Tomorrow is the day when Yan Maoqing officially set off to collect the salt tax, but tonight, Yan Maoqing is lying on the bed tossing and turning.

Not long ago, when Yan Maoqing learned that Yan Song, the first assistant of the cabinet, personally recommended himself to His Majesty as the person in charge of the salt tax collected by the imperial court, he was very excited, and his filial piety for so many years was finally rewarded!

There is no other reason, there are too many hands and feet to move! During the Hongwu period, the imperial court was still able to collect more than 10 million taels of silver in the salt tax, but since the Hongwu period, the salt tax collected by the imperial court is getting less and less, showing a trend of decreasing year by year.

Especially last year, the imperial court collected a total of 1.2 million taels of salt tax.

As far as Yan Maoqing knows, the actual salt tax collected every year is about 9 million taels! And the 9 million taels of silver, after being exploited by officials along the way, and when they were sent to the capital through the Grand Canal, there was only 1.2 million left.

And at the beginning, when Yan Song warned everyone that they were not allowed to do anything about the salt tax this year or even in the future, Yan Maoqing, like those officials, was dismissive of this.

And soon, instructed by Yan Song, an extremely bloody purge campaign was launched vigorously! In this process, those officials who wanted to think crookedly continued to expose scandals, which soon led to the impeachment of everyone.

And the Kaifeng Mansion Yin is an excellent example, after he was imprisoned, his family was not spared, and was soon found by the enemy.

And in the whole process, His Majesty turned a blind eye to this, and even had the intention of encouragement in it, as long as he took out a part of his property and put it into the treasury after the house was searched.

The emperor's acquiescence further fueled this atmosphere, and those officials who were excluded and depressed by the officials also joined the impeachment army, and it only took a very short time for Yan Song to remove all those disobedient officials from the ranks.

And Yan Song's series of operations also frightened Yan Maoqing, he was often glad that he was not as impulsive as those officials, and at the same time, he was more loyal to the Yan family.

And just now, the Yan family specially sent someone to send a message to Yan Maoqing, telling him that no matter what method he used, he must collect a full amount of salt tax for the imperial court! And this is not in a consultative tone, but in a completely commanding tone.

And Yan Maoqing naturally knows that if he can't do this well, then what will greet him is to be abandoned by the entire Yan Party!

Yan Maoqing knows that he has been greedy for ink a lot in recent years, and he is even about to make trouble all over the court! At that time, once there is no one to protect him, he will be a fat sheep to be slaughtered, and the end may be countless times worse than that of Kaifeng Mansion Yin.

"Yan Maoqing, Yan Maoqing, why do you say you can't control these hands?"

Thinking of this, Yan Maoqing completely lost her sleepiness, got up from the bed, poured herself a cup of tea, but kept thinking about ways to break the situation in her mind.

If the salt tax is levied at a glance according to Yan Song's requirements, it will inevitably offend a large number of officials at that time, which is absolutely unacceptable to Yan Maoqing, who is smooth and experienced as an official.

However, if the salt tax is not collected enough, he may have to hang his head on the city wall to make an example.

After thinking for a while, Yan Maoqing decisively chose the dead friend not to die in the poor way, only to see Yan Maoqing drink all the tea in the cup, and said quietly: "Colleagues, I'm sorry, I Yan Maoqing also want to live!" ”

……

Late at night, Yan Mansion.

When Yan Shifan came out of the concubine's room and was about to return to his room to rest, he accidentally saw that the light in the study was still on, and the light reflected Yan Song's figure.

Seeing this scene, Yan Shifan suddenly remembered his instructions to his father Yan Song during the day, shook his head, and prepared to go to his father Yan Song's study, so that he could rest early and not burn down.

"Knock knock!" There was a knock on the door.

Yan Song put down the brush in his hand, frowned, his face was full of displeasure, and asked, "Who?" ”

"Father, it's me." Yan Shifan's voice came from outside the door.

"Come in." Yan Song sighed helplessly, and then beckoned his son into the house.

"Father, it's so late, it's time for you to go and rest." As soon as Yan Shifan entered the door, he bowed and saluted.

"Hmph, how can I sleep? Recently, as the head of the cabinet, I don't deal with it, who will handle it? ”

Yan Song swept his uncompetitive son with a cold gaze and asked rhetorically.

"My father is diligent in official duties, which is naturally excellent, but he also has to pay attention to his body! At the moment, none of us can do without you, if you have any three strengths and two weaknesses, we will ......" When Yan Shifan said this, he suddenly realized that he had said the wrong thing, and quickly knelt on the ground and asked for his father Yan Song's forgiveness.

"Say, why don't you say it?" Yan Song looked at his son who was kneeling on the ground and spoke.

"If the child says the wrong thing, please punish the father!" Yan Shifan's face was full of guilt, and he said in a deep voice.

"Alas, get up, you're right, right now, whether it's Your Majesty or you, they can't do without me, and I, Yan Song, have to hold on for a while." After Yan Song finished speaking, there was an indescribable sense of loneliness in his tone.

"Father." Seeing this, Yan Shifan was ready to comfort him.

"Go back, I'm going to rest." Yan Song said, turned back to his position, and put away the processed official documents.

"Yes, I hope my father takes care of his health!" After Yan Shifan finished speaking, he left the study very reluctantly, and not long after Yan Shifan left, the light in the study was completely extinguished.

……

The Forbidden City, the Palace of Nourishing the Heart.

At the same time, Jiajing did not sleep, and on his bookcase, there was a booklet handed over by Jinyiwei, which recorded in detail the crimes committed by Yan Maoqing since he became an official, as well as the income from embezzlement of ink.

"Hmph, let the hero investigate the hero, let the hero investigate the hero, let the corrupt official investigate the corrupt official!"

"Yan Maoqing, you have to give me a solid job, otherwise, I will let your head move tomorrow."

Jiajing rubbed the dragon head carved on the dragon chair with his hand and muttered to himself silently.

And Jiajing's idea is that after Yan Maoqing collects the salt tax, he will deal with him by the way, after all, Yan Maoqing's family property is also quite rich, which can greatly enrich the treasury.

Immediately after that, without alarming a single guard, Jiajing tossed and turned, and came to the roof of the Heart Cultivation Palace.

"That's what happened up here!"

The Heart Cultivation Hall where Jiajing is located is the highest place in the entire Forbidden City, so you can have a panoramic view of the entire Forbidden City from here.

The sky is dotted with stars, a full moon hangs in the sky, and the bright moonlight falls on the ground, providing light for the animals looking for food.

At this moment, a column of forbidden soldiers in armor passed near the Heart Cultivation Temple, and they were tasked with patrolling this area.

In the team, someone habitually raised his head, and when he saw the figure standing on the roof of the Heart Cultivation Palace, he couldn't help but be shocked, pointed to the roof of the Heart Cultivation Temple, and said, "Look, there are people on the roof!" ”

"What!"

Seeing this, the rest of the companions hurriedly looked in the direction they were pointing, and saw that it was empty, and there was nothing.

"You read it wrong, such a high height, unless he is an immortal! Otherwise, it would be absolutely impossible to climb to the roof of the Heart Nourishing Hall without relying on any external objects. ”

"Keep patrolling, if you disturb Your Majesty, you won't be able to cut off even ten heads!"

"Oh, maybe I'm wrong."

(End of chapter)