, led Jiannu to intercept Fan Yongdou's transportation team.

Anyway, Jiannu is the one who takes the blame, leaving Fan Yongdou to argue with Jiannu.

…

Yang Chen received another summons from Cheng Shijie. This time it was not only Yang Chen who was summoned by Cheng Shijie, but also Gu Shizhang and others from Huizhou merchants, as well as Fan Yongdou.

The location of the summons was the No. 1 Salt Factory in Liaonan and the refining workshop of the No. 1 Salt Factory in Liaonan.

In the refining workshop, a young and strong salt worker first placed buckets of salt in the drying room to dry the water, and then poured the dried salt into the mill for grinding.

The donkey pulled the grinder in circles, and the salt grains crunched and shattered, turning into snow-white salt powder. The ground salt powder was then sent to the packaging area in buckets.

Cheng Shijie, along with more than a dozen representatives of Huizhou merchants, as well as Fan Yongdou and others, watched hundreds of women. They quickly packed salt powder into moisture-proof mulberry paper bags and weighed each bag on a scale.

Two kilograms, then sealed.

"Everyone, try the tribute salt here!"

"Tribute salt?"

Cheng Shijie originally planned to destroy the salt merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and he would definitely not end up personally. Anyway, he and Gao Qiqian were in a relationship of mutual use. Cheng Shijie had fed Gao Qiqian for so long, so it was time for him to contribute.

When Cheng Shijie delivered this beautifully packaged salt to Gao Qiqian, Cheng Shijie didn't even need to ask. Gao Qiqian gave Cheng Shijie an imperial letter written by Emperor Chongzhen: "Royal Tribute Salt!" with four big characters and four outlines.

Salt lead.

This is the government-issued salt certificate. Each certificate is worth 200,000 salt certificates, and each salt certificate is worth 300 kilograms of salt. Now Cheng Shijie has a legal salt certificate of 800,000 salt certificates, which is equivalent to 120,000 tons of salt.

In the Ming Dynasty, salt was actually a substitute for silver and also a hard currency. Each salt was equivalent to six cents and four cents of salt, which was the nest capital. The 800,000 salt was equivalent to 510,000

Two thousand taels of silver.

Although Gao Qiqian did not come to Liaonan, he sent his confidants here. His intention was to gain benefits.

How could Cheng Shijie not know the truth behind this?

Gao Qiqian wanted benefits, but if Cheng Shijie didn't give them, he would immediately fall out. Considering that he also needed someone to take the blame, he would become a target for Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants.

When Cheng Shijie held this meeting, he asked the eunuch named Wang Muzhi to dress up as a young man in green clothes and follow him to attend the meeting.

Gu Shizhang did not dare to come forward, but asked an old man to come forward. The old Hui merchant picked up a bag of salt, dipped a little of it with his finger and put it in his mouth. He tasted it for a long time and said: "There is no astringency at all, even better than Zigong."

Well salt tastes pretty good!”

Another Huizhou merchant nodded and said: "The royal tribute salt is indeed well-deserved. Good salt, good salt!"

Cheng Shijie explained: "This is called iodized salt, and a little... trade secrets are added to it. All you need to know is that if people lack iodine, they will get sick. The big neck disease you have also seen is a typical symptom of iodine deficiency.

Eating this kind of salt not only has no bitter taste, but also ensures that you will get sick less often!"

"I wonder how much a bag of salt like this costs?"

Cheng Shijie said: "Each pack is two kilograms, because it is added... so it is more expensive than ordinary salt, thirty cents per pack!"

"What?"

"Only thirty cents?"

"Nowadays, even sea salt that is too bitter to swallow is sold for more than ten cents a pound! Mr. Cheng, you sell it so cheaply, are you not afraid of losing money?"

The imperial court priced salt at six cents and four cents of silver, which was the official price. Salt was only two cents per catty. This was actually not expensive. However, the problem was that because salt was monopolized, salt merchants increased their prices by five or six times, or even

More than ten times.

This money was naturally contributed by ordinary people, which made the salt merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang rich.

Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "How can I do a loss-making business?"

The thing about salt is to make small profits but quick turnover. The cost of a bag of salt is about two cents. If you sell it for thirty cents, you will make a net profit of twenty-eight cents. This is the huge profit of salt. The salt you get from Gao Qiqian is worth fifty cents.

Twelve thousand taels of silver, in Cheng Shijie's hands, turned into 3.6 million taels of silver.

Although the iodized salt Cheng Shijie mentioned is actually drying the kelp, grinding it into powder, adding it to salt water and mixing it.

Of course, these thirty cents are just the wholesale price for Huizhou merchants. As for how Huizhou merchants will compete with Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants after they get the salt, this is not Cheng Shijie's concern.

Seeing the quality of Cheng Shijie's refined salt, these Hui merchants made their decisions one after another and signed contracts. In just one day, 800,000 pieces of salt were sold for 600,000 taels of silver.

