After the one thousand borrowed men arrived from Xiqing County, Xu Xiaoyi distributed them evenly to various projects, while the aristocratic families were still frantically purchasing salt and iron on their own.
Half a month later...
In the imperial city of Gan, the dispute among the aristocratic families over the decentralization of salt and iron has finally come to an end. They are also looking forward to the final result, which is related to whether they can rise to prominence.
Lin Tianlong sent someone to post the final winner through a notice. In an instant, the notice wall was surrounded by people. They rushed to see it, but they were shocked when they saw it.
The final winner turned out to be the Nanyang family. This result caused a commotion and made the defeated families who came to see the results collapse on the ground and cry along with the gamblers who did not bet on the Nanyang family to win.
After all, in their opinion, the Changsun family is the most advantageous in this competition! The Changsun family not only has a large territory, many shops, and sufficient funds, but this result is puzzling and even strange.
The other three great family heads were extremely dissatisfied with this outcome! They simply couldn't believe it! The Nanyang family was the poorest among them.
And they are all noble families personally chosen by His Majesty! Logically, they shouldn't lose! Now all their money has been used to buy salt and iron, what are they going to do? Are they going to shamelessly ask His Majesty for money? Who would do such a thing that would cost them their lives?
Every time the imperial court distributed salt and iron to them, they would mark up the prices to increase their profits from selling it, then buy it themselves. They would then hand in the account books to the court, splitting the profits 50-50! The aristocratic families would take 50%, and the remaining 50% would be handed over to the court. They would then continue to buy with the remaining 50%! This cycle would repeat until the next salt and iron distribution day.
Lin Tianlong would always post notices promptly, and the data on the notices was close to each other, with little difference. It seemed that if they worked harder, they could surpass others! This also made them feel that they still had a chance and gave them hope!
The three defeated family heads still felt something was wrong, and finally they got together in a restaurant through communication and began to talk to each other. At this time, they were no longer hostile to each other.
You wouldn't know until you tell me, but once you hear it, you're shocked! They all received imperial edicts! And the contents were exactly the same!
Doesn't that mean they were tricked? So the Nanyang family was the one who was truly chosen? And we're just clowns, used to add to the national treasury?
"Damn it! This is definitely a secret plan! Think about it! We just compared the account books!
My Changsun family invested at least half as much money as you! But I didn't win, and the Nanyang family isn't that rich either. This can only be a conspiracy between Nanyang and Your Majesty! After all, most of the officials in the court are surnamed Nanyang! "Changsun Jian said:
Bang!
Murong Feng slammed the table in anger! His face twitched slightly with anger, and he said
"Damn that Marquis Fan of Nanyang! He was brought up by my Murong family! Now he actually dares to stab us in the back. And that bastard emperor is even more insidious! He actually used the imperial edict to frame us! The money he used to harm us has all gone into the hands of His Majesty!"
"That Lord Fan of Nanyang actually dared to hold a banquet to celebrate! It's really infuriating! He's really showing off!"
"What should we do?"
"Since we can't get it! We can't let him get it! We must destroy his salt and iron rights!"
Just when they were chatting heatedly!
Boom boom boom!
"who?"
Murong Feng opened the door of the box, and a eunuch in eunuch's clothes walked straight in. He showed a disdainful expression and said to them sarcastically:
"Hey! There are rumors of discord among the families, but it seems the rumors are wrong!!"
The group looked at the eunuch in front of them and recognized him at a glance. He was the eunuch beside His Majesty! They looked at each other and then said cautiously:
"What are you doing here, father-in-law? Are you here to mock us?"
"No, no, I don't have the time for that! You all should get ready! His Majesty has hosted a banquet and sent me to summon you! Marquis Fan of Nanyang is already here! It's just the three of you left!"
After hearing the eunuch's words, the three of them frowned.
A banquet? Your Majesty and Nanyang Fan Hou? What's going on? We've already lost! Are they going to attack us again?
Then Yuwen Tian stood up, took out some silver and put it into the eunuch's sleeves! He smiled and said:
"Father-in-law! Is this banquet good or bad?"
The eunuch seemed very satisfied with his behavior, and his face instantly turned into a chrysanthemum smile. Then he said with a smile:
"As expected of a 'former' aristocratic family! Their generosity is undeniable! Regarding this banquet... I don't know much either! I only know that Lord Fan seemed to be having a very pleasant chat with His Majesty!"
Hearing the words "once" engraved with Yin and Yang, the three men suppressed the urge to beat up the eunuch in front of them. How dare such a spineless guy speak so despicably.
The three of them immediately got up and headed for the Fuhua Hall, where Lin Tianlong's banquet was held. The walls here were covered with murals, and there were paintings hanging along the way! It gave people a particularly elegant feeling.
Two voices came from the lobby.
"Hahahahaha! Lord Fan, you're really clever!"
"Your Majesty! You are joking."
Lin Tianlong was seen sitting in the highest hall, while Nanyang Fan Hou was holding a wine glass and talking excitedly below.
Nanyang Fan Hou showed a victorious look, his face overflowing with joy, which made the three people who had just arrived extremely disgusted.
"Your Majesty, I, Changsun Jian, am late!"
"My humble servant Murong Feng..."
"Oh! You are finally here! Come on! Take a seat! Come and enjoy the wine with me!" Lin Tianlong said happily.
"Your Majesty has brought out good wine to treat us! Please don't spoil our fun!" Nanyang Fan Hou came up to them with a smug look on his face and said sarcastically, with a very disdainful expression on his face.
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