In a private house not far from the pier, there are more than a dozen people living here. Since the last time he infiltrated the territory of Yangzhou Mansion, Wang Yue combined with the earlier investigation of the smuggling case of King Chu and chose to find the large-scale illegal salt farm that Ye Fugui said.

In the current salt law of the Ming Dynasty, there are two major problems with the salt administration: the output of the Daming salt field has declined, and the sales price of Daming salt has continued to decline.

If people who understand some economic principles understand that once the volume and price of a product fall together, then the income will naturally decrease accordingly.

Faced with this crux, the officials in charge of salt administration in the Ming Dynasty did not put forward a plan to curb it in time, but instead encouraged the Ming court to issue more salt citations.

There are two main advantages of this: First, the salt tax revenue of the imperial court has not decreased significantly, so it will not arouse the vigilance of the imperial court.

The second is caused

"Introduce more salt and less salt", so that the holder can only come

"Fight for relationships", and their salt officials have more room for power rent-seeking. Wang Yue's goal is very clear, that is, to find out the largest private salt farm in Yangzhou Prefecture, so as to make a breakthrough in his own rectification of the two Huai salt policies.

The hard work paid off, and he did not hesitate to throw his grandson Wang Yu to the dock as a coolie, and finally at the time of this Spring Festival, Wang Yu and Hu Jun were naturally hired by those forces of private salt.

"Lord Chincha, we can't be mistaken this time, right?" Zhang Cai, the general banner of Jinyi Wei, thought of several oolong incidents earlier, and couldn't help but be worried.

Wang Yue naturally had concerns in this regard, but the sixth sense told him that he had indeed found the right place this time, so he nodded affirmatively: "It should be here!" If they weren't doing something shady, who would be unloading the goods secretly in the middle of the night? ”

"What Lord Chincha said is very true, so what should the lowly and brothers do tonight?" Zhang Cai believed Wang Yue's judgment and asked seriously.

Wang Yu and Hu Jun knew that this operation was not trivial, and they also turned their heads to look at Wang Yue. Wang Yue knew that it was time to close the net, and when he made arrangements, he said: "Zhang Cai, you take your people to lurk around the dock tonight!" If there are few people coming, you will directly arrest them, and then find a way to find out the specific location of the smuggling salt factory! ”

"Good!" Zhang Cai knew that Wang Yue was going to close the net, so he nodded excitedly. Although Wang Yue did not support him to work at the docks, he also suffered a lot during this time, so he also hoped to end this lurking hard life as soon as possible.

Fortunately, now that the smuggling of salt has been flawed, they will be able to wipe out all those involved in smuggling salt tonight.

Wang Yu and Hu Jun can be said to have endured all the hardships during this time, and now they can't help but smile when they see that the hard days have finally come to an end.

Yangzhou City, a place of drunken gold. There are six transport divisions in the world, but two Huai transport divisions are male. Shang Zao Yuan, the wealth of the southeast of Yanlijia, the needs of the country, the border salary, half of it.

With the increasing number of salt merchants who rely on salt profits, the Qinglou in Yangzhou City has reached the peak of the times, supporting half of the entertainment industry in Daming.

It's just that on the first day of the Lunar New Year today, the most lively thing is not the Qinglou on the side of the Xiaoqinhuai River, but the Yamen of the two Huai Transit Envoys.

Today, the two Huai are overcrowded, and a large group of salt merchants have come here to give gifts, and Li Zhiqing actually accepted all the orders.

By the time the guests were sent away, the gold, silver and jewelry in the treasury were already piled up, and Li Zhiqing staggered back to his room.

Like many officials, the main room usually stays in his hometown to be filial to his parents, and outside there is a little goblin who is born like a fox.

When I arrived at Yangzhou Mansion as an official, this was even more of a standard. Liu has been following Li Zhiqing for several years, and now he is nearly thirty years old, and he has just followed the little girl to cheat.

But she didn't expect Li Zhiqing to come back from the banquet so soon, she hurriedly pushed the little girl under the bed after hearing Yahuan ventilate the message from the window.

Chirping...... Li Zhiqing didn't know that the top of his head was already full of greenery, and pushed open the door of his house hard. Liu, who didn't have time to get dressed, hurriedly greeted him from the inside, pretending to have just woken up and said, "Master, what time is it, why did you come back?" The concubines are sleeping

"It's still early! Pour me a cup of tea! Li Zhiqing greedily glanced at the red belly pocket on his concubine's body, but he could only support him at an age when he was powerless.

