Chapter 452 Each gives one step
Chapter 452 Everyone gives in
It was almost time for the court to end, and Yuan Wenzhen came to visit. It was the first time Xiao Xia met Yuan Wenzhen. At first, in Xiao Xia's eyes, Yuan Wenzhen was very capable. He quietly built up the Wuchuan Salt Business, and it developed very quickly. In just a few days, he opened stores in Jiangdu County and Danyang County, and then moved into Liyang County and Xuancheng County.
Later, Xiao Xia found out that it was not that Yuan Wen was really capable, but that he was cruel. He robbed all the properties of the Wan family, the Cao family, and the Yu family. The trading company, the fleet, the manager, the warehouse, and the shop all belonged to these three families. He just took them away and changed the name to make them his own. These three families didn't dare to say a word.
Xiao Xia politely invited Yuan Wenzhen into the official room, and the two sat down as host and guest. Yuan Wenzhen was the nephew of Yuan Xiaoju, the head of the Yuan family. He was granted the title of Duke of Jinchuan County and had been serving as a Qianniu Zhichang in the imperial palace. This was the first time Xiao Xia had met him.
"Your Highness and I are friends!"
Yuan Wenzhen smiled slightly and said, "The house that Your Highness bought when you first came to Chang'an is actually mine."
"Ah! That house originally belonged to Brother Yuan, you sold it at a very low price!"
Yuan Wenzhen smiled and shook his head, "It's not a matter of money. I can sell it for 20,000 strings of cash, but if a nouveau riche businessman moves in and shows off to others all day long, my house belongs to the Yuan family, and that would really make me upset!"
"It seems that there are some requirements for rank and title. You must be a county duke or above to buy a ten-acre house. Merchants are not eligible to buy your house."
"That's what I meant. To put it in a metaphor, I don't care about how much money is, I care about the person who buys the house. Now that Your Highness has bought my house, I will be proud to tell others about it. Prince Jin's Mansion used to be my house."
Xiao Xia really admired Yuan Wen's ability to speak and flatter him in a roundabout way.
Xiao Xia smiled slightly, "Brother Yuan, are you here to plead for the Wan family?"
Yuan Wenzhen shook his head. "Those guys are extremely greedy and despise the imperial court. Their lives have nothing to do with me. I just came here to make a statement. Wuchuan Salt Company will not sell refined salt."
Xiao Xia didn't want to hear his opinion for the time being. His opinion was useless. His master's opinion would be more effective.
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Brother Yuan means that the Guanlong nobles will not interfere with the strict law enforcement of Jiangdu County. I mean to check the taxes of the Wan, Cao, and Yu families!"
Yuan Wenzhen nodded, "The fate of these three families is entirely up to me, and the family will not interfere. I will tell Your Highness clearly that no matter how the county government punishes these three families, I will never interfere!"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Refined salt and coarse salt have different markets. We can indeed keep our own business to ourselves and make our own money."
Yuan Wenzhen smiled bitterly and said, "That's what you said, but once the salt tax is introduced, we will lose money if we charge five cents per pound for crude salt. We have to raise the price to eight cents per pound. But if the price of crude salt is eight cents per pound, it's better to buy refined salt. No one will buy crude salt. I beg Your Highness not to impose taxes on the crude salt of Wuchuan Salt Store for the time being."
Xiao Xia understood what he meant, so she smiled and said, "You can postpone the taxation, but I have conditions!"
"Your Highness, please speak!"
"In the future, my Xihai Salt Store may also be opened in Lianghu Road and Henan Road. Brother Yuan, do you understand what I mean?"
Yuan Wendu then understood Xiao Xia's intention. He wanted to expand outward, but did he have so much salt?
Yuan Wendu had no choice but to agree, as the salt tax was waiting for him!
"Haha! The market is so big, there is no reason why one company may dominate the market. As long as it is fair competition, Your Highness can do whatever you want. But I have to make one thing clear. In the Lianghu Road and Henan Road, we sell both refined salt and private salt."
