Jinling City, Zhenfusi, there are evil people in the lobby
Wang Shouqi picked up the book and looked at the records on it. His expression changed. Jiang Tong, who was standing beside him, also came close to him, his face looking ugly.
In fact, the Prince Consort of Kuaiji is very particular about it. In addition to the banknotes related to performance, he also records all other credits and misappropriations on it, and calculates a high interest rate.
Looking at the total of 7.5 million taels plus interest, Wang Shouqi still felt chills all over his body and his hands and feet were cold.
Repaying old debts from the Chongping period has already caused the Wang family to feel a lot of pain and hurt their muscles and bones.
But now, with this addition, the vitality has been seriously damaged. After several twists and turns, the Wang family's savings of nearly a century have been emptied by 70 to 80%.
Jia Heng said: "Master Wang, how should I settle the money I owe to the court?"
Wang Shouqi looked pale, but still said harshly: "Uncle Yongning, where did these old accounts come from?"
Jia Heng said: "Mr. Wang, do you still need detailed accounts? If so, it can't be settled by just paying back the money."
Jiang Tong said angrily: "The imperial court wants to seize our family's wealth. It only involves Rucheng, Ma and other families. Tiqi will arrest us. Why bother to use these methods?"
The Jiang family's old debts were also in arrears of 6.2 million taels. If the tax returns from the Chongping period were included, their net worth would have shrunk by almost half.
Jia Heng sneered and said in a deep voice: "The imperial court just wants to repay the debt. If your family's wealth is tens of millions, if it is a legal business, why should the imperial court seize your family wealth? During the Longzhi period, you owed the imperial court money on credit in the name of donating money and repaying your debts."
, I have been favored by my superiors and have had the exclusive monopoly on salt profits for thirty or forty years. If you look at it in detail, how huge is the profit? Now I have to complain because I haven’t checked Guo Shaonian’s previous salt transportation department’s account books.”
Even if these wealthy businessmen with a net worth of over ten million are still in the red, they still have a fortune of millions, which is enough to satisfy their people's livelihood and operate goods and industries. He believes that he is the most benevolent person.
For example, during the Qianlong period, Jiang Chun, the general merchant of salt affairs in Yangzhou, sold his property to repay the usurious loans from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. That is, "on the day of his death, the family had no money left." It can be said that the family wealth was emptied.
However, Chen Han, who was in charge of the gentry, still had to pay attention to food and appearance, because there were too many wealthy people in the Jiangnan area, and the court would seize their wealth for no reason, which would make people miserable.
However, there are still ordinary millionaire merchant families in Yangzhou.
Wang Shouqi closed his old eyes tightly, then opened them suddenly and asked: "Uncle Yong Ning, if we just return the money owed to the imperial court, all the previous matters can be wiped out."
Jia Heng said: "As long as it is not illegal wealth, the government will not take any more of the wealth that you salt merchants have accumulated over the years. Now the Huaihe River Transfer Department is trying out the salt ticketing method, and both new and old merchants can engage in it."
In the salt industry, you have strong capital and can still sell salt by relying on votes."
At this moment, Wang Shouqi felt a little disbelieving and said, "The Wang family is so anxious that they can't get out this money. Can we give it some time?"
Tens of millions of wealth will return to tens of millions of wealth, but even if you are anxious, you cannot sell it.
Jia Heng pondered for a moment and said: "The imperial court can give you one year to repay the money you owe. As long as you businessmen run the business and pay taxes according to regulations, the imperial court will not seize people's private wealth without reason. Even if you do business, you need money." For bank turnover, the Ministry of Internal Affairs can also lend funds at low interest rates, but it must not be like now when the accounts are unclear and the credit is not repaid."
There will be no stability without farming, and there will be no prosperity without business. That’s bad.
His views on merchants were not that extreme, although in this land, from Shen Wansan to Yangzhou salt merchants, and then to Hu Xueyan... they all ended up in poverty and depleted their wealth.
