Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 286 Impact! (3k)

There was a vast expanse of white between heaven and earth.

However, the road to Mizhi is busy with traffic.

With a worried look on his face, Xu Lixin pushed aside the thick vehicles and looked outside. He saw some huge ox carts covered with thick waterproof cloth, which were filled with unknown things.

There are actually quite a few similar vehicles, and the closer you get to Mizhi, the more of these vehicles there are.

Xu Lixin keenly noticed the black particles dropped on the road, asked the driver to stop the car by the roadside, picked it up and looked at it for a while. He recognized what it was: coal!

Xu Lixin frowned. These vehicles all came from Mizhi. Could it be that Mizhi had a lot of coal?

But he did not come here for coal, but was forced to come.

The most important caravan under his command, along with the shopkeeper and his clerks, were seized by the Fuyan Road Army, and the Fuyan Road Army handed him a letter asking him to come here to rescue people.

Xu Lixin was a private salt dealer with a wide range of contacts. He not only sold Xixia's blue and white salt, but also Shanxi's Jie salt.

He transported Shanxi Jie salt from Shanxi to the northwest for sale, and when he returned, his truck was not empty, but he brought back blue and white salt.

Because salt tastes bitter, people in the mainland with good living conditions are not willing to eat it. Therefore, Qingbai salt can be sold at a high price in the mainland, and he can be said to have done all the business.

Xu Lixin's face was full of worry, but he was not too worried about his life. The private salt dealer certainly had reasons to die, but it was not the first time that he had encountered the army detaining people. It was nothing more than asking for money.

Oh, I might bleed heavily again!
It's not that he doesn't have people from the army on the Fuyan Road side, and the offerings are always very adequate. I just don't know why, this time they actually seized the entire convoy.

After entering Fuyan Road, Xu Lixin found out that there was a new governor-general in Fuyan Road. This governor-general had won a great victory and was said to be vigorously reforming the army recently. He thought that his original relationship had been taken down.

What does this mean? It means that the new governor is going to strike another blow at the neck of the smugglers of salt.

However, Xu Lixin believed that he was not the only one who was forced to come here; other smugglers of salt would certainly not be able to escape either.

Sure enough, when he arrived at Mizhi and stayed there, he saw several familiar faces.

As soon as Xu Lixin got off the car, someone shouted, "Old Xu, you old wolf, your team has also been detained, right?"

Xu Lixin took one look and immediately laughed and scolded, "Hey, Lao Ding, Lao Du, Lao Wang, you old thieves are all here, why are you here?"

Old Ding sneered and said, "It's just like you. From the shopkeeper to the clerk, all have had their money confiscated. You're here to accept the punishment. Hey, Old Xu, you must bring enough silver. You can't settle this matter without spending a lot of money this time."

Xu Lixin snorted and said, "As long as we can keep this road, a little blood loss is nothing. I'm afraid that if the road is blocked, that would be a disaster."

Old Wang smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. Young General Su is not an unreasonable person. He knows that although we have a bad reputation, we have also made contributions to the court. He won't kill us all, right?"

His so-called contribution was that when the Song Dynasty banned Xixia blue and white salt several times, they transported salt from Shaanxi. Of course, the court did not ask them to make contributions for free, they did provide subsidies, but the court really recognized their contributions.

Xu Lixin immediately grasped the point and asked, "What kind of person is Mr. Su? Do you seem to know something about him?"

Old Du, who had been silent the whole time, smiled and said, "I have some understanding of this. I won't go into detail about Mr. Su's other great achievements. I will only talk about the similarities between Mr. Su and us businessmen.

In addition to being a master of classics, a top scholar, and the governor of the Northwest, this man also made great achievements in business.

When he was in Huangzhou, he used a poem "Linjiangxian" to revive a restaurant, turning this small riverside restaurant named Linjianglou into a famous restaurant on the Yangtze River.

After he arrived in Bian Jing, he started a small business selling egg-filled pancakes, and now this business earns at least hundreds of thousands of strings of cash a year.

Later, he built a cave underground to grow vegetables in the winter, which brought in at least several million strings of cash each year.

It can be said that this person is the best businessman among businessmen. Anyway, I, Old Du, have been selling illegal salt for decades, but my wealth is still not as good as what others can afford.

Oh, yes, I mean, this person has been in business, so he can understand the difficulties we have as businessmen, and perhaps he will be able to understand. "

Xu Lixin was quite familiar with this Old Du. He was the Du of Jingji, and behind him was the Du family of Kaifeng. It was normal for him to know these things.

Xu Lixin nodded and said, "Then why did he seize our convoy this time? Why? Is it because he wants to set new rules for us?"

Lao Du smiled and said, "That's not clear, but it may not be a bad thing. Let's see."

