"Master Hou, you are the emperor's envoy to patrol the salt, do you want to ignore the filth of the two Huai salt roads? How can you be worthy of the emperor in doing this? ”

With Li Yuntian's order, several brocade guards walked in from outside the door, set up Zhao Dengyu's limbs and prepared to take him away, Zhao Dengyu saw this and hurriedly shouted, "If the Hou Ye doesn't care about this matter, the wives and children of the criminals will definitely go to Beijing to sue the emperor, and let the emperor come to decide!" ”

"Bold, he actually threatened Master Hou!" At this time, Xie Heng, who had been sitting there quietly, spoke, pointed at Zhao Dengyu and scolded in a deep voice.

"Lord Hou has lived up to the emperor's trust, and he is really ashamed of his grace!" As he spoke, Zhao Dengyu had already been lifted up by the brocade guards, and he struggled despite the injury on his hips, and shouted in his mouth, "Lord Hou, my lords, if the wives and children of the criminals go to Beijing to sue the emperor, have you ever thought about how to give the emperor an errand at that time?" ”

"Master Hou, since this person swears, then you might as well listen to him, and you can also convince him at that time." At this time, Pan Xingmin, who was sitting on the side, groaned for a while and said to Li Yuntian.

In Pan Xingmin's view, since Zhao Dengyu voluntarily surrendered, there must be something to rely on, if he, as the left attendant of the Nanjing Criminal Department, ignores him, if Zhao Dengyu's wife and children really make trouble in the capital, then he will be implicated at that time.

Judging from the current situation, Zhao Dengyu is not false, there is a chance that his wife and children will really go to the capital to sue the emperor, how can Pan Xingmin cause such trouble?

Moreover, Pan Xingmin also hopes that Zhao Dengyu can make a fuss, only in this way can he reap greater benefits from it: Obviously, when some of the inside affairs of Lianghuai Yandao are exposed by Zhao Dengyu, Chen Wenren will definitely try to cover this lid, and he will definitely negotiate a deal with him at that time.

The Nanjing Criminal Department is not as good as the Jingshi Criminal Department, and its functions and powers have been greatly reduced, and there is no other income every year except for Tan Jing and Bing Jing of the Nanzhili Prefecture, and even Tan Jing and Bing Jing cannot be compared with those yamen of the Beijing Division.

In fact, compared to these additional items, the loss of the officials of the various ministries and courts in Nanjing is beyond the experience of outsiders, although they are at the same level as the officials of the six ministries in Beijing, but they have been neglected in the government, not only lost the right to speak in the government, but also did not have the jurisdiction of the yamen of the ministries and courts, just like a brightly dressed ornament.

To tell the truth, once those senior officials in the court have served in the various ministries and courts in Nanjing, it will be difficult for them to return to Beijing as officials, not to mention that they are usually the losers in the struggle between various factions in the court, and they will no longer have the opportunity to be reused if they are far away from Emperor Xuande.

Therefore, if it weren't for the officials specially sent by Emperor Xuande to Nanjing to sit in Nanjing, it would be very difficult for those officials in various ministries and institutes in Nanjing to make a comeback, and they would need all kinds of coincidences, such as a shocking answer, just like the greed for ink in the two Huai Salt Road.

Besides, even if the ink corruption case of Lianghuai Yandao is suppressed, then Pan Xingmin can make a lot of money from it, which is enough for him to retire after his retirement, why not?

"Master Hou, this official also thinks that Master Pan is right, you might as well listen to what evidence he has!" Pan Xingmin's voice lagged behind, and Zhang Tao, the left deputy capital of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, spoke up and quietly supported him.

"Master Hou, this official also thinks it's better to check it, so as not to disturb the holy car at that time." Zuo Shaoqing Qin Ke of Nanjing Dali Temple then said without losing time.

Zhang Tao and Qin Ke's thoughts were the same as those of Pan Xingmin, and with the development of the situation, the psychology gradually changed, and the two thought that the matter of the private salt of the two Huai Salt Road would be ended soon, but who knew that this kind of thing would happen, which made them can't help but make waves in their hearts.

