Chapter 231 is beginning to emerge

It was getting late, and Qin Shuang found the best inn in Shanyin County. Xiaoxiao took everyone to live. No more overnight hangouts. Although this is a tolerance, there is no need to be so desperate that this person is not familiar with the place, in case there is something bad, the black light is blind, the fire and the water network are dense, where to call someone to help

After Qin Shuang settled the guards on duty at night, he also went to rest. In the Tianzi guest room, Xiao Xiao fell asleep with the tiger's head, and then took out a beautifully bound booklet from the baggage he carried with him and opened it gently. Then he asked Feng Caiyi to take pen and ink and wait, and slowly wrote a line of words on the booklet:

"On the ninth day of October in the twelfth year of Zhenguan, Shanyin County, here is the most salt-producing area in Jiangnan Province......

Feng Caiyi quietly retreated after grinding for Xiaoxiao, and this time Xiaoxiao came out under the guise of playing in the mountains and rivers. Feng Qinglian didn't know what to do, and thought that Mrs. Thorn Shi was really out to play, so she mentioned it to Jiang Zhixuan, hoping that his baby daughter would follow and serve Mrs. Thorn Shi and gain some knowledge by the way. Jiang Zhixuan is not allowed, Feng Caiyi has also seen a very lively little girl. With her with her, there are many people along the way to take care of their three little ones. As a result, there was more Feng Caiyi on this trip.

Write a diary for the first day of your trip. Thinking about the next two months, I can't help but feel a little irritable. It's been almost five years since I came to this dynasty in a blink of an eye, except for the first year, when I was a little harder. In the next three or four years, I lived a comfortable and leisurely life. Moreover, even if he was running around at that time, he was running back and forth between Huayin and Jingshi. These two places are not far apart, and every time I go to the reunion of husband and wife, I feel happy and urgent on the journey, because every step forward in the carriage brings me closer to my husband. But now this trip is for errands, and the further the car and boat go, the farther away from her husband and her home......

Looking back at the baby son Tiger Head who slept soundly on the bed and breathed evenly. There was finally a little comfort in the little heart, but fortunately the sons and daughters were still by his side......

This ****, a little tossing and turning, difficult to sleep......

Although it is difficult to compare with Hangzhou Fucheng, Shanyin County can be regarded as the number one town in the Jianghuai two rows. In particular, its extremely high salt production has made there an endless stream of salt merchants here, driving the development of various industries in the entire county.

As soon as the east showed the whiteness of the fish's belly, the streets began to hear the sound of gurgling ruts, the coughing of passers-by and the sound of conversation. There are also shops that open early, and the sound of guys cleaning the storefront. The small room is just on the side of the street. In addition, she didn't sleep well at night. As a result, he was soon awakened by the noise outside. Looking at the tiger head sleeping next to him, he saw that his little brows were also slightly frowned, for fear of waking him up, he quickly pulled the quilt up, and gently patted the chest of his baby son, and after a while, the tiger head fell asleep again.

The little cloak sat up, walked to the window, and pushed open the lattice. At this time, the windows did not open on both sides as in later generations, but opened up and down. A hinge on the top was pushed open from below, leaning forward, looking at the appearance of more and more pedestrians hurrying on the street, Xiaoxiao suddenly felt a sense of relief in his heart. The busy pedestrians, the gloom before dawn, and the sound of roosters everywhere make her feel that this place is full of life.

I was about to close the window, but my little feet suddenly froze. For she saw a long procession of carts coming from the direction of the city gate in the street below. On each trolley, there are heavy loads piled up. Xiaoxiao couldn't help but speculate: Which warehouse started delivering so early

The team of the carts got closer, and after a little saw it clearly. A pair of wonderful eyes widened in an instant. Because when the carts passed the street below the guest room, she saw it very clearly. The goods loaded on those trucks were all salt bricks! And look at the endless line of carts with no end in sight. This batch of salt bricks, I'm afraid it won't be less than 100,000 catties, what kind of concept is this, that is, 50 tons of salt bricks. According to the price of salt at this time, the price of salt per catty is about 35 Wen, that is to say, the batch of salt that Xiaoxiao saw today alone is worth more than 3,500 yuan......

