquis, Zhou Yi, who was slowly removing the fish bones from Lei Li. Her white porcelain chopsticks easily picked out the bones, long or short, and not a single one escaped her scrutiny.
Sitting outside the banquet table where everyone was seated, the nine-foot-tall, muscular Kyoto guard had an expressionless face and sharp eagle eyes, looking like a ferocious monster in a daze.
Twenty Kyoto guards.
Just by moving his fingers, he can break the necks of the prefect and all the shareholders present.
The prefect Zhongchuan sat there on pins and needles, with both legs shaking. Some of the shareholders seemed to be happy as if they didn't see those Jingweis, some were sweating profusely but didn't dare to wipe it off, and some were stern and looked straight at the Marquis of Changning with their necks stiff.
"Everyone is here, let's eat."
Marquis of Changning Lei Li was all smiles, as gentle as if this was an ordinary banquet, and he didn't mention anything about the escort agency.
Zhou Yi calmly helped him remove fish bones, peel shrimps, dip them in sauce, and serve soup, as if she were a virtuous lady from a marquisate.
"Let's be frank. Your Majesty, why did you suddenly invite us all here with such fanfare? Don't even think you really came here for a meal."
The man with a stern face could no longer sit still and spoke in a cold voice. As soon as he uttered his first word, the expressionless Kyoto guards suddenly fixed their gazes on him in unison, and there was a faint sound of long swords being unsheathed.
"I've just arrived and I'm unfamiliar with the place, so naturally I'd like to invite you all to meet me. That's one reason; and secondly..."
Lei Li chuckled lightly, and before he could say anything, someone came forward and placed the deeds in front of each shareholder, along with the writing brush, ink, and red clay for stamping.
"I simply ask Sir Xie and the others to sign this contract and affix their seals. Oh, and by the way, I advise you not to engage in pointless resistance. Of my one hundred Jingwei... eighty of them are not here."
As soon as these words were spoken, all the shareholders were shocked.
Some people slammed the table and stood up in anger, some broke out in a sweat and hurried to negotiate peace, and some were indignant but after just a few seconds, they sat down helplessly.
A sharp white sword was placed across their necks, and their families were held by the Jingwei of Marquis Changning. They could die themselves, but they could not gamble with the lives of their families.
"Sign it."
Lei Li asked with a smile.
He didn't give them the chance to strike out, but instead used his overwhelming force to force these local tyrants to submit and not dare to make any waves.
Black words and red handprints on white paper.
Lei Li put away the deeds for transferring the company's shares, and his smile became more sincere. "Don't worry, the court is merciful and lenient. Not only will we spare you all from imprisonment, but we will also treat you and your families with preferential treatment."
These merchants, including the prefect Zhongchuan, did not believe the preferential treatment he mentioned, but the phrase "spared from imprisonment" made them indignant, fearful, and relieved, and also gave rise to a bit of sadness about the people's difficulties and struggles with the prisoners.
A higher-ranking official can crush a person to death...
Governor Nakagawa had a sad face and thought that his official career might be over.
—
After Lei Li placed the shareholders under what was essentially house arrest and forced them to sign the contract, he did not let them go directly. Instead, he and Zhou Yi left first.
He took the deeds to the Zhongchuan Escort Agency and dismissed all the senior management in the agency - the managers and supervisors, and temporarily replaced them with the civil officials he brought with him. He took control of the entire agency in a lightning speed.
The shopkeepers and managers who lost their jobs were all confused when they handed over their work, and the escorts in the escort agency were even more confused. In the blink of an eye, their superiors and immediate superiors were all replaced.
——They didn’t know yet that the boss of the escort agency had also changed, from a wealthy merchant in Zhongchuan to the Marquis of Changning, or the current emperor.
"I need to check the accounts for the past five years. All the escort leaders in these years, whether they are still in office or have left, must be recorded for me one by one."
The civil officials brought by Lei Li were carefully selected by him and pried from the Ministry of Revenue. They were all proficient in arithmetic, especially accounting.
Among them, many were educated at Wanjia School or studied at Sifang School.
Knowing that it was Zhou Yi who proposed the establishment of these two types of schools, which benefited countless people, and was also the author of enlightenment books for children such as "Knowing Characters" and "Knowing Things", which made education more concise, everyone admired him very much.
"After controlling the top and middle levels, the next step is to control the escorts below."
Lei Li pondered.
His actions were particularly simple and brutal, and there was no need to say much when recruiting those bodyguards.
Simply announcing that the escort agency would be under the control of the imperial court, reorganizing the escort agency system, incorporating the escort leader into the organization and holding an open election for the escort leader would be enough to attract the attention of the original shareholders and escort masters.
Nowadays, almost no one doesn't want to be an official. Being an official means having a stable job and a stable income, and it also looks very impressive when people talk about it.
Those who can become escort leaders usually have connections above them. Behind them are either shareholders and businessmen, or officials in the government office such as the prefect.
The relationships are complicated.
They are all based on interests.
Originally, they just wanted to work together, stir up trouble openly or covertly, so that Lei Li would have power but no one to work for him, and become a commander without troops.
Unfortunately, Lei Lidao is one step ahead.
"The escort leader is a minor official, equivalent to the chief constable in the government office, while the chief escort leader is a ninth-rank official, a legitimate official appointed by the imperial court."
Lei Li smiled and said to the merchants, "The development of the escort agency to this point is due to all of you. We will continue to rely on you in the future. Therefore, you can nominate an escort to compete for the position of escort leader. As for who will win in the end, it all depends on the skills of each escort."
Those merchants all knew that this was a means to divide them, but they had no choice but to fight.
The escort agency belongs to the imperial court, but those ships, those goods, and those channels are still their own. Having their own escort leader is two different things.
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