At night, a carriage stopped in front of an official residence in Jiangdu City. Huangfu Wen got out of the carriage and walked into the door with a gloomy face. As soon as he entered the door, he ordered: "Let Zhang Dian come and see me!"
He walked into the inner hall, and a man in black hurriedly walked in, bowed and said: "See Huangfu's order!"
The man in black is called Zhang Dian, and he is the warrior leader sent by Tianyuan Pavilion to protect Huangfu Wen. Like Cangjian Pavilion, Tianyuan Pavilion also sent ten masters to protect Huangfu Wen's safety.
'Dang rang rang!'
Huangfu Wen put a pile of bronze medals in front of Zhang Dian, "See for yourself! They are all your Tianyuan Pavilion's brands. Did you send someone to assassinate Liu Yan last night?"
Zhang Dian was stunned, and he quickly shook his head, "Ten of us were in Jiangdu last night, and we did not go to assassinate Liu Yan."
"Then look at the sign!"
Zhang Dian picked up the bronze medal and immediately said: "Report to the Imperial Order, this bronze medal is a fake Tianyuan Pavilion waist medal!"
"How can I see it?"
"You can tell by just looking at two things. First, the waist medals of Tianyuan Pavilion are all made of bronze, not brass; second, Tianyuan Pavilion does not write the name, only the ranking. The humble position is Zhang Qi, a first-class warrior, instead of writing Zhang
Code."
After saying that, he took off his waist badge and handed it to Huangfu Wen. Huangfu Wen looked at it and found that it was indeed made of bronze. On the front were the three seal characters "Tian Yuan Pavilion", and on the back was the first-level warrior Zhang Qi, and it was also Yang.
Chinese characters, while the sign on the ground is carved with Chinese characters.
"Who did this?"
Huangfu felt annoyed. It was obvious that someone was framing him?
........
Liu Yan's official residence has not yet been repaired, so he temporarily lives in Yangzhou Post House. He lives in a courtyard with a large courtyard outside and a small courtyard inside. This courtyard structure is to protect important people.
Guo Song hurried back from Gaoyou County and showed his silver fish card at the door of the post house. A Cangjian Pavilion warrior went to report to Liu Yan and came back after a while: "Master Guo, please come in!"
Guo Song walked into the inner courtyard and saw Liu Yan pacing back and forth in the courtyard with his hands behind his hands. Guo Song smiled and asked, "What happened to Ambassador Liu today?"
Liu Yan sighed and said, "Huangfu Wen came to see me just now and left without saying anything. He said that Tianyuan Pavilion definitely did not assassinate me."
"He is right. It was indeed not the fault of Tianyuan Pavilion. Although Tianyuan Pavilion had a thousand reasons to assassinate the envoy, this time it was really not their fault."
"Do you have evidence?" Liu Yan turned around and asked.
Guo Song handed him two plaques, "This is the waist badge left by the assassin in the water and carved just a few days ago."
Liu Yan looked at the sign, nodded and asked, "If it's not Tianyuan Pavilion, then who is it?"
"There are many suspects, such as Cheng Zhenyuan's Tianqing Pavilion, and various forces that want to muddy the waters. It's hard to say who did it. It can only mean that your mission will become very complicated."
Liu Yan took two steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "How do you think Mr. Guo should break through?"
Guo Song pondered for a while and said: "Know yourself and the enemy, and you will be victorious in every battle. I think now we must first understand the situation before we know what we should do next?"
"It seems that we want to go together. We will go in two lines. I will go through the official line to investigate, and the young master will learn about the situation among the people. Then both parties will exchange the information they know. I think we can roughly figure out the situation."
Guo Song said happily: "I live in the Shanshui Inn in the east of the city. If anything happens, please send someone to the inn to find me."
.........
This time Liu Yan came to Jianghuai to compete with Huangfu Wen for the control of the salt tax. The control of the salt tax involved two parts, one was who the salt tax was allocated to, and the other was who held the salt tax.
Huangfu Wen also served as the Minister of Hubu. The Minister of Hubu himself had certain financial allocation rights. He could directly allocate the salt tax to the Shence Army as military expenses. Liu Yan also served as the Duzhi Envoy of the Tang Dynasty. Duzhishi was equivalent to the general manager of the accounting room.
He also has the power to regulate the salt tax.
In fact, as the annual budget of the Tang Dynasty, the military expenditures of the Shence Army must be there, but the key is that the military expenditures of the Tang Dynasty are too large, and the military expenditures of each army are insufficient. If the salt tax can be controlled in one's own hands,
This means that the source of Shence Army's military expenditure is in his own hands.
Of course, controlling the military expenditure of the Shence Army is only one aspect. More importantly, the annual salt tax revenue of the Tang Dynasty alone reaches 6 million yuan from the Jianghuai area alone, which has become the largest income of the imperial court. Being able to control the financial resources of the imperial court in one's own hands is of great significance to Yu Chaoen.
Significant.
Therefore, controlling the salt tax was the top priority that Liu Yan and Huangfu Wen fought for. If Huangfu Wen controlled the salt tax, the court would have to live according to Yu Chaoen's face. But if Liu Yan controlled the salt tax, the court would have complete control of the financial resources.
The salt tax in the Tang Dynasty implemented a sales commission system. Generally, salt and iron judges were sent to various salt sales sites. The salt farm owners and salt merchants were allowed to trade, and the salt officials increased the price by 110 copper per dou.
