In the city of Tongzhou, Yan Mingtai was sitting in front of his office reading the newspaper. The Revolutionary Army had published several newspapers recently and began to distinguish different functions. The political mouthpiece was the Revolutionary Times. The local news was the Tianjin Daily. In addition, there was the educational and entertainment Miscellaneous Talk Newspaper.
Eunuch Ma's Ming court column was not suitable to be placed in the Revolutionary Times, so it was moved to Miscellaneous Talk Newspaper. Because the affairs of the Daming court were widely liked by people from all walks of life, Miscellaneous Talk Newspaper invited many Ming court officials to write articles. The invitation letters were even sent to the capital, including Xiong Tingbi. They said they wanted to interview the Daming army commander.
Governor Xiong was dismissive and even scolded them loudly.
Yan Mingtai was there at that time. He saw that there was a lot of ink and was tempted to write a draft of Xiong Tingbi's scolding of the Revolutionary Army and anonymously sent it to Miscellaneous Talk Newspaper. He sent the draft with the intention of teasing and testing the rebels. He didn't expect that Miscellaneous Talk Newspaper would publish his article with the signature "According to a well-informed source."
Damn!
These rebels were really broad-minded. They even published articles that scolded them without any mistakes. They were not pretentious at all. The key was that at the end of the article, there was a sentence that said, "We welcome contributions from all walks of life in the Ming court. Those who don't want to be named can set up a confidential account at the Chinese bank and withdraw money with a pen name and password. "
Hiss … Yan Mingtai immediately saw a golden road to making money.
The Miscellany newspaper had just published an interview article with Ma Keshi. Ma Keshi was no longer the head of the Tianjin Police Department, but an expert on the Great Ming Dynasty and a gold medal columnist. He had a lot of say in the Ming court. The key was that he had received two to three thousand taels of writing fees since he started his column.
This money was not worth mentioning for Eunuch Ma's previous status in the East Faction Guards. But this money came from a legitimate source and was beyond reproach. More importantly, it served as a good example. A large number of Ming court officials were still very interested in the thousand taels of silver. They found that some of the things they knew could be exchanged for money in the newspaper. Among them was Lord Yan.
Yan Mingtai was Xiong Tingbi's assistant. He came from the Ministry of Revenue and was in charge of the money and provisions of the Tongzhou army. This kind of fat job should have been very lucrative. But Xiong Tingbi's face was dark. He didn't want to make money, and he didn't want his subordinates to make money. Yan Mingtai was timid and didn't dare to reach out.
The Revolutionary Army's Miscellany Newspaper gave Yan Mingtai a new way of thinking. After the success of an article, he wrote several articles about Xiong Tingbi's private remarks and sent them over. Some of these articles were published, while others disappeared. He secretly sent a servant to Tianjin and used his own pen name to confirm with the newspaper and the bank that there really was a sum of money in the account.
It was just that the money wasn't much. He only earned a few dozen taels after publishing a few articles. This was already a high price because most of the articles were related to Xiong Tingbi, but for Yan Mingtai, this amount of money was not enough to make him rich quickly. The servant replied, "Master, the newspaper editor thinks that your articles are either not exciting enough or too exaggerated. They need a big piece of information that can reveal the inside story. "
Big news? Like Eunuch Ma who kept exposing the shortcomings of the Ming court?
Lord Yan knew that he couldn't do it.
Eunuch Ma was from the East Faction Guards and had a lot of information. He had a complicated network and a wide range of connections with the Ming court. No one could compare to him in terms of information sources. Yan Mingtai was just a Xiong Tingbi's assistant in charge of money and provisions. Other than revealing some words of his own Governor Ji Liao, what other information could he have?
Alas … guarding a mountain of gold but not being able to make money, Lord Yan was really worried and couldn't sleep at night. He racked his brains but couldn't think of any other way for him to make a fortune — until Xiong Tingbi took the initiative to discuss with him about the current issue of the army's provisions.
"Provisions?" Yan Mingtai thought that Old Xiong wanted to check the accounts. He thought to himself that he really didn't make any money during this period of time. Could it be that the people under him were secretly embezzling behind his back? "Lord, our army has enough provisions recently. There's no need to worry."
"Hmm … how can we let our guard down when it's a matter of state? We still need to prepare for a rainy day. It's always necessary to get more provisions. As a Xiong Tingbi, you still need to put in more effort. You can't be careless. "Xiong Tingbi reprimanded Yan Mingtai with a dark face and told him to get lost.
Yan Mingtai was scolded for no reason. He didn't understand why even after he left the Governor's yamen. But not long after he came out, he was called over by Xu Guangqi again. Similarly, he asked about the provisions and criticized him for not following the Emperor's orders and disappointing the Emperor's grace. But this time, Old Man Xu said a few more words. He wanted Yan Mingtai to think of a way to take over the business and start businesses to raise more military resources for the army.
Eh … what do they want me to do? Yan Mingtai had been in the bureaucracy for almost twenty years. He immediately felt that there must be a deeper meaning behind the words of the two officials today. It was just that he didn't understand it. When he came out of the yamen again, he saw Sun Yuan Hua waiting outside.
"Lord Yan, is the army's provisions sufficient recently?" Sun Yuan Hua cupped his hands in greeting and asked in a low voice.
