"A month? But I have never heard of it. The shopkeeper shook his head and said.

"Then thank the shopkeeper. Come, drink! Zhao Tianba raised his glass and saluted.

After leaving the inn, Zhao Tianba thought about the Salt Gang while walking aimlessly. At present, the information we have is the location of the headquarters of the Salt Gang in Hailing County and the "one minute month" on the door plaque, and then there is the transportation situation in Hailing County. In addition, he often travels to Yancheng County, and it is inseparable from the salt industry. After all, the place that produces the most salt in Jiangsu is Yancheng County. It seems that the strength of this salt gang should not be underestimated, it is clearly a gang that can completely compete with the Tianyu Alliance, and even far surpasses the Tianyu Alliance in terms of financial resources. I remembered that I had said that "I will destroy the Salt Gang in three days" and other grandiose words, but now it seems that it is probably a joke.

However, I just heard the shopkeeper say that those ships returning to Yancheng County were basically loaded with tea, porcelain bottles and silk, which should not only be transported back to Yancheng County, but a small county town could not have such a large domestic demand. Moreover, these things are not impossible to buy in Yancheng County. With such a big formation, it seems that it should be the handiwork of the official family, is it really the official family? But this can't be said, there is no need to be so obscure about the affairs of the official family, at least there should be an official mark on the ship. Could it be that it is - collusion between officials and bandits! Thinking of this, Zhao Tianba couldn't help but gasp.

First, they colluded with officials to find a way to sell those materials to other provinces and counties outside Jiangsu, and then secretly trafficked illicit salt from Yancheng County to various parts of Jiangsu. took the money to dot the county government up and down, and the government had no choice but to turn a blind eye. It seems that at the moment, we can only think in the long run, so it is better to stay in Hailing County for two days first, go to find out the situation of the Salt Gang headquarters, and by the way, touch the old bottom of the official mansion. After finding out the truth and truth, he went back to Yangzhou to report the truth to the gang leader and then plot.

On the official road outside the boundary of Suzhou, a convoy of five horse-drawn carriages is galloping. I saw that the carriage in the center looked extremely luxurious and full of atmosphere, and it was conspicuous in this long queue, which was quite a bit of a starry moon. And only this car has a diamond-shaped sign with the word "Yu" hanging on it.

"Yu, I have to say that your abilities are much better than all the merchants and officials of your country that I have seen. As a lady, she can lead these vicious male slaves outside. A lame sound came from inside the carriage.

But I saw a man and a woman sitting in the spacious carriage, and it was the man who spoke. I saw that he was born with a peculiar appearance, blonde hair and blue eyes, a nose like an eagle, a slightly emerging beard like a bearded man who had just been shaved, and his bare arms were covered with thick brown fluff. With a very inauthentic spoken language, you can see at a glance that it is not my race. The woman on the other side looked like she had passed the age of plums, and she looked extraordinary in a long dress of gauze and dress, and she looked extremely graceful and luxurious with the shawl on her shoulder. The face is condensed with jade, the eyes are bright, Dai Ruo Danqing, the lips are like cherry blossoms, the god is like autumn water, it seems to be affectionate, charming but not enchanting, resolute and calm, a beautiful girl with a unique style.

John smiled. These brothers out there are my own family, not slaves who have signed a deed of sale. Without their support, there would be no Salt Gang and me today. The beautiful lady said softly with her lips open.

"Yu, I like such a smart friend as you, no wonder I can buy so many hearts. It's as powerful as your country's Mulan. ”

"John was wrong. Hua Mulan was a general of the first two dynasties, serving in the army on behalf of her father and winning battles for the imperial court. How dare the slave family compete with Haoyue? But you, Master John, have traveled thousands of miles across the ocean to come to my Tang Dynasty, and at first glance you are the one who has achieved great things. ”

"Yu, thank you for the compliment. I have to say, your country is indeed a magical place. The tea and porcelain you make are very good, and your silk, I heard that the best silk in your country is in Suzhou. What a great country. ”

"Master John, your Hande is also very good."

