My Red Mansion Career

Chapter 222 Thunderous Means

"Dangdang!"

Only a loud noise was heard, and the door of a mansion in Xuejiafang, Yangzhou was violently broken open with a huge tree, and hundreds of musketeers from the Huben Battalion swarmed in.

This mansion is the residence of Ding Shoudao, who is known as the leader of the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou. There are no less than five or six hundred servants, maids, and rough ladies in this mansion, and there are more than two hundred domestic servants who are responsible for guarding the courtyard. .

The Ding family has been domineering in Yangzhou for decades, and the Ding family is used to being domineering.

Now seeing that the officers and soldiers who usually treated them submissively dared to break in, it was like the sun was rising in the west, and everyone in Ding's house was shocked and angry.

Under the leadership of a steward wearing a gorgeous royal blue gown, hundreds of Ding family servants from the Ding family came out aggressively.

These servants were used to running rampant in the courtyard, and now they were all crowding around the housekeeper with spears and sticks in their hands.

But before they could speak, Wu Yunchun, who was personally leading the team, raised the military order in his hand and said coldly: "We are investigating Yangzhou salt merchant Ding Shoudao, who is living in Jiqi and causing trouble in the south of the Yangtze River. The evidence is conclusive and he has been arrested by Dingyuan Bo.

Now, Uncle Dingyuan has been ordered to inspect and seal up the Ding family's property. You must not help the tyrants, lest they end up being wiped out. "

The housekeeper didn't believe Wu Yunchun's words at all, pointed at Wu Yunchun and angrily shouted: "That's nonsense, my husband is a righteous merchant from Yangzhou.

At this time, another old man with white beard and hair came out. When he was helped out by several servants, he happened to see this scene in front of him.

Wu Yunchun's cold voice sounded.

The gun butt wrapped in brass hit his stomach. How could he, who was over sixty years old, bear it? A mouthful of blood suddenly spurted out and he fell to his knees involuntarily.

He pointed at Wu Yunchun like a roar and shouted angrily: "You are so brave, you actually dare to come to my Ding Mansion to openly commit murder... Do you know..."

Then two musketeers stepped forward and dragged the old man aside like a dead dog...

Maybe until his death he still couldn't believe that someone in Yangzhou actually dared to kill people in Ding Mansion.

Some people fled in all directions, while others were so frightened that they peed their pants and collapsed on the ground.

Lan Renxian, followed by Luan Tili and several entourages, put on casual clothes and walked onto the street. He was secretly surprised when he looked at the people with happy smiles on their faces after buying food goods.

"Surrender you bastard, we..."

But today, people who grew up after the founding of Daxia once again saw stories that they could only hear from the elderly in the past.

The reason why these ordinary people are so well-behaved is not because of their own high quality, but because of the musketeers patrolling not far away.

"what!"

"Presumptuous, presumptuous..."

Seeing the people in front of them falling down one after another, the remaining servants all screamed in fear and began to flee in all directions.

Jia Yu's actions also caused all the officialdom in Jiangnan to lose their voice. Since Taizu Taizu of Great Xia established the world more than seventy years ago, Yangzhou has never experienced war again.

When he fell to the ground, he was no longer breathing. He was lying on the ground with his eyes wide open, staring at the sky with an unbelievable look on his face.

And that bullshit Uncle Dingyuan, what qualifications does he have to seize our Ding Mansion? He didn’t even look at where this place was, and even Master Futai of our Ding family had to pay three respects..."

According to statistics, on that day, 632 people were killed by Huben Camp. As for the number of minor or serious injuries, there were even more. It is conservatively estimated that the number of deaths was at least several times higher.

As the previous head of the Ding family, Mr. Ding's knowledge and courage are naturally not comparable to those of the servants.

The loud noise of muskets sounded, and dozens of muskets were pointed at the servant in front of them and the triggers were pulled.

"Fire!"

Seeing this scene before him, he was stunned at first, and then became furious.

The servants of the Ding family are not a bad person, and some of them even have lives in their hands, but this is the first time they have seen a scene like this, with corpses strewn all over the ground and blood everywhere.

This old man is none other than Ding Shoudao's father, Mr. Ding.

These officers and soldiers dared to rush into his own house and kill people openly. This was the first time in his sixty years that he had seen this.

This strike and turmoil, jointly launched by the eight major salt merchants, many merchants and students in Yangzhou, took Huben Camp less than half a day to completely quell.

"Clap clap clap!"

Of course, there were some unruly people who wanted to jump in line and make noise at the beginning, but these people ended up either getting slapped in the face with rifle butts, or they were shot dead on the spot.

