"Oh, since Erlang knows the power of these salt merchants, you might as well tell them."
Jia Lian sat at the top and smiled casually at Liu Xianglian.
Liu Xianglian clasped her fists and accepted the order, "To say that these seven salt merchants are famous throughout Jiangnan. It is speculated that each of them has at least one million or even millions of taels of wealth. The seven salt merchants combined,
It is not an exaggeration to describe a country as rich as a country.
Moreover, this is only the wealth they have accumulated. In fact, most of the powerful salt merchants in Yangzhou are just the puppets of the powerful families and the powerful in the court, or even directly belong to the families of those wealthy families.
slave.
Take the most famous one among them, the Bai family. The Bai family, one of the seven major salt merchants, may not be the largest salt merchant in Jiangnan, but it is certainly the most famous.
Because, it is rumored that Bai Yi, the master of the Bai family, is the next-door brother of Bai Qi, Marquis of Yangwu! And Bai Qi, Marquis of Yangwu, I believe the Marquis also knows, is the nephew of the Queen Mother of the dynasty. Now he is serving as the governor of Anxi, and is the country's envoy.
The real frontier official of the dynasty.
Think about it, Mr. Hou, with such a background, who in the entire Jiangnan salt administration would dare not give some face to the Bai family?
Except for the Bai family, the other six families also have their own backgrounds, and none of them should be underestimated. Otherwise, it would be impossible to get a share of the salt industry."
"Then the Bai family is actually related to the current Queen Mother?"
Jia Lian looked slightly surprised and glanced at Lin Youquan next to him.
Lin Youquan hurriedly apologized and said: "Forgive me, Lord Marquis, because I have told you before that I have to explain the true background of those salt merchants to the Lord after I arrive in Yangzhou, so..."
Jia Lian glanced at him and felt speechless.
Of course he could understand what Lin Youquan meant. Perhaps Lin Ruhai was afraid that letting him know the background of all the salt merchants in advance would frighten him into retreating. Therefore, even though Lin Youquan and others had told him about the Yangzhou salt merchants before,
Many situations, and even the backgrounds of most of the salt merchants, were mentioned to him, including the prime ministers, ministers, princes and clans, but the Bai family was not mentioned much.
Speaking of which, he and the Bai family are destined to be together.
Let's not talk about the beautiful Empress Dowager Bai who he saved in the Prince's Courtyard. He also dealt with Bai Qi, the Marquis of Yangwu, when he was in Anxi Mansion. Although he had never met him, he was interrupted by others.
He took the legs of his cheap brother-in-law.
Later, Bai Qi wrote a special letter to him to express his apology. Although Jia Lian knew that he was probably polite to him for the sake of Princess Zhaoyang, otherwise, even if it was easier for his brother-in-law to be beaten, he would just be beaten.
Even if I'm afraid, I won't take the initiative to make friends with him.
Unexpectedly, Bai Qi not only had such great power in Anxi Mansion, but also extended his tentacles to the Central Plains, and was also the richest salt government.
He has territory and military power, but he still needs so much money? Is he really not worried about the emperor's suspicion of him?
Or, relying on the power of Queen Mother Bai, she has nothing to worry about?
It seems that when dealing with this Bai Qi in the future, you have to be careful not to be tricked by him.
I do understand Lin Ruhai's worries. No matter how powerful the other salt merchants are and how complicated their backgrounds are, in the final analysis they are just tools for the powerful people in the capital to make money. But this Bai Yi is Bai Qi's cousin, and she can also be regarded as the Queen Mother.
Lin Ruhai was worried that he would get into trouble, so she refused to tell him in advance.
Then he glared at Lin Youquan and said, "Since my uncle has the explanation, that's all. But now that I've arrived in Jiangnan, it's time for you to tell me everything you haven't said, right?"
"Yes Yes Yes……"
Lin Youquan also felt a little apologetic, and after repeatedly handing over his hands, he said: "In addition to the Bai family that Mr. Liu mentioned, the one that the Marquis should pay most attention to is the Wang family of the seven major salt merchants. The Wang family, before our master took office,
Among the salt merchants, they were still relatively unknown, but later their power suddenly increased. According to our master’s understanding and speculation, I’m afraid that the Wang family has a relationship with the crown prince in Beijing..."
He is really the prince!
Jia Lian felt a little surprised and a little surprised.
No wonder, the famous officials in the court were determined to stick to An Siyuan's matter, and they must ask Emperor Ningkang to send people to the south of the Yangtze River to find out the matter. No wonder, the prince paid great attention to this matter.
