Chapter 370: Dead End

Early morning.

Si Caogui was cleaning the carriage outside the side door.

Suddenly, he kicked backward without turning his head, and a cry of pain came from behind him. Chen Ertong clutched his stomach, his face purplish-red with anger, and yelled, "What are you doing?"

Si Caogui turned around, expressionless. "What are you doing sneaking up on me?"

After a long moment, Chen Ertong recovered and offered a string of coins. "Where did Chen Ji go yesterday?"

Si Caogui didn't take the money, crossing his arms and squinting at him. "Is that all?"

Chen Ertong's eyes widened. "The hundred taels I gave you yesterday is enough for several years' expenses! What more do you want?"

Si Caogui shook his head. "Not one tael less than a hundred!"

"Dream on! There's not even one tael left now." Chen Ertong made to leave, but no one called out to him, even when he reached the alley entrance!

He could only grit his teeth and return, pulling a string of Buddhist coins from his sleeve. "Hurry, tell me, where did Chen Ji go yesterday?"

Si Caogui rubbed the Buddhist coins with his fingertips. "Yesterday, he first went to Tianbao Pavilion, then stayed at Meihua Crossing all day. Many salt merchants, summoned by Young Master Shen, came to the capital to buy salt warrants. He was busy with them until 9-11 PM before returning to the Chen Manor!"

Chen Ertong asked, confused, "What did he do at Tianbao Pavilion?"

Si Caogui said slowly, "Of course, he went to Tianbao Pavilion to buy jewelry for a woman he fancies. What else would it be for?"

Chen Ertong said scornfully, "At a time like this, he's still thinking about women? Did he say anything yesterday related to salt warrants?"

Si Caogui replied from the carriage, "No!"

Chen Ertong was suspicious. "Really nothing?"

Si Caogui said with certainty, "Absolutely nothing!"

Chen Ertong turned and left.

Si Caogui put the Buddhist coins on his wrist and knocked on the side door of the Chen Manor.

The next moment, the side door of the Chen Manor opened a crack, and Chen Ji stood in the gap, revealing half his face.

Chen Ertong rushed back to the Chen Family Salt Store on Luomashi Street. Chen Yue had been waiting at the door for a long time. "What's the word?"

Chen Ertong said, panting, "Chen Ji's coachman said Chen Ji went to Tianbao Pavilion yesterday to buy jewelry for a woman, and then stayed at Meihua Crossing all day without coming out!"

Chen Yue raised an eyebrow. "Is that all? Is this coachman reliable?"

Chen Ertong quickly replied, "Don't worry, Senior Manager, I spent two hundred taels of silver to thoroughly buy him off. He's absolutely reliable!"

Chen Yue stroked his smooth chin, half-believing, half-doubting. "Really?"

At this moment, Chen Bin, who should have been in Tanggu, entered from outside, cupping his hands. "Senior Manager, I've returned!"

Chen Yue grunted. "Tell me, how are the people we sent out doing?"

Chen Bin reported, "Mr. Li Juren's matter has been handled. The night before last, they sent four bodies to the Gaotai Yamen, and over four hundred people gathered, wailing in front of it! Furthermore, those I sent to tail Chen Ji have also reported back. Yesterday, Chen Ji first went to Tianbao Pavilion and bought a hairpin, then went to Meihua Crossing!"

"In the past few days, salt warrants at Meihua Crossing have been selling extremely fast due to the large salt merchants summoned by Shen Ye! After Chen Ji learned the salt warrants were running low, he went to the Six Ministries Yamen around 3-5 PM to find Chen Lizun, likely to acquire salt warrants from the Ministry of Revenue! However, Chen Lizun had already departed for Tanggu; after all, it's where he's implementing tax reforms, and with four lives lost, he had to go!"

"Since Chen Ji couldn't find Chen Lizun, he had to seek out border households, urging them to also consign salt warrants at Meihua Crossing as an emergency measure. Otherwise, there would be no warrants to sell this second month!"

Chen Ertong was stunned. This was completely different from what the coachman had said!

Chen Yue kicked him on the shin. "I wasted two hundred taels of silver for nothing! You couldn't even get the truth out of him. That coachman is clearly in cahoots with Chen Ji!"

Chen Ertong hugged his leg and howled.

Chen Yue turned to Chen Bin. "The information you gathered matches mine! The border households I brought over reported that Chen Ji visited them yesterday. He arrived around 3-5 PM and didn't leave until 9-11 PM after persuading them. It seems the salt warrants at Meihua Crossing are truly almost sold out, which is why he's so anxious!"

Chen Bin said calmly, "Precisely!"

