For several days, Zhu Ming did not contact the students. Only in the office, familiar with the school rules and regulations, looking through the previous year's student exam papers.

In the blink of an eye, a small holiday is coming.

June 6, the Day Festival, a three-day holiday.

When you wake up in the morning, the temperature is quite high. Before the sun rose, Zhu Ming rode out early.

All the way to the state bridge, which is the busiest area in Tokyo.

Large ships from the south stopped here after entering the city, because the state bridge was too low to cross, so they could only be transferred by small boats in the city.

So on both sides of the state bridge, inns gathered, restaurants are all over the place, exclusively for merchants to stay and eat.

By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Bianhe River on the east side of the state bridge, due to long-term congestion, has not allowed large ships from other places to dock, at most it can travel to the Xiangguosi Bridge.

The section of the river between the state bridge and the Xiangguosi bridge has become a wharf for loading and unloading goods, so it is more prosperous and lively.

Early in the morning, there are already hawkers selling along the streets.

Many wealthy businessmen from other places came out of the "Zhangjia Hotel" on the south side of the state bridge and went to the "Li Si Tea Shop" across the street to drink tea and play chess. There is no roasted tea here, and wealthy merchants are not used to drinking loose tea, so they all use group tea to grind and brew.

Zhu Ming turned over and dismounted, and went to the "Zhouqiao Tan Zhangjia" next door to the hotel.

This is a century-old shop, the first private coal shop in the inner city of Tokyo, and across the street is the "Chejia Charcoal Shop".

"Chejia Charcoal" is located near Zhouqiao, obviously wanting to rub off on the brand popularity of "Zhouqiao Charcoal Zhangjia".

Similar practices are common in the city of Tokyo.

For example, in Nanxunmen, there is the famous "Qingfeng Lou Hotel".

So next to Taiping Xingguo Temple, someone opened a "Qingfeng Lou Incomparable Inn", and the name of the store is full of the atmosphere of the second middle school.

Zhu Ming wears a green regular suit, a hood on his head, and leather boots on his feet.

As soon as he walked to the door of the store, the guy greeted him: "Tanhualang, please come in!" ”

Zhu Ming smiled and asked, "Do you recognize me?" ”

The man said: "On the day of Tanhualang's roll call, I rode past here on horseback, and I could see clearly on the side of the road. Tanhualang wants to buy charcoal? Just give me an order, and I'll have someone deliver it to the house. ”

"And help me tie my horse and call your shopkeeper." Zhu Ming said.

The guy hurriedly took the reins and shouted inside, "Uncle, Tanhualang is here." ”

Boss Zhang of the charcoal shop walked out quickly, about forty or fifty years old, and said, "Tanhualang, please come in." Then he shouted to another fellow, "Serve tea!" ”

Zhu Ming said: "There is no need for tea, I will ask a few words and leave." ”

Boss Zhang asked Zhu Ming to sit down: "Tanhualang has something he wants to ask, just say it." ”

Zhu Ming asked: "Why is the coal in Tokyo more expensive to sell?" The imperial court set a price of 4 wen per catty, how could it be sold for 10 wen per catty? ”

Boss Zhang thought this question was very funny: "4 yuan per catty of coal, that is the official price set by the imperial court when my great-grandfather was still there." It's been decades, how can there be a reason not to increase prices? It's still summer, and the price of charcoal is not expensive. In winter, it can be sold for twenty or thirty yuan per catty. ”

"Twenty or thirty wen per catty, how can the people afford it?" Zhu Ming wondered.

Boss Zhang said: "If you can't afford it, you will be frozen, and if you are in the spring, you can only consider yourself unlucky." The price of charcoal is too high, and I can't help it, so I can't do discounted trading. ”

Gone are the days of coal tax exemption.

Four major tax charcoal farms have been set up in and around Tokyo to collect taxes on coal arriving in Tokyo.

Zhu Ming asked again: "No matter how high the carbon tax is, it won't be so expensive, right?" ”

Boss Zhang wanted to speak and stopped, and it seemed that there were some things that were inconvenient to say.

Zhu Ming said in a low voice: "If someone levies taxes indiscriminately, I will play the Ming court." It is a matter of hundreds of thousands of people in Tokyo, even if the officials have to burn charcoal in their homes, and the officials will certainly not sit idly by. ”

Boss Zhang belongs to small and medium-sized businessmen, and is the main type of businessmen in Tokyo. This kind of businessman has the largest number and a little official background, but he is completely powerless to fight against the government, and at most there are a few officials who are covered.

