The black market is not a fixed place, but a name for a group of people.
As long as it is profitable, the so-called "black market" will emerge.
Originally, in the black market of Jinling, one could buy almost everything one wanted, such as hibiscus ointment, a banned drug of the imperial court, and one could even buy a pair of armor and a crossbow.
You must know that these two things can be regarded as symbols of rebellion to a certain extent. Folks are only allowed to own bows, arrows, knives, spears, spears and other self-defense weapons. This has been the case since ancient times.
As for powerful crossbows and armor, there is a folk saying, "One armor holds three crossbows, and three armors go to the underworld."
That's enough to explain the problem.
But you can buy things like this on the black market.
Because the things banned by the imperial court are, for many people, even more desirable.
This will give it a huge premium, and this huge profit is enough to make many people take risks.
One party buys the contraband they want, and the other party makes huge profits. This is the reason why the black market exists.
Water and food were originally one of the most common things.
In Jinling, clean water is readily available, and food prices fluctuate from one to two to five coins per stone.
The original value of these two items did not qualify them to appear on the black market, but now due to the epidemic in Jinling, clean water and food have become the most in-demand commodities on the black market.
Although the Jinling government will distribute water and food to the people in Jinling City in fixed quotas, it only guarantees the survival of everyone.
In Maslow's need theory, survival needs are only the most basic needs.
For ordinary people at the bottom, they may not have the money to buy food and water on the black market, but for small and medium-sized businessmen with family savings, they need more water and food to ensure their quality of life and safety.
More water is needed for washing, and meat and vegetables are needed to improve the diet.
On the current black market, a bucket of clean water costs one tael of silver, a leg of pork costs fifty taels of silver, and a pound of mutton costs twenty taels of silver.
The price of this kind of product is simply outrageous, but it is sold in full swing on the black market.
Like Qingshui, there is no shortage of ordinary wealthy gentry and famous families. They all have their own wells. For the sake of difficulty and efficiency, the Blood River Sect did not poison their water.
But fruits, vegetables, fish and meat are also in short supply for these large consumers.
Jinling was closed. Except for people from the imperial court, no caravans could enter or leave Jinling, making it difficult for people who originally supplied supplies to enter.
These rich and powerful businessmen are used to eating delicacies from the mountains and seas, so naturally they cannot accept the life of porridge and side dishes.
If it were a Jinling government office, they would still dare to protest and exert pressure, but now the person in charge in Jinling is Yang Qingyuan!
With the power of Marquis Yang, let alone sealing a small old capital of Jinling, even if he seals the divine capital, with the military power in his hands, it is not impossible!
Therefore, all the powerful and powerful businessmen who were originally arrogant and domineering in Jinling have their tail between their legs.
If you want to eat fruits, vegetables, fish, you can only buy them from this black market.
Likewise, if people from the Blood River Sect want to eat and drink, the easiest way is to buy from the black market.
Chen Ming and Li Dan were both local detectives with considerable experience in criminal investigations, while Chen Danlin and others were elites at the Six Gates Headquarters, so they all understood what Yang Qingyuan meant.
The person who poisoned the poison had been researching poisonous species on Huangye Island before, so he would definitely not live in Jinling City permanently, and most of the people he brought would probably not have household registration in Jinling City. Their food and water purification
The vacancy must be quite large.
According to the statistical investigation by Chen Ming and Li Dan, although there were several thefts in the east of the city, the amount of food stolen was not large. According to the investigation, it should not be related to the Blood River Sect.
When such nerves are sensitive, people from the Blood River Sect will not make any big moves.
Then the way they get enough food and clean water is through the black market.
"What do you mean, sir, is to track down the Blood River Sect by raiding the black market?!"
Yang Qingyuan just smiled when he heard this, "You are wrong. In fact, the biggest boss behind the black market selling water and food in Jinling City is me."
"..."
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"How about it?!"
In a residence in Jinling City, a disciple of the Blood River Sect saw a man carrying a large bucket of water entering the house and immediately asked.
"I bought it! Today I heard that many people were arrested! All because of selling water and food." The person in charge of purchasing looked mysterious.
This kind of gossip is always what everyone likes to hear.
"Didn't you get caught?!"
"How is it possible?! How can I be caught by someone who is so smart..."
Just as the two of them were talking, a Yuan Hua realm master from the Blood River Sect came out, "What are you talking about?!"
The two people who had just been joking with each other immediately leaned over and saluted, "I have met you, sir!"
