Baidu otaku as Chongzhen

Chapter 494 Kill a Batch, Hit a Batch, Release a Batch

The eighteenth day of the first month of the second year of Chongzhen.

Beijing City ushered in a new day.

With the arrival of a new day, there is even more explosive news, that is, the court has agreed that Liulizhai will take over the world's salt production. He had to prepay 1000 million taels of salt in advance. When the news came out, the world was really shaken.

When we wake up in the morning, we go to the teahouse to listen to the mansion newspaper. This is definitely a big hobby of people in the capital. They didn’t have this habit before, and the northerners are not used to drinking tea in the morning, but the mansion newspaper often publishes “explosive” news. Want to know this explosive news, want to know the inside story, want to understand the ins and outs of the whole thing, want to share the joy, sense of accomplishment, surprise, and knowledge with others, and go to the teahouse to listen to the newspaper. If it doesn't become a habit, who is to say that the news on the mansion newspaper is authoritative, and the mansion newspaper is published in the morning?
Accompanied by the rising heat all over the street, what filled the street was the excited cries of newsboys: "Extra! Extra! Liulizhai took over the world's salt production and prepaid 500 million taels of salt..., Extra! Extra! Liulizhai prepaid 500 Ten thousand taels of salt class..."

The streets and alleys of the city are filled with the cries of this immature voice, which will soon wake up the entire Beijing city.

Teahouses of different sizes and grades gathered a lot of people, listening to what was said in the mansion newspaper, inquiring about the latest news, and seeing what new gadgets were born. What happened in the past year, it can be said, Decades of events have piled up in less than a year.

It's still this teahouse, and that old pedant, because the old pedant can get some inside stories from time to time, and can understand some esoteric mansion newspapers, and he's easy to talk to, so more and more people come to listen to his newspapers. More and more, the days of being an old pedant have become more and more moist. The originally skinny and scorched skin is now much ruddy, and the clothes are no longer as shabby as before.He is no longer afraid of people in order to ask for a cup of tea, a bowl of wine, or a meal, as before. Now, because of the huge flow of people he said reported to the teahouse, the teahouse business is quite good Therefore, the owner of the teahouse did not treat him badly, and gave him a lot of "reporting money" every time. Now relying on repayment, this old pedant, who was originally poor and poor, can be regarded as a man of old age, and a good old man. With no hope of taking the exam, he likes more and more this thing that has face, income and is sought after by everyone.

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Seeing that there were already people sitting on the inner three floors and the outer three floors around him, the old pedant knew that it was time to start. People who came here must have a cup of tea or something. Customers even keep their own cups here, just to come here to listen to and read newspapers every day, and don’t mix cups with others. They used to like to listen to books, listen to operas, and like to visit kilns when they were fine. Di Bao, and then everyone talked about the mountains together, bragging, and arguing about things in the court, which is also so interesting.Those who are more wealthy will also order some snacks, something like breakfast.Therefore, this morning tea every day has brought huge profits to the teahouse.

Seeing that the old pedant was about to report, everyone stopped excitedly to see what the old pedant had to say.

"The new salt law will come out; Liulizhai will take over the world's salt production; Liulizhai will pay 500 million taels of salt in advance..." The old pedant began by reading the word "general" three times in a row, and immediately summarized the main points of today's newspaper. The content is spoken.

"it is good!"

"it is good!"

"it is good!"

The ups and downs of the old pedant's reading of the newspaper immediately cheered up the cheers of the people present. In fact, everyone already knew today's news, and everyone was flushed and full of excitement. At this time, they just gathered together to find out the inside story Talk about the mountains, and you will have the capital to brag in the future. Of course, this matter may have something to do with them, so I am extra excited.

"My god, 500 million taels of silver, it must be piled up into a mountain..." Just after reading the newspaper, someone couldn't help the excitement and excitement in their hearts, and screamed strangely.

"Coax..." This man's weird cry immediately caused everyone to burst into laughter. Because the news was so exciting, many people were blushing and needed a chance to vent.

The old pedant also smiled and stroked his beard.

"That's right, it's just the beginning of spring this year, so we need to collect 500 million taels of salt? This time, the imperial court is very prosperous..."

"The salt merchant fell, and the court was full..."

Someone immediately took up the conversation, and heated discussions started. This time, the news was too sensational. If the matter of tens of millions of taels of silver disaster relief was just a talk, and they were still too far away, and they were just spectators, then , this salt class incident has a close relationship with them, no one can not eat salt, so, a lot less indifferent and calm, all of them are blushing, as if they brought down the salt merchants by themselves, Winning the victory in the court is average.

