After Qiao Yu finished speaking, he walked away directly, leaving behind the stunned salt merchants, many people were already a little surprised by Qiao Yu's attitude, the salt merchants held money bags in their hands, and they had to be respected by others wherever they went, so they also developed the habit of salt merchants looking above the top.

"Hmph, a governor who hasn't yet become a stable governor wants to deal with us, that's a thought, I want him to see how powerful the salt merchant is!"

"Old man Zhang, you can speak, we will contact the sages from all walks of life now, and everyone will stand up together, I don't believe that the surname Qiao does not bow his head!" Many salt merchants present have clamored, Zhang Deyang is also frowning, the old guy has gone through countless turmoil, can sit firmly in the top spot of the salt merchants in southern Sichuan, and the means of knowledge are first-class, the old guy thought carefully for a long time.

"Don't argue, how can we fight with others now, Qiao Yu has soldiers and generals in his hands, as long as an order is given, all of us will become prisoners of the ranks, I think he probably wants to ask us for some benefits, it's okay to feed him, Brother Lu, I want to trouble you a little!"

Lu Nai already knew Qiao Yu's plans, and he also knew that these people who tried to fight in vain would definitely not end well, but now he was still part of the Salt Merchants Alliance, so he still pretended to be honestly afraid.

"Elder Zhang, you command, I will do my best to do it!"

"Well, just bother my brother and Qiao Yu to say, we are willing to lower the price of salt to eighty Wen, and give him three million taels of silver at the same time, as long as he continues to allow us to operate the salt business, as long as he agrees, there will be a filial piety every year in the future!"

Zhang Deyang's handwriting is not small, he took out three million taels of silver at once, if ordinary people were absolutely stunned by these silvers, Lu Nai hurriedly nodded in agreement, and immediately rushed to the place where Qiao Yu was staying, he was not trying to persuade Qiao Yu to come for the salt merchants, but wanted to ask what to do next!

"Your Excellency Governor, Old Man Zhang has already fired the price of three million taels, do you think you can agree?"

"Mr. Lu, you know better than me, the influence of the salt merchant is huge, I am just punching the master to death now, if the world is stable, will I still have a chance to attack the salt merchant? I won't say 3 million, even 10 million! ”

"Governor Gao Jian, it's just that Zhang Deyang has a lot of power in both black and white, and they also control the salt, salt is like rice and white flour, is it okay to be less? I always think that the Governor is a little reckless? ”

"Hehe, time is running out, but what you said is really true, Mr. Lu, if the salt merchants strike and cause the price of salt to skyrocket, I will be passive, but this is also your chance, I don't know if your Lu family can follow?"

When Lu Nai heard this, a flash of thought suddenly flashed in his mind, and he seemed to have guessed Qiao Yu's plan, Lu Nai's heart was also throbbing, the Lu family was the earliest group of salt merchants in southern Sichuan, and the Lu family was different from other families, he was a local family in Sichuan, and the Zhang family and other big salt merchants were Jin merchants, the Lu family has often been encroached upon over the years, and now it is just barely maintaining, but a huge opportunity suddenly appeared in front of him, and Lu Nai couldn't help but be moved.

"The Governor means that I will come forward to ensure the stability of the price of salt?"

"That's right! I immediately announced the salt reform measures, presumably the salt merchants will collectively boycott, and even start a strike, and you will take the initiative to undertake the task of salt production after the strike starts, and at the same time I will confiscate the salt wells that have stopped production in the name of the government, and then hand them over to you, we must ensure the normal production of salt, and improve the treatment of salt workers, so that salt workers do not lose their jobs, but these salt wells will not be handed over to you, but will be distributed to other investors! ”

"Don't worry, Governor, I will definitely be able to ensure the normal production of salt, and the treatment of salt workers will be improved as much as possible!"

After Qiao Yu and Lu Nai finished discussing, several newspapers under his control also started to bombard the salt price issue with all their might, Sichuan people have been bitter about salt for a long time, the Manchu court knocked on the bones and sucked the marrow, looted excessively, and the salt merchants were greedy and shameless, but they suffered from the common people, and they suffered from the price of salt all year round, tightened and exploited, and the article was published, and at the same time, the Sichuan parliament also mobilized and condemned the salt policy.

Abolish the monopoly system, which should be an authorization system, as long as you pay a deposit of 500,000 taels to the military and political axe, you can obtain the right to exploit, and the military and political axe only levy a tax of eight wen per catty of salt, and the rest is left to the salt merchants to produce and sell, but the quality of salt must be inspected by the political axe, and if it is not qualified, it will be disqualified, and strive to control the price of salt within 70 wen within this year, and reduce it to 30 wen within five years, or even lower.

As early as the middle of the Qing Dynasty, someone pointed out the maladministration of the salt industry, and also proposed similar reform methods, but due to the huge resistance of the salt merchants, Qiao Yu is completely different, and now the world is in chaos, Sichuan completely depends on Qiao Yu's face to act, he wants to reform the salt government with an iron heart, but I am afraid that no one can stop it.

The most excited is not the people of Sichuan, they have paid too much for salt, the price of salt above 100 Wen is like a big stone on these people's chests, breathless, now the price of salt can be reduced to 70 Wen, and even more can be reduced, it is definitely a great thing.

In addition to the Sichuan people, people of insight in the world are also looking at whether this measure to benefit the people can really be implemented, after Qiao Yu announced the method of salt reform, all the salt merchants in Fushun were like mourning, gathered together in Zhang Deyang's home, crying and wiping tears, if it is really changed according to Qiao Yu's method, I am afraid that the monopoly system they rely on for a living will completely collapse.

"Old man Zhang, do you think we are giving in to Qiao Yu and letting him take back his life?"

"That's delusional, now that the new decree has made the city stormy, everyone knows that if Qiao Yu wants to discuss with us, how can he announce it so casually, he wants to force us to die!"

"We must not agree, fight with him!"

Zhang Deyang listened to the noisy voices of the people below, he was very troublesome, he was shrewd, but he had never encountered this situation, how to deal with it?

"Old man, do you think we can also pay 500,000 taels of silver, and what kind of production qualification do we also get?" A merchant whispered.

"No, absolutely not!" Zhang Deyang shook his head: "Qiao Yu didn't say how many people would be given this mining qualification, if he gave it to hundreds of people, I'm afraid that we won't even be able to earn back the 500,000 taels, and once we are free to produce, everyone will have to rely on getting up early and working hard to exchange money, how can I be comfortable now, I have to work hard for the future, you are unkind to me, he cuts off our financial route, we will cut off his salt road, I don't believe that if the people of Sichuan can't eat salt, they will support his bullshit reform!" ”

The major salt merchants discussed it carefully, and felt that Zhang Deyang's method was good, as long as Qiao Yu could retreat from the difficulties, it would be worth it even if he paid a big price, and the problem of salt politics must not be allowed to move!

The next day, the major salt merchants in Fushun have announced the cessation of production, joint strike, since the beginning of the criticism of the salt issue, Fushun's every move has attracted much attention, this time the salt merchants collectively strike to boycott the new salt policy, naturally soon stabbed in the newspaper, the people of Sichuan thought that they could get low-priced salt, but when they heard that the salt merchants actually collectively boycotted, the evil feelings for the salt merchants suddenly skyrocketed, celebrities from all walks of life have come forward to blame the salt merchants, of course, there are also people who accuse Qiao Yu of rashly changing the salt policy, is young and ignorant!