The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

The eight major salt merchants of Yangzhou, who were the source of all this, felt immense pressure.

The problem is that their interests are already tied to too many forces, making it unlikely that they can simply be honest and law-abiding businessmen.

There was no other way; every year, a massive amount of silver had to be distributed as profit, amounting to hundreds of thousands of taels.

Even the eight major salt merchants themselves were finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet with their annual income.

If they cannot earn enough profit, they have to subsidize it with their own money, and there is no way to reduce their expenses in the slightest.

Even if they want to keep a low profile, they can't really cut off their own flesh and blood, and they can't withstand such a turmoil.

Those stakeholders didn't care about the situation of the eight major salt merchant families; they just made sure that every penny of the benefits they were supposed to receive each year was given, or the consequences would be quite severe.

This forced the eight major salt merchants to continue down the path of illicit salt trafficking.

The problem is that if too much smuggled salt is sold, the salt tax revenue of the Salt Inspectorate will decrease.

If the level is reduced to a certain point, the imperial court will certainly not agree.

It can be said that all eight major salt merchant families in Yangzhou were trapped in a dead end!

Offending the current emperor is something that cannot be avoided!

In addition, in order to obtain sufficient benefits, they also have to fight with other forces in various ways, which can be described as bloody and fraught with danger. In short, they can never live a peaceful life.

Since Lin Ruhai successfully escaped, there were seven subsequent Salt Commissioners. Of these, three died suddenly, and of the remaining four, only one escaped in disgrace, while the other three were imprisoned.

The position of Salt Commissioner is that dangerous!

However, the number of officials who want to take this position is as high as the number of fish crossing a river.

There's no way around it; people die for money, birds die for food—the profits are just too great, it's a very normal thing.

Just think about it, as long as you serve as the Salt Commissioner for one term, you can earn at least tens of thousands of taels of silver.

This doesn't even qualify as bribery; it's just normal income. Which official could tolerate that?

It is only someone like Lin Ruhai, who has a very wealthy family background and outstanding abilities, who would not be very interested in this.

Not only did the salt inspectors suffer repeated misfortunes, but many officials in Yangzhou and Jiangsu Province were also replaced as a result.

In short, the salt tax issue caused quite a stir and made things rather unpleasant.

If it weren't for the fact that Jiangnan is a very special place, and that the imperial court's control over it is only so-so, and that it has to consider the reactions of the Jiangnan aristocratic families and local gentry, it's likely that they would have already taken drastic measures.

As time went by, the pressure felt by the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou naturally increased.

The two large salt merchants who voluntarily sought refuge were naturally looking for other ways out.

According to the chief secretary of the Prince's residence, both families are on the verge of collapse.

"That's impossible. With their wealth, they can definitely last for a long time!"

Prince Zhongshun disagreed, saying, "These large salt merchants are still quite powerful!"

"Your Highness is unaware that their annual expenses are increasing, and they are on the verge of collapse!"

The chief secretary of the Prince's Palace explained, "As time goes by, the cost of their smuggling salt will only increase, and they also have to guard against the court turning the tables if they don't care!"

At this point, he subconsciously lowered his voice and said, "Furthermore, His Majesty's adult princes have also begun to set their sights on the major salt merchants of Yangzhou!"

"Tsk, are they already starting to accumulate strength and gather capital?"

The Prince of Zhongshun had a rather strange expression on his face and shook his head, saying, "So what? Surely the addition of my nephews won't cause too much of a stir?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The chief secretary of the Prince's mansion explained softly, "There are already many conflicting forces involved in the eight major salt merchants of Yangzhou. They all want to make a living, and they don't care whether the salt merchants can continue to survive!"

"His Majesty's adult princes have also joined in, and naturally they also eat meat; they have quite the appetite!"

"Anyway, with all the expenses added up, the annual revenue from smuggled salt is not even enough to cover the profits. If we don't find a way to break this deadlock now, there probably won't be a future!"

Prince Zhongshun remained silent for a long time; how could he have known there were so many intricacies involved?

"Could it be that Jia Huan has considered all of these things?"

He changed the subject, asking curiously, "No way, that's a bit too much!"

"It can't be that exaggerated!"

The chief secretary of the Prince's residence chuckled and said, "This humble official has read General Jia's plan. It only speculates that some major salt merchants may have other ideas, and we can try to win them over!"

"After all, the eight major salt merchant families in Yangzhou had already experienced their most glorious period, and then they began to decline steadily!"

"The eight major salt merchant families of Yangzhou have actually changed hands several times since the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty a century ago!"

“Any patriarch with a long-term vision would consider the future of the family!”

"With such clear lessons from the past, we have to find a way to make things happen!"

At this point, he couldn't help but sigh, "However, the conditions proposed by General Jia to win them over directly targeted the Achilles' heel of the major salt merchants in Yangzhou. It's quite normal that two of them were tempted and took action!"

