At that moment,
Zhu Qi suddenly entered silently and leaned close to Zhu Mo's ear, saying:
"Young Master Zhu, Wu Ming and Wu Liang have discovered a boat loaded with silver, currently on the Grand Canal, said to be heading to Yan Song's old home in Jiangyou..."
Upon hearing this,
Zhang Juzheng and Shen Shixing, both seasoned schemers, instinctively pretended not to have heard a word and strode out of the main hall without looking back.
Zhu Mo immediately thought of something and asked:
"Is it Yan Maoqing?"
"Yes! Young Master, Yan Maoqing has been inspecting salt in Jiangnan for two months. Those filial sons and virtuous grandsons have produced millions of taels of real gold and silver. One boat is said to be for Yan Shifan's illicit gains, being transported to his hometown. The ship is set to depart in a few days..."
As Zhu Qi spoke, he glanced around and then whispered:
"Young Master, the guys from the Eastern Depot say His Majesty is very displeased with the Yan family this time... Young Master, uh, this, the Yan family has always been against you, perhaps this is an opportunity to, you know...?"
Zhu Mo was taken aback for a moment—
Zhu Qi was usually so straightforward, why was he speaking so hesitantly now?
He thought for a moment and guessed something, smiling:
"Zhu Qi, why are you acting like a woman... What 'you know'? What exactly do you want? The Yan family has wronged me, what does that have to do with you?"
Zhu Qi blushed and chuckled awkwardly, "It's just, it's just that I want to vent your anger for you..."
"Ha?! Vent my anger? I think you have a grudge against Yan Maoqing, don't you? You want to use my name to deal with him? You little scamp~~ Still trying to hide it from me?"
Heh heh~~
Zhu Qi's face flushed, then he suddenly remembered something and said indignantly:
"Hmph! That scoundrel Yan Maoqing! I won't hide it from you, Young Master. When I was still in the Eastern Depot, I had a brother named Wang Lin. He once offended the Yan family and was framed by Yan Maoqing. Duke Lu didn't realize it at the time and had Wang Lin beaten with fifty military cudgels... Alas, such a fine man was crippled! We brothers have always remembered this grudge!
Last night, the brothers watching Yan Maoqing found Wu Ming and Wu Liang and said that His Majesty is now very unhappy with the Yan family. Why not take this opportunity to teach this scoundrel a lesson?!
I thought, Young Master, you can't return to the capital empty-handed this time! The money from the Weaving Bank can't be moved for now, and it seems there's a disaster in Xuanda, and the court needs money urgently... Why doesn't Young Master take the money? You'll have face when you return to the capital!"
Hearing this, Zhu Mo was moved slightly and asked:
"How much does he have? Is it worth our effort?"
"I estimate it's at least one to two million taels..."
Oh?!
Not bad!
Reminded by him, Zhu Mo also thought it was time to earn some money for himself. After returning to the capital, he would buy that small courtyard and tidy it up...
As for Yan Maoqing's money, he needed to investigate further. He immediately asked, "Where is the boat now?"
"At the ferry crossing on the northern outskirts of the canal. The brothers say it looks like it will stop for a while longer, so we have plenty of time."
"Hmm, hmm, no hurry. Taking the Yan family's money requires careful planning... How about this, you keep an eye on it first. This matter needs careful consideration, and we must not be reckless... Since we have time, let's go take care of another matter first. When we've figured this out, we'll deal with Yan Maoqing..."
Zhu Mo's heart had been stirred, but upon reflection, he felt this was no small matter. Without meticulous planning, it absolutely couldn't be done, or he would be lifting a rock only to drop it on his own foot. After all, this was equivalent to directly falling out with Yan Song and would certainly trigger a series of reactions, potentially delaying important matters.
Thinking of this, he fell into a reverie—
Money,
Of course, it had to be earned.
He had thought of several methods over the years, but only one was the fastest, yet he had never been able to make up his mind. Now, with Zhu Qi's reminder, he really couldn't return to the capital empty-handed, especially with the disaster situation? If he didn't suppress the Yan family then, wouldn't more trouble arise?
At this point,
His hesitant thoughts suddenly became firm—
That matter still had to be done, even if it meant a bad reputation! There was no other way, was there? Some things, it was better for oneself to do them than for others.
And this matter that he had been undecided about was—
Salt production!
In the Jiajing era of the Great Ming, private salt was already prevalent, and official salt producers were no longer competitive. Many merchants were investing in the salt production industry. Moreover, with the Yan family controlling the world, private salt along the coast had already occupied half of the territory. Private salt could be called a typical symptom of the Great Ming's decline. Corrupt officials, merchants, gangs, and various other forces were intertwined, forming a malignant tumor. Within it, there was all sorts of enslavement, which was shocking. It should be known that Xi Menqing was a private salt dealer, wasn't he?
