Chapter 710: Yangzhou's "Enthusiasm"

Starting from Huating New District, take advantage of the paddle steamer to go upstream, get off at Jiangdu, and then go north along the official road. Under this choice, Yangzhou has become the only way to go. There are too many things about Yangzhou in the history books, and the poets are not stingy with beautiful words. In short, this is a good place, but Chen Xie has never been to it once, and the people of Yangzhou don't like Chen Gebu.

There is a reason why the people of Yangzhou don't like Chen Xie, because Chen Xie offended the salt merchants here. The salt of the Lianghuai salt field has always accounted for a large proportion of the market in history, and the salt field such as Changlu is not comparable at all. "Two Huai salt, the world salty", Yangzhou salt merchants are rich all over the world, occupying the market of Nanzhili, Huguang, Shandong, Jiangxi and other places, and it is also the richest area in Daming.

Another is the hub location of the canal, which determines the importance of Yangzhou. These two factors have made Yangzhou rich and prosperous. If there is no change in history, after the Qing army enters the customs, the tragedy of Yangzhou in ten days will occur, and Yangzhou will be prosperous again many years later because of salt and geographical factors.

The appearance of Chen Xie changed these two important factors. First of all, salt, the salt of Shandong Salt Farm is produced with modern technology, high-quality fine salt and price advantage, directly crushing the salt of Lianghuai. In the markets of Henan, Shandong, Zhili, Liaodong and Kouwai north of the Yangtze River, the two Huai salts were squeezed out. This is quite nerve-wracking, after all, there was a Changlu salt field before, and these markets are not the main markets of Lianghuai salt. The time that really changed the market pattern began with Chen Xie's dispatch to suppress thieves. After the army entered Henan from Shandong, it turned into Jiangbei, and the salt of Shandong also followed into the Huai River valley in Jiangbei, and then followed the footsteps of the army into Huguang.

If this is a peaceful world, the salt merchants can tear Chen Xie alive, but unfortunately the war north of the Yangtze River has been endless, even if the salt merchants want to take care of the market. It's not that awesome, I can only watch the loss of the market. The bigger blow is still to come, after Chen Xie is the governor of the three provinces, the good days of the two Huaiyan will come to an end.

The first is the opening of the sea, and as soon as the sea route is opened, the role of the canal is greatly reduced. That's not a small blow. This blow is not too severe, because the vitality of the canal will not have much impact because of the opening of the sea, the purpose of opening the sea is still to collect tariffs, and the transportation itself is still secondary. A considerable part of the grain in the south of the Yangtze River is still transported by water, and this is the cabinet's decision to seek stability, and it cannot simply rely on shipping. Rather, it is a combination of sea freight and water transportation. Despite this, the cost of shipping has been exhausted, and from the beginning of the opening of the sea to the present, the canal has lost its original prosperity and has become much more deserted.

The second is the huge income of the shipping department after the opening of the sea, the completion of the salt tax at the national level, and the rapid rise of maritime merchants. The social status of the direct salt merchants was greatly affected. To put it mildly, the salt merchants of Lianghuai used to sneeze. The finances of the entire country of Daming will catch a cold. Now it was different, the maritime merchants became a serious competitor to the salt works, and the tax revenue they brought replaced the salt merchants. Since the opening of the sea, less than ten years, the maritime businessman who enjoys the dividends of Chen's overseas strategy is like a legend. It has quickly become a trendsetter in the business world that leads the times. Moreover, there is a large group of landlords and old fortunes who make a fortune by opening the sea, and they are really not easy to mess with. Silk, tea, porcelain, these things were all sold through the open sea, and as vested interests, they were actually Chen Xie's gang.

In the end, the biggest blow to the two Huai salt merchants was the fine salt from Shandong. With Chen Xie's governor of the three provinces and entering the Jiangnan market, this is too bad. Why did salt merchants get rich? Because they have mastered the price of salt, coupled with the collusion between officials and businessmen, from the imperial court to the local government, salt merchants with huge financial resources, who can't buy them out?

Who is Chen Xie? If it is a peaceful season, let alone sell the salt in Shandong, even if it is sold locally in Shandong, you have to weigh it, and you are worried about being counterattacked by salt merchants. This is definitely not alarmist, it is a very realistic thing. It's a pity that Chen Xie is a warlord, a warlord who rose by taking advantage of the war. Before entering the domestic war against thieves, Chen Xie's operation in the Shandong market did not hurt the two Huai salt merchants, or he was ignored. Isn't it a market in Shandong? At the risk of offending the entire Dengzhou officialdom to build a salt farm in Shandong, the gains outweigh the losses. With the expansion of the scale of the war, the north of the Yangtze River has become a mess, and no matter how much the salt merchants love silver, they have to save their lives first, right? When you fought a warlord during the war, wasn't that looking for death?

After Chen Xie killed more than 20,000 people in Xiangyang Mansion in one go, his famous murder became a magic weapon to stop children's night crying. The group of salt merchants who wanted to attack Chen Xie realized that there was no way out for those who played hard, and they could only take the route of the imperial court. All kinds of smears came, and rumors such as warlords, feudal towns, and anti-intentions were all at the behest of salt merchants.

