Yang Chong nodded a thumbs up in his heart, and rushed to this question, Cen Wenwen's ability was far above Su Shichang, and he saw the luck of the Cui family, this is in Hebei, whoever takes over will offend the Cui family and the Li family, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to move an inch in Hebei in the future; Yang Chong glanced at the hall and said: "Since the Cui family has handed over the salt farm, it will be auctioned this afternoon, Yelu Tianzuo, the operation of the salt field will be handed over to you, and all the stewards and officials can be drawn from the Baiqi Camp to serve as people." Are there enough officials in the Salt and Iron Division? ”

Cui Hongsu's face was as usual, in the Cui family, he was the one who had dealt with Yang Chong for the longest time, and he had also been Yang Chong's chief treasurer, how could he not know that Yang Chong always did things unexpectedly; The Cui family said so, if Yang Chong didn't react, it would be abnormal. Yelu Tianzuo said carefully: "There are too many officials involved, and the manpower is a little tight. ”

This is an unavoidable problem, a large-scale trial of cases requires manpower, and the officials in Hebei are not even able to eat Yelu Tianzuo himself; Yang Chong immediately made a decision: "I will select twenty people from the scholars who have been transferred to check the accounts to supplement the salt and iron division, and if it is not enough, twenty more people will be selected after ten days." ”

As soon as the case was tried, Yang Chong transferred a hundred scholars who were unsuccessful last year to assist in the investigation of the case, and the reason at that time was that it was necessary to keep accounts and write documents, but now Yang Chong had expected that all aspects would drag him down. These scholars can directly enter the salt and iron division to serve, they must all be willing, Yelu Tianzuo has nothing to say; As Yang Chong's old subordinate, Yelu Tianzuo understands that some things are insurmountable, and once they are exceeded, they cannot be reversed, and what they can help can only come here.

The salt field in Changlu County was auctioned in Jiaofei City in the afternoon, and everyone thought it was a joke, but when Lu Yan and Xu Gan appeared, everyone immediately understood that Yang Chong was not joking, Yang Chong just wanted to show the Cui family, and if he made a mistake, he would pay the price. Lu Yan, Xu Gan, and Liu Heimin's younger brother Liu Shishan, a total of three families finally reached an agreement, Lu Yan Liucheng, Xu Gan 20%, and Liu Shishan 20%, and the partnership took over the salt field from the Cui family.

Lu Yanbao's salt output is two million catties a year, three layers higher than the Cui family, but no one is joking with Lu Yan, because Huating's salt farm has set an example, and the sea salt output is surprisingly high, Lu Yan is Yang Chong's disciple, as long as Yang Chong is willing to teach each other, the output of Changlu salt field will be no problem.

Cui Hongsu went through the handover procedures very happily, and after Yang Chong made salt in Huating, the Cui family wanted to figure out the secret, but Cui Chuzhi and Cui Yao refused to help, making the hearts of the three salt farms in Cangzhou fluctuate. is also a salt merchant, those people in the south are said to earn more than half of the profits here in Cangzhou, and it is normal for some problems to arise under the uneven desire, but it is obvious that Cui Baoshan's act of sending the letter angered Yang Chong and raised the case of the salt merchant to the height of conspiracy.

The Cui family is not idle, according to the information from the investigation, there is a conspiracy, but it is by no means the Cui family; It's just that the branches of the five surnames and seven hopes stumbled the Cui family's hand, so the only choice is to quit, stay away from the whirlpool of right and wrong, money is something outside the body, and you have to give it up when you need to give it up.

Yang Chong really left Cangzhou the next day, making everyone feel a dilemma, and the attitude of the Cao family became very crisp with Cao Zhan's reply, handing over the Yantian like the Cui family, and then the Ma family also handed over the Yantian. However, because there was no one to handle it, the two salt pans were soon stopped; The house slaves of the Ma family and the Cao family are all gone, and only salt workers are left in the salt field, and the dragons are leaderless. Su Shichang and Yelu Tianzuo felt a huge pressure, if they couldn't make a judgment, once something went wrong with the salt field, they would definitely not be able to eat and walk around.

Su Shichang could only allow Zhang Liang to do whatever he wanted, and all the salt merchants involved were raided, and even the commercial houses in Henan were seized within a day. Many salt merchants handed over their account books, willing to settle the accounts and fine; For the salt merchants who did not have account books, Cen Wenwen began to start with other cases and interrogate them one by one, and when the third salt merchant was raided and confiscated, Ma Junde came forward. Ma Junde, as the county guard of East Yancheng, put forward the conditions straight to the point, and he was willing to hand over the evidence of Li Xinling's behind-the-scenes manipulation, and the investigation of the salt merchant ended here.

Su Shichang and Zhang Liang didn't dare to call the shots, but Cen Wenwen agreed, and Ma Junde said happily: "Lord Cen, I like people with courage, you can rest assured, I am the king of Yue, and I will never do anything to make trouble, I will go to Zhuojun with you to see the king of Yue, and I will never retreat if I need to express my position." ”

Su Shichang and Zhang Liang reacted at this time, it was because they were too worried, Ma Junde was able to lead the crowd to dedicate the city to Song Jingang back then, he was definitely a knowledgeable person, and he knew that Yang Chong did not care about this salt field and taxes, but wanted to set a rule for the scholars in Hebei. The Cui family and the Cao family have people in the court, and this matter will not affect the prosperity and wealth of the two families in the future; The Ma family is different, if you want to settle down, you can only climb the relationship with Yang Chong, as long as Yang Chong covers the Ma family, the Qinghe Cui family and the Zhaojun Li family have no way to take a third-rate scholar like the Ma family.

Sure enough, after Tianqi checked the information, Yang Chong happily met with Ma Junde and directly appointed Ma Junde as the governor of Bohai Tuntian, replacing Cui Baoshan's position; Yelu Tianzuo was reappointed as the county guard of Dongyan County, Cen Wenwen took over the Salt and Iron Division, and the two were responsible for dealing with the Ma family's salt fields in Dongyan County, Yang Chong had only one request, all the original salt merchants were disqualified, and they were notified in the major salt districts across the country that they were not allowed to get involved in the salt industry again.

After Li Xinling and others were arrested, Yang Chong specially sent Cui Fengju to arrange for someone to go to the Li family in Zhao County to send a message and ask if he was interested in contracting; Li Anqi is idle at home, Li Xinling and a group of old friends are in the prison of Zhuo County, the Li family really needs to reconcile with Yang Chong, but the Li family of Zhao County is now a banner against Yang Chong, and many disgruntled scholars are following behind.

The Li clan of Zhaojun thought about it for three days, but for the sake of the Li clan's fame, he rejected Yang Chong's suggestion. Li Xinling and seven others were sentenced to beheading, and their family property was confiscated; Nine others were sentenced to exile, each of whom was fined more than 100,000 taels of silver; Li Mengyan's family was all exiled, and Cui Baoshan was exiled thousands of miles away in Hangzhou.

However, Yang Chong did not want to be stunned, and at the end of the salt case, he asked the Salt and Iron Division to refund all the unexpired contract fees of Cui, Cao, and Ma, and the salt farms of the Cao family and the Ma family were all included in Dongyan County, and various systems such as salt households were established in accordance with Yanchuan County. At this point, everyone understands that Yang Chong wants salt households; As long as there are salt households, it is the same whether there is a contractor or not, and the Cui family's salt farm can be seen that a group of fallen soldiers and officers who have changed careers are in good order.

(End of chapter)