Chapter 124: Investigation of Smuggling

"Fifty million catties?" Du Duan's hand shook, and the tea in the bowl almost spilled, and the lid of the bowl that was not clamped by two fingers fell, and it fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces. Some people hurriedly hung their heads and rushed over to clean up. Ignoring this, Du Duan looked up at Luo Shifan in astonishment, and repeated the number he had just heard in disbelief.

has dominated Daning's private salt business for more than ten years, and when it was the most smooth, the Du family's annual business was only about four million catties. That was the year before the last appointment as governor of Yunyang left office. On the one hand, he is about to leave office, and he really doesn't want anything to happen, on the other hand, the faction in the DPRK and China has lost its momentum, and there is no way to continue to mix in the officialdom, and he is disheartened and ready to go home to retire, and he basically doesn't check the smuggling salt - Rao is so, Du Duan still delivered 20,000 taels of "reward"!

Due to their identity, several officers of Fubiao and the troops brought by Luo Shifan were stationed outside Daning City, and they did not participate in this meeting under the banner of Fubiao's camp to check smuggling, and Luo Shifan only brought Sun Chunlong and other four guards into the city to visit Du Duan.

"Yes, fifty million catties." Luo Shifan didn't seem to notice Du Duan's embarrassment, and casually picked up the teacup and took a sip, and then praised, "It's so fragrant." ”

"Can Master Luo know that even if there is an escort from your army, even if Fubiao releases water with a blind eye, even if the old man Badong, Guizhou, and Yiling do their best...... Well, there are a few shops in Yidu and Jiangling - don't hide it from the military advisor, after Yiling, it is not the old man's territory, and his hand is stretched out for a long time, and he has to swing with the local dock brothers, and if he can't go out to fight, he will have to bother your army to borrow a hundred and ten brothers to help him - and he can only digest seven or eight million catties. Although Du Duan had heard of Xiao Luo's military division for a long time, when he suddenly heard this number, most of the admiration in his heart suddenly dissipated. I thought to myself: In the end, it's a young man, who just cares about blowing, and doesn't know how thick the sky is! The tone of his voice was slightly instructive.

Luo Shifan didn't seem to hear Du Duan's voiceover, shook his head and said lightly: "After calculating it, I am afraid that these places will not be able to sell seven or eight million catties, plus a Dangyang Mansion is about the same." Of course, if necessary, our army can do its best at any time, these are trivial things, needless to say. However, relying solely on Du Yuanwai's way, a lot of salt will flow out at once, and the price will lose a lot, and the big account will not make a lot of money. ”

Du Duan was stunned when he heard this, and secretly said: "In this way, this little brother Luo has really done some homework, and he can't be said to be a layman." But how can the tone be big? Before he could speak, Du Da Worm, who was standing beside him, really couldn't hold back, and interjected: "Master Strategist, since this is the case, what do you say about 50 million catties?" ”

"No respects!" Du Duan turned his head and glared at Du Da Worm in disgust and scolded. Then he turned to Luo Shifan, "Master Luo forgives his sins, the foolish nephew is a rough man who doesn't understand the rules, which makes you laugh." But ......" At this point, he stopped talking, picked up the newly replaced tea cup, and used the lid of the bowl to flick the Emei sparrow's tongue that floated upright, waiting to listen to Luo Shifan's next words.

Luo Shifan smiled lightly: "Don't worry. Brother Du, 50 million catties is not what Luo said. Each person eats three pounds of salt per day*, one pound a month, and twelve pounds a year. Huguang has a population of more than 10 million, and no matter how much you save some food, 50 million catties is not enough. ”

"Ahem, cough, cough......" When Luo Shifan spoke, Du Duan had just taken a sip of tea and was choked, and the tea cup almost missed again.

Du Da Worm was also stunned, and muttered in his mouth: "The whole lake is wide? What a big appetite for the military advisor! ”

Luo Shifan didn't pay attention to Du Da Worm, looked at Du Duan fixedly, and said word by word: "Although the path outside Du Yuan is wide, it is also limited. What my handsome family thinks, of course, is the whole lake. This is the first year, and by next year, we will have to do some of Gansu, Shaanxi, and Yungui, so we will double it. ”

The topic is too big. Du Duan decided that before the discussion was understood, he would no longer drink tea: "Let's not mention Ganshan and other places next year, is it possible that Guan Dashuai wants to open a salt village in the whole lake and Guangdu?" That...... What to do with Huai Salt? ”

In order to put an end to the smuggling of Sichuan salt, the Ming court stipulated that the salt in Huguang must be supplied by Huai salt, which was supplied by the salt works of Lianghuai. All kinds of positive taxes and more than 10 times the local miscellaneous taxes along the way, not to mention, the transportation costs and labor costs of thousands of miles will be spread to the unit price, the price of Huai salt is ridiculously high, almost 20 times the price of the origin, which is also the main reason why Du Duan's private salt can be popular.