For many years he has been building bridges, paving roads, and serving porridge. He is a well-known good man far and wide. How dare you slander my master? Aren't you afraid of the king's law?

But before he could finish his words, a musketeer rushed up, raised the butt of his rifle and gave him a heavy blow.

By the afternoon, the various markets in Yangzhou City had returned to their former peace.

The Huben battalion suddenly entered the city and launched a ruthless suppression of the gangsters, mobs, merchants and students who participated in the strike, smashing, looting and burning.

Looking at the housekeeper who was yelling and swearing, Wu Yunchun didn't say anything nonsense and said coldly: "Uncle Dingyuan has a destiny. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed! If you don't hurry up, surrender!"

There was another roar of muskets, and more than a dozen servants were knocked to the ground screaming.

And this scene not only happened in the Ding family, but also happened in the residences of seven other salt merchants.

Even the housekeeper was hit by several lead bullets. He was hit so hard that he staggered backward and fell out.

More than seventy years of prosperity are enough to cover up everything. As the old people who have experienced the war pass away, those who have grown up have long forgotten what the war is like.

As white gunpowder smoke rose, blood mist spattered in the yard, and more than a dozen of the servants who had been shot fell down like ears of wheat blown by the wind.

"Fire!"

The streets and alleys are full of people queuing up to buy food and various goods. Everyone behaves in a well-behaved manner, not daring to fight or grab.

I know what it means to be alive in troubled times, and what it means to be littered with corpses.

In his expectation, if Jia Yu wanted to restore peace to Yangzhou City, it would be impossible without ten days and a half.

But what he didn't expect was that Si Leng was able to restore calm to the huge city of Yangzhou in less than a day by relying on his large army and iron-fisted methods.

Logically speaking, it should be a good thing for him, the governor of Jiangsu, that Yangzhou City could restore order so quickly, but he couldn't be happy in his heart.

In his original vision, after the turmoil of the strike, it would take at least ten days or even half a month for Yangzhou City to return to its original level, even with the strong suppression of the Huben Camp.

During this period of time, Jia Yu and Huben Camp can be firmly dragged into these trivial matters, and then they will wait until Jiangnan Governor Lu Peiyi leads the army of Jiangnan Camp to arrive, and then use force to suppress Jia Yu. Although the plan was good, the development of things exceeded his and other Yangzhou officials' expectations.

The Ding family father and son were arrested, the Ding family was fired, and the remaining seven salt merchants were not much better, as they all followed Ding Shoudao's footsteps.

According to reports from people below, not only the eight salt merchants were raided this time, but more than 20 merchants who had been dancing the most happily a few days ago were also liquidated.

There are countless gold and silver jewelry, golden winter melons, silver winter melons, and even antique calligraphy and paintings and other rare treasures confiscated from these people's homes. It is said that the large trucks in Yangzhou City are not enough these days.

While Lan Renxian was walking and thinking deeply about how to deal with Jia Yu, a follower came to him and whispered a few words in his ear.

Lan Renxian's expression changed casually, "Is this news true?"

"I'm so determined that I don't dare to lie. Now the people from Huben Camp have started to put up notices on the streets!"

"Nonsense...ridiculous! This is simply unreasonable!"

Lan Renxian couldn't help but cursed loudly. This was the first time Luan Tili had seen Lan Renxian lose his composure.

He quickly asked: "Master Futai, what happened?"

"It's not that Jia Yu. He actually sent people to post notices on the streets, saying that Ding Shoudao and other eight salt merchants were to settle in Jiqi and instigate a strike for their own selfish interests. This is an unpardonable crime.

Therefore, he and the Salt Inspector Lin Ruhai decided to dismiss these eight salt merchants, withdraw all the salt, and openly recruit new salt merchants half a month later. "

"How is this possible!" Luan Tili was shocked.

Why Ding Shoudao and other eight salt merchants have been able to run rampant in Yangzhou and even Jiangnan over the years? Isn't it because they have salt quotations issued by the imperial court and can sell salt reasonably and legally?

And they are not only selling official salt. In fact, the most important reason why salt merchants make a lot of money is from selling private salt.

Because the price and profit of official salt are fixed, the situation is different for private salt. Every entry and exit is several times the profit.

One pound of official salt is matched with three pounds of private salt. If a salt merchant earns less than three or four hundred thousand taels of silver per year, it can be called a conscientious businessman.

In recent years, the reason why the salt tax paid to the court has become less and less is not only because salt merchants such as Ding Shoudao have become more and more greedy, but also because more and more people have put their hands on the salt tax.

