"Sir, it's been several days. There seems to be no end to the salt here. It's shipped every day." In the restaurant facing the street, Chen Ying frowned and looked at the salt farm opposite where there was an endless stream of customers, listening to the report of the servant.
It has been nearly a month since Lu Bu opened a salt store. At first, no one cared about it. Without salt, it would be useless even if you opened a salt store for a hundred people. But since the salt store officially sold salt yesterday, Chen Ying noticed something was wrong.
, the salt and iron trade in Xuzhou is basically controlled by a few of them. From the production to the sale of salt, they are inseparable. However, this time the salt village sold salt, he did not receive any news here, which made Chen Ying smell something.
Appropriate.
"Have you ever found out where the salt in this salt village comes from?" Chen Ying picked up the wine glass, took a sip of wine and asked with a frown.
He naturally knew that Lu Bu wanted to collect salt and iron taxes. Lu Bu mentioned this matter to Chen Gui in a vague way more than once, hoping that the Chen family could help.
However, the salt and iron trade in Xuzhou had been basically divided up during Liu Bei's time. When Liu Bei was here, the Chen family was willing to give in some, but now that Lu Bu is in charge, if they want to stabilize their foothold in Xuzhou, they can only look to the scholars.
His face became pale.
Don't talk about force deterrence. If you come here to grab a wave and then leave, then I have nothing to say and can only admit it is bad luck. But if you want to take root in this Xuzhou territory, you cannot avoid the gentry in every aspect, and the gentry are not without them.
You can't fight back if you hit him, but you can still dodge if you want to.
Therefore, the scholars in Xuzhou were not afraid of Lü Bu's use of force to intimidate him. To Chen Ying, Lü Bu was named the Lord of Xuzhou, but he was actually a hungry dog he kept!
You can't really starve him to death. If such a warrior goes crazy, Xuzhou will have to experience another catastrophe, but you can't let him eat too much, otherwise he will gradually lose control.
But now, the hungry dog seems to have found food on its own, which is not a good thing.
"Although there is no specific information, since the new Jin Cao took his troops to Ganyu a month ago, Ganyu has been blocked, and not long after that, a large amount of salt continued to be sent from Ganyu." The servant said solemnly.
.
In order to prevent the salt production process from being leaked prematurely, Chu Nan did a good job of sealing it off.
"Ganyu..." Chen Ying pinched his beard, looked at his servant and said: "Send more people to the direction of Ganyu. Ganyu County alone cannot produce this much salt. In addition, we need people to inquire."
Are these salt farms also opened in other places?"
If there are salt farms in various places, then we have to pay attention to it. It can be seen as Lu Bu's counterattack against the Xuzhou nobles and they are not willing to be hungry dogs anymore.
"Here!" the servant bowed in agreement and left.
Chen Ying held the wine glass and looked at the salt village opposite, frowning and speechless.
The biggest question now is, where did the other party's salt come from? Did they just suddenly find a batch? Or did they find a salt mine in Ganyu? If the former is the case, it's easier to say, just sit back and watch the other party complete the transaction, and then return to the market.
It's okay to go to the past trajectory, but if it's the latter, it's not a good thing for the Chen family!
A few more days passed like this, Chen Mansion.
"Sir, now there are salt shops opened in Peixian, Siwu, Xiaxiang and Xiapi counties, and recently the government office seems to be preparing to expand to other counties." The servant responsible for inquiring about the news bowed to Chen Ying.
"The people who run the salt village are all friends of Chu Nan?" Chen Ying played with a jade pendant. His brother Chen Deng liked to play with a jade pendant like this when thinking about problems. Chen Ying sometimes unconsciously
To imitate my brother.
"Well, Xue Nian, Ren Zhao, and Tian Yang were all well-known in ancient times. Xue Nian wanted to open a cloth village before, but due to some reasons, he failed to do so and lost his family's wealth. If he hadn't opened a salt village this time,
, I’m afraid I’ll be depressed for a few years.” The servant smiled.
Chen Ying nodded silently. He naturally understood why this was the case. Xuzhou's food, clothing, housing and transportation were basically controlled by aristocratic families. These small merchants and hawkers did some tiring work that they were unwilling to do, such as raising silkworms and delivering goods, but
If you really want to put your hand into the job of a wealthy family, then just wait to be dealt with.
Chen Ying didn't care about the life and death of these small traders, but now that these people were on the table and became a weapon in Lu Bu's hands to seize money, Chen Ying had to care.
The most important thing is that Chen Ying failed to figure out where Lu Bu's salt came from and how long it could be used? But in the past few days, seeing the salt store continue to sell coarse salt at a price that is 10% lower than theirs, it has more than just affected
When he arrived at Chen's house, it had an impact on the entire Yan City, so he wanted to do something to relieve the current pressure.
"Sir." A steward came in and saluted Chen Ying.
"What's the matter?" Chen Ying placed the jade pendant in his hand on the table impatiently.
"Master, please come over."
"Yeah." Chen Ying nodded and asked as he walked: "But what about the salt village?"
"My old servant doesn't know, but several celebrities have come to visit today."
Chen Ying understood that there was no shortage of people visiting the Chen family on weekdays, but a few people coming to visit in one day was a bit too much. Nowadays, Xuzhou is generally stable. With so many people coming together, you know why without asking.
Following the steward to the main courtyard, he saw Yi Yan coming out. When he saw Chen Ying, he hurriedly greeted him.
"I already know the matter, don't worry." Chen Ying comforted him before entering the main hall.
Chen Gui had just entertained several celebrities and was playing with his legs. When he saw his second son coming in, Chen Gui did not maintain his manners: "I have heard about the matter in general. What do my son think?"
"Salt is not only a major tax in Xuzhou, but also the lifeblood of most wealthy families. It took us ten years to wrest the salt from the government office. Now Chu Nan must be trying to recover the salt tax, and even borrowing the power of the government office.
I can't let this happen if I regain control of salt and iron!" Chen Ying said solemnly.
In addition to being a major grain-producing state, Xuzhou is also a major salt-producing state. Salt accounts for a very high proportion in Xuzhou's economic system, and this must not be allowed.
"So?" Chen Gui looked at Chen Ying.
"Currently, the child is not sure where the other party's salt comes from."
"What should you do if you are sure?" Chen Gui asked.
"If Chu Nan is just bluffing, then we will drag him on for a few days. When he runs out of salt, we can take the opportunity to raise the price of salt to make up for the lost time."
"If there is a source of salt mines, we will... try to seize or destroy the salt mines..."
Before he finished speaking, Chen Gui waved his hand and said: "This is to teach others. If you really do this, it will be logical for Lu Bu to take action against my Chen family. Even if you don't really take action, you will help him retreat."
Taking the sword out of its scabbard gives him an excuse to attack us at any time. This is not what a wise man would do."
"He dares?" Chen Ying frowned.
"You broke the rules, why didn't he dare?" Chen Gui asked back, stood up and looked at the second son and said: "In everything, before you calculate the victory, you must first calculate the defeat, and then you can be invincible. You are like this
It’s hard to find a way out if you put yourself to death from the very beginning, and these methods are not useful to everyone.”
"Please give me father's advice!" Chen Ying bowed and said.
"When you don't know how to move, don't move around. Just wait and see."