Tea Merchants of the Song Dynasty

Yan Li's words were like a thunderbolt hitting the people present. They seemed to realize at this moment that Yan Li was an official and they were businessmen.

Since ancient times, the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans have been divided into two groups: scholars at the front and merchants at the end.

The people do not fight against the officials, even those from aristocratic families like theirs are unaffected.

Shen Gan's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Yan Chajian, you are too harsh. That is not what I meant."

Even if he had been unbridled before, he could not bear the responsibility of going against the government's wishes.

"Hmph~" Yan Li swung his sleeves and said coldly, "You guys go now. I won't let you go until the truth is revealed!"

Yan Li drove them away, unwilling to talk to them any more. It seemed as if he was irritated by them.

Shen Gan stood there, not knowing whether to sit or stand. He exchanged glances with Hu Quan and Chen Meng, wanting to see what they would say.

After a while, Hu Quan stood up and bowed to Yan Li. He said with a gloomy look, "In that case, we will leave first. I hope that Yan Tea Supervisor can enforce the law impartially and not let anyone go before the truth is found out."

After saying this, he glanced at Jiang Yin meaningfully, as if these words were meant specifically for Jiang Yin.

Yan Li ignored his gaze, sat upright, and said calmly, "Of course, Master Hu, just go ahead and rest assured."

Who should be released? There is no one in the prison that Jiang Yin wants to release.

Jiang Yin almost laughed out loud when she heard that. She couldn't tolerate any grain of sand in her eyes.

"What are you laughing at?" Hu Quan asked with a gloomy face and gritted teeth.

Jiang Yin's expression became serious, and he pretended to be serious and said, "Don't worry, Master Hu. Although my Jiang family only has one tree doctor, Jiang Dewang, and although some of my clansmen are among those arrested, if they really have problems, I will not hesitate to kill my relatives for the sake of justice."

Not to mention whether the grievances can be cleared or not, just based on the behavior of those people that night, she will never accept these people again no matter what.

To put it cruelly, even if these people were exiled to the frontier or died in prison, it had nothing to do with her.

She didn't even recognize them as Jiang's members, so how could she be like these family heads who specially came here to embarrass Yan Li and ask him to release them.

"That's better." Hu Quan's mouth twitched slightly. He bowed to Yan Li again and then walked out the door. Shen Gan and Chen Meng followed closely behind.

After everyone left, Jiang Yin stood up and bowed solemnly to Yan Li, thanking him, "Thank you, Yan Chajian, for bringing the message. Otherwise, who knows what trouble they would have caused today."

Of course, she believed that Yan Li could handle them even if she didn't come.

Yan Li smiled and said, "Okay, let's leave it at that for now. Those people in your family are clamoring to see you, do you want to go meet them?"

He was still happy to do Jiang Yin a favor, it was just a matter of passing on a message.

Jiang Yin nodded and said, "See you. Thank you, Yan Tea Supervisor."

Since they wanted her to come so much, she would go and meet them. She wanted to see what other troubles these people could come up with.

Yan Li personally took her to the cell. When they passed an empty area, he suddenly tilted his head and lowered his voice and said, "Young Lady Jiang, you must be more careful. The Tea-Horse Market is such a big stall. Even if the government is generous, it is impossible to let others control its lifeline."

It’s just like the tea trees that were lost halfway up the Jiang family’s Liangfeng Tea Mountain this time. What was lost were not only tea trees, but also war horses.

The government will certainly find a way to resolve this uncertainty.

Under the whole world, could it be the king's land.

If the problem cannot be solved, it is not impossible to take this place away.

After all, a few days ago, Wang Shao, the governor-general stationed in Gansu, once again submitted a memorial asking the government for war horses.

Moreover, a large number of war horses were urgently needed to equip the cavalry and transport food and fodder.

Wang Shao fought against the Xixia and Jurchens in the Lintao area, and lost a lot of horses in the repeated battles with the nomads.

The war was still going on, and the war horse he wanted happened to be in the tea-picking season, so the government would definitely satisfy him.

This concerns the country and the people, the government cannot refuse and will only put pressure on Yan Li.

Yan Li had received a secret letter two days ago, asking him to speed up the roasting of Mengshan tea in exchange for more war horses.

Jiang Yin's pupils shrank slightly, and she lowered her eyes and said casually, "A few days ago, I heard that the tea grown by those individual farmers must also be confiscated by the government. Is this true?"

The original tea monopoly system, which was entirely government-owned, restricted large tea merchant families like the Four Families of Mengshan, rather than small tea growers.

Although the tea produced by individual tea farmers is not authentic Mengshan tea, 80% of it is sold to tea factories under the name of the Tea and Horse Agency.

But now everything has to be brought into the hands of the government, and there is something weird about this matter.

Yan Li nodded slightly and said, "Yes, the border is constantly at war, and a large number of war horses are urgently needed. The government has even issued a task far exceeding the previous number.

This task cannot be completed even if you collect all the Mengshan tea from the five peaks of Mengshan. So, I can only let the tea of ​​retail traders be confiscated by the government.

If these teas are mixed with Mengshan tea, there won’t be much difference.”

But only the tea grown by tea farmers near famous mountains could be mixed in. As for the others, it is absolutely unimaginable.

Jiang Yin's face darkened slightly as he asked, "According to what the tea supervisor said, how should our Jiang family deal with this?"

Being alone is also saving yourself.

According to Yan Li's reminder, the government seems to want to take over the Mengshan Wufeng Tea Mountain and make it the property of the imperial court.

Once the tea mountains are taken over by the imperial court, there will be no business for these big families.

Therefore, no matter what, we cannot let the government take away the tea mountains.

She took a deep breath and began to understand why her parents had not yet taught her about business.

Perhaps they had already guessed this result, and they didn't want her to be involved.

Therefore, the amount of tea that Jiang paid this year could only be more, not less. If he paid more, it would be fine, but if he paid less, it would certainly give the government an excuse to take advantage of the situation.

Yan Li curled his lips and said soothingly, "Miss Jiang, don't worry too much. As long as we deliver the Mengshan tea on time and in the right quantity this year, the government will have nothing to say.

You should be more careful and not let the other companies get you involved."

This means that other families in Mengshan are very likely to suffer this time.

Jiang Yin looked solemn, and bowed to Yan Li again, saying, "Thank you, Yan Tea Supervisor, for your guidance."

If it weren't for Yan Li's words today, she would not have been willing to believe that this was the government's plan.

It seems that no matter what, Huangshan Maofeng tea must be taken out.

But she didn't tell Yan Li about this for the time being. Everything had to wait for news from Si Niang.

Si Niang had already arrived in Yazhou yesterday evening, and set out from Yazhou to Huangshan early this morning.

When she left, she walked separately from the others, pretending to be relaxed, as if she was going on an outing to Yazhou. Most people would not notice anything unusual.