The little maid under the bed heard that it was indeed the return of the master, and at this time he was trembling with fright under the bed.

"Master, are you too high-profile to receive gifts like this today?" Liu calmly poured a cup of tea and sent it over, and deliberately found a topic to distract Li Zhiqing's attention.

Li Zhiqing took the teacup and said a little proudly: "What do you women know?" That's what your lord wants! ”

"Master, what should I do if someone who doesn't open his eyes is impeached?" Liu glanced at the bottom of the bed uneasily, and then pretended to be worried.

Li Zhiqing moistened his dry throat with tea, and said smugly: "I want to tell the officials around me that Lao Tzu has a backstage in the capital, and he can also cover the sky with one hand in the locality!" Only if they feel that the master is very powerful, will they come over to join me, and then continue to grow together to grow their power! ”

"Even if no one goes up to impeach, what if the imperial court sends a messenger down to investigate?" Liu was afraid that Li Zhiqing would look at the bottom of the bed and deliberately block his vision.

Li Zhiqing couldn't help but be attracted by Liu's body, so he put down the teacup and said proudly: "It's useless for anyone to come down!" Lao Tzu threw out ninety percent of the salt profits, you don't know how deep this net is now! Let's put it this way, even if something happens to me, I can get the only two ministers in our cabinet to stand up and speak for me! ”

"Huh? The two elders can stand up and speak for you, who will you give the two points of silver? Liu seemed to have forgotten about cheating, and immediately looked up in surprise.

Li Zhiqing finally reacted, so he picked up Liu and said, "A lot!" I wrote it all down in the ledger, so they didn't dare to let Lao Tzu have an accident! "Once human greed has begun, it cannot be curbed.

It's just that he is different from Li Min, he has never eaten alone, but has woven a big net.

It is precisely because of this hole card that his filial piety to those rich oil and salt merchants can be said to be full of orders, and he dares to make money crazy in Yangzhou.

"Wait! The lights haven't gone out yet? When Liu's red belly pocket was torn open, he suddenly stretched out his hand to stop it, and then got up and blew out the lights.

After being kicked, the little guy in the bottom bed also cleverly got in with his clothes, and then carefully opened the door and fled.

Fortunately, he was one step faster, if he was one step slower, I was afraid that Li Zhiqing, who had already ended the battle, would find out.

It's late at night, and there's no moon tonight. Somewhere near the pier there were a number of huts, one of which was lit with an oil lamp.

Wang Yue did not go to bed, but sat under the oil lamp and read a book of soldiers. It's just that as time passes, his brows furrow slightly, but he can't help but look at the door frequently.

If the action goes well tonight, then he will immediately return to Yangzhou and properly rectify the problem of smuggling and smuggling salt in the Lianghuai Salt Administration.

Woof! Woof! There was finally movement in the front yard, and in the sound of the dog barking, Wang Yu and the others finally returned smoothly. Wang Yue put down the scroll in his hand and looked at Wang Yu and Hu Jun who walked in lightly, but he didn't ask.

"Grandpa, it's not salt that you're carrying tonight?" Wang Yu met Wang Yue's gaze and shook his head gently.

Wang Yue's eyes couldn't help flashing a flash of disappointment, so he frowned and said in confusion: "It's not salt?" Isn't their trading table here? ”

"Grandpa, don't you want to know what we're moving?" Wang Yu saw his grandfather's reaction, but asked with a smile.

Wang Yue only cared about private salt now, and raised his eyes angrily and said, "If it's not salt, what else is there to say?" "Goo!

Hu Jun couldn't help but swallow his saliva, but he didn't grab the words, but turned his head to look at Wang Yu.

"Grandpa, all we moved tonight is silver, and there are hundreds of thousands of taels in it!" Wang Yu's breath became slightly rapid, and he revealed it very seriously.

Yes? Hundreds of thousands of taels? Wang Yue immediately raised his head and looked at the two of them in shock, never expecting to carry more than 100,000 taels of silver, which was very likely to be a wealth that could not be seen at all.

"Prince, we did move all silver taels, that dog brother accidentally knocked over, and we both saw it with our own eyes!" Hu Jun was afraid that Wang Yue would not believe him, so he testified very seriously.

Zhang Caiyou, who followed up, heard the topic they were talking about outside, and nodded at Wang Yue seriously.

