"I understand everything Mr. Wang said. After returning to the capital, I will definitely report it to all the princes in the court and His Majesty.
It just so happens that before leaving the capital, His Majesty still doubted your loyalty and ability to serve the imperial court. If he knew this, he might understand that you have suffered for so many years and, if you are merciful, let other royal merchants take this. Bitterness is also unknown. "
Jia Lian's light words immediately made Wang Shanxiang's sincere smile freeze on his face.
The other salt merchants were even more shocked.
From Jia Lian's words, two key pieces of information were revealed.
First, the emperor was indeed doubting them. He sent Jia Lian down this time, probably to collect evidence.
Second, Jia Lian is obviously dissatisfied with Wang Shanxiang's answer. After returning to Beijing, he may advise the emperor to eliminate all salt merchants like them!
The first point was good that they had been mentally prepared, but the second point was intolerable to all the salt merchants present.
Although their self-restraint was deeply rooted in the Lianghuai Salt Policy and they had many backgrounds in the imperial court, it was absolutely impossible for them to oppose the emperor.
If the emperor was really determined to abolish them and keep the bigwigs in the court, he would immediately abandon them as abandoned sons.
After all, the interests of the salt bank are here, so who will collect the money?
For the imperial treasury, it may still experience the pain of blood exchange, but for the princes of the imperial court, it will have no impact at all.
Zhou Boru immediately raised his hand to stop Wang Shanxiang from continuing to speak, and then clasped his fists and said to Jia Lian: "I hope your lord Haihan, Vice President Wang only committed to your lord like this because his brothers below him complained a lot about the donation. It's not that he has any dissatisfaction with the imperial court.
In fact, all of us salt merchants, including Vice President Wang, are loyal to the imperial court and are very happy to run salt shops for the imperial court.
This time we paid less national taxes, all because we failed to do things well and failed to live up to the high expectations of the court.
I also ask your Excellency, for the sake of serving the imperial court for so many years, to show us a clear path. If you can help us get through this difficulty smoothly, we will definitely treat you as our reborn parents and respect you every year from now on..."
Zhou Boru knew that everything in the world was for profit. For a mere one or two million in tax money, it is unlikely that the imperial court would wipe out all the salt merchants in one go, because that would have a huge impact on the world's salt politics.
Not to mention, there are powerful figures behind each of their families.
Therefore, as long as Jia Lian is appeased and won over, and they can speak well to them in front of the emperor, it will be the best choice for both parties to get this matter over with.
Of course Jia Lian could hear the filial piety in Zhou Boru's words. He smiled and seemed much satisfied with Zhou Boru.
"I am loyal to the emperor because I can eat the emperor's salary. Before I went to the south of the Yangtze River, I also made up my mind to investigate and report all the shortcomings of the salt administration for your majesty.
However, after arriving in Yangzhou, I saw that Yangzhou was so prosperous due to the concentration of salt shops and you managed it. I couldn't bear to break the peace of this town. Speaking of which, my ancestral home is also in the south of the Yangtze River, and I can be considered the same hometown as most of the people here.
That's all. I have been warmly entertained by President Zhou today. I might as well reveal some news to President Zhou.
This time the salt tax was greatly reduced, the court was shocked, and His Majesty Long Yan was furious. If you want to quell His Majesty's anger and the dissatisfaction of the princes in the court, first of all, your lords, you must show enough sincerity. "
Zhou Boru's eyes moved, "Please let me know clearly."
"First, what the imperial court and His Majesty are most dissatisfied about is that the salt tax revenue has dropped too much. Compared with a few years ago, there is a difference of more than two million taels.
In total, it's three million taels. You must replenish these three million taels to the national treasury, otherwise, you will be so angry that it will be hard to get rid of your anger. "
Hearing this, Zhou Boru and others looked embarrassed, and many people looked at Jia Lian with complicated eyes.
As for the salt tax in Yangzhou last year, it was only one million taels less than the year before. Even compared to the peak a few years ago, the difference is only more than 2.5 million.
Jia Lian asked them to collect three million yuan. They are all smart people. Among them, Jia Lian still doesn’t know how much traffic will be intercepted...
“Secondly, someone in the court has long suggested that the salt industry is making huge profits, and the salt merchants’ local competition and extravagance has become a common practice, which has made many people in the court dissatisfied.
This time when I came down, many honest ministers took the opportunity to attack the entire salt bank. Yangzhou is just the first stop. In the future, Hedong, Changlu and other salt roads will also be attacked by them one after another.
Therefore, if you want to appease the dissatisfaction of these ministers, you need to take measures.
If you can trust me, please add another million. I may be able to help you put this matter to rest. Otherwise, you will make up for the three million treasury arrears. Even if His Majesty's anger subsides, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the princes in the court to pass the test. "
Originally, everyone thought that three million was enough for a lion to open its mouth, which was outrageous. Who knew that Jia Lian was not satisfied yet and wanted to add another million!
This Jia Lian is too greedy.
At this moment, the salt merchants looked at Jia Lian with eyes that were no longer complicated, but dissatisfied and resentful. Are they treating them like pigs and slaughtering them at will?
Even the prime minister, minister, and princes of the clan were not as greedy as Jia Lian!
The magistrate Wu Zhirong and others were even more eye-opening.
Originally, they felt that they had received enough benefits from the salt merchants, and they were too embarrassed not to help others.
Sure enough, their eyesight is still too shallow. Compared with Jia Lian, they are nothing.
Zhou Boru's eyelids were also twitching wildly. If it weren't for the years of experience in the city, he might have lost his composure.
