The eldest son of the red mansion

Chapter 625 Salt Matter
Soon it will be the time of Chinese New Year, and the Jia family's New Year's celebration will naturally be more lively this year.

And Jia Ke also came back from the palace several times, one to visit the old lady, and the other to offer incense to the ancestors of the Jia family.

After these things were over, Jia Ke returned to the palace.

After the beginning of spring, the imperial court has more affairs every year, especially the arrangement of spring plowing, which is the top priority of the year, and it is related to the stability of the imperial court in the next year.

In the year when Jia Ke ruled the world with integrity, he didn't want anything to go wrong.So Jia Ke successively issued several decrees in the name of the regent.Officials from all over the country are required to pay attention to spring plowing, and the chief officials from all over the place must go to the fields in person.

There is a way that what is good at the top must be followed at the bottom.Jia Ke's statement made the officials below who were eager to get promoted naturally put on a show.

Therefore, this year, the county magistrates and state officials in various places suffered a lot in the fields, but they did not complain. Instead, they praised Jia Ke one by one, saying that he cared about the suffering of the people.

And during this time, another incident occurred in the salt factories in Huainan.

It turns out that the salt produced by the salt farms this year is much more than in previous years, but the salt merchants have imported a lot less salt than in previous years.

The stewards of the salt factory felt bad when they saw this situation. Although they were already fed by the salt merchants, what the salt merchants did this time was a little too much.

If the court finds out, how should they explain to the court?
So the stewards of a salt factory communicated with each other to discuss, and then they collectively invited all the major salt merchants in Huainan to a restaurant.

The salt merchants in Huainan are headed by Wang Yinggeng, who is not a good idiot. After he arrives at the restaurant, he doesn't pay attention to the management of the saltworks he has fed.

And the stewards of the salt factory got a lot of money from him, and now they begged him in front of him, they were naturally humble.

Sitting in the middle, Wang Yinggeng didn't take the soft words of those in charge seriously.

"This year, the demand for salt in various places has decreased a lot, and these salt merchants have no way to serve the imperial court. I think you should find another way."

Among the extended staff, there was a man named Li Yingtai. Although this man was also respected by the salt merchants, he still had a bit of selfishness.

After hearing Wang Yinggeng's words, Li Yingtai was a little annoyed, "Mr. Wang, this matter is not about our salt factory. If the salt tax paid this year and the profit of the salt factory are reduced, the court blames it. Mr. Wang, what do you want?" Can you afford it?"

Wang Yinggeng was a little silent after hearing this. This is indeed something he was worried about. To be honest this year, the amount of salt used in various places has not decreased, and it is even a little more than in previous years.It's just that the current patrolling salt censor is not like Lin Ruhai who didn't get in at all. This person has been bribed by them, so these salt merchants dare to be so unscrupulous.

It should be said that besides buying salt from regular salt factories, these salt merchants’ main source of income is their own private cooking of private salt.

If the patrolling salt censors were more strict, they would not dare to be unscrupulous, and the court could still get a lot of salt tax and the profits of the salt factory.

For example, Wang Yingtai has completely bribed the salt patrol envoy now, so he is no longer in charge, so these salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River have become unscrupulous in the past few years.

The stewards of these salt factories are also well aware of this matter, but their main purpose is to make some money when they serve as officials.

Now hearing the words of these severely punished managers, these people are also a little worried. If the salt tax is too low this year, the court will check it out, and they will feel uncomfortable.

What worries Wang Yinggeng even more is that the Shanxi merchants in Shanxi have always been eyeing salt trafficking. If this incident gives them a handle, let them mobilize their power in the court. With the protection of some officials, I'm afraid they won't be able to pass Jia Ke's test.

After Wang Yinggeng thought it through, he said to the managers of the salt factory: "In this case, I will make up another 80 taels of silver. What do you think?"

The stewards of the salt factories all looked at each other in blank dismay after hearing this, saying that the 80 silver cars can make up for the profits of the original factories, but the salt tax is not what the 80 silver cars can make up for, and it may not be able to settle without 200 million cars The grievances of those bigwigs in the court.

So all the stewards of the salt factory looked at each other, and finally focused their eyes on Li Yingtai.

Li Yingtai naturally did his part, he stood up with a gloomy expression and said to Wang Yinggeng, "Boss Wang, are you kidding us?"

Wang Yinggeng was not in a hurry to go, he picked up the wine glass and drank a glass of wine, and then took another mouthful of the braised carp with ease.

Only then slowly raised his head, Li Yingtai looked at him and said: "Master Li, I took out 80 taels from my own pocket, and I am already taking care of the court's face. I am afraid that it will be too much for us salt merchants to pay for it." Impossible, I think Master Li should think of another way."

