Yangzhou Xicheng, Dongguan Street.

A tall blue brick tower stands beside the road.

The city tower is divided into three floors. The upper two floors are pavilion-style watchtowers, which can be viewed from a high position. There is an arched door below, which is the passage in and out. Under the arched door, there is a constant flow of pedestrians.

A smooth stone road leads straight into the distance. There are neatly arranged shops on both sides of the street. The neat and messy blue brick walls, combined with the dark tile roofs, give off a strong sense of simplicity.

A dark door appeared in the array of blue bricks on the street, with a big red wooden sign hanging on the lintel that read "Ge Yuan".

Geyuan is one of the famous gardens in Yangzhou. It was built by a salt merchant and received guests from all over the world. It is said that its name comes from half of the word "bamboo". There are green bamboos everywhere in the garden. There are stacked stones among the green bamboos, made of bamboo shoots.

, rockeries made of lake stones, yellow stones, Xuan stones, etc. and green bamboos complement each other interestingly.

In a side hall in the garden, purple smoke hangs from the double eaves.

A bronze turtle in the hall spits out streams of incense from its mouth, which is refreshing.

Dozens of richly dressed men, some with white beards and hair, or some in middle age, were sitting in the hall.

Although they are of different ages, they all look quite powerful.

As the saying goes: "Yangzhou salt merchants are the most luxurious in the world, and those with less than one million are called small merchants."

A millionaire is still a "small businessman", and the dozens of people doing it are all well-known salt merchants in the Huaihe River area. The total assets of these people combined are no less than 100 million yuan.

The person sitting on the main seat in the middle is the Wu family, one of the eight largest salt merchants in Yangzhou today.

The Wu family has been a businessman for generations. Since Taizu, they have always presented money to the court. Among the wealthy businessmen entertained by the Daqian Dynasty, there was the old man of the Wu family, who had made great contributions to the country.

Therefore, since the founding of the Daqian Dynasty nearly a hundred years ago, Yangzhou salt merchants have changed several times, but only the Wu family has remained standing.

The contemporary head of the Wu family is named Wu Hai, who is about forty years old and has a gentle and elegant image.

No one in the hall spoke at this moment, and everyone's eyes were fixed on Wu Hai's face either openly or covertly, as if they were waiting for what he would come up with.

Wu Hai took his time and sipped his tea.

Others didn't dare to say anything, so they could only be patient.

A man from the Qian family, who is also one of the eight largest salt merchants in Yangzhou, said: "Master Wu, please make up your mind. Should we donate this money or not?"

The eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou are headed by the Wu family. The Qian family has a close relationship with the Wu family. The Qian family's legitimate daughter married into the Wu family as an in-law. Apart from this relationship, the Qian family has always regarded the Wu family as the leader.

I remember when Lin Ruhai just took office to rectify the salt affairs and rectified many people, it was with the help of the Wu family that the Qian family rose to power and became one of the new eight major salt merchants.

Wu Hai put down the tea cup and said calmly: "Master Qian, don't be impatient. The Yellow River is flooded and victims are everywhere. It's for the imperial court's plan. Is this silver still necessary to donate?"

The Wu family was able to survive precisely because it was in the reach of the imperial court and received praise from the emperor, while others had to give it a little less favor.

Everyone was stunned when they heard this. Since they wanted to donate money, why did they donate thousands of taels of silver to cover the table? Wouldn't it be easier to donate all at once...

"Master Wu, what do you mean by this? You might as well say it bluntly." A gray-haired old man said with a solemn expression.

This man is also one of the eight major salt merchants, named Sun Ming.

Wu Hai groaned and said to everyone: "We are all businessmen, and when we are doing business, we cannot just donate money in vain."

Everyone was silent after hearing this, but Wu Hai didn't care and continued: "As for the money... we donate it, but we can't donate it in vain. The money we donate will naturally have to be earned back. I believe the court will not do it either." So inhumane.

This Yan Yin should also be changed."

Speaking of this, Wu Hai stopped. Sun Ming frowned and wanted to change Yan Yin. Based on his understanding of Wu Hai, he must not be referring to quantity. After thinking about the connection, Sun Ming tried to say: "Wu Hai Could it be that the head of the family meant "adding leads"?"

