In order to prevent the news from leaking, the officers of the Hundred Cavalry Battalion quickly controlled the entry and exit of Jiaofei City, and Su Shichang, Wang Gong, Zhang Liang and others who were in charge of investigating the case immediately mobilized local officials and troops to arrest the relevant people. However, when the scouts came out, the steward of the salt works had been replaced, and the officials of the salt and iron division were found to have transferred property; The businessmen involved in the case insisted that they didn't know, and the case seemed to have become an unsolved case, which also made Yang Chong angry.

Tianqi came to report a strange thing, Cui Baoshan once sent a sealed wooden box, it is said that it contained tea, Tianqi whispered: "At that time, the inspector was a senior from the academy, and he said that there were salt grains on the edge of the sealed wooden box, because salt grains are different from paste, and they will shine in the sun." The Cui family is good at tea, and the chief is not suspicious, but it is recorded, the head of the family, we don't seem to have this method of preserving tea. ”

Tianqi is Yang Chong's old man, so he naturally knows that the Cui family's tea method is completely given by Yang Chong, so he has some doubts; When Yang Chong heard this, he laughed angrily, it was recorded in history that Ji Xiaolan reported to his in-laws when Qianlong wanted to investigate the salt case, for fear of provoking the fire, Ji Xiaolan put a small pinch of tea leaves into an envelope, sealed it with batter and salt, and sent it to Lu Mansion without a word inside and outside, in fact, it implied the meaning of the seizure of the salt case, and the tea is the homonym of the investigation.

The Cui family is worthy of being a scholarly family, that is, Cui Baoshan, a so-called military general, is no worse than Ji Xiaolan, a university scholar, in terms of literary talent, and even the ideas he came up with are exactly the same. When Yang Chong wrote down the words "Salt Case Seizure" with a pen, Wang Qi and Tianqi understood and knew what was wrong. Wang Jue returned to the Yue Wangfu after quelling the rebellion and served as a member of the army.

When Wang Qi talked to Cui Baoshan about this matter, Cui Baoshan did not hesitate and generously admitted it. The matter of the weighing stone was reported to Chang'an, and the two officials in charge of the household department and the salt and iron division quickly confided the truth, and the Cao family sent someone to deal with it, but the Cao family was afraid of causing dissatisfaction with the other two, so it was recommended to operate together.

Yang Chong ordered a thorough investigation of the case, Zhang Liang, Su Shichang, and Cen Wenwen were appointed by Yang Chong as the chief officials to thoroughly investigate the case, and Wang Qi replaced Cui Baoshan in charge of the affairs of Jiaofeicheng; At the same time, Yang Chong abolished the power of Cangzhou and the Salt and Iron Division to issue salt introductions, and all salt quotations from the three salt farms had to be collected at the Yue Wangfu, and the old salt merchants needed to bring a year's account books. The three salt farms were taken over by the army, and the Cangzhou government issued a notice to suspend work for more than five days and cancel the contracting rights of the salt works.

Cangzhou shook, Hebei shook, Yang Chong rarely thought that things were so true, and the Hebei scholars and merchants who had already made a profit in the salt industry were more worried about whether there would be big changes in the future, and there were constant visitors in front of the Boling Cui family; Cui Hongsu hurriedly rushed from the clouds to Jiaofei City, and was stopped by Zhang Guolao when he was camping, as an old friend, Zhang Guolao took Cui Hongsu to no one and asked: "You don't even have a plan, so you came directly to Yang Chong?" ”

Cui Hongsu smiled bitterly and said: "Guo Lao, this matter really has nothing to do with the Cui family, Cui Baoshan recruited a son-in-law named Li Mengwei, who was killed by the Hexi army in Taiyuan. Cui Baoshan didn't have any ideas, but in order to gain a foothold in the Li family, his daughter obeyed the arrangement of the Li family of Zhaojun and asked her brother-in-law Li Xinling to buy several stewards in the salt field in the name of Cui Baoshan; Cui Baoshan later knew that his daughter did it, but he loved his daughter very much, and this is what happened to ventilate the news. ”

Zhang Guo asked leisurely: "What about the salt money embezzled by the salt merchants?" ”

Cui Hongsu's face became serious, Zhang Guolao seemed to be unconcerned about the world all day long, in fact, he was clear about everything, once he came forward for Yang Chong, what he asked must be the key part, no matter what story the Cui family can make up in the end, as long as the direction of the funds is the Cui family, the Cui family will not be able to escape responsibility; But if it is the Li family, the Cui family is equivalent to providing Yang Chong with a knife to cut people. Cui Hongsu took a breath and said, "The Cui family is willing to fill all the deficits in the salt field and hand over the salt field to the Salt and Iron Division to deal with." ”

This is the choice of the Cui family, to break the wealth and eliminate the disaster, it is better to lose it yourself, than to be used by Yang Chong to eradicate the Li family, which is also a five-surname Qiwang, Zhang Guolao nodded and said: "Let's go, Yang Chong may not be satisfied, it will be much more difficult for you to save Cui Baoshan later." If you use the words of the rivers and lakes, your Cui family is not sincere this time, because you are not ready to hand over anyone. ”

Only friends will speak so thoroughly at this time, but Cui Hongsu can't help it, if he is willing to make friends, he doesn't need to rush back from the clouds by himself, there are still a lot of things to deal with there. Yang Chong listened to Zhang Guolao's reply and chose to meet Cui Hongsu in public, this is a matter of position, since the Cui family wants to stick to their bottom line, Yang Chong decided to do business.

Cui Hongsu calmly recounted the attitude of the Cui family, and the people around Yang Chong were not happy that a large amount of money had been put into the account, and their brows were even more furrowed; After listening to Cui Hongsu's suggestion, Yang Chong asked Su Shichang: "What does Master Su think?" ”

How could Su Shichang not understand Yang Chong's thoughts, he regarded himself as upright in the Yue Wangfu on weekdays, as long as he loosened his mouth, Yang Chong would go down the steps; If he said it seriously, he would offend the Cui family, Su Shichang said expressionlessly: "This is the attitude of the Cui family, everything will be said after the case is clear." ”

Honest people will also play tricks, Yang Chong smiled and said: "Master Su, I believe you in handing over the case to you, since you still have to investigate, and the salt farm can't stop, you can discuss a way." The war in Goguryeo has begun, and I don't want any accidents, so tomorrow I will prepare to leave for Zhuogun. ”

Su Shichang, Zhang Liang and others trembled in their hearts, Yang Chong's words were not a word of shirk, but they were dissatisfied with the trial during this time, it was precisely because of scruples that Su Shichang completely followed the law and did not allow Zhang Liang to take extraordinary measures, resulting in little progress in the trial. On the contrary, the men who had been abandoned on the periphery had already seized three carriages in succession that were about to flee, and it was said that they had obtained a large number of gold, silver, treasures, and human certificates.

The current situation is obvious, as long as Yang Chongyi leaves, relying on Wang Jue's strength, it is impossible to suppress the Cui family, the Cao family, and the Ma family; Only then did Su Shichang realize what Yu Zhining had said to him, don't think about what you can do to King Yue, it's impossible. But Su Shichang ignored it, always thinking that he sat upright and walked upright, and he didn't have to be afraid of anything, but in actual work, these are far from enough.

Cen Wenwen suddenly asked: "King Yue, who is in charge of the operation of the salt farm?" ”

(End of chapter)