Travel back in time and become Chongzhen, watch me turn the tide

"Don't let her run away!" Dozens of men who looked like servants rushed over with sticks in their hands, shouting menacingly, and broke into the wedding procession like a whirlwind.

Each of these men was agile and quick, clearly well-trained, having clearly engaged in numerous pursuits and captures. Like wolves among a flock of sheep, they instantly plunged the entire procession into chaos.

"Who the hell is blind enough to dare to barge into the Third Master's wedding procession!" Someone in the procession shouted loudly, with a hint of anger in his voice.

"The eldest young master of the Wang family is doing something, so your damn third master should get away!" One of the servants shouted rudely, his tone full of arrogance and disdain.

"So it's Young Master Wang. Um... if there's anything you need, I can help you," said a thin man in the wedding procession, his face immediately filled with an ingratiating smile, nodding and bowing. His eyes revealed a hint of fear, obviously knowing that the other party was of great importance and not daring to offend easily.

"Hmph!" The speaker was a burly middle-aged man. He stood in front of the group of servants, looking like a majestic lion. He seemed to be their leader. He snorted coldly, his eyes revealing a sense of majesty. He said, "You came from Wang Po's place, did you bring anyone with you?"

"This... How is this possible?" the thin man said hurriedly, a hint of panic on his face, but he still pretended to be calm. "The people here have always been following me. I can tell at a glance whether there are many people or not..."

"Third Master, one of the cooks was sick today, so we temporarily replaced her," someone in the wedding procession reminded the thin man in a low voice.

"What? Who is it?" The Third Master was startled, his face instantly turning pale, and he asked hurriedly. His voice was trembling, obviously realizing that something might be wrong.

"Xiaoying's mother was sick, so Xiaoying found a relative to take her place, so we didn't take it seriously..." the man said hurriedly, his voice a little weak.

"Where is that person? Take me to find him!" The head of the servants said coldly, without a trace of emotion in his voice, as if he was giving an order that could not be disobeyed.

"Go quickly!" The third master saw that his subordinate was still looking at him hesitantly, and kicked him angrily, saying in a hurry.

He was now extremely anxious, sweat dripping down his forehead. He knew that although his reputation as the Third Master held some prestige in this area, the servants before him were not ones he could easily provoke. They were the servants of Wang Cong, the eldest son of the Puzhou Wang family, one of the largest salt merchants in Lianghuai.

The rise of the Lianghuai salt merchants was closely tied to the Ming Dynasty's salt industry policies. In the early Ming Dynasty, to defend against nomadic tribes from the north, nine important border towns were established along the Great Wall. These garrisons were massive, and supplying them was difficult. To address this, the Ming government implemented the "Kaizhong System," allowing merchants to pay grain to the border towns' warehouses in exchange for licenses ("salt permits") to sell official salt.

Merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi seized this golden opportunity, continuously transporting grain and other supplies from the inland areas to border towns, exchanging them for salt permits, which they then collected and sold at designated salt fields. The Wang family of Puzhou, for example, accumulated initial capital by paying rice to the Datong and Taiyuan warehouses in exchange for salt permits, then traveled south to the Lianghuai Salt Fields in Yangzhou to collect salt. This allowed them to gradually become wealthy salt merchants.

When the Kaizhong Law was implemented in the early Ming Dynasty, Shaanxi and Shanxi merchants, due to their proximity to the "Nine Frontiers," quickly rose to prominence thanks to the lucrative salt trade. However, after the Kaizhong Law was abolished in the mid-Ming Dynasty, salt production became primarily concentrated in the Huaibei and Huainan regions, with Yangzhou as the distribution center. Huizhou merchants, owing to their geographical advantages, began to prosper.

When the Kaizhong system was replaced by the Zhese system, with the imperial court directly allocating silver to border posts instead of using salt vouchers to pay grain and salaries, Shanxi and Shaanxi salt merchants flocked to Yangzhou. To compete with the Huizhou merchants, Shaanxi and Shanxi merchants, who shared similar regional customs and practices, often joined forces. The "Shanxi and Shaanxi Guild Halls" spread throughout China were a product of this "Qin-Jin friendship."

The largest number of Lianghuai salt merchants in Yangzhou came from Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Anhui provinces. Yan Shifan, son of Yan Song, a powerful official during the Jiajing reign, once observed, "A wealthy family in the world, one with accumulated wealth exceeding 500,000 yuan, is considered the most wealthy." According to him, only seventeen families in the entire country could qualify as "the most wealthy," including "three from Shanxi and two from Huizhou."