Xiaoxiao hurriedly turned around and put it on, and then hurriedly washed up, not even caring about the fat powder. hurriedly went out, the Tianzi room she lived in, and there were two ear rooms next to it. There are guards living in emerald clothes and guards on duty at night. Xiaoxiao walked straight to the outside of the guard's room, knocked on the door and entered, and said to the four guards whose eyes were red:

"Separate the two of you, come with me......"

The four guards didn't know what to do, but they still walked out according to their words, hugged their fists and said to Xiaoxiao: "Madam, what are your orders?"

Xiao Xiao didn't want to explain much, hurriedly turned back and went downstairs, and said as he walked: "Time is pressing, follow me first......", but walked two steps and returned, and said to the two guards left: "Later, Cui Qiao woke up, let her wait for the tiger head and Yaya Dan to wash up and ...... early" The two guards left behind hurriedly hugged their fists.

Xiao Xiao hurriedly ran downstairs with two guards, and walked out of the door through the inn lobby. I saw that the endless convoy was still passing in front of the inn, and the sky was gradually becoming clear. I saw it more clearly, and I saw it on these salt bricks. There's also a hint of frost. I thought in my heart: it seems that the origin of this batch of salt bricks is not close......

It just so happened that a trolley stopped not far ahead. The coolie in the cart seemed to be tired and wanted to rest, and as soon as he stopped, he saw a man in a brocade robe and riding a small donkey approaching him. With a leather whip in his hand, he struck heavily on the salt brick, and rebuked in his mouth:

"Hurry up, hurry up, rub what and rub the sun out, the salt bricks should be sunburned......"

The coolie of the cart did not seem to be too afraid of the man who rode the donkey, and while wiping the sweat from his body with a sweat towel, he gasped and replied:

"No, it will take at least half an hour for the sun to show its face. Third master, let everyone rest, from the salt field to here, it is more than 30 miles. Everyone hasn't even drunk saliva, there are still five miles ahead, you let everyone rest and relax, and after a while, everyone gritted their teeth, and they arrived in the blink of an eye......"

Xiaoxiao silently kept these conversations in his heart: more than thirty miles away from here, five miles from his destination...... He pricked up his ears and continued to listen to the conversation over there. But the man who rode the donkey continued:

"Boss Song, it's not that I'm mean brother, you also know that the wind is very tight during this time, and we have to transfer this salt as soon as possible. If the newcomer Huangkou knows that there is so much official salt in our Shanyin Salt Field, and we send it with an excerpt, our county master and Lord Thorn Shi will all suffer......"

I saw the coolie who was called Boss Song grinning: "The third master said that he was laughing, our county master and Lord Thorn Shi." Those are all celebrities in front of Lord Duhu, where can they be brought down by a yellow-mouthed child......"

The third master was stunned, and just wanted to speak, when he suddenly saw Xiao Xiao and the two guards with knives standing at the door of the inn, and swallowed back the words that rushed to his mouth, and impatiently shook the leather whip and said: "Okay, okay, you don't understand these things to tell you, so let's rest for a while, and then hurry up......

Boss Song was overjoyed, thanked him repeatedly, and watched the third master ride away on the donkey, and then turned around and beckoned the coolies to stop and rest. At this time, a guard beside him whispered in Xiaoxiao's ear:

"Ma'am, look underneath these frames!"

Xiao Xiao followed the sound and looked, but saw that there was a small "Cao" character written on the shelf of each wheelbarrow. A flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, "Cao" could not be in this Shanyin County, there are also Cao Gangs, no wonder Fang Cai is the third master, calling the coolie Boss Song. Thinking about it, that Song boss is one of the leaders of the Shanyin Cao Gang.

