The salt merchants of the Ming Dynasty were definitely a group of people who stood at the top of their wealth. If there was Forbes magazine at that time, to rank the world's richest people, salt merchants were afraid to monopolize the list.

Gu Zhenhua wants to rule the two Huai, and the first thing to settle is this group of God of Wealth.

"Wang Shouzhong, you are also an official of our court, right?"

Wang Shouzhong nodded hurriedly: "The villain just donated a Governor Su Song, it's not worth mentioning!" ”

"Why isn't it worth mentioning, that's a dignified second-grade master, is it not worth mentioning in your eyes?"

"Don't dare, don't dare!" Wang Shouzhong waved his hand again and again.

This time he was called to Xuzhou, and Wang Shou was in the center, knowing that he would not pass the test lightly. But in the face of Guo Zhenhua, he didn't have the courage to resist, so he could only lower his figure, and he would be slaughtered if it was a big deal, anyway, they were all ready!

"Grandpa Guo, the villain has long been self-aware, but he is spending money to buy officials, if Grandpa Guo thinks it is inappropriate, the villain will resign immediately!"

"Don't!" Gu Zhenhua smiled and waved his hand: "Such a high position, don't spend money in vain, besides, Benjue still expects you to work for Chaotian!" ”

Gu Zhenhua smiled and looked at the other businessmen, these businessmen with fat brains, facing Gu Zhenhua, also unconsciously lowered their heads, almost daring to look directly.

Don't look at this person's dress, but standing there, with a perfect inverted triangle figure, his muscles are swollen, like a powerful leopard. Especially the sharp eyes, which are full of brilliance, were targeted by him, and the temperature around him immediately dropped by two degrees, and he couldn't help but shiver!

Wang Shouzhong bowed and said: "Grandpa Guo, you have repeatedly performed miraculous feats and killed countless Tartars for me on the Daming River. People all over the world admire, the villains came to Xuzhou this time, firstly, to respect the order of the grandfather of the country, to come to visit, and secondly, to talk about the heart. Give the brethren some tea to drink! ”

When the other salt merchants heard this, they nodded one after another, and said with a smile: "That's right, that's right, it's all the filial piety of the villains, please accept it." ”

Wang Shouzhong took the lead in sending a list of gifts to Gu Zhenhua. Gu Zhenhua looked at the gift list and smiled slightly, "You have a heart, this list has been accepted." You are guests from afar, and Ben Jue has prepared a banquet in the city to entertain you, and I ask you not to refuse. ”

"Oops! Grandpa Guo's wine. The little people can't ask for it! ”

As soon as they saw Gu Zhenhua accept the gift list, these people were all interested, as the saying goes, if Gu Zhenhua is a tiger, he will not turn around and eat them.

Fei Honglin, a big salt merchant, squeezed out, this guy is not tall, and his width is almost over his height. A big ball of meat, five or six chins below the neck, a fat big face, squeezing out all the eyes.

He gasped and said: "The villain Fei Honglin visited the Duke of Ji Guo, the grandfather of the country showed his might, and the villain admired it in his heart. Some time ago, I invited a few scholars to help me make up the lyrics, and then the villain found a few famous singers to shoot a big play. is called "Saving the Sky", and the story of the Duke of Jiguo receiving the lord Hong En, protecting His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to go south, assisting the new monarch, and stabilizing the country. If you want to. How about we take a look at this new play during the dinner? ”

When the other salt merchants heard this, they all looked sideways. This dead fat man is really good at slipping his beard, and he even got the drama and writing, so he can't be moved, in comparison, the gold and silver beauties they prepared, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, all look tacky.

Wang Shouzhong couldn't wait to slap his two mouths, such a good idea, why didn't he think of it!

Gu Zhenhua remained silent and smiled slightly: "You also have a heart, let's go into the city!" ”

Gu Zhenhua took the lead and invited these salt merchants into the mansion, Wu Kaijie took them to the flower hall first, and Gu Zhenhua went to change clothes.

After these salt merchants sat down, there were already maids shuttling and serving dishes, all of which were mainly Huaiyang dishes, including Wensi tofu, crab roe lion head, squirrel osmanthus fish, three sets of ducks, etc., full of Dengdeng, set up a big table, much more sumptuous than An**'s celebration banquet.

However, in the face of the dishes, the salt merchants showed a trace of disdain, although they tried their best to hide it, but Wu Kaijie was so keen, how could he not see it!

"Haha, everyone, this is specially taken care of by Grandpa Guo, do you think you can't take it on the table and it's hard to swallow?"

