Huainan in Jiangsu basically coincides with Huaidong, and the yamen of the two Huai salt envoys is also in Yangzhou City, which is a salt administration and management center. Salt transport envoy for the three grades, in front of the seven-grade salt patrol imperial history, but do not dare to make times, the imperial history is humble and powerful, to humble the respect.

The decline of Yangzhou City was in the nineteenth century, when it was directly excluded from Jiangnan and classified as Jiangbei, when the popularity of Wu language in the north and south of the Yangtze River also surpassed the Jianghuai official dialect, and now it belongs to the heyday.

Yangzhou salt merchants get rich, just Huizhou giant businessmen who come here to operate salt affairs, millions of family properties are small rich, guilds and chambers of commerce are numerous, the total property accounts for half of the national treasury, and the court does not rectify them, it is also unreasonable.

"Forgive me, my aunt, the younger generation is a newcomer, and I don't know much about the Lianghuai Salt Farm and Yangzhou Salt Merchants." Jia Cong sat down upright: "I just saw it from the history books, since the "History of the Song Dynasty" was quoted with salt, a hundred catties were introduced, and the Yuan, Ming, and Shun were used. Salt and iron profits, the treasury is still in deficit, I am afraid that it is the result of the indiscriminate distribution of officials and businessmen, and the result of private control, businessmen raise the price of salt, and the people are still suffering. ”

Lin Ruhaiyan didn't know about the drawbacks, but it was really strange when these words came out of the mouth of a ten-year-old student, and he smiled: "You said a little bit, salt has been introduced for a long time, and it will be difficult to get rid of the ills." When I was ordained, the Holy One repeatedly asked me to collect the salt tax, and now I am ashamed that I am in the resort of Viyang, and I cannot repay the salt tax! ”

The ancestors of the Lin family attacked the liehous, and added an extra generation, and later the title was dispersed, and the title of the Shun Dynasty could not be hereditary from generation to generation, but it was a bit similar to the "fourteenth class" of the Qing Dynasty. Lin Ruhai Tanhua and the first, the third place in the first class, Ruhai is not his name, Lin Ruhai's surname is Lin Minghai, and the word is like the sea.

Nowadays, the wife is dead, and if he has no heirs, he will be blamed, after Jia Min's death, Lin Ruhai does not fill the house and does not accept concubines, and his feelings are single-minded.

"That's nothing more than a path of reform, except for reforming the political malpractice, there is no other way, and no matter how good the decree is, it will breed ills." Jia Cong pretended to be a scholar who talked eloquently and on paper.

Lin Ruhai couldn't help but smile, "How do you think it should be changed?" ”

Since the Ming Dynasty, with the introduction of salt, the salt affairs have been unimpeded, and gradually evolved into private merchants. Merchants pavilions, guest pavilions all over the two Huai (Anhui and Suzhou two lakes), once they offend them, they immediately strike the market, salt merchants boycott the market, the common people will rebel, the salt of several provinces in Shandong, also rely on the two Huai, it can be said that the matter is very important. ”

Therefore, the younger generation thinks that the saint has a powerful innovation, so why not change the salt to the ticket salt, and make every effort to collect and control the government. The city cannot be without business, but if it is for the livelihood of the people, the salt field only has unregistered stove households, and the misery is unspeakable, why not distribute it to the peddlers and pawns, and the poor peasants of the households enter the salt field, operate with tickets, and the government destroys taxes (collects taxes), as long as they do not know, when they find out, it is irreparable......"

Jia Cong pointed to the porcelain bottle on the case and said: "Aunt, the frog is put in warm water, it is unconscious, and when the water boils, it can't escape, so it can only wait for death." ”

Lin Ruhai's eyes suddenly lit up, staring at this brother-in-law's concubine, dragging the sick body, suddenly beating his spirit, brushing his beard and saying: "Change the outline salt to ticket salt, isn't that a change of soup and not a change of medicine?" ”

"Otherwise, uncle, the main thing that the ticket salt suppresses is the price of salt, the price of salt plummets, the government retracts, isn't it the court and the people who benefit?" Jia Cong said treacherously.

