Liang Wenxing would not engage in loss-making business. After buying the official salt goods from Shen Yiyuan, a domestic businessman, he obtained the salt quotation (salt sales certificate). With the quota quotation, he could sell the salt to the salt designated by the government. shop, salt shop.
It should be noted that if the water dealer buys Huai salt, then you can sell the salt in a wide range of areas, including South Zhili, Jiangxi, Huguang, Henan, and you can also transport it to Guizhou.
But if the water merchant buys Shandong salt, then I’m sorry, your salt certificate has a limited number and can only be sold in Shandong. The most I can give you is Kaifeng Prefecture. If you dare to try it in Nanjing, I guarantee that you won’t be able to sell a single pack. go out.
Salt produced in different places has different salt production areas.
Liang Wenxing, a water merchant, looked at the large packages of salt. It was not feasible to sell them directly to stores. The large packages needed to be disassembled into small packages. One large package of salt could be disassembled into fifty small packages, and a small package was eight pounds. .
After getting it done, Liang Wenxing took large and small bags of salt to Suzhou to sell, and went to the local tooth shop to negotiate the price.
Taking into account the cost of changing the packaging, the cost of traveling, the cost of the waiter, etc., Liang Wenxing decided to sell a large package for four taels of silver, a small package of ninety cents, and a pound of roughly ten to eleven cents.
The tooth shop negotiates the price. After buying the salt from the water merchant, it will agree on the price with the store. We bought it at 11 cents per catty. We all have to make a living. An increase of three cents per catty is not excessive, right? Salt costs at least fourteen cents.
It can be seen from these things that the Ming court controlled the kitchen households and salt, but only controlled the production side. As for the sales link, it was completely handled by water merchants, internal merchants, border merchants, tooth shops, and shops.
Zhu Yunwen discussed with Xie Jin and others for a long time, and they were not sure which link caused the problem. They didn't know whether it was the border merchants who raised the price, or whether the internal merchants were too much exploited by the court and had to increase the price to sell to the water merchants, or whether the water merchants wanted to To make greater profits, he colluded with Nga Hing and sold it at a high price.
This is a huge problem that cannot be found by speculation and conjecture. Zhu Yunwen knew that he encountered difficulties and said to Liu Changge: "Don't let Xia Yuanji wait until the 16th before setting off. Let him come to Yangzhou immediately."
Zhu Di and Xu Huizu nodded repeatedly, while Xie Jin could only remain silent.
Regarding the salt administration, Zhu Di and Xu Huizu only had a superficial understanding of it, and Xie Jin did not have an in-depth understanding of it. The only professional who really understood it was Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Revenue, so it would be good for him to come here for now.
As we walked further and further away, there were not many houses around, and there were several yards scattered not far away, all with low fences and not even a wall.
Tang Buping came out from behind a tree and said, "The household to the north is the old woman's family who buys salt. There are four people and two adult children."
Zhu Yunwen glanced at Xie Jin and others, and said with a smile: "Isn't it appropriate for us to go directly to the door without bringing a souvenir?"
Xie Jin had no choice but to look at Liu Changge, who consciously arranged for someone to buy some pastries.
Zhu Yunwen led a few people to the old woman's house. Smoke was rising from the thatched house to the west. Two children in their early twenties were sitting and chatting in the courtyard. The sound of looms could be heard from the north room.
"Hey, what do you do?"
Zhou Lei looked up and saw Zhu Yunwen and others arriving at the door, and couldn't help but get up and ask. The younger brother Zhou Sen on the side was also a little wary and glanced at the wooden stick not far away.
Zhu Yunwen said through the low door: "We are businessmen from other places. We were thirsty when passing by and wanted to ask for a bowl of water."
Zhou Lei looked at it and waved his hand: "There is no water, let's go."
"Who?"
When the old woman heard the noise, she walked out of the kitchen and looked at Zhu Yunwen and others, slightly stunned.
Zhu Yunwen explained his purpose, and the old woman quickly stepped forward to open the door and said, "Come in."
Zhou Lei was a little dissatisfied: "What if they are bad people?"
The old woman rolled her eyes at her grandson, then turned to Zhu Yunwen and others and said, "Don't take it to heart. If you want to drink water, there is it in the big vat."
Zhu Yunwen walked towards the big vat with a smile, opened the lid on it, looked down, frowned, turned around and said to the old woman: "This water..."
The old woman smiled and said, "You can drink it."
Zhu Yunwen knew he could drink it, but the problem was no more...
Seeing that Zhu Yunwen was silent, the old woman came over and looked ashamed. She glanced at Zhou Lei and Zhou Sen: "I told you before I went out to fetch water. It's already noon. How can I still do it?" No water?"
Zhou Lei snorted and sat down: "You have nothing to do, why don't you just drink some water?"
Zhou Sen echoed from the side: "Yes, you don't have much to do every day anyway."
Zhu Yunwen looked at the old woman with silver hair and a stooped waist, and couldn't help but frown and asked: "Is this your grandson?"
The old woman lamented but said nothing. She walked to the side and picked up the pole and two buckets. She reluctantly smiled at Zhu Yunwen and others: "You guys sit down first, Cuiyun, and entertain the guests."
A woman walked out of the main room. Seeing that there were many people, she turned around and brought a long stool, limped out, and said in a low voice, a little timidly: "You guys just sit down."
Liu Changge swept the bench with his sleeve. Zhu Yunwen sat down and asked the woman, "What's wrong with your legs?"
The woman said helplessly: "It's nothing. I was injured a few years ago and the root cause of the disease fell."
