"Haha! Boss Cao, you don't have to be so courteous! "
Li Zexuan helped him up and smiled politely. Then he said, "Boss Cao, you threw two thousand strings of cash to support the new carriage of the Strange Taste Pavilion. The day before yesterday, you threw a thousand strings of cash to send over a hundred pots of Luoyang red at my wedding banquet. I have yet to thank Boss Cao for his righteous actions. How can I blame you for anything? "
Cao Wendong was relieved when he heard that. The money he spent earlier wasn't wasted. With a good start to the conversation, it would be much easier to negotiate the rest.
"Lord Jue, please don't flatter me. It's only a few thousand strings of coins. To Lord Jue, it's probably just a drop in the ocean. Moreover, I really like the new carriage from Strange Interest Pavilion. That's why I didn't hesitate to raise the price to buy it. Thus, I really don't deserve Lord Jue's thanks.
Cao Wendong cupped his hands and spoke politely to Li Zexuan. Scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen all had a strict hierarchy. He had no choice but to be polite.
Earlier at Strange Taste Pavilion, he did intend to "help" Li Zexuan with his new carriage. However, this kind of thing could be done but could not be said. Otherwise, the effect of the "gift" would be greatly reduced. It might even have the opposite effect!
Cao Wendong, who had been at the bottom of society for so many years, was very familiar with the ways of officialdom.
As expected, a faint smile appeared on Li Zexuan's face. Previously, he had retreated in order to advance. He had indeed intended to test Cao Wendong.
Whether it was the Strange Taste Pavilion raising the price of the new carriage or the extravagant gift of a thousand strings of peonies at the wedding, it was all voluntary by Cao Wendong. It wasn't Li Zexuan who forced it. If Cao Wendong wanted to "repay the kindness" because of this, Li Zexuan could only flick his sleeves and send him off!
He didn't want to be friends with such a scheming person.
Fortunately, Cao Wendong's response satisfied Li Zexuan. He knew when to advance and when to retreat. He was sensible and knew how to adapt to circumstances. He was a hero!
"Haha! Boss Cao, you really are a broad-minded person! However, no matter what, Boss Cao did put in a lot of effort during my wedding, so I'm very grateful. I just don't know why Boss Cao is here today. "
After probing a little, Li Zexuan felt that Cao Wendong's character was not bad, so he did not beat around the bush and said directly.
"Ugh ~!"
Cao Wendong was stunned for a moment. The speed at which Li Zexuan cut to the chase was much faster than the officials he had interacted with in the past. This was somewhat different from the general "reserved and tactful" style of conversation in the current officialdom!
"Lord Jue, to tell you the truth, I'm only here for one thing. I'm hoping that Lord Jue can come forward and form a Chamber of Commerce. The members of the Chamber of Commerce can prioritize cooperation with each other. I've always wanted to cooperate with Lord Jue regarding the Scooter, Drunken Immortal, Gentle Softness, Datang Daily, and all the books from Strange Culture. However, I have no way to do so and can only wait at home."
Since Li Zexuan did not beat around the bush, Cao Wendong decided not to dawdle and went straight to the point.
Li Zexuan raised his eyebrows in surprise. He could understand why Cao Wendong wanted to cooperate with him. After all, the businesses under him were all monopolies. Many people wanted to come in and take a share of the profits, but not everyone was qualified to enter. What surprised him was that Cao Wendong actually wanted him to form a Chamber of Commerce. Was this guy trying to cause trouble?
"Boss Cao, why do you want to form a Chamber of Commerce?"
Cao Wendong struggled for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "I've had several business dealings with your father, Master Li, but I didn't expect that the Li family would have such a young hero like Lord Jue. In just a few months, he became the founding father of the Tang Dynasty and took up an important position in the Imperial College. He broke the iron law that has always been in our dynasty that 'merchants and their children can't enter the imperial court as officials'!"
"I and the other merchants all admire you and think that Lord Jue is the hope of us merchants. Therefore, I'd like to be bold and ask Lord Jue to lead us merchants to do something big to eliminate the prejudice of the imperial court and the people of the world against merchants!"
After Cao Wendong finished speaking, he cupped his hands and bowed deeply to Li Zexuan. He kept his upper body bent at a ninety-degree angle and didn't get up.
Li Zexuan was speechless. Logically speaking, this was the first time he heard that merchants in the Tang Dynasty couldn't be officials. He had heard that the status of merchants in ancient times was low, but he didn't expect it to be low to this extent. They were being ostracized by all the classes in the world!
According to historical records, the four classes of scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants were divided according to the Spring and Autumn Period by the Prime Minister of the State of Qi, Guan Zhong. He advocated that the people be divided into four classes: scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants. They would live in fixed areas according to their respective professions. This was called the "Four Classes of Occupations". This kind of specialized commodity economy model was respected as the basic form and guiding principle since the Han Dynasty.
On the surface, the "Four Classes of Occupations" seemed to be an inheritance of the ancient system of the Zhou Dynasty. In fact, there was a big difference. The fundamental difference was that the "industrial and commercial" and "farmers" were placed side by side, and they were all regarded as the "stone people of the country". Therefore, when Guan Zhong first divided the classes of scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants, there was no distinction between superior and inferior.
The ancient people of China didn't seem to take commerce lightly. The people of Shang Clan who established the Shang Dynasty after the Xia Dynasty were actually the earliest merchants. This is also the root of why we call them merchants. During the Yinshang Dynasty, people were happy and good at doing business and engaged in handicraft manufacturing.
Later, when the founders of the Zhou Dynasty reflected on the lesson of the fall of the Shang Dynasty, they believed that the fall of the Yinshang Dynasty was due to the people's enthusiasm for industry and commerce. This caused the people's impetuousness and the country's foundation to be unstable. Therefore, they turned to the agricultural policy of despising industry and commerce. In the Zhou Dynasty, the status of industry and commerce became very low. "Workers" were often placed side by side with the status of slaves (male and female slaves).
In the later dynasties, as the rulers continued to suppress merchants, the status of merchants became lower and lower.
During the Qin Dynasty, even if merchants were rich, they couldn't wear silk clothes. During the Han Dynasty, merchants couldn't be officials, and handicraftsmen were "untouchables". Their property had to be declared to the imperial court. If the declaration wasn't true, their property would be confiscated. During the Tang Dynasty, merchants couldn't enter the imperial court as officials. It wasn't until the Ming and Qing Dynasties that the status of merchants changed. From rich merchants without an official career path to rich merchants with an official career path. China's merchants had successfully turned the tables.
Therefore, for Li Zexuan to be able to obtain an official position as the son of a merchant, it could be considered an unprecedented stroke of luck. The main reason was that he had made enough contributions. Moreover, Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin had always treated him as a junior and had constantly promoted that reward. In addition, he was the last disciple of the present age expert, Spiritual Master Spiritual Master. This identity had almost completely washed away his identity as a merchant and added a lot of points to Li Er's impression. Therefore, he was able to obtain his current status as a baron.
It could be said that his success couldn't be replicated by the thousands of merchants in the Tang Dynasty. Even if Cao Wendong was envious, he couldn't do anything ~!
.....
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
