King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

Inside the palace.

After hearing these words, the station official who was standing aside could not help but reveal a flattering smile on his face, and said quickly:

"Don't worry, my lord."

"Just before your Excellency arrived, I had already ordered people to prepare food and ginger soup."

"I will order someone to deliver the things I have prepared."

Then, Yi Cheng smiled at Zhu Gaoxu, turned around, waved from the post guard who was following him, and walked back inside the post station.

Not long after.

All the soldiers sat down.

Yi Cheng hurriedly led the post soldiers, carrying white rice that was still steaming with white smoke just out of the pot and a group of stir-fried side dishes. You could see bits and pieces of minced meat mixed in the side dishes.

Seeing the food being served, Ji Gang, who was sitting next to Zhu Gaoxu, saw the food placed in front of him, and then looked at the food in front of Zhu Gaoxu. He couldn't help but subconsciously frowned, and his deep eyes looked straight with a cold light. Staring at the leader Yi Cheng, he slapped the table hard with a bang and shouted angrily:
"Bastard thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Just give us these things to eat?"

"Are your postmen no longer willing to work?"

"Have you forgotten even the most basic requirements for receiving various industry officials at your inn?"

It's not that Ji Gang wanted to get angry about this.

The main thing is the food in front of him. In Ji Gang's opinion, these postmen are too perfunctory.

Otherwise, based on the official positions reported by the officers and soldiers just now, these dishes and food should definitely not be like this under normal circumstances.

And in the current situation, Zhu Gaoxu was present, and the food in front of Zhu Gaoxu was not much better than them.

How could he not get angry in such a situation?

His first reaction to this incident was that these postmen were deliberately trying to embarrass them and embarrass them.

Yi Cheng, who was named and scolded, saw Ji Gang glaring at him, and for a moment he secretly complained in his heart. He subconsciously looked at Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting at the main table with interest and looking at him curiously. He was frightened. He had to kneel down and worship, his voice couldn't help but tremble, and he hurriedly said:
"My lord, please forgive me."

"Xiaguan. I have absolutely no intention of doing this. I have absolutely no intention of doing this."

"The inn that welcomes and welcomes officials is indeed arranged and provided with food and drinks based on their rank."

"Coco. Ke. It's May and June now."

"The weather is getting better. Although the inn is always stocked with all kinds of food, it doesn't dare to prepare too much."

Having said this, he subconsciously looked around at the people around him cautiously and continued:
"I really don't know that my lords will be accompanied by so many people this time."

"In order to give everyone a hot bite to eat, due to the hasty preparations, the inn can only take out so many things."

"It's not the official's intention."

"I beg you all for your understanding."

Say it.

Yi Cheng knelt on the ground and kowtowed, his body trembling uncontrollably.

After hearing this, the expression on Zhu Gaoxu's face, who was sitting in the front seat, couldn't help but change. His originally gloomy expression slowly softened. He turned his head and glanced at Ji Gang, who was standing beside him, and nodded at him. .

Then, he smiled and waved his hand towards Yi Cheng who was kneeling on the ground and said:

"okay."

"Get up."

"In this matter, what you said and what you did is true, and there is nothing wrong with it."

As soon as he said these words, Yi Cheng, who was kneeling on the ground, couldn't help but let out a long breath. His heart that was originally pinched by the fright finally relaxed at this moment, and he stood up from the ground cautiously as if he was being amnesty. , thanking you again and again:
"Thank you, sir."

"Thank you, sir."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled noncommittally and took a sip of the ginger soup in the bowl on the table. The slightly spicy ginger soup entered his mouth, and he clearly felt that the chill and fatigue in his body had dissipated a lot.

I took a few bites of food to satisfy my hunger and drank all the ginger soup in the bowl.

Then, he waved to Yi Cheng, who was standing aside tremblingly, with a hint of fear in his expression from time to time, and said:
"come here."

"I have something to ask you."

Yi Cheng, whose name was called, felt Zhu Gaoxu's eyes on him, and suddenly felt flustered. His legs couldn't help but feel weak, and he almost knelt down.

