I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 209 Hai Rui is also a man of tricks

There is a post house in the north of Yangzhou city, which is a first-class post house in the world. It has now been requisitioned and become the headquarters of the imperial envoy.

Wang Yi'e packed up here, went to the dock to pick up Hai Rui and Xu Yangzheng, and settled them down here.

The three of them changed their clothes and sat down in the flower hall, drinking tea and discussing the situation.

When Wang Yi'e told Hai Rui what he knew, Hai Rui sneered a few times and Xu Yangzheng was also speechless.

Xu Yangzheng shook his head and sighed: "Yangzhou is connected to Nanjing. People in Nanjing panicked before Yangzhou did."

Hai Rui said in a cold tone: "After all, Yangzhou is a group of wealthy merchants. They seem to be living a life of luxury, but in fact, the mountains of silver in their cellars are all kept for others.

"The people in Nanjing, however, have inherited the throne and live with the country. If you can't even protect your family property and your life, what's the point of having so much money?"

Wang Yi'e chuckled and said, "Wu Shilai, the Right Censor-in-Chief of Nanjing, was the commander-in-chief of the Yangtze River and was in charge of the river defense. He originally had nothing to do with Lianghuai and Yangzhou, but he happened to appear in Yangzhou before us and killed one of the ten major salt merchants.

A dignified fourth-rank official in red robes is willing to take a big risk and personally do this murder to silence witnesses. The person who can drive him to do things, hehe."

Xu Yangzheng had been an official in Nanjing and knew the situation there. He stroked his beard and said slowly, "Zijian is right. Such people can be counted on one's fingers, living in Nanjing.

I never thought that a salt administration investigation would involve so many people."

Wang Yi'e disagreed. "When I bid farewell to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the Western Garden, His Royal Highness did the math for me. After careful calculation, the salt administration of the country lost 18 million taels of silver in salt tax. The salt produced in Lianghuai accounts for more than half of the country's salt. The salt tax it lost is at least 10 million taels.

How could the salt merchants in Yangzhou afford 10 million taels of silver? His Highness said that the greatest ability of the salt merchants was not to make money, but to spend it.

Now that I think about it, Your Highness is very far-sighted and has a sharp vision!"

Xu Yangzheng was so shocked that he almost pulled his beard off his chin. "Tens of millions of taels of silver, no wonder he is so cruel!"

Then a look of worry appeared on his face.

"With tens of millions of taels of silver spent every year, I don't know how many people I can buy off. At least half of the nobles and officials in Nanjing City rely on Yangzhou for their livelihood.

No wonder when I was in Nanjing, someone joked that if Yangzhou sneezed, Nanjing would catch a cold. Now it seems that this is indeed a dragnet. How can we investigate it?"

Hai Rui's expression remained unchanged, but only slightly darker. "How do we investigate? We'll investigate anyway. When I was summoned by His Highness, I heard him say that no matter how strong a fortress is, it will be breached from the inside.

I have worked in Nanjing before, so I know a little bit about the things there and I know a little bit about the people there."

Wang Yi'e laughed, "It's a good thing that Lord Gangfeng has made up his mind. Before leaving the capital, His Highness repeatedly told me to listen to Lord Gangfeng and do whatever he tells me to do."

Seeing that the two of them were confident, Xu Yangzheng didn't bother to care about them anymore.

When leaving Beijing, the various forces in the court reached a tacit understanding. Hai Rui was responsible for breaking the wall to investigate the case, Wang Yi'e was responsible for arresting people and maintaining stability, and Xu Yangzheng was responsible for checking the treasury and collecting silver.

That afternoon, Hai Rui hung up a notice board for the imperial envoy and met with officials from Yangzhou City, starting with Qu Wenshou, the Transport Commissioner of Lianghuai.

Pu Yongan sat in the gatehouse of the headquarters, feeling uneasy.

He was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, handsome and sharp-minded. The last time Gao Gong sent his disciples to inspect the salt administration, Yangzhou people worked together to easily cover it up.

While everyone was celebrating, he was secretly worried.

It is now the Longqing period, and the one sitting in the Western Garden is no longer the thoughtful but unambitious late emperor, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Pu Yongan had secretly studied this gentleman's rules.

The Coordinating Bureau, the Supervisory Office, the suppression of Japanese pirates in the southeast, and the investigation of the Shanxi Party, Pu Yongan broke out in a cold sweat after analyzing each one.

