Aoyama

Chapter 351 Salt Merchants Head Office
Xiaoyingzhou is very beautiful at sunset. The setting sun just hangs under the eaves of Yiliang Pavilion, like a dazzling red lantern.

Chen Ji walked on the gravel road of Xiaoyingzhou, and Chen Yu followed him and chattered: "My Chen family salt shop is a difficult business, just as difficult as the grain shop."

Chen Ji asked calmly, "You know a lot about the Salt and Grain Department?"

Chen Yu hummed, "The salt shop has a chief manager, his name is Chen Yue, he is from the side branch of my Chen family. Under him there are seven sub-managers, some are in charge of accounts, some are in charge of personnel, some are in charge of salt permits, some are in charge of official salt transport, some are in charge of kitchen households, some are in charge of shops... and some are in charge of private salt, and each one is difficult to deal with. You have to be careful, don't be led by these old foxes by the nose."

Chen Ji asked doubtfully, "You and I are rivals now, why are you reminding me of this?"

Chen Yu casually broke off another willow branch and played with it in his hand: "Although you can't beat me, if you can firmly grasp the salt shop, it won't be in vain. It's a business worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. In addition to the profits paid to the clan every year, you can also keep several thousand taels of silver for yourself, which is enough to ensure your prosperity and wealth."

Chen Ji sighed: "You are a very nice person."

Chen Yu laughed: "It will take you three years just to sort out these complicated relationships. After three years, I will have firmly grasped the grain number in my hands, and the winner will be decided immediately. Therefore, I don't need to regard you as an opponent."

Chen Ji didn't know what to say for a moment. He said goodbye to Chen Yu, intending to get rid of this "acquaintance" who might see through his identity: "Then it depends on your ability. Goodbye..."

Just as I turned around, Chen Yu came up to me again: "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? I was planning to go to your Ginkgo Garden for dinner."

Chen Ji was stunned. How could this person have such a lack of sense of boundaries? Everyone else had said goodbye, but he still refused to give up.

Chen Yu followed Chen Ji all the way into Ginkgo Garden and greeted Xiaoman with a smile: "Xiaoman has grown so big!"

When Xiaoman saw Chen Yu, her eyes lit up: "Hey, why are you here?"

Chen Yu casually threw a silver ingot to Xiaoman and said, "I came back to Beijing in a hurry and didn't bring any gifts. Go buy some rouge and powder yourself."

Xiaoman happily put the silver ingot into her sleeve: "Master Chen Yu is handsome and kind-hearted!"

Chen Yu laughed: "I'm so tanned that my skin is peeling. How can I still be handsome?"

Xiaoman smiled with her canine teeth showing: "Even if you get sunburned, you're still handsome!"

Chen Yu was delighted and took out a ten-liang silver ingot and handed it to Xiaoman.

Chen Ji looked at Chen Yu speechlessly. Why did this guy throw money around with everyone he met? No wonder Xiaoman said earlier that Chen Yu was handsome and rare in the capital.

So, Xiaoman was looking at Chen Yu with the same eyes as he was looking at silver...Xiaoman's eyes lit up when he looked at silver.

Chen Ji looked at the two silver ingots in Xiao Man's hand, was silent for a moment, turned to Chen Yu and said: "Mr. Chen Yu is handsome and kind-hearted."

Chen Yu: "..."

Xiaoman: “…”

Chen Yu said to Xiao Man with emotion: "After three years of not seeing you, your son has become more playful."

He took out a silver ingot and threw it to Chen Ji, then he lifted up the hem of his official robe and sat on the stone bench, waving unceremoniously: "Xiao Man, pour me a cup of tea, I'm so thirsty."

Xiaoman smiled and said, "Okay!"

Chen Ji always felt that it was not Chen Yu who came to his yard today, but rather it was like he himself came to Chen Yu's yard... Could it be that Xiaoman secretly sold all that information about him to Chen Yu?

He wanted to call out to Xiaoman and tell her not to listen to Chen Yu's orders, but he saw Xiaoman secretly making two gestures to him, one for eight and one for two.

Twenty-eight.

While Xiaoman was boiling water and making tea, Chen Yu pointed to another stone bench beside him and said, "Sit down. You're welcome."

Chen Ji sat down unhappily: "Do you have anything else to say?"

Chen Yu approached mysteriously and said, "Do you know why the Patriarch chose you so carefully?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "I can't guess."

Chen Yu whispered, "Because he didn't plan to pass the position of the head of the family to his uncle, but planned to pass it to you and me."

Chen Ji was stunned: "My uncle is the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and he is also a famous scholar in the court. Why didn't you pass it on to him?"

Chen Yu seemed to know something but was very secretive: "Let's not talk about this matter. I'll introduce you to the salt business so that you don't run around in the dark like a headless fly."

At this time, Xiaoman came out with a tray and sat aside to pour tea for the two of them.

