In March, because the Yellow River is about to thaw, this Qinghe City will slowly show some vitality, once the Yellow River thaws, this Qinghe City will immediately become lively, so that the businesses in the city have begun to prepare for this year's business.

In the back house of a merchant near the wharf in that city, Fang Decai, who had been in Qinghe for a few days, was in a hurry, like a headless fly.

While he was anxiously waiting for the news, he saw the semicolon Song shopkeeper walking in and saying:

"Big shopkeeper, there's news!"

As soon as he heard the news, Fang Decai hurriedly asked:

"What's the news, tell me quickly!"

Seeing that the big shopkeeper was in such a hurry, Shopkeeper Song hurriedly replied:

"I got the news from the government office, and the government office has no plans to move the salt gang for the time being!"

When Fang Decai heard this, he immediately said with a happy face:

"Really?"

But as soon as these words came out, the smile on his face suddenly fell, and then he asked:

"Then why are the big guys privately spreading their plans to move the compendium? Hey, let me ask you, where did you get this news from? ”

When Shopkeeper Song heard this, he hurriedly said.

"We who do business, can we go directly to the government office? Ordinary people can't get into that place! I didn't ask someone to find out! ”

Fang Decai shook his head again and again.

"No! Have you contacted Fu Shan and Fu General Office? ”

Shopkeeper Song hurriedly replied.

"I was about to tell the treasurer about this. General Manager Fu went to Nanjing last month, and supervised the opening of the Jianghuai Bank in Nanjing, which is not the military salary bureau to change into a bank, to open branches in the whole south of the Yangtze River, this is not just back to Qinghe, it is estimated that when he comes back, he will have to report to the economic strategy, and he will have time to see the big treasurer tomorrow night at the earliest. ”

Fang Decai pondered for a moment, and then said:

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow night. Is all the money ready? ”

Silver has always been a good thing, and those officials who think they are honest and honest are also inseparable from silver, perhaps there are a lot of money in the government office, but in the face of thousands of taels, or even tens of thousands of taels of silver, they still show their greedy side. The general office of Mr. Fu, who controls JAC Bank, is no exception.

Shopkeeper Song nodded again and again and said:

"It's already been sent to General Fu's house, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to see us."

Because Fu Shan is one of the few northern officials in the Economic and Strategic Envoy Office, although he is from Shanxi, but for Shaanxi merchants, it is natural to get closer to each other, after all, as the saying goes, "Jin and Shaanxi family", at this time, he naturally asked Fu Shan here. Ask for it, this silver is always indispensable, this is the rule.

The next night, Fu Shan sat in casual clothes in the flower hall in Fuzhong, and Fang Decai gave him a dress as soon as he entered the door.

Fu Shanxu, who was sitting on the chair, gave in, then looked at Fang Decai and said:

"Get up, this Jin Shaanxi is a family, they are all native to their hometown, and they are not outsiders. Come on, give the shopkeeper a seat! ”

Hearing what he said, Fang Decai stood up and said:

"General office, our owner asked the villain to greet you on his behalf."

Fu Shan smiled faintly, and then said.

"You said Qiu Dongjia, I haven't seen him for a few days, and the last time I saw him was a year ago. How's he, he's still strong? ”

Fang Decai hurriedly agreed.

"Thanks to you, the owner is still quite strong."

Fu Shan took a sip of tea, looked at Fang Decai and said.

"Old Fang, I know that you have nothing to do but go to the Three Treasures Palace, we are all acquaintances, if there is anything, you can just say it."

Fang Decai hurriedly said.

"Adult, the villain will be straightforward. Our owner asked the villain to come to Qinghe this time, because he wanted to ask the general office for the truth of the news......"

Fu Shan first glanced at him, and then lengthened his voice and said:

"Oh, what's the news?"

Observing the words, he leaned forward to the son, and then Fang Decai said:

"Recently, Yangzhou and Qinghe have been privately rumored that the government office is preparing to reformulate the compendium, you always know that this compendium is the lifeblood of salt merchants, so the owner wants to ask you if you have this?"

Fu Shan smiled slightly, and replied without being salty:

"Oh, you ask about it, I've heard about it. Gossip! Gossip! Go back and tell Qiu Dongjia that this matter is definitely a rumor and cannot be trusted! ”

Listening to this answer, Fang Decai immediately said with relief:

"yes, that's fine! Thank you, Mr. Fu! Thank you, thank you! ”

Fu Shan snorted, and then said slowly.

"Well, though, some things aren't for sure. Now that the Qing Dynasty is eyeing me in the north, how can Jinglu allow him to threaten Jiangbei like this? Whether it is raising soldiers or preparing prisoners, they all require silver, and the salt class is related to military planning, so it cannot be taken lightly. ”

Fang Decai was taken aback when he heard this, and hurriedly asked.

"Why, what does the lord mean is that this government office is because of the things in the north, so it values the salt class?"

