Since ancient times, salt and iron have been a specialty.
Selling salt privately is equivalent to taking money directly from the treasury, which is naturally a serious crime of beheading.
So it is not easy to find private salt dealers.
The earliest way to find out about private salt in Taoyuan County was through information obtained from vendors selling salted fish.
Then I followed the connections upwards and found the big salt seller.
These salt dealers were also very vigilant, and it took them a while to work it out. In the end, Fang Zhengyi personally took action and "invited" people to the county government office for discussion.
The salt seller saw that the county magistrate Fang Zheng was so proficient in "business", so he promoted cooperation.
So you can see how difficult things are.
When Xie Xian returned to Fenghua Tower, naturally countless businessmen came to meet him.
Everyone knows that now shopkeeper Xie is hanging out with Fang Zheng, so he is particularly enthusiastic.
Xie Xian also responded one by one, carrying gifts from house to house.
Firstly, it is to build a good relationship so that it will be useful in the future.
Secondly, they made some lies overtly or covertly. These merchants had a lot of land and supported many farmers, so they consumed a lot of salt.
Although for them, there is no pressure to buy official salt.
But in fact, the impact of price is everywhere, even wealthy people are deeply affected by it, especially businessmen who spend every penny and measure costs all the time.
Just like many rich people get entangled with others over the parking fee of a few dollars.
If these merchants have cheap options, they will definitely not be willing to buy expensive ones.
Moreover, most of the risks are placed on the salt dealers. The risk of buying salt is not high. If something goes wrong, you can settle it by just paying some money.
Except for Xie Xian, the others were walking through the streets and alleys in the city, looking for the salt dealer overtly and covertly.
In this way, seven days have passed, and still nothing has been obtained.
Everyone gathered in the reception room again, feeling a little tired mentally.
But Xie Xian looked in high spirits.
"Everyone, did you gain anything today?"
Everyone shook their heads, Zhou Tie said depressedly:
"I didn't expect it to be so difficult to find private salt dealers. My brothers almost turned the city upside down and couldn't even find a hair."
"Lao Xie, why don't I go to the salt-producing area? It's not a problem to be delayed here."
Others nodded along.
But Qian Desheng remained silent.
He has been running around a lot these days. Although his arms and legs are old, he arrived in Taoyuan County later.
For the sake of the princess, you should also fight for yourself. Useless people will not be liked anywhere.
He has been in Taoyuan County for a while and knows something about Fang Zhengyi.
This man is a humane person. As long as he can make a contribution this time, he will have hope for good days in the future.
Seeing that he was silent, Xie Xian asked, "Steward Qian, what do you think?"
Qian Desheng nodded first, then collected his thoughts and said, "I feel something is wrong."
"Although illicit salt traders have always been a key target of the imperial court, there are always huge profits to be made."
"It's the same no matter where you are, it's just a big or small difference."
"Jianjiang was originally prosperous. Although it suffered from disasters, many new people poured in."
"There are so many poor people, it's a good time for salt dealers to operate, but...how is it possible that not even one person can be found?"
"Then there are only two possibilities. The private salt dealers in Jianjiang are managed by one person, or the source is cut off."
"So, I also agree to leave here and go directly to the salt-producing area."
"But we don't have an identity...it's just too hard to do it."
Xie Xian nodded and said, "Yes, that makes sense."
"Actually, we have identities. Before I left, my master gave me his official seal and his private seal, but it's best not to use them lightly."
"I found five suspicious people in Fenghua Building. I wrote down the information of these five people. Let's take a look."
After saying that, Xie Xian picked up the paper on the table and handed it aside and started circulating it.
"The five people on this list are regular visitors to Fenghua Tower."
"I'm not a local, I don't know what I do for a living, and I never discuss business with anyone in the building."
"In addition to eating, drinking and having fun, the most important thing in our Fenghua Building is to exchange business opportunities. Apart from these five people, there are almost no exceptions."
"We'll keep an eye on it in the next few days. If we don't gain anything, we'll leave immediately."
Qian Desheng looked at the list above carefully and asked: "The records on it are quite clear."
"Two of them came from Haiyuan City. According to the map, this is an important salt-producing area. How did the maid and waiter in the building know about it?"
Xie Xian smiled slightly: "When Fenghua Tower was first established, all the people in Fenghua Tower were carefully selected and carefully trained!"
“Not only does he do things efficiently, he is also good at reading and writing.”
"The prostitutes in the building can be regarded as top red cards in any brothel in the city, and they have countless clients, so it is not difficult to get this information."
Qian Desheng's expression suddenly looked a little sad.
This is a brothel. When I took charge of the East Factory, I didn't even have such a good time. The comparison between people is so irritating...
"Let's give it a limit of five days. Find your brothers and follow them. If there is no news after five days, we will leave."
"The meeting is over!"
.........
Three days later, there was a tea stall in the city.
The tea stall is very simple and incompatible with the surrounding environment. The flag at the door reads "Qingwei Detox Tea"
Xie Xian and Zhou Tie sat in the tea stall and looked at each other in silence.
He had just visited a wealthy family in the morning, and not far along the way, he saw Zhou Tie wandering alone on the street.
Now that we have met, let’s have a cup of tea together at the tea stall.
After the waiter served the tea, Zhou Tie immediately finished a bowl.
Xie Xian looked him up and down and asked, "Why are you alone? Have you gained anything?"
Zhou Tie shook his head: "The guy I'm following is a trafficker. He's staying at a school outside the city. I just came out of his house."
Xie Xian raised his eyebrows: "Kill?"
"The tongue was cut, the limbs were picked. The others were tied up and thrown in the house. The guy still has two boxes of silver at home, which he can't lift. He went back to find his brother to get them."
"Lao Xie, I think there will be no results if we keep waiting like this. Why don't we pack up and leave early tomorrow."
Xie Xian sighed: "Don't worry, you have already eliminated one person, and Zhao Lie has also eliminated one person. Please wait for two more days."
"I didn't expect it...it's so hard to find a salt dealer. It's a damn thing."
“It’s not that hard to buy salt in our county, right?”
While the two were talking, the shopkeeper on the side pricked up his ears and glanced at him from time to time.
After wandering around for a long time, he plucked up the courage and walked over with a plate of peanuts.
He came between the two of them, looked at Xie Xian and asked in a low voice: "May I ask who you are, Xie Xian, shopkeeper Xie?"
Xie Xian was stunned and looked at the tea stall owner.
I saw that his smile was a little wretched, and his big yellow teeth looked a bit off-putting...
Xie Xian twitched the corners of his lips and responded: "Exactly, are you the shopkeeper...?"
Upon hearing that it was really him, the shopkeeper quickly distanced himself, stood up and bowed respectfully!
"The villain Chen Siwu has met shopkeeper Xie!"
...
