While Yan Le was keeping an eye on Xu Fu's movements, a wine house in the east of the city suddenly became lively.

The major businessmen in Guanzhong gathered.

It's just that everyone's interest is not high, and even if they speak, they seem very dull, as if they have great grievances and resentment.

Feng Dong sat on the main seat, looked at the people below, and nodded secretly.

He knew what was going on.

It has been a certain period of time since the implementation of the 'Guanshan Sea'.

The profits of each of them last month have basically been counted, but after the accounting, everyone is a little unacceptable, even if they have long known the result, but after seeing the accounts that have shrunk by nearly seventy or eighty percent, they still feel extremely heartache.

That's money!

their money.

In the past, although they were taxed highly, they owned salt ponds and mines, and they could secretly sell them, or raise the price of salt and iron tools, or get some inferior goods, so that people could only continue to pay for them to maintain daily production, but now, these methods are not working.

The only thing they can do is do their part.

But the profits from doing business are too meager.

It's so meager that it's hard to accept.

The gap between the profits of the past month and the profits of January now is too big.

It's too big for them to accept.

As the dancers finished a dance, Feng Dong waved his hand, asked the singers and dancers to step back, and asked people to send a few pots of wine.

Waiting until the surroundings were quiet, Feng Dong glanced at Feng Zhen, Feng Zhen immediately understood, and after making a gesture around, he left the house and stood at the door to watch the wind.

Then.

Feng Dongcai coughed lightly and said, "You should have finished counting last month's accounts." ”

"After a hard and busy month, you have counted how much you have gained."

"As far as I, Feng, is concerned, the profit has shrunk by seventy percent."

"If the family's daily expenses are removed, the profit last month is only enough to meet the family's daily expenses."

"It's a shocking drop in profits."

"I'm like this, so your situation isn't much better, right?"

Cheng Zheng and the others glanced at each other, but they didn't say anything, but their faces showed their attitudes.

Their situation is equally bleak.

Looked at.

Feng Dong chuckled lightly and teased: "Looking at your faces, they must be similar to me." ”

"I, Feng Dong, am a few years older than you, so I have the courage to invite you to sit at the table, in order to discuss how to change the current disadvantage."

"We are businessmen, and what we make is money."

"At present, the imperial court controls salt and iron, and restricts prices, and even launches official camps, competing with us, so that we have lost too much money, we are all big families, and the daily use of the clan is very high, if the status quo is maintained, I am afraid that it will not be long before we will sit and eat empty."

"I think you're aware of that, too."

Cheng Zheng frowned and said, "Feng Dong, what do you want to say?" ”

Feng Dong stroked his beard, and was not in a hurry to explain his thoughts, but said: "You may not know that the reason why we suffered this catastrophe is really from the hands of one person. ”

"This person is called Mr. Zhong."

"But I haven't found out the exact name."

"During this time, I have sent many people to investigate, and even contacted the government, but no one in the city with the surname Zhong has matched it."

"This person was still wearing a mask at the time, and I am not sure if this person was lying, or if he was deliberately concealing, but in any case, we must have something to do with this person."

"You can pay more attention in the future."

Feng Dong reminded.

Hear the words.

Cheng Zheng and the others frowned.

They thought back to it in their minds, and they really couldn't remember the memories related to the Zhong family, but they also secretly wrote down this information.

The most important thing for a businessman is to be sensitive to information.

Feng Dong's eyes swept calmly over the crowd in the venue, and continued: "The information I have found out about this 'Mr. Zhong' is also limited, so I won't talk about it much. ”

Cheng Zheng and the others frowned even tighter.

They were full of doubts, why did Feng Dong mention this?

What does the Qidi rebellion have to do with them?

And they don't think that the Qidi rebellion can succeed.

At present, the First Emperor is still alive, the combat strength of the Qin army has not decreased, and there is a rebellion in one place, what can be done?

But they vaguely guessed Feng Dong's thoughts.

Qidi has developed commerce, and under the 'Guanshan Sea', the merchants, nobles, and heroes of Qidi may not be able to accept it, so this turmoil broke out, but the rebellion in Qidi is Qidi, they are now in Guanzhong, under the nose of Daqin, who dares to make trouble?

They haven't thought they're going to live long yet.

