I embezzled 100,000 taels at the beginning, and the empress begged me to be more greedy

Liu Mansion.

A servant hurried into the mansion, came to the guest room, knocked on the door and said, "Master, there is an emergency."

The door was pushed open.

Liu Sheng was having a feast with Li Yang.

Li Yang did not usually live in Yecheng like Liu Sheng. He had only been here for a few days, so Liu Sheng naturally treated him well.

"What is it?"

Liu Sheng was quite impatient.

"Looking for Master Li."

The servant looked uneasy.

"What's the matter?"

Li Yang put down his wine glass.

"Our Li family's people have been captured by the government!"

The servant said in panic.

"How can this be possible? Is this true?"

Li Yang's face was solemn and he held the wine glass tightly.

"Butler Hu was also arrested."

The servant added.

Li Yang was immediately furious, after all, Butler Hu was his right-hand man.

"Who is so bold as to arrest someone from the Li family?"

Liu Sheng shouted deliberately, but in fact, he already had the answer in his heart.

It must be the fearless Jiang Zuo.

"I heard that it was the Zhenbei Governor Jiang Zuo."

Hearing this, Li Yang was immediately furious and said, "He is so bold."

Liu Sheng, however, was just looking for fun and said, "Boss Li, I've already said that Jiang Zuo is not easy to deal with."

"In Yecheng, I'm afraid Jiang Zuo has the final say."

Li Yang's eyes were fierce.

Yecheng is the largest city in the northern border of Dayan, and most of the power of the Jiangnan families in the north is concentrated in the Yecheng area.

If the Jiangnan family continues to expand northward, Yecheng must not be lost.

"Tell me clearly what the matter is about."

Li Yang said again.

The servant said, "Someone was selling illegal salt in the market, and Steward Hu stepped forward to stop him, but Jiang Zuo ordered his men to arrest Steward Hu."

Hearing this reason, Li Yang became even angrier.

The sale of private salt has always been prohibited in Dayan.

Moreover, the salt and tea business is the economic lifeline of the Li family.

The Jiangzuo people did not prohibit the private salt dealers, but arrested the Li family members. What kind of intention was this?

"It's obvious that they want to go against my Li family!"

Li Yang said angrily.

Liu Sheng said calmly, "This Jiang Zuo really likes to meddle in other people's business. Humph, I've already suffered a loss. If he didn't have the Tiger Power Army by his side, he would have been buried underground long ago. How can he be so arrogant?"

"Tell Jiang Zuo to release them immediately, otherwise he will be in trouble."

Li Yang ordered.

Liu Sheng said, "Boss Li, I advise you not to deal with that man. He is very difficult to deal with and it is best to play dirty with him..."

After this month, Liu Sheng had developed an inexplicable fear of Jiangzuo and no longer dared to confront it head-on.

Li Yang was quite disdainful and said, "Send someone to the government office immediately and ask them to release him. Don't forget, I am the assistant of Jiangnan Salt and Tea, my position is no less than that of the governor of Zhenbei. How dare the people who arrested me not even say hello?"

Now, Li Yang was determined to teach Jiang Zuo a lesson.

……

In the Yamen.

Jiang Zuo invited the private salt dealer Huo Quan to discuss some things with him.

"You said you were from the Jizhou Salt Gang, why don't you have other colleagues around you?" Jiang Zuo asked.

Huo Quan said embarrassedly: "The leader of our salt gang was framed and imprisoned, and then exiled to the frontier. The other brothers are like me, drifting to various places, secretly selling salt for a living."

Jiang Zuo nodded slightly, finally understanding.

After all, in Dayan, private salt dealers are indeed illegal.

Not only that, the existence of private salt dealers also touched the interests of the Jiangnan Li family.

Because within the northern border, most of the salt trade is monopolized by the Li family.

Monopoly naturally generates high profits. The Li family set the price arbitrarily, driving up the price of salt. The people dared not to dry salt privately, and could only buy salt from the Li family at a high price.

Jiang Zuo understood the reason without Huo Quan's explanation and asked, "It shouldn't be like this. I remember that those who smuggled salt were not exiled to the frontier. Could it be because of the Li family?"

Huo Quan remained silent, and his ugly expression also told Jiang Zuo the answer.

In Jiangzuo's memory, the court's annual salt tax was not much, so there was not much significance in cracking down on private salt dealers.

Because of the Li family's monopoly and the privilege of tax exemption and low tax, the imperial court had no way of getting tax silver from these aristocratic families.

At this moment, Jiang Zuo suddenly had an idea in his mind.

If we issue an imperial decree to pacify the salt gangs in various places and make them a source of goods for the government, wouldn't that increase the financial revenue of the court?

Just now at the market, Jiang Zuo discovered that the quality of the salt in Huo Quan's hands was not low, and was even better than that on the market.

If we can recruit Huo Quan and let him provide salt for sale, we can break the monopoly of the Li family...

"I wonder how much stock your Salt Gang has left?"

Jiang Zuo asked.

Huo Quan asked in confusion: "What does your Excellency mean?"

Jiang Zuo said: "If you, the Salt Gang, can cooperate with the government and pay a tax, you can sell salt legally."

"really?"

Hearing this, Huo Quan immediately became interested.

Isn’t this Zhao’an?

But on second thought, Huo Quan didn't know whether Jiang Zuo's words were authoritative.

Lord Jiang seems to be the governor-general of Zhenbei and is not in charge of the salt trade. Can we trust his promise?

Jiang Zuo nodded and said, "It is absolutely true. I will report this to His Majesty. Don't worry. I need the support of your salt gang to overthrow the monopoly of the Jiangnan Li family."

If Anding County did not produce salt, Jiangzuo would have to do it themselves.

He now has basically all the supplies, but the only thing missing is this important necessity of life.

Today, the pricing power of salt is still in the hands of the Jiangnan Li family.

Hearing Jiang Zuo's words, Huo Quan also felt his heart surge. He had long hated the Jiangnan Li family.

Huo Quan said, "Don't worry, our salt gang's salt fields are still there, and we have a lot of stock. As long as I'm worried about the brothers, I will definitely supply you with salt. How much do you need?"

Jiang Zuo simply replied, "The more the better."

"Okay!" Huo Quan was quite excited.

At this time, Master Guo came in and reported: "Sir, the people from the Li family are here."

Expected.

"Let him in." Jiang Zuo said.

A moment later, a young man walked in and said directly, "Master Jiang, I am here on the orders of Master Li, the assistant of Jiangnan Salt and Tea Bureau. I heard that Master Jiang arrested the people of the Li family. I hope Master Jiang will release them immediately and not become an enemy of the Li family."

There was a hint of threat and intimidation in these words.

Become enemies with the Li family?

Hearing this, Jiang Zuo couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

The Liu family had already been scared into submission by Jiang Zuo, and now with the addition of the Li family, Jiang Zuo showed no fear at all.

Jiang Zuo remained silent. He took out a pen and ink, wrote a letter, and then handed it to the man, saying, "Give this letter to your master."

The man took the letter and returned to Li Yang with doubts.

"Master Li, this is Jiang Zuo's reply."

Li Yang frowned, opened the letter and saw three big words written on it.

"Fart."