Chapter 221: The Devil Has a Devil's Way, and the Tao Has a Path
While! While! The piercing sound of gongs wandered in Jiangdu County, and a mule cart was only a large wooden cage, and a person was flailed in the wooden cage, looking at the sky with a blank expression on the corner of his mouth.
"Fellow fathers, fellow villagers! This is a person who resells illicit salt, and the amount is huge, and he is guilty of death according to the law! ”
The crowd looked around at the wooden cage, pointing and discussing, 'Isn't this Zhang Qianhu? How do you want to be killed? ’
I heard that a salt pan was underregistered, and it was denounced, and the person was to be killed, the family property was confiscated, and the wife and daughter were also sent to the army. Someone in the know quietly explained to everyone.
The crowd shook their heads and sighed, 'Why bother? stole that money, lost his life, and lost hundreds of thousands of family property. ’
'You know the, there's an inside story here. A man in a soap suit blurted out, but when he saw that the crowd was curious about him, he waved his hands again and again in fright, and fled.
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The mule cart passed by a restaurant, and the people on the second floor were lying on the window to visit, 'Bang! With a bang, a young man slapped the table hard, startling everyone in the restaurant, and they all looked back at him.
I saw that the male gritted his teeth and said: "Despicable, what kind of reselling of illicit salt, it is nothing more than trying to kill chickens and make an example of monkeys, so he is accused of abusing the royal law, doesn't Li Chengshi care?" ”
Several family members next to him were so frightened that they gathered around, and hurriedly whispered to advise: "Gong, you should be quiet, it's not good to be heard." ”
This gong thought that he was shouldering a heavy responsibility, and he could only endure this evil breath. Sitting down, Tie blushed and drank one glass after another.
Needless to say, this justice is just from Chang'an to come to the king of Qingqing, the king of Xinping County Li Li, he entered the county seat of Jiangdu less than an hour before he encountered Li Qing killing chickens and monkeys.
At this time, in a corner, two pimpies who were eating noodles heard that Li Li had a Beijing accent and had many followers, and called the name of Lord Thorn Shi. He raised his head in surprise and glanced at each other, his eyes showing a hint of joy.
'When! While! It's just in front of the street, let's go and see it! ’
The piercing sound of gongs stirred Li Li to have no intention of eating, and he pushed the table hatefully, "Let's go!" ”
More than a dozen family members swarmed around him and went downstairs. The two splashes winked at each other, threw a few coins on the table, and followed them from a distance.
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It has been a full ten days since Li Qing's whistleblower was issued, just as the old saying a thousand years ago, "there must be a brave man under the heavy reward", and as a famous saying a thousand years later, "the people's eyes are bright", no matter how remote a piece of salt pan, there are always people who know, as long as they go to Yangzhou. If you get 100,000 money, who doesn't want to? Thereupon. The whistleblowers stirred up Yangzhou, and a team of officials and soldiers ran rampant in the Jianghuai area. Arrests everywhere, finesse of classes, seizure of shops, detention of salt boats.
All salt farmers, salt merchants, salt shops, salt officials, and salt officials, as long as they have a little to do with salt, are all panicked, and they don't know when this storm will end.
Just like the bosses who made a fortune from the mines in later generations, the salt farmers and salt merchants who could eat well in the Jianghuai area had a little to do with the government, and Jiangdu County Ling Liu Suifeng was no exception, and he himself had several profitable transactions in Yangzhou. It also invested in a salt pan in Linhuai County, of course. The so-called investment does not require him to come up with money, but to use the power of his hand to give convenience to others, and it is just a few components for nothing.
Today is the most frightening day since he became the commander of Jiangdu County, his partner Zhang Qianhu, a big salt merchant, was denounced, and was selected by the salt and iron envoy to kill chickens and monkeys, and the land where the defendant was accused of missing the salt field is his share of Liu Suifeng, and it was he who instructed Zhang Qianhu not to go to the record.
All the interrogations and confessions were done by the officials of Jiangdu County, Zhang Qianhu was unable to speak, and he couldn't confess, which made Liu Suifeng feel at ease, but the raid was done by the salt and iron envoys himself, and the account books were taken away, and there was a sharing contract signed by him Liu Suifeng, which made him not in a hurry.
After thinking about it for a whole morning, Liu Suifeng decided to go to Li Qing to turn himself in, no matter if he had a personal vendetta or an old grudge against him, he was an old man, and he didn't really torture him, didn't he let him go in the end?
With a glimmer of hope, Liu Suifeng came to Li Qing's office in a panic.
At this moment, the front of the Yantie Embassy was extremely heavily guarded, and hundreds of soldiers took three steps and one post, five steps and one sentry, guarding the entire mansion tightly and impeccably.
A large plaque is hung above the gate of the mansion, 'Jianghuai Salt and Iron Division', this is the official office that Li Longji has just approved the establishment, and the official approval of the Ministry of Officials has also arrived, and the Fifth Qi is officially appointed as the Jianghuai Salt and Iron Transport Envoy, in charge of the Jianghuai Salt Administration and Cao Yun, and Liu Yan is appointed as the judge and the deputy of the Fifth Qi.
