Jia Lian's personal guards, including the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Guards, totaled more than two hundred people.
With these manpower, it is enough to control the entire Salt Patrol Yushi Yamen, and drive out the idlers and others who should be kicked out. Even the Yamen and miscellaneous servants necessary to maintain the operation of the government office have a prescribed scope of activities and are not allowed to move around. Strict orders were issued, and those who violated the law would be punished directly as if they were trying to assassinate the imperial envoys, and the law would be rectified on the spot.
Therefore, soon the entire Salt Patrol Yamen became austere.
Jia Lian also relaxed a little.
Although given his status, it is unlikely that these officials and squires in Yangzhou would dare to take action against him. But since he decided to help the emperor with some business, he naturally had to guard against the other party jumping over the wall in a hurry.
Jia Lian always likes to make decisions before taking action. He doesn't want the situation of capsizing in the gutter to happen to him. This is also the reason why when he returned from Suzhou, he would detour to Nanjing to deploy troops.
There were also many garrison troops and government officials in Yangzhou, but he was worried about using them.
"Second Master..."
Walking into the main inner courtyard, Zhao'er and Xing'er came up. Jia Lian nodded, and they took the initiative to say: "We have changed the things in the second master's house, and the second master can sleep peacefully." .
In addition, the wife and young lady of the An family were also placed in the house by the second master, and Aunt Aqi and the others were watching over them.
The second master must be careful, the An family lady is very stubborn. Previously, the slaves had arranged for them to bathe and change clothes first, but they refused, and the slaves did not dare to hurt them, so they had to let them go... …”
Zhao'er and Xing'er were originally insignificant servants in the Jia family, but because of their good fortune, they were among the first batch of people to follow Jia Lian, so now they can be regarded as high-ranking servants in the Jia family.
Especially Zhao'er, Jia Lian has basically taken him with him wherever he goes these years, which has resulted in him not only improving a lot in his knowledge and conversation, but also doing things more and more in line with Jia Lian's wishes.
Jia Lian stopped walking towards the main room, seeming curious: "Bath and changing clothes? I just want to ask them something, what are you doing for bathing and changing clothes?"
"Yes, yes, the second master really just wants to ask them questions... but the slaves are thinking that they have to discuss things with the second master face to face. The second master likes to be clean, and a man has died in their family, so it is inevitable that they will have bad luck. I was afraid that it would be passed on to the second master, so I wanted to ask them to clean it up."
Zhao'er and Xing'er all nodded and bowed, smiling as if whatever the second master said was right, but we all understood in our hearts.
Jia Lian didn't bother to pay attention to them and walked into the house.
There were three people in the main room, three women. Ah Qin was dressed in light clothes and bent down to make the bed. At the table next to her, Mrs. Xu and her daughter were standing dutifully in white clothes. They looked like they were clinging to each other and worried. But after seeing Jia Lian come in, they all looked at him with resentment.
"Master is back."
When Ah Qin saw Jia Lian, she turned around and went to the tea room to get a cup of hot tea.
Jia Lian sat down, turned to look at the mother and daughter in the corner, and then said to Aqin: "They have been standing like this, why don't they sit and wait for me?"
Ah Qin glanced at the mother and daughter who had wary looks on their faces, with a trace of amusement and disdain flashing in his eyes, and then said in a sweet voice: "I have wronged you. I asked them to sit down, but they refused and even scolded me." , so the slaves can only be left to them.
However, they don't dare to go out, hehe, sister is guarding the door! "
Jia Lian just asked Aqin casually to ease the atmosphere, and after hearing this, he asked Ah Qin to step back.
"Yes, I will not disturb my pleasure. I hope you have a good time tonight..."
Xu Shi still held grudges. Before going out, Ah Qin took a special look at Mrs. Xu and said so.
This naturally caused the expressions of the mother and daughter to change again. Mrs. Xu even directly pulled her daughter behind her to block them.
