Chapter 496: Kill a group, beat a group, release a group

The eighteenth day of the first lunar month of the second year of Chongzhen.

Beijing City ushered in a new day.

As the new day comes, there is more explosive news, that is, the court agreed that Liulizhai will take over the world's salt making. This is not an explosive news. The explosive news is that a 10 million salt class must be missed, and a five million tael of salt class must be paid in advance. As soon as this news comes out, it is really a thunder in the world.

When I got up in the morning, I went to the teahouse to listen to the newspaper. This is definitely a big hobby for people in the capital. I didn’t have this habit, and northerners were not used to going to drink tea in the morning, but I couldn’t resist the news that often came out of "explosive" news. If you want to know the explosive news, you have to know the inside story, you have to understand the whole story, share joy with others, share a sense of accomplishment, share surprises, and share your experiences and brags. When you go to the teahouse to listen to the newspaper, you have to become a habit. Who said that the news on the newspaper is authoritative? The newspaper was posted in the morning?

Accompanied by the heat rising all over the street, the street was filled with the excited hawking of newspaper boys: "Not! Not! Liulizhai took over the world's salt making, and paid five million taels of salt class in advance..., Not! Not! Liulizhai paid five million taels of salt class in advance..."

The streets and alleys of the city were filled with such a humble voice, which soon woke up the entire city of Beijing.

Teahouses of different sizes and grades gathered many people, listening to what was said in the newspaper, asking for the latest news, and seeing what new things have been born. What happened in the past year can be said that the things that happened in the past few decades have not been piled up for more than a year.

It was still this teahouse, or the old peddler. Because the old peddler could get some inside information from time to time, and could understand some profound contents of the newspaper, and people could speak. Therefore, more and more people came to listen to him that the newspaper was reported. The days of the old peddlers were getting more and more moister. Their originally thin and browned faces have become much rosy now, and their clothes are no longer as shabby as before. They are no longer as before, in order to ask for a cup of tea from others.

He was timid at people when he was drinking wine or eating a meal. Now, because he said that the huge abortion brought to the teahouse, the teahouse business was quite good, the teahouse owner did not treat him badly, and he gave him a lot of money every time. Now, relying on the news, this originally poor and shabby old peddler can be regarded as a master of his career. When he was old and had a glorious life, he liked more and more this thing that was face-saving, income, and sought after by everyone.

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk..." Seeing that there were already people sitting around him on the three floors of the inner and three floors of the outer floors, the old scholar knew that they could start. People who came here would have to drink a cup of tea or something. Many old customers even left their own cups here, just to come here to listen to newspapers every day, and not mix with others. In the past, they liked to listen to books, listen to operas, and like to visit kilns when they were fine, but now they found that it was so interesting to listen to newspapers and read newspapers in this way, and then everyone talked about the mountains, bragged, and argued about the affairs in the court. More generous people also ordered some snacks and had some breakfast. Therefore, this morning tea every day brought extremely rich profits to the teahouse.

When everyone saw that the old peddler was about to report, they stopped excitedly to see what the old peddler said.

"The new salt method will be released; Liulizhai will take over the world's salt making; Liulizhai will pay five million taels of salt in advance..." The old scholar read the word "王" in a row and immediately said the main content of the newspaper today.

"good!"

"good!"

"good!"

The old scholar's ups and downs of reading the newspaper immediately made the people present cheer. In fact, everyone already knew about today's news, and their faces were flushed and full of excitement. At this time, they just gathered together to inquire about the inside story and talk about the mountains, and they would have the capital to brag in the future. Of course, this may also be related to them, so they were particularly excited.

"My mother, five million taels of silver, it must be piled up into a mountain..." As soon as the newspaper was reading, someone couldn't help but feel excited and excited in his heart, and screamed strangely.

"Coax..." This man's strange voice and screamed immediately, which made everyone burst into laughter. Because the news was too exciting, many people's faces were flushed and needed a chance to vent.

The old peddler also smiled and stroked his beard.

"No, it's just beginning this year, so I'll collect five million taels of salt classes? This time, the court is so developed..."

"The salt merchant fell, the court was full..."

Someone immediately took over the conversation and started to discuss it enthusiastically. This news was really sensational. If the issue of 10 million taels of silver disaster relief was just a topic of conversation, but they were just spectators. Then, this salt class incident has a personal relationship with them. No one can avoid salt. Therefore, there is less indifference and calmness. Everyone has red faces, as if they have defeated the salt merchants and won the victory in the court.