Wang Yue put down the book thoughtfully, and immediately looked at his grandson and said, "The silver taels came from the west, and then changed ships and transported them to Gaojiadang?" ”

"Grandpa is amazing, it's indeed such a route!" Wang Yu knew that it was the salt official's corruption case that was involved here, so he nodded heavily.

Wang Yue's brows furrowed slightly, and he found that the corruption of this salt administration system was really more serious than he imagined, and these people were probably much more greedy than Li Min, the first greed of the Ming Dynasty.

"Lord Qincha, I found a very strange thing tonight!" Zhang Cai, who followed in, looked at Wang Yue, looking serious.

Wang Yue knew that Zhang Cai was very reliable, and immediately asked seriously: "Mr. Zhang, I don't know what is the matter?" ”

"The people who took the silver are fine, but although the people who came over to carry the silver were wearing the clothes of ordinary people, they were wearing sabers, and one of them shouted Zhao Baihu!" Zhang Cai was also lurking on the edge of the dock tonight, so he reported.

Wang Yue's brows furrowed slightly, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Salt merchants are filial piety, salt officials are greedy for ink, and the army transports silver, this water is really deep?" "Actually, the first two phenomena are fine, but the matter involves the military, so the problem will become tricky.

After all, if one is not handled properly, it can turn into a military disaster. I have to admit that the water of this salt administration is indeed deeper than imagined, and the scope of involvement is wider.

"Lord Qincha, there are a lot of people on both sides of them, and they are all wearing weapons on both sides, so they didn't act rashly, please forgive me!" Zhang Cai apologized for not implementing the arrest plan.

Wang Yue had a clear judgment, but waved his hand disapprovingly and said: "Mr. Zhang, we originally said tonight that good people will only act, and it is not the private salt we are looking for, so naturally it is not appropriate to get involved!" Judging from their feedback, if they jump out and rob people of more than 100,000 taels of silver, then the dozen or so of them will probably not be able to come back.

"Grandpa, what should we do now?" Wang Yu also realized that the issue of salt administration was quite tricky, so he asked.

Zhang Cai and Hu Jun knew that Wang Yue was a scheming person, and they also turned their heads to see how Wang Yue decided.

Wang Yue thought for a while, then made a decision and said: "There must be a big article on this wharf, we should be in the right place, let's stay for a few more days!" When Wang Yu heard that he had to work as a coolie for a few more days, he complained bitterly: "Grandpa, it's too hard to do coolies every day, I really can't stand it!" ”

"Lu Song said that Your Majesty is a kind person, and he really got this matter done, and Grandpa personally helped the two of you to show his merits!" Wang Yue knew that he had to draw cakes, so he promised.

"Thank you, grandpa!" Wang Yu and Hu Jun were secretly overjoyed, and immediately gave up. In the second half of the night, the courtyard door of the hut was suddenly slammed open, and a man stumbled in.

Woof! Woof...... There was a black dog in the courtyard, and when faced with the sudden intruder, he barked loudly at this person.

Originally, the black dog wanted to pounce and bite, but for some reason it retreated. Who? Zhang Cai woke up suddenly, and immediately pulled out his knife and rushed out of the room, only to see that the person who came rushed straight to Wang Yue's room, and his heart immediately hung in his voice.

Wang Yu and Hu Jun were tired all day today, and they had been sleeping very deeply, but they suddenly heard such a big movement, and sat up from the floor.

Wang Yue saw someone pounce on him, and was about to pull a knife to defend himself, but he looked at it and said in surprise: "Brother dog? Brother Dog's clothes were stained with blood, and he looked very panicked and said: "Master Hu, run away with your two grandsons, those people have come back to kill people!" As he spoke, the two thatched huts not far away were already on fire, accompanied by the screams of a man, and the movement of a fight.

A group of men in black suddenly appeared, and they were coming towards this direction under the leadership of the one-eyed dragon.

"They...... So they're going to kill us? Although Wang Yu already knew the origin of the disaster, he couldn't help but be shocked.

Zhang Cai had already noticed the danger, and when he reported: "Lord Qincha, I'm afraid those people are not ordinary people, let's evacuate first, right?" "Honcha-sama?

Brother Dog, who was full of panic, looked at Wang Yue in shock when he heard Zhang Cai's salutation. Wang Yue knew that it was useless to show the identity of the Qin Cha at this time, so he immediately said: "Withdraw!" ”