As the Yi Cheng who welcomes all kinds of officials, he has seen at least hundreds, not to mention thousands, of officials of various genders, big and small. For this reason, a pair of eyes can distinguish all kinds of officials. A dignified person.

The first impression I had from receiving Zhu Gaoxu just now was that his identity was definitely not as simple as the so-called "Hundred Households of Jinyiwei" mentioned by the messengers.

From the brief contact and observation, Zhu Gaoxu's first impression was that he was definitely a noble person with an extremely high status, even more noble than all the people he had received over the years.

Such an indescribably valuable person was now summoned to come forward for questioning.

For a moment, Yi Cheng felt a mixture of emotions in his heart.

After a brief hesitation, he did not dare to show any slightness, walked over respectfully, bent down and saluted:

"grown ups."

"What are your orders?"

"I heard that these days, refined salt is being promoted throughout the Ming Dynasty, and the price is quite low. It is as white as snow and has no peculiar smell."

"Why is it that at our inn, the food we ate just now had a strong bitter taste? If nothing else, the salt we used must have been the coarse salt of the past, right?"

"Since the imperial court has introduced refined salt, why doesn't the post station use it?"

"I know that the salt in your station is uniformly allocated by the imperial court."

"Then why do you continue to use coarse salt? What does this mean?"

"Is there something hidden in this?"

Zhu Gaoxu half-squinted his eyes, staring straight at Yi Cheng who was bending over in front of him, and asked coldly.

When Yi Cheng heard this, his body couldn't help but shiver, his face instantly turned pale, and his words became hesitant unconsciously, and he replied:

"This, this, this"

"grown ups."

"Xiaguan. Xiaguan just feels that there is still a lot of coarse salt left over from the imperial court's previous distribution. In order to avoid waste."

"That's why. That's why I use unused refined salt."

"I hope you will forgive me."

"If you go down to an official position, it's also for the sake of economy."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu looked up and down at the trembling Yi Cheng with interest, stared at him for a long time with half-smiling eyes, and asked:

"To increase revenue and reduce expenditure for the imperial court?"

"you sure?"

With that said, he turned to look at Ji Gang and gave him a look.

Kang dang
Suddenly, a clear voice sounded, and a piece of Jin Yiwei Token, which emitted a cold and sharp light that made the entire Ming Dynasty officials talk about it, was thrown directly on the table in front of Yi Cheng.

After that, Ji Gang's half-closed eyes suddenly opened, he stood up straight from the stool, snorted and shouted: "In that case."

"Then you take our men to see where the refined salt delivered by the imperial court and the coarse salt in the past are."

"If it's different from what you said, or if we don't see the refined salt distributed by the imperial court, we will have to send you to Jinyiwei Prison on the charge of reselling imperial supplies for profit. At that time, there will be no such questioning. Relaxed."

"Over the years, you have welcomed and escorted so many officials. You must have heard about the methods used by our Jin Yiwei in prison from other people, right?"

"So, I advise you to think it over carefully and then answer again what the young master just asked you."

"Do you understand?"

"Ah?" Yi Cheng saw the cold token falling in front of him, and thinking about the warning Ji Gang had just spoken, he was frightened. His body couldn't help but soften, and he knelt down and kowtowed:

"grown ups."

"No, no, no, adults."

"Little people. Little people, little people say, little people say, little people say everything."

The Jinyiwei are the emperor's personal soldiers, and they have immense power in their hands. They have the privilege of killing first and then reporting later.

Let alone a small postmaster, even if he is a high-ranking official in the imperial court, he can directly enter the government to arrest people for interrogation whenever there is evidence or suspicion.

Such a god of death, how could he, a little postmaster, be able to compete with him?

To put it bluntly, don't say there is evidence. Even if there is no evidence, Jin Yiwei will find him, the Yi Cheng, to be killed on an unfounded charge, and he will not even think of stirring up the slightest commotion in the entire Ming court.

And this matter is about the rationing of refined salt in the station.

It had nothing to do with him, not even half of his interests were involved. These were all the work of officials in Linchuan City.