Her eyes were angry and helpless. She knew that she would inevitably end up being humiliated tonight, and she was mentally prepared. She just wanted to protect her daughter from harm.
I originally thought that Jia Lian would tease her and force her to submit as he did in the mourning hall before, but until A Qin left for a long time, Jia Lian did not see any action or speak. He just held the teacup in his hand and drank lightly one by one. Sigh, seems to be thinking about something.
After soothing her restless daughter, Mrs. Xu finally spoke first: "I am a humble concubine with the appearance of Pu Liu, and I am a member of the family of a criminal official, so my status is low. But you are an imperial envoy, and I heard that you also have the status of a marquis. How noble is your status?"
Therefore, sir, why are you embarrassing us? Please show your respect. "
Mrs. Xu was afraid of offending Jia Lian, so she tried to look at Jia Lian with a calm expression.
When Jia Lian heard the sound, he turned his head. Faced with Jia Lian's appearance again, even though she despised and hated Jia Lian in her heart at this time, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart, it was a pity that such a good person was given to such a dog official by God.
"When did I say that I would make things difficult for you?"
Seeing that Jia Lian was busy and even looking at her with a smile, Mrs. Xu frowned and said, "Since you don't mean to embarrass yourself, please let my mother and daughter leave..."
"I'm not busy with this. Didn't I agree that if I have something to ask you two, I will let you two leave after I finish asking."
"Sir, do you really mean what you say?"
Even if she guessed that Jia Lian was teasing her deliberately, Mrs. Xu couldn't help but have some hopes.
Jia Lian then smiled and said: "Of course, if after asking the questions, you are willing to recommend yourself to the pillow, I won't mind letting you stay."
As soon as Jia Lian said this, before Mrs. Xu could say anything, Miss An, who was hiding behind her, couldn't help but poked her head and cursed angrily: "Bah, dog officer, you are not allowed to insult my mother!"
It can be seen that this girl's resentment towards Jia Lian has been pent-up for a long time. Just saying such a curse at this time was already the result of trying very hard to suppress it.
Jia Lian smiled, glanced at the little girl, and then said to Mrs. Xu: "Your love is so arrogant in words and deeds. Aren't you afraid of offending me? When the time comes, you will deliberately convict Mr. An of a serious crime and let all the female members of the An family suffer." The pain of being an official?"
Mrs. Xu's expression changed drastically, she knew this would happen!
Jia Lian was ordered to go to Jiangnan to investigate the salt administration case. Once the court determined that there were major flaws in the salt administration, his husband would be the number one criminal. Even if his husband is dead, as long as the court thinks he has committed a serious crime, it will naturally punish the An family.
As for whether there were any mistakes in the salt administration, whether her husband An Siyuan was innocent or guilty, it was obviously up to Jia Lian, the imperial envoy, to have the final say.
Sure enough, Jia Lian still wanted to use this to threaten her and make her submit.
But what could she do? She had expected and prepared for this since the day her husband was escorted back to Beijing by the emperor's order.
Her husband is a royal official, and if nothing happens, she will be a distinguished official wife, a royal wife.
If something happens to your husband, everyone in the family will be implicated.
As for the family members of criminal officials, the most common and frightening punishment is what Jia Lian just said was dismissed from office.
What is official appointment? He was detained and brought to justice, pretending to be an official prostitute. In the Jiaofang Division, there are countless such women.
As for Mrs. Xu, she would repay it herself, but letting her daughter suffer this punishment was absolutely unacceptable to her.
So almost instantly, she accepted her fate and no longer had any luck or resistance.
He quickly stopped his daughter, and then apologized to Jia Lian: "My little girl is rude, and I hope you, for the sake of her youth and ignorance, don't argue with her.
As long as you are willing to be merciful and let me live a safe life, sinful woman, I am willing to listen to your orders..."
At this point, Mrs. Xu felt extremely ashamed. After all, she is a serious official wife, not a prostitute. If she doesn't still care about a pair of children, even if she is killed, she is not willing to say such self-degrading words.
