The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

At this time, following the instructions of Prince Zhongshun's Mansion, they had begun to gradually reduce their holdings of property and started relocating some of their businesses.

The various factions in Jiangnan are deeply entrenched, and once one faction makes a move, it cannot be kept secret.

Then, the two major salt merchants in Yangzhou were exposed!

Immediately afterwards, the scholars from the several academies that had lost their grants began to hurl accusations and insults.

In any case, the insults were quite offensive, which greatly displeased the two major salt merchant families.

So, all those years of investing money were just wasted?

At first, I was a little uneasy, but now I don't care about that anymore.

They openly and frankly expressed their stance: they had pledged allegiance to the clan led by Prince Zhongshun, and even the majority of their family's strength was going to fight in the overseas territories!

One stone caused a thousand waves!

All the forces in Jiangnan were completely baffled by the actions of these two major salt merchants.

How is this going?

Why would a perfectly good, wealthy salt merchant give up to risk his life on the high seas? Has he lost his mind?

In any case, the subsequent impact was quite astonishing.

Those clans that had been leeching off them realized that these were their own people, so they naturally relaxed their leeching and watched the two families' future actions.

As for other forces, they simply cannot give up such a huge piece of meat. They have already begun to secretly select replacement salt merchant families, and these two major salt merchant families are bound to decline rapidly.

Indeed, this is the case. Whether it is the share of private salt or other interests related to private salt, they have become precarious, after all, everyone wants a stable income.

The two salt merchants were displeased, and in a rather subtle manner, they publicized to their peers the enormous benefits they would receive after siding with Prince Zhongshun!

They could be granted official titles, noble ranks, or even become the lord of a small territory in the open sea!

At the same time, they could also dominate commercial affairs in overseas territories, earning no less money than those from smuggling salt.

Crucially, they were able to completely shed their status as 'merchants' and become one of the powerful figures in the overseas territories, thus securing the wealth and prosperity of their descendants.

Now it was the other six major salt merchants' turn to be tempted...

In short, with the defection of the two major salt merchants from Yangzhou, the situation in Jiangnan began to become chaotic.

This naturally affected the imperial court, especially since those were wealthy salt merchants with assets worth tens of millions!

Despite their supposedly low social status, salt merchants wielded considerable power and influence.

Once the decision is made to embrace the outer sea territories, the impact on various forces will be significant.

Most importantly, the inside story of the many censors who were blocked from going south may also be revealed to the world, which would be a huge scandal.

"Wow, Jia Huan's idea is really brilliant!"

Prince Zhongshun was also stunned by this series of changes.

The main issue is that the previously seemingly unbroken situation in Jiangnan has developed numerous cracks.

If Prince Zhongshun was merely surprised, then the current emperor was overjoyed.

He had always wanted to break the deadlock in Jiangnan, but his previous efforts, while not entirely fruitless, were better than nothing.

The reason is actually very simple, and we know it very well, but we are helpless about it.

Among the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, at least two are from the Jiangnan region, no fewer than that!

Although the current emperor had never heard of economic status determining the superstructure, he understood very well that the economically developed Jiangnan region must have a representative in the cabinet.

Otherwise, things in Jiangnan will be very difficult to handle!

The powerful clans and families there, coupled with the distance, made it difficult for the imperial court to extend its reach, resulting in relatively limited influence.

The southeastern part of the former Ming dynasty is the best example!

It can be said that no matter which emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty was on the throne, they were always wary of the Jiangnan region!

The previous method was to continuously plant nails and let sand seep in. Whether it was Xue Pan's dead father or the Zhen family, the most powerful family in Jiangnan, they basically all rose to power in this way.

It's a pity that in the end, all of these guys sided with the local forces in Jiangnan.

The Zhen family of Jinling, in particular, was supported by the retired emperor and has now become the most powerful family in Jiangnan. However, they have become the representatives of the Jiangnan power.

Whenever I think of this, I want to angrily curse, "This is outrageous!"

If the retired emperor hadn't still been alive and well, the Zhen family of Jiangnan would probably have been raided and their property confiscated long ago.

They were getting impatient, but unexpectedly, they found a breakthrough with the big salt merchant in Yangzhou.

What else is there to say?

In any case, none of the royal family members, including him, had any goodwill towards the various forces in Jiangnan.

If they were to fight amongst themselves, it would be the best thing for the court and for the present situation.

