The winter sun shines on the entire verdant Jiangnan as if covered with a layer of gold leaf.

The area around the sparkling Hongze Lake is full of guards officers and soldiers who have returned to their hometowns together, and their faces can't help but be filled with joy for the coming of the New Year.

Some are ready to go to Huai'an Mansion to buy some New Year's goods to go home, some can't wait to board the ship and go home, and some threaten to go to Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places.

Yan Yingyuan also led his war horse and went to Jiangyin with fellow villagers Chen Mingyu and Feng Houdun.

Today's Yan Yingyuan was selected into the Xiucai Camp from the very beginning.

Although he is low-key, he is not as sharp as Gu Yanwu and other young talents, but he is also supported by a cadre of scholars with his calm and introverted personality and unique leadership ability.

Chen Mingyu and Feng Houdun had also served as captains of the Class A Infantry Battalion in the Second and Third Armies respectively.

The three of them can be regarded as entering the stream this time, and they are also returning to their hometowns, Yan Yingyuan led the war horse, and wiped and wiped the steel knife in his hand.

Chen Mingyu and Feng Houdun held Chongzhen's fourteen-style flintlock pistol like a beauty in their arms, and they didn't dare to let go.

According to the requirements of Zhou Yuji, who was in charge of cavalry training, the officers and men of the cavalry battalion had to carry their war horses with them, and they should never leave for a moment as if they were newly married daughters-in-law.

The same is true for Yan Yingyuan today, every time he goes to a town, he can't forget to buy some beans for his jujube red horse to feed.

Even Chen Mingyu and Feng Houdun wanted to ride, but he refused to agree.

"Brother Yan, I'm about to go to Yangzhou, it's rare to pass by now, or we will go back to Jiangyin in the city for a day, I heard that there are beauties in Yangzhou City, and Yangzhou thin horses are even more specialty."

Chen Mingyu took out the silver dollar in his arms as he spoke: "Your Majesty has sent us so much ringing silver this time, if you don't take it out and spend it, wouldn't it be a waste to carry it in vain?" ”

"No, you and I are both officers of the Guards, and I am responsible for recovering the northern capital, so you have to be decent, and you can't be as prodigal as before!"

After Yan Yingyuan said this, he went to the roadside tea pavilion and sat down and asked for a bowl of tea to quench his thirst.

Chen Mingyu and Feng Houdun came over to pick up Yan Yingyuan, and they were about to go to Yangzhou City: "Let's go, Brother Yan, let's not go to Yangzhou to find a thin horse, we just listen to the music, can't we listen to the music, I heard that Li Xiangjun is now in Yangzhou, this person's song must be listened to!" ”

Yan Yingyuan couldn't get rid of it, so he had to enter the city.

Zhu Youzhen also entered Yangzhou City at this time, but he did not enter the city because of Li Xiangjun, but because he wanted to see the salt merchants in Yangzhou.

Because the two Huai salt envoys and the imperial history of the salt patrol are here, so that Yangzhou has been a gathering place for salt merchants since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, especially after Ye Qi, the head of the household department, changed the grain branch salt to the silver branch salt during the Hongzhi period, the salt merchants no longer need to go back and forth from the border town to the salt producing area, and they do not need to pay grain in the border town.

Zhu Youzhen has already shown that salt and iron are monopolized by the imperial court, but this has little impact on salt merchants, after all, salt and iron were originally sold by salt merchants for the imperial court.

For Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen, what he needs to care about now is how much tax the salt merchants can provide to the imperial court, and whether the current salt introduction system has a bad impact on the people's salt use.

Of course, Zhu Youzhen was just passing through Yangzhou at this time, and he didn't want to make a big move and take back the salt introduction system.

But he has always had the idea of letting the imperial court decide the price of salt.

Zhu Youzhen also knew that official salt was of inferior quality and expensive compared to private salt, so that the common people generally could not eat good salt, and they could only buy it from illegal salt dealers.

As a result, the salt tax of the imperial court was greatly affected, and even due to the collusion between officials and businessmen, the salt was lost or sold at a low price.

Zhu Youzhen thought about whether to take back the salt introduction system, which was produced by the imperial court and sold wholesale to merchants at low prices, and then retailed by merchants to the people of the world.

In other words, the imperial court controlled the pricing and production power, and at the same time reduced the profitable value of daily necessities such as salt, and once the official salt price was extremely low, there was no room for smuggled salt to survive.

And the power rent-seeking space of official salt has also been reduced, after all, there is not much difference between the price and cost of adulterated salt and qualified salt.

However, this means that the profits made by the imperial court by controlling the salt industry are likely to be reduced, and at the same time, it also discourages the interests of salt smuggling groups.

In the Ming Dynasty, smuggling salt is a felony, as the saying goes, Confucianism is a violation of the law, and chivalry is forbidden by force.

Those who dare to smuggle salt are not ordinary people with simple backgrounds, except for outlaws, most of them are rich businessmen, famous families, and even the army and pirates.

If Zhu Youzhen curbs the living space of smuggled salt and abolishes the salt channel, it will touch the interests of almost the entire upper strata of society, even his own interests.

It can be said that Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen was the biggest salt dealer in the Ming Empire.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen has not yet figured out how to move the big cake of the salt industry.

In order to avoid provoking contradictions among the internal ruling groups, although Zhu Youzhen reiterated that salt and iron were to be sold by the imperial court after arriving in Nanjing, he did not say how to sell them, nor did he say that he wanted to abolish the salt introduction system, let alone take back the right to set prices for salt.

However, after Zhu Youzhen arrived in Nanjing, a series of reforms in tax administration and money law still made the salt merchants vigilant, and they all felt that His Majesty would not let go of the fertile land of the salt industry.

Will the salt introduction be opened next year, what is the collection law of the salt tax, how the imperial court plans to sell salt, how the salt merchants play and whether the private salt will have a big impact.

These have become the questions on the minds of Yangzhou salt merchants.

However, Zhu Youzhen has also been doing Tai Chi and does not give a clear answer.

So that these salt merchants did not dare to act lightly, even when Zhu Youzhen cracked down on the Donglin Party and reformed the tax administration and money law some time ago, these Yangzhou salt merchants with relatives, bureaucrats, and clan backgrounds kept silent, just for fear of angering Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen and retaliating against them through the reform of the salt industry.

"At present, the salt merchants in Yangzhou are concerned about whether there will be a big move in the salt industry next year, and the two Huai salt envoys and the imperial history of the salt patrol have also asked Weichen many times, but Weichen has not made a clear answer, everything is as instructed by His Majesty, everything is waiting for the will of the imperial court, and now I hear that His Majesty is passing by Yangzhou, and I am looking forward to it."

When Li Mingrui, the governor of Huaiyang, sat in Zhu Youzhen's dragon chariot and spoke, he had already heard the noise of gongs and drums outside Yangzhou, the sound of firecrackers, and suddenly the sound of shouting long live came and went.

Li Mingrui couldn't help but have a black line on his face: "Your Majesty forgives me, Weichen has already greeted the Yandao Yamen and asked them not to make a big deal and do this to disturb the people, but I didn't expect it to be avoided." ”