The imperial army was defeated, and the whole army was annihilated.

The army of 10,000 people organized by the salt merchants at their expense also suffered heavy losses, less than 1,000 people returned alive, and most of them were insane, violently stimulated, and kept muttering "defeated, defeated", and few could speak normally.

Even so, what happened on the battlefield, Yangzhou salt merchants also knew at the speed of light.

A bolt from the blue.

It was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.

In the Salt Chamber of Commerce, the salt merchants who were still thinking about how to divide the wealth of Xujiazhuang a few days ago fell into silence at the moment, and they couldn't say a word for a long time.

The sky fell.

The attack on Harbour City failed miserably, and the losses on Xujiazhuang's side were almost zero, proving that it could not be shaken by force.

The sea salt business, I'm afraid they won't be able to get it back, and the foundation for their survival will be broken.

In the future, I am afraid that the profiteering business that will earn countless silver comfortably will be completely lost, and their sky will fall.

"What should I do, what should I do?"

Wang Zengshou, the head of the Wang family, finally couldn't help but speak: "What about the army of the imperial court? Why is there no news from the imperial army, has Xujiazhuang been taken? ”

"There is no trace of the imperial army, and Xujiazhuang is safe and sound, but it must also be defeated." Another salt merchant said in a deep voice.

"This ...... All of them are defeated, Xujiazhuang is so powerful, what should we do? Or we still agree to Xujiazhuang's conditions, buy them 20 wen a catty of snow salt, and sell it at a price of 200 wen a catty, so that we will not suffer much. The voice of compromise and concession appeared, and hearing this weak and compromising words, many salt merchants present nodded their heads and felt quite reasonable.

"No! You must not back down, once you succumb to Xujiazhuang, you have to look at their faces in the future, you can increase the price of salt as much as you want, life and death are in the hands of Xujiazhuang, and you will live like a slave dog! Do you want to do this kind of business? ”

Majiliang stood up, his eyes red glaring at each salt merchant.

In fact, these salt merchants are all dogs raised by officials and nobles to collect money, and in the eyes of officials and nobles, their status is similar to that of subordinate slaves, and they are ATM-like existences, and they do not have much status.

It's just that compared with the high-ranking officials of the imperial court and the nobles of the Ming Dynasty, what is he Xujiazhuang? What qualifications are there to be worthy of their knees and refuge in salt merchants?

Is he worthy of Xu Jiazhuang?

"Hit! We will continue to fight until Xujiazhuang makes concessions and returns the sea salt business to us! Majilian said toughly.

"Still fighting? What do we fight? The imperial army has been defeated, can we beat Xujiazhuang? ”

Xiao Changwan, the head of the Xiao family, asked, he was a little lacking in confidence, and the sea salt business was about to be cut off, if the situation continued to deteriorate and the salt market was occupied by Xujiazhuang, they would be completely finished, and at this moment he began to lean towards peace.

"Business war, we will fight a full-scale business war with Xujiazhuang!"

Ma Jiliang said: "Xujiazhuang has expanded too fast during this time, absorbing too many people, there will be a shortage of food, as long as we strictly control the grain and prohibit the flow into Xujiazhuang, it will not be long before Xujiazhuang will be short of food, and the food is in our hands, Xujiazhuang will not get a single grain, and it will be impossible to compromise at that time." ”

"That's right! Xujiazhuang has taken away our sea salt business, but our Yangzhou merchants control it, not only sea salt? Grain, it is forbidden to sell to Xujiazhuang! Cotton, not allowed to enter Xujiazhuang! There are also timber, coal and iron mines, all blocked from entering the territory controlled by Xujiazhuang, in less than three months, Xujiazhuang will beg us for mercy, and this is a full-scale business war, as long as we are united, just Xujiazhuang, we will be able to win! ”

Ma Jiliang clenched his fists and said with a fighting spirit.

It's just that his proposal, the response of the businessmen present was not very enthusiastic.

It is very possible to fight a full-scale business war with Xujiazhuang, and with the energy of all of them combined, it is very possible to completely block and block Xujiazhuang, and it is indeed not difficult to do.

It's just that among the Yangzhou businessmen, there are too many people who have business dealings with Xujiazhuang.

The stakes are too big and too many.

There are even some businessmen who live by doing business with Xujiazhuang, how can they be willing to give up their own interests?

If you really want to fight a full-scale business war with Xujiazhuang, you must first clean up your own internal affairs, otherwise it is impossible to achieve a comprehensive ban.

And the group of businessmen has always been to speak with interests, if there is milk, it is a mother, and even internal intrigues, it is impossible for Ma Jiliang to raise his arms and shout a word, and he will achieve internal unity, how old is he Ma Jiliang?

So not long after the salt merchants' meeting, the relevant information was obtained by the intelligence department of Xujiazhuang.

There was also a businessman who acted as an internal ghost, who used a miniature tape recorder to record the content of the meeting, and put it on Xu Yuan's desk the next day.