A few days ago, Xiaoxiao and her husband visited the chief scoop of the Cao Gang in Hangzhou. Unfortunately, most of these people who made a living by selling coolies did not have a good impression of the court officials. Especially after Ouyang Zihui served as the assassin of Hangzhou, this relationship was even more tense. Xiaoxiao and Jiang Zhixuan struggled to speak, and it was difficult to ask anything useful from their mouths. These Cao Gang people are affectionate and righteous to the poor people like themselves, but when dealing with court officials, they only value profits, and they don't talk to you about the country's righteousness at all......

Therefore, in the end, Jiang Zhixuan had no choice but to throw out a sweet bait - in the future, all the Cao luck in Hangzhou Mansion will be handed over to the Cao Gang to take care of. In this way, the attitude of the chief scoop of the Cao Gang suddenly made a 360-degree turn. Cao Gang, Cao Gang. They are parasites attached to the transport. Now with the promise of Lord Thorn Shi, with the official guarantee and support, they can justifiably control Caoyun. The benefits in this are magnified by I don't know how many times compared to their current piecemeal and sneaky business.

In return, the chief scoop immediately provided some useful clues. Among them is the news that Sanyin is the place with the most salt production in Jiangnan Province, and if Jiang Zhixuan has the opportunity, it is best to go to Sanyin County to take a look in person, and maybe he can find some evidence from here. Not only that, but the chief scoop also wrote a letter and handed it to Jiang Zhixuan. With this letter, Yan Dao was able to get the support and cooperation of the Shanyin Cao Gang. And now, that letter is in a small baggage......

After resting for a while, the coolies continued to set off, and after a little thought, he instructed the two guards behind him, "You quietly follow and see where they are transporting these salt bricks." Then follow them all the way back to see where their headquarters are. Then one person was left to wait there, and one person hurried back to report to me, understand?"

The two guards nodded: "Madam, don't worry......" Then he flashed back to the house and took care of his weapons. The two turned into two early merchants, intentionally or unintentionally following the team delivering salt bricks......

Xiao Xiao arranged these and went back to the house, she had planned to follow herself. But he couldn't worry about the three precious children in the inn, so he handed over the matter to the royal guards. If you want to use their ability to do these small things, you must be able to catch them.

The sky was bright, and the inside and outside of the inn began to gradually become noisy. Tiger head, Yaya, and Dandan, a few little guys, are all dressed neatly under the service of Cui Qiao and colorful clothes. Cui Qiao asked the inn to prepare a beautiful breakfast to send to the room, and a few women finished breakfast with three small things. Qin Shuang knocked on the door and came in to ask for today's itinerary, which had been planned a long time ago. Every morning, Xiao Xiao set the day's schedule, and Qin Shuang asked the royal guards to prepare and arrange in advance! Why else do you bring so many guards......

Xiaoxiao put the last spoon of snow ear lotus seed soup into Yaya's mouth, then put down the dishes and chopsticks, took the white towel on the table and gently wiped her mouth for her baby daughter, and then said to Qin Shuang:

"Brother Qin, I found something interesting early in the morning, and sent two guards to follow, I believe that there will be news back soon. When they get back, we'll make a decision. However, Brother Qin can also arrange it in advance, I want to go to the Xishi Hall in the west of the city to pay respects......"

Qin Shuang nodded, turned around and was about to go out to make arrangements, but he almost collided with a person who hurriedly ran in at the door. Xiao Xiao saw that it was one of the two guards she had just sent out, and the two hurriedly asked:

"How, what I explained, have you done it?"

The guard nodded and replied, "Mrs. Hui, everything is done, and the subordinates and the leopard head followed the convoy all the way to the vicinity of Wuyunmen in the west of the county seat." The convoy all entered a deep house compound, and by the time they came out, the salt bricks on the car were gone. The subordinates were sure that the salt bricks were stored in the courtyard at this time, and looking at the smooth and compact ground at the entrance of the house, the subordinates boldly deduced that in the past month or two, at least every day, a convoy of convoys comparable to today had entered and exited the courtyard......"

Because it was a private visit to Weifu, Qin Shuang and these guards couldn't call Xiaoxiao Lord Qincha, so they incarnated as the generals of the Jiang Mansion, commensurate with their subordinates and their wives. As for the leopard head, it was supposed to be the other guard from Fang Cai.