It's just that they are also secretly thinking in their hearts, what exactly Feng Dong wants to say.

Feng Dong still didn't express his thoughts, but said: "During this time, the Qin court pardoned some businessmen who were originally convicts and let them take over part of the salt and iron business, but now these people have completely become the minions of the Qin court, and they are always on guard against us, and you are probably very dissatisfied with this." ”

"We used to be world-renowned and rich."

"Although it is not as good as Feng Lu's reputation, it is also a household name in Guanzhong."

"Qin Ting only gave me some empty rewards, and took away our foothold at all, although I, Feng Dong, am old, I can't bear to scold, Qin Ting deceives people too much."

"Cutting off people's wealth is like killing parents!"

"Qin Ting's intention is obviously to cut off the financial route of everyone such as me."

"Is it tolerable or unbearable?"

"I'm in Xianyang, I can't be like Qidi, I don't have that strength, and I don't have that need."

"We can't wait for money."

"Right now, the Qin court is bullying people too much, and we should fight hard to protect our original interests."

"What do you think?"

Feng Dong's eyes closed slightly, and he swept around coldly,

Silence all around.

No one took the initiative to speak.

They were indeed dissatisfied with what Qin Ting had done.

But they know their own strength better, and they don't have that strength against Qin Ting.

It's just that Feng Dong is right.

Qin Ting was a little too deceitful, and he gave some rewards lightly, and took away most of their profits, which didn't give them a way to live at all.

Everyone's eyes moved slightly.

But he didn't dare to take it.

Quiet for a long time.

Cheng Zheng asked, "Brother Feng, what do you want?" ”

Others also looked over.

Feng Dong smiled faintly, his originally cloudy eyes suddenly became sharp, and he said loudly: "Sinking the ship!" ”

As soon as the words fell, some people around immediately stood up and objected.

"Impossible."

"Feng Dong, are you crazy?"

"Qin Ting doesn't care about transporting, the ship that transports the goods is our own, let us self-destruct the ship, what kind of bullshit idea is this?!"

"There's no way I'm going to say yes."

Feng Dong glanced at Cao Bingsheng and said lightly: "Brother Cao Bing, don't be impatient, I haven't finished talking yet." ”

"It's indeed our own ship that sank."

"But only we know how much cargo is on board."

"What if it's an empty ship?"

"What do you mean by that?" Cao Bing raised his head violently.

A bold idea had crossed his mind.

"The imperial court doesn't care about transportation." Although Feng Dong saw the old man, he was in good spirits at the moment, he faced the sinking case below, and sneered: "In the past, Guanzhong salt and iron were controlled by more than a dozen of us, but now under the intervention of Qin Ting, some of them are no longer controlled by us, Qin Ting is strong, and over time, it is bound to continue to encroach on our share, continue to maintain the status quo, and we will only be constantly eroded." ”

"Thus."

A cold glint flashed in Feng Dong's eyes, and he said sharply, "We must drive the others out." ”

"Of course, that's only one aspect."

"It's more important to make money."

"Now we are working hard to do business, and most of the money is plundered by the government, I don't know what you think about this situation, my Feng family can't accept it."

"The imperial court can take the lion's head, but it can't let us drink the water."

"It is winter now, there are not many people who buy salt and iron in the local Qianshou, most of them will save money, we can take the opportunity to hide some of the salt and iron, and wait until the beginning of spring, the local spring ploughing begins, and when those Qianshou urgently use salt and iron, we will wait for the 'ship to sink', and then raise the price of salt and iron."

"On the other hand, the 'salt and iron' that fell into the water can continue to be sold secretly at a high price."

"The bazaar lacks a lot of salt and iron that we provide, and a few other stores alone can't meet the demand."

"But spring plowing can't be stopped, and we can't miss the farming time."

"They can only buy it at a high price!"

"Once you come and go, the cost of the ship will come back, and you don't have to pay half of the tax of the government, and we will have a lot of surpluses."

"At present, there are still three months before the beginning of spring, we are enough to hoard a lot of salt and iron, and when spring ploughing begins, we can sell it privately, which is enough to sell for a month or two, but a few minions of the imperial court can only continue to maintain high prices, and after a long time, they will not be able to operate at all."

"They don't make much money, and they don't have much to save."

