Baidu otaku as Chongzhen

Chapter 462 Tightening the Noose
After Yang Reform came down to court, he was in a very happy mood. He finally put the noose around the salt merchant's neck, and the rest was to use the advantage of information to make some fuss.

It wasn't until he arrived at the Nuan Pavilion that his sullen face finally relaxed. This acting was really hard.

"Big companion, call the Duke of England to see me." Yang Reform said with a smile when he entered the Nuan Pavilion.

"Of course, Your Majesty!" Wang Chengen paused for a moment, then immediately agreed with a narrow smile.

"In addition, send a message to Fan Weicheng, let him reprimand the salt merchants in the mansion newspaper, and tell a lot of truths, so that everyone in the world knows that the salt merchants are holding me back, and the court is holding back, There is no faith." Yang reformed.

"Your servant obeys." Wang Chengen agreed cautiously.

"In addition, let Fan Weicheng post a message in the mansion newspaper, saying that in order to make up for the gap owed by the salt merchants, I am going to sell the stocks of Liulizhai..." Yang Reform said.

"...Your Majesty..., this..., servants obey..." Wang Chengen was somewhat reluctant to see the emperor's sale of Liulizhai's stock, but this matter was out of his control, so he agreed again.

"...In addition, tell the businessmen who hold shares in the south, if the stock sells well after the stock comes out, don't worry about it. If it lags behind, let them entrust the market, don't let this stock be too deserted..." Yang Reform also ordered road.

"Your servant obeys!" Wang Chengen promised.

Wang Chengen left, and Yang Reform stayed in the warm pavilion, taking a sip of sweet potato wine. The sweet potato wine had a lot of stamina, and Yang Reform fell asleep unconsciously.

Waking up again, seeing Wang Chengen looking at him with concern, with the quilt still covering his body, Yang Reform shook his head, it seemed that he was really drunk, and his head hurt a little.

After ordering a cup of strong tea to sober up and wash his face with cold water, Yang Reform felt better.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of England has arrived." Wang Chengen said in a low voice.

"Oh, see!" Yang Reform washed his face and felt much more comfortable. The wine tasted good at the time, but it has a strong aftertaste.

After a while, the Duke of England approached the Nuan Pavilion, his face was also flushed, and he smiled and saluted the emperor when he saw the emperor.

"I greet Your Majesty." The British Duke Zhang Weixian said.

"There's no need to be too polite, please sit down!" Yang Reform pointed to a chair with thick cushions.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The British Duke sat down with a smile.Then he said: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

Yang Reform looked at Zhang Weixian in surprise, he hadn't spoken yet, so he congratulated himself first.

"Hehe, duke, what joy do I have? In order to make up for the 400 million taels of silver in the salt class, I am going to issue additional shares in Liulizhai. What kind of joy is this?" Yang Reform laughed.

"Your Majesty, don't lie to the old minister. The sweet potato wine of your majesty, the old minister drank it, and it is really delicious. The strong wine is indeed strong. After taking a sip, the old minister still feels that his mouth is burning. Didn't your majesty say to drink it? This is a big deal, and you still ask everyone to buy shares, I was the first to respond to His Majesty's call, and I'm going to buy shares... I just don't know if His Majesty is willing to..." Zhang Weixian's old eyes shone brightly, and his face was full of joy.

"Hehehe... the Duke is well-informed about this matter, and I have this plan, but it's all small money, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning!..." Yang Reform said with a smile.

"Your Majesty was joking, Your Majesty, the business is small money, in His Majesty's eyes, it is small money, but to my minister, it is a huge fortune!" Zhang Weixian said with a smile, he was the one who welcomed the emperor into the palace, and the emperor said to him, It is indeed different than ordinary people. This is what Zhang Weixian has always thought. Therefore, chatting with the emperor is relatively casual. Recently, he has done business with the emperor a few times, and he has become closer to the emperor. His worth is also very high. go up.

"Hehehehe, the fact that I summoned the Duke today is indeed related to stocks, and it is indeed related to trading, but it is not for small money such as sweet potato wine and sweet potato powder. The trading of sweet potato wine earns tens of thousands of taels a year, 10,000+ Two, that's a big deal, and if it goes up, it won't be too much. How can this amount of money be enough? I called the Duke here today, and it's a big deal. Let's see if the Duke is interested." Yang Reform laughed.