His daughter An Cai'er felt her mother holding her hand tightly, and couldn't help but glance at her mother. She saw the shame in her mother's eyes, and her little face was covered with tears.
But she is no longer an ignorant child. She understands what her father's death means to the family. She was also frightened by the word "offer" just mentioned by Jia Lian and turned pale. So at this moment, besides shedding tears, she did not dare to cry anymore. What to do, what to say.
Seeing the appearance of these two people, even Jia Lian, who was only planning to do a simple scene, couldn't help but wipe his nose, feeling that he must be very similar to the villain dog officer in the TV series.
So he coughed lightly, finally put away his joking mentality, and said seriously: "Okay, it was just a joke.
I have always been upright, strict and self-disciplined. How could I deliberately frame my colleagues?
If Mr. An is not guilty, I will naturally not maliciously frame him.
But I would like to ask Madam again, Mr. An, did you really die of illness, and not even Madam noticed any doubt? "
This is the second time Jia Lian has asked this question, and this time, Jia Lian's face is serious, as if he has any bad intentions.
Mrs. Xu thought for a while and replied: "The magistrate sent someone to return my husband's body that day, saying that he could not bear the severe cold on the road and died of an illness. He also ordered me to put my husband's body in a safe place and not to bury it. , waiting for the court to come down and check.
Since your Excellency still has doubts about the death of my late husband, why don’t you open the coffin and conduct an autopsy, but instead keep questioning me? "
Mrs. Xu looked at Jia Lian seriously.
Seeing Mrs. Xu like this, Jia Lian smiled. Just open your mouth.
"Of course I can open the coffin and conduct an autopsy, but thinking about it, even if Mr. An died of murder, since the person behind it dared to kill the imperial official, he was not afraid of the imperial court sending people down to investigate, so he was naturally fully prepared.
In this case, I'm afraid that even if I open the coffin and examine it, I won't be able to find anything.
However, if Madam here can provide me with some clues and information, maybe I will be able to find another way. "
Jia Lian said it naturally, and Mrs. Xu also put away her shameful attitude and looked at Jia Lian without blinking.
After all, she shook her head, "Since you have said so, why bother asking me. When the prefect sent my husband's body back, I also checked it. My husband did die from the cold.
Therefore, adults should be worrying too much. "
Wind chill? It seems that someone was frozen to death.
Jia Lian and Lin Ruhai absolutely did not believe that An Siyuan died of natural illness. There must be something fishy about Jiangnan's salt administration. Those people were afraid that An Siyuan would be exposed in front of the court after he went to Beijing, so they had no choice but to keep silent.
Even what the matter is, based on Lin Ruhai's experience in leading salt politics for many years, he can probably guess it, and Jia Lian also believes that Lin Ruhai's guess is reasonable.
It's just that Mrs. Xu, since she lives with An Siyuan in the Yanyan Censor's Yamen, it's impossible for her to know anything about her husband.
Why did she insist that her man died in a normal way?
"Madam and Mr. An's son are not in his maternal ancestral home."
Jia Lian suddenly laughed.
Mrs. Xu was stunned for a moment, "Sir, why do you say this?"
"If my guess is correct, Young Master Ling should be in Yangzhou now. Moreover, as long as I don't leave Yangzhou for a day, Madam will not be able to see Young Master Ling. And Madam, the only way to ensure Young Master Ling's safety is In front of the official, he pretended not to know anything.
I don’t know. Is my guess correct? "
As soon as Jia Lian said this, Mrs. Xu looked calm. An Cai'er, who was only shoulder height beside her, looked shocked, looking at Jia Lian as if he was an inhuman being.
"Madam, there is no need to deny it in a hurry. It is very simple for me to verify this conjecture.
There are so many people in the Salt Patrol Yamen. As long as I send people to arrest them all and interrogate them one by one, I don't believe that every one of them can be as tight-lipped as Madam.
As long as any one of them has seen Mr. Ling in the past four or five years, I will know that the lady is lying.
