Chen Yue was just curious about Yang Xiaolei and Gu Jincheng, and what interested him even more was the smuggler of salt.

We all know that Yangzhou is the land of two Huai salt transportation, the big salt merchants here are rich in the world, and the Pingnan Army needs a lot of funds to recruit and train equipment, and it is not enough to rely on the appropriation of the imperial court and the profits of the four seas commercial banks, and other financial resources must be opened, Chen Yue naturally started the idea of Huaiyan.

However, the Ming Dynasty implemented the system of salt and iron monopoly, Yangzhou has two Huai transport envoys, specifically responsible for Huai salt matters, although Chen Yue is the governor of Jiangbei, but Huai salt can not interfere.

Now, perhaps, through that smuggler, he will be able to achieve his own ends.

"Master Hou, the captured smuggler named Pan Sanchun has been recruited." Shan Minglei reported, "He took the salt from the salt merchant Jiang's family and shipped it to Chuzhou for retail. ”

"Can he confess that the salt he is carrying is private?" Chen Yue asked.

Selling illicit salt is a serious crime, so how can Pan Sanchun confess easily?

"Miki can't help but let him not move!" Shan Minglei said gloomily that he is in charge of the criminal law in the army, and naturally has a set of means to coerce confessions against criminals.

"According to his confession, he traveled back and forth between Yangzhou and Chuzhou, and according to the salt quote, he could only sell 10 citations of official salt every year, but in fact he sold as much as 50 citations of salt every year, and the excess was private salt."

According to the salt nest system, for each 300 catties of salt, the salt merchant needs to take six dollars and four cents, three taels of tax silver, and three taels of ministers, that is to say, each salt needs to pay a tax of six taels and six thousand four cents to the imperial court, and Pan Sanchun sells forty taels of private salt every year, and the tax evasion reaches twenty-six taels of silver.

"His private salt is also from the Jiang family?" Chen Yue asked.

"Of course. Chuzhou is the nest area of the Jiang family, and the salt merchants there can only import salt from the Jiang family. Shan Minglei said, "Pan Sanchun is a small salt merchant, and he escapes more than 20 taels of tax silver every year, and the Jiang family controls the salt trade in Fengyang, Luzhou, Chuzhou, Hezhou, and Anqing, and the tax and silver that escapes every year are not more than tens of thousands of taels, no wonder these big salt merchants are millions of rich people!" ”

Shan Minglei's eyes lit up, and he said in a hurried tone. Now the Pingnan Army is the time when it needs money the most, and if a few large salt merchants are raided, the amount of silver obtained will be immeasurable. Shan Minglei is the person who knows Chen Yue best, and knows that Chen Yue will never let go of the huge cake of Huaiyan.

"Yangzhou has two Huaidu transfer envoys, as well as the imperial history of the salt governor, our governor's palace has no reason to interfere." Chen Yue hesitated. Huai salt occupies more than half of the Ming salt production, its salt tax is an important source of income for the national treasury, Huai salt is to supply the people of Jiangbei Yingtianjiang, Xi, Henan, Huguang Province, and the two Huai land has millions of salt households and stove households who rely on boiling salt for a living, and the relationship is too big.

Although Chen Yue is bold, he does not dare to attack Huaiyan, which is related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and if things get out of control, there will be very serious consequences.

"If you want to take down the Jiang family, you must sit on the conclusive evidence of its smuggling, and our governor's palace will directly intervene in the transfer envoys of the two Huaidu, and there must be evidence to prove that the transfer envoys are also involved in the smuggling of smuggled salt."

Chen Yue thought for a moment and ordered, "I will ask the Enemy Intelligence Department to cooperate with you, and you must find out the evidence of corruption of the two Huai Du transfer envoys, and you must find out the evidence that the Jiang family and other salt merchants are involved in smuggling, so that I can have an excuse to intervene in this matter." ”

"Yes, Master Hou!" Shan Minglei replied solemnly, with an excited glint on his face.

After Shan Minglei went, Chen Yue thought about it carefully again and ordered someone to invite the Yangzhou prefect Ma Zhi to come over.

Summoned by his boss, Ma Mingli did not dare to slack off, and immediately put down his official duties after receiving the order, and came to the governor's palace to meet Chen Yue.

"Ma Fuzun, you take a look at this first." After greetings, Chen Yue asked Ma Zhili to sit down and ordered someone to send Pan Sanchun's confession to Ma Zhizhi.

Ma Mingli looked at the confession in his hand carefully, his face was very calm, but his heart set off a monstrous wave.

The Governor's Mansion caught an ordinary salt dealer, forced the Jiang family to participate in the smuggling of smuggled salt, and invited him, the prefect of Yangzhou, to come over. Thinking about Chen Yue's past, and then thinking about his brutal methods against the nobles when he was in Nanjing not long ago, the sweat on Ma Ming's face came out.

"Master Hou, the trouble is too big and involves a wide range of issues, it seems that it should be reported to the imperial court and decided by the imperial court." Ma Zhi said with difficulty.

"Hehe, Ben Hou hasn't said what he's going to do, what are you saying it's too much trouble?" Chen Yue asked with a smile.

"Doesn't Lord Hou want to deal with the Jiang family and other salt merchants?" Ma asked in surprise.

"Hehe, maybe. Ben Hou is the governor of Jiangbei appointed by the imperial court, and Jiangbei military and civil affairs have the right to interrogate. Ma Fuzun, how much do you know about the Jiang family? Chen Yue asked lightly.

"Master Hou, Yangzhou has two Huai transfer envoys, there is a history of salt governors, and they are responsible for everything involving salt merchants, and the lower official is only a prefect from the fourth grade, and the management is the civil affairs of Yangzhou Mansion, and the lower official can't interfere in the matter of salt." Ma Mingli smiled bitterly.

The richest thing in Yangzhou is the salt merchants, and the whole Yangzhou is driven by the salt transportation to be so prosperous, and the salt merchants are rich enough to rival the country, and they have a deep background in the local government, which affects the whole body. As the prefect of Yangzhou, he does not want turmoil under his rule.

"Master Ma, do you know how much salt tax should be levied every year according to the salt system? How much salt tax is actually collected? Ma Mingming's resistance was expected by Chen Yue, and he continued to ask.

Hearing Chen Yue's question, Ma Mingli suddenly smiled bitterly.

All salt areas in Daming produce almost 3 million taels of salt every year, of which 700,000 taels of salt are produced in Yangzhou alone. According to the salt system, if these salts are sold according to the official salt, the annual salt tax will reach tens of millions of taels of silver, and in fact, the annual salt tax collected by the imperial court is more than one million taels, and the salt tax is even worse during the Chongzhen period, and in many cases even one million taels cannot be reached.

Where did all this lost salt tax go? Of course, it went into the pockets of the salt merchants, and if the salt merchants wanted to do business in a stable manner, they naturally had to deal with officials at all levels, whether they were officials of the salt transportation envoy department or officials of local governments and counties, all of whom benefited a lot from the salt administration. Even the prefect of Ma Ming, there are not a few gifts from salt merchants every year.

"Master Hou, you have great ambitions, but the lower officials are worried that things will eventually get out of hand, and now the Ming Dynasty is a time of many disasters, and the imperial court is still counting on the salt tax of Lianghuai, but it must not be turbulent." Ma Ming finally sighed.

"Ma Fuzun rest assured, Benhou doesn't have to deal with all the salt merchants, nor does he have to mess up the entire Lianghuai Salt Administration, since Benhou has obtained the evidence of the Jiang family's smuggling of salt, he can't ignore it." Chen Yue smiled.