Guan Zhong, a great statesman and reformer in the Spring and Autumn Period, helped Duke Huan of Qi to dominate the princes and rectify the world. He reformed the past tax collection methods and implemented the "Guan Shan Hai" ("Guan" means "Guan", "Shan Hai" means mining, casting and Boiling salt.) policy created the earliest salt and iron monopoly system in Chinese history. According to Guan Zhong's rough calculation, the state of Qi could earn 60 million yuan a year based on this.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, at the suggestion of "financial planner" Sang Hongyang, in order to strengthen centralization, seize important economic undertakings such as salt and iron from the hands of wealthy businessmen and powerful people, and reverse the country's financial difficulties, he also promoted the official operation of salt and iron and liquor monopoly. Since then, the system of salt and iron monopoly has been throughout the entire feudal dynasty of China!
During the Tang Dynasty, more than 90% of the country's mineral deposits were in the hands of the imperial court, and the remaining less than 10% of the mineral deposits were in the hands of important ministers and noble families, such as Changsun Wuji!
As a thousand-year-old clan, the Wang family also has control over two mineral veins. The iron or iron ore needed for folk blacksmith shops can only come from three sources. The first is to buy it from the local government; the second is to recycle some iron tools that are not used by the common people. Recast it; thirdly, buy it from a family with iron ore!
In the Tongfu Inn, Dugu Feiying pondered for a moment and ordered: "Since the iron ore in this iron shop comes from the Wang family, the Wang family must know Kang Changan's identity. In this way, you can contact the Wang family and reveal your identity. , please cooperate with us, we must find out the identity of Kang Changan as soon as possible!"
"Yes! General!"
Zhang Dafu bowed to accept the order. After hesitating for a moment, he clasped his fists again and said, "General, Wang Yu, the head of the Wang family, has returned to Taiyuan! He came back around noon!"
"Oh? Wang Yu?"
Dugu Feiying's eyes lit up and he pondered for a moment. Suddenly an idea flashed through his mind. He smiled and said:
"The Wang family has been operating in Taiyuan for many years and is an out-and-out local snake. As for Wang Yu, if I remember correctly, Wang Yu's son Wang Renbiao has a good relationship with the Marquis of Yong'an. Our trip is mainly to protect the Yanhuang Academy and his party. Safety.
So, to a certain extent, Wang Yu and we should be on the same page! Get ready and follow me to the Wang family soon. If we can get help from the Wang family, it will be very convenient for us to do things in Taiyuan City! "
"Yes! General!"
Zhang Dafu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it would be best if Dugu Feiying personally took action, otherwise he might not be able to get it done!
Nowadays, although the imperial power is strong and the family is weak, the prestige of the thousand-year-old family still has a deep-rooted influence on the people. In their hearts, the family is still extremely powerful. It will take time to change this concept!
"Did the brothers who dispersed into the city come back with any useful news?"
Before Zhang Dafu could turn around and leave, Dugu Feiying asked again.
Zhang Dafu clasped his fists and said: "Back to General, the brothers asked the generals at the city gate and the beggars and vendors at the main intersections in the city. They found that among the new faces that came to Taiyuan City in the past two days, in addition to this person named Zhu Xie, there were three groups. They are Turks, I have already asked people to keep an eye on them!"
"Okay! I'll deal with these people after I finish going to Wang's house!"
Hearing this, Lonely Flying Eagle nodded, and then he asked: "What's going on over there at Chu Ji Iron Shop~?"
"Bang bang bang!"
Zhang Dafu was about to answer, but at this moment, there was a knock on the door.
"It's me! Zhao Erhu!"
Immediately, a man's voice came from outside the door, and the man's tone was very urgent.
"Go open the door!"
Dugu Feiying looked at Zhang Dafu and said.
With a "squeak" sound, the door was pushed open from the outside. A powerful man walked in quickly from the outside, and Zhang Dafu quickly closed the door. The big man quickly came to Dugu Feiying, cupped his fists and said, "General, it's bad! Zhu Hongsheng is missing!"
"What? Zhu Hongsheng is missing?"
Hearing this, Dugu Feiying couldn't calm down immediately. He stepped forward and grabbed Zhang Erhu's shoulders, and asked: "How come such a good person disappeared? Didn't I ask you to lead someone to keep an eye on him?"
Seeing Dugu Feiying lose his temper, Zhao Erhu couldn't help but shrink his neck and said with a bitter face: "Back to the general, the brothers have been staring outside the iron shop door, but after staring for more than an hour, they still haven't seen him. When Zhu Hongsheng came out, I saw that there were few people on the street at noon, so I sneaked into the iron shop, but found that the iron shop was already empty. I don't know why all these people disappeared for no reason! "
"you… !"
Dugu Feiying pointed at Zhao Erhu's nose angrily and almost cursed him. Zhang Dafu on the side said quickly: "General, I think this iron shop is definitely not simple. It may be the contact point for Turks' spies in Taiyuan City. There must be more than one exit from the main entrance, do you want me to lead someone to chase it~?"
