But he quickly adapted, "No problem, my name is Han Guotai." Han Guotai, a young man from a rich family, clasped his fists towards Zhu Youxiao and said with a smile.
Although he was talking to Zhu Youxiao, Han Guotai's eyes never left Chen Yuer beside Zhu Youxiao.
In fact, as soon as Han Guotai walked over, Zhu Youxiao realized that it was the woman rushing towards him.
From the moment Zhu Youxiao arrived here, the men and women in Yangzhou never took their eyes off Chen Yuer.
Zhu Youxiao originally thought it was just a matter of watching, but he didn't expect that someone would actually dare to come over.
So Zhu Youxiao excitedly went to meet him, and this is what happened.
Wei Chao standing next to him felt helpless. Your Majesty was too playful.
Although the man opposite was dressed brightly and looked wealthy, Wei Chao could see that he was clearly a fool, and he didn't know which family had trained him.
Qi Yuanfu, who was standing next to Zhu Youxiao, was ready to take action at any time. If this waste dared to do anything bad to His Majesty, he would be killed directly.
He doesn't care who is on the other side, whoever he loves is fine, our emperor's personal army is so rampant.
"Han Guotai, what a good name." Zhu Youxiao said admiringly, "I wonder why you stopped me?"
"It's very simple. I like your maid. You name a price." Han Guotai turned to look at Zhu Youxiao with a haughty look. His expression was like "I like her, so you have to give her to me."
Zhu Youxiao almost laughed out loud. This kind of thing really exists in the world.
Wei Changsheng, who was standing next to Zhu Youxiao, walked over and carefully leaned close to Zhu Youxiao's ear.
Seeing that the emperor had no objection, Wei Changsheng cautiously said, "Your Majesty, this man is the son of Han Qingsheng, a famous merchant in Yangzhou. Han Qingsheng is a representative of the Huizhou merchants, and he has a hand in the entire Yangzhou salt industry."
Zhu Youxiao nodded and understood what Wei Changsheng meant.
These salt merchants are not easy to deal with now. You know, at that time in the Ming Dynasty, the salt merchants of the entire Ming Dynasty controlled five-sevenths of the country's finances. To put it bluntly, five-sevenths of the country's money were in their hands.
Among these five-sevenths, two-thirds are in the hands of Huizhou merchants. Their status can be said to be extremely important. If they stomp their feet, the country will tremble.
The capital they could mobilize was worth millions of taels for those who could be called big salt merchants, and tens of millions of taels of silver for those who could be called tycoons.
If the Huizhou merchants were to mobilize, hundreds of millions of taels would not be a problem. This shows how much money these people control, which is their capital. Holding money or power, it can be said that they are unrivaled.
It was precisely because he knew this that Zhu Youxiao remained patient.
I've been traveling through time for seven years, doing this and that, but I've never dared to attack them, not even shown any hostility. It wasn't until now that I finally dared to come here.
Zhu Youxiao knew very well that as long as he cleared out these salt merchants, no one in the world would be able to oppose him anymore.
Seeing Zhu Youxiao nod, Wei Changsheng hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Your Majesty, salt merchants live a luxurious life. Every family keeps a few skinny horses as gifts. Therefore, it's common practice for them to send women to each other, and sometimes it's even considered a refined act. They've become accustomed to it over the years. This Han Guotai must have stopped Your Majesty for this very reason."
"Great." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile on his face, "That's great."
In fact, this kind of custom existed in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, slaves were still private property. They were treated like animals and could be beaten to death without mercy, as long as a small fine was paid.
The situation improved a lot in the Song Dynasty, but giving concubines to each other was still a common practice among scholars.
Things were different during the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang, who came from a poor family, could not tolerate such things. Riding in a sedan chair was like treating people as animals, let alone giving women to each other?
What the superiors like, the subordinates will like even more!
There were really not many people in the world who dared to do things that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't like, so the atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty was greatly reversed in the early days of its founding.
Moreover, in places like the capital, such incidents are rare, and those who forcibly abduct women will still be punished.
I didn’t expect that this kind of thing would emerge in the Jiangnan region where culture and education flourished?
I don’t know whether it is progress or regression, or is it just a matter of having money to burn?
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