He even hesitated to negotiate with him personally...
Sure enough, no one can get a share of the salt policy.
If it were another civil servant who came here, how could he not be afraid when faced with such a huge network of relationships? Even if he was not afraid, how could he dare to start and where should he start?
No wonder Emperor Ning Kang had so many choices to choose from, he still chose himself to handle this matter.
When I think about it, I can't help but feel that I was used as a sword by Emperor Ningkang. But then again, doesn't being able to make a blade for the emperor show his ability?
Moreover, the more smoothly Emperor Ning Kang uses him, the more power he will have. Isn't this what he has always wanted?
Anyway, he doesn't work as a civil servant or hang out in court, so he doesn't have to worry too much about those people retaliating against him.
Therefore, he didn't have any fear in his heart. He just asked Lin Youquan to complete the information about other companies that he had not revealed before.
…
From Yangzhou to Suzhou, it is only a one-day flight.
After abandoning the boat and landing, approaching the city gate, the Suzhou prefect and other major officials from the entire Suzhou government came to greet him and pay homage, which aroused great momentum.
But it was not the officials of Suzhou Prefecture who had good ears and eyes, but Jia Lian had someone inform him of the itinerary in advance.
As for why this is the case, it is not that he deliberately made it public. It involves a very important rule of the era.
In any large city, dead people are strictly prohibited from entering the city, because it means that it will bring unforeseen events to the city.
Therefore, even if you are a person in the city, as long as you die outside, even if it is on the outskirts of the city, your body or coffin will not be allowed to enter the city. This is a custom that has been passed down for thousands of years, regardless of officials or gentry, no exception.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Of course, the official here refers to a low-level official. As for those who have reached Lin Ruhai's level, they naturally have privileges.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be desolate if those officials who served as officials in the court and died of old age in the capital and wanted to return home for burial could not even enter the city of their hometown?
Therefore, there is a law in the Wei Dynasty that only officials of the second rank and above can enter the capital to attend funerals. Only officials of the third rank and above can enter the local capital to attend funerals.
Those below the third rank are not allowed to enter the city unless they seek favor from the emperor.
That is to say, in the original work of Red Mansions, Jia Jing died in Xuanzhen Temple outside the city. After the emperor knew the news, he would specially grant Jia Jing a fifth-rank official position, and authorize Jia Zhen and his son to carry their father's coffin to the capital for funeral.
The reason why the emperor burst into tears of gratitude.
After all, if the emperor did not grant the favor, the former head of the Ningguo Mansion would have no choice but to mourn outside the city.
Lin Ruhai, who was a second-rank official, was fully qualified to return to his old residence in Suzhou City for funerals. So when he learned that he was going to return to his hometown for burial, the Ministry of Rites notified the Suzhou government long ago, asking the local government to follow the etiquette of a second-rank official to arrange for Lin Ruhai to be buried.
The coffin was welcomed into the city.
In fact, there is no need for an order from the Ministry of Rites. Lin Ruhai, who is originally from Suzhou but has an official position in the central government, can be said to be the pride of Suzhou people.
Now that Mr. Lin's soul has returned to his hometown, it is a major event for the entire Suzhou city.
The prefect of Suzhou had already informed the people below that road festivals were set up along the street from the city gate to Lin's mansion, and people were asked to publicize anecdotes about Lin Ruhai's life.
If Jia Lian's notification was not given too soon, and the Suzhou government had no time to make more preparations, it is not certain that there would be bigger disturbances.
Even so, it takes half a day to enter the Lin family's old residence from Suzhou City.
Daiyu had been sitting in the sedan chair, watching the whole city of Suzhou shake by her father's return. Her mood was inexplicably complicated.
Perhaps, this is the reputation that my father has been pursuing all his life, and now he can be regarded as benevolent.
Occasionally, through the curtains of the carriage, I secretly observed Jia Lian, who was riding on a horse to help deal with the officials. Seeing how the officials behaved well-behaved, submissive and obedient in front of Jia Lian, I felt a little happy.
.
Without her second brother Lian, she wouldn't be able to deal with these common people.
The Lin family members also learned of Lin Ruhai's death and came to the ancestral home early to wait for the funeral.
Although it had been expected that Lin Ruhai, as Lin Ruhai, would be dignified when he returned to his hometown for funerals, he saw that the Suzhou magistrate, Suzhou garrison, Tongzhi, Suzhou Zhizhi and other major officials in Suzhou all personally escorted Lin Ruhai to his ancestral home, and even arranged the mourning hall.