After listening to what Jia Heng said, Wang Shouqi and Jiang Tong looked at each other.
When the Ministry of Internal Affairs loaned money, where did it start? Is there a twists and turns or a bright future?
It can be said that after two cuts of flesh, Wang Shouqi was disheartened and had thoughts of leaving the Han Dynasty and going overseas.
Jia Heng said: "For example, with the method of selling salt, you have strong capital and many shops. If you pay taxes according to regulations, you can still sell salt as before, but you can no longer make huge profits. Mr. Wang, do you understand?"
Wang Shouqi cupped his hands, his face as solemn as frost.
Jia Heng said: "This matter ends here. People from the Jinyi Mansion and the Internal Affairs Mansion will come to the house later to meet."
These people lost almost 80% of their family wealth one after another. They probably hated him with gnashing of teeth, but this did not affect the overall situation.
After all the salt merchants left in despair, Chen Xiao frowned slightly, his clear eyes flashed, and said: "If you cut the weeds without removing the roots, they will grow again when the spring breeze blows."
"In the field of ticket salt law, the salt merchants are gradually declining, which is the general trend." Jia Heng took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands. After leaving the case, he went to the back hall, sat down and drank tea.
Chen Xiao also sat down and looked at the young man opposite.
Jia Heng said with a gloomy face: "It's really not easy to eradicate the root cause and leave four people alone. It also shows that the court has been tracing the salt deficit from beginning to end, and has no intention of taking advantage of it. As for the Cheng and Ma families, they have committed a heinous crime. Their family wealth has entered the officialdom, and Huang The Bao family colluded with the Donglu, and the illicit wealth was recovered from the losses of the transportation department. This is all justified."
This is very important. Killing all the people is just a temporary pleasure, but if combined with the previous attack on Jiangnan's officialdom, it will easily cause the centrifugal force of Jiangnan's gentry to intensify.
If these Jiangnan scholars call him and Emperor Chongping the traitors of the imperial court, it will undoubtedly shake the prestige of the central government.
Therefore, every time he takes action, he has good reasons, and this time is also the last time he takes action, unless the salt merchant falls into his hands again.
Chen Xiaoqing said: "I'm worried that these people have a grudge and resort to assassination methods."
"As long as they dare, they will be completely killed. In addition, I will send people to keep an eye on them secretly." Jia Heng said in a deep voice with a face as cold as ice: "However, I don't think they dare. Only those who are barefoot are not afraid of wearing shoes. Yes, how did the Ma family get completely wiped out before? They just assassinated me. Rather than worrying about this, I actually think they would be busy with other things."
Chen Xiao's face was like frost, her eyes were shining, and she asked: "What's the matter?"
Jia Heng narrowed his eyes at first, then looked at Chen Xiao aggressively and said word by word: "Seize the direct descendant."
As long as the salt merchant who has suffered such a big loss has a normal mind, he will definitely realize the importance of power.
On the one hand, it allows the children of the family to take the imperial examination and become officials; on the other hand, it secretly helps the children of the royal family to seize the throne.
Of course, the former is more stable, but the results are slow, while the latter is a bit radical, but there are rare goods to be found and the returns are huge.
Even, if you are lucky, you can get revenge on him in the future.
Under Chen Xiao's eyebrows, his cold eyes were blank for a moment, and he whispered: "It's not impossible. After they learn from the pain, they definitely don't want to be as powerless as they are today, so it's conceivable that they will intervene more deeply to seize the heir."
In other words, if the vassals seize the direct descendants, the political situation will be more chaotic, which will also be good for the cousin.
In the previous disasters that brought chaos to the world, since it was not advisable to seize chestnuts from the fire, this was the only way left.
Chen Xiao's eyes darkened a bit, and he had a vague plan in his mind. He would drive the tiger to devour the wolf, kill someone with a borrowed knife, and win in the chaos.
In the past few days, reading military books and studying the Three Kingdoms dialects have opened up the girl's mind a lot.
Assassination is, after all, the most clumsy strategy.