Even more complicated, salt was a necessity for the common people. The best way to ensure that the people could eat salt was through complete marketization. On the one hand, improve the process and efficiency, and on the other hand, expand production. By defeating all private salt dealers through competition, that would be the best strategy. Otherwise, this matter was truly difficult to handle. Could the court supply it?
Zhu Mo's original idea was to cultivate a super salt production workshop to provide stable and affordable, medium-quality edible salt, leaving the lower-end and high-end markets to the private sector. This was also unavoidable, as it was a necessity, and one could not allow unreliable people to control it.
However, he had been in the Great Ming for so long without seeing any salt fields. But the system was a super AI think tank, and after a brief look, he had already thought of the simplest, most feasible, and lowest-cost method.
"Old Ding, Zhu Qi, let's go! We're going to do a big business!"
The two were startled, but saw Zhu Mo already rushing out, his face filled with a strange excitement.
...
Zhu Mo first went to the "Great Ming Official Operated Jiangnan Money House" outside the Governor's Yamen.
More than fifty hired abacus masters were rapidly calculating, while several shopkeepers from pawnshops were carefully appraising the value of various collateral.
The official money house had been open for over two months. Not only did it issue special loans to farmers for purchasing weaving machines, but it also offered ordinary services to everyone, including deposits and collateral loans. Ordinary merchants borrowing money could use various properties as collateral, with loans disbursed at 60-80% of the collateral's value.
Zhang Juzheng oversaw everything, while the shopkeepers, clerks, and appraisers from several Hangzhou money houses served as senior managers. Zhang Juzheng referred to them all as "associates."
Zhu Mo approached a desk belonging to an associate named Gu and said, "I want to mortgage this jade pendant and borrow 5,000 taels of silver..."
As he spoke, Zhu Mo took out the jade pendant that Third Master Li had given him in the capital.
Associate Gu did not recognize Zhu Mo, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the jade pendant. He took it and quickly went to the back to summon an old appraiser from a pawnshop.
As soon as the old man put on his reading glasses and took the first look, he exclaimed,
"How much to borrow?"
"5,000 taels!"
"Oh..."
The old man saw at a glance that it was everlasting cold jade. He held the jade pendant in his hands, his eyes filled with greed, almost drooling. But after a moment of dazed admiration, he came back to his senses and sighed,
"Master Zhang said that our money house is honest with everyone... This jade pendant is worth at least 30,000 taels... Give him 30,000..."
Zhu Mo smiled and said:
"Not bad, not bad. Grand Tutor Zhang is indeed suited to be a bank president..."
Zhu Qi asked curiously:
"Young Master, when you borrow money from your own bank, you also need collateral and that 'loan' thing?"
Zhu Mo said sternly:
"Of course! It is precisely because I proposed opening an official money house that I must lead by example and abide by the rules! If I make an exception and just ask, wouldn't they give me millions of taels? In that case, wouldn't Grand Tutor Zhang be in a difficult position!"
He wasn't pretending; he deeply disliked the social entanglement of relationships in the Great Ming dynasty! The ancient people would never understand how detrimental this bad habit was to Chinese civilization!
Moreover, since he had come to the Great Ming, he naturally wanted to make a fortune through his own abilities. If others could get loans, why couldn't he? Perhaps he could strike it rich?
...
After getting the money, Zhu Mo hired a carriage and headed towards the seaside.
In his memory, he recalled that Xiangshan was a large salt field in later generations of Jiangnan, but it had not yet flourished in the Great Ming. This meant there was a huge business opportunity here. If this salt field were developed, it would definitely rank among the top ten in scale in the Jiangnan region!
Salt production did not cost much, mainly labor wages. Labor in the Great Ming was not expensive. Many people only sought to make ends meet, and earning a few dozen copper coins a year was considered a great blessing! https:/
The system's suggestion was the "solar evaporation method."
Solar evaporation involved using fir wood to make grooved boards, placing the salt brine in them to evaporate. As the water dispersed, crystals would form into salt. This salt was rich in various elements, but it had a fishy smell. Additionally, the crystal shape was not good, resembling unrefined crude salt.
In the Great Ming at this time, well salt was the most expensive and refined, but it was still too crude compared to later generations. Often when eating vegetables, one would chew on hard lumps of salt, which was very unpleasant.
The process of removing impurities and refining fine salt, while chemically simple, was still too advanced for the Ming dynasty. Therefore, even the so-called fine well salt could not compare to later generations.
Zhu Mo's junior high school chemistry was not taught by a sports teacher, and he still remembered a substance called calcium phosphate, which could inhibit crystallization. This would allow the crystallization process of sea salt in solar evaporation to be controlled, turning it into fine salt with uniform particle size.
Extracting calcium phosphate was a bit troublesome, but fortunately, as long as some apatite was placed in the salt brine, it should be able to inhibit crystallization.
As he pondered along the way, the group unconsciously arrived at the seaside.