Qing Yao

Chapter 151 Whoever doesn't comply will be punished
At present, the education sector in Jiangsu must adhere to political correctness.

Who is on the right side?
Committee Member Zhao!
Who is in the wrong?
Master Hu!
Opposing whatever Master Wu established during his tenure, whether good or bad, is correct.

Conversely, that's incorrect.

That's the gist of the matter, and that's the direction the wind is blowing.

Anyone who disagrees can take a look at where Master Hu works now.

When the position of educational administrator is vacant, the supervisory committee has the power to restore or revoke someone's academic status, and in special circumstances, they can even act as the educational administrator, although the Ministry of Rites must review the matter afterward.

This is why Manager Wu asked Zhao An for help.

However, Wu, the head of the department, had another concern: his nephew's matter was reported to the education administration by a professor from the Huai'an Prefectural School. What if the professor from Huai'an refused to take action?

“That makes things easier. If Huai’an won’t do it, then this committee member will do it in Huai’an.”

Zhao An smiled and drank the wine in his cup in one gulp.

The supervisors not only oversee academic conduct but also academic discipline.

Of the principals of key municipal schools, several have no problems; an investigation would easily uncover them.

If Huai'an really doesn't cooperate, Zhao An wouldn't mind making that professor the first corrupt official to be investigated on his resume.

He's serious about fighting corruption.

Because, not only did Commissioner Zhao not embezzle a single penny from the imperial court, but he also created wealth for the court. He was a truly honest and upright official, not a corrupt official who held a position without doing his job and extorted money.

As for why this honest official would give gifts and bribes, there's a reason for that.

No dynasty or era stipulated that honest officials couldn't give gifts, right?
"Thank you very much, Lord Zhao!"

With Committee Member Zhao's word on it, what else could Director Wu say but raise his glass and drink it all in?

What is it that Committee Member Zhao is asking for?

When the hot dishes arrived, he frankly revealed that he could secretly obtain another 3,000 salt permits for Committee Member Zhao.

A thousand salt permits can earn at least several thousand taels of silver. Even if you sell another three thousand at a low price, Zhao An can still earn twenty thousand taels of silver. If you sell them at a high price, you can even double the amount.

Wu's actions were even more significant than those of Akdang'a, the Salt Commissioner.

Typical low position, high energy.

Zhao Ancheng, taking advantage of the opportunity to persuade him to drink, slipped the thousand taels of silver into Wu's pocket, and said that he would be more generously rewarded later.

Ma Xuezheng and Tong Xundao then realized that the principal had a relative who was involved in the salt trade. The latter asked Wu Zhushi curiously, "How many salt permits does the imperial court allocate to Lianghuai each year?"

After a few drinks, Manager Wu opened up and said while eating, "The number of salt permits issued in the Lianghuai region was more than 1.4 million at the beginning of the dynasty, but now it has increased to 2.2 million."

"Two million two hundred thousand sheets? That would produce so much salt!"

Instructor Tong was so shocked that the oil in his mouth dripped down the corners of his lips.

Zhao An was also surprised. There were really more than two million salt permits in the Lianghuai region. That meant that salt merchants would have to sell seven or eight hundred million catties of salt every year. If each catty of salt sold for thirty wen, that would be more than twenty million taels!

Moreover, a pound of salt can sell for as much as sixty-odd coins.

Goodness, no wonder they say salt merchants are richer than a country; it's no exaggeration.

Moreover, this 2.2 million was the official allocation; how much more was actually distributed privately?
The Lianghuai Salt Certificate Scandal involved more than 16 million taels of silver back then, which is equivalent to issuing more than a million additional salt certificates beyond the official allocation. No wonder the old man was so angry that he was furious.

Out of curiosity, I asked Manager Wu who exactly received the two million-plus salt permits.

Actually, there's no need to ask; the answer is obvious. Who else could it be but salt merchants? To be precise, there were eight major salt merchants, the leader of whom was a man named Huang Juntai.

