The sky is high and the clouds are light, and the autumn is high and refreshing.

The warm sunlight shone obliquely from the clear and cloudless blue sky, casting Zhao Liangzuo's figure on the flat bluestone street. Zhao Liangzuo was in a hurry, and he was not interested in paying attention to the dense shops on both sides of the street. The eaves of these shops are not high, but the facades are very wide, and there are old silk shops and Dongying Japanese knives, as well as various signboards such as Sichuan and Guangzhou miscellaneous goods, southern goods stores, foreign goods for sale, and Western goods.

The streets are bustling with sedan chairs, horsebacks, donkeys, and walkers.

Merchants from all over the world, east and west, passed through this market, carrying all kinds of goods. In the tea house with lanterns in front of the door, it was even full, and there were blind storytellers and blind girls singing. The smell of the restaurant is full of people, and along with the fragrance is the laughter of the singers.

Although the Ming Dynasty has reached the present day, the northern and southern Japanese have finally been pacified. But there are Jianyu rising in the north, and there are rogues sitting in the south, and the world is becoming more and more chaotic than before, and it is not getting worse day by day. Shaanxi and Henan have been hit by disasters for many years, and the hungry people in various places have made rebellion, and even the price of rice in Wuchang City has risen to one or two silver and one stone.

But even so, when Zhao Liangzuo walked in Wuchang City, he still had a feeling of trance. Here, there are still golden fans drunk, singing and dancing, just like the prosperous places in the south of the Yangtze River in Nandu and Yangzhou.

Liu Liangzuo has been to the north, and even travels to the big cities in the north every year, Beijing, Datong, Taiyuan, Xi'an, Luoyang, Kaifeng, etc., the north and the south of the Yangtze River are not only different regions, but also the climate. It's more like two completely different kingdoms.

Half a month ago, there were also many changes in Wuchang City, and the number of beggars increased a lot. The price of food has risen, and even many homeless people continue to come, and those gentry and wealthy merchants in the teahouse and wine shop often have a little worry on their faces. Even many wealthy people have begun to prepare to move to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

It turned out that it was difficult to buy land with money, but it also began to be sold in the market, and even the price of land began to fall a lot.

And then. All this was just half a month ago, and suddenly it went away like the wind, and Wuchang City returned to its former state. Drunk and drunk, singing and dancing have leveled off, prices have fallen, and there are fewer homeless beggars. The fields are also priceless again. Those who packed their luggage and prepared to move also put their luggage back in, and everything was business as usual.

The thieves and thieves who had made a lot of trouble were defeated by the official army again, and the thieves were captured alive, and the thieves were finally not successful, and the thieves who made Wuchang City nervous for a time had disappeared without a trace, and there were no famous bandits in the entire Huguang territory. Wuchang City is finally safe and reliable again.

This is a provincial city of Huguang surrounded by 3,0098 zhang. The thoroughfare of nine provinces, water and land wharves. The prosperity is still there.

However, not everyone has returned to their original lives, and Liu Liangzuo feels restless at this time. He was a gentry, and his father once let go of the prefect outside the jinshi, and finally became the prefect. Liu Liangzuo has been studying since he was a child, but he is not the material for the imperial examination, and finally donated a prison student.

The Liu family is also a wealthy family, with hundreds of acres of land, but the Liu family's belongings are not handed down from their ancestors, but mainly earned by Liu Liangzuo over the years. Although his father was once the prefect, he was later convicted and lost all his belongings. If it weren't for Liu Liangzuo, the Liu family would have fallen long ago.

Liu Liangzuo, a prisoner who spends money to revive his family business, actually relies on selling illicit salt, relying on this, he has earned tens of thousands of family fortunes over the years, and bought land and houses.

But now, Liu Liangzuo found that he might not be able to do this money-making business. Early this morning, he suddenly received a post, inviting him to go to Macheng, and the payment was Zhennanhou.

Liu Liangzuo knew who the Marquis of Zhennan was, an upstart who had recently risen rapidly, and was quickly promoted by virtue of the defeat of the bandits, all the way from a small training to the general officer, and was promoted to the chief military officer in less than three months, and even by capturing Zhang Xianzhong, he was unprecedentedly named the Marquis of Zhennan.

This new candidate is now deeply trusted by the emperor, and he is also a student of Shi Mei Zhihuan of the Cabinet of the Governor of the Eight Provinces, and Li Changgeng, the Governor of the Five Southeast Provinces. Such a red, purple figure suddenly wanted to invite him to a banquet.

This may be an honor for others, but for Liu Liangzuo, he knows that he is in trouble. He clearly guessed why Zhennanhou was looking for him, because of salt.

A few months ago, when Liu Jun was just a general practitioner in Macheng, he had investigated illicit salt, and at that time he also killed Zhao Wu, who distributed illicit salt in Taiping Township, Macheng, and seized more than 100,000 catties of illicit salt.

That Zhao Wu used to get salt from him. And Liu Liangzuo is the master of Wu Zhao's salt seller, and Liu Liangzuo is just a link in a huge private salt sales network. After Liu Jun checked Zhao Wu, he once released a message and asked him to quit Macheng.

He was afraid of the Mei and Li families at that time, and finally temporarily stopped the sale of illicit salt in Macheng. But now, Liu Jun posted to him again, and it seems that this matter is not only unfinished, but more and more troublesome.

