Xie County, the salt pond in the imperial court river, the salt envoy station.

Early this morning, Xie County ushered in a special guest, a group of more than 100 people, all on horseback.

This team of knights is not an ordinary person, not to mention that these horses are all horses, even among the war horses, they can be regarded as relatively good cities; Secondly, the more than 100 people were equipped with long swords, and some were equipped with bows and arrows.

The Tang Dynasty did not have a particularly strict ban on ordinary bows and swords, but after Li Ye ascended the throne, he made restrictions on the number to prevent anyone from plotting against him.

This pair of knights, no matter where they go, is supposed to be the focus of the investigation, but from Hezhong Fu to Xie County, the forbidden army and local troops stationed along the way seemed to have not seen it, and they were released after a simple check.

If there are more than 100 cavalry, the people of Xie County will naturally not be surprised, after all, there is a salt pond of the imperial court here, and there are troops stationed there.

But the pair of knights in front of them were obviously privately armed, which naturally attracted the attention of the people here.

However, the group of knights did not stop, but went straight to the mansion of the Salt Envoy.

"Xiong'er, why are you here?" Zhang Chengye was a little surprised when he saw Zhang Xiong in front of him.

He and Zhang Wei were just brothers who were accepted as righteous sons by their stepfather, not brothers, but for them eunuchs, this kind of brotherhood is closer and more reliable than that of brothers.

Yang Fugong and Yang Fuguang didn't support each other to become eunuchs.

Zhang Xiong is Zhang Wei's nephew, and naturally he is also his nephew Zhang Chengye.

Fortunately, although Zhang Xiong is a little greedy for money and lustful, he is loyal to His Majesty and respects him as an uncle. Zhang Chengye himself is not too close to his relatives, except for a few adopted sons, who are distant nephews, who are not as good as Zhang Xiong's relatives, so he takes good care of Zhang Xiong.

Zhang Xiong was about to get down to business, and after looking at the various people who came and went in the house, he also knew that this was not the place to talk.

Although Zhang Chengye was puzzled, he quickly took the other party to his study.

"Xiong'er, there's no one here, just say something!"

Zhang Xiong's expression was a little complicated, but he still came out of the tray.

Zhang Xiong said very carefully, and Zhang Chengye also listened very carefully. At first, Zhang Chengye didn't pay much attention to it, but when he heard that Jinyiwei found out that someone had secretly intercepted salt from the salt pond in the river and sold it to those merchants as illicit salt, he was shocked.

"Third uncle, Jin Yiwei's spies have found out that the salt yield in the salt pond in the river last year was less than a quarter, and my uncle should know what this means.

His Majesty was very angry, and had already sent Li Zhen, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, to personally investigate the matter. My uncle called me over in the hope that the third uncle could cooperate with Commander Li to investigate the matter, regardless of whether the third uncle knew about it or not. ”

The last sentence, Zhang Xiong didn't want to say, but thinking of his uncle's explanation, he could only say it.

As he expected, as soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Chengye's face changed, "Do you suspect that our family is leading this matter?" Our family is dedicated to His Majesty and loyal to His Majesty, how can we do such a rebellious thing. ”

Seeing that Zhang Chengye was emotional, Zhang Xiong hurriedly persuaded, "Third uncle, it's not that we suspect you, but that you can't get out of this matter, third uncle." Third uncle, you are a salt envoy, managing the salt pond in the river for Your Majesty, if such a thing happens, don't you have no responsibility at all, third uncle? ”

Zhang Xiong's questioning made Zhang Chengye's face clear and purple for a while, thinking that he had betrayed His Majesty's trust, and made a big salute in the direction of Chang'an.

"Your Majesty, the old slave is worthy of His Majesty's trust, please rest assured, the old slave will definitely find out about this matter!"

After speaking, Zhang Chengye said to Zhang Xiong, "Xiong'er, no matter what, thank you for coming to report the news." Go back and tell your uncle that our family knows what to do.

Our family will not entertain you, if you need anything, you can order your subordinates, and our family will go and see who is so bold and dares to trap our family in injustice. If you let our family know, our family will make him regret coming to this world. ”

Seeing this murderous third uncle, Zhang Xiong also had goosebumps all over his body, he forgot that his uncle, Chengye, had been a member of the Tiance Army Supervision Office, and he had executed a group of Tiance Army soldiers during his tenure.

。。。。。。

Although Zhang Chengye was a little unhappy about Zhang Wei and Zhang Xiong's suspicions, he knew that he couldn't get rid of this matter, and at the same time, he also knew the seriousness of the problem.

