Fu Shanhe

Chapter 40 Grass Team
At the South City Thousand Households Office, Li Mu, who was thinking about how to select people, found that he was thinking too much.

The sons of noble families with connections were all notified and appeared on the parade grounds with their well-trained servants.

Just by looking at their momentum, you can tell that this group of armored servants are definitely more capable of fighting than those temporary soldiers in the yamen.

If you go to the salt merchants' lair, you are bound to fight with others.

All these armed forces must be brought over.

If we pick a few officers with rich experience in investigating cases, we will have a team of four hundred people.

"Master Qianhu, have a safe journey!"

Deputy Captain Yuan Yangming said with reluctance.

The security in the capital must not be disturbed, someone must stay behind to guard it.

Since Li Mu, the chief executive, had left with his people, Li Mu, the deputy executive, had to stay.

Everyone knows how rich the salt merchants are.

Just a little bit of it will be enough for everyone to eat.

What's more, rectifying the salt administration is a major plan of the imperial court. All the higher-ups are paying attention to it, and it is the easiest way to achieve political achievements.

"I don't know when I can return from the southeast, so I'll leave the affairs of the Qianhu Office to Brother Yuan!"

Li Mu responded politely.

His intuition told him that after this trip south, he would never return to Nancheng Qianhu Suo.

Although he had only been in office for a few months, he really had feelings for the Qianhu Suo.

High pay, little work, and little pressure. It would be difficult to get such treatment if you change jobs.

After bidding farewell to his colleagues and leading his team to gather at the Wucheng Bingmasi headquarters, Li Mu, who felt good about himself, suddenly felt the gap.

The gap between the five major thousand-household offices is vividly reflected here.

Eight hundred people came from the East City Thousand Households Unit, and seven hundred people came from the West City Thousand Households Unit, most of them were family servants.

From the numbers, it can be seen that the children of nobles who serve in these two thousand households have more substantial family assets.

The situation at the Beicheng Qianhu Suo was the worst, with many of the 200-man team just filling in the numbers.

The situation of the thousand households in Zhongcheng was slightly better, with a total of 300 people.

In addition, there is a chaotic team, which is the largest in scale.

These people are all registered with the Wucheng Bingmasi. They never come to work on normal days, but now they come to join in the fun.

"It is important for a person to know himself. I am going to Lianghuai to rectify the salt business. It is not as peaceful as in the capital.

Those vicious private salt dealers dare to do anything, and Japanese pirates might even show up.

If you don't have any skills, it's better to go back as soon as possible and avoid shame.

You should all know how important the salt business is.

If I mess up my job at the imperial court, I won't mind losing my life, but it won't be worth it if my family gets implicated!"

Marquis Wuyang's words were too obviously targeted.

The sons of nobles in office have all led troops and have normal IQs. The servants they bring with them are at best young and strong men who have been trained for a period of time.

It’s different for those who are just figures. There are all kinds of people among them, and their common characteristic is that they are incompetent.

If he hadn't been concerned about these people's identities, he would have wanted to drive them all back immediately.

"Commander-in-chief, rest assured!
We are all prepared and will definitely not give…”

Before he could finish his words, Marquis Wuyang whipped him.

"Uncle, why did you hit me?"

The young man asked aggrievedly.

He had supported him so much, and it would have been fine if he hadn't been promoted or given a position, but he was actually whipped.

This is my uncle, he is simply...

"roll!

Get back here right now!
If I see you again, I'll break your legs!"

Faced with the furious Marquis Wuyang, the young man knew it was useless to reason with him, so he left the parade ground with his men feeling aggrieved.

After seeing this scene, the younger generations who were related to Marquis Wuyang left with their people.

They came here to join in the fun just on a whim, they don't want to be whipped.

The persuasion mode was also activated on the parade ground, with a group of generals persuading their relatives to leave. Even Li Mu persuaded several relatives and friends to leave.

No one bothered to pay attention to the last few stubborn ones left.

If the nobles wanted to gain benefits, they would have to pay a price. If they didn't kill some people, how could the emperor see their efforts?

It would be best if someone took the initiative to be cannon fodder.

If you weren't worried about the impact, the best option would be to pack up all those idiots and send them over to be killed.

Not only will the people in Beijing applaud, but it will also help reduce some of the burden on the court.

“If no one leaves, then we’ll start counting the number of people and registering them.

Let me be frank with you: once you are registered, you will be considered a deserter if you leave midway.

Now I will issue a military order: all units will kill all deserters from the Five Cities Army without mercy!"

Marquis Wuyang said tiredly.

He really didn't want to do the job going south.

As a relative by marriage, his status had reached the top, and no matter how many contributions he made, he could not go any further.

Instead of running back and forth, it’s better to stay in Beijing and enjoy yourself.

Unfortunately, there was no way out. Emperor Tianyuan was determined to reform the salt administration and placed a heavy bet on it.

The emperor's nephew was determined to drag his relatives to the battlefield, and Marquis Wuyang had no way to refuse.

He was insignificant among the civil and military officials in the court, but among the relatives of the emperor, he was an outstanding talent.

This important task must be shouldered.

He was already upset, and someone else made him even more upset, which made him even angrier.

……

The large-scale troop deployment in the capital naturally could not be hidden from the eyes and ears of the cabinet ministers.

"Secret reports came from the Jinyiwei in the southeast that the salt merchants were plotting a rebellion and the situation in the southeast was about to deteriorate.

Your Majesty, without going through the Ministry of War, directly ordered the mobilization of the two major regiments and the Five City Military Command to go south to quell the rebellion."

Song Haidong said helplessly.

Emperor Tianyuan became increasingly powerful, making his job as the Prime Minister very difficult.

The emperor felt that he could not control the people below him, and the court officials felt that he was fawning on the emperor and did not dare to argue with the emperor.

I swear to God, he really tried hard.

Theoretically, the six departments can indeed refute imperial edicts, but that does not mean that the emperor's edicts are invalid.

There is no law in Dayu that stipulates that the emperor's edict must be stamped by the cabinet.

The first few emperors of the founding of the country issued imperial edicts directly. It was only after the decline of imperial power that the cabinet began to use seals.

In the past, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War cooperated to impose restrictions on food and wages, so military operations could not bypass them.

This time it’s different. The stolen money seized earlier is ready-made military pay.

The nobles reached a political deal with the emperor, took the imperial edict and started working, completely ignoring the Ministry of War.

"Since ancient times, I have never heard of a merchant rebellion that could succeed. It is a great wonder that a salt merchant with all the wealth in the world could rebel!"

As soon as Wang Anfu complained, everyone immediately realized that something was wrong.

The phrase "rich as the world" was reserved for the emperor and the imperial court. If you used it on a businessman, you would lose your head.

This guy is also planning to take over the salt merchants!

Realizing this, no one found it strange.

No matter how rich the salt merchants were, they were still businessmen after all, and their political status was still the lowest class.

Dayu's finances are scarce, and there are only a few channels to get money.

The money of the gentry cannot be touched, nor can the nobles and royal relatives. The only ones who can move are the common people and businessmen.

In the past years, the court has imposed additional taxes on the people several times.

People of insight have long realized that if the tax continues to be increased, there will definitely be unrest among the people.

"Lord Wang, don't say such things carelessly!"

Pang Hengsheng said dissatisfiedly.

If the emperor wants to mess around, it would be fine if you don't stop him, but no one would follow him and make trouble.

There are no pure businessmen in Dayu nowadays.

The Lianghuai salt merchants have always been important financial backers of the Qingliu Party.

(End of this chapter)