There are more than one hundred salt-selling farms in the world, of which there are forty-two in the Jianghuai area. Among the top ten salt farms in the world, there are seven in the Jianghuai area. Some of these salt farms are on the seaside, but due to the inconvenience of transportation by the seaside, most of them sell salt.
Markets are located near important cities along the river and on both sides of the Cao River.
Yangzhou is the largest salt and iron distribution center in Datang. There are five large-scale salt stores, and the annual sales account for 50% of Datang’s annual sales. In addition, the salt stores in the Jiangnan area are also under the jurisdiction of the Jianghuai Salt and Iron Department. Dozens of people
Salt and Iron Judges sit in various places.
Early the next morning, Guo Song went to the Yangtze River Wharf in Jiangyang County. There is a Jiangyang Salt Factory here, which is the largest salt store in the Tang Dynasty. Every year, up to 800,000 shi of salt are sold here. To understand all aspects of the situation, here
It's the best place to get information.
At noon, Guo Song took a carriage to the Jiangyue Restaurant, which is closest to the salt field. He rented the carriage for three hundred coins a day. He is now dressed as a typical scribe, wearing a plain scarf and light cyan.
He wears a fine linen robe, a leather belt around his waist, and a long sword on his waist. The scabbard is a little old. If his sword is not drawn out, it is just an ordinary sword worn by scholars.
He wanted to disguise himself as a businessman, but the coachman believed that he was a literary follower of a big businessman.
"Go and see those big salt merchants. None of them are wearing silk and satin, and have round bellies and thick necks. If the young master hadn't been wearing civilian clothes, I would have thought that the young master was a guard." These were the coachman's original words, and Guo Song could only acquiesce.
.
The carriage stopped and Guo Song entered the restaurant and found a seat by the window on the second floor. There were many guests in the lobby, but most of them seemed to be followers. It was estimated that the salt merchants were all sitting in the private rooms.
"Master, what would you like to eat?"
"Bring me three meat and two vegetables, your restaurant's signature dish, and a bottle of sake. What's the staple food?"
"The staple food is usually rice. If the guest wants to eat noodles, the shop can also cook a bowl of noodles and add more minced meat sauce."
"Then have a bowl of rice!"
"Okay! Master, sit down for a moment. The food and drinks will be here soon."
The bartender hurried away. At this time, a man about thirty years old with very thick lips came to sit next to Guo Song and smiled: "Young master seems to have come here alone!"
Guo Song put the sword on the table and said coldly: "Is there anything wrong with coming alone?"
"Young master, I misunderstood. I don't mean any harm. Let me introduce myself first. My surname is Li. People in Jiangyang County call me Li Dazui. I don't have any other skills. I just know a lot of people, and I understand both black and white. Generally speaking, I have
I can help solve any inconvenient or difficult matter, and the fees are fair and reasonable."
The other party's introduction made Guo Song's eyes light up. He was still worried about where to start the investigation! Wouldn't this just be delivered to his door?
Guo Song put away his sword, smiled slightly and asked, "Is there any underworld?"
"How come there is no underworld? It has existed since ancient times, right?"
Li Dazui lowered his voice and said: "This is the lingo of the salt field. The white way refers to the official way, the underworld refers to the private salt dealers, and there is the gray way, which refers to the salt gang."
Guo Song nodded, "What does the Salt Gang mean?"
"Salt Gang refers to laborers who transport salt. They basically come from the seven counties of Jianghuai: Gaoyou, Dantu, Xuyi, Qingliu, Liyang, Dangtu, and Yongyang. The workers in each county have their own territory and their own leader.
People often fought for business, and gradually seven salt gangs were formed."
"Brother Li, are there many people in this industry?"
"There are probably three or four around me! But I am the oldest one, and I still inherit my father's legacy. I have the widest connections. If I can't solve it, others can't even think about it."
Guo Song said happily: "I'll treat you to dinner! Let's talk."
"Master, are you going to take care of my business?" Li Dazui asked happily.
"I mainly want to understand some situations and write a detailed report to my employer."
"May I ask who you are working for, sir? If it's inconvenient, you don't have to tell me."
Guo Song chuckled, "That's okay, Chang'an Niu Jin, have you heard of it?"
Li Dazui nodded, "I've heard about it, but I heard that he is a famous cloth merchant. Could it be that he also plans to start a salt business?"
"If you can make money, why not do it?"
"That's true!"
Li Dazui said again: "I have to make it clear to you, sir. Our business is also very particular about information gathering. It is divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower. The upper level information involves official secrets. I also have to pay people to drink and get information and ask for a price."
It's relatively high, thirty guan, and there's usually no counter-offer. The medium information is information about private salt dealers, or the latest market conditions. For 20 guan, the low-level information is just basic information. If the young master buys the high-level information,
If I answer every question within three days, if you still ask after three days, I will charge you half the price. If you ask again after ten days, you will have to pay again. This is the rule, and I guarantee that the information I give is true."
Guo Song thought for a while and said: "What if I want to know the situation of the entire Jianghuai?"
Li Dazui smiled and said: "This situation is quite special, but I have also encountered it. In the Yangzhou area, I can ask my father to come forward. With his intervention, there is no news that I can't find out. But in the Jiangnan area, I have to find colleagues, but my father also has
With connections, you can find people to ask, but the price is a little more expensive, so be it! The price is one hundred dollars, and within three months I will help you find out anything you want to know."
Guo Song nodded, "Then we will make an agreement!"
Li Dazui was overjoyed and said with a smile on his face: "Then I will have a drink with you first."