Finally, when the people of Shaanxi were in turmoil, the army there had no food to eat and simply rebelled.

If the original policy still existed and asked people to send food there, they would transfer food from the south and would not ignore the northwest.

Zhu Yuanzhang's policies strengthened communication, stabilized grain markets and borders, and even expanded the population along the border, but these were later abandoned.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Youxiao naturally looked down upon salt merchants.

Zhu Youxiao had originally considered restoring Zhu Yuanzhang's old policies, but now he had no other ideas. He decided to just get rid of these people and make money himself.

The Wang family in Shanxi is the main target this time.

The Wang family held official positions and monopolized the market. Because of this market monopoly, they had money and were able to expand into salt-producing areas. This is how the Shanxi merchants entered the Lianghuai salt industry and took root in Yangzhou.

"Besides the Wang family, who else is there?" Zhu Youxiao asked again.

"Besides the Wang family, there's also the Chen family from Shaanxi. These two families lead the Jin-region merchant clans, but in Yangzhou, they're not the strongest. The strongest is the Huizhou merchant clan."

Since the fifth year of Hongzhi, the imperial court allowed the use of silver and money to buy and sell salt, and the Huizhou business community began to rise.

Many people from the Huang, Wang and Wu tribes of Huizhou became wealthy in the salt industry in Yangzhou. They had assets of hundreds of thousands or even millions, and were famous throughout the country as "the best salt strategists in the world."

Although merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi also changed their border merchants to inland merchants and rushed to Yangzhou to compete with the Huizhou merchants for profits, they were far away from their homeland and unable to do so, so their status was forced to be inferior to that of the Huizhou merchants.

In the 45th year of the Wanli reign, the imperial court implemented the Gangfa, which allowed the Hui merchants to seize more of this profit. In the blink of an eye, they had established a firm foothold in Yangzhou and no one could shake their position.

Zhu Youxiao nodded, the famous Huizhou merchant.

Hui merchants do not refer to merchants from Anhui Province, but to merchants from Huizhou, including the six counties of She, Xiuning, Wuyuan, Qimen, Yi and Jixi, which was the ancient Xin'an County.

Huizhou is located at the "beginning of Wu and the end of Chu", a marginal area with high mountains, dense forests, varied terrain, and was developed relatively late.

Before the Han Dynasty, the population was small, but at the end of the Jin Dynasty, the end of the Tang Dynasty, the end of the Song Dynasty and three other immigration waves in Chinese history, a large number of people from the north migrated to Huizhou in southern Anhui.

What should we do when we have a large population, many mountains and little land?

Going abroad to do business is a way out.

Under such circumstances, they chose to venture out into business, and with their hardworking spirit, they built great businesses. Their entrepreneurial histories are both inspiring and moving, filled with blood and tears. They worked tirelessly to secure a bright future.

It’s just that the dragon slayers eventually turned into evil dragons, and after they became capital, their positions were different.

It might be okay when they are struggling, but once they become capital, they will suck your blood. This is the case with the current Huizhou merchants.

Of course, it would be much better if you were not a salt merchant. After all, Hui merchants had many businesses, such as the Chengxintang paper making business, which started in the Tang Dynasty and is not affordable for ordinary people now.

In addition, there are also people who make raw lacquer and ink. Huizhou ink is undoubtedly a unique product.

Zhu Youxiao naturally would not do anything to such businessmen, but would encourage them. In the future, when they go abroad for trade, these will become luxury brands in the future, and they will make money in the Greater China culture.

A paper brand called Chengxintang was born in the Tang Dynasty. Its price may not be as high as gold, but it is almost as high.

Zhu Youxiao strolled forward with his hands behind his back, listening to what Wei Changsheng said.

However, Zhu Youxiao soon realized that it actually didn't make much sense for him to know all this. He still had to deal with whoever needed to be dealt with. It was just a target to be attacked in, with an order or a list to be drawn up.

As he walked, Zhu Youxiao remembered something else.

He turned to look at Wei Changsheng and asked, "Who is the sponsor of this academy? Hui merchants or Shanxi merchants?"

"Your Majesty, it's the Huizhou merchants. They call themselves Confucian merchants and they pay more attention to these things than the Shanxi merchants." Wei Changsheng said respectfully, his tone cautious.

Wei Changsheng knew that His Majesty might be targeting Huizhou merchants, which was not a good thing.