With the rapid expansion of the scale of the subordinate industries of the Jiangwutang, Li Yuntian has set up offices in Nanjing, provincial capitals and Yangzhou and other important cities to manage and coordinate the local industries of the Jiangwutang.

Because the lecture hall is the capital yamen directly under the military cabinet, the department offices of the lecture hall in various places belong to the foreign branches of the Beijing government, and are not under the jurisdiction of the local yamen, and at the same time have no administrative power, but have a corresponding administrative level, which is responsible for the local affairs of the lecture hall.

As the most prosperous and wealthy place in the world, Yangzhou's administrative level is the same as that of the provincial and provincial offices.

Since Li Yuntian came to check the Lianghuai Salt Road this time, it was naturally impossible to live in the Yamen of the Lianghuai Salt Road, and it was not suitable to live in the Yangzhou Mansion Yamen and the Yangzhou Wei Command and Envoy Yamen, so he chose to lecture on the Yangzhou Affairs Office of the Wutang.

The secretary of the Yangzhou branch of the lecture hall is a student of the first phase of the lecture martial arts, named Chen Hai, Chen Ningning's clan, who was fortunate enough to pass the re-examination of the new style of martial arts, and participated in the Jiaozhi counterinsurgency, last year and some of the students of the first phase of the lecture martial arts were sent by Li Yuntian from Jiaozhi to all parts of the Ming Dynasty to set up the martial arts hall office.

Chen Hai had already prepared a place for Li Yuntian to live, it was a quiet and elegant courtyard, and Xie Heng and Han Liang lived in the courtyard next door.

Although Li Yuntian arrived in Yangzhou City, he did not mean to check the Lianghuai Salt Road, and took Xie Heng and Han Liang in his black four-wheeled carriage for several days to swagger through Yangzhou City, enjoying the beautiful scenery of Yangzhou while tasting Yangzhou food.

Facing Li Yuntian, who was touring the mountains and rivers, the officials of the Lianghuai Salt Road and the Jiangnan salt merchants couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, it seemed that Li Yuntian really didn't want to open the lid of the Lianghuai Salt Road, after all, it involved a wide range of things, and once it was opened, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Li Yuntian can ignore the matter of the Lianghuai Salt Road, but the officials of the Lianghuai Salt Road and the salt merchants in Jiangnan can't just wait, Li Yuntian's visit to Yangzhou this time is not a pastime, at that time he will go back to Beijing to restore Emperor Xuande's life, if nothing can be found out, he will not be able to explain to Emperor Xuande.

Therefore, the officials of the Lianghuai Salt Road Yamen and the people of the Salt Merchants Association met secretly one after another to discuss countermeasures, and they had been on the rivers and lakes for so many years, so they naturally knew that they had to give Li Yuntian a step, otherwise once Li Yuntian was angered, everyone would be unlucky.

So, after two secret discussions, a deacon of the Salt Merchants Association was identified as the person who carried the black pot, who let him usually have a close relationship with Zhang Gui, who escaped, and who did not look for him?

Although the deacon was extremely reluctant in his heart, he had no other choice at all, because it was not Li Yuntian who wanted to deal with him now, but the aftermath of the incident that the people of the Salt Merchants Association wanted him to use his death to end Zhang Gui, if he did not agree, the end would probably be even worse, but he knew very well the methods of those people in the Salt Merchants Association.

Therefore, since he was unlucky to be elected, he was only appointed and prepared to take all the blame, so that Li Yuntian could return to Beijing to give instructions to Emperor Xuande, and his family could also be taken care of by the Salt Merchants Association.

So, just seven or eight days after Li Yuntian arrived in Yangzhou, a good news came from the yamen of the Lianghuai Salt Road: The salt soldiers of the Lianghuai Salt Road received a report and seized a particularly large case of selling illicit salt, and after a fierce battle between the two sides, the salt dealers, that is, the so-called salt barons, wiped them out, killing a total of 63 people and capturing 59 people, winning a complete victory.

After the initial interrogation by the officials of the Yandao Yamen, it was determined that this group of smugglers had bought off the ambassador of a salt factory, and had been selling salt privately for many years, making a huge profit of five or six million.

Zhang Sheng, the transfer of the two Huai salt roads, asked Zhang Sheng to escort the captured salt barons and the officials of the salt works involved in the case to Yangzhou and hand them over to Li Yuntian for disposal, and it is very likely that he will dig out an amazing inside story from them.

After Li Yuntian learned the news, a slight smile flashed on the corner of his mouth, and he put those salt lords and the officials involved in the salt field involved in the case in the prison of the Yangzhou Wei Command Envoy Si Yamen, and handed them over to Li Manshan for interrogation, while he himself was still wandering around Yangzhou City with Xie Heng and Han Liang, not caring about the progress of the case at all.

Xie Heng and Han Liang were still patient at the beginning to follow Li Yuntian to tour the mountains and rivers in Yangzhou, but after all, they came to Yangzhou on the orders of Emperor Xuande, so how dare they slack off in their hearts, and they wish to investigate the case as soon as possible.

Li Yuntian smiled and comforted the two, telling the two of them to calm down for a while, and someone would naturally take care of things at that time, so it was better to take a big vacation to relax during this time.

Sure enough, not long after, the news of the seizure of a salt lord of more than 100 people came from the yamen of the Lianghuai Salt Road, which made the two of them look at Li Yuntian with admiration, and then the two of them followed Li Yuntian around with peace of mind.

