In the past, the bad things that happened in the Rong Mansion would definitely have become a topic of conversation among the powerful circles in the capital and the public, and would have lasted for at least half a month.
But now, there is more important news spreading in the capital, which directly covers up some dirty things inside Rong Mansion.
There was a scene of chaos in the court, and many court officials were sacked.
Such chaos has not occurred for a long time.
The occurrence of such a situation can only mean that there is a very serious conflict of interest between the court and the local government, and this is exactly the case.
With the support of Jinmen Sea Salt, the Caobang at this time had expanded the scope of private salt sales to the essence of Jianghuai.
Xuzhou, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Jinling and other towns are the most prosperous and economically active areas in the Daqian Empire.
At the same time, these areas are all the Huaiyang salt merchants' own territory, which is the so-called home base and basic territory.
Now that their old nest has been stolen, how can the Huaiyang salt merchants still sit still?
Among them, there may be some who have mastered the method of drying sea salt, but they dare not make the news public, or even dare to make salt on a large scale themselves.
The production cost of boilable salt may even be higher than the ex-factory price of sun-dried sea salt. How can we fight this?
The harder you work, the more you lose, and the harder you work, the more money you consume.
Even if you have a net worth of tens of millions, I'm afraid you won't be able to hold on for a few years.
It's a matter of life and death. Can Huaiyang salt merchants not risk their lives?
The bulk of their expenditures are in tribute and filial piety to all aspects. Those powerful and powerful men will not give less benefits and filial piety to the salt merchants no matter what difficulties they encounter.
Of course, when the Huaiyang salt merchants are working hard, these beings who have benefited will naturally follow suit.
Then, there were various private fights in the local area, and there was a falling out in the court.
For the sake of profit, all kinds of impeachment papers are flying all over the place. Anyone who has anything to do with the interests of salt has received at least two or more impeachment papers.
Now sitting firmly on Diaoyutai, he has not missed this opportunity to eliminate certain officials.
He has long disliked certain guys, but he didn't have a good excuse before, and it's hard to be too obvious now, so you don't have to be polite now.
Then, a well-known official in the court was caught in the court turmoil, and there was basically no chance of him turning around.
Today's participation is simply adding fuel to the fire.
Initially, the courtiers were quite restrained in their impeachment, but when many officials from their respective camps fell down, the fighting gradually became angry.
You must know that an official based in the court represents more than just himself.
There is also the family behind it, as well as a series of interest chains centered on it, involving many people and forces.
Once the leader falls, it means a reshuffle of interests, big or small.
Anyone who has a little understanding of this will know the cruelty and bloodiness involved.
For example, if the family behind a certain courtier wants to give up a large part of the huge property, he might just change from a big landowner to a small landowner.
If the enemy is cruel enough, the family behind him can be torn apart.
Also, will a big businessman who has risen through the power of a certain courtier be divided up by his competitors, other courtiers, and local powerful people?
Not only that, but officials who have good relationships with him will be more or less implicated, and their career will be greatly affected.
This is no joke. Usually, it is difficult for officials who are based in the court to be taken down.
However, at present, the content of the opponent's impeachment is very targeted, and it lists all things that will lead to loss of official reputation. Once the impeachment is confirmed, it will be difficult to have room for maneuver.
But if one takes things seriously now, or takes things seriously, the impeached courtiers will naturally have no choice but to leave sadly.
With the private fight between Caobang and Huaiyang salt merchants in the Jianghuai area, the intensity of the fight became increasingly intense driven by interests.
With huge interests at stake, no courtier would choose to give in.
Then, one of the courtiers couldn't keep his temper and exposed some dirty information about his opponent. Not only did he blow up his opponent to pieces, he was so angry that he almost ransacked his house.
At this time, a certain floodgate was opened, and the black material was released out of control, and the courtiers and ministers exploded among each other in an instant.
Eye-opening, really eye-opening!
Not only the current and uninvolved courtiers were dumbfounded by the melon, but even the people in the city and the capital were in an uproar.
There are no secrets in the court!
Whatever happens in the court will soon be spread in the streets of the capital.
The more intense the court battle, the more it will arouse the interest of the people in the capital city.
People in the capital are very keen to talk about political affairs, and they also have this unique condition.
