Fu Shanhe

Chapter 47 Wanting to impose a crime
"Sir, we really can't tell!

You'd better not ask. Anyone who has offended the seven major families will have their family destroyed.

Even the last Imperial Salt Inspector was..."

The blue-clothed scholar's trembling words further aroused Li Mu's curiosity.

The previous Salt Inspector died of smallpox, which caused quite a stir at the time. The court even specifically reiterated the ban on officials from frequenting brothels.

Now it seems that there seems to be some hidden secret behind the death of the previous Salt Inspector.

“Forget it, I’ll take you to see Marquis Wuyang.

As the Imperial Envoy and your Majesty's uncle, I think he should be qualified to handle this matter!"

Although the credit is great, the risk is equally great.

A pawn should do his job. Once he investigates the seven major families, his mission will be accomplished.

It is better to leave the specific decision on how to convict these companies to the higher authorities.

……

Zhou House.

A white-haired old man was holding wheat grains and throwing them into the pond.

"Master, something terrible is happening!"

"Something happened in Yangzhou City!"

The butler's truncated words interrupted the old man's good mood, and his intuition told him that trouble was coming.

In fact, he sensed the danger from the moment the salt merchant was arrested.

However, he did not take it to heart. Those salt merchants had indeed been too arrogant in recent years, and it was normal for them to be targeted by the imperial court.

Similar things have happened in the past.

The imperial court was arresting people, and they took the opportunity to replace them with a group of more obedient agents.

If we allow these salt merchants to continue operating and expanding their network of relationships, that would be a disaster.

"What happened in Yangzhou City?
Could it be that the imperial court has convicted those salt merchants? "

The white-haired old man sneered.

He has not wasted these days.

All the clan’s network of relationships was utilized to summarize all the recent events, big and small, that had occurred in the court.

There is serious party strife in the court, and the emperor wants to investigate the military fields. All factions are busy, so how can they have time to do anything else?
"Master, the gates of Yangzhou City have suddenly been closed, and now people are allowed to enter but not leave.

An insider leaked the news that the imperial court sent Marquis Wuyang as the imperial envoy, who arrived in Yangzhou City yesterday.

This time he did not come alone, he was accompanied by a large number of soldiers.

Officials from Yangzhou Prefecture were hosting a banquet last night when they were suddenly attacked by rebels.

The specific situation is unknown. Afterwards, the people led by Wuyang Hou took over the city defense, and all the officials of Yangzhou Prefecture were detained in the government office!"

When the butler finished speaking, the white-haired old man's brows instantly frowned.

Private salt was rampant among the people, and the court was unable to increase salt tax collection, so it was normal to send imperial envoys to deal with the situation.

They are all sensible people and will not take things to extremes.

When the imperial envoy comes to inspect, he can present a generous gift to the emperor, and the salt tax will rebound a little.

When the storm passed, things gradually returned to normal.

However, this was the first time since the founding of Dayu that an imperial envoy came with an army.

“Things are going to get bad!
Zhou Qi, you should immediately send someone to gather the clan leaders and have them come to discuss matters in the evening."

The white-haired old man immediately gave the order.

For some reason, his heart suddenly began to beat fast.

When they intervened in the illegal salt trade, they always manipulated the situation from behind the scenes, isolating the risks at several levels.

Under normal circumstances, no matter how the imperial court investigates, they will never be able to find out.

On the surface, the Zhou family of Huainan are all good gentry who abide by the law.

They are very active in donating money for disaster relief, building bridges and roads, and they have a good reputation among the people!
From the founding of the country to the present day, the Zhou family has always had successful candidates in the imperial examinations and the highest-ranking official even served as the Minister of one of the six ministries.

Looking at the entire Great Yu Dynasty, they are all well-known aristocratic families. Their network of connections is spread all over Jiangnan, and they are the backbone of the Qingliu Group.

It was obviously abnormal that they did not receive such important news in advance that the imperial envoy was leading troops south.

Similar scenes continued to occur in major families in Lianghuai.

Sensing the dangerous aura, each family summoned the top leaders of the clan to discuss countermeasures.

……

Yangzhou government office.

After a period of interrogation, the identities of the seven major families were finally obtained from the witnesses.

Then, a transcript that had been artistically processed appeared in front of everyone, leaving Li Mu stunned.

As expected of a relative by marriage, he is very adept at doing this kind of thing.

Clearly they only mentioned the seven major families in Lianghuai, but in the transcript it became a list of members of the Seven Rebel Alliance.

Looking at the scholars signing their names tremblingly, Li Mu felt like a villain.

"Yes, the traitor has finally been caught.

Captain Li, you should be credited with the great achievement of solving this case in a timely manner.

When I return to the capital, I will report to Your Majesty!"

Marquis Wuyang said in a good mood.

The treason case that happened last night was identified the next day. This amazing efficiency was enough to put all officials to shame.

As for the flaws in the evidence, those are minor issues.

Once the person is caught, the evidence will be complete soon.

At worst, there are a lot of witnesses.

Last night's witnesses and survivors can all prove that the seven major families planned the assassination of the imperial envoy, resulting in the deaths of many children of nobles.

"My Lord, you are too kind. These are what I should do.

In terms of merit, the Marquis must have made the greatest contribution.

Without the careful planning of the Marquis, I would not have been able to find clues so quickly and identify the mastermind behind the incident."

Li Mu immediately declined.

It doesn’t matter whether he got first or second credit. The key is that in this kind of case, he really doesn’t want to stand out too much.

The people from the seven major families haven’t been caught yet!
There is no guarantee that these entrenched families will be wiped out in one fell swoop.

If any survivors escape, they will definitely retaliate afterwards.

These people do not have the ability to retaliate against the imperial court, but it is still possible for them to carry out a few assassination attempts on individuals.

"Alright, are you afraid that I will take away your credit?
Judging from the time, the people from the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard should be here soon. Let’s hand over what we have found to them.

Later, the Beijing Camp will cooperate with them to search and confiscate the seven major families.

In the following time, we just need to protect Yangzhou City!"

Marquis Wuyang said unhappily.

Searching the seven major families is a rare and lucrative job, but I can only watch from the sidelines, which is really too tempting.

It's not that he doesn't want to fight for it, it's just that this kind of work is really not suitable for people from the Wucheng Bingmasi.

If a government office has a lot of rats in its hands, no matter how much gold and silver it has, its value will be greatly reduced.

But these guys are all related people, either relatives of the emperor or descendants of meritorious service.

These people are the foundation of imperial power and the cornerstone of the empire.

If the matter gets out of hand due to corruption, it will be difficult for the emperor to handle it.

After all, imperial power has always been within ten steps and a thousand miles.

When dealing with people close to you, you must show enough generosity in order to win their hearts.

The best way to deal with it is not to test human nature with interests and not to give them the opportunity to make big mistakes.

(End of this chapter)