Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 51: Eight Salt Merchants

When you enter the medical hall, you are greeted by a strong smell of medicine.

Wang Ersao was lying on the hospital bed, and the two children beside her looked at Fang Yong somewhat stiffly.

Xiao Xueyan smiled and stuffed a small piece of candy into Fuer's mouth. The little girl's eyes suddenly lit up, and she looked at Xiao Xueyan blankly, her eyes full of happiness.

In contrast, Bao Er on the side was much more sensible. He saluted Fang Yong first and said, "Hello, General!"

Then he bowed to Daiyu and said, "Hello, Madam!"

Fang Yong smiled and helped the sensible child up and walked to the bedside.

Wang Ersao was still very weak, and the massive blood loss almost killed her. Even though she was rescued in time, her leg was still not saved.

"Lord General..."

Wang Ersao had tears in her eyes and wanted to sit up and salute Fang Yong.

Fang Yong hurriedly stopped him and said:

"No need to be polite. Although I am a general, I am here to visit you as a private person. You can treat me as one of your family members. Since you are not fully recovered from your injury, you do not need to be polite."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ersao was deeply grateful.

Fang Yong added, "Don't worry about your future life. Your husband fought bravely in the army and once killed two enemies with his own hands. I have promoted him to the rank of sergeant, and I will also bear the expenses of your recovery."

Wang Ersao was really touched this time.

Tears were streaming down her face, and she would have sat up and kowtowed to Fang Yong even if Fang Yong tried to stop her.

But his injuries were too severe and he failed in the end.

Baoer, who was standing by, kowtowed to Fang Yong ten times on behalf of his mother.

Fang Yong pulled Baoer up. The little boy was too serious and his forehead was broken.

"It's just right to be with Li Chou. Follow me and be a little guard in the future."

Thanks again, Baoer.

Fang Yong asked Wang Ersao if she had any other needs, and he would do his best to satisfy them.

Mrs. Wang was of course very grateful to the other party. When talking about the needs, Mrs. Wang said:

"The general has always been thoughtful about military affairs. It is a blessing for me to be under his rule. How dare I ask for anything more? I can only lament that I am now a useless person and cannot work for the general anymore."

Wang Ersao cried sadly.

Fang Yong had no other choice but to try his best to comfort her.

Afterwards, Fang Yong visited other injured people.

Like Wang Ersao, some of her legs and some of her hands are disabled.

After returning, Daiyu quietly talked to Fang Yong:
"When I was in Yangzhou, I saw my mother using a new loom, which was quite convenient. Today, I see this injured person. Although he is disabled, if he practices well, he should have no problem operating this loom. If we gather them together to weave cloth, it may help them make a living."

Fang Yong heard this and looked at Daiyu.

Daiyu blushed slightly.

"What's the matter? I just made a suggestion. If you don't want to accept it, then just don't accept it. Why are you looking at me like that?"

Fang Yong smiled and took Daiyu into his arms.

"My sister is really my good wife!"

Daiyu's face turned even redder.

Fang Yong leaned close to his ear and whispered:
"In the past, the wife of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty was known for her virtue. It was rumored among the people that she was Empress Ma with big feet. Your sister has such small and exquisite feet, but I think her virtue is not inferior to Empress Ma's!"

After hearing this, Daiyu was so ashamed that she secretly reached out to pinch Fang Yong.

"I called you rude, talking about my..."

……

Yangzhou City, Siwang Tower.

The eight major salt merchants sat together.

Chen Zhengdu sat in the first seat, and next to him were the Yangzhou prefect Wei Yinghong and the salt inspector Lin Ruhai.

"General Chen, I wonder why you have summoned us here?"

Huang Jiangchun, the head of the Huang family, asked first.

Chen Zhengdu said:

"I have come here on the orders of the imperial court to suppress the rebels. However, the rebels are rampant, the army is short of food and wages, and morale is low. You are all wealthy merchants in the Huai River area. At this time of national crisis, I hope you can generously donate to the army to boost morale." Upon hearing this, the heads of the eight major salt merchants looked at each other and had an idea in their minds.

This is asking for money.

