"The salt you see is the salt produced by the Changlu Salt Farm, and the price will never exceed 50 cents per catty. Now the entire northern market is almost sold out by the salt from the Changlu Salt Farm."
Cheng Bo'an looked at the crowd. His market was mainly in the northern market. It had been hit too hard and the salt in his hands could not be sold. All the salt from the Changlu Salt Farm had taken away the market.
"And the salt from Changlu Salt Farm is also sea salt, and the output is very large. They don't use the boiling salt method, but the sun salt method."
"Salt method?"
Upon hearing this, everyone said in unison again.
"Yes, it's the sun salt method!"
Cheng Bo'an nodded, and then slowly said: "The so-called salt-drying method is a method of using the sun to dry seawater to obtain salt."
"If you rely on the sun to dry salt, it will be very slow. There is no way to compare it with our boiled salt. How can the output be so large? And there is so much sea water in the sea. The sea must be dried. This
It’s simply impossible.”
When Zhu Benduan heard this, he shook his head and said.
It is very difficult to boil salt. One person cannot boil several pots of salt in a day. This sun-dried salt...may not be enough to dry a pot of seawater in a few days.
Not only Zhu Benduan, but most other people also think so. If boiling salt is slow, it will be even slower if it is dried salt. How much salt can be produced by drying salt?
If this sun-salted salt was really useful, the seawater in the sea would have been dried long ago. Where would the salt in it still need to be boiled out?
"Cheng Bo'an, don't be ridiculous. How much salt can one person dry in a day? I'm afraid he won't be able to produce even a pound of salt. Even if the salt from the Changlu Salt Farm is of good quality, the output is definitely not that high."
"Are you trying to find an excuse to steal our market again?"
Some people even directly said that Cheng Bo'an was looking for an excuse to seize the market. This Cheng Bo'an has always been evil-minded. He was just an ordinary salt merchant at first, but he gradually became the salt merchant's leader and was eaten by him.
I don’t know how many salt merchants fell out.
When others heard this, they were immediately on guard. Cheng Boan was just such a person. Even though he was gentle and elegant, and looked like a handsome gentleman, his appearance was ugly and ruthless. He once killed a salt merchant in order to annex the salt of a region.
The family was destroyed.
"Hmph~"
"It's up to you whether you believe it or not. If you don't believe it, you can send someone to the Changlu Saltworks to have a look. It's not like you don't have anyone in the capital. The news will be sent back soon."
When Cheng Bo'an heard this, he immediately snorted coldly and looked ugly. He used to look ugly, but now he is beginning to think about his own shame.
Of course, what's more important is that he did call everyone here for everyone's benefit this time. If the salt from Changlu Saltworks goes south, these people present will have no way to survive.
But before that, he, Cheng Boan, would die first. The market in the north would be taken away, and his business would not be able to continue at all.
“Is this salt-drying method really feasible?”
Feng Xiang thought for a while and asked again.
"Of course, it is not only feasible, but the yield is much higher than that of boiling salt. They built salt ponds on the coastal tidal flats and introduced seawater into them. When the sun shines, the salt comes out. It is quick and easy, and there is no need to work hard at all.
Boil the salt.”
Cheng Bo'an nodded solemnly and said.
"Will the salt produced by this sun-salting method be so delicate?"
Zhu Benduan thought for a while and asked.
The salt produced by boiling salt is coarse salt, with large particles, many impurities, and a bitter taste. There is no way to compare with the salt in front of him. He does not believe that these salts are made by sun-drying salt.
"Yes, it's all sea salt. How can their salt be so fine?"
Some people thought about it and raised their own questions.
"This is not the key. If you don't believe it, send someone to the Changlu Saltworks to have a look."
"What I want to tell you now is that once the salt from the Changlu Salt Farm spreads to the entire Ming Dynasty, we will all drink from the northwest wind."
Cheng Bo'an was really angry. Why do these pig-like things always dwell on such insignificant things instead of seeing the crisis? The salt from Changlu Saltworks can seize the market in the north, and it can also seize the market in the south.
At some point, salt, the source of wealth, will be cut off.
"If it's really what you said, then it's a big problem."