, they didn’t leave even after the memorial ceremony, which still shocked and surprised the Lin family members.
Isn’t it said that when a person dies, his lamp goes out, and when he leaves, the tea cools down?
Why are these officials in Suzhou so attentive and polite to the Lin family?
Later, I learned that the person who personally escorted their clan leader back was the famous young marquis of Rongguo Mansion in the middle of the capital, who had come down to the south of the Yangtze River as an imperial envoy.
Those officials in Suzhou may not be fawning over the Lin family, but the new noble man of the country, the dignified Marquis Zhenyuan.
Although there is a bit of a gap in knowing the truth, fortunately, many of them know Jia Lian. After all, when the clan mother Jia Min passed away, the Marquis of Zhenyuan came to pay homage in person. Some people in the Lin family even had dealings with Jia Lian.
.
It's just that at that time, Jia Lian was just a young man from the Rongguo Mansion in the middle of the capital, and he didn't have such a famous name as he does now.
Now that the Lin family has died, its decline is irreversible. But if we can win over the relatives of Haorongguofu, we will have a backer in the future...
This is the idea that some Lin family members came up with after briefly figuring out some realities.
However, there are also some people who have the opposite concerns.
As Jia Lian, why would he condescend to escort the patriarch back to his hometown? Could it be that he is thinking about my Lin family's property and wants to take this opportunity to seize it?
This kind of powerful relatives occupying family property is a common thing in this era.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Lin family members are speculating like this. After all, there are not many Lin family members left, and everyone knows the basics.
After Lin Ruhai's death, they each had their own plans and support for how to elect the clan leader and how to distribute the clan's property.
But if they were faced with Jia Lian, an extremely powerful in-law, they would not be able to resist. At that time, even if the family property was taken away, they would have no way to complain.
Not to mention anything else, just looking at the officers and soldiers wearing golden armor and equipped with golden swords who "guarded" all the important roads of the Lin family as soon as they arrived at the Lin family, they could only be in awe and did not dare to have any resistance.
.
After all, even if you don't know them, you have heard from others that those are the legendary Imperial Guards. Apart from the emperor, only the imperial envoys who are out of Beijing on missions are qualified to call upon the legendary Imperial Guards temporarily!
Jia Lian didn't know the plans of the Lin family, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care. After he finally sent away the officials of Suzhou Prefecture and people from all walks of life who came to worship, it was almost dark.
I went to see Daiyu, but found that Daiyu was not in a good mood.
"Why, is it possible that someone is robbing your house again?"
When Daiyu heard Jia Lian teasing her again, she shook her head in embarrassment.
Jia Lian then looked at Zijuan, who smiled and said: "Don't worry, Second Master, no one bullies the girl. It's just that before, the aunts and uncles in the girl's clan showed their kindness to the girl one by one, and also gave toys and other gifts.
They are giving me clothes, and they even want to take our girl as my daughter, and she is not tired of it."
Zijuan is indeed a model of understanding and can easily see through the reason for Daiyu's unhappiness. When she told Jia Lian face to face, Daiyu couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed and gave Zijuan a blank look.
Jia Lian understood.
She is so attentive and wants to accept Daiyu as her daughter, but she just wants to take advantage of her.
That's right, the Lin family didn't know Lin Ruhai's arrangements before his death. They all saw that Lin Ruhai had died and left a huge family fortune, which must be inherited by someone. At this time, whoever wins Daiyu's favor first will naturally have the upper hand.
Although he was already worried about it, Jia Lian just smiled at Daiyu and said, "Aren't you happy that the elders take the initiative to cherish you?"
Daiyu couldn't help curling her lips and frowning.
If those elders really loved her, she would certainly not be unhappy. But Daiyu could see the real reason why those people did this, because some people's behavior was too exaggerated and obviously inconsistent.
Daiyu has a keen mind, so she can't see through their plans.
She even felt a little sad in her heart. She felt that the dignity and class of her relatives were far inferior to those she saw in Rongguo Mansion.
Compared with the marriage papers from Aunt Xue, Aunt Wang and other Rongguo Mansion, these marriage papers from her Lin family are really not much different from those of some country women.
How could this make Daiyu happy?
Seeing that Daiyu was silent, Jia Lian couldn't help but pick up one of her little hands and comforted her with a smile: "Sister Lin, you don't have to treat them with harsh requirements. In life, everyone has his or her own fate, so that's it."
