Zhu Qiyu returned to the Qianqing Palace and began to deal with the matter of passing the exam. It took two days to accumulate the test scores, which was very cumbersome.

The papers piled up like a mountain, and Chen Wanniang could only sigh deeply in Ye Ting.

Such a diligent and resourceful monarch in the Ming Dynasty is a blessing to the Ming Dynasty, but it makes her lovesick. No matter how beautiful Baotu Spring is, if your Majesty doesn't even take a look, what's the use.

After so many years, it should be a mere display of good times and good scenery. Even if there are thousands of customs, who can tell me?

The cicadas are miserable.

It's getting colder.

Outside the Zhengyang Gate, under the Altar of Mountains and Rivers, and on the banks of the Qinhuai River, there is a place called the Immortal City of Kagura.

This place was originally the palace of Emperor Zhenwu. In the twelfth year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu Gao ordered that it be renovated into a sacred palace. A Liquan well was installed, which was the source of purified water used by Hongwu, Jianwen and Yongle dynasties when they went to the Temple of Heaven to worship heaven.

The God of Optimism was originally a place for worship in suburban temples, but with the relocation of the capital and many sacrifices in Nanjing stopped, the God of Optimism was gradually abandoned.

But this place is on the bank of the Qinhuai River, where Nanjing's teachings and music are practiced, and the water flow is slow. A small brothel slowly gathered together, forming a place surrounded by more than a hundred brothels.

Merchants from all over the world, if they can't be accommodated by Nanya, will leave the capital to have fun in this magical capital.

It’s truly a magical place!

Even in the dark of night, even in the heavy snow, all the brothels are overcrowded and crowded.

There is no curfew in the suburbs of Beijing, so it’s natural to party all night long.

Countless romances have been staged in this Kagura Immortal City, and the joys and sorrows of the world have been staged again and again.

The Kagura Immortal City has dozens of pavilions, six in the upper chamber, sixteen in the middle, fifty in the lower chamber, and thousands of prostitutes.

And this Qinjin Tower is the uppermost place, the most luxurious place in the city of gods, music, and immortals. It is also known as Jinling's gold-selling nest, where tens of millions of yi are spent.

At this time, the private room in Qinjin Tower was filled with excitement. Drinks were being exchanged, and it was very lively.

"It's snowing heavily today, the inkstone is hard, and the price of coal frying has skyrocketed. Even if your majesty knows that I'm here to make a fortune, what else can you do?"

"So many people! The law does not punish the public!"

The speaker is from Lianghuai and is the head of the Lianghuai Salt Merchant, Hu Weiming, the Lianghuai General Merchant.

The salt merchants in Huaihe and Huaihe have different levels according to their family wealth.

For example, small merchants rent or open salt dens, and are called den owners. They hire salt workers and fry salt day and night, which is quite hard, but they don't make much money.

Then there are the transporters. They control the price of the nest and the price of salt. They hold the salt guide in their hands and run around renting the guide nest. They use the salt guide to go to the designated salt nest to collect salt, and then sell it to the designated "Yinan" .

They often carry a large amount of private salt, and are often called private salt dealers.

The nest owners often fry the salt themselves, which is a hard job, and the transporters also need to travel around.

But the owners and dealers don't need to do that at all. They set up diversions at various Chaoguan wharves, buy salt from the salt farmers, and resell it to the transporters and middlemen.

The market operator has the monopoly privilege to purchase all the salt produced in the salt farm. How did this privilege come about? It is naturally the result of collusion between government and businessmen.

Market traders often buy high and sell low, making a lot of money, ruthlessly exploiting salt producers and grabbing profits.

Above the market merchants, there is the general merchant, also called the merchant general. The market merchants elect one person every year and report to the court. He is the most powerful person among the salt merchants.

The chief merchant, Hu Weiming, was not a Yangzhou merchant, but came from Shaanxi.

Shanxi merchants, Shaanxi merchants, and Hui merchants competed for profits in this territory from the Western Han Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty.

Hu Weiming is the leading salt merchant.

If we define it in terms of the way financial affairs operate through exploitation and exploitative accumulation, wouldn’t their way of operation be considered capitalism?

It must count as yes.

Hu Weiming continued: "Your Majesty said you are allowed to make a fortune, right? Then we are just buying and selling. The skyrocketing prices are caused by supply and demand."

"Your Majesty can't punish us for our crimes no matter what, otherwise your Majesty would still be so eloquent!"

Wu Bingjian nodded and said: "When the emperor breaks his promise, he is unjust. It has been snowing heavily these past few days. The snow has melted in a few days, and the weather has become extremely cold."

"The Chinese New Year is coming soon. How can Your Majesty be willing to live in Nanjing with millions of people, no coal available, and frozen bones everywhere?"

"When the time comes, everyone in the world will say that the wine and meat of Zhumen are stinky, and there will be bones frozen to death on the road."

Wu Bingjian is the chief maritime merchant of Ningbo.

He controlled more than 2,000 shipwrights and was specifically responsible for building three-masted ships and two-masted seagoing ships. The ivory from Manbasa, South Africa, was brought to Nanya from South Africa by his family.

Maritime merchants also have many distinctions, such as Japanese merchants who went to Japan to sell silver, merchants who went to Southeast Asia to sell gold and spices, merchants who traveled to the West, etc. Wu Bingjian was the leader among them.