A salt guide is a certificate issued by a salt road. Only with this certificate can it be considered as official salt. If not, it is considered as illegal salt trafficking. The crime is very serious and may even implicate family members.

Salt is not measured by kilograms, but by "yin".

One Yin of Daqian Dynasty weighs about three hundred and sixty kilograms. This "adding Yin" means adding the weight of one Yin. For example, one Yin today weighs three hundred and sixty kilograms, or it can be increased to three hundred and eighty kilograms. This is called "Add quotation".

According to the Qian dynasty's policy of "giving money to merchants and subsidizing tax", the added salt "is not within the original cost, so that you can always benefit from it." This is white prostitution.

At the beginning of the founding of the Qian Dynasty, the amount of salt prescribed was 280 kilograms per pound.

However, during the reign of the Supreme Emperor, he made several tours to the south. Every time he passed through the south of the Yangtze River, he would add ten kilograms to each drum, ranging from twenty kilograms, to the current three hundred and sixty kilograms per drum.

This not only saves the salt merchants a lot of costs and creates a lot of "unclassified salt", but also increases the exploitation of porters, because salt field porters count the quantity per bin instead of weight.

After the Supreme Emperor's Zen throne and nine years since Emperor Chongming ascended the throne, the amount of salt has not changed, but the amount has increased a lot. After all, "the country is peaceful and the people are safe", the population of the people has naturally increased a lot, and the amount of salt required has naturally increased.

Wu Hai nodded and said: "Master Sun is still sensible."

After saying this, Wu Hai turned his head and said to everyone: "What do you think?"

Everyone nodded after hearing this. This is a good idea. This way, it can make you feel good in the heart of the Holy Emperor without losing any money. Why not do it.

What's more, as time goes by, not only can the money be recovered, but you can also make a fortune.

At this time, a salt merchant at the back of the hall said: "The Wu family master's idea is naturally brilliant, but does this mean that those Shanxi merchants, Guangdong merchants, and Lu merchants will take advantage of it for nothing?"

Naturally, this "additional introduction" matter cannot be limited to Jianghuai. Other areas are also treated equally. This money was provided by their Jianghuai salt merchants, but others benefited. How can I feel balanced in my heart?

Wu Hai sneered and said: "Of course we can't let others get benefits for nothing. Of course, we should talk to the imperial envoy carefully about this "additional introduction". Naturally, the money paid by us people from Lianghuai can only be counted in Lianghuai." , anyway, we and them are at loggerheads, and they can’t hinder us.”

After hearing this, everyone suddenly realized that the Qian Dynasty stipulated that the salt should be sold in the area where it was obtained, and it could never cross regions. For example, for the salt merchants in the hall, the salt was collected from the Yanzheng Yamen, which has the history of salt transportation in the Huaihe River. Of course, it can only be sold in the Lianghuai area.

As long as we make it clear to the imperial envoy, it won't be a problem. Jianghuai donated money and His Majesty showed his sympathy. If this spreads out, it will be a good talk.

Everyone looked at each other and agreed.

"Master Wu, what if the court doesn't allow it?"

Someone in the hall asked inappropriately. After all, this matter still depends on the will of the court. Judging from Emperor Chongming's attitude of not increasing his salary since he ascended the throne, he is afraid that he will not agree...

Wu Hai replied nonchalantly: "It doesn't matter. If you are not allowed, we will just donate some money as a token. The government is in a tight situation and the court cannot force us to donate money!"

What's more, we donate money every year to honor the Emperor, who can talk too much about us?"

In fact, not only merchants from Yangzhou, but also merchants from other regions donated a lot of money to the court every year. Some of them were filial to Emperor Ming, and more were filial to the Emperor. After all, the Emperor's "consultant" was more practical, and even gave money to the emperor.

Dignitaries and dignitaries in the capital gave gifts to seek "favor".

When everyone heard this, they thought it was reasonable. They were just pretending to be poor anyway.

As for pledging donations, it’s not like they didn’t donate, they can’t force others to donate in full.
Chapter completed!