Chapter 476: The Wind Gathers in Yangzhou
Although Xu Wenjue does not have any great wisdom, he will not plan a shocking plan. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info but being an executor is still qualified, and he faithfully implemented Liu Fan's plan to beat the water dogs. In the next few days, using the huge network of the Xu family and the numerous allies, they continued to divide and disintegrate the two Huai salt merchant groups, and win over those who were not determined to be strong-willed. With Xu Wenjue's unremitting efforts, a huge salt merchant group was in danger of falling apart in just four or five days.
The Lianghuai Salt Merchant Group was originally a relatively loose commercial alliance force, and its composition was like a hierarchical pyramid system, and only a small group of people at the top level really got huge benefits, and those big salt merchants who controlled the salt works and introduced salt were the top of this pyramid.
At the middle or bottom of the pyramid are the huge numbers of transporters and sellers, who take the goods from the big salt merchants and sell them, making a profit from them. Although I make a lot of money, it's just errand money. Among them, they were not only exploited by local governments, but also oppressed by the big salt merchants.
The existence and prosperity of this huge commercial group was due to the huge profits brought by the monopoly of the salt industry. But now it is different, after a series of blows by Liu Fan and others, the two Huai salt merchants have become an existence that the people in Jiangnan are disgusted with. With the comparison of Jiaozhou sea salt, those coarse salts with extremely poor quality have lost their market and reputation. Without a market, salt could not be sold, and the interests of downstream traders were damaged, and when the downstream traders could no longer bear these losses, cracks suddenly appeared in this seemingly solid system.
At this time, Xu Wenjue took advantage of the situation, brandishing a lot of gold and silver and extremely favorable conditions, and constantly wooing those low-level traders, no one would have trouble with money, let alone businessmen who chased profits. Since the Lianghuai salt merchants could no longer bring enough profits to those low-level merchants, they would naturally choose the Jiaozhou salt merchants who could bring them benefits. Driven by interests, these traders turned against each other and threw themselves on the side of Xu Wenjue and Liu Fan.
With the defection of a large number of low-level vendors, Liu Fan's shortcomings in sales channels were made up for in the shortest possible time. However, because of the loss of a large number of low-level traders, the situation of the two Huai salt merchants has become more and more embarrassing, and it has almost reached a precarious point.
Encountering one of the most significant crises in history, the top families of the two salt merchants suddenly couldn't sit still. The Wang and Zhang families in Suzhou and Hangzhou, the Wu family in Taicang, the Li family in Yangzhou, and several families in Huaibei gathered in Yangzhou City to discuss countermeasures.
Since the Southern Song Dynasty, Yangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou and Jinling are the richest and most prosperous places in the world, and the political and cultural center of the south of the Yangtze River. Yangzhou, which has a history of nearly 2,000 years, has an indissoluble bond with the salt industry. "Yangzhou is prosperous with salt," this is a true summary of history. The prosperity of the salt industry has driven and promoted the development of Yangzhou City, and the decline of the salt industry has led to the decline of Yangzhou City. The salt industry is also prosperous, and the salt industry is also declining. Today, Yangzhou's salt industry has reached a turning point, and whether it can continue to continue the prosperity of Yangzhou's salt industry has become the most important problem for the salt merchants of Yangzhou.
On this day, it was rare to have a light rain in the prosperous and ancient city of Yangzhou, and the continuous drizzle was like smoke and fog, as if it had covered this famous city in the south of the Yangtze River with a dreamlike veil.
On one of the most prosperous streets in Yangzhou City, the mansion of the Li family, a big salt merchant, is located here. In Yangzhou City, a place where every inch of land is valuable, the Li family's mansion occupies a very large area. This is a typical Jiangnan garden, rockery and flowing water, pavilions and pavilions, elegant and luxurious. From this mansion alone, you can see how rich and extravagant the salt merchants in Jiangnan were.
In the Li family's mansion, at this time in the past, it should have been like a cloud of servants, and it was very noisy. But today it is a little different, today's Li family's mansion seems to be shrouded in a depressing atmosphere, and the servants and maids who come and go have also become extremely cautious, even if they meet, they don't dare to talk and laugh as loudly as usual, but look at each other and hurriedly separate.
In this case, Li Wei, the eldest young master of the Li family, also became very anxious, he kept walking around the lobby, secretly glancing into the lobby from time to time, and then quickly lowered his head and looked away, as if there was a terrible flood beast entrenched inside.
Suddenly, Levi found a familiar maid coming out of the lobby, and hurriedly greeted him and asked anxiously, "Zhu'er, how is it?" Does my dad approve of me going in? ”
The little maid was startled at first, and then saw that it was her own eldest young master, so she patted her little chest and said, "Young master, you are almost scared to death by the slave maid, and you don't have a sound when you walk, it's scary, okay?" ”
Li Wei said speechlessly, "You didn't notice it yourself, young master, but I've been standing here all along!" Don't talk nonsense, the young master hasn't answered your question yet! ”
Zhu'er rolled her eyes and said coquettishly, "Young master, it's not the slave who said you, when is this coming, you still dare to mention the matter of the concubine to the master, you are really bold!" Just now, Xiaohong accidentally broke a cup of tea, which caused the old man to be furious and whipped him fiercely. In this case, the beads don't dare to touch the moldy head. ”
After a pause, he still seemed very unwilling to see Levi. Afraid of getting into trouble, Zhu'er rolled her eyes, and hurriedly persuaded her, "Young master, today the Wang and Zhang families in Suzhou and Hangzhou, the Wu family in Taicang, and the patriarchs of several big families in Huaibei have all arrived, and none of these families need to be inferior to our Li family." Now these big men are all in the lobby, and it looks as if something big has happened! The slave advises you to postpone for a few days, and when the limelight is over this time, you can go and discuss it with the master, okay? ”
"What a fart! You little hoof, but I am here to teach his young master a lesson! Li Wei's mood was not very good, and when he saw a little maid who dared to refuse him, his heart suddenly burned with anger, and he said indignantly, "Isn't it supposed to be that Jiaozhou Liu Jimin, I really don't know when this young master does!" If it weren't for the good thing that ruined me, Young Master Ben would have taken Sister Ya'er home a long time ago! Liu Fan, you wait for Lao Tzu! Master Ben won't let you go! Hmph" Although Levi was dumbfounded, he also knew that today was not the time to fool around, so he couldn't snort angrily when he saw something, and left angrily.