I am the carpenter king

Emperor Tianqi smiled and looked at the person who set up the stall in front of him, pondered for a moment, and said: "This is the first time this young master has come to Yangzhou city. He saw how prosperous Yangzhou is, so he wanted to do some business. However, this young master is not familiar with the place where he was born Yes, do you know what is the most profitable business in Yangzhou City?"

The peddler was taken aback for a moment, and looked at Emperor Tianqi with a strange expression, with a look of vigilance in his eyes.But when Emperor Tianqi put a piece of silver on the table, the peddler suddenly smiled and said: "My lord, although this Yangzhou city is prosperous, there are not many businesses that can be done. I think you have a noble status. This restaurant and restaurant business I disdain to do it. There is a business in Yangzhou City that is suitable for you to do."

Smiling and nodding, Emperor Tianqi asked briskly, "What business? Tell me!"

"My lord, you are joking. The best business in Yangzhou is naturally salt, and the most profitable is naturally salt!" Xiao Er frowned slightly, and said with a smile while holding his things up.

"Salt is a good thing, but it's not so easy to start a salt business! Daming has ten gang districts, and each gang has 20 yuan of salt, each of which is [-] catties. Daming's salt farms are these smokes every year, and the salt industry is as early as It is not easy to get a foot in here." Emperor Tianqi was very clear about these things, and he understood them all before coming to Yangzhou.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the tax silver for each introduction of salt is three taels, of which the public transportation fee is three taels.Here, the public transportation fee is the transportation money, and the imperial court cannot get it. The only thing the imperial court can get is tax money.The number of salt quotations was actually from the early years of the Ming Dynasty, and later increased to 300 million quotations.

The official record is 300 million taels of salt. If the tax is collected for every three taels of salt, the annual salt tax of the imperial court is 900 million taels.The salt tax collected by the imperial court every year is only more than 100 million taels.Among them, more than 700 million taels disappeared.

Before leaving the capital, Emperor Tianqi looked through all the records of the Ming Dynasty's annual revenue, and the first thing he saw was the salt tax.In the eyes of Emperor Tianqi, this is simply incredible. The salt tax should have been 900 million, but now it can only get more than 100.Where did the rest of the money go?

There are all high-sounding reasons in the accounts of the Ministry of Finance, but Emperor Tianqi dismisses them all and lies blatantly.Since he wanted money and could not levy additional taxes, Emperor Tianqi's eyes naturally fell on this.Emperor Tianqi looked through some historical materials again, and found that in the 40th year of Jiajing, the court suffered a serious deficit.

Emperor Jiajing ordered Yan Song to send people to Lianghuai to collect salt tax, and that year he got 600 million salt tax for the treasury.Later, when Yan Song fell from power, evidence of the salt tax corruption was found in Yan Song's account book.A total of 700 million taels was embezzled, and he had 100 million taels more than the treasury.

The 40-year salt tax collection received 300 million taels. Emperor Tianqi believed that this was an event that could truly reflect the salt tax.In the 300 million taels of salt tax, Emperor Tianqi knew that there was no private salt, and if private salt was included, there would definitely be more.

After going through the news he knew in his head, Emperor Tianqi looked at the peddler with a smile, waiting for him to speak.

Staring at Emperor Tianqi in a daze, the peddler couldn't believe it.Qi Qi Ai Ai said: "The young master is an expert, don't embarrass the younger one. The younger one is just a stall."

Looking at the peddler with a smile, Emperor Tianqi waved his hand lightly, not embarrassing the peddler.Greeting Dang Han to eat, Emperor Tianqi smiled and said to Dang Han: "How many gang merchants are there in Yangzhou City?"

"Master Hui, there are a total of eighteen gang merchants in Yangzhou City, the most of them have three gangs of salt every year, and the least one has one gang of salt. These people equally share 300 million imported salt every year. It can be said that the entire Ming Dynasty has these gangs The business is in operation." Naturally, Dang Han was very clear about these things, and he said it like a treasure.

Slowly nodded, Emperor Tianqi nodded to Dang Han, he was very satisfied with this Dang Han.A person trained by Luo Sigong.It seems to be superior.

"In the city of Yangzhou, there are countless merchants engaged in the salt industry, about 300 of them. Naturally, these 18 people are the leading ones. Another characteristic is that [-]% of these merchants are Huizhou merchants." Luo Sigong saw the apocalypse The emperor motioned himself to continue, nodded, and continued.

Frowning and meditating, Emperor Tianqi suddenly remembered something. From the middle and late Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was the golden age of Huizhou merchants.I have forgotten where I saw this sentence, but at this time Emperor Tianqi remembered it.It seems that these Anhui merchants started their business by relying on salt. I don’t know if these Anhui merchants can still get up after this time.

