Chapter 216 Fattening Pigs and Killing Fattening Pigs (II)

Then again, it was not that the Qing court did not want to improve the salt administration, but that it was forward-looking and determined.

The reform of the salt administration is easier said than done, the ordinary salt involves too many interest groups, the salt merchants are only on the surface, and behind the salt merchants is the innumerable and unclear chain of interests, bureaucrats, nobles, clans, squaints, royal families, and even the salt workers on the salt flats and well stoves are also counted as a member of this interest chain, if we want to completely solve the defects of the business introduction system, we must redistribute the entire interest cake, if we do not have enough courage and self-confidence, the salt law is immutable.

The salt merchant interest groups were worried about losing this huge salt cake, and the emperor was worried about touching forces that should not be touched, which would lead to political turmoil, so the idea of overhauling the salt law could only be used as an idea to stay in the emperor's stay.

But now it's different, the Qing Dynasty is finished, the emperor is out, the world is rotten, the political situation is turbulent, don't take this opportunity to quickly cut through the chaos of the reform of the salt government, do you have to wait until the time of peace?

Revolution is the redistribution of interests, but also the differentiation and integration of power, and all people have the opportunity to grab a piece of the fruit, provided that you have enough strength.

Looking at the world, it is Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Group that has the strength to integrate the power and interests of the whole country now, and then it is the turn of Zhaobei's Republican Army Group, and most of Sichuan has fallen into the hands of the Republican Army, so the redivision and distribution of the Sichuan interest cake is only between Zhaobei's thoughts.

With a hint of apprehension and an expectation, the military and political figures and salt merchant magnates of all sizes in the Furong Field came to the auditorium of the Daqing Bank on time, sitting on the Western-style benches, warm greetings, and old friends reminiscing, but there was a deceit that could not be put on the surface. According to the historical experience of previous years, in a salt policy rectification, there will always be a group of salt merchants who have lost their power and fall from power, and then there will be a group of salt merchants who have gone the right way.

In other words, in terms of officialdom, this is called "killing fat pigs", of course, pigs must be killed and eaten meat when they are fattened, and who will raise pigs if they can't eat meat?

Kill a batch of fattened pigs, and then feed a batch of piglets, and after fattening, it is another round of cycle.

The country is inseparable from salt, and the country is inseparable from the salt tax, and the salt merchants are a vital link in this social chain, no one can ignore their existence, although they have always been regarded as fat pigs by the government, but the government does not dare to kill all these fat pigs at once.

One word. I want to sit on the mountain. You have to raise fattening pigs. And the merchant who is willing to come to this fat pig land is very enthusiastic!

It's all about profit.

"The Commander-in-Chief has arrived! Salute! ”

A shout came from outside the side door of the auditorium. This is followed by "Wow! "There was a thud. The soldiers stepped neatly, their rifles pointing upwards in their hands. This standard gun salute contains a lot of sweat and scolding on the training ground.

The auditorium, which had been noisy, was suddenly much quieter. People stood up. Looking towards the door, I saw an officer entering the arena with a group of guards. The officers and men on both sides of the podium were in gray military uniforms and boat-shaped caps. A four-finger-wide cowhide belt around the waist. The electric light is on. The brass belt buckle shone brightly. The guards carried the Nine Dragons Belt on their shoulders. On his right waist, he carried a large gun box, which contained the legendary "box cannon". It is said that this short gun was only equipped with the commander-in-chief's Ji Jǐng guard battalion.

A moment later, a young officer walked briskly into the auditorium with a few staff officers. He waved his right hand as he walked towards the podium. Wave and smile at the crowd.

This is Zhao Bei, the "revolutionary vanguard" who killed all the way from Anqing to Chengdu, without him, perhaps there would not have been this "Xushen Revolution".

"Commander Zhao! Commander Zhao! ”

"It's the Commander-in-Chief!"

……

People began to talk to each other, bowing and bowing, kneeling and kneeling, and the auditorium was lively again. In fact, just the day before yesterday, the current affairs propaganda team carried a bust of the commander-in-chief into Fushun City, which was a specially customized bust in the Hankou Concession, two meters high and one meter wide, even if it was hung high on the bell and drum tower, it could be seen clearly, and the seven bold characters at the bottom of the photo were also very conspicuous: revolutionary pioneer Zhao Zhenhua.

At this moment, the bust is hanging high behind the podium in the auditorium, occupying the most prominent position, and even the original dark curtain has been replaced to highlight the details of the bust. Zhao Bei in the photo has a solemn face, the military uniform is straight and fitted, and a nine-dragon belt hangs diagonally on his chest.

Under the gaze of everyone, Zhao Bei walked straight up to the podium, stopped behind a lectern with yellow satin, turned to face everyone, smiled slightly, and raised his right hand lightly to signal everyone to be quiet.

"Gentlemen, fathers and guests, there is no need to be polite, now that the republic has been established, our revolutionary army will not kneel and worship. The contemptible person is Zhao Bei, the word Zhenhua, Huguang people's clan, fortunate to participate in the first uprising of Anqing, and then led the army to recover Hubei, and was promoted by all revolutionary comrades

Unified trust, this time to build a ** conquest of the Manchu diehards, the contemptible people were able to enter the western Sichuan expedition in person, fortunately thanks to the soldiers' lives, the people helped, the western expedition went smoothly, Sichuan was recovered, this is by no means the work of a certain Zhao, it is the glory of the people of Sichuan! The Manchu Dynasty has been stealing China for more than 200 years, ravaging the mountains and rivers, abusing the people, and has long been angry and resentful. Zhao is not talented, has a little experience in economy and industry, and is willing to work together with all the gentlemen and elders in Sichuan to build a beautiful new Sichuan!

