Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 321, Salt Works Dealer Bidding Conference

In the cold winter, the north wind is howling, there are small snowflakes in the sky, and the temperature is very low.

Usually at this time, everyone likes to stay at home, commonly known as Maodong, and few people go out for a walk, but at this time, on the official road leading to Tanggu from Tianjin, Beijing, Yongpingfu and other places, vehicles The four-wheeled carriage was turning rapidly, and there were businessmen in extraordinary clothes sitting in the carriage.

Some of these merchants are in the cloth business, some are in the sea fish business, some are in the grain business, and some are in the cement business. In short, there are all walks of life, and most of them have contacts with many industries under Liu Jin's command. merchant.

Nowadays, many industries under Liu Jin's command are getting bigger and bigger, which naturally brings up many suppliers, sellers, etc. Liu Jin has made a lot of money here, and all these people who do business with Liu Jin have followed suit. Earn a lot of money.

Among them, the most profitable ones are naturally those who do sea fish trading and cement trading.

There are boats of sea fish returning to Tianjin Port every day. Every time a fishing boat comes back, there will be cheers immediately. Sometimes if it is a whale that comes back, it is even more exciting. It is hard to tell how many merchants and horsemen the sea fish vendors here have supported in the capital.

As for the hot cement now, let alone, the demand for cement, an artifact of construction, is increasing. As the sellers of Tianjin Cement Factory, the hot sale of cement also makes these sellers earn a lot of money. The only trouble is that the output cannot keep up, so that the most important thing everyone does is to rush the goods.

At this time, everyone braved the severe cold, bid farewell to the small stove at home and the charming beauty and rushed to Tanggu because of Liu Jin's invitation. Liu Jin invited everyone to Tanggu to have a look at the Changlu Salt Field. I have no interest in operating the salt produced by the Changlu Salt Field.

Among the many carriages, Zhang Tianhao was also there. He was a private salt dealer and the leader of a salt gang. He used to buy and sell private salt in Changli County, Yongping Prefecture.

The snow salt produced by Liu Jin was sold to Zhang Tianhao at the beginning, and it was because of this that Liu Jin got his first pot of gold.

"At the beginning, I thought that Liu Jin was not someone in the pool. In just over a year, he has soared into the sky. When he is named on the Golden List in the spring of next year and becomes an official in the court, he will be able to really rise to the top soon. "

Sitting in the carriage, Zhang Tianhao was full of thoughts. In his mind, he remembered the first time he met Liu Jin last autumn. At that time, Liu Jin was still a young talent, and it was said that he was almost killed by Tang Huhu in the town.

Who would have thought that now, Liu Jin not only recruited high school students, but also established a huge industry here in the Beijing-Tianjin area, and also has connections with the current emperor and His Royal Highness. The matter about Liu Jin has long been in Changli, Yongping Prefecture. The word spread here in the county, and it has become something that countless people talk about.

Zhang Tianhao originally thought that Liu Jin and Mr. Liu should have forgotten himself as a small person, after all, Zhang Tianhao is a private salt dealer who can't get on the stage.

Selling private salt is a serious crime. Once caught by the government, basically there is only one end to die. Although he has been doing a lot all the time, he will not be able to get on the stage after all.

Unexpectedly, this time I received an invitation from Liu Jin, inviting him to visit the Changlu Saltworks.

Of course, Zhang Tianhao knew about the new news about private saltworks from the imperial court, but he didn't think it would change the current situation. After all, he had to pay a huge tax of two million taels of silver a year. Ordinary people can do it, and even if it is done, he feels that such a saltworks will definitely suffer a blood loss.

But I didn't expect Liu Jin to run a saltworks.

"I don't know what Mr. Liu's salt farm is like. It has paid a tax of two million taels of silver. If you want to make money, the salt produced here must be piled up into a mountain."

Thinking of this, Zhang Tianhao couldn't help shaking his head. Although he also knew Liu Jin's ability, he still felt that Liu Jin might lose money in setting up a salt farm.

"I hope Mr. Liu can do it well. From now on, I can get salt from the salt field openly, and I don't have to be that sneaky private salt dealer anymore."

As a private salt dealer, his greatest wish is to hope that one day he can get salt from the salt field in an open and aboveboard manner like the salt merchants in the Jianghuai area.

For this reason, he has been working hard all the time, vigorously cultivating his clansmen, running private schools, and sending all the children in the clan to study, hoping that in the future, one or two capable officials will be able to serve the Zhang family. Shade the sun, so that the Zhang family can also participate in the salt of the saltworks.