Chen Yue asked again, "What did the people watching Meihua Crossing say? Did they see anyone bringing anything in?"

Chen Bin shook his head. "No, and there were people specifically disguised as salt merchants in Meirui Tower. They saw with their own eyes that the salt warrants for Jinling, Yangzhou, and Suzhou were all sold out. Even the bamboo plaques on the wall had been removed."

Chen Yue sneered, "We'll act tonight! We must drive him out of the capital before Chen Lizun returns! Chen Ertong, you take people to guard Meihua Crossing today. As soon as Jinling's salt warrants are posted, buy them back immediately. Make sure he doesn't have a single one left! If you mess this up again, you'll join me in the pond!"

Chen Bin asked curiously, "Manager, you previously mentioned to Second Master that there's a fatal loophole in the salt warrant transactions at Meihua Crossing. What exactly is it?"

Chen Yue glanced at him sideways. "What's the hurry? You'll know tonight!"

Chen Bin bowed his head and cupped his hands. "Yes, sir!"

As night fell, Meihua Crossing became lively!

To the west, the capital's dignitaries and nobles, drawn by the fame of Courtesan Liu, entered through the main gate. To the east, salt merchants from various regions, seeking salt warrants, entered through the back gate!

Baishun Alley had recently experienced three strange occurrences: first, Liu Su, the famous courtesan from Jinling, suddenly left the White Jade Garden of the Sanshan Association and moved to Meihua Crossing; second, many merchants coming and going in the alley seemed uninterested in women, hurrying in and out; and third, Meihua Crossing was overflowing with people, more so than all the other brothels in Baishun Alley combined!

Outside the back alley, Chen Yue emerged from a sedan chair.

Chen Bin was already waiting there, followed by several border households, with several large boxes placed beside him.

He whispered to Chen Yue, "We've gathered twenty thousand salt warrants for Jinling from the border households, and we haven't paid them yet!"

These border households used to collect stale grain mixed with sand, sending it to border towns to exchange for salt warrants, which they then brought back to the capital to sell to the large salt merchants.

The cost of transporting the grain was one or two taels of cash, but they could sell the salt warrants for one or two taels of cash and a few *li* upon returning.

They had no means to directly draw salt, so they could only rely on the large salt merchants to earn meager profits, making them the most humble laborers among all salt merchants.

Chen Yue glanced at the struggling border households. "Remember to tell them that if they don't do as we say, they can forget about making a living in the capital from now on!"

Chen Bin whispered, "I've already warned them... Manager, what should we do next? What exactly is that loophole you mentioned?"

Chen Yue chuckled, pointing at the boxes on the ground. "When consigning at Meihua Crossing, they only need to record the salt warrant numbers, but salt merchants don't have to leave the warrants there, right?"

Chen Bin pondered, "Indeed. Chen Ji must be guarding against someone setting Meihua Crossing on fire. If all the salt warrants inside were burned, he couldn't afford to compensate even if he sold himself! So, merchants selling salt warrants only need to register the warrant numbers at Meihua Crossing. If someone buys a warrant, the seller then brings the warrant for delivery within one day!"

Chen Yue nodded. "Now his Meihua Crossing has no salt warrants left to sell. If I consign tens of thousands of warrants, and then someone pays to buy them, but I don't go through with the delivery, what can he do?"

Chen Bin was astonished. "His business reputation would be ruined!"

Chen Yue continued, "And what if I send someone to buy salt warrants, and he takes my silver but can't produce the warrants? If I ask for a refund and he can't pay it, can I report him to the authorities and have him arrested?"

Chen Bin suddenly understood. "So that's it! But if he's taken the silver, why wouldn't he be able to refund it?"

"That's not something you need to worry about!"

Chen Yue instructed Chen Bin, "Have the border households carry the salt warrants for consignment, and remember to make sure they carry them back out! Once he hangs all the bamboo plaques, then have our clerks from the salt store buy the newly posted salt warrants. Wait until tomorrow to come for delivery. Once that's done, everyone is to stay at the salt store. No one is allowed to step half a step outside, to prevent anyone from leaking information!"

Chen Bin bowed his head and cupped his fists. "Yes, sir!"

Chen Yue watched the border households carry the salt warrants into Meihua Crossing, then turned and got into his sedan chair. "To the main gate of Meihua Crossing!"

The sedan chair meandered through the Eight Great Alleys to the main gate. Chen Yue swaggered into Meihua Crossing, found a seat by the railing on the third floor of Hongmei Tower, and subtly cast his gaze into the Meihua courtyard while drinking alone.