Although Pan Xingmin, Zhang Tao and Qin Ke did not want to be involved in the corruption case of Lianghuai Yandao, this did not mean that they would let go of such a good opportunity to make profits, and no matter how much they had to make Chen Wenren owe them a big favor.

What is particularly important is that Li Yuntian is now in Yangzhou, and Pan Xingmin, Zhang Tao and Qin Ke only need to fan the flames.

"Master Hou, the lower officials feel that what the three adults said is very true, the Lianghuai Salt Road is the important place of the country, and almost half of the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty comes from here, so it is better to check and investigate, and it will also save the criticism of people outside." Seeing this situation, Xie Heng immediately said to Li Yuntian in a deep voice, invisibly putting the responsibility for thoroughly investigating the case onto the three of Pan Xingmin.

"Master Hou, let's listen to what evidence he has, if he opens his mouth, Master Hou can also punish him." Han Liang, who was sitting next to Xie Heng, naturally understood, and then opened his mouth to express his approval.

"Since you all think it's good to investigate this case, then Ben Hou will listen to what he has to say." Li Yuntian glanced around at the people present, an imperceptible light flashed in his eyes, and the reaction of the three of Pan Xingmin had long been expected by him, which helped him a lot, and said after a deep sigh.

As he spoke, he waved his hand to the Jinyi guards who grabbed Zhao Dengyu, and the Jinyi guards put Zhao Dengyu on the ground.

"Master Hou, as long as you bring the father of the criminal, the criminal has the confidence to let him tell the truth, and I am sure that Master Hou will be able to forgive the guilt of the criminal's father at that time." Zhao Dengyu struggled to get up and speak, but gave up after a few efforts, lying on the ground and looking at Li Yuntian earnestly.

"Okay, Ben Hou gave you this opportunity, if Zhao Wenju can't say why by then, don't blame Ben Hou for punishing you heavily." Li Yuntian nodded when he heard this, and shouted to the Jinyi guard standing at the door, "Come on, go to Yangzhou Wei to bring Zhao Wenju!" ”

At this time, an official from the Yamen of Lianghuai Salt Road, who was standing outside the window of the back hall and eavesdropping, hurriedly got up and left, and hurriedly reported to Chen Wenren and Zhang Sheng in the wing.

"What, Lord Pan, let Master Hou find out what Zhao Dengyu said?" In the wing, Zhang Sheng, who listened to the official's report, was taken aback, with a look of surprise on his face, in his opinion, Pan Xingmin, Zhang Tao and Qin Ke were just decorations, and he never thought that they would dare to intervene in the affairs of the Lianghuai Salt Road.

"My lord, Hou Ye didn't believe Zhao Dengyu and wanted to take him away, but I don't know why Lord Pan and they actually stopped Hou Ye and asked Hou Ye to act cautiously." The official bowed slightly to Zhang Sheng and replied one by one.

"These three old foxes, no wonder we asked people to give them silver tickets and real estate, they don't want it, it turns out that they want to make trouble." Hearing this, Zhang Sheng couldn't help but slam the table and said angrily.

After Pan Xingmin, Zhang Tao and Qin Ke arrived in Yangzhou, Chen Guangzong once dragged the famous gentry on the ground in Yangzhou to send money to the three in the name of meeting the three people, so as to curry favor with the three people, so that the three turned a blind eye to the case of illegal salt, but the three politely refused.

"The state of those private salt is not yet clear, how dare they stretch out their hands lightly?" Chen Wenren's face sank like water, as if he was not surprised by the behavior of the three of Pan Xingmin, and said after sneering, "It seems that they want to muddy this matter and grab greater benefits from it!" ”

"These guys are crazy, the matter of the two Huai Salt Road is very important, the slightest mistake will set off a bloody storm, aren't they afraid of provoking fire!" Zhang Sheng's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he said viciously, if it weren't for the three of Pan Xingmin to stir up the situation, Li Yuntian would have sent Zhao Dengyu to Yangzhou Wei's prison.