As they were talking, a young man in brocade clothes came over with a few followers, bowed and asked, "Are you the bosses of the salt business?" Several people hurriedly bowed and greeted. Xu Lixin asked, "We are here on the orders of General Xu of Mizhi. I am Xu Lixin. What is your name?"

The young man in brocade clothes smiled and said, "My name is Cai Fenghui. I asked General Xu to invite you all here because I have something to discuss with you. Please come in."

He walked in front and several people quickly followed.

The young man in brocade clothes, Cai Fenghui, led a few people into a rather spacious house in Mizhi Village. There were many people inside. Although they were dressed in civilian clothes, they were all quite capable. They did not look like ordinary people. Instead, they looked like some shrewd shopkeepers. However, most of them were young and promising.

Cai Fenghui led everyone into the hall, asked them to take a seat, and ordered someone to serve tea. Then he sat down in the middle and said, "I have to tell you that I am Cai Fenghui, the steward of the young scholar Su. I am not saying this to overpower you, but to let you know what is going on so that you don't think I am deceiving you."

When these words were spoken, Xu Lixin and others were all shocked.

The so-called seventh-rank officials in front of the prime minister may be wealthy, but that is nothing in front of the housekeeper of a Hanlin scholar. If the other party really wants to deal with them, it may only take a word.

Everyone was getting restless and wanted to stand up. Cai Feng smiled and said, "Please sit down, everyone. I asked you all to come here today because I have something to ask of you. I just wanted to ask General Xu to help tell you, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this.

The managers and clerks of your respective caravans are all fine. After we finish talking, you can take them away."

Everyone quickly stood up to thank him, but they paid close attention to what he said, something like he would take people away after the talk and so on. It probably depends on the outcome of the talk. If the talk goes well, he can naturally take people away. If it doesn't go well, then...

After all, no one was sure.

Cai Feng replied, "Let's get straight to the point. Come on, bring the things up."

As soon as these words were spoken, a man came in carrying a plate with a few dishes of snow-white granular substances on the plate. They knew what those things were without even looking at them. They had been dealing with these things all their lives, so they were naturally very familiar with them.

The servant put a dish of salt on the table next to where they were sitting and then went away.

Xu Lixin and others were confused and looked at Cai Fenghui.

Cai Feng smiled and said, "Everyone, take a look at this salt."

Xu Lixin pretended to take a look at it, and then said: "This salt should be blue-white salt, the color is as bright as the moon, without any impurities, it is the best salt!"

Cai Feng looked back at the others and said with a smile, "Don't you want to try it?"

Hearing this, Lao Ding and the others quickly licked their index fingers, dipped them into the dish, and then put them in their mouths and sucked on them, with a look of aftertaste on their faces.

Cai Feng replied: "What do you think?"

Lao Ding and his companions all said it was good, but they were somewhat puzzled. Clear and white salt was naturally good, but why did they do this?
Who doesn’t know that white salt is good?
The official price of salt is 45 wen per catty. When this blue-white salt is transported to the inland areas, it costs 100 wen per catty and rich families are scrambling to buy it. It can be sold at more than double the price!

There is no other reason. This white salt has no impurities. When you put it in cooking, it will not taste bitter or have any other taste. This is its great benefit.

Some wealthy families even eat fruit with a dish of blue and white salt as a dipping sauce, which is a tradition only among wealthy families.

Cai Fenghui saw the expressions of the people and said with a smile: "This is not blue-white salt, this is the rock salt produced in Mizhi!"

"What!" Xu Lixin stood up suddenly after hearing that.

The others also looked at each other.

After a brief moment of shock, their business acumen immediately emerged.

The emergence of good salt in Mizhi that is of comparable quality to that of blue and white salt, is this a good thing or a bad thing?
To be honest, blue and white salt has its advantages and disadvantages, and the advantages and disadvantages are also interchangeable.

For example, the supply of Qingbai salt is extremely unstable. It can be bought from the market on weekdays, but once there is any slight friction between Song and Xia, the market will be closed immediately, which causes unstable supply.

But this unstable supply is not a bad thing for them, because after decades of operation, they already have many channels to get goods from the Xixia people, but they can sell them at a higher price.

——After all, we’re at war, and it’s not easy to get the goods!
Qingbai salt is of high quality and low price. In order to sell Qingbai salt, the Xixia people charged a relatively low price, even lower than Jie salt.

Of course, this is the purchase price. Once you get the goods, the selling price will not be a low price.

Therefore, for them, blue and white salt actually has no major disadvantages, but many advantages.

On the contrary, the emergence of this rock salt seems to have a major impact on their business!
Cai Fenghui called them here today, presumably to ask them to do the rock salt business. However, it seems that there are not many benefits for them!
(End of this chapter)