The information given by Caobang and the information given by An Lingxu were basically the same as before, but the only difference was.
During the transportation, someone accidentally broke one of the bags and discovered that so many ships were filled with grain.
This news completely confused Li Hao as to why his so-called personal salt turned into food.
If this is false news deliberately spread by An Lingxu, then what is their purpose.
Li Hao's head was really full of questions at this time. Originally, the best way was to inform him not to take action.
But now the news comes too late. The fleet has already set off and it is estimated that they have all entered the Huaiyang Army.
And Ye Sheng's side must have started taking action. Even if he wanted to stop it at this time, it was no longer possible.
However, Li Hao reacted immediately and wanted to find An Lingxu.
Just because of this matter, Li Hao became a little wary of Cai Xiang, so he directly called Yang Wenyuan, explained the situation to him, and asked him to send someone to find him quickly.
But when Yang Wenyuan's people went to look for him, An Lingxu had disappeared. When he asked Cheng Shi, he didn't know where An Lingxu was.
At this time, both Li Hao and Yang Wenyuan were a little bit paralyzed. They had no choice but to place their hope in God.
But unfortunately, good things don't work but bad things work. That night, Ye Sheng sent people to Yangzhou City overnight and rushed to the city to report early in the morning.
At this time, Li Hao, who had not slept well all night, also gathered everyone in the house, waiting for news about Ye Sheng.
When the people arrived, they immediately called in for questioning, only to hear the person say: "Replying to all my lords, we seized all the smuggling ships last night as planned.
But when they boarded the ship for inspection, they found that all the cargo on the ship was military rations sent to the northern border. All documents were complete and it was not smuggling. "
Upon hearing that it was military rations, Sheng Hong immediately said: "Then let them sail away quickly. The longer they stay, the bigger the problem will be. Has the current batch of military rations been shipped?"
Before anyone could answer, Cai Xiang said, "This is the trap they set for us. Now that we have all taken the bait, how can it be so easy to get them to leave?"
At this time, the visitor affirmed: "Yes, Master Ye has already let us go after it was found out that they were all military rations.
But they still blocked the waterway and refused to leave. They said that they had already informed us that it was military rations before we searched.
In the end, we still forced ourselves to board the ship, saying that they suspected we had done something wrong and did not dare to move forward.
When Mr. Ye heard this, he didn't dare to let us go easily, fearing what they might do to frame us.
So Mr. Ye asked me to come to Yangzhou quickly and ask Mr. Ye how to solve the problem. "
After hearing this, Li Hao said: "Okay, I already know this. You go down and rest first."
After the visitor left, Cai Xiang was the first to admit his mistake: "It was my fault that I fell into the trap of that female businessman An Lingxu, which led to this situation.
If the court wants to hold me accountable for this, I will be the one to take responsibility. "
Hearing this, Li Hao couldn't remain silent even for the sake of saving face: "This is not your problem. I also know about this matter. Didn't I also notice it?
….
It doesn't matter how to hold people accountable, the most important thing now is how to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
As for An Lingxu, he will have to deal with it when he gets his hands on it. "
Li Hao then asked everyone for their opinions and said, "Now let's discuss it together and see how to solve this matter."
But listening to Li Hao's questions, the people below were also silent.
Of course Li Hao can also understand them, this will cause a big problem.
However, if the sky is falling and a tall man like Li Hao is holding it up, he might say something wrong and be implicated. Naturally, it is more important to protect yourself.
So Li Hao simply said: "Since you have no idea for the time being, why not go back and think about it."
After hearing this, everyone stood up one after another as if they had been granted amnesty.
leave.
In the end, only Yang Wenyuan, Cai Xiang, and Sheng Hong stayed. Li Hao was not surprised that the other two stayed.
But seeing that Sheng Hong also stayed, Li Hao became really curious. Could this guy have any good ideas that could solve the problem?
Otherwise, such a wise and self-protective person would not be able to run so fast.
But before Li Hao could ask, Yang Wenyuan said: "This matter can't be left alone, otherwise it will cause trouble in the court over time.
To untie the bell, the person who tied the bell must be tied. Since this was a trap set by Wang Yougan, we still have to find him to solve it.
Why don't I go find him, lower my head and settle this matter. "
Li Hao said: "This is not a matter of bowing down. His purpose is to make me give up paying the salt tax. You may not be able to see him even if you go."
In fact, everyone understands this truth, but they don't want to bring it up.
Now that Li Hao had spoken, Yang Wenyuan said directly: "Then we should just give up. We have finally achieved results in the past, so I am not willing to give up like this."
