Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"The Huai merchant Wu family asked Li Zengzhi from Cao Guogong's mansion to invite me to Tangshan for a banquet in the evening?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and understood what the other party meant.

The current situation is relatively delicate. It is definitely not easy for businessmen to come to visit your house. If you ask yourself to go to someone else's territory, firstly, it is not safe, and secondly, how shameless are you?

Therefore, it is necessary to find a middleman who can make you feel at ease.

"Okay, reply to him and I will be there."

Just as Wang Bin was about to take the order and leave, Jiang Xinghuo suddenly stopped him again and said, "Call Zhu Heng too."

Zhu Heng is not an outsider, he is Zhu Gaoxu's great steward. Well, in the history of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, Zhu Gaoxu rebelled in Le'an Prefecture and made Wang Bin a governor and Zhu Heng a minister. What do these two people say? Woolen cloth? He is loyal to Zhu Gaoxu, but unfortunately his ability is mediocre, which is not a bad thing. At best, he just obeys the command and does things. It is quite difficult to accomplish anything big by himself.

And Jiang Xinghuo had no money, so the money used by Daming Bank for special loans was not conjured up out of thin air. He sent someone to Beijing to consult Zhu Gaoxu's opinion and borrowed it from Zhu Heng, the chief steward of Zhu Gaoxu's house. Yes, and Zhu Heng also has an official status now, and was directly transferred to Daming Bank to work for Jiang Xinghuo.

In terms of total wealth, there must be someone richer than Zhu Gaoxu in Nanjing.

But if you want to save more money than Zhu Gaoxu, there will definitely be no one who saves more money than Zhu Gaoxu.

Most of other people's wealth is reflected in real estate such as land and manors. Zhu Gaoxu did not acquire so much real estate. His characteristic is that he has piles of gold and silver treasures, all of which were stolen during the four years of Jingnan and fought all the way.

So at this time it directly became the supernumerary treasury of Daming Bank.

Zhu Gaoxu himself doesn't care about this. For a person like him, his interest in power and war is much higher than wealth, because all his wealth is accumulated by power and war. In terms of priority, Zhu Gaoxu is still Clearly divided.

And since this matter would help master Jiang Xinghuo implement the reform, Zhu Gaoxu naturally had no reluctance to part with it. Even if Jiang Xinghuo took it directly from his house, he would not say anything, not to mention that Jiang Xinghuo also asked for his opinion.

When Zhu Di heard about this, he was even more relieved. He felt that his son could contribute to the country. The envious Zhu Gaochi wanted to lend out the little money he had at home. Unfortunately, his strength did not allow it. In the era of feudal imperial power, at this time The internal funds of the Ming Emperor were still supervised and used by officials from the Ministry of Revenue. The royal money and the state's money were not divided so finely, and no one said anything about it. What's more, if Zhu Di was angered, come If you say you pay, wouldn’t you be dumbfounded?

For Zhu Gaoxu, these things that happened in Nanjing are nothing but trivial matters. His top priority now is to work with Zhenyuan Hou Gu Cheng and Wei Guogong Xu Huizu to rectify the defense issues of Beizhili.

After all, the troops of Sheng Yong and Ping An in the direction of Datong are thin and weak in combat effectiveness. Once the Mongols repeat this year's invasion, the main force must be the soldiers and horses of Northern Zhili. They also have to guard against the rebellion of the King of Jin, and the King of Jin Yue Getting restless.

In addition, Zhu Gaoxu also needs to handle the reform in Beizhili.

Of course, North Zhili has a vast world and a lot of potential. Although most of the administrative officials here are Zhu Gaochi's team left behind when running Peking, the internal environment is much better than in the south. The interest groups are composed of military generals, small and medium-sized Han landowners, and inner Mongolian tribes. Mainly, Hu Feng still exists as a whole, and the law of the jungle prevails in unique regions. Most places are actually controlled by local powerful forces, and the civil servants have very little influence.

After thinking about things in the north, Jiang Xinghuo withdrew his thoughts.

In the long run, of course, heavy industry must be vigorously developed in the north, which has better resource endowments, and the gap between the north and the south cannot be further widened. Moreover, in the current era, there are indeed many problems to be solved in the north, such as Mongolia, Jurchens, and North Korea. These hidden dangers and obstacles , it is best to be completely completed in this generation.

But the most important thing right now is to thoroughly promote all-round reform in the south, and at the same time let the fire of the industrial revolution burn. At the very least, let the light industry sector step into the threshold of the industrial age.

