Jiangyuan, northern suburb of Yangzhou.
In the study of Wang Wanchun, the leader of the four major salt merchants in Huibang, Yangzhou, several people sat like wooden chickens. In his fifties this year, there is a Confucian and businessman named Wang Wanchun, a great talent. Today, even Wei Chunhua, a Qing Dynasty servant from Lichun Yuan who is excellent at reciting poems, composing poems, playing music, chess, calligraphy and painting, does not want to go to the meeting, but just called a meeting. The retainer was in the study, holding a copy of the imperial edict, looking at it carefully over and over for an unknown amount of time, but he couldn't say a word. Ji Kun, who had gone to Zhu Cihong to report Zhu Guobi and Xu Yongji's rebellion, was also in this spacious and bright study, gently shaking his paper fan, frowning, looking like he was thinking hard.
It was quiet in the room, and only the sighs of the great talent Wang could be heard.
At the end, Wang Wanchun let out a long sigh, gently placed the copy of the decree on the desk in front of him, and said with a wry smile: "This is not about abolishing the Salt Law and abolishing the Salt Policy... You clearly want me to do this. The fate of the general merchant of the salt industry... The salt industry is very profitable. It involves too many aspects, and all aspects have to be divided. A general merchant like me is just looking at the scenery, but in fact he does not have much wealth..."
"... Once the Salt Law is repealed and the Salt Administration is abolished, I will no longer be able to make money for everyone! Will they be able to let me go and let me enjoy my old age? What little wealth I have will be gone in a blink of an eye. Just eat it up and wipe it clean? Maybe even your life is involved!"
Hearing the desperate words of the great talent Wang, all the guests present felt sad, and some even shed tears. These people were not businessmen, but scholars from poor families who were supported by Wang Wanchun. Most of them had the reputation of being scholars. As a guest of the Wang family, on the one hand, he studied to prepare for the exam; on the other hand, he traveled among officialdom and scholars to seek benefits for the Wang family.
This kind of practice of wealthy businessmen subsidizing children from poor families to study and expecting them to become official backstage after high school was very common among the wealthy businessmen in the southeast in the late Ming Dynasty. Since Yangzhou salt merchants' core competitiveness is political and business relations, they pay more attention to supporting talented children from poor families.
In the second Huaiyang Prefecture and Huizhou, Chizhou, Ningguo and other prefectures, the strongholds of Huizhou merchants, as long as talented people from poor families were selected as scholars, most of them could get financial support from businessmen and no longer had to worry about food and clothing. If you win the election, you will be the honored guest of the Anhui Gang salt merchants.
And these guests under Wang Wanchun's sect are the best among the talented people from the poor family. Not only are they good at writing eight-part essays, but they also have some practical talents and are well-versed in the world. Once they become officials, they will be able to serve as officials.
But this group of future capable officials still can't figure out why the decree to abolish the Salt Law and abolish the Salt Administration came down so quickly. When did the Ming court become so resolute in its affairs? As a result, everyone has no time to find connections and find connections...
In addition, Mr. Qian Ge, who joined the cabinet not long ago, is an old friend of the Huibang salt merchants. Why can't he find a way to delay it? Could it be that Mr. Qian Ge wants to turn his back on others and want to eat up the wealth of the four major salt merchants in the Anhui Gang?
Wang Wanchun knew that his group of followers could no longer deal with this chaos, so he had no choice but to turn to Ji Kun for help - the news of the abolition of the Salt Law and the abolition of the Salt Policy was brought by him yesterday morning!
Ji Kun shook his head: "He doesn't really want to abolish the Salt Law, but he is asking for money! The annual output of salt in the entire Ming Dynasty is not less than 2 billion jins, and the total sales price is 30 to 40 million taels. The imperial court only has a few hundred thousand to more than a million taels, can anyone be satisfied?"
"How much does he want?" Jiang Wanchun asked with a bitter look on his face.
"If you don't have 10 million a year, I'm afraid I won't be able to feed you enough! How much income did the court receive from the salt industry in the Song Dynasty every year? How could it be more than 10 million? What about this dynasty? How much was it last year? How much is it this year? I Look at the Lianghuai Salt Industry making 6 million taels of silver a year..."
"Six million taels!?" Wang Wanchun said coldly, "How is this possible?"
"It's impossible, the general manager knows better than me." Ji Kun shook his head, "In which year will the Lianghuai Salt Industry's income be less than 15 million taels? Is it too much for the court to charge 40% of the salt tax? This salt industry is already hugely profitable. It comes from monopoly, but it is actually a population tax! Before the abolition of the Kaizhong Law in the past, the salt merchants exchanged grain for money, and transported millions of dan of grain to Jiubian every year. The value of millions of dan of grain today is so high. The amount is huge. If you consider the transportation costs, it will be no less than 10 million taels!"
