The Lianghuai salt merchants are divided into Shanxi merchants and Hui merchants. As the name suggests, the Shanxi merchants are all from Shanxi.
It was developed when the Ming Dynasty implemented the Kaizhong Law. In order to encourage merchants to transport grain to border towns such as Xuanfu in Datong, the imperial court adopted a policy of exchanging as much grain as needed for salt.
Although these Shanxi merchants have already taken root in Lianghuai for more than a hundred years, buying properties and fields, they still regard themselves as Shanxi merchants and are very united.
The Huizhou merchants are natives of the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, and many of their ancestors are the tribesmen of the Huaixi nobles.
Both Shanxi merchants and Hui merchants were actually supported by Lao Zhu and his son in the early Ming Dynasty to check and balance the large local households in Jiangnan.
Because in the early Ming Dynasty, the big households in the south of the Yangtze River actually still gravitated toward their old ancestors, and they really disliked Lao Zhu's Ming Dynasty from the bottom of their hearts.
For this reason, when Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, he left many nobles in Nanjing.
It is a pity that after more than two hundred years, both the Shanxi and Huizhou merchants who were supported at the beginning and the nobles who stayed behind have become the actual gravediggers of the Ming Dynasty like the local big families in Jiangnan, and they are invisible every moment.
, eroding and shaking the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's rule.
At this moment, in the front yard of the manor, nearly a hundred salt merchants were divided into two groups, one on the left and one on the right, sitting on small stools and discussing quietly.
Everyone's face looked gloomy, and their hearts were nervous and uneasy. They were all worried about how the court would reform the salt policy.
As for the other businessmen, who did not receive the invitation from the Red Lady, they could only stay in Yangzhou City and wait for the good news.
"Your Majesty is here!"
Just when everyone was feeling restless and making guesses, a loud singing sound came, making everyone's already nervous hearts even more tense.
"The empress is a thousand years old, a thousand years old!"
Everyone stood up quickly, knelt down and bowed and shouted loudly.
The red lady also wore silver-white armor, a red cloak, and a sword tied around her waist. After sitting on the Taishi chair under the eaves, she said:
"Everyone get up!"
"Thank you, empress!"
"Sit down!"
Then everyone carefully sat back on the small stools.
The red lady glanced around and saw that they were all wearing ordinary cotton clothes. She sneered in her heart, took a sip from the tea cup on the table next to her, and said slowly.
"Before we talk about the salt policy, I would like to tell you something interesting. Recently, I heard that children all over the south of the Yangtze River are singing a song. It goes like this: Red Lady, Bad Lady, Eat Children.
The evil bitch…
Haha, it sounds pretty catchy, I don’t know who compiled it, but you must have heard of it, right?”
Although the red lady was smiling at the end of her speech, her smile made everyone shudder and they were on pins and needles for a moment.
I don’t even understand what the red lady means by mentioning this at this time.
The red lady didn't say anything when she saw them, and she didn't bother to talk nonsense.
Because her army is already raiding these people's homes at this moment.
"You are really brave. If you are dissatisfied with me, you can speak out directly. It doesn't even matter if you even curse a few words. But to seduce children and arrange noble concubines in such a secretive way is simply shameless. There is no trace of it in your eyes.
Your Majesty and the court?”
The red lady said, and finally she stood up, her pretty face flushed red, and her eyes filled with murderous intent.
"Your Majesty, you are wronged."
"Your Majesty, I don't know anything about this matter, it's none of my business!"
"Your Majesty, this must have been done by the intruder who wanted to ruin your reputation..."
When everyone saw the red lady holding the shit basin on their heads, they were so frightened that they immediately knelt on the ground and screamed that they were wronged.
"Are you unjustly accused? You know it in your heart. Do you really think that I am a red lady who is easy to bully? You can call me a red lady, but if you want to secretly use these little tricks to arrange me, don't even think about it!"
"As the saying goes, if people don't know, you have to do nothing yourself. Do you think that by sending some people disguised as small businessmen and hawkers to deceive those children, you can hide it and avoid the investigation of this palace?"
"Mother, it's really none of my business."
