Prime Minister of Great Qin

Chapter 138 The Wind Blows Xianyang! (seeking subscription)
late december.

It has been more than a month since the thorough investigation in Xianyang.

The first emperor's wrath caused a great shock to the government and the public, and everyone in the court was in danger. After a thorough investigation, hundreds of officials were arrested in various government offices in Xianyang, and more than a dozen officials were dismissed or abolished.

Right now, the thorough investigation in Xianyang is coming to an end.

Xianyang in the evening is very quiet.

In a brightly lit mansion, there are seven or eight men in brocade clothes gathered, some with white hair and beards, some calm and majestic, and some middle-aged men with a calm face, but their eyes show gloomyness from time to time.

The crowd gathered together.

The leader is still Feng Dong.

After all the invited people arrived, Feng Dong coughed lightly, attracted everyone's attention, and said, "A lot of things have happened in Xianyang during this period. Officials in various government offices have been investigated and arrested, and even alchemists have their families ransacked. , but the chaos of the major government offices gave us a chance to gain insight into the inside story."

After Feng Dong's words fell, everyone's eyes flickered.

Feng Dong glanced at the crowd, with a look of coldness in his eyes, and said: "Everyone is a businessman, and almost everyone knows the secret methods. If I, Feng, can find out, you must have heard about it."

"More than a month ago, the government was vigorously encouraging people in the salt pond and the mine to increase the production of salt and pig iron."

"Currently, in the major salt ponds and mines in Guanzhong, a lot of salt and pig iron have been hoarded. The government has not given these salt and pig iron to us for sale. I am afraid it is deliberately guarding against bad things from us."

"We have to be cautious."

Cheng Zheng said expressionlessly, "Brother Feng, do you think the court has noticed something?"

After Cheng Zheng's words fell, the expressions of the others sank.

Feng Dong smiled and said: "Probably not. If the government really noticed it, do you think we can still sit here today? The government's thorough investigation this time has sent several censors to prison. With Qin Ting's cruelty , how can you put me and other merchants in your eyes?"

"But no matter what the imperial court thinks, we must be cautious during this time."

"It must not be easily detected by the government."

"Furthermore."

"Whether the government is targeting us or not, this move has already seriously affected our plan. This time we invite you here to re-discuss what we planned at the beginning, and whether we should continue to do it."

"Is this ship still sinking?!"

Be quiet.

Everyone's eyes flickered, but they didn't say a word.

a long time.

There was a hint of displeasure in Feng Dong's eyes, but he still suppressed his temper and said, "I, Feng Dong, are not talented, so let me first express my own opinion. I think we should continue to sink."

"Brother Feng, can you explain the reason?" Cao Bingsheng helped Fuxu.

Feng Dong said: "The reason is very simple."

"money!"

"Since the merchant Wang Hai started trading commodities, the pursuit of merchants like us has been to pursue profit. Now the Qin court is tyrannical, not only collecting high commercial taxes, but also forcibly occupying the source of salt and iron that we rely on for our livelihood. Now we Running around, they can barely maintain the family's livelihood."

"But is it a long-term solution?"

"With our strength, we can't compete with Qin Ting, but we can win more benefits."

"Such as tax cuts, independent pricing, etc."

"However, you have all seen what Qin Ting did. After occupying our family property, he didn't really trust us, and he still had other schemes secretly. If it wasn't for this big move by the government, these things would be exposed. , otherwise we will be kept in the dark.”

"Qin Ting is not benevolent, so don't blame us for being unrighteous."

"If we continue to endure, sooner or later, we will be wiped out by the Qin court. Let alone bargaining with the court, I am afraid that even doing business will be a problem, and we are doomed to rely on the government."

"You can bear it, but I can't bear it."

"Now the amount of salt and iron hoarded by the government is not enough to maintain the entire Guanzhong operation, and this will be our last chance. Once we seize this precious opportunity, we will be able to force the imperial court to retreat, and then seek more for ourselves. Many benefits."

"in addition."

"The government is making a big move."

"However, the Yantie officials got a blessing in disguise after the last time. This time, they were not affected too much. I believe that many Yantie officials in Guanzhong have a lot of connections with you secretly. As long as we are agile, we may not be able to The court found out the problem."

"Everyone should also think clearly."

"Having hoarded salt and iron for the whole winter, this is not a small amount."

"Tens of thousands of pig iron, tens of thousands of salt."

"Without the government's business tax, how much profit can we make privately?"

"Furthermore."

"After the ship sinks, we can also use our own loss as an excuse to ask the government to give us profits, allow us to reduce business taxes, or allow us to set prices independently. No matter which one succeeds, our profit margins will be greatly improved. .”

"Accumulated over a long period of time, it is a massive amount."

"More importantly."

"Once there is a problem with the supply of salt and iron, the government will definitely take out the excess salt and iron. At that time, I can get more than [-]% of the salt and iron according to the distribution share given by the government at that time. In this way, the salt and iron in Guanzhong is still under control. In our hands."

