Late Ming Dynasty: Conquering the world starting from riding and cutting

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"Countless refined salts? There must be an approximate number for this countless number, right?!"

"Yes, the villain said the same thing. He only said that even if one weight is 400 kilograms, it would cost tens of thousands!"

Tens of thousands? Just calculate it based on 20,000 jins. Four hundred jins per pound is eight million jins. The salt gang only earns 70 jin per jin. After deducting all losses and expenses, it is as much as 40 jins. , eight million catties, is 32 million yuan! wrong! It’s 320 million yuan! Today's silver price is getting even cheaper. One tael of silver is exchanged for one thousand copper coins. In this way, it is 320,000 silver coins.

If it were just a figure of 320,000 silver, the salt merchants wouldn't be so nervous. It should be noted that people's mouths become more and more tricky as they eat more. Those ordinary people who are accustomed to eating cheap and good salt will also eat their own salt. What about official salt that is expensive and mixed with dirt and gravel? !

There is a saying mmp, I don’t know whether to say it or not...

Soon, the salt merchants reached an agreement, and the Salt Merchants Association came forward to make a public report to the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy, the Huaiyang Governor, the Water Transport Governor, and the Hubu Yamen, stating that this year's salt tax could not be paid. The reason was It is because of the proliferation of private salt and the poor sales of official salt. If the salt tax is to be paid, the court must intensify its efforts to detect smuggled salt.

Moreover, the public funds were shared according to the amount of salt capital of each family, and 450,000 taels of silver were collected in an instant, preparing to open up all the joints and reward the anti-smuggling officers and soldiers of the River Defense Camp.

At that time, we have to see if the sudden appearance of the salt merchant can block their silver bullet attack.

"Hahaha!" Zuo Guozhu looked at the letter in his hand as Yixuan stayed in the elegant pavilion and laughed wildly.

Qin Hao was drinking tea on the side and asked, "What makes Brother Zuo so happy?"

Zuo Guozhu handed Qin Hao the autographed letter he had just received from his father-in-law, and said with a smile: "Brother Qin, it's not a good thing you have done."

"This time you have really done something earth-shattering and disruptive to Jiangnan!"

"Oh!" Qin Hao smiled, knowing that his batch of green salt probably had an effect.

I took the letter and looked at it carefully, and sure enough, it was filled with complaints filed by the salt transport envoys of the Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers, the governor of Huaiyang, the governor of water transport, and the Hubu Yamen, saying that a huge amount of illegal salt had appeared in the south of the Yangtze River. The market price has been disturbed. Please investigate thoroughly, Mr. Fu Yin.

However, Ruan Dajue's final comment was that the information was untrue, and he could not mobilize troops and put the investigation on hold for the time being.

Qin Hao stood up, took two steps forward, stood half a step in front of Zuo Guozhu, and asked, "Isn't this too arrogant?"

When Zuo Guozhu heard this, he smiled and said: "How can you be more arrogant than you who killed the young master of the Household Secretary's family at the foot of Jiming Temple on the spot?"

"Indeed, indeed." Qin Hao touched his head in embarrassment. If he hadn't reminded him, he would have almost forgotten about it.

But it's also strange. It's been almost twenty days. Why are there no government officials outside? It's very strange. Could it be that people have forgotten.

Qin Hao didn't believe it, and he just noticed that the letter seemed to be signed by the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Confused, he looked at Zuo Guozhu and asked, "What do you think is going on with this household minister?"

Zuo Guozhu glanced at Qin Hao and said with a smile: "I don't have time to pay attention to my son's affairs now. The old guy handled and transferred the private relationship issue behind his back. Now that there is a problem, naturally someone wants to If you want to trouble him, let alone if your son is dead, even if the whole family is dead, you have to settle the matter before seeking revenge. Besides, despite the fact that he only has one son on the surface, he has the same virtues as his son. There are too many illegitimate children, don’t worry, they won’t cause trouble for you for the time being.”

"Trouble, I'm not afraid, the worst is that I won't be here in Jinling City anymore." Qin Hao took a sip of tea nonchalantly, he really didn't notice these revenges.

No, just kill! In this troubled world, the knife is stronger than the mouth after all!

"By the way, Brother Qin, my father-in-law asked me to ask you if you can produce more salt. Now this salt is really not enough. It has been completely consumed near Shandong and South Zhili. There is not much left." Go to other places. You know, if you don’t have any friends as an official, those salt merchants can spend 400,000 taels on them, so we can’t do any worse.”

What he said was clear and logical, but Qin Hao just said "oh" and did not respond.

Zuo Guozhu stood up and glanced at Qin Hao, thinking that he was dissatisfied with the share and unwilling to increase production. After all, the more he produced, the more he earned, but there didn't seem to be any trouble on his face. , so he continued: "Of course, my husband-in-law will not treat Brother Qin badly. From now on, we will split the salt money in half and ask Brother Qin to earn more."

Naturally, the output can be increased. It is easy to just build a few more salt ponds. However, Qin Hao is a little worried. Too much salt is not good.

Firstly, more salt will inevitably lead to lower prices, which conflicts with the high land price negotiated between him and Zhuge Xuan; secondly, he is afraid of the power behind the salt merchants.

During this period, Qin Hao didn't do anything. He asked Zhuge Xuan and Chen Hu to go together to find out the power behind the salt merchants.

If you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight without danger!

After half a month of research, Qin Hao discovered that this group of salt merchants were not only powerful among the Donglin Party literati, but also had inextricable connections with a maritime force. The force at sea was none other than Zheng Zhilong, the governor of Fujian Navy who had just been recruited.

If it is really Zheng Zhilong, Qin Hao will be in trouble later. This person has ships, people, and official status. It is indeed not a wise move to conflict with him.

"Brother Qin, can you increase the size?" Zuo Guozhu looked at Qin Hao in a daze and stepped forward to shake his shoulders.

After being shaken by him, Qin Hao reacted and asked with a smile: "The output can be increased, but I don't know why it will not attract the attention of the superiors."

Zuo Guozhu looked confused, "Above? You mean the north side."

Qin Hao nodded, Zuo Guozhu said quickly: "My annual salt tax from Jiangnan is only 30,000 taels. The superiors are eager for us to take action against this group of salt merchants. Don't worry about this. How much can you bring? I can find someone to help you sell as many as you want, and Han Xin can order troops. The more, the better.”

"Okay, since Brother Zuo said so, how can I not give you face as my younger brother? The amount of salt in the next batch must be doubled at least."

Since Zuo Guozhu gave the guarantee, Qin Hao naturally couldn't cut off this financial path, let alone a 50-50 split.

Marx said it well, in the world of capital, as long as there is 10% profit, it will be used everywhere; if there is 20%, it will become active; if there is 50%, it will lead to active risk-taking; if there is 100%, it will be used by people everywhere. It will make people ignore all laws; if it is 300%, it will make people not afraid of committing crimes and even not afraid of the danger of hanging.

The profits of this private salt are as high as 400%. The salt produced in the salt fields only costs a penny for 10 kilograms including wages. The lowest price on the market is 40 kilograms per kilogram. These 10 kilograms are 400 kilograms, which is enough for four times. A hundred times as much, how could it be possible not to be tempted.

This money is enough for Qin Hao to confront Zheng Zhilong!

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