——————

Forty miles away from Nanjing City, there is Tangshan Biyeye.

The last time Li Jinglong and Li Zengzhi invited Jinchuan Jun to the hot springs, it was here, and now that Li Jinglong is still in Annan, Li Zengzhi naturally became the obedient host.

This Tangshan villa is located at the foot of Tangshan Mountain, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with beautiful scenery and surrounded by streams.

I saw an octagonal pavilion standing in the water of Miaomiao Pool. Inside the pavilion was a stone table and several stone chairs. There were also several exquisite vases placed next to it. It was obviously late autumn, but it was filled with all kinds of bright and charming flowers. The whole pavilion looks extremely elegant.

There are a large group of koi carps in the pond outside the pavilion. From time to time, fish jump out of the water and splash into the waves.

There were three people sitting in the pavilion, divided into guests and hosts. Two of them were middle-aged, Wu Chuanjia and his younger brother Wu Chuanzong. On the other side, sitting in the main seat was the former military governor from the left. Governor Li Zengzhi.

Although Li Zengzhi is keen on buying a family business, at least in name, he himself does not intervene in the business, and only manages it through indirect management of his professional housekeepers and shopkeepers.

"Captain Li, I really want to thank you today!"

Wu Chuanjia said with a smile: "If it weren't for your face, I'm afraid I would have no way to go."

"Yes, with your ability, we people really can't even see the back of your neck." Wu Chuanzong also said.

Li Zengzhi always made money by being friendly, and said with a smile: "How can I have any face or ability? This is just the friendship between my eldest brother and the imperial master, and it is just the family property left by my late father, King Qiyang."

Humility is humility, but it would be too naive to take Li Zengzhi's words seriously. Anyway, not only did the Wu brothers not take them seriously, but what they heard from them was full of arrogance.

In business, what is a businessman? A businessman is a person who makes deals; what do you deal with? What you get are resources.

And Li Zengzhi is a person with top-level resources.

Of course, in Li Zengzhi's case, the Wu family has face, that's because Marquis Anlu has face, but now that Wu Chuanjia comes to ask alone, it doesn't mean that the Huai merchant Wu family also has face.

Li Zengzhi agreed to be the middleman, not because of his face, but because of his reputation.

He wants real benefits.

Li Zengzhi took a sip of the wine in his glass and said to Wu Chuanjia: "I heard that your grain business has been good recently. I wonder who you plan to sell it to?"

Wu Chuanjia's heart suddenly skipped a beat when he heard this. He didn't know that Li Zengzhi was eyeing the food transshipment business of Huanghuai Chief Envoy. He said with a smile: "This is the inheritance left by my father. How can I dare to resell it casually?" Woolen cloth!"

The rations for the Japanese army and the Liaodong frontier army were collected from the south of the Yangtze River, and then transferred to the Huanghuai Chief Envoy through the two Grand Canal hubs of Changzhou Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture, and then transported to Shandong and even Beizhili.

The Wu family has two businesses, the first is naturally the salt industry, and the second is grain.

The Wu family's salt is only limited to the two Huaihe Rivers. The Wu family and even the entire Huaihe merchants are land-based households, and they get salt. Food transportation and cross-border sales have little to do with them; food and related things in the interest chain, This is the fundamental reason why Huai merchants can influence beyond the two Huai areas.

Now, Li Zengzhi wants to cut off a big piece of flesh from the Wu family.

Does Wu Chuanjia have room to negotiate terms now?

No.

Because let alone the Imperial Preceptor has not come yet, even if the Imperial Preceptor does come, he cannot get through the middleman Li Zengzhi, because Li Zengzhi represents Cao Guogong's mansion, and Cao Guogong is an important ally of the Imperial Preceptor, and the Imperial Preceptor will not do anything for him. Go home and have trouble with your allies.

Wu Chuanjia believes that for the Imperial Guard, even if the Wu family does not rebel, rectifying the salt affairs is just a thorny problem. It is not impossible to rectify. At most, it will take some time. Therefore, the Wu family is important, but not so important that he has to do it. the point.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Li Zengzhi laughed when he heard this and said: "If you lose something, you will gain something. Don't want everything in the end and have nothing left."

"Well"

Cold sweat broke out on Wu Chuanjia's forehead, and he said sarcastically: "The second room of our family is doing the food. I don't know many things, and my little brother is not someone who holds on to these things. I can still carry them clearly. Governor Li, don’t be surprised. If Governor Li agrees, I will go back and ask, and it will be a matter of course for me to sell it to a business, ah no, company under your administration."