"That Handekan is only available to a handful of nobles in our country. Our country has just had a war, and the original seven tribes are now one. Now there was nothing, and our pope said that there was a place in the East, and that it was full of treasures, so I was sent by the king with Auroben. Now Aroben is still with your king. You know all of this. ”

I had indeed heard these words from this prince of John before, but after all, this Jiangsu was far away from the capital, and there was no way to know whether the Aroben he said had gone to the capital to meet him. However, after several cooperations, I think that this foreign son John should not be lying. Otherwise, his own salt gang would not have advanced by leaps and bounds, and it would have been able to take root in Hailing County. She thought to herself.

"Master John, does Aroben have Handgan in his hands? Since he has come to worship, he must have brought some gifts to pay tribute. ”

"Aroben doesn't have Handgan on his hands. He was a member of the sect, not of our royal family, and he took some scriptures from the sect. However, your king seems to be very fond of those verses. I heard that he had sent a priest to another country to seek the scriptures. ”

"Yes, it does."

The two chatted and chatted, and the convoy had arrived in the city of Suzhou.

"Helper, Master John, Suzhou City has arrived." The little brother of the salt gang who was driving the car said outside the carriage.

"Tell me to go down, let the brothers go to an inn to rest, and you will now take me and Master John to this Suzhou County Office."

It turned out that the glamorous lady in the car was indeed the helmsman of the Salt Gang. This time the order was to prepare to visit the Suzhou County Government directly. Due to the large formation of the group, they arranged for the entourage to go to rest. These people had already traveled with their helpers many times, so they didn't need to be instructed in detail, they would naturally arrange everything.

"Yu, shall we just go straight to that official master? Don't need to buy some gifts? ”

"You don't need to buy it first, after all, the government here is very strict, and it is not appropriate to take too many gifts for the first visit, so I should go to explore the wind first, and also take the opportunity to understand whether this county magistrate likes elegance or vulgarity, whether it can only be coerced or tempted. In addition, I also specially prepared a silver ticket and Handekan on my body when I went out this time. ”

"Yu, I have to say again, you are really a very smart person." This son of John praised from the bottom of his heart.

About half an hour later, the carriage had stopped outside the county government of Suzhou County. The entire county government looks the same as the Yangzhou county government except for a little dilapidation.

The two got out of the car and came to the porter, and the porter saw that one of the two people who came was a beautiful lady with a beautiful face and a beautiful woman, and the other was a jackal, tiger and leopard-like alien, and he didn't know who to look at for a while. Seeing that the two of them stepped forward and were about to ask, "What are you doing?" when they saw that the noble lady took off a purse that fell on her waist without thinking about it and threw it directly, which was about ten taels of fine silver ingots.

"The Yu family, a citizen of Hailing County, and Lord John, the head of the Western Anglo Household Department, have important matters to ask to see the Lord of Zhixian County, and please ask for help."

"It turned out to be a noble person from Hailing County, please wait a while, and the little one will report to my family." The porter immediately smiled and took the broken silver into his arms, and said flatteringly.

"Yu, didn't you say that you don't need to give gifts for your first visit?" Prince John looked at the little official who ran to report after saying that, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Hades is easy to send, but the little ghost is difficult. See smiled. Lady Yu waved her hand.

After a while, the porter who had gone to report came back again.

"Two nobles, my family is on official business at the moment, and I didn't plan to meet guests. The little one also saw that the two nobles came all the way to visit so sincerely, so they helped the two of them to say something, and if my adults asked about something in a while, please make it convenient for the two of you. The porter said with a little shyness.

"Thank you for speaking up, we should say that it is your dedication to caring for the people." Gang Leader Yu couldn't see that the porter in front of him wanted to let him lie for him.

"Thank you for the little one. Come in, both of you. The porter happily hugged their fists to the two of them, and then waved his right hand in a gesture.

Gang Master Yu didn't bother to waste any more time, and immediately walked to the back, but the son of John on the side still looked like he hadn't finished laughing.

"Yu, your official mansion here is really interesting."

"Just get used to it. Master John, when I see Lord Zhixian in a while, you look at my eyes and act. ”

"What is a look at the look?"

"No matter what I say for a while, you just follow it."

"Okay, Yu, whatever you say is what you say. I've always been relieved to work with you. ”

After the two walked through the road, they saw the magistrate in an official robe. Nazhixian looks about twenty-five or sixteen years old, but his temperament is somewhat similar to that of Chen Youliang's eldest brother Chen Hailiang, and the first feeling is that he is a wise and martial master. At the moment, he was looking at the file on the case, but he didn't notice the arrival of the two.

