Chapter 74: I advance and retreat

On June 20th, it happened that Feng Meng and Lingshan's salt team drove to Changyi to switch defenses. Every time the two salt teams handed over, it would take a long time to settle down. The blacksmith shop changed two types of muskets, and Li Meng was not satisfied with it.

Since there was nothing in the village, Li Meng simply came to the magistrate city to take a break for half a day, which was a small rest. He arranged for the salt dick on duty at the door to call Ning Gangui, and Li Meng made a pot of tea by himself here.

As soon as Ning Gangui entered the house, Li Meng happened to pour out two cups of tea. Master Ning smiled bitterly. He claimed to be good at greetings. To put it bluntly, he knew how to slap horses and please him, but he often felt very powerless in front of this adult. Li Meng, the salt administration inspector, did not understand any rules and etiquette at all, and his behavior was no different from those ignorant village women. However, if you really don’t understand, the Yanding team’s army was strict and the control was extremely complete, which didn’t seem to be unaware of etiquette and rules.

However, since Li Meng's behavior was solemn, he could only cooperate. After pouring tea, Li Meng waved his palm and signaled. Ning Gangui quickly smiled and said:

"How dare you be an adult pouring tea and kill it."

But just by being polite, I obviously have become accustomed to Li Meng's style. Tea is the most crude. Li Meng only needs to have a bitter taste to refresh her spirit. It is not very particular. It is better to be expensive, and I really can't adapt to this tea, but I can only drink an expressionless sip.

"There are so many days in the Zhoucheng City that I am very enthusiastic about this week's Juren. I wonder, even if you can't be an official, why bother to do such a big job?"

As soon as this sentence was said, Ning Gangui almost sprayed the tea in his mouth, and he swallowed it forcefully. He thought to himself, Lord Li, you can't pretend like this, but when he looked at Li Meng's puzzled expression, he still tried to explain:

"Master, a minor official from the ninth rank and eighth rank, you can be a juren directly. If you have a way to be a teacher, then you will be a magistrate, and you will be a magistrate. You will have a magistrate. Then Zhou Juren is also a local big family. He will have a promising future in the future. Naturally, everyone will be entrusted to make friends."

Li Meng coughed a few times. He had less time to listen to people chatting these days, and his knowledge of the Ming Dynasty was still too shallow and he made jokes everywhere. This Zhou Juren was the scholar Zhou who was a while ago. He should be the calm and knowledgeable scholar I heard while drinking in Shaohailou.

Both parties are in the same place. No matter what the future holds, they still have to get along well. Li Meng quickly made up his mind and said:

"Lao Ning, please arrange for someone to give gifts and greetings, but probably those scholars with great fame may not look down on me, a salt dealer."

Hearing Li Meng's self-deprecating, Ning Gangui also laughed a few times with him. Seeing that there was nothing to do, he was about to get up and say goodbye. When he walked out the door, he heard Li Meng hesitate and asked:

"Is there anything wrong with the Yan Zhizhou Yamen?"

"When I say that, Rosie bribed two mothers and a chef in the magistrate's prefecture. I heard that the magistrate got angry a few days ago in the inner house. The magistrate's wife just cried there, and then Miss Yan's yard was locked. Several mothers were watching there day and night. I heard that a maid was almost beaten to death, if it weren't for the magistrate's protection."

Seeing Li Meng's face being pale and unsteady, Ning Gangui thought that he had said that about the other party's private residence. The adult was indeed unhappy and quickly changed the topic and said:

"The magistrate still writes and reads and entertains himself every day. I heard from the yamen runners that the magistrate and the magistrate often go to the magistrate, wanting the magistrate to come forward and suppress the magistrate, but they were all rejected by Yan Zhizhou."

At this time, Li Meng's expression was very calm. There was nothing confidential about all kinds of news in Xiaoxiaozhou City. As long as you are careful, there will be sieves there, and there is no secret.

However, the news that Li Meng was really concerned about was the private house gossip in the previous house. He gave porcelain like this, and Miss Yan was the only one in the prefecture's prefecture. After sending it three times in a row, it would be strange if the magistrates and the couple were not suspicious. Although the atmosphere in the late Ming Dynasty was not as rigid as the previous Ming Dynasty, there were rules.

Master Yan did not rush over to fight Li Meng. This is really a scholar who knows how to hide his strength and keep a low profile. However, Li Meng also understands that the other civil servant who is a regular professional and must look down on his role as a rash person.

Ning Gangui, who was there, had already left Li Meng in a daze, thinking about the experience he had heard in modern times. It seemed that the moves of gaining favorable feelings and getting closer together in love were not suitable for this era. What should he do? Li Meng took a tea table with a little disappointed.

"I don't want to go out to train troops. If you want to live a good life, you have to do these basic things well."

But, when everything is done, do you still have time to live a good life?