Eh … What the hell are you guys doing? You've come to ask me about this matter again and again. I've only secretly written a few manuscripts and submitted them to the rebels to earn some extra money. I really haven't stretched my hand out to fish for money from the army's provisions.
Yan Mingtai wanted to refute with confidence, but Sun Yuan Hua pulled him to a secluded place and said in a low voice, "Lord Yan, now that we're facing a great enemy, Supervisor Xiong is single-handedly supporting the situation in Tong Province. It's truly admirable. Us juniors should also think of some ways to assist His Majesty and His Excellency the several lords. "
There must be something fishy about this matter!
"Yes, yes, yes. Brother Chuyang is right. It's just that my aptitude is poor. It's difficult to do anything even if I have the power. " Yan Mingtai's thoughts turned a few times. When he thought of Sun Yuan Hua's identity, he already knew that Xiong Tingbi and Xu Guangqi had some troublesome matter for him to do. They were using a roundabout way to remind him. But he had to play dumb and wouldn't easily agree.
He saw Sun Yuan Hua take out a book from his sleeve. On it was written in simplified characters, "Methods of Constructing a Small Brick Kiln." He said in a deep voice, "Lord Yan, I've recently learned that there's a shortage of bricks in the market and the price is good. Why don't you and I work together to build a brick kiln? I've recently found a book that describes in detail the way of making bricks. If we can succeed, we can first provide relief to the poor, and second, increase military funds. "
Open a brick kiln?
Yan Mingtai's mind raced like lightning. At present, the demand for bricks … It seemed that only Tianjin would offer a high price. The demand for bricks had always been large. If we could make bricks and transport them by water, we could really make a lot of money. But selling bricks to the rebels, ah …!
No wonder that old man Xiong Tingbi called me over to scold me. He clearly wants to eat fish but doesn't want to touch the fishy smell. He wants me to do this. Moreover, how can a mere brick kiln meet the needs of tens of thousands of soldiers? Maybe there will be even bigger problems in the future. A brick kiln is just testing the waters.
Oh … should I take this job or not?
Yan Mingtai's mind raced. He wanted this profit, but he also had to guard against being cheated by his colleagues. After pondering for a while, he suddenly thought of someone. He chuckled and said to Sun Yuan Hua, "I agree with Brother Chuyang's idea. But I'm busy with military affairs and really can't make time. Why don't I recommend someone to handle this matter? Is that possible? "
"Who?"
"The former Liaodong Inspector-General Li Weihan. This person was impeached in court not long ago, but because he obtained a dozen or so Tartar heads, he was able to keep his life. Now he's idling in the capital. I've asked around. Recently, Li Weihan's iron ore business is very big and has some connections to the south. "
Sun Yuan Hua knew that it would be very difficult for Yan Mingtai to personally handle this matter. It would be more convenient to find someone to take the lead. He asked, "Is this person reliable?"
"What's there to be reliable or not? At worst, we'll build a brick kiln and let the surnamed Li sell it. If we give him two percent of the profit, he'll definitely run fast. "
"Two percent is too much, but we're just borrowing his skin. We don't need him to do anything. At most, we'll give him five percent."
The two of them casually discussed. After discussing some details, they went about their own business. No one thought of recording this matter. Yan Mingtai returned to his room. After thinking about it again and again, he was sure that he wouldn't be in any danger before letting out a long sigh. He couldn't help but curse in his heart, "Xiong Tingbi, you thick-browed, big eyes, you're actually doing this kind of shady business in the dark. You still want to push laozi to the front as a shield."
Although he was angry, this could still be regarded as a real way to make money.
Yan Mingtai thought about it deeply and realized that he could use this to make money openly. The 'Revolutionary Army' had a big appetite. They even bought bricks and stones in large quantities. They also bought other agricultural products, ores, coal, wood, and everything else. The 'Revolutionary Army' also sold a lot of goods. For example, the north was short of salt, but the price of salt in Tianjin was very low. Selling it would be a huge profit.
"No, no, I can't let the surnamed Xiong earn this money alone." Yan Mingtai's first thought was to get a share. Then he thought, "Why do I have to be a shareholder? Can't I just open another brick kiln? " The money to open the kiln could be paid directly from the military funds. I can pay it back when I earn it, or even not pay it back.
"My army occupies Tongzhou. This is a geographical advantage. Why do I need to open a kiln to do business? I just need to stay in this position and collect money. There are definitely many people in the north who want to do business with the rebels. I have to report to Supervisor Xiong to prohibit outsiders from passing through. Only those who pay money can go south. " The more Yan Mingtai thought about it, the more beautiful it was. He felt that he was too stupid in the past. Why didn't he think of collecting tolls?
Yan Mingtai was happy. He immediately sent people to contact Li Weihan and other northern merchants. At the same time, he also sent people to hook up with the rebels in the south. The northern merchants were naturally happy. They had long wanted to exchange with the south. However, the 'Revolutionary Army's' reaction was unexpected. "We welcome business. But if you dare to collect tolls, we will send our army to attack.
This is a tariff, this is a trade barrier. This will cause great harm to the flow of goods. This will greatly suppress civilian business activities. This is a shackle to the development of capital. We firmly oppose this kind of behavior that divides the market. You collect tolls from northern merchants going south. Sooner or later, you will collect tolls from us going north. If you dare to collect tolls, our army will beat you up.
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