As a private salt dealer, he is too aware of how profitable the sale of salt is. He is a private salt trader, and he collects a few pennies per catty. The hard work of selling is already a huge profit.

Those salt merchants who get goods from the salt field have almost zero cost and are aboveboard. They sell salt on a large scale.

Now that Liu Jin invited him over, it was undoubtedly for the sale of salt. This was a business he had dreamed of getting involved in, so he came here almost immediately after receiving the invitation.

When Zhang Tianhao came to Tanggu, he immediately found that hundreds of businessmen had gathered here, filling the reception hall of Changlu Salt Field, and he even found some acquaintances there.

"Everyone, everyone~"

Everyone didn't wait too long, and Liu Jin, who was full of smiles, came out with Tong Yuan, Li Jiye and other managers of Changlu Salt Field.

As the person in charge of the Changlu Salt Field, Li Jiye also stood up with a smile and said to the crowd.

Following Li Jiye's words, everyone immediately quieted down and sat down in their seats one by one, quietly waiting for Li Jiye's next words.

Zhang Tianhao saw Liu Jin right away, the same as last year, Wen Wen was a quiet scholar with a faint smile on his face, and Liu Jin also recognized Zhang Tianhao all of a sudden, smiled and nodded at Zhang Tianhao .

"Everyone~ Thank you very much for coming to our Changlu Salt Field in the severe cold despite your busy schedule, and participating in our Changlu Salt Field's distributor bidding meeting."

Li Jiye's voice was loud, and he had no intention of wasting time.

"Presumably many friends already know the background of our Changlu Salt Field. Our Changlu Salt Field is the first private salt field in Ming Dynasty officially approved by the imperial court. So the salt that comes out of our Changlu Salt Field is private salt, but it is Everyone can rest assured that the salt is protected by all parties in the imperial court."

"In addition, I would like to disclose here that among the shareholders of Changlu Salt Farm, there are not only Mr. Liu Jin and Mr. Liu, but also several current state princes, as well as the shares of the current prince and His Royal Highness, so everyone can rest assured that no It will violate the national law for selling salt from our Changlu Salt Field.”

Li Jiye gave a powerful introduction to the background of the Changlu salt field. When talking about Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao, he respectfully bowed in the direction of the capital to show his respect for Emperor Hongzhi and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Hearing this, many people who hadn't figured out the situation before were suddenly enlightened, and then nodded one after another.

Everyone wants to do the business of salt, and everyone wants to have a hand, because the profits in it are really amazing.

However, the salt in the entire Ming Dynasty is basically monopolized by merchants from Huizhou and the Jiangnan area. A few Shanxi pond salt and Sichuan well salt have low yields and are far from comparable to the salt in the Jianghuai area.

It is very difficult for them merchants in the northern region to get involved in the salt business, because the southern scholars have always been very powerful in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty. If you want to get involved in the salt business, you must A Southerner who can fight.

Of course, another very important reason is that most of the government-run saltworks are concentrated in the Jianghuai area. As the saying goes, the people in these areas benefit first.

Although Beizhili and Shandong in the north are also close to the sea, because these areas are endless plains, they were developed early and did not have a lot of forests and trees. In the era when boiling salt was the mainstay, it was too expensive to open salt farms. There are no salt fields.

This phenomenon also lasted until the Jiajing period. With the emergence of the drying salt method, some private salt farms gradually appeared in Beizhili and Shandong.

Therefore, merchants, gentry, etc. in the north wanted to get involved in the salt business, but they were unable to do so.

Now hearing Li Jiye's words, everyone immediately felt relieved. The background of the Changlu Salt Field is so great. There is nothing to be afraid of. With the approval of the court, after all, two million taels of silver is not paid for nothing, but more The background is amazing, who dares to trouble Changlu Saltworks?

This is the property of today's and future emperors. Unless they are tired of working and don't want to hang out in Daming, no one will come to trouble Changlu Saltworks.

"The only thing we need to worry about now is the output of the Changlu Salt Field. If the output is not enough, so many people will share it, and there will not be many who can get it."

Zhang Tianhao felt relieved at this time, with such a strong background and a salt farm approved by the imperial court, he could safely sell the salt from the Changlu Salt Farm.

Then he looked at the hundreds of merchants present, and immediately felt that the pressure of competition was still very high. The salt production capacity of a salt farm is very limited. When there are more people, the cakes that can be distributed will be less.

Not only Zhang Tianhao thought this way, but other businessmen present also thought this way, and soon someone stood up and said, "I don't know how much your salt farm's output is? How many of us are there, is there enough?"

　The salt in the northern region slowly overwhelmed the south after the sun-dried salt method became popular~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)