Fu Shanhe

Chapter 41 Conflict on the ship
"Mr. Pang, don't be angry first.

Your Majesty is determined to reorganize the salt administration. The troops from the Beijing camp have all gone there, and we cannot stop them.

Salt merchants are indeed a troublesome group, but it also depends on who you compare them with.

Do you think those merchants can stand up to the imperial army?"

Wang Anfu said with disdain.

The reason for sending troops is to suppress rebellion, and whoever stands in the way is a rebel.

The Lianghuai salt merchants were indeed rich and had bribed many people in the local area, but that did not mean that these people were willing to join them in the rebellion.

What's more, the salt merchants were not a monolithic group, and there were many conflicts among them for their own interests.

As long as the imperial court acts quickly enough and captures the leaders immediately, the rest of the people will be scattered.

"Lord Wang, salt merchants are not just salt merchants, the troublesome ones are the aristocratic families behind them.

You have never lived in the Lianghuai area, so you don't know how much influence these people have in the local area.

If you are not careful, there will be a big mess!"

Pang Hengsheng said earnestly.

These words were all spoken out of public interest and were never for the sake of party interests. He dared to guarantee it with his own character.

"Mr. Pang, the problem is actually not that serious.

There are indeed many people behind the salt merchants, but that doesn’t mean they will rebel.

How the situation develops depends mainly on how the emperor wants to reform the salt policy."

As soon as Lord Xu, who was also a member of the Qingliu Party, spoke, the tense atmosphere instantly eased.

The aristocratic families are powerful, but they also have many concerns of their own.

Salt is an important source of income for them, but it is by no means the only source of income.

Even if someone has dangerous ideas, the clan members who are officials in the court will try their best to stop them.

After twenty years of hard study, I finally passed the imperial examination and entered the court. Now I have to suddenly change my status. The sunk cost is too high.

Although Dayu had various problems, the overall situation in the world was still stable.

“Having said that, the risks of Lianghuai Salt Administration are still not small.

For the sake of the country, the cabinet must send senior officials to take charge and cannot allow the eunuch party to act recklessly! "

Fortunately, Pang Hengsheng reacted quickly and turned the emperor into a eunuch party in time, otherwise it would have been another political accident.

After Emperor Tianyuan came to power, he did a lot of bad things, but all the blame was put on the eunuch party.

Up to now, in the hearts of people all over the world, Emperor Tianyuan is still a good emperor.

"The Lianghuai Salt Administration is a special case, and ordinary people cannot control it.

Mr. Pang was born in Nanzhili and is most familiar with the situation there. Why don’t you go there in person? "

Song Haidong suggested with a smile.

The salt administration reform is imminent. Now that the East Factory, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Beijing Garrison have all been gone, the civil service group also needs someone of weight to take charge of the overall situation.

Since ancient times, there has always been a death sentence in the reform of salt administration.

If ordinary civil servants go there, they can easily become cannon fodder in the fight between the two sides.

The salt merchants had close ties with the gentry in Lianghuai, and that place just happened to be the base camp of the Qingliu faction. No one would believe that there was no connection between the two.

Others could not stand their ground in the past, but the senior officials of the Qingliu faction could.

"It would be better to choose another capable and virtuous Prime Minister!

The Lianghuai Salt Administration involves too many things, and it requires young and strong officials to handle it. My body can't stand the tossing and turning."

Pang Hengsheng refused instinctively.

The relationship between the Prime Minister and the Second Prime Minister in the Dayu Dynasty has never been good, and he dared not take the position recommended by his competitors.

It is true that the Southeast is the base camp of the Qingliu Party, but there are also several respected "Qingliu leaders" there.

The Qingliu Party is not a monolithic group. These Qingliu leaders are friends on the surface, but they are competitors in private.

In politics, anything can happen.

If there is collusion between internal and external forces, and a ruthless attack is launched against him, he might end up in a disaster.

"Since Elder Pang is unwilling, then I'll trouble Elder Xu to go there!"