According to the agreement, they can't sell salt in the Liaodong area controlled by Cheng Shijie. Even if they want to sell it, it's useless. The salt Cheng Shijie sold to Ning Haijun soldiers and their families was openly discounted by half, which is fifteen cents per pack, which is equivalent to

Seven cents and a half a pound.

Under such circumstances, they couldn't sell the salt in Liaonan, so who would buy it? Ordinary military families and households would sell a small amount of salt to them to make a little money.

…

"Mr. Bao, how much does this tribute salt cost?"

Fan Yongdou also signed an agreement with Cheng Shijie, but he only bought 6,000 taels of salt because he wanted to create a monopoly on the salt merchants who built slaves. Shanxi actually produced salt, but it was well salt and some was lake salt.

Bao Cheng first dipped his finger in it and put it in his mouth.

His eyes suddenly lit up: "Good salt, good salt!"

Fan Yongdou said: "This is the tribute salt I obtained from the capital through special means. It is produced in Sichuan!"

"Zigong well salt?"

"That's right, there are also good things in it. You won't get sick if you eat it!"

"Then...in that case, one pack!"

Bao Cheng first weighed the weight: "Why do you need three or four silver coins?"

Fan Yongdou thought he was evil, but he didn't expect that Bao Chengxian was even more evil and directly increased the price more than ten times, so that each kilogram of salt was equivalent to two hundred Wen.

"this……"

Fan Yongdou didn't dare to trick Huang Taiji too much, because Huang Taiji had the knife, and if he angered Huang Taiji, his life would not be safe.

Bao Chengxian said: "Shopkeeper Fan, you can't be too greedy. Eight hundred coins can't be more. If it's more, it will be difficult to explain!"

"Okay, 30% of it is you!"

"Only 30%?"

"Then...three and a half percent!"

"Fifty-five!"

In Cheng Shijie's General Military Mansion, Ning Haijun's recruitment work is coming to an end. Cheng Shijie is planning to recruit 8,000 men and horses. However, with the arrival of Fan Yongdou, he has 6,000 good horses in hand, so it is imperative to expand the cavalry.

Cheng Shijie looked at General Ning Haijun and said, "As you all know, I recruited more than 12,000 new soldiers a while ago."

Zhou Yandong said: "Isn't it too much? According to current standards, including military pay, food, clothing, and weapon consumption, it would cost at least thirty taels of silver to raise a soldier a year. This does not include cavalry training.

In terms of cost, cavalry is even more expensive. Our current military expenditure is more than 100,000 taels of silver per month!"

Shen Mingyu asked: "How does the commander expand his army?"

Shen Mingyu has never thought about how to raise troops. Anyway, this problem is not his concern. What he needs to worry about is training the troops well so that they can be sent out to fight anytime and anywhere.

Cheng Shijie pondered: "The best unit to expand is the cavalry unit. We will soon obtain 6,000 war horses. We cannot let these horses have cubs. The left and right divisions will each add a cavalry bureau. The strength of each division will increase to

More than 7,600 troops."

Chang Yu and Shen Ming met with great joy.

Cheng Shijie continued: "When the newly purchased war horses are in place, the cavalry force will be expanded to the Cavalry Division. The Cavalry Division will govern the first to fifth generals, totaling more than 6,000 troops!"

Zhao Wencai also showed joy: "It is good to expand the cavalry, but I am afraid that it will be difficult to recruit them!"

"This is easy to handle. A large number of refugees from Henan have come to our southern Liaoning!"

Cheng Shijie looked at Zhao Wencai and said: "Henan is a major province of horse administration in the Ming Dynasty. There are no fewer people who can ride horses than Datong, Yulin and other border areas. You will lead the cavalry. I will give you four thousand horses. How many troops can you recruit?"

It all depends on your ability!"

"Thank you, Marshal!"

"no need to thank me!"

Cheng Shijie looked at the generals and said: "My principle is to do as big a thing as you are capable. Now that we occupy the four states in southern Liaoning, Jiannu will definitely not sit back and watch us develop southern Liaoning. The war is coming, and everyone must take action."

The strings in my heart are tense!"

"It's the handsome man!"

"On the basis of our Ning Haijun's Left and Right Command Divisions, the Ning Hai Navy Guards Division will be established as the commander-in-chief's Chinese military force."

Although Ning Haijun currently has more than 3,000 troops, the problem is that letting the Military Supervision and Road Administration Department be responsible for his security work is not a long-term solution.

"Commander..."

Cheng Shijie looked at the generals and said: "This is the temporary expansion of the army. Don't be too greedy. I only have so much money in hand and I can't afford to raise so many soldiers!"

Zhou Yandong said: "If we reduce the salary, we can still expand the two capital divisions..."

"Hmph, cut the benefits! Then what kind of combat effectiveness do these expanded soldiers have?"

"Just cut it a little bit..."

Cheng Shijie solemnly said: "Not at all! I am not worried about poverty but inequality. I don't want to be wiped out by a group of psychologically unbalanced soldiers on the battlefield!"
Chapter completed!