Faced with the hot discussion of the crowd, the old pedant also stopped talking about the newspaper with a smile, waiting for the discussion of the crowd, knowing that he does not need to read it by himself today.

"Let me tell you, can Liulizhai afford that much money?" When everyone was talking about it, another person suddenly asked.

"Coax..." Everyone burst into laughter.

"I said, Li Er Er, Liulizhai will have no money? Could it be that the glass street in that street is fake? Last year, Liulizhai divided the silver, didn't you go to see it? Millions of taels of silver, if you say you can divide it, you can divide it." ..." Immediately, someone came out to defend Liulizhai. Liulizhai is synonymous with Jinshan. The glass street in that street is more convincing than anything else. At the end of last year, the dividend distribution of Liulizhai was full of excitement for several days. Several million taels of silver were distributed like this.

"Coax..." Everyone laughed again, venting their excitement. No one doubted Liuli Zhai's ability to pay, but envied the imperial court for receiving 500 million taels of salt.

The person who asked the question was ridiculed by everyone once, and he touched his head in embarrassment and confusion. Although others laughed at him, he still felt that it was not worth it. Liulizhai used to be rich, but it didn't mean that Earn 100 million a year?Pay 20 taxes?Why did he suddenly get 500 million taels of silver this time?Where does this money come from?This question made him feel very strange. He has learned some arithmetic, and he has been puzzled by this question for a long time. He always felt that there was a problem there. He couldn't help asking it just now, but he didn't expect that what he got was a burst of ridicule from everyone. .He had to keep this question deep in his heart again, not daring to think about it anymore.

After laughing for a while, everyone vented their emotions a little bit, and someone asked again: "Old master, tell me, we little people don't care about the affairs of the court, and the court has nothing to do with us if the court can't get 500 million yuan." How much does it matter, we just want to ask, this new salt law has come out, can the salt we eat be cheaper? How much money can we buy a catty of salt?" Someone immediately asked this person who was concerned about his own interests. question.

The old pedant stroked his beard and smiled for a while, and when everyone's expectant eyes were on him, he said: "This! According to the report in this mansion, Mr. Bi, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said that the salt class must be handed over. Qi; the price of salt must be stable, this is the benchmark of the new salt class, if these two things are not met, Lord Bi claims that the new salt law is not a good salt law, and it needs to be changed..." The old pedant began to show off.

"Old Master, tell me quickly, after the new salt law, how much we can eat good salt, if the price of salt really comes down, we will consider this new salt law to be a good salt law, the rest has nothing to do with us... ..." Someone yelled, and the teahouse became more lively and noisy.

The old pedant is used to staying with these people. Although they are a bit vulgar, these people are his parents. He smiled and put his hands down. To explain the inside story, the literacy rate in the Ming Dynasty was not very high. Even if there was a mansion newspaper, not many people could read it. Therefore, teahouses, a public place to obtain reliable information, became popular.

"According to what was said in the imperial palace newspaper, Mr. Bi proposed that the price of salt should fluctuate around 25 renminbi. Because the distance of salt transportation varies, the salt price will change slightly. Generally speaking, it is 25 renminbi. It’s a Changlu salt field, so it’s not too far to eat salt, and it’s estimated that it won’t exceed 25 wen.” The old pedant is worthy of being an intellectual, and quickly analyzed the contents of the mansion newspaper in detail.

"Wow! 25 Wen?"

"Ah! 25 Wen?"

"25 Wen?"

Everyone exclaimed, this price is quite a lot lower than the current price of salt, ordinary salt can cost more than [-] yuan, and a catty of salt is almost ten yuan less.Accumulated, it is not a small amount.

"Old master, this can't be leftovers, right? How can it be so cheap?" Another question was immediately raised.

"Small scraps? Scoff..." The old pedant laughed, and said in a mocking tone: "...Your Majesty is the son of Shengming, who will give you scraps to eat? The new salt law says that you can eat salt if you eat it." Good sea salt is almost the same as the fine salt we eat now, where can I get the leftovers for you? If you want to eat leftovers, you have to pay extra?” The old pedant must stand from the perspective of the court at certain critical moments. In terms of the interests of the imperial court, especially when the emperor is involved, there is no doubt that he will protect the emperor.

"Coax..." Everyone burst into laughter again, watching the old master reveal the inside story.

"Why?" the man asked puzzled.

"Why? The old man heard that His Majesty's new salt method uses sun-dried salt. There are only a few salt farms in the world, which are enough for the people of the world to eat. The salt that is sun-dried is all first-class fine white. Salt, if you want to eat leftovers mixed with mud and sand, you have to ask someone to mix sand and mud into the refined salt, mix mud and sand, but it will take a lot of work, and you have to hire labor. Why don't you increase your price? Okay?" The old master explained with a smile, begging that person for mercy.