Although he was not sure, he told him honestly.

Will the nobleman in front of me go to trouble the officials in Linchuan City, or take down some officials in Linchuan?

But one thing he was sure of was that with his current posture, if he didn't tell the truth, he would definitely give it up.

As the saying goes: A dead Taoist friend is not a poor Taoist.

Who wants to die if he can live?

As for the Linchuan Fucheng officials, if they are not punished, will they use their power to retaliate against him later?
For him, it's better than dying now, right?
Not to mention that he had a chance to survive, but he would soon die if he could not recover.

In this case, anyone who is not a fool knows how to choose!
Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu clucked his head in satisfaction, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his slightly raised mouth, saying:
"Since you are willing to say it"

"Then tell me politely why this kind of thing didn't happen at any of the inns along the way. Why did this happen to your inn at the border of Linchuan?"

"And where did the refined salt rationed by the imperial court go?"

"Is it because you guys took advantage of the money and sold it to Li Dai Tao Zang or something?"

"At this moment, this is your last chance."

"Think carefully before answering."

"If you dare to hide even half of the result, you must be aware of it."

Say it.

Zhu Gaoxu half-squinted his eyes, staring straight at Yi Cheng who was kneeling on the ground, waiting for his explanation.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel slightly speechless.

Is this Linchuan City really rotten to the core?

Problems were discovered even before entering Linchuan Fucheng and even at the inn.

The refined salt rationed by the imperial court was not available in the inn?
Still using the same coarse salt as before.

"grown ups."

"Why do the inns still use the coarse salt of the past instead of the refined salt of today?"

"This matter really has nothing to do with this official."

"Even if you lend me a hundred courages, I wouldn't dare to secretly sell the refined salt rationed by the court in the inn for profit. After all, all the daily consumption in the inn can be checked in the account book."

Having said this, Yi Cheng glanced at Zhu Gaoxu cautiously and said hesitantly:

"Actually, the station has also received the notice a long time ago."

"The imperial court will ration new refined salt, which can be issued from the imperial list to the present."

"Over in Linchuan Fucheng, there has never been refined salt distributed to the inn."

"As for why there has not been a new ration of refined salt, my subordinates have asked us about this, but they asked us to wait and said they would ration us when it was time."

"You also know that the official's status is low. The adults above have said so."

"I don't dare to ask too many questions about this matter."

"So without rationing new refined salt, Xiaguan could only use the coarse salt left in the inn."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu didn't feel the slightest surprise, and the answer coincided with his guess.

After all, he was just a small post manager, so he didn't have the guts to sell everything in the post station.

Even if you want to make a profit, the means cannot be so crude.

"Well" Zhu Gaoxu gnawed his head without making any statement, and then asked again:

"Is there anyone selling the imperial court's new salt in Linchuan City?"

"What's its price and sales volume?"

"Do you know anything about these issues?"

"This" After hearing these words, Yi Cheng couldn't help but change his expression slightly, and his breathing became faster unknowingly. He couldn't help but began to hesitate again, and there was slowly seeping blood on his forehead at some point. He broke into a cold sweat and his face was extremely tangled.

This question.

As a native of Linchuan, he is also the Yi Cheng who is welcoming and sending him off.

He must know something, but he can't help but be a little afraid of certain things and dare not discuss them decisively.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Ji Gang.

Then I saw Ji Gang, with a 'bang' sound, he slapped the table again and shouted angrily:
"I'm asking you something!"

"Are you mute?"

"Or are you deaf and can't hear?"

After that, Ji Gang put away the tokens on the table, took out the token that symbolized his identity, and shouted:

"Keep your head up."

"Look at my badge, please, what's written on it?"

"Think clearly whether you should tell everything you know and understand."

Yi Cheng, who was kneeling on the ground, was frightened by the sudden order. He raised his head tremblingly and looked at the waistband that was very close to him.

In an instant, Yi Cheng's eyes visibly dilated, his expression full of astonishment, and he subconsciously muttered intermittently:

"Ji Gang, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard" (End of Chapter)