……

The country is people-oriented, and the people are food-oriented. The people eat, it is inseparable from salt, but the Manchu Qing Dynasty has no way, the ink officials are rampant, the people suffer from light food, the pseudo-Qing Xianfeng period, the Taiping army is prosperous, the world sāo ran, the salt is not good, the people of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces are very bitter in light food, fortunately thanks to the help of salt merchants in Sichuan, the solution to the urgent need, Sichuan salt marketing in the Central Plains, very popular with the people, helpless Manchu officialdom dark and rotten, officials, faint officials and Huaiyang salt merchants colluded, the war ended, then wantonly invaded the Sichuan salt bank, not only, Jiangxi led the shore to lose, that is, Hunan and Hubei led the shore is also very little, After this defeat, the salt merchants in central Sichuan collapsed, the former prosperity was no longer prosperous, and the illustrious 'Wang Sanwei Hall' and 'Li Siyou Hall' also disappeared, and the salt capital of southern Sichuan became a place of mourning, which made people sigh. If you talk about the ability to 'unload the mill and kill the donkey' and 'cross the river and tear down the bridge', it should be the first in the Manchu court. ”

Zhao Bei talked eloquently, and every sentence hit the sore spot of the Sichuan salt merchants, but the speech of just a few minutes actually resonated with the salt merchants, and the auditorium suddenly "coaxed" and sounded, and the salt merchants of all sizes were moved by the speech of the commander-in-chief.

The salt merchants of the Qing Dynasty are divided into two groups, one is the Huaiyang group dominated by Yangzhou salt merchants, and the other is the Sichuan group headed by the Fushun salt merchants, since the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the two salt merchant groups have been fighting openly and secretly, but the Sichuan mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and the culture is not as good as Yangzhou, so it is difficult to find a powerful helper in the imperial court, as a result, the struggle between the two major salt merchant groups often ends with the defeat of the Sichuan salt merchants, during the Xianfeng period, the Taiping Heavenly War broke out, along the banks of the Yangtze River, the Taiping army and the Hunan army fought repeatedly, and the Yangtze River traffic was cut off, Huai salt can not be transported in, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi and other places appeared salt shortage, the people complained, forced to do, the Qing court only allowed a small amount of Sichuan salt to be sold in Hunan, Hubei, and later with the expansion and continuation of the war, Sichuan salt and Anhui, Jiangxi and other places of salt sales, a large number of Sichuan salt from Sichuan continued to be sold all over the place, in those years, not only the highest Sichuan salt production period, but also the most glorious period of Sichuan salt merchants, the so-called "Wang Sanwei Tang", "Li Siyoutang" was in that period of rise, at that time, The accumulation of wealth of Sichuan salt merchants has been close to that of Huaiyang salt merchants, and they have begun to gain more powerful spokesmen in the imperial court.

It's just that the good times didn't last long, with the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Yangtze River traffic was restored, Huaiyan was once again sold to the provinces along the Yangtze River, and relying on the strength and contacts accumulated over the years, the lost bank was quickly taken back, under the planning of Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and others, the Qing court unloaded the mill and killed the donkey, and ordered the Sichuan salt to return to Sichuan, and no longer exported to Hunan and Hubei.

Although the salt merchants have long been accustomed to the imperial court "killing fat pigs", but this fat pig does not have this way of killing, when the imperial court in order to exterminate the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, when the imperial court sent donations and salaries, the Huaiyang Salt Merchants Group and the Sichuan Salt Merchants Group were treated equally, and now the situation is stable, why only kill the fat pig of the Sichuan Salt Merchant, is it because this fat pig looks easy to bully?

The imperial court probably had never seen a pig killer who had been bitten by a pig.

Sichuan salt merchants naturally refused to be captured, immediately carried out a strong counterattack, through the spokesman in the court, began the arduous defense of the shore, it was a tragic tug-of-war, the two sides in the household, the military aircraft for several years of lawsuits, Huaiyang salt merchants for Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and others to raise military funds have a great contribution, these two feudal officials naturally want to repay the peach, and try their best to safeguard the interests of Huaiyang salt merchants, Sichuan salt merchants took Zuo Zongtang's line, for Zuo Zongtang's Chu army remuneration also made great contributions, The spokespersons of both sides had the qualifications to speak in the court, and after this lawsuit, the two salt merchant groups were exhausted, and seeing that there was no hope of resolving the dispute in the short term, they had to take a step back and seek reconciliation.

In the end, the Sichuan salt merchants successfully obtained the right to share the right to lead the bank with the Huaiyang salt merchants in most areas of western Hubei Province, the two sides took Yichang as the boundary, the east of the boundary belonged to Huaiyan, and the west of the boundary was shared by both sides, but soon after, Huaiyan automatically withdrew from the western Hubei bank, since then, Sichuan Salt dominated western Hubei, except for the "anointing salt" of Yingcheng, there was almost no opponent, but Sichuan Salt also paid the price, Yichang Yunyun Bureau obtained the power to levy salt from Sichuan Salt, and the successive general offices of the Bureau were all pro-points of the Qing Imperial Internal Affairs Office, The salt tax collected was directly supplied to Ouchi as fat powder money, and the imperial court did not forget to extort a sum of money while "compassionate merchants".

A fat pig is a fat pig after all, and no matter how fierce the fat pig is, it can't fight the pig killer.