Chinese In the twenty-third year of the Great Wei Jingtai, the Lianghuai Salt Road Case broke out. Zhou Hong and Xiao Ye's recitals were handed to the front of the emperor successively, and the prosperity of private salt in the south of the Yangtze River and the high price of salt shocked the saints.

The saint lived in the deep palace for a long time, and his subordinates concealed the report, just like the old man who was blind and deaf, although he also felt that the salt tax of the two Huai was declining year by year, but no one dared to speak up and reveal the cruel truth to him.

Zhou Hong's memo is written like a military newspaper, although the number of words is not much, but it is particularly shocking to read late at night: "...... After more than a year of secret visits, the smuggling of salt in the south of the Yangtze River has been greater than that of official salt, and the price is much cheaper than that of official salt, and the officials of the two Huai have also pursued profits. However, there are young and strong men who do not think about agriculture and mulberry, and they are all engaged in the business of trafficking in illicit salt. It is followed by the arrest of the salt lord and the interrogation of the house.

The saint is nearly sixty years old, and there is often a cough in late autumn recently, and when day and night alternate, the doctors of the Tai Hospital often wait outside the dormitory, and even the officials in Beijing do not stop watching.

The prince is benevolent, but if he is busy with state affairs, he will share his worries. But the saint succeeded to the throne when he was young, and the habit he developed over the years, the major affairs of the court and the central government always had to be asked before he could rest assured, and the ministers did not dare to persuade deeply, but they were afraid that the father and son would be suspicious, so that the saint would suspect that the prince was going to seize power, and he would not dare to suppress the twists and turns of Zhou Hong and Xiao Ye.

"I really didn't expect that Ah Ye was serious this time, and he would actually do something practical!" The sage brought Xiao Ye's recital closer to the lamp to take a closer look, and even looked miserable.

"It's a pity that it's still written a * crawling word, and there is no literary brilliance at all." Since he saw the recital, he recovered from the extreme anger, and began to reflect on the policy of governance in recent years, although the envoy sent to Yangzhou to announce the decree has left the Beijing Division, but he has to take out the recital of Zhou Hong and Xiao Ye from time to time to take a look.

Hu Yan, a close attendant beside him, measured his mood, and said with a smile: "King Huai'an has never liked to read and write, and he likes to play the most. The saint loves His Highness, and His Highness does not need to work hard to enjoy a happy life. This time, I followed General Zhou Shao to handle the case, about ...... It was also taken by Major General Zhou, right?! The sage rarely showed a smile in the past few days: "That's right, this son wrote in the fold, Zhou Hong has something interesting to say that he wants to be a witness, Lianghuai is rotten from the root, really let Zhou Qianke go to a drastic rectification alone, he must have no bottom in his heart, there are too many officials offended, and the Zhou family is not easy to gain a foothold in the court, he also has some concerns, even if Yu Ge Lao helps him, it is useless." I'm afraid that this time, there may be people under the old Yuge who are implicated. He sighed at his knees, full of sorrow.

Hu Yan was a eunuch assigned to the saint's side, and waited for him for most of his life, and the two spent more time together than the concubines and princesses who accompanied the saint.

Hu Yan knows the mind of the saint very well, although he has never participated in major events, but every time he speaks, he can go to the heart of the saint.

He knew that the saint was on guard against Xiao Ye and his superficial favor, so he naturally followed his words.

But the matter of the two Huai Salt Road is not good, so I can only comfort the saint: "It's getting late, the saint's cough last night was just better, it's better to rest early tonight." The affairs of the government are always busy. The saint pointed at him and smiled and sighed, "You, you! As the palace people came in to serve, he washed up and went to bed, hiding on the dragon bed, but he was still thinking about the two Huai in his heart, and he didn't know what to do.

In the Lianghuai Salt Transport Division, Zhou Hongcai asked people to put an incense case to receive the order, and invited the envoy to serve tea in the front hall, and it was not good to listen to the movements in Beijing, so Bao Neng accompanied and chatted about some customs in Beijing, set up a banquet to entertain guests, and waited until the next day to escort the prisoners of the Salt Gang and Qiao Liping to the prisoner car, and sealed and escorted them into Beijing together with the proceeds of the seizure.

Zhou Hongmu sent a group of people away, thinking of the sage's will, and ordered him to let go of his hands and feet to clean up the two Huai salt roads, and his heart was heavy.

The prosperity of private salt overwhelms the sales of official salt. When he sent the scouts around him to check, he didn't take it seriously, and when the results came out, it was shocking, which made him have the idea of ending the Salt Gang.

However, the Salt Gang was originally like the Cao Gang, with a half-black and half-white identity. The official shoulders the matter of shipping official salt, but in private he vigorously sells illegal salt, and the former officials all turn a blind eye and have no intention of thorough investigation, but it will not work when they are biased to Zhou Hong.