The fight that broke out in the court naturally attracted the attention of the people in the capital early. Whenever something worth arguing about happened, the people in the city could argue endlessly, which was considered a life adjustment.
However, when the fight escalated and the two sides started to explode, public opinion in the capital city also exploded.
It is true that there were too many violent revelations in the court and they were too dark.
No one expected that the courtiers in the court, who were very elegant and morally cultivated at first glance, were secretly very nasty.
According to the explosive news, each of them is capable of doing all kinds of disgusting things.
Who is secretly a frequent visitor to the Nanfeng Pavilion, who likes to torture the delicate girls of twelve or thirteen years old the most, who is extremely obsessed with the three-inch golden lotus, etc.
These are only the personal ethics issues of the courtiers whose scandals were exposed.
What is really fatal, and what the people in the capital city are most concerned about, is their private accumulation of money, their corruption and perversion of the law, and their methods of forming cliques for personal gain.
They themselves did not directly make money, but they could seize a large amount of land through clan expropriation. Shops were also opened in the prosperous towns of Daqian. There were not too many various visible and shady income channels.
Cashiering directly is the lowest method!
In other words, although the Qianming Dynasty collapsed completely after Tumubao, and there was no outstanding person like Xu Jie, almost all the Daqian courtiers who were exposed were Xu Jie.
It's not about their abilities, but the expansion speed of the family behind them.
As for the other dirty things, as long as one of them is proven, they will not be tolerated to continue to have a foothold in the court.
Being dismissed from office is still a minor matter. If not, you may have to go to the Ministry of Punishments Prison to enjoy free food and accommodation.
In a short period of time, more than a dozen courtiers ranging from fifth grade to third grade fell directly in the fierce battle.
Although no means of confiscating homes are used today, the families behind these fallen officials will definitely not have an easy life.
The properties in the capital, whether they are fields outside the city or shops in the city, are all waiting to be sold at a low price.
Moreover, judging from the posture and the intensity of the fight in the court, I am afraid that more courtiers will be involved, and it is difficult to say whether they can escape smoothly.
Naturally, there was a lot of discussion in the streets of the capital city, and all kinds of unpleasant things were said.
In other words, the prestige of the imperial court slowly dissipated bit by bit in the process of such discussions.
Eventually, the court became a bit tense and people were in panic.
Who knows whether the unlucky courtiers will bite randomly in prison, expand the intensity and scope of the fight, and directly involve courtiers who were not involved. No one can guarantee such a thing.
No, Master Zheng was a little panicked.
There was nothing he could do. Several civil servants he had befriended were all unlucky in the court battles this time, and the least serious ones were dismissed from their posts.
He was in a well-informed place like the General Affairs Department, so it was hard not to suspect that he might be involved, so he was naturally very worried.
It was difficult to find the old lady to explain the reason, so I could only ask Jia Rong about the situation.
I don't usually think that Jia Rong, the backbone of the team, is very trustworthy at critical moments. At least his previous performance has never failed.
"Don't worry, uncle. Is it possible that you are involved in salt affairs?"
Jia Rong was quite disapproving and asked directly.
"No, how can I participate in salt affairs?"
Mr. Zheng Er shook his head hurriedly, with a strange look on his face.
Are you kidding me, don't look at where he stayed before.
Either the Ministry of Works is Taichang Temple, and then there is the General Affairs Department. Except for the Ministry of Works, they are all standard Qingshui Yamen.
Who is able to participate in the salt administration and is not a powerful boss?
"Since there is no cooperation, what are you worried about?"
Jia Rong said with a smile: "With the energy of our Jia family, we really don't have to worry about being innocently implicated or wrongly accused!"
"I'm just worried that if the court continues to stir up troubles, I might be implicated. It may not necessarily be a matter of salt politics!"
Mr. Zheng Er was sincere and expressed his worries.
"Don't worry, the fight will be over soon!"
Jia Rong chuckled and said: "Nowadays, the court will not be turbulent. Taking down more than twenty courtiers in one breath is already the limit!"
If there are more, the courtiers will be able to react, and the pressure today will be great.
Do you really think that the courtiers are all fools?
Looking at the past dynasties, how many emperors were able to die?
