Chapter 328 The benefits of the salt tax move people's hearts
More than a dozen figures were sitting in the hall, talking to each other and laughing. No matter how you look at it, the atmosphere is extremely harmonious and relaxed.
The leaders, Xu Wenchang and Zhao Anmin, sat opposite each other, the smiles on their faces unable to be concealed.
At this time, a person suddenly stood up and raised his glass to Xu Wenchang and said: "Brother Xu, I would like to propose a toast to you. This time our Sitong Guild Hall was able to catch up with the mighty General, a popular man in front of the emperor. Brother Xu can be said to have taken the greatest credit."
ah."
Everyone reacted upon hearing this, their faces full of recognition, and they all raised their glasses to Xu Wenchang.
Xu Wenchang laughed loudly, stood up and raised his glass to the crowd and said: "You are so polite. This is what Xu should do, so how can I take credit for it?"
The man just now smiled and said: "Brother Xu is being too modest. If it weren't for Brother Xu's suggestion and went to see the general in person, I wouldn't have been able to catch up with the general so smoothly.
, so Brother Xu is definitely indispensable for our Sitong Guild Hall to be able to catch up with this general."
Xu Wenchang drank the wine in the cup with a smile and said: "Everyone, from now on, we will have Taifu Li, the famous person in front of the emperor, to take care of us, so we can sit back and relax! I don't know that thanks to this man, we, the two Huai salt merchants, can still enter
The land of Sichuan and Shu, compete with those in the land of Sichuan and Shu."
Although the Lianghuai salt merchants monopolized almost half of the salt market in the Ming Dynasty, they also had competitors, especially the Sichuan-Sichuan salt merchants who were entrenched in Sichuan and Sichuan.
The land of Sichuan and Shu has the advantage of wells and salt. It has been developed and matured for thousands of years, and it has its own set of rules. Naturally, it is not that simple for foreign forces to compete with it in the land of Sichuan and Shu.
The salt merchants in Sichuan and Shu are naturally the biggest competitors of the Lianghuai salt merchants. Although the Lianghuai salt merchants are the most powerful, there is nothing they can do against the salt lords in Sichuan and Shu.
Now that the Lianghuai salt merchants felt that they had hooked up with Li Huan, their first thought was naturally how to use Li Huan's power to expand their own power.
At this moment, someone in the crowd coughed lightly and said, "Everyone, I think it's time to change the leader of our Sitong Guild Hall."
As soon as the man spoke, the sound of needles could be heard in the whole hall. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the man who spoke.
Han Zheng had a solemn look on his face and looked very calm under the gaze of everyone.
As if he noticed that everyone was looking at him, Han Zheng said slowly: "Everyone, the Chen family has been involved in a conspiracy. It can be said that it cannot protect itself. Naturally, it is not qualified to be the leader of our Sitong Chamber of Commerce and lead everyone.
, so we must choose another person to lead our Sitong Chamber of Commerce."
The Sitong Chamber of Commerce is actually a chamber of commerce organization formed by the Lianghuai Salt Merchants to internally distribute the huge profits of the Lianghuai Salt Industry. Previously, the Chen family had the final say in the Sitong Chamber of Commerce because of the existence of Chen Wenliang, and the Chen family was also in the Sitong Chamber of Commerce.
The head of the meeting.
But as Han Zheng said, the Chen family has been labeled as treason, and naturally they were abandoned by the Lianghuai salt merchants. But without the Chen family, they need to choose one to be the leader of the entire Lianghuai salt merchants.
The person at the helm.
One after another, their eyes subconsciously looked at Xu Wenchang and Zhao Anmin who were sitting there.
Originally, among the Lianghuai salt merchants, the Chen family was the most powerful, and the Xu family and the Zhao family were second only to the Chen family in terms of strength. It could even be said that the three families stood on a tripod.
Now that the Chen family is doomed, the people at the helm of these two Huai salt merchants will naturally come from the Xu family and the Zhao family.
So when Han Zheng finished speaking, everyone present turned their attention to Xu Wenchang and Zhao Anmin.
These two people were the people who spoke to the Xu family and the Zhao family, and their attitudes represented the opinions of the two major salt merchant families.
Xu Wenchang glanced at Han Zheng, then his eyes fell on Zhao Anmin, with a smile on his lips and said: "Brother Anmin, what do you think of what Han Zheng said?"
Zhao Anmin chuckled lightly and said, "What Han Zheng said is also what I, Mr. Zhao, meant."
Xu Wenchang nodded slightly and said: "I don't know what Brother Anmin thinks, which one of you and me is better for this meeting?"
For a moment, there was silence in the hall, and everyone's attention was focused on the two of them.
Zhao Anmin laughed, looked at Xu Wenchang with a serious expression, stood up slowly, then bowed his hands to Xu Wenchang and said: "My Zhao family would like to honor Xu as the head of the Sitong Guild Hall."
