On the twenty-fifth day of the first month, after more than ten days of preparation, Ji Jiude took more than a dozen officials to go to Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River to buy grain again.

At this time, although the rain season had passed and the ice on the river began to melt, the boat was not yet navigable, so it could only ride to Yangzhou. It is estimated that the river will be navigable on the return trip, and in order to hurry, Liang Wensheng still urged them to leave early.

There were no words all the way, and three days later, Ji Jiude came to Yangzhou City, they first found an inn to live in, and then took He Zhiyuan's letter to the Lianghuai Salt Courtyard.

Ji Jiude was in the gatehouse of the salt courtyard, respectfully handing over the name sticker and door bag to explain his intention. Menzi saw that Ji Jiude was just a foreign historian, and he was worried about the weight of the door bag, and he was very dissatisfied in his heart, and the arrogant look on his face immediately appeared, and he dragged a long voice and said, "What is the important matter for you, a foreign official, to see our imperial historian?" ”

There is a way to be the prime minister's seven officials in front of the door, although the salt patrol imperial history is only a seven official according to the level, but his power is very scary, not to mention a four prefect, even the governor of Nanzhili has to give three points when he sees the salt imperial history. With this, Menzi also felt that he was at least a seven-official.

Ji Jiude knew the truth in this, so he could only say patiently, "I was entrusted by someone to bring a letter to Lord Yushi Zhou." ”

Menzi replied arrogantly, "It's good if you leave the letter to me, we adults are busy with government affairs and don't have time to meet customers." ”

For a while, Ji Jiude didn't know what to do, so he had to stand in the gatehouse and beg the disciple to pass through.

At this time, Ma Wu happened to pass by in front of the door, and saw Ji Jiude talking to Menzi in the gatehouse, and guessed that it was this door that was making trouble again, he was embarrassed by this door when he first came to the salt courtyard, this doorman had seen a lot of people, and he didn't know Ma Wu anymore, but Ma Wu knew him. If this happened again today, how could he not care?

"Ji Sihu, why did you come here?" Ma Wu came to the porter and said loudly.

Ji Jiude saw that it was Ma Wu, and before leaving, He Zhiyuan had already told him that more than a dozen people from the Thousand Households of Ma Qishan were temporarily serving as guards for Lord Zhou, so he was not surprised to see Ma Wu in these. turned to smile and said, "I was sent by Lord Liang to Yangzhou to buy grain, and Gongzi He asked me to bring a letter to your family by the way, but I didn't expect it."

When the man saw that it was the guard of Lord Yushi, he knew the person in front of him, and immediately changed his attitude, and when he heard him come here, he immediately interrupted him and said, "Please wait here, I will go to Tongyu immediately." After saying that, he immediately ran towards the courtyard.

Ma Wu looked at the menzi who ran away and asked Ji Jiude, "Ji Sihu, did that menzi make things difficult for you just now?" ”

Ji Jiude smiled but didn't answer, which was a tacit acquiescence.

Ma Wu continued: "The miscellaneous people in this courtyard don't have a few good things, they are all greedy for money, and they dare to do anything for money. ”

Ji Jiude replied, "Thank you Ma Baihu for your kindness, in fact, I came to buy grain this time, Lord Liang and He Gongzi are afraid that someone in Yangzhou will have a black hand behind their backs, please Zhou Da pay a little attention, and ask Lord Zhou to say hello to the River Yamen and Caoyun Yamen." ”

Ma Wu nodded to indicate that he already knew, and then said, "Where there is a place to be useful, Ji Sihu can send someone to inform you." ”

After chatting a few more words, the man said with a smile on his face, "Lord Zhou, please go to the signing room for a while." ”

Ji Jiude said goodbye to Ma Wu and went to Zhou Fulai's signing room under the leadership of the handyman. Ji Jiude and Zhou Fulai met in Juzhou, although they are not very familiar, but they are always fellow countrymen. Besides, he also brought He Zhiyuan's home, and Zhou Fulai naturally treated him with courtesy.

The two exchanged politeness after seeing each other, and after the guest sat down, Ji Jiude first took out He Zhiyuan's letter and handed it to Zhou Fu, and saw that there was a young and beautiful woman who looked like a maid standing next to him, so he didn't say much. Zhou Fulai did not open the letter immediately after receiving the credit, but asked Ji Jiude, "Ji Sihu came to Yangzhou this time, why did he come to Yangzhou?" ”

Ji Jiude glanced at the woman beside Zhou Fulai, hesitated and refused to speak. Zhou Fulai immediately understood, and after letting Xiangmei avoid it, Ji Jiude began to say, "Sent by Gongzi He and Lord Liang, the officials came to Yangzhou to buy grain. Because of the last time I bought grain, I was troubled by the Huai'an Salt Transportation Division, and almost had a big incident, so I came here this time to ask Lord Zhou to inform the yamen for convenience. ”

When Zhou Fulai heard this, he smiled and said, "The official of the Juzhou grain ship case heard about it when he was in Beijing, and this matter was caused by a misunderstanding in the Huai'an Branch. Ji Sihu was sent here to buy grain, and I will inform them of the river, water transportation and salt divisions to facilitate them, but in terms of business, it is inconvenient for the official to interfere and ask Ji Sihu to solve it by himself. ”

Ji Jiude said respectfully, "That's natural, Lord Zhou can take care of it, and the officials are grateful!" ”

At this time, Zhou Fulai had a flash of inspiration and thought of an idea in his heart. Since he took office for a month, he has been secretly investigating the smuggling of salt by the Lu family, but during this time, the Lu family has been very quiet and has not done anything illegal. Even the secret salt warehouse in Huai'an didn't have any flaws, which made Zhou Fulai have no idea where to start. As the saying goes, catch thieves and catch stolen goods, catch traitors and catch doubles, if you can't find conclusive evidence of the Lu family's smuggling of salt, the salt patrol royal history has no way to take him.

