Chapter 316: The Wealthy Salt Merchant

Watching the Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, hold forth at length on the art of tea-drinking, the look on Xu Xi's face was nothing short of spectacular.

Of course he knew perfectly well what the Duke of Ying meant by this—the fact that he could get a meeting today at all was because he had planted himself here and refused to leave.

Now the Duke of Ying didn't want to talk business with him, and instead spoke in these vague, roundabout terms—that was only to be expected.

But Xu Xi wasn't anxious. He had made up his mind: if the Duke of Ying didn't give him an answer today, he absolutely would not leave this place.

So he sat there keeping the Duke of Ying company, chatting away while sipping tea, with the calm, unhurried air of someone who had all the time in the world.

Taking a sip of tea, Zhang Weixian looked at Xu Xi and felt genuinely helpless.

The expression on Zhang Weixian's face was quite a sight.

A duke of the great Ming Dynasty acting so shamelessly—there was really nothing more to be said. But the Duke of Ding's line had always been something of a special case in the Ming Dynasty.

The consort kin of the Ming Dynasty were the natal families of successive Empresses. Their existence was different from that of the meritorious nobles. Many of them, though useless as people, still enjoyed a measure of wealth and honor. This was the treatment the court gave them—nothing particularly remarkable.

But among the meritorious nobles, the Duke of Ding was different. All the other meritorious nobles had earned their titles through military merit—won with real swords and real spears. But the Duke of Ding's title was different; it had originally belonged to Xu Zengshou.

Back in the day, Prince of Zhongshan, Xu Da, had one family producing two dukes—one Duke of Ding and one Duke of Wei. The Duke of Wei title was inherited from the Prince of Zhongshan's rank. As for the Duke of Ding title, it actually belonged to Xu Zengshou.

In those days, some people said that the reason Xu Zengshou was able to obtain this title was largely because of the Chengzu Emperor's Empress, for the Chengzu Emperor's Empress came from the Xu family.

Xu Zengshou was killed by the Jianwen Emperor, also because he was implicated in matters concerning the Chengzu Emperor's Empress. So to compensate Xu Zengshou, a duke's title was given to his descendants.

But every meritorious noble knew that wasn't how it really was. The old-established nobles all knew that even as compensation, they couldn't truly grant a duke's title—doing so would give the Xu family two dukes from one house, which was really too much favor and honor.

The real reason the Duke of Ding was able to obtain this title, and the real reason the Jianwen Emperor killed Xu Zengshou, was that Xu Zengshou had been the Chengzu Emperor's spy.

When Xu Zengshou was in Nanjing, he had passed messages to the Chengzu Emperor on more than one occasion, which was why the Jianwen Emperor killed him in a fit of rage.

That was how the Duke of Ding's title came about. Under such circumstances, the title was granted to compensate Xu Zengshou's descendants.

Of course, the Chengzu Emperor's Empress certainly played a part in it as well. But Zhang Weixian also knew that over all these years, the Duke of Ding's household had never been greatly favored by His Majesty. After all, there was still a Duke of Wei in Nanjing—if both families were given favor, that would be awkward to manage.

However, not long ago something happened: the Duke of Wei in Nanjing, Xu Hongji, submitted a routine memorial saying he was in poor health and wished to resign from office.

This matter caused a bit of a stir—not a big one, but everyone knew about it. At that time His Majesty had only recently ascended the throne, and His Majesty approved it.

So now the Duke of Wei's household had fallen out of favor, especially in His Majesty's eyes.

This time, with the Duke of Ding's household having this kind of trouble, it was hard not to suspect there was some connection between the two.

A large part of why the Duke of Ding, Xu Xi, had come here was to figure out what was going on in all this.

But Zhang Weixian had no desire whatsoever to get mixed up in this affair. Still, judging by Xu Xi's manner, if he didn't say something today, Xu Xi definitely wouldn't leave.

Left with no choice, Zhang Weixian could only heave a sigh and say: "Why put yourself through this?"

"I beg the Duke to enlighten me. Surely we can be called meritorious nobles of the same branch—when help is needed, you should lend a hand, shouldn't you?"

"Even if you won't consider the relationship between us, you should consider the older generation." Xu Xi looked at Zhang Weixian and said with a smile: "I'm not asking you to help me directly—I only ask you to point me down a clear path."

"Your family has never gotten involved in officialdom's affairs. Why insist on wading in now? This time, without you in the picture, I think lying low and keeping clear would be for the best." Zhang Weixian said to Xu Xi.

"As long as you don't jump out and stir up trouble, His Majesty won't come after you."

Xu Xi let out a helpless sigh and said: "Who wants to get mixed up in this? Wouldn't it be nice to just live out our days in peace and stability?"

"But you know how many people have their eyes on me right now. The Great Ming may only have five dukes left at present, but before this—it wasn't five."

Hearing these words, Zhang Weixian fell silent in his heart.

After thinking it over, Zhang Weixian said: "When we people do things, when all is said and done, it's nothing more than currying favor before His Majesty. On the one hand, we can't appear too conspicuous; on the other, we can't appear useless."