The more powerful the civil and military groups in a dynasty, the greater the danger if the emperor goes too far. This is no joke.
Of course, there is no need to say this, so as not to scare Mr. Zheng.
Seeing that the second master Zheng was a little unconvinced, Jia Rong continued: "Does my uncle know about the fight between the Caogang and the Huaiyang salt merchants?"
Mr. Zheng Er shook his head, how could he possibly care about this?
"The Huaiyang Salt Merchant is almost unable to withstand it, and it won't take long to decide the winner!"
What Jia Rong said shocked Mr. Zheng and said "impossible".
"Nothing is impossible. Although the Huaiyang salt merchants have a lot of money, they are ultimately no match for the Caogang's large numbers of people!"
Having more people means you can fight more, which is a great advantage in private fights.
Although the Huaiyang salt merchants have many private salt dealers under their command, these guys are all out-and-out desperadoes, and their force can be considered quite good.
But compared to Caobang, it pales in comparison.
Especially with the stimulation of private interests, there are more desperadoes in the Cao Gang.
In addition, the private salt produced by the Huaiyang salt merchants can no longer sell the private salt of the Caogang. It is still unclear whether those private salt dealers who are in alliance with them will fight for them.
As long as the Caobang opens its mouth and provides cheaper sea salt to private salt dealers in the Jianghuai area, I am afraid these private salt dealers will immediately turn their backs.
Private fights between rivers and lakes are all about strength in numbers. As long as the backgrounds of both parties are similar, the amount of money is not the decisive factor.
At this time, according to Jia Rong's knowledge, Caobang had already transported the sea salt produced in Jinmen to the Yangzhou area.
It can be said that the Huaiyang salt merchants were completely defeated.
Unless there is strong official support, failure is doomed.
Next, what awaits them is bankruptcy, and at worst, the possibility of their family being ruined. The big boss behind them doesn't care about their specific situation. Anyway, the money must be in place every year.
When the news reaches the capital, the battle in the court will almost be over.
He recounted the contents in detail in a way that Mr. Zheng could listen to, and finally said: "Uncle, there is no need to worry. This court turmoil will soon be over, and it has nothing to do with uncle!"
"So good!"
Mr. Zheng Er let out a long sigh of relief, and his face relaxed.
As long as he can secure his position as deputy envoy of the General Affairs Department, he doesn't bother to care about other things, and he doesn't have much ability to participate in them. He still has this self-awareness.
But he didn't know that when the battle in the court came to determine the winner, a bigger storm would just begin.
Jia Rong also planned to take this opportunity to have a good time, but he had not forgotten some things.
In fact, Jia Rong's guess soon came true.
When the specific news from the south reached the capital, and Caobang's sea salt had begun to be sold in Yangzhou, the originally intense battle in the court suddenly fell silent.
Anyone with a clear mind can guess what this means: the Huaiyang salt merchants were defeated, and they were completely defeated!
It's not that the boiling salt they have can no longer be sold, that's impossible.
Instead, it can only be sold as serious official salt, and profits can be made by collecting funds at small profits but quick turnover.
Such a small amount of profit is not enough to cover the salt merchant family's own expenses, let alone the tribute and filial piety that must be paid. Over time, they will only go bankrupt.
The rich and powerful men are not good people. Even if the Huaiyang salt merchants want to let go of the salt profits, they will not be able to get away. Anyway, the tribute and filial piety that should be paid every year must not be less.
It is not an exaggeration to describe it as "knocking on the bones and sucking out the marrow", unless the salt merchant family can withstand the blows and revenge of the powerful bosses.
Now that the Caobang and Huaiyang salt merchants have decided the winner, the fighting in the court can naturally stop slowly, and each can only slowly calculate the gains and losses of their respective interests.
Now he also came forward at the right time, and took a cold approach to the impeachment talks from relevant parties, ignoring them, and the originally fierce court battle suddenly calmed down.
But no one expected, and no one knew what was going on, that suddenly there were many suggestions to directly impeach Lin Ruhai, the chief envoy of Shanxi Province.
Moreover, the courtiers who impeached Lin Ruhai were the losers in this battle, which makes people feel a little baffled.
Okay, why did you drag Lin Ruhai, the chief envoy of Shanxi Province, into the water...