After a while, Yuan Datou was dressed in a military uniform, and his big belly greeted him out of the front hall, and after a greeting, Li Shanren led his wife and children to kneel down in front of the hall and salute. Li Shanren handed over the silver ticket and a list of gifts, and sang in his mouth: "I wish you good health, longevity, and rising step by step." I didn't have time to congratulate him, and I was very afraid! Yuan Datou already knew that Li Shanren was a clan member of the late Lord Li, and he had met Li Shanren several times in Zongbu Hutong, and accepted the silver ticket and gift list as usual, with a smile on his face, he picked up the saber in his hand, raised two blister eyes, and glanced at everyone in the hall, full of style, and said after a while: "Get up!" You don't have to do it! Everyone in the hall stood up respectfully and sat down on the left and right. Yuan Datou glanced at Xianghai expressionlessly and asked how old is Xiao'er? Li Shanren replied respectfully: "The child is eleven years old. ”

Mrs. Li hurriedly took Xianghai's hand, came to Yuan Datou and bowed down again, and waited for Yuan Datou to say "up" before she got up and said to Xianghai: "Call grandpa!" In fact, Yuan Datou is only in his early fifties, only three years older than Li Shanren, and Xianghai should be called uncle. And Yuan Da's head is white, like a person in his sixties and seventies, he does look like his grandfather's generation, Xianghai observes his words and looks, and says that his grandfather is blessed and healthy.

Yuan Datou showed joy on his face, and asked his entourage to reward the child with a red envelope, and said: "The kid is well-behaved and cute, come here, let grandpa hug him." Xianghai was not timid at all, he walked up to Yuan Datou, and said "grandpa" on the left and "grandpa" on the right, which made Yuan Datou's heart bloom, touched the top of Xianghai's head and smiled: "The kid has a chance!" Grandpa is not very old, but his belly is too big to hold you. The entourage held the box in his hand and handed it to Yuan Datou, Yuan Datou took out a red envelope from the box and handed it to Xianghai, Xianghai took the red envelope, and also knew how to say: "Thank you, grandpa!" He opened his arms to hug him, and he was so happy that Yuan's big head and white mustache stilted upward. Seeing this, Mrs. Li hurriedly stepped forward and pulled back, and returned to the side compartment to sit down.

Yuan Datou took a sip of tea, put down the teacup, and asked Li Shanren unhurriedly: "I heard that your career is going well, and you have built a salt factory?" ”

Li Shanren was shocked, he was boiling salt on the barren seaside, and Yuan Datou knew it? It is said that during the period when Yuan Datou was dismissed and returned to the field, he seemed to be far away from political affairs, but his ears and eyes were well connected, and nothing could be hidden from him. Li Shanren hurriedly knelt down in fear, kowtowed and confessed: "Hui Yu, this is a naughty child, occasionally found that the purple tide of the East China Sea can be boiled salt, and if I don't cook it, I will go with the flow, it is a pity to waste, so I built a dam to get water." ”

Yuan Datou said with a straight face: "This is a job grab with the imperial court, even Sheng Xingsun doesn't dare to do such a thing!" ”

When Li Shanren heard this, he broke out in a cold sweat again, and said tremblingly: "Now the purple tide has long disappeared, and the seawater can no longer boil salt, and there are only more than a year before and after. Under the recklessness, the whole lord will take care of it, and I hope the adult will advise! ”

Yuan Datou waved his hand, he was in a good mood these days, and Li Shanren had a lot of money, otherwise he would never let him go. This Li Shanren, as the financier of the southern arms industry, believes that the imperial court has a backer, and he will not dredge it again if the backer falls. At the beginning, Lord Li didn't see him show up at the funeral, he became the governor, which of Lord Li's subordinates didn't change to Yuan's house? Only this Li Shanren is nowhere to be seen, which inevitably makes people suspicious, but he turned out to be boiling salt in the sea in Shanghai. The official salt is private, what kind of crime should be committed, presumably Li Shanren knows.

Without waiting for Yuan Datou to speak again, Li Shanren hurriedly told his family about what happened to him one by one, telling that he was on the way to escape, and even the death of Master Li was only learned afterwards, otherwise how could he not go to Beijing for funeral. Yuan Datou didn't expect such a thing, forgive Li Shanren for not making things up, so he dispelled his suspicions and said angrily: "It turns out that you have suffered a change in your family and death, have you ever been arrested and brought to justice?" Li Shanren replied: "I don't know where I fled, and I haven't reported the crime." Years have passed, and there is no trace of it. Yuan Datou heard Li Shanren's words, and knew that he was deaf because of changes in his family, so he took the initiative to confess his guilt today and offered a big gift, which is equivalent to taking the guilt of Jing and pleading, and most of the estrangement in his heart has gone. As for recruiting him to join the military industry under his command, now that he has his handle in hand, he is not afraid that he will not obey, so he must wait to beat slowly, so he sighed and said lightly: "Just rest!" Private salt can not be touched, in all dynasties, salt is monopolized by the government, and no one can save it. When you go back, reflect on it. After a pause, he said with fake concern: "If you learn about the whereabouts of the wicked, you can report it to the government to arrest you, and you must not let the wicked go unpunished." Li Shanren is submissive, saying that the mirror of the lord is hanging high, the pillar of the court, and the expectations of the people will make the society prosperous, the people happy, and the world peaceful. Yuan Datou was slightly happy.

Li Shanren took the opportunity to say goodbye in a panic and returned to Guangfu, still in shock, as if he had escaped death. If this private salt matter is cured, but the capital crime is now in the hands of Yuan Datou, and if Yuan Datou does not punish him today, it does not mean that he will not be punished in the future. From then on, he lived in a simple house, lived cautiously, and instructed Wu's mother to sow the rice, wheat, corn and cotton seeds brought by Gusu in front of her house, and the rest of the seeds were scattered with the neighbors, and then raised some chickens, ducks, pigs and geese, self-sufficient, and had no quarrel with the world.