Prime Minister of Great Qin

Chapter 126 Falling into the water and sinking the ship! (seeking subscription)
While Yan Le was keeping a close eye on Xu Fu's movements, a restaurant in the east of the city suddenly became lively.

The major merchants in Guanzhong gathered together.

It's just that everyone's interest is not high, even if they speak, they seem very dull, as if they have great aggrievedness and resentment.

Feng Dong sat in the main seat, looked at the crowd below, and nodded secretly.

He knew exactly what was going on.

It has been a certain period of time since the implementation of 'Guan Shan Hai'.

The profits of each of their families last month have basically been counted out, but after the calculation and posting, everyone can't accept it. Even though they have known the result for a long time, after seeing the accounts that have shrunk by nearly [-]% to [-]%, they are still Feel extremely heartache.

That's money!

their money.

Although they were taxed high in the past, they owned salt ponds and mines, and they could secretly smuggle them, or increase the price of salt and ironware, or buy some low-quality goods, so that people could only continue to pay for them. To maintain daily production, but now, these methods are not feasible.

The only thing they can do is to do their own business.

But the profit of doing business is too meager.

Unbearably meager.

The gap between the profit of the past month and the profit of the current month is too great.

It's too big for them to accept.

After the dancers finished a dance, Feng Dong waved his hand to let the singers and dancers back down, and sent them some pots of wine.

When the surroundings became quiet, Feng Dong glanced at Feng Zhen, Feng Zhen understood immediately, bowed to the surroundings, then walked out of the house, and stood at the door to watch the wind.

At this time.

Feng Dong coughed lightly, and said, "Everyone should have finished counting last month's accounts."

"After a hard and busy month, you can count how much profit you have made."

"As far as I am concerned, the profit has shrunk by [-]%."

"If the family's daily expenses are excluded, last month's profit is only enough to meet the family's daily expenses."

"It's a shocking loss of profit."

"My Feng family is like this, and everyone's situation is not much better, right?"

Cheng Zheng and the others looked at each other, but they didn't say anything, they just showed their attitude on their faces.

Their situation is also not optimistic.

see.

Feng Dong chuckled lightly, and teased, "Looking at everyone's expressions, they must be similar to mine."

"I, Feng Dong, are crazy about how old you are, so I have the courage to invite you to attend, in order to discuss how to change the current disadvantage."

"I am a businessman, and what I earn is money."

"At present, the imperial court controls salt and iron, restricts the price, and even launched an official camp to compete with us, causing us to lose too much money. We are all big families, and the daily expenses of the clan are very high. If we continue to maintain the status quo, I’m afraid it won’t be long before I’m going to sit back and eat.”

"I think you are all aware of this."

Cheng Zheng frowned and said, "Feng Dong, what exactly do you want to say?"

Feng Dong stroked his beard, he was not in a hurry to clarify his thoughts, he just said: "Everyone may not know, the reason why we suffered such a catastrophe was actually caused by one person."

"This person is called Mr. Zhong."

"However, I haven't found out the specific name."

"During this time, I have sent many people to investigate, and even contacted the government, but there is no one with the surname Zhong in the city who can match him."

"This person was still wearing a mask at the time. I'm not sure whether this person was lying or concealing it on purpose, but no matter what, we must be inseparable from this person."

"You can pay more attention in the future."

Feng Dong reminded me.

heard.

Cheng Zheng and the others frowned.

They thought about it in their minds, but they really couldn't recall the memories related to Zhong, but they also secretly wrote down this information.

The most important thing for merchants is to be sensitive to information.

Feng Dong glanced calmly at everyone in the venue, and continued: "The information I have found about this 'Mr. Zhong' is limited, so I won't talk about it. Some time ago, there was a rumor in the city that there was a rebellion in Qidi. You may have heard of it."

Cheng Zheng and the others frowned even tighter.

They were full of doubts, why did Feng Dong bring this up?

What does the Qidi rebellion have to do with them?
And they don't think that Qidi's rebellion can succeed.

Now that the First Emperor is still alive, the strength of the Qin army has not diminished, and there are rebellions in a mere place, so what?

But they vaguely guessed Feng Dong's thoughts.