Jia Heng picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and said, "I don't know which one they are interested in."
It may be the King of Qi with a high probability. After all, the eight major salt merchants should have sent money to the King of Qi once to make up for the deficit of the Sanhe Gang. Of course, it may also be the King of Wei. After all, he is the Queen Yuanzi and has a greater chance of winning. And now the King of Wei has just started
The government is recruiting troops to expand its power.
Cultivating wings, there is never a question of whether it is stupid or not, only the authorities are confused.
If the emperor treats the king of Wei as Hongwu treats Zhu Biao, it will be okay to rebel.
Isn't he secretly cultivating his wings?
"Stop talking, let's go back." Jia Heng chuckled, gently pulled the hand of the girl who looked thoughtful, frowned and said, "What are you thinking about? Your saliva is dripping."
Chen Xiao came to his senses and subconsciously stretched out his hand to wipe his mouth. He immediately realized that Jia Heng was lying to him, and a blush appeared on Qingli's cheeks.
"You just like to eat saliva." Chen Xiao said coldly, shook off Jia Heng's hand and stood up.
Jia Heng: "..."
Can you speak clearly? Is that slobber? No, Xiaoxiao seems to have scolded herself too?
Chen Xiao glanced at the young man coldly, stood up and walked towards the eaves of the corridor, holding the embroidered spring knife in his hand, standing up and looking into the distance.
She had seen everything that happened that day. She was eloquent, eloquent, and windy. It was very different from her usual appearance. She couldn't look straight at her. How could she keep talking?
But compared to hanging out with the enchanting concubine of the Zhen family, these are just eccentricities.
It's not easy for Jia Heng to argue. Anyway, he has no dignity at all in front of Xiaoxiao since Zhen Qing and Zhen Xue.
After this incident, the Yangzhou salt merchant's matter finally came to an end. Jia Heng asked about the military affairs of the Jiangnan camp and the situation of sending people to monitor the salt law of the Lianghuai transfer department.
At noon, Jia Heng returned to Ningguo Mansion and was about to instruct Qingwen to prepare lunch.
But as soon as I arrived at the mansion and sat down in the hall for a long time, I heard a servant report: "Xie Zaiyi, several generals Cai Quan and several generals Jia are visiting outside the door."
After receiving the letter from Jia Heng, Xie Zaiyi, Cai Quan and others first applied for leave to the Marching Registrar in Beijing, then went to the Ministry of War to get the transfer order, and then rode fast horses, day and night, towards Jinling.
Come.
When Jia Heng heard this, he felt a little happy and ordered: "Let them come in and tell the chef to prepare a few tables of banquets."
In the Jiangnan camp, although there are many generals in Henan Dusi, if they want to mobilize almost 100,000 troops in the Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps, they still have the embarrassment of having no one under them.
It's not that there is no one available, it's that there are no such confidants to use.
Not long after, Xie Zaiyi, Cai Quan, Xie Jing, Pang Shili and General Qu Guang, who was temporarily supervising the military affairs of the Jiangnan camp, came to Yimen chatting and laughing all the way.
Jia Heng looked at Xie Cai, Pang Qu, the five generals, as well as Jia Fang, Jia Ling, Jia Chang, Jia Yun and other young generals from the Jia clan, and said with a smile: "Generals, you have been working hard all the way here."
Xie Zaiyi stepped forward quickly, with excitement on his face. He cupped his fists and said, "Jie Shuai, long time no see."
This former city gate hundred households is now the commander-in-chief of Yifang Guoyong camp, and the commander-in-chief above him is not appointed, but Jia Heng is the commander-in-chief.
Cai Quan, Pang Shili, Xie Jing and other two generals also approached, raised their hands and saluted Jia Heng: "The last general has seen Commander-in-Chief."
Pang Shili looked at the calm and upright young man in python suit. He felt a little complicated because he didn't expect that he would be transferred here. In the past, he was sent by Wang Ziteng and was also a subordinate who had relations with the Jia family. Anyway, he was sent here by Wang Ziteng.
