Reborn and married to uncle, husband and wife teamed up to abuse scum.

Xin An was sure that Tang Gang's trip to the southwest would not be so easy. If it were really simple, the emperor could just ask the Yao family to pass on a message. Why would he have to send so many people on this trip?

Tang Mo had an idea, but he was also a little puzzled. "I see that my father-in-law is very willing to contribute money to the court, and I think those salt merchants will not be stingy. Why is it not so easy to raise funds every time?"

Those merchants are always scheming for fame and fortune. If the court needs them, they should stand up.

Xin An turned his head and looked behind him. When he found no one, he looked at Tang Mo. "Everyone says that businessmen are rich, but they don't know that it is difficult for businessmen to make money. Even a big merchant like my father can't avoid smiling everywhere, flattering and deliberately trying to please others. He is trembling with fear every day, fearing that one wrong step will make the efforts of several generations go to waste."

"They want to see a return for every penny they spend. They are used to doing things this way. Even the imperial court cannot make them give money without asking for it, and every imperial court is different."

"The court and the imperial court?"

Tang Mo chewed on the meaning of this sentence, and Xin An said: "There are nine major salt merchants in Huaijiang. They have been competing with each other for many years, but they are also united in some things. Not to mention that my father is a marquis, it was very difficult for the two princes of the court to go to Huaijiang to raise money in person. My father's trip will not be smooth either."

"Each family has its own power behind it, and it's complicated. Let me tell you this, the power behind the Xin family is the Hou Mansion, which is already a very weak existence among the backers of these families. I don't know if you can see the difference between my father's visit to the capital this time and the last time he came to the capital?"

Tang Mo said with a lot of toughness, "Is it because of the Xu family?"

"Yes."

Xin An nodded, "The Xu family is powerful and has a prince behind them. In terms of power, they are much stronger than the Marquisate, but this is not the point. The Yao family still has the emperor behind them, so they can't compare to the Xu family, but..."

Xin An curled his lips and smiled, "The Xu family has been operating in Huaijiang for many years. My father doesn't even know where their influence has reached. On the other hand, the Marquis' Mansion is short-sighted. They haven't sent anyone to Huaijiang to manage their own power in recent years. They just wait for food and drink, thinking that they can have no worries just by relying on the title of Marquis."

"You may think that what I said is a bit exaggerated. When you get to Huaijiang and meet those people, you will know that they are not afraid of a marquis at all. Even if the prince himself comes, it will not be easy to get them to pay up."

Tang Mo was shocked. Although he seemed to have grown rapidly in recent months, he was still lacking in many areas. "I only thought that the four classes were scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. Merchants had a very low status, but I was unable to see the inside of many things and only saw the surface."

"There are differences between merchants. My father ranks very high among the Huaijiang salt merchants. Do you know how big the gap is between the Xin family and the Yao family?"

Tang Mo shook his head. Xin An said that the Yao family's annual profit was tens of millions of taels, and the capital was so high, "My father guessed that they had 40 to 50 million taels of capital. The Yao family is the head of the nine major salt merchants in Huaijiang, and the remaining eight families can barely compete with the Yao family. Ordinary officials can't see the head of the Yao family."

Hearing about tens of millions in profits and tens of millions in capital, Tang Mo felt a toothache. He was the second son of a marquisate, with a distinguished status, but his monthly salary used to be only twenty taels.

Ten million taels, what kind of wealth is that?

How much money does the national treasury receive in a year?

"Today I have a new understanding of the wealth of merchants."

"No, they are top merchants, as wealthy as a country."

To put it bluntly, if the Yao family wanted to, they could buy a marquisate from the emperor.

When the emperor sees tens of millions of taels, he will only think that it can be exchanged for a title and that it is worth it.

He guessed that Xin An must have a way to get those merchants to give him some money, but he didn't ask further. He should stand up on his own, and besides...

This job wasn't his, so why should he worry about it? It was a rare opportunity to relax, so he naturally had to seize the opportunity. "The scenery here is so beautiful."

“The scenery along the Huai River is more beautiful.”

Xin An smiled happily, opening her arms to feel the river breeze blowing on her face. The farther Hu got away from the capital, the better her mood became. She felt a comfortable feeling as if the shackles on her body were gradually loosening. Besides, how could the scenery on the way home be bad?

A bird flew by behind the boat, swooped down, grabbed the fish, and flew away again, "Look, what a big fish!"

Tang Mo pulled Xin An and pointed at a dark shadow not far away. Xin An stretched his neck and saw the dark shadow slowly swimming towards the big ship. When he saw it clearly, Xin An's eyes widened, "It's really a fish. It's so big."

Just as he was sighing with emotion, a huge net suddenly stretched out from downstairs and caught the big fish. The big fish struggled hard, and there was a commotion in the cabin downstairs. Finally, the fish was dragged in. Xin An turned around and said, "Quick, go and take a look."

Inside the cabin, the guards and sailors were laughing and talking loudly, arguing over whether pickled cabbage was better or boiled. "It definitely can't be steamed. This thing weighs at least 30 kilograms, and it can't be steamed through."

"Fish head, stewed with tofu, sliced ​​fish body, half boiled with water and half with pickled cabbage."

"That's it. Hahahaha. My God, the fish in this river are really big. It's easy to catch them."

When Tang Mo and Xin An arrived, a group of people had already discussed how to cook the fish. Seeing them coming, Cao Gui smiled and said, "Second Young Master, Second Young Master's Madam, come and see how big this fish is."

The fish was still thrashing on the ground, its tail slapping the floor. It was instinctively in awe of larger creatures. Xin An asked if he could eat it. The old sailor came out with a smile and said, "This fish looks big, but it's nothing in this river. There are fish weighing one or two hundred kilograms, but there are too many fish weighing dozens of kilograms. We sail on this river to catch fish to eat."

“It tastes pretty good.”

That being said, they prefer to eat vegetables, and they have had enough of the fish.

Xin An was relieved. After watching the strange scene for a while, he returned to the deck with Tang Mo. Thinking that he was bored, he prepared some leaf cards. "On the broad river, the breeze is blowing, the sun is shining, it's not too cold, not too hot, and there are flying birds and mountains in the distance. Wouldn't it be nice to play a handful of leaf cards? Come on."

The old lady who was originally a little seasick suddenly perked up. Wang sat down with a smile. Ganlu didn't know how to draw cards, so Aunt Cuiping took over. The few of them talked and laughed while drawing cards, and headed towards the Huaijiang River.

The journey, which should have been boring, became particularly easy and pleasant because Xin An's mood got better day by day. He drank tea, talked and drew cards on the boat, told stories and jokes in the carriage, and laughter followed the carriage all the way.

Xin Kuan was very relieved. Although Tang Gang was not that great, his mansion was still good. Everyone there was easy to get along with. He was happy that his daughter was living so comfortably. He decided in his heart that he could provide some help to Tang Gang after arriving in Huaijiang.

Xin Huan was also happy. He kept asking Tang Mo questions along the way. He also learned how to use the two hidden weapons Tang Mo had. He decided to get one for self-defense when he returned.

Living in such a cheerful and joyful atmosphere, Tang Gang's mood improved a lot and he was quite proud of it. He felt that the harmony in his family was due to his good housekeeping.