In a building on Ma Hang Street.
But I saw a dozen businessmen sitting here. They were all the owners of Dajiao Yinpu in the capital. It should be noted that there are hundreds of Jiaoyin shops in Jieshen Alley, but after years of forced sales and mergers, they are now in the hands of more than a dozen businessmen.
The officialdom and shopping malls are full of bloodshed, and the shopping malls are more brutal than the officialdom.
Although these merchants look friendly, those who can sit here today are all people who eat people without spitting out their bones. They talked very harmoniously and acted lightly, which was completely different from the situation of the big salt merchants downstairs.
Normally, these merchants are well-dressed and well-dressed, and wear gold and silver. Now, because they were summoned by the Kaifeng Mansion and the Third Division, they only wore scarves on their heads and soap shirts and horn belts on their bodies, looking very simple.
At this time, the door opened, and two people were seen entering. The leader was an old man in his sixties, followed by a middle-aged man in his forties.
This middle-aged man was none other than Shen Chen, the businessman from Shenjiajiao Yinpu who sold Zhang Yue salt banknotes that day. The man in front of him was his uncle, Shen Yan, the real person in charge of the Shen family.
After the two people entered, everyone stood up to greet them.
After everyone took their seats, Ana Shen took a seat. He smiled with everyone and said, "We have all been old faces in our society for so many years. Today I will bring my nephew to show his face. What will you do in the future?" Wherever there is trouble, just send him.”
Everyone had known Shen Chen for a long time. They smiled and praised Shen Chen a few times, and then rearranged their seats. Shen Chen sat next to Shen Yan.
"Mr. Shen, after this review, the salt merchants below are saying that if the government insists on lowering the price to half of the current price, they will go on strike! The entire Bianjing capital will be deprived of salt."
Ana Shen smiled and took the tea soup and took a sip.
Another businessman said: "Mr. Shen, you are familiar with people in the government, and your friendship is deeper than mine. When the time comes, I will pay you back and say something."
Ana Shen put down the tea soup and said with a smile: "Although I am somewhat considerate, no matter how old I am, I can't be bigger than the Queen Mother. I heard that it was the Queen Mother who spoke this time, so you are more worried."
All the businessmen and businessmen shook their heads.
Shen Yan paused and then said: "Everyone, I heard a saying that 'morality is passed down to the family for more than ten generations, farming and reading are the next best, poetry and books are the next best, wealth is passed down to the family for no more than three generations', we businessmen In the future, we will all have to look up to the imperial court, but now that the imperial court needs help from us, we can just earn less and think of it as buying peace."
"That can't happen! The imperial court asked the salt merchants below to reduce the price by half, but the salt merchants asked us to reduce the salt banknotes to less than ten guan. We just discussed for a while, once we reduce the salt banknotes to ten guan, those salt banknotes will be reduced to ten guan. The southern merchants are afraid that if they catch wind of this, they will wipe out the salt banknotes on the market."
"These southern merchants have been eyeing our business for a long time. In the past few years, they made a lot of money from tea business, but now they are eyeing Yanyin."
One person said: "I remember that last year, the Shaanxi Transportation Department printed salt banknotes indiscriminately, so that the salt merchants in Shaanxi sold the salt banknotes in a big way. At that time, one seat was not worth three coins. No one bought the salt banknotes in the banknote buying office and the Duyangyuan. "
"Who was it at that time? It was the Third Division who pointed out a few of us to tell the truth in the market. Otherwise, where would the hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers of the Western Army come from now? We have also made great contributions. I don't believe that the imperial court does not appreciate any kindness. To unload the mill and kill the donkey.”
The merchants at Zhongjiaoyinpu talked for a while but refused to lower the price.
Another person said: "I wonder who the new salt inspector of the imperial court is? If he forces us to reduce the salt banknotes to ten coins, he will definitely not be able to live in peace."
At this time, someone came in and said, "I just asked the salt dealers and they have agreed not to lower the price!"
Several Jiaoyinpu merchants said: "They dare not surrender, and we will not surrender either. We just have to carry it together."
Ana Shen sighed silently, the business of the gold and silver trade shop in the world was growing rapidly, and just looking at the piles of money required more than 100,000 guan. Ordinary businessmen keep their wealth secret for fear of being used as fat sheep and slaughtered by the court.
But the wealth and background of those who dare to put it on the table can be seen. The most disadvantaged among these people is that his son-in-law is a Jinshi. He was caught from the bottom of the ranking and became a high official. No wonder he has such confidence.
It's in the teahouse across the street from this building.
Zhang Yue had a leisurely time to drink tea. Today is the tenth day, which is the last day of every tenth day. It is the day when the government and businessmen discuss the scientific and scientific distribution of the tenth day.
The so-called "kepei" means that the government allots money to merchants. To put it bluntly, it means buying and selling by force. For example, if some things are needed by the government, they are bought from the merchants. The merchants must give priority to the government before selling them to the people. Or if some things are rotten in the warehouse, such as grain, tea, etc., the government will force the sale to the merchants.
The more famous one is the palace market of the Tang Dynasty. You will know it after reading "The Charcoal Seller".
As for Xun assessment, it is also called Hui assessment. This is a system that has been in existence since the Han Dynasty.
In the Song Dynasty, the government gathered the merchants together and divided the goods into three grades according to the upper, middle and lower grades. They set a price for each grade and reported it to the government after negotiation.
This matter is the responsibility of the Kaifeng Prefecture’s Directorate of Records.
Now Sun He, the clerk of the Si Lu Department, who joined the army, was sitting in the teahouse with Zhang Yue. As for the Salt and Iron Department and the officials of the Si Lu Department, they were discussing face to face with the salt merchants and the trade merchants.
