Leaving the prison, He Zhiyuan and Liang Wenhui talked to the cell boss again, and under his recommendation, they met the warden's warden, and after the nightfall of the warden, he invited him to a first-class restaurant in Huai'an Mansion to drink, and offered a silver ingot. dianfeng

After the warden laughed, he pointed out to them and said, "This case is indeed strange. As a rule, the Salt Transit Division does not have the power to arrest and prosecute, and the smuggled salt dealers found are all interrogated by the government government. However, this time, the people from the Salt Transportation Division specially informed us that the case was postponed for trial, and we would be informed in advance when the trial would be held. ”

"Huai'an Mansion has a lot of affairs, and the prison receives more than 100 cases a day, so it is normal to postpone it for a month or two." The warden took a sip of wine and said, "What Taoism is here has nothing to do with us." We don't want to know, anyway, it's the case of the salt division, and they can try it whenever they want. ”

Hearing this, He Zhiyuan basically understood the intentions of the Lu family. Now their purpose is these twenty boatloads of grain, and as long as the case is not tried and concluded, these grains will definitely be seized as evidence. After a long time, if the food in Juzhou is urgent, the construction of the city wall in Hejia Town will be affected or even suspended. When the merchants who auctioned off the land heard the news, they would definitely be worried about the depreciation of the land they had bought with a lot of money. If they all ask to return the land and return the silver, things will deteriorate, and if the He family and the Zhou family can't take out so much silver, they will go bankrupt.

If this trick didn't work, their people would stir up trouble in the court and impeach Liang Wensheng, eventually leading to his dismissal or resignation. At that time, the operation will be replaced by their people to go to Renzhizhou in Juzhou, and the construction project of Hejia Town will inevitably be affected and suspended. In the end, the merchant demanded to return the land and repay the silver, and the He family and the Zhou family would go bankrupt because of this.

What a vicious Lu family!

When Liang Wenhui heard the warden say this, he asked tentatively, "Can you try to advance?" ”

"Impossible." The warden squinted at him and said, "My brother is also a person in the yamen, and I won't hide it from you." The Salt Transport Division is the big patron of our torture room, and the Punishment Master will never offend them. ”

Liang Wenhui laughed awkwardly.

It's already good to be able to get some useful news when we meet for the first time, and He Zhiyuan doesn't plan to rely on him at all. If the other party has a big package, he will be suspicious, but fortunately, people see that Liang Wenhui is a fellow believer, and he also talked about his feelings, and did not cheat them.

After inviting the warden to eat, He Zhiyuan and Liang Wenhui returned to the inn.

At this time, it was more than two days, and Ma Wu and Xu Detian had already returned to the inn.

He Zhiyuan asked the two of them: "How is it, did you find the Lu family's salt truck passing through the checkpoint today?" ”

"Yes, and there are quite a few, ten carts." Ma Wu said.

When He Zhiyuan heard him say this, he immediately came to his senses: "Oh? I didn't expect you to run into it on the first day. Are you sure it's all the Lu family's salt trucks? ”

"The Lu family's salt cars are very recognizable, and each of their cars has a small flag with the word Lu on it." Xu Detian replied.

"That's right, you guys hurry up and talk about it in detail." He Zhiyuan said excitedly.

Ma Wu continued: "Today we inquired all the way to the Yansi checkpoint at the intersection of Shitang Town, which is the only way from the Yancheng County Salt Farm to the Canal Wharf. So there were a lot of cars and people, and a lot of big trucks carrying salt passed there

。 In the afternoon, ten carts came from the east, and each cart was full. We saw that there was a small flag with the word Lu on the car, and we guessed that it was the salt car of the Lu family. So the two of us paid special attention, and when we arrived at the checkpoint, we saw a leading man in the convoy take out a stack of colorful pieces of paper from his arms and give a general flag to the checkpoint, and said to the general flag that it was exactly a thousand leads, and the score was exactly the same. The general flag took the pieces of paper and examined them, then led his troops around a salt cart and waved them away. ”

Liang Wenhui asked Ma Wu: "Did you really hear that man say a thousand citations?" ”

"That's exactly what I said, I heard you right." Ma Wu replied.

Liang Wenhui stared at Ma Wu with two eyes and asked Ma Wu excitedly: "Have you counted how many packets of salt are on each cart?" ”

"We counted 20 bales per cart, and 10 carts were 200 bales of salt." Ma Wu replied.

Liang Wenhui turned his face to He Zhiyuan and said, "Gongzi He, now it is basically certain that the Lu family is selling illicit salt. According to the regulations of the imperial court, each bag of salt is a ration of 50 catties, 20 packs of salt is a total of 10,000 catties, and 1,000 catties of salt are 3,000 catties. They used 1,000 pounds of salt to lead away 10,000 catties of salt, which is a blatant sale of illicit salt! ”

"Well, not basically sure, it's completely sure! Now the key is to find irrefutable evidence, and human evidence alone is not enough. He Zhiyuan replied, and then asked Ma Wu: "Have you continued to follow?" ”

"Of course, we followed all the way to the canal docks, and saw them loaded onto the boat and headed north." Ma Wu said.

The next day, the four of them divided into two roads again, He Zhiyuan and Ma Wu went to Yangzhou, mainly to meet with the people sent by Lord Lin at the inn that had been agreed in advance, and then He Zhiyuan took Lord Lin's letter to visit Su Jiangeng, the two Huai Patrol Salt Imperial Shi Su Jiangeng. Liang Wenhui and Xu Detian continued to inquire about the news of the Lu family in Huai'an along the way, and the other was to visit the prison in Huai'an Prison.