This guy is best at planning. He moves here and there seemingly casually, but once he attacks, heads will roll.

Gao Gong returned with a failure. Who knows if he was a test pawn sent by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

The one in Xiyuan can even use the powerful Yan father and son as pawns, so what is Gao Gong?
Pu Yongan had worked hard for more than ten years to climb to his current position, but he didn't expect to end up with his head hung on the city gate as a warning to others. His family was exiled to the border and narrowly escaped death.

How to break the game?

He was thinking hard. Qu Wenshou left with a dark face, Wang Wanyang left with sweat on his face, the prefect of Gaoyou, the deputy prefect, and the judge of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office left with gloomy faces or as if they had lost their parents.

Finally, an attendant came to the gatehouse and said, "Jiangdu County, the three imperial envoys have summoned you."

Pu Yongan carefully followed his entourage to the door of the signing room.

"Master, the message has reached Jiangdu County."

"Come in!" The voice from inside was Hai Rui. Pu Yongan's heart skipped a beat and he hurried into the signing room. He saw Hai Rui sitting in the middle, Wang Yi'e sitting on the left, and Xu Yangzheng sitting on the right.

He took two steps forward, lifted up his collar, and knelt on the ground.

"Your humble servant Pu Yongan from Jiangdu County greets the three imperial envoys."

"Get up and sit down to talk." Hai Rui said.

"Thank you, Imperial Envoy Hai."

The attendant placed a stool in the middle of the room, and Pu Yongan sat on it for one-third of his buttocks.

"Pu Yongan, I remember you. In the 35th year of Jiajing, I was a teacher in Nanping County, Yanping Prefecture, Fujian Province. You were a student I personally selected, and within a year you passed the imperial examination and became a scholar."

Pu Yongan knelt down with tears streaming down his face. "Mr. Gangfeng, I am ashamed and have failed to live up to your earnest teachings."

Hai Rui stepped forward and helped him up with both hands, "Sit down, sit down and talk."

"The student thanks the teacher." Pu Yongan went up the pole.

Wang Yi'e and Xu Yangzheng looked at each other.

"Shide, how did you get to Nanjing?"

Hai Rui returned to his seat and continued asking.

"In reply to my teacher, after my teacher was transferred to Chun'an, I took the imperial examinations twice, but failed both times. In the 41st year of Jiajing, my mother's uncle was doing business in the southeast and helped me get a place as a student at the Imperial College in Nanjing.

He studied at the Imperial Academy in Nanjing and achieved outstanding results. In the 43rd year of the Jiajing reign, he was sent to be the county magistrate of Andong County in Huai'an Prefecture. By chance, he wiped out the bandits who had been causing trouble for the local area for many years and was promoted to county magistrate. Then, he made some connections in Nanjing and was sent to be the county magistrate of Jiangdu County in the 45th year of the Jiajing reign.

The transfer and demotion of county officials in Southern Zhili was controlled by the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel, so Pu Yongan said that he used connections in Nanjing.

Hai Rui stroked his beard and said, "Shide, Jiangdu County is the most important county in the Ming Dynasty. The fact that you have served here for two years shows that you have some ability."

Pu Yongan quickly replied: "It is all because of my teacher's good teachings. He gave me the ideals in my heart, so that I can work hard and fulfill my duties in my career."

Hai Rui laughed, "I didn't teach you this back then."

After talking for two quarters of an hour, Hai Rui asked in great detail about the population of Jiangdu, the amount of land, the number of students in the county school, and the annual tax.
Pu Yongan was able to answer all the questions one by one, which was completely different from the previous few people who knew nothing about the questions or had cold sweat on their foreheads when asked.

Hai Rui showed a hint of approval in his eyes, and he winked at Wang Yi'e before finally saying, "Well, Shide, that's all for today.

I, Governor Wang, and Minister Xu, have been ordered to inspect Lianghuai. We will need your cooperation in the future."

“Students must try their best.”

"Okay, then you can leave first."

"Yes."

Pu Yongan stood up to say goodbye. Wang Yi'e stood up and laughed, "Pu Zhixian is a student of Mr. Gangfeng. What a coincidence. I have to go out for something. Pu Zhixian, come along. I'll see you off."

Pu Yongan replied in fear and trepidation: "I dare not, I dare not!"

Wang Yi'e walked up to him and said, "You are very brave. What are you afraid of? Let's go."

(End of this chapter)