"Your Majesty, you are wise!"
The rumors are indeed inseparable from the salt merchants. In fact, they are inseparable from almost all the gentry, landlords, and wealthy merchants in Jiangnan.
But the salt merchants knew that they would never admit it. They believed that the Red Lady had absolutely no real evidence.
The main planners of this incident were naturally the Donglin Party members, but the actual executioners were salt merchants and cloth merchants. Gentlemen and literati from all over the country also played a role in fueling the flames.
As for the purpose, naturally she wanted to force the emperor to seize her military power and even put her to death.
Because in the eyes of the Jiangnan scholars, this red lady poses a far greater threat to them than the other four generals.
As long as she is around, it will never be possible for civilian officials to evade the emperor, and it will also be difficult for them to control military power.
The most worrying thing is that this red lady is alone, she is the emperor's woman, and she can lead troops to fight, so she cannot be fooled easily.
She acted without any scruples and hated wealthy people very much. The key was that the emperor trusted and favored her very much.
It can be said that the existence of the Red Lady is simply the incarnation of the emperor, which makes the literati in Jiangnan sleepless and unable to accept the existence of such a person.
However, those methods of sowing discord and shocking the master with great achievements will not work with the Red Lady. Apart from ruining her reputation, there is really nothing the literati in Jiangnan can do.
"I'm too lazy to talk to you. A group of shameless people who dare to act as if they don't want to be, arrange noble concubines and smear Your Majesty. It's a serious crime. Even if you confiscate your family and exterminate your family, it's not too much. However, Your Majesty is so kind that I won't follow suit.
If you care about it, just send them all to Qiongzhou."
Originally, everyone thought that the Red Lady would use this opportunity to select two salt merchants to scare the monkeys, and then rectify the salt industry.
But what everyone didn't expect was that she was so crazy that she wanted to send them all to Qiongzhou, and she almost fainted from the fright.
"The empress wants to marry us without proof. Aren't you afraid of provoking the criticism of the world? Aren't you afraid of arousing the anger of the world's scholars?"
"Please forgive me, Queen. We will fully support the salt policy reform, otherwise the salt industry will be in chaos, which will definitely cause shock to the world!"
"Hmph! You think too highly of yourself. Could it be that you cooked all that salt?
Don’t worry, after we get rid of this group of profiteers like you, salt will only be sold cheaper, and the world will never be shaken.”
"Hold them all to me."
The red lady sneered, and then waved her hand.
Immediately, a group of wolf-like soldiers rushed in with sharp knives and dragged these salt merchants, who were all wearing coarse cotton clothes and had fat heads, big ears, thin skin and tender flesh, like pigs to death.
At this time, the entire city of Yangzhou was in a commotion.
The streets were full of soldiers running back and forth, the warehouses on the docks were sealed, the mansions were surrounded, and the entire city of Yangzhou was sealed off.
Not only in Yangzhou, but in the next few days, the entire Lianghuai region was undergoing a vigorous house raid.
At first, other businessmen and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River thought that the Red Lady was just killing chickens to scare the monkeys, but when they learned that all the salt merchants had been killed in one pot, everyone was immediately frightened.
For a time, the entire upper class in Jiangnan fell into panic. They did not expect that the Red Lady would be so crazy and unscrupulous.
But what is surprising is that in the face of the Red Lady's atrocities, other businessmen and gentry chose to remain silent, and no one dared to stand up and take the lead in making trouble.
At this time, the red lady left Yangzhou, handed over all the house confiscation matters to Chen Yuanyuan, and headed for Yancheng County with nearly a thousand people.
Yancheng County is located at the junction of Huai'an Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture, located on the seaside, and is the main salt production area in the two Huaihe Rivers.
Since most of the land is saline-alkali land and crops cannot be grown, hundreds of thousands of people in the territory make a living by boiling salt.
At this time, the news that the imperial court wanted to rectify the salt industry had already reached here, and countless salt households who were making salt were also discussing it.
"Mother, this is Liujia Village. Hundreds of families in the village make a living by boiling salt."
