More than ten people covered in robes and robes blocked the door of the hall, venting their emotions to the housekeeper of the Lin Mansion.
Salt merchants and salt administration yamen are actually interdependent and cooperative.
Although the Yanzheng Yamen controls the wealth, life and death of the salt merchants, on the other hand, why are the salt merchants not indispensable partners of the Yanzheng Yamen?
After all, the salt administration is related to the livelihood of millions of people. How can the salt administration yamen alone take care of it?
As a result, a concept has formed among some salt merchants, that whether the salt official in the imperial court can hold the position and whether he can do it well depends entirely on whether they give him face...
After all, millions or even tens of millions of salt tax dollars are wasted every year. If they don't cooperate, it will be really difficult for the Salt Administration Yamen to collect it! Even if they collect it, they may not be able to collect it in full... If they drag it on
With tens of millions of tax dollars, not to mention the future of the salt official, I'm afraid I can't even save my life!
Therefore, most of the salt merchants were dissatisfied with the imperial court's plan to donate and lose their wool this time.
Since he was dissatisfied, he wanted to appeal to the above. As a salt official who was "raised" by them, at this critical moment of life and death for the entire industry, Luo was naturally the one to stand up and speak for them!
Therefore, when Jia Lian appeared along the corridor, he saw a lot of fat-bellied businessmen standing here muttering words such as "We want to see Mr. Lin" and "Please make the decision for us."
Perhaps when they saw Jia Lian coming out, wearing a full-body white shirt, they thought he was a descendant of the Lin family, so they all became quieter.
Jia Lian didn't say anything, but walked slowly to the middle, stood on the steps, and scanned everyone.
Jia Lian's arrogant attitude immediately aroused dissatisfaction among some people.
Someone stepped forward and shouted: "Who are you? Where is Mr. Lin? Why doesn't Mr. Lin come out to see us?"
Jia Lian looked down at the people in front of him from above and said in the same unceremonious voice: "My uncle is unwell and is resting in the back hall. Why are you making such a noise here and disturbing my uncle's peace?"
When I heard that he was not a descendant of the Lin family, but just a relative, no one was so polite.
"Where did the yellow-mouthed kid come from? We want to see Mr. Lin. We have important matters to discuss. Is it your right to ask?"
"Exactly, if you don't back down, you will delay the big event I'm waiting for. I'm afraid your family won't be able to bear it!"
First, after being perfunctory by Lin Ruhai and waiting here for half a day, everyone was already angry. Now Jia Lian's attitude made everyone even more angry. The dissatisfaction was naturally vented towards Jia Lian without hesitation.
Faced with the overwhelming condemnation from the salt merchants, Jia Lian's face darkened and he shouted: "You are outrageous!"
The scene suddenly became quiet.
Everyone stared at Jia Lian in astonishment. First, they did not expect that Jia Lian would dare to yell at them. Second, they did not expect that Jia Lian, at such a young age, could speak so loudly that it made their ears hurt!
Jia Lian did not give them time to react and continued to suppress them with words: "This is the Yanzheng Yamen, which represents the majesty of the imperial court. If you dare to make any noise again, you will be treated as a crime of breaking into the Yamen privately and will be severely punished!"
Jia Lian was born in the Duke's palace, so he had the psychological advantage of being superior to others when acting outside, so he naturally developed some extraordinary magnanimity.
The scolding now really suppressed these people.
Everyone looked at each other and when no one spoke again, they all realized that their previous behavior was indeed excessive.
But there are always some bad-tempered ones. The fat man who had previously scolded Jia Lian as a "yellow-mouthed kid" stood up again: "Of course we know that this is the Yanzheng Yamen. We came here to discuss important matters with Mr. Lin!"
As Yangzhou salt merchants, we have always abided by the law, and our tax contributions to the imperial court every year are close to tens of millions! Those of us present are all people who have made great contributions to the imperial court. Even Mr. Lin is kind and kind to us.
, three points of courtesy, who are you, and how dare you boss me around?
We act and sit upright, how can we be threatened by you!"
Zhao'er, who had followed Jia Lian, saw that Jia Lian was being provoked, so he took a step forward and announced his family status as a deterrent.
Jia Lian stopped him in advance, then looked at the people below the steps and sneered: "Do you act upright and sit upright? Are you doing great service to the court?"
It’s ridiculous, with your current appearance, you dare to say that you have done meritorious service to the imperial court?”
At this time, many people have actually guessed that Jia Lian's status may not be low, and he may even be a son of an official, otherwise he would not be able to speak to them in such a condescending tone.
However, this did not scare them, but instead hurt their hearts even more!
As the last class of scholars, farmers, and merchants, merchants were mostly looked down upon by scholars, and it was not easy for them to gain status.