Jinyi Weidu has already found out that the output of Yanchi last year was less than a quarter, which means that the imperial court has lost 500,000 yuan in income. If such a big loss is really caused, even if he Zhang Chengye dies, it will be difficult to atone for his sins.

Regardless of the outcome, he knew that he had to investigate the matter before pleading guilty, otherwise his sin would be even greater.

Realizing the seriousness of the problem, he quickly ordered the stewards of the salt pond in the river to be called.

Looking at the people in front of him, especially those left behind by the Jiedu Embassy in the original river, Zhang Chengye's face was gloomy.

"Our family is disappointed. Our family has always thought that the salt pond in the river was managed in an orderly manner, and last year it achieved an income of 1.5 million yuan for the imperial court, and I was still a little happy in my heart.

But today, our family knows that our family has been kept in the dark. Someone carried our family behind his back and the imperial court to intercept the salt produced in the salt pond and turn it into private salt, which reduced the income of the imperial court by at least 500,000 yuan, and even wanted to trap our family in injustice. ”

Hearing the word 'private salt', the people in charge who were present realized the seriousness of the problem, including the deputy envoy of the salt industry and the person in charge of each salt factory, who did not understand what the private salt meant.

That's private salt!

Who doesn't know that in addition to the two imperial merchants who can sell salt, private salt sales are strictly prohibited in the areas currently controlled by the imperial court.

Selling illicit salt, this is a serious crime, this is to grab money from the imperial court!

For a moment, these people talked a lot, looked at each other, and guessed who was doing this.

"Grandpa Zhang, is this true?" One person asked suddenly.

"Your Majesty has sent the commander of the Jinyi Guard to make Li Zhen come to investigate the matter of illicit salt, do you think it will be fake? I just hope that whoever did it, stood up and admitted it, spit out what he didn't deserve, and maybe there will be a good ending.

If Jinyiwei finds out, when the time comes, it will not be a dismissal or dismissal that can be avoided. The loss of 500,000 guan is enough to ruin the families involved! ”

After speaking, Zhang Chengye looked at these people in front of him, wanting to see who was doing these things.

He was sure that if he could hide himself, there must be more than one person present, there were more than twenty large and small salt ponds in the salt ponds in the river, and it was definitely impossible for one or two salt ponds to take out too much private salt.

What these people can do is not perceptible to him, and he is sure that each salt farm will deduct a part of it, so that it is possible to make up so much without being discovered.

Stand up at this time, unless you are a fool.

Seeing that no one admitted it, Zhang Chengye's face was ugly, "Since no one has come forward to admit it, then don't blame our family for not being emotional." You have been in the city for the past few days, and you are not allowed to go out of the city, and our family will ask people to check your accounts, but our family will not believe it, and we will not be able to find any clues. ”

"Grandpa Zhang, isn't this appropriate?"

Hearing that Zhang Chengye was going to restrict their freedom, some people stood up against it.

Seeing the person in front of him, Zhang Chengye was more familiar, he was originally Wang Ke's subordinate, and later took refuge in the imperial court, because the imperial court needed someone to manage the salt pond in the river, so he stayed.

Because he was familiar with the salt ponds in the river and the salt affairs, he was appointed as the steward of one of the salt farms to assist him in the management of the salt ponds in the river.

"Is the king's steward weak-hearted?" Zhang Chengye said coldly.

"The lower official didn't do this again, what is the lack of heart? It's just that if these people stay in Xie County, I am afraid that it will affect the production of the entire salt pond, and if there is a riot among those salt workers, I am afraid it will be very troublesome. ”

The other party's words carried a hint of threat, which made Zhang Chengye even more sure that the other party had a problem.

However, thinking about fishing out the people behind it, Zhang Chengye didn't catch it, "The production of salt is not concerned for the time being, if this matter is not investigated, the salt produced will also be filled by people." So I will be wronged by everyone in the later period, as long as the investigation is clear, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief! ”

Seeing Zhang Chengye's firm attitude, although some of these people were very anxious, they could only think of a way later, at least they couldn't let Zhang Chengye seize the opportunity.

Looking at the people who were leaving in a hurry, Zhang Chengye instructed the righteous son beside him, "Send someone to focus on these people who look in a hurry, who they have come into contact with, and report to our family in time." ”

"Please rest assured!"

I want to talk about "Rebirth of Tang Zhongxing" with more like-minded people, and pay attention to "excellent reading literature" on WeChat, talk about life, and find confidants~