"There are so many ready-made official salt farms in the whole lake, do you still need to open them yourself?" Luo Shifan's smile looked innocent and a little evil.

"Let the official village sell our private goods? That old Jane...... Ahem, Master Jane, "There have been too many seizures, especially in the past half a year, more than 100 lives have been injured in a row - this means that Du Yuanwai has to give three or four thousand taels of pensions to orphans and widows every year, Du Duan has already hated Jian Jingneng to the bones, "Jian Lao Dog" has already barked smoothly, fortunately, there is a hurry, the word "old" has just been said eagerly, and finally changed it, "Can Boss Jian agree?" ”

"Of course not. Even if Lord Jian could agree, the imperial court would never agree. Luo Shifan's smile was already very hateful in the eyes of the Du family's uncle and nephew, "Lord Jian will never allow this." ”

"Master Luo, the old man is stupid, and he is really confused. Don't sell it anymore. Du Duan raised his hand and said half-truthfully.

"Forgive sins, forgive sins. You listen to Luo Mou speak slowly. Luo Shifan also raised his hand and gestured in a mocking manner, "You know, Huguang's official village has two sources of goods. Seven or eight out of ten are the official salt of two Huai, and two or three are the confiscated Sichuan salt. The imperial court set up a governor of Yunyang, and the most important work was to pacify the displaced people and confiscate Sichuan smuggling. The so-called homeless people, half of Thailand are related to Sichuan salt smugglers, right? So, it's actually the same thing. There are more confiscated private salts and fewer displaced people, this is a well-known political achievement, why not do it for Jian Futai? To tell you the truth, it's too late for Jian Futai to be happy! If the seized Sichuan salt suddenly increases, no matter how much it is, won't it have to be sent to the official village to be sold? ”

"Huh?" The uncles and nephews of the Du family glanced at each other, and their hearts moved. Du Da Worm's train of thought was obviously a beat slower than Du Duan's, and he interjected again: "That...... Even if our goods enter Guanzhuang, how can we recover the price of salt? Du Duan already had a bottom in his heart, but this time he was silent, he wanted to hear Luo Shifan say it himself to confirm his guess.

"You can't get your salt money back. The confiscated private goods are not official salt, but they are sold through the official village, and the salt payment for each copper plate must be clearly accounted for by the official, and it is impossible to give back the price of salt. Luo Shifan said, "But...... Brother Du, don't worry, listen to me slowly. Check a lot, since the adults at all levels live up to the trust of the court, and the soldiers are desperate to serve their lives! Right? If you check the smuggled salt and suppress the displaced people, there will definitely be casualties among the officers and soldiers. The more investigations are made, the greater the casualties will be, and the more bereavement benefits will be. The court loves the people like a son, and it will never fail the soldiers who serve the country, which chills everyone's hearts! Brother Du, are you right? Lord Fuzun must recruit righteous people and build eastern and northern Hubei into an impregnable copper wall, so that he can afford to report to heaven and settle the people's livelihood! The recruited righteous people want to eat, pay salaries, and in order to prohibit smuggling, they must build fortresses, repair official roads, store grain and grass, and build military ......equipment in the deep mountains and dangerous passes, "Luo Shifan looked at Du Duan with a smile while holding his fingers, "The righteous people are recruited by Du Yuanwai, and the food and salary settlement expenses are naturally distributed by Du Yuanwai, repairing official roads, building fortresses and other things, and it is also necessary to trouble Du Yuanwai to work, Jian Futai will allocate silver and grain, and Du Yuanwai, who understands righteousness and serves the country, must not let Du Yuanwai, who understands righteousness and wholeheartedly serve the country, suffer!" As for acceptance...... I don't think there is any adult who has to get along with Lord Fuzun, and dares to question Du Yuanwai's sincerity! Even if there are really a few Xiaoxiao who are trying to sensationalize, Lord Jane's Fubiao is busy checking private, so we should be in charge of escorting, right? What is there to worry about outside Du Yuanwai? And...... Luo Mou guessed that in order to commend Du Yuanwai's pure heart, if Daning County Zun can come forward to ask for merit for the outside, Lord Fuzun will not be reluctant to allow the fame of a talented man! ”

"The military master is unparalleled in talent, and the old man is convinced!" Du Duan, who was already dumbfounded, was completely convinced, he had been in the private salt business for decades, and he saw that he had been exterminated, and he didn't expect that a change of thinking would be so bright. Not only did he change his title in his mouth, but he solemnly left his seat and bowed to Luo Shifan, Du Daworm hurriedly stepped forward, knelt on the ground with a plop, and bowed his head heavily.

