"The hateful Emperor Qianlong, after the disaster relief work in Taiyuan Prefecture, my reputation among the government, the public, and the people has finally improved. After these two things, I am afraid it will be ruined again, and it may even get worse."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you just don't care about my reputation so much, do you think it will get better?"
"………………"
"However, throughout the ages, it has been a matter of course for jesters and corrupt officials to take the blame for the emperor."
"The actions of Zhao Gao, Qin Hui, Wei Zhongxian and others are certainly harmful to the country and the people, but they are not what the emperor meant..."
"The end result is usually that the emperor is fine, but they are infamy throughout the ages and will not end well."
"The emperor is good, but he is bewitched by corrupt officials.' This is probably the thinking of the people throughout the ages..."
A few days later.
Ten supervisors, headed by He Lin, left the capital and headed towards the Yangzhou area.
Yangzhou is one of the nine states in China. Its scope is equivalent to the south of the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River Basin. It is a prosperous place in the world.
Especially after Emperor Sui Yang of the Sui Dynasty spent a lot of effort to build the Sui-Tang Grand Canal, Yangzhou became more prosperous.
There is a saying in an ancient book: "Pengli is a pig, and Yang birds live in it. Three rivers have entered, and the Zhenze has settled down. Xiao and Yu have been applied, and the grass and trees are only young. The soil is only covered with mud. The fields are only down. , Jue Fu is placed below and above, it is for Yangzhou."
The Sui-Tang Grand Canal was two to three hundred miles long and was the longest canal in the ancient world.
It reaches as far north as Zhuojun in Hebei Province, in the center of Luoyang, and in the south as far as Yuhang in Yangzhou, connecting Yongji Canal, Tongji Canal, Hangou, Jiangnan River, and five water systems: Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Qiantang River, and Haihe River.
The Grand Canal during the Sui and Tang Dynasties not only became the link between the political, economic and cultural connections between the north and the south, but also became the hub connecting China's "Salt and Iron Road" and the Maritime "Silk Road".
The Grand Canal of the Sui and Tang Dynasties descended from Zhuojun, Hebei Province, with ups and downs, and there were many wonderful sights along the way, including a line between heaven and earth, and a hundred-mile-long river flowing straight down.
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The rapid water flow of the Grand Canal, especially in the Jiangnan area, is slowed down by the flat terrain.
The river channel from Huainan is wide, more than ten miles long, and the water flow is more stretched, like a long and docile dragon, lying quietly in Yangzhou.
The most famous brothel in Yangzhou, "Heaven and Earth", is located on this section of the river.
Whenever night falls, the painted boats in the south of the Yangtze River are brightly lit and shuttle back and forth in the Yangzhou Canal. The waves are floating on it. The sounds of silk and bamboo singing, orioles singing and swallows are heard from time to time from the painted boats. Looking from the shore, it seems like a world in the world of mortals. .
Even the meaning of Yangzhou thin horse was derived from this.
Yangzhou thin horse is an insulting term for women, which means that women can be tortured and ravaged at will, just like using a weak horse to abuse them!
As for why women are called "skinny horses".
This is because Ya Gong and Ya Po, who are engaged in cultivating "top beauties", buy young girls from poor families at low prices, raise them to be beauties, and then sell them at high prices.
This is the same business method in which businessmen buy skinny horses at low prices, raise them, and then sell them to others at high prices, so people call these women "skinny horses."
"…………"
"Raising thin horses" is a hugely profitable business.
Ya Gong and Ya Po, who are engaged in human trafficking business, first buy back beautiful girls from poor families and teach them singing, dancing, chess, calligraphy and painting. When they grow up, they are sold to the rich as concubines or into brothels. Make a profit from it and earn a lot of money.
Because women from poor families are often thin and weak, hence the name "skinny horse".
These Ya Gong and Ya Po buy common people's young girls for only two or three taels of silver, but when they get married, they can earn hundreds of taels.
Like the top brothels in heaven and earth, there is actually no fixed place in Yangzhou.
One after another, the luxurious and extravagant painted boats on the Grand Canal are the location.
At night every day, officials and businessmen who had made appointments in advance waited at secret stations along the coast. After a while, an extremely prosperous ship approached the shore, picked up the distinguished guests on board, turned around and sailed leisurely into the depths of the canal, until Tomorrow morning, we will send it back to its original place.
Guests on the big ship will enjoy treatment no less than that of an emperor, which is guaranteed to make you feel ecstatic and homesick, no matter what year it is.
As an official of the Ministry of Household Affairs, they had the task of supervising the affairs of Yangzhou salt merchants. After arriving in Yangzhou, the group headed by He Lin received a warm reception from the local salt merchants.
For more than a month, there were banquets and banquets every day. Delicious delicacies such as Yangzhou thin horse and warm fragrant nephrite were beside me. It was an indescribable enjoyment.
Even He Lin, the darling among the people, was addicted to the wine pool and the meat forest, and couldn't extricate herself. Her originally thin body gained a lot of weight.