Chen Yu picked up a teacup and blew on it, "Do you know what the problems of the salt tax in my Ning Dynasty are?"

Chen Ji rolled his eyes: "If you want to show off, just say it now, don't be so mysterious."

Chen Yu put down the teacup, dipped his finger in water, and drew a circle on the edge of the stone table: "This is the border army."

He drew another circle on the inner side of the stone table: "This is a salt merchant from a border village."

Then, Chen Yu drew a line between the border troops and the border households: "When our dynasty first promulgated the 'Opening the Central Plains Law', merchants could exchange five stone of grain to the border for a salt permit. A salt permit could be exchanged for 200 kilograms of salt, and no additional taxes were required. Gradually, everyone used the price of five stone of grain at the time to set the price of the salt permit, which was four coins of silver."

Chen Ji suddenly realized that this was where the anchor price of the salt permit came from.

Chen Yu pointed to the line between the "Border Army" and the "Border Households": "But the loss of grain transported to the border is extremely high. So some smart merchants relied on the power behind them and stopped transporting grain to the border army. Instead, they directly paid four coins of silver to the Ministry of Households in exchange for a salt permit. At first, everyone was very happy. The court got the silver, and the salt merchants got the salt permits. No one suffered a loss."

Chen Ji stared at the stone table: "Since no one is at a disadvantage, where does the accumulated evil come from?"

Chen Yu smiled and said, "Later, as silver was mined continuously in our dynasty and a steady stream of silver flowed in from overseas, silver became less and less valuable. At that time, a salt permit was four taels of silver. After so many years, a salt permit is still four taels of silver... Do you understand what I mean?"

Chen Ji understood. At that time, four coins of silver could buy five dan of grain, but now four coins of silver can only buy half a dan of grain. The court should have raised the price of a salt permit to four taels of silver long ago, but the court has been selling salt permits at the price of four coins of silver for many years.

He frowned and asked, "Doesn't the court care?"

Chen Yu smiled and said, "The court also wanted to intervene, so disputes arose between the imperial family and the court officials, and even caused a lot of chaos. Later, both sides took a step back, and the big salt merchants paid 500,000 taels of silver at one time to compensate for the deficit of the court. In this way, the court got the silver, and the salt merchants and officials got the power to inherit the profit. This is the origin of the 46 hereditary big salt merchants in the 'Gang Ce'."

Chen Ji knocked on the table and said, "But after a long time, the court will still lose money."

Chen Yu spread his hands and said, "If there is no loss, can it still be called 'accumulated disadvantages'?"

He changed the subject and said, "The second problem with salt tax is private salt. Nowadays, the official salt production is limited and it is not enough for the people's daily consumption. The price of salt has been rising year by year. The salt merchants with less courage mix 10% of private salt into the official salt and sell it as official salt. It is said that there are also salt merchants with more courage who dare to mix 60% of private salt into it and do business with their heads on their belts."

Chen Ji asked, "Where does the private salt come from?" Chen Yu replied, "The official salt of our dynasty is made up of salt farmers. The court stipulates that each salt farmer must hand in 3,000 kilograms of salt every year. In the early years, it was difficult for salt farmers to produce 3,000 kilograms of salt. Now, some salt farmers can produce 5,000 kilograms of salt a year. The extra 2,000 kilograms will become private salt and flow into the hands of salt merchants. This is a huge profit. In the south, some large private salt dealers can even raise tens of thousands of private salt bandits, and even the government can do nothing about it."

Chen Ji frowned. Both official salt and private salt were cooked by the same stove. No wonder it was difficult to check.

Chen Yu glanced at Chen Ji and said, "You went to the Qi family literary gathering a few days ago, right? There was a man named Huang Que at the banquet. His family has a salt team under their command. They are called salt teams, but they are actually salt bandits."

Chen Ji looked at him in astonishment: "You are not a secret agent of the eunuch party, how do you know this?"

Chen Yu laughed loudly: "I know astronomy and geography, otherwise how could I become a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Personnel at the age of 22? Otherwise, how could I escape from the Changlu Salt Field unscathed this time?"

Chen Ji couldn't listen any longer and waved his hand: "Xiao Man, show me around."

Chen Yu stood up and patted the dust off his body: "No need to chase me away, I will go by myself. Chen Ji, you can't win against me this time, so you should think about how to take over the Chen Family Salt Company. This is the real benefit. But don't be impatient. Facing those old men in the Salt Company, you have to take it slow."

Chen Yu turned and walked out.

As Xiao Man collected the tea sets, he advised, "This Master Chen Yu always likes to show off and is very arrogant, but he has a good heart. He told you so much because he is afraid that you will be tricked by those people in the salt shop."

Chen Ji was thoughtful. He always felt that Chen Yu was a little strange. How could a bastard have such a personality? Moreover, how could a bastard have such great powers that he even knew who would attend the Qi Jiawen meeting?

