The housekeeper walked in from outside, handed an invitation to Zhao Liang, and then respectfully withdrew and closed the door casually.

Opening the invitation and glancing at it, Zhao Liang was slightly stunned, and then sighed.

Zhao He didn't know what was wrong with his father, he reached out and took the invitation card in his father's hand, and after taking a look, his face was full of disbelief: "Li Zhongxing, the head of the Internal Affairs Office?" After saying that, he looked up at his father.

The name Li Zhongxing, let alone his father, is familiar to him.

The Li family of the four major salt merchants of the Jin Dynasty, how did this person become the head of the Internal Affairs Office?

Although I don't know what this internal affairs office does, it is stamped with an official seal. This means that this is an invitation sent in an official capacity, which is rare enough. When these two things are added together, it's really shocking.

"Dad, this!" Zhao He took the invitation card and asked hesitantly, "What's going on?" ”

"We've been preempted by those Shanxi guys again!" Sun Liang sighed again, and said with a somewhat complicated expression: "It's really a good method, this Li Zhongxing is really admirable." ”

Zhao He looked at the invitation card in his hand, listened to his father's words, and was stunned for a while.

On this day, many wealthy merchants in Yangzhou City received this invitation, and it was not limited to salt merchants.

Looking at the official seal on the invitation, the panicked Yangzhou businessman finally breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as this invitation came out, it represented the official attitude. It's good to have a way of communication, and everything else can be discussed.

In fact, as merchants, they have long been accustomed to being cut leeks.

From the beginning of business, the magistrates, brocade guards, and even the local guards, these merchants have been paid by them, and even have to give them every year. When the imperial court was in financial difficulties, it was not too much to fight corrupt officials and rich businessmen.

Although the people who shot were eunuchs or ministers, everyone understood that this was a common thing.

It's just that this time the imperial court is too scary in Yangzhou, and it's a big killing!

Now that the Qi family has fallen, so many salt merchants have folded in, which actually makes many people breathe a sigh of relief, obviously the imperial court is targeting salt merchants this time. The invitation was a bit chaotic, but overall positive.

The key is that the person who sent this invitation, Li Zhongxing, everyone knows him, and many people are very familiar with him.

It's easy to do things yourself!

The Ming Dynasty was accustomed to this kind of thing from top to bottom, and it was basically the norm, whether it was a scholar or a merchant, they could accept it. In fact, whether it was the previous Jiajing Dynasty or going back in time, there was nothing strange about such a thing.

It was not until the end of Wanli that this situation changed, and the failure of the mine supervision policy also showed that the Wanli Emperor had completely lost control of the local area.

The local area was completely controlled by civil officials and scholars, and the mine supervisor sent by the emperor was killed, which shows that the Ming Emperor was completely suppressed by the scholars. During the reign of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, the Emperor of the Apocalypse regained some power a little by using the party struggle and Wei Zhongxian.

It's just that when Chongzhen killed Wei Zhongxian, the situation was eroded again.

When the emperor completely lost control of the place, the country was not far from being destroyed.

No one dared to resist Zhu Yijun now, especially after he raised the butcher's knife in Hejian Mansion. The heads of each family and the army of each family have allowed Zhu Yijun to establish a great prestige in order to kill Liwei.

In addition, there is no chaos inside and no strong enemies outside, which makes many people honest.

Zhang Juzheng's constant pressure on the world over the years has also made many people dare not resist, after all, the current members of the imperial court are all Jiangling Party, and these people and Jiangnan Shi businessmen can't urinate in the same pot. No one dared to challenge Zhu Yijun's authority, because that would lead to bloody repression.

These days, the merchants of Yangzhou City can feel it, although Yangzhou City is in chaos, but Nanzhili is not in chaos.

Wei Guogong personally sat in the governor's mansion of the five armies, the army was ready to go, Nanjing had already passed the news, Nanjing's town guard army was ready, if there was no minister, the army would come at dawn and evening, and it would not be subordinate.

Under this kind of high pressure, no one dared to stab, and this invitation was regarded as a lifesaver by countless people.

Qin cha Xingyuan.

Zhang Whale was also looking at this invitation in his hand, and the expression on his face was a little strange. Although I knew that Li Zhongxing would come out to clean up the mess, but at this time, I still felt a little apprehensive in my heart.

People kill themselves, copy their own homes, and when it comes time to be a good person, Li Zhongxing comes out.

However, Zhang Whale didn't dare to be the slightest dissatisfied, after all, this was what the emperor meant, and he was here to do this.

"Godfather, the account books of the plagiarist have been sorted out!" The little eunuch held the account book in his hand and stood respectfully in front of Zhang Whale.

Raising his eyelids, Zhang Whale said lightly: "Go and invite Master Cao and Little Grandpa over!" ”

It didn't take long for Cao Yikui and Xu Xiti to come, Cao Yikui didn't have anything to do these days, but Xu Xiti was still very busy. He is busy mobilizing his family's manpower and money, preparing to get a piece of the next salt policy.