After Song Haidong finished speaking, Xu Wenyue, who was named, frowned slightly.

Pang Hengsheng found it tricky, and he found it tricky too.

The right to reform the Lianghuai salt administration was not in his hands. At this time, the good word was to preside over the overall situation, and the bad word was to clean up the mess.

The corruption of the salt administration is closely related to the corruption of officials.

In the Qingliu base camp, most of the officials in office are members of the Qingliu Party, and this time, they are all their own people who are being cleaned up.

The eunuchs were watching from the side, and they would not be able to give an explanation to the court unless they took ruthless action.

If he takes ruthless action, people within the Qingliu faction will think he is inhumane.

He wanted to refuse, but Song Haidong's unyielding look made him swallow his words.

There is a huge power gap between the cabinet ministers. Song Haidong looks like a good guy, but if you really treat him as a soft persimmon, you will die without knowing how.

Those who can stand out from the hundreds of officials and sit on the position of Prime Minister all have a decisive and ruthless side.

The candidate nominated by the Prime Minister can be rejected once, but he is never allowed to be rejected a second time.

……

Li Mu, who had set out on a journey, no longer had the energy to pay attention to the infighting in the court.

Not long after they boarded the grain ship, something unexpected happened to the group from the Five Cities Army.

The landlubbers from Beijing were not used to life on a boat and were seasick in groups of three or four.

The soldiers were fine. They had all experienced hardships and had strong physical adaptability. Only a few of them fell ill.

The spoiled sons of nobles were in a miserable state. Many of them suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and the military doctors were too busy to cope with them.

You have to endure the suffering you have brought upon yourself, even if it means crying.

However, spiritual will often lose to reality, and on the third day, something unexpected finally happened.

"Stop the ship!"

"Stop the boat quickly!"

"Stop the boat! I want to get off!"

"I am the nephew of Duke Chengguo, stop the boat immediately!"

"I am Concubine Rong's brother, how dare you..."

……

Faced with a group of in-laws, nobles and playboys making trouble, the boatmen had no confidence to refuse.

Seeing this scene, Li Mu secretly groaned.

It was unfortunate for him to be on the same boat with this group of stupid nobles.

"Marquis Wuyang orders that anyone who stops the ship without permission will be executed!"

"Everyone continue sailing. Anyone who dares to disrupt the march will be charged with treason!"

Li Mu stopped him immediately.

Once the boat stops, these nobles will run away and who will be the sacrifice?

He hadn't heard any news about this military operation beforehand, but suddenly everyone received the news, which was obviously abnormal.

Marquis Wuyang's performance was also problematic. He did try to persuade people to quit, but he didn't put in enough effort.

Otherwise, just report the matter and ask the emperor to order these troublemakers to stay.

After reviewing what happened, Li Mu came to a shocking conclusion: the higher-ups deliberately led this group of people to their deaths.

The salt merchants were arrested and the imperial army was gathering. The normal thing for people to do would be to hide first.

Anyway, the Beijing troops will not be stationed in Lianghuai permanently, so it will not be too late to cause trouble after the main army leaves.

The salt tax was massively reduced, mainly due to the rampant smuggling of salt.

The salt merchants engaged in the sale of official salt were also the largest private salt dealers, so it was natural that they could not collect salt taxes.

For the manipulators behind the scenes, once the puppets in the open are arrested, they can support a few newcomers and the profits will continue to grow.

The reason why several previous salt administration reforms failed was that they did not touch the core.

These behind-the-scenes manipulators all have prominent identities. Without solid evidence, the court cannot take action against them.

If you want to lure a snake out of its hole, you need not only smart people but also stupid people.

When someone takes the initiative to cause trouble, conflicts will occur.

If a few relatives or nobles died, and then they took action to arrest people, the literati would have nothing to say.

If you rush in recklessly, you may end up with the Dayu version of "The Tombstone of Five People".

(End of this chapter)