"If a villain gets the salt, he will divide it into ten parts and keep two for himself. The rest will take 10% of the profit and hand it over to the nobles of Jinling City for distribution."
Shengwei is able to make the business what it is today, and there is no lack of courage.
Zhao Yingce looked at Qin Hao and smiled, "Zihan really saw the right person."
As he said that, he said to Sheng Wei, "But your vision is still a bit wrong, not Jinling." The nobles of the city, but the nobles of the entire Jiangnan East Road."
Sheng Wei looked at Zhao Yingce in surprise, and was stunned for half a minute, then he knelt down tremblingly, "I thank your highness for your cultivation. ”
Zhao Yingce waved his hand, “Don’t be too busy thanking me. Do you know that you will be on the opposite side of the Cao family?”
Sheng Wei’s heart trembled, but it’s over now There was no way out, and with a huge opportunity before him, he didn't want to retreat.
"Your Highness, please rest assured that the world has been suffering for the Cao family for a long time. As long as we unite with all nobles, the Cao family will not dare to risk the disapproval of the world and go against the imperial court."
Zhao Yingce nodded with satisfaction "Then I will look at your performance."
Sheng Wei walked out of the room. He thought he was dreaming for a moment and pinched himself secretly. He grinned in pain, but he couldn't hide it on his face. of excitement.
All the way home, Sheng Wei was still in an unreal state. His wife should not ask curious questions when she saw this.
"Master, what's going on?"
Sheng Wei told him what happened today, and his wife was immediately overjoyed.
"What the master said is true."
Sheng Wei had come to his senses and said with a straight face, "Of course it is true. How could my husband take such a thing to do with his family?" You are joking about life."
"God is really wise. It seems that our Sheng family will be completely prosperous this time."
Sheng Wei said sternly, "This matter is still Thanks to Chang Bai from Sanfang’s family, if he hadn’t been friends with Marquis Jinghai, this big pie wouldn’t have been able to hit me.”
“Yes, yes, I understand. Lan and Mrs. Jinghaihou are still close friends. It seems that we should prepare a generous gift for Minglan to bring over this New Year's Day."
Sheng Wei nodded, "Yes, it's Minglan's." That share cannot be less."
After saying that, Sheng Wei said with emotion, "My third brother is the one who has the foresight, and the children in the family are well educated. The eldest daughter is married to the Earl of Yongchang, and Changbai is in high school. Jinshi, within a few years he took control of key departments such as the Shipping Yamen, and won the trust of His Majesty. Minglan married into the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion, and was really rich."
"Yes, otherwise. You still have to be a scholar, but our family is getting better now. If His Royal Highness Prince Huan is in our family in the future, he will be an imperial merchant.”
Soon, Sheng Wei got the news about Jiangnan East Road Yanyin. Word spread, and the front door of the Sheng Mansion became extremely lively for a while. Some nobles who did not look down on the Sheng family merchant home sent people to the door one after another.
The happiest person is naturally the eldest wife of the Sheng family. In the past, these noble family papers were always too high-minded and would not take them.Those who were looking at her were now holding her in their arms, so much so that she almost floated up.
Of course, under the prosperity, there are also dangers. That night, Sheng Wei received an anonymous letter, and the letter was placed directly in his study.
Places like the study are usually guarded by dedicated personnel. However, Sheng Wei asked the servants and did not see anyone entering the study. Obviously, the other party was warning Sheng Wei that he had the ability to sneak in. The Sheng family study also has the ability to take his head.
The content of the letter was very direct, asking him to hand over the salt after King Huan left. As for who he would hand it to, it did not say.
After staying up all night, Sheng Wei reported to Zhao Yingce the next day.
Zhao Yingce said nothing, but handed the letter to Qin Hao.
"What do Zihan think?"
After reading it, Qin Hao put the letter aside and smiled, "There are only two possibilities. This letter either comes from the Cao family or From Manichaeism."
Zhao Yingce nodded when he heard this, "What Zihan said is what I think, what should we do now?"
Qin Hao looked at Sheng Wei, "Then. It depends on whether Sheng Shibo dares to take the risk and cooperate."
Sheng Wei felt a little bit in his heart, but he could only bite the bullet and said, "Sheng Wei is willing to do something for His Highness."
Qin Hao patted Sheng Wei on the shoulder, "Don't worry, I have taken over the Jinling Navy. The Cao family does not dare to mess around. You only need to contact the other party and wait until the other party shows his face. You will not be needed for other matters. Let's worry about it."