"What's the root of the disease? It's obviously the Feng family that made him lame."
Zhou Lei muttered.
The woman wanted to reprimand, but she couldn't find the words.
Xie Jin asked from the side: "Why did the Feng family beat you?"
The woman shook her head slightly, said nothing, turned and walked back to the main room.
When Liu Changge saw Zhu Yunwen looking over, he handed over the cakes in the basket and said to Zhou Lei and Zhou Sen: "This is a little thought from my young master, and it should be treated as a reward for changing the water."
"Are you businessmen from other places?"
Zhou Lei didn't answer and asked coldly.
Zhu Yunwen nodded: "Why, judging from your tone, a local businessman is going to be kicked out?"
Zhou Lei said coldly: "If local businessmen dare to enter our house, they will be kicked out long ago."
"Tell me why?"
Zhu Yunwen asked.
Zhou Lei sat directly on the ground and picked up a pebble. He didn't notice that Liu Changge took a step forward and said directly: "I hate businessmen, they are all people who eat people without spitting out their bones!"
"What is the relationship between the businessman you mentioned and the Feng family?"
Zhu Yunwen continued to ask.
Zhou Sen interjected from the side: "The Feng family is a dental shop in Yangzhou City, specializing in the salt market. This job was originally my father's, but for some reason, my father was accused by the government and his house was confiscated. My mother heard that it was Feng The family was working behind the scenes and went to the Feng family to argue, but was beaten..."
"Shut up!"
The woman held the door and shouted sternly.
Zhou Lei glanced at his mother and snorted: "So what? If you and grandma hadn't insisted on asking father to file a lawsuit and immediately surrendered the dental post, our family would have ended up in this situation? And grandma, obviously We have money to smoothen the relationship, but we would rather be a miser. As a result, we lost our family, and my father was convicted of a capital crime. He is still squatting in Yangzhou Prison, and may be executed next month!"
"Stop talking!"
the woman shouted sharply.
When Zhou Lei and Zhou Sen saw this, they couldn't help but lower their heads.
Zhu Yunwen looked at Xie Jin, stood up and said to the woman: "Although we are doing business out of town, we know a few people in the officialdom. If you can tell us in detail, maybe things will turn around."
The woman shook her head slightly: "I won't bother you anymore, young master."
Zhu Yunwen did not force himself, but looked at Zhou Sen and Zhou Lei and said, "Don't you want your father Zhaoxue to be released from prison?"
Zhou Lei smiled bitterly: "Who doesn't want to? So what if you know a few people in the officialdom? Can you still shake Yangzhou's Immortal Song?"
"Eternal Pine?"
Zhu Yunwen looked at Liu Changge.
Liu Changge was a little confused. He didn't know that there was an immortal pine in Yangzhou City. After all, Yangzhou is not a capital city. As long as some matters do not involve security, it is impossible to send everything to the Security Bureau headquarters.
"Who are you talking about, Old Song?"
Zhu Yunwen asked.
"The water is coming."
The old woman walked forward carrying water, then she poured the water into the water tank. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, beat her lower back with one hand, looked at Cuiyun, Zhou Sen and Zhou Lei, and said bitterly: "Just drink the water and leave. This small family can't control your food."
Zhu Yunwen was not angry, but asked calmly: "The old man must know who the immortal pine is in Yangzhou City, right?"
The old woman laughed, shook her head, and ignored Zhu Yunwen and others. She stopped in front of the kitchen and turned around and said, "If you are a businessman, just do business well and don't have anything to do with the government. I'll give it a try." I’m old, and I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”
Zhu Yunwen watched the old man walk into the kitchen, was silent for a while, and said to Zhou Lei and Zhou Sen: "What is your father's name?"
"Zhou Xian."
Zhou Lei and Zhou Sen said at the same time.
Zhu Yunwen nodded and asked again: "The Feng family you are talking about is still managing Fengcheng, a dental shop in Yanshi?"
The two nodded repeatedly.
Zhu Yunwen didn't ask any more questions. He looked at the dilapidated home and turned to leave.
Liu Changge put the basket down and glanced at the door of the kitchen. There was a shadow there, stooped and old.
After leaving the old woman's home, Zhu Yunwen said to Xie Jin and others: "It seems that we still need to meet this Feng Cheng."
Xie Jin agreed: "It's unbelievable that this person is also involved in a case, but what I care more about is who can be worthy of the word "Bu Laosong" here.
Zhu Yunwen looked at Liu Changge: "Check it out. Who is Bu Laosong? What crime did Zhou Xian get sentenced to jail for? Why did Yanshi Yaxing change? Find out one by one."
Liu Changge agreed.
Although there is only one Liu Changge around Zhu Yunwen, and Tang Buping is hidden, there are many people from the Security Bureau secretly. Not to mention people from the Security Bureau headquarters, even people from the Yangzhou Security Bureau branch are enough to investigate the matter clearly.
It is impossible for the emperor to travel without secret guards.
Xia Yuanji was still settling tax accounts in the Ministry of Household Affairs when he suddenly received a secret order and rushed to Yangzhou. Only then did he realize that Zhu Yunwen did not follow the routine and entered Yangzhou City first. Before Xia Yuanji could take over the job, he had already been sent to the ship by the Security Bureau.
After Xia Yuanji arrived in Yangzhou in the evening, he was invited to a house by Zhu Yunwen and explained the issue of salt price.
Xia Yuanji was a little surprised and thought for a while: "The price of salt in the capital is only ten to twelve cents per catty. There are salt fields around Yangzhou, and there is not much shipping cost. It shouldn't be so inflated. I think there must be someone behind it." .”
