Lou Yun said tentatively: "Could it be divided by the officials?"

Lin Luoyao nodded and said: "Okay, the nerd has opened his mind, it is true, the officials of all sizes in the imperial court take the benefits of these salt merchants every year. And these salt merchants have nothing to fear, and those adults take their silver, and they are in the same boat as them, so if something happens to them, those officials have to protect them, first, to protect them, to protect themselves, and second, these salt merchants are cash cows, cornucopias, and can provide them with a steady stream of white "flowers" and "flowers" of silver. ”

"And the salt quotations used by those salt merchants are all issued by the salt road ya', and they are serious official certificates. With their 'private' salt, you can sell it as official salt, although nominally it is 'private' salt, but those salts are all official salts, and what is missing is the procedure of salt introduction, with which these salts can become official salt, and then escape taxes. It's okay for people in the world not to eat 'meat' for a month, but it's not okay to go a day without salt. Therefore, salt has been profitable since ancient times, so it has always been in the hands of the imperial court. And not all of this money went into the hands of officials and salt merchants. ”

Lou Yun put down his chopsticks and asked, "Then who else?"

Lin Luoyao laughed and said, "This matter has something to do with you." ”

Lou Yun pointed to himself and asked, "Me?"

Lin Luoyao smiled and nodded.

Lou Yun said: "Luo Yao, you mean, that money went into my pocket, I don't know how did those people get the money to me?"

Lin Luoyao said: "Of course, although you don't take a lot, you do have a share of the silver." Because of who you are. ”

Lou Yun asked, "My identity ......?"

Lou Yun suddenly thought of his identity as the owner of Peacock Villa, Peacock Villa was indeed in Jiangnan.

Lou Yun said: "Is it Peacock Villa? Because I am the owner of the village, the salt merchants want to send me money?"

Lin Luoyao shook her head and said, "You really can't help but praise, I just said that you were enlightened, but you turned back into a nerd." Not Peacock Heights. Do you think you have any other identity? But it's close!"

Lou Yun thought of the identity of the helmsman of the Tianying Society, and the only thing related to him and Jiangnan was the owner of the Peacock Mountain Villa and the helmsman of the Tianying Society. Since the identity of the owner of Peacock Mountain Villa is wrong, it must be the helmsman of the Tianying Society.

Lou Yun said, "Luo Yao, are you talking about the Tianying Society?"

Lin Luoyao smacked her teeth and snapped her fingers in affirmation. She smiled and said: "Although I guessed, Tianying will be located in the rich land of Jiangnan, and the general helm is still in Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, and Suzhou. These three places are not to say that they are Jiangnan, even if they are the richest places in the world, it is not an exaggeration. And the core forces of the Celestial Elite Society are precisely in these three places. And these three places are also the places where the Jianghuai salt merchants are entrenched, and they are also the transit points for Haiyan to be transported to all parts of the country, although the salt gang is prevalent there, but these forces are all subordinate to the Tianying Society without exception, I think that the original Tianyu Gongzi grabbed this cash cow, and only in just a few years did the Tianying Society's power run so huge, and in one fell swoop it reached a level with forces like the Zhongzhou League. Even the government in the land of Jianghuai is afraid of it. ”

"Tianyu Gongzi said that he could get a million taels of silver in the hands of salt merchants every year, and the brocade, silk, Su embroidery, tea, porcelain, and seafood in the land of Jianghuai. Except for some who are court officials, almost all of them are monopolized by the Tianying Society. However, although these are monopolized by the Tianying Society, Tianyu Gongzi is also long-term, and he did not do the kind of thing of killing 'chickens' to take eggs to raise prices, but to control the prices of these things steadily. So that all the people can use it. Our Lin family inevitably has to go to Jiangnan to purchase silk, tea and other things, so it is indispensable to 'deal' with Tianyinghui. ”

"Even foreign businessmen like us have to 'deal' with the Tianying Society, do you say that those local salt merchants can still have less 'dealing' with him? Although some of the 'private' salt is brought by us foreign businessmen, most of the 'private' salt is transported and disseminated by the Tianying Society. Therefore, these salt merchants are indispensable to the benefits of the Tianying Society, the Tianying Society of Tianyu Gongzi is huge, and he himself has no background in the imperial court, if it were not for these salt merchants to take advantage of their connections in the imperial court, the imperial court would not ignore such a rapidly rising force. ”

"Although they can ignore Tianyinghui, but Tianyu Gongzi can't, because Tianyu Gongzi's talent is slightly too terrifying, almost every link is under his control, even those big officials and salt merchants in the court are 'played' by him in applause, becoming a thorn in everyone's side and the target of everyone. I think Tianyu Gongzi just retreated to his position to protect himself. ”

"Although the current alliance leader is not Tianyu Gongzi, but the Fang Alliance Master is not bad, he still adheres to the path formulated by Tianyu Gongzi back then, and leads the Tianying Society step by step. And this time, among the dividends issued by the Fang Alliance Lord, there was the silver of those salt merchants. You are the helmsman of the Celestial Elite Society, and you have also received these dividends. So I said that some of the silver went into your pocket, was I wrong?"

Lou Yun sighed and nodded.

Lin Luoyao looked at him and said, "Our Lou Gongzi is worried about the country and the people. However, this cannot be changed, because there is still a kind of thing in the DPRK and China, that is, party strife and factional strife. ”

Lou Yun is unknown.

Lin Luoyao looked at his suspicious look, thought for a while and said: "To put it simply, this is the same as the dispute between the 'doors' on the rivers and lakes, for example, the two factions in the court are like the relationship between the Zhongzhou League and the Tianying Society, the court is likened to the rivers and lakes, and the stability of the rivers and lakes needs to be maintained by the Zhongzhou League and the Tianying Society, but these two parties do not want to cooperate with each other, or even squeeze out each other." This gave birth to a fight, although you can't tear your face to the death on the surface, but in the secret there is also a fight. And the contest needs money, and where the money comes from, it is naturally best for others to give. The same is true of these officials, who inevitably need money to achieve their political goals, and this money is given by the salt merchants. ”

Lou Yun asked again: "Although I don't really understand these things in the officialdom mall, I always feel that it is definitely not good to fight." Although this is not like the fights and brawls of the people in the city, many people will be injured or even die when some small gangs on the rivers and lakes fight, and these officials will fight all day long, will it not affect state affairs? Will His Majesty the Emperor not care about them? Such fights have deepened the corruption of the officials, and the officials have their own affairs, and the competition for power and profit among the officials may shake the government and society. Isn't there a big 'chaos' in the world?"