"Boss Cao, I'm afraid you've misunderstood. My Li Family is no longer a merchant's family. There are a few shops in my family that are managed by the servants. This Duke and my family are not directly involved. As for what Boss Cao said about improving the status of merchants and changing the impression of merchants in everyone's eyes, this Duke can't take on such an important and sacred task! Boss Cao, you'd better find someone else! "
In the Li Residence's hall.
Li Zexuan lowered his head and pondered for a long time before shaking his head and refusing.
This Cao Wendong only paid a few thousand strings of coins and wanted him, Li Zexuan, to lead this group of merchants in a "revolution". It was really a bit whimsical. To be honest, Li Zexuan sympathized with the unfair treatment of the merchants, but it was only sympathy. He wasn't willing to be the leader of the merchants and cause trouble.
First, it wasn't worth it. If he wanted to break the thousand-year-old class system of scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants, he would have to pay too much of a price. Moreover, it wouldn't benefit him at all. He was now in the "scholar" class and could be considered to be the beneficiary of this class system. How could he be hot-blooded enough to stand up for the merchants just because of Cao Wendong's words? He wasn't an impulsive and brainless brat.
Second, his current focus wasn't on this. His most important task right now was to do well in his Yanhuang College. He wasn't interested in these irrelevant things at all. So, why would he do something that didn't benefit him and wasn't interested in?
He couldn't be obedient just because Cao Wendong had "helped him a few times" before, right? It was impossible!
Cao Wendong's arms suddenly trembled when he heard this, and his expression quickly turned gloomy. He smiled bitterly as he cupped his hands towards Li Zexuan and said, "It seems this Cao has been rude. I hope Lord Jue can forgive me. This Cao will take his leave now!"
"Wait!"
Li Zexuan stretched out his hand.
"Although this noble cannot personally establish a chamber of commerce, this matter of cooperation is still possible. Boss Cao, if you have any feasible plans for cooperation, feel free to go to the workshop and discuss them with Faubert and Ma Zhou. In addition, this noble has no prejudice against merchants. On the contrary, this noble believes that if the Great Tang wants to progress and the people of the realm want to live a happier life, they cannot do without merchants. I think Mr. Cao is a man with his own ideas. Although I can't personally participate in the Chamber of Commerce you mentioned, I'm still very willing to give you some support within my ability ~! "
These words came from the bottom of Li Zexuan's heart.
Historically, Chinese people had the most rigid view of merchants in the world. The low status of merchants was the result of thousands of years of stigmatization.
Why did they stigmatize businessmen?
Perhaps many people would think of the "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce" policy of the past dynasties, but first of all, they had to understand that "suppressing commerce" referred to the merchants of the people, not the official merchants. Under the high-sounding excuses, they actually had the heart to monopolize the market.
Therefore, "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce" was an extremely hypocritical proposition. Just like the modern "purifying the Internet environment and establishing a new style of civilization," it was a propaganda slogan of the people in power who were awe-inspiring righteousness while the people involved were cursing. If, a thousand years later, there was a joker who interpreted it literally and believed that the "Net Cleansing Campaign" protected the physical and mental health of the people, one would probably laugh their heads off.
Unfortunately, history was not written by merchants. In order to maintain their market advantage and prevent the disclosure of trade secrets, merchants were unwilling to write books and spread their ideas and experiences. This gave the people in power a propaganda advantage. They could stand on the moral high ground and wantonly distort the role of merchants to gain an advantage in public opinion by tarnishing the reputation of the other party. As a result, for many years, most people actually believed it to be true.
But in fact, the role of merchants in promoting social progress was unquestionable. The greatness of merchants could not be overemphasized. The so-called "merchants do not create value" was the biggest prejudice. Merchants created value, but labor did not.
Merchants were the first driving force of social progress. Merchants brought vitality to society and promoted freedom, fairness, and democracy. Merchants invented and maintained the business system and logistics network, promoting the exchange and spread of ideas, people, and culture. For example, in the late Xia Dynasty, it was West Asian merchants who introduced wheat, bronze, and mathematics to China.
The glorious achievements of human civilization, such as science, technology, law, and art, were all byproducts of the business system. History was political and incomplete. Only by looking at history from the business perspective could history be restored to its original form.
Therefore, from the perspective of social progress, Li Zexuan was very willing to see the status of merchants rise a little and the business of Tang become more prosperous. But if he was asked to be the vanguard of a "revolution," then forget it ~! You could say that he was cold-blooded and heartless, but he had people he needed to protect. He would not take risks for something that was not related to him.
"That's great! In that case, I thank Lord Jue for your help and guidance! "
Cao Wendong expressed his gratitude excitedly.
Although this result was still a little far from his ideal, it was still better than nothing. At least he had something to look forward to!
"Hehe ~! Take care, Boss Cao ~! "
.....
"Father, husband, try this fried chicken meatball and see how it tastes?"
Noon.
The family gathered around the table and ate their lunch warmly. However, the dishes on the table today were obviously different from before. Li Zexuan could smell it with one sniff. It was definitely not made by the kitchen maid at home, Auntie Zhao, nor did it seem like it was made by his mother.
"That's right ~! Old Master, Xuan Er, today's lunch was all prepared by Yuxi alone. She put in a lot of effort ~! "
Mrs. Li narrowed her eyes and looked at her daughter-in-law with a smile.
"Hmm ~? Don't we have a kitchen maid at home? Yuxi, why did you cook the dishes yourself? "
Old Master Li frowned and asked. He thought that the servants did not do a good job!
"Father, I just wanted to do my best. It has nothing to do with Auntie Zhao. Father, quickly try it. Is it delicious? Husband, you should try it as well. There are several dishes here that this concubine made based on the chicken, braised pork, and meatballs that you ate before. Husband, see if they are to your liking! "
Han Yuxi smiled sweetly as she picked up some food for Li Zexuan and said.
Li Zexuan looked at the golden and tender chicken meatballs that were the size of pigeon eggs and had two or three green onions on the outside. He was a little surprised. Wasn't this similar to the salted crispy chicken that was eaten in the modern world? And it was a high-quality version of salted crispy chicken!
If Han Yuxi had not said that she imitated the dishes that he had invented previously, Li Zexuan would definitely have thought that his wife had also transmigrated.
Damn it, his wife's learning ability was heaven-defying! She could even comprehend by analogy based on existing dishes. She was really a genius!
"Just looking at the appearance of these dishes is very appetizing. Hmm, let me try it!"
Li Zexuan smiled, then picked up a piece of meat and put it into his mouth. Instantly, his mouth was filled with fragrance. He gave a thumbs up and said, "Hmm, hmm ~! Delicious! It's really too delicious! Wife, it's lucky that I married you. Otherwise, our family's Drunken Immortal Restaurant would definitely be losing money now! "
…
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.