"Coax..." Everyone happily vented their excitement in their hearts. Seeing the old master revealing the inside story, everyone burst into laughter again. This old master really has two brushes and knows so many things. Many people are envious and illiterate. Just blind!Even such a sensational news, but I can't understand it, I can't recognize it, and I have to listen to other people's explanations.

This person was laughed at once by everyone, his face became even redder, and he said with a look of begging for forgiveness: "It's a loss, it's a loss, and it's a loss if you don't know how to read! I can't say it, old master, hurry up, find a teacher, and learn from it." Literacy, this illiteracy, it's really a loss..." The man laughed at himself and shook his head again and again, which caused everyone to laugh again.

The old master smiled and stroked his beard. There are some things, even if you are literate, you may not know. There is a reason why he knows so much, to defend the emperor and the court. As for the reason, he will not tell others , With this identity, he believes that he can live happily in this capital city without being bullied, so he is quite satisfied with this new job, and he is quite dedicated to this job.

"So, it is because of His Majesty's honor that we can eat such cheap salt and such good salt. Otherwise, relying on those crooked salt merchants, they would like to eat our meat and peel it off. Our skins are for them to eat, drink and have fun, His Majesty's establishment of a salt merchant this time can be said to be an eye-opener!" The old pedant changed the subject slightly and brought the topic to the salt merchant.

This change immediately aroused everyone's anger towards the salt merchants. At first, no one brought it up, and they didn't feel it. Now that the old master mentioned it, everyone thought of the salt merchants one after another.

"It really should be killed. These damned salt merchants cost us ten cents a catty of salt. Let's do the math. Our family will eat dozens of catties of salt for a year. It will cost an extra tael of silver. This group of damned salt merchants, the salt is not clean, but the salt is expensive. Your Majesty has dealt with them this time. I think it should be done. These salt merchants should have been killed long ago. It's gone..." Immediately, another person expressed his anger towards the salt merchant.

"That's right, your family is still small. It's okay to say that we have more family members. The extra money we give to the salt merchants every year is only a few taels. These goddamn profiteers have completely cheated us ordinary people. It is said in the mansion newspaper that they suck The blood of our common people is right!" The anger towards the salt merchants was only temporarily covered up by the more "explosive" news, but now that it is mentioned even a little bit, they are immediately outraged.

"Yes! You should kill..."

"Yes! Should have killed..."

……

The emotions of the crowd were instantly ignited by the words of the old pedant. The angry crowd wished to kill these hateful salt merchants immediately. Standing on the shore and judging a few words, saying something that is cool or fair, but when there are actual interests involved in yourself, it is very different. The people here are also people with families. There are a lot of people in the family. If the new salt law is implemented, a lot of money can be saved by eating salt every year. This money is enough to buy two pigs during the Chinese New Year. After all this, how can I not hate the salt? Shang, as soon as someone took the lead, immediately yelled to kill the salt merchant.

The old pedant smiled and stroked his beard, looking at the angry crowd, he was very satisfied, and when the anger of the crowd calmed down, he said again: "We are talking about small things, your family and his family together are not worth much money, What's even more hateful is that among these salt merchants, there are some people who collude with captives and want to enslave our tens of thousands of Han men. I'm afraid it's not a matter of eating a few catties of expensive salt, some salt merchants, but they are dreaming of Conglong."

When the old pedant said this, the anger of the crowd had just calmed down, and it became even more heated. They, who often listen to people reading the newspapers, naturally know what is called a slave and what is called a fourth-class untouchable. The anger of the crowd wished to burn those salt merchants to death immediately .

The old pedant looked at the crowd with satisfaction. He just mentioned it a little, and the anger of the crowd was so high that they looked like they were going to eat the salt merchant alive. This, very good.Alas, the common people are so angry, those salt merchants are doomed!

This kind of situation was happening from time to time in the capital, and the anger of the people all over the world to want the salt merchant to die had gradually taken shape.

……

Nanjing.

Fang Hongzan led the brigade of Jinyi guards in a busy manner, and traveled from the capital for more than [-] days, finally arrived in Nanjing this evening. Before he had time to rest, he rushed to Xu Guangqi's imperial envoy Xingyuan.

Hastily entered the palace of the imperial envoy.He went directly to the living room again, Fang Hongzan did not stop for a moment.

"I've met Mr. Xu Ge." Fang Hongzan was the first to bow his fists.

Xu Guangqi returned the gift with a smile, and looked at Commander Fang with a smile. After Commander Fang arrived, that is to say, the matter of the salt merchants was coming to an end. About to close.

