Chapter 450 Determining the Goal
Chapter 450 Determining the Goal
Wuchuan Salt Shop is located at Wusheng Bridge, east of Jiangdu City, with the bustling East Street of Jiangdu County in front of it and Caohe River behind it. The salt shop covers an area of about five acres. There is no warehouse or hall in the shop. It employs more than 20 small managers, each of whom is responsible for three counties, including replenishing stock, transferring goods, and collecting money. In addition, they are also warehouse managers, freight managers, and order clerks.
Above them were two senior stewards who were in charge of the entire operation of the salt business, but the one at the front was the real supervisor of the salt business, Yuan Wenzhen.
Yuan Wenzhen was the brother of Yuan Shidu, Shaoyin of Luoyang. He was about thirty years old, tall and strong. He was not only skilled in martial arts, but also quite intelligent and considered issues calmly and rationally. As a representative of the Guanlong nobles, he founded the Wuchuan Salt Company in Jiangdu County. At the same time, he followed Xiao Xia's example and sold salt directly to the people.
Wuchuan Salt Shop still sells coarse salt, which costs only five cents per catty. This price is much lower than the refined salt which costs twenty cents per catty. It is still very attractive to the people at the bottom of society, and the business is very good.
Yuan Wenzhen certainly also wanted to sell refined salt, as the profit from refined salt was much higher. The profit from one dou of coarse salt was fifty wen, while the profit from one dou of refined salt was as high as one hundred and ninety wen.
However, Yuan Wenzhen was very worried that their sale of refined salt would be met with strong counterattack from Xiao Xia, so he sold the 1,500 shi of refined salt that they had already refined to the Wan, Cao, and Yu families at a price of 100 wen per dou. If they could sell the refined salt smoothly and were not counterattacked by Xiao Xia, then Yuan Wenzhen would also sell refined salt at the same time.
At this time, the chief steward Tang Yu hurriedly walked to the hall, clasped his fists and said rudely: "Sir, something strange happened?"
"What's so strange?" Yuan Wenzhen walked forward and asked.
"One of our captains is missing!"
Wuchuan Salt Company currently has seven fleets, and the captain of each fleet is the bowman.
Yuan Wenzhen frowned and asked in confusion: "What does missing mean?"
"From the night before yesterday to today, we couldn't find the bow. We could only arrange a temporary bow if we wanted to transport the goods."
Yuan Wenzhen waved his hands impatiently, "He's probably staying in a brothel and doesn't want to come out. Don't worry about him. Just change the bow of the boat. Don't report such trivial matters to me in the future."
"I understand the humble position!"
The chief steward turned to leave, but Yuan Wenzhen stopped him again, "I asked you to ask the Wan family when their salt shop will open?"
"I have already asked. Tomorrow morning, we will open three stores in Jiangdu County, one each in Wan, Cao, and Yu."
"I know, go ahead!"
The steward left in a hurry. The answer would be known tomorrow morning. Yuan Wenzhen was full of anticipation, but also full of worry.
At night, Xiao Xia was reading in the study when Xiao Qing appeared at the door and said, "Your Highness, Sister Li has something urgent to discuss with you!"
"Where is she now?"
"In the inner hall, talking to the lady!"
Xiao Xia stood up and walked quickly towards the inner hall. Soon he arrived there and saw Li Luming talking to his wife Cui Yu.
Seeing Xiao Xia coming in, Li Luming quickly stood up and bowed, "It's so late, sorry to bother you, Your Highness!"
Cui Yu smiled, stood up and sat aside, giving the main seat to her husband.
Xiao Xia sat down and asked, "Tell me! What's the emergency?"
"We found the other party's refined salt refinery!"
Xiao Xia was overjoyed and asked quickly, "How did you find it?"
"It's the fleet that transported refined salt to the Wan family. I found the bow of the fleet. According to his account, the other party's refinery and warehouse are together in Huangqiao Town, Hailing County, close to the Yangtze River." Xiao Xia thought for a moment and asked, "Whose refinery is that?"