The number of people is different. When Li Meng's number of people expanded to more than 2,000, the salt farm resources in the Lingshan Guard area could be guarded by newly recruited people. The original old salt dicks were sent out, and Dengzhou, which was ragged by the war, did not talk about him.

With the cooperation of local salt owls and salt vendors, the private salt trafficking roads in Laizhou and Qingzhou prefectures were guarded by the salt deputies. Apart from the salt in Lingshan, the salt from other places really could not be entered at all.

If the salt administration inspections in the past, such as King Mu Yan, also set up a checkpoint to investigate, and they were extremely vicious, and the money collected was not as much as Li Meng's. The reason was that he was just spending his own money and hated him. The big salt owl didn't want to be a bird, the medium salt dealer was guarding against him, and the small salt dealer hated him to the core. As a result, he made enemies everywhere, so he naturally had to do nothing. Everyone respected him a few taels of silver, so he was too lazy to pay attention to it. As a result, a patrol inspector had to make money by selling private salt.

Those big and small salt vendors are not much better. They may get salt in the local salt farm in Shandong and then return to the local area to sell it. Sometimes when the passing places are at a high price, they will sell it directly to the local area. The salt vendors and salt vendors are fighting each other and frame each other. They also have to beware of the investigation of bandits in the inspection department. The income is unstable, the profit is not high, and the risks are also high, and they are all listless.

But Li Meng is doing this now, according to the division of prefectures, counties, villages and towns, all salt traders and salt vendors in various places, landlords and powerful people, choose the biggest cooperation. Li Meng clarifies the local order for them, provides them with a source of goods, and ensures that they are not investigated by the government.

What these powerful people do is buy the salt and sell it out. After the income and profits stabilize, they are much stronger than before. Everyone benefits, so naturally everyone takes care of it.

Li Meng has weaved a tight private salt sales network in Dengzhou and Laizhou Prefecture. In this network, every participant has his own interests. Driven by this interest, he will automatically and consciously maintain and protect this network.

Of course, choosing the largest local gentry to cooperate will inevitably touch the interests of others. However, since the biggest one has been found, the two companies work together and the others cannot make a fortune.

Many famous characters in the local area have disappeared like this. For example, Qiu Dahai, in Pingdu Prefecture, went to buy salt from Yuer Town and Haicang that day, but he did not catch up when Li Meng Shaohailou meets. Originally, he was the largest salt owl in Pingdu Prefecture, but half a year later, he could not buy a grain of salt in Laizhou, and even a grain of salt he bought from other places could not reach Pingdu Prefecture. His subordinates disappeared. Now people are missing. Like the salt rods that escaped in the Lingshan Guard, they are all teaching materials on the opposite side.

Li Meng, whose strength has expanded, has begun to sell private salt to the south of the border between Yanzhou Prefecture and Qingzhou Prefecture, and to the south of Jinan Prefecture.

However, these places are the traditional territory of Lianghuai salt merchants. They are very close to Haizhou and Ganyu, and the transportation between water and land is also convenient. Lianghuai salt merchants have always dumped in large quantities.

As a result, when Li Meng's power penetrated, the merchants of Lianghuai were suddenly furious. The so-called "Lianghuai salt is salty in the world". Huai salt was sold all over the world, and the salt merchants of Lianghuai were also richest in the world, with amazing power. Originally, salt was set up in provinces and sold salt in various places. However, the local salt farms in Shandong were squeezed by Huai salt and had no living space. Of course, Lianghuai salt merchants did not really buy and sell official salt, but instead carried private salt into the official salt. One of them was 400 kilograms of salt. As a result, the salt merchants pulled out 4,000 kilograms of salt and sold 8,000 kilograms of salt, and the profit was naturally extremely high.

Yanzhou Prefecture, Dongchang Prefecture and Jinan Prefecture are the three richest prefectures in Shandong. Huai salt is filled with it, and the profits are also huge. How can you give up easily?

Lianghuai salt merchants also have their own salt thugs, but these people are just thugs, so there is no question of training. They rely on their courage and ruthlessness to fight against the organized and trained salt thugs under Li Meng. They were beaten to pieces and could not mobilize the power of the government in Shandong. They were helpless for a moment.

If Li Meng owns the market for one day, he will make less money. Haizhou salt merchants are naturally unwilling to suffer this loss, but now it seems that they can't beat it, so they can only use other means.

Jining is the canal transport hub in Shandong. The Shandong Salt Transportation Envoy's Office is also located in Jining Prefecture. The salt merchants in Haizhou gathered here. After threatening Li Meng's difficult use, they started fighting again. They never fought. In the end, these salt merchants finally thought that the inspector's superior was the Shandong Salt Transport Envoy. They found his boss and removed Li Meng, a bold guy, which was the best method.
Chapter completed!