"How dare you, how dare you!" Fei Honglin shook his fat head and said with a smile: "Lord Wu, to tell you something, seeing Grandpa Guo eating this, the villain's heart is uncomfortable!" These are all ordinary dishes, what kind of character is Grandpa Guo, you can't eat dragon liver and phoenix marrow, but you should always make it a little finer, it's so shoddy, people can't bear to look at it! ”

When Wu Kaijie heard this, he couldn't help but shake his head, and said with a wry smile: "That's not bad, when you are fighting in peacetime, you have bread to eat and saliva to drink, which is a great blessing, you have really been comfortable for too long!" ”

Fei Honglin saw that Wu Kaijie was unhappy, and hurriedly said: "My lord, the little one doesn't mean to look down on him, but deeply admires the simplicity of Ji Guogong, there are a few new cooks in the villain's house, although they can't make a big feast, but the dim sum is fried, that's a must, when Grandpa Guo wants to eat, he can do it immediately!" ”

Wang Shouzhong watched from the side, and when he heard that Fei Fat was going to send the chef again, he couldn't bear it, this good thing can't be taken by you alone, he also smiled: "Lord Wu, it's really not a secret, I also have two masters at home, one is a whole sheep mat, and the other is good at making puffer fish, all of them are first-class masters, and the knife work is a must, and the villain will send it to Grandpa Guo immediately." ”

"No need!"

Just as they were flattering each other, Gu Zhenhua changed into a purple and cyan regimental collar shirt, tied a gold silk belt, and walked over quickly.

"Your good intentions, this lord understands it, but this saying is gentle and gentle, and it is a hero's mound. Now that the Tartars have not been destroyed, how dare you talk about any enjoyment! ”

Gu Zhenhua said, walked in front of everyone, and sat straight on the main seat.

The salt merchants peeked at each other and changed their outfits, and the whole person was very different. Gu Zhenhua's figure is definitely a standard clothes rack, and he is full of elegance and elegance, but between walking, he is full of tigers, especially the corners of his eyes and eyebrows with a layer of evil aura, which is awe-inspiring and inviolable!

What do you want with this pie? The big guy is scavenging the intestines, maybe only the imaginary emperor has this majesty. Come to think of it. They were also taken aback.

"Grandpa Guo has great ambitions and is an example for the world!"

"Hahaha, Lord Wang, you are too polite! Benjue was no longer polite to everyone, and opened the skylight to say something. Now An** is just two words, lack of money! Just after winning the battle, it costs money to reward meritorious soldiers, it costs money to appease the people who have been affected by floods, it costs money to restore the wounds of the Tartars, and it costs money to refine the people and horses. In case the Tartars go south again, they still need money! Thousands of things, all pressed on Benjue's shoulders, you are all businessmen, gentlemen and businessmen, presumably you won't look at Benjue so embarrassed! ”

Wang Shouzhong, Fei Honglin and the others glanced at each other. The big guy knew it in his heart, and knew that this knife couldn't run, so Fei Fatzi stood up first.

"Grandpa Guo, you have always kept the southeast safe, and the villains have inherited your favors, so they are naturally grateful. The villain is willing to take out 50,000 taels to fund military supplies! ”

He spoke. Others followed up one after another, some took 30,000 taels, some took 20,000 taels, and some gave 8,000 taels, Wang Shouzhong gritted his teeth and took out 100,000 taels.

The money they paid hastily calculated was nearly one million taels in total, plus the gift list just now, and it cost 500,000 taels on it, a total of 1.5 million taels!

If only it were in the eyes of someone else. It's definitely a lot, how much is the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty a year! They can come up with so much, which shows filial piety!

However, who let them meet such a black-hearted Gu Zhenhua, they were not indifferent to this money at all, in fact, Gu Zhenhua had too many things to do. This amount of money is indeed a drop in the bucket, not enough to see!

After Gu Zhenhua waited for them to finish, he smiled slightly: "Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday Benjue wrote an excerpt and wanted to give it to the emperor, the content is very simple, that is, to restore the Chinese law. However, due to the fall of the Northland, this salt merchant has to re-bid and divide the area again! ”

When these merchants heard this, they were all shocked, the so-called Kaizhong Law was actually the salt law in the early Ming Dynasty: the household department issued a list to summon merchants, so that they could transport grain to the border or other places where there was a shortage of grain, and the government grain collection agency registered the amount of grain paid and the amount of salt that should be paid, and filled in the warehouse banknotes; Merchants hold banknotes to put into production salt and transport salt in exchange for salt, and take the lead to the salt field to support the salt, and transport it to the designated area for sale.

It's just that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, all kinds of black hands intervened, and even the emperor privately gave salt introductions, and the generals of border towns even opened salt quotations, resulting in the emptiness of the border granaries, and the merchants who really transported grain could not mention salt introductions.