"It was originally the Wan family's workshop, but it will probably soon belong to the Wuchuan Salt Company. Just like the fleet, it was originally the Wan family's fleet and the Cao family's fleet, but it was forcibly taken away by the Wuchuan Salt Company two days ago."
"It's not Wuchuan Salt Company yet!"
"I heard at the bow that the two sides are talking!"
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment, then took out a gold medal from his bosom and handed it to Li Luming, saying, "Go find You Junda and ask him to send 500 cavalrymen to go to Huangqiao Town with you. Completely destroy the refined salt factory tonight and throw all the refined salt in the warehouse into the Yangtze River. But don't touch the coarse salt and don't burn the warehouse. If the other side's warriors fight back, then deal with them!"
"Follow the order!"
Li Luming took the gold medal and left in a hurry.
Cui Yu smiled and said, "It seems that my husband has been busy with salt matters in the past two months?"
Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "I want to do a lot of big things, such as increasing mining, increasing copper and iron smelting, building a livestock base, repairing warships, and I also want to establish a quasi-recruitment force among the government soldiers. All of these require a lot of money, but the court won't give it to me, so I can only find a way myself!"
"So salt is the best solution?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Salt is the fastest and most profitable way to make money, up to a million strings of cash a year. Jiangdu happens to be one of the four largest salt-producing areas in the world, so I have all the necessary conditions. The only problem is that I have to take food from the Guanlong nobles. I will try my best not to get angry, but offending them is unavoidable."
"Will they assassinate my husband?" Cui Yu thought of the prince and was really worried.
"It is very possible, so I will strengthen the defense, deploy hundreds of female guards in the inner house, and deploy troops outside. After these arrangements are completed, I will enter the capital!"
At four o'clock in the morning, Lang Jiang Xin Ji led five hundred cavalrymen and two hundred warriors to Huangqiao Town in Hailing County, which is close to the Yangtze River. The refined salt refining factory built by the Wan family happened to be in a natural depression on the bank of the Yangtze River. A wharf was built there. Previously, the fleet of Wuchuan Salt Company transported 1,500 shi of refined salt from here to the Wan family's salt warehouse.
The disappearance of the bow was a signal, but unfortunately neither the chief manager of Wuchuan Salt Company nor Yuan Wenzhen took it seriously, which led to the refined salt factory being attacked without any preparation.
Hundreds of laborers and thirty warriors knelt on the open space outside the factory with their hands on their heads. Li Luming personally led two hundred warriors into the factory and burned the mountains of filter cloth. Hundreds of large filtering barrels, brine sedimentation tanks, large crucibles for boiling salt, etc. were all smashed to pieces with hammers.
According to the instructions of King Jin, the warehouse was not burned down, and all the finished refined salt was thrown into the Yangtze River, leaving only a few thousand stones of coarse salt untouched.
This is the warning left to the Guanlong nobles: you can sell coarse salt, but you are not allowed to sell refined salt.
The destruction of the Huangqiao Town Salt Field occurred at four o'clock in the morning, and the news did not spread to Jiangdu County until at least the next afternoon.
But on the next morning, three refined salt shops in Jiangdu County also opened for business, with gongs and drums, lights and decorations, and crowds of onlookers gathered inside and outside. A notice was posted in front of the shops, stating that the first 100 people would be charged ten cents per pound, and each person was limited to buying one pound.
This news caused a long queue in front of the store. Everyone was smiling. The people in front were getting a good deal. The people from the Wan, Cao and Yu families were also grinning from ear to ear. They actually formed a queue that was two miles long.
But this joyful atmosphere disappeared in less than an hour. The store had sold out of salt, and the truck carrying salt replenishment was still not arriving.
Yuan Wenzhen, who was sitting in the restaurant opposite checking the situation, felt a sinking feeling in his heart. He suddenly had a bad feeling.
Yuan Wenzhen soon received news that the Wanjia Salt Warehouse, which stored 1,500 shi of refined salt, was sealed up by the Jiangdu County government because they had not paid taxes and needed to pay the additional taxes starting from eight years ago.
The sharp knife of salt tax finally fell from over our heads at the most critical moment.
(End of this chapter)