I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 203 The calm before the storm

Hai Rui narrowed his eyes slightly, glanced at Xu Yangzheng, picked up the teacup, and said nothing.

Wang Yi'e laughed heartily and answered without hesitation: "Shao Hu Gong has four hundred disciples, and I am one of them."

Hai Rui smiled, "Shao Hu Gong has 400 students. His disciples are truly everywhere. It is said that the most outstanding one is Zhang Shuda, Zijian, is that right?"

Wang Yi'e smiled even more happily: "That's right, we, the disciples of Master Shaohu, do unanimously believe that Uncle Zhang has inherited the true teachings of our master and should be his successor."

Xu Yangsheng was speechless.

A world-famous upright and loyal minister, led by a member of the Gao Party and Xu Gong's disciples, investigated the Lianghuai Salt Administration. However, the one who led all this was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who was in the Western Garden.

The Lianghuai Salt Administration involved the three most important forces in the court.

What’s even more interesting is that these three forces are intertwined.

Is this the mystery of the court?

Xu Yangsheng served in local government for many years, mostly in remote areas such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Lingnan. Later, when things got better, he was called back to Nanjing.

However, although the officials in Nanjing sounded powerful, they were actually far away from the court and the power center of the Ming Dynasty.

Only after being transferred to the Ministry of Revenue in the capital by Gao Gong and witnessing it with his own eyes in the court did Xu Yang understand some of the mysteries.

After taking a few sips of tea, Xu Yangzheng asked again, "Mr. Gangfeng, you are the leader of this mission. What do you think we should do this time?"

Hai Rui raised his head, glanced at him, and said calmly, "The root cause of the problems in the Lianghuai salt administration is rampant corruption. Salt taxes have been in arrears for many years, and private salt is prevalent."

Xu Yangsheng nodded and agreed, "Mr. Gangfeng is right. The transport officials were accommodating and flattering, while the censors were following the old ways and doing nothing. This led to a shortage of official salt and the prevalence of private salt."

Hai Rui stroked his beard and slowly asked back, "Mr. Mengquan, what do you think?"

"Mr. Gangfeng, to clear up the malpractices in the salt administration, the general practice is to go back and forth to supervise the salt administration of each salt field, conduct inspections and clean up, and ban corruption and abuse. If there are vacancies in the salt field staff, the relevant officials will be ordered to fill them.

The mountains and grass fields were not allowed to be occupied, and the damaged warehouses and cooking pots were repaired with materials, and the salt workers were given financial assistance in difficult times. The fundamental way to improve the salt law was to eliminate corruption and abuses, and to help the salt workers open up to trade. "

Hai Rui nodded and said, "Before I left the capital, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince summoned me and gave me the task of inspecting the salt administration in Lianghuai. I must do my best to promote the salt law, eliminate corruption, facilitate merchants, and ensure sufficient reserves at the border."

Xu Yangsheng remained silent, secretly wondering what the Crown Prince's sixteen-character guideline really meant.
Hai Rui turned to look at Wang Yi'e and asked, "Zijian, is your knife ready?"

“Mr. Gangfeng, everything is ready.

The 3,500 soldiers in the Caodufu Battalion were replaced by students. All the treacherous and lazy ones were dismissed. More than 3,000 soldiers were selected from the Lianghuai Garrison, and dozens of non-commissioned officers were borrowed from Qi Yuanjing's new military camp to train them well.

I don’t have the guts to kill the Japanese pirates or the northern barbarians, but I am capable of getting rid of the salt smugglers and killing the servants.”

"That's good!" Hai Rui slapped the table and replied generously, "In the spring of March, we are in Yangzhou. In my opinion, Yangzhou is a den of dragons and tigers for the three of us.

The salt inspection route is full of swordplay. Money is a powerful thing, and those people will not give up millions of taels of silver easily. They may even fight to the death.

Wang Yi'e chuckled, "People die for money, birds die for food."

Xu Yangsheng knew very well that the journey to Yangzhou to inspect the salt industry was fraught with dangers, but he never expected that Hai Rui and Wang Yi'e would have such an attitude.

To say they didn't take it seriously, they treated the salt inspection as a war; to say they took it seriously, they played it lightly, thinking that they could accomplish their goal by chopping off a few heads.

In Yangzhou City, more than a dozen people gathered in the flower hall of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office.

Some of them are fat and have big ears, some have ruddy faces, some are elegant and refined, and all of them are dressed in silk and satin, with jade and mink, looking very wealthy.