"Their purpose is to make a profit, and they don't really want to fight against us." Chen Wenren frowned and looked at Zhang Sheng, and said worriedly, "Now I'm afraid that Zhao Wenju won't be able to hand over the accounts he left in private, then the situation will be difficult to control." ”

"These bastards are always clever enough to dare to leave those accounts behind their backs, and now it's good, but they have become evidence of a threat to us!"

The reason why he reconciled the accounts and burned those account books afterwards every two years was to avoid the outflow of the account books, but the salt merchants of the Salt Merchants Association kept a hand in private, which was really hateful.

"It's too late to say anything now, it depends on whether Zhao Wenju can withstand the pressure and the attitude of Zhenwuhou." Chen Wenren's brows furrowed a few times, and then he let out a long sigh, and he felt a deep sense of powerlessness in the face of the situation in front of him.

The Salt Merchants' Association.

"The eldest prince, the people of Jinyiwei are here!" A subordinate hurriedly rushed into the reception hall and said to Chen Guangzong, who was playing against Yang Muen.

"Jin Yiwei!" Chen Guangzong, who was holding the chess piece, frowned slightly when he heard this, and a look of surprise appeared on his face, not knowing why the people from Jinyiwei appeared here.

Then his face changed suddenly, and an ominous premonition arose, it was obvious that Jinyiwei would not come for no reason, there must be something wrong with the two Huai Yandao Yamen.

Before Chen Guangzong could react, there was a sound of messy footsteps outside the door, and then a group of brightly dressed strong men broke in and surrounded the people in the room.

This made everyone at the scene panic suddenly, the salt merchant association had never happened like this, and even the people from the Lianghuai Salt Road Yamen and the Yangzhou Mansion did not dare to enter here lightly on weekdays.

"Li Qianhu is here, and he is far away, I don't know what happened?" When Li Manshan entered the hall surrounded by several subordinates, Yang Muen hurriedly got up and greeted him and asked with a smile, Li Manshan has been in Yangzhou for so long, he has naturally dealt with Li Manshan.

"On the order of the Hou Ye, take the people of your Salt Merchants Association to the Yamen of Lianghuai Salt Road to assist in the investigation of the case." Li Manshan looked at Yang Muen expressionlessly, "President Yang, all of you people above the deacon level of the Salt Merchants Association are here, right?" ”

"It's all there!" Yang Muen was taken aback when he heard this, glanced around at the people in the room and nodded to Li Manshan, and then asked tentatively, "Li Qianhu, can you let me wait and change my clothes to see Hou Ye." ”

"No need, Master Hou and a few adults are waiting for you to reply." Li Manshan shook his head when he heard this, and then turned to Yang Muen and made a gesture of please, "President Yang, please!" ”

"Li Qianhu, this is the second son of Yang Shilang of the Nanjing Household Department, this time I came to talk to Zai, not from our Salt Merchants Association, do you see if it is ......" Yang Muen vaguely felt that the situation was not good, and after a deep sigh, he glanced at Chen Guangzong, and asked tentatively again.

"Master Hou just asked someone from your Salt Merchants Association to go and question, and it has nothing to do with the rest of the people." Although Li Manshan didn't know Chen Guangzong, he had heard his name, and after looking at Chen Guangzong, he replied quietly.

"Chen Gongzi, it seems that we only have to compete next time." Yang Muen immediately breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, which showed that Li Manshan did not come to deal with the Salt Merchants Association this time, otherwise how could Chen Guangzong be left behind? So he bowed his hand to Chen Guangzong, got up and led Wei Deguang and the others to leave with Li Manshan.

"How so?" Chen Guangzong thought that Li Manshan was coming for him at first, but when he saw that Li Manshan had just taken Yang Muen and the others, his brows immediately wrinkled, and he didn't know what was going on in the yamen of the two Huaiyan Dao.

Subsequently, Chen Guangzong hurriedly left the hall of the Salt Merchants Association and went to the Yamen of Lianghuai Salt Road to inquire about the exact news.