Chapter 315 316. Kissing Lei Li and being poisoned to death
Lei Zhouzhou's situation is even worse than Lei Li's.
The Sihai Division is nominally under the imperial court, but in reality it has been controlled by the Maritime Merchant Alliance. Except for the newly appointed Lei Zhouzhou and Lin Zhong, almost all the people in the Sihai Division are from the Maritime Merchants.
Some of them were supported by maritime merchants, some had secret dealings with maritime merchants, and some were relatives of maritime merchants. The Sihai Division was inseparable from the Baihui Yunliu Department, and the Yunliu Department was also deeply influenced by the Maritime Merchant Alliance.
This is almost a replica of what happened five years ago.
At that time, Lei Li had not established the Transport Department nor reorganized Baihui. The Baihui Escort Agency was completely controlled by the sea merchants, and even the local officials did not dare to compete with the sea merchants.
Now, the Maritime Merchant Alliance has revived and relied on its strong currency to win over officials. The situation has changed from officials protecting each other to officials protecting each other. Transactions and contacts have gone underground, but the network of human relationships has become more closely intertwined.
Like a dense spider web, it almost covers the entire Baihui, sticking the people of Baihui and small businesses to the web, becoming the food of the spider's nest.
A strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake.
The airdropped Lei Zhouzhou has no power in Baihui and only has an "unreliable" governor to rely on. In the eyes of the Baihui forces where officials and businessmen collude, he is not a powerful dragon crossing the river at all.
——Lei Zhouzhou is indeed not a strong dragon, he is still a 21-year-old little dragon. The real dragon crossing the river is on a secret visit, investigating the enemy situation in the major ports of Baihui.
"Five years ago I was too kind."
Lei Li walked slowly along the dock, his eyes glancing around the port lightly.
This is one of the most prosperous ports in Baihui, with the largest number of ships and the largest crowds of people. There are hundreds of large ships that can carry thousands of people, lined up one after another, which is spectacular at first glance.
Among the large sea vessels, there are cargo ships, grain ships, fishing boats of various sizes, etc., scattered all over the place, and people of all kinds surge and recede like waves.
There were laborers shouting as they moved the goods, boatmen pulling the boats with ropes, harsh and urgent managers, officials strolling leisurely while collecting bribes, as well as common people coming and going to trade and the tanned fishermen.
There were also wealthy people coming and going among them. They were dressed in silk and satin, with gold and jade on their heads. They looked calm and unhurried. Even the maids of the wealthy families were in high spirits.
As the governor, Lei Li's portrait would be passed down to officials in various counties, and there was a possibility that someone would recognize him, so he and Zhou Yi specially disguised themselves.
A man pretended to be a wealthy master from a rich family, and a black-faced bodyguard pretended to be the master. They strolled around the dock openly under the guise of renting a boat.
"Before, I saw that it was difficult for maritime merchants to run a business, so I simply took back the ownership of the escort agency and established the transportation department. I also cracked down on a few prominent large merchants, and didn't even let them disband the Maritime Merchant Alliance. Now they are taking advantage of me."
Lei Li had a forced smile on his face. A young constable passed by and glanced at him, but he pretended to be frightened and lowered his head, then walked quickly forward.
Although government officials are somewhat respectful to maritime merchants, this is only true for the big sea merchants in the maritime merchant alliance. They still look down on ordinary merchants.
"The original purpose of establishing the Sihai Division was to take over the maritime merchant alliance and disintegrate the maritime merchant forces. Now, it has become a powerful tool for the maritime merchants to control the imperial court."
Zhou Yi also lowered his voice and said, "The Maritime Merchant Alliance is still afraid of the heavy military pressure from the imperial court, so they dare not openly collude with each other and only dare to make private transactions. This is very beneficial to us."
"You are the governor, your official rank is higher than that of the Sihai Division and the prefect, and Zhou Zhou is the director of the Sihai Division. Although he is just a commander without any troops, his rank is so high that he can crush others. They dare not disobey us openly."
"In Kyoto, there's all this intrigue and scheming, but in Baihui, I'm clearly the boss, and I still have to use my brain."
Lei Li was speechless.
As the couple was talking, they heard an argument not far away. They rushed over to take a look and saw a man who looked like a manager and several servants confronting a fisherman father and daughter.
“That’s the price now!”
The manager shouted, "Are you going to sell this fish? If you don't sell it to our Pu family, then the Qing, Mo, and Ximen families will also sell it for the same price!"
"this……"
The older fisherman, one of the father and daughter, hesitated again and again, but the young girl, full of youthful energy, angrily said, "This sea fish is rare. It used to sell for twenty cents a pound, but you've repeatedly lowered the price to only five cents a pound! You're killing us!"
The onlookers were also whispering, and some were shouting angrily:
"That's right! Sea fish and seashells are worthless, but you guys are not bullying us like this! The price is getting lower every year. How can we survive with such a small amount of money?"
"I heard the price of pearls has been driven down to the bone! A pearl made from a fingernail can't even be sold for a tael of silver. This is a deadly job!"
"How can anyone survive at sea?"
"What are you talking about?! When you go out to sea, you rely on God for your food. At least you can eat. But if you look at the faces of these fish-skinning families of the Qing family, you will starve to death sooner or later!"