Sheng Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still a little uneasy. This was something that could harm the whole clan if he was not careful. How could he not be nervous?
After Qin Hao finished speaking, he bowed his hand to Zhao Yingce, "I just want to trouble Your Highness to leave Jinling for a while and stay on the ship for a while."
"It doesn't matter, as long as we can catch these rats, we will be on the ship." A year and a half is worth it." Zhao Yingce waved his hand nonchalantly.
Three days later, Qin Hao and Zhao Yingce boarded the ship and left Jinling. The dock was packed with nobles from Jinling City.
Zhao Yingce chatted with everyone for a while and then disappeared from everyone's sight.
Qin Hao got on a boat that night and returned to Jinling City.
In Sheng Wei’s home.
"I feel wronged, Lord Marquis." Sheng Wei bowed and saluted.
Qin Hao helped him up, "The cost of this room is not necessarily worse than that of the Hou Mansion. It's thoughtful."
"They are all folk stuff, how can they be compared with the Hou Mansion?" "Compared"
Qin Hao stopped the other party's flattery and said sternly, "I have arranged two bodyguards for you. If someone comes to contact you, you only need to make excuses and try to make excuses. They will naturally track each other's origins."
Sheng Wei felt a little relieved, having two guards to protect his safety.
"Then you two adults are welcome to help."
The two guards just stood behind Sheng Wei silently and did not answer the conversation.
After Sheng Wei left, Qin Hao smiled at Cui Zhi, "I heard that there are many stunning courtesans in Jinling City. Come and see them with me in a few days."
Cui Zhi chuckled. "It is only by following the Marquis that I can see such a stunning beauty. Otherwise, with my status, I might not even be able to get in."
Qin Hao patted him on the shoulder, "Cui Hao is already an official. Sixth grade, if he makes military exploits in the future, he might be granted the title of viscount or something. Then you can marry him a daughter from a scholarly family, take care of the child's education, and make him a Jinshi or something."
There is no way this is the national situation of the Song Dynasty. Everything is inferior but education is high. The first choice of many noble families is to let their children study.
When Cui Zhi heard this, his face was full of longing, and he bowed deeply to Qin Hao, "Thank you, Mr. Marquis, for your cultivation."
Qin Hao waved his hand, "It's late at night, you don't have to keep watch anymore, hurry up Go to sleep."
The brothel culture of the Song Dynasty was very developed. According to historical records, as early as the early Northern Song Dynasty, there were tens of thousands of brothel girls registered in Bianjing. When Su Shi was in Lin'an, whenever he had free time, he would invite many guests and friends to visit the lake. Sometimes he could gather more than a thousand brothel girls on one trip.
The so-called literati and poets are nothing more than this.
Jinling City, Yuehua Tower.
At the beginning of the lanterns, various lanterns were hung outside the Yuehua Building, giving people a hazy feeling of being drunk and reveling in wealth.
"This noble man, please invite me, is there a girl I know well?"
Yuehua House is considered a relatively high-end brothel in Jinling City, and there are no Yingying Yanyan on the street. When soliciting customers, naturally a lot of high-rollers come to visit.
Qin Hao winked at Cui Zhi, and Cui Zhi took out a five-tael silver ingot from his sleeve and threw it to the woman who was picking up the guest, "Cui Huating, my young master has reserved a seat."
As soon as the money was obtained, the woman weighed it roughly and quickly and respectfully took Qin Hao to the Cui Huating box.
"This young master, this is your first time here. Why don't the Ruonu family find some girls who are both good at sex and art for the young master?"
The brothel girl doesn't say that she is a prostitute but not a prostitute. It's just to sell it at a good price.
Qin Hao smiled and said jokingly to the woman, "Oh, you are just a girl, so why do you need to work for others?"
The woman smiled sweetly and said, "Young master really knows how to make fun of others, slave family." This kind of beauty is not worthy of serving the young master."
"Oh, I think the girl is pretty good, so I'll stay and have a drink with the young master." After Qin Hao finished speaking, Cui Zhi gave the woman another look. The ingot of silver weighs twelve ounces.
The woman was a little confused. A woman close to thirty years old was already considered a marginal figure in the brothel. The people who came to her were all rough guys who were looking for cheap money. How could she have ever received someone like Qin Hao? A generous nobleman.
However, the woman didn’t think much about it and quickly asked someone to prepare the food and drinks. She also sat down and poured wine for Qin Hao.