"Oh, I wonder what your Majesty's business is?" Zhang Weixian opened his eyes wide and looked at the emperor. The emperor didn't pay attention to the 10,000+ business, but he didn't know what the big business was in the emperor's eyes. Zhang Weixian was looking forward to it.

"Does the Duke know that I recently recruited a pirate leader?" Yang Reform said confidently.

"Your Majesty is talking about Zheng Zhilong?" Zhang Weixian immediately asked, this Zheng Zhilong is a popular figure in the court recently!Last year, he was defeated by the officers and soldiers. He is a big pirate leader known throughout the court. Now he is entertained by the emperor with a high standard. It is said that he has already recruited him.

"That's right, it's this person. Does the Duke know why this person can support tens of thousands of soldiers? And can he conquer cities and land?" Yang Reform asked.

"This, Your Majesty, is probably the profit from the sea." Zhang Weixian thought for a while and said that the profit from the sea is huge. Although he knew, this matter has always been controlled by those businessmen in the south. One Xungui can't get in, so it's very vague.

"That's right, Zheng Zhilong can earn millions of taels of silver every year by relying on sea trade. That's why he can afford to support so many people. If he dares to attack cities and lands, he can remove tens of thousands of my people in an instant. , and can distribute money and cattle, how dare you boast without money? It depends on the profit from the sea..." Yang Reformed.

As soon as he heard the emperor talking about the profits from the sea, the Duke of England stuck out his tongue. As the leader of his family, he could barely make ends meet with the little profit from the land every year. Can't compare!
"Your Majesty mean to do business at sea?" Zhang Weixian became nervous. Compared with this, the business of sweet potato wine is really not enough!

"That's right! I have already persuaded Zheng Zhilong to let him be the general of the navy. One prerequisite is to withdraw from business. I won't let him be a government official and manage the navy at the same time; at the same time, he will make money from trading. But the generals of the enemy country, so he will let this business go..." Yang Reform said with a smile.

"Your Majesty is right. It is indeed dangerous to control the navy while controlling the wealth of an invincible country. It is better to destroy it in advance... Your Majesty is saying that you want to take over this business now?" Zhang Weixian disagreed. He was concerned about how the emperor would appease Zheng Zhilong, but he was more concerned about whether the deal would be successful, so he became more and more nervous.

"That's right! That's what I mean too,... Don't worry, the Duke, taking over his business is one of the conditions for me to appease him, otherwise I would rather not recruit him. Zheng Zhilong has already agreed, and I will take over this business. As we all know, Zheng Zhilong almost monopolizes the trade of the Japanese country, so this business, once he takes over, is a big profitable business, not to mention that Zheng Zhilong only opened up the Japanese country. Japan, as well as North Korea, that North Korea is just a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, I just need to send someone to reprimand, then the trade in North Korea will naturally belong to me, these two things add up, and I can probably make a profit of 200% every year [-] taels..." Yang Reform only cared about saying "happily" to himself, but he didn't expect that Zhang Weixian was already "saliva".

"...Mr., I'm willing to buy shares, I'm willing to buy shares..." Zhang Weixian said immediately, wishing to pay the money right away.

"It's no problem for the public to buy shares, but..." Yang Reformed.

"But what? Your Majesty?" Zhang Weixian asked quickly.

"However, there are still some difficulties in this matter." Yang Reformed.

"Your Majesty, I don't know what the problem is? I don't know if I can share the worries for Your Majesty." Zhang Weixian immediately followed the stick.

"Oh, my lord! This business needs to be protected by navy and warships at sea! Otherwise, this trade will not last long, and if this happens, my expenses will increase greatly. Therefore, if you buy shares I want to take the bulk of the business, pay the navy and build warships, otherwise, this business cannot be done." Yang Reformed.

"This minister is free, His Majesty takes the lead, that's for sure!" Zhang Weixian immediately said, this is indeed no problem, and it is reasonable for the emperor to take the lead, isn't it always like this.

"Also, although I won't let Zheng Zhilong do business anymore, I still have to share some of the profits with Zheng Zhilong and his subordinates. Otherwise, it would be unreasonable..." Yang Reform said again.

