The city of Yangzhou is still unaware of the changes in the capital.
Some father-in-laws thought they were quite capable.
Until Han Ziren arrived in a hurry.
Luo Chenglin, a member of the Thousand Households of the Internal Security Bureau, breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the affairs in Yangzhou from the outside, he was a member of a thousand households, so he still felt a little stressed when making decisions on many things.
"...The criminal center is still normal?"
Luo Chenglin nodded, "That Ye Guan knew we were here and didn't dare to mess around. But there were people from the palace."
"It's nothing to worry about. Something happened in the palace." Han Ziren stood by the window with his hands behind his back. "His Majesty was caught up in the salt-related affairs of the ministers. His Majesty Long Yan was furious and purged many people at once."
"Does Ye Guan know?"
"Mao Yuwen is here." Han Ziren frowned and looked out the window, with some thoughts in his eyes, "Even if you didn't know it before, you will know it now. So our intelligence is meaningless."
Once Mao Yuwen arrives, he will never let Ye Guan mess around.
Since there was nothing extraordinary, there was no point in reporting it to the emperor. On the contrary, it seems that he is looking for trouble.
Luo Chenglin sighed and expressed another feeling, "With your majesty's ambition, the only emperors in Taizu and Taizong in the Ancestral Temple are inferior."
If there is no result in this matter, it must not work! This sentence is simple, how many emperors can do it?
In fact, many things are just a matter of determination and courage. Many times, the method is right, but the execution is not resolute. One person needs to be put here and another person needs to be put there. In the end, it just becomes a stage show, and everyone is just trying to figure out the fun.
"Deputy Ambassador Han, what should we do next?"
"As usual. There are so many people this time, there won't be any trouble."
Compared with them, Mao Yuwen and Ye Guan were not so happy.
Ye Guan was worried at first because he had contact with people in the palace. As a result, Ye Qijun's cellar was still empty. In the end, he beat Ye Qijun half to death and plundered everywhere, only to find a total of more than 200,000 taels of silver.
When Mao Yuwen arrived in Yangzhou and saw this, he looked at him with a stern look.
"what happened?"
"Ye Qijun is a member of Marquis Yongkang. Marquis Yongkang has been aware of the danger since Zou Cheng entered the capital and Gu Zuo was arrested, so Ye Qijun knew about it early and the cellar was emptied. His subordinates tortured this man repeatedly, but he wanted to To survive, he refuses to tell where the money is, for fear that if he tells him, there will be no chance of survival. The other two salt merchants on the list are in the same situation."
The huge amount of silver would not be transported in time if the Criminal Office and the Internal Security Office had arrived in Yangzhou. They could only find it before. After all, such a big thing could be found after passing through the city gate.
"My life is gone, but I still have to keep the money. I really need money over my life." There are flaws in how this matter was handled, but people are needed now, and Mao Yuwen will not do anything to Ye Guan.
And there is a solution to this problem.
Isn't it just that the money copied out is less?
Just find three or two families who are willing to spend money to buy their lives for him.
The arrival of Mao Yuwen accelerated the actions of the criminal office. In accordance with the principle of arresting anyone involved in illegal salt, the Jin Yiwei went deep into the streets and alleys of Yangzhou City and kicked open the doors of many salt merchants.
Yu Mingquan and other three major salt dealers who had previously tried various ways to save themselves have been arrested and are awaiting trial. If it is proven that there is no involvement in selling illegal salt, but only some other circumstances, then perhaps paying a sum of money can turn the felony into a misdemeanor . If it is involved, he will be sent to the capital.
For a time, one family after another in Yangzhou City encountered changes.
Normal salt sales will inevitably be affected.
Zhao Shen, the censor of the Salt Patrol, took charge of the stall of the Salt Transfer Department in the Huaihe River. On the one hand, he reported the situation to the capital, and on the other hand, he continued to maintain the production of the salt field. The sales of salt on the market fell into a trough, and there were even fewer people selling private salt. sell.
Zhao Shen was so busy that he was dizzy, but he could still see some situations clearly.
The disadvantages of the salt policy are by no means as simple as private salt.
The price of illegal salt is low and the quality is good. Although the court's vigorous efforts to seize and investigate illegal salt will have some effect, it is actually forcing the people to buy high-priced official salt.
From this perspective, anti-smuggling is opposed by the people.
This is one of them.
Secondly, the lives of Zao households were already miserable, and the court cracked down on private salt merchants. As a result, no one dared to buy the surplus salt in their hands, and the price of surplus salt would plummet.
If this continues for a while, people will starve to death!
It is true that businessmen cannot cause big troubles, but kitchen households can!
Therefore, his memorial was also rushed eight hundred miles away. As the salt inspector, he must report these matters to the emperor.
In fact, why didn’t Zhu Houzhao know this?
To suppress smuggling, we need to use two methods. One is to crack down, and the other is to give Zaohu households a way to survive.
Otherwise, thousands of kitchen households would start selling private salt themselves.
In addition, he had previously planned to implement a salt auction, which he still thought was a good idea.
Because the Shaofu was asked to set up a salt merchant and then purchase and sell salt in a unified manner. After a long time, the same problem remained - that is, due to official corruption, official salt had administrative costs, and the price of official salt would be high. Once the price difference occurs, it is only a matter of time before illegal salt becomes available.
These administrative costs are borne by the government.
It is better to conduct market-oriented operations. Production and sales are left to the merchants, who only hold the ownership of the salt farm in their hands.
