"Then what can we do? People have swords and soldiers, can we say that the little private soldiers in our families still dare to fight against them?" Someone immediately retorted disapprovingly, "That's self-defeating!"

"Hmph, if I really want to call you to do this, you won't agree!" The short, fat man with a white beard pursed his lips disdainfully, "But everyone must know that if we don't show our own determination and strength, the Xuzhou side will not take our opinions to heart at all, and the hearts of the two brothers are not on our Huaizuo side for a long time, and they are not on our side in the first place, so it is better to rely on us to rely on them to speak for us!"

"But what can we do on our own?" shouted in the hall, "We have expressed to Xuzhou that we are willing to surrender and surrender, and are willing to be loyal to the king of Pengcheng County, but the government has never had a clear attitude, so if it drags on like this, don't think about it." ”

"I'm afraid they still want to settle the matter on Li Wu's side before they can talk to us, so now we must unify our opinions, and we must show them that our Yangzhou gentry are united, and we can't let them handle it casually, otherwise they will make a price casually, won't we all have to bow down and obey orders?"

"Brother Dao Fang, you can come up with a strategy, the big guy is waiting for you to come up with an idea. The cadres finally slowly unified their opinions, "It's to unify our own hearts while they are still talking to Li Wu, otherwise it will be over by them in the future." ”

"Brother Ziyuan, what is your opinion?" Seeing that the white-faced and beardless short and fat man had finally unified the hearts of these people, he slowly said to the man who had been holding a teacup on the side and just sipping tea.

"I, I don't have any opinions, just look at it. ”

The old thin man who was called Brother Ziyuan said in a dark brown satin robe, and the huge patches on his face were extremely dark, which made people feel a little gloomy at first glance, at least everyone's eyes were a little more awe when they looked at the past, but there were also some people who gloated in their hearts.

Tang Fu Tang Ziyuan, the head of the Tang family in Yangzhou, is also the most famous salt merchant in Yangzhou, and there are several quality warehouses and cabinet workshops, and the maritime merchant fleet with big food and sea merchants and shares goes abroad, and it is also in the top three in the entire Yangzhou gentry and merchant group.

Slightly different from the gentry in other places, the gentry and wealthy families in Yangzhou are not all landlords who rely on land rent, of course, they also have a large amount of land outside Yangzhou or in Hailing, Liuhe and Gaoyou, but their maximum annual income does not come from the land, but each has their own business income.

Like Xu Ling, who was called Brother Daofang, Xu Daofang is a famous landowner in Liuhe, but what really made Xu's development was the salt industry engaged in by Xu's family, he almost underwrote the entire sea salt from Yancheng, Haizhou, and became a big salt merchant second only to Tang Fu, and also had great business dealings with Tanyue, Xuanzhou, Tanzhou, and Yuezhou's oil in Yangzhou was almost all represented by him.

"Brother Ziyuan, you are the leader of our Yangzhou gentry, we are all the only ones who look at you, now that the situation is so bad, you have to stand up and say a word for us, right?"

"Yes, Brother Ziyuan, even Lord Yan Xu Yan visited you first as soon as he arrived in Yangzhou, and Lord Yan didn't dare not listen to your words, which is also the voice of our Yangzhou gentry. ”

After a few excuses, but he couldn't push it, Xu Lingcai put down the teacup and said slowly: "Actually, I thought you don't have to be too anxious, the county king still has a lot to do in the north, like the situation in the Central Plains is not calm, the Shatuo people are strong, and Xuzhou also has a lot of pressure, and ah, I heard that the situation in Heshuo in the north is not calm, and the county king is also very uneasy, so the county king wants to settle the people in the north, and if he wants to resist the Hu people, he will definitely continue to recruit troops and horses, what does he need most to recruit troops and horses?"

"Money, Food,......"

"Weapons, iron, horses, ,......"

"Yes, everyone is right, we have food, we have Yangzhou, we also have money, weapons, warships, we also produce in Yangzhou, as well as cloth, salt, oil, we also have Yangzhou, these things are in our hands, or through our collection,......" Xu Ling may feel that his words were a little too explicit, and quickly took them back," I mean, the county king and Lord Yan will definitely think of us, otherwise Lord Yan would not have come to find so-and-so, the war in the north is together, and the silver money will flow like flowing water when the war starts, but where does the money come from?"

A cadre of gentry and businessmen looked at each other, isn't this still a return to the old topic? Or does it fall to the cadres here?

"Big guy, you have to understand a little bit, now it's not Yang Wu, it's not Li Wu, the county king is not our Yangzhou, nor is it our Huainan County king, he is the king of Pengcheng County, and he is also in charge of Henan Province and more than a dozen prefectures and counties, I believe everyone has heard of the situation in these states and counties, the people are not happy, or there will be so many people in the north every year?" Xu Ling said coldly.

