The Great Wei Salt Law followed the system of the previous dynasty, and salt merchants who transported and sold salt had to pay salt tax silver to the Yamen of the Salt Transportation Envoy and receive a certificate for the transportation and sale of salt. 【Latest chapter reading. Only then can you go to the designated salt-producing area to buy salt from the stove household, and sell it to the designated salt-producing area. However, to receive salt, it is necessary to use the certificate of the introduction nest, also known as the root of the nest, the root nest, that is, to prove that you have the privilege of transporting and selling salt. In order to obtain this privilege, the salt merchants had to confess to the yamen of the salt transport envoy. When you recognize the nest, you have to pay a huge amount of silver. The salt merchant who held the lead had the hereditary privilege of transporting and selling salt.

Salt merchants, transport merchants, field merchants, and general merchants.

Nest merchants are merchants who obtain the nest, and there are also those who transport and sell salt by themselves, and there are also those who are unable to trade due to the shortage of capital, so they rent the nest to the merchant who has no nest to transport and sell salt, so there is a nest merchant and transporter. Nest merchants rely on monopoly to lead nests and reap huge profits.

The transporter is the tenant, who first rents the nest from the nest merchant, pays the "nest price", and then goes to the salt transportation envoy Yamen to ask for a guide, and uses the salt to buy salt from the field dealer in the designated salt-producing area, and sells it to the designated salt sales area.

A dealer is a middleman who buys salt from a stove in a designated salt farm and sells it to a transporter. The market merchants have the monopoly privilege of purchasing all the salt produced in the salt farm, and adopt the method of unequal exchange to squeeze the stove households.

The general merchant is the salt transportation envoy Yamen, and the one who chooses the one with solid family and strong capital among the transportation merchants is named the general merchant. Its main task was to levy salt taxes from salt merchants for the salt transportation of the yamen. The general merchant has a strong economic power and has the closest relationship with the government, and is a giant among the salt merchants.

Salt merchants monopolized the entire process of salt circulation throughout the country, wantonly lowered the buying price, raised the selling price, exploited the stove households and ordinary people, and colluded with the salt officials to benefit each other and grab huge wealth.

The two Huai salt taxes are excessively levied and miscellaneous taxes. The list of salt courses includes a total of 25 items in the main course, 9 items in the main course, 4 items in the main course, 30 miscellaneous items in the non-performance examination, and 25 miscellaneous items in the non-performance examination. Taking the salt from Lianghuai to Hankou as an example, the main lesson of one salt introduction is one tael and one penny and seven cents and zero, but after adding various miscellaneous classes one after another, it has reached a huge amount of 20 taels, which is staggering. In addition to this formal and informal exorbitant taxes, there are also various expenses to support the huge salt administration personnel to be paid by the salt merchants, and there are also "filial piety" to the salt officials, and these are all added to the salt price, which is borne by the ordinary people and stove households.

It is conceivable how high the price of salt in Dawei is!

In the face of high salt prices, smuggled salt dealers became popular, and the smuggled salt dealers fought repeatedly on the two Huai River transportations, and even young and strong laborers from ten miles and eight villages joined the salt gang, which caused the illegal salt to overflow.

As early as after Xiao Ye was renamed the king of Huai'an, Shang Jingyun sent people to pay attention to the news of Lianghuai.

Now that Zhou Hong is begging shàng mén to come, Xiao Ye just has an excuse to meddle in the salt affairs of Lianghuai, which can be regarded as the right time.

After Zhou Hong went back, his expression was much more relaxed.

Zhou Hao followed him to the Huai'an Palace, and when the master and servant entered the study, he was a little excited: "My lord, can you close the net?" ”

"What, you can't wait?" Zhou Hong was almost amused by him: "Since I took up the post of two Huai salt transport envoys, have you all been very aggrieved?" On the surface, he seems to be constrained by his subordinates, the government decree is not smooth, and the salt business is still a mess, and the slightest touch will affect the interests of many people, and there is no way to clean up the roots.

Zhou Hao couldn't help but complain: "Adults don't know, what are Qiao Liping's gang talking about adults behind their backs?" Said that the adult is a reckless martial artist, who knows nothing but fighting. The subordinates listened to it and all felt sorry for the adult. Adults don't know strategy, they just want to find out the bottom of the two Huai salt roads. How many people were arrested before, but only insignificant people were caught, and in the latest arrest operation, the adults were even very discouraged, Qiao Liping and they were probably guessing whether the adults were going to give up cleaning up the two Huai salt roads. ”

Lianghuai Salt Road**, the identity of the smuggling salt dealer and the transporter is suspicious, when the government investigates, the canal that is navigated may be the imperial court transporter with legal procedures, but ...... As soon as he turned into a smuggler of salt, he swaggered past the officers and soldiers who investigated the smuggling of salt.

There is no black and white thing in this world, and after a year of infiltration, the people sent out by Zhou Hong have also roughly figured out the two Huai salt affairs, except for special secret things.

"Give up the inventory of the Lianghuai Salt Road, isn't this exactly what Qiao Liping wants?" Zhou Hong had a sarcastic smile on his lips.

Of course, Qiao Liping hopes that the adults will give up the inventory of the two Huai Salt Roads, but he is black and white. I don't know if the salt transport envoy knew it before, or ...... Everyone is a grasshopper on a rope? Zhou Hao guessed.

"These things can only be known when the liquidation is over." Zhou Hong's eyes were extremely cold: "Speaking of which, Qiao Liping is really a good relative, he not only made a fortune himself, but also thought about his relatives, the news came the day before yesterday, it seems that the third room of the Guo family also participated in the sharing of money, and I don't know if it was after the Guo family mother and daughter came, or was it a practice that had existed before?" ”

The scout reconnaissance capability of the Southeast Water Barracks is still good, and after more than a year of slow infiltration, some people have been able to touch useful information.

The two discussed for a long time about the two Huai salt affairs.