Seeing that Wu Chuanjia said he was happy, but in fact he was still taking chances, Li Zengzhi naturally would not be polite to him.

These things must be discussed before Jiang Xinghuo arrives.

"Okay, since you don't know, let me tell you."

Li Zengzhi narrowed his eyes slightly and said calmly: "After your second uncle died of illness, his cousin took over the grain industry, but the industry your uncle left was far more than that. As far as I know, besides grain, your family now has , as well as lacquerware and tea. In addition, a fleet has been built on Huaishang, which also includes more than a dozen large ships. In addition, your family currently controls the salt industry and other industries, as well as the network of relationships in shipping , it is simply as rich as a country."

"But I would like to advise you, do everything within your ability and don't be greedy, otherwise it will be counterproductive."

"I know. I know." Wu Chuanjia wiped the sweat on his head and said with a smile.

Li Zengzhi sneered and shook his head, not exposing him.

In fact, the current situation of the Wu family is very embarrassing. It turns out that the Wu family relied on the power of the Anlu Marquis Mansion to occupy a place among the Huai merchants and even become the leader. There is nothing to say about this. Many businessmen in the Ming Dynasty are like this now. Those who have grown up by clinging to the powerful will not be able to do much business without the protection of the temple.

But the problem is that, seeing the huge waves rolling into the sky, the Anluhou Mansion abandoned the Wu family like worn out shoes. It’s not that the Wu family has no other connections, but even the Anluhou Mansion can’t help him, and the other civil servants in charge have What is it for?

In fact, this is not to blame Anlu Hou Wu Jie. For a wealthy family like them who are separated from the country, the foundation of their own temple is the most important. As for the merchants who are attached to it, what if one of them is gone? It's just a matter of cultivating another one. It will take some time at most, but if your foundation is shaken in the temple turmoil, it will not be a loss that can be measured by money and wealth.

Li Zengzhi looked at Wu Chuanjia and said earnestly: "Your Wu family can choose to resell the entire grain industry for 30,000 taels of silver. In this way, I can help you speak in front of the Imperial Master."

These words sounded lighthearted, but in fact if the Wu family wanted to escape, they had to transfer their grain industry to Li Zengzhi. This agreement was tantamount to directly destroying the Wu family's position in the Huai merchants. It would be impossible for them to intervene in the future.

Wu Chuanjia didn't agree just now. Firstly, in business, bargaining is the only way to pay back the money after asking for a high price. There is no reason to agree; secondly, because it is the businessman's profit after all, and he is a little reluctant to give up.

But the meaning behind Li Zengzhi's words was like a loud slap in the face of the Wu brothers.

This is naked blackmail!

However, they dare not refuse.

The Li family were serious royal relatives, and Li Jinglong was the grandnephew of Emperor Hongwu. The commander in charge of the army was also someone the Wu family could not afford to offend.

Moreover, the Wu family is indeed desperate now. They really need a middleman like Li Zengzhi to help them beg the Imperial Master to spare them. This is a fact.

Seeing Li Zengzhi's face gradually darken.

"I am willing, I am willing!" Wu Chuanjia said hurriedly: "As long as we can say a few nice words in front of the national master, our Wu family is willing to dedicate our grain industry."

Although Wu Chuanjia's liver was shaking with pain, what else could he do?

"Okay!" Li Zengzhi stood up, picked up the wine cup, and touched Wu Chuanjia lightly.

The two drank it all in one gulp.

"Don't worry, I will do my best to facilitate this matter." Li Zengzhi drank the wine in the bowl and promised in a deep voice.

Wu Chuanjia said with tears of gratitude on his face: "I will remember the kindness of Governor Li for five years. If I can get the Wu family's place in the future, Governor Li will just give orders. As long as I can do it, I will not refuse."

Li Zengzhi chuckled and said: "Of course, if there is a chance, I will fully support you and restore your past glory, or even go further."

After hearing what he said, Wu Chuanjia finally breathed a sigh of relief and secretly sighed: "Oh, that's it, just pretend that you can't let go of the child and can't trap the wolf."

Now that the verbal deal has been reached, Li Zengzhi is not afraid that the other party will default on his debt. He glanced at Wu Chuanjia and said, "In the current situation, let's not talk in circles."

Brothers Wu Chuanjia and Wu Chuanzong, knowing that the other party was getting down to business, immediately sat upright.