Zhang Yue and Sun He did not show up, sitting in the teahouse drinking tea and waiting for news.
Zhang Yue had heard about Sun He's work. In the past, there was a man named Xuntou from Mi Xing who was forced to hang himself because he couldn't hand over the exam.
Sun He said to Zhang Yue: "Most of the salt in Beijing is made from salt. The salt merchants get salt with banknotes. If the banknotes don't fall, the price of salt will rise again if it drops slightly. This is the end of the story." Here you are, bachelor."
Zhang Yue said: "This is difficult for me to handle. Those merchants in Jiaoyinpu are not easy to offend."
Sun He smiled with deep sympathy, and finally calmed down and said: "You need to be ruthless when you need to be ruthless, and you need to kill when you need to kill! You said that these cross-border merchants monopolize the cross-border market by buying cheap and selling high, how can they ever pass through it? A little sweat, a drop of blood, and the money earned every day is worth the salary of you and me as officials for a year, do you think this kind of person should be killed?"
"Previously, a deputy envoy from the Third Department used a street stick to kill twenty pedestrians because something went wrong with the leather boots provided by a merchant. This official is too soft-hearted. If I sympathize with others, who will sympathize with him in the future?" I, remember this sentence, do what you have to do, kill when you have to, at least show some form, otherwise you will be the scapegoat for those brokers."
The result of the discussion came here. The salt merchant said that the salt solution prepared by the palace could be supplied at thirty-seven cents per pound, but it was estimated to cost one hundred and twenty cents.
After listening to the narrative, Zhang Yue thought that the supply of salt was based on the supply before the price of salt increased. The palace and officials benefited, but in the end it was not the wool that came out of the sheep, but the people who paid for it. Soon the results of the discussion between the Third Division and Jiaoyinpu came out. The salt merchants in Zhongjiaoyinpu unanimously said that they would not increase the price.
This result obviously did not satisfy Zhang Yue and Sun He, and both of them had to report to their superiors.
Sun He sneered and said: "In this case, you can't show mercy. If these salt merchants don't kill a few of them and force a few to lose their families, they don't know what the court's three-foot rule is. I'll take my leave now, Master Zhang."
Zhang Yue looked at the other party's back and knew that a salt merchant was going to be in trouble.
After Zhang Yue said goodbye to Sun He, he returned to the Third Division to answer his orders.
He is also considering whether to use means to force these businessmen to submit, but after thinking about it, he has not yet reached this step. The source of this matter is still in the Shaanxi Transportation Department.
He had reached an agreement with Xue Shaopeng before, and even the Shaanxi transfer envoy Xue Xiang also told him through Wu Anshi that if his method was approved by the court, then the Shaanxi transfer envoy would not give him 50,000 seats, but 100,000 seats of salt. money.
The question now is whether the imperial court will approve of him?
He still lacks a suitable opportunity.
As Zhang Yue's carriage was driving along Ma Xing Street, he suddenly saw two coolies falling to the ground beside the street. Zhang Yue immediately ordered the car to stop. One look revealed that the two men were doing hard work due to lack of salt. While working, they fell over and died.
Afterwards, Zhang Yue returned to Yantieyuan to see Fan Shidao.
But seeing Fan Shidao's angry face, it turned out that he was scolding Xue Xiang again.
Fan Shidao reported the matter to the Admonition Yuan because the Shaanxi Transportation Department refused to allocate salt notes. Unexpectedly, Xue Xiang was the first to express his merits to the court, saying that he had made great contributions to the Shaanxi Transportation Department in the past three years.
He said that he would bring in as much salt, as much horses, as much cud, as much millet as he would bring in each year for three years, and how much he would accumulate in his treasury.
He also wrote a memorial, saying that he, the Shaanxi Transport Department, was not good for the people, but his lessons were the best! '
In other words, he did not impose a penny in taxes on the people, but his taxes were the highest among all previous Shaanxi transit envoys. For such a great contribution, the imperial court must give him an official title.
Anyway, after seeing Xue Xiang's operation, Zhang Yue was stunned that there was such a shameless person.
Where did you get all this money? None of the officials in the Third Division know that you have the nerve to brag to the court.
And the most intoxicating thing is that this time, Xue Xiang donated 200,000 yuan to the imperial court for the cost of the late emperor's mausoleum. For Han Qi, the envoy of the mausoleum, it was a huge favor to Xue Xiang. , at least I know where his money comes from, but it’s not easy to deal with him.
Zhang Yue could only sigh, it was really shameless.
But I don't admire them for being really smart and powerful. This kind of operation is really beyond the reach of others and makes them feel like inferiors.
The soaring salt prices in Bianjing were used to fill Xue Xiang's pocket. What's even more deplorable was that the salt merchants and dealers also took advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune without lowering the price in front of the beheading.
After Zhang Yue returned home, he immediately wrote a memorial.
What the memorial said was to plead for mercy from the two medical officers Sun Zhao and Shan Xiang. These two people were famous doctors recommended by Han Qi and others to treat the late emperor. However, after the late emperor passed away, they became scapegoats and are now imprisoned for questioning.
After this memorial was handed over, it was a bit puzzling.
If Zhang Yue knew about Taichang Liyuan before, there would be no problem in writing this memorial.
But now that he is the judge of salt and iron, while he is busy with the soaring price of salt in the capital, he has written a memorial that is completely unrelated to this matter. It is really puzzling what his intention is?
This does not seem to be a matter under his jurisdiction, so why did he have to write this memorial at this time?