As soon as Zhao Anmin said this, many people present showed astonishment.
I originally thought that the Xu family and the Zhao family would definitely have a dispute over the position of the leader. After all, everyone knew that no matter which one of the two families was able to take charge of the Sitong Guild Hall, it would become the nominal helm of the Lianghuai Salt Merchant Group.
If you are a person, then your family's power will skyrocket, and massive benefits will follow.
It can be said that the interests involved will be worth tens of millions of gold and silver. With such a huge amount of interests, under normal circumstances, if the two families fight, they will probably lose their heads.
But what surprised everyone was that the Zhao family actually gave up on their own initiative without any intention of fighting.
Zhao's attitude not only surprised everyone, but also Xu Wenchang showed a bit of surprise.
After being slightly stunned, Xu Wenchang looked at Zhao Anmin seriously and said slowly: "Does what Brother Anmin said really represent the meaning of the Zhao family?"
This kind of matter is of great importance. It is inevitable that Xu Wenchang did not pay attention to it, so he asked this question.
Zhao Anmin said with a smile: "It is a matter of great importance. This is the resolution of the Zhao clan's elders' meeting. I, the Zhao clan, would like to honor the Xu clan as the head of the Sitong guild hall."
Xu Wenchang took a deep breath, and the joy on his face could not help but ripple, and he laughed loudly and said: "In this case, I, Mrs. Xu, will do my duty. From now on, I, Mrs. Xu, will definitely fulfill my responsibility as the leader of the meeting.
We will do our best to lead everyone to seek more benefits.”
Leopard Room, Grand Campus
The emperor, dressed in fine attire, was riding a horse and galloping in the main campus. He could only see Qiu Ju, Gao Feng and other eunuchs who were serving him in the distance, all with worried expressions on their faces.
Even they all knew that the emperor was not bad at martial arts, and his riding skills were much better than those of ordinary cavalry, but who made Zhu Houzhao the supreme emperor?
Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the unexpected. But if the emperor has such an accident while galloping, they will not be able to bear such responsibility.
Compared with the worries of Gao Feng, Qiu Ju and others, Li Huan looked at the Emperor galloping in the school field with a bit of a smile on his face.
Gao Feng, who was standing with Li Huan, saw Li Huan's relaxed look and couldn't help but smiled bitterly at Li Huan and said: "Brother Li, why don't you advise your majesty? If something goes wrong, we will take care of it."
I’m sorry!”
Qiu Ju also looked at Li Huan with a resentful look.
Li Huan looked at the expressions of these people and shook his head slightly and said: "You are too underestimated, His Majesty. Not to mention other things, His Majesty's strength alone, even if he really falls from the horse, will not hurt His Majesty at all."
While he was talking, he saw the emperor galloping on horseback in the distance. Suddenly he stood on his horse, and at the same time he bent his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot the arrow smoothly.
Such a difficult move only startled Qiu Ju, Gao Feng and others. Their expressions changed drastically, and they subconsciously wanted to rush forward.
The emperor, who turned over and landed on his horse again, let out a hearty laugh and galloped towards them on horseback.
As they approached, Zhu Houzhao reined in the reins violently, and the horse under him suddenly neighed and stopped steadily a few feet in front of Li Huan and the others.
Turning over and dismounting, Zhu Houzhao threw the reins to Qiu Ju who was trotting forward, and said to Li Huan with a smile on his face: "Li Qing, what do you think of my riding skills? Can I go into battle to kill the enemy?"
Li Huan smiled and said: "Your Majesty's equestrian skills are rare even among Fang's troops. If he goes into battle to kill the enemy, he will be able to kill the general and seize the flag, making him invincible!"
Hearing what Li Huan said, the smile on Zhu Houzhao's face became even brighter. He immediately laughed at Qiu Ju, Gao Feng and others beside him and said, "Did you hear that? Li Qing praised me for my superb riding skills."
Gao Feng, Qiu Ju and the others, who had a resentful look on their faces, could only agree, but the eyes they looked at Li Huan became more and more resentful.
They originally wanted Li Huan to persuade the emperor, but the result was not good. Li Huan not only had no intention of admonishing, but instead tried to encourage the emperor.
Zhu Houzhao took the towel from the waiter and wiped his sweat. He looked at Li Huan and said, "Li Qing is invited here today because of the memorial that Li Qing submitted a few days ago."
As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Huan with a solemn expression and said: "The Lianghuai salt merchants have close ties with many important officials in the court. They are even more intricately connected in the Lianghuai area and have great influence. Li Qing feels that it is time to pay attention to the Lianghuai salt merchants."
Has Shang taken action?"