After listening to the guard's report, Xiao Xiao nodded, and then asked, "Have you ever heard about the residence of the Cao Gang?"

The guard still nodded: "I found it, it's about thirty miles east of the city in Wuyi Lane, not only that, but my subordinates also found that less than five miles away from Wuyi Lane is the largest salt place in Shanyin......"

Xiao Xiao was overjoyed, turned around and said to Qin Shuang:

"Brother Qin, today's itinerary will be arranged as follows. In the morning, we will visit the Xishi Temple, and then have lunch in the most famous restaurant in the city, and in the afternoon, we will go back to the salt merchant and buy salt in the Shanyin Salt Farm. Then go to Wuyi Lane and visit the Shanyin Cao Gang! How to"

Qin Shuang nodded in agreement, and then his face turned embarrassed, and he reminded in a low voice:

"Brother and sister, it's not my brother who splashes cold water on you, we can do it by pretending to be a salt merchant, but if there is no salt guide from the government, the salt farm will not let us in......"

Xiao Xiaoyan smiled, asked Cui Qiao to take her treasure bag, took out a piece of paper with a red seal and handed it to Qin Shuang. Qin Shuang took it and took a look, and saw that it was written:

"With this salt introduction, that is, a thousand stones of official salt...... "Look at the cover on it, it turned out to be the big seal of the Jiangnan Provincial Protectorate." Qin Shuang looked at Xiaoxiao in some surprise, and he didn't know where she got this salt.

Xiao Xiaoyan smiled, didn't explain, and urged: "In this way, I will bother Brother Qin to arrange it first!" ”

With Yanyin, all the problems were solved, and Qin Shuang hurriedly went out to order. Of the eighty royal guards, there are no more than twenty people who have stayed with Xiaoxiao for a long time, and the rest are constantly running outside. On the one hand, for Xiaoxiao to settle down with food, clothing, housing and transportation along the way, on the other hand, they can also collect some of what they have seen and heard, and report to Xiaoxiao after they come back, and then Xiaoxiao, the Qincha, will compile a book and submit it to His Majesty Li Er.

Of course, the idea was come up with by Xiaoxiao herself. If you rely on yourself to see everything, you will be tired of seeing as many things as you can see, and you won't be able to find many problems. Moreover, what the couple really cares about is the Suzhou-Hangzhou salt and iron case. Because this is related to the honor and disgrace of the couple and the rise and fall of the Jiang family......

Soon, Qin Shuang arranged everything and came back to inform Xiaoxiao. Xiaoxiao does not delay, these two months are very urgent. Let Cui Qiao stay with a few guards and take care of the two little ones at the inn. Xiao Xiao took the tiger head with him, went out and stepped on the rented carriage, and headed towards the Xi Shi Temple in the west of the city.

If it was placed yesterday, Xiaoxiao went to the Xi Shi Palace, maybe it was just out of simple yearning and worship for one of the four beauties in history. But today is completely different, it can even be said that going to the Xi Shi Hall is just a cover, what Xiaoxiao really wants to see is the deep mansion compound that the guard said. If what she expected was correct, I am afraid that this is the place where all the salt and iron officials in the entire Jiangnan Province have been secretly trading in the past five years.

In this way, some people may not quite understand. As mentioned earlier, the salt and iron income of Hangzhou Prefecture has been declining every year since the eighth year of Zhenguan. However, judging from the investigation of Xiaoxiao and Fujun these days, the salt and iron output of Hangzhou and even the entire Jianghuai Province has not declined in recent years. So, where did the extra salt and iron go?

It is these salt and iron officials, mainly the records of the state capitals and counties, who operate in the dark to produce the salt and iron produced by the salt and iron fields. Regardless of the accounts, it was smuggled out of the salt and iron yards. Send it to a secret place for sale, so that even if the court comes down to verify it, there will be no handle or evidence......

Whether this trip can be gained or not, there is no bottom in the little heart, if it is not bad, that house, their own group will definitely not be able to enter. However, with the skills of the royal guards, sneaking in two people, if nothing else, it is still not a big problem......