Different insights.
With different knowledge, there will inevitably be differences between high and low.
If you like Sister Lin, get close to her. If you don't like her, don't worry about it, let alone offend them. Just stay away from them.
Later I will ask the housekeeper to call you Lin family members together and announce my uncle's will to them. I believe that after they know my uncle's arrangements, they will not let anyone disturb my sister again."
When Daiyu heard that Jia Lian was going to announce Lin Ruhai's will to the Lin family, which naturally also included the announcement of her engagement, Daiyu felt a little shy and wanted to withdraw her little hand.
I also thought that Jia Lian was still the same as before. Whenever he saw any difficulty on her part, he would find a way to help her solve it as quickly as possible. I felt very touched and grateful, and couldn't help but open my eyes with slightly tearful eyes.
Look at Jia Lian.
"Look, it's fine, why are you crying?" Jia Lian felt extremely satisfied when facing Daiyu's gaze.
He couldn't help but raise a hand to wipe Daiyu's tears.
"Who is crying..."
Daiyu didn't want to admit it, so she avoided Jia Lian's hand and sat aside, her face red.
After a while, Daiyu asked: "Have you taken care of everything outside?"
"Well, that's almost it. Next, my sister only needs to go to my uncle's grave according to the time every day to pay homage and keep vigil. When the time comes, she will take my uncle's coffin to the ancestral grave outside the city and bury it with your mother."
Daiyu nodded silently after hearing this. Jia Lian had already told her these, and she had no objections.
"Then, are you going back to Yangzhou..."
"Um……"
Seeing Jia Lian nodding, Daiyu's little face couldn't help but slump a little, and she sat silently, not knowing what to say.
Although Jia Lian was pleased with Daiyu's reaction, he did not want Daiyu to fall into such negative emotions for a long time, so he deliberately smiled and asked: "Sister Lin, are you reluctant to let me go?"
"Who can't bear to see you go..."
Daiyu just felt embarrassed about having her mind read. When she caught a glimpse of Jia Lian's smile, she immediately realized that Jia Lian did it on purpose.
So he frowned and immediately replied: "I wish you could leave early! It's best to leave tonight so that you don't have to bully others here."
Daiyu considers herself not to be a stupid person. Among the sisters in Rongguo Mansion, no one usually talks about her.
However, she always suffered in front of Jia Lian, so she repeatedly said that Jia Lian bullied her. Of course, this may also be because Jia Lian often held her little hand and took advantage of her.
Seeing Daiyu's reaction like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, Jia Lian was greatly relieved.
Just when Zijuan and others saw him coaxing Daiyu, they all wisely left the room. Jia Lian raised his big hand, gently hugged Daiyu into his arms, and said comfortingly: "Sister Lin, don't worry, I understand.
I won't leave until the afternoon. Before I leave, I will arrange everything here.
In addition, after I arrive in Yangzhou, I will finish the things there as soon as possible. Even if I don't finish it, I will rush back before my uncle's burial date.
Anyway, the two sides are very close. If we speed up the boat quickly, we can get there in only half a day."
When Daiyu was taken into Jia Lian's arms, she quickly took a look inside the room. She felt relieved when she realized there was no one else around, and gently snuggled into Jia Lian's chest.
She listened quietly to Jia Lian's words, and after a while she said: "You told me not to worry, but in fact you have always been worried about me. In fact, second brother, you don't have to work so hard.
You have already done so many things for me, and I can do the rest by myself. Even if I can't do it well, I still have the housekeeper and Mother Wang to help me, and that's enough.
So, if you are busy with things over there, there is no need to rush back.
It doesn't matter whether it's far or close, but my second brother is still busy with your business."
Daiyu knew that Jia Lian came to Jiangnan to investigate the case, and it was a big case. Even from the play, she knew that whenever a case was involved, there must be some interests.
She also didn't want Jia Lian to be distracted by her and her father's affairs when he was doing big things.
Just as Jia Lian was worried about her, she was also worried about Jia Lian, fearing that anything unexpected would happen to Jia Lian.
When Jia Lian heard Daiyu's words, he felt extremely satisfied and couldn't help but hug Daiyu tighter.
At this time, he didn't have much thought at all to feel the softness and beauty of Daiyu's delicate body. His heart was filled with love for the person in his arms.
As expected, this girl has learned to grow up and care about others. It is not in vain to hurt her.