"All-out business war? If this big move is really adopted, with Xujiazhuang's current dependence on a variety of raw materials, it will really bring a lot of negative impact. ”

Xu Yuan took a breath and actually felt a certain threat, because even if his Xujiazhuang has a high degree of self-sufficiency and modern society to rely on, even so, he can't shout 'Xujiazhuang is not afraid of blockade at all', because there are no mines underground in Xinghua County, and the cultivated land area is limited, and the degree of dependence on foreign countries is still quite high.

"Lord Zhuang, Ma Jiliang can't do this, the business community in Yangzhou is not the only one in his Ma family, and he can't compensate for everyone's losses with benefits, except for a few salt merchants, who will follow his words?"

Luo Houping, a fat businessman, flattered Xu Yuandao with a flattering face, since the day he was willing to become a ghost in the salt merchant, he took the risk to provide a number of high-value information, although he also experienced a few days of worry and apprehension, but at this moment, he was the happiest, because he stood on the right side, stood on the side of the winner, not only did not become a loser, but also brought him huge benefits.

"You're doing a great job."

Xu Yuan looked at Luo Houping with appreciation, felt that his fat face was very pleasing and cute, and said to him: "From now on, you are the priority agent of snow salt in Harbour City, and the snow salt will be wholesaled to you in unlimited quantities, and in a few days, you will be the new No. 1 salt merchant in Yangzhou!" In addition, Xujiazhuang's special commercial goods, you also have agency qualifications, all overseas markets, all handed over to you to develop and agent! As a reward for you to take the initiative to join Xujiazhuang. ”

"Thank you, owner! Thank you, owner! ”

Luo Houping, whose wish was finally realized, knelt down on the spot excitedly, kowtowing with a bang, and even wanted to recognize Xu Yuan as a godfather despite his age.

Xu Yuan was both helpless and glad that this exercise was shattered, because fortunately the merchants were this kind of undisciplined and mercenary group, just like those Jin merchants who transported grain, grass and weapons to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, as long as there were enough benefits, the rope that hanged them could be sold, let alone the righteousness of the family and the country.

Because of this, Ma Jiliang, the first salt merchant in Yangzhou, could not win the unanimous support of the merchants.

……

April 23.

Yangzhou, when Ma Jiliang was still trying to win over other businessmen, called for a complete blockade of Xujiazhuang and a full-scale business war.

The Luo family's transportation caravan put hundreds of truckloads of snow salt pulled from the harbor city to the sea salt trading market for public sale, with a wholesale price of 20 wen a catty of high-grade snow salt, and only increased the price to 35 wen a catty for sale, and there is no limit, anyone can buy it.

Buzz.

This batch of snow salt was frantically snapped up, and it was sold out after a while, and the brand of snow salt in Harbour City was an instant hit.

"The snow salt of Harbour City has entered Yangzhou! The Luo family betrayed us and has defected to Xujiazhuang! ”

Hearing this heavy news that spread all over Yangzhou City, a group of businessmen in a certain hall were discussing with a group of businessmen how to deal with Ma Jiliang in Xujiazhuang, and his eyes were dark, like a slap in the face, his throat was fishy and sweet, and he almost vomited out a mouthful of blood.

"The Luo family, the damn Luo family, is actually willing to be the dog of Xujiazhuang!"

Ma Jiliang broke away from his anger, got up and said to the merchants: "Everyone, please come with me to crusade against the Luo family, today we are inseparable from the Luo family!" ”

"Good! Such a traitor as the Luo family is a shame for my Yangzhou salt merchants, and I will never tolerate this black sheep! ”

"Expelle the Luo family from Yangzhou!"

"Let's go, let's go and smash the Luo family together!"

The businessmen were furious, rolled up their sleeves and waved their fists, and wanted to go to Luo's house together to ask for an explanation.

Just halfway through, these merchants suddenly turned a corner and headed in the direction of the East City Gate, in the opposite direction to Luo's house.

"Wrong, you are wrong, the Luo family is in the west of the city, why did you go east?" Majilian hurriedly shouted, taking a merchant's hand and telling him not to go in the wrong direction.

"I didn't make a mistake, if I don't go to Xujiazhuang to negotiate the qualifications of the agent of snow salt, I won't be able to get the goods!" The merchant said.

"Poof!"

Majiliang spurted out a mouthful of blood from the sky and fell, never seeing any hope again.

……

The other side.

Nanjing, Wei Guogong's Mansion, in the living room of a partial room.

"Guogong, Xujiazhuang's strength is unfathomable, and it cannot be eradicated without an army of 100,000! The owner of Xu Zhuang said that as long as he does not trouble Xu Jiazhuang in the future, Xu Jiazhuang will help cover up the past in this defeat, and all the prisoners will be released, as if it had never happened...... Lord Guogong, the lower officials think this is acceptable. ”

Standing at the bottom, Sun Guangde, who had been released, said to Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, who was sitting at the top.