Zhou Fulai thought that since the Lu family, the He family, and the Liang family all had festivals, could they use this opportunity to buy grain to let the Lu family show their feet? But he just thought about it in his heart, and he didn't have a mature plan, so he didn't say it immediately.

Zhou Fulai then asked Ji Jiude, "How much grain are you going to buy this time?" ”

Ji Jiude replied respectfully, "This time, I bought a total of 150,000 stones, including 100,000 stones for the government and 50,000 stones for He Gongzi." ”

"It's a lot, I'm afraid I won't be able to get so much food in Yangzhou for a while and a half, right?" Zhou Fulai asked.

"Before we came, we sent people to greet the big grain merchants here, and they had already prepared in advance. It is estimated that it will be loaded and shipped within half a month. ”

"Oh" Zhou Fulai thought quickly in his mind, and the thoughts in his heart slowly improved. He then asked, "How many grain ships will be needed this time?" Are you going to use an official or civilian ship? ”

The so-called official ships are the ships specially used by the government to transport grain, and they generally carry heavy loads, high freight rates, and safety is guaranteed. However, the river from Suqian to the north narrows, and the river is shallow and not suitable for official ships, so it can only be transported by civilian ships with small loads.

Ji Jiude said while calculating: "Since the Shu River is a small tributary, and now it is a dry season, the river is shallow, and the official boats cannot sail, so we can only use civilian boats. It is estimated that there will be at least 40 civilian boats. ”

"Oh," Zhou Fulai replied thoughtfully.

Ji Jiude wondered why Lord Zhou was so interested in buying grain, and seeing his thoughtful appearance, he tentatively asked, "Does Lord Zhou have something to do?" If it is useful to the place of the lower officials, please do not hesitate to command. ”

"Well, there is indeed something that Ji Sihu needs to help with." Zhou Fulai said slowly, "But this matter is not in a hurry, I will talk to you in detail when I think about it carefully." Collect your grain and load it on the ship first, and then I will send someone to contact you. ”

"Okay, then the subordinate will fully cooperate with the adults!" Ji Jiude had already guessed seven or eight points in his heart, and immediately said.

After that, after Ji Jiude and Zhou Fulai chatted a few more words, Ji Jiude said goodbye and left.

In the Lu Mansion, Lu Shaowen and his father Lu Jie sat in the room again to conspire. Since Zhou Fulai took office for more than a month, the Lu family has not sold a tael of private salt. The Lu family has a big business, so it doesn't matter if they don't sell illicit salt for half a year, but the brothers in the upstream and downstream who follow him can't stand it, and they don't open for a month.

"Father, it's not a way for us to go on like this." Lu Shaowen said anxiously to his father, "Today, Jing Laosi from Suqian found me and said that dozens of brothers under him were about to be unable to open the pot, and asked when we would deliver the goods, and if they couldn't transport the goods, they could only find someone else." ”

"Looking for someone else? They dare! Lu Jie glared at him with a pair of triangular eyes and said viciously.

"Father!" Lu Shaowen shouted in a low voice, "It's not a question of whether they dare or not, they are all outlaws, they dare to sell smuggled salt and kill their heads, what else dare or not." If we continue to consume like this, they will have no way to live, and they will dare to do anything."

Lu Jie began to twist his beard again, and slowly thought about it, Duan Xiushan, who had been placed in the Lianghuai Salt Courtyard in the past month, had often heard some news from Lord Zhou, as if Lord Zhou had no intention of banning illicit salt at all, let alone investigating the Lu family, which made him even more uneasy, and always felt that there would be something behind him. Maybe I'm too weak-hearted? He thought to himself repeatedly, could he just come here to grab a handful and leave? But his family has millions of dollars, so he can't have come here for money. If it's not for money, then for what?

Lu Shaowen saw that his father seemed to be hesitating, so he continued, "Father, you see that the wind has been quiet for the past month, and Lord Zhou has no intention of banning illicit salt, so don't scare yourself, think about the brothers who have been with us for five or six years." If they really abandon us, it will be difficult to regain them. ”

Lu Jie was still silent, and after a long time, he said, "Be careful to sail the Ten Thousand Year Boat, tell Jing Laosi, let his brothers hold on for another five days, as long as there is still no movement from the New Year Salt Courtyard, we will return to normal!" ”

"Okay, I'll send someone to inform him." Lu Shaowen saw that his father was relieved and replied happily. Then he asked, "Is the salt warehouse in Huai'an also back to normal?" What about the other lines? ”

"Huai'an will wait a little longer, and the other lines will see through the situation and then make a decision." Lu Jie thought for a while before saying slowly.

"Okay, I'll get ready right away." Lu Shaowen immediately got up and walked out.

As soon as I opened the door and walked out, I happened to bump into the butler.

"Master, young master, Duan Xiushan brought a piece of news." The butler came to the room, and saw that there was no one else, but spoke.

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