(Thank you for the support of all the scales, Yutong people, and Erliang 1 brothers, thank you!) ）

Anton Wang and others transported salt from the Lianghuai salt field to Eastern Hubei Province, and the price of each catty of official salt was one cent of silver, but that was only the lowest price, and the price of salt often rose, and sometimes the price even reached six cents of silver per catty.

And what was the cost of the salt they got from the imperial court?

The price of each quotation of eight coins and the tax rate of five coins and five cents are 300 catties. Three hundred catties of salt is only eight cents plus five cents and five cents, even if it is sold at the price of one cent of silver and one catty, it can be sold for three taels of silver. There is a difference between two or six dollars and five dollars, even if there are links such as transportation and distribution in the middle, but the profit is extremely amazing.

What's more, these salt merchants often take the salt to carry private salt, directly from the stove households to collect salt, the cost is lower, but also tax evasion, so after the implementation of the Gang Salt Law, countless people have sent it, the magnates have sent it, the salt merchants have made it, and the micro businessmen, Yangzhou businessmen, etc., have risen strongly, creating countless large salt merchants, rich and rivaling the country.

A pound of high-quality pork is only two cents of silver, but a pound of official salt is sold for one cent of silver, and sometimes even sold for six cents of silver, which is equivalent to the price of three catties of pork.

But in fact, there is no official or private distinction between this salt. The so-called official salt and private salt are just monopoly salt that has no tax.

Selling salt is so profitable, of course, everyone is jealous. However, because of the monopoly nature of this nest, ordinary businessmen could not get the right to distribute salt at all, so people took risks and directly sold illegal salt.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, private salt was very rampant, and the same was true at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Qi Huangguan salt is at least one cent of silver per catty, but what about private salt? One pound is only one and a half centimeters, and the price of one pound of official salt can buy forty pounds of private salt.

Of course, the common people are more willing to buy illicit salt, but then those who have a monopoly are not happy.

Hu Guang invited Liu Jun to dinner today, because he heard that a very powerful young man had newly emerged in Macheng County, and now this young man happened to be stationed at Hutou Pass, guarding the key road of Guanghuang Avenue. He is not only a group exercise, but also a leader and a patrol officer, and one of the duties of the patrol inspection is precisely to crack down on the sale of illicit salt and tea.

There are many people who sell smuggled salt, from small salt sellers who carry them on their shoulders to large salt sellers who carry them in vehicles and boats. There are even many salt merchants who themselves own nests, and they secretly sell silver to other salt merchants' areas.

Huguang belongs to the salt area of the Lianghuai Salt Farm, but the salt merchants of the Fujian Salt Farm also sell salt here, as well as Zhejiang salt, Hedong salt, and even Shu salt. The official price of Zhejiang salt sellers in Huguang is only five centimeters and one catty, and the private salt is even more one centimeter and one pound. Fujian's illicit salt is sold in, and it is only eight cents of silver for ten catties.

It can be said that there are salt sellers everywhere, salt merchants who have nests, salt merchants who have nests but are not in the region, salt merchants from other salt farms, and all kinds of illegal salt dealers.

These people are grabbing money, robbing salt merchants who have real legal monopoly rights. Now there is a rumor among the people that the gains from selling salt are profitable and not laborious.

Fivefold windfall profits but no work, who is not impressed. Marx said that "if there is a 10% profit, capital is guaranteed to be used everywhere; With 20% of the profits, capital can be active; With 50% of the profits, capital will take risks; For the sake of 100% profit, capital dares to trample on all the laws of the world; With more than 300% of the profits, capital dares to commit any crime. ”

If you make three times the profit, you will dare to commit any crime, let alone sell salt with five times the profit.

In the final analysis, the high cost of official salt and the low cost of private salt are mainly due to the rigidity of the official salt management mode and the flexible private salt management mode, and the division of the salt boundary by the imperial court makes the market artificially divided. In particular, the relaxation of the salt ban made a large number of people dare to join the ranks of selling smuggled salt, and the favoritism of salt officials connived at and even participated in the activities of smuggling salt, and the imperial court was unable to control the illegal salt at all.

Therefore, in order to ensure their own interests, salt merchants either carry a large amount of private salt, so they evade taxes. Or they also sell their own smuggled salt and sell it to the monopoly areas of other salt merchants. Otherwise, it is to build up its own private armed forces and fight against smugglers of salt.

The Andong County King's official salt business was mainly handed over to the King of Andong County to take care of, and the King of Anton County was actually mainly handed over to Hu Guang to take care of.

Hu Guang has been very interested in this since he overheard about the rise of Liu Jun and his nine-headed bird force in Macheng. During this time, he collected news about Liu Jun and the nine-headed bird everywhere and obtained a lot of useful information.

Although Hu Guang is a scholar, he admires Liu Jun's ruthless style, and he also hates those illegal salt dealers, which not only infringes on the interests of several princes, but also infringes on the interests of Hu Guang. He had long planned to crack down on these smugglers and make an example, but unfortunately although he also spent a lot of effort to build a team, it always didn't work.

If the overflow of illicit salt in the Qihuang area could no longer be curbed, Hu Guang was worried that his good errand would come to an end. He now urgently needs to come up with some results to show his role to several princes.