It is estimated that he has heard Zhu Ming's story and knows that Tanhualang has offended Cai Jing, Boss Zhang said in a low voice: "In the past ten years, there have been more than 20 government-run coal farms. The officials sent by the Department of the Coal Affairs Department intercepted the charcoal ships at the tax yard and forced the merchants to sell the charcoal to the officialdom. Only when the coal in the officialdom is full is allowed to be sold to the private market. Many private coal farms have been forced bankrupt by the government. I often can't buy the goods in this charcoal shop, so I can only go to the official office to get the goods at a high price. ”

The Imperial Court's arrangement for the Tokyo Coal Market was to allow the government and the private sector to compete with each other.

Moreover, the tax charcoal farm also needs to store goods, and once the private charcoal farm raises the price indiscriminately, the official can also quickly adjust the price of goods.

Originally, it was used to balance the market, but now it is taking the lead in semi-monopoly.

This situation appeared in the Zhezong Dynasty, and the Huizong Dynasty intensified. In just ten years, the imperial court set up more than 20 government offices, blocked supply channels, forced private enterprises into bankruptcy, and then manipulated the retail price of coal.

Cai Jing is to blame!

If Zhu Ming wants to make and sell honeycomb coal, he can't always pick up coal ash as raw materials. In the future, he will definitely buy coal, but the official is so messy that he can't even buy it normally.

After chatting a few more words, Zhu Ming got up and said goodbye.

Boss Zhang sent him to the door of the store and whispered: "If Tanhualang can get together with the official family and punish the official of the Shitan Affair, not only can I benefit, but hundreds of thousands of people in Tokyo will be able to freeze to death." It's just that I can't write my name. I bought and sold with a small capital, and I couldn't afford to offend the officials. ”

"Don't worry, I won't mention you for half a word." Zhu Ming comforted.

Leaving the coal shop, Zhu Ming continued to lead the horse south. After the Zhangjia Hotel, it is the "Yuwanglou Cave Plum Blossom Bun" shop.

The name of the store is quite unique, Zhu Ming tied the horse under the eaves, and planned to buy a few steamed buns to eat.

"Tanhualang is here!"

As soon as he entered the store, the guy shouted.

On the day of the roll call, Zhu Ming happened to pass by this street, and he rode a high-headed horse to attract attention, and the shopkeepers on both sides of the street were very impressed by him.

There are also stories of Bangyan and Tanhua's refusal of Cai Jing's son-in-law, which also spread quickly in Tokyo, and the common people have an excellent impression of Zhu Ming.

Zhu Ming sat in the store and ate steamed buns, and from time to time diners peeked at them.

When it was time to settle the bill, the shopkeeper said, "Tanhualang, the guest officer at that table has already settled the money." ”

Zhu Ming turned his head to look and saw a man smiling at him.

"Thank you for your hospitality!" Zhu Ming returned the salute.

Immediately, he threw out more than a dozen copper coins and did not accept strangers' treats.

This behavior makes people feel even better.

When Zhu Ming left the steamed bun shop, the diners talked a lot, saying that Tanhualang was an upright person, and he didn't even ask for a few steamed buns in vain, and he would definitely be honest if he became a big official in the future.

Juming rode out of the Northwest Water Gate, where Tokyo's largest charcoal farm was located.

The coal of Tokyo City originally came from Huaizhou (Qinyang, Jiaozuo), and now it has formed a program in all directions. For example, Yangzhai (Yu County) in the south, Xiangzhou (Hebi) in the north.

In particular, the Sangju Coal Mine was discovered hundreds of years later.

The mine is 46 meters deep, has 10 mining faces, and has a complete roadway and drainage system underground, which is the earliest large-scale coal mine site in human history.

Zhu Ming dismounted and stood outside the tax charcoal field, waited until half of the afternoon, waited for more than five hours, and finally found that there was a charcoal boat passing the field to pay taxes.

There are a total of 12 ships, and the tax amount is determined according to the size of the ship, and the tax is directly deducted from the coal in kind.

These taxes in kind are used to stabilize coal prices at a critical time.