Qin Hao naturally has no interest in women, but it is inevitable that he will feel a little bit less if he does not ask a girl to accompany him to a brothel. After all, this is his first time in a brothel.
Elegant roomThe window could just see the stage downstairs. At this time, a woman with a silk scarf on her face was playing a pipa song, which was also the most commonly played song by women in ancient brothels.
Qin Hao has no research on ancient music, but after coming to the world of Zhifu, his appreciation level has improved. The woman's skills are quite proficient. Judging from her figure, she is not very old, she is only fifteen at most. At the age of six, if he could reach such a level in modern times, he would definitely kill all the art school teachers in an instant.
In fact, it is no wonder that the living environment of women in brothels in ancient times was quite harsh. Regardless of how literati and poets tried to beautify it, this non-ferrous industry has been the most exploited place since ancient times. Brothels often purchased some beautiful women. Girls are cultivated, and the origins of these girls are very complicated.
Some were women from official families whose family fortunes were in decline and were forced to sell themselves in brothels. Some were picked up and adopted, and some were abducted from others. In ancient times, there was a saying that "the legs and teeth of a car and boat shop are nothing." Those who commit crimes deserve to be killed, that’s what they say.
Moreover, child prostitutes were particularly popular in ancient times. Many ten-year-old girls would come out to pick up customers. Those romantic poets were more or less lolicon, which was shameless.
The woman who was waiting on the side saw that Qin Hao had been watching the piano playing downstairs, so she suggested, "How about the Nu family lets this sister play a piece for the young master alone?"
That's it. At this moment, the door was pushed open, and the appearance of a person made the woman's eyes widen.
Qin Hao winked at Cui Zhi, and Cui Zhi took the woman out of the room.
Cui Zhi whispered, "If even a word of what happened today is leaked, it will be doomed. Don't make any mistakes."
The woman nodded her head tremblingly, her upper and lower teeth straightened. During the fight, she didn't know the noble young master, but she had seen the Marquis of Xiangcheng who came in.
"Marquis Jinghai's trick of building a plank road in secret to infiltrate Chen Cang was so clever that he almost deceived me." Marquis of Xiangcheng laughed.
Qin Hao rushed to the Marquis of Xiangcheng and said, "The matter is a bit complicated, so I have to take this step. Please forgive me, Marquis of Xiangcheng."
"It should be, this matter is also relevant. I, the Marquis of Xiangcheng, have experienced the ups and downs of honor and disgrace, so be careful not to make any big mistakes." As he was talking, people came in one after another.
If the woman just now was here, she would be so frightened that she fainted on the spot. Almost all the powerful nobles in Jiangnan East Road were here.
Qin Hao bowed his hands to everyone and said straight to the point, "Everyone, the main reason why we are invited here today is about Yan Yin. His Royal Highness King Huan has decided to divide the Yan Yin in Jiangnan East Road into ten parts. Everyone can’t help but look happy. Salt is a hugely profitable industry. Even though each person only has one share, the area of Jiangnan East Road is actually terrifying. This is a huge cake. As long as One portion is enough to enjoy.
Of course, everyone also knew that it was impossible for the pie in the world to hit them directly on the head, so they looked at Qin Hao and waited patiently for the next step.
The expression on Qin Hao’s face also changedHe became solemn, "His Royal Highness King Huan carried out the salt tax reform according to the orders of the officials. However, we encountered an assassination on the way. It may be Manichaeism or the Cao family. No matter who it is, this is a provocation to the imperial court. Therefore, I hope you can help the court to get rid of this bold worm."
Everyone present now knows that this cake is not so delicious, and Manichaeism is nothing more than a cult. It means annihilation, but Queen Mother Cao is still standing behind the Cao family.
The righteousness is there, even the officials cannot touch the Queen Mother Cao. If the Cao family is severely offended and the officials do not support them, then there will be trouble.
Qin Hao saw that everyone was hesitating, but he was not impatient. He waited for a while and then said calmly, "Do you think that all the guilds in the Manchu Dynasty are willing to see the court in turmoil and military disasters?"
< p>The reason why Zhao Zongquan was able to secure the throne was, on the one hand, that Emperor Renzong left a succession edict before his death. He was justified.On the other hand, the civil service group reached an agreement on this matter. In agreement, the Song Dynasty cannot be in chaos.
Once the Queen Mother wants to establish a new emperor, the first to oppose it will definitely be the civil servant group. In the Song Dynasty, the emperor and the scholar-officials were not just talkative.