Cheng Zheng didn't take it seriously, and said: "Brother Feng, you forgot that our 'ship' was destroyed at that time, how could the government give us those salt and iron again?"

Feng Dong nodded and said with a sneer, "That's the case."

"But if the government doesn't give us the excess salt and iron as agreed, does that mean we can take the opportunity to ask for some benefits?"

"Otherwise we will have enough reasons to ban the sale of the remaining salt and iron in the past."

"It's a way to express your dissatisfaction."

"What if the government asks for it by force?" Cao Bingsheng asked with cold eyes while supporting Fuxu.

Feng Dong said indifferently: "The Qin court attaches great importance to spring plowing, and will definitely do its best to satisfy the spring plowing. It may not come to snatch our salt and iron, but if the government does this, it will be a dishonor to merchants."

"Who in the world will not panic at that time?"

"The strength of our merchants is indeed meager, but the merchants in the world are rich, and there are many traffickers and pawns. Seeing Qin Ting like this, how can everyone not be in danger?"

"By then, it won't be us who have a headache."

"Even this move will push all the merchants to the nobles of the six countries."

"The merchants have a lot of family property. If all of them fall to the nobles of the six countries, I am afraid that Qin Ting will be worried. There has already been a turmoil in Qi. If such ugliness is exposed again, the world will only be more turbulent."

"I believe Qin Ting will not drink poison to quench his thirst."

"What do you think?"

Feng Dong glanced coldly across the audience.

Everyone's eyes flickered, and no one spoke, but they were all moved.

Feng Dong was actually gambling.

Bet that Qin Ting will not drive them to a dead end.

Betting that Qin Ting will make a certain concession, and then let them profit from it.

But once the bet is lost.

Perhaps as Feng Dong said, Qin Ting was hated and abandoned by merchants all over the world, but they would suffer heavy losses. Even if Qin Ting was really determined, they might not be wiped out.

The people of Qin have never paid attention to merchants.

But if the bet wins.

As long as the "sunken" salt and iron are not found by the government, they can use it to make huge profits, and even use this to make the government back down and win enough benefits for themselves. After a year, it will also be a considerable profit .

Be quiet.

Cheng Zheng and the others looked at each other with a look of confusion in their eyes.

On the one hand, there are benefits, and on the other hand, there are risks.

finally.

Cheng Zheng asked: "Brother Feng's idea is very good, but we still have a more difficult problem to solve right now, how not to be found out by the government, this is not one or two boats, but dozens of boats Big ship."

"With so many ships sinking, the imperial court may investigate closely."

"Once something goes wrong."

"Don't talk about letting the government back down. Whether I can get out of it is a question. The government will not show mercy to me."

Feng Dong raised his forehead slightly, and his eyes showed a dignified look.

Shen said:
"That's really the problem."

"It must also be resolved."

"But everyone, don't forget that Daqin established the country by law. If we want to convict us, what we look at in the end is the evidence. As long as there is no evidence, who can convict us?"

"Our ship has sunk."

"Thousands of salt and iron also sank into the water."

"And the people on board died as well."

"Death never proves."

"Even if there is a boat tracker on the case, how much do they know? How can they know what happened in the boat? The only thing they can see is to watch the boat sink, and then rush to report to the authorities. "

"I'll arrive anxiously and implore the government to send people down to salvage it."

"But the place where the ship sank is tens or hundreds of feet deep. Who in the world can really go into the water to check the situation?"

"We don't need to say anything at that time, we just let the government judge."

"And we secretly bought some officials from the government to let them lead the problem to the mismanagement of the boatman, hitting the rocks, or encountering wind and waves, the hull was damaged, and some ships hit it unintentionally later, and there was a problem with the pig iron binding. The hull of the ship was penetrated under the wind and waves, etc., if you want to find a reason, are you afraid you can't find it?"

Feng Dong smiled at everyone.

Everyone laughed.

Find a reason.

They couldn't be better at it.

Cao Bingsheng hesitated for a moment, then said in a concentrated voice, "Even so, there is still one problem."

"Since the ship is going to sink, it must not be loaded with too much salt and iron. It may take a lot of time to smuggle these salt and iron out. If this is the case, it may be difficult not to be discovered."

Feng Dong laughed and said, "Brother Cao Bing, you worry too much."

"Isn't it easy to transport the salt and iron away?"

"You just need to make a good account with the relevant officials and transport it away in advance. Although there will be some troubles at the salt pond and the iron mine, the salt and iron produced by the salt pond and the mine have to be transported outside every day for storage. Be cautious, basically there won't be too many problems, and the salt and iron used to be ours, so how can we not know the situation near the salt pond and the iron mine?"

"But there's nothing wrong with being careful."

"Spend money to eliminate disasters."

"This money can still be spent."

"Even if these officials realize the problem in the future, do they really dare to betray us?"

"Don't dare!"

"It's all on the same rope."

"If we die, they won't live either!"

(End of this chapter)