The middle-aged man smiled at the young man and pointed to himself. "Who am I?
I am Li Zhonghang, the head of the Li family. Why should I get involved with them? They're just a bunch of suicidal fools. "
"Tell me, who are the salt merchants of the world now?" Li Zhonghang shook his chair and asked his son, Li Xi.
Although Li Xi was young, he was not stupid. He had been doing business with his father since he was young and grew up in a Jin merchant family. He knew these things like the back of his hand.
Li Xi thought for a moment and calmed himself down.
He knew that he had been too impulsive and did not answer his father's question.
Li Zhonghang looked at his son and nodded in satisfaction. Although he was still impulsive, he was still young. It was understandable. He had been like this when he was young too.
It was good to be able to think.
"Father, do you think there's something wrong with this?" Li Xi looked at Li Zhonghang and asked hesitantly.
Li Zhonghang did not answer his son's question. He smiled and said, "Although there are many salt works in Daming, most of the salt is produced by the Lianghuai River. That's why the court set up the Lianghuai River Salt Commissioner in Yangzhou.
"The prosperity of Yangzhou today is all because of this Yamen. Because of this, Yangzhou has become the richest city in the world.
"Among the salt merchants in Yangzhou, there are two places that have become the best. One is the Jin merchants and the other is the Huizhou merchants." Li Zhonghang said proudly.
"The salt produced by the Lianghuai River is transported to the border towns. The Huizhou merchants have the advantage. They are in the Lianghuai River and can organize people to transport grain in exchange for salt permits.
The Jin merchants are close to the border towns and can plant grain in exchange for salt permits.
"Although the Yangzhou salt merchants are said to be from Yangzhou, they are actually not from Yangzhou. They are the Huizhou merchants and the Jin merchants."
Li Xi listened attentively. Although he used to do business with his father, this was the first time he had heard his father talk about these things.
It was obvious that this was something that no one knew about.
"When everyone started their business, they had to work hard. Later on, their lives got better and they no longer needed to transport grain. They could just spend money to buy and sell.
"But if you can buy it, others can buy it too. It's just that they take the salt out of the salt works and sell it to other places. In the middle, there's also the profit of salt smuggling. The profit of salt is too great.
Everyone wants to get a piece of it. Isn't that the case for those nobles? "
"They're occupying their territory, and we're paying for it. But we're probably still earning the money we should be earning. It's just that the ones losing money are the common people and the imperial court."
"But everyone has been through this. Everyone has done it. What's there to be afraid of?" Li Zhonghang laughed at himself. "But there are also people who are afraid!
Not every salt merchant was a fool. So what if you had more money?
When people want to kill you, you can only obediently stick your head out. "
"What about Shen Wansan?
In the end, he still ended up with his family ruined and his property confiscated. "
Turning his head to look at his son, Li Zhonghang said with a smile, "That's why our Li family has a family motto. It's a motto left behind by our Li family's ancestor when he entered the salt business. Seven words: 'Merchants don't stand out when they're rich'.
"All these years, I've been doing this. This is also why the Li family is often suspected of being one of the four big Jin merchants. But so what?
It's just a false reputation.
If we're one of the four big Jin merchants, we're still the Li family. If we're not, we're still the Li family. "
Li Xi listened quietly and subconsciously sat up straight.
"Now that everyone has money, no one wants to end up like Shen Wansan, so we have to think of a way!" Li Zhonghang said in a self-deprecating manner, "However, Jin merchants and Hui merchants have different ideas."
"The Hui merchants think we're rich, so we use money to pave the way. We bribe the officials, befriend the Honours, and promise them money.
If money doesn't work, we promise them beauty. If we can't buy a good one, we raise one ourselves. That's how the Yangzhou Slender Horse became popular. "
"Later on, they felt it was not safe to do so. Honours and officials will fall out."
"So they started to sponsor the scholars and arrange marriages with promising young men. They helped the scholars build academies and build reputations.
In short, they wanted to strengthen their position and have their own people in the court. "
This was the first time Li Xi heard his father talk about these things. He used to look down on the Hui merchants because of these things.
He always felt that the Hui merchants only knew how to enjoy life, play with women, and be cultured. They knew nothing else.
After hearing his father's explanation, Li Xi finally understood that things were not as simple as they seemed!
"What about the Jin merchants?
Of course we can't just sit back and do nothing! "Li Zhonghang laughed." But we don't learn from them. "
"People say that the Jin merchants are stubborn. They even call us stubborn. It's just that we believe in different things.
At that time, there was no such thing as the four big Jin merchants. Everyone was doing business. "
"But everyone was afraid!