As the king of a country, it is impossible for Zhu Houzhao to be unaware of the existence of the Lianghuai Salt Merchants Group. In the past, he was not aware of the benefits of the salt industry. After all, the tax revenue collected by the Ming Dynasty from the salt industry was negligible over the years. As the emperor, he had to deal with everything.
It is impossible to notice the problem of salt tax.
But not long ago, Li Huan presented a memorial before the emperor's imperial edict, directly revealing to the emperor the huge profits that the salt merchant group had captured.
A mere salt merchant group earns tens of millions of dollars in profits from the salt industry alone every year. However, the annual salt tax collected by the imperial court does not even amount to a dime of the profits from the salt industry. How could Zhu Houzhao, the leader of the country, not do this?
shock.
It can be said that Zhu Houzhao's first reaction was to immediately send people to destroy the salt merchant group and completely control such huge interests in the hands of the court.
But Zhu Houzhao quickly calmed down. The salt merchant group was really intricately connected. Not to mention the many officials above the court, there were hundreds of thousands of people involved at the local level alone.
The number of ordinary people engaged in the salt industry under the control of the salt merchant group, not to mention other things, there are hundreds of thousands of salt households who make table salt.
If something happens here, it might be a big turmoil.
According to Zhu Houzhao's idea, the benefits of the salt tax should be discussed in the long term and planned slowly. However, just two days ago, Li Huan presented a memorial, suggesting that the benefits of the salt tax should be controlled by the imperial court with thunderous momentum.
hand.
It has to be said that Li Huan's memorial directly touched Zhu Houzhao's heart. According to Zhu Houzhao's original intention, he naturally wanted to take the benefits of the salt tax into the hands of the court immediately.
After all, according to what Li Huan said, if the imperial court could completely control the benefits of the salt tax, then the imperial court's tax revenue could at least double. By then, with enough tax money in hand, what would he, the emperor, want to do?
There is also enough confidence.
It's just that Zhu Houzhao also knew that it was not easy to take action against the Salt Merchant Group, so he specially summoned Li Huan to the Baofang location to inquire.
At this time, under Zhu Houzhao's signal, all the servants serving around him had withdrawn. Only Gao Feng and Qiu Chu were waiting beside him.
Li Huan said with a solemn expression: "I and Lianghuai Salt Merchants made false promises to temporarily confuse the other party. At the same time, I sent Jin Yiwei southward to use the opportunity of locking up the Chen family to find out the details of Lianghuai Salt Merchants. I will completely control the details of Lianghuai Salt Merchants."
After that, they will be destroyed with thunderous force and the profits from the salt tax will be returned to the imperial court."
As he spoke, Li Huan looked at Zhu Houzhao and said with a smile: "I know the stakes, so I will not act rashly. At least I will not attack the Lianghuai salt merchants until Governor Wang Yangming leads his troops back to the capital."
Zhu Houzhao nodded slightly when he heard the words. He thought Li Huan was going to attack the Salt Merchant Group immediately. But now that he heard what Li Huan said, it turned out that Li Huan just informed him and sent the Jin Yiwei to make some preliminary preparations.
Although he felt a little disappointed, Zhu Houzhao also breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Li Huan's move was the real sound strategy.
As Li Huan said, as long as Wang Yangming returns to Beijing with his 100,000 elite troops and has hundreds of thousands of elite troops in hand, and then takes action against the Salt Merchant Group, no matter how the Salt Merchant Group resists, nothing will happen in the local area.
The court can deal with chaos calmly.
Zhu Houzhao picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and said with a smile: "I can rest assured about Li Qing's actions. If Jinyiwei is short of manpower, I will ask Ma Yongcheng to mobilize the elites of the East Factory to assist."
Li Huan smiled and said: "I have ordered Jin Yiwei to mobilize the best troops to go south. With Chen Wenliang as the banner, there is no need to worry about arousing the suspicion of those people. If the people from Dongchang go south, it will be too conspicuous, and it may cause bad things.
.”
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "Those salt lords are all desperadoes. The people chosen by Ai Qing must be careful. If those people are alarmed, their lives may be in danger."
Li Huan looked straight and said: "Your Majesty is kind and kind. If all the Jin Yi Guards know how much your Majesty cares for you, they will feel it in their hearts and swear to die in repayment!"
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "If the problem of the two Huai salt merchants can be solved this time, I will not hesitate to reward you afterwards."
Li Huan hurriedly said: "On behalf of the royal guards, I would like to thank Your Majesty!"
While the monarch and his ministers were talking, a figure walked towards Ma Yongcheng and presented a secret letter to Ma Yongcheng.
Admiral Ma Yongcheng is the governor of Dongchang and is the owner of Dongchang. Needless to say, the information conveyed by that person should have been collected by Dongchang.
Ma Yongcheng opened the secret letter and looked at it. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He took a deep breath and walked quickly towards the emperor and Li Huan with the secret letter.