He is quite restrained. After all, he is from the Niu Gulu family and is the younger brother of He Shen. He has seen the world and has expectations for his future in the officialdom. Although his mind has been in a daze due to the four temptations of wine, sex and wealth. , but retained the most basic bottom line.
It's okay to drink, and it's okay to play with women, but you will never make a verbal commitment.
He Lin is able to do this not only because of her strong willpower, but also because the guards around her are all Heshen's people. Don't even think about hiding her every move from the eyes of her brother Heshen. If she really does it What a fool, I will suffer a lot when I return to the capital in the future.
"…………"
Of course, these more than a month of drunkenness and dreaming also allowed him to see the generosity of Yangzhou salt merchants. They spent money like water and did not regard silver as silver, which was jaw-dropping. .
He has seen the world, but he was shocked by the heroic methods of these big salt merchants.
The salt merchants held frames of gold leaves and asked He Lin and others to stand by the river and throw gold leaves into the river when the waves were floating. This was commonly known as "gold floating on silver waves".
This is simply, don’t use money as money.
He Lin, who was crazy about spending the salt merchants' money, felt very strange in her heart.
The craftsmanship of the Yangzhou salt merchants was so astonishing. It only took a few days of spending to make up for the tax. I don’t know how they thought about it, but they wanted to go against the imperial court and sprinkle all the gold in the water. And I don’t want to give it to the court…
He Lin was able to hold on due to various reasons, but the supervisors who came with him had long been unable to hold on. In just a few days, they all fell and became addicted to He could not extricate himself from drinking, sex, and wealth, or he might have been won over by a big salt merchant and became their dog.
"………………"
When He Lin took the stack of information sent by the elite guards around her, which came from the information about the other nine colleagues around her, her face suddenly became livid with anger, her hands shook non-stop, her heart felt cold, and she felt a sense of powerlessness. Coming like a tidal wave.
After getting this information, he realized how powerful the Yangzhou salt merchants were, so he directly knocked out the candidates who had passed away with money and knocked them unconscious.
After receiving the actual news, He Lin finally couldn't sit still. She used practical actions to show that she did not come to Yangzhou to eat, drink, have fun, spend money and play with women...
He Lin understood the current situation in Yangzhou and knew that a hundred times the profit of private salt was the crux of the whole chaos, so he started the action of the Chaoyan Special Commissioner.
He Lin ordered a group of elite guards to forcibly pull several drunken companions away from the gentle village, and then patrolled the salt fields in Yangzhou without avoiding the scorching sun, wind and rain.
Now, the Yangzhou salt merchants were not happy. They were spending our money and trying to undermine us.
This can't happen!
This move by He Lin and others represents the intention of the Ministry of Revenue and even the entire Chaoyan. Once this matter is really determined, the Ministry of Revenue can send people to supervise the management of the salt field at any time in the future. This is not a private salt merchant in Yangzhou. Would like to see.
Going against local officials in Yangzhou and going against the Ministry of Household Affairs, one of the six departments, are completely different things!
In the past, local officials in Yangzhou were changed every year, and the one who served the longest was only for three years. The other salt inspectors rarely ended well during their tenure.
Either, a corrupt official has his house confiscated and beheaded because of corruption and perversion of the law, or an honest official dies unexpectedly for no reason. There are many different ways of death.
The Yangzhou magistrate seems to be a well-paid and well-paid job, but in fact, he gives people the impression that he is not a corrupt official but is more than a corrupt official.
Even if local officials in Yangzhou died suddenly and unexpectedly, it would not cause much reaction from the government and the people.
But the Hubu is different. This is one of the six central bureaus of Chaoyan, and it is not someone that the local wealthy businessmen are willing to provoke.
However, He Lin's current behavior offended their interests, so taking action before He Lin made any splash was obviously his best choice.
So, Helin was very miserable when she was suddenly attacked by bandits while inspecting a salt field.
Seeing the robbers holding long knives and full of murderous aura, the officers were frightened and ran away.
If it weren't for the fact that He Lin was surrounded by many loyal guards, He Lin would have confessed on the spot.
"…………"
The force of these bandits is not bad, they have some martial arts on hand, and the leader has reached the level of a first-class master in the world. Coupled with the fierce and fearless aura, a team of guards may not be able to defeat them.
Unfortunately……
The guards around He Lin are stronger.
After the fight to the death, He Lin did not stay long on the salt field, and left in a hurry with his blood-stained guards.
"…………"
Seven days later, He Lin's report was placed on Emperor Qianlong's case.
Emperor Qianlong was furious and swept all the pens, inks, paper and inkstones on the case to the ground.
"Quick transmission, Mr. Zuo of the Ministry of Finance has an audience!"
Reluctantly suppressing the raging rage in his heart, Emperor Qianlong's face was filled with gloom, and he ordered to the chief eunuch Li Dequan beside him. There was a cold flash in his eyes, which scared Li Dequan into a cold sweat, but he did not dare to do anything unusual...
When the emperor is angry, the world is shaken!
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