"Master Hou, those letters are indeed not written by the villain, they were planted by the eldest prince to the villain, otherwise the villain will definitely destroy those letters before leaving Yangzhou City, and he will definitely not stay and become a handle in the hands of others."

Seeing that Li Yuntian did not torture the round-faced strong man and others, Deacon Chen suddenly became anxious in his heart, "Master Hou, the villain and Zhao Wenju have indeed transported and sold illegal salt, but it was all done under the arrangement of the Salt Merchants Association, and each of them is responsible for a region, and there is no intersection between them in the private salt business. ”

"If Master Hou doesn't believe it, he can send someone to pick up the account book hidden by the villain, which clearly records the accounts since the villain took over the private salt business." As he spoke, Deacon Chen remembered something and said busily, "Master Hou, those deacons of the Salt Merchants Association are responsible for the private salt trade across the country, and the villain is willing to confront them!" ”

"Ridiculous, you alone want to drag down the entire Salt Merchants Association, what is your intention?" Before Li Yuntian could speak, Chen Wenren had already said to Deacon Chen with a sneer.

"Lord Chen, you are in charge of the distribution of salt, you must know best where the salt of those private salts came from, the reason why the eldest prince can take charge of the salt affairs of Lianghuai is not because of the gift of the adult!" At this point, Deacon Chen couldn't take care of much, his eyes were blood-red and glaring at Chen Wenren, his words were full of sarcasm and ridicule, it was obvious that Chen Guangzong sent people to hunt him down and kill him with Chen Wenren's consent, and Chen Wenren was his biggest enemy.

"Presumptuous, dare to be disrespectful to Lord Chen!" Hearing this, Zhang Sheng immediately stretched out his hand and pointed at Deacon Chen, and coldly scolded, "What crime should you be guilty of slandering the imperial court officials in front of the court." ”

"Lord Zhang, as a transshipment envoy of the Lianghuai Salt Road, you have not received less than two taels of silver in the past two years, and you have given you no less than 10,000 taels of silver alone, aren't you worried about being found out by the Hou Ye?"

In the face of Zhang Sheng's accusation, Deacon Chen was not afraid, and looked at Zhang Sheng with a sneer, he was now out of the way, and he no longer had the slightest fear in his heart, and only thought of bringing Chen Guangren and others to justice to avenge his family.

"You...... How unreasonable are you. Zhang Sheng's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he pointed at Deacon Chen with some anger, and then arched his hand at Li Yuntian and said, "Master Hou, this person is like a mad dog intent on disturbing the situation, please convict Master Hou of disturbing the court!" ”

"Deacon Chen, you offended the court officials in front of the court, and you will be punished with a rod for twenty according to the law, can you be convinced?" Li Yuntian bowed slightly when he heard this, although he knew that Deacon Chen's testimony was true, but the law and discipline in the Ming officialdom could not be blasphemed, no matter how Chen Wenren and Zhang Sheng were still officials of the imperial court, so he said to Deacon Chen after a deep sigh.

"Master Hou, the villain pleaded guilty, but the villain did not plot to kill Zhao Wenju, please allow the villain to confront the deacons of the Salt Merchants Association, otherwise the villain will not be blind!" Deacon Chen also knew that his previous reaction was a bit excessive, so he kowtowed to Li Yuntian, and said in a resolute tone, making up his mind to break the net with Chen Wenren and the others.

"What do you think about this?" Li Yuntian looked a little embarrassed when he heard this, and looked at Chen Wenren, Pan Xingmin and others.

"Master Hou has always been fair and strict in handling cases, and he must have made up his mind with a conclusion." Pershing Min pondered for a moment and spoke first, as if it did not indicate his attitude and opinion on the matter.

"This old fox!" Chen Wenren frowned, and secretly cursed in his heart, Pan Xingmin reminded Li Yuntian that the case was fair and strict, and the implication was to convince Deacon Chen, so that the salt merchants of the Salt Merchants Association would come to confront Deacon Chen.