Xiao Xia nodded, "Of course, if there is wealth, we can all share it together!"
At night, the back door of the Wan family opened, and dozens of servants came out one after another carrying boxes. They loaded the boxes onto the small boats moored outside the back door. One trip after another, they soon filled up fifty boats and covered them with oilcloth. Wan Gu's second son Wan Qianjun led a hundred warriors to escort the fleet away. At the dock, Wan Gu watched the fleet go away with fear. This was his last hope.
At the same time, the Cao and Yu families were also transferring their wealth outward. They all realized that the Guanlong nobles were unreliable and would probably betray them in the end. In order to protect themselves, they could only transfer their wealth out. Even if they were fined bankrupt by the salt tax, at least they could leave a rich fortune for their descendants.
But these three families never dreamed that they had been closely monitored by the Intelligence Agency, and their every move was under the control of the Intelligence Agency. As soon as the Wan family's fleet entered the canal, the surroundings suddenly became brightly lit, and countless warships came from all directions, surrounding the fleet, and the soldiers raised their crossbows to aim at the warriors on the boats.
"Put down your weapons and kneel on the bow, or I will kill you without mercy!"
Hundreds of warriors were terrified and dropped their swords one after another, kneeling at the bow of the boat. At this moment, the heavy reward given to them by their boss was not as important as their own lives.
The soldiers jumped onto the boat and drove the warriors ashore. Wan Qianjun was also tied up with ropes by the soldiers.
The fleet was controlled by the army and then sailed away.
The fleets of the Cao and Yu families also failed to escape. After being surrounded by the army, the fleets disappeared without a trace.
The next day, Chen Hua came to report to Xiao Xia that the Wan, Cao and Yu families were still intercepting official salt in Yanzhen and collecting salt from salt households at the price of twelve cents per dou. There was solid evidence.
At the same time, as the account books of the three families disappeared, the amount of tax evasion could not be calculated, so the county government approved a tax amount of 500,000 strings of cash, together with interest of 100,000 strings of cash, and imposed heavy penalties on Wan, Cao and Yu.
The three companies simultaneously stated that they would not accept the tax amount approved by the Jiangdu County Government.
Xiao Xia finally found an excuse to take action. He ordered the army to surround the three families and confiscate their properties on charges of tax evasion and theft of court assets.
However, the fate of the three families was better than that of the Yu family of Piling. The Yu family of Piling was convicted of arson. Yu Xiaochun and his two sons were publicly beheaded, and the rest of the family members were exiled to Jian'an County.
Because no lives were lost, the entire Wan, Cao, and Yu families were exiled to Jian'an County. They were only allowed to take their personal belongings with them, and all other property was confiscated.
The three families' dream of getting rich overnight ultimately turned out to be a pipe dream.
As the three major salt merchants in Jiangdu were raided, Xiao Xia and Yuan Wenzhen reached a compromise, and the dispute over salt profits finally came to an end.
Within a month, Xihai Salt Shop and Wuchuan Salt Shop spread to all counties in Jiangnan Province, with two to three salt shops in each county.
Refined salt was bought from Xihai, and coarse salt was bought from Wuchuan. The two major salt companies completely controlled the salt market in Jiangnan Road. All the middle salt merchants could no longer get salt sources and had to change their careers.
Although coarse salt only costs five cents per pound, it is too dirty. It is yellow and black in color and is full of dirt and sand. Refined salt, on the other hand, is fine and white and appeals to the eye. Although it costs twenty cents per pound, one pound can last for a month and most families can afford it.
Soon, he had his own fixed customers. Coarse salt was mainly sold in rural areas. In addition, pickled vegetables and meats required a lot of salt, so he had to choose cheap coarse salt.
The customers of refined salt are concentrated in county towns and large households in rural areas.
The customer ratio of both parties is about seven to three, and the market share is also 30 to 70.
The profits from salt began to roll in.
In early December, Xiao Xia left Jiangdu and rode to Tokyo Luoyang with Zhang Qiao to begin his work report journey.
(End of this chapter)