In the Wanli period, the law was changed, and from then on, the official did not collect salt, and the merchants traded directly with the fried households, and the right to buy and sell belonged to the merchants, and was hereditary. The program of the program law is the civil system, commercial income, commercial transportation, and commercial marketing, which is simply the monopoly of merchants.

There is no doubt that the reform of the salt law in the Ming Dynasty is a typical example of the retreat of the people, and since then the salt merchants have firmly controlled the fat of salt, but the tax revenue of the imperial court has dried up more and more.

As soon as Wang Shouzhong and the others heard that they were going to change the salt law and re-auction it, there was no doubt that this was to cut off their lifeline again, where could these people stand it!

"Grandpa Guo, this salt law must not be moved!"

"yes!" Fei Honglin also bowed down and said: "Salt is an indispensable thing for the people, and it is not possible to do less, and we are just earning a hard-earned money, and I also ask Grandpa Guo to be compassionate." ”

Another merchant surnamed Ji stood up, he was not very old, but he was the largest salt merchant in Yangzhou, and his wife was also a salt merchant family, and she was strong.

He said respectfully: "Ji Guogong, the relationship between the salt law is heavy, and it is indeed not easy to change. The villain dared to speculate that Grandpa Guo wanted to change the salt law in order to meet military needs. As the people of the Ming Dynasty, we should share the worries of the court. In this way, from now on, we will offer another million taels of silver every year, and ask Grandpa Guo to raise his noble hand! ”

The other businessmen were still a little unconvinced, but they didn't dare to refute it, and they secretly thought in their hearts one by one that they would increase the price in the future to make up for the loss!

One and a half million taels has become two and a half million taels, which seems to have risen a lot, but it is still too far from Gu Zhenhua's standard!

"Ladies and gentlemen, Ben Jue told you the truth, five million taels, not a single one is missing!"

Five hundred! Ten thousand!

Now everyone is frying, just kidding, all the salt taxes in the Ming Dynasty in a year are added up, and the actual storage is only more than one million, and they gave Gu Zhenhua more than two million at once.

A piece of paper draws a nose, what a big face! Five million, is this crazy person who wants money?

Wang Shouzhong shook his head like a rattle.

"Grandpa Guo, even if the villains smash their bones, they can't come up with so much money."

Fei Fatzi simply cried: "Grandpa Guo, don't listen to them say how rich the salt merchants are, it seems that we are all fat and oily, in fact, we are all working hard, and we are not easy!" ”

"Yes, Grandpa Guo, you can't help but give us a way to live!"

Gu Zhenhua didn't say a word, Wu Kaijie widened his eyes, jumped into the middle of these guys, and said loudly: "You all listen to me, don't cry here one by one, don't you want to be poor with five million, it's a big deal to auction the salt field of Lianghuai." From now on, all laws will be abolished. As long as he pays 500,000 taels of silver every year, he will divide one-tenth of his salt farm, cook salt as he pleases, and sell it as he pleases. Not much, 10 copies are enough, what do you think? ”

Not how!

These salt merchants were completely frightened, if they really did this, let alone five million, they could sell for ten million!

Wang Shouzhong, Fei Honglin and the others looked at it, and they all knelt on the ground, crying bitterly.

"Grandpa Guo, the salt law has had rules since ancient times, and you must not change it without permission! We are willing to do our best to honor the father-in-law, and ask the grandfather to understand our difficulties! ”

Gu Zhenhua looked at them, the group of people kneeling in front of him were definitely the fattest group of fat cats in the Ming Dynasty, but they were still crying poor in front of them, it was simply unreasonable!

However, Gu Zhenhua has long learned to control his feelings, so he will not be angry.

"Everyone, what should I do with this salt method, I really should think about it, everyone eats first, and after eating, arrange for you to rest, and talk about it later!"

At this point, what kind of food are you eating, everyone dealt with it hastily, and then dispersed. Wu Kaijie took them to a special pavilion.

Fei Fatzi came to his room, and as soon as he opened the door, there were cobwebs inside, and a musty smell was pungent to his nostrils. I picked up the cobwebs and looked inside, only to see that the bedding on the bed was all moldy, and there were cockroaches crawling back and forth!

"Ahh This, is this a place for people! ”

As soon as he said this, he suddenly heard a scream outside.

"Ahh

"What's the matter, killing pigs?"

Fei Honglin panted outside, followed the sound to the bottom of a courtyard wall, and the sound came from the opposite side.

"Hold the master, let me see!"

The four family members supported Fei Honglin hard and sent him to the wall.

Fei Honglin looked at the opposite side with difficulty, and saw that in front of the opposite room, a large row of people were all tied to the pillars, and several people were holding red soldering irons, which were pressing on the flesh and blood, and white smoke suddenly came out.

When Fei Honglin saw this, he suddenly became unstable, fell down heavily, and left a mimeograph on the ground!

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