"Eunuch Xi." Fang Hongzan also cupped his hands at the other person.

"Your Excellency, you are welcome. You are all His Majesty's confidantes. There is no need to do so." Xi Gonggong Zhu Xi also returned the gift with a smile. As of today, he has received money, but he has really received soft hands. If you say that he holds the most money in the world at the moment , this is definitely not a lie.

"My lord!" In the living room, another person bowed to Fang Hongzan.

Fang Hongzan also arched his hands, and the one who saluted him was one of his subordinates, Xu Bengao, who was sent to the south early last year. At the beginning, the emperor's idea was that if the capital was in trouble, the south would take action immediately, so there was Xu Bengao. The man came to the south ahead of time, and now he has indeed played an important role in the process of running the salt merchant. Jin Yiwei is responsible for beating the rabbits with grass, otherwise he will have to wait until Fang Hongchan arrives in the south before beating the rabbits. The rabbits in the grass didn't know where they went.

"Everyone sit down." Xu Guangqi said with a smile. He is the oldest and oldest here, so he is naturally qualified to speak.

"Thank you, Mr. Ge." After everyone thanked, they sat down again.

"How is your Majesty?" Xu Guangqi asked with a smile. The recent days are undoubtedly his happiest. Checking the family wealth of salt merchants every day is the happiest thing for him. The tens of millions of family wealth, Xu Guangqi The first time I saw it, I was deeply moved.

"Mr. Huige, Your Majesty is fine." Fang Hongzan immediately agreed. In fact, he had been away from Beijing for more than [-] days, and the news from the capital to Nanjing can be communicated within four or five days at the earliest. This question, but It's a false question.

"That's good. What orders does Your Majesty have?" Xu Guangqi asked again. Although this was a scene, it had to be said.The commander who came with the brigade of Jinyiwei meant that the salt business case was coming to an end.

"Return to Mr. Ge, Your Majesty orders, and obey Mr. Ge." Fang Hongzan said again, of course, this is just a matter of fact, he knows his role in this salt business case, that is, a villain, Xu Guangqi is a good man, Mr. Xi It's for making money, that's all.

"Well, His Majesty has ordered that the capital city is about to be sealed, and the news of the seal will soon arrive in Nanjing. At that time, the opening opened by His Majesty will need to be closed, and at that time, Commander Fang will need to take action." Yes." Xu Guangqi said with a smile again, the opening opened by the emperor has already allowed many salt merchants to cross the river, and now, it is time to close the opening, otherwise, if the opening is not accepted, the salt merchant case will not be able to go on. Once this hole is closed, those salt merchants outside the hole will become the targets of this party's command. If the emperor wants to kill a group of salt merchants and severely crack down on a group of salt merchants, they will follow them Picking from the salt merchants outside the mouth, arresting people, evidence, etc., are all in charge of this party commander.

"Your official understands that the team has just arrived at the field, and some people are exhausted and need to rest quietly for a few days, so I will wait for the elder's news." Fang Hongzan immediately said, he knew his mission, that is to come The south acts as a villain, acts as a thug, the killer comes, and the opening opened by the emperor needs to be sealed by him. When he comes, it is the end of some salt merchants.Killing a batch, beating a batch, and "releasing" a batch is a plan that has been drawn up in advance. Those that should be killed, beaten, and "released" are all ready, and they are waiting for the emperor's order. , Catch those who should be killed, those who should be beaten, and end this case of salt merchants who cannot be tried, questioned, or investigated.

……

After handing over the official affairs, Fang Hongzan chatted with Xu Guangqixi's father-in-law at the imperial envoy's office for a while, and then left Xu Guangqi's imperial envoy's office, ready to go back and "rest" for a few days, waiting for news from the emperor.

After coming out, Fang Hongzan breathed a sigh of relief as he recalled the whole process of running a salt merchant this time. Originally, he had to bite the bullet. As a Jinyiwei, he could only follow the emperor. He really didn't dare to think about it, what he was most afraid of was that the emperor would take him out to take the blame if it was not done; if it was done, the emperor would take him out to take the blame in order to appease the anger of the civil servants, then he would be a dead end. one.However, now it seems that the situation is quite good, and it has not reached the worst point. The emperor reached a compromise with the civil servants, and did not drive the salt merchants to a dead end, and opened a big hole for many salt merchants , then he does not need to deal with all the salt merchants and become enemies of all civil servants. It is just to deal with some salt merchants who are not so powerful in the backstage. This matter is very simple for him. There is no need to be human inside and out, and there is no need to be afraid that the emperor and civil servants will fail in the battle and take him out to die instead.

(End of this chapter)