At the beginning of summer, it was a critical time for crops to grow, and there was no rain in the Gyeonggi area for more than a month, and although the autumn harvest had not yet arrived, the government affairs hall had already expected that several provinces in Gyeonggi would report a summer drought and a poor harvest, and asked for relief.

Emperor Zhengxi also knew this, and on the one hand, he sent the king of Fujun out to observe the people's situation and go out to Beijing to inspect, and on the other hand, he consulted the courtiers in the court, thinking that even if there was no way to alleviate the drought, he could also prepare for the autumn relief in advance, after all, the household department had no money, and if he did not prepare this money in advance, he should be blind when he turned back.

It's a pity that there are two elder brothers, Zhongyong and Zhongxiao, who are pulling back, and the ministers quarrel for a long time, and they don't say anything useful. Seeing this, Emperor Zhengxi had nothing to do, so he could only entrust the existence of the ethereal gods and Buddhas, and let Qin Tianjian choose a good day and auspicious time, he would enter the palace to pray for blessings and rain for Daqin, and the government would be handled by the prince, and if there was an indecision on military affairs, the emperor would be in charge.

At the beginning, the courtiers who knew that the king of Fujun had a good relationship with the emperor were very nervous after the king of Fujun left Beijing, worried that in addition to the name on the surface, he was also on a secret mission assigned by the emperor, so not only the local officials were like a great enemy, but even the officials in the central government did not send news to the local officials who belonged to them, so that they should be careful.

Soon after the king of Fujun left Beijing, he felt uncomfortable in the car, so he took a boat instead, and then went south along the canal.

Along the way, he stopped and stopped, without any planning. After the boat docked, he did not see the slightest act of visiting the people, and when he interacted with the local officials who greeted him, he never talked about political affairs, saying that it was all about the delicious special dishes of the place, what famous scenery there was, whether the local opera was good, and other unimportant nonsense, and did not refuse the gold, silver, and beautiful women and other things he sent.

It's just that King Fujun dislikes the small space in the cabin, and the fleet is not good enough to increase all the time, so he can't fit too many people, so he can only pick up the first-class, extremely beautiful woman to stay, and he didn't waste the rest, and when he got to the next stop, he gave it out as a gift.

I saw King Fujun eating and drinking along the way, listening to operas and watching music, and exploring the scenery,...... It was simply a series of behaviors of carrying out the four words of eating, drinking, and merrymaking, not caring about anything, and asking nothing, so that the courtiers who originally suspected him of being responsible for going to Beijing this time gradually dispelled this doubt.

……

The official ship of the king of Fujun walked unhurriedly on the canal, leaving Guangling and heading for Yangzhou.

Everyone in the boat thought that he didn't know how leisurely he should be, and he made a bitter face, sat under Emperor Zhengxi, who was supposed to pray for rain in the palace, and pulled the fat clothes on his body to complain: "Look, look, brother, my good sixth brother, look at these days, how much weight have I lost?" To say the least, it's twenty pounds. ”

He glanced at a boy who was about twelve or thirteen years old who seemed to be sitting next to Emperor Zhengxi, and sighed with a sad face: "It's just that you came out, and you also brought your eldest nephew out, do you think my life is too long?" The son of a daughter can't sit down, if you and your eldest nephew have a case, I will lose my life, and I can't explain it. ”

Emperor Zhengxi glanced at him impatiently and said: "Okay, since you left Beijing, you just said it, you have to say it a hundred and eighty times every day, you don't get annoyed, I have listened to it." Now that we're all here, could it be that you let me go back with Yao'er? ”

Hearing his words, King Fujun hurriedly waved his hand, "No, no, how can you go back?" Thousands of miles away, if you encounter something bad on the way, I won't be able to explain, you still follow me for the time being, at least in the place where I can see, my heart can be a little more stable. ”

"In that case, then stop talking that nonsense."

King Fujun frowned, and said with a bitter face: "I'm really worried. Sixth brother, you sneaked out of the palace, although the emperor and the imperial sister-in-law are clear, but in the name of your entry into the palace, but give us Daqin a blessing, once the news of your absence in the capital leaks out, at that time, where will there be a natural disaster or something in Daqin, I'm afraid it will ......"

"Afraid of what?" Emperor Zhengxi smiled playfully: "I'm afraid that those courtiers will accuse me of praying for blessings and not being pious, so God will send disasters to Da Qin?" Or are you afraid that after my restless brothers know the news, I, the emperor, will not be able to return to Beijing at all? What is there to be afraid of, I am not afraid, what are you afraid of? If something really happens, even if I really suffer misfortune, rest assured, I will definitely choose you out. ”

"Sixth brother, what you said is not right, am I afraid? I'm worried. To say something taboo, for me, death is not terrible, but it is to live and listen to the crooked chatter of those courtiers, which makes my life worse than death. ”

Since the day Emperor Zhengxi ascended the throne, as his attendant, King Fujun's net worth and life have been tied to him. Although Emperor Zhengxi seems to be just a "child emperor" now, most of the power is in the hands of the emperor.

