Yangzhou West City, Yulang Street.

The Bai family's mansion.

In a partial hall that I don't know how far away, the eaves are purple smoke.

A bronze crane in the hall spit out streams of incense from its mouth from time to time, refreshing people's hearts.

Eight men dressed richly, with white beards, or middle-aged, or young, sat down in the hall.

Although the eight are of different ages, they all look quite powerful.

It can be seen that he is a person who has been in power for a long time.

These eight people are the world-famous eight salt merchants in Yangzhou.

The person sitting on the main seat in the center is the head of the Bai family, Bai Shijie.

He is also the only young man among the eight.

However, he doesn't seem to be the junior at the bottom, but the central figure of the eight.

Although no one spoke at this moment, the eyes of the other seven people all stayed on Bai Shijie's face, either openly or secretly, as if waiting for him to come up with some idea.

The Bai family is indeed the head of the eight major salt merchants.

However, Bai Shijie can sit in the middle, relying not only on his family background.

Since the founding of the Great Qian, the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou City have not always been the eight who sit in this hall.

Only the Bai family and the other Zhao family have always been ranked among the eight major families, and the other six families are in turn in feng shui, which will change every six years.

Over the past 100 years, the Jin merchants, Hui merchants, Lu merchants, Guangdong merchants and other provincial business giants have always been worried about the location of these eight gold mountains and silver seas.

The reason why Bai Shijie was able to become the head of the eight major salt merchants at the age of less than thirty was because in the ten years after he succeeded as the head of the Bai family, he led the other seven salt merchants more than once and fiercely repelled the sniping attacks from the Jin merchants, Yue merchants, Lu merchants and other big lords.

On a few occasions, he even spared no expense for the Bai family to help the other seven families.

Helped them through one difficult time after another.

Then lead the eight families to continue to develop and grow their strength, and eventually become eight behemoths.

It is precisely by relying on the help of real interests that Bai Shijie has become a leading figure in the entire Yangzhou City and even the entire Jiangnan, and is recognized as a masterpiece in the world.

Although the eight major salt merchant families were not among the thirteen families in Jiangnan, it was only because the imperial court deliberately restricted the entry of these eight families into the imperial examination and forbade these eight salt merchants from entering the official path.

But in terms of strength, these eight are by no means below the thirteen in Jiangnan.

Although the eight major salt merchants will not enter the ranks, they continue to cultivate their power in the officialdom through marriage, funding and other means.

The entire Jiangnan is woven into a big net by these eight families.

And Yangzhou, as the base camp, has been operated into an iron bucket array by these eight companies!

But if there is a little wind and grass, it cannot be hidden from their ears and eyes.

Today's changes in the hundred households of Jinyi, as well as the words that Jia Cong said after he arrived at the Yanzheng Yamen, only took less than half a day, and all of them were known to the eight families.

Although it was a rainy day at dawn, it is not clear what happened in the 100 houses for the time being.

But what happened in the Yanzheng Yamen, the eight families knew almost exactly the same.

Naturally, I also know Jia Cong's feat of galloping thousands of miles in two months, sweeping thousands of households in five provinces, and recovering most of the Jinyi rivers and mountains in the south of the Yangtze River.

This is also the direct reason for the gathering of their eight salt industry giants.

As part of several major forces in Jiangnan, the strength of the Jinyi pro-army is actually not very strong.

Without the support of the center, the Jinyi pro-army in other provinces was almost reduced to a legitimate "ruffian thug", playing the role of doing dirty work and smelly work for several other major forces.

However, it was this force that many bigwigs didn't even want to look at directly, but at this moment it suddenly became extremely dangerous.

Because the dirty and smelly work that the Jinyi pro-army once did, now it is very likely to become direct evidence of the death of many big forces without a place to bury!

Among them, there are their eight major salt merchants.

"I thought that King Wu was still alive, and the heroes of Zhenyuan who did it that night were still in the position, and the Jinyi pro-army would not be revived, but I didn't expect it......"

An old man with gray hair said with a solemn face.

This old man's name is Qiu Lun, and he is the head of the Qiu family, one of the eight major salt merchants.

It is worth mentioning that Qiu Lun has a granddaughter who married into the Yanzheng Yamen and became Lin Ruhai's concubine......

Qiu Lun said, and a middle-aged man said: "This uncle of Rongguo Mansion is not simple, in addition to his literary name moving the world, he is under the tutelage of Mr. Mu Min and Song Changong, and he is also very unclear with the niece and granddaughter of the Queen Mother.

I heard that the only daughter of the Ye family, who respected the princess and princess, admired the Jia family very much, and said a lot of good things for him in front of King Wu.

After the Jia family wrote the poem 'Ten Years of Life and Death' and sent it to King Wu, the niece and granddaughter of the Queen Mother took the opportunity to persuade King Wu to send four King Wu guards to Jia Jiazi as a gift.

With those four martial kings personally guarding him, it is impossible for Zhenyuan heroes to attack him again.

The one in the palace calculated this relationship and made him an official in a brocade robe.

It's spicy! The end will calculate. ”

This talkative middle-aged man is named Zheng Ze, the head of the Zheng family, the eight major salt merchants, who is dignified and dignified, and has a lot of wisdom.

After he said that, another person said, "It's not all...... In order to pave the way for Jia's son, Mr. Mu Min went to Jinling on the ninth day of the first month of last month, and summoned the patriarchs of the nine major families in Jiangnan in one breath, asking them to take care of the Wenhua seeds that come out once in 500 years.

'When is the bright moon', which pushed Jia Jiazi's literary name to the peak.

With Mr. Mu Min and Song Chan Gong as guarantors, many families in Jiangnan and even many officials are not as knowledgeable as the Jia family.