"Such high-quality salt only sells for less than fifty cents per catty, and if the output is very large, our salt will definitely not be able to compete."
Feng Xiang looked at Cheng Bo'an. He didn't look like he was lying. He thought for a while and said.
"If there is any big problem, write a letter to someone in the court. That Liu Jin is now an official of the court. Just ask someone to impeach him. Just put him on any charge and kill him."
Zhu Benduan said nonchalantly.
Behind each of these salt merchants, there is a huge power, including their own families, related families, marriage alliances, families with related interests, etc., from the court to the local government, their people are everywhere
.
If they want the other party to be a small sixth-grade Hanlin, they have all the methods and means. I hope my method is the simplest and can be said to be the most effective.
"You think too simply!"
"Although the Changlu Salt Farm was opened by Liu Jin, the real big boss is the emperor and the prince. Even if Liu Jin is taken over, the Changlu Salt Farm will still exist and continue to seize our market."
"And you think impeachment and criticism can put him in jail?"
"Although he does not have much background, he married two wives, one is the granddaughter of Duke Dingguo, and the other is the granddaughter of Li Shilang."
When Cheng Boan heard this, he immediately sneered.
I'm afraid these people haven't even figured out their competitors yet. They really thought they could deal with Liu Jin easily. If it was really that easy, he wouldn't have called everyone together to discuss the matter.
What's more, even if Liu Jin is killed, what will happen?
The big owner of Changlu Saltworks was not Liu Jin, but Emperor Hongzhi, the prince, British Duke, Dingguogong, Chengguogong and other distinguished groups.
After hearing Cheng Bo'an's words, everyone immediately fell silent and began to think deeply. It sounded like things were really not that simple. There were not many things that could give Cheng Bo'an a headache.
"In addition, the severe drought in the three northern provinces last year has not been resolved today. All of us in the area have been affected. Now everyone is very cautious."
Then Cheng Bo'an mentioned the severe drought in the three northern provinces last year. Last time, salt merchants, Hui merchants, and some Jiangnan wealthy families joined forces to seize this opportunity to restrict the imperial power and seize the glass factory, the hen that laid the golden eggs.
Needless to say, the result was that the Hu family, which was headed by the Hu family, was originally the head of the Huizhou merchants. Now the entire Hu family has been confiscated and exterminated. The other large families involved have also suffered heavy losses, and it has also affected the entire Jiangnan Shilin, and a large number of people from the Jiangnan area have been implicated.
officials have been implicated, and the matter is not over yet.
At the beginning of the year, there was another wave of controversy, and several big shots from the Jiangnan area fell down one after another. Cheng Minzheng was one of them.
So now everyone is very careful and cautious, and they don't dare to touch Emperor Hongzhi's evil side at all. This is why many industries under Liu Jin's command are running smoothly.
Although there were many ministers in the court who wanted to kill Liu Jin and bring Emperor Hongzhi back to his previous state, no one dared to speak out.
The current Emperor Hongzhi is no longer the former Emperor Hongzhi. He knows how to use the power of factory guards and protect his own money. More importantly, he no longer blindly trusts and relies on these civil servants.
"Cheng Bo'an, just tell me, what should we do?"
"We are all grasshoppers in the same boat, with dead lips and cold teeth. Whoever dares to touch our salt, we will never end with them."
At this time, the person arranged by Cheng Boan spoke.
"Yes, tell me your method."
"This doesn't work, that doesn't work, what else can be done?"
Feng Xiang nodded and said.
"We must first make it clear that we are targeting the Changlu Saltworks. We will win only if the Changlu Saltworks closes down or becomes a government-run saltworks like our saltworks in the Jianghuai region."
"Also, we can no longer use the power of the DPRK and China. Jiangnan Shilin was severely damaged due to last year's incident, and the remaining people are protecting themselves. If something happens again, we will lose our right to speak in the DPRK. In the future
There will be no one to protect our interests."
Cheng Boan had a clear mind. In fact, he had been thinking about countermeasures before this.
Whether it was the method I mentioned or various other methods, he had thought about them all, but he had rejected them all one by one.
If we really talk about background, who has a bigger background than Changlu Saltworks?
