Cheng Chen followed behind into the mansion, the visual impact of entering the mansion all the way has made Cheng Chen numb, in this era, the golden silk nanmu is not included in the royal special, and the people are rarely useful, the entire mansion of this owner is the beams and pillars of the golden silk nanmu. There are also golden silk nan wood beds, golden silk nan wood tables and chairs in the room in front of you.

The spacious room is full of antique ornaments, how rich this owner is, it is better to see it than to hear it, Cheng Chen has already seen the luxury of Yangzhou salt merchants.

The moon climbed up the treetops, emitting a bright light, gilding the earth with a layer of silver, making the night scene of Yangzhou full of tranquility and peace.

The bright moonlight penetrated through the clouds and into a house, in which only a dim oil lamp was lit, and the moonlight in the room flickered and dimmed, and the mood of the person sitting at the top of the house was also cloudy.

A person sitting on the left side of the lower head saw that no one had spoken, and took the lead in speaking: "Yidou actually wants to earn twenty-five Wen, these three princes are really ruthless and black-hearted!" And it is based on the price of salt at more than 50 wen a bucket, so can we still make a profit? But is there still a way to live? ”

"Humph! It's just that we don't give a way to live, we work hard to transport salt on the way to eat and chew expenses, losses along the way, passing tariffs, and the filial piety above, how much can we get for a busy job? The person sitting opposite echoed indignantly, and after finishing speaking, he secretly glanced at the person at the top.

The person sitting at the top spoke, and said unhurriedly: "Two virtuous brothers, don't be angry, let's take care of it, but the nobles behind us can't stand it, the salt politics of the three princes has broken their profiteering business, let's just wait and watch the fun!" ”

The person sitting on the left side was a little relieved when he heard this, and asked, "What does the noble man want us to do?" ”

————————————————————

In the early morning of the next day, Cheng Chen was in the room after breakfast, thinking about the reform and carrying out the charter, and the door was pushed open with a "creak" and Lihong walked in.

"Miss! The host calls you! ”

Cheng Chen followed Lihong to the main hall, Xia Yiyu was already sitting on the top waiting for her, and when he saw Cheng Chen coming, he pointed to another seat on the top and asked her to sit there.

"Sit!"

Xia Yiyu was very satisfied with Cheng Chen's unshirkable and obedient sitting on the top: "You first see that this is me investigating the salt merchants and salt shops in Yangzhou City, as well as the relationship with the powerful, and then talk about where to start next!" ”

Cheng Chen took the notebook handed over, and after reading it, he thought for a moment and then said, "Your Highness! We must use thunder means, anyway, what we are doing is an errand that offends people. ”

Xia Yiyu said calmly: "It's okay, it doesn't matter if you offend ruthlessly!" ”

Cheng Chen shook his head and said with a wry smile: Your Highness, post a notice:

1. The government collects a bucket of salt for ten yuan.

2. It is stipulated that the boiled households are only allowed to sell to the government, and if they are sold to other places without permission, those who sell less than one stone shall be imprisoned for three years, and those who sell more than one stone shall be sentenced to beheading. And promised a heavy reward order, and the households supervised each other. ”

"Hmmm! What else? Xia Yiyu asked.

Cheng Chenwei said: "There are also the twenty officials who asked the household department to come, each of whom took fifty to the warehouses and shops of the big salt merchants to count the inventory, we need to know how much salt they have in store, to prevent them from controlling the salt market, putting away all the salt, causing a salt shortage, even if it causes a salt panic for a short time, the reform will be affected."

After the proclamation of the proclamation, those salt merchants could only be the third salt sellers, and after that, each bucket of salt boilers received ten wen, the imperial court got twenty-five wenwen, and the remaining twenty wen was divided between the salt merchants and the retailers. ”

Cheng Chen paused and said: "So let's make a heavy reward order, there must be a brave man under the heavy reward, anyone can report, the servant can get rid of the slave status, once it is verified that there is a hundred stones of salt hidden outside the registration, the head of the family will be punished with three months of hard labor." ”

After Cheng Chen finished speaking, he remembered and asked, "Your Highness, are those people in the household department used to check the accounts?" ”

"That's right! Those are the masters of auditing, and these people must be made to spit out some of them. That household member Wailang is an upright man! ”

Cheng Chen dissuaded: "Your Highness, my subordinates feel that this is a critical juncture, and nothing has been implemented yet, so it is not appropriate to cause more trouble!" We are new to the government, and many things need the cooperation of the government, otherwise these people will disobey the yin and secretly stumble on the reform and delay the process! ”

Xia Yiyu nodded and said, "Hmm! You have a point! Wait until everything is on track! ”

Cheng Chen had other worries, so he said: The reform can be successfully completed as long as it is done step by step without making mistakes, and the credit is very simple, of course, there may be people who are blinded by interests, and these need to be known later. Now it should be noted that the second prince is on his side, and His Royal Highness did not communicate with him in this matter, which will make the second prince estranged from His Royal Highness. ”

Can it be said that the emperor asked for secrecy? Xia Yiyu frowned.

Cheng Chen shook his head and said: "It's useless, the second prince will only see that Your Highness has made a great contribution, and you can't see anything else negative, there is only one way to eliminate the barrier, just see if Your Highness is willing or not!" ”

"You say!"

"The gold mine is not discovered, His Royal Highness gives the credit to the second prince, His Royal Highness has already reformed the salt industry and the method of drying salt in the ditch, which is a great merit, these two credits are the same salt industry is easy to accept, and one more great merit will backfire? And His Royal Highness still has to help the second prince, and he can't be too weak, after all, the eldest prince is the eldest son, and the second prince's mother is just a concubine. ”

"Huh! The hero sees the same thing, after the matter of the gold mine is confirmed, I also think about it for the second emperor brother, no, you are not a hero, you are a girl, you think about it again, how about being the concubine of this prince? ”

Cheng Chen didn't want to answer, so he changed the topic and said: "Your Highness, let's talk about the establishment of the yamen, and the twenty officials that Your Highness is going to come will also have a place to use!" The person in charge of the salt industry needs to choose an honest person. ”

"Hmmm! I plan to appoint Zeng Gongye as the first director of the salt industry, and there will be an appointment approval after the performance. "Although Cheng Chen's avoidance of the 'concubine' made Xia Yiyu unhappy, he didn't want to entangle more. Xia Yiyu also got down to business.

"Your Highness, Lord Wailang Zeng, a member of the household department, asks to see you!" Lihong came in to report.

Cheng Chen stood up and said, "Your Highness! The subordinates avoided it first. ”

"No, sit down!" Xia Yiyu spoke to stop it. "Lihong, let him in."

"Your Highness, something is wrong!"

Zeng Gongren was still outside the front door and shouted in a hurry, but the sound arrived first.

"Lord Zeng! Please sit down and talk slowly, what's wrong? ”

Zeng Gong gave a salute and sat down, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Cheng Chen sitting with him.

"Your Highness, this girl?" Zeng Gong frowned slightly, a little dissatisfied with Xia Yiyu's absurdity.

Xia Yiyu pretended not to see Zeng Gong's dissatisfied look, and said, "It's okay, you go on!" ”

"Humph!" Zeng Gong snorted coldly at Cheng Chen! The meaning is self-explanatory. Why are you so ignorant? Still not leaving?

Cheng Chen was speechless in embarrassment......

"Master Zeng, please say something!" Xia Yiyu was also dissatisfied with this person's stubborn temper and was a little impatient.