Kangxi did not come forward, and Ma De, Song Rou, Guo Xiu, Yu Chenglong, Chen Huang and others who caused the accident were either busy with their own affairs, or put on a posture of "ignoring things outside the window", and everything was left to outsiders to comment.

As a result, such a strange scene appeared in the Qing court.

The ministers quarreled endlessly over certain things in the court, but the two groups of people who could make trouble and solve the matter were "not concerned with themselves and hung high".

In this case, what was already going on was still going on in an orderly manner, and the quarrels of the ministers did not play any role in this.

……

"What does the emperor mean?"

In one of the studys, the questioner looked around, but the eyes he saw were only blank. …… Now almost everyone is thinking about this problem, but so far no one seems to be able to understand Kangxi's mind.

"Now that this matter is so big, is the emperor also thinking about how to end it?" The man asked again.

"The end? If the emperor didn't want this to cause trouble, at the beginning, he only needed to say a few words, so why bother to watch things get to this point? Someone retorted.

"Not necessarily." The third interjected again, "These things are not trivial. Even if it's the emperor, it's not that you can suppress it if you want to! ”

"Then what does the emperor want to do? Do you want to watch us quarrel so much? The first asked again.

"Why not? Doesn't the emperor also like to watch dramas? ......" the second man sneered.

……

"Hehe, what you said is good, look down, the emperor is indeed a little bit of a good show to stay by the side!" Seeing a few people fighting there, someone spoke up.

"Lord Chen, this official is just talking casually, I didn't expect it to hit your mind. It seems that Master Chen, your brain is not very good! Yes? Hahaha......" The second person squinted at Chen Xijia who was interjecting, and said with a smile. As a result, Chen Xijia was choked by his two words, and could only laugh twice, but he never intervened again.

"The salt class is hopeless. Since Namad sealed the two Huai salt transportation, the means have been one after another, and they have emerged in an endless stream. It was clear that he didn't intend to let those salt merchants turn over again. And he still has the emperor to support him, so let's not waste any effort on this. In my opinion, the most important thing now is to save the luck. Otherwise, the world will be in chaos. None of the people who were discussing cared about Chen Xijia's mood, and when they saw that he stopped talking, they didn't care, and continued to discuss together.

"It's hard. Those salt merchants are desperate right now! …… I really don't know where all the shrewdness of these people has gone. It's all come to this point, why do you have to hang on this tree and wait to die? As long as the people in the court casually promise a few words, they dare to die in the court to knock money, and they don't even know how to leave two coffin books! ”

"Well, it's not like they don't want to stay. Don't you think there's a reliable backend? Don't you know? Our prince sent someone to Jiangsu at the beginning,...... Until now, I'm afraid I don't know how much I've caught! ”

……

"What are you all talking nonsense? Can the crown prince talk casually? Hu Lai! A few people were talking, and a person walked in outside the study, perhaps unhappy with the words of a few people in the study, and this person's face was a little unhappy.

"Tong Xiang!" The seven or eight people in the study all stood up and saluted with fists at this person.

"What are you talking about, O Ling? …… Which eye did you see the crown prince send someone to Jiangsu? Where did you hear that his men went there to ask the salt merchants for money? Do you have proof? …… I can tell you, don't think that it is great that the old man is your father, and if you provoke the crown prince, even if he revives the old man, he will not be able to protect you! Tong Guowei didn't say anything about the etiquette of these people, and while walking towards the study, he opened his mouth and reprimanded the official who said that the crown prince sent someone to Jiangsu to collect money.

"Don't be angry, Tong Xiang. We don't have any outsiders here, so let's just tell me what you really are? "Ah Ling'a, the fifth son of the minister Kubilong, the pro-son of Arson who was sent to Vladivostok by Kangxi, although he is also the identity of the national uncle, he still has no temper towards Tong Guowei. …… In fact, there is no way to do it. Who called Tong Guowei the same generation as Curb Bilong, and his status was a lot higher than him?

"Less grinning! When I'm kidding you, what's the matter? Glaring at Ah Ling'a impatiently, Tong Guowei didn't pay attention to the others, walked directly to his desk, sat down, and asked everyone present with a gloomy face: "I see that you all talked about it quite lively, what did you talk about?" ”

"Xiang Tong, you're kidding. We are just making a fuss, how can we show off in front of you? Including Alinga, the officials who were either Shangshu or Shilang all bowed their heads and laughed. Tong Guowei is now in a bad mood, how dare they be presumptuous.

"Not pretentious? Hmph, don't you want to say it or don't you have to? Tong Guowei is now basically the head and "patriarch" of the emperor's relatives and many ministers, so he didn't bother to be polite to these people, and asked directly.

“…… Tong Xiang, we all think that the salt class is not good. But no matter what, we have to keep the luck, otherwise, there will definitely be chaos. Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Alinga had no choice but to come forward and speak.

"Huh, what's wrong? What can go wrong? Tong Guowei asked rhetorically.