Liu Jun gave Hu Guang a glimmer of hope, this young man acted ruthlessly, and his nine-headed bird team was also very good, and he would win. Both times the thieves have achieved great successes, if you ask him to help fight the smugglers and work together, it will definitely be effective.

Although Hu Guang is the steward of the palace, he does not trust the university, he knows that Liu Jun, a young and vigorous descendant, loves face the most. Therefore, he deliberately rushed to Hutou Pass in person, and originally he wanted to invite Liu Jun to go to Wuchang, but he accidentally found that the red sleeve workshop here was actually very good, and finally he simply chartered a private seat here.

It was dark, and the red lanterns had been hung up outside the Red Sleeve Workshop, and the bright palace lanterns had been lit in the building.

Hu Guang and Shen Man stood at the gate, gossiping without a word. Hu Guang was wearing a Taoist robe, a folding fan in his hand, and he looked like a scholar. But from beginning to end, it still reveals a different flavor.

Shen Man is twenty-five or sixteen years old, his eyebrows are like a crescent moon, and his skin is like condensed fat. She wore a turquoise silk dress with a light veil draped over her shoulders, and a high bun on her head, on which she had a red rose.

She stood at the door of the building with her arms in her hands, smiling, particularly moving.

Hu Guang was a little moved, and secretly said that he didn't expect that there would be such a beautiful woman in such a rural place. And so young and beautiful, I actually did it.

Shen Man is very good at observing faces, and he can speak with a mouth, and after a while, Hu Guang was already a little fascinated, and he couldn't stop anything in front of her, and he knew everything.

"Master Hu, you don't seem to be a local, where are you from?" Shen Manjiao asked in a coquettish voice.

"My hometown is Jiangxi, but I've been in Qizhou all these years." Hu Guang replied with a smile.

"Master Hu, this is from Qizhou, I'm afraid I didn't know Lord Liu before, you have a banquet for Lord Liu, is there anything wrong?"

"It's not a big deal, but when I heard that Lord Liu was a young hero, I admired it very much, so I came to pay a visit."

Shen Man glanced at Hu Guang, "Ouch, Master Hu, you lied to the ghost." ”

"Then what do you say I asked Master Liu for?"

"That's still a question." Shen Man's two slender eyebrows raised slightly, and he giggled, "You must have a request for Lord Liu." When I entered my red-sleeved workshop, so many girls didn't look for them, and I didn't listen to such a nice tune, but I was standing outside waiting for someone, there must be something to ask Lord Liu for help. ”

Shen Man laughed as he spoke, and Hu Guang chuckled when he heard it, "You little goblin, but you are very ghostly." Then you can guess again, what is my identity, Master Hu, and what do you want to ask Master Liu for help? If you even guess this, then I have really convinced you, not only to obey you, but also to give you ten taels of silver. ”

"It's only ten taels, so that person doesn't need that god."

Hu Guangzhen was not lightly hooked by Shen Man, and was immediately agitated, "One hundred taels, as long as you can guess." ”

"That's what you said, Master Hu." Shen Man smiled.

"Look at Master Hu's talking temperament, when he is a scholar, he must have fame and fame, show talent? No, at least it's a lifter. ”

"Awesome, guess again."

"But you're certainly not an official."

"Why can't you be an official?"

"There is no official careful restraint, I think Master Hu should be the henchman of a big man, either a housekeeper or a master, although he is not an official, he still has power in his hands."

Now Hu Guang is really quite impressed.

"Then what do you say I came to Lord Liu for?"

"You must want to ask Lord Liu to send troops, right?"

Hu Guang smiled and said to Shen Man, "Amazing." ”

"One hundred taels of silver, can't you pay the bill?"

"Miss Shen, I have a reluctant request, if you can agree, I will not only give you a hundred taels of silver, but I am also willing to present another hundred taels as a thank you." Hu Guang stared at Shen Man up and down.

"Oh, what's the matter, tell me about it."

"Actually, it's very simple, after Lord Liu comes over for a while, you have to help me accompany him, and you have to have fun with him, and even if he asks you to sleep with him for a while, you can't refuse, you have to let him have fun."

Shen Man's smile didn't change.

"Master Hu really doesn't pity the fragrance and cherishes the jade, why are you willing to give me to others."

"I just want to be your guest of the curtain, but I'm afraid that Miss Shen may not be willing, right? I'm a bad old man, so I'd better be self-aware. Hu Guang said with a smile.

Shen Man also replied with a smile, "I'm afraid that even if I am willing to sleep with Lord Liu for one night, people will think that I am a ruined flower and a fireworks woman." ”

Looking at Shen Man's shy demeanor, Hu Guang couldn't help but feel a little pantothenic acid in his heart, sure enough, bustards love money, and mothers love pretty. When it comes to the handsome guy, I'm afraid that it's already wet underneath.

"If you can really pull Liu Jun into your bed and sleep with you for one night, I will not treat you badly, of course, you have to say some good things for me next to his pillow."

"The slave family has been washing their hands for many years, but since Master Hu is so pleading, the slave family will make an exception, and then go into battle in person with this Pu Liu posture, if the thing doesn't work out, the slave family doesn't want a penny of money from you, if it happens, you can't rely on the debt."

"No problem!" Hu Guangying said.