Li Qing asked Liu Qiang to sit down and poured him a glass of water, "Speak slowly."
"Hey." Liu Qiang took the drink and wiped his mouth, "Sir, the Prince Consort relied on his royal status to send his men and domestic slaves to purchase tea at a low price of less than half the market price, causing the tea farmers to It's unspeakably miserable and indirectly harmful to one's life.
After purchasing the tea leaves at a low price, they then smuggle them outside the customs and make huge profits! "
Li Qing's eyes narrowed, "The government is not aware of such a big thing?"
"How could you not notice it?" Liu Qiang smiled bitterly, "The government is well-connected, but no one cares about it at all, or no one dares to care about it. Ouyang Lun is not an ordinary prince-in-law, Princess Anqing is the emperor's legitimate daughter!"
Li Qing frowned: "The tea farmers sue the government, but the government doesn't care?"
"Tea farmers who sue the government will either be slapped with a ban or imprisoned. As time goes by, no one will dare to sue the government."
Li Qing suddenly felt a surge of anger in his heart, and then suppressed it forcefully. He knew that this was not the rule of law society in future generations.
"Go on."
Liu Qiang breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "Ouyang Lun's stall is huge. Every time there are dozens of carriages coming out of the customs, they don't pay taxes and force their way through the checkpoints.
When encountering "blind" inspection tax collectors, they would be beaten directly. More than a dozen people were killed in the beating alone, and the Chief Secretary officials dared not speak out in anger. "
"Harming the people, killing officials, smuggling, anything can kill him." Li Qing was puzzled, "Why doesn't anyone dare to report to the court?"
Liu Qiang glanced at Li Qing in surprise and said calmly: "My lord, you don't really think that a prince who breaks the law is as guilty as the common people, do you?"
Li Qing was speechless and speechless.
Liu Qiang sighed, "The main reason why Jiuzhi has achieved so much in such a short period of time is that Ouyang Lun's crime was so great that he could not cover it up.
But with the emperor's relationship, no one dares to do anything to him, after all...
The emperor doesn’t want his daughter to be a widow, right? "
The Ming Dynasty respected Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and was very harsh on women. Remarrying would be despised by the world, and the princess represented the royal face, so she could not remarry.
Even if they get married today, the prince-in-law will die tomorrow, and the princess cannot marry anyone else.
Ouyang Lun married the current emperor's legitimate daughter and the biological sister of Crown Prince Zhu Biao, and he indeed had the arrogance.
Li Qing pondered: "If ordinary people sell tea privately, how can they be judged guilty?"
Liu Qiang said: "Once discovered, no matter how many there are, the nine tribes will be killed!"
"So heavy?"
Li Qing was surprised. Later generations thought that in ancient times, the nine tribes were killed at every turn. In fact, this was not the case. In fact, in most cases, only one criminal was killed. The three Yi tribes were already extraordinary.
After all, the population in ancient times was not large, so how could the nine tribes be killed at the slightest disagreement.
Liu Qiang explained: "Sir, tea is an extremely important thing, much higher than salt and iron. It is the only way to restrict the barbarians outside the pass..."
After listening to Liu Qiang's explanation, Li Qing finally understood the importance of tea.
Tea has rich nutritional value and contains a large amount of vitamins, amino acids, minerals and other elements.
Due to climate and altitude problems outside the customs, fruits and vegetables are difficult to survive, so tea is the only way to supplement the necessary nutrients for the human body.
When Ming tea was brought outside the customs, it was not settled with Ming treasure notes, not even gold and silver. Instead, it was traded mainly with horses, supplemented by cattle and sheep.
Therefore, it is also called tea-horse trading!
The Yi people outside the Guan Dynasty do not like to drink tea, but they need tea. They must rely on tea to survive better.
Oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea.
Tea is also a condiment. Add some when stewing beef and mutton. In addition to supplementing nutrients, it can also remove the fishy smell and make the meat more delicious.
For those outside the customs, tea is as good as gold.
It can be said that tea is the best means to restrain the barbarians outside the Pass, even more effective than weapons.
After understanding this, Li Qing felt that Ouyang Lun's crime was so serious and unforgivable that it was not an exaggeration to say that he was collaborating with the enemy and treason.
Li Qing sneered: "There are often dozens of carriages transported out. This one alone is enough to kill him ten times."
Such large-scale smuggling of strategic materials would be intolerable to any emperor, let alone the decisive Zhu Yuanzhang.
Liu Qiang still had concerns, "Should I report this to the commander?"
"Is the evidence conclusive?"
"Yes." Liu Qiang took out the testimony, "These are the confessions of tea farmers and tax collectors. As for the evidence, you can rest assured. As long as the emperor gives permission to go to the local area for a thorough investigation, a large amount of certified evidence will emerge immediately, and the prince consort cannot cover it up at all."
"Okay." Li Qing nodded, "I will report this matter to Commander Mao tomorrow."
