In the evening, Su Xiaolou met with He Bi and his party. When they arrived at the Salt Transport Department, the atmosphere in the entire room of He Bi's residence was a bit depressing. He Bi was so distressed by the mess of accounts. His resentment was enough to feed an evil sword immortal. Iron The baker's boss has been investigating for several days but still can't find any evidence of corruption among the officials on the list. Now his face is as black as coal. Zhen Dexiu stands at the door like a mascot every day. Affected by the emotions of these two, The whole person is feeling bad.
Su Xiaolou told He Bi about the salt merchants. He Bi then realized that he was so focused on the corrupt officials who were plundering people's wealth that he had forgotten about this group of cunning and cunning big salt merchants. The price of salt on the market was so high that many people were worried about it. If you can’t afford salt, these big salt merchants must have contributed a lot!
Why bother slammed his fist on the solid wood table and said angrily: "These salt merchants are really hateful. It seems it's time to beat them up."
Just some banging? What effect can this have? Su Xiaolou said: "It is impossible to say that there are Yangzhou officials backing them behind the scenes. Why not arrest them and put them in prison, and then torture them severely? If not, they can find out the evidence of corrupt officials. It solves the problem of high salt prices and kills two birds with one stone.”
After hearing Su Xiaolou's idea, Bao Bao leader also agreed with it, as the saying goes, cutting through the mess with a quick knife.
Why should you laugh and cry after listening to the two people's thoughts? This is simply like someone saying that your leg is broken, and you amputating it directly. You said helplessly: "I also want to do this, so that the salt patrol is over, and everyone can go back to their own ways. Everyone at home is looking for a wife, and maybe he would like to propose a demotion package."
Seeing that everyone was puzzled, why bother sighed: "Let's not talk about whether my torture and confession will be copied by the group of censors in the court. The big salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River hold a lot of resources in their hands. Although It disrupted the market order, but they must have reached a unified order internally to maintain the situation. If they are captured, the salt affairs in Jiangnan will fall into chaos. If we talk about how to transport salt at the lowest cost and how to trade the salt, you Do you think those small salt merchants can outperform the big salt merchants? If we kill those big salt merchants, can these small salt merchants quickly step up? Then it will be the bosses who will suffer."
The answer is definitely no. Su Xiaolou and Bao Baotou were both silent for a while. They were indeed too reckless.
"In any case, these big salt merchants grabbed salt from the officials and gentry, which can be considered as a contribution to the salt tax revenue. The most important thing is that the root cause of Jiangnan's salt problem does not lie with the big salt merchants. It is just a temporary solution. We won’t cure the root cause, but now that we know about this shameful operation of the big salt merchants, we can pass laws to restrict the behavior of 'hoarding' and regulate the market order. As for those salt merchants, we must not let them go easily."
Why bother? There was a weird smile on his face, which made Su Xiaolou feel a little hairy!
On the second day, why bother to send out invitations and invite three big salt merchants, Zhou, Shen and Liu, to come to the Cleaning and Transportation Department for talks. After receiving the invitation, the three merchants did not dare to delay for a moment. They arrived at the door of the Salt Transportation Department before noon. They were invited into the meeting hall by the servant. None of the three of them had a cup of tea. They were left staring in the meeting hall. The meeting hall of the Salt Transportation Department was actually just a small room with a few chairs and chairs. There is a table next to him, but the three richest people in Jiangnan City have gathered together. In the context of agriculture, industry and commerce, no matter how rich you are, when you meet an official, you should pretend to be a grandson.
The three of them sat on the cold bench with thorns in their backs and felt like they were sitting on pins and needles. Now they had thousands of words of complaints stuck in their throats, and they didn't dare to let out a fart. They all understood that the imperial envoy was going to give them a blow. Seeing that it was past one o'clock at noon, it was still... No one paid attention to them. Among the three of them, Zhou Wanwan was the best at holding his breath. He had been closing his eyes and concentrating since he came in. Anyone who didn't know it thought he was going to die!