"The north wants to fight, don't want money, silver, grain, cloth, and silk? The north is broken, where does it come from? The big guys are wondering if it is Shouzhou Luzhou, yes, Shouzhou Luzhou will definitely take it out, but everyone has not thought that the county king will go north to Xuzhou, and then fight Yanyun Pinglu, which is all supported by Shouzhou Luzhou, and now the county king has sat firmly in the north, and the merit is rewarded, Shoulu is indispensable, but the next step is to fight, do you say that the county king will still ask Shoulu to pay for food? Now that we have a replaceable Chu Yang, we are a new annex, and King Yu has no credit, do you think it is time for us to pay for the grain?"

"What does Brother Fang mean?"

"We can't avoid money and grain, but we can't give money and grain but have no name and no point, there is no strategy, and if we give money and grain, Xuzhou should also give us an explanation, or a rule, we can't take this as a rule, and there are ,......"

"Brother Daofang, I'm afraid the government won't be so easy to get along with,......" a white-haired old man said nemesly.

"It's up to us to be able to unite as one. Xu Ling said lightly, "Our Yangzhou gentry are not simple gentry, they are also a group with huge business, there is no reason to be taken casually, of course, we are not going to confront anyone, for the king of Pengcheng County, our Yangzhou gentry resolutely support, but we also need to ask Xuzhou to consider the actual situation of our Yangzhou." ”

A cadre of people looked at each other, these gentry and businessmen were all veterans who had been rolling in the mall for many years, and they could naturally hear the hidden meaning in Xu Ling's words.

If you want to bargain with Xuzhou, there is a huge risk here, but if you let others slaughter, it is difficult to accept, if there is a leader to carry this banner, they can also follow behind the flag and shout, see that the situation is not right, you can also retreat immediately.

"Brother Dao Fang, tell me a strategy, what can we do?"

"There are so many of us, the clothing, food, housing and transportation in Yangzhou City are controlled by us, even though Xuzhou has an army to suppress the formation, but we believe that Xuzhou will not be willing to see a depressed Yangzhou, nor will it tolerate the emergence of a chaotic Yangzhou, in fact, we are also willing to cooperate well with Xuzhou to serve the king of the county, but we must ask Xuzhou to respect the requirements of our Yangzhou gentry. ”

As soon as Xu Ling's words came out, he also attracted the echo of a large group of gentry and businessmen, but there were also some businessmen and gentry who were silent.

These words already have a faint taste of crossing the line, of course, they can bargain with these big merchants and gentry, but like ordinary businessmen, if they are mixed in, they may be squeezed into powder at any time.

"Tang Fu and Xu Ling?" Yan Xu laughed playfully, "These guys who don't know whether they are alive or dead, they are really a little tough, but they seem to think too highly of their own weight, the group of gentry and businessmen in Yangzhou is so large, they think they can represent everyone?"

"Brother must be guarded, in case they really stop the city when the county king comes to Yangzhou, the brother's face is not good-looking, and the county king will definitely have an opinion on the brother. Yan Xu was a little anxious, and said busily: "There are many followers now, and the momentum is very big." ”

"Hehe, second brother, you think too much, the county king's coming to Yangzhou is just a matter on the scene, and now the county king doesn't have much mind in Yangzhou, yes, it's not these gentry and businessmen. Yan Xu smiled lightly, "Before the foolish brother came, the county king made it clear that the Yangzhou gentry didn't mean much to him, let the foolish brother let it go, but the merchant group should make good use of it." ”

"Gentry and merchants?" Yan Xu was a little puzzled, "What does this mean?"

"Very simply, the king of the county does not value the gentry, but he is somewhat interested in the merchants of Yangzhou, thinking that simple Yangzhou merchants can be used by us. Yan Xu's words were also full of an indescribable complex emotion, "The Yangzhou gentry and the merchant group are too tightly intertwined, especially those salt merchants and money merchants, which are basically controlled by the gentry family, which is not in line with the interests of Xuzhou, so ......"

Yan Xu was shocked, "The king of the county wants to ...... these people"

"Not necessarily, it depends on whether they are aware of the current affairs. Yan Xu said leisurely: "On the contrary, like silk merchants and weavers, shipyard owners and maritime merchants, the king of the county is very interested, I can feel that the king of the county has no ill will towards them, so in the next step, we will also act according to the intention of the king of the county." ”

Yan continued to be silent, and only after a while did he say, "Why is there such a difference between the county kings?"

Yan Xu was also a little puzzled, as if he was thinking about the explanation of the county king at that time: "The county king only said that salt merchants, who seek huge profits by monopoly privileges, are moths, and the government can replace them, and usury merchants should also be restricted, while shipowners, silk merchants, and maritime merchants can produce goods and bring circulation ,......."