Dozens of big salt merchants from all over Jianghuai, even Guangzhou and Xiangzhou, anxiously stood on the square in front of the gate, leading their necks to visit inside, today there was another salt, 250,000 stones, 100 stones for a copy, a total of 2,500 copies, the purchase form has already been handed in, although the result will be posted on the notice board, but this group of salt merchants no one wants to leave, has been standing at the door waiting for the news inside.
At this time, a salt official walked out of it, holding a black lacquer plate in his hand, and two green-clothed salt officials followed behind, carrying the salt lead, and the salt merchants were in a commotion, 'Here it is! Here it comes! You pushed me and rushed forward.
The green-clothed salt official had a straight face, picked up the first card and shouted: "Lin Fengyang, five hundred copies!" ”
"Zhao Daming, one hundred and fifty copies"
"Ni Shisanlang, one hundred and forty copies"
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Lin Fengyang is the shopkeeper of Lin, he and his wife and uncle worked together, under the deliberate cultivation of Li Qingdi, has gradually become the largest salt merchant in Yangzhou, and when the salt government is on the right track in the future, he will come forward to form the Jianghuai Salt and Iron Chamber of Commerce.
"In! At! "Citation, he applied for 1,000 copies, approved 500 copies, a total of 50,000 stones, according to the official price of 350 per stone, that is, 17,500 yuan, the money had been handed over before the purchase, with the iron plate to the salt warehouse to pick up the goods, the extra money in the Wang Bao Ji cabinet for refund, and the salt citation is a voucher with the goods, issued by the salt and iron divisions of each province, and numbered.
"Congratulations to Brother Lin for coming out on top!" Several salt merchants stepped forward to congratulate, their eyes full of envy.
"Where! Where! Didn't Thirteen Lang sign it too? Shopkeeper Lin said politely, and quickly counted the salt in his hand, five hundred, a lot of one, and then he found his wife's uncle, and the two of them hurriedly boarded the carriage and headed for the salt warehouse on the dock.
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Liu Suifeng looked at this scene, his eyes were sour, from now on, he himself and even locally would not be profitable, whether it was an official salt field or a private salt field, the raw salt could only be sold to the Salt and Iron Division, and then sold by the Salt and Iron Division at a higher price.
"One stone actually earns two hundred and eighty, and the court is too dark." Liu muttered a few words hatefully and walked towards the side door, where he took out a sticker and respectfully handed it to the guard.
"Please tell Lord Li, the head of the household department, that Jiangdu County ordered Liu to ask to see him with the wind!"
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Li Qing is no longer in charge of specific affairs now, and the new salt policy has slowly left
After more than ten days of operation, he has already saved more than 400,000 guan, just waiting for one or two more sales, making up 100,000 guan, together with 200,000 stones of seized salt.
At this moment, he was receiving the visiting Changshi Zhang Boji, although Zhang Boji was a Changshi and was in charge of government affairs, but he didn't know about the theft of 200,000 Shiguan salt, let alone that Li Qing had seized this batch of salt, and he kept all this in the dark, until yesterday, he received an urgent letter from his father-in-law Li Linfu, asking him who did the more than 100 salt boats that Li Qing seized, and he suddenly realized that Li Qing and Li Chengshi had clashed several times.
"Li Shilang, I am busy these days, and I have no time to ask about the salt administration, yesterday I passed by the salt warehouse, and I heard that the inventory a few days ago found that there were discrepancies in the accounts, but I didn't know the specific details, so I wanted to ask, what is going on?"
The only person in Yangzhou who makes Li Qing dare not slack off, that is Zhang Boji, in name he is a long history, but in fact he is Li Linfu's spokesperson, Li Linfu has been silent in the implementation of the new salt law, and has not obstructed and interfered, this is a clever politician, something to do, something not to do, of course, Li Qing also knows that if he is defeated by King Qing in this round, Li Linfu will also unceremoniously step forward and step on his feet, but at this time, he must deal with Li Linfu well.
"It's no wonder that Zhang Changshi doesn't know, you happened to be in Chang'an at the time of the incident, and this matter has nothing to do with Zhang Changshi, so why bother yourself." Implication. It doesn't involve you, so you don't have to worry about it.
Li Qingdi meant that Zhang Boji naturally understood, and his heart was also relaxed, but he couldn't help but answer his father-in-law's questions, so he had to ask again: "Thank you Li Shilang for understanding the difficulties of the lower officials, the lower officials are very grateful, but if some things are not clarified, the court will ask in the future." If I can't answer, it's really hard to explain, I heard that Li Shilang seized a batch of salt, I don't know if it has anything to do with the salt warehouse? ”
The words have been asked very directly, and Li Qing's heart is also vigilant, "I heard that a batch of salt has been seized", who will listen? Lee Cheng Shi? No way! So persistently asked. It is very likely that Li Linfu meant, if so, then how does Li Linfu know? There are only two possibilities, either the person who participates in the action has his eyes and ears; Either he has collusion with King Qing, but looking at Zhang Boji's situation, it should not be collusion with King Qing.
