"You've struck it rich! Hahaha!"
"His Majesty's generosity this time is incredible; we're going to feast to our hearts' content!"
Seeing the Emperor leave, everyone immediately relaxed and couldn't help but cheer quietly.
This time, by following the Emperor to seize the market in Southern Liang, it's practically like picking up money off the ground. Anyone with this qualification is bound to make a fortune.
"Hey-hey!"
Seeing the excited faces of the merchants and aristocratic families, Mi Zhu's eyes flashed, but he did not stop them.
With this momentum, the Emperor has already completed more than half of this grand scheme; all that remains is to wait for the final harvest.
He waved to the crowd and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, those of you who are interested in the Southern Liang market, please come with me to the Ministry of Revenue. We need to discuss the specifics further!"
This is a grand hall; it can't be treated like a marketplace. That would be utterly disrespectful.
"Me! Me! Me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone got excited and quickly followed, afraid of being left behind if they were late.
At that moment, they were overjoyed!
On a high tower not far away, Lin Yi sat quietly, sipping tea. Before him were Xun Yu, Guo Jia Cao Cao, and others.
Seeing the merchants below beaming with excitement, Cao Cao couldn't help but roll his eyes and sarcastically remarked, "As expected, profit moves people's hearts. These guys are much more energetic now than before!"
Before, when I asked them for money, they always looked worried and pitiful. Now, they're radiant and full of energy; it's like night and day.
"Ha ha!"
Looking at the crowd below, Lin Yi couldn't help but laugh, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes.
He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Everyone wants to take advantage, but it's not so easy for us to do so. Who will actually benefit is still uncertain."
Why would he share such a large slice of the pie with powerful families and merchants? It's certainly not because he's uninterested in money and would willingly give it away; that would be utter nonsense.
Who would complain about having too much money? Even an emperor like him would be no exception; the more money, the better.
However, money sitting in a warehouse is just a pile of scrap metal. This necessitates the most crucial step: to completely revitalize Southern Liang!
By leveraging the influence of merchants and aristocratic families to drive the development of commercial culture and thus create a complete cycle, the development of Southern Liang could undoubtedly be maximized.
Besides, he wasn't that generous; the lion's share still ended up in Great Liang's own hands.
The Southern Liang is such a large pie, the profits of which are absolutely enough to make one richer than a country. Naturally, he couldn't hand it all over to aristocratic families and merchants; the lion's share actually remained in the hands of the Great Liang court and the Great Liang Nation system.
As for merchants and aristocratic families, it's less about giving them opportunities and more about completely taking them over.
The prominent families and businessmen invited this time were all carefully selected; each of them is a leader in their respective industry, and all are involved in industries closely related to Southern Liang.
These industries include basic industries and some essential materials, all of which require strict control.
With the institutions and infrastructure of Southern Liang basically in place, the only thing left to revitalize it was the aristocratic families and merchants.
This was Lin Yi's main objective: to revitalize Southern Liang.
It is true that aristocratic merchants gained access to a huge market in Southern Liang, but there is a huge prerequisite: it must be done under the guidance of the Great Liang court.
This means that Dalian still Great Liang the initiative, and naturally, the lion's share of the profits also resides in Great Liang.
Their role was to promote, that is, to conduct business activities under the banner of Great Liang, which gave them a clear direction.
Therefore, it is necessary to make things more standardized and more aligned with the interests of Great Liang.
This development model encounters fewer obstacles and can expand rapidly, with a development speed several times faster than its own.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
"The loyalty of powerful families and merchants is very unreliable. Only by incorporating them into the Great Liang's own system can we control their fate."
"Once they join this system, the imperial court can easily nip them in the bud if they ever try to cause trouble again!"
A hint of relief flashed in Xun Yu's eyes; he had finally guessed the Emperor's thoughts.
The Emperor wants this kind of dominance!
The aristocratic families and merchants are fraught with too much uncertainty, and cannot be completely eradicated. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate and tame them.
By bringing the Great Liang under its wing, the initiative would be in Great Liang's hands, and the specifics of their actions would no longer be up to them.
If they want wealth, they must operate within the rules of Great Liang, or they will inevitably be devoured.
Guo Jia nodded slightly and smiled, "That makes sense. Rather than eliminating it, it's better to completely take it over. After all, this thing can't be completely destroyed. If one Wang Clan Zhang Clan is gone, another Guo family will inevitably appear!"
Wealth can be transferred!
If you destroy the current aristocratic families and wealthy merchants, their interests will inevitably shift to others, thus creating even more aristocratic families and merchants in an instant.
Completely annihilating them is basically unrealistic; the backlash would be too great.
Since we can't destroy it, we should keep it under our control. It can then be transformed into a powerful weapon for the Great Liang, which is the best of both worlds.
"Well, let's leave it at that for now. The Net should keep a close eye on them; we can't let them get out of control," Lin Yi nodded and said in a deep voice.
With the addition of powerful families and merchants, the management of Southern Liang was basically completed, and it would soon be able to use Southern Liang to support Great Liang.
Everyone was astonished. They had thought that warfare was only on the battlefield, but they never expected that business was just as cutthroat, with each step of the operation having a deeper meaning.
After the group had been drinking for a while, Mi Zhu finished registering and rushed over with a big smile.
Holding a thick stack of lists, he exclaimed excitedly, "Your Majesty, this is a huge success! This is the first time I've ever seen powerful families and merchants vying to pay so much!"
To put it another way, it was like being cut on the buttocks with a small knife—it opened my eyes!
In the past, they were always hesitant to contribute money, but this time they were very quick to do so, as if they were afraid that the imperial court would forget about them, and they all rushed to give money.
They almost came to blows over the money.
"That's outrageous! I don't believe these people can actually fly!"
Cao Cao glanced at the receipts and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap, are these people crazy? Have they brought out their entire fortune?"
A full fifty million strings of cash!
This is almost equivalent to the wealth of an entire country, and those businessmen actually took it out. They must be crazy.
"That's interesting. This Tiandu All Under Heaven, let alone three!" Xun Yu couldn't help but say with a wry smile.
Don't be fooled by the large number and think it means weak purchasing power. In reality, the amount of goods that this money can buy is absolutely astronomical.
This is equivalent to the emperor hosting a dinner for the entire All Under Heaven; not only does he not lose money, he probably will even make a profit.