The old man was short, his eyes were dark, his lips were purple, and his whole person was almost thin and out of shape, and at first glance, he was a little deformed.

She felt a sigh in her heart, and a chill kept running from the soles of her feet to her heart.

"The girl's words are serious," the old man saw that the girl was magnificent, and his tone was a little cautious, "The girl only borrowed one night?" ”

Jiang Fuguang bowed his head: "I'll leave as soon as it dawns tomorrow." ”

The old man wanted to ask a few more words, but he probably felt that this group of people was not easy to provoke, and he didn't dare to ask more, for fear of annoying the nobles, so he had to nod his head.

Yingluo stepped forward and used the broken silver.

The old man immediately smiled and led Jiang Fuguang and his party into the village.

Jiang Fuguang noticed that when the old man walked, his legs were a little stiff, which looked very unnatural, what else did he not understand?

A sore feeling suddenly appeared in my heart, and I asked, "How old are you this year?" ”

"Forty miles," he smiled, grinning his black teeth and missing one of his front teeth, "the people of our village say that I will live to be fifty when I am old and strong." ”

Jiang Fuguang grabbed the hands in his sleeves hard.

The area south of the Yangtze River is rich in materials, and the average life expectancy is much higher than that of many poor areas, and he is forty years old, just in the prime of life, but this old man has already completed the prime of life, and he is about to die.

The life expectancy of the people in this village may not be high, and living to fifty is a rare high life expectancy for all villagers.

Strangers came to the village, attracting onlookers from the villagers.

The village was even more dilapidated than expected, Jiang Fuguang observed the people in the village attentively, frowning slightly.

Wei XII noticed her expression and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong with this village?" ”

Jiang Fuguang shook his head, his expression was a little dazed.

At this time, a child rushed out of the oblique stab, probably running too quickly, and his body stumbled towards Jiang Fuguang, and Wei Twelve instinctively drew the knife.

Jiang Fuguang said urgently: "Don't hurt anyone." ”

Wei XII pressed the knife back, and the child fell at Jiang Fuguang's feet.

"How? Have you ever been injured in a fall? Jiang Fuguang hurriedly bent down and helped the child who fell to the ground up, and her eyes suddenly froze.

The child's hair was sparse and yellow, and he was very thin, and he was smirking at her with dirty fingers, drooling, and smirking at her.

Her hands began to tremble.

Slowly closing his eyes, Jiang Fuguang smiled, took a loquat candy from the purse on his waist, opened the sugar coating, and said softly: "Sweet, will you eat it?" ”

The child froze.

Jiang Fuguang thought he didn't understand, and stuffed loquat candy into his mouth.

His dull eyes gradually brightened, and he smiled happily: "Sweet." ”

Jiang Fuguang looked at the light in his eyes and stroked his thinning hair: "Really good." ”

The child's mother suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly stepped forward, said sorry, and quickly took her child away.

Seeing the nobles and kindness, the villagers' expressions gradually relaxed.

The old man vacated a passable house and let Jiang Fuguang and his party stay, and the villagers were very enthusiastic and sent clean bedding, some vegetables and eggs, and a chicken.

This is already the best thing in the village.

Yingluo folded the silver coin, and after the villagers politely shirked it, they happily followed.

Jiang Fuguang walked to the kitchen, checked the firewood, rice and oil, and when his eyes fixed on the yellowing and blackening salt in the crockpot, the guess in his heart was confirmed.

The Qingshui Gang is not only the largest water bandit in Huai'an, but also the largest smuggler of salt.

This night, Jiang Fuguang tossed and turned, unable to sleep all night.

The boy was nine years old, but he was as short as a child of six or seven years old, and he was noticeably slow to respond when talking to him.

The people had to farm the land, and when the farming was slack, they had to work and serve labor, and the amount of salt was relatively large.

They consume unhealthy illicit salt for a long time, which leads to premature aging, stunted growth, stiffness in limbs, and even short life......

This is Jiang Fuguang's first time facing the dangers of illicit salt.

It made her chill and creepy.

In the middle of the night, Yu Linwei finally came back from inquiring about the news: "That boatman, if it is really a member of the Qingshui Gang, his subordinates have found a stronghold of the Qingshui Gang, and the boatman has solved it secretly." ”

"Continue to investigate," Jiang Fuguang looked indifferent, "The Qingshui Gang is involved in illegal salt, follow this clue and check on the local government, family, and gentry." ”

Illicit salt was not the purpose of her trip.

But often behind the private salt, it involves salt production, transportation, out of stock, up and down joints, inside and outside the relationship, contacts, channels must be opened, forming a huge chain of interests, spider silk knots in general, intricate relationship network, Zhezhou must be involved.

Cheng Anhou can't meddle in the affairs of Zhejiang, she can dismantle the private salt industry in Zhejiang, pull out the radish and bring out the mud, and the entire private salt industry in the south of the Yangtze River can also be cleaned up.

However, the profit of private salt is extremely high, and the prohibition is not strict, just like leeks in the field, cutting stubble after stubble, shoveling batch after batch.

It is necessary to find a way to curb the private salt, and at the same time reduce the price of official salt without damaging the salt tax of the imperial court.

It is also necessary to popularize the dangers of illicit salt, so that the general public can realize the serious consequences of eating illicit salt, so that they will not buy illicit salt.

Yu Linwei hesitated a little: "My subordinates are ordered by the emperor to protect the safety of the eldest princess." ”

"When you come to the lonely side, you will suffer the life of the lonely." Jiang Fuguang coughed a few times in a low voice, and his voice was a little hoarse, "Alone, contact Yu Linwei, who is still in the Huai'an area, to thoroughly investigate the Huai'an illicit salt case." ”

Three thousand Yu Lin Wei, one out of ten thousand, each of them is proficient in espionage intelligence, let them investigate this matter, killing chickens with a cattle slaughtering knife, the most appropriate.

Yu Linwei had no choice but to take the order.

On the second day, before dawn, Jiang Fuguang left some broken silver and left the village.

Next, Jiang Fuguang and his entourage failed to catch up with the boat twice, delayed the trip, and finally arrived in Hangzhou on June 8.

I walked on the road for eleven days.

Yu Linwei, who came early, came to answer and reported the situation in Hangzhou County and Xin'an County.

It is generally consistent with the report sent to Beijing, and the specific situation can only be known when you go to Xin'an County.

It was raining in Hangzhou, dripping, neither big nor small, and it continued to rain, and the officers and soldiers guarding the city checked the customs clearance and identity documents, and then let them into the city.

A group of them found an inn called 'Keyunlai'.

In the hall, there was a lot of noise.

The dancing girl with a graceful posture, cloaked in tulle, exposed jade arms and fragrant shoulders, and a large piece of snow skin, swaying and whirling in song, raising her gauze skirt high, dancing gorgeously.

The rain did not stop, the tide did not recede, and the innkeepers were stranded in the city, and they could not go out, but gathered in the hall to watch the graceful dance of the dancing girls, and from time to time they high-fived and applauded.

Jiang Fuguang stopped for a long time, and his eyes were obscure.

She wore a felt cloth cloak, the cloak was wide, lined with a petite figure, weak bones and slender shape, ice muscles were clear, and she was really graceful.

A drunk man couldn't help but look stupid, stumbled towards her, and flowed: "Hey, beauty, come on, come on, have a drink with your grandfather......"