Even so, I still couldn't help but ask: "Four million? Isn't this too much? I'll be honest, I'm afraid no one in the world can take out such a large amount of money except the national treasury."
Even though the villain works in the salt store, he can't afford so much money.
Sir, please be accommodating..."
Zhou Boru shook his head and felt distant from Jia Lian. This person is really too greedy!
You know, although the salt shop is making huge profits, there are more than just a few of them sharing the pie. There are twenty or thirty stores in Yangzhou alone!
And no matter how huge the profit is, it still takes one and a half pounds of salt to be shipped out and sold. Underneath this, there are countless men and thugs to feed.
In addition, and most importantly, they still have a large number of big figures behind them to pay homage to. Those are the ones who have the most benefits.
Therefore, there is only so much profit that can actually be kept in their hands every year.
Jia Lian wants to take away four million at once? Then all of them will basically have worked in vain for several years...
"Well, I don't think it's much. Okay, everyone, please think about it carefully.
I have just arrived in Yangzhou, and I still have many things to do, so I will not accompany you all and take my leave. "
Jia Lian stood up, bowed to Wu Zhirong and others, then gathered his men and left.
Wu Zhirong and other officials were unable to persuade him to stay, so they quickly got up to escort him.
However, Zhou Boru and all the salt merchants, after getting up to see him off, unanimously did not leave the table.
Zhou Boru sighed slightly and called to everyone: "Everyone, please sit down. There is no one else here. If you have any ideas, feel free to tell us."
The salt merchants' uncontrollable emotions immediately burst out.
"It's too much!"
"This Jia Lian really treats us like fish that can be slaughtered at will. This makes me angry."
"Exactly, these powerful people from the capital are all greedy. They are really hateful and should be killed!"
"..."
Zhou Boru allowed them to finish their complaints, and after consciously calming down, he looked at the table next to him and asked with a smile: "Why don't you see Mr. Bai for such an important event today?"
Someone at the table hurriedly stood up and said: "Mr. President, please forgive me, my master is not feeling well today and is really not suitable to go out, so I ordered my slave to come and take a look on his behalf. But President Zhou, don't worry, our master said, as long as it is for We, the Bai family, will definitely support and cooperate with the whole Yangzhou Salt Industry’s good deeds. The president will make up his mind on everything and just inform him in the end."
Zhou Boru shook his head and said nothing. The Bai family has been proud of the Queen Mother's family for a long time, so it's not surprising at all.
Even he himself felt that if this matter could not be resolved properly, everyone present might be in trouble, except the Bai family, which was unlikely to be in trouble.
No matter how rampant Jia Lian is, he is unlikely to dare to touch the Bai family, right?
This was also the reason why he first thought of the Bai family after realizing the difficulty of winning over Jia Lian. If the Bai family is willing to contribute, they will have some confidence in dealing with Jia Lian.
It's a pity that Bai Yi, that old fox, is obviously not prepared to interfere in this matter.
"Do you think we should give you the four million taels of silver that the imperial envoy mentioned?"
We are all our own people here, so there is no need to pretend anymore. Therefore, what Zhou Boru asked was whether to give it to others, not whether everyone could take it out.
"No!"
"Absolutely not."
"That is, this Jia Liankong has such a false reputation, but it turns out that he is just a greedy and lustful person, and he is also greedy.
Besides, even if we give him money, he may not be able to help us solve this trouble. "
Everyone's reaction was as expected by Zhou Boru, who shook his head and said: "Although giving it to him may not help us solve the problem completely, if we don't give it to him, I'm afraid he will turn around and turn his back.
As a close minister of the Emperor, if he is determined to deal with us, it will be really troublesome.
Everyone, think about it carefully and if you have any good suggestions, feel free to say them. "
Four million is too much, and it is impossible to give everyone a unified opinion. But when it comes to how to deal with Jia Lian, they are all at a loss.
Just because Jia Lian's identity is too special and his holy family is too prosperous.
If it were another civil servant, even if the minister, Prime Minister, and Fu came in person, they might not be so confused.
Just because most of their backgrounds are also from powerful families in Beijing. Using the powerful and the princes to suppress civil servants still has a certain chance of winning.
However, Jia Lian himself was a powerful person and he was from the founding government. Not only did he have the title of marquis, he also had a sister who was a concubine, and finally, he also had holy family members with him. No matter how rich they were as salt merchants, they could not think of a strategy to control and balance Jia Lian for a while.
Seeing that one Jia Lian was overwhelming everyone, Wang Shanxiang, who was sitting next to Zhou Boru, suddenly had a hard look in his eyes: "We must not let this person manipulate us, otherwise we don't know how greedy he will be and bully us in the future.
In my opinion, if this person really doesn’t know how to advance or retreat, it would be better to be like Ellsworth..."
Wang Shanxiang made a gesture of wiping his neck, and everyone understood what he meant.
In fact, more than one person had similar thoughts in a short period of time before. Because in the past, they would choose to do this when they encountered people who were a big threat to their interests.
It was just Jia Lian's identity that made them afraid to say that for a while.
The death of An Siyuan had already alerted the court. If another imperial envoy with a big background dies, I'm afraid the court will explode immediately.
At that time, it may be a situation where both sides suffer losses.
Zhou Boru narrowed his eyes and saw Wu Zhirong and others coming back in the distance, so he said calmly: "Mr. Wang, please be careful what you say."
Wang Shanxiang glanced at the pretentious Zhou Boru and sneered, but did not say anything further.
(End of chapter)