As salt merchants who could contribute more than a quarter of their annual income to the imperial court every year, they all believed that they had made great contributions to the imperial court!
And Jia Lian's words are undoubtedly denying what they are most proud of, which cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.
Therefore, everyone was filled with righteous indignation and showed anger.
Jia Lian did not take it seriously and continued: "I know why you are here! Now the imperial court has implemented a new salt policy, encouraging merchants from all over the world to transport grain to the border in exchange for salt. This has broken the original salt policy.
You feel that the distribution system will be detrimental to your own interests, so you ignored the funeral at my uncle's house and gathered here with the intention of forcing my uncle to speak up for you and get the imperial court to revoke this new policy, right?"
There was one point in Jia Lian's words that made the salt merchants unable to argue and felt very guilty, that is, they had indeed deliberately come to take advantage of the Lin Mansion's funeral.
Otherwise, Lin Ruhai wouldn't let them in!
There are many salt merchants in Yangzhou, and they change batches every day. In the name of condolences for Mrs. Lin's family, how can the Lin family have the nerve to turn away people?
They just wanted to use this to force Lin Ruhai to submit. Because they all knew that Lin Ruhai could speak well in front of the emperor. If he wrote a memorial to the emperor, he might be able to make the court change or even cancel the donation policy.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Anyway, if you don’t agree, we will come every day!
Shameless is a bit shameless, but as businessmen, most of their consciences have been smoothed out, so they can easily ignore it and argue: "The donation policy is not reasonable at all, how can the world's businessmen be so shameless?"
If everyone can go to the salt store and have a hand, we can guarantee that within two years, the world will be flooded with illegal salt, and it will be impossible to contain it.
At that time, the court will suffer the greatest loss!
Moreover, salt is related to people's livelihood. Once it is out of control, at least half of the people in the world will have no salt to eat, and the entire world will be in danger!
That's why we asked Mr. Lin to submit a letter based on the facts. This move is for the sake of the imperial court and the consideration of the world.
How important is this matter that you can understand at such a young age?"
"That is, if you don't retreat quickly, this matter can only be solved by asking Mr. Lin to come out. Today, only Mr. Lin has the ability to turn the tide!"
Jia Lian felt funny in his heart. Was he deceived into thinking he was a real loser?
If illegal activities are allowed to spread, the people who will benefit most will definitely be the common people all over the world...
Think about how much a pack of salt cost in later generations. Compared to today, the difference is as big as clouds and mud!
Therefore, facing the salt merchants who were once again full of momentum and almost shouting, Jia Lian laughed heartily.
"How ridiculous is this? You are obviously afraid of being divided by others of your vested interests, so you disregard propriety, justice and shame, and come to intimidate my uncle and make him your pawn. Now you actually have the face to say that you are serving the imperial court.
Come for the sake of the world?
Do you really not know why the imperial court implemented this policy of "donating losses"?
It has been a hundred years since the founding of the Wei Dynasty. On the surface, it now looks like He Qing and Hai Yan, singing and dancing to achieve peace!
However, the Saodan slaves far to the north have already strengthened their troops and are eyeing the Wei Dynasty. Many of the tribes in the west also covet the territory of the Wei Dynasty.
In order to deal with these wolves, tigers and leopards, the imperial court has continuously sent more troops to the border in recent years, thus maintaining peace in the Wei Dynasty!
However, the millions of frontier troops consume huge amounts of military food and wages every day. It would be too expensive to wait for the imperial court to arrange transportation, so they used the huge profits from salt to encourage merchants all over the world to take over the responsibility of transporting food and grass, that is, to protect their homes and the country.
Responsibility!
This is a major plan related to the security of the country, and now you are obstructing it for your own selfish purposes. How dare you even talk about meritorious service to the country and the world?"
"What do you know……"
Someone tried to quibble, but Jia Lian took advantage of his momentum and immediately stopped him: "I don't understand salt politics, but I do understand one sentence:
If you want to benefit the life and death of your family and country, why should you avoid it because of personal gain?
But look at you again? Bah, you are simply tarnishing the face of my merchants in the Wei Dynasty!
It is disloyal for you not to consider your Majesty's concerns! As a citizen of the Wei Dynasty, your ancestors were favored by the Emperor in exchange for your status as a salt merchant, and you can have fine clothes and fine food, but now you do not want to repay, but you are just a coward.
It is unfilial to bear the name of a treacherous person, and to tarnish the lintel of the family.
My aunt was newly deceased, but you came in groups instead of paying homage to the deceased. Instead, you took the opportunity to force my uncle to do illegal things. This is unkind. You know clearly that the soldiers at the border are short of food and clothing, but you only care about your own selfish interests and prevent others from donating. This is unkind.
