Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 364, price war
"The salt you see is the salt produced by the Changlu Salt Field, and the price will never exceed [-] Wen a catty. Now the entire northern market is almost completely taken up by the salt from the Changlu Salt Field."

Cheng Boan looked at the crowd. His market was mainly in the northern market. The impact was too great. The salt in his hand could not be sold, and the salt in the Changlu Salt Field robbed the market.

"And the salt in the Changlu Salt Field is also sea salt, and the output is very large. They don't use the method of boiling salt, but the method of drying salt."

"Salt method?"

When everyone heard it, they said in unison again.

"Yes, it's the sun-salting method!"

Cheng Bo'an nodded, and then slowly said: "The so-called sun-salt method is a method of using the sun to dry seawater to obtain salt."

"If you rely on the sun to dry the salt, its speed is very slow. There is no way to compare it with our boiled salt. How can the output be so large, and there is so much sea water in the sea. It is necessary to dry the sea. It's simply not possible."

After hearing this, Zhu Benduan shook his head repeatedly and said.

It is very difficult to boil salt. One person cannot cook several pots of salt in a day. This sun-dried salt... may not be able to dry a pot of seawater in a few days.

Not only Zhu Benduan, but most other people also think so. If it is slow to cook salt, it will be even slower to dry the salt. How much salt can be produced by drying the salt.

If this sun-dried salt was really useful, the seawater in the sea would have been dried long ago, so why would the salt inside need to be boiled out?

"Cheng Bo'an, don't be joking. How much salt can one person dry in a day? Maybe even a catty of salt can't be dried. Even though the salt in Changlu Salt Field is of good quality, the output is definitely not high."

"Don't you want to find another excuse to grab our market?"

Some people even directly said that Cheng Boan was looking for an excuse to grab the market. This Cheng Boan has always been black-hearted. He was just an ordinary salt merchant at first, but he gradually became the leader of the salt merchant and was eaten by him. The salt merchants who dropped it didn't know how many there were.

When other people heard this, they were secretly vigilant. Cheng Boan is such a person. Although he is gentle and elegant, he looks like a gentleman, but his eating habits are ugly and ruthless. He once killed a salt merchant in order to annex the salt of a region. His family was ruined.

"Humph~"

"Believe it or not, it's up to you. If you don't believe it, you can send someone to the Changlu Salt Field to take a look. You are not alone in the capital, and the news will come back soon."

When Cheng Bo'an heard this, he snorted coldly, his face was ugly. He used to eat a little ugly, but now he began to reckon his face.

Of course, the more important thing is that he really called everyone here this time for the benefit of everyone. If the salt from the Changlu Salt Field goes south, these people present will have no way out.

But before that, he, Cheng Bo'an, was going to die first, and the market in the north was taken away, and his business couldn't continue at all.

"Is this drying salt method really feasible?"

Feng Xiang thought for a while and asked again.

"Of course, it is not only feasible, but also the yield is much higher than that of boiling salt. They build salt ponds on the tidal flats along the coast, and draw in seawater. Once the sun shines, the salt will come out. It is quick and easy, and there is no need to work hard at all. Boil the salt."

Cheng Boan nodded solemnly and said.

"Is the salt produced by this sun-dried salt method so delicate?"

Zhu Benduan thought for a while and asked.

The salt produced by boiling salt is coarse salt, with large particles, many impurities, and a bitter taste. There is no way to compare it with the salt in front of him. He does not believe that these salts are produced by sun-dried salt.

"That's right, it's all sea salt. How could their salt be so delicate?"

Some people thought about it and raised their own questions.

"This is not the key point. If you don't believe me, send someone to the Changlu Salt Field to have a look."

"What I want to tell you now is that once the salt from the Changlu Salt Field spreads to the whole of Daming, then we all have to drink the northwest wind."

Cheng Bo'an was really angry. Why are these pig-like things always obsessed with this irrelevant matter, but did not see the crisis? The salt from the Changlu Salt Field can seize the northern market, and it can also seize the southern market. At that time, the money source of salt will be cut off.

"If it's what you say, it's a big problem."