"Your Majesty, it is reasonable for this minister to save money." Zhang Weixian said again, it is not unreasonable to share with others the sale of millions of taels of silver.

"In addition, my subordinates pay taxes voluntarily. This cannot be changed." Yang Reform began to negotiate conditions with Zhang Weixian.

"Your Majesty, this should indeed be done!" Zhang Weixian immediately said, these are not problems, you have to take a long-term look at the problem, you know, the emperor only talked about Japan and Korea now, and with the emperor's strength, he persuaded him again. Pirate leader, the pirates on the sea, how can there be no reason why barbarians should not be razed?Although the emperor only talked about the sale of one or two million taels of silver now, Zhang Wei dared to conclude that the sale at sea would definitely double in the future. Thinking of this, Zhang Weixian only wanted to buy shares quickly. Are you at a disadvantage?
"Hehe, there is one more thing. Now I don't want to publicize this business. It's up and down. There are many people who are looking for the merchants in the south. Once they know that I am secretly doing business at sea, they will definitely attack them in groups. , At that time, the court may be very lively, and then it will be up to the Duke, so the Duke must find some reliable people to buy shares..." Yang Reform said with a smile again.

"Back to Your Majesty, this minister knows, so he will be careful. He is not a reliable person. The old minister will never let him know about this matter. Even if those people know, the old minister will firmly stand by His Majesty's side and will not let His Majesty down. Yes, this business, no matter what, will not be given up again." Zhang Weixian is also an old fox, knowing that the emperor has something in his words, the "car" that the emperor told him a few days ago is going south, he has been thinking about it for a long time, now, Hearing the news from the emperor, I feel that the emperor is implying this. If he wants to grab the business of those merchants in the south, he must compete with those people in the south. At that time, he may have to come in handy. Otherwise, such great benefits , Why did the emperor give him points?
"Okay! I knew the Duke would not let me down, so the matter was settled like this. The Duke went to contact some reliable people, and then, I found a day to talk about the matter of investing in shares carefully. At that time, I am afraid that many people will buy shares, and this business will grow big and last for a long time..." Yang Reformed.

"The minister leads the decree!" Zhang Weixian immediately accepted the decree, listening to the emperor's intention, there will be some "strength" people involved in this matter, it seems that the emperor really wants to go to war with those businessmen in the south?This is a good show to watch...

……

The next day.

In the capital, the first article in the mansion newspaper was that the emperor issued an order to reprimand the salt merchants and order them to pay the money quickly, and then the emperor sold the shares of Liulizhai in order to plug this gap.As soon as these two news came out, the capital immediately turned into a boiling pot.

The snow in winter is still thick, but in the teahouse, it is really warm. The heat from the teapot is constantly rising, and the tea fragrance is constantly floating from the teacup, which adds a lot of warmth to this winter.

"I said, how many people, what else is there? The salt merchant owed so much money? Your Majesty used the money to fill up this big hole?" In the teahouse, many people held the mansion newspaper and discussed this matter enthusiastically.

"This matter! It's an old calendar, and it's not just a matter of a day or two for a salt merchant to owe a salt lesson..." Another person said indifferently.

"This time, in my opinion, the salt merchants have gone too far. As the mansion newspaper said, there is no faith! He clearly promised, but he didn't keep it. This business has no faith. I think this business has no faith." Ah, I can't do it anymore..." Another person echoed.

"Xinyi? Since when did salt merchants have Xinyi? Those people only want to get money from their own pockets. What promises? Xinyi is nothing but bullshit to them..." Another person said indignantly.

"Indeed, this time! I think it's because the salt merchants have gone too far. They shouldn't be dragging the emperor and the imperial court! If you don't pay, you shouldn't have agreed to it earlier..., and now it's critical." Come on, if you don't do it right, you will miss a big deal!"

The people at this table immediately agreed one after another. Most of the big salt merchants are Jiangnan merchants, but they are deadly enemies with the people in their capital.

"Tsk tsk, everyone, there's a good show to watch..." one of them said suddenly.

"Brother Wang, what's the fun?" The person at the same table asked immediately.

