"Do you think there's an inside story about this case?" Li Zhengjie raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Uncle, how did the Xiao family make their fortune?" Li Yao asked rhetorically.

"At that time, the Xiao family's business involved a lot, grain fabrics, gold and jade, jewelry, restaurants, inns, and pawnshops, and everything that could make money had the participation of the Xiao family." Li Zhengjie said while reminiscing.

"Then when did the Xiao family sell illicit salt?" Li Yao asked again.

"It was more than three years ago that the government seized a boatload full of illicit salt on the Xiao family's cargo ship, and everyone was stolen." Li Zhengjie said.

"In other words, the cargo ship that seized the Xiao family was loaded with illicit salt, and it may be the only time the Xiao family sold illicit salt?" Li Yao's eyes flashed.

"I went to check the file of the Xiao family's case yesterday, and it is true, the Xiao family's confession only admitted that it was the first and only time to sell illicit salt." Li Zhengjie nodded.

"Who in Da Zhou doesn't know that selling illicit salt is a capital crime, more than three years ago, the Xiao family was already the richest man in Da Zhou at that time, even if the benefits of selling illicit salt are huge, and they can attract others, but they can't attract the Xiao family, the head of the Xiao family can take care of the family business so well, how can he be such a stupid person, knowing that it will harm the family, and still do this?" Li Yao frowned.

"Your inference is correct, but at that time, there were hundreds of people in the Xiao family, and as mentioned in the file, the main culprit was not the head of the Xiao family, but the third son of the head of the Xiao family. Li Zhengjie said.

"How much profit can I make every year from selling illicit salt?" Li Yao asked again.

"If it is the imperial court, it can get millions of taels of profits every year." Li Zhengjie replied that he was in charge of the imperial court's finances and naturally knew about it.

"That's the imperial court, the sale of illicit salt by the people is a capital crime, the risk is extremely great, so it is natural to be sneaky, if you want not to attract the attention of the imperial court, you can get at most one and a half percent of the profits, that is to say, if the Xiao family sells illicit salt, they will earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year." Li Yao said.

"Hmm." Li Zhengjie calculated, and felt that it was impossible for the people to sell illicit salt to earn hundreds of thousands of taels without being discovered by the imperial court, and it would be considered lucky to earn 100,000 taels every year.

"How much wealth does the Xiao family have, and how much profit does it have every year?" Li Yao asked again.

"The Xiao family's wealth, just the silver ticket and the cash silver plus a piece, there are tens of millions of taels, the value of the jewelry and jade in the field shop is difficult to liquidate, and the annual income must be calculated according to one million taels." Li Zhengjie said.

"How many sons does the head of the Xiao family have?" Li Yao asked again.

"Four." Li Zhengjie replied.

"That's it, the head of the Xiao family has four sons, according to the practice of the Great Zhou, in addition to the official title in the family, the eldest son is given priority, and the family wealth is to be divided equally among the sons, that is to say, as the son of the head of the Xiao family, all of them are worth more than 10 million taels, they don't need to do illegal things to have an income of tens of millions of taels of silver every year, if it were me, I would definitely not be able to look at this private salt business, the risk is too great, and the benefits are far less than my serious business, why should I take this risk?" Li Yao said.

Li Zhengjie's eyes flashed, and he was a little persuaded by Li Yao.

They are such a noble family, generally disdain to take care of business, although there are basically some Zhuangzi shops in the hand, but they don't worry about business matters, they are all random to do some business, loss or earn, as long as it is generally earned, such as some of the more than 20 shops and a few Zhuangzi left by his mother, some of which have made and lost, plus a piece of silver can earn 10,000 taels of silver a year.

People like them naturally think a lot of the benefits of the 100,000 taels, but for the Xiao family, it seems that the interests of 100,000 taels can only be regarded as small profits, and there is really no need to take this risk to make this terrible money.