I heard Chu Min say in Jinling that this official businessman is too dark, she survives under the cracks of big businessmen, and she can only find another way out, she still does some business and it is difficult to survive to sell goods, so what about the thousands of people, how can they withstand layers of exploitation?

Pan Zongjiang's trick provided convenience for him to collect money, but Song Zhi paid attention to the accounts and found a problem. In the eighteenth year of Mingde, the precedent was set for the withholding of salt, so in the next ten years, where did the additional taxes and fees for the withholding of salt be paid?

Song Xiaodu groaned, "Is there any news from Song Yue?" ”

Song Zhi coughed and shook his head: "To verify and calculate this account, judging from the huge and complicated composition of the salt tax in various places, it will take a lot of effort to find out the ironclad." He took a breath and continued, "I want to immediately send the evidence to the Holy Lord's eyes and pull out these big tumors that have plagued Jiangnan in one fell swoop, but I can't ...... it!" ”

Song Zhi was the target of exclusion and attack in the entire Jiangnan officialdom where interests were intertwined. He used to be an upright supervisor of the imperial history in the court, and at that time he offended most of the government and the opposition, and when everyone hated him so much that he gritted his teeth and wanted to get rid of him, the saint sent him to Yangzhou, just because he was a pure minister with a straight temper. But in the land south of the Yangtze River, what is the place of Yangzhou that is prosperous for ten miles, and anyone with a discerning eye knows how fat the location of Yangzhou prefect is! But Song Zhi was stiff and resolute, and he had aroused the dissatisfaction of businessmen and other officials over the years, and he couldn't wait to let him go back to his hometown in Beijing as soon as possible, so as not to hinder their way to make a fortune.

This official is not easy to do, and it is difficult for Song Zhi to bear it for so many years.

"You can't rush this matter." Grandfather frowned, shook his head, and said, "Even if you want to play, you have to be fully prepared, this is an extremely dangerous path." Jiangnan officialdom, which one is easy to deal with? Let's just say that it is Yangzhou, which of those big businessmen entrenched here is a fuel-efficient lamp? The matter of this performance was a little careless, and the news leaked, and it was not clear whether the excerpt had reached the Shengshang, but the entire Song Mansion was about to be in danger. ”

Song Yansheng had been uneasy since just now, and she unexpectedly remembered the skull in the gold and silver under the water of the Lin Mansion, and she couldn't help but shudder. Hearing this, it was already clear after a little tidying up in my heart that the reason for Duanxun's southward movement was nothing more than that. If it is really for this, once the loopholes of the salt introduction are exposed, and the dark and filthy affairs of the salt administration for many years are revealed, he will be the enemy of the entire Jiangnan officialdom.

"Grandfather, is there a possibility that the Holy One may already know about this bribery case?" She looked up at the two of them and affirmed, "More precisely, he should have heard something, but he can't be sure yet." So, he took advantage of the disaster relief and sent the sixth son of the emperor to the south......"

"Why do you think that?"

Song Zhi's eyes widened slightly, and he looked at his niece with some surprise. The old man has always loved this granddaughter far more than others, and he will not avoid her in daily conversations. But Song Yansheng never expressed his opinion, and only listened quietly on the side, and this is the first time this time.

In Jiangling Lin Mansion, Song Yansheng bumped into Xiao Changyuan and the concubine Lin Ruya's secret conversation, and heard the words and phrases about "accounts" and "salt tax" in the content, the third son of the emperor and his party are ambitious, and the interests are the highest, Xiao Changyuan will not appear here for no reason, and then think of the piles of gold and silver treasure chests buried underwater there, she expected that the Lin Mansion was also involved in the salt government bribery, and wanted to come to the third son of the emperor They are also the same dog, and they colluded together.

She was about to tell all the things about the Lin Mansion that day, when she heard a squeak by the door. Her heart tightened, and then she changed the topic, waved her hand and quickly pretended to be stupid, "What I said nonsense is all guessing and playing." In the past few days, I've been fascinated by reading the book, and I always like to think about it. ”

The person who interrupted her speech was Aunt Zhao, and she knew that she had made a noise, so Shi Shiran whispered outside the door: "Master, I sent the soup in." ”

Song Zhiben was sick, and as soon as she interrupted her, his attention shifted, but the old man frowned, as if he was considering the possibility of what she had just said. Aunt Zhao lowered her eyes and entered the door at this time, and saluted the people in the house very respectfully. Song Yansheng paid attention to it, and when she took it out of the food box with a bowl of sweet stuffed meatballs, the heat had dissipated, and it seemed that she had been standing by the door for a while.

As a person who was accustomed to eavesdropping on the conversations of his elders, how could Song Yansheng not know what this person was just doing outside the door. If she hadn't made any disturbing noises, she would have had to listen all the way. She doesn't object to people listening to it, but the object is Aunt Zhao who has a bad heart, so she doesn't trust it much.

Aunt Zhao is always good at hiding, and she is very good at observing words and feelings, so she put down the soup bowl and immediately retreated. Song Yansheng closed his gaze and listened to his grandfather's explanation, "When the news of your second brother comes, let's sum it up again." In the past few days, you have a good rest and take care of your body first. Song Yan bowed slightly, and then followed his grandfather all the way back to the back room.

