In the cold winter, the north wind howls, small snowflakes float in the sky, and the temperature is very low.
Usually at this time, everyone likes to stay at home, commonly known as Cat Winter, and few people go outside to walk around. But at this time, on the official roads leading to Tanggu from Tianjin, Beijing, Yongping Prefecture and other places, there are many cars
The four-wheeled carriage was turning rapidly, and inside the carriage sat businessmen dressed in extraordinary clothes.
Some of these merchants are in the cloth business, some are in the marine fish business, some are in the grain business, and some are in the cement business. In short, they are from all walks of life, and most of them have dealings with many industries under Liu Jin's command.
merchant.
Nowadays, many industries under Liu Jin's command are getting bigger and bigger, and naturally they have brought in many suppliers, sellers, etc. Liu Jin is making a lot of money here, and all the people who do business with Liu Jin are also following him.
Make a lot of money.
Among them, the most profitable ones are naturally those engaged in marine fish trading and cement trading.
Tianjin Port has boatloads of marine fish returning to the port every day. Every time a fishing boat comes back, there will be cheers immediately. Sometimes if it is a whale that comes back, it will be even more exciting. Just simply put the Tianjin Port
The sea fish here are sold to the capital and support countless merchants and horse dealers.
Not to mention cement, which is very popular now. The demand for cement, a construction artifact, is increasing. As a seller of Tianjin Cement Factory, the hot sales of cement have also made these sellers make a lot of money.
The only worry is that the production volume cannot keep up, so the most important thing everyone does is rush the goods.
At this time, everyone braved the severe cold, said goodbye to the small heater at home and the pretty beauties, and rushed to Tanggu. It was because of Liu Jin's invitation. Liu Jin invited everyone to go to Tanggu to see the Changlu Saltworks, and to see what everyone had.
There is no interest in operating the salt produced by Changlu Salt Farm.
Among the many carriages, Zhang Tianhao's figure was also included. He was a private salt dealer and the leader of a salt gang. He used to buy and sell private salt in Changli County, Yongping Prefecture.
The snow salt produced by Liu Jin was originally sold to Zhang Tianhao, and it was through this that Liu Jin got his first pot of gold.
"At the beginning, I felt that this Liu Jin was not the best in the pool. In just over a year, he has soared into the sky. When he is named on the gold medal in the spring of next year and becomes an official in the court, he will probably be able to truly rise to prominence very soon.
"
Zhang Tianhao was sitting in the carriage, thinking a lot. He remembered the first time he met Liu Jin last autumn. At that time, Liu Jin was still a young scholar. It was said that he was almost killed by Tang Laohu in the town.
Who would have thought that now, Liu Jin was not only a high school candidate, but also established a huge industry in the Beijing-Tianjin area. He was also connected with the current emperor, His Highness the Crown Prince. Things about Liu Jin had already been discussed in Changli, Yongping Prefecture.
Word spread here in the county and became a matter of great interest to countless people.
Zhang Tianhao originally thought that Mr. Liu Jin and Mr. Liu would have forgotten that he was a little person. After all, he, Zhang Tianhao, was a private salt dealer who could not get on the stage.
Selling illegal salt is a serious crime. Once caught by the government, it is basically a dead end. Although he has always tried to take care of it, he will never be able to bring it to the forefront.
Unexpectedly, this time I received an invitation from Liu Jin, inviting him to come and visit the Changlu Saltworks.
Of course, Zhang Tianhao knew about the new affairs in the court regarding privately opened salt farms, but he didn't think it would change the current situation. After all, he had to pay a huge tax of two million taels of silver a year. This was not the case at all.
It could be set up by ordinary people, but even if it was set up, he felt that such a salt farm would definitely suffer a loss.
But he didn't expect that Liu Jin would go to set up a salt farm.
"I don't know what Mr. Liu's salt farm is like. It paid a tax of two million taels of silver. If you want to make money, the salt produced will probably have to be piled up into a mountain."
Zhang Tianhao couldn't help but shake his head when he thought of this. Although he also knew Liu Jin's ability, he still felt that Liu Jin might lose money in setting up a salt farm.
"I hope Mr. Liu can succeed. From now on, I can take salt from the salt field openly and I no longer have to be that sneaky private salt dealer."
As a private salt dealer, his biggest wish is that one day he can be like the salt merchants in the Jianghuai area and take salt from the salt field openly. The amount of money he can earn in just one hand is enough for ordinary people to dare not in their lifetime.
For this reason, he has been working hard to cultivate his tribe, set up private schools, and send all the children in the tribe to study, hoping that one or two capable officials will be produced in the future, who can serve the Zhang family.
It blocks out the sun and allows the Zhang family to participate in the salt from the salt farm.
