The five master craftsmen hurriedly got up and said, "Thank you for your concern, we are not short of money." ”

Wang Junlin said in a mild tone: "You are also true, since you are not short of money, why do you deduct the wages of salt workers and salt slaves? ”

Everyone suddenly felt a pang in their hearts, but when they saw the expression of Lord Taishou, and then thought that Lord Taishou had received two large carts of silver and thousands of acres of fertile land from the Lu family, and he also got a dry share of Yanxing, obviously this is a joke!

However, although he thought that Lord Taishou was joking, Dong Kang and the five master craftsmen did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly said with a smile: "My lord, there is no such thing, there is no such thing!" ”

Wang Junlin's expression suddenly became cold, he looked at Dong Kang coldly, and said: "Lord Dong, this official hates others to lie to me the most, and the four officials including Lu Jiandong of Changxiang County didn't tell me the truth at that time, so the official cut off their heads. ”

When everyone heard this, their faces changed, Dong Kang and the five master craftsmen were even more heartbeat, Wang Junlin didn't wait for the six to say anything, and said with a dissatisfied face: "You guys are really, the official has acquiesced in such a big matter as the salt industry, how big is the matter of deducting the silver money of the salt worker and the salt slave, do you need to panic in front of the official?" To be honest, I really hate it when people lie to me. ”

Immediately afterwards, Wang Junlin asked again: "Lord Dong, this official will ask you again one last time, have you deducted the wages of salt workers and salt slaves?" ”

Wang Junlin said it so clearly, Dong Kang thought that this one was really not easy to serve, but he didn't take it to heart, after all, judging from the legendary Wang Junlin's deeds, the other party has a strange personality and is temperamental.

Besides, even if he Dong Kang is a fifth-grade official, and Wang Junlin wants to kill him, he probably has to go through the consent of the imperial court, but in the face of Wang Junlin's naked threat just now, and there are four examples of Changxiang County put there, it would be strange if he was not afraid!

So Dong Kang hesitated slightly, then said with some embarrassment: "That...... My lord, there are indeed salt workers and salt slaves in the salt works. ”

Wang Junlin nodded calmly, and said with some doubts: "Master Dong, this official sees that you are not a person who is short of money, how can you do such a tasteless thing." ”

Dong Kang smiled awkwardly and looked at the five master craftsmen, who hurriedly said: "My lord, it is my lord's salary that is a little lower, and in order to supplement the family, it is true that some salt workers and salt slaves have been deducted from their money. But don't worry, since you mentioned this, we won't do any more of these things. ”

"Oh...... I see. Wang Junlin smiled and said, "That means that only the five of you are short of money." ”

The five master craftsmen looked embarrassed, and one of them said: "No, the young masters below are also short of money, and sometimes they also deduct money and food from salt workers and salt slaves. ”

Wang Junlin nodded, but his expression suddenly became cold, and he suddenly turned his head to Qian Zhengkuo next to him and said: "Qian Zhengkuo, according to the law of the Great Sui, how to punish the salt workers and salt slaves who deduct their money and grain!" ”

Qian Zhengkuo faintly felt that something was wrong, and he didn't really want to tell the truth at this time, but the problem was that Wang Junlin had already said just now, and the people who lied to him were all cut off by him, so he hesitated for a moment, so he had to say truthfully: "Lord Hui, according to my Great Sui law, the salt factory officials or master craftsmen will deduct the wages of salt workers and salt slaves, and those who are less serious will be fined in addition to making up for the deducted wages." In addition to this, those with heavier intelligence will also be put in prison. ”

At this time, everyone finally felt that the situation was a little different from what they imagined, and the madness became weird, Wang Junlin nodded, and said: "I heard that in recent years, there have been several times when salt workers and salt slaves have been exploited by the masters, so there have been a few troubles, but is there such a thing?" ”

The officials were stunned, in recent years, due to the exploitation of the master craftsmen too much, the salt workers and salt slaves have been cornered, and they have indeed made trouble a few times, but every time they were killed by the salt ding, they suppressed the matter, and this matter has been hidden from the county government above by the salt farm, and I don't want to be too shou for less than a month in Fanyang County, and I already know about it.

Moreover, this ordinary deduction is actually a trivial matter, but if something happens, it will be different, and the culprit who caused this incident is enough to lose his head.

Dong Kang hurriedly stepped forward, no matter what Wang Junlin was thinking at this time, he had to say good things to a few masters as much as possible, and said with a smile: "Hui Yu, a few times to make trouble, it was because the return of funds was a little slower at that time, and the wages were only a few days late, but those untouchables actually took the opportunity to make trouble, affecting the normal salt production of the salt farm, and bringing irreparable losses to our Fanyang County tax revenue, so after the lower officials and others discussed, they sent Yan Ding to suppress it, but fortunately, there were not too many lives, so there was no rush to report." ”

Wang Junlin naturally didn't believe these nonsense things Dong Kang said, according to what Xu Xiaohu said last night, the few troubles were not paid late at all, but the masters pumped too much water from the wages. And Dong Kang and the others didn't want to offend the great craftsmen who had the support of the Lu family behind them, and they didn't want to use the silver to make up the account, so they pretended to be deaf and dumb, and only sent Yan Ding to suppress it until the matter was big.

Wang Junlin frowned, his face sank, and said: "The salt in the salt field is all earned by the hard work of the salt workers and salt slaves, but you often drag the wages of the salt workers and salt slaves, how much enthusiasm can the salt workers and salt slaves have to do things?" Even if you do things, how can you be willing to work hard? In the end, not to mention the reduction of tax revenue in the county, is it not all of us who suffer losses? ”

The officials even claimed that they were, and said that there would never be any more arrears of wages for salt workers and salt slaves in the future.

It's just that the faces of the five master craftsmen are getting harder and harder to look at.

"Talk nonsense." Wang Junlin shook his head and sighed: "In the future, you will not delay the wages first, I think it is better to settle the wages owed to the salt workers and salt slaves first!" ”

The audience fell into a dead silence.

Having said this, Wang Junlin's true face was gradually revealed, and Dong Kang and the others did not dare to speak more, you must know that there are forty or fifty thousand salt workers and salt slaves in the salt farm, and the wages deducted over the years are not a small amount, although they have not been calculated, there are hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Under the silence, everyone's eyes, consciously or unconsciously, looked at the five master craftsmen with extremely ugly faces.

"However, since this amount of money is not a small amount, this official will give you two days to make up for the wages that have been deducted before." How could Wang Junlin care what the five master craftsmen thought at this time, he came to the salt field for two purposes, one was to test the attitude of the Lu family, Lu Youwei came in person last night, after a conversation, this purpose was successfully achieved, not to mention, there was another gain. And the second purpose is to entrap these tens of thousands of salt workers and salt slaves.