Three days later, Jiang Qing, the leader of the Earth Alliance, went to the capital with several deputy alliance leaders.

This matter was not unexpected by Qin Zhao, he said it so obviously, it would be strange if the other party was really so ignorant of current affairs.

If you do something wrong, you will pay the price, and this has been the case since ancient times.

Zhangtai Hall was the place where Qin Zhao and the important ministers discussed, and Qin Zhao did not meet these people there, but went to the Chang'an Palace, which was located in a more remote location.

At the first sight of him, the crowd waiting in the temple hurriedly knelt down and saluted.

That's right, just fell to the ground on both knees.

These tycoons who are powerful among the people are like quails at this time, and they dare not say anything except "Your Majesty forgives your sins".

In fact, Great Xia does not profess to bow down, such as the ministers in the hall, they only need to bow.

But criminals are exceptional.

Not to mention the sins of complicity among these people.

"Your courage is really not small, you don't want to die in order to make money." Qin Zhao didn't let them get up, and directly mocked coldly.

"Your Majesty, please condemn you." Jiang Qing didn't defend either, and continued to plead guiltily.

Qin Zhao looked at the five people kneeling in front of him.

The leader is none other than Jiang Qing, the leader of the Earth Alliance, who is an elegant and square-looking middle-aged man with three long beards under his chin.

If it weren't for the panic on his face at the moment, he would really have a bit of style.

The last four people have two middle-aged people, an old man, and a dignified young woman who still has charm.

In the past few days, Qin Zhao also learned about the situation of the various chambers of commerce in Great Xia from Zifei and recognized the identities of these people.

Jiang Qing's Juxian Chamber of Commerce is the strongest among them, and it is in the salt and iron business.

The second is the jewelry and antique business of the white-faced middle-aged He Rong and the old man Wan Guang.

Zhou Yang's cinnabar business and the black-faced middle-aged Duan Fei's cloth business were slightly worse.

Seeing this, Qin Zhao nodded secretly in his heart, this Jiang Qing is also smart, and he brings businessmen with good strength and relatively regular rules.

The more taboo grain and coinage merchants did not bring it.

At this time, in Great Xia, salt, iron, and coinage were not forbidden to be produced by the people, as long as it was not smuggled by foreign races, it would not violate the law.

But after all, this kind of behavior is a drain on the country's important resources, and has always been disliked by the rulers.

In fact, not only the major chambers of commerce, but also the princes like to do this kind of business. After all, the threshold is low and the profit is high, as long as there is a channel in this area, no one wants to make money through this thing.

In particular, the mint, not only is it profitable, but almost all the clean ones under their hands will be more or less mercury mixed in the coins, and one check is accurate.

Seeing that those merchants didn't come, Qin Zhao's mood eased slightly, but his face was still as cold and hard as ever, and he said in a deep voice: "Let you bring the things you brought." ”

Hearing this, the four people kneeling behind Jiang Qing's side each picked up a wooden box.

Among them, He Rong and Zhou Yang's arms were still trembling slightly, and they seemed to be a little afraid of the contents of the box.

"......" Looking at the other party's attitude, Qin Zhao was a little speechless in his heart.

It's all a thousand-year-old fox, what are you going to do here to play with me? A person who has the means to rule a huge chamber of commerce, how many heads will he be afraid of?

He waved his hand, and a guard stepped forward to take the wooden box.

Under his nod, the guards opened and inspected each other, and then the head of the guard, Jing Xia, walked up to him and reported in a low voice.

At this time, the guards of the inner palace have all been replaced by people who have cultivated to have an innate realm in the Yulin Army, and when there are more people in the future, Qin Zhao will also set up a separate organization to become independent in the Yulin Army.

As for the guards when he was the prince before, they were all arranged by Qin Zhao to the Xuanjia Army.

Tian Meng and others have a good foundation and are loyal, and they may be able to achieve something after training in the army, but in fact, he has high hopes for those people.

And the generals in the army also know the relationship between these people and him, and there will definitely be no shortage of proper care, as for whether they can succeed, they can only depend on themselves.

“…… Qiu Chi, the current director of Nanping Chamber of Commerce, Qian Bai, the director of Zhiyuan Chamber of Commerce, and Mo Ningyuan, the director of Anyu Chamber of Commerce. ”

Listening to Jing Xia's report, Qin Zhao blinked and looked at the few people who were kneeling on the ground, "That's it?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty's words, these are some of the heads of the Chamber of Commerce with relatively high status. We have cleaned up a total of more than 40 high-level leaders of the Earth Alliance this time, and we are afraid that your eyes will be dirty, so we didn't bring them today. ”

That's pretty much it. Qin Zhao was stunned.

"Well, you guys should get up first." Only then did he finally speak for the five of them to get up.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Jiang Qing and the others stood up with the pain in their knees.

"Jiang Qing, your Earth Alliance really has the means. It's a wild road, and I haven't found a few of your transportation channels. Looking at the five big businessmen standing in front of him, Qin Zhao sneered.

"I'm asking you now, is there still a chamber of commerce that is hoarding food?"

