The butler walked in from outside and handed an invitation to Zhao Liang. Then, he respectfully retreated and closed the door behind him.
Zhao Liang opened the invitation and glanced at it. He was slightly taken aback, then he sighed.
Zhao He didn't know what was wrong with his father. He reached out and took the invitation from his father's hand. After looking at it, his face was full of disbelief. "Li Zhonghang, the Director of Internal Affairs Department?" After saying that, he raised his head and looked at his father.
Even he was familiar with the name Li Zhonghang, not to mention his father.
The Li family was one of the four largest salt merchants in Shanxi. How did this person become the Director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?
Although he didn't know what the Ministry of Internal Affairs did, it was stamped with an official seal.
This meant that the invitation was sent by an official, which was rare enough.
When these two things were added together, it was really shocking.
"Dad, this!" Zhao He held the invitation and asked hesitantly, "What's going on?"
"Those Shanxi bumpkins are one step ahead of us again!"
Sun Liang sighed again and said with a complicated expression, "What a good move. This Li Zhonghang is really admirable."
Zhao He looked at the invitation in his hand and was stunned when he heard his father's words.
On this day, many wealthy merchants in Yangzhou City received this invitation, and it was not limited to the salt merchants.
Looking at the official seal on the invitation, the anxious Yangzhou merchants finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Once this invitation was sent out, it represented the official's attitude.
As long as there was a way to communicate, everything else could be discussed.
In fact, as merchants, they were already used to being exploited.
From the beginning of doing business, they had received money from local officials, Imperial Bodyguard, and even local guards. They even had to pay them every year.
When the imperial court was facing financial difficulties, they beat up corrupt officials and rich merchants. Such things were done too many times.
Although the ones who did it were eunuchs or ministers, everyone understood that it was common.
However, this time, the imperial court was too frightening in Yangzhou. They had started a massacre!
Now that the Qi family had fallen and so many salt merchants had died, many people breathed a sigh of relief. It was obvious that the imperial court was targeting the salt merchants this time.
The situation was a bit chaotic with the invitation, but overall, it was positive.
The key was that everyone knew the person who sent the invitation, Li Zhonghang, and many of them were very familiar with him.
It was easy to do things with one's own people!
Everyone in the Daming Dynasty was used to this. It was basically the norm. They could accept it whether it was the aristocrats or merchants.
In fact, whether it was the Jiajing Dynasty before or before, there was nothing strange about such a thing.
In the last years of the Wanli Dynasty, the situation changed. The failure of the mining supervisor meant that the Wanli Emperor had completely lost control.
The civil officials and aristocrats controlled the place. The mining supervisor sent by the emperor was killed, which meant that the Daming Emperor was completely suppressed by the aristocrats.
By the time of the Tianqi Emperor's reign, the Tianqi Emperor had managed to regain some of his power through internal strife and Wei Zhongxian.
However, when Chong Zhen killed Wei Zhongxian, the situation deteriorated again.
When the emperor completely lost control of the place, the country was not far from being destroyed.
Now, no one dared to go against Zhu Yijun, especially after he raised the butcher's knife in Hejian Prefecture.
Heads were chopped off one by one, families were exiled to the army. Zhu Yijun had built up a lot of prestige by killing.
In addition, there was no internal chaos and no external enemies, so many people became more obedient.
These years, Zhang Juzheng had suppressed the world, so many people didn't dare to go against him. After all, the current officials of the imperial court were all from Jiangling. These people and the aristocrats and merchants of Jiangnan were not in the same pot.
No one dared to challenge Zhu Yijun's authority because it would lead to bloody suppression.
These days, the merchants in Yangzhou City could feel that although Yangzhou City was in chaos, Zhili was not.
The Duke of Wei personally presided over the commander-in-chief's office of the five armies. The army was ready to go. Nanjing had already sent news that the garrison troops in Nanjing were ready. If there were any disobedient subjects, the army would go and wipe them out.
Under this kind of high pressure, no one dared to provoke him. This invitation was used as a life-saving straw by countless people.
In the imperial envoy's office.
Zhang Jing was also looking at the invitation in his hands. He had a strange expression on his face.
Although he knew that Li Zhonghang would come out to clean up the mess, he still felt a little jealous when it really happened.
He killed the people and confiscated the houses. When it was time to be a good person, Li Zhonghang came out.
However, Zhang Jing didn't dare to have the slightest dissatisfaction. After all, this was the Imperial Majesty's order. He was here to do this.
"Godfather, the account books are ready!" The eunuch held the account books in his hands and respectfully stood in front of Zhang Jing.
Zhang Jing raised his eyelids and said indifferently, "Go and invite Lord Cao and the Duke over!"
Not long after, Cao Yikui and Xu Xiti arrived. Cao Yikui didn't have much to do these days, but Xu Xiti was still very busy.