It's neither reasonable nor logical.

At this time, Xiaoman carefully reminded him, "Sir, those old men in the salt shop may not listen to you, especially the head shopkeeper Chen Yue. I heard that in the Chen family, except for being polite to a few masters, he doesn't listen to anyone else."

Chen Ji hummed and said nothing.

……

……

The next morning, before the rooster crowed, Chen Ji put on his clothes and left Ginkgo Garden quietly.

He did not fetch water today, but walked towards the outer city on the thin dew on the bluestone road.

After leaving Xuanwu Gate, Chen Ji looked around along Xuanwu Gate Street, muttering to himself: "After leaving Xuanwu Gate, after passing three alleys, you will reach Mule and Horse Market Street..."

At this time, Mule and Horse Market Street was already bustling with ox carts and mule carts coming and going in an endless stream. The rammed earth road was covered with cow dung and the air was filled with the smell of grass.

On the street, guys were removing door panels one by one.

As soon as the steamer of the bun shop was opened, white steam rose into the sky.

Chen Ji felt a little dazed for a moment, as if he had returned to Anxi Street in Luo City.

He looked at each signboard one by one, and finally found the plaque of "Chen's Salt Merchants General Store". He immediately lifted his clothes and stepped over the threshold.

The waiter inside was sweeping the floor. Hearing the footsteps, he asked without even looking up, "Sir, do you want to buy some salt?"

Chen Ji didn't say anything. He walked to the salt bowl and grabbed a handful of salt.

Coarse salt, yellow-brown crystals containing sand minerals. You don't even need to taste this kind of coarse salt to know that it also has the bitter taste of magnesium sulfate and the astringent feeling of magnesium chloride.

When people eat it, they have to dissolve the coarse salt in water first to let it settle, and then use the clear water on top to cook.

Seeing that Chen Ji was still silent, the shop assistant looked up in surprise and said, "Sir, if you don't want to buy it, don't touch it. You must buy the one in your hand."

Chen Ji threw the coarse salt in his hand back into the salt bowl, patted the salt powder in his palms with both hands, and let the salt powder fall to the ground.

The guy was anxious: "Didn't you hear me talking to you? Why did you throw the salt on the ground? Pay me!"

Chen Ji glanced at him and asked, "How much compensation?"

The clerk leaned on the bamboo broom and thought for a while: "One hundred coins... No, two hundred coins!"

Chen Ji hummed, then turned to look at the other salt buckets. There was more than one kind of coarse salt in this salt shop. The yellowish-brown one was sea salt, and the purple one was pond salt shipped from Jiezhou, also known as peach blossom salt, which had few impurities.

Seeing that he was acting as if no one was around, the waiter reached out to pull him: "What's wrong with you? Are you deaf? Someone, someone is looking for trouble!"

After that, several men rushed out of the salt shop, holding iron rulers in their hands.

The waiter sneered: "Who is this idiot who dares to interfere with my Chen family's business?"

Chen Ji then looked at them and said, "My name is Chen Ji. You should have heard of my name. The Chen family sent me to take over the salt shop. I want to ask your chief manager Chen Yue to come out and see me."

The guys' faces changed, and one of them stepped forward and said, "I didn't expect to offend the master. We will definitely ask the shopkeeper to accept the punishment and give you an explanation. But the shopkeeper is not in the salt shop today. He went out to discuss business."

"The head shopkeeper is not here?" Chen Ji asked casually, "Are the second shopkeepers here?"

The waiter shook his head: "The second shopkeepers are not here either."

"None of the seven second-in-commands are here?"

"They are not here." The clerk said confidently, "But the head and second managers told us when they left that if you want to check the accounts or count the salt permits and warehouses when you come, we will cooperate with you without hesitation."

Chen Ji asked casually with his hands behind his back, "What else did the chief manager tell you?"

The clerk replied, "The head shop owner also said that the salt business is very complicated. You should read the account book first to understand where the salt comes from, where it is sold to, and who the quick-drawn money and the government tax money are given to. It won't be too late to discuss the business after you have read it... Chen Ertong, you take the people to bring out all the accounts."

Chen Ji raised his hand to stop him: "No need. Tell the chief shopkeeper that I have something important to discuss with him. I will come again after the Yulin Army is dismissed tonight. Let him stay in the salt shop and wait for me."

After saying that, Chen Ji turned and left.

After making sure he was far away, the waiter turned around and shouted to the backyard: "Boss, he's gone."

A fat middle-aged man lifted the door curtain and walked into the main hall. He squinted his eyes and looked at Chen Ji's receding back: "Here comes a young man who knows nothing."

The clerk looked at the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, he said he would come again tonight, what should we do?"

The shopkeeper touched his chin and said expressionlessly: "You said I wasn't here."

(End of this chapter)