Chapter 117
With iodized salt paving the way, the private transactions of the several caravans under Yao Chunnuan were extremely successful. No matter what they wanted to exchange, as long as they offered iodized salt, there was no merchant who was unwilling to do so.
The merchants were told privately by the caravan members that there was only one batch of this high-quality iodized salt, and although the quantity was a bit large, they would only be able to buy it for a few days. If they missed it, they would not be sure when they would get such high-quality iodized salt again.
This fine salt is as white as fine sand, and it's quite different from any other salt on the market today, whether private salt or official salt. It's clearly high-end, and would surely be loved and admired by the nobility. I've also heard that it contains iodine, a nutrient that helps prevent goiter.
When the merchants heard that such high-quality salt would only last a few days, with no telling when the next batch would arrive, they simply wanted to buy as much as they could. They called on their men to come carrying gold and silver, hoping to secure as much fine salt as possible from the caravan. As for the caravan's request, "No gold or silver, barter?" "Great! What do you need in exchange? Take what I have, and if I don't have any, I'll do my best to get it for you."
This wave of transactions lasted for five days, with countless gold, silver, and countless huge amounts of materials coming in.
After five days, the caravans decisively concluded their trade. Han Jinan and several other caravan leaders met and discovered that they had traded all their fine salt for nearly a million silver coins worth of gold, silver, and supplies. This was a bit alarming, considering it had only been a few days.
Immediately afterwards, part of the gold, silver and supplies were transported back to Yichun, and part was handed over to Han Chaosheng according to the instructions of the superiors, who used it to open up waterways.
The massive dumping of high-quality salt from the Yichun military settlements had impacted the sale of official salt. Well-informed civilians had learned of the emergence of a new premium salt, rumored to contain something that would prevent goiter. Suddenly, countless people flocked to this salt. Even the Western Rong, who had traditionally traded heavily with Daliang, had learned of the existence of the premium iodized salt and specifically requested it, not the official salt.
This request was tantamount to a slap in the face to the imperial court.
When the prince learned about this, he was furious. "How can a piece of private salt be priced above official salt? This is outrageous!"
The officials below all lowered their heads, looked at their toes, and complained in their hearts that our official salt is not as good as others. It cannot be sold as well as others, and its efficacy is not as good as others. No wonder the Xirong people specifically asked for this kind of salt.
If they cannot produce this kind of salt, they will definitely have to give concessions to the Xirong people in the next transaction. It will be useless for the prince to lose his temper unless the private salt owner can be found.
The prince thought for a moment and then asked, "When did this illegal salt come out?"
"It just popped up out of nowhere, without any warning."
"Does it have any connection with the previous private salt merchants?"
"That's hard to say."
"check!"
It was destined to be impossible to find the source. As soon as the high-quality iodized salt was sold, the caravans immediately broke up and went into hiding. Furthermore, after their initial success and huge profits, they stopped doing business. Furthermore, as they were itinerant merchants, they were careful to remain secretive during their transactions, leaving few traces.
The prince pondered for a moment and said, "Give this fine salt to the salt workers below and see if they can make salt like this!"
The officials below lowered their heads even more. The time for the transaction with Xirong was not far away, and it was almost impossible to make a breakthrough in such a short time.
After explaining the matter, the prince asked the relevant officials to leave.
He leaned back on the kang, stroking his forehead with his hand.
His confidant Huaian saw that his headache had come back and hurried forward to help him massage.
"Huaian, tell me, why don't such talents serve the imperial court, but have to work for those private salt owners?" Although his father was a king who only cared about maintaining the status quo, he had never imposed heavy taxes. Why didn't the people support him?
"Your Highness, perhaps the other party is simply unable to control himself."
The Crown Prince knew that the current political unrest, with two voices emerging from the court, was detrimental to the governance of the country. His struggle with the Regent would only attract opportunists and conspirators, not truly capable and capable officials. They might even remain in hiding until the situation became clearer.
A unified voice was imminent. The Crown Prince desperately wanted to silence the Third Prince, and privately promised him countless benefits, even offering him fiefdoms, but the Third Prince refused to back down and insisted on sitting on the throne of Regent.
"Sometimes I really want to kill him!" the prince said bitterly. This brother of the emperor had no sense of the overall situation and could not see that Daliang was in danger!
Didn't he know that Daliang was best off with only one voice? The Third Prince knew, but he didn't care. He had one attitude: it was fine if the Crown Prince ascended the throne, but he wanted to be the Regent! And he wanted to have real power.
But the position of regent was lower than that of vice-king, so he couldn't agree to it. If he agreed, he would really feel like he had something stuck in his throat.
The Regent's attitude was now one: If you mess with me, I'll definitely mess with you. If you dare to kill me, I'll drag you down with me. It didn't matter whether the fish died or not, the net was bound to break.
******
On the other hand, after Wang Lang arrived in Qiannan, he was appointed as the Gongcao of Qiannan, which made him the second-in-command of Qiannan. His power was considerable.