Faced with the heated discussions of the crowd, the old scholar also stopped to say the newspaper with a smile, waiting for everyone to discuss, knowing that he didn't have to read it by himself today.

"I said, can Liulizhai take out so much silver?" Everyone was talking in a hot mood, and then someone suddenly asked.

"Coax..." Everyone burst into laughter.

"I said, Li Laoer, will Liulizhai have no silver? Is the Glass Street on that street fake? Last year, Liulizhai divided the silver. Did you not go to see it? Millions of taels of silver, just say it was divided..." Someone came out to defend Liulizhai. Liulizhai was synonymous with Jinshan. The Glass Street on that street was more convincing. At the end of last year, the dividends of Liulizhai were also lively for many days. Millions of taels of silver were just divided.

"Coax..." Everyone burst into laughter and vented their excitement. No one doubted Liulizhai's ability to pay, but envied the court for receiving five million taels of salt classes at once.

The person who asked the question was ridiculed by everyone, and he touched his head in confusion. Although others laughed at him, he still felt that this could not be counted. Even if Liulizhai had money in the past, he didn't say that he made a million yuan a year? Paying 200,000 taxes? Why can he suddenly get five million taels of silver this time? Where does this silver come from? This question made him feel very strange. He had learned some calculations and had been confused about this question for a long time. He always felt that there was a problem there. He couldn't help asking it just now, but he didn't expect that he got a burst of ridicule from everyone. He had to hide this question deep in his heart and dare not think about it anymore.

After laughing for a while, everyone's emotions were vented a little. Someone asked: "My Master, tell me, we ordinary people don't care about the affairs of the court. The court's five million salt course has nothing to do with us. We just want to ask, this new salt method has come out. Can the salt we eat be cheaper? How many liters can you buy a pound of salt?" Someone immediately asked this question of concern for one's own interests.

The old scholar smiled for a while, and when everyone's expectant eyes cut on themselves, he said, "This! According to the official newspaper, Mr. Bi, the Minister of Revenue, said: The salt course must be paid in full; the salt price must be stable, which is the benchmark for the new salt course. If these two items are not met, Mr. Bi claims that the new salt method is not a good salt method, and it needs to be changed..." The old scholar began to show off.

"My Master, please tell me quickly. After the new salt method, how much can we eat good salt? If the salt price really comes down, we will recognize that the new salt method is a good salt method. What else has nothing to do with us..." Someone shouted, the teahouse was even more lively and noisy.

The old peddler was used to staying with these people. Although it was a bit vulgar, these people were his parents of food and clothing. He smiled and pressed down his hands. The noise and clamor of the people became quiet again. Listening to the old peddler's explanation of the inside story, the literacy rate in the Ming Dynasty was not very high. Even if there were reports, there might not be many people reading it. Therefore, the teahouse, a public place for obtaining reliable information, became popular.

"According to what the imperial court's newspaper said, Lord Bi planned that the salt price should float around twenty-five cents. Because the distance of salt transportation is far and near, the salt price will change slightly. Generally speaking, it is twenty-five cents. There will be a Changlu salt field near our capital, so eating salt is not far, and it is estimated that it will not exceed twenty-five cents." The old scholar is indeed an intellectual, and soon analyzed the contents of the newspaper in detail.

"Wow! Twenty-five words?"

"Ah! Twenty-five words?"

"Twenty-five verses?"

Everyone exclaimed, the price was much lower than the current salt price. Ordinary salt can cost more than thirty cents, and a pound of salt was almost ten cents less. After accumulating, it was not a small amount.

"My master, this is not a scrap, right? How could it be so cheap?" Another question was immediately raised.

"Scrap? Sneak..." The old scholar laughed and said in a mocking tone: "...Your Majesty is the Son of the Ming Dynasty. Will you eat scraps? This new salt method says that eating salt is good, and it is similar to the fine salt we eat now. Where can I give you the scraps? If you want to eat scraps, do you have to add more money?" The old scholar must stand from the perspective of the court and the interests of the court, especially when it comes to the emperor, and will undoubtedly protect the emperor.

"Coax..." Everyone burst into laughter again, looking at the old master and throwing away the inside story.

"Why?" the man asked in confusion.

"Why? I heard that Your Majesty's new salt method uses salt drying. There are only a few salt fields in the world that are worth eating. The salts that are drying are all first-class, white and good salt. If you want to eat the scraps mixed with mud sand, you have to ask someone to mix sand and mud into the fine salt. This mud and mud mixed with sand, it takes effort and you have to hire a manual worker. How can you not increase your price?" The old master explained with a smile, begging the man repeatedly for approval.