"us……"
"We are saying that many people selling food and water were caught in the black market today."
The Yuan Hua Realm warrior of the Blood River Sect focused his eyes. His name was Song Renqian, and he was the second in command here. He was responsible for serving the Blood Venom Venerable Zhou.
"Have you been followed by anyone?!" Song Renqian immediately became nervous. If his whereabouts were exposed because he bought water and grain from the black market, it would be more of a loss than a gain.
"Don't worry, sir! It's no problem!" The person in charge of purchasing looked confident.
Little did he know that this made Song Rigan even more worried.
In order to appease the master from the main sect, the purchasing disciple showed a mysterious expression.
"Sir, we did catch some sellers of Qingshui grain on the street, but they are all retail traders with no background. There is absolutely no problem with the one I'm looking for."
Song Renqian obviously didn't believe what this disciple said, "How dare you make such an assertion?!"
The purchasing disciple replied, "Because this family is extremely powerful. Not only are grains calculated by carts and water by barrels, but they even know the trajectory of the city defense army's patrols at night and can avoid them in advance."
"oh?!"
"Sir, guess who is behind this black market transaction?!"
Song Renqian said disdainfully, "It's no use guessing, it must be someone from the government. In this situation, who else but the people from the government can handle such a large amount of water and grain."
"It's not just water and grain! This man also has fresh meat and sea fish in his hands!" As he said this, the purchasing disciple took out a large oil paper bag from the grain bag on the side.
"Sir, these are the mutton and mutton chops that I bought from the black market dealer, just to replenish the health of His Holiness and all of you."
When he saw the mutton in the hands of the purchasing disciple, Song Regan realized that the boss behind this black market dealer was definitely extraordinary.
"Yes, I have seen your loyalty," Song Renqian first praised the Blood River Sect disciple's positive attitude, and then asked, "You just mentioned the person behind this black marketeer, have you found out who it is? !”
"Yes!" After buying the disciples for a while, he said pretentiously, "The biggest bosses behind this black market are none other than Xue Wen, the Yin of Jinling Prefecture, and Yang Qingyuan, the deposed envoy of Yangzhou."
When Song Renqian heard this, he immediately lost his composure.
"What did you say?!"
If the boss behind this black market is Yang Qingyuan, doesn't it mean that every move they make will be known to Yang Qingyuan.
"No, I want to report it to His Holiness immediately." After muttering to himself, Song Rigan mentioned the purchasing disciple and took the mutton chops wrapped in oil paper with him.
It's not that this Yuan Hua realm warrior is ignorant, it's just that he hasn't eaten meat for more than ten days, and his mouth has a bird's taste.
"That's just the way it is."
After Song Renqian finished his report, Venerable Blood Poison Zhou fell into thinking.
"Keep your head up!"
The purchasing disciple trembled slightly when he heard this and raised his head.
"You said a black marketeer was arrested, but it's true!?"
The purchasing disciples nodded repeatedly, "Yes! Yes! We were hiding in the street and watched them being taken away by the city defense army."
"Who is buying Qingshui grain with you?!"
The purchasing disciple was stunned for a moment and began to recall carefully.
"Those people are all strangers, and I don't even recognize them, but after listening to the conversations between several of them, one is the housekeeper of the Jia family in Jinling, and the other is the foreign affairs manager of the Ye family, a wealthy businessman in Jinling... In short, they are all well-known figures in Jinling... …”
After the purchasing disciple finished answering, Venerable Zhou let go of his nervousness and guard.
Song Rigan on the side asked, "Honorable Sir, could this be a trap set by Yang Qingyuan?!"
After the Venerable Blood Venom ordered the buying disciple to step back, he said firmly, "I wasn't sure at first, but now I can be sure that this is not Yang Qingyuan's trap!"
"Why is this?!"
"Because of the human heart and greed!" Venerable Blood Poison held the pearl of wisdom in his hand, as if he could see through the human heart. "At the moment when Jinling is closed, food, water, fruits, vegetables, fresh meat and live fish are all in short supply. But to be able to do this in the city Those who sell such things must not only have administrative power, but also have power in the military. There are not many such people in Jinling City! In other words, only Yang Qingyuan has the ability to control the black market and sell materials. .”
"Furthermore, money has really improved. The government has monopolized everything. Even wealthy families have a hard time eating fruits and vegetables. In this case, it is too easy to make money, and it is still the money of these powerful families.
Why not do it?!"
