That night, Yan Mansion.
"Father, what should we do next? His Majesty asked the child to be the examiner!"
In Yan Song's study, Yan Shifan was looking sad and kept complaining to Yan Song.
"Humph, His Majesty asked you to be the examiner, so you should take good care of me! If you fail, see how I deal with you." Yan Song, perhaps a little impatient, took off his reading glasses and said solemnly.
"But, father, I have no experience in this area. If I am delayed by then..." Yan Shifan said, his voice gradually became quieter.
"If you don't have experience, just learn. If you don't know something, ask. Isn't your father still here? You useless thing!" Yan Song said, getting angry.
"Father, calm down. The child has realized his mistake." Yan Shifan said quickly when he saw his father was angry.
At this moment, a maid came into the study carrying a basin of hot water. Seeing this, Yan Shifan quickly stepped forward to serve Yan Song and took off his shoes and socks.
After Yan Song's feet were put into the hot water, his tone softened and he asked Yan Shifan: "Are those guys a little more honest?"
Yan Shifan naturally understood what Yan Song was referring to. After thinking for a moment, he responded: "Father, most of those guys have become honest, but there are still a very few who rely on their qualifications and do not take your orders seriously."
"Hmph, if they dare to tamper with the salt tax this time, I will never let them go lightly!" Yan Song said solemnly after hearing his son Yan Shifan's answer.
"It's just father, the child is still a little worried. After all, you have issued a "military order" to His Majesty before! I'm afraid Qingliu will..." Yan Shifan said, paused, and meant something.
"I understand what you said. This time the salt tax is levied, those Qingliu people will definitely interfere with it and try every means to make the salt tax uneven."
As Yan Song spoke, he lifted his feet from the hot water. Seeing this, the maid on the side quickly wiped them dry with a silk towel.
"Ah, what should we do? Are we going to see you being punished by His Majesty?" Yan Shifan panicked after hearing Yan Song's words.
"It doesn't matter, the one who should be panicking the most right now is not me, but Yan Maoqing. His entire wealth and life are staked on this."
"If the salt tax is collected, he may still be alive. If the salt tax is not collected, then his head will have to be hung on the wall of Beijing by Your Majesty as a warning! And based on what I know about him, he will definitely I will try my best to collect the salt tax by any means, and just wait for his good news."
"Besides, before Yan Maoqing sets out, I have sent people to provide him with all the dirty information about the officials in Qingliu who may be obstructing him. He will know what to do."
After Yan Song finished speaking, he added immediately.
"What does father mean, is Yan Maoqing allowed to use black materials to deal with those Qingliu officials?" Yan Shifan asked doubtfully after listening to his father's story.
"In normal times, Your Majesty might not pay too much attention, but now it is the time to collect the salt tax, and Yan Maoqing's identity has also changed from the left deputy censor to the person in charge of the salt tax collection this time!"
"I would like to ask, is the impeachment proposed by the person in charge of the imperial court's salt tax collection sufficient?"
After Yan Song finished speaking, he added another sentence.
…
At this time, Yan Maoqing was heading towards Zhejiang via the Grand Canal by boat.
"How long will it take to reach Zhejiang at the earliest?" Yan Maoqing got up from the bed, called the guards and asked.
"Sir, according to the people on the previous ship, according to the current speed, we can reach Zhejiang in three days."
The guard responsible for Yan Maoqing's safety saw Yan Maoqing asking questions. After thinking for a moment, he respectfully answered.
"Well, I understand. You go down and do your work." After getting the answer he wanted, Yan Maoqing waved his hand and motioned for him to leave.
"Yes, sir!" the guard said, then turned and left.
Looking at the guards leaving, Yan Maoqing sighed, and then took out an envelope from under the pillow, which was full of dirty information about officials from Qingliu.
"Old Yan Ge is pushing me, Yan Maoqing, into the fire pit!" Yan Maoqing opened the envelope and said quietly after seeing the name on it.
Yan Maoqing knew that his salt tax collection would not go smoothly this time! I have always been a die-hard member of the Strict Party. When those officials from the Qingliu faction saw me and wanted to get rid of them, how could they honestly cooperate with me to collect the salt tax?
After Yan Maoqing was initially confused, he quickly understood his position. This time he will charge at the forefront, as the sword in Yan Song's hand, to attack the Qingliu faction! By the way, he collected enough salt tax for the court.
"Hope everything goes well!"
After Yan Maoqing finished speaking, he came out of the room and turned to the deck. He looked at the night view on the shore and didn't know what he was thinking.
…
Zhejiang, Chief Secretary Yamen.
Since Hu Zongxian's last order, Zheng Michang has not returned to his home. Instead, he has stayed in the yamen all day long. Every half hour, he has to personally take people to the warehouse where the salt tax is stored for inspection.
"My lord, my lord, the time has come!" Just as Zheng Michang fell asleep, he was woken up by his subordinates.
"Who dares to disturb my dream? I don't want to live anymore, right?" Zheng Michang opened his hazy eyes, and when he saw clearly who was coming, he immediately became furious.
"Sir...Sir, it was you who asked me to wake you up every half hour, saying that it must be done no matter what the situation is." The subordinate said aggrievedly when he saw Zheng Michang getting angry.
"You... oh, forget it, come with me to the bank room!" After Zheng Michang said this, he rubbed his eyes and said in a deep voice.
"Yes, sir!" The subordinate responded repeatedly and led the way.
Soon, Zheng Michang was led by his subordinates to the warehouse. He yawned, then took out the key he carried with him and opened the first lock! Then, his subordinate took out another key from his arms and opened the second lock.
"Sir, let's go in." After Zheng Michang's subordinates said this, they stepped aside and let Zheng Michang enter first.
"Hey, with so much money, why do you have to hand over all of it? If it goes according to the past..."
Looking at the neatly stacked silver coins, Zheng Michang's thoughts were racing and he didn't know what he was thinking.
"Okay, let's start counting the numbers!" Zheng Michang looked away from the silver. He was afraid that if he continued to look at it like this, he would be unable to restrain his inner greed.
"Yes!" After receiving Zheng Michang's order, the subordinates behind him entered and began to count the amount of silver one by one against the book.
"Eight hundred and seventy thousand taels, nine hundred and twenty thousand taels, one million and sixty thousand taels, one million and one hundred and sixty thousand taels!"
"Hey, how come there is one hundred thousand taels missing!"
The official responsible for counting the silver looked at the book in his hand and said doubtfully.
"What? How come there is one hundred thousand taels missing? You must have not counted carefully." Zheng Michang on the side was shocked when he heard this. He immediately lost sleep. Then he took the book from his hand and decided to count the inventory himself. of silver.
"Eighty-nine thousand taels, one million taels, one million taels, one million 160,000 taels!" After Zheng Michang personally counted the silver taels in the warehouse, he couldn't help but feel the souls of the dead. It was over, there was a hundred thousand taels missing. !
Zheng Michang suppressed the panic in his heart and ordered in a deep voice: "From now on, no one is allowed to enter or leave the Chief Secretary's Yamen, and any offender will be killed without mercy!"
"You go to the Governor's Mansion to report that the salt tax has been reduced by one hundred thousand taels!"
"yes!"
The person pointed out by Zheng Mi Chang responded quickly and left quickly, rushing to the Governor's Mansion.
(End of chapter)