For Pan Xingmin, the matter of the Lianghuai Salt Road has reached a critical moment, and he naturally will not give it up lightly, and now he is waiting to seize the handle of the Lianghuai Salt Road to bargain with Chen Wenren in order to obtain more benefits.

"What Master Pan said is very true, when it comes to judging the case, I must bow down in front of the Hou Ye." Zhang Tao and Qin Ke naturally understood, and then smiled and agreed, both wanting to see this good show of Lianghuai Yandao.

"Master Hou, since Chen Youcai is lucky, then it is better to let the people from the Salt Merchants Association come to confront him, so that he can be convinced, and then end this case." Since the three of Pan Xingmin intended to do so, Chen Wenren knew that it would be difficult to prevent Deacon Chen from confronting the people of the Salt Merchants Association, so he pretended to be generous.

"Master Pan has a point." Li Yuntian was suddenly happy in his heart when he heard this, nodded quietly, and then shouted at Li Manshan who was standing at the door, "Go to the salt merchants, and bring the salt merchants above the deacon." ”

Li Manshan bowed to Li Yuntian and led a group of Jinyi Wei lieutenants to leave in a hurry, while at the same time, a Jinyi Wei Baihu led people to search the place where Deacon Chen hid the account books.

When Yang Muen and a group of salt merchants above the rank of deacon of the Salt Merchants Association rushed to the Yamen of Lianghuai Salt Road nervously, Deacon Chen was lying on the ground moaning in pain, his buttocks were bloody and blurry, and his twenty boards could not be spared no matter what.

"Xiaguan greets Lord Hou and your lords." Yang Muen glanced at Deacon Chen, came to the front of the hall and bowed his hand to Li Yuntian and the others, saying that he had won the fame of the imperial court because of his meritorious donation, so he could see the official without kneeling.

"Xiaguan greets Lord Hou and your lords."

"The villain knocks on the Hou Ye and the adults."

Subsequently, the salt merchants who followed behind Yang Muen either bowed or knelt down, and saluted Li Yuntian and the others one after another.

"President Yang, Chen Youcai sued Sù Benhou, saying that your salt merchants are involved in the private salt business, is this true?" Li Yuntian bowed slightly to Yang Muen and asked in a deep voice.

"Master Hou, this is nonsense, the salt business of the Salt Merchants Association has always been innocent, how dare you involve illegal salt!" Yang Muen didn't think about it, and as soon as he surrendered his hand to Li Yuntian, he denied Deacon Chen's testimony in one bite.

"President Yang, do you also have a part in killing my whole family? We've had a friendship for decades, and you can get this hand? At this time, Deacon Chen, who was lying on the ground humming, looked up at Yang Muen and asked angrily.

"Master Hou, the lower officials don't know about Chen Youcai's family, he secretly sold smuggled salt with Zhao Wenju, the crime is unforgivable, please punish Lord Hou severely." A look of embarrassment flashed on Yang Muen's face, and he only learned about Chen Wenren's sending someone to hunt down and kill Deacon Chen's family afterwards, and then replied calmly.

"Brothers, now that the matter of private salt has been exposed, it is me and Zhao Wenju who died today, and it may be your turn tomorrow." Deacon Chen had long expected that Yang Muen would deny it, so he couldn't help but smile sadly, and his eyes fell on the salt merchants behind Yang Muen.

When the salt merchants heard this, they lowered their heads and did not dare to look at Deacon Chen, they and Deacon Chen used to be good friends, but now Deacon Chen has ended up in such a miserable end, everyone is sad, and there is an indescribable sadness in their hearts.

As Deacon Chen said, now that Zhao Wenju is dead, and he was almost killed, it may be the turn of those salt merchants who will be unlucky.

"Chen Youcai, are you confronting or threatening?" Seeing this situation, Chen Wenren's brows furrowed slightly, and he secretly glanced at Zhang Sheng, and Zhang Sheng coldly scolded Deacon Chen.