When Yao Chunnuan received the secret letter, she felt deeply that it was good to have a backer. Even after Wang Lang was defeated and fled to Yichun, he was still able to rise step by step. It was really enviable.
That's right, she had someone around Wang Lang to monitor him. This person had too many tricks and was very hostile to her, so she had to be on guard. She believed that Wang Lang was the same. He didn't give up the intelligence here just because he left Yichun. However, after Wang Lang left, she had someone purge the suspicious people around him. If Wang Lang's people were still alive, he was lucky.
Wang Lang reflected for a long time along the way. After learning from his mistakes, he decided to be down-to-earth and manage Qiannan well.
Arriving in Qiannan, Wang Lang first sought medical help for Wei Qiuyu's mouth. After several renowned local doctors had dismissed the issue, he then arranged for someone to teach Wei Qiuyu how to read. Her muteness was then portrayed as a minor flaw. After Wei Qiuyu fully accepted her muteness, she obediently began learning.
Pulling means recruiting talents. A good man needs three helpers. He was determined to follow Yao Chunnuan's example and bring back the outstanding talents he knew in his previous life to form a team. All this progressed smoothly. His status, his wisdom, and his sincerity allowed him to successfully recruit many talents.
Today, he will visit the Gu family three times.
The Gu family possesses a young prodigy named Gu Bin, who is his most admired member to date. Mastering the art of war and strategy, he is a renowned military advisor. In the future, he will aid the young General Su Yibai in his battle against the Southern Barbarians in Daliang, achieving fame. A key position within his team has been reserved for him.
He had recently proposed visiting the Gu family, and they had readily agreed. He was overjoyed at the softening of their attitude. Wang Lang felt that this trip would fulfill his long-cherished wish. While he was pondering, they soon arrived at the Gu family's gate. He dismounted from the carriage, and his attendant went to knock on the door.
The doorman of the Gu family saw through the square door that the visitors were Wang Gongcao and his servant, and immediately opened the door.
After the doorman closed the door again, an old servant led the guests into the living room.
When they were walking on the road, Wang Lang looked around and felt that the Gu family seemed to be empty all of a sudden.
After the old servant made tea for them, Wang Lang finally realized that something was wrong. Where were the servants of the Gu family?
Although the Gu family is not aristocratic, they are a wealthy family. Why is it that since they arrived at their house, they have only seen a doorman and an old servant?
"Where's your young master? I had an appointment with him, but why hasn't he shown up? Is he feeling unwell?"
"Don't blame me, Wang Caogong. This is a letter my young master left for you."
Wang Lang's heart sank when he heard this. He took the letter and saw the words "Wang Caogong personally addressed" written on the cover. The handwriting was indeed Gu Bin's. He quickly opened it and read through it quickly. After finishing, his chest heaved.
In the letter, Gu Bin said: "Wang Caogong, by the time you read this, I will have already embarked on the journey north with my father. My father is in poor health. I heard that the legendary doctor Ba Yuanba has arrived at the Yichun military settlement, so I want to take him to Yichun to see him. I'm not sure when I'll return, so don't worry. I'm truly grateful for your appreciation, but I'm also sorry I can't be of any assistance." My dear friend, Bin, stay.
The existence of this letter means that he failed to recruit Gu Bin.
Wang Lang finally realized that he had been tricked by this young genius. He had never intended to assist him. His first rejection was genuine, and the rest was just a facade.
Wang Lang didn't expect that the thing he was most worried about would happen.
Traveling from north to south, he realized how well-managed the Yichun military settlements were. He hadn't felt much of the experience before, but after this trip, the contrast was stark. It was precisely because of this that he understood the appeal of the Yichun military settlements to both talented individuals and ordinary people.
If he wanted to compete with Yao Chunnuan again and help the prince, he had to build another paradise. Even if it wasn't a paradise, it had to be a safe place to live. But the Yichun military settlement was moving fast, and he knew that he didn't have much time left.
However, the rush of talented people and common people to Yichun occurred much earlier than he expected.
After all, in his prediction, Xing Changfeng, Yao Chunnuan and others are currently in a dormant stage. Unless the time is ripe, they themselves or someone else takes the lead in rebelling, they will blatantly promote Yichun, post recruitment notices and recruit talents.
Wang Lang felt his prediction was correct. He knew Yao Chunnuan; no one in the world knew her better than he did. She was competitive and unwilling to be inferior to anyone, even if that person was him. He had probably been right last time; she harbored rebellious intentions. The fact that the Yichun military settlement had yet to submit to either the Crown Prince or the Third Prince, and their ambivalent attitude, gave him some clues.
But his predictions were shattered by Ba Yuan's arrival in the Yichun military settlement. Because he had released troops there, he was relatively familiar with the situation there. He was immediately informed of Ba Yuan's arrival. He had a vague sense of foreboding. He hadn't anticipated that Ba Yuan would actually serve as a recruiting tool for the Yichun military settlement.
He chose to stay in Yichun for a long time and announced that he would write books and establish a religious sect there, which attracted countless people to Yichun. What's more, he also attracted people to the Yichun military settlement.
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