Baihui lives by the sea.
The lives of fishermen and their families are tied to the sea, and with the low prices of seafood, they have to increase the time and frequency of their trips to sea in order to catch more fish, but the rate of depreciation is still much faster than the profits.
In addition to the sea tax, fish and food tax, and boat tax that the government occasionally increased... some fishermen could not make ends meet and had to sell their boats, give up fishing and turn to manual labor. Some fishermen even sold their children because they were too poor.
This was a peaceful time, not a time of famine or war, yet people were forced to sell their children. It was truly appalling! Lei Li and Zhou Yi had witnessed this with their own eyes.
"My master bought these fish."
Zhou Yi suddenly spoke up, pushed aside the crowd, and strode up to the manager and the fisherman's father and daughter. He handed the girl two taels of silver and said,
"Is this enough to buy your fish?"
“That’s too much…”
The girl waved her hands quickly and said, "Half an ounce of silver is enough. Our fish is not worth that much."
"No problem."
Zhou Yi stuffed two taels of silver into her hand, picked up the two baskets of fish, and turned around to leave. However, he heard the girl say to the manager in a rather imposing manner,
"See? How can our fish be priced as low as you are? Not to mention five cents, at least fifteen cents a pound? You have a conscience that has been eaten by a dog. Aren't you afraid of dying in the middle of the night and not being able to find a pulse from a doctor?"
What a clever mouth.
Zhou Yi looked back in surprise. The girl noticed his gaze and her face immediately turned red. She felt a little embarrassed because she was taking advantage of the situation.
Zhou Yi walked up behind Lei Li, carrying two baskets of fish. He dutifully acted as a bodyguard, expressionless as he whispered to Lei Li, "This girl is very articulate. She looks a bit like you when you were young."
"When you were young?"
Lei Li raised an eyebrow and snorted angrily, "Are you saying I'm old now?"
"no."
Zhou Yi glanced at the lips that were exceptionally soft, a pale crimson color, yet could kill him with a single lick, and said, "When you were young, your attack power wasn't as strong as it is now. She's only in her teens, how could she have the power to infuriate someone to death with just one lick of your mouth?"
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Lei Li narrowed her eyes and smiled, her peach blossom eyes sparkling. Even though her disguise had concealed her features and her color was only 40% to 50% of its original color, she was still so beautiful that Zhou Yi couldn't take his eyes off her.
“…”
Zhou Yi didn't respond, but thought to himself, if he kissed Lei Li now, he wouldn't be poisoned to death by him.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi left the bustling port and found a fisherman, paid him a small processing fee, and asked him to help them process the two baskets of fish.
There are sea fish, seashells, and some worthless kelp in the basket. The fisherman doesn’t have any seasonings at home, so he just adds enough oil and salt and steams them in a pot, but their freshness is still so delicious that it makes your mouth water.
While eating, Mr. and Mrs. Lei Li casually talked about some family matters and inquired about the news they wanted to know.
This port belongs to the nearby Haixing County. There are four large sea merchants in the county, all of which belong to the Maritime Merchant Alliance. They control the production of seafood in this sea area. Once fishermen return from going out to sea, they will be purchased by their people as soon as possible.
But the four companies colluded with each other, unified the purchase price, and forced the fishermen to sell to them at a very low price.
If they don't sell, they will be suppressed by the four companies and will most likely end up being unable to sell anything and having to turn to other ways of making a living.
"There is also a family in the county that pays fairly. Their surname is Cao, but the Cao family is not as powerful as the other four families, and they have fewer ships that can go out to sea than the other four families. They can only follow behind them and eat what's left."
The fisherman who collected the money for cooking said, "The Cao family is kind. When they see someone who's outperforming the other four families, they secretly buy their catch. Many of us here are very grateful to the Cao family. It would be great if they could outperform the other four families."
In fact, the price offered by the Cao family was not very high, a little lower than the normal price, but compared with their peers, the Cao family's character seemed particularly noble.
And the Cao family can't offer too high a price.
Now the four companies have not taken him seriously. If he gives too high a price and disrupts the market, the Cao family will be attacked by the four companies together, and it will not end well for the Cao family.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi looked at each other. They both understood why the Qing family and the other four families did not severely suppress the Cao family and let them have the final say here.
The four families cooperate with each other but also hinder each other. The Cao family's power is small, but that is also relative. If anyone attacks the Cao family and merges its power, that is not what the other three families want to see. If anyone wants to divide the Cao family, the Cao family can fight back desperately and bite off a piece of meat from the four families.
Leaving the Cao family behind can also give the fishermen here a little hope, so that they will not be pushed too hard and encounter an uncontrollable situation.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi did not stay for too long. After dinner, they left and did not plan to continue pretending. If the tiger does not show its power, Bai Hui and other officials and merchants will think he is a sick cat.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi rode back to Baihui Prefecture City at full speed, and immediately met up with their subordinates to check the evidence and witnesses they had found. When they were almost certain of the case, they led their men to the Baihui Prefecture government office in a menacing manner.
"Where are the people? Get out here!"
Lei Li sat down in the hall with a bold look, his peach blossom eyes, which always smiled, narrowed slightly, and he looked like a governor with a majestic aura.
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