According to Manager Wu, Huang Juntai received a fixed 800,000 salt permits each year, while the remaining 1.4 million permits were divided equally among seven other major salt merchants.

Ma Xuezheng nodded: "I heard that this Mr. Huang spends fifty taels of silver on a bowl of fried rice with eggs, and spent more than six million taels to build a garden. Tsk tsk, it is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Huang is the richest man in our Qing Dynasty."

Richest man?

Zhao An seemed to be deep in thought. Compared to the eight major salt merchants, his four thousand salt permits were a joke. But one must have dreams. His Xinglong Company might very well grow bigger and stronger in the future.

As long as he can get things sorted out between the Salt Administration and the Imperial Household Department.

There's no rush. Let's set a small goal and get started first.

"Don't be fooled by the glamorous life of the salt merchants; they actually suffer a lot. Over the years, the salt merchants in Yangzhou alone have donated more than 40 million taels of silver to support the military, while those in Changlu have only donated a little over 20 million taels."

Wu, the official in charge, had a lot of contact with the salt merchants and knew a lot about the situation. He was holding a wine glass and sighing, saying that the reason why the price of salt had been rising over the years was because the salt merchants were constantly required by the imperial court to make donations, which was why the cost of donations was factored into the price of salt.

As he spoke, he let out a burp and kindly said to Zhao An, "Lord Zhao, have any relatives who traded salt before? If not, salt permits alone are not enough; you need to find a transporter to work with, otherwise the salt cannot be transported out."

Salt transporters were merchants who specialized in transporting salt, and they had their own fleets and crew.

However, Zhao An has the largest logistics group, the Green Gang, so he doesn't need to deal with shipping companies.

Judging from what Manager Wu said, it seemed that the merchant was acting like a bully, implying that you had to use their ships and that you couldn't get the salt out without them.

Zhao An's use of the Green Gang wasn't just for making money; he wanted to use it to build his own private armed force, which would make it impossible for him to cooperate with the transport company.

It seems that legally selling salt will require a fight.

After that, I only asked Manager Wu some business-related questions, and learned that after obtaining salt from the salt-producing area with a salt permit, one had to leave the area, cross a dam, cross a bridge, pass through a checkpoint, and pass through a station.

The so-called "passing" actually means paying money.

You have to pay at each place you pass through.

The price ranges from a few taels to several hundred taels, similar to the grain transport system. A single trip involving salt would cost at least a thousand taels.

This cost was undoubtedly factored into the price of salt by the salt merchants.

The talks are almost over, and Zhao An will be able to send someone to the Salt Administration Office tomorrow to collect the three thousand salt permits.

Because Zhao An's operation was small-scale, it was impossible for Manager Wu to expand the sales area of ​​the salt permits to Hubei and Hunan. The designated sales area was Huai'an and Xuzhou.

They cannot sell outside their designated areas, otherwise they will be "sanctioned" by the local salt merchants.

It was late at night when the party ended. Zhao An gave Tong Xundao a look, and the latter immediately arranged for a vehicle to take Wu Zhushi to the brothel by the Slender West Lake.

All expenses were accounted for in the government academy's public accounts the following day.

Ma Xue was about to take the principal home, but Zhao An declined and went home directly in the restaurant's car.

It was late at night when they arrived home. Old Qin, the gatekeeper, was already asleep. Zhao An didn't wake Old Qin and quietly entered the courtyard.

In his line of sight, the light was still on in the room where he and his mistress lived.

The young woman's figure could be vaguely seen through the window, her hand sometimes raised and sometimes lowered, as if she were embroidering something.

Zhao An tiptoed to the window, touched his lips with his index finger and poked it through the hole. He saw that the young lady was indeed embroidering something, occasionally touching her belly with her hand, and wearing a particularly sweet and happy smile on her face.

Pregnant?

(End of this chapter)