nucmednet Chapter 266 Silk Trade
Chapter 266 Silk Trade
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There were many silk merchants in the Suzhou and Hangzhou area, and they could be divided into many types according to their channels and scale. Those who specialized in recruiting and transporting merchants from Guangdong to Shanghai to trade with foreign merchants were called Guanghang; those who specialized in selling local silk were called Xiangsihang; those who collected scattered silkworm cocoons and raw silk to supply large silk merchants were called Huazhuang; and those who specialized in connecting silk merchants and silkworm farmers in the countryside and charging intermediary fees were called Xiaolingtou.
The largest silk shop in Suzhou was located in the most bustling commercial district of Changmen, and it was called "Su Ji Silk Shop". Su Ji's owner, Su Mingkang, was also the president of the silk guild. At this moment, Su Mingkang was sitting in the shop with a worry in his eyes, surrounded by several people, all of whom were well-known silk shop owners in Suzhou.
According to Li Fu, the silk trade is an industry where you can make money hand over fist. What's causing Su Mingkang trouble is definitely not money. What's putting him in a dilemma is a very powerful figure, a nobleman holding a "departmental certificate," who wants a share of the raw silk trade in Suzhou, and this share is not small.
Someone asked cautiously, "If he wants to trade raw silk, why does he have to take food from our bowls? He has his own permit; he can just go to the countryside to collect it."
Su Mingkang shook his head: "This guy is obviously just trying to make money. We should ignore him, but if we offend the people behind him, will we have a good outcome?"
The person Su Mingkang was referring to was named Chang Wei. He was an uneducated and incompetent rogue, but his godfather was not to be underestimated. He was Chang Kun, the eunuch in charge of Nanjing, who was also said to have close ties with Zhou Kui, the Earl of Jiading. Not long ago, he came to Suzhou to visit the owners of major silk shops, stating that he wanted to do raw silk business in Suzhou.
So, anyone could theoretically trade raw silk, as long as they had a "departmental permit" from the Ministry of Revenue. But in reality, the supply channels for raw silk were entirely controlled by the silk guilds, which were completely impenetrable. Outsiders simply couldn't get enough raw silk, and many out-of-town merchants who wanted a share of the pie were squeezed out. In the end, they could only buy at the guilds' high prices, allowing the guilds to monopolize the profits from Suzhou's raw silk.
But Chang Wei didn't play by the rules. He went directly to the silk guild and bluntly proposed to purchase raw silk from all the major silk merchants, demanding a 20% price reduction. Anyone else would have been beaten up long ago, but he had two powerful figures standing behind him: the eunuch guarding Nanjing was someone he couldn't afford to offend, not to mention the Earl of Jiading in the capital.
The eunuch in charge of Nanjing, along with the meritorious officials in charge of Nanjing's defense and the Minister of War, jointly managed Nanjing's affairs. Their influence extended to the entire Southern Zhili region, and Suzhou was naturally no exception. The Earl of Jiading, Zhou Kui, was even more formidable. A native of Suzhou, his daughter was the current Empress, and he himself was enfeoffed as the Earl of Jiading in the third year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, granted a residence at Fengmen in Suzhou. He was the most powerful imperial relative of the dynasty, and was known for his arrogance and greed.
Each of Suzhou's major silk merchants had powerful backers, mostly officials from Southern Zhili (Southern Zhili), with some from the capital. However, none were as powerful as the two mentioned above: the most powerful eunuch in Southern Zhili and the most influential relative of the emperor. The most crucial point was that while civil officials at least respected some rules, eunuchs and imperial relatives only cared about money and wouldn't care about such rules. Anyone who blocked their path to wealth became their enemy.
To the crowd, this was no different from outright robbery. Some people were indignant: "This is just like a leech sucking our blood to fill its belly."
Su Mingkang sighed, "The worst thing isn't that. What I'm afraid of is that it will ruin the market. Once the price is opened up, it will be hard to bring the price back to its original level. What if others follow suit?"
The crowd cried out, "How can that be?"
"We have to talk to him again. Either he can buy and sell at our guild's price, or we can sell at his price."
Someone immediately objected: "The current rules have been in place for many years. How can we let an outsider change them without our consent? Where will that leave our guild's reputation?"
He voiced everyone's thoughts, and they all agreed. Changing the price would be a slap in the face for the guild, destroying its prestige. Moreover, it involved the vital interests of everyone present—these people controlled 90% of Suzhou's raw silk exports, and giving up 20% would mean losing 300,000 to 400,000 taels of silver every year.
Su Mingkang also felt aggrieved. As a prestigious Suzhou silk guild, was he really going to bow down to a rogue, change decades-old price standards, and bear huge losses?
The group couldn't reach a conclusion, and as it was getting late, they had to disperse. Just then, a waiter from the front hall came to report that someone had come to visit the master. Su Mingkang was in a bad mood and said, "I won't see anyone unless they are an official."
The waiter hesitated before saying, "He seemed to claim to be a third-rank official..."
Su Mingkang was startled. A third-rank official? The prefect of this prefecture is only a fourth-rank official. Is this a governor-general or a provincial governor? He immediately lifted his long robe and ran to the front hall.
The visitors were Liu Ye and Li Fu, among others. Liu Ye was leisurely sipping tea and looking around at his surroundings.
Su Mingkang entered with trepidation and respectfully asked, "May I ask which esteemed person has graced our humble shop with their presence?"
Liu Ye pointed to his nose with a slight embarrassment and said, "It is indeed I. You don't need to be nervous. Although I am a third-rank official, I am not an official from Suzhou. I am the military commander of Qiongzhou Camp in Guangdong."
Su Mingkang was stunned for a moment, and when he came to his senses, he almost cursed. Damn it, a military general, and from that godforsaken place of Qiongzhou, he was almost scared to death.
Su Mingkang adjusted his mindset, straightened his slightly disheveled robe, and slowly sat down on the chair in the center of the front hall. He asked slowly and deliberately, "So you are a military officer. May I ask what brings you here?" His tone was completely devoid of the respect he had shown before, and he didn't even bother to politely ask the other person's surname.
It's no wonder, since military ranks were worthless in the late Ming Dynasty, especially in Jiangnan. The gentry class in Jiangnan wielded immense power, and influential figures were everywhere. Apart from the Nanjing garrison eunuch and the Earl of Jiading behind Chang Wei, who were figures to be feared, even local officials had to defer to the gentry. Who would take a mere deputy commander in a remote area seriously?
Liu Ye didn't take it to heart. He smiled and handed a letter from Chen Zhongsheng, the prefect of Suzhou, to Su Mingkang: "My surname is Liu. Although I am a military officer, I am also a merchant. I have come today to discuss the trade of raw silk."
Su Mingkang took the envelope with suspicion. After reading the signature, he immediately sat up straight. It was actually the name of Lord Chen, the local official.
Upon opening and reading it carefully, one could see that the Prefect had earnestly asked him to help this young man from Guangdong, and his words implied that the young man's network of connections should not be underestimated, as he had the Governor of Guangdong and the Censor-in-Chief of Shandong standing behind him.