But Xie Jing stood there, with a trace of excitement on his young and handsome face. He did not expect that Uncle Yong Ning would send him south... to perform meritorious services.
This grandson of the Marquis of Dingcheng was granted the title of first-class baron by inheritance. In fact, his family had fallen into decline. He was originally a relative and friend of the Jia family. He was considered the face chosen by Jia Heng among the twelve marquises.
He has offended all the other four princes and eight princes. Except for the Shi family of Zhongjinghou who is an in-law, the grandsons of Dingchenghou and Xiangyanghou can barely be used.
Before Xie Jing's meritorious service in Henan, he was only a guerrilla general, but later he was promoted to a staff general due to his meritorious service.
As for the other young generals of the Jia family, they all saluted and called in unison: "Uncle Heng."
After the Battle of Henan, Jia Heng was successively awarded the title of first-class uncle for his merits, and was granted the title of Minister of Military Aircraft and Prince Taibao. Together with the old generals of Ning Rong's second house in Beijing, he gradually formed a group of people around him that spanned the three generations of old, middle and young people.
Beijing military forces.
The older generation is the former subordinates of the Jia family, as well as the generals who were left behind when the Beijing camp was eliminated, and some generals who came over for various reasons. The latter group are obviously not confidants, but are considered to be the imperial generals who are willing to
Following Jia Heng's orders was mostly due to the authorization of Emperor Chongping.
As for the younger generation, they are the young generals of the Jia family. They are the powerful members of the Jia family, their confidants, and Heng loves them deeply.
Well, there's no telling when the emperor's palace guards will all be under his control.
Jia Heng stepped forward and first stretched out his hands to help Xie Zaiyi, Cai Quan and Pang Shili up one by one. Then he looked at Jia Fang, Jia Chang, Jia Ling, Jia Yun and others. He either patted his shoulders or beat his chest.
Showing satisfaction, he smiled and said, "It's been a hard work coming here. How is your family?"
Several generals stood up one after another, their faces showing either intimacy or admiration.
Among the young generals, Jia Chang, who is slightly older, has become a little darker since the last battle in Henan, and is undoubtedly much calmer. He said: "Everything is fine in the clan. The old lady and the second master also brought us some food."
Write a letter to the clan leader."
As he spoke, he took out a letter from his arms.
Jia Heng nodded, took the two letters, without opening them, and said, "Brothers, please come in."
While everyone was talking, they entered the official hall in a dark crowd. They were all seven-foot-tall men, and they were soldiers. They walked like tigers and were full of wind, and the atmosphere of heroes filled the room.
At this moment, Chen Xiao, who was behind the screen, opened one side of the curtain and glanced at the bustling hall, his clear eyes flashed with a touch of satisfaction.
These should be his trusted generals, and they will be of great use during the Xiao Qiang rebellion in the future.
Chen Xiao thought like this and walked back to the back house with light steps without disturbing others.
The girl plans to cook by herself today.
Jia Heng ordered people to prepare food and drinks, raised his eyes to look at Xie Zaiyi, and asked: "How is the Beijing camp lately? Are you slacking off in daily training?"
In fact, with the current level of training in the Beijing camp, even if there is no so-called red barbarian cannon when facing the Jurchens, they will not be as "frightened and afraid to move forward" as the Han army was in the past. They can completely rely on the deployment of troops and the use of ordnance.
A good fight, bad
But he was unwilling to take risks and had to obtain more chips to win, because the battle against the captives was not only his touchstone, but also an opportunity for him to achieve greater success and fully preside over the military and political work of the Chen-Han Center.
If possible, it would be best to have a hearty, unprecedented... glorious victory.
Otherwise, the so-called——
"I carry my hairpin to the southeast, enjoying the joy of sharing it day and night. I embrace the palace of the emperor's daughter and the two concubines. I look down at the orchid stream of the wonderful Xiu Xiu. I listen to the harps and poems of Zen. I look down at the fragrance of the four springs and the singing of the phoenix and the luan.