"Caoyun has too much to do with it, if it is really brought down, it will definitely be a mess from the court to the local government." Alinga said.

"That's all you have to say?" Tong Guowei looked at Ah Ling'a, and didn't comment on what he said, just asked.

"This ...... We all think that the emperor seems to have some meaning to watch the excitement! But I'm not sure! With a slight flush on his face, Alinga glanced his eyes away from Chen Xijia.

"Humph!" Still noncommittal, glaring coldly at Aling'a, Tong Guowei said to everyone again: "If it's okay, go back." I still have something to ...... Ah Ling'a, Chen Xijia, the two of you stay. ”

A group of people looked at each other and didn't understand what happened to Tong Guowei today, but they didn't dare to ask, so they had to follow the orders. …… After a while, the irrelevant people left. Ah Ling'a looked at Chen Xijia with disdain, turned around and sat down casually. Chen Xijia didn't care about himself either, and still sat back in his place...... A stool that is relatively far away.

……

"Xijia, now this whole court is full of weirdness, what do you say?" Tong Guowei glanced at Ah Ling'a again as if warning, and then turned to Chen Xijia and asked. In fact, Alinga and these people are all his henchmen, and they followed him earlier than Chen Xijia and others, so seeing Chen Xijia and Wang Daoming and others being valued by him, they all felt a little pantothenic acid in their hearts. But that's not bad, at least, it's easy for him to control.

"Tong Xiang, have you found anything strange about our Zhili?" Chen Xijia was not polite, and when he heard Tong Guowei's question, he just arched his hand lightly, and immediately hit the point.

"Strange things? Hmph, Lord Chen, Zhili has been calm in the past few months, what's the strange thing? Ah Ling Ah raised her head, still looking at Chen Xijia with slanted eyes.

"Haha, calm and calm? Lord Alinga, what you said is not wrong at all, the problem is precisely in this 'calm sea'. Chen Xijia looked at Ah Ling'a with a smile, saw that the other party's face had changed slightly, and after frowning slightly, he nodded, and turned to look at Tong Guowei.

"Yes! Jiangnan is like that, and Zhili should also follow some storms, but the imperial court has not received any news of something below, and it seems that this problem is not small. Tong Guowei wiped the short beard on his lips with his fingers and nodded.

"Grain prices in Jiangnan have skyrocketed, but the grain prices in Zhili have not fluctuated in the past few months! Tong Xiang, Master A, this is not just 'not small'! can make the grain merchants of Zhili so obedient, this must be someone secretly manipulating! Chen Xijia said.

"Who could it be?" Alinga couldn't help but ask.

"I guess it's the emperor! However, this is not certain. …… Although the emperor is the lord of a country, it is impossible to keep the grain price of a province unchanged with just a few words. Moreover, if the emperor wants to stabilize the price of grain, he must use money. But I also checked the accounts of the household department in the past few months, and there is nothing wrong with it. Chen Xijia thought for a moment and said.

"The emperor shouldn't have allocated money from the inner treasury, right?" Alinga was skeptical. However, when he thought that Tong Guowei was the head of the Internal Affairs Office and was in charge of the emperor's internal treasury, his face immediately turned a little red. …… If Kangxi really took money out of his own pocket, how could Tong Guowei not know?

"It's not the emperor!" Sure enough, Tong Guowei shook his head.

"If not, it's hard to guess." Chen Xijia exhaled and said: "In addition to the emperor and the household department, there are only two provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang that have the ability to stabilize the grain prices of Zhili. However, now that the two provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang are still extremely difficult, how can they extend their hands to Zhili again? ”

"Could it be that Mad?" Alinga asked suddenly.

"Mader?"

"yes. This guy isn't just bold. can surround the two Huai salt merchants to death, and his methods are now understood by everyone. Moreover, salt classes have always been the most profitable. Anhui has sold so much salt recently, and the treasury in his province may have long been unable to hold it. Isn't it a piece of cake to take a little effort to stabilize the price of grain in Zhili? Alinga said.

"Reasonable! Why didn't I think of that? …… That's right, the emperor must have transferred money from the treasury of Anhui! Chen Xijia clapped his hands violently and said. As a result, his performance made Alinga feel much better about himself, and his perception of him also improved significantly.

"You're all mistaken!" Tong Guowei shook his head and sighed.

"Mistaken?"

"That's right. It was not Anhui who did it, but Mukden, it was Ferdinand! Tong Guowei burst out of his mouth with the last three words.

……

"This is a letter from Tong Bao just sent from Mukden!" Seeing that Chen Xijia and A Ling'a only expressed a little surprise and then both looked thoughtful, Tong Guowei nodded with satisfaction, and took out a letter from a stack of case files and handed it to the two.

"Ferdinand transported all the three million stone rice to Liaodong, near the newly built port called 'Dalian'. It seems that he has spotted the opportunity and plans to make a big profit! ”

"Three million stones? Where did Mukden get so much food? How many people are there? How is it possible to come up with so much at once? Chen Xijia is a household servant, and as soon as he read the letter, he expressed his suspicions. Fengtian was able to take out three million stone of grain at once, which was too unexpected for him.

