Chapter 986 - 825: The Salt Industry

In the morning, the distant crowing of roosters could be heard.

Chen Ji opened his eyes on the floor in Quanfu Alley, surrounded by the thunderous snores of Yuan Xing and others, with the strong smell of alcohol in the air. He got up to open the door, waving it back and forth, letting the cool morning air flood in which finally dispersed the alcohol odor.

Last night, this group drank until late on the painting boat, making up for the drinking session they missed in the Jing Dynasty during the Ning Dynasty.

They started with laughter, then crying, first revealing secrets about each other, then confiding in one another, and finally continued mocking each other.

When they were already tipsy, they noisily insisted on finding Li Si, claiming it was boring without him. Ping Zhao instructed the painting boat to dock, but Yuan Xing felt it was taking too long, grabbed a jar of wine, and dived into the Qinhuai River to swim toward the shore.

The other three, seeing Yuan Xing had jumped in, also grabbed their wine jars and jumped. They couldn’t be stopped, and those passing by on the painting boat looked at them like madmen. When they reached the shore, the four just stared at each other, realizing they didn’t know where Li Si lived.

It was only after sobering up that they remembered they were no longer at the Imperial Academy, where it was easy to find someone to drink with—just a left turn out of the school quarters would lead to someone living next door to drink with.

Since leaving the Imperial Academy, it had been hard to not only drink together but even meet again.

At this moment, Chen Ji walked into the courtyard, where clothes that hadn’t fully dried hung on the bamboo poles.

Zhaolei was napping in a corner of the yard while Big Green Ox lay sprawled on the other side, accompanied by wine jars brought back by Yuan Xing and others last night.

Chen Ji turned his head to look at the Wu Yun hovering above Zhaolei’s head: "Did it steal all the wine?"

Wu Yun lazily raised its eyelids, drunkenly meowing once: "Yes, it drank it all, I didn’t drink a drop..."

Chen Ji moved closer, realizing that Zhaolei, Wu Yun, and their breath also reeked of alcohol, showing one ox, one horse, and one cat were not idle last night.

He hugged Wu Yun, smiling as he said, "Drink if you want, life is rarely muddled, and cat life is rarely muddled too. Let’s go out for a walk."

As he was about to leave with Wu Yun, he heard footsteps behind him.

Turning back, he saw Old Ears stumbling along clad in garments, clumsily dragging his shoes: "Wait, let me come with you."

Chen Ji responded nonchalantly: "I’m just going out for a stroll; why follow me?"

Old Ears gave him an amused look: "You said you had no plans to tidy up the salt tax yet spent last night whispering with that Ping Zhao woman. Were you not discussing the salt permit matters?"

Chen Ji casually explained: "Collecting salt permit doesn’t necessarily mean for salt tax."

Without waiting, Old Ears walked out the door: "Let’s go. Before leaving, let me see what tricks you have. I won’t take advantage of you; after seeing yours, I’ll let you see mine too."

Chen Ji was stunned, sensing there was a hidden meaning.

He followed out the door, reaching the intersection when Old Ears looked back: "Where to?"

Chen Ji turned north: "This way, let’s check out the Xu Family Mansion first."

The two strolled leisurely along East Government Street, crossing Four Symbols Bridge with the Xu Family Mansion just in sight. Old Ears squinted suspiciously at Taiping Street: "A lot of people are tracking us. With so many watching, it hinders any action... you better be careful of being tracked yourself."

"I know," Chen Ji nonchalantly moved through Taiping Street, his peripheral vision scanning the passersby.

There were few pedestrians on the street in the early morning, but outside the Xu Mansion were many people: five or six peddlers with carrying poles were there, not selling, just intently watching the passersby; in the alley by the side door, more than ten people were crouching, yawning idly; across the street, a few shops had long removed their shutters, and when Chen Ji peeked in through the entrance, it was packed inside.

The two walked straight through Taiping Street, leading three people from the ice shop to immediately rise and follow them, making no effort to conceal themselves.

These three tailed Chen Ji and Old Ears for two streets until they entered a soup dumpling shop, and after a while of casual eating, the watchers finally dispersed.

Old Ears clicked his tongue in admiration: "It’s like poking a hornet’s nest. From a quick glance, there must be five or six groups outside Xu’s place totaling at least eighty or ninety people. They can’t find you, so they use this stupid method, but you have to admit it’s effective on their turf, making sure you and your spouse can’t join forces, cutting off an arm, in a way."

Chen Ji blew on a soup dumpling: "Whether it works depends on what happens next."