Dugu Feiying punched the table next to him and said angrily: "Zhu Hongsheng and the people behind Chuji Iron Shop must be Turkic spies. Now it seems that they have discovered us, so there is no need for us." Keep it secret, Zhang Dafu, you lead twenty brothers to track down Zhu Hongsheng and Kang Changan along the iron shop, and be sure to catch them before dark!"
This time Dugu Feiying led an advance force of only thirty people, and now twenty people were sent out directly. Even so, the manpower was far from enough. After all, how big is Taiyuan City? If you want to find two people in this city, this manpower alone is obviously not enough!
"The last general takes command!"
Although he knew that the task was arduous and difficult to complete, Zhang Dafu still clasped his fists and accepted the order, and then he immediately turned and left.
Dugu Feiying looked at Zhao Erhu again and said in a deep voice: "Zhao Erhu, you and the remaining brothers immediately search the Chuji Blacksmith Shop. You must quickly find out how Zhu Hongsheng and others escaped, whether through a secret passage, a back door or a window. ? After finding out their escape route, quickly pass the news to Zhang Dafu! Also, check to see if there are any account books in the iron shop!"
Zhao Erhu quickly clasped his fists and said, "Yes! General! I will definitely live up to my command!"
"I'll go to Wang's house. You should hurry up and search the iron shop!"
Dugu Feiying waved his hand, then picked up the sword hanging on the wall and walked out first.
The sudden escape of Zhu Hongsheng and Kang Changan undoubtedly confirmed that there was indeed a problem with their identities. It seemed that there was no need to trace their identities and they could be arrested directly. But Dugu Feiying still planned to visit the Wang family's ancestral home, but his purpose changed. He went mainly to seek help from Wang Yu to help him quickly find Zhu Hongsheng and Kang Changan in Taiyuan City. !
"Yes! General!"
Zhao Erhu followed closely and left the guest room, closing the door at the same time. Then he quickly went downstairs and left the inn.
… … … … … … … … …
The county seat of Lantian County.
It's noon, but the county town is very lively. Today's Lantian County town, compared to the previous two days, has an influx of many people from other counties, including merchants, gentry, scholars, and of course more ordinary people. !
These people who came to Lantian County today basically have a common purpose, and that is to see with their own eyes the fund-raising meeting that has been publicized for several days! Even if you are not qualified to participate, it is always good to watch the excitement outside Longmen Inn!
The building scale of Longmen Inn is quite large, and there are no guest rooms on the entire first floor. It is all a lobby. At this time, the lobby on the first floor has been temporarily filled with seats. Today, Longmen Inn is not open to the public, although it is almost afternoon. But the heavy glazed door of Longmen Inn was still locked.
As for the guests who stayed at the inn a few days ago, Lin Wenyuan will naturally not expel them. Anyway, he just needs to ensure that no tourists coming to stay at the inn today will affect the fund-raising meeting!
"Hey~! Look! Master Cao from Chang'an City is here!"
"Tsk tsk! I heard that Mr. Cao's son also got admitted to Yanhuang Academy this time. I don't know if it's true or not!"
"Master Cao is so lucky!"
"Who says it isn't?"
"Look! Isn't that the young master of Jiangnan Yanyu Villa?"
"Wow! It turns out to be Young Master Zheng! I heard that the Zheng family's Fenglei team defeated the Xiliang Khanblood BMW team yesterday and tied for first place in the Tang A League standings with King Jiangxia's Tigers team! I didn't expect to see Young Master Zheng here! "
"The game between the Thunder and Tigers will be in five days, so you can watch it then!"
"Haha! Who says it's not?"
"Eh? Isn't that the shopkeeper of the Qiaojiang Pavilion in Chang'an City?"
"What? Qiaojiang Pavilion? I heard that the master behind Qiaojiang Pavilion is the one in the palace!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down, bitch!"
"Hey~! Look! Why is the county government servant here?"
"There are so many government officials, what are they going to do?"
It was still some time before the fund-raising meeting started, but there were already many "melon-eating people" gathered on the street outside Longmen Inn. Everyone was talking about the merchants who came to participate in the fund-raising meeting. When they met businessmen they were familiar with and interested in, They will also talk about some recent "news" about this person. It must be said that the people of the Tang Dynasty who lacked entertainment methods were very enthusiastic about eating melon!
At this moment, two teams of government officials, led by a man, ran towards this side quickly. At a glance, there were nearly a hundred government officials! The person leading it was none other than Lantian County Yamen Sun Captou. Seeing this, the onlookers quickly moved out of the way. Sun Captou took advantage of the situation and led the people to the "small square" in front of the Longmen Inn. They divided into two at the door. Two columns stood straight.
They are here to maintain law and order and ensure that the fundraising meeting goes smoothly! But if Li Zexuan were present, he would probably complain to Sun Captou: "Are you here with people to maintain public order, or are you here to welcome guests?"
Their posture is really like the two rows of greeting clerks standing outside the door of some modern high-end hotels!
… … … … … … … … …