"Is that so? Then I can rest assured!"

Prince Zhongshun chuckled and said leisurely, "It just feels a bit inappropriate to offer such good terms to the big salt merchants of Yangzhou. What do you think?"

"I feel the same way!"

The chief secretary of the Prince's residence did not hide his thoughts and chuckled, "According to General Jia, that is the huge influence of traditional Confucianism. After all, I am used to the traditional social order of scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants!"

Seeing that Prince Zhongshun nodded to indicate that he understood, he continued, "The conditions offered by the Prince's residence are indeed quite generous!"

"However, General Jia makes a good point. In the future, the outer sea territories will naturally have frequent contact with the Great Qian Dynasty, as well as with each other. Merchants are actually one of the best choices!"

"The sea is vast and boundless; not just any person or force has the courage to sail and travel on it!"

Prince Zhongshun nodded again, "That's true!"

If it weren't for his burning ambition, he wouldn't have been so willing to spend so much money and effort on overseas ventures.

The open sea is vast and boundless; it is also quite dangerous.

To date, nearly a dozen ships belonging to the Prince's Palace have sunk.

Regardless of the cause of the sinking, hundreds of people were lost along with the sunken ship.

That's why it's said that developing offshore territories is extremely costly, requiring massive amounts of resources to be invested every year!

"Has that brat Jia Huan said how to make things difficult for those civil officials after the big salt merchants from Yangzhou come to join us?"

Prince Zhongshun changed the subject again, sneering, "It would be even better if they could fight each other on their own!"

"General Jia has certainly said that if the Yangzhou salt merchants reduce their support for the Southern Academies, they can take some scholars with them overseas, which will be a significant blow to the Southern literati!"

"The scholars in the South have close ties with the cabinet and the imperial court in the capital!"

"If they've been hit, how could they possibly have no reaction at all? That's when things will get interesting!"

The chief secretary of the Prince's mansion wore a gloating expression and said coldly, "General Jia also said that the Yangzhou salt merchants pay so much protection money every year that some powerful and influential people in the capital are already living off it!"

"Now is the time for them to step forward and help, to cheer on the big salt merchants of Yangzhou and protect them, otherwise they will have no face to continue taking money in the future!"

At this point, the chief secretary of the Prince's mansion chuckled and said, "With this wave alone, the Prince's mansion's territory in the outer seas will have at least tens of thousands more people, and one-fifth to one-third of them will be high-quality individuals!"

Chapter 390 A Plan to Eradicate the Root Cause (Please Subscribe)

In fact, the eight major salt merchants of Yangzhou were still quite important in the overall power structure of the Jiangnan region.

The main reason is that the big salt merchants were willing to spend money.

There are many academies in the Jiangnan region, and the wealthy salt merchants of Yangzhou donated tens of thousands of taels of silver to academies throughout Jiangnan every year, making them major financial backers.

The academies throughout Jiangnan were the core of the Jiangnan literati.

Similarly, academies throughout Jiangnan were also the strongholds of Southern officials in the imperial court.

Just like the Donglin Academy back then, the wealthy salt merchants of Yangzhou had a bit of the air of the gentry of the southeastern Ming Dynasty.

However, because the Donglin Party had such a bad reputation, both the Donglin Academy and the gentry groups in the southeastern coastal areas were suppressed by the imperial court, either openly or covertly, which allowed the academies in various parts of Jiangnan to rise to prominence.

Later, the Jin cavalry entered the pass and stormed into the capital, taking control of the northern regime for a period of time.

The incident involving a prominent member of the Donglin Party who complained of having an itchy scalp and feeling the coldness of the water actually happened.

Emperor Daqian naturally loathed the Donglin Party, and there was virtually no possibility of their revival.

However, the Jiangnan Academy of today is no longer the same as the Donglin Academy of the past.

He represented the entire Jiangnan literati, not just the representatives chosen by the gentry of the southeast.

Similarly, despite the fact that the wealthy salt merchants of Yangzhou donated silver almost every year, they received little positive feedback and were unable to intervene in the normal operation of the academy.

In the end, the big salt merchants in Yangzhou were treated like suckers.

Moreover, their donations were indeed a significant help to the finances of the major academies in Jiangnan.

If they suddenly stop providing these benefits, it won't affect the normal operation of the major academies in Jiangnan. However, the daily welfare benefits of the teachers and students will definitely decrease by one or two levels.

This time, several academies that had received silver gifts from wealthy salt merchants every year were not having a good experience.

The sponsor has stopped giving us bonus money! This is outrageous!

Aren't the big spenders afraid that the academy will make them lose face?

Those two wealthy salt merchants from Yangzhou who quietly pledged allegiance to Prince Zhongshun's household were truly unafraid of public criticism.