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Just when both sides sent representatives to negotiate, Liu Huaiyuan gave up when the matter came to a head and did not dare to come forward to negotiate with the Jin gentry forces in person.

Worrying about the questioning and accusations from the gentry is only one aspect.

What's more important is that when the servants of the Jin gentry and the grain gang set up a battle array and faced the officers and soldiers of the Jiangfang camp, both sides had strong soldiers and horses, and the military appearance was majestic. This confrontation between the two armies and the tense and murderous atmosphere really frightened Liu Huaiyuan.

Worse, he was worried that the negotiations between the two sides would break down. After the war officially started, he might not be able to retreat in time, and would be directly blocked in the center of the battlefield, and then die tragically in the chaos.

After hearing Liu Huaiyuan's worries, Xu Qingyan's eyes widened in disbelief.

What?

With Jiang Fangying, a force that has no fighting power against the weak, and with a makeshift mob like the servants of the Jin gentry and the grain gang, is it worthy of being called a "confrontation between two armies"? Moreover, it is still "strong soldiers and horses", "military capacity"

"Mighty", "A chilling atmosphere"?

Xu Qingyan first turned his head to look at the lax and unmotivated officers and soldiers of the Jiangfang camp. Then he looked back at the ugly and chaotic scene of the Jin gentry's servants and the grain gang's elites lining up in formation. He couldn't help but feel suspicious.

There was something wrong with Liu Huaiyuan's eyes.

After getting used to seeing the new armies of Shaanxi and Gansu, the camel musketeers of the Junggar Khanate, the Guanning cavalry of Shanhaiguan, the Liaodong cavalry of Liaodong Town, and the Jurchen Eight Banners soldiers of Jianzhou, etc., Xu Qingyan

Looking at the confrontation between the Jiang Fang Camp and the Jin Shen Liang Gang, it was like a child playing house.

If Xu Qingyan now had a new army of hundreds of soldiers, he would even have full confidence in leading his army to Huanglong, defeating all the enemies in a short time, and capturing all the Jin gentry alive!

However, this is only Xu Qingyan's perspective.

In Liu Huaiyuan's view, the total number of troops on both sides was five to six thousand, and they were all holding weapons and intimidating each other. This scene was scary enough. Once the two sides started fighting, Liu Huaiyuan couldn't even imagine it.

The tragic scene at that time will definitely be an ancient battle that can be recorded in the annals of history!

Even the bloody battle last year when Zhao Junchen led his troops against the Mongolian coalition forces on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu was nothing more than this, right?

The battlefield is a dangerous place, and since I am just a civil servant, I naturally hide as much as I can!

Hearing Liu Huaiyuan's stumbling explanation, Xu Qingyan felt dumbfounded.

Seeing Liu Huaiyuan's trembling body and bloodless face, Xu Qingyan felt even more helpless, and completely gave up the idea of ​​letting Liu Huaiyuan personally come forward to negotiate with the Jin gentry forces.

If the negotiators of the Jin gentry forces see Liu Huaiyuan's cowardly appearance, they will definitely push further, boost their morale, and seriously undermine Zhao Junchen's follow-up plan!

Therefore, Xu Qingyan simply asked Liu Huaiyuan to stay in the rear and take charge, in order to prevent the officers and soldiers of Jiang Fang Battalion from mutiny on the battlefield.

Xu Qingyan himself brought Li Pengyu, the big boss of "Pengyu Trading Company", the Zhang brothers, the big boss of "Zhang's Shipping Company", Gu Xiqing, the big shopkeeper of "Yongfeng Grain Company" and other merchants as well as more than ten members of the Zhao family.

Protect the hospital and quickly move towards the middle position where the two forces are confronting each other.

Compared with Liu Huaiyuan, who is as timid as a rat, these "United Shipping Company" franchise merchants may not be more courageous, but as the saying goes, money and silk make people courageous. In order to regain their family assets and industries, the merchants have all shown great courage.

Unprecedented courage and determination, when Xu Qingyan went out to negotiate, no one backed down, they all looked determined!

Xu Qingyan glanced at the merchants, and after a short selection, he ordered Gu Xiqing, the big shopkeeper of "Yongfeng Grain Store": "Boss Gu, when the two parties negotiate later, on the surface everything will be dominated by you.

But secretly, he wants to act based on my eyes!

Again, we must not only increase the tension of the situation, but also try to delay it as much as possible! It is best to delay this confrontation until tomorrow evening! You must carefully grasp the proportion of this...

If the other party can't hold it anymore and wants to take action first, then follow me back immediately, and I will naturally have the means to give them a blow, so that they don't dare to act rashly!"

