Forced to be a concubine, I went to my husband's place to become a wealthy merchant

In ancient times, teachers who could open their own private schools were generally famous scholars or retired officials. They had a certain reputation, so students would come to them to study. However, there were many people who would never pass the imperial examinations in their entire lives and wanted to make a living by being a teacher. So they could only teach ordinary people at home or find a cheap place.

Thinking of this, Ye Xi felt that she had gone too far. The most important thing to do now was to get out of the predicament. She had read these books recently, and she knew some things about taxes in this era, but this was not enough. Although Ah Shan sent a lot of information, it only said what kind of business most of the caravans in Hangzhou City did, where some caravans liked to settle, and so on. He couldn't tell which businesses were under Yang Jian.

After all, Ah Shan was weak and had no magical powers. Ye Xi knew that Yang Jian was doing silk business because of Pei Zhu, but the silk business was operated by Pei Zhu, who only distributed dividends and gave orders, but did not show up. Ye Xi had been curious about Yang Jian's background before. The Yang family was a famous wealthy businessman in Yangzhou. Yangzhou was backed by the Grand Canal. Yangzhou was not only a sea salt production area, but also a salt distribution center. Therefore, the rise and development of the Yang family were related to salt.

Salt has been controlled by the state since ancient times, but generally in terms of transportation and sales, there are official and private production systems. Private salt is also bought by officials and cannot be sold privately. Private salt is not something that anyone can do, only designated merchants can do it, and these merchants have close ties with the court.

Many common people who could not afford or were reluctant to buy official salt would buy private salt, or they would have to endure the pain of bland food. Therefore, the profit of selling private salt was high, and many people did not hesitate to take the risk. The private salt trade has been banned repeatedly, because most of the private salt trade was involved in it. As long as it was not too excessive, the government would turn a blind eye.

Now the development of the Yang family involves many fields, but Ye Xi believes that the Yang family cannot be involved in the private salt trade. After all, they can make salt, so they must have left some for private salt trading. Ye Xi wanted to collect evidence in this regard, but she still hesitated. She didn't want to do so unless it was absolutely necessary, because the crime of private salt trafficking was very serious in the Zhou Dynasty. If it was discovered and forced into a corner, Yang Jian would not be willing to kill her in order to protect himself. First of all, his family would not allow such a thing to happen. Besides, the Yang family has a deep foundation, so I believe that such evidence will not be easily left, nor will it be easily manipulated by others.

Therefore, the first thing Ye Xi thought of was to start with taxation. Although it might not pose much of a threat to the Yang family, as long as it could deal with Yang Jian, it would be enough.

Ye Xi thought so because she asked Ah Shan to find out about Yang Jian's family members. The Yang family was very famous in the Jiangnan area. Yang Jian was only the second son of the Yang family. According to the rules of the big family, only the eldest son could inherit the throne. This meant that Yang Jian had to separate from the family after his brother succeeded to the throne, and he could not get involved in the salt industry. This was why the Yang family wanted to get involved in multiple fields, because the salt industry belonged to the eldest son, but they could not ignore the lives of other sons, so they gave their sons capital to develop on their own.

Although Yang Jian's mother was the principal wife, she was only a concubine. The original principal wife died of illness and left behind a son, who is now the eldest son and his eldest brother. Although he is also a legitimate son, he is not the eldest son. Moreover, his mother gave birth to three younger brothers for him. It is conceivable how fierce the competition will be when the family is divided in the future.