After Li Yingtai heard this, he laughed loudly, "Boss Wang, can't you see the situation clearly? No matter how powerful you are, can you compare to the Zhen family in Jiangnan? I think Boss Wang should hurry up and make up the tax and money." , it’s convenient for everyone, otherwise, disaster will come from the sky, and I’m afraid we won’t be able to protect our lives.”

Wang Yinggeng was furious after hearing this. Isn't this a curse on his family's destruction?Now that the face has been torn apart, there is no need to joke with these little people here.

Even Wang Yinggeng stopped talking, stood up, turned around and left the restaurant, while the other salt merchants saw that their leading brothers had gone, so they also turned and left one by one.

The remaining stewards of the salt factory began to complain about Li Yingtai.

"Master Li is too impulsive. Boss Wang is so angry. How will we get along here in the future?"

"I think Mr. Li should hurry up and apologize to Boss Wang, so there may be room for relaxation."

After hearing these words, Li Yingtai sneered at the stewards of the salt factory.

"You are still worried about offending Wang Yingtai. If you can't pay the money in a few days, you won't be able to keep the first one of us."

Li Yingtai's words silenced all these stewards.

Seeing that these people were all silent, Li Yingtai continued: "Since Wang Yinggeng is not benevolent, don't blame us people for being unrighteous. I think we should tell the truth. The court owed so much money, so naturally we have to send someone down." Check and see how Wang Yingtai ends up."

And after listening to all the managers, they also felt that this was the only way to go, they couldn't pay Wang Yinggeng himself to wipe his ass.

So after they went back, they jointly reported to Jia Ke, saying that this year, the salt merchants bought much less salt than in previous years, and the profits of the salt factory and the salt tax were greatly reduced. check.

These styles are not fuel-efficient lamps. Knowing that something big is going to happen this time, they hastily withdrew their savings, many of which were put into the official accounts, and tried to settle the accounts. In this way, they lost a lot of money. There is less money, but at least the official prestige and life can be preserved. As long as this position does not move, the money will still be recovered in a year or two.

The Xunyan Yushi also knew that something was wrong. This time, if the imperial court found out that his property and life could not be saved, he also went to Wang Yinggeng's mansion several times to report to him.

But Wang Yinggeng, who was very talkative in the past, is now reticent. No matter how much he pleads for the inspector censor, he is an iron cock.

In the end, the salt inspector was also made helpless by him. After thinking about it after returning to the mansion, he felt that this matter was too dangerous, so he packed up all the bribes he had accepted that night and sent them back to Wang Yinggeng's mansion. .

After Wang Yinggeng received the money, he didn't feel any annoyance, but just accepted it silently.

Wang Yinggeng knew that this was because Xunyan Yushi wanted to jump out of this pit of fire, but it was not so easy.

Not to mention that the stewards of these salt factories submitted memorials to the court, but Wang Yinggeng himself is not a fool. He knew that the stewards of the salt factory were pushed too fast this time, and I am afraid that the matter would not end easily.

But Wang Yinggeng couldn't help it. This year, the master behind him asked for a lot more silver than in previous years.

Although Wang Yinggeng has some money, it is difficult to sustain the annual expenditure of several million taels of silver.

But Wang Yinggeng couldn't just sit still, he wrote a letter immediately after returning, and sent a servant under his command to send it out, hoping that his master could help him for the sake of all these years.

This letter was sent to a luxurious courtyard in Yangzhou a day or two later.

The owner of the other courtyard is a handsome boy of seventeen or eighteen years old. The boy read the letter carefully, and then gently put it aside.

Seeing the young man's appearance, an old butler next to him hurried forward and said, "Master, this matter is not trivial. If the court investigates it in the future, if it pulls out the carrot and brings out the mud, it may not end well."

After hearing this, the boy said helplessly: "Then what do you want me to do? Aunt Lin's place is now at a critical time. The number of spies this year has increased a lot compared to before, and a lot of money is needed to maintain it. Where did you ask me to get so many?" Silver?"

The butler next to him also sighed after hearing this. It should be said that due to Qin Keqing's relationship these years, the organization has developed much faster than in previous years. Many dignitaries have already connected with them, but the silver they need is gold. ocean.

Because of this, the little master could only raise money everywhere, and finally had to put his mind on Wang Yinggeng. Although the crisis was temporarily relieved, he left a clue, and the court might not let it go.

The little boy also felt a little annoyed now, he stood up and walked around the garden a few times, it was impossible to stop it from developing, but the court had to give an explanation.

So the little boy's eyes shone with a gloomy light, "Send all the salt merchant ships to the north to be scuttled."

(End of this chapter)