Gu Xiqing is about forty years old, with elegant appearance, shrewd demeanor and sophisticated behavior. He looks like a smart person - this is why Xu Qingyan chose this person as his negotiator.

After hearing Xu Qingyan's instructions, Gu Xiqing gritted her teeth and nodded: "Don't worry, Mr. Xu! We let the Jin gentry take away our property, and we were arrested and imprisoned by the government. It's such a shame and humiliation... I must take revenge and go back.

I will never let those gentry have an easy time!"

As Gu Xiqing finished speaking, all the merchants responded loudly, each of them gnashing their teeth, obviously hating her to the extreme.

And just as Xu Qingyan was giving instructions in a low voice, negotiators from the Jin gentry forces also came forward.

The other party was headed by Du Yuande, the head of the Du family, and assisted by Zhang Bao, the leader of the Nanjing Hall of the Grain Gang. Behind them were more than ten Jin Gentry children, as well as more than ten grain gang elites and Jin Gentry guards.

After the two sides met, Du Yuande took the lead and yelled: "Where is Jiang Wuchen Liu Huaiyuan? Why are you hiding from us? Are you guilty of being a thief? Jiang Fangying forcibly detained members of major gentry families without any reason.

Cargo ships, this matter is definitely not over! If the Jiangfang camp immediately releases all the cargo ships and apologizes in public, there will still be room for change. Otherwise, all the major gentry families will definitely jointly report to the court to impeach you for insulting the gentry and disrupting the country!"

Then, seeing Gu Xiqing step forward, Du Yuande even cursed: "Gu Xiqing, and you profiteers and bad businessmen, a group of guilty people, actually have the nerve to show up! Don't think that with the support of Jiang Fangying, you can do whatever you want.

!On the border of Jiangnan, the thousands of officers and soldiers of Jiangfang camp can't affect anything at all! We, the Jin gentry, took over your property, which was completely a righteous move to share the worries of the imperial court. It also got the approval of Zhou Chief Fu and the Seventh Prince. Do you still want to take it back by force?

Can’t do it?”

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After yelling and scolding, Du Yuande seemed to be aggressive, but also seemed to be stern and angry.

Gu Xiqing, on the other hand, argued with each other and refused to give in. He snorted coldly: "It turns out that the head of the Du family is here in person! I hope the head of the Du family knows that the reason why Liu Wuchen did not show up to negotiate with you in person is because he still needs to sit in the rear.

Prepare for war and be ready to lead the army at any time to suppress the rebellion of the Jin gentry!

As for us merchants, we have never thought about using the officers and soldiers of Jiang Fang Camp to regain our property. We are now accompanying Jiang Fang Camp as accountants. After the audits of our accountants, we have mastered the smuggling and tax evasion of major gentry families.

There is conclusive evidence, so Jiang Fang Camp is by no means detaining your cargo ship without reason, but is strictly fulfilling the power of inspecting smuggling given to Jiang Fang Camp by the imperial court, and no one can find fault with it!"

Seeing that Gu Xiqing not only did not relent, but instead labeled the major Jin gentry families as "gathering crowds to rebel", Du Yuande couldn't help being shocked and immediately retorted: "Nonsense! We Jin gentry have always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic.

If you abide by the law, how can you be allowed to frame and frame me at will?"

"Oh? If you Jin gentry did not rebel, why did you lead thousands of troops to confront the imperial officers and soldiers?"

"We came here with the crowd because Jiang Fangying mobilized troops without permission, acted perversely, and oppressed the virtuous. If we, the gentry, came here without any precautions to reason with Jiangfangying, who knows whether Jiangfangying would detain us again without any reason.

?All of this is an act of helplessness and self-protection... Also, you said that Jiang Fangying has obtained conclusive evidence of smuggling and tax evasion by our Jin gentry, which is even more nonsense! We Jin gentry are now considered to be members of the 'United Shipping Company'

How can a member of the United Shipping Company commit the crime of smuggling if he has the tax reduction privileges of the United Shipping Company?"

Du Yuande was a smart man, and he quickly changed the subject at this time, determined not to continue to dwell on the topic of "mass rebellion", and instead questioned his own smuggling charges.

Gu Xiqing sneered, waved to summon a few other merchants, took a few account books from their hands, and said while flipping through: "Why does the Du family have to quibble? Although the 'United Shipping Company' has the privilege of tax reduction, the scope of the tax reduction is only

It is limited to dozens of civilian necessities such as rice, salt, iron, cloth, etc., such as expensive porcelain, high-priced tea, precious silk and other commodities, but they are not included in the tax reduction scope... But among the cargo ships of the major gentry families, we

In total, more than 890 boxes of high-priced porcelain, more than 2,600 cans of high-priced tea, and more than 3,300 pieces of high-priced silk were found. In addition, there were also a large number of antique treasures... What is this if not smuggling?

