Chapter 128 127 Private Salt

In the evening, after a sumptuous reception banquet, Mr. Wei was led by the Zhang family to the courtyard of the Wei family.

Wei Guangde asked his soldiers to help his father into the backyard, and after he placed him on the bed, he asked Uncle Lin to arrange a place for the accompanying soldiers. They all came from Bengshan Fort and knew each other.

Wei Guangde asked Aunt Lin to clean the main courtyard in the backyard two days ago.

"Zhang Ji, you sleep here tonight, call me if you need anything."

Wei Guangde saw that his father had fallen asleep and smelled strongly of alcohol. He must have drunk a little too much at the banquet, so he ordered Zhang Ji to wait here and went out of the house to his yard.

Dad is drunk and can't hear anything he says right now, so let him have a good night's rest.

The next day, Wei Guangde got up much earlier than usual, and went to the main courtyard at around 0:00.

Looking at Zhang Ji who was yawning profusely, he asked: 'How was my father's rest last night? ’

"Master got up twice last night, drank some water and fell asleep again."

Zhang Ji replied immediately.

"Have a hard time today and take good care of my dad. Later you go to the front yard to find Aunt Lin and ask her to prepare more food."

Wei Guangde ordered to go down and looked at his father who was still on the bed. Wei Guangde walked to a chair and sat down and closed his eyes again.

When Mr. Wei woke up, it was already the end of the hour and the beginning of the hour, which would be nine or ten o'clock in the future.

Wei Guangde waited on Father Wei to wash up, Zhang Ji notified Aunt Lin to bring the food, and then the two father and son sat at the dining table and started talking.

"You will take me around this house for a while. When Wei Li is finished, I will go back to Bengshan Castle to pick up your mother."

"Dad, I heard that the commander is going to be promoted?"

Wei Guangde asked softly after taking a mouthful of food.

"You know everything?"

When Dad Wei heard what his son said, he was a little surprised and said, but then he shook his head, "There was such a rumor at first, but later Mr. Zhang asked someone to inquire, and the news was untrue."

"oh."

Wei Guangde nodded when he heard this.

Since Dad said it was a rumor, it can basically be ruled out, and the fight in the guard house is impossible to happen, and Dad can only be his guard and governor in peace.

"By the way, Dad, the Zhang family sent a thousand taels of silver over a few days ago, saying it was an initial dividend. That batch of goods is almost shipped, and I'm just waiting for you to come back."

Wei Guangde remembered that when he first moved here, Zhang's house sent him a box. He opened it and saw that it was a box of silver.

"Well, you can keep the money and spend it as you should. I heard that scholars spend a lot of money, and don't be stingy with your classmates who are studying in the government. Who knows what their future will be."

Dad Wei took a sip of porridge and said casually, "After the things here are done, I will go back to Bengshan Fort and pick up your mother before the end of the year. Our family will celebrate the New Year in Jiujiang this year."

"Hongfu said, you should be able to get 10,000 taels of silver this time."

Wei Guangde thought about it and revealed to his father the news he had heard from Zhang Hongfu before. He must be aware of the harvest in Zhejiang. Knowing his harvest, he didn't know whether it was less or more.

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he stared at his father without blinking.

I haven’t seen him for more than half a year. My father went out this time and felt a little older when he came back.

Before he could express too much emotion, Wei Guangde noticed that the expression in his father's eyes was a bit unusual. He just smiled and shook his head.

It’s really too little, and the Zhang family is really dark-hearted.

Seeing his father's smile, Wei Guangde guessed that maybe ten thousand taels of silver was too little, which was why his father behaved like this.

At this time, Father Wei raised his eyes and looked at Wei Guangde, and suddenly asked with an expressionless face: "What did you find?"

Regarding Father Wei's question, Wei Guangde didn't know what it meant.

"The Zhang family has been spending a lot of money recently?"

Wei Guangde noticed that when his father said this, although his face was still expressionless, his eyebrows wrinkled slightly.

"There doesn't seem to be any at the Zhang family. It just feels like Hongfu has been very loose recently."

Wei Guangde hurriedly said that in his mind, the Zhang family seemed to have changed little during this period, except for the box of silver that Uncle Zhang sent.

But even if there is, Wei Guangde probably doesn't know about it. The only one who has more contact with him is Zhang Hongfu, and that guy is really rich recently.

"You kid, don't you just want to know whether these ten thousand taels of silver are too much or too little? Hehe."

At this time, Father Wei laughed, and Wei Guangde lowered his head in embarrassment.

Indeed, he is a bit petty. After all, his father's official position is so high, and it is also the best to be manipulated.

Putting down his chopsticks, Mr. Wei wiped his mouth with the handkerchief next to him, and looked back at the door. There was no one outside at the moment, and only their father and son were in the room. Then he said, "I know your temperament, yes. Very good observation.”

Then he rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "When I get the silver this time, I will give you ten thousand taels. This is for your study. Before you become an official, you can't even think of getting one tael of silver from me."

Of course, the income from the eighty acres of paddy field that I asked your brother to buy for you through my letter last time is still yours, and no one wants it. "

"Hongfu doesn't know about that batch of stuff?"

Wei Guangde was keenly aware of something. Last time, Zhang Hongfu quietly told him that the items were sold for more than 40,000 taels of silver, and the profit was divided into about 10,000 taels. It seemed that it was less.

"Originally there were only so many. The good stuff was taken away by the Japanese pirates. However, we found a warehouse of a private salt dealer with a lot of salt, so we asked Fugui to go there to find a channel to sell it."

Old man Wei only planned to mention it casually. He knew that his son was very tight-lipped and knew the importance of it.

"How much?"

Wei Guangde didn't think too much and asked directly.

"This is none of your business. You should study hard now and try to pass the imperial examination for me in three years. Then I will buy you land."

After hitting a soft nail, Wei Guangde rubbed his nose and stopped asking. If he found salt, the silver should not be less.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there were several products that were government-run or strictly controlled, namely salt, iron, and tea.

Iron is easier to understand. The Ming Dynasty had constant border troubles, but most of these enemies had backward production levels and could not produce enough iron materials to make weapons. Therefore, controlling iron materials could suppress border troubles, at least preventing the enemy from having enough weapons to invade the border.

The role of tea is similar. Nomadic peoples have a strong dependence on tea, even to the extent of "I would rather go without food for a day than go without tea for a day".

As a necessity for every household, "salt" plays an important role in daily life. There are huge benefits, which makes countless people crazy.

The Ming Dynasty implemented the official salt system, with a special "stove household" to produce salt, which was purchased and sold by the government.

Merchants bought salt from the government by obtaining salt permits and sold it everywhere.

This system played a very positive role in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, but with the development of the times, especially the disgraceful role played by the nobles, the salt administration was completely ruined, private salt was rampant, and even exceeded the official salt.