Chapter 2209
After Dai Yingfan came into contact with the Jindun gang for a few days, he discovered that they were not actually heavenly soldiers and generals with three heads and six arms, but Han Chinese like himself. The difference was that they had all received extremely systematic military training, and many of them With varying degrees of actual combat experience, coupled with advanced weapons and equipment, their combat effectiveness is indeed far beyond that of ordinary martial arts bodyguards.
How are these people trained? Of course Dai Yingfan does not expect to steal teachers from Yuan Tao, otherwise there is no need to spend a lot of money to send people to Zhoushan for training. However, he felt that he had learned something from being able to observe up close how Yuan Tao assigned tasks, deployed defenses, and directed operations, and his admiration for Yuan Tao grew day by day.
"Shop Manager Yuan, now that this is over, are you willing to stay in Yangzhou? I have discussed it with my brother, and we are willing to pay 20,000 taels of silver every year to hire Shopkeeper Yuan as the head coach of the seven major surnames. In addition, we can also provide gifts outside Yangzhou City. A house serves as the local residence of Shopkeeper Yuan.”
After finally waiting for an opening, Dai Yingfan took the initiative to mention his plan to continue hiring Yuan Tao. This is different from the current employment method. Dai Yingfan hopes to hire Yuan Tao personally for his own use, rather than simply continuing the transaction with Jindun. Not only does he provide a well-paid position, but he also gives away a house. The conditions proposed are not It's not good.
The reason why the Dai family is willing to offer such high conditions is mainly due to Yuan Tao's ability. The Dai brothers are convinced that Yuan Tao's ability is enough to train a powerful force for the seven surnames, so that they will not have to spend a lot of money in the future. You can send people to Zhoushan for training. You can train as many people as you want. The conditions offered to Yuan Tao may seem expensive, but considering the actual results, it is actually a very cost-effective deal.
Of course, the Dai brothers also knew that Yuan Tao's status in Jindun was not low, and he was also a figure highly valued by Haihan's senior management. How could they leave Haihan easily, so they offered a high price as soon as they came up, hoping to impress them. Yuan Tao.
Yuan Tao was stunned for a moment, and then smiled and said: "Thanks to Boss Dai, Yuan doesn't have such great ability, he just tries his best to complete the task. Yuan can't afford the position of head coach of this team, so he should hire someone else." ! ”
Yuan Tao's reaction was not beyond Dai Yingfan's expectation. He didn't think that such a thing could hit it off immediately. If Yuan Tao was such a rash person, he might not be able to hold his current position.
Dai Yingfan continued to persuade: "Shopkeeper Yuan doesn't need to reply immediately. You might as well think about it slowly. If there are any conditions, you can also bring them up for discussion. Shopkeeper Yuan believes that we are fully sincere about this matter."
Yuan Tao declined politely: "I don't doubt Boss Dai's sincerity, but I'm afraid there is no need to discuss this matter. When your people return from Zhoushan, they can form and train their own militia. If you still feel powerful by then, If not, then just send him to Zhoushan for training.”
The conditions offered by Dai Yingfan are of course very generous, and the remuneration far exceeds Yuan Tao's current income level. But the question is, is it worth giving up your promising future just for this money? Yuan Tao obviously didn't think this was a good deal.
He is now the semicolon manager of Golden Shield. If he takes another crucial step up, he will be able to break through the ceiling and become a truly high-level figure. At that time, he might even be able to gain a wife and a son, which would benefit his descendants. The threshold for his own children to become officials in the future would be much lower. Even from an economic point of view, as long as you move up to another level, your income may not be worse than the price offered by the salt merchant.
And what can you gain by giving up your future in Haihan and working for a salt merchant? In the short term, the income will indeed increase a lot, but if you want to return to Haihan for development in the future, I'm afraid you will have to start all over again. Yuan Tao has now stepped into the privileged class of Haihan Kingdom. As long as he stays in Jindun, he will have the opportunity to move up. How can he be so short-sighted as to give up his bright future for money.
Dai Yingfan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed after hearing this answer, but he also knew that this kind of thing could not be forced. Anyway, he left a message here. If Yuan Tao's thoughts changed in the future, there might still be room for negotiation.
Yuan Tao's attention was not focused on these messy things at all. He was very clear about his mission and responsibilities in Yangzhou, and he also knew that the current situation was far from being optimistic. Although he successfully repelled a night attack by his opponent, he did not think that his opponent would give up and would definitely plan the next attack against the seven surnames.