But no matter what, Zhang Boji's words revealed that Li Linfu had been staring at this matter, and he had not relaxed at all, and he had to be extremely careful, and he must not only care about the wolf King Qing. And Li Linfu's tiger was ignored.
"Since Zhang Changshi really wants to know, I might as well tell you the truth. This batch of salt is related to Li Chengshi, do you understand? ”
Zhang Boji nodded. got up and arched his hand and said with a smile: "I understand, since this is the case, I won't disturb Li Shilang's rest and say goodbye!" ”
Zhang Boji walked out quickly, he was anxious to reply to Li Linfu, although Li Qing's words were very vague, but he knew that the words could only end here. No matter how much you dig deeper, you won't find any results.
As soon as he walked to the door, he saw Liu Suifeng who came to visit Li Qing. Liu Suifeng only arched his hand to him, and walked in quickly with the sergeant, Zhang Boji stared at Liu Suifeng's back suspiciously, but he didn't know what he was going to do, shook his head, and went.
Let's say that Liu Suifeng walked into the lobby in fright, and the sergeant only told him to wait a while, and then left him in the lobby, but poor Liu Suifeng was anxious and scared, but he didn't dare to walk around, not even a cup of tea, only paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands behind his back.
I have been waiting for nearly an hour, seeing the faint crow returning to the nest, I heard a heavy cough, someone slowly walked out, at this time Liu Suifeng's legs were sore and numb, his throat was dry and on fire, but his heart was sincerely afraid, and he didn't dare to raise his head, so he hurriedly stepped forward and gave a long salute, "The lowly Liu Suifeng sees Lord Shilang." ”
"Huh! The Liuxian Order is mistaken, I am Lord Shilang's staff, Zhang Qianhu's case involves the Liuxian Order, and Li Shilang is inconvenient to receive him, so let me pass on a few words to him. ”
Liu Suifeng couldn't help but feel good when he saw that the person who came was a clear man who was nearly forty years old, but his last sentence made Liu Suifeng's heart hang for a while, "What does Lord Shilang want to explain?" ”
Gao Shi stepped forward to salute him first, then put on a gesture of invitation, and said with a smile: "It's not easy to say here, Liu Xian Ling might as well come to the inner room with me, and let's talk slowly." ”
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The night is not very dark, the wind is high and the moon is full, the white clouds are covered, the clouds come and the moon are hidden, the clouds are brighter than the moon, and the house is also bright and dark, Li Li's expression is serious, sitting on the chair, quietly listening to Li Chengshi's statement.
"Back to the little prince, my subordinates have not been idle in the past ten days, they have been looking for more than 100 salt boats everywhere, and the means that can be used have been exhausted, and every inch of water in Yangzhou has been searched, but the salt boats have disappeared as if they were flat, and there is no trace of them, so the subordinates judge that the salt ships are definitely not in Yangzhou."
Li Chengshi said while secretly peeking at Li Li's expression, in fact, he didn't need to search for it, he knew that this batch of salt ships would never be in Yangzhou, Li Qing would not be as stupid as King Qing, he held the power of salt affairs, with a few salt leads, he could easily remove the salt boats, the world is so big, can he Li Chengshi search for it?
Li Li picked his eyes and said coldly: "Then according to your meaning, if this salt ship can't be chased back, will my father be impeached by him?" ”
Li Chengshi hurriedly bowed and said with a smile: "This is not what his subordinates mean, I mean, if His Royal Highness King Qing is active in the capital, the emperor may not take Li Qing's impeachment seriously, and the big things will be turned into small and small things, so that Li Qingbai will be busy." ”
"Bang!" Li Li's fist slammed on the table, bluffing Li Cheng's center and the teacup together, and his heart jumped to his throat, but the teacup flew to the ground and shattered.
Li Lihuo stood up, pointed at Li Chengshi's nose and shouted: "If the capital can solve it, what else do you want me to do in Yangzhou?" You don't have the ability to say it clearly, Hugh has to find an excuse to prevaricate! ”
Li Chengshi is also a clan, speaking of which is still Li Lidi's elder, the dignified Shangzhou assassin history, in terms of real power, even King Qing is inferior to him, but he was scolded by a hairy little finger and nose, when did he suffer such a big insult, his face couldn't help but be red and white, and finally he couldn't bear it, and broke off: "Enough!" ”
He also stood up, stared at Li Li and said viciously: "If it weren't for your father's greed and stupidity, would things have come to this point?" Now it's the other way around, I don't care what, you have the ability to solve it yourself! ”
He kicked the chair away, snorted heavily, and strode out with his hands in his hands.
Li Li looked at his back, his face became more and more pale, his eyes rolled, and he exhaled lightly, "I don't know what to repay the favor, if it weren't for my father, would you be able to sit in this position?" ”
He stared at the teacups that were shattered into several large pieces on the ground, stretched out his feet and squeaked and stomped them to smash them one by one, a sinister smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Without you, I can solve this matter!" ”