"Teacher, after Yanchen and I found out about the large-scale sale of illicit salt in Songjiang Prefecture, we became curious, and we had an eye in contact with the stove household, and learned the source of the private salt from an experienced stove account!" Wang Shiju met Lin Haoran's gaze, looking serious and authentic.

"Where is the source of the illicit salt?" Lin Haoran had already started to investigate this matter, but he didn't expect Wang Shiju and Li Yanchen to surprise him, so he asked seriously.

As he gradually grasped the situation in the local area, the biggest problem in front of him was private salt.

In fact, there is not much problem with the salt law of the Ming Dynasty, and the imperial court has made a gesture of "making profits", and the salt introduction has always implemented the standard of low taxation, so that the people of the Ming Dynasty can eat "cheap salt".

It's just that this piece of cake is too tempting to make all parties want to take a bite.

For example, the salt of Beijing officials, the eating and drinking cards of salt officials, and the emperor's salt introduction to the children of the royal family, the former gave the Beijing officials a loophole, and the latter is an active damage to the political salt by the imperial power and official power.

But in any case, these are things that are on the surface, and they can be solved.

But there are some things that are invisible and have always been lurking in the shadows. A huge smuggling network for the production, transportation, and sale of smuggled salt has long covered the entire rich area in the southeast, and by transporting salt from other salt areas to sell in the southeast, it can make millions of taels of profits every year.

It is precisely in this way that the salt policy of the Ming Dynasty has been greatly traumatized, and most of the profits from the people's high-priced salt have not entered the state finances, but have gone into the pockets of these people.

Lin Haoran does not intend to turn a blind eye to this private salt network, but has already begun to enter an in-depth investigation, wanting to uproot this private salt network hidden in Jiangnan.

Now, he needs to find out who is in charge of this private salt network, where the source of the illegal salt is, who is transporting the salt, and who is acting as a distributor.

Investigating from the distribution channels is inevitably easy to start, so he is eager to know where the smuggled salt comes from and where the source of this network is.

"We contacted two very experienced stove households, and also gave them private salt to check, they both said that Changlu Salt, Xingguo and Fumin two salt farms!" Wang Shiju was a steady person and replied solemnly.

When Lin Haoran heard this answer, his face did not look too surprised, he first took a sip of tea and stabilized his mind, and then turned his head to look at Meng Shao and said, "Tinglun, what do you gain when you go to Taixing?" ”

It was a coincidence that Meng Shao also ran to Taixing because of the source of private salt, but I don't know if there was a breakthrough on his side.

"Back to the teacher's words, Shi Zhixian was entrusted by the teacher to conduct a secret investigation of the private salt in the county, and learned that the salt came from ...... Putian Salt Farm in Fujian. Meng Zhao replied solemnly.

Hey?

Wang Shiju and Li Yanchen were slightly stunned, but they didn't expect that the results of their investigation were completely different, so they couldn't help but exchange glances.

Lin Haoran's brows furrowed slightly, and he took a sip of tea slowly, and found that the problem was probably more complicated than he imagined, and even more extensive than he imagined.

Just a flash of inspiration flashed through his mind, and he held the teacup and spit out two words firmly: "No! ”

Yangzhou City is still prosperous.

Because the two Huai are located here, and it is located in the transportation fortress of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, it brings together officials, business travelers and scholars from the south to the north, thus driving the business here.

Although Yangzhou's textile industry has declined, it is located in the south of the Yangtze River after all, with the exquisite silk of Nanjing behind it and the Songjiang cotton cloth in the south, making it seem that there are all kinds of goods here.

In addition, the humanistic atmosphere here is very strong, and the famous prostitutes in the Qinglou are endless. In the middle of summer, this Jiangnan water town is undoubtedly an excellent resort for summer vacation.

Although the Oiran Contest has ended, the Four Seasons Tower, located on the banks of the Xiaoqinhuai River, is still full of guests, and the street in front of the door is sometimes filled with the cries of small vendors.

Different from the bustle in front of the building, the courtyard behind the building seems quiet. In a water pavilion, the lotus leaves in the pool reduce the enthusiasm of the scorching sun, and a rotating water wheel brings a touch of coolness to the water pavilion.

Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, was still dressed in luxurious attire, sitting in the center, and there were more than a dozen people sitting on both sides, all of whom were squires or salt merchants with heads and faces in the Nanzhili area.

It's just that Xu Pengju's face was full of anger, and he directly asked the person next to him: "It's really nonsense, who did it?" ”

Although he knew that getting rid of Lin Haoran was a good strategy, it would inevitably reduce a lot of trouble. But it failed, not only did it not solve the big trouble, but gave Lin Haoran a chance to take the opportunity to make trouble.

As he spoke, he put on the majesty of the prince and slowly swept over the people present.

In the face of Xu Pengju's questioning, Yang Dashi and the others turned their heads to look at Lu Gongzi, but they remembered the words of this arrogant brother in the past, and it was probably this Lu Gongzi who did such a bold thing.

Lu Gongzi unbuttoned the collar on his chest, and there was a wet towel on it, his mouth was slightly open, and he sat on the chair with Erlang's legs crossed and seemed to be inattentive.

Facing everyone's suspicious eyes, he seemed to be aware of it, but he responded dissatisfiedly: "Look at what this son has done, this matter has nothing to do with this son!" ”

Chen Boren glanced at Lu Gongzi deeply, but he couldn't tell whether Lu Gongzi's words were true or false. At the previous meeting, this Lu Gongzi, who has always been empty-eyed, clearly expressed his intention to get rid of Lin Haoran, and even asked him for the benefits after the matter was completed.

It's just that now, Lu Gongzi is silent and denies that he is the mastermind behind the assassination of Lord Qincha. But I don't know if he really didn't do it, or if he didn't want to get caught on fire because he failed.

"Just do it! But if you really do it, the tail must be cleaned! Xu Pengju was naturally happy, but he seriously admonished everyone present.

Chen Boren and Fan Qianshan exchanged glances, daring to love that this prince still suspected that they had assassinated Lord Qincha. However, in the face of Wei Guogong's words, they didn't respond quite right, and it seemed impolite not to respond, so they made a vague reply in a nasal voice.

Xu Pengju drank a cup of tea, then put his hand on a beautiful wooden box, looked at the people present and said seriously: "This year is the same as last year, there are a total of 100 tickets here, but the price has to be 10% higher!" ”