"Such high-quality salt can only be sold for less than [-] Wen a catty, and if the output is very large, our salt will definitely not be able to compete."

Feng Xiang looked at Cheng Bo'an, he didn't look like he was lying, so he thought about it and said.

"If there is a big problem, write a letter to the people in the court. That Liu Jin is now an official of the court. Just let someone impeach him. Just put him on a crime and kill him."

Zhu Benduan said indifferently.

Each of these salt merchants has a huge force behind them, their own family, related families, and marriages, families with related interests, etc., from the middle of the court to the localities, their people are everywhere .

If you want the other party to have a small sixth-grade Hanlin, they have ways and means, Zhu Benduan's method is the simplest, and it can also be said to be the most effective.

"It's too easy for you to think!"

"Although Liu Jin opened the Changlu Salt Farm, the real big owners are the current emperor and prince. Even if Liu Jin is acquired, the Changlu Salt Farm will still exist and continue to seize our market."

"And you think impeachment criticism will put him in jail?"

"Although he doesn't have much background, he married two wives, one is Ding Guogong's granddaughter, and the other is Li Shilang's granddaughter."

When Cheng Boan heard this, he immediately sneered.

These people probably haven't even figured out their competitors yet, and they really thought that Liu Jin could be dealt with easily. If it was really that simple, he wouldn't have called everyone to discuss this matter.

What's more, even if Liu Jin is killed, so what?
The big owner of the Changlu Salt Farm is not Liu Jin, but Emperor Hongzhi, the prince, and the noble group of Yingying, Dingguo, and Chengguo.

Hearing Cheng Boan's words, everyone fell silent immediately, and began to meditate. It sounds like things are really not that simple, and there are really not many things that can give Cheng Boan a headache.

"In addition, the severe drought in the three northern provinces last year has not been let go of today. The people we are facing have suffered. Everyone is very cautious now."

Then Cheng Boan mentioned the severe drought in the three northern provinces last year. The last time they, the salt merchants, Huizhou merchants, and some big families in the south of the Yangtze River, joined forces to seize this opportunity to limit imperial power and snatch the glass factory, the hen that lays golden eggs.

Needless to say, the leader of the Hu family was originally the head of Huizhou merchants. Now the entire Hu family has been ransacked and exterminated. All the officials have been implicated, and this matter has not ended until now.

At the beginning of the year, there was another wave of turmoil, and several bigwigs from the south of the Yangtze River fell one after another, and Cheng Minzheng was one of them.

So now everyone is very careful and cautious, and they dare not touch Emperor Hongzhi's inverse scales at all. This is why many industries under Liu Jin's command are running smoothly.

Although many, many ministers in the court wanted to kill Liu Jin and bring Emperor Hongzhi back to his previous state, no one dared to speak out.

The current Emperor Hongzhi is no longer the former Emperor Hongzhi. He knows how to use the power of the factory guards, knows how to protect his own money bag, and more importantly, he no longer blindly trusts and relies on these civil servants.

"Cheng Bo'an, just tell me, what should we do?"

"We are all grasshoppers on the same boat, with dead lips and teeth, and whoever dares to touch our salt, we will have nothing to do with them."

At this moment, the person arranged by Cheng Boan spoke up.

"Yes, tell me your method."

"This won't work, that won't work, what else can I do?"

Feng Xiang nodded and said.

"We must first make it clear that we are targeting the Changlu Salt Farm. We will be victorious only if the Changlu Salt Farm closes down or becomes a government-run salt farm like our Jianghuai salt farm."

"The other thing is that we can no longer use the power of the court. Jiangnan Shilin was hit hard because of what happened last year, and the rest of them are protecting themselves. If something happens again, we will lose the right to speak in the court. In the future There will be no one to defend our interests."

Cheng Boan had a clear mind. In fact, he had been thinking about countermeasures before this.

Whether it is the method mentioned by Zhu Benduan, or various other methods, he has thought about it, but he has rejected them one by one.

In terms of background, whose background is as big as that of Changlu Salt Farm?
This is all the property of Emperor Hongzhi and the prince, plus the Xungui Group, the background is incomparable. It is simply impossible to knock down or close the Changlu saltworks with the pens in the hands of literati.