The magistrate of Yancheng County pointed to the small village not far ahead and introduced the lady in a very respectful tone.
"Let's go, let's go to Liujia Village first."
The red lady waved her hand and walked forward.
When they arrived at the entrance of the village, hundreds of men, women, and children from Liujia Village were taken to the open space at the entrance of the village.
When they heard that the imperial concubine had arrived, all the people hurriedly knelt down, while the children looked away. Apparently the rumor had spread here.
"Everyone, get up. Don't be nervous. I just want to see how everyone cooks salt."
"Liu Zhixian, please let everyone disperse first. The salt should still be boiling here to prevent a fire. I will check each house one by one."
"It's the empress."
County Magistrate Liu hurriedly responded, and then greeted the people, "Let's all leave. Do whatever you have to do. Don't walk around or make any noise."
The people then went home and continued cooking salt.
The red lady also came to the nearest house. As soon as she entered the yard, she saw an earthen stove with a large iron pot on it. Water vapor was gurgling in the pot, and a large fire was burning below.
A family of six, all with sallow complexions, thin skin, and dirty bodies, stood nervously by the stove.
The red lady came to the pot and looked at the sea water in the pot. She was also curious and asked: "How much salt can be boiled in this pot?"
"Go back to your Majesty..."
"Shut up, I didn't let you speak."
Liu Zhixian on the side immediately wanted to answer, but was glared at by the red lady.
"Hui...hui, Madam, this pot can cook three or four kilograms of salt."
An old man next to him stammered in reply. He was obviously the head of the family.
"Three or four kilograms, so much? How long does it take to cook this pot? How many kilograms can it be cooked in a month?"
The red lady was also surprised. She looked at the simple earthen house and the dilapidated state of the family, and asked in disbelief.
"Go back to your Majesty, this pot will take almost a day and a night to cook. If God opens his eyes, in a month, he can cook a stone of salt."
The old man spoke more eloquently this time.
"One pot has to cook all day and all night. Doesn't that mean you have to take turns guarding it?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Can you bring me the salt you cooked?"
"My dear, wait a moment..."
The old man immediately directed his two sons to go into the house and bring out a bag of salt. The two sons, the older one in their thirties and the younger one in their twenties, both looked very excited.
"This salt is not bad. How much can this stone be sold for?"
The red lady looked at some yellowish salt in the bag, grabbed a little and tasted it. Although it was a bit bitter, it was much better than the salt eaten by ordinary people in the north.
"Back to you, Madam, the Hou family is responsible for collecting the salt in our Liujia Village. We come here once a month and pay two hundred coins per stone."
"What? Two hundred coins per stone?" Although she had been prepared, the red lady was still shocked.
The salt in the north sells for a hundred cents a pound, and there is a lot of sand, but the salt here is of such good quality that some salt merchants only give two hundred cents a pound to the salt merchants.
"These profiteers should all be killed!"
"With two hundred coins a month, can your family of six survive?"
"I'm reporting back to you, the food in the south of the Yangtze River is cheaper. Two hundred coins can buy one stone of food. Even if the people catch some fish, they can barely make ends meet." Seeing the old man and his two sons hesitating, County Magistrate Liu hurriedly helped them.
explained.
"Hmph, the two hundred coins and one stone you mentioned are rice bran, right?"
The red lady snorted coldly and looked at the old man again.
"Mother, one hundred of these two hundred coins will be used to buy firewood. However, we only need to provide the Hou family with one stone of salt every month. The extra can be sold to other people, and the price will be much higher."
"I understand, then the Hou family forces you to cook one stone of salt every month, and you can secretly sell the excess to other private salt dealers, right?"
"Yes, Niangxun." The old man replied honestly.
"Then if you can't bring out a stone of salt every month, what will the Hou family do to you?"
"You don't have to be afraid. Just say that the Hou family has been raided by me and will be sent to Qiongzhou. I will never bully you again."
"Empress..."
The whole family immediately fell to their knees and started crying, heartbreakingly.
Listening to the old man's description of the Hou family's methods of torturing Yanhu, Liu Zhixian was already out of his mind and was sweating profusely.