When He Zhiyuan and Ma Wu arrived in Yangzhou, it was already around noon two days later. Came to the agreed Dongchang Inn, and after the accommodation was completed, the shopkeeper said: "Dare to ask which of the two is He Gongzi from Juzhou?" ”

He Zhiyuan replied: "I am." ”

"Lin Gongzi from Nanjing is waiting for you in room C. He invites you to look for him when you get to the inn. Xiao Er replied respectfully.

After thanking the shopkeeper, He Zhiyuan asked Ma Wu to take the luggage to the room, and ran directly to the Tianzi No. C room, and after knocking on the door, it was a young Confucian who was about twenty-six or seven years old who came out to open the door. He Zhiyuan thought to himself, this might be Lin Gongzi sent by Lord Lin. So he bowed his hand and said: "He Zhiyuan in Juzhou, Xiashan Mountain, may I ask if the son is Lin Gongzi sent by Lord Lin of the Nanjing Household Department?" ”

"Exactly, the forester is the father." The young Confucian replied.

He Zhiyuan saluted again and said, "Fortunately, I will be happy!" ”

When he came to the house, Lin Gongzi took out two letters to He Zhiyuan and said, "My father is old and in poor health, so he sent me here to have a few words to say to He Gongzi." ”

"Lin Gongzi, please speak."

"My father said that Yue Tong, the prefect of the Huai'an Branch, was the fourth, and my father was only an idle post in the household department of Nanjing, so this letter may not be effective. But He Gongzi doesn't have to be discouraged, you take this letter to Su Jiangeng, the imperial historian of the Salt Patrol, maybe it will work. But you have to have the Lu family to sell illicit salt

's exact evidence, Su Yushi's side can help. Otherwise, if there is no evidence, you will be shocked by the rash attack, and the case is likely to drag on, which will be very unfavorable to you. ”

"What you mean is that if you want to force him to do so quickly, the best way is to make the matter bigger, let the Beijing cabinet and even the emperor know about it, and then send someone to investigate. It is best to turn over the case of Yuzhi County in Yancheng eight years ago, so that the Lu family will definitely obey immediately. ”

"Yu Zhixian's case?"

"Yes, Yu Zhixian was arrested and imprisoned for colluding with salt merchants, selling illicit salt, embezzlement and other crimes, and was finally beheaded. There are many suspicious points in this case, and my father has heard that it has a lot to do with the Lu family's false accusations. If this case is reopened, the Lu family will inevitably be terrified and will die down immediately. But don't think about bringing down the Lu family through this case, the Lu family has a deep background, and there are his people in the household department in Beijing, and the best result is a draw, and the two sides secretly reconcile, which is good for both parties. ”

In fact, He Zhiyuan does not have the ability to put the Lu family to death now, as long as the Yansi Yamen no longer pursues the matter of illegal salt, he can bring people and food back smoothly, and it will not affect the city construction project of Hejia Town, so he doesn't care about these bad things in the salt merchants and the Yansi Yamen.

Thinking of this, He Zhiyuan saluted again and thanked him: "Thank you Lord Lin and Master Lin for your advice." I have already understood it below. ”

"He Gongzi is not polite, my father and Lord Liang have been friends for many years, and Zhuang Tongzhi has also worked together in Juzhou for many years, seeing that they are in trouble, my father will definitely try his best to help. However, the water in this pool of Yanzheng is very deep, Lord Liang and He Gongzi should be careful and take care of it. ”

He Zhiyuan asked again: "Lin Gongzi, since the Lu family is very taboo in Yi'an, Yuzhi County, Yancheng, please tell Lin Gongzi in detail about this case." ”

Lin Gongzi thought for a while and said: "These things are also some hearsay, and there is no real evidence. ”

"Hearsay can also be heard, after all, this is the weakness of the Lu family." He Zhiyuan replied.

"Eight years ago, the monk also did business in Yancheng, mainly in the grain and salt business. He was a business rival with the grain merchant who was killed at that time. Yancheng County is mostly along the beach, the land is barren, and there is a shortage of grain, so every year the government has to entrust local grain merchants to go to Jiangnan to buy grain. ”

Lin Gongzi took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and then began to say:

Because of the competition for the agency's right to buy grain from the government, the Lu family and the Yan family had a bad relationship, and at the same time, the Lu family also held a grudge against Yu Zhixian. And Yu Zhixian also offended the officials of the local salt farm because of the problem of private salt, and the stove households of the local salt farm all knew about it. Therefore, since the Yuzhixian case, many people have speculated that the Lu family conspired with the officials of the Yancheng Salt Farm to frame the grain merchant Boss Yan and his family, as well as the Yuzhixian family. ”

"Since there is such a suspicion, didn't the government follow this line of thought to investigate?"

"At that time, the imperial court was carrying out the salt policy reform, and after the emperor knew about the case, he made a special decree to handle it strictly and quickly. Therefore, the Huai'an government directly determined that Yuzhi County colluded with the grain merchant Yan family to smuggle salt, and hastily closed the case. The Criminal Department immediately approved it and sentenced him to beheading. ”

After He Zhiyuan heard this, he nodded silently.

After that, Lin Gongzi said some more words to He Zhiyuan. About half an hour later, Lin Gongzi said goodbye to He Zhiyuan and went back to Nanjing.

(End of chapter)

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

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