However, if I really do this, I will inevitably alert the enemy. For me, it is not a big deal, but for Mr. Ling, I am afraid it is not a good thing.
Therefore, I advise my wife to think carefully about whether to tell the truth to the officer while there is no one else around, or whether to continue to pretend that she knows nothing and work together with the thieves who murdered her husband.
I will not hide it from my wife. I have already obtained a lot of evidence that the major salt merchants in Yangzhou are selling illegal salt. When I go to Jiangnan this time, I will definitely rectify the salt policy on behalf of the court and kill those who are becoming more and more greedy. The arrogance of the salt merchants.
Therefore, Madam chooses to assist me, and I may be able to help you too. If he continues to work for the tiger, I'm afraid Anjia will be not far away from having his family confiscated and exterminated. "
After all, Jia Lian was someone who had fought in the wind and snow, and was able to deal with the emperor with ease.
Talking to Mrs. Xu seriously at this time brought with it a sense of power.
Mrs. Xu's face turned a little pale. She didn't know why Jia Lian, who used to look like a greedy and lustful dog official, was able to transform into the incarnation of justice! He still talks about her as a coward and a helper, as if she is already a vicious and evil woman!
She fell silent. People grow up in hardships. In the past, she was a wealthy and honorable lady. Once something happened to her husband, she had to shoulder the burden of the family and worry about the future of the family and her children.
Her power is too weak, so she can only be controlled by others.
If the seemingly powerful man in front of her is really as just and selfless as he says, then can she really take this opportunity to win a glimmer of hope for her family and children?
"Sir, you actually know about smuggling?"
"Don't underestimate the imperial court. If you are not sure, why would you send me down?
Since I dare to come, I am confident that I can clean up this mess. If Madam can't even trust me, she is destined to be wronged and humiliated. "
Being wronged and humiliated!
Yes, you have reached the point where you can be humiliated, so what else can you not take a chance on? Even if Jia Lian deceived her, the An family would just lose more completely.
"Bang~"
Suddenly, Mrs. Xu took a step forward, her legs naturally knelt down, and she made a loud noise on the ground.
"I also ask the imperial envoy, for the sake of being an official in the same court as my late husband, please save my son.
If the imperial envoy can rescue my son safely, I will call you my concubine and work as an ox or a horse for you for the rest of my life. I am willing to do that! "
Mrs. Xu nodded several times at Jia Lian, her voice was sad, as if she was grasping at the last straw.
Jia Lian bent down to help her up and said in a deep voice: "Madam, please tell me in detail."
"Yes, it's like this... That day, my husband was criticized by the court for not doing things well, and was then escorted to Beijing by the Yamen. I and my two children were in fear all day long, fearing that something might happen.
Who would have known that before my husband's accident happened, my son suddenly disappeared.
He went out to offer incense and pray for his father. Who knew that someone would kidnap him halfway there? We mobilized everyone to search for him, but we couldn't find him.
Later, Wu Zhirong sent his late husband's body back, saying that he died of a cold due to an accident on the road, but I didn't want to believe it.
Who knew that Wu Zhirong would send someone to threaten us, saying that an imperial envoy from the imperial court would come to Jiangnan in the near future. If the imperial envoy asked questions, let us reply according to his wishes.
Anyone who dares to disobey him or cause trouble will never see my son again...
Please have mercy on me and save my son. Even if his father made a mistake and the child is innocent, please have mercy on me and save my son. I kowtow to you..."
Mrs. Xu cried and told everything in detail.
Jia Lian was not too surprised. Previously, they felt that it was unreasonable for the An family to send their only son to the father-in-law's house, so they put it to the test.
On the contrary, as Mrs. Xu and others are relatives around Ellsworth, if there is really something fishy about Ellsworth, Mrs. Xu and others will know something about it.
For those behind the scenes, silencing An Siyuan was already risking the world's disapproval and could not easily calm the situation.
If Mrs. Xu and others are silenced... Anyone with a sane mind in the court will know that there is a big problem!