Qidi's commerce is developed, under the "official mountains and seas", the merchants, nobles, and tyrants in Qidi may not be able to accept it, so this turmoil broke out, but the rebellion in Qidi belongs to Qidi, and they are currently in Guanzhong. Under Daqin's nose, who would dare to make trouble?
They don't think they're alive yet.

It's just that they were also secretly thinking about what Feng Dong wanted to say.

Feng Dong still didn't express his thoughts, but said: "During this period, Qin Ting pardoned some merchants who were prisoners, and let them take over part of the salt and iron business, and now these people have completely become Qin Ting's minions. , They are always on guard against us, and I am afraid that you are also very dissatisfied with this."

"I used to be a world-renowned rich man."

"Although it's not as good as Feng Luo Yuqing, it's still a household name in Guanzhong."

"Qin Ting only gave me some empty rewards, and completely took away our foothold. Although I, Feng Dong, am old, I can't bear to scold. Qin Ting is too bullying."

"Cutting people's fortunes is like killing their parents!"

"Qin Ting is clearly trying to cut off the money for me and everyone else."

"Whether it is tolerable or unbearable."

"When I'm in Xianyang, I can't be like Qidi. I don't have that strength, let alone that need."

"I wait for nothing but money."

"At present, Qin Ting is bullying too much. We should fight hard and protect our original interests."

"What do you all think?"

Feng Dong closed his eyes slightly, and looked around coldly,

There was silence.

No one took the initiative to say anything.

They were indeed dissatisfied with what Qin Ting had done.

But they are more aware of their own strength, and they don't have that strength to fight against Qin Ting.

It's just that Feng Dong was right.

Qin Ting was a little too deceitful, and gave them some rewards lightly, but took away most of their profits, which did not give them a way to survive.

Everyone's eyes moved slightly.

But he didn't dare to answer this question.

It was quiet for a long time.

Cheng Zheng asked: "Brother Feng, what do you intend to do?"

Others also looked over.

Feng Dong smiled lightly, his cloudy eyes suddenly became sharper, and he said loudly: "The ship sinks into the water!"

As soon as the voice fell, people around immediately stood up and objected.

"impossible."

"Feng Dong, are you crazy?"

"Qin Ting doesn't care about the delivery. The ship that transports the goods belongs to our own. Let us destroy the ship ourselves. What kind of bullshit idea is this?!"

"I can't say yes."

Feng Dong glanced at Cao Bingsheng, and said calmly, "Brother Cao Bing, please be patient, I haven't finished yet."

"It is indeed my ship that sank."

"But how much cargo is transported in the ship, but only we know."

"What if it's an empty ship?"

"What do you mean?" Cao Bing raised his head vigorously.

A bold idea had already appeared in his mind.

"The imperial court doesn't care about transportation." Although Feng Dong is old, he is in good spirits at the moment. Facing the heavy case below, he sneered and said: "In the past, Guanzhong Yantie was controlled by a dozen of us, but now it is under the intervention of Qin Ting. , Some parts are no longer under our control, the Qin court is strong, and in time, it is bound to continue to encroach on our share, continue to maintain the status quo, and we will only be continuously eroded."

"thus."

A cold light flashed in Feng Dong's eyes, and he said sharply, "We must drive the other families out."

"Of course that's just one aspect of it."

"It's more about making money."

"Nowadays we are working hard in business, and most of the money is plundered by the government. I don't know what you think of this situation. I, Feng, can't accept it."

"The imperial court can take big heads, but they can't make us drink hogwash."

"It's winter now, and there are not many people buying salt and iron in Guizhou, and most of them will save money. I can take this opportunity to hide some of the salt and iron. After the spring, the local spring plowing begins, and those Guishou urgently need salt and iron. At that time, I will 'sink the ship' again, and then raise the price of salt and iron."

"On the other hand, the 'salt and iron' that fell into the water can continue to be secretly sold at high prices."

"There is a large amount of salt and iron that we provide in the market. Only a few other companies can't meet the demand at all."

"But spring plowing cannot rest, let alone delay the farming season."

"They can only buy at a high price!"

"One time and one time, the cost of the ship will come back. I don't have to pay more than half of the government's tax, and I will still have a lot of surplus."

"There are still three months before the beginning of spring. We can hoard a lot of salt and iron. When the spring plowing begins, we can sell them privately. It is enough to sell them for a month or two. However, the few minions of the imperial court can only continue to maintain high prices. , over a long period of time, it will not be able to operate at all.”