…”
Well, the words went well, the words went well. This is actually his description of the beautiful prospects of Rong Ning's second house, such as "watching the smiling face of my mother", Ma Dan, Li Dapu...
In short, the first battle against the Jurchens was much more important to him personally than the original battle in Henan.
When he went to Haojing, he not only wanted to introduce red barbarian cannons, but also introduced the latest Western firearms manufacturing technology, and at the same time recruited foreign engineers, and then further improved the firearms under his guidance. Anyway.
At this time, Xie Zaiyihu's eyes were shining brightly and he said: "Commander Jie, the Jiangbei camp previously used the navy to fight against the Japanese invaders and captured three hundred Jurchens?"
As a cavalryman who had fought against the Jurchens at the border, Xie Zaiyi was well aware of the Jurchens' bravery and ferocity.
Jia Heng said: "At that time, the Jurchens were at sea, and they suffered a great defeat. In fact, the Jurchens were not much better than our Han soldiers. It's just that they grew up in a bitter and cold land, and they had a will to die.
So brave and brave, our Han army retreated cowardly under the sudden contact."
Xie Zaiyi nodded and said with emotion: "What Commander Ji said was almost the same as what a certain general saw in the northern frontier army. The armies were fighting. Our army had just joined the enemy. The soldiers had been sparse for a long time, and the generals were timid.
In battle, they would flee as soon as the battle started. Even if there were one or two brave heroes who were not afraid of fighting to the death, they would be defeated like a mountain and it would be difficult to save the overall situation."
Jia Heng nodded and said loudly: "Not to mention the Han Dynasty, when our country was founded, and during the Ming Dynasty, when did we not chase the prairie cavalry and run around? There were also Jurchens, who were originally just domestic slaves like me, Taizong
At that time, fearing my power towards heaven, they captured the descendants of Zhu Ming who wanted to flee to Korea and sent them to Shenjing. How obedient were the Dong captives at that time?"
This is why he introduced the Hongyi cannon and other firearms, just to break the myth of the Jurchens.
Seven steps away, the gun is fast, but within seven steps, the gun is fast and accurate!
The generals nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
Cai Quan said with emotion: "For decades, the soldiers in the Beijing camp have been arrogant and lazy, and all their pay has been embezzled. When they go to the battlefield, everyone wants to die, so they are naturally vulnerable. That's why the so-called Jurchens are not satisfied with ten thousand, and are full of soldiers."
Words that are absolutely invincible."
Jia Heng nodded and said: "Then I am a big man. Even if the Han army is not satisfied with the pay, I will be invincible if I am fully paid."
The generals were stunned for a moment, then realized what they were doing and started laughing so loudly that the roof tiles shook.
Pang Shili also laughed and looked at the young man, his majestic and majestic face was slightly absent-minded.
Although Yong Ningbo is young, his vitality is like the rising sun. He is truly a pillar of the Han Dynasty.
Jia Heng and the generals had lunch, and then at noon, he also assigned tasks to the generals.
Generals Cai Quan and Pang Shili went to the Jiangnan camp to assist Qu Guang in commanding the army and recruiting soldiers. Generals Xie Zaiyi and Xie Jing went to the Jiangbei camp. The four young generals from the Jia family also went to the Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps in two batches.
Jia Chang and Jia Fang saw that Jia Heng valued the navy and wanted to learn water warfare skills, so they both went to Zhenhaiwei in the Jiangnan camp, while Jia Ling and Jia Yun went to the Jiangbei camp.
After making such arrangements, Jia Heng did not stay in Jinling for long and wrote letters to Jinyang and Xianning respectively.
Then he told Youshi to take good care of the two little girls Daiyu and Zhenxi in Ningguo Mansion, leaving Jinyi Tiqi to escort them. At the same time, Liu Jixian was asked to stay in Jinling to spread news about the Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps at any time.
Then, he and Chen Xiao went to Guangdong without stopping.