He was busy mobilizing the family's manpower and money. He was ready to get a share of the salt policy.
Being in Nanjing, the Duke of Wei's Mansion was very clear about how rich the salt administration of the two Huai provinces was.
"Lord Cao, the Duke, these are the account books of the rebellious Qi family and the illegal salt merchants. Please come and listen."
Zhang Jing looked at the two of them and said with a smile, "The account books are out. We can also submit the edict to the Emperor."
They could have submitted the edict a long time ago. They were just waiting for the account books.
After the report was submitted, they would wait for the Imperial Court's reply on how to deal with these people. Then, their task would be considered completed.
It should be known that the prison in Yangzhou was full. It cost a lot of money to eat every day.
"Read it!" Zhang Jing looked at the eunuch and said indifferently.
"Yes, godfather!"
The eunuch answered. He opened the account book and said, "The Qi family has confiscated a total of 2.8 million taels of silver and 260,000 taels of gold. There are nine houses, including four in Yangzhou and two in Nanjing."
"One in Suzhou and two in Huizhou. The total land is 9,700 hectares."
"There are 2,762 pieces of calligraphy and paintings. There are 42 shops. Four of them are brothels, two in Yangzhou, one in Nanjing, and one in Huizhou.
There are seven casinos, four restaurants, and the rest are rice shops. "
Hearing the eunuch's words, the three people present were stunned. They were so damn rich!
Not to mention Zhang Jing and Cao Yikui, even Xu Xiti was shocked. They were so damn rich.
In comparison, the Duke of Wei's Mansion didn't necessarily have so many properties. Of course, the Duke of Wei's Mansion also had many properties and even had the Sorrowless Lake given by the Founding Emperor. However, the accumulated wealth was really not as good as the Qi family.
"He's so rich that he can rival a country!"
Cao Yikui sighed at the end.
As an official close to the emperor, Cao Yikui knew how much money the imperial court had.
There were only about seven to eight million taels of silver in the national treasury. This was what Zhang Juzheng had saved over the past few years.
In the past, they lived beyond their means and did many things that the imperial court could not pay them.
Good heavens, just the Qi family had so much money. How rich must the salt merchants be?
There were three big families of Huizhou merchants and four big families of Jin merchants. If they were to steal all of them, how much money would they make?
Thinking of this, Cao Yikui suddenly came to his senses and quickly turned to look at Zhang Jing.
Sure enough, Zhang Jing's eyes lit up. Cao Yikui immediately became nervous.
In fact, although the salt merchants were rich, they were the only ones like the Qi family.
In comparison, the other families were not so rich.
If the two families combined, they would probably be almost as rich as the Qi family.
After a while, the three of them came back to their senses. Zhang Jing glanced at the young eunuch and said, "Continue reading!"
"36 illegal salt merchants. A total of 1.72 million taels of silver, 67,000 taels of gold, 48 properties, 36,000 hectares of land, and 796 pieces of calligraphy and paintings."
"There are a total of 172 shops, restaurants, and rice shops."
After listening to the Qi family, the three of them were not as shocked as the 36 families.
The 36 families could not compare to the Qi family. It was obvious how rich the Qi family was.
After listening to the report, the three of them had different thoughts. Zhang Jing was excited. This time, he had done a good job. When he returned, he would definitely be praised by the Imperial Majesty. He was one step closer to the position of the Head Eunuch.
Cao Yikui was worried. With so much money, it would be troublesome.
Even he was tempted. If the Emperor was addicted to raiding, what should he do? No, he had to advise the Emperor when writing the memorial.
If the Emperor was addicted to raiding, it would be troublesome.
Xu Xiti's eyes lit up. She was very excited. This was an opportunity for the Duke of Wei's Mansion!
Not to mention other things, the Qi family had accumulated so much wealth for several generations and this was the result of sharing it with the other families. If she got involved, she would be able to earn a lot of money.
Thinking of this, Xu Xiti was instantly excited.
The three of them had different thoughts. No one said anything. The atmosphere was a little awkward.
In the end, Zhang Jing spoke first, "You two, go back and write the memorial.
The Imperial Majesty is still waiting for the news. "
On the other side, the rich businessmen in Yangzhou had already started to go to the address written on the invitation cards.
In fact, when they looked at the address, they started to whisper in their hearts.
They all knew the address and were very familiar with it because it was the Qi family's Lovely Spring Courtyard.
In Yangzhou city, who hadn't heard of the Lovely Spring Courtyard? Who didn't know the Qi family's Lovely Spring Courtyard?
Now that the Qi family was raided and the people were arrested, the Lovely Spring Courtyard would naturally collapse.
This time, the invitation was sent to the Lovely Spring Courtyard. This was very meaningful!
All the rich merchants felt threatened. That's right, they felt threatened.
Originally, they were relieved because of Li Zhonghang's invitation. But at this moment, they were worried again. This time, it would not be easy to pass.