Lin Ruhai's beard was more than a foot long, and his white right hand that wiped his beard suddenly stopped, looking at Jia Cong silently, in this way, it is not difficult to imagine the fate of those salt merchants, "The box is full of gold, the box is full of silver, and in the blink of an eye, the beggars are slandered", and Jia Cong in front of him said without pity or sympathy, Lin Ruhai said in his heart: "This son is smart, but he is too treacherous......"

"Uh...... Officialdom and official business, involving a hair and moving the whole body, you still know too little. I was tired from the journey, and I rested in our house for a few days, grinding the text, and I explained the matter before I talked. Lin Ruhai changed the topic lightly.

Jia Cong retreated, and said in his heart: "Lin Ruhai is a person with vested interests, maybe he has something to do with the big salt merchants, otherwise why don't you dare to give it a go, Doctor Shi, what a hypocritical group, no wonder Chongzhen said: Everyone in Wenchen can kill ......"

Jia Lian of the Red Chamber later said that it would be good if he made a few more millions, and the money for the construction of the Grand View Garden was not allocated by the royal family, but it was conceivable that Lin Ruhai got it from patrolling the salt imperial history.

A seven-grade official, a year's income plus incorruptible silver, will never exceed one hundred taels, and Lin Ruhai sits on the Jiangnan Garden, with assets as high as one million, how can it not be greedy or bribed?

In ancient times, the so-called wind and snow moon only belonged to a very small number of privileged classes, and the vast majority of people did not have a good time.

When the salt officials and the big salt merchants were spending money and whitewashing the peace, the stove households, porters, stewards, and fallen people of the salt works were not allowed to boil private salt under their supervision, and the porters carried 300 catties at a time, and traveled dozens of times a day to have only 1,000 yuan, and they might die in the next moment. Ordinary people also do not get affordable and pertinent salt prices.

Fucked society.

……

Lin Ruhai went back to the bedroom and lay down, thinking about it and couldn't make up his mind, Jia Yucun was recommended to Jia Zheng by him at the beginning, and Jia Yucun was currently on the road, helping Xue Pan hide the charge of murder in Yingtianfu.

Lin Daiyu personally served the decoction, and Lin Ruhai asked: "Yu'er has been in Beijing for several years, thanks to your grandmother's care, my father asked you, that Jia Cong, do you like it?" ”

Lin Daiyu didn't see the shyness of outsiders at this time, her father had this question, and she had the intention of arranging the future, the porcelain bowl in her hand was almost unstable, swaying and almost falling, and said: "How could my daughter think about that, and she is not old enough to talk about marriage, and her parents are in charge of marriage." ”

For Jia Cong, Lin Daiyu felt weird, that person's thinking and demeanor were also mature, and her literary talent and appearance were also counted, but since she entered Beijing, she and Baoyu have eaten and slept together, got up and sat together, took care of each other, and had no business, just like a childhood sweetheart in Ju Changgan. It's like fate in a previous life, she has too many estrangements from Jia Cong, she doesn't know and is unfamiliar, even if it is close at hand, it is also close to the end of the world. Zijuan's few reminders, she only thought that Jia Cong was a relative, and she came to relieve her father's worries.

Lin Ruhai flipped through the "History of Confucianism" on the side of his pillow, deeply regretting the talent of Lu editing his daughter, Wang Siren, the father of Wang Duanshu in the late Ming Dynasty, once sighed: There are eight sons, less than one daughter. When he was critically ill, Lin Ruhai hoped that Daiyu would be a man and inherit his family business, "My father understands, you have been weak since you were a child, go down and sleep for your father." ”

Waiting for Daiyu to close the door, Lin Ruhai sighed: "It's a pity that Prince Yu appointed you, the four major families support Prince Qin, and Prince Yu's name is not right...... I can't arrange my daughter's affairs......"

……

Shuanghong Building in the east of Yangzhou City, there are salt merchants to entertain guests, Jia Lian and Jia Cong brothers went up for sightseeing, ordered amaranth and cabbage stuffed baked cakes, called the most famous Wuyun Pavilion in Yangzhou to make mutton, and invited a few Yangzhou thin horses to talk about the fun and indulge in lust.

[Note: Part of the book about salt is quoted from Qianlong and Jiaqing's "Lianghuai Salt Law Chronicles", and about the customs of Yangzhou City, please refer to part of Li Dou's "Yangzhou Painting Boat Record". 】