Alas, the one in the palace is really a good person, and it is really embarrassing to find such a tricky character to make a knife, and the hedgehog makes it difficult for both civil and military forces to start.

Whoever dares to touch the Jia family directly, even if he really kills him, it will be rare to have a good death, but it will usher in a catastrophe of extermination.

The niece and granddaughter of the Queen Mother in Beijing is not a vegetarian, and if she loses her temper, the Son of Heaven will give her three points. Not to mention Mr. Mu Min and Song Changong......

These two world masters are going to be really angry, who can bear it? Even if we don't care, do we still want the sound of the door? ”

The person who complains endlessly, named Anwar, is the head of the An family, looks rich, wears a foreign suit, and always smiles on weekdays, a bit like the God of Wealth, and has excellent popularity.

However, his words made the atmosphere in the hall more and more solidified.

Then no one spoke.

How to deal with a person who has his own defensive aura and is not invaded by civil and military forces?

Bai Shijie, who had not spoken, looked around the hall and said softly: "Our eight salt merchants were not noble at the beginning, and they were even regarded as pigs and slaughtered when they were fat. It wasn't until the Holy Ancestor's southern tour that the ancestor of my Bai family used half of his family wealth to build a five-tooth dragon boat for the Holy Ancestor.

In the Zhenyuan Dynasty, King Wu led the world's soldiers and horses to fight in the south and the north, expanding the land for the great Qian. It's just that this martial arts is great, but it is difficult to hide that the national strength is consumed too much, the state affairs are becoming more and more difficult, and there are gradually discussions in the Shilin about reckless military force.

It is also the ancestor of my Bai family, who invited the eight major salt merchants to gather and raise a total of 2 million silver for military expenses, so that there was the glory of King Wu chasing the north and fleeing at night.

That time, only my Bai family contributed one million taels.

At this point, Emperor Zhenyuan and King Wu personally summoned my grandfather, and the royal pen personally gave the 'righteous business of the country', and passed on the throne.

Chongkang two years of the northwest drought, Chongkang four years of Shuzhong Dilong turned over, Chongkang five years of the Yellow River burst the embankment......

Time and time again, it is my Bai family and your uncles who do their best to help.

I don't say this to show merit, but I just believe that the Son of Heaven will not forget this, the court will not forget this, and the people of the world will not forget this.

We won't let the rampant children act arbitrarily, so you uncles don't need to panic too much. ”

These words shocked everyone's expressions, and their faces looked much better.

It's just that......

Qiu Lun said earnestly: "My nephew, having said that, over the years, thousands of households in various provinces have more or less done some disgraceful things for us. Among them, there is the opponent who will get rid of the private salt for us......"

"Uncle Shi!"

Bai Shijie warned in a deep voice: "We, the eight major salt merchants, have never had direct contact with those people, and we will not contact such people. We are innocent salt merchants, merchants who have been praised by the Holy Ancestor, the Emperor and today. No one can pour dirty water on us just by relying on petty slanderous words.

Over the years, we have built bridges and roads, and provided relief to the victims, which is recognized by the world as a good family, and is the 'righteous business of the country' written by the Emperor Taishang.

Don't forget this at any time. ”

Although Qiu Lun is old, but at this moment, facing Bai Shijie, who is a few rounds younger, he has never relied on the old to sell the old, but nodded thoughtfully and said: "The nephew is reasonable, and what he says is reasonable. ”

Bai Shijie's face softened, and he smiled: "Your uncles came in such a panic, I thought something was wrong...... Of course, this is not a small matter, but it is not so popular. It's not us who should be most anxious now. How many people rely on those brocade clothes and Qiu Ba to earn some dirty silver to survive, and thirty percent of the prostitutes on the Qinhuai River outside Jinling City are touched by those bastards, not to mention those black gambling houses and human markets.

If you let them know that a catastrophe is coming, uncles, do you think they will sit idly by?

Will that Lin Zhao in Jinling accept his fate?

Moreover, everyone has long known that Jia Jiazi came to help the imperial court implement the new law.

It's not us who bear the brunt of this.

Our eight families rely on this salt to eat, and as long as the salt is introduced, it will be rich and prosperous for generations.

But others are not, not to mention, the thirteen families in Jiangnan, which one is not a good field?

Hehe, so the sky fell and there was a high roof in front. ”

Hearing Bai Shijie's words, everyone's faces became more and more light.

A tall and thin middle-aged man said with a smile: "Shijie's nephew is worthy of being the head of my eight salt merchants, with you, we are much more down-to-earth." Those bastards in my family, if there is a Shijie virtuous nephew Sancheng can do it, I will be satisfied! ”

This person is Zhou Zhi, the head of the Zhou family, the eight major salt merchants, and he has always acted femininely, but he seems to be more sincere at the moment.

After Bai Shijie thanked him, he paused and said: "Originally, Shijie was going to be a host today, and it is rare to invite all your uncles to get together." I just want to come and go back to clean up some of your uncles, so it's better to wait for October 15, and then Shijie will be the host, please be sure to appreciate your face. ”

When the other seven people heard this, they all got up and said "polite" with a smile, and then left without too much politeness.

They do have a lot of tails that need to be cut off early......

After they left, Bai Shijie put away his smiling face, summoned a confidant, and ordered in a deep voice: "Immediately send someone to rush to Jinling with a whip, tell Liu Zhao about today's events, and let him use all his strength to punish Jia Qingchen outside Jinling City before October 15!" ”

……

PS: Thank you to the alliance leader of Brother Shachen outside the Saiwai, I went out one day and came back to see this, I was really flattered and in a good mood, thank you, brother. Also thanks to cells? ta？ Brother R gives tips every day, I really warm it, thank you.