"Du Yuanwai, please get up quickly, and Brother Du should also get up." Luo Shifan also left his seat and stretched out his hand to help, "In the future, we will be a family, don't be polite." ”

Returning to his seat, Luo Shifan asked again: "Du Yuanwai, can these 50 million catties of goods be supplied?" ”

Du Duan pondered for a moment, and replied with a sad face: "Master Huijunshi, it stands to reason that it is not difficult. Because except for a few private goods from Xiao Lao'er, most of the well production belongs to the official family, and the brothers in the well are all coping with errands. Even if the existing labor is more serious, the output can be more than doubled. If you recruit some more manpower, don't say 50 million catties, 10,000 catties is also possible. However, there are many wells and how much salt is boiled, and even if you put some thought into the accounts, you will eventually have a limited ......."

Luo Shifan blinked: "I have heard the name of Daning Salt Well for a long time." The earliest well should have been opened in the Tang and Song dynasties, right? ”

Du Da Worm, who was in a hurry to perform, once again grabbed the conversation: "Where is Tangjing considered to be ancient, there are several Hanjings, and there are a few that I don't know which dynasty and which generation, and it is very far away." ”

Luo Shifan winked at Du Duan thoughtfully: "After thousands of years, some wells may have dried up, right?" If it is in disrepair and the thousand-year-old well collapses a few times, whether it is Kuizhou Mansion or Daning County, adults should be able to understand, right? A broken well can't produce salt anymore, of course...... If anyone doesn't believe it, they can go to Master Jian to make a decision! ”

Du Duan, who was convinced and had no doubts, was full of joy, and finally picked up the teacup with confidence. I took a sip of tea and moistened my throat, and suddenly remembered something again: "Master Commander, our salt is sold to the whole province of Huguang, what about the salt of Lianghuai?" If you sell it, you will make money, and the adults in our various provinces here don't need to say it, there is ...... But there are also many adults who rely on Huaiyan to cross the border to live. ”

"Luo Mou thinks that the two Huai adults should worry about something, not the Huaiyan crossing," Luo Shifan said lightly, and then, as soon as the words changed, his tone suddenly became cold and forceful, "It's our army transit!" ”

Luo Shifan said impassionedly: "Since our army has been appeased by the imperial court, it is our responsibility to protect the territory and the people!" If there are two Huai salt lords who dare to peddle smuggling and disturb the people, our army will be ready to deal with it! The goods are not officials, and the people are the law! From northern Shaanxi to Huguang for thousands of miles, it is about cross-provincial pursuit...... Hmph, who else can be stronger than our army! ”

"Bang dang!" Seeing the sudden coldness in the eyes of Luo Shifan, who had been smiling, Du Duan couldn't help but shudder, his hand shook, and the teacup broke again.

"Hahaha, Du Yuanwai thought that he heard that 'the goods are not official', and he thought that we could sell more, and he was so happy that he couldn't hold the cup!" Luo Shifan quipped.

After breakfast the next morning, the Du family's uncle and nephew sent Luo Shifan out of the Du house, and it was not until the figure of the young military division walked away that the two straightened their waists. Du Da Worm muttered: "What a powerful young military division! ”

Du Duan said: "Young hero, it's unspeakable. In two days, you will go to the camp of the Young Army Master to help. All kinds of trivial things such as the private shop of the official village can no longer trouble the young military division, and people do big things. There's no big deal here, isn't it just to carry the brine and dry the salt and then send it to where to wait for the Fu Biao to copy it, I'll just let Cheng Ha'er watch it. You have a sharper eye, hands and feet, don't make the young soldier angry. I have a thousand-year-old ginseng, and when you turn around, you will say that it is a return gift. I also brought a few catties of tea, and the young military division loved to drink it. It's a pity that I don't know if the young military division has a family...... Be careful! Your sister is sixteen, it's time to find someone's home. If we can climb such a family thing, our Du family will rely on a mountain! ”

Du Daworm responded, and Du Duan said again: "I just don't know if the young military division can look up to our portal." Don't be reluctant to give up money! You make more friends over there, and everyone will put together with the young military division, just say what I said, it's okay to be a concubine! ”

* Ming Jin is about 600 grams, sixteen taels of scales, equivalent to 3.75 grams per coin. The daily intake of 6 grams for modern people is the recommended standard, and the actual per capita daily intake in China is 12 grams. In ancient times, most ordinary people were engaged in heavy physical labor, and they did not have air conditioning fans, and they sweated much more than modern people, so they needed more salt supplements. Luo Shifan estimated that each person had three dollars of salt per day, which was equivalent to about 12 grams, and the taste of people in Sichuan, Chongqing, Hunan and Hubei was heavier. Luo Shifan was slightly conservative, mainly because of the consideration of the price of salt and the purchasing power of ordinary people.