These dozen or so people are all wealthy people in Yangzhou City, and are among the top dozen salt merchants in Lianghuai.

They could be said to be wealthy enough to rival a country, with properties not limited to Lianghuai. Several of them also controlled salt production in Changlu and Liangzhe.

At this time, these dozen people had gloomy faces and looked at the official in a red robe sitting at the top, Qu Wenshou, the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner, with different eyes.

It was the beginning of winter, and Qu Wenshou would wipe the sweat from his forehead with a towel from time to time.

"Everyone, the chief official sent by the court to inspect the salt industry this time is Hai Rui. I believe everyone knows who he is.

Xu Yangzheng also came with him. He was a minister in the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing. Some people had dealt with him before and knew that he was smart and capable, and not someone who could be easily fooled. For some reason, he joined Gao Xinzheng's school and became Gao's running dog. Last time Gao Xinzheng sent 24 disciples to inspect the salt, but they were covered up by everyone and suffered a big loss. Gao Xinzheng would never let go of any grudge, so Xu Yangzheng's visit this time must have been with bad intentions.

In short, this time the Lianghuai Salt Inspection is very aggressive and has a very clear purpose. Everyone should think carefully about how to deal with it. "

Qu Wenshou's eyes slowly swept across the faces of a dozen salt merchants, and the meaning of his words was clear.

Everyone knows who Hai Rui is.

If he digs out some ox gallstones or dog treasures, we will all die, together!

Everyone quickly mobilized their abilities and the network of relationships behind them to find ways to stop Hai Rui from investigating the salt administration. No one should try to be cunning or sly, as we are all tied together, and no one can be immune!
The dozen or so salt merchants were all smart people and understood what Qu Wenshou meant, but they had different thoughts.

Some of them had strong backgrounds and were well-informed. They knew very well that this salt inspection was an agreement reached between the Crown Prince, Lord Xu, and the Minister of Revenue, and each side got what it needed.

How to resist the three most powerful forces in the court joining forces?

These people were becoming timid and were planning a way to retreat.

Some have strong backgrounds, but are not well-informed.

They thought that this salt inspection was just a formality like the countless previous ones, where the higher-ups would gain political achievements and money, and after the excitement, everything would go back to normal.

It's nothing more than throwing out a few pawns and giving away some money.

Some of them have average backgrounds and are not well-informed, but they are very smart and can detect something wrong from the slightest clue. What these people are thinking now is, I am a weak group among the dozen or so salt merchants, will I be thrown out as a scapegoat?
After waiting for half a quarter of an hour, Qu Wenshou still didn't hear any salt merchant speak, and he was furious.

It's true that when disaster strikes, everyone runs away!

But my position is too sensitive. If something goes wrong, I will be the first to be silenced.

Once he was silenced, the salt merchants and the forces behind them could put the blame on him.

Qu Wenshou suppressed his anger and coughed, saying, "Everyone, at this time, silence is not golden! We must work together and think of a solution! Speak up, say whatever you want to say!"

There was still silence in the flower hall.

Qu Wenshou angrily slammed the table and yelled, "What do you mean? Are you planning to dump the dirty water on me and take all the blame?

I’m telling you, if I can’t survive, you can’t survive either!”

A sinister voice came from the salt merchants.

"Then none of them want to live!"

"Han Datou, what do you mean?" Qu Wenshou asked in surprise.

"These three came to inspect the salt, and it's obvious that they want to kill us. What else can we say? Either they die or we die!"

The flower hall fell into silence again.

In the Qinzheng Hall of Ziguang Pavilion in the Western Garden of the capital, Zhu Yijun was talking to two new lecturers of the Eastern Palace.

"Mr. Jingshi, Mr. Longtang, what do you think of the Lianghuai Salt Inspector?"

Among the six lecturers of the Eastern Palace selected by Zhang Siwei last time, two were involved in scandals and were impeached thoroughly by the Right Censor-in-Chief Wu Chang, and all of them resigned.

Zhang Siwei re-selected six people according to Zhu Yijun's suggestion.

At this point, all the officials in the court understood that the prince did not want a teacher, but was selecting close ministers as the team for his future succession to the throne.

Today, Wang Xijue and Ye Mengxiong accompanied Zhu Yijun to read and discuss current affairs.

Ye Mengxiong replied: "Your Highness, I don't know much about salt administration, so I dare not make any suggestions. But I recommend someone who is a capable official in economics. Your Highness can ask for his opinion."

Zhu Yijun asked with great interest: "Who?"

(End of this chapter)