Fengmou Jiangshan

Chapter 67
King Yizheng's sowing dissension was very successful, except for Nanyang Lu's as usual, the other three families more or less took action.

The first to move and the most blatant and arrogant is the salt giant Qinghe Zheng. Zheng has used all available methods, soft and hard, coerced and lured all available people and networks to create chaos in the salt market.

In mid-October, the supply of salt in most of the rest of the country was tight, and in late October, the tension became even worse. Even the capital market was not spared, which caused great panic among the people. Prices skyrocketed, and people's hearts fluttered.At the same time, food prices and cloth prices have quietly increased by [-]%...

The normal life of the people has been seriously affected, and the situation in the whole country is in panic. The degree of panic even exceeds the time when troops are sent to rescue and relieve disasters.

Gu Qinghua was furious, and ordered the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Households to find a way to settle the matter. Liu Chengzhong and Liu Jia reported truthfully, but there was nothing they could do. Sudden changes in the composition of brine, etc., natural disasters and man-made disasters are omnipresent, and they are also very difficult to deal with blindly using the word "drag". What's more, the well-known Zheng family is behind it, and the Wang family and Cui family They share the same spirit with the Zheng family, and behind their common background is the king of politics...

What appears to be a simple business matter on the surface is actually intricate, confusing and extremely complicated.

All the ministers in the court were panic-stricken. This time, many people couldn't sleep at night and sincerely wanted to think of a way for Gu Qinghua, but there was no breakthrough at all.The reason is simple, they can't afford to mess with all the people involved.

In desperation, Liu Chengzhong even suggested to Gu Qinghua whether the imperial court should send someone to sit down with the representatives of the salt merchants to negotiate and discuss a solution together.

Gu Qinghua glared at him, the so-called "negotiation solution" he said was too euphemistic, isn't it actually the imperial court surrendering to the salt merchants?Behind the last layer of the salt merchant is the king of politics, how can she, Gu Qinghua, lower her head?

Gu Qinghua resisted the urge to pierce through this layer of window paper, and looked at him coldly: "What? Liu Aiqing doesn't care about the court's face and my decency now?"

Liu Chengzhong blushed immediately, and was speechless.

Gu Qinghua summoned Su Jun, and the two discussed it in the study for a day. On the second day, Gu Qinghua summoned Liu Jia and Liu Chengzhong for questioning, and still let Su Jun hide behind the screen and listen to the corner.

Gu Qinghua was too lazy to talk nonsense with them, so he asked: "I have checked the salt law of my dynasty. Wasn't salt managed by the court's salt officials in the early days of the founding of the country? How did it fall into the hands of mere merchants?"

Liu Jia and Liu Chengzhong looked at each other, and after thinking for a while, Liu Jia took two steps forward and said: "Returning to your majesty, your majesty has checked the Shihuo Zhi, so you must know that private salt was prevalent during Xianzong's reign, and the salt law Corruption, officials and salt have nothing to do, and salt officials are more corrupt and dereliction of duty than any officials. The problem here is too big to be found out. Later, Emperor Xianzong simply transferred the salt road to merchants for operation. After signing an agreement, Every year, salt merchants receive salt quotations at the household department from the representatives of the chambers of commerce in the major production areas, and pay the corresponding fees with the salt quotations, and all production and operation are free.”

Gu Qinghua couldn't help but snorted softly. Needless to say, those salt merchants said that they produced by Yanyin, but in fact, did they really receive how much Yanyin only produced how much table salt?Only a fool would be so honest!It's no wonder that Mrs. Zheng dared to be the first to jump out to challenge him openly. He has a strong waist and a lot of money!

"Private salt was banned in previous dynasties. How could private salt be allowed to operate and compete with official salt during Xianzong's reign?" Gu Qinghua asked again.

Liu Jia recognized it with a guilty conscience, and said for a moment: "This, I don't know very well. I only know that private salt merchants spent money to buy such a business from the court at that time, because There are many small places where transportation is inconvenient and the operating costs are too high for the court to take care of, so the salt merchants were allowed to take over this part of the business. Later, the salt merchants gradually became more powerful, so—”

Liu Jia didn't dare to say that, in fact, Emperor Xianzong was in urgent need of money at that time, and he had no choice but to make this deal with the salt merchants.The one who played a huge role in fueling the flames was Liu Jia's senior Shangshu who went back three years, and Liu Jia would not mention it.No one is so stupid, revealing the old account of an old boss who has passed away for many years, this kind of behavior is very contemptible in the officialdom.

Gu Qinghua already got all the information he needed after hearing this.Salt merchants start their own businesses to fight mountains, so of course they are willing to endure hardships and stand hard work, stepping on this mountain and looking at that mountain.What about the salt officials?That is lying on the white money and sleeping, who is not busy with money to worry about?One side ebbs and flows, one side encroaches a little bit, and the other side retreats a little bit. Over time, no one needs to say what the situation will be.

"So, the Salt Road was originally under the jurisdiction of the imperial court?" Gu Qinghua exhaled and said slowly.

Liu Jia seemed to realize what she wanted to do, and her expression changed, and she said anxiously: "Your Majesty, your Majesty should think twice about this matter!"

"Your Majesty must not be impulsive!" Liu Chengzhong also said.

"Hmph!" Gu Qinghua sneered, and said, "They've already reached their necks, why should I think twice? What's more, if this matter is not solved once and for all, in the future, they will be so indifferent to me like this." , what should I do?"

The two were silent, not knowing where to start.

What Gu Qinghua said is right, if you cut the weeds and don’t get rid of the roots, you are making trouble for yourself, and in the end it is very likely that you will be exhausted and exhausted without any results.However, how easy is it to move the Zheng family?Now the market is in chaos, and Zheng's panic is even worse. During the transition of power from old to new, when will the normal supply of salt be restored?No one dared to say.

None of the courtiers knew Gu Qinghua's hesitation when he heard it, and the next thing he said was "How did you become the minister!" This sentence, so Liu Chengzhong hurriedly responded without thinking.

"If you want to send a salt official who is proficient in salt art and has a dignified character to take up the post at this time, do you have someone to choose?" Gu Qinghua arrogantly thought that they had agreed to his decision, shot his eyes, and asked Liu Chengzhong directly.

Liu Chengzhong suddenly had a feeling that his sharp edge was on his back, and he could only falter and look left and right to resolve this pressure like Mount Tai.

"Speak! Yes, or not!" Gu Qinghua didn't intend to let him practice Tai Chi, and a low drink with obvious impatience shocked Liu Chengzhong, and subconsciously replied: "Return to Your Majesty, Yan Officials have long been absent, and it is very difficult to choose officials who are proficient in salt and Taoism, but there are enough candidates with dignified character. If it is not possible, I will personally take charge of this matter and learn by doing. "

(End of this chapter)