Fu Shanhe

Chapter 39 Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west
Yangzhou City, Changchun Garden.

While listening to the tune and checking the account books, Zhang Fangyong felt that he could still marry eight concubines.

The profit in the first half of the year increased by another 50,000 taels. Selling salt in Dayu was really making money without doing anything.

There is no way to spend all the money on building gardens, holding banquets, and raising skinny horses.

"Master, you are distracted!"

The concubine who was singing the song came up to him and threw herself into his arms, bringing Zhang Fangyong back to reality.

Forget it, I won’t take a concubine for the time being. Health is more important.

With more than twenty beautiful concubines at home, he is already busy enough, and there are also many lovers outside. It would be too much for his body to handle adding more.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to comfort the beauty in his arms, a group of uninvited guests suddenly broke in, knocked over the servants on duty, and scared the maids into screaming.

"Who are you? Do you know where this place is?"

Zhang Fangyong asked angrily.

As a famous salt merchant in Yangzhou, even the prefect had to be polite to him when he met him, and the yamen runners and soldiers under him were even more under his command.

This is the charm of money.

Although he cannot directly control power, it does not affect his enjoyment of the benefits that power brings.

From the provincial governor and provincial governor to the peddlers and clerks in the government office, all of them took his money.

There were countless candidates who received his sponsorship, and many of them entered official careers.

Although he seems to be just a salt merchant, his network of relationships has actually penetrated into the center of power long ago.

In Yangzhou, there are only a handful of people who dare to make things difficult for him.

“Of course I know.

When we, the Jinyiwei, investigate cases, we never go to the wrong place!"

As he was speaking, several soldiers rushed forward and pinned Zhang Fangyong to the ground.

"stop!
I am a good friend of your Southern Pacification Division’s Lord Liu, you must have made a mistake…”

No matter how Zhang Fangyong explained, the soldiers ignored him and tied him up as quickly as possible.

In a blink of an eye, the entire Changchun Garden was searched and all the people were taken prisoners.

Almost at the same time, all the famous salt merchants in Yangzhou City were arrested.

The Jinyiwei's big move soon attracted the attention of the prefectural government.

When Yangzhou prefect Hao Xingfeng received the news, he was stunned on the spot.

He hadn't received any news that the imperial court was taking action against the salt merchants!
The last time the imperial court rectified the salt transport in Lianghuai was three years ago.

At that time, due to opposition from all sides, the emperor only dismissed the serious dereliction of duty censor of salt, and did not launch a major war.

The situation this time was obviously different. Without receiving any news at all, the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot started arresting people.

Reason told him that he must take measures to stop it, otherwise something serious would happen.

He led his men to confront the factory guards head-on. As a civil servant, he was not that reckless.

What's more, the clerks in the prefectural office became weak in the knees when they saw the Jinyiwei, so they had no courage to stop them from investigating the case.

"Master Zhu, please send someone to notify the Salt Administration immediately. I hope it's not too late!"

Hao Xingfeng said with a serious expression.

The Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot were notorious, and Hao Xingfeng had no idea whether the Salt Administration could stop their actions.

But there was no way out, as he could not resist the temptation and accepted the money from the salt merchant.

"Sir, the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang's joint actions mean that the court has reached the point where it can no longer tolerate the Lianghuai salt administration.

The Salt Administration Office might be in trouble as well.

At this point, we have to consider our way out.

The factory guards caught the salt merchants off guard, and they secretly recruited many desperate criminals.

Now that the knife is on their necks, these people are likely to take risks. Moreover, these salt merchants are just pushed to the front, and there are many aristocratic families who rely on the salt industry for their livelihood.

If the imperial court wants to cut off their interests, they probably won't be willing to accept it.

Once the chaos breaks out, Yangzhou Prefecture will definitely bear the brunt of it, and we will be in big trouble!"

Master Zhu's analysis made Hao Xingfeng feel even more uncertain.

In the Dayu Dynasty, there was still room for maneuver on the issue of corruption.

If a large-scale rebellion breaks out, he, as the fatherly official, will be finished.

“Go notify first!
By the way, send someone to tell the governor and the governor-general the news. If I am finished, they will not be able to escape either."

……

"Immediately return to the Qianhu Office, select some trustworthy people from the Five Cities Military Department, and prepare to go to Jiangnan!"

As soon as he returned to the Marquis' Mansion, Li Mu was confused by his uncle's words.

When the imperial court was investigating military fields, the northern border should have been the area of ​​greatest concern. Why were they suddenly heading to the south of the Yangtze River?

"Uncle, has something happened in Jiangnan?"

Li Mu asked doubtfully.

Under normal circumstances, even if there was a change in Jiangnan and the imperial court sent an imperial envoy south, it would not be the turn of the Five Cities Military Command.

"It's not Jiangnan that has changed, it's the Lianghuai salt administration that has changed.

His Majesty has agreed to give up holding the nobles accountable for the loss of military farmland, but he needs our support in reforming the Lianghuai salt administration.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot have already taken action. Your Majesty is worried that this may cause an incident, so he decides to transfer troops from the capital to stabilize the situation.

The Wucheng Bingmasi has extensive experience in investigating cases and maintaining local public security, and is also among those being drawn up.”

After listening to Li Yuan's explanation, Li Mu understood instantly.

The investigation of the military land case was purely a cover-up; the real target of Emperor Tianyuan was the Lianghuai Salt Administration.

It was a perfect coincidence that the military land case was brought up by taking advantage of the Liaodong defeat.

In order to get out of the situation, the nobles chose to make a political deal with the emperor, and then all the previous things were written off.

A dead Taoist friend is not a poor Taoist.

Even if the nobles and the salt merchants have business dealings with each other, at this sensitive moment, everyone will take drastic measures.

It is possible that Emperor Tianyuan secretly hinted to the nobles that they would be allowed to share a piece of the pie after the salt administration was reformed.

After all, in an era when civil officials were superior to military officials, even if the noble group made money from the salt merchants, they were only picking up some leftovers.

The nobles obviously couldn't withstand the combination of big sticks and sweet dates.

Looking at his uncle's state, he knew that he had been persuaded by the emperor and was ready to join in the action.

The Beijing troops have all been transferred there. It is no longer a simple political struggle, but a preparation for armed suppression of the rebellion.

"Uncle, rest assured, I will do it immediately!"

Li Mu immediately assured.

As the richest group in Dayu, the Lianghuai salt merchants' influence in the local area has long penetrated every corner.

If we want to take action against them, the local government offices are definitely unreliable.

If you want to replace them in local management, sending a few civil servants over there will be of no use at all.

It is possible that you will be sent to see the King of Hell before you even report to the government office.

For this kind of local cleaning work, the Wucheng Bingmasi, which has no vested interests, is undoubtedly the best choice.

Especially when facing local powerful families, the morale of civil servants would drop when they heard that someone had happened in the family.

The children of nobles don't have such concerns. Even if a bunch of names are mentioned, they may not know who it is.

It doesn't matter if you offend someone. You're just a passer-by anyway and won't stay for a long time.

(End of this chapter)