It was dawn, and Jia Huan woke up after hangover. After washing up, he got off the pleasure boat back to the Xiao Qinhuai River with Master He. After having breakfast, he went to the branch guarding yamen office.

At this time, in the backyard of the Censorate in the old city, the maids such as Zijuan, Xiren, Qingwen, Ruyi, etc. had already gotten up.

Xiren served Daiyu in the inner room and got up. The golden and red dawn came in from outside the window. Zijuan and Qingwen combed their hair in front of the mirror. She and Qingwen had a good personal relationship.

Since she explained the situation to the third master yesterday afternoon, Zijuan felt relieved. She believed that the third master could handle it well. At this time, she held her hair, looked at Qingwen's pretty face in the glass mirror, and smiled and joked: "Qingwen, your third master went to drink wine yesterday..."

Qingwen is from the Third Master’s house. This is something that everyone in the family knows.

Qingwen narrowed her eyes with big smiles, her expression vividly, and retorted: "I can't care. You tell Miss Bao to go."

Zijuan laughed so hard that she was so naughty. How could Miss Bao take care of the Third Master?

When she left, things were still not clear. Last night, she chatted with Qingwen and realized that the marriage between the Third Master and Miss Bao was about to be settled. She sighed: "The Third Master is very well-organized in doing things. Alas, drinking flower wine is always better than Bao Er Master likes men. "

When she thought about Baoyu and Qin Zhong, she felt disgusted.

Qingwen smiled and nodded. She had a bad impression of Baoyu. Sister Zijuan didn't look like Baoyu very much! And she was about to become a third master... a fan.

…

In the morning, Jia Huan met Sha Sheng in a side hall inside the Yayi Gate of the Fen Shoudao Bureau. Since Sha Sheng came to Jiangnan to work in the early years, he hasn't seen each other for a while, and a lot of things have happened in the capital. When they chatted, they felt a lot of emotion.

Sha Sheng said, "Bo Yu has already talked to me about the matter in the capital. Zi Yu has made a lot of contributions. This time Bo Yu went to Jinling to take up a free position, which is also an opportunity for you."

His good friend Zhang Anbo is a famous scholar in the capital, and his level of classics is especially above him. If Jia Huan studied with Zhang Anbo for two or three years, with Jia Huan's understanding, he would definitely win the imperial examination in the 14th year of Yongzhi. The only difference lies in his ranking.

Jia Huan smiled and said, "Students also think so. It is a blessing to be able to study under the Yama Nagata for a period of time."

Sha Sheng smiled slightly, talked about Lin Ruhai's affairs, and sighed long, "Ziyu, if you came three months earlier, I would have gone all my heart disease!"

In the administrative system of Yangzhou City, the largest yamen is the branch of the road guarding office. But the real largest yamen is the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Office. The official in charge of the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Office is the Salt Inspection Censor. This is definitely the most valuable position in Yangzhou City. You have to listen to this person in salt affairs.

He didn't know that Lin Ruhai was the son-in-law of the Jia family. But now he knew that Lin Ruhai was seriously ill and had not come out to see the matter for several months.

Thinking about his experience at the salt merchant's house last night, Sha Sheng was very dissatisfied. Although he was doing political achievements, if he could recover 1 million taels of silver, he would definitely gain the reputation of a capable person. But at the same time, he also increased taxes for the country and the court.

If the Yan Yan Censor participated in this matter, it would be a big difference.

Mr. He, who was accompanying the guest, offered a plan: "Dongweng, I mentioned this matter with Ziyu last night. There is a way. Yangzhou salt merchants have been carrying private salt, which has been repeatedly banned. They can write to Yangzhou Prefecture and Jiangdu County to strictly investigate the private salt of the Gansu."

Sha Sheng pondered slightly and said, "Almost everyone is like this when the salt merchant carries private salt. If you want to investigate, you are afraid of being angry with the public."

Master He said: "Tonight, the great salt merchant Wang Heting will hold a Mid-Autumn Festival poetry meeting in the West Garden. Dongweng will also attend. You can express your dissatisfaction with the Zheng family."

Sha Sheng looked at Jia Huan. Jia Huan could rescue his friend Zhang Anbo in such a desperate situation in the capital, but he still valued Jia Huan's opinions very much.

Jia Huan smiled and said, "Sir, you can try the water first. If not, then change to other methods." He didn't dare to promise that it would be successful, but the salt merchant's foundation is so dark that he doesn't have any breakthroughs. Try the water first. If it can be successful, it's best.

Sha Sheng slapped the table and said, "Okay. I have long disliked these profiteers. A pound of salt costs 60 cents. It is a poor family. I don't know the smell of salt for several months."

…

In the afternoon of the same day, Huaiyang Branch's Road Office opened the Yangzhou Prefecture and Jiangdu County, requiring strict investigation of private salt in the near future.