Now that he is in the light and the enemy is in the dark, it is difficult for Yuan Tao to take active measures to prevent his opponent from launching an offensive. He can only try to build the fence as firmly as possible so as not to leave too many opportunities for the opponent to take advantage of.
As long as the people he is responsible for protecting do not leave Daijiazhuang, Yuan Tao is still very confident that he can protect them. Even if an army came to attack this place, as long as the number of troops on the battlefield did not reach a thousand people, he would be sure to repel the opponent and gain buffer time for the evacuation of Yangzhou.
The battle in Daijiazhuang did not cause any noise in Yangzhou, and there was no relevant news at all in the market. It was obvious that the other party was unwilling to publicize the matter after suffering this embarrassing loss, so it seemed calm. This also made the salt merchants of the seven major surnames feel a little relieved, thinking that after causing the other party to suffer this time, they might be able to calm down for a while. As long as the last few months pass, the situation is expected to change between offense and defense, and then there will be no need to be as passive as now.
But it seems that the direction of things will not be so satisfactory. The tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop, and a new storm is brewing.
The business of Qingfeng Tower in Yangzhou City suddenly improved a little, which made Shopkeeper Ge no longer look as sad as he did a few days ago. Although Huizhou salt merchants still did not appear in Yangzhou city, there were inexplicably more banquets entertained by other salt merchants for local officials.
"Duan San, look how many private rooms have been booked tonight!"
Shopkeeper Ge leaned on the bamboo chair behind the counter and asked leisurely with his legs crossed. He actually knew the situation, but he always wanted to hear the news that made him feel happy again.
"Shopkeeper, all the private rooms are fully booked today!" Duan San reported with a happy face: "Master He, Master Wang, and Master Lu have reserved the three most expensive private rooms, saying that they want to invite Mr. Guan. Let’s eat. There are several tables of people who have reserved tables and say they are coming to hear the news.”
"Hear the news? What news?" Shopkeeper Ge didn't react for a moment.
"This is what Mr. He and the others wanted to discuss at the banquet for the officials!" Duan San lowered his voice and said, "I heard it has something to do with those people who have not appeared in Yangzhou City recently!"
Shopkeeper Ge suddenly said: "Are you talking about the seven major surnames? It is related to the future trend. These small salt merchants have to find a way to find out the news." Duan San was slightly surprised and said: "Shopkeeper, it seems that this time Have you heard the news too?”
Shopkeeper Ge snorted and said: "Do you really think that since I guard this place every day, I don't know what's going on outside? The Seventh Surname has not been showing up recently. I heard that it was a big deal! Other salt merchants have been here in the past few days. By hosting various banquets for officials, they must be trying to find out the inside story... In my opinion, these seven surnames are probably going to be in trouble!"
Duan San asked: "How can this be seen?"
"You are still too young!" Shopkeeper Ge said earnestly: "Look at the patrons who have held banquets in our restaurant these days. They are all the ones who don't deal with the seven surnames on weekdays. They are so anxious to give gifts to all kinds of gods. The incense money is obviously related to the seven surnames, and it is probably digging a hole for the opponent!”
Duan San hesitated and said: "You know so much about the shopkeeper, could it be that you have eavesdropped on their conversations in the private room these days?"
Shopkeeper Ge glared and said: "Can I, the boss of Qingfeng Building, do something so despicable? Don't talk nonsense outside and cause trouble for Qingfeng Building. No one will be able to protect you!"
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Duan San knew that he had made a mistake and quickly agreed, but in his heart he felt that this was probably the truth. Whenever someone entertains local officials at the Qingfeng Building, shopkeeper Ge will always find an opportunity to go in to say hello and toast. It is normal to hear some scraps of news during this period.
"Gungungun, go check out the food preparations in the kitchen. Don't delay the evening banquet!" Shopkeeper Ge waved his hand impatiently and drove Duan San away from his eyes.
Shopkeeper Ge will pay special attention to some rumors in the market. This is not because he loves gossip, but because he wants to feed back valuable information to the boss behind Qingfeng Tower, the prefect of Yangzhou Prefecture. Competition between salt merchants was just daily life in Yangzhou, but it so frequently involved officials from all walks of life. In his opinion, it was obviously a sign that something was going to happen, so he paid special attention to it.
The seven major surnames hired Haihan people to come to Yangzhou as bodyguards. The Shanxi salt merchants have now moved out all their official connections. This is probably a battle between the two sides. But Shopkeeper Ge believed that no matter what, the Qida surnames were just common people and could not compete with the Shanxi salt merchants with more official connections, so he insisted that the Qida surnames were going to be unlucky.
