Jiangnan, Suzhou City, more than two hundred monks wearing cassocks sneaked into Suzhou City in batches.
The entry of these monks into Suzhou City did not attract the attention of the people. After all, His Majesty had reorganized the temples in the past few years, and the secret activities of many temples were exposed in front of the people.
The impression of Buddhism in the hearts of the people plummeted.
The perfume in temples in various places has dropped by more than 30%.
In addition, His Majesty has rectified the lending industry. All institutions that stipulate that the annual interest rate exceeds 6% and do not file loans with the court are illegal. People can not only borrow money here but not repay it. There are even rewards for reporting.
Many temples and the lending industry that they depend on for their survival have suffered heavy losses.
In addition, His Majesty has included Buddhism in the taxation process. The lives of the monks are getting worse day by day.
As an important city in the south of the Yangtze River and an important node of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, many monks fast and practice asceticism here.
In the big city of Suzhou, the arrival of 200 monks is not impressive at all.
"The abbot has found out that in three days, there will be hundreds of thousand-stone ships transporting 1 million stones of salt to the north." In a secret room of a small temple in Suzhou City, a young monk said to the old monk in front of him.
"I understand, go down." The old monk said.
"The imperial court's fleet of salt transport ships will pass by Suzhou in three days. If we miss this time, the next time the imperial court transports salt on such a large scale will have to be next year."
Food, salt, and fuel are the three foundations of national stability.
In order to ensure the stability of Ming Dynasty.
After Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he carried out drastic reforms in table salt, and seawater sun salt became the mainstream salt production method.
The production of salt increased dramatically.
In addition, the imperial court also established a state-owned salt transportation and storage network.
Every county in the country had salt shops directly operated by the imperial court.
Local vendors could buy salt from salt shops directly operated by the imperial court and sell it to other places at prices specified by the imperial court.
Normally, no less than 100,000 shi of salt would be transported from the south to the north through the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal every month to ensure the supply of salt to the Central Plains and northern regions of the imperial court.
In order to crack down on illicit salt sales, the imperial court not only cracked down on salt dealers, but also drastically reduced the price of salt, causing the profits of illicit salt to plummet.
Even in many places during the Ming Dynasty, the price of official salt from the imperial court was lower than the price of private salt.
It can be said unceremoniously that Zhu Youjian's strategy has touched the cake of many people.
"One pound of salt is enough for 100 people to eat for a day (one pound of salt in the Ming Dynasty is 596.8 grams). One stone of salt, if you save it, it will be enough for 100 people for half a year. If you save one million stone, it will be enough for 100 million people who are late." Next spring, the canal thaws.
Salt Price: Once the millions of stones of salt transported by the imperial court arrive in the north, needless to say, everyone here will know what will happen next. "The old monk said to the men in black in the secret room.
If there are people from the government here, they will be able to recognize that the few people in front of them are all salt dealers who are worth more than 1,000 silver coins.
“In the past, you risked beheading to deliver salt to the people in the north and made great contributions to the stability of the Ming Dynasty, but what about now?
After the little emperor ascended the throne, you became a street rat. The court did not consider your merits, but directly hung your heads.
Year after year, you can easily earn tens of thousands of silver. Now, except that the canals dry up in winter and the salt in your hands can barely make up for the loss, what is the usual income enough for? "
"Are we really going to attack this batch of salt? You know, this much salt is escorted by the imperial navy. Not only that, I heard that each ship is equipped with fireworks for help. If something goes wrong, the nearest garrison will send people there Check it out.”
A man in black said.
As a former great salt merchant, he has no shortage of courage.
But he also knew how powerful the Ming Dynasty was. Although selling salt secretly was dangerous, the court had a lot of things to do. As long as the money was in place, no one would care about them.
However, the court has regulations that no one dares to rob official granaries and salt. All crimes will be punished as treason.
Millions of stones of salt were once looted. The court will definitely be angry.
At that time, once it is found out that he did it, no one will dare to protect him.
'You don't need to tell me how much salt is produced. You know it. One million stones of salt, at least three months of production in the south. Once the imperial court lost these million stones of salt, it would be absolutely difficult to gather so much salt within three months.
Three months from now. If the water flow of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal decreases, how much can it be transported?
As long as the news spreads, people all over the north will rush to buy salt, which will inevitably further aggravate the salt panic in the north. '
"At that time, the energy of the imperial court will definitely be restrained by the north. When the time comes when you sell salt, the imperial court will only turn a blind eye, and even wish you would take out all the salt in your hands to stabilize the north.
How could the imperial court have the energy to investigate this matter at that time? When the court reacts, can't we just run away at worst? "
The old monk said.
“The world is so big, as long as you have money, is there no place for you?
Moreover, for his own selfish interests, the Dog Emperor not only competes with the people for profit, but also robs the incense of various gods and goddesses. The gods and Buddhas in the sky are already dissatisfied. Our trip will be successful if we are protected by the gods and Buddhas in the sky. "
The old monk said.
"If it was five years ago, if you said we would do it, we would do it. Even if it was 5 million stones of salt, let alone one million stones of salt, we could have taken it away before the court could react.
But now, I only have about 100 confidants left in my hands. These people, not to mention the imperial guards, even the strong men may not be able to defeat them. Moreover, the reaction speed of the imperial army is not comparable to that before.
When transporting a large amount of supplies, the imperial court had at least 500 soldiers and horses distributed on both sides of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to check the situation. If something happens, these 500 people will definitely be able to reach the shore within half an hour.
At least 3,000 troops from the imperial court will arrive within three hours. In such a short time, let alone one million stones of salt, even one hundred thousand stones of salt, we couldn't finish it. "
"Our purpose is to prevent the court from sending this salt to the north. Do we have to snatch it away? Can't we just scuttle the ship?" The old monk asked a little doubtfully.
It is common sense that salt dissolves in water. Isn’t it easy for millions of stones of table salt to dissolve in the water of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal?
"If the millions of stones of salt from the imperial court cannot be sent to the north, the price of salt will definitely rise sharply. Will your income be reduced by then?
Why are you, why are you so greedy? You still want to get these salts, not to mention millions of shi of salt, that is 100,000 shi. Believe it or not, before you have gone a hundred miles, the imperial troops are coming to kill you! "
The old monk murmured in his heart.