"You should know how to gauge that measure yourself—I won't waste words with you. The situation now is that you need to render a service. As for how to render that service, you'll have to think it through carefully yourself."

Hearing this, Xu Xi said with a mournful face: "If I knew how to render a service, I wouldn't have come to your doorstep. Look at the Duke of Cheng—the move he pulled was brilliant, and now he's red-hot in His Majesty's favor. But if I wanted to pull a move like his, I'd need to find the right direction first."

Giving Xu Xi a deep look, Zhang Weixian said in a low voice: "If that opportunity were truly given to you, would you dare?"

That question genuinely stumped Xu Xi.

To be honest, he really didn't dare.

What the Duke of Cheng, Zhu Chunchen, had done—though he gained great benefits on the surface and indeed made His Majesty regard him with newfound respect, and this time His Majesty truly did promote him—

But the Duke of Cheng had also offended every single person in the court. Who knew what traps people would set for him later?

When the time came, one slight misstep and it would be a case of everyone pushing the falling wall—even if he shouldn't die, he'd die anyway.

"Enough, let's not talk about that. I know you don't have the guts for it." Zhang Weixian said slowly.

Xu Xi didn't argue. He knew he didn't have the guts either, because he truly didn't dare do it.

So he stood up, clasped his hands toward Zhang Weixian, and said: "I beg the Duke to enlighten me."

"You want to render a service, and you don't want to hurt anyone—if there were such a good method, I'd have gone and done it myself." Looking at Xu Xi, Zhang Weixian said with irritation.

"Alright, I do have an idea. But it depends on whether you dare to do it. If you dare, I'll give you a hand from behind; if you don't dare, then pretend I never said anything."

"Tell me, tell me!" Xu Xi said hurriedly.

"For those of us in the capital, opportunities to render service aren't many. But that doesn't mean there's no way. What Zhu Chunchen did, we may not be able to replicate, but we can still think of something."

"The court has no money right now. Whoever can bring money to His Majesty will have his merit secured. Look at what Zhu Chunchen did—wasn't he helping His Majesty bring in money?"

"We meritorious nobles and consort kin—we may not know much else, but you should know in your heart where the money is, shouldn't you?"

Xu Xi thought in silence for a long while with a grave face, then said slowly: "When it comes to money, it can only be that bunch of salt merchants."

As he said this, Xu Xi's gaze flickered uncertainly.

The Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, looked at Xu Xi and slowly nodded, saying: "Our Ming's earliest salt administration was the system of delivering grain to open the salt franchise. You should know about that, right?"

Xu Xi nodded and said: "Of course I know that. It was to solve the problem of provisions for the border troops—merchants were made to transport grain to the frontiers. As long as they delivered the grain, they could exchange it at the border garrisons for salt certificates, and only then could they use those certificates to buy salt."

"Exactly!" Hearing Xu Xi finish speaking, Zhang Weixian let out a soft sigh and continued: "In those days, no one dared to play tricks. Merchants bought grain in various places and dutifully transported it to the border passes. The soldiers at the border could eat good grain and fill their bellies."

"Later, to save costs, those merchants opened up wasteland at the border, hired people to farm the border lands, and sent the grain produced there directly to the border troops—no need to purchase from other places, no need for transport along the road. They saved a large portion of the money. This was called merchant farming."

"In those days the frontiers flourished, drawing many merchants and gathering much population. That was why the border was stable, the soldiers fought with dedication, and the Ming's frontiers won many victories."

Having said this much, Zhang Weixian turned his head to look at Xu Xi and asked: "But do you know from when all of this ceased to exist?"

Hearing this, Xu Xi was silent for a long while. He now understood what Zhang Weixian was asking him to do.

This could indeed bring in a vast amount of money, and it could indeed make His Majesty regard him with newfound respect—it could even earn him a great merit before His Majesty.

But this merit was not easy to earn, this matter was not easy to handle, and this money was even harder to take.

You should know—what kind of money was this?

This was money from salt! Though salt money came in abundance and from far and wide, anything touched by the word "salt" was never easy to handle.

Money that came from salt truly burned the hand. With the slightest carelessness, it could scorch your own hand, or even set your whole body ablaze. If it truly came to that, I fear the loss would outweigh the gain.

Zhang Weixian looked at Xu Xi, his expression unchanged.

This time it was Zhang Weixian who was in no hurry. He reached for his tea and took a sip, quietly watching Xu Xi, waiting for him to give an answer.

Originally, Zhang Weixian had not wanted to tell Xu Xi any of this, but seeing how insistent Xu Xi was, he simply went ahead and laid it all out for him.

If Xu Xi truly dared to do it, then this would be a merit; if he did not dare either, then Zhang Weixian would not count on him.

But this matter absolutely had to be done—only the specifics of how to go about it would have to be asked of Your Majesty later.

Yet this matter was hard to do and burned the hand—that was certain. If Xu Xi dared to do it, Zhang Weixian believed that Your Majesty would not only support Xu Xi but would also think highly of him.