They will definitely stir things up behind the scenes. If things don't get out of hand, how can the court intervene?

Meanwhile, Prince Chungshun also had some ideas.

"Chief Secretary, do you think that if something happens to the big salt merchant in Yangzhou, is it possible for us to send large quantities of salt produced by the sea into the territory of Daqian?"

The chief secretary of the Prince's residence was taken aback for a moment, then said, "It's really hard to say. It depends on what the current emperor thinks!"

"How to say?"

Prince Zhongshun became interested and urged, "Explain it more clearly!"

"Your Highness, last time I secretly met with General Jia, and he showed me a rather detailed plan, which included a plan for large-scale salt production to flow into the territory of Daqian!"

"The reason why the imperial court controls the salt and iron industries is mainly because they involve enormous profits and constitute a major portion of the national treasury's revenue!"

"If something goes wrong, not only will the national treasury's revenue plummet, but the entire country could be affected!"

"We all know that the Ming Dynasty basically perished due to its empty treasury!"

Prince Zhongshun nodded repeatedly, but said bluntly, "That kid Jia Huan is really something else, he actually has a plan like this?"

In the past, they would have been wary and tried every means to get rid of him.

But right now, as long as Jia Huan doesn't act too monstrous and doesn't reveal any flaws, then they can still cooperate well.

After all, the open sea is vast and boundless, and he would love for his allies to be as powerful as possible, so that it would be easier for them to seize territories and develop and build up the open sea.

In fact, he and other royal figures have already begun to put pressure on the current ruler.

They have now clearly defined their territory on Ezo Island in the outer sea and have entered the construction and development phase.

At this point, it would be best for the current emperor to grant a formality, otherwise there may be further trouble later.

It's just about closing off the country to the seas, and there's still no clear answer to this day.

Anyway, Prince Zhongshun, who has suffered a lot of losses at the hands of the current ruler, is not in a good mood.

Sometimes, the thought inevitably arises that one should teach the current ruler a profound lesson, keeping him busy and preventing him from having time to scheme against them, the royal family members.

The princes under his wing are gradually coming of age.

If we wait until most of the princes have come of age, who knows if the current emperor will have any wicked thoughts?

It would be truly terrible if his princes seized all the overseas territories held by the royal family members.

Such a thing is unlikely, but we still have to be on guard.

After all, the current emperor's thoughts are deep and unfathomable!

The chief secretary of the Prince's residence was naturally unaware that Prince Zhongshun had come up with so many ideas in such a short time.

At this moment, he spoke somewhat nervously: "Since the imperial court wants stable salt tax revenue, is it possible for us to give up our share of government-owned salt and directly buy all the remaining shares with a fixed or increasing amount of silver each year?"

"Isn't what you're saying just about seizing a share of the smuggled salt trade?"

Prince Zhongshun laughed and scolded, "You're still talking in such a convoluted way, who are you trying to fool?"

"Your Highness is wise; you saw through the deception at a glance!"

The chief steward of the Prince's residence flattered him before laughing and saying, "Your Highness is right. We should use sun-dried salt instead of smuggled salt. After all, we've already paid silver to the Emperor and the national treasury, so we're much more reliable than those smugglers!"

"In that case, those salt merchants, big and small, will probably have no way to survive!"

Prince Zhongshun said irritably, "You know perfectly well how much power these guys have when they unite!"

"Seeing that they had no way forward, didn't they have no choice but to look for a way out to the open sea?"

Chapter 391 A Grand gesture (Please subscribe)

The Ningrong Street branch has been quite lively lately.

Many heroes from the martial arts world took the initiative to come to him, inquiring about the compensation for being recruited to go overseas.

Indeed, the renowned Jianghu (江湖, a term referring to the martial arts world) force in Beizhili, particularly the Ningrong Street branch which is quite famous throughout the area north of the Yellow River, has recently begun recruiting Jianghu heroes.

When the news spread, it naturally caused an uproar in the northern martial arts world.

The Ningrong Street branch is short-staffed? Are you kidding me?

Since establishing the Ningrong Street branch, Jia Huan has adopted a school-based training model instead of the traditional master-disciple or martial arts school training model.

The brothers in the branch have all been given opportunities. As for whether they are willing to work hard to improve themselves, that is their own business. In any case, the resources provided by the branch will definitely enable them to improve.