Feng Dong and the others hurriedly said: "It should be so." ”

Ji Heng calmly glanced at the bottom, and said directly: "The salt and iron in your hands, the government must get all the hands." ”

When the words fell, the whole house was shocked.

It is true that not all the salt and iron in their hands are salt and iron, but this is not a small amount.

Handing over all these salt and iron, even they have to break their muscles and bones, not to mention that they have only experienced a shipwreck not long ago, and if the ship wants to be rebuilt, it will cost a lot of money and food, and a large number of clansmen in the clan have escaped during this time, and they have secretly swept away a lot of money, and they themselves do not have much money to spare.

The lion opened his mouth and took all the salt and iron, and they really couldn't accept it.

They did make up their minds to join the government, but they were merchants.

Merchants are all about making money.

Not only can I not make money now, but I don't know how much I have to post upside down.

Their dissatisfaction was on their faces.

Ji Heng could naturally see the dissatisfaction and anger of several people.

However, he didn't take it to heart, and said calmly: "I know you are reluctant, the salt and iron in the hands of the five of you are enough for ten thousand pounds, such a huge amount is enough to supply millions of people, if you change me, I am afraid I will be reluctant to hand it over in vain." ”

"But you can only hand it over."

"Do not forget that the salt and iron in your hands fell into the water ten days ago."

Hear the words.

Several people in the audience thought it was an excuse.

The government already knows that the salt and iron are still there, and they haven't really fallen into the water, and they are still struggling with whether they have fallen into the water, what's the point?

Don't you just want to swallow their salt and iron?

Feng Dong did not respond.

He pondered for a moment, suddenly reacted, and arched his hand: "Thank you Mr. Zhong for reminding me, I almost made a big mistake." ”

"If salt and iron have entered the water, how can we take it out in a grand manner? Isn't this a blatant reminder to the world that salt and iron have not fallen into the water? In fact, it was privately hidden by us, and if this is noticed, I am afraid that I and the government will be criticized and criticized. ”

"This is absolutely unacceptable."

Hearing Feng Dong's words, Cheng Zheng and the others also reacted.

The government and they do know that the salt and iron have not fallen into the water, but the outside world does not know, and now the outside world is boiling and spreading that the salt and iron have fallen into the water, if they take out the salt and iron, wouldn't this be a slap in the face, the world is not a fool, it is easy to find out what is wrong.

How will they defend themselves?

What's more serious is that if they openly sell salt and iron, and the government does nothing, wouldn't they not understand that the government and the merchants are secretly colluding.

At that time, in order to calm down, the government may take them under the knife.

Isn't this a cause for yourself?

It's just tens of thousands of pounds of salt and iron, just give it away, they are really unwilling.

Ji Heng said: "I know that you are worried about the loss, but it is impossible for the government to spend money to buy it back, but it can be compensated in another way, I discussed with the eldest prince before, and the future salt and iron merchant tax of your family will be reduced from half the tax in Thailand in the past to half the tax." ”

Hear the words.

Cheng Zheng and the others were happy.

Naturally, they are very happy to be able to cut taxes.

It's just a reduction of 16%, which is too little, that's tens of thousands of jun of salt and iron.

Seeing that Mr. Zhong obviously didn't give room for bargaining, although they were still a little unhappy in their hearts, they reluctantly accepted it, after all, their arms couldn't twist their thighs, and it was already very okay for the government to be willing to reduce taxes, and even if the government really did it, they would take it by force, and they couldn't do anything about it.

Cheng Zheng and others also accepted it when they saw it.

Cheng Zheng arched his hand and said, "Thank you, Mr. Zhong, for asking for our life." ”

Ji Heng continued: "The salt workers, iron workers, and craftsmen who make agricultural tools in your hands must be requisitioned by the government. ”

Cheng Zheng said: "Yes." ”

Feng Dong on the side said in a condensed voice: "Mr. Zhong, is it too obvious that the government directly requisitioned it?" Although we have fallen to the government, the outside world does not know that such an intimate move may attract attention, and if people guess it, it may cause some incidents. ”

Ji Heng smiled and said, "The government has its own considerations. ”

"The government will not let you 'give for nothing', but forcibly levy, and will also pay these workers and craftsmen, everything is according to normal circumstances, except for you, other salt workers and iron workers in Guanzhong will be forcibly requisitioned, so it will not attract any attention."

Feng Dong bowed slightly.

Hearing Ji Heng's words, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

He was actually very worried that their relationship with the government would be exposed, at least not enough for now, the government could get out of it with their whole body, but they might suffer the consequences, which was not what he wanted to see, so he paid extra attention to details at this time.

Ji Heng glanced at Feng Dong deeply, and continued: "In addition, except for the new salt merchants such as Juling, iron merchants, and you, the salt and iron shares of other merchants will be gradually released after the matter subsides, and then you will divide it up by yourself, and the government will not interfere, after all, this is the choice of the market." ”

"It's all about ability."