"They don't earn much money, and they don't have much savings."

"What are they using to waste with us?"

heard.

Everyone's hearts moved slightly.

But I dare not agree easily.

Cheng Zheng said: "Brother Feng, I'm afraid you forgot that the court is cracking down on smuggling."

"I'm waiting to hoard salt and iron for three months. The amount is huge. If I want to sell it quietly, I can't do it at all."

Feng Dong smiled lightly, and calmly replied: "I know it well."

"So our salt and iron cannot be sold in Guanzhong, but to Guandong. The imperial court can manage Guanzhong, but not Guandong. The officials in Guandong will not strictly investigate smuggling. Even if they are found, at most they will give these officials a sum of money. , but relative to paying more than half of the tax, it is still earned.”

"The more important thing is that there will be a shortage of salt and iron in Guanzhong."

"If there is a shortage of salt and iron in Guanzhong, then the imperial court is asking us."

"After all, the share of salt and iron is in our hands."

"Of course we can bargain with the government."

"What if the government forcibly takes away my share?" Cao Bingsheng asked.

Feng Dong nodded slightly, and said: "It is indeed possible, but even if the other companies are willing to provide ships, there is no way for the salt and iron to be produced immediately. We account for more than [-]% of Guanzhong's salt and iron. This share is not short-term. It can be made up."

"If the imperial court forcibly seizes our share, we can ban the sale of the remaining salt and iron."

"Exacerbating the lack of salt and iron in Guanzhong."

"Unless the government really takes it by force, the government will have to bow to us, either to give us benefits, or to sit back and watch the people of Guanzhong have nothing to do with their lives."

"If the government insists on taking it by force, we are the ones robbing today, and it may not be other merchants tomorrow."

"Once Qin Ting does this, the impact on the world will be too bad, and the Kanto will only get worse. Without merchants to deliver goods, the world will only become more corrupt."

"The government dare not do this."

Cao Bingsheng nodded slightly, and he continued: "Without ships, how can we smuggle out the salt and iron?"

"The salt and iron in our hands is not a small number."

Feng Dong said coldly: "Big boats are not good, so small boats and fishing boats are the only options."

"I want to ship it out, is there any other way?"

There was a burst of laughter all around.

Sudden.

Cheng Zheng suddenly said: "What if it is discovered by the court?"

The laughter all around stopped abruptly.

Feng Dong's eyes turned cold, he smiled coldly, and said: "Then we can only sweep the snow in front of the door, but if you can't even do this little concealment for a whole month, then don't implicate others, but think big The scale of the shipwreck, the ships we are waiting for should sail together, so as to block the mouth of the government."

"My thoughts are done."

"How do you guys feel?"

Cheng Zheng and the others frowned, but did not speak immediately.

What Feng Dong said was indeed very tempting.

But the stakes are also high.

Not to mention the high cost of sinking the ship, transporting a large amount of salt and iron, concealing people's eyes and ears, and the final sale, etc., all of which need to be carefully arranged. A slight mistake will easily attract the anger of the court. It's not the loss of 01:30 points, but the whole family.

Salt is easy to say.

But iron is different. Pig iron is transported from the mine. If you want to make it into a farm tool, you need to go through some forging and Wule work name.

But if it is made into a finished product, something happens when it is shipped to various places
And don't rush to send out these salt and iron, just keep them in your hands, the things are real, as long as they delay long enough, they will have enough time to deal with them, they have this time, and they have the energy to deal with it. do it.

more importantly.

There are still a few months until spring plowing.

During this period of time, they have made too many arrangements, and they have enough time to prepare when they go up to the government and go down to the localities.

Cheng Zheng and the others' eyes flickered.

After a while of weighing, greed for money still defeated reason.

They really couldn't stand Qin Ting's flesh cutting.

long silence.

Finally, Cheng Zheng and others said in a low voice: "Brother Feng is thoughtful, Qin Ting is indeed deceiving people too much."

"My merchant is not so easy to deceive."

As everyone expressed their views one after another.

The somewhat depressed lobby burst into bursts of laughter in an instant.

Soon.

Cups are already being poured in the lobby.

The end is harmony.

(End of this chapter)