"What do they spend with us?"

Hear the words.

Everyone's hearts moved slightly.

But I don't dare to agree easily.

Cheng Zheng said: "Brother Feng, I'm afraid you have forgotten that the imperial court is cracking down on smuggling. ”

"We are waiting for March to hoard salt and iron, the amount is huge, and if we want to sell it quietly, we can't do it at all."

Feng Dong smiled faintly and replied calmly: "I know it. ”

"So our salt and iron can't be sold in Guanzhong, but sold to Guandong, the imperial court can control Guanzhong, but can't control Guandong, the officials in Guandong will not strictly investigate smuggling, even if it is really found, at most give these officials a sum of money, but the relative tax paid by half of Thailand, after all, still earns."

"What's more important is that there will be a shortage of salt and iron in Guanzhong."

"If there is a shortage of salt and iron in Guanzhong, that is, the imperial court has a request for us."

"After all, the share of salt and iron is in our hands."

"Naturally, we can bargain with the government."

"What if the government forcibly takes away our share?" Cao Bingsheng asked.

Feng Dong bowed his head slightly, and said: "There is indeed this possibility, but even if the rest of the companies are willing to provide ships, there is no way to produce salt and iron immediately, and we occupy more than ninety percent of the salt and iron in Guanzhong, and this share cannot be made up in a short time." ”

"If the imperial court forcibly takes our share, we can ban the sale of the remaining salt and iron."

"Exacerbate the lack of salt and iron in Guanzhong."

"Unless the government really takes it by force, the government will have to bow to us, either give us benefits, or just sit back and watch the people of Guanzhong make a living."

"If the government insists on taking it by force, it is us who rob it today, and it will not be other businessmen tomorrow."

"Once Qin Ting does this, the impact on the world will be too bad, and the Kanto region will only be worse, and without merchants to transport goods, the world will only be more erosive."

"The government wouldn't dare to do that."

Cao Bingsheng bowed slightly, and he continued: "Without a ship, how can we smuggle salt and iron out?" ”

"The salt and iron in our hands are not a small number."

Feng Dong said coldly: "If the big boat can't work, then the small boat and the fishing boat." ”

"If you want to ship it out, can you still do it?"

There was a burst of laughter all around.

Suddenly.

Cheng Zheng said suddenly: "What if it is discovered by the imperial court?" ”

The laughter all around him came to an abrupt end.

Feng Dong's eyes were cold, he smiled coldly, and said: "Then you can only sweep the snow in front of the door, but for a whole few months, if you can't even do this bit of concealment, then don't implicate others, but if you want to sink ships on a large scale, the ships we are waiting for should travel together, so as to block the mouth of the government." ”

"I've got my thoughts finished."

"What do you think?"

Cheng Zheng and the others frowned and did not speak immediately.

What Feng Dong said was indeed very tempting.

But the risks are also significant.

Not to mention the high cost of the shipwreck, transporting a large amount of salt and iron, but also covering people's eyes, and finally selling, etc., these all need to be carefully arranged, and if there is a slight mistake, it is easy to attract the anger of the imperial court, and then it will not be a loss of a little bit, but the whole family.

Salt is still easy to say.

Iron is different, pig iron is transported from the mine, and if you want to make it into a farm tool, you need to go through some forging and the name of the work.

However, if it is made into a finished product, something happens when it is transported to various places

And they are not in a hurry to send these salt and iron out, just keep them in their hands, the things are real, as long as they drag on long enough, they have enough time to deal with it, they have this time, and they have the strength to do it.

What's more.

Spring ploughing is still a few months away.

During this time, there are enough arrangements for them to arrange too much, and they have enough time to prepare when they go up to the government and down to the locality.

Cheng Zheng and the others flickered in their eyes.

After a period of weighing, greed for money still prevailed over reason.

They really couldn't stand Qin Ting's cutting of meat.

There was a long silence.

Finally, Cheng Zheng and the others whispered: "Brother Feng is thoughtful, Qin Ting is indeed too deceitful. ”

"I'm not so easy to bully."

As everyone expressed their stance one after another.

The lobby, which was a little depressed, burst into laughter in an instant.

It didn't take long.

In the lobby, the cup is already being pushed.

At the end is harmony.

(End of chapter)