These are all the properties of Emperor Hongzhi and the Crown Prince, plus the Xungui Group. Their background is incomparable. It is simply impossible to overthrow or close the Changlu Saltworks with the pens in the hands of literati.
The former Emperor Hongzhi was stupid, he only listened to the civil servants, and he believed very much in the civil servants. It was possible for the civil servants to tell Emperor Hongzhi not to compete with the people for profit, and he closed down many industries under his command.
But it's simply impossible now, so we can only think of other ways to bring down the Changlu Saltworks.
"So the method we can use now is to make the Changlu Saltworks unable to make money. As long as it cannot make money, the Changlu Saltworks will have to pay two million taels of silver to the court every year, and they will suffer losses and will naturally go bankrupt.
"
Cheng Bo'an proposed his own method. The key point was that the Changlu Salt Farm was a private salt farm and needed to pay a tax of two million taels of silver to the court every year.
Their salt is extracted directly from the salt field run by the imperial court through salt imports, and the cost is almost zero. This is why these salt merchants are so rich that they can rival the country.
Salt is cheap to buy, but it is very valuable when sold. Just by passing it, they can make a lot of money and eat a lot of food. As long as they can get into the field of salt, even an ordinary family can quickly
It is so profitable to become a wealthy family, and it is so profitable.
They have absolutely nothing to do with the expenses and costs of the government-run salt field. This is the salt field of the imperial court, and the court is responsible for everything in it. Anyway, as long as there is salt, the salt field will provide salt.
On the other hand, things are different here at Changlu Saltworks.
Changlu Salt Farm is a private salt farm. First of all, it has to pay a tax of two million taels of silver every year. Secondly, the daily expenses of the salt farm, hiring manpower, etc., all have to be included in the cost.
So Cheng Bo'an felt that he had easily grasped the lifeblood of Changlu Saltworks. The core was price. He could just start a price war with Changlu Saltworks so that Changlu Saltworks could not make money.
I have to say that Cheng Boan is still very good at analyzing problems and can get to the point directly.
"You mean a price war?"
Feng Xiang pondered for a while, thought for a while and said.
"Yes~ It's a price war. Don't they want to be cheap? Such high-quality salt only sells for less than fifty cents. It is simply a waste of money. Do you deserve to eat such good salt?"
Cheng Bo'an nodded, grabbed a handful of salt, and said without peeling it.
"Since it is cheaper, we will compete with them. If they sell it for thirty cents per catty, we will sell it for twenty cents per catty. If they sell it for twenty cents per catty, we will sell it for ten cents per catty."
"It doesn't take a year, it only takes a few months. We only need to make the Changlu Salt Farm unable to sell a pound of salt, and it will naturally go bankrupt."
"At that time, Liu Jin will not need our help at all. Emperor Hongzhi and the Xungui Group will not let him go. The total investment in all aspects of the Changlu Salt Farm is probably several million taels of silver. Such a huge investment
If he loses blood, Emperor Hongzhi will probably kill him directly."
When talking about this, Cheng Bo'an seemed very confident. When comparing the prices, they were not afraid of anyone. They just printed the salt seal and went to the salt field to pick up the salt. There was no cost involved.
Everyone listened carefully, and nodded slightly after listening. Cheng Boan's analysis was very accurate, and he also hit the key point of Changlu Saltworks.
"We don't need to follow suit, right?"
Zhu Benduan thought for a while and said that his market is mainly in the south.
"Currently, the salt from the Changlu Salt Factory is mainly sold in the northern region, so I only have a price war with them in the northern region. But I am also doing this for everyone's benefit. Once the Changlu Salt Factory has a firm foothold in the north, it will inevitably go south and seize the market.
It’s a market for all of us, so now that they haven’t gained a firm foothold and are only in the north, we’ll kill them at the lowest cost.”
Cheng Bo'an's meaning is actually very clear. He wants to engage in a price war with Changlu Saltworks. Changlu Saltworks will suffer losses, and he, Cheng Bo'an, will also suffer heavy losses. He does not want to bear this loss alone. He wants to bring everyone together and let everyone
salt merchants to share this loss.
Of course, he was flying a very good banner, for the benefit of everyone, for the benefit of all salt merchants, not for the benefit of Cheng Bo'an alone.