Seeing Emperor Tianqi frowning and thinking, Luo Sigong on the side didn't say anything, just quietly accompanied him.Luo Sigong knew a lot in his heart, but he didn't know how to tell Emperor Tianqi.

"My lord, I don't know if I should say something or not!" Luo Sigong hesitated for a long time, and said with a rather complicated expression.

"What do you have to say! You should know who I am this young master along the way. Is there anything you can't say?" Emperor Tianqi looked at Dang Han with a smile, and his appreciation for Dang Han made Emperor Tianqi appreciate him. What to say with some expectations.

Dang Han organized his language, pondered for a while, and then slowly said: "Young master, if you want to get involved in the salt business, the important thing is not these salt merchants. They seem to be in charge of the salt, but they are the real masters. But it's not these people, but the masters sitting in the yamen."

Looking at Dang Han, Emperor Tianqi nodded with a smile, and said with admiration in his tone: "Not bad, really good! I didn't expect you to have such insights. I will reward you a lot after you go back."

"Thank you, Young Master!" Dang Han said with a smile on his face.What he wants to tell Emperor Tianqi is very simple, that is, behind these salt merchants are officials of the Ming Dynasty.The water here is very deep. Emperor Tianqi wanted to rectify the salt merchants, but faced with the officialdom in the south of the Yangtze River.

Regarding this point, Emperor Tianqi was naturally very clear that any reforms in the Ming Dynasty would involve officials.These people are the real vested interests. If they want to rob money, they can only grab it from the innermost part of these people.

Standing up slowly, Emperor Tianqi said to Dang Han on the side: "Let's go! Let's go back! Mr. Yuan and the others should get up too. Today we have to take a good look around Yangzhou City!"

"Yes, son!" Dang Han stood up respectfully, and saluted Emperor Tianqi.

The moment Emperor Tianqi turned around, shouting and cursing suddenly occurred on the street, and there was a lot of noise not far away.The imperial guards who followed Emperor Tianqi reacted quickly, surrounded Emperor Tianqi, and all held the handle of the knife, looking cautiously at the street.

A little girl stumbled over and ran over. She didn't look very old, she looked about ** years old.She was supposed to be the best age, but now her face was red and swollen badly, and she could tell at a glance that she had been beaten.The brocade clothes on his body looked like they had been torn apart, and he looked extremely distressed.

The little girl looked back from time to time, with deep fear on her face, she ran forward desperately, perhaps because she was too anxious, she fell hard.Running forward quickly, the tears in the little girl's eyes seemed to be broken, but she still pressed her lips tightly and ran forward.

Many people saw this scene on the street, but no one stepped forward to pull the girl, because several people were chasing after the little girl.They were all wearing the same clothes, with a boy hat on their heads, and they looked like thugs raised by someone.These people all held sticks in their hands, and they were chasing after them, shouting loudly.

Frowning according to this scene, Emperor Tianqi didn't speak, but just looked at Danghan on the side.

Seeing Emperor Tianqi looking at him, Dang Han's heart trembled, not daring to hesitate, he strode forward and grabbed the little girl.Without saying anything to the little girl, he held the little girl and handed it to a guard.

"Don't worry, it's safest to bring it here!" Emperor Tianqi slowly squatted down, reaching out to touch the girl's head, but the little girl avoided it.

Staring cautiously at Emperor Tianqi, the little girl kept looking behind her with deep fear in her eyes.

Emperor Tianqi tried his best to make his tone gentler, and said cautiously: "Don't be afraid! We have a lot of people here, just look at us, we will definitely win." I don't know if it was because of Emperor Tianqi's attitude, or the little girl saw the surrounding area The guard with the knife actually nodded slowly.However, there was still awe in his eyes, and the muscles on his face were trembling constantly.

This group of thugs had already arrived at Jinqian, and when they saw Emperor Tianqi, they were taken aback for a moment.Looking at the imperial guards next to Emperor Tianqi, the leader suddenly felt bitter. How could there be such a mistake? The identity of the person on the opposite side is unusual.

Striding out, the leader clasped his fists at Emperor Tianqi, and said loudly, "My friend, I'm Zhao Decai, what's the name of this young master?"

Emperor Tianqi naturally wouldn't talk to him, who do you think you are!Still playing with the little girl.

"Tell me what you want!" Dang Han called out to the leader, with a slight smile on his face, he gently unfolded the folding fan in his hand, looking like a gifted scholar and a beautiful lady.

The leader's face flushed immediately, he glanced at the imperial guards next to Emperor Tianqi, and clasped his fists at Dang Han, saying: "Brother, that little girl is the one we want, I hope you will hand her over to us." .”

Dang Han shook his head slowly, shaking the paper fan in his hand, and said with a smile: "I don't think so, you seem to be kidnapping this little girl." (To be continued...)