The Wei State Mansion in Nanjing, is really clear about how fat the Lianghuai Salt Administration is.

"Lord Cao, little grandfather, this is to check the account books of the thief Qi family and the illegal salt merchant, let's invite the two of you to come over and listen to it together." Zhang Jing looked at the two of them and said with a smile: "The account books are out, and we can also submit the decree to the emperor." ”

In fact, they could have handed in the decree a long time ago, but they were just waiting for this account book.

After the song is folded, wait for the approval of the imperial court, how to deal with these arrested people, and then their errand will be completed. You must know that the prisons in Yangzhou are full, and it costs a lot of money just to eat every day.

"Read it!" Zhang Whale glanced at the little eunuch and said lightly.

"Yes, godfather!"

The little eunuch agreed, opened the account book and said: "The Qi family has copied a total of 2.8 million taels of silver, 260,000 taels of gold, and nine houses, including four in Yangzhou and two in Nanjing. ”

"One in Suzhou and two in Huizhou, with a total of 9,700 hectares of land."

"There are 2,762 pieces of calligraphy and painting, and there are 42 shops, including four Qinglou, two in Yangzhou, one in Nanjing, and one in Huizhou. There are seven casinos, four restaurants, and the rest are rice grain stores. ”

Listening to the words of the little eunuch, the three people present were dumbfounded, this is really fucking rich!

Not to mention Zhang Whale and Cao Yikui, even Xu Xiti was shocked, this is so fucking rich.

Compared to this, the Wei Mansion does not necessarily have so many industries, of course, the Wei Mansion also has a lot of industries, and even the Mochou Lake rewarded by Taizu, but the wealth that has really accumulated is really not as good as the Qi family.

"This is really a rich country!"

Cao Yikui finally sighed and said.

As a close minister of the Son of Heaven, Cao Yikui really knows how much money he has for the imperial court. In the treasury, the total amount of silver deposited now is only seven or eight million taels, which Zhang Juzheng has saved in the past few years.

In the past, it was all Yin who ate grain, and the court didn't do less to pay for it.

Good guy, this Qi family has made so much money, so how fat should the salt merchant be!

The three Hui merchants, the four Jin merchants, just copied one, if they are all copied, how much money will have to be made. Thinking of this, Cao Yikui woke up suddenly, and quickly turned his head to look at Zhang Whale.

Sure enough, Zhang Whale's eyes lit up, and Cao Yikui's heart suddenly lifted.

In fact, although the salt merchants are rich, they are just Qi families like the Qi family. In comparison, other families are not so rich at all. When the two families are combined, it is estimated that they are about the same as the Qi family.

After a long time, the three of them came back to their senses, Zhang Whale glanced at the little eunuch, and said, "Keep reading!" ”

"Thirty-six unscrupulous salt merchants copied a total of 1,720,000 taels of silver, 67,000 taels of gold, 48 real estates, 36,000 hectares of land, and 796 pieces of calligraphy and painting."

"There are a total of 172 shops, including restaurants and rice grain shops."

After listening to the Qi family in front of them, and listening to the thirty-six families, the three of them were not much shocked.

Thirty-six families are not as good as one Qi family, which shows the wealth of the Qi family.

After listening to the report, the three of them had different ideas, Zhang Whale was excited, this time his errand was a success, he did a good job, he would definitely be able to get the emperor's praise when he went back, and he took another step forward towards the position of the great eunuch.

Cao Yikui was worried that it would be difficult to do after copying so much money.

I was tempted to listen to it, if the emperor was addicted to plagiarism, what should I do, no, I must advise when I write a recital. If the emperor is really addicted to plagiarism, it will be troublesome.

Xu Xiti's eyes lit up, and his heart was very excited, this is the opportunity of the Duke of Wei!

Not to mention anything else, the Qi family has accumulated such wealth for several generations, and this is still the result of sharing it equally with several families. Thinking of this, Xu Xiti instantly became excited.

The three of them had different thoughts, and none of them spoke, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.

In the end, it was Zhang Whale who spoke first: "Two of you, go back and write a recital!" The emperor is still waiting for news! ”

The result of the raid here was not light, and the wealthy businessmen in Yangzhou over there had already begun to go to the address written on the invitation. In fact, when they looked at the address on it, they muttered to themselves.

They all know this address, and they are very familiar with it, because this is the Qi family's Lichun Courtyard.

In Yangzhou City, who has never heard of Lichun Courtyard, who does not know the Lichun Courtyard of the Qi family. Now that the Qi family has been raided and people have been arrested, Lichun Courtyard will naturally fall. This time, the invitation venue is in Lichun Temple, which is quite meaningful!

All the wealthy businessmen feel threatened, yes, threatened.

Originally, because it was Li Zhongxing's invitation to let go, he raised it again at this moment, and this time I am afraid that this level will be difficult!

When everyone came to Lichun Courtyard, it was already brightly lit, but it was no longer noisy in the past, but it seemed deserted and abnormal, and the red light emitted by the lanterns hanging high at the door was blood-colored, revealing a gloomy and weird.