Chapter 389: Good Job Poaching (Please Subscribe)

No one expected that wooing Yangzhou salt merchants would go so smoothly.

Of course, it's just the two big salt merchants that have been won over, but that's not all.

The names of the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou are quite famous, and the strength of each one cannot be underestimated.

That represents a family fortune of more than ten million, as well as countless industries under his control, as well as tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people directly or indirectly controlled.

The key is that the big salt merchants control a lot of high-quality people.

For example, there are members who manage the salt field, shopkeepers and clerks who manage the shops, and various talents in the hotel and other industries. There are many good people among the salt workers.

As long as these high-quality people can be moved to the offshore territories, the territory's development speed and development limit will be greatly improved!

When Prince Zhongshun heard the news, he was very happy and felt incredible.

How is this going?

Why are the two big salt merchants who are planning to join us so easy to talk to? Is there any problem?

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, these subordinates have already found out everything!"

For this matter, he secretly went to Yangzhou's Prince's Palace Chief. At this time, his face was red and full of energy. He explained the reason to Prince Zhongshun with a smile.

In fact, the life of the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou at this time was not as easy as it seemed.

Before Jia Huan and Jia Cong took part in the martial arts competition, the court caused a lot of troubles over the salt tax, and even several supervisory censors died.

At that time, because the salt tax paid by the Yangzhou Salt Patrol Censor's Yamen was much less than during Lin Ruhai's time, it naturally aroused the current rage, and the supervisory censor was immediately dispatched to investigate the details.

As a result, the investigation fell into a quagmire and could not be investigated at all.

The first batch of supervisory censors encountered various misfortunes and died in mysterious circumstances. This was one of the main reasons why Jia Cong was later ordered to suppress local banditry.

The local government denies that most of the deaths of these censors were caused by banditry.

No fool would believe this!

In the following years, the imperial court has been sending supervisory censors to the Huaihe River to investigate the salt tax!

At that time, Jia Cong had already made his debut and started to fight against bandits and become famous.

His record is really good, and some people are worried that if he goes too far, it will not be good for the current emperor to attract Jia Cong and his men to the Huaihe region.

Because of this, the salt tax in those two years reached more than six million taels!

Nowadays, I can only say that I am slightly satisfied. Such a figure is naturally not comparable to the more than nine million taels of salt tax and silver paid by Lin Ruhai in his peak period, but it is still acceptable.

However, the local government used various methods to kill subordinates and sent supervisory censors to death, but it was not easy to get over. This was inevitable.

Just kidding, the death of a dignified official of the imperial court was unclear. If there is no result that satisfies everyone, how can the prestige of the imperial court and the current emperor be established?

The eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou, who were the source of all this, felt a lot of pressure.

But the problem is that their interests have been tied to too many forces. Even if they want to be honest and peaceful, it is impossible to be a responsible businessman.

There is no way, a huge amount of money must be distributed every year, and it is all in units of one hundred thousand taels.

Even the eight major salt merchants themselves are increasingly struggling to cope with their annual income.

If you can't make enough profits, you have to use your own money to supplement it, and there is no way to reduce expenditures at all.

Even if you want to keep a low profile, you can't really cut yourself off, and you can't withstand such a torment.

Regardless of the status of the eight major salt merchant families, those stakeholders must receive no less benefits every year, otherwise the consequences will be quite serious.

This will only force the eight major salt dealers to go all the way to selling illegal salt.

But the problem is that if more private salt is sold, the salt tax revenue of the Salt Patrol Yamen will decrease.

Once it is reduced to a certain level, the court will definitely not agree.

It can be said that the eight major salt merchant families in Yangzhou are all in a dead situation!

Offending the current emperor is inevitable!

In addition, in order to obtain enough benefits, they have to fight with other forces in various ways, which can be said to be bloody and bloody. In short, it is impossible to live a peaceful life at all.

Since Lin Ruhai escaped smoothly, there were seven subsequent Salt Patrol Censors, three of whom died suddenly, only one of the remaining four retreated in embarrassment, and the remaining three were all imprisoned.

The position of the Salt Patrol Censor is so dangerous!

However, officials who want to sit in this position are like crucian carp crossing the river.

There is no other way. People die for money and birds die for food. The benefits are too great and it is normal.

Think about it, as long as you serve as the Salt Patrol Censor for one term, you can earn at least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

This is not considered bribery, it is just normal income. What official can endure it?

That is why people like Lin Ruhai, who have a very rich family background and outstanding abilities, don't have much interest in this.

Not only was the Salt Patrol Censor unlucky, but many officials in Yangzhou City and Su Province also changed as a result.

In short, the commotion over the salt tax was quite unpleasant.

If Jiangnan wasn't a very special place, and the royal family's control over it was average, and they had to worry about the reaction of the Jiangnan family and the local gentry forces, they would probably have started to use thunderous methods by now.

