Chapter 41 Trick
The people's lives have not yet reached the point where they cannot make ends meet, and they have even less desire to rebel. It is very difficult to incite ordinary people.

As for the stove owner, it is different.

The Ma Guoyong in front of him is the most powerful market merchant among the Huizhou merchants. Countless households rely on him for their livelihoods. It is not easy to incite them.

The so-called market merchants are a link in the division of labor in the salt profit chain, and are also the most powerful link.

Before the Salt Monopoly System, the Ming Dynasty implemented the Kaizhong System.

Merchants could exchange grain for a corresponding amount of salt permits by transporting grain to the border, and they were called border merchants.

Later, the imperial court changed it to allow salt permits to be purchased directly with silver, thus forming internal merchants, who were further divided into market merchants and transport merchants.

The market merchants are those who deal directly with the salt farmers at the salt fields and directly purchase the surplus salt from the salt farmers. At the same time, these market merchants generally have deep connections in official circles. Not only can they purchase salt directly, but they can also control salt permits through their interest relations with salt administration officials.

These people hoarded salt permits and then sold them to other salt merchants to make quick money, so they were also called hoarders.

He can be said to be the most powerful and wealthy person in the salt interest chain.

As for Wang Fuguang, he is a transporter responsible for selling salt to all parts of the country by water.

Although they are rich, to put it bluntly, they rely on Malaysia for their livelihood.

Because only Malaysia uses these salt merchants, they are the salt merchants that truly control the source.

It is precisely because Ma Guoyong is a real powerful figure among the salt merchants and has a complex network of interests in the court, so he is not afraid even if a father-in-law like Kou Shen gets angry.

He even said with a smile: "For the welfare of the people of Jiangnan, I have no choice but to resort to this last resort!"

Kou Shen tried his best to suppress his anger and asked, "Have you ever thought about the consequences? Who is Wei Zhongxian? Do you think a few cooks can force him to return to the capital in disgrace? Aren't you afraid that Wei Zhongxian will mobilize a large army to enter Suzhou, and then a tragedy will occur. You, Ma Guoyong, will be the sinner of the people of Jiangnan!"

"Hahaha!" Ma Guo laughed unscrupulously a few times and said, "Don't worry, Lord Kou. Since we are doing this, we have planned it carefully."

Wang Fuguang also echoed, "We have already investigated clearly that Wei Zhongxian only brought a few dozen Dongchang guards with him to Jiangnan this time, and there was no army following him. We are not going to fight against the court, but just want to drive Wei Zhongxian away for the people of Jiangnan."

Ma Guoyong also said, "We are here to see you, sir, but you don't need to do anything. As long as the three shifts of yamen runners from your Suzhou government office, Wuxian County, and Changshu County office do not move, leaving Wei Zhongxian without any soldiers to use. When he sees the people's indignation, he will naturally go back in disgrace, and this matter will be considered accomplished!"

Kou Shen's eyes were gloomy. "No soldiers available? Don't forget that Suzhou Guard has five thousand households, four of which are in Suzhou City!"

"Haha, Suzhou Wei is my native Suzhou. They will never follow Wei Zhongxian to harm their hometown. Even the Suzhou Wei commander's words will not work!" Ma Guoyong laughed when he heard this.

As soon as Kou Shen heard it, he knew that Ma Guoyong must have bribed the commander of Suzhou Guard in advance.

But it is indeed as Ma Guoyong said, the soldiers of Suzhou Guard are all locals, and their military equipment has been disused for a long time, so they have no ability to harm Suzhou.

Kou Shen was worried about the army entering Suzhou because he was afraid that Wei Zhongxian would mobilize foreign troops from other places. The foreign soldiers had no feelings for you, and once they entered the city, they would be eager to take advantage of the chaos to steal something.

As long as the military intervention is excluded, the only violent institutions in Suzhou are the Suzhou government office and the three shifts of yamen runners in Wu County and Changshu County, which are also located in Suzhou Prefecture, totaling several hundred people.

Although his fighting ability is not that good, at least he has a sword. He may not be able to fight against bandits and the Jiannu, but he is still good at dealing with ordinary people.

Although those kitchen owners came with great momentum, they were, after all, just ordinary people or even lowly people. They lost in terms of momentum when facing the government officials.

Therefore, Ma Guoyong and his two men must first communicate with Kou Shen and win Kou Shen's support to maximize the chances of success.

Kou Shen was suddenly caught in a dilemma. Deep down, he had no good feelings towards either Wei Zhongxian or these powerful and daring salt merchants.

If he had to choose which side to support in the past, he would choose the salt merchants.

Because Wei Zhongxian was truly lawless before, he was a disaster to the country and the people.

But this time, after Wei Zhongxian came to Suzhou, he talked to him several times, and frankly explained that he came to raise military funds for the court, and guaranteed that he would only target the rich and would not harm the common people.

So Kou Shen felt that Wei Zhongxian seemed a little different now, and during this period of time, Wei Zhongxian did not solicit bribes from officials and gentry, nor did he exploit the people, showing a strong sense of honesty and dedication.

So now he really doesn't know which side he should support, which is the best choice for the people of Suzhou.

"Lord Kou, what are you thinking about? We will take care of this matter anyway. You just need to keep your troops still. What else do you have to worry about?" Ma Guoyong urged.

After pondering for a long time, Kou Shen finally made up his mind. Since neither side was a good person, he would just let them fight each other.

Kou Shen looked at Ma Guoyong and said, "I can pretend that I know nothing, but if civilians are injured or killed, I will not remain indifferent!"

This was a warning to the two men to just force Wei Zhongxian away and not make things worse, otherwise Kou Shen would not sit idly by.

Ma Guoyong and Wang Fuguang just smiled, bowed to Kou Shen and assured him, "Don't worry, Lord Kou, we guarantee that those people will be absolutely unharmed. Even if there are some accidental injuries, I, Ma Guoyong, can guarantee that they will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives!"

"You'd better keep your word!" Kou Shen said as he picked up the teacup, meaning he was sending the guest away.

Ma Guoyong and the other man immediately stood up and said goodbye.

When the two men walked out of Kou Shen's courtyard, Wang Fuguang spat at the gate and cursed, "How dare you, a mere fifth-rank prefect, put on airs in front of us!"

After cursing, Wang Fuguang turned to Ma Guoyong and said, "Brother Ma, I heard that the current emperor intends to reuse the Donglin Party. We have supported this bunch of corrupt scholars from the Donglin Party for so many years, why don't we mobilize them to impeach Wei Zhongxian, but instead do something so dangerous? This may lead to a civil uprising if we are not careful!"

Ma Guoyong looked around and saw no one except his servants not far away. He snorted coldly, "These Donglin trash are not useful yet. The old generation was killed by Wei Zhongxian. The new generation is useless too. Take Qian Qianyi for example. He is only the Minister of Rites and his words don't carry much weight."

(End of this chapter)