After breakfast, Chen Ji carried Wu Yun and headed eastward, choosing the most secluded alleys along the way.

Old Ears wondered: "Where are you heading? No one’s following; we could take the main road."

Chen Ji remained silent.

After walking through a dozen alleys, he finally encountered a man furtively selling the Wuxiang Morning News from street to street.

Chen Ji casually bought a newspaper and read it while walking. Today’s paper merely reported the transfer of Zheng Jiye to the Central Army Commander’s Mansion, lacking the rigorous literary style it once had, and without the cultural anecdotes of Jinling at the end.

It seemed that Zhang Xia and others were being watched, rendering them unable to deliver the manuscripts, and those responsible for publishing the Wuxiang Morning News had to write their own error-ridden articles to cope.

Old Ears helplessly said, "Nearly two hours have passed, and you’re just wandering around Jinling City?"

Chen Ji put away the newspaper and glanced at the sky: "The time is almost right, let’s go."

Old Ears perked up: "Where to?"

Chen Ji recalled: "Wuyi Lane."

...

...

Chen Ji turned south again, wandering for ten minutes before crossing Wuding Bridge.

He walked the narrow street of the Old Courtyard, scanning the signboards of the neighboring streets. After a while, he found a teahouse named "Fulai," entered, and sat down in a corner.

The teahouse was sparsely populated with tea drinkers. Chen Ji beckoned a young attendant to brew a pot of tea, listening to stories while cracking sunflower seeds. Old Ears, seeing his leisurely demeanor, grew frustrated: "Do you have any real business today?"

Chen Ji watched the storyteller on the stage, not turning his head: "I told you not to follow, but you did it yourself."

Just then, Ping Zhao, dressed in black, entered, sat at Chen Ji’s table, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it in one gulp.

Ping Zhao set down his cup, glanced at the surrounding tea guests: "I’ve gathered all the intelligence. The court has accumulated approximately three million five hundred thousand salt permits, with Huguang Salt Tokens totaling around sixty thousand. Excluding the twelve thousand in the Xu Family’s hands, there are forty-eight thousand outside."

Old Ears exclaimed: "With so many permits in the market, small salt merchants wouldn’t be able to sell salt in fifteen years, maybe even twenty."

Ping Zhao shook his head: "All Jiangnan salt fields are in the hands of the Eight Great Merchants. Without their release, small salt merchants wouldn’t manage to sell a pound of salt in a lifetime."

Chen Ji looked at Ping Zhao: "How much did you collect today?"

Ping Zhao calculated for a moment: "At the Qinhuai morning market, it was two taels of silver per permit; we collected over six thousand. However, as soon as I made a move, someone caught wind and tried to drive up prices, raising Huguang Salt Tokens to three taels per permit. I plan to let them wait it out."

Chen Ji pondered: "How much profit can one salt permit transformed into coarse salt sent to Hu-Guang yield?"

Ping Zhao thought: "Eight taels of silver."

Chen Ji nodded: "Then keep collecting. Be quick."

Ping Zhao slightly furrowed her brow: "Young Master, business cannot be rushed; that’s a major taboo... Indeed, as long as we collect enough, prices will eventually rise, but we can’t let it rise too quickly, or even one point two million taels won’t suffice."

"Moreover," before Chen Ji could speak, she continued: "With Huangshan Dao Court’s Universal Sacrifice imminent, the Eight Great Merchants and Jiangnan scholars who received invitations should have already gone to Huangshan for the ceremony. But they gather in Jinling now, to deal with you. If we move too quickly now, they’ll detect it prematurely, leading to competition, and a salt permit may be speculated up to eight or nine taels of silver. The Salt Gang transporting the salt to Hu-Guang won’t profit and may even incur losses."

Chen Ji was about to speak when Ping Zhao paused and continued: "Young Master, salt is not an ordinary business; it concerns people’s livelihood. If the permit prices rise to eight taels of silver, salt merchants will have to raise salt prices to make a profit, harming not the merchants but the people. Our business, under the landlord, never exploits the populace."

Chen Ji remarked: "Aunt Ping is actually quite impatient."

Ping Zhao sighed: "I’m just worried you’ll suffer great losses in this matter. How one collects permits, whether at two or eight silver taels, differs by tens of thousands of taels."

Chen Ji smiled: "I understand, but please collect the permits quickly, Aunt Ping."

Seeing his determination, Ping Zhao remained silent for a moment before asking: "Alright, give me a deadline, I’ll do my best to collect them."

Chen Ji considered: "Before Duanwu."