Chu Zhongtian was unwilling to do this, and hurriedly asked, "Brother Wang, can you still find a way to get another batch of salt?"

Wang Fu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "If it was in previous years, it should be no problem, but this year, Brother Chu also knows that the Shangtun at our border pass has been looted by foreign races and suffered heavy losses. ”

"What about the salt business in the next year. Chu Zhongtian sat back in his chair heavily, and the whole person seemed to suddenly age many years.

In fact, I knew that most of the time there was no play, but I just asked with the mentality of just in case.

Wang Fu gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Chu, I have an idea. ”

"What?" Chu Zhongtian hurriedly asked.

Wang Fu said: "The insiders of the robbery of the salt introduction this time have been controlled by me, and whoever asks me in the future will not admit it, just as the salt introduction was not robbed, we will first use the salt introduction of the next year to respond to the emergency, and then we can get through the rain and sunny weather after this pass." ”

The scale of the salt merchants' trade is huge, and sometimes one year's salt supply is not enough, so the government also reserves the next three years of salt in case of emergency.

It's just that the use of these salts is not without a price, and the most intuitive thing is that the cost is much higher.

A normal salt introduction costs 1.5 taels of silver, but the advance of salt in the next few years needs to be called 2.1 taels of silver advance, which is equivalent to loan interest, and the imperial court's move also plays a certain role in macroeconomic regulation and control, so that salt merchants will not unscrupulously throw a large amount of salt to the market because of the huge profits of the salt industry.

"But then the cost of salt introduction is too expensive. Chu Zhongtian frowned and said, with all kinds of dots, the cost is equivalent to 3 or 4 times that of the current one, which is really too expensive.

Wang Fu shook his head: "Brother Chu didn't understand what I meant, I meant to advance those salt introductions, pretending to be next year's salt introductions, and then make up enough salt to return them to the warehouse after we ease up next year." In this way, you can solve your urgent needs without knowing it. ”

Chu Zhongtian's face changed: "By all means, this is digging the corner of the imperial court, once the incident happens, it is a big crime!"

Wang Fu said: "With Brother Chu's connections in Mingyue City, coupled with our Wang family's many years of operation, how could it be so easy to happen." And this kind of thing has been done by all the families in previous years, and how many of them have really paid their taxes in full?"

Chu Zhongtian said in a deep voice: "But in previous years, it was only a small amount of advances, and everyone turned a blind eye and passed, this time it is the salt advance for the whole year, and the movement is too big, don't believe it, absolutely not." ”

Wang Fu sighed: "Brother Chu, don't blame me for speaking straight, otherwise what else can we do?"

"As far as I know, since this year, illicit salt has become more and more rampant, and a lot of your Chu family's salt can't be sold, right?"

"In the past, you couldn't sell the cost of 1.5 taels of salt, but now that the cost is close to 4 taels of silver, you will only be even more unable to sell it, and even if you really sell it, the Chu family will be

How much can you earn? The Chu family is so big, and a huge amount of money is consumed in all aspects, if there is no income from the salt business, I am afraid that there will be a financial deficit soon, right?" Wang Fu analyzed.

Chu Zhongtian's face changed, Huo Ran got up and said, "Our Chu family has been inherited for hundreds of years, and we can still afford this loss." ”

Although it will hurt the muscles and bones, the big deal is to sell some ancestral fields.

Just as he was about to get angry, who knew that Wang Fu knelt down in front of him, hugged his thighs and said, "Brother Chu, your Chu family can afford the great cause, but our Wang family can't afford it." Because the border gate Shangtun was looted before, our Wang family was already in turmoil, if the news of the robbery of Yanyin this time spreads again, our Wang family will be finished. Brother Chu, we have been friends for so many years, I have never begged you, this time I begged you!"

"Brother Wang, please hurry up, what are you doing!" Chu Zhongtian hurriedly helped him up, you must know that among the major families, the Chu family and the Wang family are the closest, and they have long regarded each other as friends after decades of communication.

"The Wang family is going to collapse completely, what's the use of keeping my old face. Wang Fu simply sat on the ground directly, unable to get up or live.

Chu Zhongtian's face changed gloomy: "You let me think about it, this matter is really important." ”

Hearing his loose tone, Wang Fu couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Thank you Brother Chu, I am grateful if Brother Chu has this heart, as for whether he can succeed in the future, it is up to fate." ”

When Chu Zhongtian went back and mentioned this matter to Qin Wanru, Qin Wanru's face was pale: "Of course not, why are you so confused, husband, and promise such a thing!"

