Concubine Allure: Pick up a prince and grab the country

Chapter 388 Chapter 431
Someone on the official ship began to put down the sampan, and then the porters who had been waiting nearby for a long time spontaneously boarded the ship. Go all the way to a mysterious warehouse not far away.

Yan Qingcheng put down his chopsticks, looked at the porters wonderingly, and then glanced at the warehouse. Isn’t this merchant ship from Beijing? Why did it unload in Teng’an? .

At this time, the owner of the wonton sighed and said in a low voice:
"In these days, officials are like bandits, and when bandits are officials, the people are struggling."

Chu Yuanheng also put down his chopsticks at this time, staring at the official ship with cold eyes, seemingly thoughtful.

Yan Qingcheng heard the boss muttering and sighing there, became interested, hooked his neck and called the boss:

"Boss, didn't the things on those official ships go north to Beijing? Why did they start unloading in Teng'an?"

The boss carefully walked around the merchant ship and the officers and soldiers, and then took a closer look at Yan Qingcheng and Chu Yuanheng. He opened the door for business and knew countless people. Seeing that the two of them had extraordinary temperament, they were not ordinary people.

He leaned over as if someone who had been bored a lot finally found someone to complain about, and said in a low voice:

"I think you two should be dressed as business travelers going north to Beijing."

Yan Qingcheng nodded, and then the boss approached Yan Qingcheng mysteriously, and said in a low voice:

"The guest officials don't know that these officers and soldiers are not real officers and soldiers, but are pretended by the mountain grass bandits recruited by the government. They are afraid that someone will cause trouble."

"Pretending to be officers and soldiers?..." Yan Qingcheng raised his eyebrows in disbelief, turned his eyes and exchanged glances with Chu Yuanheng, Chu Yuanheng nodded calmly, and Yan Qingcheng continued to ask understandingly:
"Why are you afraid that someone will cause trouble?"

"That's because I'm afraid of people—grabbing salt." The wonton boss said in a long-tailed voice mysteriously.

"Snatch the salt?" Yan Qingcheng seemed to smell a conspiracy.

The owner of Wonton secretly pointed to the porters passing by them with his hand under the table, "They carry salt on their shoulders."

Yan Qingcheng frowned, even if it is salt, it is reasonable for the merchants who have obtained business qualifications to pay heavy taxes to the government before selling it, even if it is salt. In Qi State, the price of official salt is uniform throughout the country.

Seeing Yan Qingcheng's confused expression, the boss of Wonton added another sentence, "These are private salt."

Chu Yuanheng and Yan Qingcheng were startled, and turned their eyes to stare at the boss of Wonton. Yan Qingcheng hurriedly asked: "Why does the official ship have private salt?" In fact, they have already guessed it vaguely, and it is very likely that someone is using the official ship. Reselling private salt.

The shopkeeper shook his head and sighed:

"Someone is using an official ship to transport salt to Teng'an, and then sell it to rich merchants in Teng'an at a high price. The rich merchants in Teng'an then use the salt to raise the price on the ground. One or two salts are more than ten times higher than before. Now in Teng'an The common people in Ann can hardly afford salt. If it weren’t for my reputation, there would be a lot of salt in the wontons, but soon I won’t be able to afford salt anymore. At that time, I would rather not sell wontons than smash them My reputation as a wonton stand."

Yan Qingcheng wondered, "Is there no official salt in Teng'an?"

"No one in Teng'an has dared to sell official salt for a long time. The merchants who sell official salt can't get the goods at all, and they are all closed. Hey——"

"Does the government of Teng'an ignore it?"

"Officials and gangsters colluded, and the bandits have become officials. Who dares to control? Whoever manages will have their families ruined. Those officials only care about filling their own pockets, and they don't care about the lives of the people. Most of these private salts are in the oil and water. It went into the pockets of these officials."

(End of this chapter)