However, the goods were not unloaded at all, and the tax collectors boarded the coal ship and continued to the city of Tokyo.

Zhu Ming rode along the river and stopped at the White Tiger Bridge, because the bridge hole was too low to cross the boat.

I saw many small boats in the city, starting to transfer the coal, and there were officials staring at the goods, obviously all of them were going to be transported to the official charcoal field.

Not all, there is still one left.

After a while and a half of transporting coal, the merchant threw the rest of the business to his assistant, and went to the restaurant to eat with a sad face.

Zhu Ming led the horse and sat at the same table as the businessman.

Shang Jia saw that he was wearing a green Luo regular clothes, and he was obviously an official, so he hurriedly got up and said: "Xiaomin has seen an official!" ”

"Please take a seat," Zhu Ming reported his whereabouts, "My surname is Zhu, and I am the third person in the current science and technology jinshi, and I have offended Cai Jing and Wang Huang, but the official family is quite important, so I have done too much to learn and learn." ”

When Shang Jia heard this, he was immediately stunned.

How can anyone introduce themselves like this?

Zhu Ming also said: "The price of coal in Tokyo has skyrocketed, and the government has sent me to investigate secretly. Rest assured, I will not divulge your news, or even ask for your name. You have just made a deal, why are you worried? ”

The merchant looked at Zhu Ming repeatedly, and since he couldn't get his name, he tried to complain: "I have brought twelve ships of charcoal this time, and I have to pay more taxes and not mention, eleven of them must be sold to the official charcoal field at a low price." It all depends on the remaining boat, which is sold to a private charcoal farm at a high price, and there is still some profit. However, the price reduction of the official charcoal field is becoming more and more ruthless, and if it continues like this, I am afraid that it will be difficult to protect the capital. ”

"All the time?" Zhu Ming asked.

Shang Jia said: "It has been twelve or thirteen years since the beginning of the Chongning period. At the beginning, it was good, but now it is becoming more and more insatiable, and the profits of our charcoal merchants have fallen again and again. But if you don't do it, you won't be able to pass the tax field, and you can only let the officials handle it. ”

Zhu Ming asked again: "Who is in charge of the Shitan Affairs Office?" ”

Shang Jia looked left and right and whispered, "Cai Xianggong's people." The reason why he was more ruthless this year was that Wang Xianggong made the head of the household department and also planted people in the Carboniferous Division. We are just a businessman, we have to deal with two ministers at the same time, where can we withstand such means? ”

Cai Jing and Wang Huang are really wealthy.

After chatting again, Zhu Ming paid for the meal and left, and the businessman quickly ran away.

Zhu Ming planned to go home and write a note, not directly impeaching Cai Jing and Wang Hao, but impeaching the officials of the Shi Tan Affairs Office. If Song Huizong can't see it, then write another letter and ask Xue Daoguang to help hand it over.

If this is done, it will not only reduce the price of coal, benefit the people of Tokyo, but also pave the way for its own business.

In fact, if Zhu Ming doesn't make a move, someone will make a move next year - Wang Ge, the Qing of Dali Temple, transferred to Kaifeng Mansion Yin, and the first thing he did when he took office was to impeach Shi Tani.

The impact of this matter is too bad, after all, hundreds of officials also have to burn coal, and a large number of officials will immediately follow the impeachment.

Song Huizong was also afraid that something would happen in Tokyo, so he ordered corrections.

The rectification effect is somewhat, but that's all, only the price of coal has fallen by one or two cents, and corrupt officials are still lying on the coal pile to make money.

Back home, hand over the horse to Bai Sheng.

Bai Chongyan walked over with a smile: "There is good news, Wang Hao's father is dead, and he has to worry about filial piety." ”

Zhu Ming shook his head: "This is not good news, without Wang Huang's control, Cai Jing's power is even greater." ”

At this moment, Cai Jing's father and son are already celebrating each other.

They planned to impeach Wang Huang and get back the financial power of the household after the defeat of the front, but they didn't expect Wang Hao to suddenly die of his father.

Zhu Ming couldn't get involved in this kind of high-level struggle, so he went to the study to write an impeachment note.

As long as the Carboniferous Division is successfully overturned, Juming will inevitably become famous, because hundreds of thousands of people in Tokyo, including officials, can benefit.

Tomorrow, the development of honeycomb coal begins.

(End of chapter)