But King Fujun knows the character of his sixth brother. When he was a child, he was said by the emperor to act wantonly and willfully, and since then, Emperor Zhengxi has become conformist, and later, even walking, the distance of each step is fixed.

With the character of Emperor Zhengxi, to be honest, unless he dies earlier than the emperor, otherwise, King Fujun will not worry that he will be deposed.

Besides, the abolition of the crown prince and the abolition of the emperor are not the same thing, even if the court is still under the control of the emperor, and the third emperor brother and the fifth emperor brother are still pulling Emperor Zhengxi's hind legs and trying to pull him down, but in the eyes of King Fujun, it is ten times more difficult for these two to let the emperor abolish Emperor Zhengxi as the emperor, ten times or even a hundred times more difficult than to abolish the crown prince.

was able to abolish the crown prince at the beginning, which was the result of the joint efforts of all the princes. Even so, it took them more than ten years to succeed. After pulling the crown prince down, Emperor Jeonghee was the successor personally chosen by the emperor, and although it seems that the emperor now has a lot of dissatisfaction with him, this dissatisfaction is not enough to shake his position.

Or should I say, there was not enough time to shake up. After all, this is not what it used to be, and the current emperor is old, although in daily life, he pays great attention to health preservation and maintenance, but because he has had a stroke, and he is also old, therefore, Emperor Zhengxi's throne seems to be in danger, but it is actually very safe.

Therefore, after seeing this, King Fujun naturally hugged his sixth brother's thigh firmly without hesitation, and resolutely did not waver no matter what.

For this reason, he never forgot to show his loyalty, "Sixth brother, don't say such things as Zeqing in the future, it doesn't make people feel cold." Besides, I have followed you since I was a child, and now I will naturally follow you forever, and the relationship between you and me is very big, where can I choose if I want to? ”

Changing the topic, he asked: "However, Sixth Brother, what I don't understand is that you want to check the salt tax, I understand, but obviously the salt tax here in Lianghuai is much higher than that in Liangzhejiang, Hedong, and Changlu, so the illegal salt flooding here should be lighter than in the other three places." It stands to reason that you should go to Changlu, where the illegal salt flooding is the heaviest, or Hedong or Liangzhe, how can you go to Lianghuai, which is the lightest? ”

Emperor Zhengxi looked at the king of Fujun and patiently explained: "Nineteen, although there are salt merchants everywhere, the concentration of salt merchants is in Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang, and among them, the salt merchants in Yangzhou are the most famous.

Most of the people who do the private salt business are salt merchants. It stands to reason that there are many salt merchants in the two Zhejiang, and there is such a convenient condition as the Grand Canal, so the private salt business in the two Zhejiang provinces should not be worse than the two Huai, or even higher, but the situation is just the opposite. Moreover, although the salt tax in Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang is much less than in previous years, compared with the salt tax in other places, the decline is not so great.

This doesn't make sense. I took a look at the resumes of the salt administration officials in Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang, and I had talent, but they were not particularly outstanding, and they were capable enough to impress me. Therefore, I don't think that the salt tax in these two places is much higher than that in other places because the salt officials manage it well, and the report of the General Administration Department also points out this. If things are abnormal, they are demons, so they must go to Liangzhejiang to find out. ”

In fact, the reason for this unreasonable situation is related to Lin Jin. When illicit salt was sold on a large scale before, on the one hand, she didn't want to attract the attention of the imperial court, and on the other hand, she didn't want Lin Ruhai, an official who patrolled the imperial history of salt, to be difficult, so she told Wu Jiugong that she wanted to control the sale of illicit salt.

Therefore, before the salt works were moved to Luzon, the private salt trade obtained by Daqin through the salt drying method stopped for a while. Later, after the salt production in Luzon's salt farms, although it flourished again, and the scale was larger than before, the members of the Chamber of Commerce knew that the two giants were in Yangzhou, so they would subconsciously avoid Yangzhou when selling salt goods.

Because of their subconscious avoidance, although other people who do not know the inside information will still bring private salt to the two Zhejiang provinces to sell, but after all, the number is much less than that of other regions, so although the salt tax in the two Zhejiang provinces has decreased because of the emergence of illegal salt, compared with other places, the impact is much smaller, so the salt tax collected is not as serious as other regions, the decline is not as serious.

King Fujun nodded clearly, thought for a while, and asked: "But it is not easy to investigate the matter of private salt in private, but when it is put on the surface, it is necessary to alarm the Yangzhou officials, therefore, sixth brother, have you thought about how to investigate?" ”

Emperor Zhengxi thought for a while and said: "For the time being, let's not alarm the government, let's check it privately first and see the sales of official salt and private salt in Yangzhou City." At that time, it would be better if you could inquire and get in touch with the smugglers. After we have the bottom in our hearts, you are looking for the government, showing your identity as a messenger, and then the official will come forward to check the private salt, and by the way, you will take a look at the salt tax account books of Yangzhou in recent years. ”