If Liu Jun was still just the general manager of Macheng Lian, of course Liu Liangzuo could ignore his post, but now Liu Jun is the dignified Nanhou of Zhenzhen and the chief military officer of Yunyang.

In fact, Liu Liangzuo was not the only one who received Liu Jun's invitation.

When Liu Liangzuo hurried to Zhou's house in Wuchang City, after the housekeeper led him into the living room, Master Zhou said as soon as he saw him, "You must have posted it for Liu Jun's Hades, right?" ”

"Hades sticker?" Liu Liangzuo was stunned for a moment.

Master Zhou leaned on the official hat chair and said slowly, "When the Nanhou of that town was suppressing bandits in Sichuan, he killed people like hemp, cut off tens of thousands of heads, and won the title of King Liu Yan. Now as soon as he returned to Macheng, he immediately posted it everywhere, and it is reported that salt merchants and salt sellers throughout Huguang have received his post. ”

Liu Liangzuo didn't expect Liu Jun to post to all the salt merchants and salt sellers in Huguang, and he was very surprised.

"What is Zhennanhou going to do? Does he want to crack down on illicit salt? ”

Master Zhou sneered twice, "Liu Jun just suppressed a group of thieves, and he really regarded himself as the eldest and second of the day." Crack down on the illegal salt of the entire Huguang? Hmph, he's dead. How does he know how many people are doing the salt trade in the entire Huguang, who are doing it, and how many people are involved behind these people. A newly sealed town of Nanhou is not qualified enough. ”

Liu Liangzuo does not have the confidence of Master Zhou, although he has some net worth, but in front of a Hou Ye like Liu Jun, he is just a small ant.

"What is Zhen Nanhou going to do with this post?"

Master Zhou shook off the folding fan and shook it, and then said with a smile, "I think he Liu Jun is not so fat and dares to go against all the Huguang salt merchants and salt dealers, I heard that Liu Jun had an agreement with the King of Handong before, and he cleaned up the illegal salt dealers who entered Qihuang for the King of Handong, and then took a piece of the pie." ”

Master Zhou was very confident in his analysis, and he didn't believe that Liu Jun had the courage to go against all the salt merchants. But Liu Jun must also be interested in the profits of the salt industry and want to get a piece of the pie. The biggest possibility is that Liu Jun wants to cooperate with the salt merchants in Huguang, and Liu Jun will investigate and crack down on the illegal salt in their salt area for those salt merchants who have serious salt introductions and legitimate sales of official salt.

The official salt merchants have legal salt introduction and salt areas, while Liu Jun has people, and the two sides cooperate to achieve win-win results.

"Is it really going to be that simple?" Liu Liangzuo was skeptical, and even if it did, it would not be good news for them. In recent years, the official salt and private salt have long been separated, those salt merchants who own the salt area, in fact, only pay a small amount of salt tax to the imperial court every year, after they obtain the legal right to sell salt, only buy the amount of salt from the salt farm, and only pay a small amount of tax, and then privately buy a large amount of salt from those salt households, and bring it back to sell, making a lot of money.

As a result, the official salt officials were also smugglers, not only selling smuggled salt in their own salt districts, but also secretly selling it to other salt merchants' salt districts. It can be said that those smugglers who are slightly larger are actually official salt merchants with official legal status.

And Liu Liangzuo is simply a salt dealer who specializes in helping Master Zhou distribute illicit salt to other districts. Master Zhou actually does not have the identity of a legal salt merchant, he is also a salt dealer, but he directly helps a legal Wuchang salt merchant to distribute, and sells more private salt.

Even if Liu Jun wants to cooperate with the salt merchants to crack down on illegal salt, they are also those who have been hit.

"What shall we do?" Liu Liangzuo was worried.

Master Zhou was not worried, "What Liu Jun is asking for is just money, and he is blushing when he sees that he is making money from salt trading, so he wants to intervene and share a share." Do we see less of this kind of greedy people? Give him some money directly to pay respect, and he will naturally be satisfied. ”

"It's as simple as that?"

"It's as simple as that."

"How much silver will you give him?"

"Just look at it casually, don't really take his official too seriously, this Huguang is one acre and three points of land, and it is not his turn to call the shots." Master Zhou shook his fan, "I plan to send Zhao San to Macheng tomorrow and send five hundred taels of silver to Liu Jun." ”

"Master Zhou won't go in person?" Liu Liangzuo knew that Zhao San was just a family member of Master Zhou. Zhennan Hou personally posted someone to invite people, and Master Zhou only sent a chief to accompany him, and only sent five hundred taels of silver, is this too much.

After thinking about it, he still persuaded Master Zhou, "Master Zhou, is five hundred taels of silver too little?" After all, Liu Jun is the chief soldier of Nanhou Town! ”

"My silver is not blown by the wind, and five hundred taels is already very much for Liu Jun. With this money, I can take a new concubine. ”

After coming out of Zhou's mansion, Liu Liangzuo kept thinking about Master Zhou's words. When he got home, he picked up the post and read it a few more times, but in the end he didn't dare not go like Master Zhou.

"Butler, go and prepare a banker ticket for 1,000 taels of silver." Liu Liangzuo thought for a while, and then explained to the housekeeper, "Well, you go and prepare another high-grade jade, which is worth about a thousand taels, and you have to prepare it today." (To be continued......)

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