"The ...... of the Navy's Naval Division," the commander asked, with an incredulous expression.

Then, a bold idea came to the mind of the commander......

If the Haw Par Army even the sailor warships are involved in this smuggling, it directly proves that the Haw Par Army must be aware of this smuggling. What's more, the Haw Par Army is likely to be the last driving force behind this large-scale smuggling.

Even the Tiger and Leopard Army is involved, needless to say, this matter is no longer a three-product commander who can control it.

Thinking of this, the commander directly spoke: "This matter is no longer something that my salt and iron division can control, this official has decided to report it to the imperial court immediately, and report it to His Majesty xià ......."

"However, before reporting, my salt and iron division must come up with a concrete solution. Otherwise, when playing against His Majesty, the official will have nothing to say...... Therefore, think about it, in view of this situation of the overflow of private salt and the participation of the Tiger and Leopard Army, what should I do in the Salt and Iron Division to reduce the losses of the imperial court to a minimum......"

The subordinates who specialize in arresting smugglers only replied after a short period of contemplation: "The source...... As long as we can control the source of illegal salt and prevent it from flowing into Jiangnan on a large scale, all problems will be solved......"

The commanding envoy's eyes lit up at first, and then they reverted to the gloom they had just had.

Then, he replied to his subordinates: "The source of illicit salt, no accident, is in the salt field of the Tiger and Leopard Army in Shandong. But do you think the Haw Par Army will admit to smuggling smuggled salt to us? As long as the Haw Par Army does not recognize it, there is no way for the imperial court to take the Haw Par Army. After all, it is impossible for the imperial court to make a private salt. Just rashly start a war with the Haw Par Army......"

After it's over. The commander seemed to have something in mind. Directly asked his subordinates: "Is there a way to control the smuggling of smuggled salt in the Jiangnan area where the imperial court controls it, and through guò arrest and other methods......

The subordinate shook his head helplessly and denied: "It's basically impossible...... My lord, the real culprit who led the flood of illegal salt was not those illegal salt dealers, but salt merchants with a very strong background in the imperial court and the locality...... For these salt merchants, my salt and iron division has no way to deal with them......"

Hear the word salt merchant. The commander's eyes, which were already gloomy, became even more gloomy at this moment.

To be a salt merchant in the Ming Dynasty, without exception, they were all businessmen who had people in the imperial court.

In addition, they have the salt distribution of the imperial court, and they can sell salt in a fair and bright manner, and the Salt and Iron Division basically has no way to control them.

Therefore, after some discussion, the problem still returns to the source of private salt.

At this moment, the subordinates who were arresting the salt and iron smugglers spoke again and said, "My lord." Since there is no way to control the source of smuggling of illegal salt...... Xia Guan thinks that we have another way. That is, not to let these smuggled salt by sea land, and at sea, to catch these merchant ships and warships that smuggled smuggled salt......"

In the absence of other solutions, this is not a solution within a solution, and it has directly become a life-saving weight for the conductor to play in front of Chongzhen.

So, in less than an hour, the commander appeared in front of Emperor Chongzhen.

Not to the surprise of the commander, he had just played the situation, and Emperor Chongzhen's face, which was still calm just now, was immediately flushed with anger.

Especially when he learned that the culprit of the whole thing turned out to be the Haw Par Army, the anger on his face was directly shrouded in grievance and murderous aura.

After slamming his clenched fist on the dragon case in front of him, he scolded with a gloomy face: "The Tiger and Leopard Army is simply too deceitful......

"Call a few cabinet ministers right away...... The salt tax accounted for almost 30% of all the tax revenue of the imperial court, and there must be no accidents...... I'm going to announce a few Aiqing in the cabinet immediately, and I'm going to see them soon......"

Several people hurried to the main hall and learned the whole thing from the mouth of the commander of the Salt and Iron Division. The first assistant of the cabinet replied without thinking about it: "Your Majesty, the old minister is sure that the final promoter of the entire smuggling must be the ...... of the Tiger and Par Army."

"As for the purpose of the Haw Par Army doing this, it is very simple, that is, to let the imperial court not receive a tael of silver in the salt tax......

Chongzhen was not satisfied with this answer at all...... Facing the head of the cabinet, he retorted mercilessly: "Aiqing said this, I am teasing clearly...... I have called you here to ask for a solution, how to minimize the losses of the imperial court......"

"The new army of the imperial court is expanding, and silver is needed everywhere. At such a critical juncture, there must be absolutely no problems with the salt tax...... Not only can there be no problems, but the imperial court must further increase taxes on the salt tax, so that the salt tax revenue will reach 10 million taels of silver per year......"

At this time, the commander of the Salt and Iron Division had to answer at the signal of the first assistant of the cabinet: "Your Majesty, the old minister gathered all the civil and military officials of the Salt and Iron Division to think of a solution, I don't know if it is feasible......"

"Say ......" Emperor Chongzhen's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked......

Facing the several pairs of eyes around him who were looking at him at the same time, the commander forcibly suppressed the tension in his heart and replied as simply as possible: "What is Old Minister Yan's thoughts...... The imperial court immediately sent sailors to block the sea area where the Haw Par Army's sailors might go south......."

"As long as the warships of the Haw Par Army and the Navy, which transport smuggled salt, no longer go south, salt merchants from all over the country who have lost their channels for smuggling salt will have to buy official salt from the Salt and Iron Division again...... In this way, the imperial salt tax will not be lost in any way. ”

Chongzhen did not answer immediately to this mention......

A pair of eyes quickly shot out two rays of light at the same time, and directly asked the cabinet chief, "Wang Aiqing...... Do you think the method proposed by the Salt and Iron Division is feasible......"

After some contemplation, the cabinet leader hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, there is no way to control the source of smuggling. Don't let the private salt go south, enter the south of the Yangtze River, it is definitely the most convenient and the least costable way......"

Lao Chen completely agreed with this idea...... It's just that the old minister doesn't know if the imperial court sailor is the opponent of the tiger and leopard army...... After all, none of us knows if a water battle will break out between the two divisions during the interception......"

"You must know that the Haw Par Army sailor warships that transported smuggled salt did not carry the flag of the Haw Par Army. Even if a water war breaks out, it will not have the slightest impact on the relationship between the imperial court and the tiger and leopard army. ”

As soon as the cabinet chief assistant finished speaking, another cabinet minister stood up and said with a confident face: "Please rest assured, although the Haw Par Army is very powerful on land!" However, in the water war, the imperial court sailors can definitely be called their ancestral ......" (to be continued......