Chapter 35 A man’s mouth
Because the government gave up purchasing the surplus salt from the salt farmers and completely gave up collecting salt tax directly from the people who bought the salt.

Then this part of the loss will naturally be borne by the salt merchants.

But would salt merchants be willing to pay a high price to purchase salt permits?
Obviously they are unwilling to do so. What could get rich faster than by evading taxes?

Although Wei Zhongxian collected salt tax, it did not affect the salt farmers' sale of surplus salt. They could still sell it to whoever offered the highest price as before.

However, under the instigation of some people with ulterior motives, coupled with the fact that the people at that time generally had a low level of education, and did not know or understand the court's policies, they did not even know about them.

Therefore, they were easily instigated, thinking that the imperial court was coming for them, who were in dire straits. They stood up willingly and became the pawns of the salt merchants.

Of course, all of this is still in the planning stage and has not yet been launched.

This was also thanks to Wei Zhongxian, whose subordinates did a good job in intelligence work, so that they could discover it in advance.

If it were someone else, they would probably not know what was going on until the kitchen owners surrounded the government office.

If Wei Zhongxian had the character he had in the past and dared to plot against our family, you would probably have died.

However, after being "touched" by Chongzhen, Eunuch Wei became somewhat compassionate and even knew to ask Chongzhen in advance what to do.

At the end of the memorial, Wei Zhongxian directly proposed whether it was possible to mobilize the Nanjing Jinyiwei to directly arrest these ignorant salt merchants.

After all, when they set out, they didn't expect these salt merchants to be so bold, so they didn't bring enough soldiers with them, and they were afraid that they wouldn't be efficient enough when killing people.

Of course, this is Wang Chengen’s understanding. It is impossible for Wei Zhongxian to write this directly in the memorial.

But that's probably what it means...

"I didn't expect these salt merchants to be so bold!" Wang Chengen was also furious. "They are playing with fire!"

It is no wonder that Chongzhen and Wang Chengen were so angry. After all, it is easiest for something to go wrong when ordinary people gather in large numbers, especially when they surround a government office to protest. This is a scene that is inherently full of contradictions and can easily lead to an irreversible tragedy because of some trivial matters.

It is possible that the two parties in confrontation just pushed each other, or a stone came out of nowhere and hit someone on one side, which would trigger emotions and turn into a melee.

In the end, either the government office was burned down, or soldiers were dispatched to suppress the rebellion. In any case, there would be casualties.

Chongzhen looked gloomy and asked, "My dear friend, do you think we should approve Wei Zhongxian's request and let him mobilize the Nanjing Jinyiwei and even the Wei Suo Army?"

“This…” Wang Chengen looked worried. “If the garrison troops are dispatched, it would be a civil uprising if not a civil uprising.”

Chongzhen remained silent after hearing this.

According to the character of the garrison troops, once they were dispatched, they had to make some money and gain some military merits.

There is an old saying: Bandits pass by like combs, and soldiers pass by like rakes.

The common people suffered more from the soldiers than from the bandits.

Originally, the common people were just fighting with the yamen runners, but once the army showed up, they had to rebel even if they didn't want to.

Even if they did not rebel, they would eventually be charged with banditry. After all, attacking civilians was unsuccessful, but attacking bandits was different.

Although Chongzhen was the emperor, it did not mean that he was completely ignorant of the moral character of his subordinates.

But if the army is not deployed, what if there is a real civil uprising?
But can you handle it with the silver-plated spear tips of the Nanjing Jinyiwei?

As for compromise, recalling Wei Zhongxian or letting him adopt a more moderate way to collect taxes. If he were in the 17th year of Chongzhen, he might be able to compromise within a certain limit for the sake of Ming Dynasty.

But now His Majesty Chongzhen is young and frivolous, at his hardest and strongest!
What’s more, Wei Zhongxian had just fed Emperor Chongzhen a pill of sildenafil and earned three hundred thousand taels in less than a month!

Jiangnan now is like a shining gold, waiting for Chongzhen to pick it up. Should we give in at this time?
I'm afraid the gentry in Jiangnan are dreaming!

"Brother is right. Jiangnan is really rich! By the way, why don't you talk to brother..."

Chongzhen suddenly smiled and raised his head and said, "Big Ban, let's leave the palace!"

A line of carriages slowly drove out of the Meridian Gate and headed straight to the outside of the You'an Gate in the night.

Soon, Chongzhen knocked on the door of Wangji Herbal Medicine Shop.

But when the door opened, the face that appeared in front of Chongzhen was not Wang An's, but a little girl of about thirteen or fourteen.

"Oh, isn't this Xiaowu?" Chongzhen recognized the person in front of him, smiled and reached out to touch the other's little head.

He only stretched out his hand halfway when he froze in shock.

He saw Xiaowu wearing only a set of underwear, looking up at him.

Perhaps because of poverty, the body, which had already taken shape, was not equipped with any equipment such as a bellyband, and some unidentified objects could be vaguely seen protruding slightly in the cold wind.

Chongzhen quickly turned his head away, thinking that his brother had also fallen, and asked, "Where is my brother?"

Xiao Wu also recognized that the person in front of him was the boss's cousin, and hurriedly turned around and ran into the backyard to greet Wang An.

Chongzhen walked into the shop by himself and sat down at the Eight Immortals Table.

After a while, Wang An, who was also wearing undergarments but a coat, came out happily and gave Chongzhen a big hug as soon as they met.

In just the moment of the hug, Chongzhen smelled the fragrance of a young girl from Wang An.

He couldn't help but frown and persuaded, "I have often heard doctors say that if a woman gets pregnant at a young age, it is not only bad for her health, but also very dangerous for the baby and herself. Since you run a herbal medicine shop, you naturally understand this."

"Ah? That's right!" Wang An agreed, "So I always remind the neighbors not to rush children into marriage at the age of thirteen or fourteen, but it's a pity that these ignorant guys just don't listen."

Wang An looked at Chongzhen with admiration. He never expected that his cousin had quite some medical knowledge!
Thinking of this, he reached out and pulled Chongzhen to sit down again.

Chongzhen sighed and thought to himself: This man’s mouth!
You clearly said at the beginning that you took me in just because you felt sorry for me, but after only a few days you're already greedy for my body?
At least wait until you are older, what fun is there at such a young age...

Does Wang An have any hobbies?

Well, there are a few pretty young maids in the palace. Would you like to do me a favor?
But before Chongzhen could make a decision, Wang Anxian excitedly grabbed his hand and said, "My dear brother! I have a big business here, how about giving you a share?"

As he spoke, Wang An began to talk about the Zhou family freight yard outside Baimajing and Zhou Jian's intention to sell the coal mine.

Finally, he pointed to the honeycomb coal still burning in the coal stove and said confidently: "You have been here several times, and you have experienced this honeycomb coal. If it can be put into production, it will definitely be popular in the capital!"

"Think about it, the population of the capital is one million. Even if each person only buys one piece of honeycomb coal a day, that's one million yuan! If we make one big dollar from one piece of honeycomb coal, that's a full one thousand taels!"

"What about one month, two months, or even a year later?"

(End of this chapter)