An hour later, he saw the border households complete their consignment and hurry out the back door with the salt warrants, and only then did he feel relieved.

Immediately after, Chen Bin led a group of clerks in through the back door and headed straight for the brightly lit Meirui Tower. After only about ten minutes, Chen Bin had his people hurry away again, presumably after the payment had been made.

At this point, the matter was halfway done!

Chen Yue's gaze was deep. Shen Ye's influence far exceeded expectations; in just a few months, it had led to a large number of salt merchants snatching up all the salt warrants.

His planted agents had been quietly mingling among them, secretly calculating the number of salt warrants Chen Ji had sold.

In the past few days, Meihua Crossing had sold about 340,000 salt warrants. Of these, 300,000 should be from the Chen Family Salt Store, and 40,000 should be consignments from other salt merchants.

Logically speaking, Meihua Crossing now indeed had no salt warrants left to sell. Chen Yue calculated for a long time, and his heart felt a little relieved.

Currently, the various salt store managers haven't made up their deficits, so there are only 40,000 taels of silver in the public accounts. Adding the 80,000 taels Chen Bin just paid for salt warrants, Chen Ji should only have 100,000 taels of silver in hand at this moment!

Once these 100,000 taels are emptied, as long as Chen Lizun is not in the capital and Chen Ji cannot produce the compensation silver tomorrow, tomorrow will be Chen Ji's dead end!

Chen Yue turned to look at an Eight Immortals table inside Hongmei Tower, where a middle-aged man in fur robes was sitting alone.

He raised a cup of wine and toasted the middle-aged man from across the distance. The middle-aged man also returned the gesture from afar and drained his cup.

The middle-aged man put down his cup and left Hongmei Tower.

When he arrived at the back gate of Meihua Crossing, over twenty burly men were quietly waiting there, with over ten large boxes placed beside them.

These men's cheeks were sun-tanned purplish-red, and their skin was as rough as rocks from the northwestern frontier!

The middle-aged man said calmly, "Carry the boxes and follow me in!"

Over twenty burly men filed in and headed straight for the brightly lit Meixin Tower!

Once inside, disregarding the noisy merchants in Meixin Tower, these over twenty burly men suddenly threw their boxes onto the ground all at once.

The loud thud startled the entire room into silence!

The merchants saw the short knives at the men's waists and retreated one after another, clearing a path.

Chen Ji was whispering something to Brother Pao when he heard the thud of the boxes and immediately turned to look. "What can I do for you, good sirs?"

The leading middle-aged man grinned. "My name is Li, a grain transporter from the border towns, also known as a border household, specializing in the Datong route! Over the years, I've accumulated many salt warrants. I finally brought them to the capital, but no one is willing to accept them, saying my salt warrants cannot draw salt!"

The middle-aged man placed his hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist and said casually, "Yesterday, while drinking, I heard that you can sell salt warrants here, so I brought these salt warrants over!"

Chen Ji smiled and cupped his hands. "Then you've come to the right place; this is where salt warrants are bought and sold! You can register them with us and list them for consignment..."

The middle-aged man shook his head. "I, Li, am a rough man; I don't understand your capital's rules! I only have one question: here are 400,000 salt warrants. I'm selling them to you at three *qian* of silver per piece. Will you accept them or not? Once these salt warrants are converted into silver, I'll take my brothers to do other business. Let whoever wants to be a cursed border household be one!"

At three *qian* of silver per piece, it was cheaper than drawing them from the Ministry of Revenue. 400,000 pieces totaled 120,000 taels, promising a tenfold profit upon resale!

Accept them or not?

Chen Ji cupped his hands and said, "Accept them! Brother Pao, please ask the accountant to count the salt warrants, then disburse 120,000 taels of silver to them!"

Counting salt warrants was laborious work; even a rough count by the accountant took a full hour!

Once it was confirmed the salt warrants had no issues, Brother Pao immediately brought two sandalwood boxes from the Chen Family Salt Store, and along with the 80,000 taels of Buddhist coins just received that night, handed them over to the group of men!

The border household man named Li chuckled, then turned and vanished without a trace!

But just as the men left, the accountant in Meirui Tower suddenly exclaimed, "That's not right!"

Chen Ji turned to look. "What's wrong? Are the salt warrants fake?"

The accountant shook his head. "The salt warrants are certainly not fake, but among so many, why are there no Jinling salt warrants specifically?"

The candlelight flickered in Meirui Tower, causing a flicker in Chen Ji's eyes. "Perhaps they've already sold all the Jinling salt warrants to some large salt merchant. No matter. Put these salt warrants away properly. This batch will bring us a huge profit, just make sure no one burns them!"