Wang Maoliu said and sighed: "The big problem is in the past two years, first a few big eyes poked out, saying that the government has more and more ambushes, and the amount of deduction is too big, the original more than 200 buckets for a salt lead, converted into an ambush, almost 500 buckets of grain to change a salt lead, so in fact, it is no longer profitable to pay grain for salt leads, just like that, more and more salt merchants began to report to the government, all saying that the grain they paid was undercalculated. As far as I know, there are obviously a few big salt merchants who have actually handed over thousands of stone of grain, but the salt guide issued to them in the end is less than half of the salt stipulated by the imperial court. Especially last year, this situation is getting more and more serious, many salt merchants get the salt to settle the account, but also lose one to two percent of the capital, so many salt merchants with salt secretly and privately tandem, want to jointly pursue the salt lead, some even plan to hire someone to write a joint letter to send to the capital, but as soon as this wind came out, several salt merchants were either killed or destroyed, and the salt merchants never dared to mention this matter. ”

"Which salt merchants proposed to recover the detained salt?" Yao Guangqi asked with concern.

Wang Maoliu smiled bitterly and said: "At least seventy percent of the salt merchants in Beiping are involved in this matter. ”

Speaking of this, Wang Maoliu paused, and then sighed again and again, "But many salt merchants who shouted for the salt merchants to pursue at the beginning are now worried, they are afraid that he will be the next to be killed." ”

Yao Guangqi pondered while listening, and then asked very slowly: "Are the people who were killed all those who secretly conspired to sue the emperor?" ”

Wang Maoliu shook his head, "No, the two who didn't join in were also wiped out, otherwise how could these salt merchants in Beiping be so panicked now, the reason is that no one knows why they were killed." ”

Yao Guangqi asked again: "Have you been involved?" ”

Wang Maoliu shook his head: "I didn't participate, first, the gang of people they secretly connected with, most of them were Shanxi Lao Xi'er and Huizhou Nanbanzi, our salt merchants in Shandong, the number is not much, and their dealings with them are also limited, Shanxi people and Huizhou Nanban have their own small gangs, and everything is connected in small gangs." Second, this kind of thing is looking for me, and I don't dare to get involved, it's not that I can bear it, I'm really cowardly, our husband and wife's lives were originally picked up, and when this kind of thing happens, it's too late to hide, where do you dare to squeeze in? ”

That night, although Wang Maoliu was polite again and again, at the strong request of the divination operator, the three masters and apprentices still lived in a room.

"Can you figure it out?" Bu Operator asked Yao Guangqi.

Yao Guangqi shook his head, "These circumstances can only know the general situation of the matter, but it is too general, there are no details, and there is no evidence with any clear point, so it is too early to say anything, and now it seems that the only way to check is from the killed salt merchants, hoping to find some clues." ”

Before dawn the next morning, the three masters and apprentices quietly went out, and their target was the first salt merchant to have an accident, Jin Mancai's home. The courtyard of Jin Mancai's house is very large, it is a five-entry courtyard, from the scale of the main gate steps and the horse tie pile, you can imagine how beautiful Jin Mancai was when he was in the past.

From Wang Maoliu's mouth, Jin Mancai is one of the largest salt merchants in Beiping, nearly 4,000 acres of land around Beiping, and his land is close to the water source and high yield of fertile fields, because of this, Jin Mancai gets the most salt every year, plus Jin Mancai has his own salt field in the south, Beiping here to get the salt lead, the salt field in the south will be directly loaded into the ship, and the salt will be directly loaded and trucked, and the salt will be directly transported and pulled. Because of the trouble of buying salt and then shipping, so Jin Mancai's salt is fast, the money is returned quickly, after the salt is sold, Jin Mancai can also put the recovered money into other businesses to turn around, or put some usury, or do some thick cloth trading, in short, a few months down, this money can give birth to at least three or four percent of the profit, it is by virtue of such a rapid turnover arbitrage, Jin Mancai's business in a few years has quadrupled, originally with Jin Mancai's family background about the same salt merchants, now business and land are less than half of Jin Mancai. Jin Mancai also jumped from an inconspicuous medium salt merchant to a large salt merchant in Beiping.

Jin Mancai is the door that was destroyed shortly after the New Year, come to the gate, you can also feel the strong New Year's flavor of the Jin family's New Year, there are still three red lanterns left on the door, but after several months of wind, sun, snow and rain, the lantern has been obviously white, and there is a lantern on the ground that only has a skeleton leaning in front of the big threshold. The Spring Festival couplets on the gate are still in good condition, but a few corners of the Spring Festival couplets have been turned up.

In order not to be noticeable, the three masters and apprentices climbed over the wall from the side. Entering the courtyard, the situation in the courtyard was completely beyond Yao Guangqi's expectations, the grass and trees in the courtyard were luxuriant, the path was regular, and the bricks and tiles were neat and new.

The three of them entered the main hall, and the furniture in the hall was also very regular, except for a few faint dots on the pillars, which looked like bloodstains, and it was completely impossible to see that there had been a murder that shook the whole city.

Yao Guangqi suddenly turned his head, squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "Master, your mana is so profound, can you open your eyes and see what the situation was here that day?" ”

After hearing this, Bu Operator nodded with a smile, and then rejected it very decisively, and the way of refusal was also very symbolic, and he flew up and kicked it over: "The true Taoist method of this sect is not a trick to deceive the rivers and lakes, I don't have that ability." If you have the kung fu, you should spend your time thinking about the case, and don't just think about the sideways. ”

Facing the master's teachings, Yao Guangqi nodded, today he has comprehended a new realm here with the master, and the master will not be able to do it.

After inspecting the house full of wealth, the three masters and apprentices suddenly heard someone outside the courtyard shouting, "Half empty, half empty, half empty is really fragrant." ”

Yao Guangqi and Jiang Sheng didn't understand what it meant to be in mid-air, and they immediately became nervous when they heard this shout, and both of them were ready to draw their swords at any time.

Bu Operator traveled south and north to see more, signaled that the two of them did not need to be nervous, and transmitted the voice to the two of them: "The people in Beiping say that the middle of the air is peanuts. The locals pass the time with this thing when they have nothing to do. ”

After listening to the divination operator, Yao Guangqi and Jiang Sheng relaxed their vigilance and put down their hands holding the sword, but Yao Guangqi's face immediately became nervous again, his expression was even more serious than just now, and he said softly: "It's May, how can there be peanuts to sell?" Then he jumped out of the wall.

As soon as his feet landed outside the courtyard, Yao Guangqi noticed that at the entrance of the alley, there was an old man in a short shirt, and there was a big basket in front of the old man.