"For them, food and water are just add-ons. The real money is from the fresh meat, melons and fruits. I am afraid that Yang Qingyuan and his gang have made no less than one hundred thousand taels of silver in these ten days!"
Venerable Blood Venom's eyes were full of envy, this money was really good.
The Blood River Sect is not poor, but there are many places to spend money. Although he is a respected member of the Blood River Sect, his wealth is not that much. No wonder everyone wants to be an official.
Venerable Blood Venom was envious for a while and decided not to think about it anymore. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
"Forget it, find someone to stew the meat. I haven't eaten meat for some days!"
The only way to relieve worries is to eat meat.
…
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"Is this black market run by adults?!" Chen Danlin also had a look of disbelief in her eyes.
Yang Qingyuan closed the folding fan in his palm, "There is no other way, it is also a helpless move, Jinling Mansion will run out of money!"
Yangzhou's annual taxes were handed over to the court, and the Jinling Mansion could only intercept a small part.
The sealing of Jinling has already cost a lot of money.
Although the food is in the treasury, the firewood and charcoal used to boil water are all purchased by Jinling Prefecture. Jinling Prefecture has a population of two million, and two million people need boiled water. The firewood and charcoal used are a sum of money.
Huge numbers.
Then there are the helpers in Jinling City. It is impossible to maintain the current operation of Jinling City by relying solely on the imperial police and city defense troops. Jinling Mansion also employs many people, which is another huge funding gap.
There is also the purchase of medicinal materials.
Although Yang Qingyuan raided the medicine warehouses of the three major drug dealers in Jiangning County, they have been used up in these days. Each county in Yangzhou has medicinal materials support, and this also requires money.
Counties and counties were also purchased with silver. Although Yang Qingyuan was the deposed envoy of Yangzhou, each county and Jinling were independent administrative entities. It was impossible for each county to bear this shortfall of treasury silver.
Of course, Yang Qingyuan could use his status as the deposed envoy to exert pressure and let the counties suffer this dumb loss, but when it came to the tax accounting at the end of the year, this was still a mess.
Only look at the political achievements at that time and do not consider subsequent development. This way of doing things is not Yang Qingyuan’s style.
All in all, all in all.
Jinling Mansion is short of money now.
Although Jinling Mansion has no money, the wealthy businessmen and dignitaries in Jinling City have plenty of money.
Jinling is the ancient capital of the Zhou Dynasty, with an extraordinary status. There are many wealthy businessmen living here. These people are not short of money at all, which is why the black market of Yang Qingyuan is established.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The purpose is to use fruits, vegetables, fresh meat and fish to get money from these wealthy businessmen.
Compared to openly collecting taxes, this trick was not ingenious, as it made those people willingly hand over their money into Yang Qingyuan's hands.
Yang Qingyuan believes that there is someone in Jinling City who can understand all the twists and turns. However, if this person can understand this level, he will not be stupid enough to use this to expose Yang Qingyuan's plan.
"I originally planned to use this black market to collect the money of some wealthy and powerful people, but I didn't expect that it can be used to trace it now."
As he spoke, Yang Qingyuan found a few pieces of paper from a pile of documents, on which there were already circles drawn by Yang Qingyuan with a red pen.
"Most of the wealthy businessmen's families buy fruits, vegetables, beef, sheep, and fish because they have grain stored in their houses and have self-drilled wells, so there is no shortage of water. Only these fifteen families have purchased a large amount.
Clean water and food.”
There were all smart people present, and Yang Qingyuan already understood the meaning of his words at this level.
The target range has been narrowed from the more than 200,000 people in the east of the city to the current fifteen households.
If they can't find the hiding place of the Blood River Sect, they won't be worthy of wearing this black uniform!
"Sir, we will set off immediately and focus on observing these fifteen households. Before dawn tomorrow, we will definitely find the Blood River Sect's hiding place!" Chen Danlin held her sword and saluted.
"The warriors of the Blood River Sect have weird martial arts. You guys are just delivering food to others. I'll ask Wangshu and Zhiruo to accompany you."
…
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At sunset.
In the east of Jinling City, a civil servant from Jinling Prefecture was leading Commander Wu from the city defense army to purchase medicinal materials from one drug store to another.
If you are willing to sell, then pay a 20% premium to buy it; if you are not willing to sell, sorry, there is no one in front of the city defense army who is unwilling to sell.
The group of people marched toward the east of the city in a mighty manner, with great momentum.