"Coax..." Everyone happily vented the excitement in their hearts. Looking at the old master's inside story, everyone burst into laughter again. This old master really has two tricks. He knows so many things that many people are envious and illiterate, just blind! Even if he can't understand such sensational news, he still has to listen to others' explanations.

The man was laughed at by everyone, his face turned redder, and he looked repeatedly begging for mercy and said, "I suffer a loss, I am not able to read, I am not able to read! But I can't say that, I'm going to find a teacher to learn to read. I'm not able to read, it's really a loss..." The man laughed at himself and shook his head again, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

The old master smiled and touched his beard. Some things, even if you read, may not know. There is a reason why he knows so much, to protect the emperor and the court. As for the reason, he will not tell others that with this identity, he believes that he can live happily in this capital and not be bullied. Therefore, he is quite satisfied with this new job and is very hardworking for this job.

"So, we can only eat such cheap salt and such good salt after being lured by Your Majesty. Otherwise, relying on the deceptive salt merchants, they would like to eat our meat and peel our skin for them to eat, drink and have fun. This time, God has opened his eyes!" The old scholar turned his mind and involved the topic of the salt merchants.

This turn immediately aroused everyone's anger towards the salt merchant. No one mentioned it, but he didn't think it was. Now when he told the old master, everyone remembered the salt merchant.

"It's true that we should kill this group of damn salt merchants, one pound of salt is more expensive than ten cents. We have calculated that our family will have to eat dozens of pounds of salt in a year. After a year, it's more than one tael of silver. If the salt is not clean, this group of damn salt merchants are so expensive. His Majesty has done it this time. I think it's time to kill these salt merchants..." He immediately said his anger at the salt merchants.

"That's right, your family is still small. Fortunately, we have more family members. Just give salt merchants more money every year. These group of violent merchants have cheated us all. What the mansion said in this newspaper is right to suck our blood!" The anger towards the salt merchants was just temporarily covered up because of the more "explosive" news. Now that it is mentioned slightly, it is immediately so angry.

"Yes! It's time to kill..."

"Yes! It should have been killed long ago..."

...

The emotions of the people instantly ignited a sentence from the old scholar. The angry crowd wanted to kill these hateful salt merchants immediately. If things were not involved in their own heads, they could at most watch, at most be passers-by, at most stand on the shore to judge, just say something cool or fair, but when actual interests were involved in them, it was very different. The people here were all people with families and families, and some people had a lot of people in their families. If the new salt law was implemented, eating salt would save a lot of money every year. These money would be enough to buy two pigs during the Chinese New Year. After this calculation, how could they not hate those salt merchants? Once someone took the lead, they immediately shouted to kill salt merchants.

The old peddler smiled and stroked his beards, looking at the angry crowd, very satisfied. When everyone's anger was slightly calmed down, he said, "We are all talking about small things. Your family, his family, is not worth much money. What's more hateful is that among these salt merchants, there are some people who want to trap millions of Han men as slaves. This is a great hatred and a great hatred. If one day, the Donglu came into the pass, whisper, it's probably not a matter of eating a few kilograms of salt. Some salt merchants have dreams of following the dragon."

After the old scholar said this, everyone had just calmed down their anger and became even higher. They often listened to people reading the news, and naturally knew what slaves were and what fourth-class untouchables were. Their anger was so anger that they wanted to burn the salt merchants to death immediately.

The old scholar looked at the crowd with satisfaction. He just mentioned it slightly, and the anger of the crowd was so high that it seemed like he wanted to eat salt merchants alive. This was very good. Alas, the people are so angry that those salt merchants are dead!

Such a situation happened from time to time in the capital, and the anger of people in the world asking for the salt merchant to die has gradually taken shape.

...

Nanjing.

Fang Hongzan led a brigade of Jinyiwei to travel from the capital for more than 20 days. Finally, he arrived in Nanjing this evening. Before he had time to rest, he rushed to Xu Guangqi's imperial envoy headquarters.

He hurriedly entered the imperial envoy's headquarters and then went straight into the living room, and Fang Hongzan did not stop for a moment.

"I have met Mr. Xu." Fang Hongzan took the lead in celebrating his fists.

Xu Guangqi smiled and replied, looking at the commander Fang. After the commander Fang arrived, the matter of the salt merchant was about to come to an end. The emperor's opening was about to close with the arrival of the commander Fang.