Liu Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. One thousand households in Jinyi couldn't handle such a big event. He and Li Qing were closely related, and he really didn't want to see anything happen to Li Qing.
"By the way, did you alert Ouyang Lun during the investigation?"
"This..." Liu Qiang said sarcastically: "I can't guarantee it even in a humble position."
Li Qing thought for a while and said, "You have to work harder and go to the princess's mansion to guard her later. If there is any situation, report it to me immediately."
"yes."
…
The next day, Zhenfusi.
When Mao Xiang saw the evidence presented by Li Qing, he couldn't help but change his color in horror.
He knew that no matter whether they were relatives of the emperor or nobles, few would be clean if they really wanted to investigate, but he never expected that the consort Ouyang Lun would be so arrogant.
Li Qing cupped his hands and said, "Master Commander, what should we do now?"
Mao Xiang was silent for a moment, then turned around and said, "Go and call all the Qianhu, Qianshi, Tongzhi, and Zhenfu envoys in Beijing."
"Yes." Several guards said yes and turned to leave.
In the lobby, only Li Qing and Mao Xiang were left.
After a long silence, Mao Xiang slowly breathed out, "This time things are serious!"
"The evidence is conclusive, why don't you go to Datian to hear it?"
"..." Mao Xiang said angrily, "Did I fail to explain to the emperor?"
After a pause, "That Ouyang Lun is the emperor's son-in-law after all. It is a matter of royal dignity and must be treated with caution.
You go back immediately and put on Feiyu clothes. We will discuss a suitable solution in a while, and we will jointly submit the report! "
Li Qing nodded, "Okay, I'll go right away."
He understood that Mao Xiang was planning to rope in everyone to carry him.
An hour later, four thousand households, one official, one fellow magistrate, and two town governors gathered in the lobby, looking over the evidence.
After everyone read the evidence of the crime, all their eyes turned to Li Qing.
In their view, Li Qing was just a stupid young man who always criticized the emperor's relatives and his relatives, and they simply didn't know what the heaven and earth were.
Ouyang Lun was not only the Prince Consort, but also represented the group of royal relatives.
Taking action against Ouyang Lun this time is tantamount to indicating that Jin Yiwei is going to war against the emperor's relatives. The stakes in this can be imagined.
Princess Lin'an, married to Li Qi, the eldest son of Korean Duke Li Shanchang;
Princess Ning Guo, married Mei Yin, nephew of Runan Hou Mei Sizu;
Princess Runing, married to Lu Xian, son of Lu Zhongheng, Marquis of Ji'an;
The daimyo princess married Li Jian, the son of Li Ying, the commander of the Qianqiu Guards. After the marriage, Li Jian was named the former military governor's official.
The Prince Consort's lineup is astonishingly arrogant and has no clear holy will. At this stage, the Jinyiwei do not want to and do not dare to provoke them.
Zhang Heng, the governor of the town, said, "What is Li Qianhu's advice?"
Li Qing clasped his fists and said: "I think that since I have found out, I will naturally have to go to heaven to hear it. Otherwise, how can we, the Jin Yiwei, bear the crime of deceiving the emperor?"
Zhang Heng asked back: "We?"
Li Qing secretly smiled bitterly and did not talk to him anymore, but looked at Mao Xiang.
Mao Xiang sighed, "He can't handle it alone. Let's play together later."
Liu Ming, the minister, frowned and said, "Sir, regardless of the offending of those relatives of the emperor, Ouyang Lun committed such a serious crime and tarnished the emperor's saintliness.
Once this matter is revealed, the emperor will be disgraced. Although the Jin Yiwei has done a good job in handling the case, it will still make the emperor unhappy. After all, the emperor did not let us investigate the consort.
Moreover, the civil and military officials of the DPRK have always had a grudge against the Jinyiwei, and now they are enmity with the royal family...
The future of Jinyiwei is worrying! "
"Liu Ming, what do you mean... conceal it and not report it?" Mao Xiang's face darkened, "Jin Yiwei cannot bear the crime of not reporting it after knowing it."
"I don't dare to do this in a humble position."
Liu Ming hurriedly explained, "Being humble means... dragging down a group of officials from Bashu and dragging them down together, so that they can share the firepower."
"I agree with Liu Qianshi's strategy." Zhang Heng said, "You can't hide the truth from the emperor, but everything can be flexible. Ouyang Lun committed such a serious crime, and they still want to stay out of it. How can it be such a good thing?
Furthermore, once the consort's crimes are made public, those officials will also be in trouble. Now let them carry it with the Jin Yiwei. When the reckoning is done afterwards, their crimes will be reduced by part, and those people will definitely not refuse. "
Mao Xiang's expression softened and he thought this was a good idea.
"Then let's do it, Zhang Jing, you take the Jin Yiwei to Bashu..."
As soon as he was halfway through his words, Liu Qiang rushed in and said breathlessly: "Your Excellency... Prince Consort... Captain Ouyang Lun has entered the palace with Princess Anqing."