The more money they had, the less confidence they had. "
"Everyone wanted to have someone in the court. It's said that it's easier to be an official with someone in the court. We are doing business because it's easier to be an official.
Furthermore, as a merchant, we will be looked down upon for our entire lives. If we want to be successful, we have to study. "
"So everyone invited teachers to study for their descendants."
"Why did the four big Jin merchants become the four big Jin merchants?
It's not because their businesses are doing well, but because their family members are doing well in the government.
Initially, it was hard to determine who was the first. But after Zhang Siwei entered the cabinet, the Zhang family became the first. "
"Now that he has become the Cabinet Chief, the Zhang family is even more arrogant."
"Second on the list is the Wang Clan, the Governor of the Three Borders, Wang Chonggu. Let's not talk about how a county official is not as good as a current governor. He's the Governor of the Three Borders, and he's in charge of this land. How could the Wang Clan's business be small?
It's just that Wang Chonggu has retired. That's why the Zhang family's business has fallen behind. "
"In third place is the Fan Family. Among the four families, although the Fan Family does not have any high-ranking officials in the imperial court, among the local officials in Shanxi and Shaanxi, the Fan Family has the most children.
Li Zhonghang glanced at his son and said with a smile, "Now that you mention it, do you think that the Li family's reputation as one of the four big Jin merchants is a little undeserved?
Is it really like what people say, that we are one of the four big Jin merchants? "
Li Zhonghang looked at his son and smiled. "The Li family's motto is that merchants don't stand out when they get rich. What's wrong with being the last?"
"The Hejian Prefecture salt smuggling case looks like a simple case, but there are still many smart people. Look at those Hui merchants. They ran all the way to the capital and even called us over."
"What's the point?
Now that you think about it, what were you doing earlier? "
Li Xi thought for a moment and turned to look at his father. "Dad, what is the court going to do this time?"
"You're asking me, but who am I supposed to ask?"
Li Zhonghang said impatiently. "Even the Zhang family doesn't know, how would we know? Look at the Zhang family. They're not making a fuss at all. If those Hui merchants want to make a fuss, let them."
"Instead of making a fuss, it's better to wait and see!" Li Zhonghang said to Li Xi. "Have you found the connections I asked you to look for these days?"
Li Xi nodded and said, "Father, I've found him. I've gotten to know Zhang Xun and have gotten familiar with him these days. I've also given him enough money. He has agreed to introduce me to Zhang Jing."
Li Zhonghang smiled and said, "That's good. Don't mess around with those Hui merchants. Let's do it our own way."
"I understand!" Li Xi nodded and said respectfully, "I won't let you down."
Although the Wala incident had stirred up a lot of trouble, the court was still looking forward to the Hejian Qian family. There were too many people involved in this matter.
The key was that the direction of this matter would involve many people.
The cabinet was the same. Everyone was waiting for the Emperor's reply on this matter. However, unexpectedly, Zhu Yijun summoned the Honours to the palace.
From the Duke to the Marquis, Zhu Yijun summoned all these people to the palace. There were also other relatives of the emperor, Wu Qingbo, Li Wei, and Empress Wang's father, Earl Yongnian, Wang Wei.
This person was also very popular now. Daming, everyone knew that the Emperor doted on Empress Wang.
Honours didn't think much of it at first. However, after entering the palace, everyone realized that it was different. This was because the Emperor had summoned them to the main hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Originally, they didn't think that it was that formal, but now it seemed that it was very formal.
The Duke of England, Zhang Yong, stood at the front, but he was resting with his eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep.
Beside him, Xu Wenbi, the Duke of Dingguo, also had an unapproachable look on his face. His meaning was very obvious. Don't come looking for me.
Although it was somewhat inexplicable, everyone knew that something was going to happen.
At this time, everyone saw Marquis Xining walking in from behind. Many people narrowed their eyes. Everyone naturally knew about Marquis Xining. Now that he appeared here, it was definitely not a good sign.
"The Emperor has arrived!" As Zhang Jing shouted, Zhu Yijun came out from behind the huge screen.
The Honours quickly knelt on the ground and said loudly, "Greetings to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"
"Please rise, my beloved subjects!"
Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "Ever since I took over the government, I haven't had the chance to chat with you. Today, I took advantage of everyone's leisure time to talk to you.
Everyone here is either the Daming's Honours or the Daming's relatives. There is nothing that can't be said. "
"I didn't expect that everyone's life would be difficult until this time's illicit salt case."
Hearing Zhu Yijun mention the illicit salt case, everyone was shocked. Obviously, the Emperor's next words wouldn't be good.