However, Shopkeeper Ge did not dare to express his views publicly, because his attitude might be interpreted as the prefect's intention in the eyes of the outside world. This would be very dangerous. His remarks would most likely be exploited by someone with ulterior motives. That's why Shopkeeper Ge warned Duan San not to publicize this.
As for what kind of pit the Shanshan Salt Merchant would dig for the seven major surnames, Shopkeeper Ge even guessed a little bit. After all, the most officials entertained by the Shanshan Salt Merchant in the past few days were people from the Salt Industry Yamen. This was obviously to follow their life roots. Zishang took action.
The Shanshan salt merchant has spent thousands of taels of silver in Qingfeng Tower in the past few days, but the silver he gave away in the private room was probably several times this amount. People from all walks of life who heard about it also brought a lot of business to Qingfeng Tower. Therefore, although the main consumer force of Huizhou salt merchants has been missing in recent days, Qingfenglou's business has returned to a better state.
That night, an unknown and unconfirmed news came from Qingfeng Tower. The Salt Transportation Department of Lianghuai Capital found evidence that seven major surnames were selling illegal salt, and would investigate these major salt merchants in the near future.
As soon as the news came out, the price of illegal salt on the Yangzhou black market immediately rose by three points. There are even gambling stalls that immediately offer handicaps for punters to bet on which of the seven surnames the Yanzheng Yamen will start investigating. Of course, anyone who dares to open such a handicap without fear of offending others must also be a gambling stall that has a close relationship with Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants.
However, most of the small salt merchants responsible for distribution still took a wait-and-see attitude after receiving the news. After all, the two major salt merchant groups have been fighting for more than a year or two, and neither one can do anything to the other. If we see the seven major surnames in decline today and side with the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants, then in a few days the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants will be in dire straits and if they want to stand on the opposite side again, I am afraid they will have to shed a layer of their skin. So everyone had the same idea, waiting to see how the situation was going before deciding whether to take sides.
Only one day later, this rumor became a fact. The Salt Transportation Department of Huaihe and Huaidu issued an official document stating that it found that some local salt merchants were suspected of selling illegal salt, so it temporarily stopped exchanging salt quotas for these salt merchants, and would seal the stores and stores under the names of these salt merchants. Warehouse to facilitate forensic investigation.
This official document is not just a formality. The three divisions under the Salt Transportation Department of the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River, the eleven inspection departments, and the thirty salt fields must all participate in the action. This means that the businesses of the salt merchants listed in the official document will be completely suspended until the facts of the case are found out.
The specific impact will be evident from the supply area of Huaiyan. At this time, the areas where Huaiyan salt traveled included Yingtian, Ningguo, Taiping, Yangzhou, Fengyang, Luzhou, Anqing, Chizhou, Huai'an Jiufu, Chuzhou and Hezhou, as well as the two chief secretaries of Jiangxi and Huguang. Some jurisdictions, several state capitals in Henan, etc.
Every day that business is suspended will cause huge losses to these large salt merchants. Even extremely wealthy countries cannot afford this kind of indefinite shutdown.
As for whether we really need to investigate these salt merchants, that is actually not the point. After all, no salt merchant’s butt is completely clean, and the benefits that the Yanzheng Yamen has received from the salt merchants over the years are not small. Number, no one will have a good time if they fall out. Therefore, the effectiveness of this official document is not fully implemented in accordance with its content. It only temporarily bans the shops and warehouses of Huizhou salt merchants, and prohibits them from transporting and selling salt in any way during the investigation.
This news came back to Daijiazhuang shortly after the Yanzheng Yamen posted an official notice in Yangzhou City. Even though Dai Yingda was calm and composed, he did not dare to neglect this time. He immediately summoned the seven heads of family currently in Daijiazhuang to have a meeting to discuss countermeasures. Of course, we also didn't forget to invite Yuan Tao, a foreign aid. Yuan Tao's opinion is also needed on how the Seven Surnames should deal with it next.
"Everyone must have heard about it, right? The enemy has no intention of leaving any room for us this time, and has transferred everything to the Salt Transportation Department. If we don't deal with it carefully this time, I'm afraid we won't even be able to keep our jobs. Come on!" When Dai Yingda said this, he slapped the table hard, as if to vent his dissatisfaction.
(End of chapter)