"You girl, you have something to hide from me."

"Last time in the Lin Mansion, when my granddaughter swam to save her seventh sister, I saw a secret." Song Yansheng pondered again and again, and then told him truthfully, "Under the water of the Lin Mansion, the sediment in many places is extremely thick, which is very wrong. When you go further downstream, you can see that there are dusty cages underneath, so the bottom of the water is raised. Some of the chests were new, some were rotten, and from them they were full of golden light. The granddaughter calculated for a while, the Lin family's lake is extremely wide, and according to that location, at least a hundred more boxes can be counted. ”

"In addition, I also met Xiao Changyuan, who is a horse in the Lin family and seems to have a close relationship."

Song Xiaodu understood as soon as he heard it, "The people of the Xiao family, that is the third son of the emperor and one party." ”

"Ah Hao used to think it was strange why the Holy Lord sent two princes to Lin'an Mansion for disaster relief. In this way, the Holy Lord should have heard some rumors, so he sent six more palaces down to find out. Disaster relief and salt service, these are two different things. ”

"Lin Fu is now the governor of Liangjiang, and he is quite a saint, and Pan Zongjiang has also sat in this position for many years. Then there are the salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, and it may not be easy for the six princes to compete with them, besides, he did not bring his own soldiers when he went south this time. ”

This is also what Song Yansheng is worried about. Sheng Shang may have known that there was collusion between officials and businessmen, but he definitely didn't expect that these people would be so bold as to make a big fuss about the salt tax, and they were so corrupt that they were more than a little bit bribed, and the entire Jiangnan officialdom was completely dirty. And the Sixth Highness who was sent down to secretly investigate, if he was not careful, he was in danger.

Sneezing – Sneezing——!

As the yellow leaves set day by day, the days in Yangzhou also cooled down day by day. Song Yansheng sat by the window reading a book, listening to the horizontal waves and sneezing.

"Are you okay? Is it cold? She stretched out her hand to poke her forehead, which was slightly hot, and called the maid outside, "Go and ask the doctor, just fry a few pairs of medicine and eat it." ”

Yokobo wiped his nose with a handkerchief, only to feel dizzy, "Thank you, girl." In the past few days, I have always been dizzy in my head, and I want to doze off when I stand up, and I don't breathe well, which is really uncomfortable! ”

"When the doctor comes to visit, you can go down and have a good rest, don't wait a few days, and you will be alive again." Song Yansheng handed her a cup of ginger tea to drink, the weather has been cold recently, and the temperature at night is even lower than during the day. Yokoba slept in a small room outside her house, separated only by a hanging door. She is also an active character, and it is common to move around and kick the quilt at night.

The doctor invited is the old man who is used to the house, and he only said that it was an ordinary wind chill, and he told him to pay attention to keeping warm while prescribing the prescription.

The maid went down to decoct the medicine, and Hengbo lay down on the bed, and soon fell asleep. After a few days, I took several pairs of medicines, but the wind chill of Hengbo did not get better, but the situation worsened. It's only been a few days, and the whole person seems to have lost his mental energy, and the blush on his face has faded away, leaving only sweating profusely and pale.

Song Yansheng was very anxious, and the doctor also saw her several times, but it never got better. She couldn't swallow her dinner, looking at the goji berries floating in the chicken soup, staring for a while, her eyelids moved suddenly. She lost her chopsticks, ignored the maid's call, and went straight to the cross-wave room.

When I used to watch her, Song Yansheng was mostly in the daytime. Now that the lamp is in hand, the room is dim, except for the sound of cross-wave rough breathing, it is quiet. Sure enough, she smelled a familiar scent. This is the poisonous weed that was once found in the two-person room of Song Shusheng and Song Qisheng, ho, it was actually used by her side.

Song Yansheng closed the window slightly, and began to concentrate on the source of the smell. She circled the room, frowning, and finally stopped at a candlestick beside the bed. She gently lifted the cover, and the lamp and candle inside were half lit, and there was a strange smell of herbs that was very different from the decoction in the room. According to this weight, not to mention the horizontal waves, even the adult strong man has to put it down when he hears it.

This poisoned person obviously wanted Yokoba's life! This poisonous weed is mixed in the lamp and candle, and it is imperceptible in the daytime, but when it is lit at night, it is the source of the poisonous gas, and people will decay. If you don't know that there is such a poisonous weed, then everyone will think that it is caused by wind and cold, which is really an extremely vicious and cunning method.

In this mansion, who else would have such a poison except Zhao Niangzi! Song Yansheng looked at Hengbo in a cold sweat, he was very distressed, and he gritted his teeth with hatred for this Aunt Zhao. Since the last hint at her, this Aunt Zhao has not pretended to be clever enough to inquire about her whereabouts. An was divided for a while, because she was not sure how much Song Yansheng already knew, so she didn't dare to show the fox's tail easily. However, judging from today's events, it is indeed a little strange that she came to act in such a hurry, not for her, but for Hengbo. Unless...... She had some reason to get rid of the transverse waves.

As soon as Song Yansheng raised his hand and viciously cut off the lamp and candle, the room fell into darkness. She opened the doors and windows to ventilate, then sat down on the couch of Hengbo, was silent for a while, leaned over and called softly: "Hengbo, can you hear me clearly?" ”