"You and I both know that the Wu family has been abandoned by the Anlu Marquis Mansion. If you want to save your entire family, your only chance is to join the Imperial Guard. Of course, you don't have to immediately feel that you have chosen to take sides. After all, even if you join the , the Imperial Master may not accept you."

Speaking of this, Li Zengzhi stopped and waited for Wu Chuanjia's decision.

Wu Chuanjia was silent for a long time, then suddenly raised his head and said: "Captain Li, my sincerity can be seen from the sun and the moon. Can you tell me what the real goal of the Imperial Master is?"

Li Zengzhi was startled when he heard this, then smiled and said: "Haha, it's easy to talk to smart people."

"I can tell you clearly that the purpose of the Imperial Preceptor is not to drive out Huai merchants, but to rectify all the chaos in the salt industry, collect the money that the Imperial Court should collect, and establish rules for the entire business community."

"How can you imagine the vision, mind, and structure of the Imperial Preceptor? What you care about is nothing in the eyes of the Imperial Preceptor. You businessmen can only make money by following the Imperial Preceptor's plan. To make safe money, don’t keep thinking about trivial things, and look outside and into the distance. Do you understand?”

Wu Chuanjia nodded as if relieved.

Not long after, the servants announced that the Imperial Master was here.

Seeing that the rightful owner was about to arrive, several people quickly walked to the entrance of the corridor on the shore of the Huxin Pavilion, and then greeted him at the entrance of the courtyard. If it weren't for the special season, they would have gone directly to the foot of Tangshan Mountain to greet him.

"Forty miles is not close. In order to attend your dinner, I have put down a lot of official work, but even here, the little gray horse is exhausted."

Jiang Xinghuo made several people immediately nervous as soon as he started.

From what Wu Chuanjia heard, Jiang Xinghuo was certainly not complaining about the long distance, but on the one hand he said that he came to give Li Zengzhi face, and on the other hand he was saying that he was pressed for time and wanted to talk to him quickly if he had anything to say.

It sounded like a pleasantry joke, but to a few people's ears, the meaning immediately changed. After all, it was the Wu family who was begging the Imperial Master to show his favor.

However, Li Zengzhi didn't seem to hear it, and laughed loudly: "If you have a good meal, you are not afraid of being late. What's more, the Imperial Master has many things to do every day. He can't eat well and sleep well. If you want me to watch, the Imperial Master might as well stay tonight." In this other industry, there happens to be a hot spring, which can also relieve fatigue."

At this time, Li Zengzhi glanced at the Wu brothers. Wu Chuanjia immediately understood and took over the conversation: "The Imperial Master has worked hard. I am from the Huai Shang Wu family. Wu Chuanjia was fortunate enough to meet the Imperial Master at the auction last time."

Jiang Xinghuo didn't bother to beat around the bush with him and said directly: "I remember you. You performed well last time and bought a lot of goods. So, let's go in and talk about it first."

The reason why we chose the pavilion in the middle of the lake is of course very particular. It is surrounded by water and there is only one corridor leading to the shore. There is no risk of being eavesdropped. The guards in Jinyi cannot squat in the water with a lotus flower and eavesdrop. At this time, the sky is dark. It was getting dark, and the mouth shape could not be seen through the telescope.

Wu Chuanjia's heart felt a little settled, and he turned to Li Zengzhi, holding the wine glass in his hand: "Captain Li?"

"Oh, no rush."

Li Zengzhi waved his hand, then looked at Jiang Xinghuo and said, "The Imperial Master must be hungry after traveling all the way. Let's eat vegetables first."

But he was thinking in his mind that after dinner, they would talk next. After all, in such a short period of time, they really couldn't come up with any results.

Zhu Heng, who was sitting next to Jiang Xinghuo, frowned slightly, then smiled and said, "That's alright, let's talk about it after dinner."

After listening, Li Zengzhi called the maid again and speeded up the arrangement of the dishes.

Wu Chuanzong on the side also repeatedly echoed, saying that only when he had a full meal would he have the strength to discuss things.

Soon, a large round table was almost filled with all kinds of delicacies. Every dish was delicious in color and aroma, and the most eye-catching one was the crab.

This is the season when autumn crabs are fat. They are indeed the famous drunk crabs in Yangzhou. However, although the drunk crabs are delicious and fat, they are too greasy and should not be eaten for a long time. Eating too much will hurt your stomach.

