Duke of Zhenguan

Watching Pei Shijiu leave, the waiter smiled and said to the shopkeeper:

"Manager Huang, the person who just came in seems to be the manager of Pei's Trading Company. He doesn't seem very happy?"

"Haha, he's the manager of Pei's Trading Company, I think his name is Pei Nineteen! In the past month or so, Pei's Trading Company has raised prices the most, and they even sell in limited quantities every day!"

"I heard that the Pei family's business is selling salt at high prices everywhere. They probably have hundreds of thousands of kilograms of salt in their warehouses now. If you were in their shoes, would you be happy?" The shopkeeper laughed heartily.

"Of course you can't be happy about that!" the waiter said.

Pei Shijiu was certainly not happy; in fact, he didn't even have any feelings of happiness or unhappiness in his mind.

His mind was filled with anxiety, fear, and deep confusion.

Where did those salts he had never seen before come from? For thousands of years, hadn't the salt extracted from the seawater been the kind that was piled up in one's own warehouse?

After leaving Huang's Salt Shop, which had just opened its signboard, he deliberately walked down another street and, sure enough, found another newly opened salt shop.

Back at Pei Ji's shop, Pei Shijiu instructed the shop assistant to take down the price list that had just been put up and to temporarily stop selling salt. He then rushed off to Guangde Lane, near the West Market.

After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan not only gave Pei Ji, a key minister, enough honor, but also generously rewarded him with money and goods. Pei's mansion, which occupied a small part of the southwest corner of Guangde Ward, was one of the rewards Li Yuan gave to Pei Ji.

Pei Shijiu would come over occasionally, but he usually did so secretly after dark.

But he couldn't care less about that today. He ran all the way to the side gate next to the main gate, panting heavily, and said to the gatekeeper who came out to greet him:

"I need to see the master!"

"The master is entertaining guests. Let me go in and inform him!" The gatekeeper recognized Pei Shijiu and said politely.

"It's extremely urgent, take me there immediately!" Pei Shijiu said urgently.

"Come with me!" The gatekeeper, knowing the importance of the matter, led Pei Shijiu quickly toward the flower hall in the front yard.

At this moment, in the flower hall in the front courtyard of the Pei residence, Pei Zhongyu was chatting with Cui Guinian.

Pei Zhongyu was Pei Ji's second son. Although he did not have a noble title, he held a high position in the Pei family and managed all the family's affairs.

Cui Guinian was the younger brother of the head of the Cui family of Boling.

The two of them were the ones who spearheaded this salt shortage.

"Brother Pei, I heard that Lin Chuan led two thousand Right Guards and escorted several hundred carts back to Chang'an. I have a feeling something is wrong. I also heard that the reason His Majesty and Li Xiaogong transported grain from Jiangnan last time was this kid's idea!" Cui Guinian said.

"Brother Cui, you're overthinking it. So what if that kid Lin Chuan is resourceful?"

Someone has already sent people to find out that the Right Guard Army is heading to Liangzhou and has reportedly turned the city upside down!

The largest chieftain of the local tribe was forced to commit suicide, and his son was beheaded by the Right Guard. The entire tribe fell apart, causing panic among the local Hu tribes that had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

Cheng Yaojin was only the Right General of the Martial Guard, yet he arrested the military commander of Liangzhou. He was simply lawless!

"The population of Liangzhou is at most seventy or eighty thousand. Even if we search and plunder it thoroughly, how much salt can we possibly find?" Pei Zhongyu comforted him.

"Brother Pei, it's not that I'm trying to boost their morale, but that Lin Chuan's actions are just too outrageous. Although he's a merchant, he can't be judged by common sense..." Cui Guinian said with a wry smile.

"Brother Cui, rest assured. The entire Guanzhong region is now facing a salt shortage. If we can just delay for another ten days or half a month, some people will have no choice but to compromise!"

"Business matters should be resolved using business methods. That's the rule they set themselves. I want to see whether the millions of people in Gyeonggi Province are more important, or their face!" Pei Zhongyu said smugly.

Compared to Pei Zhongyu, Cui Guinian was not so optimistic. Especially after hearing that Lin Chuan had returned to Chang'an, he had been restless, otherwise he would not have come to Pei Zhongyu to discuss it.

Cui Guinian wanted to try to persuade him further, but then he heard an urgent voice from outside the door:

"My lord!"

Pei Zhongyu's face immediately darkened. As the eldest son of the Pei family's main branch, he cared most about the rules.

He was entertaining guests, and for him to barge in so rudely and shout like that is unbecoming.

However, he couldn't lose his temper in front of Cui Guinian, so he looked at Pei Shijiu behind the gatekeeper and asked in a cold voice:

"What is it?"

"My lord, two new salt shops have opened in the West Market. They were the same shops that used to sell grain. One of them was Huang's Grain Shop, which has now been converted into Huang's Salt Shop!" Pei Shijiu said, bowing.

"What did you say? A salt shop?" Pei Zhongyu asked incredulously.

"My lord, I saw it with my own eyes, it is indeed a salt shop!" Pei Shijiu replied.

"Where did they get their salt? What kind of salt are they selling, coarse salt or poisonous salt? How much do they sell it for?" Pei Zhongyu asked repeatedly.

"Sir, Huang's Salt Shop sells the finest refined salt, even purer than the best green salt in our shop, five copper coins a pound!" Pei Shijiu replied, bowing, not daring to straighten up after speaking.

With each word he spoke, Pei Zhongyu's expression grew increasingly grim.

"Bang!"

Pei Zhongyu's face turned ashen, and he suddenly grabbed a teacup from the table and slammed it to the ground.

After venting his anger, Pei Zhongyu finally regained some composure and loudly ordered the butler standing at the door:

"Send someone to investigate immediately! Go now!"

After giving his instructions, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Cui Guinian and said in a deep voice:

"Brother Cui is truly a prophet. It seems that although we don't know what tricks Lin Chuan used, the two thousand men from the Right Guard may indeed have brought back salt!"

We can't delay any longer. Brother Cui, go back immediately and have your men start selling salt at a low price, even if it means losing money.

Hurry! It might be too late if we wait any longer!

"Brother Pei, is it possible that this is just a bluff?" Cui Guinian asked hesitantly.

"That person always plans carefully before acting. Since he has taken action, he must have made complete preparations..." Pei Zhongyu sighed.

Cui Guinian nodded, cupped his hands in farewell to Pei Zhongyu, and took his leave.

"I'll go right away!"

After Cui Guinian left, Pei Zhongyu slumped into a chair, waving his hand at Pei Shijiu with a dejected expression:

"Get all the shops to start selling salt, at five copper coins a pound! Go!"

"Yes!" Pei Shijiu bowed and withdrew.

When Pei Shijiu returned to his shop in the West Market after arranging the salt sales, long queues had already formed in front of the two newly opened salt shops.

Even though Pei's Shop displayed a sign saying salt was five coins a pound, very few people still came to buy salt from it.

Firstly, the salt from Huang's Salt Shop is simply too good!

Secondly, many people still remember how Pei Ji Trading Company kept raising prices. Now that there are other places to buy salt, who would still go to Pei Ji Trading Company?

As evening fell, as messages kept arriving in Pei Zhongyu's hands, he was overwhelmed by one piece of bad news after another. Finally, he collapsed, coughing up blood.