In the Taiping world, a hundred Chen Xie were drowned with saliva by the civil officials who mobilized the entire Ming Dynasty by the salt merchants. It's a pity that the timing of Chen Xie's rise was in troubled times, and the tricks that were very useful in peacetime did not work at all. Especially the strength shown by Chen Xie, the emperor was quite jealous, from the initial suspicion to the later compromise, to trust and trust orphans, the whole process is actually Chen Xie's continuous contribution to the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, the main factor is the Ming Dynasty itself, military incompetence and political corruption, the two together highlight Chen Xie's strong ability and unshakable strength. Zhu Youzhen, who was once quite suspicious of Chen Xie, also thought about moving Chen Xie, but unfortunately it was a rat bogey. Don't dare to attack Chen Xie, if the emperor doesn't make up his mind, no matter how much trouble he makes, it's useless.

It can be said that the rise of Chen Xie is not only the rolling head of Jiannu and the ashes of the thieves, but also the decline of Yangzhou salt merchants. During the war, they couldn't help Chen Xie, and when the peace came, Chen Xie was not the object they dared to worry about. Even if a few people wanted to take a risk and make a joke about wanting to leave, the slightest rumor would be killed by the salt merchant first.

As a result, the two Huai salt merchants have a high hatred for Chen Xiecai, even if Chen Xie launched the Advisory Bureau and the dividend sharing brought by Kaihai, it is not enough to make the hatred disappear. Chen Gebu passed through Yangzhou, and the prefect Xie wanted to curry favor with Chen Xie, and asked his father and old Xianda to go to the dock to meet the cabinet lord's boat, but there were few responders. It was best to take his subordinate officials, as well as a few local gentry, with enough drummers, and wait for Chen Xie's arrival on the dock.

The sense of saving the two Huai salt merchants is reflected in their financial resources, but unfortunately in the Ming Dynasty it is better than silver, and all the two Huai salt can't compare to the current Chen Xie. Ordinary officials value salt merchants, and in the history of the Ming Dynasty, salt merchants called for wind and rain, because they were rich, and salt was an important income for the national economy.

The enthusiasm of Yangzhou's fathers and elders, Chen Xie, who was still on the boat, naturally couldn't feel it, even if he knew, it was useless. To use an inappropriate analogy, like a lion on the African savannah, does it divide its targets when hunting? It's not like you'll pounce on it if you meet it, and it depends on luck which unlucky guy you bite to death. Chen Xie's fortune in Daming is a hunt again and again. The salt merchant wasn't even a major target, at most he jumped into the river in a panic and was eaten by a crocodile while the lion was chasing his prey.

The crocodile is played by Chen Xie's collaborators, and Chen Xie himself has never looked at them squarely. has been staring at Huang Taiji, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other big guys, salt merchants in Chen Xie's eyes, even the qualifications of prey are not enough.

The enthusiasm of the "Yangzhou fathers" is in vain. Xie Zhifu's enthusiasm is sincere. The division of Nanzhili into two has been determined, just waiting for the Ministry of Officials to approve Chen Xie's list, at this time Chen Xie went north to Beijing, and did not seize the opportunity to pat himself on the back, what if this position in Yangzhou Mansion was taken by others? Don't look at him as Zhou Yanru's protégé, he really has no chance to resist in front of Chen Xie.

The Yangzhou officials and gentry waiting at the wharf kept hearing the news from the fast horses along the way, where did Chen Gebu pass, and how many roads he approached the Yangzhou wharf. Normal judgment is that Chen Xie may have passed through Yangzhou by water, so it is enough to greet him at the pier. As everyone knows, Chen Xie originally intended to go ashore in Jiangdu, and temporarily wanted to test the navigation of the steamship in the canal.

The test effect on this road is really not very good, the water of the canal is shallow, and problems begin to occur when the river is crossed. Paddle steamers were designed to sail on the sea, and it would be a disaster to walk through the canals. Fortunately, there are constantly light boats in front of this road to detect the hydrological situation, and the water from Jiangdu to Yangzhou section of the canal is still quite deep, so there is no tragedy of grounding.

Even so, when you go to Yangzhou, this test is over. So when he saw Yangzhou City, Chen Xie was also relieved. The Xie Zhifu and Yangzhou gentry on the dock were scared half to death.

When have you ever seen such a thing in the canal, forget about the long monster, you can see the black smoke billowing from a distance, two huge paddle wheels stirring the water, all the way through the waves, no sails, no slender man, not slow. Approaching the Yangzhou wharf, Chen Xie, who was on the deck, put down his binoculars and said, "Say hello to Yangzhou fathers." ”

Woo woo woo ......, the whistle whistle sounded, the water birds along the shore flew in fright, and the people on the dock were scared half to death, this Nima is a monster. Governor Xie directly made his butt on the ground, and there were not a few people who ran away with weak legs. When the steamer docked, the only ones who were still holding on were the officials in Yangzhou, and they were all trembling and their legs were weak.

Folklore has it that Chen Xie has the power of ghosts and gods, even among scholars, this statement is very marketable. Yangzhou is not Jiangnan, and it is rare to feel the strange cry of the steam engine. Especially ordinary people, when they saw this thing, many people knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing, begging this monster not to eat themselves. (To be continued......) R1292