"I don't believe that either. However, Tong Bao was conclusive in his letter. Three million stone grain, he would never make such a joke. There was a hint of complaint in Tong Guowei's words. That Tong Bao was unhappy when he was arranged to be Ferdinand's subordinate in Fengtian, but now? I actually moved my home! I heard that this guy is still in close contact with Ferdinand, and he usually doesn't have much news. If it weren't for the importance of this incident, it is estimated that he would still not let out half a fart.

"Mukden's rice...... Could it be that the emperor wants to repentance and let Fengtianmi enter the customs? "Alinga also knew about what happened. As soon as Fengtian produced rice, the price of rice in Jiangnan plummeted, causing hundreds of officials to oppose it. It's good now, take out three million stones at once, does Ferdinand want to bring the price of grain back to the ground in Jiangsu and Zhejiang? But this is also true, now that the price of rice in Jiangnan has skyrocketed, it is not wrong to hit it back all at once.

"Quite possibly. Otherwise, what else would Ferdinand do with the three million stone grain to Liaodong? Tong Guowei sighed and said.

"Tong Xiang, you left us for this matter?" Chen Xijia asked.

"That's right. …… From Liaodong to Tianjin, and then to the capital, the journey time is very short. Moreover, as far as I know, Ferdinand now has hundreds of big ships in his hands, which can carry 300,000 stone of rice into Beijing at a time, as long as he hires some more, when the time comes, I am afraid that all the 3 million stone rice will be transported to Zhili in less than a month! That's several times faster than Caoyun. And the distance is also short, and the loss is also less. I'm afraid the emperor will be moved! Tong Guowei didn't say what it was for, but he understood what Ah Ling'a and Chen Xijia meant. Caoyun represents huge interests, but if Caoyun is replaced by Mukden's rice, it will cut off too many people's financial routes. Especially Tong Guowei, as the leader of a group of ministers, cannot but consider the interests of his subordinates.

"The money that the imperial court throws on Cao Yun every year is at least five or six million taels, and at most it is more than eight million taels, and if it is from Fengtian, it is estimated that it will be more than three million taels at most...... With such a big spread, if you want to persuade the emperor, I'm afraid it's difficult! Chen Xijia couldn't help scratching his scalp. In fact, he deliberately said less! As a household servant, he actually knows better than anyone the benefits that Cao Yun brings. If the average amount of money spent by the Qing court on Cao Yun every year is almost three to four times the price of grain in Jiangnan! The Qing court had to transport 300 to 4 million stone of grain to the Zhili area every year. How much of a fortune does this have to be? In particular, there is a privilege of the boat, which is to carry the "Tuyi" with the ship. What is Tuyi? Although it is said that it is a local product on the surface, the article in it is too big. The Qing court stipulated that each boat in Beijing could carry 150 stone "Tuyi" and be exempt from taxation! And when the empty ship returns south, you can also bring another 60 stone duty-free goods! This coming-and-going, duty-free goods of more than 200 stones attracted a large number of merchants to gather around the boat, forming a kind of merchant known as "Fengke". "Wind guest", as the name suggests, is a hitchhiker who takes a boat to make money. These merchants brought all sorts of things on the boats, and even took advantage of the opportunity to sell illicit salt. They generally divide the profits with the grain ships, so that the grain ships can get 30% of the profits from commodity sales without paying the cost while getting the remuneration for transporting grain. That's another lot of money. At least a few million taels a year. In addition, most of the grain ships transported by Cao Yun are more rice grains, and after being transported to the capital, they hand over all the things that should be handed over, and then sell the rest to make money. That's another one. Kangxi once ordered the boat to ban the sale of surplus grain, but it caused the price of grain in Zhili to rise, so we can see what a big deal this is! …… In this way, although the Qing court collected a total of only one or two million taels of taxes at the various passes of the canal every year, the Cao Yun was associated with huge benefits of more than 10 million taels or even close to 20 million taels per year. In other words, if Kangxi changed Jiangnan rice to Fengtian rice, he could save millions of taels for the Qing court every year, and in addition, he could increase the tax revenue of millions of taels of silver, which added up to almost 10 million taels of silver in vain! …… With such a large sum of money in front of them, who would watch it fly away? In particular, once the transportation stopped, the annual money for the management of the canal could also be saved, and the drought and flood disasters on both sides of the canal could also be reduced, which also saved a lot of disaster relief money for the imperial court. And also...... It's impossible to say.

"No matter how difficult it is, I have to say a few words to the emperor!" Tong Guowei didn't know about these problems, but he was also very helpless. Originally, when there was an accident in the salt class, because the crown prince Yinren intervened, he didn't care about himself, he just waited by the side to watch the show. However, who would have thought that this fire would burn again? Those hateful salt merchants, and that hateful Li Pan! If you have something to do, what kind of scribbling is it? Don't you know what's at stake?