The three most common surnames in Shanxi are the Liang family of Sanyuan, and the Zhang and Wang families of Puzhou. The Zhang and Wang families were both officials and businessmen, and most of them had deep official backgrounds thanks to complex family marriages.

The second son of Wang Yao, the ancestor of the Wang family, Wang Chongyi, was a salt merchant, and the third son, Wang Chonggu, was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing. He served as the director of the Ministry of Justice, the Shaanxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, the Henan Provincial Governor, the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and the Governor-General of Xuanda.

Wang Chonggu's eldest sister married Shen Jiang, the son of Shen Tingzhen, a salt merchant residing in Puzhou. His second sister married Zhang Yunling, also a Puzhou salt merchant. Zhang Yunling's son, Zhang Siwei, served as Prime Minister during the Wanli reign. Zhang Siwei's brother, Zhang Sijiao, was one of the leading salt merchants in the Hedong and Changlu salt regions.

This complex relationship makes the Wang family very respected among the Lianghuai salt merchants. Although the Wang family is not as strong as before, it is definitely not someone that a local tyrant like the Third Master can easily provoke.

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion in the wedding procession, and two figures rushed out of the crowd like rabbits and ran towards Chongzhen and others. Chongzhen saw this and subconsciously looked over, but they were two young women.

"Chase them!" The leader of the servants waved his hand, and dozens of people immediately chased after them like hungry wolves pouncing on their prey.

"Ouch!" The two figures had just run to Chongzhen's side when suddenly their bodies tilted and both fell to the ground.

"Wan'er, what's wrong with you?" one of the women asked anxiously.

"Xiaoying, I accidentally sprained my ankle..." The woman called Wan'er sighed helplessly and said, "I'm sorry for getting you into trouble..." Her eyes were full of guilt and helplessness.

"Miss, is it serious?" Chongzhen hesitated for a moment, but still asked out of concern.

"No...it's okay!" The woman turned her head to look at the servant who was chasing her, and a look of despair instantly appeared on her face, as if she saw the end of the world.

Chongzhen took a closer look. The woman was in her twenties. Although her face was smeared with black ash, her beautiful features could still be seen. The areas of her neck that were not covered with black ash revealed her fair and tender skin, like mutton-fat jade. It was obvious that even in this miserable state, this woman still had a beautiful face.

As they were talking, the dozen or so servants had already caught up. Not only did they surround the two women, but because Chongzhen had just had a conversation with Wan'er, they also surrounded them.

"Run! Let's see where you can run to!" At this time, the head servant had already come close. He said to Wan'er viciously, his eyes full of anger and pride.

"Wang Fu, it's all my fault. Don't make things difficult for Xiaoying!" Wan'er had tried to calm down at this time. She looked at the head servant with a hint of pleading in her tone.

"Humph! Difficult? Hahaha," Wang Fu laughed, his laughter full of sarcasm, "Since she dared to help you escape, she must be prepared to be punished. I will let her know the consequences of daring to help you..."

"You!" Wan'er pointed at Wang Fu, trembling with anger. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Her eyes flashed with anger, but also filled with helplessness.

"Let's see if you dare to run away again," Wang Fu said coldly, his eyes revealing a fierceness. "I'll also let others know what will happen if they dare to help you!"

"Please, I won't run away again, okay?" Wan'er struggled to stand up, tears in her eyes, and begged bitterly. Her voice was full of despair and helplessness, which made people feel pity.

"It's too late!" Wang Fu shouted, "Take them all away!" His voice was like thunder, exploding in the air.

"Wait!" At this moment, Chongzhen couldn't help but speak. His voice was not loud, but full of determination and majesty.

"Who are you? Why, you want to meddle in our affairs?" Wang Fu was stunned. He turned his head to look at Chongzhen and asked coldly, his eyes full of vigilance and disdain. "Do you know who I am?"

"I'm not interested in who you are. I just want to know what this girl has done wrong. Why do you want to take her away?" Chongzhen frowned and looked at Wang Fu firmly, with no intention of backing down.

"Hey, the sun is rising from the west. There are still people in Yangzhou who dare to control my Puzhou Wang family." Wang Fu looked at Chongzhen and laughed, a hint of sarcasm on his face. He said with a smile, "Are you sure you want to control it?"

His tone was full of provocation, as if he was waiting for Chongzhen to back down.

"What if I intervene?" Chongzhen responded fearlessly, his eyes revealing a firm determination. He slowly straightened his body, like an unshakable mountain.

"Haha, I haven't met such a courageous person in many years. Since you want to intervene, don't blame me for being rude." Wang Fu had a sinister smile on his face, a fierce look in his eyes, and shouted, "Hit him!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the group of servants pounced on Chongzhen like wolves...