It was none other than Li Yuntian's fourth wife, Zheng Wanrou, who led Li Yuntian and others to play in Yangzhou, who grew up in Yangzhou since she was a child, and was very clear about the mountains and rivers of Yangzhou.

When Li Yuntian won Lei Ting, Liu Wenqing and Lian Xiang, Chen Ningning and Zheng Wanrou were busy with the business of the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce in other places, and there was no way to rush back, but they prepared a generous gift for each of the three.

Speaking of which, Chen Ningning and Zheng Wanrou are not easier than Li Yuntian at all, in order to expand and consolidate the business of the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce, the two often have to disguise themselves as men to run around the country, and they are the first contributors to the rapid expansion of the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce.

This time, taking advantage of being a guide for Li Yuntian in Yangzhou, Zheng Wanrou was also a rare reunion with Li Yuntian and enjoyed the warm moment that belonged to the two.

As the saying goes, three women in one play, with Zheng Wanrou, Lei Ting and Zhao Xinyue accompanying them, Li Yuntianyou and his party were very lively on the road to play in the mountains and rivers, and the laughter and laughter continued, which made Xie Heng and Han Liang secretly envy Li Yuntian's Yanfu in their hearts, and they could be accompanied by so many confidants.

In early August, after Li Yuntian returned from outside the city, he led Xie Heng and Han Liang to the Yamen of the Yangzhou Wei Command Envoy, preparing to meet the people involved in the case who had been confessed by the salt lords.

Li Manshan is a thousand households of the Jinyi Weibei Town Fusi, and he only used a few punishments from the Beizhen Fusi to destroy the psychological defense line of the salt lord leader, so that his bamboo tube poured beans and confessed one by one.

It turned out that the leader of the salt barons was secretly colluding with a deacon of the Salt Merchants' Association, and the deacon led the salt to him to go to the salt factory to pick up salt, and then transported it to other places for sale, and the profits obtained were thirty percent, and the salt lord accounted for thirty percent, and the deacon of the Salt Merchants' Association accounted for seventy percent.

According to the leader of the salt lord, although he gave the deacon seventy percent of the profits, the deacon could only take thirty percent, and the remaining forty percent of the profits had to be paid to the officials of the two Huai Salt Road.

The salt ambassador involved in the salt field was relatively easy to deal with, he was used to being pampered on weekdays, and he had been punished, so he was frightened when he saw the torture instruments in the torture room, and Li Manshan had not yet tortured him, and he told what he knew, and involved several officials of the Yamen of the Lianghuai Salt Road.

After getting a definite confession, Li Manshan asked the Jinyi guards he brought to lead the soldiers of Yangzhou Wei to arrest the officials and businessmen involved in the case and put them in prison for torture.

At first, some people wanted to resist to the end, but after several tortures, they gave up their resistance and confessed their crimes one after another, and the amount of money involved was as high as six or seven million taels, which is really incredible.

Li Yuntian knew very well in his heart that the deacon of the Salt Merchants Association was a scapegoat thrown by the officials of the Lianghuai Salt Road and the salt merchants of the Salt Merchants Association, and the amount of six or seven million taels involved was enough for him to go back to Emperor Xuande, and this scapegoat was the breakthrough point for his thorough investigation of the Lianghuai Salt Road this time.

Yangzhou Wei commanded the envoy Yamen, the prison.

In a side room in the courtyard of the prison, when Li Yuntian, Xie Heng, and Han Liang were talking about the case, the door opened, and a tall and thin middle-aged man with loose hair, prison uniforms, and handcuffs and shackles was brought in by Li Manshan.

"The sinner Zhao Wenju kowtowed to the Hou Ye." Seeing that Li Yuntian was there, the thin and tall middle-aged man hurriedly knelt on the ground, slammed his head at Li Yuntian three times, and said with his head touching the ground, "The sinner knows that he deserves death, please let the sinner leave a whole corpse." ”

According to the crimes committed by Zhao Wenju, there is a chance that Ling Chi will be executed, so Chen Wenju begged Li Yuntian to keep his whole body and hang him instead.

"Zhao Wenju, you are so bold, you dare to violate the ban of the imperial court to collude with salt lords to traffic illicit salt, don't you know that this is a felony?" Looking at Zhao Wenju who was kneeling in front of him, Li Yuntian scolded quietly.

"Hou Ye spared his life, the sinner was consumed by the lust for profit for a while, and was blinded by the greed in his heart, so that it made a big mistake, the sinner confessed his guilt, please Hou Ye be gracious." Zhao Wenju's eyes showed a gloomy look, kneeling there and begging Li Yuntian, bent on asking for death.

"This official has read your case file, and the amount involved is as high as more than 7 million taels, which is simply shocking, and it is actually the first major corruption case since the founding of the Ming Dynasty." Li Yuntian glanced at Zhao Wenju, reached out and took the case file of Zhao Wenju's case on the table, and asked in a deep voice, "This official asks you, are there other accomplices besides the person you confessed?" ”

"Master Hou Mingjian, the sinner has already told everything he knows, and there is no accomplice." Zhao Wenju raised his head when he heard the words and said, although his expression was very flustered, his eyes looked very calm, and he could even be said to be desperate, and he did not beg Li Yuntian to spare his life like others.

"Hmph, there are many salt merchants in Yangzhou City, except for these people you recruited, are everyone else's butts clean?" Li Yuntian knew that Zhao Wenju had already held the determination to die, and he had no worries in his heart, and it was the most difficult to deal with such a person who was already desperate in his heart, and then he sneered and asked in a deep voice.