Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 130 Huai Salt
Huai'an Mansion is a large mansion in the southern Zhili area, and its area is much larger than that of neighboring Xuzhou and Yangzhou.

The Transshipment Salt Envoy of the Two Huaihe Capitals has set up a salt office in Huai'an Prefecture, and is in charge of more than ten salt fields in Huaibei and the transshipment of Huai'an in Huai'an, Fengyang, Henan, Runing, and Nanyang. marketing.The department for promotion is set to promote one person from the fifth rank, one from the sixth rank, and one from the ninth rank.Each salt field under the Tiju Division has an ambassador and a deputy envoy of the Salt Division, both of whom are low-ranking officials.

In the yamen of the Nomination Department, the current nominee Yang Rui is chatting with fellow nominee Huang Can.Both of them were ranked in the four-year examination of Chongzhen, Yang Rui ranked second in the list, Huang Can only came to the bottom of the list, so the grade is two levels lower than Yang Rui.The two of them had nothing to do today, and when they were judging which of the Lianghuai salt merchants was the most luxurious, the official Chen Jixing hurried in.

After saluting, Chen Jixing said: "My lords, since last month, the number of salt merchants in Fengyang Prefecture and other places except Huai'an Prefecture has decreased sharply, and the number of salt buyers coming to Huaibei this month is even more I came here and found that the salt in the salt warehouse has piled up like a mountain, and the two-month salt class is only about ten thousand taels. If this continues, I am afraid that the transshipment master will not be able to explain it!"

Yang and Huang were shocked at the same time, Yang Rui sat upright and asked urgently: "What's the situation over there at the Yanhu? Do you dare to say that all the salt merchants bought private salt?"

Chen Jixing clasped his hands and said, "The lower officials have sent people to investigate, and the salt households in the salt farms are complaining too much, and no salt merchants have gone to the salt farms to buy salt!"

Huang Can said, "Do you know what the reason is?" He knew that Chen Jixing was a righteous man, had a wide range of contacts, had close relationships with many big salt merchants under his command, and even hooked up with some people in the world.

Chen Jixing replied: "To tell you the truth, my lord, I heard a little rumor that a large amount of new salt came from Shandong and dumped it at a low price to the salt merchants under our jurisdiction. But what is the reality, my lord I don't know much about it."

Yang Rui was furious and went up against the case: "Shandong salt?! Where does the salt come from in Shandong?! What is the envoy of Shandong doing? The marketing of salt belongs to the area assigned by the imperial court. What authority does the envoy of Shandong have to sell the salt?" Marketing outside the territory? No way! This officer will go to Yangzhou to meet with the transfer envoy! I must ask Mr. Hu to impeach the Shandong envoy! It’s really despicable and shameless!"

Huang Can doubtfully said: "Shandong envoy is not so unreasonable, right? Such a blatant violation of the imperial court's prohibition, the transshipment envoy Mr. Lu is afraid that he will not make an unwise order next time. Could it be that the people below colluded with the salt merchants, Is it impossible to ask the boss to do this illegal activity? Who gave them the courage to use such a large amount of private salt? Are you not afraid of losing your head after being banned?"

Chen Jixing hesitated to speak, and finally said: "What you two adults said is true. This time a large amount of smuggled salt entered our land, and it was not the envoys behind the envoys from Shandong. According to what the officials heard, the origin of this smuggled salt is The land is a certain place in Qingzhou Prefecture. The salt it produces is fine and white, which is much better than my Huai salt. Although the purchase cost is comparable to Huai salt, its quality is superior. And there seems to be a deep background behind it, many Salt merchants had no choice but to give up Huai salt and buy Shandong salt instead!"

"Background? What's the background?" Yang Rui and Yu Huang Can asked almost at the same time.The two are not interested in where the salt is produced in Shandong, but they are most concerned about the forces behind this smuggling of salt.

They have been in the transshipment envoys for many years, and they know that behind many salt merchants there are officials, vassal kings, and honorable figures.If I rashly send someone to seize this batch of smuggled salt without knowing who it is, it will bring unnecessary trouble to the transshipment envoy and myself.But in the past, no matter how deep the background was, they didn't dare to make such a big splash. At most, they just grabbed more land within the scope of marketing allowed by the imperial court and occupied larger counties.

First ask who is behind the scenes, and then find a middleman to pass the word to, so that the other party stops in time.If you don't listen again, send the inspection department to investigate and arrest, so that you can be targeted when you file a lawsuit in the future.