"I heard that my elder brother's uncle mentioned it occasionally in the same year. It was a fight between gods and gods. I just don't know whether it was the Holy Son of Heaven who won or the salt merchant who was more powerful..." the person broke the news.

"Oh, Brother Wang, what's going on here?" The person at the same table immediately asked, this gossip is very powerful.

"Hmph, His Majesty is not an ordinary person today. In order to make those salt merchants pay enough salt lessons, but claiming to abolish the salt administration, he would rather not have the salt lessons of several 10 taels of silver. The current situation is that the holy emperor wants to abolish The salt class forced those lords in the court, and let those officials and lords force the salt merchants. If the salt merchants don’t pay the money, the emperor will dismiss the salt class, and everyone will shoot and slap..." The man took a sip of hot tea and broke the news. .

The people around the table were amazed!Unexpectedly, the matter in the court would be so "interesting".

"Abolishing the salt class will allow ordinary people like me to eat some cheap salt..." Someone interjected.

"Tsk tsk, dude, it's really funny. Does the abolishment of the salt class have something to do with eating cheap salt? Could it be that dude thought that if there was no salt class, there would be no salt merchants? The salt merchants would be merciful and wouldn't take it out of their own pockets. Money? Dude, this is a fight between gods and gods, what does it matter to us ordinary people? We just watch the show..." Someone immediately poured cold water on it.

"That's true..." The man immediately admitted that it was unrealistic, and his thinking was too simple.

"This time the gods are fighting! I really hope that the Holy Son of Heaven will win..." someone said.

"Oh, why do you think so, brother?" The person next to him immediately asked.

"It's not easy. The Holy Son of Heaven is always a bodhisattva emperor, and he will never harm us and other people. It's hard to say for the salt merchant. Now our Daming is counting on his money to save the emergency. It's good for him, so he dragged it to the Holy Emperor to sell it. Liulizhai came to mend his hole, and if you compare the two, who is better and who is worse, why don't you just come out?" Although this person's words did not make much sense, they were honest and immediately won the approval of ordinary people.

"This is not bad. I also hope that the Holy Son will win. Maybe the Holy Son will fight the salt merchants down this time. It is not certain that the Holy Son will let the salt merchants sell the salt cheaper. The Holy Son is dedicated to our common people. For the welfare..." What the person said just now won the support of many people, but now the emperor's actions have been affirmed by quite a few common people.

"Hello, Your Majesty! I heard that yesterday, a national policy was announced in the court. Your Majesty plans to spend millions of taels of silver every year on planting sweet potatoes. Even officials have to decide their promotions based on planting sweet potatoes. If this thing is really done, it will be a matter of great merit, how many disaster victims will have to eat because of this national policy!..." Someone said with emotion that the common people's concept of good and evil is always very simple.

"Really? That sweet potato candy? Yesterday, an old sister next door to me got a piece of palm-sized sweet potato candy from her master. She has bad teeth, so she gave a piece to my boy. Hey, I tasted it. Sugar, it’s really sweet, it’s not worse than that frosted sugar, I heard from my old sister, this sweet potato can also be used as vermicelli, it can also be used as wine, it’s very useful..." Someone broke the news immediately, although the city of Beijing is known as A population of one million is actually very small. The emperor bestowed these things on a large scale. How many of them have nothing to do with officials?Therefore, the news about the emperor's candy distribution spread throughout Beijing, and this sweet potato candy immediately became a hot topic in Beijing.

"Hey, listen to what my brother said, hurry up and let the country grow a few sweet potatoes. It would be good to make a few catties of sweet potato candies to entertain people during the Chinese New Year. If you can make a few catties of wine, hey, these days, it will be more and more excessive It's already..." Immediately, someone planned for a good day next year.

"Brother is good at planning, hurry up, I'm also going to plant some fields in the countryside..."

"Yes, yes, yes, that kind, that kind..." Immediately, some people enthusiastically praised this matter. Sugar is a luxury in this era, and it is quite expensive. If cheap sweet potatoes can be made into sugar, it will be a way to improve the quality of life. good stuff.

"...That's right, I'll plant them as soon as possible, we can trust that the Holy Son of Heaven won't harm our common people..." More people planned this kind of sweet potatoes.

(End of this chapter)