In ancient times, in addition to being used as a seasoning, salt is one of the essential elements of the human body, people do not eat salt, they will be tired, especially those who do hard work, without salt there is no strength to work. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

At the same time, salt also plays a role in the preservation of food.

In ancient times, there were no refrigerators, so food was prone to spoilage, which required salting the food with salt to prevent it from rotting.

Moreover, salt also has the effect of cleaning teeth, especially green salt, which is a must-have thing for large households.

The technology of drying and brining salt has begun to appear in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and has been developed in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Compared with the north, the south has abundant sunshine, the output of dried salt is larger, and the price is cheaper, so the salt of Jianghuai, Fujian and Zhejiang is also sold to all parts of the country.

Salt merchants and Hui merchants will become one of the three major merchant gangs in China in one fell swoop by virtue of this advantage.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu Qing Dynasty went south.

Many salt merchants fled when the disaster struck.

People can walk, but the salt pans and salt workers can't.

Yangzhou Dongguan Street used to be not only the main water and land transportation artery of Yangzhou, but also the center of commerce, handicrafts and religious culture. The street is prosperous, the merchants are numerous, the industry is complete, and the business is prosperous. There are nearly 100 Lu Chen Xing, Oil Rice Fang, Fresh Fish Shop, Eight Fresh Shops, Melon and Fruit Shops, and Bamboo and Wood Shops.

On the 10th of Yangzhou, almost all the residents of Yangzhou were slaughtered, except for a few who escaped before the city was broken and a few who survived after the Qing army entered the city.

The prosperous city of Yangzhou for several generations is when "the corpses are piled up, the hands and feet are pillowed, the blood enters the water and the blue ochre, turns into five colors, and the pond is flat", "the front and back, the left and right, burning everywhere", "the corpses in the city are like a mess"

The bustling Kanto Street is now full of people.

Yangzhou Ten Days, Jiading Three Massacres, etc., a series of disasters caused by the Qing army greatly damaged the strength of Yangzhou's salt merchants.

At the same time, as early as the end of the Ming Dynasty, some Shanxi merchants used Zhangjiakou as a base to travel back and forth between inside and outside the Guan, engaged in trade activities, transported materials to the Manchu regime, and even transmitted documents and information.

According to the "Qing Shilu", in the third year of the Mandate of Heaven (1618), there were 16 traders in Fushun from Shandong, Shanxi, Hedong, Hexi, Suzhou and Hangzhou.

The trade activities of Shanxi merchants inside and outside the customs gave great support to the Later Jin regime in terms of materials, and the Later Jin regime also gave courtesy and attention to Shanxi merchants.

Shanxi's Jin merchants made a fortune and accumulated rich assets.

Relying on the relationship established in the Later Jin period, the Jin merchants in the early Qing Dynasty went south to participate in the trading of salt merchants, especially in the north, and with the relationship of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Jin merchants wantonly encroached on the market of Yangzhou salt merchants.

The salt merchants in Yangzhou were either killed by the Qing army, or because they lost their protective clothing in the officialdom, they could no longer compete with the Jin merchants.

After Zheng Chenggong recovered the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, he quickly stabilized order.

In the south, except for a few areas in Huguang, other places are nominally the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

As soon as the society stabilized, the merchants also wanted to sell the goods quickly, but the wars were frequent and the uprisings in various places continued, and the salt merchants in Yangzhou had no way to transport the salt goods on a large scale.

After several years of stagnation, the goods were squeezed in the warehouse, and they could not be sold, and a large number of Yangzhou salt merchants could not turn over their funds and were forced to go out of business.

Many Yangzhou salt merchants could only sell their houses and land, or even fled to other places, and some even became beggars.

In order to solve the dilemma of capital turnover difficulties, the most famous families of Yangzhou salt merchants, such as the Wang family, the Jiang family, the Lin family, the Lu family, the Wu family, and other families gathered in the Shen family in Suzhou, and wanted to ask the Shen family to come forward and ask Zheng Chenggong to help solve the cash difficulties of Yangzhou salt merchants.