Hear the words.

Feng Dong and the others were stunned.

What they expected happened.

Ji Heng's words have directly explained that the government wants to attack Cao Bingsheng and others.

Cao Bingsheng and other businessmen have been completely abandoned by the government.

Come to think of this.

There was also a fear in their hearts.

If they didn't reach an agreement at that time, or if they had other ideas, and then the government was dissatisfied, I was afraid that they would follow in the footsteps of Cao Bingsheng and others, and the government's methods would never take care of anything.

Cheng Zheng took a deep breath and felt that his chest was very tight.

He is usually very close to Cao Bingsheng, and when he suddenly heard the news, he couldn't help but be in a trance.

He pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth and asked, "Dare to ask Mr. Zhong, why did you choose us?" ”

A cold color flashed in Ji Heng's eyes, and he said indifferently: "The reason is actually very simple, the government can't trust them, the tiger poison still doesn't eat children, these people are too decisive in abandoning their own people, how can such people be trusted by the government?" ”

Hear the words.

Cheng Zheng was not convinced by this explanation.

When does the government need to consider these situations?

This is clearly sophistry.

Looked at.

Ji Heng frowned, and said with a smile: "You want to know the reason?" ”

Cheng Zheng's face stiffened, and he arched his hand and said: "It's just that I have some doubts in my heart, Cao Bingsheng is my friend, and I heard that he was abandoned by the government, and I was in a trance for a while, so I was curious." ”

"Please forgive me, sir."

Ji Heng chuckled lightly and said, "If you really want to know, I can tell you." ”

"Because they're so young."

"There are too many capable people in their clan."

"The government needs obedient merchants, not merchants with their own ideas."

"At least not yet!"

Hearing Ji Heng's words, Cheng Zheng was stunned for a moment.

A wry smile followed.

He understood.

Mr. Zhong and even the imperial court are not afraid of individuals, but the strength and potential of various businessmen, this time from beginning to end, he and Feng Dong participated the most, logically speaking, they are the most feared people in the government, and they should also be a typical example of the government killing them quickly, but this is just their wishful thinking.

That's not what the government is thinking about.

And in the big picture.

It's about the long-term harmfulness.

They did participate a lot this time, but the reason why they planned so much was mainly to seek more space for the clansmen and avoid being encroached upon by other merchants in the future.

However, Cao Bingsheng and other families are different.

There are many talented children in their tribe at the moment.

Young spirited.

It's easy to do something impulsive.

In addition, it is not easy for the government to completely control them, so the government decided to abandon them.

In a nutshell.

The government wants to be obedient, not to have its own ideas.

on this.

Cheng Zheng and the others could only smile wryly.

They don't even know whether to cry or laugh, in the eyes of the government, they are like 'weakling', because the clan is young, and if they want to make a living in the future, they can only completely fall to the government, and they can only follow the government firmly, and they will never easily have different hearts.

At least not in the short term.

Forthwith.

And the hearts of the people were at peace.

At least for now, the government still trusts them.

That also means that there is no short-term danger to life.

This is barely good news.

What makes them feel even more reassuring is the government's 'inaction'.

seems to be inaction, but in fact, it is to let them fight openly and secretly, to eat the share of Cao Bingsheng and others, and invisibly, they are pitted against each other.

The means are not insignificant.

It's like a drizzle of spring breeze, silently.

They can't think about this now, if the government is really untargeted, they may continue to worry, and now the government has been secretly doing bad, which means that it is not just a trick, which makes them completely relieved.

Then.

Ji Heng's voice came again.

"Write down the officials involved one by one."

Hear the words.

Cheng Zheng and the others' faces changed greatly.

Ji Heng's methods are too vicious, if this is known, they may never be at peace.

This is a disguised attempt to force them to recruit all the relevant officials.

Ji Heng's face was full of indifference, and he said coldly: "There is a price to be paid for doing something wrong, and the price is destined to be borne by someone." ”

"It's not you, it's them."

"Since this time the matter has become big, it can only end in the scenery."

"It's not going to work."

Cheng Zheng and the others glanced at each other, their eyes full of hesitation.

They knew they had to surrender the deed.

It's just that this deed is too ruthless.

If they really do this, they will undoubtedly cut off any way out, and there will be no room for maneuver, so they can only completely fall to the government, to be precise, the eldest son.

But do they have a choice?

No!

Cheng Zheng and the others had bitter faces, and could only nod in the end.

Ji Heng nodded with satisfaction and said: "You can rest assured, this list will not be known to the outside world, you will be grateful for this decision in the future, although you have lost a lot, but you will slowly make up for it in the future, and the government will not treat you badly." ”

Hearing Ji Heng's words, Cheng Zheng and the others smiled bitterly.

The government will be very grateful if they can toss less in the future.

Other? I don't dare to have extravagant dreams at all.

They were really afraid.

Half a quarter of an hour later.

Ji Heng left satisfied.

(End of chapter)