Li Zengzhi first raised his chopsticks, took a piece of crab meat from the cut crab and put it into his mouth. He chewed it slowly for a moment and then said with appreciation: "Well, not bad, it's not in vain. I asked the chef to prepare it specially."

Although Li Zengzhi is the second son of Prince Qiyang, he is not aloof and aloof. Instead, he is quite tactful and sophisticated. In his view, if you don't hit someone with a smiling face, since you can talk about it, why bother to break up and quarrel.

"Haha, National Master, please use it."

Wu Chuanjia said politely, and then said: "This crab is specially sent from Yangzhou. It tastes good."

"This crab has to be alive. If it is shipped dead, it will be a waste." Zhu Heng said, picking up a piece of crab meat from the half crab, dipping it in some sauce and eating it. The food looks elegant, not vulgar at all.

Seeing that Jiang Xinghuo only ate half a bowl of Yangzhou fried rice with a spoon, Li Zengzhi hurriedly poured the wine himself and advised: "Tonight the moon is white and the wind is clear. With such a beautiful scenery on such a good day, I would like to have a drink, Master."

Then Li Zengzhi smiled brightly and raised his glass in person, wanting to drink it all with everyone.

But Jiang Xinghuo was still eating that bowl of Yangzhou fried rice.

Jiang Xinghuo is not interested in the banquet culture, especially when he can control the situation, and he doesn't want to engage in this kind of thing. Eating is eating, and don't do anything that is not available.

After finishing the fried rice and putting down his bowl, Jiang Xinghuo looked at the group of people and simply asked, "Tell me, why did you invite me here today?"

Li Zengzhi was not someone who just collected things and did nothing. He said solemnly: "Today, the Wu family wants to express their heartfelt words to the Imperial Preceptor. The Wu family brothers have always understood the rules in the Huai merchants. The Imperial Preceptor might as well listen."

Li Zengzhi's words were already interesting enough. Wu Chuanjia didn't know what was going on at this time, and he had to explain everything.

So he quickly took out his account book and explained it.

But Jiang Xinghuo simply said: "I'm not interested in what kind of contact your Wu family has with Marquis Anlu."

What use does this thing have for Jiang Xinghuo? Use it to threaten Anlu Hou Wu Jie? Not to mention that Jiang Xinghuo has always been committed to maintaining a good relationship with the noble military ministers. Even if he takes ten thousand steps back, can this thing really kill a hereditary marquis? Even if he was tortured to death, what would other people think of Jiang Xinghuo?

Wu Chuanjia was paused when he heard this. He still didn't understand that Jiang Xinghuo was different from the high-ranking officials he had met. He was really different.

Sweat was pouring from his forehead uncontrollably, but at this time, Wu Chuanjia thought of Li Zengzhi's previous reminder.

"National Master, the Wu family is willing to spend all the wealth of the family to cooperate with the 'salt in the money'."

Jiang Xinghuo just said lightly: "Whether the military, civilians, or businessmen pay salt in the money is all voluntary. The court does not require anyone to cooperate."

For businessmen like the Wu family, Jiang Xinghuo is 100% convinced that as long as the investigation continues, it will be fine if all the nine tribes, not to mention Xiaoxiaole, are thrown to the northwest to eat sand, so naturally there is no need to show any mercy to them. Do you want to sit here and have a crab feast when some places are still experiencing food shortages? The businessman group is originally only interested in profit, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. The Wu family has such a low profile in front of them and looks so pitiful. In the final analysis, aren't they asking for it? If what you do is clean, how can you be afraid of being investigated?

Wu Chuanjia is very clear about the principle that things can only come in threes.

Ledgers and donations are not useful to the Imperial Master, so he only has the last bargaining chip left in his hand.

That is to completely betray the Huaishang Group, truthfully report the entire salt industry activities to the National Advisor, and fully cooperate, so that there is a glimmer of hope.

At this time, Wu Chuanjia poured out everything he knew on the bamboo slips.

From Zaohu, to Yanyin, and then to private salt

Jiang Xinghuo listened silently, holding a wine bottle and pouring himself one cup after another. He asked after hearing the suspicious prescription.

"So the Huai merchants are actually a group of northwest Shaanxi merchants, Huizhou merchants, and local merchants from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River. Huizhou Prefecture is obviously quite far away from Yangzhou Prefecture. How did the two take over the magpie's nest like this? Won’t the local merchants in Huai resist?”

