The Grand Void – Becoming a Dragon

This morning, the government issued a decree to strictly investigate all kinds of prohibited items and tax evasion.

Among the sixteen mansions in Huai'an, the Zhuang's firm, the most powerful, was naturally the first to bear the brunt.

Inside Qianlong Villa.

Zhuang Ming sat in the wheelchair and closed his eyes slightly.

Beside him is his confidant who is in charge of all levels of Zhuang's firm.

But at this moment, the atmosphere seemed extremely gloomy.

"The matter of taxation is easy to talk about in the first place."

Bai Lao paused for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Under normal circumstances, we have account books for every account, and we only need to let the people in the government check it and deal with the monthly tax receipts, and then we can pass it. Even in that Chen Under the command of the lord, we deliberately made it difficult, but our accountant must be able to handle it, but in this way, the matter will be dragged on, and it will continue to consume..."

"The most important thing right now is to check the prohibited items." Lu He said: "Fortunately, the young master ordered it in time, and we checked ourselves internally. Even if there are a few prohibited items that we didn't know about, they have all been cleaned up."

"We still need to be careful and not be careless." Zhuang Ming said solemnly: "Our interior is clean, maybe people can't pour some dirty water on you and stuff you with prohibited things, then it's hard to tell."

"This..." Lu He's complexion changed slightly, he had ignored this before.

"This king with a different surname, since he made a move, he won't talk to you about the morals of the world." Zhuang Ming said: "You are a martial artist with a chivalrous demeanor. For many years, using unscrupulous means, these guys have very dark hearts, and they may not be unable to do things that are framed."

"I will order people to pay more attention." Lu He said seriously.

"In addition, at present, the government has only investigated the Zhuang's firm, and has not investigated other companies." Bai Lao said: "It is clear that it is targeting us, and it is also clear that all merchants in the Sixteen Mansions of Huai'an will know that he is doing this. The prince who holds the greatest power in the sixteen mansions of Huai'an deliberately wants to attack our Zhuang's firm."

"In this way, after the disaster of the Song family, the families that have already decided to stand on our side may not dare to stand with us easily." Zhuang Ming nodded and said: "Even if they will not be enemies with us, they will only fight against us." Will watch from the sidelines, watch the changes quietly, and isolate Zhuang's firm..."

Zhuang's firm has great power and many contacts, and has business contacts with various merchants.

And if it is isolated by each family, even the Zhuang's firm, which is as huge as a behemoth, will inevitably be unable to support it on its own.

"In addition, in the sixteen mansions of Huai'an, the shops and warehouses of my Zhuang's firm that have been inspected cannot have any goods in or out, and they have to spend a lot of money every day."

Zhuang Ming pondered and said: "The businesses outside of Huai'an are all preliminary development. Before that, they only invested in silver taels continuously. Before the harvest time, the current source of money for my Zhuang's business is based on the sixteen mansions of Huai'an. Chen Wang This blow really hit the nail on the head..."

Bai Lao said in a low voice: "As Young Master said, with the current situation of Zhuang's Commercial Bank, even if the government can't find any prohibited items, as long as this delay lasts for a while, we will lose countless money every day. Even if Zhuang's Commercial Bank has a deep foundation It's thick, I'm afraid it won't last long."

"Besides..." Lu He said: "Sun Guanshi and others who were sent to the government by us before, are now held in the hands of the prince, and they have become witnesses. That's why the government is so fanatical and justified. .”

"I'll figure out a way." Zhuang Ming said: "Let Liu He urge Mr. Zhao to get the real intention of this prince to come to Huai'an Sixteen Mansions before tomorrow."

"Yes." Bai Lao replied.

"Bai Lao, Lu He, you two work together to deal with internal affairs, pay close attention to it, and make no mistakes. If you are framed by Chen Wang's subordinates, it will be difficult to explain." After a pause, Zhuang Ming He said again: "In addition, Lu He, Bai Qing, Liu He, and others, each took their own tokens and delivered them to Yue Yang, and Yue Yang stepped forward to borrow your connections, please mobilize the forces in the rivers and lakes, and visit this prince Every move in the Sixteen Mansions of Huai'an."

