Liu Rui brought Mi Jinxuan's paper ball back to the Maritime Merchants Association.
It immediately caused an uproar.
"How dare he? How dare he!"
A sea merchant roared.
Another sea merchant sneered, "Why not? Have you all forgotten what he did in Jiujiang? Confiscating property and wiping out families has always been his specialty."
"President, what should we do next?" Wang Liancheng asked Liu Ruidao.
Liu Rui said in a deep voice: "I will go and ask for instructions from Lord Ge."
"Although Zhao Lin is ruthless, he always has sufficient evidence to prove his actions."
After listening to Liu Rui's report, Ge Ruochuan said, "As long as he doesn't get the evidence, it'll be fine."
Liu Rui smiled bitterly and said, "Zhao Lin likes to search the house first and then gather evidence."
"It's not about adding more evidence, it's about confiscating the evidence from the house. This is what the former Jiujiang Governor Feng Siyuan did." Ge Ruochuan said.
They are all governors. If Zhao Lin can kill Feng Siyuan, he can also kill Ge Ruochuan.
So Ge Ruochuan wanted to kill Zhao Lin more than anyone else.
At least get him out of here.
"Sir, what should we do now?" Liu Rui asked.
Ge Ruochuan pondered for a moment and said, "What a pity! Zhao Lin is such a newcomer. I wanted to win him over and build a good relationship with him. What a pity."
Ge Ruochuan shook his head repeatedly.
Liu Rui understood what he meant.
"I'll arrange it right away."
After several days of questioning, Zhao Lin had a general understanding of the situation of the maritime merchants.
"Big sea merchants, like Liu Rui, are very powerful. Their fleets sail far and wide, and they earn a lot. Every time they go out to sea, they can earn at least hundreds of thousands of taels, and at most millions of taels."
"Small sea merchants, like Wang Liancheng, are basically fishermen and businessmen who can't travel far, nor dare to travel too far. They have weak risk tolerance and can only trade near the coast."
"Maritime trade is completely controlled by big merchants like Liu Rui. Wang Liancheng and his colleagues don't even have a say. We desperately hope for change."
"And Liu Rui and other big merchants naturally don't want any changes."
"Add to that the people behind them, and it will be very difficult to smoothly collect tax revenue from maritime trade."
Zhao Lin said one by one.
"They've hidden such a large income. No wonder they don't want adults to come here."
Looking at the investigations over the past few days, Gong Qiubai was somewhat surprised: "If these maritime trade transactions were taxed normally, the national treasury would have earned at least one million taels of silver."
An income of one million taels of silver is already terrifying.
Daqi's tax revenue is declining every year.
Up to now, converted into silver, it is less than five million taels.
Five million taels of silver have to be used in various aspects, which is already not enough.
In addition, due to corruption among officials at all levels, the amount that can actually be used has to be discounted.
This will make us even more short of money.
"One million taels of silver is enough for the disaster victims in the southeast and northwest to get through this difficult time," Gong Qiubai continued.
Zhao Lin nodded: "So, no matter how difficult it is, we must sort out maritime trade and increase tax revenue."
Gong Qiubai looked at Zhao Lin, who was younger than him, with admiration: "I really made the right choice this time. Sir, what are we going to do next?"
"Give them a chance," Zhao Lin said calmly. "According to the actual situation, if we want to sort things out one by one, we must confront the people behind the maritime merchants and force them to compromise, no matter what means we use. But doing so will take at least two or three years."
"How can we have two or three years?"
Zhao Lin stood up and said, "Ten thousand years is too long. We must seize the day! They have this intention, so I will give them this opportunity. I will catch them all in one fell swoop and eliminate them from the root."
Mi Banxia looked at Zhao Lin, her beautiful eyes sparkling.
This kind of man is attractive.
Like my brother, who only knows how to spend money to find women, he is just a vulgar bumpkin.
"Isn't it too risky?" Gong Qiubai asked.
In the past, Fu Wenqi helped to check for deficiencies and fill in the gaps, but now that Fu Wenqi is not here, Gong Qiubai has to do it.
Fortunately, Gong Qiubai is also Zhao Lin’s senior brother and has this identity.
Zhao Lin said sternly, "You can't get a tiger cub without diving into its den. Time is running out, so this is the only way."
Gong Qiubai advised, "This time is different from the past. Previously, the people involved were officials, forced to surrender at your command. But these merchants are desperate criminals, with their own private armies and firearms. If a real fight breaks out, General Chen's 3,000 men may not be able to protect you."
"Who said there are only three thousand people?" Zhao Lin said with a smile.
Gong Qiubai was stunned.
Sudi said, "Chief Clerk Pi Pengxing has already set out with an army of 10,000 men, traveling by night and hiding during the day. They have now reached Jincheng, 50 miles away. With just one command from you, my Lord, these 10,000 men will sweep away all enemies!"
Gong Qiubai was moved: "This way, great things can be accomplished."
"Sir, what should we do?" Mi Banxia asked quickly.
"Send them a message and tell them that I'm going to the dock privately to check the situation. As long as we have confirmed the general situation, we will take action against them." Zhao Lin said.
"Should we find a substitute?" Mi Banxia suggested, "A son of a wealthy family shouldn't sit idle in the hall. Your Excellency's body is worth a lot of money, so why put yourself in danger?"
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "They are not stupid. It is difficult for the substitute to lure them out."
The main reason is that this is someone else's territory. Even if Zhao Lin uses the Qingzhou army to surround the headquarters tightly, it cannot be completely leaked. The other party will always be able to get the news out.
If the other party fails to take action due to the problem of the substitute, the plan will fail.
So even if there is a certain danger, Zhao Lin is willing to take the risk.
Without waiting for anyone to say anything, Zhao Lin said, "It's settled. We'll go tomorrow."
Everyone stood up and said, "Here!"
The news soon reached Liu Rui.
Liu Rui was overjoyed and called the other merchants together: "Zhao Lin is finally leaving the headquarters. When he arrives, have them take action. We only have one chance, and we must not waste it."
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