This is also the reason why the Queen Mother has never broken up with Zhao Zongquan. If the salt tax reform had not completely shaken the foundation of the Cao family, Queen Mother Cao would not have intensified the conflict.
Everyone present was smart and understood what Qin Hao meant. Queen Mother Cao was old after all, and she could not depose Zhao Zongquan and establish a new monarch. The end result was that Zhao Zongquan would torture her to death and then completely Take power.
"But I will listen to His Highness King Huan's instructions."
After everyone looked at each other for a while, they all said with hands in hand.
Qin Hao also bowed and cupped his hands and said, "Then I would like to thank you all for your great help on behalf of His Highness King Huan."
With the support of these nobles, Qin Hao has the confidence to After all, the Cao family has the support of the Queen Mother Cao, and Zhao Zongquan certainly does not want to make the situation too ugly with the Queen Mother Cao.
It is unrealistic to come directly to pick someone up. It is best to have a confrontation under the card table.
Qin Hao distributed the salt to these nobles in order to use their strength to attack the local Cao family. The Cao family is now like a huge squid, and cannot cut off its head directly. In this case, you can only remove its tentacles first and eat away at its power bit by bit.
Soon, this trick had an effect. After the nobles from all over the country got the salt, they took the initiative to investigate the illegal salt for their own benefit, which involved many forces of the Cao family. Qin Hao also followed the lead and led The Jinling navy began to clear out water thieves near the Qinhuai River.
These water thieves are also cunning, taking advantage of their familiarity with the local waterway environment to try to escape by entering the waters of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
However, Qin Hao was determined to destroy them this time. King Huan Zhao Yingce had already ambushed them on their only way, and came directly from the reed swamp to attack from both front and back.
When ordinary water thieves face the regular navy, theirThere were also a thousand Mingzhou naval forces among them, and they were naturally defeated at first sight. However, when taking inventory after the war, Qin Hao discovered that these water thieves were actually equipped with five eight-oxen crossbows, which also surprised him.
Huan Wang Zhao Yingce's face was also extremely ugly. He gritted his teeth and said, "Except for the Cao family, no one can give them so many eight-oxen crossbows. These people are simply crazy."
The Song Dynasty was obsessed with bows. The control of crossbows is very strict, and the extremely destructive ordnance of the Eight Ox Crossbow is a core secret. Once the two armies confront each other, once they are defeated, the first thing the crossbowmen have to do is not to escape, but to use the Eight Ox Crossbow. Destroyed.
If the enemy gets the complete Eight Bull Crossbow, even if he escapes back, he will not be able to escape death, and his family will be harmed.
Five eight-niu crossbows can already attack the city. This has risen to the level of national security. No wonder Zhao Yingce is so angry.
Qin Hao found something interesting after interrogating the prisoners.
Many of these water pirate leaders are actually Manichaean believers, and Zhao Yingce is also a little confused.
"So, are they from the Cao family or Manichaeism?"
Qin Hao thought for a moment and suddenly smiled, "Your Highness, maybe we think too much." It’s complicated. These water thieves are funded by the Cao family, but that doesn’t prevent them from believing in Manichaeism.”
The most terrifying thing about religious belief is that it has hidden properties, and these water thieves can completely collect them while The Cao family made money while becoming a believer in Manichaeism.
Zhao Yingce also noticed the seriousness of the situation, "This Manichaeism has penetrated so deeply."
Qin Hao's mood was also a little solemn. The Cao family was already difficult to deal with. Yes, now another Manichae has appeared. His job is really not easy to do.
After cleaning the battlefield and returning to Aurous Hill, there was news from Sheng Wei. Just last night A mysterious man found him and wanted to buy the salt in his hand.
Later, the guards arranged by Qin Hao found the meeting place of the mysterious man through tracking. To Qin Hao's surprise, the meeting place was actually at Yuehua Building.
"Check the owner behind Yuehua Tower." Qin Hao ordered.
"No."
Two days later, the investigators came back to report.
"Master Hou, we found out that the proprietor behind Yuehua Tower is the Yongyi Hou Mansion."
Qin Hao was slightly stunned, "The Xu Family of the Yongyi Hou Mansion"
I vaguely remember that the old lady of the Sheng family seems to be the only daughter of the previous generation Yongyi Marquis.
Please remember to bookmark "Interesting", the latest and fastest website is free to read without anti-theft