As a private salt dealer, he is very aware of how huge profits the salt business can bring. As a private salt trader, he only charges a few pennies per pound, and all his hard work is already a huge profit.
Those salt merchants who bought goods from the salt fields had almost zero cost, and they were open and honest. They sold salt on a large scale. In a very short period of time, each of the salt merchants became as rich as the country, and they became the Huizhou merchants who are now famous all over the world.
Now that Liu Jin invited himself over, it was undoubtedly for the sale of salt. This was a business that he had dreamed of getting involved in, so he rushed over almost as soon as he received the invitation.
When Zhang Tianhao arrived in Tanggu, he immediately discovered that hundreds of businessmen had gathered here, filling the reception hall of Changlu Saltworks. He even found some acquaintances among them.
"Everyone, everyone~"
Everyone did not wait too long. Liu Jin, with a smile on his face, came out with Tong Yuan, Li Jiye and other stewards of the Changlu Saltworks.
As the person in charge of Changlu Saltworks, Li Jiye stood up and said to everyone with a smile.
As Li Jiye finished speaking, everyone immediately became quiet. They all sat down in their seats and quietly waited for Li Jiye's next words.
Zhang Tianhao immediately saw Liu Jin. He was still the same as last year, looking like a quiet scholar with a faint smile on his face. Liu Jin also recognized Zhang Tianhao at once and smiled and nodded at Zhang Tianhao.
.
“Everyone, thank you very much for braving the severe cold despite your busy schedule to come to our Changlu Salt Farm and participate in the dealer bidding conference of our Changlu Salt Farm.”
Li Jiye's voice was loud and he had no intention of wasting time.
"Many friends must already know the background of our Changlu Salt Field. Our Changlu Salt Field is the first private salt field in the Ming Dynasty that was officially approved by the imperial court. Therefore, although the salt from our Changlu Salt Field is private salt, it is
Everyone can rest assured that salt is protected by all parties in the imperial court."
"In addition, I would like to disclose something here. Among the shareholders of Changlu Salt Farm, there are not only Mr. Liu Jin and Mr. Liu, but also several current princes, as well as the shares of the current Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince. So everyone can be absolutely assured.
They will violate national law by selling salt from our Changlu Salt Farm."
Li Jiye introduced the background of Xiachanglu Saltworks in a very sonorous and powerful manner. When he talked about Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao, he bowed respectfully in the direction of the capital to show his respect for Emperor Hongzhi and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Hearing this, many people who had not understood the situation suddenly became enlightened, and then nodded one after another.
Everyone wants to do the salt business, and everyone wants to have a hand in it, because the profits are so amazing.
However, the salt of the entire Ming Dynasty was basically monopolized by Hui merchants and big businessmen in the Jiangnan region. A few Shanxi pool salts, Sichuan well salts, etc. had low output and were far from comparable to the salt in the Jianghuai region.
It is difficult for merchants like them in the northern region to get involved in the salt business, because the power of southern scholars has always been very strong in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. If you want to get involved in the salt trade, you must first be in the officialdom.
Southerners who can fight.
Of course, another very important reason is that most of the salt fields run by the imperial court are concentrated in the Jianghuai area. As the saying goes, those who are near the water and towers get the moon first, so naturally the people in these areas benefit first.
Although Beizhili and Shandong in the north are also close to the sea, because these areas are endless plains and were developed early, there are not a lot of forests and trees. In the era when salt was mainly boiled, the cost of opening a salt farm was too high. Naturally,
There are no salt fields.
This phenomenon continued until the Jiajing period. With the emergence of the salt-drying method, some private salt farms slowly appeared in Beizhili and Shandong.
Therefore, northern merchants, gentry, etc. all wanted to get involved in the salt business, but they never got involved.
Now after hearing Li Jiye's words, everyone immediately felt relieved. The background of Changlu Saltworks is so big, what is there to be afraid of? With the approval of the imperial court, after all, the two million taels of silver were not paid in vain.
The background is amazing, who dares to trouble Changlu Saltworks?
This is the property of the current and future emperors. Unless they are tired of life and don't want to hang out in the Ming Dynasty, no one will come to trouble Changlu Saltworks.
"The only thing we need to worry about now is the output of the Changlu Salt Farm. If the output is not good, so many people will share it, and not much can be shared."
Zhang Tianhao felt relieved at this time. With such a strong background and a salt farm recognized by the court, he could safely sell the salt from Changlu Salt Farm.
Then he looked at the hundreds of businessmen present, and immediately felt that the pressure of competition was still very high. The salt production of a salt farm was very limited. The more people there were, the less cake they could share.
Not only Zhang Tianhao thought so, but other businessmen present also thought so. Soon someone stood up and said, "I wonder how big the output of your salt farm is? How many of us are there? Do we have enough?"