"There are no more chambers of commerce that have joined the local alliance, and all the hoarded food has been offered." Jiang Qing said respectfully, "As for the other chambers of commerce, as far as I know, there are not many of them. They do not have the means to pool resources, and they compete fiercely with each other. ”

This is similar to what Qin Zhao expected, after all, as long as there is no monopoly, such a thing as involution is difficult to avoid at any time.

"What happened to the chambers of commerce that you pushed out to be substitutes for the dead ghosts?" He didn't speak politely and bluntly.

"The Nanping Chamber of Commerce has smuggled foreign races, and the Anyu Chamber of Commerce and the Zhiyuan Chamber of Commerce have been hoarding a large amount of grain in disaster years, intending to sell ...... at a high price in the future."

Jiang Qing didn't dare to hide it, anyway, he himself had been cautious and had never done these things, and he immediately shook out all the sins of other people.

Listening to the other party's narration, Qin Zhao's expression became more and more gloomy. Even dare to smuggle, businessmen seek profits, and they really don't want their lives!

"Xiao Xia, you go and recruit the eldest princess to come over for discussion."

After Jiang Qing finished speaking, Qin Zhao first said to the inner palace guards who were standing respectfully on the side.

After Jing Xia left, he looked at the few people in front of him again, and said in a deep voice:

"Great Xia ruled the country by law, and Xia Lu was higher than everything. Since you yourselves are clean, you are guilty of being an accomplice.

"Now I give you a few choices, and you can decide for yourself what to do next.

"First, dissolve the Ground Alliance, this monopoly form of commercial organization is not allowed to continue to exist, and in the future, you will toss your own and hand over all your strongholds and transportation channels to the government.

"And I might as well tell you. After a while, the commercial tax will increase, and the price ceiling will be regulated by the local government, don't think about hoarding. ”

Jiang Qing was silent when he heard this, and continued to wait for the emperor's next words.

In fact, he had been mentally prepared for this before he came. But no matter what, being able to save a life is already earned, where do you dare to think about anything else.

"The second choice, be an imperial merchant!"

"Imperial Merchant?" Jiang Qing and the others were stunned when they heard this.

In this era, there was no concept of "imperial merchants", and the state obtained wealth through taxation, and it would not consider doing business itself.

Qin Zhao looked at a few people with puzzled expressions, and explained with words.

"The important industries of Great Xia, such as salt, iron, coinage, etc., will gradually be recovered from the private sector in the future, and only the government or imperial merchants can operate them.

"If you become an imperial merchant, the government will also make it convenient for you to trade textiles and fabrics.

"Besides, I'll give you a knighthood!"

And this kind of good thing?! Jiang Qing and the others were a little dumbfounded.

For these wealthy businessmen, they don't look down on the little bit of knighthood. But Yu Lu is not the key, the key is that in this way, their status is completely different!

You must know that in Great Xia, the status of merchants was not higher than that of yeoman farmers. No matter how rich you are, you have to respectfully call "master" when you see an errand person.

Although the officials and lords of Daxia are now separated, and there is no real power with titles, the status of the people is real, and it is convenient for future generations to enter the court as officials.

For these businessmen, it is simply an irresistible temptation.

Besides, didn't you listen to Your Majesty, you will have to raise taxes later, and you will have to take back the right to operate salt and iron.

They became imperial merchants, isn't it no different from monopoly?

In fact, Qin Zhao himself made a decision after careful consideration.

There is a specialization in the art industry, and these people can do this in business. also knows how to monopolize in groups, and there is no doubt that they are good at making money.

It's not convenient to control it yourself, so it's better to let them take care of themselves.

The tricks of the businessmen, or they themselves know best.

Moreover, the existence of merchants is necessary, especially in the future, the productivity of Daxia will develop rapidly, and the speed of resource transformation can be greatly accelerated with merchants.

He didn't have that much energy to study these things himself.

"Your Majesty, I don't know what we need to give?" Jiang Qing's tone was mixed with surprise and apprehension at this time, and he asked very cautiously.

Although he said that, he had already made up his mind that as long as it wasn't too much, he would choose the second path.

He is not short of money and wants to have a good background for his family.

"I want seventy percent of the profits!" Qin Zhao said in a deep voice.

Hearing this, Jiang Qing and the others looked very surprised.

Not too much, but a little less.

Jiang Qing's bottom line in his heart is eighty out of five, it doesn't matter if he makes less money, climbing to the emperor is better than anything else.

"Grass people, thank you, Your Majesty Longen!" So saying, he knelt down.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Longen!" The other four also fell to their knees.

"It's finished." Qin Zhao nodded secretly in his heart.

"Don't worry, you guys should calm down first. Since I am willing to do things for the court, I will not treat you badly. I'll show you something later. ”

As he spoke, he waited for Qin Xuan's arrival with peace of mind.

Although Jiang Qing and the others were a little puzzled when they heard this, they couldn't help but secretly look forward to it when they heard the emperor's intentions.

"For the rest, you are subject to the arrangement of the household department,"

Like all kinds of daily necessities, he definitely can't

Previously, these merchants were not easy to regulate

But with the [leyline rail car] in hand, these chambers of commerce

After all, even if the tax is heavier,