"Grandpa Xi." Fang Hongzan also bowed to the other person.

"You are polite, you are all your confidants, so there is no need to be like this." Eunuch Xi also smiled and replied with a gift. Until today, he has really received the money. It is definitely not a false statement to say that he has the most money in the world at this moment.

"Sir!" In the living room, another person bowed and bowed to Fang Hongzan.

Fang Hongzan also bowed and saluted him by one of his subordinates. Xu Bengao, who was sent to the south early last year. At the beginning, the emperor's idea was that as soon as the capital attacked, the south immediately took action. Therefore, Xu Bengao came to the south in advance. Now, it has indeed played an important role in the process of starting a salt merchant. This person is responsible for the Jinyiwei beating the grass and beating the rabbits. Otherwise, he would have to wait until Fang Hongzan arrives in the south before beating the rabbits. The rabbits in the grass have long since run away.

"Everyone, please sit down." Xu Guangqi said with a smile. He is the oldest and oldest here, so he naturally has the right to speak.

"Xie Ge Lao." After everyone thanked, they sat down again.

"Your Majesty, how are you?" Xu Guangqi asked with a smile. The recent days are undoubtedly his happiest. Checking the family fortunes of salt merchants every day is his happiest thing. Every time Xu Guangqi sees the family fortunes of tens of millions, he sighs and sighs.

"Go back to the Pavilion Master, everything is fine." Fang Hongzan immediately agreed. In fact, he has been away from the capital for more than 20 days, and when he arrives in Nanjing, the news can be heard once every four or five days at the earliest. This question is just a false question.

"That's good, what are your instructions?" Xu Guangqi asked again. Although this was a scene, he had to say it. The commander who came with the brigade of Jinyiwei means that the salt merchant case is about to end.

"Go back to the Master, Your Majesty, I will listen to the Master." Fang Hongzan said again. Of course, this is also a scene. He knew that his role in this salt merchant case was the evil person. Xu Guangqi was a good person, and Eunuch Xi made money specifically, that's all.

"Well, your Majesty has ordered that the capital city is about to be banned, and the news of the ban will soon arrive in Nanjing. At that time, the ban opened by Your Majesty will need to be closed. At that time, Fang Commander will take action." Xu Guangqi smiled again. The emperor's opening has already made many salt merchants cross the river. Now, it is time to close the gap. Otherwise, if this gap is not collected, the salt merchant case cannot be handled and cannot be explained to the people of the world. Once this gap is collected, the salt merchants outside the gap will become the targets of this commander Fang's greeting. The emperor wants to kill a group of salt merchants and strictly handle a group of salt merchants. He will pick and arrest people, evidence and other tasks from the salt merchants outside these gaps.

"The officials understand that as soon as the brigade of troops arrived at the ground, some people were indeed trapped and had to rest for a few days. Then the officials were waiting for news from the elders." Fang Hongzan immediately said that he knew his mission, that is, to come to the south to act as a villain and a thug. When the killer came, the emperor needed him to seal the gap. When he came, he was the end of some salt merchants. Killing a group, killing a group, and "releasing" a group, which is the plan formulated in advance. All the things that should be killed, beaten, and "releasing" are already complete. Just wait for the emperor to give orders to capture all those who should be killed and beaten in one go. The salt merchant Tonglu case that cannot be tried, asked, and cannot be investigated.

...

After the handover, Fang Hongzan chatted with Xu Guangqixi's father-in-law at the imperial envoy headquarters for a while. Then Xu Guangqi's imperial envoy headquarters came out and was about to go back and have a good "rest" for a few days, waiting for news from the emperor.

After coming out, Fang Hongzan was relieved when he recalled the establishment of a salt merchant this time. Originally, he had to bite the bullet. As an Jinyiwei, he could only follow the emperor. He really didn't dare to think about the consequences of establishing a salt merchant. What he was most afraid of was that he would not be able to do it and take him out to punish him. If he did it, the emperor also took him out to punish him in order to calm the anger of the civil servants, so he was not a human inside or outside, and he would be dead. However, now it seems that the situation is quite good.

It was good, but not to the worst. The emperor had already reached a compromise with the civil servants. He did not drive the salt merchants to the death and made a big move for many salt merchants. Then he would not have to face all the salt merchants and be enemies with all the civil servants. He was just to deal with some salt merchants who were not so powerful in the backstage. This matter was very simple for him. He didn't need to be a human being inside and outside, nor was he afraid that the emperor would fail to fight with the civil servants, so he took him out to death.
Chapter completed!