"But, there are too many people getting money from this salt profit!" Wang Wanchun shook his head repeatedly, "How much can really fall into the hands of salt merchants? If we pay another 6 million taels, then everyone will not be able to survive. "
Ji Kun shook his head, "Now it's not about whether we can pay out 6 million taels, but whose treasure is the bet? Is it the chief merchant who bets his wealth and life... on the success of the prince, or on the defeat of the prince?"
If the crown prince succeeds, all the nobles in Nanjing and Donglin in Jiangnan will have to surrender, so the chief merchant can just fawn over the crown prince alone. Is it really difficult to collect 6 million taels for the prince from the Lianghuai Salt Industry, which earns at least 15 million taels a year? For these 6 million taels, will the prince allow those people to eat up the general merchant?
If the prince cannot succeed... then who can prevent him from succeeding? "
Wang Wanchun took a breath and said in a low voice: "Those who are very profitable in the salt industry are the nobles, the internal officials, and Donglin... all of them should not be underestimated! What does Master Qiantose have?" "
"The prince has 60,000 new troops to overcome difficulties!" Ji Kun said, "Now that the prince can control the emperor and command all directions, it is because of these 60,000 new troops... When I saw him on the dock the day before yesterday, he I am planning to use muskets and artillery with Zheng Sen, the young master of Shibazhi! Two Zheng family war ships have brought in an unknown amount of muskets, artillery, and gunpowder!"
"But the nobles in Nanjing also have soldiers and horses!" Wang Wanchun said, "The number of soldiers in the capital camp in Nanjing alone is no less than 50,000 or 60,000. When Zhu Guobi and Huang Shu went south, they also brought many Qin Wang soldiers summoned by Shi Kefa .And all the wealthy families in Nanjing who have been in the capital for more than 200 years have sufficient wealth!
In addition, Ma Shiying and Huang Degong were also loyal to the emperor. They still had 30,000 troops in Fengyang Mansion. There is also a close relationship between Zuo Liangyu and Huang Shu upstream... There are few people on the Prince's side! "
Ji Kun smiled bitterly: "General Merchant, who are you keeping?"
Wang Wanchun rolled his eyes, "Can you bet both ends?"
"I'm afraid not!"
Wang Wanchun glanced at the room full of diners.
"General Merchant, Southern Zhili has always been the domain of Nanjing nobles and Donglin scholars!"
"General Merchant, the prince should not hold the emperor hostage. He is being unreasonable now..."
"General Merchant, a good man won't suffer the consequences of his immediate losses. The four Shanshan Salt General Managers have been arrested! We are also holding them in their hands now!"
Wang Wanchun nodded, and just as he was about to make up his mind to stand in line, there were hurried footsteps outside the door, and then a young man's voice: "Father, a letter from Jinan Prefecture!"
After hearing the letter from Jinan Mansion, the air inside the study door became even more tense.
Jinan Mansion is the frontier facing Donglu!
Gao Hongtu, who was stationed in Jinan, also had scholars sponsored by Wang Wanchun as his staff. Once there were changes on the front line, the news would be sent to Gao Hongtu immediately.
Wang Wanchun took an envelope from the hands of a young man in Confucian uniform who came in from the door, and hurriedly opened it and took out the letter paper to read. Only halfway through, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
"General Merchant, are the Tatars calling?"
Someone immediately asked a question below.
Wang Wanchun shook his head, "No, it was the Tatar Regent who sent envoys to talk to the Crown Prince about peace and marriage... The Tartar Regent no longer wants to invade Shandong, and he wants to marry his only daughter to the Crown Prince as his concubine! "
"What?"
"Is this happening?"
"Is the Great Victory at Dagukou really true?"
"It's impossible, right? Kill 3,000 Tatars in one battle, and those are Tatars!"
"Then why is the Tatar regent willing to marry?"
The people below gasped and felt a cool breeze blowing on their necks. If the prince's new army can kill, no, defeat, no, even draw 3,000 Tatars, then Nanjing's Jingying, Fengyang's Huang Degong, and Wuchang's Zuo Liangyu will no longer matter. This knife handle is reliable and stronger than anything else!
Wang Wanchun stood up suddenly, "Quickly prepare 50,000 taels of silver, no, gold! Prepare 50,000 taels of gold, I am going to pay a visit to Prince Chitose!"