In Daxi, due to the booming business, the status of merchants has been improved to a certain extent.

However, due to the tradition of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans since ancient times, merchants are still far from having a status comparable to that of the powerful.

Huang Jiangchun smiled and asked:

"We are all merchants in the market, with no other specialties. All we are good at is a little gold and silver. May I ask, General, how much do you need?"

Chen Zhengdu stretched out his hand and gestured the number three.

Huang Jiangchun smiled and said, "We are all patriotic. If the general needs anything, we will help him with 30,000 taels of silver!"

Chen Zhengdu shook his head and said:

"It's not thirty thousand taels, it's three hundred thousand taels."

Huang Jiangchun was stunned, looked at the other salt merchants, and said hesitantly:

"Three hundred thousand taels of silver is not a small sum. General, can you allow us to discuss in private how much each family should contribute and come up with a plan?"

Chen Zhengdu continued to shake his head and said:
"It's not that you all get three hundred thousand taels in total, it's that each family gets three hundred thousand taels!"

what!
Several major salt merchants were extremely shocked.

Three hundred thousand taels per family!

OK!

This is not just asking for money, this is simply robbery!

Each family has 300,000 taels. For example, if one Yingchun is 5,000 taels, 300,000 taels is 60 Yingchuns. Each of the eight major salt merchants has 60 Yingchuns, and the total is 480 Yingchuns. It can be seen that this is a huge amount of money.

Even the old Emperor Kangning didn't spend so much money when he went to the south of the Yangtze River. How dare you, a mere military man?

We haven't committed any crime and you don't have any evidence against us, so why do you do that?

Huang Jiangchun immediately put away his smile and said nothing.

Zheng Jianyuan, one of the eight major salt merchants, was cautious by nature. He looked at Wei Yinghong, the governor of Yangzhou, and asked:
"Lord Wei, is this what the Lord wants?"

Wei Yinghong shook his head and said bluntly:
"Lord Lin and I are both here with General Chen. If you have any questions, you can ask General Chen yourself."

The salt merchants then looked at Chen Zhengdu.

Chen Zhengdu said with a straight face: "Although it is not your will, please put the country first and donate generously."

When everyone heard this, they realized that this was not the will of the court.

If this is what the court meant, Chen Zhengdu should have confronted them now instead of talking nonsense.

Moreover, the eight major salt merchants can gain a foothold here, and naturally they all have their own connections in the court. There has never been any news that the court is going to take action against them.

Thinking of this, the eight major salt merchants felt more confident and were much more confident.

Huang Jiangchun directly refused:

"General Chen, it's not that I don't want to serve my country. Although my Huang family has a little money, it is definitely not as rich as this. If it was 30,000 or 50,000 taels, I could still raise it, but 300,000 taels? Please forgive me, General. I really can't obey your order."

With someone taking the lead, the other salt merchants naturally refused.

Zheng Jianyuan was cautious by nature, so he spoke more tactfully, but he also refused and said, "This amount is very large. I hope the general will pity our hardship and reduce the amount a little."

As soon as he finished speaking, a person walked in from behind the screen.

"It's not easy for you? Humph, you salt merchants drive up the price of salt, secretly collude with the Huaiyin thieves, smuggle salt, and make a fortune. Is that not easy?"

Duke Shanguo walked out from the darkness.

The sharp one eye looked at everyone.

"If you don't want to donate, then don't donate! You are indeed guilty of a crime that deserves death. Come here, the Huang family is colluding with bandits, and there is solid evidence. Arrest them!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of soldiers rushed in.

No one could have imagined that today's banquet was a complete Hongmen Banquet.

The new General Chen Zhengdu, who conquers the south, is actually a puppet of Duke Shanguo!
The army of Duke Shanguo had already taken control of Yangzhou, and the Huang family had no ability to resist at all.

The hundreds of thugs kept in his home were easily wiped out by Duke Shanguo, and all his property was confiscated.

Only Huang Jiangchun's son Huang Wenzhou disguised himself as a commoner, bribed the city defense officials with silver, and successfully escaped and headed straight for Huaizhou.

(End of this chapter)