Glancing at the person in front of him, Fu Shan said in an official tone there:

"What is the precautionary measure, this year has been exempted from fire consumption, and the government office has lost hundreds of thousands of taels of input, what does Jiangbei rely on? It's nothing more than a salt class, this salt class is related to military affairs, how can you not be cautious? If we are not careful, how can we ensure the needs of the militaristic state? After all, now this Qing captivity is eyeing the north! ”

Fang Decai couldn't sit still anymore, so he even stood up and asked.

"Sir, according to what you say, even if the government office has no intention of moving the "outline" now, there is no guarantee that the government office will not order the "outline" to be moved at any time, does that mean? ”

Fu Shan's official tone is even stronger.

"The Weidao Office is relying on the Compendium to get money? If so, then what is the difference between a government office and a robber? I know that you salt merchants regard the syllabus as the foundation, but the government is determined not to let the salt class go haywire. Okay, that's it, I still have business to do. Someone, send off! ”

With that, Fu Shan turned around and walked out, leaving Fang Decai standing there in confusion.

A servant had already walked in and said respectfully.

"Shopkeeper Fang, please."

"Ahh

was invited like this, and Fang Decai left with him a little embarrassed.

That night, Xu Shiyuan, who came to Qinghe on the orders of the owner, also arrived at the business name of Qinghe. and Fang Decai discussed with the semicolon shopkeeper Song for a long time, but the more they thought about it, the more confused they became, and they couldn't figure out what the old man meant. Because he was worried that the owner was in a hurry, he had to return to Yangzhou overnight, and then the owner decided.

As soon as they crossed the Yellow River, they traveled all the way to the Qinghe River, and it took two days of hard work to rush back to Yangzhou, and when Fang had to rush back to Dayangzhou, it was already the second half of the night, fortunately, in order to wait for news these days, Qiu Yuncheng has been living outside the city, not inside the city.

When Fang Decai came in, Qiu Yuncheng had already laid down, but he kept his eyes open, he also didn't sleep well in the past few days, listening to the report of his subordinates that Fang Decai came back to report, Huo Ran sat up from the bed.

After Fang Decai entered the house, he hurriedly reported.

"The owner, in Qinghe, there are many people who say that this compendium may be moved, but more often than not, this year's Jingluo may have to go on a northern expedition!"

Qiu Yuncheng frowned and said.

"Oh? Did Mr. Fu go there? ”

Fang Decai hurriedly said.

"I went, but he said that Jingluo had no plans to go on a northern expedition in the near future, and said that the salt class was a major military matter, and the government office would never allow it to cause chaos easily."

Qiu Yuncheng pondered for a moment, then asked again.

"These words were all said to you by General Manager Fu's office?"

Fang Decai nodded and said.

"But Mr. Fu still has something to say."

Qiu Tianjun was shocked again, and hurriedly asked what he was talking about.

Fang Decai said.

"General Manager Fu said that this Qing is under the eyes of the north, and he will never allow it to threaten Jiangbei like this......"

Before Fang Decai finished speaking, Qiu Yuncheng's expression changed greatly when he heard this, and he almost fell.

Seeing the owner's shocked appearance, Fang Decai hurriedly stepped forward to support him and asked nervously.

"What's wrong with you, boss?"

Qiu Yuncheng finally sat down again, slowly raised his head, and then looked sad and regretful.

"Wrong! We were all wrong! The fact that the Northern Expedition was a major military event was not trivial. In the art of war, it is said that if you want to capture the old and indulge in it, the truth is real, and the truth is false, how could Fu Shan easily reveal such important news to me and other businessmen. If the Qing captives know the news in advance and have preparations, won't it ruin the Northern Expedition? What is the purpose of this trip to Nanjing? And for the sake of marriage? General Manager Fu can tell you that Jinglu may send troops, that is, tell us everything! ”

As he spoke, he stood up abruptly, then spoke sharply.

"From tomorrow, we will get this compendium in our hands, regardless of the high or low, as long as someone sells it, we will accept it!"

Compared with the decision of the owner, this will be a little hesitant to get rich:

"Boss, don't you think again! Isn't it just an outline, those anonymous outlines, even if we take them down, what can we do? In case the government office ...... then"

Qiu Yuncheng immediately reprimanded.

"Shut up! What do you know? This salt class is related to the military plan, as long as we take down these outlines, the government office will naturally not allow the salt class to be chaotic at that time! The surname Zheng grasped this point, he first let out his voice, let everyone think that this compendium is going to be established, and when everyone has to give up, he will start to buy, and wait a few days, he only needs to come forward to calm down the rumors, this compendium will go up, not to mention, at least more than half of those compendiums will be in his hands, we are now a step late, if it is delayed any longer, let him Zheng Shijie take the lead in this kind of thing, when the time comes, this Yangzhou may no longer have our Shaanxi businessmen! ”

After a pause, Qiu Yuncheng said again.

"This matter, I can't do it myself, you go and contact the Zhao family, the Li family and the Wang family, let them do it together, as long as we can win half of the outline, we can ensure that we are on an equal footing with the salt merchants in Jiangnan......"