On the same day that Emperor Hongzhi made a decision on the rumors of the earthquake in Beijing, Zhou Fulai also came to Yangzhou Lianghuai Patrol Salt Inspection Institute (referred to as Salt Courtyard).

Su Jiangeng, the former salt inspector, was already waiting for his arrival in the bureau. The reason why he still has to wait here for the arrival of the new Salt Inspector after his dismissal is because the Salt Inspector has a lot of power, and there are many things to be dealt with, and there are many things that need to be handed over.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Salt Patrol Imperial History was just a petty official of Zhengjiu, and then he was gradually promoted to Zhengqi. The official rank is not high, but the power is very great, and even its power exceeds the original rank. At first, the salt patrol was only for the assessment and management of salt affairs, and later gradually had the power to punish officials. This power came from the imperial court's emphasis on salt work and the corruption of salt administration throughout the country, which led to the imperial court having to give more power to patrol the salt imperial history in order to reduce the loss of salt tax in the imperial court.

The Salt Patrol became the decider of the third, sixth, and ninth year assessment results of the officials of the various transportation divisions. Finally, the Salt Patrol Imperial History not only has the right to assess, but also has a certain amount of law enforcement power. For the officials of the salt department of each salt field who failed to complete the "amount class", the salt patrol imperial history has the right to directly "stop and chase with a cane", and for the high-status envoys and branch officials, the small matters are directly suspended, and the major matters are heard and questioned. During the Chenghua period, the imperial history of the salt patrol also obtained the right to evaluate all the officials above and below the capital salt envoy. It is not difficult to imagine that after the salt patrol imperial history has the right to assess, the officials of the Yun Division are afraid that the salt patrol imperial history will be difficult for themselves in the correction and assessment for their own careers, so they can't help but wait carefully, and even bend to greet them.

Even if an official is higher in rank than the Imperial History of the Imperial Inspector of Salt, as long as he dares to undermine the Salt Administration, the Imperial History of the Imperial Inspector can also be impeached, even if it is a high-ranking official of the imperial court.

Over time, from the assessment of officials to the management of salt affairs, the power of the salt patrol imperial history has been further expanded to all aspects of the entire salt work, and even the management of the river in the area under its jurisdiction has become the scope of the power of the salt patrol imperial history. Therefore, the later Salt Inspection Institute was also called the Salt Inspection Bureau.

In a word, at the peak of the power of the Salt Patrol Imperial History, the Salt Patrol Imperial History had all the powers related to salt affairs. In the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the salt patrol has become an indispensable salt industry supervisor, and the original transfer of salt envoys, in the absence of the salt patrol inspector, has been unable to complete the task of salt management alone, once the salt patrol is absent, the salt industry system will not be able to operate normally.

Among them, the power of the transfer envoy of the Salt Capital Division was also weakened step by step, and he gradually became the de facto subordinate of the Salt Imperial History.

During the Hongzhi period, it was the stage when the power of the salt division and the salt institute was in the stage of tug-of-war between the two powers, and it was inevitable that there would be a power collision between the two sides.

After the two salt inspectors handed over the government affairs in the signing room, Su Jiangeng spent the idle people and other expenses, and Zhou Fulai knew that some things could not be handed over on paper, so they could only be passed on by word of mouth.

It was Zhou Fu who sat down and waited for his next words, Su Jiangeng took a sip of tea, and said to Zhou Fu: "Lord Zhou, my government affairs have been handed over, and there are still some things that need to be said to Lord Zhou verbally. ”

Zhou Fulai smiled and said, "Master Su, please speak, this official listens." ”

"Lord Zhou must have heard of the Juzhou grain ship case, right?" Su Jiangeng asked.

"I've heard of it, but I don't know much about it." Zhou Fulai's heart moved, this case is really strange.

"More than two months ago, a chief entourage from Juzhou came to me. According to him, the Huai'an Salt Division Tongzhi had informed the Huai'an Prefecture Punishment Room and asked for a postponement of the trial of the case. After I wrote and urged, the case was hastily closed in a few days, and the person was released without charge on the grounds of misunderstanding. ”

"Lord Su suspects that the Juzhou grain ship is smuggling salt?" Zhou Fu asked.

Su Jiangeng shook his head and said, "No, no, no, I suspect that the behavior of the Huai'an branch is too weird. They were the ones who detained the ship and arrested people, they were the ones who delayed and did not try the case, they were the ones who detained the grain ship and did not search it, and they were the ones who hurriedly closed the case and released the people and released the ship. Isn't all this weird? This is not normal! ”

Zhou Fulai didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the gourd of the former Salt Patrol Imperial Shi in front of him, and he didn't have much to say, so he just listened to him quietly and didn't answer him.

Su Jiangeng saw that Zhou Fulai did not speak, so he continued: "According to the governor of Juzhou, Yangzhou salt merchant Lu Jie and the Huai'an branch colluded with each other to smuggle a large amount of salt. And he also suspected that the Juzhou grain ship case had a lot to do with the Lu family. ”

"Is there any evidence for what your lord said?" Zhou Fu asked.

Su Jiangeng sighed: "I just heard about this matter and was about to start the investigation, when news came from Beijing that I wanted to leave office and return to Beijing early, so the matter was put on hold. ”

"I understand." Zhou Fulai replied cautiously. He didn't say anything right away, because Master Xie had told him that the case should be investigated secretly, and that no officials of the Salt Academy should be trusted, including Su Jiangeng, who had already stepped down. After all, no one can guarantee that Su Jiangeng did not fall under the sugar-coated shell!

