However, Liu Ren keenly discovered that the people who knew about this matter were all old people from the Liu family. People like Guo Zhankui who entered the government later had no news at all. This made him think a lot!
After the military parade, Liu Haojia waited in the capital for a few days and then received a decree. The content is very simple. It says that according to Wu Ninghou's inspection of the border, he found that the supply of salt in Jiubian was insufficient, so the imperial court was planning to open a new salt factory next to the Changlu Salt Factory, and the salt produced would be exclusively used by Jiubian. Wu Ninghou co-organized this event, and all the money was raised by himself!
The addition of a place similar to the Imperial Mansion in the inner court was not a big deal, so not many people noticed it. And even if they notice it, the officials won’t care! They didn't think those eunuchs could compete with salt merchants and wealthy families.
Because the share of Jiubian salt has been occupied by fixed people for a long time, how much can they earn if they go out? It's nothing more than letting the border troops get the salt at a lower price! Besides, maybe the eunuchs themselves would corrupt the salt factory and bring it down before the salt factory could recoup its costs!
Especially the sentence that all the silver used is raised by oneself makes the civil servants feel very happy! Considering the stingy nature of Lao Zhu's family, this self-financing is probably just to give those eunuchs some food and lodging expenses, which is not bad! Besides, is the salt farm so easy to open? Don’t kitchen households need wages? Don’t you need copper coins for firewood? So no one took this will to heart.
However, some people felt that it was inappropriate for Wu Ninghou to co-organize this matter, but they did not think it was a big problem, so the decree was successfully carried out without any obstruction.
On the second day after this decree was passed by the court, a young eunuch knocked on the door of Gu Ninghou's mansion. Liu Haojia guessed that Zhang Jia had something to explain, so he naturally wanted to meet him.
The others took Liu Haojia to the study and took a look, and found that the eunuch who came in was actually a very young eunuch, who looked to be in his twenties. This made him feel a little strange, because this eunuch was not the one who often came to deliver messages.
When the eunuch saw Liu Haojia and paid homage to him, Liu Haojia said, "Get up! What's your name? Why haven't I seen you before? What do you need to explain to Zhang Banban when he calls you here?"
After the eunuch stood up, he still bowed and said: "Back to the Marquis, my name is Zhang Zhi. It was my own idea to come to see the Marquis this time, because my ancestors have already left the preparation of the salt factory to me!"
Liu Haojia frowned when he heard this, feeling very unhappy! Because in his opinion, it was very important to deliver food to the enemy. Why did Zhang Jia send such a young eunuch here? No matter how you look at it, you don’t seem to take this matter seriously!
And Zhang Zhi is a very discerning person! He saw the worried look on Liu Haojia's face and guessed what he was thinking. He hurriedly said: "When I came here this time, my ancestors also told me that the Marquis will take charge of everything! Moreover, our ancestors also felt that this matter might not be feasible this time. In addition, there was really no one around our ancestors, so we decided to The slaves have been sent over!"
Liu Haojia understood the meaning of Zhang Zhi's words, that is, neither Wanli Emperor nor Zhang Jia had confidence in his actions this time. They felt that the salt merchants and aristocratic families were too powerful, and it would be difficult to steal food from them! So treat this matter as an optional thing and just send someone over! It would be gratifying if it succeeds, but there is no regrets if it fails!
Thinking of this, Liu Haojia felt even more angry! I have been thinking about you with all my heart, and I have been careful to guard against the rise of Hou Jin and the Mongols in the future, but you are here to deal with it carelessly! Whose world belongs to this world?
He thought so in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he became much kinder. Then he asked directly: "Eunuch Zhang, I wonder how many years you have been studying in the inner study?"
Zhang Zhi immediately replied: "I don't dare to be a father-in-law! Lord Marquis, you can just call me Xiao Zhang! As for studying, I entered the palace at the age of six and was selected to study in the inner study at the age of nine and studied for eight years! Now! I have been working in the palace for four years!"
Liu Haojia was very satisfied with his detailed answers, so he asked some random questions, and Zhang Zhi answered them fluently! This made Liu Haojia have some changes in his view! It seems that although Zhang Jia feels that things may not work out, at least the person sent is not a fool!
After he finished asking, Liu Haojia smiled with satisfaction and told the general plan to
He listened and then said: "Zhang Zhi, do you know the meaning of this matter?"
Zhang Zhi said with a serious face: "This slave naturally knows, but I think the ancestors' worries are justified! After all, whether it is salt or grain, those who dare to do it are the rich families! Moreover, the inner court does not give much money, and they want to build something out of thin air. Coming to a salt farm is naturally as difficult as climbing to the sky!"
Liu Haojia laughed and said: "This kind of thing is naturally difficult for others, but it is extremely simple for me! You only need to carefully watch how I do things and you will know!"
Zhang Zhi complimented and said: "I naturally know that the Marquis is wise and powerful, and he will succeed immediately when doing things! But I have a small request, and I hope that the Marquis will grant it!"
Liu Haojia said, "What requests do you have? Can you tell me?"
Zhang Zhi said: "Master Hou, in fact, this servant is from the border town, but he entered the palace after his wife destroyed his family! So this servant wants to do this matter seriously, and doesn't want to be attacked by any more soldiers." What happened in Grass Valley! Moreover, I am still young and willing to do things. I want to imitate Lord Sanbao and become famous in history! However, my abilities are limited, so I hope that the Marquis will not hesitate to give me guidance when doing things!"
After saying this, Zhang Zhi knelt down again and kowtowed three times to Liu Haojia! Liu Haojia was also very moved when he heard this! No matter what he says is true or false, as long as he works seriously and can help Liu Haojia succeed, he is willing to support it!
Thinking of this, he said: "Get up! You can ask questions at any time when I do things in the future! If you do a good job, I will guarantee your future!"
Zhang Zhi was naturally overjoyed when he heard this and thanked Liu Haojia again. Liu Haojia took the opportunity to tell him that in the future, the scale of the salt farm may not be small and it will require a lot of manpower. You can contact more people from the inner court to do the work.
Zhang Zhi was even more happy when he heard this! Because there are not many young eunuchs trained every year in the inner study, but there are not many people who can actually get errands! So he immediately patted his chest and said that he would definitely bring in more people.
So when he set off a few days later, Liu Haojia had seven more eunuchs by his side! These eunuchs are generally young, and the older ones are probably around 20 years old. What surprised Liu Haojia was that he accidentally discovered that these people were actually reciting poems and composing poems on the road, and they were all good at composing poems!