The former Emperor Hongzhi was stupid, he only listened to the civil servants, and believed very much that the civil servants could tell Emperor Hongzhi not to compete with the people for profit by relying on the civil servants, and closed down many industries under his command.

But it's impossible now, so I can only think of other ways to bring down the Changlu saltworks.

"So the method we can use now is to make the Changlu Salt Farm unable to make money. As long as it cannot make money, the Changlu Salt Farm has to pay two million taels of silver to the imperial court every year, and they will lose money and will naturally go bankrupt. "

Cheng Boan proposed his own method. The key point is that the Changlu Salt Field is a private salt field and needs to pay two million taels of silver to the imperial court every year to make a fuss.

All their salt is brought directly from the salt farms run by the imperial court through salt imports. The cost is almost zero.

Salt is cheap to buy, but it is very valuable to sell. Just by one hand, they make a lot of money and eat their brains full of fat. As long as they can be inserted into the field of salt, even an ordinary family can quickly make money. It is too profitable to become a wealthy family, and it is too easy to make money.

They have nothing to do with the expenses and costs of the government-run salt farm. This is the salt farm of the imperial court, and all the courts are responsible for it. Anyway, as long as there is salt, the salt farm will give salt.

On the other hand, Changlu Salt Field is different here.

Changlu Saltworks is a private saltworks, first of all, it has to pay two million taels of silver tax every year, and secondly, the daily expenses of the saltworks, employment of manpower, etc., all of which have to be included in the cost.

So Cheng Boan felt that he had easily grasped the lifeblood of Changlu Salt Farm. The core was price. He would fight a price war with Changlu Salt Farm so that Changlu Salt Farm could not make any money.

It has to be said that Cheng Boan is still very good at analyzing problems, and he can also hit the vital points directly.

"You mean a price war?"

Feng Xiang pondered for a while, thought for a while and said.

"That's right~ it's a price war. Aren't they trying to be cheap? Such high-quality salt can only be sold for less than [-] yuan. It's a waste of money. Clay legs deserve such good salt?"

Cheng Bo'an nodded, grabbed a handful of salt, and said without cutting it.

"Since it is cheaper, we will compare with them to the end. If they sell for [-] Wen a catty, we will sell it for [-] Wen a catty. If they sell it for [-] Wen a catty, we will sell it for [-] Wen a catty."

"It doesn't take a year, it only takes a few months. We just need to make it impossible to sell a catty of salt at the Changlu Salt Field, and it will go bankrupt naturally."

"When the time comes, Liu Jin won't need us to take action at all. Emperor Hongzhi and the Xungui Group will not let him go. The investment in all aspects of the Changlu Salt Field may add up to several million taels of silver. Such a huge investment If he loses blood, Emperor Hongzhi will kill him directly."

Speaking of this, Cheng Bo'an seemed very confident. Compared with the price, they were not afraid of anyone. Just give Yanyin a seal, and just go to the salt field to pick up the salt. What cost will it cost.

Everyone listened carefully, and nodded slightly after listening. Cheng Boan's analysis is very good, and it is also the key to the Changlu Salt Works.

"We don't need to follow suit, do we?"

Zhu Benduan thought for a while and said that his market is mainly in the south.

"Currently the salt in Changlu Salt Field is mainly sold in the northern region, so I am only engaged in a price war with them in the northern region, but I am also doing this for the benefit of everyone. Once the Changlu Salt Field has a firm foothold in the north, it will inevitably go south to seize The market for all of us, so while they have not yet established themselves, and they are only in the north, we will kill them with the least cost."

Cheng Bo'an's meaning is actually very clear. In the price war with Changlu Salt Farm, Changlu Salt Farm has suffered losses, and Cheng Bo'an has also suffered heavy losses. He doesn't want to bear the loss alone. The salt merchants will share the loss.

Of course, he played a very good banner, for the benefit of everyone, for the benefit of all salt merchants, not for the benefit of Cheng Bo'an alone.

　Today is a chapter of [-] words~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)