Even if the lawsuit reaches the imperial court, they will not lose, after all, they stand on the righteousness of the court.Although the Lianghuai Salt Farm has paid less and less salt to the imperial court in recent years, it is still a considerable income for the imperial court.In fact, the Shandong Transshipment Department has long since declined, and it has existed like a chicken rib in the eyes of the court.The use of salt in Shandong basically relies on the transit private salt from the Lianghuai Salt Fields, but in the name of the Shandong Transshipment Envoy.

Not only in Shandong, but with the decline of the Changlu Salt Field, most of the salt used in the Gyeonggi area is also from the Huaihe River, and finally it is marketed in the name of the Changlu Transshipment Commissioner.

After the imperial court abolished the Changlu Transshipment Envoy, the number of salt merchants who came to Lianghuai Salt Field to pick up their goods also decreased suddenly.However, the people from the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Department thought it was because there were too many stocks in the previous section and they hadn't sold out in time, so they didn't take it seriously.

This time, it is not only a problem of less purchases, but also a complete reversal.Shandong Salt Farm, which has been in decline for many years, suddenly began to sell salt at a low price to Lianghuai, which is second to none among the eight major salt transportation companies, which makes people feel a little weird.

Thinking of this, Yang Rui's face suddenly changed, and he turned to look at Huang Can, with surprise, fear and even anger in his eyes.

After Huang Can saw Yang Rui's eyes, he was a little puzzled at first, but suddenly there was a flash of lightning in his mind, and he understood the meaning in Yang Rui's eyes in an instant.

Beidi salt commercial purchase of Lianghuai salt is almost cut off!Shandong salt is dumped to South Zhili at a low price!

After the two are connected, the result is already obvious—the salt produced in a certain area in Qingzhou that Chen Jixing mentioned just now has begun to attack Lianghuai after occupying the Northland market!
When did Qingzhou start producing salt?How much salt is produced?Why did the Shandong envoy not reveal any news?The imperial court did not write a new salt field, so who opened the Qingzhou Salt Field?
Chen Jixing hadn't thought about this yet, seeing that the faces of the two Shangguans were not right, he thought they were the mastermind behind the fear of private salt in Shandong, that's why he seemed panicked.

So he opened his mouth and said in relief: "My lords, don't worry too much. The court will never sit idly by and ignore the dumping of private salt in Shandong. The officials thought that this matter should be reported to the transfer envoy, and Lord Hu will be asked to report to the court to make a decision." .”

Yang Rui said impatiently: "You said just now that the background of the cross-border smuggling is very deep, what is the background? Hurry up!"

Yang Rui decided to immediately report the matter to Hu Weicheng, the transshipment envoy.This matter cannot be let go. No matter who is behind the opponent, they must resolutely fight back. This kind of naked money grabbing has touched the bottom line of the transfer envoy and related people.

Since the opening of the Chinese law was implemented during the reign of Hongzhi, the Lianghuai Salt Fields have risen rapidly, expanding from the original few salt fields to more than [-] today. There is a lot of light on it.

These benefits come from the private sale of official salt.In addition to the northern border of the Ming Dynasty, the mainland has been peaceful for 200 years, and the population has increased rapidly.The original amount of salt quotations simply cannot provide enough salt for the huge population.

Some people saw the key point and did not ask the imperial court to ask for more salt, even though they knew that the salt supply was not enough, but the Ming people's salt consumption was not affected.The purpose of doing this is very simple. The transshipment made the top and bottom of the company connect with the salt merchants, directly buy a large amount of salt from the kitchen households, and then sell it all over the Ming Dynasty under the banner of official salt.

For more than a hundred years, Huaiyan has produced countless rich officials and merchants, and the transfer envoys from the chief officer to the inspection department have made a lot of money.A huge interest group has been formed around Huaiyan, and anyone who wants to touch their interests, no matter whether you are a vassal king or the chief assistant, will be backlashed by them.

Now someone dares to seize the market, how can they bear it?
Chen Jixing quickly replied: "According to what I know, it is said that the person behind the private salt is a noble person in the palace! I don't know who the official is!"

　Sorry for not updating yesterday.This chapter makes a transition first, leaving an introduction for the future rectification of Jiangnan officialdom with Huaiyan as a breakthrough.Next, we still need to suppress the thieves first. Only when the country is stable can we have the capital to change.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)