Then Sheng Hong persuaded Yang Wenyuan: "What can we do if we don't give up? Now we are already riding a tiger and it's hard to get off.
If you give up now, you can at least keep a useful body and have the opportunity to start over again, taking a step back to gain a brighter future. "
Hearing this, Yang Wenyuan disagreed, but didn't know how to refute it.
And Li Hao couldn't help but sigh. Sure enough, Sheng Hong was still the same as he remembered.
However, at this time, Li Hao still agreed with Sheng Hong and said: "What Shanda people said is right, stopping losses in time is not necessarily a bad thing.
Moreover, Wang Youqian is a person who knows the importance. He understands how much the officials attach great importance to this salt patrol.
The officials and princes will not sit idly by. Even if I leave, there will be people coming one after another.
So he would not embarrass me, and would even make concessions so that we could return to work with results. "
Hearing this, Sheng Hong breathed a sigh of relief, but Yang Wenyuan said directly: "Then let's compromise with them like this. I can't swallow this breath."
Li Hao advised: "Forget it, after all, this matter is just one move we missed. If we lose, we lose.
Wen Yuan, send someone to Dantu first and inform Jin Chaozhong to bring the troops back.
As for the civilian husbands, they must be paid enough to allow them to return to Jiangning Mansion.
After dispatching the people, you can go directly to Suqian to meet Ye Sheng and wait for my news.
….
In addition, Judge Cai and Shanda people are in Yangzhou to reassure people and ensure that we ourselves will not cause chaos.
As for Chuzhou, I can just take someone there myself. "
Then he comforted Cai Xiang, who had been silent, before letting everyone go down to do their work.
While Li Hao was discussing the matter, in Chuzhou, Wang Youqian and others were also celebrating.
Just listen to the Chuzhou Zhizhou say: "This time the military rations are being seized privately, we just need to drag him up and read a book on him to see if he can shed his skin."
Then everyone continued to echo, as if they could directly drive Li Hao into dust.
But Wang Youqian said at this time: "There is no need. After all, he is the hero who saved the country and is highly valued by the officials.
Not to mention that there are several grand ministers and British princes behind him. Just because of this incident, the officials will not dismiss him.
Since you can't beat someone to death, you can't offend someone to death so that being friendly can make you rich. "
After hearing this, the limelight immediately changed, and he continued to praise Wang Youqian.
On the contrary, the supervisor in charge of cargo affairs was a little worried: "Li Hao won't rely on the power behind him to stand up to us."
Wang Youqian said: "No, this matter is big or small. If there is really a quarrel, the officials will have to care about the public opinion, and he will not be able to escape unscathed.
Since Li Hao has made it this far, the importance of this can still be seen. "
After saying this, Wang Youqian looked at everyone and said: "And this time
We can't really let him go away empty-handed, we still have to get some help after all.
Let him give an account to the imperial court and give an explanation to the officials and several great ministers, so that everyone can continue to work in peace and harmony. "
Hearing this issue involving self-interest, the place suddenly fell into silence.
Seeing that everyone was dumb again like last time, but this time Wang Youqian had no intention of giving up and said directly: "Since you don't want to say it, let me say it.
This time all of us collected the salt tax of 1.5 million taels, and at the same time paid an additional 600,000 taels per year on top of the current salt tax. "
Hearing this, everyone was in an uproar and said one after another: "This is too much, you said it's just a supplementary payment of 1.5 million taels, everyone can live a little tighter.
But there is an extra six hundred thousand taels per year. If you didn't know this, you would have thought that he had caught us. "
At this time, Wang Youqian sneered and said, "I asked you to say it just now, but you didn't say it.
Now that I have said it and you object again, you can make your own decision. "
Seeing that something was wrong, the supervisor in charge of the goods quickly said: "Master Wang, don't be angry, everyone just thinks that the money given is too much.
I have no objection to you at all. How about we reduce it slightly to 300,000 taels per year? "
Wang Youqian naturally disagreed with this and said directly: "Is six hundred thousand taels a year a lot? I don't think it is much at all.
You must know that if we don't spend a little more, how can we make the court feel at ease? If the court is not at ease, can our business last long?
And this isn't just the Hu Nong court, I also want to see if I can bring Li Hao in.
You must understand that behind Li Hao stands Ouyang Xiu, who is in charge of the three departments. Not to mention that Ouyang Xiu is also on good terms with Han Qi and Fu Bi.
….
If we can take this opportunity to establish a relationship with them, how much money can we make? Thinking about it, do you still think this money is a lot? "
After listening to the explanation, everyone accepted it and nodded in agreement.