Wu Bingjian's family was not in Ningbo, but lived overseas in Borneo, where Wei Guogong Xu Chengzong went, and the gold field was in the hands of the Wu family.

Borneo connects the north and the south and is a place where merchant ships must pass. Therefore, the Wu family is even richer than the imperial court.

Chen Guangqi, from Huguang, looked at the two confident people and didn't know what to say.

He always had a bad premonition, but he never knew where it would end up.

In fact, at this time, the three of them stood up and looked outside the window where the heavy snow was falling. They could see that the Ming army was supervising the prisoner camp and transporting the coal from the Saddle Factory to Beijing.

Because Qinjin Tower is located on the side of the Shanchuan Altar outside Zhengyang Gate. It is less than a thousand steps away and the sight is not very good due to heavy snowfall. However, if you are willing to walk a few steps to get away from the noisy sound of Qinjin Tower, it will be enough.

I heard the shouts of the army.

With 150,000 tons of coal entering Beijing, can the noise be reduced?

But even the vigilant Chen Guangqi never expected that the emperor would directly bring 150,000 tons of coal into Nanya.

At this time, they have been blinded by profit. Even if they see the army transporting things, they may not think about the emperor hoarding coal and preparing to lift the table.

Chen Guangqi is a Huguang merchant, and the Four Brave Regiment has captured Xiangyang and is slowly but steadily regaining the lost ground.

Chen Guangqi was a land merchant. To be precise, he once owned 20,000 acres of land in Prince Xiang's Mansion. As the general merchant, he represented the landowners in Huguang territory.

Chen Guangqi considered it for a moment and said, "How about we start bulk cargo when the snow starts to melt, which will save us many long nights and nightmares, and how many people will die."

Landowners are different from salt merchants and maritime merchants. They need a large number of servants to farm their fields.

If the servants starve to death or freeze to death, who will farm for them?

But Hu Weiming didn't care at all and said: "Brother Chen, I'm not telling you. Think about it carefully. Are there more than 300,000 seedlings hiding in the mountains in Hu Guang's territory?"

"These people may rebel and cause trouble at any time. If Your Majesty wants to solve their problems, Brother Chen will definitely be harmed."

"If you have this opportunity, make a big profit and then plan later."

Chen Guangqi couldn't bear it, but he still nodded and said: "Then let's do it. I agree with your idea."

Hu Weiming put a smile on his lips, stood up, came to the railing in the building, and said loudly: "Everyone, please be quiet!"

The three-story Qinjin Building finally became quieter, and Hu Weiming continued to shout: "Everyone has a good meal, a good drink, and a good time today! We will make a fortune in a few days, and it will be even better!"

One person stood up and shouted to everyone: "Mr. Hu Shang said it well!"

"Mr. Hu Shang said that well!" A group of people cheered in unison. If you look carefully, you will find that there is a fierce-looking man sitting here. His name is Yuan Bin.

It was Yuan Bin who captured the spy Xi Ning and the three brothers of the Qu family who turned the Loop into a human hell.

Yuan Bin was the commander of Jin Yiwei. He squinted at the people above and shouted loudly: "Mr. Hu Shang said it well!"

Yue Qian scratched his head when he saw Yuan Bin's mischief. They were ordered to find out the news, so how could they be angry?

"Mr. Hu has made money, why don't you let everyone have fun together?" Yuan Bin shouted loudly.

When Hu Weiming heard this, his face was full of smiles. He said loudly: "I do make money, just like you don't!"

"But since you opened your mouth, I've invited everyone to have a banquet of drinks and food today!"

"Mr. Hu is so generous!" Yuan Bin raised his glass and toasted to Mr. Hu.

"Mr. Hu is so generous!" Everyone toasted.

Yuan Bin sat down and said to Yue Qian and Ji Duo: "These people are really happy."

Ji Duo was as steady as ever, and said with emotion: "Yes, we are also happy to go on an errand and get a free meal."

"Isn't it too much for us to just sit here and inquire about information in such a grand manner?" Yue Qian tore off a duck leg, feasted on it, picked up the wine cup, and had a drink with Yuan Bin and Ji Duo.

Ji Duo nodded and said doubtfully: "It's a bit, but aren't all the people who have seen us dead? No, Li Xian has also seen us."

Yuan Bin didn't finish a mouthful of foie gras. He looked at Ji Duo blankly and said helplessly: "You don't have to keep an eye on Li Xian. Your Majesty takes one bite from Li Aiqing, so it should be fine."

"You should keep an eye on it, you still have to keep an eye on it." Yue Qian and Ji Duo said at the same time.

Yuan Bin said helplessly: "Okay, you guys eat. I will send the information I found to the palace so that Your Majesty will know that these insects have gathered together again."

"We'll leave before we finish our meal." Yue Qian shook his head, but he was not in a hurry. The snow will still fall for two days, and His Majesty also has to prepare for a heavy blow.

Don't be in a hurry to eat this little time.

It wasn't until midnight that the three of them ate until their mouths were full of oil. They drank a few glasses of wine to warm themselves up. They originally didn't want to drink because they were on business, but people were drinking around them, so they couldn't help but blend in.

The three of them got on their horses and headed straight to Chaoyang Gate.

Chaoyang Cave is opening, and coal is being piled up toward the back mountain.

But when they arrived at Chaoyang Gate, they could not see His Majesty, and Xi'an Gate was still locked.

The Imperial City is the Imperial City, and the Forbidden City is the Forbidden City.
To be continued...