OBS Chapter 345 You are short-sighted!
Chapter 345 You are short-sighted!
"What else can you think of? Refined salt is the foundation of our family and we cannot let it be controlled by the palace!"
"Yes, we must find a way to disrupt this!"
"I have tasted the refined salt, and it is indeed much better than coarse salt. I don't know how Chu Ning refined it."
"Humph, at worst, we can raid the Prince Chu's mansion at night and take all the refined salt!"
In the living room of Huangfu Mansion, a group of wealthy families expressed their opinions.
Some believed that the matter could not be delayed and must be acted upon as soon as possible, while others wanted to directly seize the refined salt.
The Chu Palace gave away a lot of refined salt for free. They got some and after tasting it they knew how powerful the refined salt was and understood that this matter must not be allowed to ferment.
If other people are used to using refined salt, they will definitely not buy their coarse salt.
Once the crude salt business is gone, their influence will be reduced by half, which they will never allow to happen!
But facing everyone's methods, Huangfu Gao remained indifferent and chopped the ground three times with the tiger-head cane in his hand.
"Boom~boom~boom~"
The knocking sound echoed throughout the hall, and the noisy crowd quieted down.
Huangfu Gao said in a deep voice with a cold face: "This is Kyoto City. Do you want to give His Majesty a reason to target us by attacking the palace directly?"
Everyone was shocked and their faces looked a little ugly.
The embezzlement of treasury silver was exposed and they were no longer trusted by the emperor, who was worried that he had no reason to punish them.
If they attacked the Prince of Chu's Palace at this moment, they would be completely hostile to the royal family. With their current strength, they would definitely not be a match for the royal family if a fight really broke out.
Just as everyone was thinking, Xie Yuwei stood up and said slowly: "I wonder what tricks the old Patriarch Huangfu has?"
Huangfu Gao looked at Xie Yuwei deeply, with satisfaction in his eyes: "You can still remain calm at this moment, you are worthy of being the most talented woman in the Xie family.
Now that Chu Ning has refined salt, if we confront him head-on, we will be the only ones who suffer.
How about this, I will go and talk to him in person, and we will each contribute some money so that he can explain himself to His Majesty, but he wants us to participate in the refined salt business."
Everyone was stunned.
Does this mean asking for peace?
One of the family heads immediately stood up angrily and said, "Old Patriarch Huangfu, why are you doing this? Even if we don't give you money, can't we make refined salt ourselves? Or rob Chu Ning of his refined salt?"
Someone took the lead, and others immediately stood up and echoed: "Yes, we are more numerous and powerful, it will be easy for us to rob his refined salt mine!"
"That's right, there's no need for us to negotiate with Chu Ning!"
When it came to paying money, everyone became unhappy.
There are so many of them, why should they be afraid of Chu Ning?
Huangfu Gao looked at everyone with disappointment, shook his head and sighed, "You guys are too short-sighted."
As he said that, he set his eyes on Xie Yuwei and asked with interest: "Miss Xie, what do you mean?"
Xie Yuwei still had a calm expression: "Old Patriarch Huangfu wants to stabilize the situation first, and then cooperate with Chu Ning to find out the exact location of the refined salt mine and the method of refining refined salt, and finally kick Chu Ning out."
"Hahahaha~"
Huangfu Gao laughed heartily and praised: "You are indeed smart. You are the only one among so many people who can understand my thoughts."
The other family heads reacted.
It turns out that Huangfu Gao had a plan.
Chu Ning's refined salt has become a hot topic in the city now, and so many people have tasted it, and it tastes really good. You can't get the upper hand by force against Chu Ning now.
In this case, why not negotiate? Give some silver first, and then slowly get the location of the refined salt mine and the refining method from Chu Ning.
"Wonderful, wonderful!"
"As expected of Patriarch Huangfu, if this plan succeeds, refined salt will still be in our hands from now on!"
"We fully support Patriarch Huangfu."
"My He family agrees!"
For a time, everyone expressed their opinions one after another.
Huangfu Gao was not surprised by this. He stood up with the tiger-head cane in his hand and said calmly, "Come here, prepare the sedan chair and go to the Prince of Chu's Palace!"
Prince Chu's Palace, at the gate.
There were huge crowds of people, it was extremely lively and the entire street was filled with people, making it impossible to get in.
The effect of refined salt is so powerful that no one buys coarse salt. Everyone comes here to buy refined salt.
Huangfu Gao's sedan chair arrived at the street outside but could not get in. The servants had to use the name of the Huangfu family, and then they arrived at the gate of the mansion with difficulty.
After the announcement, Chu Ning received Huangfu Gao in the living room.
"See His Royal Highness the King of Chu!"
"Hahahaha, it turns out to be Patriarch Huangfu. I wonder what brought you to my palace?"
Chu Ning sat in the main seat, looking very pleased with himself, and didn't even let Huangfu Gao sit down to talk.
Huangfu Gao didn't mind, and forced a smile on his wrinkled face: "I heard that His Royal Highness the King of Chu used special methods to refine refined salt, so I came here specially to congratulate you."
He pretended to bow, which made Chu Ning secretly alert.
This old guy is really an important figure. He can even come to the door in person at this time.
Chu Ning grinned and said, "I got this method by accident. I thought it could only be used for cooking. I didn't expect that the soldiers on the front line would use it to pickle fish and prevent it from rotting. This will allow our army to not have to worry about food shortages in the future.
When my father learned of this, he ordered me to devote all my efforts to refining salt. From now on, the refined salt business of Great Chu will be fully managed by the Chu Palace. "
As soon as these words were spoken, Huangfu Gao's face changed drastically.
I didn’t expect refined salt to have such wonderful uses!
This is troublesome!
With pickled fish, the food and fodder for the soldiers on the front line will not be too dependent on the aristocratic families, which will greatly reduce the influence of the aristocratic families.
In addition, Chu Ning will be fully responsible for refined salt in the future and will definitely not give coarse salt any chance, which is equivalent to cutting off the most important source of income for the wealthy family.
Huangfu Gao was getting more and more frightened the more he thought about it. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Your Highness the Prince of Chu is blessed by heaven. He can refine refined salt and solve the food and salary crisis of the soldiers on the front line. It is really a cause for celebration."
Chu Ning looked amused and said, "Old Patriarch Huangfu came here today, didn't he just want to congratulate me?"
"This……"
Huangfu Gao hesitated for a moment, but still expressed his thoughts: "Yesterday, I discussed with everyone and we are willing to donate some of the silver to Your Majesty."
Chu Ning narrowed his eyes: "Oh? Really? Donate silver to father? But what I want is that you hand over all the misappropriated silver!"
As he spoke, Chu Ning looked Huangfu Gao up and down, and chuckled, "Old Patriarch Huangfu suddenly changed his mind. I guess there must be some conditions, right?"
Huangfu Gao was about to speak when Chu Ning interrupted him, saying, "But unfortunately, no matter what conditions or demands you have, I will not compromise. You either hand over all the silver or fight me to the end!"
"Come here, see the guests off!"
Huangfu Gao's face changed drastically. He didn't expect that he came here in person to negotiate, but Chu Ning refused without even listening to his request.
It seems that Chu Ning is determined to confront the wealthy and powerful families.
"Very good, since His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu is unwilling, then don't blame me!"
Huangfu Gao snorted coldly, turned and left.
If the peace talks fail, we can only resort to hard tactics!
If you don't accept my toast, you will be punished. Just wait. A mere Prince of Chu's Palace, don't you think the wealthy and powerful families can do anything to you?