"Okay." Lu He said: "I'll let Yue Yang leave now."

"Be careful in everything." Zhuang Ming said solemnly: "The person offended this time is too powerful, and the situation is different than before."

——

noon.

This time, Zhuang Ming really felt a little headache.

"This is what the young master said, one force will drop ten meetings?" Shuang Ling asked.

"That's right, you said that this King Chen doesn't have enough plans, but he has such huge power." Zhuang Ming sighed: "No matter how I prepare, I check the inside and clean it up, but he doesn't even need to use plans. Just looking for an excuse and issuing an order can still make the Zhuang's firm shake up and down."

After a pause, he said softly again: "This is breaking the law with force."

As Shuang Ling said, Song Tianyuan was able to find out his crackdown on private salt and other things through clues, but this Prince Chen couldn't find out before. In terms of wisdom, Song Tianyuan may be better.

But Prince Chen's power is far superior to Song Tianyuan's.

Before Song Tianyuan just relied on the power of the government.

And Prince Chen symbolizes the power of the government!

He is so powerful that he can cover the sky with one hand, and there is no need to stir up any conspiracy like Song Tianyuan.

As long as one has to use the power of the government and issue a random order, the Zhuang's firm can be turned over.

If it wasn't for Zhuang Ming's management in Huai'an Sixteen Mansions over the years, I'm afraid it would have completely collapsed now.

After all, over the years, he and the top and bottom officials of the Sixteenth Mansion of Huai'an have been deeply entangled with each other for their interests.

Therefore, these officials, in all likelihood, are still defending him overtly and secretly, which prevents his Zhuang Ming's property from collapsing overnight.

But this king with a different surname was so vicious as soon as he made a move, and he didn't give him a chance to breathe.

From the current point of view, although Zhuang's business has a strong background, it may not be able to last for a long time.

Compared with the powerful officials of the imperial court, merchants and the like are like clouds and mud after all.

"My lord seems to have already figured out a countermeasure?" Shuang Ling said in a low voice.

"Since in the Dongsheng Dynasty, the merchants are no match for the officials, then use the rules of the court to restrict him."

Zhuang Ming said slowly: "The specifics need to be decided separately, but tonight, maybe it's time to meet this king with a different surname..."

——

at dusk.

Bai Lao sent an invitation.

"Lord Zhao prepared three large-scale boats at Bailing Lake to the east of Fengcheng tonight. In the name of the government, he entertained the upper-class figures from all walks of life in Fengcheng. There were as many as ten merchants and merchants alone. Six."

"But in fact, according to the old slave, I'm afraid it was the instruction of Lord Chen."

"Besides, when Lord Chen came to Fengcheng that day, he said that he was on business, so he refused Mr. Zhao's acceptance of the wind and dust. Tonight, it seems to have made up for the reception."

"This one is for the young master."

Old Bai put the invitation on the table.

Zhuang Ming laughed, shook his head, and said: "All the shops and warehouses under my name were sealed up in the morning, and I'm going to invite me to a banquet tonight. I'm afraid it's not just to show off my power in front of me... Anyway, I'm also Think about him for a while, and see how difficult this prince is."

Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you be victorious in every battle.

He only saw everything about this prince on paper.

The so-called seeing once is worth hearing a hundred times, rather than talking about it on paper, it is better to meet in person.

What's more, even out of superficial etiquette, he, the largest businessman in the Sixteen Mansions of Huai'an, should meet the prince who is in charge of the greatest power in Huai'an.

"Tonight, Qian Yang, Yin Ming and Bai Lao will follow me."

Zhuang Ming said: "As for Lu He, he will be used for many things in the future, it is best not to show up as much as possible."

Shuang Ling hesitated: "My lord, at the banquet, you only bring Bai Lao and the others, but no one serves..."

Zhuang Ming raised his hand and said with a smile: "It's okay, you are at home, and you have to prepare something for me."