As time goes by, the pressure felt by the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou is naturally increasing.

The two big salt merchants who took the initiative to seek refuge naturally wanted to find other ways out.

According to Wangfu Changshi, these two families are about to be unable to support themselves.

"It's impossible. With their family background, they will definitely be able to support it for a long time!"

Prince Zhongshun said disapprovingly: "The strength of these big salt merchants is quite powerful!"

"My lord, you don't know, but their expenses are increasing every year, and they are almost unable to bear it!"

Prince Palace Chief Shi explained: "As time goes by, their cost of selling private salt will only get higher and higher, and they have to be prepared to prevent the court from turning over the table regardless of the situation!"

Having said this, he subconsciously lowered his voice and said, "Also, several of His Majesty's adult princes have begun to reach out to the big salt merchants in Yangzhou!"

"Tsk, have they already begun to accumulate strength and collect capital?"

The look on Prince Zhongshun's face was quite strange, he shook his head and said: "So what, the joining of my nephews will not cause too much trouble, right?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Prince Palace Chief Shi explained softly: "The eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou have a lot of entangled forces. They all want to eat meat and drink soup, but they don't care whether the salt merchants can continue to support them!"

"Now His Majesty's adult princes have also joined in. Naturally they also want to eat meat. They have a huge appetite!"

"Anyway, with all the expenses added up, the annual private salt income is not enough to divide the profits. If we still can't find a way to break the situation at this time, there will probably be nothing in the future!"

Prince Zhongshun was silent for a while. How did he know there would be so many doors?

"Has Jia Huan, that boy, considered all of this?"

He took the initiative to change the topic and asked curiously: "No, this is too exaggerated!"

"It's definitely not that exaggerated!"

Palace Chief Shi chuckled and said: "I have read the plan prepared by General Jia, and I just speculated that some big salt merchants may have other ideas, and I can try to win them over!"

"After all, at this time, the eight major salt merchant families in Yangzhou have all experienced their most glorious period, and they have been in decline since then!"

"The eight major salt merchant families in Yangzhou have actually changed several times a hundred years after the founding of Daqian!"

"Any family head with a long-term vision cannot fail to consider the future of the family!"

"The lessons learned from the past are so clear, we have to find a way to make trouble!"

Having said this, I couldn't help but sigh: "However, the conditions proposed by General Jia to win over are directly aimed at the fate of the big salt merchants in Yangzhou. It is normal for two families to be interested and take action!"

"That's right, then I, the king, can rest assured!"

Prince Zhongshun chuckled and said leisurely: "Just giving such good conditions to the big salt merchant in Yangzhou feels a little inappropriate. What do you think?"

"I feel the same way, too!"

Prince Palace Chief Shi did not hide his thoughts, and chuckled: "According to General Jia, it is the huge influence of traditional Confucianism. After all, the lower officials are already accustomed to the model of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce!"

Seeing Prince Zhongshun nodding to express his understanding, he continued: "The conditions offered by the palace are indeed not low!"

"But what General Jia said makes sense. In the future, the overseas territories will naturally be with Daqian, and there will be frequent contact between them. Businessmen are actually one of the best choices!"

"The sea is vast and boundless. Not just any person or force has the courage to sail and run on the sea!"

Prince Zhongshun nodded again, what he said was true!

If it weren't for the ambition in his heart, he wouldn't be very willing to spend a huge price toiling overseas.

The outer sea is vast, it is too big, and it is also quite dangerous.

So far, almost a dozen ships belonging to the palace have sunk.

Regardless of the cause of the sinking, hundreds of men were lost just following the sinking ship.

Otherwise, the cost of developing offshore territories is extremely high, and huge amounts of resources are invested every year!

"Have you ever said that Jia Huan, after the big salt merchants from Yangzhou come to join us, how can we create trouble for those civil servants?"

Prince Zhongshun changed the subject again and sneered: "It would be better if they could fight on their own!"

"General Jia naturally said that as long as the big salt merchants in Yangzhou reduce their support for the Southern Academy and take some scholars away to sea, the blow to the Southern Scholars will be huge!"

"The Southern Scholars have a close relationship with the cabinet and the imperial court in the capital!"

"If they were hit, how could they not react at all? There will be a good show next!"

Palace Chief Shi looked gloating and said coldly: "General Jia also said that the big salt merchants in Yangzhou paid so much protection fee every year that some of the powerful people in the capital would have their mouths full of oil!"

"At this time, it's time for them to come forward to help, cheer for the big salt merchants in Yangzhou, and escort them, otherwise they will have no shame in continuing to take money in the future!"

Speaking of this, Prince's Chief Shi chuckled and said: "With this wave, the Prince's territory outside the sea will have at least tens of thousands more people, and among them, one-fifth to one-third of the high-quality population will be added!"