Later, the person in charge of cargo asked about the transportation of salt to Hebei and said: "The people in Hebei are already urging us, and they also want to transport this batch of salt out.
If you don't get lucky again, it will be hard to explain then. "
Regarding this, Wang Youqian actually had a plan: "Don't worry, Li Hao only has those people from the front office.
I will take this opportunity and ask Li Hao to take everyone from the Dianqian Division to Yangzhou.
He is monitoring him directly under his nose so that you can ship goods with peace of mind, and I don’t think he dares to do anything else. "
After talking about this, everyone left, while Wang Youqian was waiting for Li Hao to come.
As for Li Hao, he was not in a hurry to go out, but went to find Zhang Fu.
Zhang Fu, who knew the situation, directly comforted Li Hao when he saw him: "Uncle, you don't need to take this matter to heart. These officials in Huainan dare to bully you. I will tell this matter to you when I get back." I’ll stand up for you.”
After hearing this, Li Hao really couldn't laugh or cry. He didn't expect that in Zhang Fu's eyes, he would become a child who couldn't beat others and went home to cry.
However, Li Hao did not make any excuses, but got down to business directly: "I would like to ask if it is possible for your identity to be known to the officials in Huainan when you were inquiring about information in Huainan."
Zhang Fu replied: "That's absolutely not the case. When I inquire about information, I always go directly to low-level officials, and they are all people who can be trusted without leaking the information.
Moreover, few officials in Huainan know me. "
After hearing this, Li Hao asked again: "That's good. I heard you say last time that the general of the Forbidden Army in the Aangzhou State is under the command of his father-in-law. I don't know if he can be trusted."
Zhang Fu said: "He is also a former soldier of the master, and he has never been involved in the secret affair, so he is naturally trustworthy."
Li Hao said: "Okay, then I want you to go and mobilize troops from him, but this matter must be kept confidential. This is my unique way to fight back."
But at this time, Zhang Fu was shocked and said: "Without an imperial edict, troops cannot be mobilized, and even if troops and horses can be mobilized, deploying troops without reason is a capital crime of beheading.
Even if the officials and princes want to protect you, they can't protect you. You can't do anything stupid. "
Li Hao smiled at this time and said, "Of course I won't be so stupid as to risk my own life."
As he spoke, he took out the military talisman and edict from his arms, and explained: "Of course when I delivered the memorial to Beijing, I was worried about something unexpected happening, so I specifically asked for these two things to allow me to lose one soldier.
After I went there this time, they would definitely ask me to bring back all the people from the front department, and they would not have thought that I would have anything to mobilize troops.
So when I confirm that I have no one to arrange it with, I will definitely take off this private trip.
I need you to lead people to deploy in advance and catch them in action. Can you do it? "
Zhang Fu did not answer the call immediately, but first checked the authenticity of the military symbols and decrees to confirm that there were no problems.
….
Then he said: "With these two things, I guarantee that as long as they really get lucky, the Huaiyang army will be able to catch them."
Li Hao said: "Okay, I'll leave it to you, and I'll introduce someone to you."
After saying that, he called the people from Caogang in and introduced each other.
Then he said to Zhang Fu: "Caobang will definitely be used to transport smuggled salt. When they get the news, they will inform you as soon as possible.
News dissemination may not be timely and can only be used as a guarantee. You must also pay more attention to it. "
After confirming that there was no problem, Li Hao asked them all to leave first.
After tidying up, he rushed to Chuzhou with his people.
Li Hao rode fast all the way and arrived at Chuzhou City on the second day. He didn't have time to freshen up, so he went directly to the transfer envoy's Yamen.
After seeing Wang Youqian again, Li Hao said directly: "Master Wang, I am here to ask for your help today."
Wang Youqian naturally understood why Li Hao came, but he just pretended to be ignorant and said: "What did Mr. Li say? You and my colleagues help each other, no matter what you ask for or not.
Come on, let's stop talking outside and go inside. "
After saying that, he pulled Li Hao into the room and sat down, and then asked, "You just said you wanted me to do something. What was it?"
Li Hao replied: "Don't be pretentious. This is not a batch of military rations that are going to be sent to the north, and my people can't tell the good from the bad.
Even the people and boats were stopped. Now they refuse to leave and are staying in Suqian.
I couldn't bear the crime of withholding military rations, so I came to Mr. Wang for help. "
Here Wang Youqian pretended to suddenly realize it and said: "It turns out that he is really a person under your command. I didn't believe the news that came back. I just thought someone was fake."
Aren't all the people in the Dianqian Division in Dantu? Why did they go to Suqian again? "
Learn from knowledge to power