Su Jiangeng saw Zhou Fulai's attitude, and he understood in his heart. From this moment on, he is no longer a salt patrol royal history, Zhou Fulai is the real salt patrol imperial history, as for how he does it, it is his business, and it has nothing to do with him. Of course, he wouldn't tell him what he thought.

With this in mind, he got up and took his leave, took his belongings and sailed north with his family.

At the same time, in the Lu family mansion in Yangzhou, Lu Jie and his son Lu Shaowen were talking secretly in the room.

Lu Jie asked, "Shaowen, what did the people you sent inquire about?" ”

Lu Shaowen replied: "Father, the new imperial historian will go to the Salt Courtyard this morning. There were about twenty people in their group. Among them, there were more than a dozen guards, all of whom looked young and strong. And strangely, they all rode horses and carried swords, majestic and mighty. ”

"It's normal to have more than ten guards, after all, patrolling the salt imperial history has a lot of power. A few more guards is nothing to say. Lu Jie said indifferently.

In fact, how did he know that these guards were all extraordinary, they were all the elites of the Thousand Households of Ma Qi Mountain. In order not to be conspicuous, they had long hidden their spears along the way, dressed like paperback guards, but each of them had a short musket on them.

"In addition, the eyes and ears of the salt courtyard said that after the two imperial historians handed over the government affairs, they sent the others away, and the two talked together for about a moment." Lu Shaowen continued.

"What did you talk about? Have you ever heard of it? Lu Jie asked loudly. Now he is nervous, as the saying goes, don't do bad things, don't be afraid of ghosts calling the door. He has a ghost in his heart, so he is nervous.

"I didn't hear it. They spoke in such a low voice that the man couldn't hear him from the outside. Then the guards came, and he had no choice

Left. Lu Shaowen shook his head and said.

"A bunch of rubbish, give them so much silver, they can't even ask about it!" Lu Jie scolded in a low voice.

In the middle of the secret conversation, the housekeeper knocked on the door and came in, handed a letter to Lu Jie and said, "Master, the letter from the adult in Beijing." ”

Lu Jie took the letter, and after sending the housekeeper away, he couldn't wait to open the letter and read it eagerly. The more he looked at it, the more frightened he became, and the more he looked at it, the more cold he became! The expression on his face became more and more stiff.

Lu Shaowen saw the change in his father's expression, and hurriedly asked, "Father, what did the letter say?" Why are you so nervous? ”

Lu Jie eased his nerves, his face looked better, and then he said: "The letter said that the new Inspector Yan Yushi is a student of Xie Qian, called Zhou Fulai, and he is from Qingzhou, Shandong. ”

"What's so stressful about this?" Lu Shaowen asked puzzled.

"Qingzhou Zhou family! Don't you know the Zhou family? Seeing that his son didn't react, Lu Jie asked angrily and loudly.

"Qingzhou Zhou family? Is it the Zhou family in Juzhou? ”

"Who else!"

Hearing this, Lu Shaowen was also stunned! As soon as the case of the Juzhou grain ship was closed, the people of the Zhou family came again. And he is also the official they are most afraid of - patrolling the salt imperial history! What a wave, another wave!

"He, he, he's not a member of the Imperial Inspectorate, how can he come to be the Salt Inspector?" Lu Shaowen asked his father nervously.

"How do I know!" Lu Jie replied angrily.

"What else does the letter say?" Lu Shaowen asked again.

"The letter said that this person is quick thinking and good at making decisions, so let's deal with it carefully." Lu Jie replied.

The father and son thought for a long time, and Lu Shaowen finally said: "I don't believe that there are still officials who are not greedy for silver, and they will be smashed with silver until they are knocked down!" ”

Lu Jie shook his head and said with a long sigh: "The Zhou family is the richest man in Qingzhou, can the family lack silver?" Don't miss him, and expose us! ”

"Or send a thin horse over, there is no shortage of silver, there is always a shortage of beauties. I've heard he didn't have any family with him! ”

"Well, that's a good idea." Lu Jie nodded.

Lu Shaowen saw that his father agreed, and immediately said, "Then I'll do it!" Then he got up to leave.

Lu Jie shouted: "Come back!" How can you still be hairy and noisy. If you send it like this, will he ask for it? ”

"So what?"

"There's no urgency in this matter, let me think about it." Lu Jie, who was in a calm mood, became much more sensible.

Lu Jie twisted the beard on his chin again and began to think, Lu Shaowen saw his father like this, knew that he was thinking, so he sat aside and stopped talking.

After a long time, he asked Lu Shaowen: "Has all the salt from the Yancheng Salt Farm been transported to Huai'an?" ”

"It's all here."

"That's good, with the salt from the Huai'an warehouse, I can survive for two months." Lu Jie twisted his beard and said: "Inform the people below that from now until the first month of next year, stop at the point, don't let Zhou Yushi grab the handle." If something happens to anyone at this juncture, don't blame me! ”

"Yes, I'll let you know right away." Lu Shaowen agreed, and then asked his father: "Then should we stop transporting our overseas raw silk?" ”

Lu Jie waved his hand and said: "The raw silk business is not under the control of the salt patrol imperial history, this does not need to be stopped, what can be done!" ”

(End of chapter)

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

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