Therefore, Mrs. Xu and others cannot be killed. But how to make him obedient and not become the one who leaks the news?
Controlling the An family's only bloodline and forcing Mrs. Xu to submit was indeed the simplest and most effective move.
If Jia Lian had not made up his mind to fight the Yangzhou gang and had the patience to slowly break through Mrs. Xu's defense, he might not have gotten this news.
It seems that Mrs. Xu really knows something about the situation.
Without rushing to ask about the salt administration, Jia Lian asked first: "How are you sure that it was Wu Zhirong who kidnapped your son and that he said it himself?"
"It's not that he said it himself. It's just that he threatened me verbally that day. Those who kidnapped my son that night sent letters threatening me. Combined with some of their affairs with my late husband, I still can't guess what happened to him. Kidnapped my son!
Please sir, we must bring this Wu Zhirong to justice.
A large part of the reason why Yangzhou's salt policy collapsed was caused by Wu Zhirong. "
In order to win Jia Lian's trust, Mrs. Xu took the initiative to explain without waiting for Jia Lian to ask: "As your Excellency said, the reason why the salt tax in Lianghuai was reduced by so much last year was because those salt merchants secretly Selling large amounts of private salt!
In fact, my late husband had already noticed it. Firstly, the salt merchants were very well concealed. Secondly, every time my late husband wanted to summon the salt messengers from the Yushi Yamen and the Salt Transportation Department to arrest him, either the salt merchants would do it in advance. After getting the news, they withdrew, or they were tried to favor or hinder by the prefect Wu Zhirong and others.
The most serious one was when those people threatened the lives of my An family and my family. Therefore, my husband had no choice but to submit and did not dare to investigate the illegal activities again...
When there is more private salt, official salt will naturally be squeezed, and the salt tax will be greatly reduced.
It was not until the final accounting last year that the salt tax was found to have dropped by 30%. My husband realized that the matter was not going to work out, and he became anxious and panicked. Before being escorted back to Beijing by the imperial court, my late husband made a lot of preparations. He said that if his trip to Beijing could not be concealed, in order to protect his family, he would expose everything to the imperial court one by one, so as to make up for his mistakes and ask the imperial court for his own death. Forgiveness settles down.
Who knew that those people could be so cruel and cruel that they would kill my late husband on the way..."
Mrs. Xu said with a sad and indignant look.
Jia Lian listened quietly. He believed that Mrs. Xu was not lying. Because Lin Ruhai also said that the court's new policy requires salt merchants to help the court transport grain and grass to the border in exchange for more salt.
The advantage of this is that the court can save a lot of expenses, but accordingly, the interests of the salt merchants will be squeezed.
In order to make more profits, it makes sense that salt merchants would choose to smuggle private salt to avoid salt taxes.
"Oh, if Madam says it this way, Mr. An is actually a good and upright official. Was he completely coerced by Wu Zhirong and others?
I'm just curious. It's been two years since Mr. An took charge of the salt administration. Why didn't he report the clues to the court when he discovered them before? Why did he decide to expose the massive smuggling of salt merchants to the editor at the last moment? "
"This... maybe my husband didn't expect that things would become so big at first."
Seeing the beautiful woman kneeling on the ground in front of her, trying to cover up her appearance, Jia Lian shook his head and smiled, but he didn't expose her.
Why didn't you expose it at the beginning? Naturally, the salt merchants gave you enough benefits!
It was just that the appetite of the salt merchants was getting bigger and bigger, making Mr. An more and more uneasy. When he wanted to find a way out, he realized that the pirate ship was in trouble.
It's a pity that it is difficult to be an upright official. Especially for someone as fat as Xunyan Yushi.
This further illustrates Lin Ruhai's ability. After working in Yanzheng for so many years, I have never made any major mistakes, and I can still maintain my clean image...
My uncle must have some skills. It's a pity that it's not a holiday, otherwise he would have needed another backer and help.
(End of chapter)