?”

Just as Zhou Shangjing worries, in any business activity in this world, as long as the accounts are strictly checked, various problems will definitely be found.

Merchants such as Gu Xiqing, Li Pengyu and others have been in the business world for a long time and are well versed in this. When they assist Jiang Fangying in the inspection as accountants, they can naturally detect various problems easily.

If the government wants to rectify merchants, in addition to strict accounting, there is another very effective method, which is to strictly investigate whether the other party's procedures are in compliance and whether the procedures are complete. This method is similar to auditing. Likewise, as long as the investigation is strict, it will be sure.

Can detect problems.

Without waiting for Du Yuande to refute, Gu Xiqing continued: "What's more, there is another prerequisite for the tax reduction privileges of 'United Shipping Lines', which is that the procedures must be complete, where the goods come from and where they are shipped.

The purchase price must be reported to the Ministry of Household Affairs, but you have no relevant procedures, and you are not eligible for tax reduction from the beginning! So, what are you if you are not smuggling?"

Following Gu Xiqing's stern questioning, Du Yuande could not help but be speechless, his face turning green and red.

Since last night, the gentry have all been in a hurry to transfer supplies. Naturally, they have no time to prepare all the procedures. This matter does not make sense.

What's more, because of Zhou Shangjing's orders and the fact that the Jin gentry also wanted to die without any evidence to avoid future troubles, they quickly destroyed all the relevant accounts after annexing the "United Shipping Company" industry. In fact, there was no way to deal with the relevant matters.

formalities.

Seeing that Du Yuande was speechless and about to become angry, Xu Qingyan, who was standing behind him, suddenly coughed and reminded Gu Xiqing not to push Du Yuande too hard, leaving the other party with no way to retreat but flipping the table, or should he?

Try to delay as much time as possible.

Gu Xiqing is indeed a smart person. After hearing Xu Qingyan's slight cough, he quickly reacted. He immediately changed the subject and his tone became gentler: "Of course, the head of the Du family and all the Jin gentry are all highly reputable sages in Jiangnan.

Celebrities, although our Jiangfang camp has discovered your smuggling crimes, we are not willing to make the matter too ugly! Let's do this, as long as the major gentry families abide by the normal regulations of the court and pay all business taxes, this matter can be revealed

Pass!"

Gu Xiqing's statement seemed like he was taking a step back, but in fact, the total value of the various goods transferred by the Jin gentry was no less than five million taels of silver. If they were allowed to pay all commercial taxes in accordance with the imperial regulations,

This means that they will lose nearly one million taels of silver. Not to mention that it is not easy for the Jin gentry to come up with such a large sum of money in a short time. Even if they are able to collect this amount of money, they are never willing to bear such a large sum of money.

of losses.

Gu Xiqing was sure of this, so she was willing to give in.

However, as Gu Xiqing took the initiative to make concessions, the tense atmosphere during the negotiations between the two parties finally eased a little.

Du Yuande once again raised his head and glanced at the various killing weapons behind the Jiang Fang camp's military formation, as well as the human wall composed of numerous Jin gentry children in front of the Jiang Fang camp's military formation. Finally, he threw the weapon against the rat and gritted his teeth and said: "When we Jin gentry are transferring goods,

Although there are mistakes and negligence, it is not intentional smuggling, and I will never admit the groundless accusations made by Jiang Fangying! As for the repayment of commercial taxes... I need to discuss with each gentry before making a decision!"

Gu Xiqing did not force it, but nodded and said: "Okay! This negotiation will come to an end for the time being. After the Du family head has discussed with the various gentry families, it will not be too late for us to continue the negotiation!"

In this way, the first negotiation between the two sides ended quickly, and the negotiators from both sides quickly returned to their respective positions.

But just as Gu Xiqing predicted, when Du Yuande returned to his own camp to discuss with various Jin gentry, all the Jin gentry firmly disagreed with the proposal to pay back the commercial tax, and they were even more concerned about Gu Xiqing's tough attitude and various slanders.

Extremely angry.

So, about half an hour later, the second negotiation started again.

Just like the last negotiation, after the two sides met again, they both wanted to gain the upper hand and occupy the moral high ground, so they blamed each other. The Jin gentry side accused Jiang Fangying of mobilizing troops without permission and oppressing good people, while Jiang Fangying accused the Jin gentry of gathering crowds.

Rebellion, smuggling and tax evasion...
To be continued...