"Brothers, this year's illicit salt has been seized by the Governor of Caoyun, Yamen, if it can't be transported to various places in time, you know better than you below."

Deacon Chen ignored Zhang Sheng, he knew that Zhang Sheng was scared, so he took a deep breath and said loudly to those salt merchants, "As long as those illegal salt are detained until the beginning of spring next year, then no one can save the two Huai Salt Dao, and it is better for you brothers to find a way out as soon as possible!" ”

Hearing this, those salt merchants were immediately shocked, and subconsciously looked up at Chen Wenren, they naturally knew the severity of this consequence, the national salt shortage will make countless people in the Lianghuai Salt Road and the Salt Merchants Association fall to the ground.

"Alarmist!" Chen Wenren didn't expect Deacon Chen to mention the matter of private salt, his face suddenly sank, and he said coldly, "After the case between you and Zhao Wenju is over, Lord Hou will issue the documents to the Yamen of the Governor of Caoyun, and you want to interfere with the salt affairs of the Lianghuai Salt Road when you are dying, it is really hateful!" ”

The salt merchants immediately breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this, what they were most afraid of was that the illegal salt could not be transported to the destination in time, but from Chen Wenren's words, it seemed that Li Yuntian was not prepared to worry about those private salts.

"Master Hou, as long as that batch of illicit salt is put forward until the beginning of spring tomorrow, then there will be a salt shortage in the whole country, and then the salt merchants will collude with the Lianghuai Salt Road to traffic in illicit salt." Deacon Chen knew that the seized illegal salt was the biggest weakness of the salt merchants, and it was also the primary business that Chen Wenren came to Yangzhou to deal with this time, so he sneered and said to Li Yuntian.

"Ridiculous, do you know how much damage that salt has been caused by a day's overheating?" Seeing Deacon Chen's entanglement with those private salts, Chen Wenren immediately understood his intentions, and said expressionlessly, "Besides, the moisture on the water surface is heavy, once those accumulated salts are soaked in moisture, can you afford this consequence?" ”

"Lord Chen, why didn't the Nanjing household department dispose of the accumulated salt early or late, but waited until the ship was seized by the Caoyun Governor Yamen to dispose of the accumulated salt, do you think that the people of the world will be deceived by your ridiculous excuse?" Deacon Chen was not to be outdone when he heard this, and replied in a confrontational manner.

Li Yuntian saw that the smell of gunpowder in the hall was getting stronger and stronger, and a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, he was very happy to see Deacon Chen come to "fight" with Chen Wenren and others on the spot, Deacon Chen, like Zhao Wenju, knew a lot of inside information about the Salt Merchants Association, which would definitely bring huge trouble to Chen Wenren and the Salt Merchants Association.

Pan Xingmin, Zhang Tao and Qin Ke also looked at the scene in front of them with great interest, waiting for the crazy Deacon Chen to reveal more inside information, although they were supporting roles in this matter, they were also the role of a jury, and their words and deeds could influence Li Yuntian's decision, so they could grab a lot of benefits from it.

"When does the Nanjing Household Department need to be made clear to you?"

Chen Wenren naturally had a response to Deacon Chen's questioning, sneered at Deacon Chen with disdain, and then turned to Li Yuntian and said solemnly, "Master Hou, the reason why the Nanjing household department disposed of the accumulated salt this time is because there is a lot of surplus salt in the salt fields of the Lianghuai Salt Road, and the official is worried that the surplus salt will be wasted, so he decided to deal with them. ”

"Lord Chen, it's a good move to give up the car to protect the handsome, but it's a pity that the private salt business of the two Huai Salt Road has been exposed, do you think you can block the mouth of the world?"

Seeing that Chen Wenren looked dignified at this time, Deacon Chen immediately gritted his teeth and said with a hideous face, "If you kill my whole family, I will make you pay the corresponding price!" ”