For injustice!
After committing such unfaithful, unfilial, unkind and unjust behavior, how dare you speak nonsense and talk about your merits?
I have never seen anyone so shameless!"
Jia Lian's machine-gun-like barrage of belittling and insulting words made everyone in the audience feel dizzy.
They are all people who are accustomed to wealth. How can they endure this situation?
"Ah~! The child with a yellow mouth is really hateful and can be killed!"
"I'm angry, you... you, you, you are talking nonsense. Tell me your identity quickly. I will definitely come to visit you one day and ask your father how he raised his son!"
The salt merchants were really angry.
There is no one without powerful background who can become a salt merchant. Normally, even the prefect would give them face.
How could you expect to be so belittled and degraded today by a young man who looks like he has not yet reached his prime?
Their strength alone may be limited, but the power behind the entire Yangzhou salt merchants is absolutely unimaginable!
Therefore, even if Jia Lian is a relative of Lin Ruhai, they will definitely find a way to deal with him.
There is no problem at all even touching his father and family.
Humph, there are no people or problems on the ground in Yangzhou that the salt merchants cannot solve!
How could Zhaoer endure the salt merchants scolding Jia Lian?
He stepped forward in two steps and shouted at the crowd: "My second master is the eldest grandson of Duke Rong Guo and the son of a first-class divine general. If you have the courage, go to the capital to find my master!"
Well……
The scene that was originally full of hostility suddenly became eerily quiet.
There were a few people who were shouting with their mouths open, but because of the sudden silence of the scene, they had no time to close their mouths. Together with their astonished expressions, it was quite interesting.
The old housekeeper of the Lin Mansion had long been unhappy with this group of people. Seeing that they were frightened, he was afraid that some people still didn't believe Zhao'er's words, so he immediately added: "My wife is from the Rongguo Mansion in the middle of the capital, and she is the legitimate daughter of Duke Rongguo.
, this is my wife’s natal nephew, who is also the eldest grandson of Duke Rongguo. He came here specially to pay homage to my wife, and he just arrived today.”
The steward's smiling look was in sharp contrast to the miserable expressions of the salt merchants.
The salt merchants looked at Jia Lian again, but Jia Lian stopped talking to them.
I saw him taking a sword inlaid with gold and jade from his attendant, holding it at his side, and said angrily: "I am not a person who relies on power and wealth, but I have made it clear to you, no one else dares to do this here
If your noise disturbs my uncle's peace and disturbs my aunt's peace, then you can test the sharpness of my sword!"
No one dared to answer.
Maybe some people don't know about Rongguo Mansion, but just the word "Guo Gong" is enough to shock people.
That is the pinnacle of human affairs! The Duke's Mansion is already the most noble family under the Prince's Mansion.
The young man in front of him actually came from the Duke's palace, or was he his eldest grandson? No one had any desire to retaliate and teach a lesson.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Although, their salt merchants are a group that cannot be provoked in Yangzhou, and they are even one of the top forces in the entire Jiangnan!
They might not pay much attention to governors and governors who usually don't have a big background.
However, no one wants to provoke the powerful families in Beijing!
No one or force in the world would take the initiative to provoke the top wealthy families in Beijing.
If you provoke the governor or governor, you may just lose your family and wealth, but if you provoke the wealthy families in the capital, there is always the danger of confiscating the family and annihilating the clan!
Because wealthy families are related to each other, most of the nobles in the capital are related to each other. They are the most terrifying forces in the world, and can even directly influence the emperor and carry out dimensionality reduction attacks on local forces.
Of course, this does not mean that everyone must be afraid of the wealthy families in the capital. At least the two or three most powerful people among their salt merchants are closely related to the wealthy families in the capital and even relatives of the emperor. However, they are here today.
, there is no such person.
Besides, even if those two or three people were here, they probably wouldn't conflict with Jia Lian.
not worth it!
Who knows how much effort and financial resources they spent to maintain those backgrounds, and once they offend the Rongguo Mansion, I don’t know how many favors and money it will cost to settle the matter...
Based on these considerations, when everyone faced Jia Lian's threat again, although they were unhappy, no one dared to speak.
Many people have quietly turned around, wanting to retreat.
They did not doubt whether Jia Lian really dared to draw his sword and hurt someone!
After knowing each other's identity, they even began to consider issues from the other's perspective.
It seems that it is indeed wrong to cause trouble in front of the funeral hall of someone's biological aunt.
In ancient times, there was a law that exempted people who killed people for filial piety. If Jia Lian really killed them with a sword and charged them with making a fuss in the mourning hall, considering Jia Lian's identity and background, their death would probably be in vain.
Once I thought about it, I figured everything out.