Ninety-nine percent of the salt from Lianghuai Salt Transportation Bureau must pass through the territory of Jiangdu County and sell it to the outside world. Therefore, the arrest of private salt is mainly carried out by Jiangdu County.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the official documents of the road were sent to the Jiangdu County Government Office. The magistrate of Zhengtang of Jiangdu County immediately signed the notice and posted a notice on the eight-character wall outside the county government office.

Yangzhou is a city based on consumption. There are not many other cities, and there are a lot of idle people. There are often many idle people gather outside the county government offices of Jiangdu County. After the notice from the county government office was posted, the news spread in Yangzhou City.

Report the salt merchants and the reward is generous!

In the Yangzhou Prefecture Office, Prefect Jiang was drinking tea with his aide, Master Wei, and was talking to his official documents sent by the Department of Shoudaoya. He was casually putting them on the desk.

Prefect Jiang laughed and said, "Sha Dagan has been dormant for several months, and finally can't help but want to take risks. He is also naive. He is taxed by one million taels of silver. Who is willing to fill it for him?"

Mr. Wei has been in the capital and said with a smile: "The prefect doesn't know anything. Sha Dasan served as the deputy envoy of the Taixue School in Northern Zhili. He is fair and strict and has a good reputation. He is mostly too idealistic in practice."

Prefect Jiang said, "This kind of Taoist official should not be the chief official. He is very good at learning Taoism, and he is useless to use the manpower and material resources of the prefectures and counties. I really don't know what the old masters in the court think?" As he said that, he shook his head, very contemptuous.

Master Wei smiled. In this case, Jiang Fu Zun can say it, but he can't say it.

…

When the salt merchants received news, they gathered at Xin'an Association, Jin'an Association, and Chang'an Association, Yang Yunjun from the Lianghuai Salt Transport Department in Yangzhou City also received news and knew about his assistant official Fei Tong: "It seems that Sha Dasan really wants to pursue the salt classes accumulated in the past years."

Fei Tongzhi smiled indifferently, "Just seeking fame. I heard that Sha Dasan went to Zheng's family yesterday to discuss it but failed. I was afraid he was angry."

Yang Yunzhi laughed.

…

There are more than 300 large and large salt merchants in Yangzhou City, and there are more than 20 that can be called wealthy merchants. The largest are the three major salt merchants: Wang, Zheng and Ma. These salt merchants are roughly divided into three parts according to their original regions: Ss Huizhou.

Among them, the Wang family and the Ma family belong to Hui merchants. The Zheng family is a Shanxi merchant.

Huizhou was called Xin'an in ancient times. In the Xin'an Guild Hall, dozens of salt merchants of all sizes gathered to inquire about the news. In a bright hall in the backyard, more than a dozen salt merchants' heads sat together to talk about the official documents issued by the branch guarding yamen today.

The other salt merchants did not enter. Whether they could enter this room was invisible. The salt merchants had an invisible thread in their minds. The house must have at least 20,000 entries before they were qualified to enter and sit in a seat.

A salt merchant said: "Yesterday, Sha Dazan went to Zheng's family to coordinate but failed. Now he is furious. What should he do about it?"

A middle-aged salt merchant Tang Yanshang sneered: "I have heard that the boy from the Zheng family has a bad mouth. Don't he offended Sha Dasan in person?"

A group of salt merchants burst into laughter.

The history of the formation and evolution of Yangzhou salt merchants was first of all, and SS merchants accounted for most of the capital. However, Huizhou merchants came from behind with their strong financial resources and regional advantages. Although they were all in the salt industry, the two groups of people were not very good at dealing with each other. They were happy to read the other party’s jokes.

Ma Juntai, who was sitting in the center and the right, waved his hand and said, "Let me wait and see what happens." He then said to Wang Heting beside him, "Brother Wang, your Mid-Autumn Festival poetry meeting tonight is probably going to be a big deal, so you should prepare early."

Wang Heting smiled and nodded. He was thinking about the oral message sent by the Yan Yan Censor this morning: The Lin Academy asked him to try the literary talent of his nephew Jia Huan tonight.

He had already ordered.

Without Sha Dasan's official documents, the Mid-Autumn Festival poetry meeting he held was also not calm.

…

The night slowly came. Sha Sheng took Jia Huan, Master He, and several yamen runners from the court, and took a boat to the west garden of the big salt merchant Wang Heting's house outside Yangzhou City, beside the Little Qinhuai River.

The West Garden is very famous in Yangzhou City. The gardens and scenery are huge. Some people say that this West Garden, which was built with the financial resources of two generations of the Wang family, costing millions.

Tonight, Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a poetry party in the West Garden.

Sha Sheng once promoted a school official and had a cultural say. In addition, he was divided into Huaiyang Road and stationed in Yangzhou City. He received an invitation to preside over the poetry meeting.

Jia Huan received Lin Ruhai's invitation and came to see him. He had to set off tomorrow if he wanted to go to Jinling. There was no hurry to do this night. As for the poetry meeting, he was naturally hiding his shortcomings. He had already spread his reputation all over the world. What are the benefits of copying poetry?
Chapter completed!