Shen Wanpeng and Liu Changchun were able to sit still at first, probably because they had been pampered for too long and were not used to sitting on the cold bench. They had hemorrhoids after sitting there for eight years. They were walking around in the meeting hall. On the way here, the draft of pretending to be stupid and showing off was all done, but to their surprise, the imperial envoy didn't see them at all.
Sometimes, although you can sit still, your body may not be able to withstand it. Just like now, the stomachs of the three of them have started to growl, one after another, endlessly, and they are about to form a band and debut. , there was a look of embarrassment on all three of their faces.
Shen Wanpeng couldn't sit still anymore. When he came to the door, he saw a Jinyi guard walking in the corridor. Shen Wanpeng stepped forward to stop the Jinyi guard, and asked in a low voice like a pug: "My lord, I don't know. Where is the imperial envoy? When will he come to see us?"
Jin Yiwei turned around and Shen Wanpeng's expression changed instantly, exclaiming: "Su Xiaolou? Why is it you? Why are you here?"
Su Xiaolou looked at Shen Wanpeng's shocked face and smiled scornfully: "Is it your duty to see the Imperial Envoy whenever you want? It's your turn to ask questions wherever I am."
"You...you are simply..." Shen Wanpeng swallowed the curse words back to his lips. The Salt Transportation Department was not a place for him to run wild. Shen Wanpeng squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying: "Please help me, sir." Let us send a message that our three salt merchants, Zhou, Shen and Liu, have arrived at the Qingyun Department. If the Imperial Envoy is free, please come and see us."
"The imperial envoy is having lunch and doesn't have time to see you. Go back and wait!" With a cold word, Su Xiaolou left without looking back, leaving Shen Wanpeng alone in a mess.
Shen Wanpeng had no choice but to go back in despair. After about a quarter of an hour, the three people who had been pampered all year round were already so hungry that their chests were pressed to their backs, with stars in their eyes. Everything looked delicious. It happened that at this time, the Salt Transport Department's The canteen is open for dinner, and the aroma of the food is all over the courtyard. It keeps getting into the nostrils of the three of them. Shen Wanpeng touches his round belly and sniffs twice. It seems to be the aroma of vegetables and tofu stewed. They eat too much big fish and meat. Now and then, it's good to change the taste and have something vegetarian. After taking two more puffs, it seems that there are roasted sweet potatoes. It's so fragrant. This was his favorite when he was a child. Shen Wanpeng swallowed, and tears of disappointment flowed from the corners of his mouth.
Shen Wanpeng turned to look at Liu Changchun. Everyone said that fat people can't stand hunger. In fact, thin monkeys can't stand hunger either. Liu Changchun didn't even have the strength to stand. He sniffed everywhere with his nose twitching like a dog: "I smell Kung Pao Chicken." It smells like ding, is it the food prepared for us?"
"I also smelled it. It seemed that there was fish soup, and it was made of high-quality crucian carp. It must have been stewed for two hours. The fish meat has melted into the soup. It is milky white. After it comes out of the pot, Sprinkle some salt and garnish with chopped green onion, tsk!"
"Why does it smell like shark fin to me?"
Shen Wanpeng rolled his eyes: "Did your concubine pickle your nose? There is no shark fin in this place!"
"Your mouth seems to have been wiped clean, and you can't say a good word!"
"Your mother..."
"I'll fuck you..."
“#$%^^&**&^^”
"Shut up!" Zhou Wanwan frowned. He was already in a bad mood. These two idiots were still so noisy. If it weren't for the Salt Transportation Department, he would have kicked these two idiots into the lake to feed the fish. , as soon as he spoke, the two of them stopped talking for a moment, like two children who had made a mistake, standing there with their heads lowered.
"Everyone, sit down!"
The two of them sat back down as if they had received instructions, raised their heads, raised their chests and put their hands down.