Chu Zhongtian sighed: "I didn't know that this move was very dangerous, but what Wang Fu said was not unreasonable, if it was really necessary to pay the advance silver for every salt quotation, then the cost of official salt would be too high, and there would be no ordinary people who would buy it." ”

Qin Wanru said hurriedly: "Even if you don't buy it, our Chu family can afford to lose a year's income." Now that the imperial court has sent Sang Hong to keep an eye on it, we really have to make a move, once he detects it, it will be a big trouble. ”

"The situation of the Chu family is not as good as you think," Chu Zhongtian said in a deep voice, "In the past few years, we have lost money every year, and it is only after these early years that the situation has changed slightly, but we can't afford such a big loss." ”

Qin Wanru couldn't help but say: "Actually, I've always wanted to ask, although it is because of our poor management, but the Chu family holds two extremely profitable businesses of salt and iron, where does the money go? Why do you lose money every year?"

"I didn't want to hide this matter from you, but you didn't ask about it because you had too many concerns," Chu Zhongtian explained, "You should know that the Salt Transport Envoy is the Commander, right?"

"Nature knows. Qin Wanru replied.

Only then did Chu Zhongtian tell the truth of the matter.

Because of the huge profits of salt, all dynasties have set up such a department to supervise the production, distribution and anti-smuggling of salt.

Supervising Mingyue City is the Linchuan County Metropolitan Salt Transport Envoy.

One of the top salt transport envoys is the fat shortage of the fat shortage, and countless officials are fascinated by the position.

However, because the Chu family has been in charge of the salt industry in Mingyue City for thousands of years, the consent of the Chu family is generally required to become this salt transportation envoy.

To a certain extent, these salt envoys are all members of the Chu family, or people close to the Chu family.

But the officialdom ushered in the send-off, and there are few officials who are not greedy.

Every salt envoy and the group of deputies and lower-level officials under his command will more or less make a fortune in it.

The successive heads of the Chu family can only turn a blind eye to this, firstly, they are officials close to the Chu family, and secondly, this is also the unspoken rule of officialdom, the same is true of the Salt Transportation Division, and the same is true of other departments.

In addition, after these officials at all levels of the salt transportation envoy department left office, they were either promoted to the central court or transferred to the local government to become senior officials, which has formed a huge net in the imperial court, which affects the whole body.

If the Chu family dares to say anything, it will be an extremely terrifying force that will be offended.

In this way, over the course of several hundred years, the actual deficit in the treasury has reached an astronomical amount.

In the past, he could still rely on all kinds of accounts to conceal the past, but in Chu Zhongtian's generation, this number is so large that it is impossible to hide the accounts at all.

"So all the money the Chu family has made over the years has been filling the deficit accumulated in the treasury of the Salt Transportation Division for hundreds of years?" Qin Wanru's delicate cheeks faded with blood.

Chu Zhongtian smiled bitterly: "Not bad." ”

"Why!" Qin Wanru's face was full of anger, "Why should the money embezzled by the previous salt officials ask our Chu family to make up for the shortfall!"

Chu Zhongtian said in a deep voice: "Just because our Chu family has always been able to occupy the salt and iron fiefdom of Mingyue City, do you think that with such a fat piece of meat, the Chu family can sit firmly just by virtue of the merits of the ancestors? It is not that we have been able to rely on the efforts of those officials all these years that our Chu family can always have such a place." ”

"Originally, I didn't have to be so troublesome before, but in recent years, I feel that the emperor seems to be ready to attack our Chu family, so I have to take precautions and make up for the deficit in the treasury of the salt transportation department a little, at least I must be able to fool the account, so as to withstand the investigation of the imperial court. ”

Chu Zhongtian paused and continued: "This is why I have the confidence to resist the pressure of the emperor and the king of Qi to remain neutral, because we have countless officials of the imperial court behind us! They don't want anything to happen to the Chu family, otherwise, none of them want to run!"

Qin Wanru's heart suddenly moved: "The account book that you solemnly handed over to Chu Yan for safekeeping last time, at that time, you said that it was the current account with your business partner, but now that you look at it, I am afraid that it is the evidence of corruption by those officials of the Salt Transportation Envoy Department in the past dynasties." ”

Chu Zhongtian nodded: "Yes, as long as that account book is not lost, no matter whether it is the emperor or the king of Qi, no matter how much you want to deal with our Chu family, our Chu family will have nothing to do!"