In the lobby of the Shen family, Shen Yan, the head of the Shen family, said with some distress: "Brother Wang, it's not the younger brother who refuses. It's just that you also know that the little girl is used to being arrogant, and she inadvertently annoyed the country surnamed Ye some time ago. Now the surname of the country has a big opinion on our Shen family! ”

Wang Tengsheng, the head of the Wang family, the head of the Wang family, the general manager of Yangzhou salt merchants, put down the teacup in his hand and said, "Brother Shen, there is a way. We don't dare to bother you at this time! It's really a helpless move, if the general doesn't lend a hand, I'm afraid that we people will have no way to live! ”

Jiang Sheng, the head of the Jiang family, also begged at this time: "Brother Shen, our Jiang family's more than two hundred people are counting on you!" ”

The Lu family, the Lin family, and the Wu family also opened their mouths and begged: "Brother Shen, please!" ”

Seeing that Shen Yan still didn't let go, Wang Tengsheng thought about it and said again and again: "Brother Shen, if you help us get through the difficulties this time, we will share one percent of the salt industry." ”

The Lu family and the Lin family were shocked when they heard that Wang Tengsheng had divided one percent of the business.

Don't underestimate just a business, that's also millions of profits.

Lin Chagang, the head of the Lin family, spoke, "Brother Wang doesn't ......"

Wang Tengsheng had already raised his hand to stop him from continuing.

Wang Tengsheng's eyes stared directly at Shen Yan.

When Shen Yan heard that Wang Tengsheng actually did a major business for himself, his heart churned.

Do you want to say yes?

agreed, the Shen family's prosperity and wealth are just around the corner.

But if you go to ask Zheng Chenggong at this time, I am afraid that the surname of the country will not let go of the opportunity to knock on the Shen family.

The children of their daughter Shen Ruoxi really have no chance to compete to inherit Zheng Chenggong's position.

Shen Yan was in a dilemma for a while. Is it the future, or the present?

Seeing that Shen Yan was silent and didn't speak, Wang Tengsheng said softly: "Brother Shen? ”

Shen Yan was awakened by this sound, Qian Weiyi had been driven to Guangdong by Zheng Chenggong.

After the new policy, he was appointed as the Minister of Education and Culture, which was also a vacant post, and now it is Huang Zongxi who really manages the Ministry of Education and Culture.

There is no money to disadvantage, and the Donglin School Party that promised to help my daughter take the position is now a shrunken turtle.

Without the help of these scribes, the woman was afraid that she would not be able to ascend to the throne.

Let's get the immediate benefits first!

Shen Yan opened his mouth and said: "Brother Wang, the younger brother will go and talk to the surnamed Guo, but I can't guarantee whether it can be done!" ”

Wang Tengsheng nodded hurriedly, "That's that!" ”

……

Nanjing, the former government office has now been renamed the Cabinet Administration Building.

In the Prime Minister's Office, Zheng Chenggong is looking at the recent report.

Although the reform of the army and the political system has been issued for almost a month.

However, it is not possible to completely revise the old system in a moment.

After all, there are too many contents of this reform, and many people have not been able to adapt and understand it in a short period of time, so they need to adjust and revise it slowly.

Don't be in a hurry!

The most profound impact of this change on the people was the reform of the Criminal Department, which separated arrest from trial, and the people could not adapt to it for a while.

When people who want to file a complaint habitually go to the yamen, they are told that this is the court, and you should go to the public security next door to report the case first.

In this era, the people were not very literate, and the use of official documents was not great.

In order to let the people understand the difference between the public security bureau and the court as soon as possible.

Liu Ruojin, minister of public security, went to say hello to the Ministry of Education and Culture, and asked two or three students from Xiamen University of Political Science and Law and Nanjing University of Political Science and Law to give speeches and propaganda in various places.

With the progress of reform, Zheng Chenggong's rule is slowly changing.

When Zheng Chenggong was reading the documents in the office, Zhang Dashan, the captain of the guard, knocked lightly on the door and said, "General, the head of the Shen family is here!" ”

Zheng Chenggong heard the busy reply and said, "Invite him to the banquet room, I'll come later!" ”

"Yes!"

Zheng Chenggong cleaned up, took a stack of drafts with him, and then walked to the banquet room. (To be continued.) )