Wu Chuanjia quickly explained: "Other places in the south of the Yangtze River are either land of plenty, can grow cotton and weave, or are waterway hubs. Only a few places such as Huizhou have no advantages. Coupled with customs and habits, they are keen to leave their hometowns and engage in collective operations. As for business, as for the local merchants in Huaihe and Huaihe, it’s not that they don’t resist, but they need the help of Huizhou merchants to gain a foothold.”

What I want to say here is that in the Ming Dynasty in the fifteenth century, business was really not a good profession. Although there was a certain probability of getting rich, the risks involved were very high. The reason why professional business gangs like Huizhou merchants appeared was because The commodity economy developed in the Ming Dynasty and recovered from the wars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and some people were needed to do things like commodity circulation to meet the needs of agricultural product sales and handicraft exchanges.

"How do you say this?"

Jiang Xinghuo was keenly aware that what was discussed next must be the core issue in the struggle between the entire salt industry and major business groups.

Wu Chuanjia was now at the end of his rope, so he had nothing to hide and simply shook it off.

"According to the current method of opening up China, merchants look at the geographical distance. Some transport three to five buckets of rice to the frontier fortress to get a pound of salt. However, based on the price of rice, merchants sell salt to the people, and some even get more for every pound of salt. It can be sold for five stones of rice, which is more than ten times the profit. Of course, in order to "maintain support", salt merchants will definitely have to spend money on entrusting Shaanxi merchants and Shanxi merchants to transport grain, and opening up the salt affairs yamen, etc., but No matter how you put it, the profits from the salt industry are huge, which cannot be compared with other industries, not even the tea industry.”

"But the problem is that the salt sales area of ​​the Lianghuai Salt Fields, which accounts for half of the world's salt production, is actually surrounded by other salt sales areas. However, the Huaihe Salt Course has the highest quota, and the Huanghuai Chief Envoy in order to urge Salt classes are often carried out with drastic measures, and sometimes they even suppress the price of official salt excessively, causing local small and medium-sized salt merchants in Lianghuai and Huaihe River areas to die when their goods are sold to the ground, and even lose money and lose money."

Jiang Xinghuo came to some understanding and said: "So what Huizhou merchants do is the cross-border distribution of private salt (actually salt led by salt from the government). They are brave. Even if they are caught, they will have their own problems." The worst way to do this is to be severely punished by the government."

"yes."

Only then did Jiang Xinghuo understand why the Huizhou Chamber of Commerce became a part of the Huaishang Group.

It turned out that the "shouzhi" business, which was highly profitable and low-risk, was taken over by local merchants in Lianghuai and Huaihe, while Hui merchants were only responsible for transportation and distribution, and the destination of transportation was naturally all over the south of the Yangtze River.

Therefore, in order to make more money, local merchants in Lianghuai cannot do without Huizhou merchants with distribution channels, and in order to get salt, Huizhou merchants cannot do without local merchants in Lianghuai, a group of land-based households.

"Then why do you say that Huai merchants need help from Hui merchants to gain a foothold? Are you unable to gain a foothold on your own?"

Wu Chuanjia smiled bitterly and said: "There are three steps in the Kaizhong method. Shaanxi merchants and Shanxi merchants are responsible for reporting, that is, salt merchants transport grain to the designated frontier area granaries in accordance with the requirements of the Ming court and exchange salt for the imperial court; Huai merchants are responsible for The most important thing is to keep the salt, that is, after exchanging the salt, you can use the salt to the designated salt field to wait for the salt; while the Huizhou merchants are responsible for the market, which is to transport the salt to the designated area for sale, and some of them are compliant. , and the problem of non-compliance is that the salt sales area of ​​the Lianghuai Salt Farm is not limited to Lianghuai."

In fact, the Lianghuai salt sales area with Yangzhou as the center and Lianghuai as the salt production area includes Huguang, Jiangxi and the southern part of the Henan Province in addition to the Jianghuai area.

The biggest enemy of Huai merchants is Guangdong merchants. Guangdong merchants have always competed with Huai merchants for salt sales in Huguang and Jiangxi. This is why Wu Chuanjia said that Huai merchants and Huai merchants must join a group to keep warm in order to gain a foothold.

"Master, you don't know that private salt dealers from Guangdong come from Meiling, Yangjiaoshui and other places, and go as far as Jiangxi and Huguang. They are fighting for everything, and they are entangled with local tyrants. They are serious about life, and they often hold troops at arms The arrow is as powerful as a strong thief, and the trade at night can move thousands of people."