People like Lan Renxian, Luan Tili, government officials at all levels, and even Yanding who patrolled the river can eat up to three to four million silver dollars every year.

When the officials made more money, the salt merchants naturally made less. In order to make up for their shortfalls, they naturally had no choice but to focus on the salt tax and constantly found various excuses to reduce the salt tax paid to the court.

This is why the salt tax to the imperial court continues to decrease.

Now that Jia Yu and Lin Ruhai want to change their salt business, this is equivalent to reshuffling the cards. Doesn't this cut off the financial resources of officials like Lan Renxian?

Lan Renxian resolutely turned around and said to Luan Tili: "No... We absolutely cannot let this Jia Yu continue to act like this. You should immediately send someone to notify Lu Peiyi and ask him to lead his troops to Yangzhou quickly. We cannot let Jia Yu and Lin Ruhai go alone." This nonsense continues."

"I understand!"

Luan Tili immediately accepted the order and left.

In the Xunyan Censor's Mansion, Lin Ruhai, who had already recovered somewhat, was stunned when he saw the account books sent by Jia Yu, even though he had been prepared.

After a long time, he opened his mouth and said, "Five...more than fifty-six million taels?"

"Yes!"

Jia Yu lay on a chair nearby, eyes slightly closed, and let Daiyu shyly tap his arms and thighs with a beauty hammer.

When Daiyu heard this number, her beautiful eyes widened.

These days when he was with Lin Ruhai, he often heard his father and Jia Yu talking about the court affairs, and he was not as ignorant about the court situation as before.

Today, the annual fiscal revenue of the Daxia court is only about 10 million taels of silver per year.

Now the silver confiscated from the homes of these salt merchants alone amounts to more than 56 million taels.

what does this mean?

This is equivalent to the imperial court's fiscal revenue for five years.

How much can be done with so much money once it reaches the hands of the always cash-strapped imperial court?

"Think twice, once this money is in the hands of the court, how much can it be done with?" Lin Ruhai said tremblingly, holding back her excitement.

Jia Yu said calmly: "I don't know how many things can be done, but I know that people like Lan Renxian will definitely not give up."

"Yes."

Jia Yu's words also made Lin Ruhai recover from the shock.

He glanced at Jia Yu with a complicated expression and said with a wry smile: "I don't know where you learned this method.

It’s just a matter of re-electing salt merchants. They actually proposed a way to spend money to buy salt. The most terrible thing is that they also allowed Shanxi merchants, Hui merchants, Lu merchants, and Guangdong merchants to be brought in. You are not afraid of merchants like Yangzhou. Are we dancing together? "

"Jumping feet?"

Jia Yu laughed, with an inexplicable smile on his face, "Father-in-law, do you think that when merchants from Shanxi, Huizhou, and Zhejiang arrive, merchants from Yangzhou and even Jiangnan will still have the courage to talk to my son-in-law?" Teeth?"

"That's why I said you're a bad boy." Lin Ruhai laughed.

Generally speaking, there are five major gangs of merchants in Daxia, namely Shanxi merchants, Hui merchants, Zhejiang merchants, Lu merchants, and Guangdong merchants.

Yangzhou belongs to a group of Zhejiang merchants. Although the eight major salt merchants can be said to have all the influence in Yangzhou and even the Jiangnan area, they are limited to the salt industry.

In terms of financial resources, other business gangs are not inferior to them.

For example, Shanxi merchants started their business by selling fur products to Mongolia, Liaodong and other places.

Cantonese businessmen in Guangdong and businessmen in Fujian started their business by doing shipping business with places along the southeast coast.

There are many Zhejiang merchants who monopolize industries such as sericulture and weaving.

The reputation of these merchants may not be as great as that of the salt merchants, but as the saying goes, the meat on the buns is not the wrinkles, and their financial resources are not inferior to those of the salt merchants, or even exceed them.

It's just that his reputation has been lost over the years.

Now Jia Yu is going to open a tender to all the merchants in Daxia and redistribute all the salt. The rich people who have so much money that they can only bury it in the cellar are like hungry wolves who have smelled the smell of blood and pounced on them?

Faced with Lin Ruhai's joke, Jia Yu just smiled and continued: "This time we raided the homes of eight major salt merchants and more than 20 merchants, and obtained more than 56 million taels of silver.

What's more important is that after confiscating these people's property, they can gain at least hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile farmland.

We can lease these two days to landless farmers and reduce their rent to 30% or even 20%.

In this way, the situation in Yangzhou can be quickly stabilized. "

(End of this chapter)