Although he is not a believer in the free market, there is no doubt that marketization can indeed bring about improvements in efficiency.
But this kind of change needs an opportunity.
This opportunity came in the Yamen of the Salt Envoy in Lianghuaidu.
This yamen is not a small yamen. In addition to Zou Cheng, the transfer envoy, there are also one Tongzhi, one deputy envoy, and a varying number of judges.
In addition, there is also the Experience Department, which is specifically responsible for clerical transactions. It is similar to a secretary's office. It contains various official positions such as experience, governor, etc., totaling more than fifty people.
Their grades are not high, the transfer envoys are from the third grade, and the rest are mostly from the fifth or sixth grade.
Now Zou Cheng is crazy in the capital,
Yangzhou City arrested several more salt merchants and interrogated them carefully.
As a result of the entire transfer, there were only a few yamen who had no connection with the salt merchants who were reselling private salt.
The yamen was basically wiped out. When Zhao Shen had to do something, there was only an older man who could copy and organize some documents for him.
Among the young people, there are still six left, but they are all low-level officials, and their personalities are very eccentric. These people seem to not even know how to curry favor with high-ranking officials like Xunyan Yushi, so naturally they cannot get into that circle. '.
Zhao Shen lamented in the hall, "There were fifty-three people from the Yunsi Yamen who transferred envoys to the lower levels. In the end, there were only seven people who had no connection with the private salt merchants. It is really ridiculous. When this kind of thing is reported to the court, where is the dignity of the court?" "
Mao Yuwen was not worried about this. He was worried about hiding something and asking the emperor to find out. That was the problem.
"Zhao Yansi, the Criminal Office did not give in. These forty-six people are all wealthy, and their case files have been confirmed."
"The deputy envoy misunderstood. Zhao didn't mean that. Zhao lamented that the country is in dire straits and governing the country is not easy."
Han Ziren's voice came from outside the house,
"How difficult can it be? When he was appointed as the county magistrate, Han once said that the people should only be given a way to survive. Now, on the one hand, salt merchants have millions of dollars and live a luxurious life, while on the other hand, the kitchen households are struggling to survive and are hard to find. A full stomach at once. To govern the country effectively, it is to share some of the silver on these rocks with the kitchen households. In this way, the four directions will be stable."
Mao Yuwen asked: "The money confiscated from the salt merchants needs to be transported to the capital. How dare Deputy Ambassador Han use it?"
"If it is to support the daily living needs of kitchen households, this money can be used."
Han Ziren has known the emperor for many years, and he is confident about this.
"Don't worry, you two. The memorial to Zhao has been rushed to the capital for 800 miles. I believe that His Majesty will make a decision. The seized salt merchants can be tried one by one and day by day. It's just the length of time. The problem now is the transportation department Yamen , If you report it like this, I'm afraid the court will be shaken and His Majesty will be angry."
Neither Mao nor Han cared about this.
They are Jin Yiwei, not a civil servant group.
When corruption reaches this level, it's none of their business.
However, they also understood that Zhao Shen was the Salt Patrol Censor after all. Although from a practical point of view, the crimes committed by these people had nothing to do with him, in the final analysis, the Salt Patrol Censor was responsible for supervising these officials.
Now that something like this has happened, how can we explain it?
Don't think Zhao Shen is worrying in vain.
The court and officialdom have never been a place for reasoning. If the court really felt that the Yunsi Yamen was in such a disgraceful state and wanted to find someone to take the blame,
Who will you find?
Therefore, it is not just words to say that if you are not careful, you will be in an abyss.
But the joys and sorrows of people are not the same. Han Ziren and Mao Yuwen are unified on this point, "What it should look like is what it should look like. It's not that Nanzhen Fusi doesn't cooperate with Zhao Yansi, the main thing is... Nansi is Collecting information for His Majesty, and this matter attracts attention everywhere. If there is a trace of concealment, Han's head will be moved. And for Zhao Yansi, reporting the truth may not necessarily lead to anything. Some people are doing things recklessly. , but His Majesty is a reasonable person."
In fact, Mao Yuwen was too lazy to give such an explanation.
Arresting people, interrogating people, copying money... The Criminal Office is very busy right now.
Zhao Shen didn't really mean to lie. He considered it from another angle.
The Ming Dynasty has not yet uncovered such a case. This is a real bunch of corrupt officials. Once reported, future generations will mention it a hundred years later.
The imperial court and the officialdom are like this. After all, it doesn’t look good, right?
And His Majesty is a king who thinks very highly of himself, so he is not lying, he is just wondering whether he has failed to maintain the emperor's face.
Of course, seeing that the emperor's two confidants had this attitude, his doubts were somewhat relieved.
"In this case, the memorial from Yun Si Yamen will be submitted as it is. At that time, all their case files will be attached. But if this happens, Yangzhou will really become famous."
There is nothing we can do about it. If the court wants to investigate the salt policy, this will definitely be the result.
By the afternoon, the three people from Yunsi Yamen received two orders from Beijing in succession.
One letter was sent from the Cabinet to the Salt Patrol Censor, which meant that salt cases should be carefully screened and unjust, false and wrong cases should be reduced as much as possible.
The letter was sent by the Chief of Ceremonies to the two deputy envoys of the Royal Guards, but it turned out that the meaning seemed to be somewhat opposite. The Chief of Ceremonies emphasized the emperor's intention and the situation in the palace, so he wanted them to stay in Yangzhou and not miss any one of them!
Even so, the three of them were not surprised that the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the cabinet started fighting again.
(End of chapter)
