"Sir, why is this matter not over yet?" Zhu Cilang was a little surprised.
In his opinion, it is normal for a concubine to fall out of favor.
Now that Concubine Zhao has been banished to the cold palace, what will happen next?
"The news that your majesty favors Concubine Zhao has long spread throughout the capital. Based on my understanding of your majesty, even if Concubine Zhao has committed acts of deceit, she will not be banished to the cold palace directly. Instead, she will try to make a big deal out of a small matter."
"So there must be something fishy about this matter!"
Zhu Cilang nodded, took note of it carefully, and then asked about the upcoming donation ceremony: "Tomorrow is the official donation day, and I want to go to the scene to see the excitement."
"Your Highness, please remember this," Fang Yuegong shook his head and warned, "Donating an official position is a matter for the imperial court. The Salt Inspector Song Quan is fully responsible for it. It has nothing to do with Your Highness. Stay as far away from it as possible."
"Why?"
"I just said that this is an errand for the court. If Your Highness goes there and everything goes well, that's fine. But if it doesn't go well, someone will throw dirty water on Your Highness."
"Students have taken note of it." Zhu Cilang agreed on the surface but didn't take it seriously in his heart.
He is the crown prince, the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
Who dares to throw dirty water on him?
Little did they know that the Ming Dynasty's civil officials would not only use various methods to attack the prince, but would not even let the emperor go.
As evening fell, the city of Nanjing was brightly lit.
Everyone is paying attention to the same thing: donating money to become an official.
November 17th.
A cruise ship on the Qinhuai River was bustling with people.
The large cruise ship that could accommodate hundreds of people was now full of people who came to donate money for official positions.
Wang Zhong, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, made a rough count and found that there were at least three hundred people on the boat.
Half of them were merchants and the other half were their descendants.
Merchants themselves could not become officials, but their descendants could.
So we just came together.
Merchants are responsible for making decisions, and their descendants are responsible for holding official positions.
Song Quan, the Imperial Censor of Salt, stood at the bow, with his back to the cold wind and looking towards the cabin, feeling uneasy.
He didn't have much confidence until the results came out.
"Sir Song, there are 153 salt merchants who have paid next year's salt tax in advance, and they are all here now." Zhang Xizhou, the transport envoy of the Lianghuai Transport Bureau, walked up to Song Quan and said.
"Have all the salt merchants from Lianghuai arrived?" Song Quan asked.
In the 44th year of the Wanli reign, the Ming court implemented the Salt Monopoly Law.
The salt permits received by merchants were compiled into books, divided into ten categories, and only merchants on the books could sell salt.
Because there were too many salt merchants, it was difficult for local transport offices to manage them.
The imperial court then selected thirty powerful salt merchant leaders from the list and called them the chief salt merchants.
The remaining salt merchants were called scattered merchants and were included in the list under the names of thirty general merchants.
Every time salt tax was collected, local transport officials did not deal with individual merchants, but directly connected with the general merchants, asking them to collect salt taxes from the salt merchants below.
This move seemed to increase the efficiency of the court, but it also gave the salt merchants great power.
Zhang Xizhou, the transport officer of the Lianghuai Transport Bureau, pointed to the four people at the front of the crowd and said, "There are four general merchants in Lianghuai, and they are all here."
Song Quan looked up and saw four middle-aged men in cloth clothes.
The prince had just ordered an investigation into the issue of exceeding the regulations, which frightened them so much that they dared not wear silk at all.
These people are of varying weights, with ruddy complexions, and their every move exudes an air of wealth.
Among the four people, the one with a medium build, neither fat nor thin, was his trustee, named Li Ji.
The fat man is called Zhang Xian, the thin man is called Xu Tai, and the tall and strong man is called Qian Lu.
They were all representatives of the Lianghuai salt merchants. Although they were not as wealthy as a country, they were not far behind.
To them money is just a number.
"Let's start." Song Quan took a deep breath and stepped into the cabin.
With his arrival, the noisy and chaotic cabin suddenly became extremely quiet.
All the salt merchants looked at Song Quan, their eyes full of expectation.
After all, this is the closest they have ever been to becoming an official!
Song Quan walked to the middle of the crowd and said loudly: "You all came here today to pay the salt tax for next year in advance. I, Song, thank you all."
"You're welcome, this is what we should do."
"Mr. Song is too polite. Paying taxes is only natural."
"Yeah, if we don't pay taxes, we won't have the face to come here."
The salt merchants all became polite.
"No," Song Quan shook his head. "Paying taxes is indeed natural, but paying taxes in advance is not. So, I still have to thank them."
Song Quan bowed deeply to the salt merchants present.
The salt merchants did not dare to be negligent and returned the greetings one after another.
After the pleasantries, Song Quan got down to business. "Today, the number of places for donating officials is limited. I cannot reveal the exact number. So if you have an idea, you should act early to avoid regrets."
"Sir Song, what is the rank of the official donated today?"
"The highest is the sixth rank, the lowest is the seventh rank." Song Quan answered and then said: "In order to ensure fairness, all the places for donated officials today will be sold in the form of official sales, and the highest bidder will win. The minimum bid for each increase is ten taels, and there is no limit to the maximum. After the bid is made, count down ten numbers. If no one else bids at the end, the auction is considered successful. After winning the official position, the Ministry of Personnel will issue official uniforms on the spot, and register and enter the official register..."
After Song Quan explained all the details of donating to an official position, he added: "Today, officials from various departments in Nanjing, the Pacification Office, and the East Factory are all on site to supervise. If there is any deception, they will expose it at the first opportunity."
There were more than twenty people sitting in a row of chairs at the front of the cabin.
People from the six ministries, the six departments, the Pacification Office, and the East Factory were all present.
The salt merchants were both scared and happy.
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