He discussed the reform with his staff, and one of the staff members surnamed Gu vigorously objected: "The marshal entrusted the major general to us and others, that is to hope that the major general will not be taken to the pit during his tenure in Lianghuai, and suffer a big loss." Now the surname Qiao has been escorted back to Beijing, and according to the confessions of him and his subordinates, the one above Qiao Liping is either the crown prince, or the third prince, in short, the son of a saint. We are not familiar with the affairs of the various prefectures in Beijing, and Gong Jiang has only met with the people under his door, and Qiao Liping has to speak about this matter. If Qiao Liping shoulders this matter, it is equivalent to cutting off the claws of the people above, so that he can no longer stretch his hand to Lianghuai to make profits, and then the young general will become a stumbling block on his way to making money, I am afraid that it will lead to crazy revenge. Under the current situation, the major general must be extremely distracted to protect himself, let alone take the initiative! Another staff member surnamed Liu was also worried: "Based on Gong Jiang's confession, it seems that the prosperity of private salt is directed at His Royal Highness the Prince." What should I do if I offend the future prince? "These people have been in the southeast for a long time, and they are actually better at the tactics of defeating the enemy than offering advice and fighting with others in the officialdom.

Zhou Hong hit the nail on the head: "The sage also knows in his heart that even if Qiao Liping carries it on his shoulders, the benefit of private salt is a huge wealth, how can he hide it?" When the time comes, as long as the officials who try the case are not stupid, they will always ask where the money used to sell illicit salt has gone. Since Gong Jiang has already pried open his mouth, the amount he earned is not something that Qiao Liping can swallow alone, and he is not afraid of supporting himself! All the staff members looked at each other, and some people nodded in agreement: "The young general's expectation is good, all of Qiao Liping's family wealth together is less than one-tenth, even if he wants to bear it alone, someone has to believe it!" Zhou Hongli overrode the public opinion and began to convene his subordinates to discuss the reform of the two Huai Salt Road.

Qiao Liping was arrested, and a group of loyal subordinates who followed him have been panicking recently, for fear that Zhou Hong will raid their homes and go to prison, some shops have been closed early, and the rich have tried their best to transfer their property, even the singing and dancing at home have stopped, and the housekeepers who have been raised have also quietly taken action, and the house has cut manpower, sweeping away the previous extravagance, and the most common thing for colleagues to see is to cry poor.

“…… When I went back yesterday, my family couldn't even send the monthly money, and I didn't know when the rice would be sent this month. ”

"You're okay, my wife took medicine, I didn't even dare to invite a doctor, or did my wife be a pearl hairpin on her head, so I invited a doctor to come to see the doctor and take medicine......" Zhou Hao almost burst into laughter when he listened.

These people are full of money in Lianghuai, Zhou Hong killed chickens and monkeys, and only after catching Qiao Liping scared these people, but let them learn to pretend to be poor, but they also have to be believed!

Zhou Hong didn't have to cut down all the officials in Lianghuai before he stopped, where would the people who worked at that time go to find them?

He just wanted to give a warning to these people, thinking that even if they weren't Qiao Liping's die-hard henchmen, I was afraid that these people wouldn't be able to catch bones on weekdays, and they would be able to drink some broth, who would be more honest than whom?

The current situation of the officialdom of the two Huai is sad when you think about it.

"Now that you are all here, let's begin to discuss the matter of salt today. Since the official took office, he has sent people to check the two Huai salt taxes, and there are many kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, which is also the reason for the high price of official salt and salt. The only way for the official to think about it was to reform the salt tax, remove all kinds of miscellaneous taxes imposed by the local government, and cancel all the general merchants and so on, so that the official salt would have to go through a few fewer procedures, and the price of official salt and salt would fall at that time. As long as the price of official salt is lower than that of private salt, who will be stupid enough to commit illegal salt? If you don't make money, you will be caught and jailed. As if hearing Fang Yetan, all the subordinates below objected: "My lord, you must not do this!" These Nest Merchants and General Merchants support the two Huai salt taxes, and they have to pay huge taxes and silver to the Yandao Yamen every year, if they are abolished, where will these salt taxes come from? Zhou Hong almost laughed angrily: "I'm afraid what you're worried about is not the huge amount of salt tax and silver paid by these salt merchants, but the huge amount of filial piety in front of you, right?" The subordinates almost dripped cold sweat, and each secretly said in their hearts: I have seen raw melons and eggs as officials, and that is even learning from the side, how can Zhou Qianke become an official from the beginning, is it that he is stupid to fight in war, and he doesn't even understand the rules of officialdom?

If the official does not accept filial piety, will he have to pay money to honor the people? Don't look at the filial piety and silver they received from the salt merchants, but when they turned around, they had to go to Beijing, and they were the same year as their bosses...... I don't know how much I have to take out, but what falls into my hands is the head.

But even if it's head, the number is extremely impressive. Coupled with the businessmen who are attached to the door, the officials of the two Huai are actually bulging in their pockets, and they are really as incorruptible as Zhou Hong, and they are called fools behind their backs.

Qiao Liping once scolded Zhou Hong in front of his confidants in the mansion for being a fool of Zhou, and there was no result in today's deliberations.

His reputation as a fool spread far and wide within a few days, and soon everyone in the officialdom of Lianghuai knew about it. Even Duan Lingfeng, the monarch of Yangzhou Prefecture, received the news of the Yandao officials who were good friends with him, and he also laughed with his staff in the mansion: "What is Fool Zhou going to do?" Is this trying to turn the officialdom of the two Huai upside down? "Cat flutter Chinese