I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 238 The war begins
"Why can't you do it?" Zhu Houxun asked softly, with a hint of sarcasm in his raised lips.

"Your Highness." Cao Zhengong's brain was working rapidly. He still believed that Zhu Houxuan was asking for an exorbitant price. He had seen this trick many times in various business negotiations, so he decided to offer his own price.

"As long as you let the Royal Group stop selling low-priced salt everywhere, we will raise the price of the salt produced by Changlu Salt Field by 5 cents per catty in the future, regardless of whether it is regular salt or surplus salt." Cao Zhengong said quickly.

Based on the current output of salt from the Changlu Salt Field, Zhu Houxuan would have made nearly three million taels of silver.
Cao Zhengong stared at Zhu Houxuan closely. He had already offered his price, and judging from the capabilities currently demonstrated by the Royal Group, it was definitely worth the price. He was waiting to bargain with Zhu Houxuan.

Zhu Houxuan's expression changed subtly. He looked at Cao Zhengong with amusement, "What do you mean?"

Cao Zhengong was delighted, thinking that Zhu Houxuan had accepted his offer and was looking for an excuse to transfer the benefits.
"Your Highness has started to operate the Changlu Salt Works, and we salt merchants must show some appreciation," Cao Zhengong said hastily. At the same time, he began to feel distressed. The King of Jing agreed too readily, and he regretted that the price was a little too high.

"Why can't you do it?" Zhu Houxun looked at Cao Zhengong with a smile.

Cao Zhengong was stunned for a moment. He didn't understand why Zhu Houxuan started asking this question again. This King of Jing didn't play by the rules at all. But he quickly reacted.
"Your Highness, you have never sold salt, you don't know." Cao Zhengong tried to save the situation.
"I know!" Zhu Houxuan interrupted Cao Zhengong directly, "Since I took over the Changlu Salt Field, I know the production cost and transportation cost of salt clearly. There are no secrets in this industry for me," Zhu Houxuan said softly.

"Unless you transport the Changlu salt to Yunnan to sell it, you will indeed lose money at 20 wen per catty. But if you really do that, you deserve the loss. Apart from that, you can make a profit by transporting the Changlu salt to any place in the Ming Dynasty at 20 wen per catty." The sarcastic smile on Zhu Houxun's face became more and more obvious.

"But this business can't be done this way." A trace of fear flashed in Cao Zhengong's eyes, and he felt tremendous pressure.

"What? You are used to the excessive profits that are several times higher, and you are not used to the meager profits brought by 20 wen per jin?" Zhu Houxuan looked at Cao Zhengong with interest, "Then don't you think that the profits brought by 20 wen per jin are normal and what you deserve?"

Cao Zhengong suddenly understood Zhu Houxuan's attitude. He looked at Zhu Houxuan fiercely and said, "Your Highness, this is unfair! You have always emphasized that business should be fair. This is too unfair to us!"

"Fair?" The smile on Zhu Houxun's face slowly disappeared.

"You're telling me fairness?" Zhu Houxuan said in disbelief, as if he had heard something ridiculous.
"Are you qualified to talk about fairness with me?" Zhu Houxuan's expression turned cold.

Cao Zhengong looked at Zhu Houxuan angrily.

"Why is the price of salt so high in various places in the Ming Dynasty? Salt is cheap as dirt at the seaside, but it has become extremely expensive after being manipulated by you. In some places, you can only buy a pound of salt for a hundred coins."

"The common people are living in poverty. They work hard all year round, but their income is already meager. They would rather spend every penny they have. As a result, the high salt price you artificially create has caused countless families to be broken up, and countless people have become half-human or even died early because they could not afford salt. Now you are talking to me about fairness? Who will talk about fairness to the common people who suffer so much from the high salt price?" Zhu Houxun's eyes flashed with an aggressive light.

Cao Zhengong looked at Zhu Houxun with shocked and angry eyes. His calmness just now had completely disappeared. He said in a panic: "What you said has nothing to do with me. I can't afford it." Zhu Houxun smiled contemptuously, "You feel so at ease with those blood-stained silver? Can you sleep well at night after earning so much blood-stained silver? Aren't you afraid that the wronged souls who died in vain will haunt you and your family?"

"Enough!" Cao Zhengong said while panting. He was a little overwhelmed. He didn't expect that Zhu Houxuan was really serious.

"Your Highness, are you really going to lower the price of salt for those insignificant people?" Cao Zhengong said in disbelief. "Those common people are just like weeds. Once you cut one batch, another batch will grow right away. You can never cut them all. Why should Your Highness ruin the relationship for those weeds?" Cao Zhengong forced a smile. He wanted to save the situation one last time.

The smile on Zhu Houxuan's face disappeared. He calmed down the anger rising in his heart and shouted, "Get out! We can't work together if we don't share the same ideals. Get out now!"

Zhu Houxuan was too lazy to say anything to Cao Zhengong and just drove him away.

Zhu Houxuan's voice was so loud that the servants who had been listening to the noise outside the door rushed in and directly controlled Cao Zhengong.

Cao Zhengong did not struggle. All his fantasies and hopes were shattered. After he understood all this, he suddenly laughed out loud. "How ridiculous! We naively thought that you were only adding a pair of chopsticks to the table by obtaining the management rights of Changlu Salt Field. We never thought that you were going to overturn the entire table! You are trying to kill us!"

"Since you want us dead, we will not let you slaughter us. Even a rabbit will bite when it is cornered. You have no idea how powerful we are. We will risk everything to overthrow you. Even if you are a prince, you cannot stop our all-out resistance!" Cao Zhengong said hatefully, glaring at Zhu Houxuan.

"I'll wait and see," Zhu Houxuan said lightly, then waved to his attendants.

Then the servants dragged Cao Zhengong out.
Everyone present knew that a war covering the four northern provinces was about to begin!

The salt merchants did not fight back as quickly as they said. After all, they were a group of merchants, and it was hard to say who could suppress whom.

Cao Zhengong is an important figure among them, but he cannot control the overall situation. However, he can still convince most of the Huizhou merchant families.

Because there was no one in control of the overall situation, they argued for three days before they reached a consensus and prepared to launch a counterattack.

But when it came to fighting back, they were in trouble again. None of them had ever experienced such a large-scale business war and had no experience at all. In the past, they always believed in making money through harmony, so when the real fight broke out, they didn't know what to do.

But they quickly realized what to do.

Business in the Ming Dynasty was definitely inseparable from politics. The first counterattack by the salt merchants started from the court.
(End of this chapter)