Seeing this, Gang Master Yu hurriedly stopped, and did not forget to stretch out his right hand to make a stop to Prince John next to him. John didn't know what to do, and was about to ask, but met the calm gaze of the Yu gang leader. Then the two of them stood there and waited.

About half a pillar of incense passed, the county magistrate put down the brush, got up and said to the two waiting outside the door, "Come with me, two of you." With that, he took the lead and walked to the warm pavilion in the back.

Seeing the situation, Gang Master Yu and Prince John hurriedly followed. After entering the warm pavilion, the county magistrate did not take off his official robes, and after sitting down, he also motioned for the two to sit down.

"I don't know what the two of you are doing here?" The magistrate of the county is also direct, and he came up and went straight to the point.

"The magistrate of the county, the people's daughter Yu, is a businessman in Hailing County. This is the son of John, the head of the Anglo kingdom of the West. This time I visited the magistrate, but I had a problem and wanted to ask the adult. Gang Leader Yu also said very simply.

"Oh? The two of you came from afar, I'm afraid it's not just as simple as asking questions. Let's hear any questions. ”

"Dare to ask the prefect, how is the income of the salt class in Suzhou County in the past two years?"

"This is a secret of the local government, and it is inconvenient for this official to inform me."

"As far as the people know, since the previous dynasty, the imperial court will no longer levy the salt tax, after entering our dynasty, Emperor Gaozu in order to recuperate, lightly levied, but also abolished some miscellaneous taxes. Since the succession of my emperor, the world has been peaceful, all countries have come to the dynasty, and the livelihood of our Tang people has become richer and richer. Therefore, the salt class was re-levied, but it was far less heavy than the salt class in previous dynasties. I wonder what adults think about this? ”

"As you said, when Emperor Gaozu was in power, our dynasty had just stabilized its roots, and in order to restore the people's livelihood as soon as possible after the war, some of the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes of the previous dynasty were abolished. At present, it is the prosperous era of my Zhenguan and the people's livelihood is sufficient, so it is natural to reopen the salt class and increase the treasury revenue to build my Datang. After all, my emperor is an enlightened and virtuous monarch who pays attention to the people's livelihood, so although the salt class has been reopened, it is much lighter than the previous dynasties. ”

"My lord only knows one thing, according to the people's speculation, the current salt tax income in each county is barely enough to maintain the daily expenses of the county government, which is very good. In this way, it is difficult for the local county magistrates to pay more taxes if they want to make some political achievements. Therefore, the Minnu speculated that the reason why the Holy Lord reopened the salt class but did not levy much was to continue to pay lightly, and secondly, to fill the treasury and evaluate the local officials. After all, although the current treasury is thick, there are occasional riots in the northern Hudi, so if it is said that the saint is just for the sake of light endowment, it is better not to reopen this salt class. Gang Leader Yu said casually.

"What you say is true, but after all, it's just speculation. Moreover, the official is not very interested in this political achievement, and as an official, he only needs to be worthy of the emperor's grace at the top, and worthy of the common people. If you can really share the worries of the saint, it must be great, and now as a magistrate of the county, you can do the people without worrying about food and clothing, and the emptiness of the local prison will live up to the holy hope. Lord Zhixian said with a righteous attitude. It seems that this magistrate knows his way of being an official very well. At the same time, he also secretly shocked in his heart that the woman in front of him was extraordinary in both knowledge and intelligence, and this speculation of the saint's mind alone was enough to show that she was also well versed in the way of officialdom.

"What the adults said is great, Suzhou County can have parents like you, it is really the creation of the people of Suzhou. As the saying goes, 'three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver (note: actually from the Song Dynasty)', how many people who have been in the cold window for ten years have one day become officials, and the first thing they think of is to glorify their ancestors, glory and wealth. I saw Gang Leader Yu sigh heartily, as if from the bottom of his heart. But John, who was sitting on the side, couldn't understand what the two said at this time, so he simply began to observe the two on the side.

"If the two of you don't have any other problems, then you will forgive the official who is entangled in official duties and cannot be accompanied."