Fu Shanhe

Chapter 48: Wind and Rain in Yangzhou City

Huai'an Prefecture.

"Left Prime Minister, you are here in person!"

Gu Yuansong couldn't help but exclaimed.

I thought it was a big deal that he, the commander of the Jinyiwei, went south personally to handle the search and confiscation work on the seven major families.

No one expected that Zuo Guangen, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, would come here in person.

"The salt administration in Lianghuai is related to the country and the people.

Your Majesty was worried, so he sent me here in person to take charge.

For all actions, you just need to carry out according to the plan, and the truth will just watch from the side.

By the way, in addition to the Prime Minister, Lord Xu from the cabinet also went south.

You must be quick and make sure the case is resolved before Lord Xu arrives!"

Zuo Guangen said with a smile.

The Seven Great Families of Lianghuai secretly controlled the imperial salt industry for nearly a hundred years, and the wealth they accumulated was absolutely astronomical.

The emperor would not feel comfortable handing over such a huge fortune to anyone.

The nobles, the relatives of the emperor, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Clean Officials all came, and the essence of the matter was to let them supervise each other.

With political enemies watching, even if he wanted to take action, he would not dare to go too far.

Zuo Guangen said he had no responsibility, but in fact he was the one in charge of the Lianghuai salt administration.

The fact that he was entrusted with this important task was enough to prove that Emperor Tianyuan trusted him far more than anyone else.

“Please rest assured, Left Prime Minister. According to our plan, the Five Cities Military Department has already found out about the seven major families.

Marquis Wuyang sent us an official document asking us to search the seven major families as soon as possible.

Considering the power of these families in the local area, we will take action immediately once the troops from the Beijing camp arrive!"

Gu Yuansong immediately assured.

The Imperial Household Department did not want the Qingliu Party to interfere, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard was equally unwilling for the Qingliu Party to intervene.

No matter how sophisticated their deployment is, there will always be loopholes.

The overall situation of the court is not the same as the overall situation of the Qingliu.

If Qingliu discovers the flaw, no one can guarantee whether those guys will stab them at the critical moment.

In essence, this action is a redistribution of salt industry interests.

There is only so much benefit in total, and now the court is short of money, so it needs to take a larger share.

Nobles, relatives of the emperor, and imperial guards also got involved, all wanting to get a piece of the pie.

It is not enough to just get rid of the seven major families, it will also divide the interests of the Qingliu Party.

Apart from anything else, the donations received by several major academies within the Qingliu sphere of influence will shrink sharply this year.

The amount of tributes of cold and charcoal received by Beijing officials at the end of the year will also be greatly reduced.

"The Beijing troop changed from land to water and will arrive at Huai'an Prefecture in two days.

With the strength of the seven major families, even if we try our best to block the news, they will get the news when the army enters the Lianghuai area.

Keep an eye on their every move and take action immediately if something goes wrong.

We can force them to rebel, but we must never allow them to launch an organized rebellion!"

Zuo Guangen's words made everyone present look solemn.

The purpose of making so many arrangements is to deliver a fatal blow and not give the enemy a chance to resist.

But what the Left Prime Minister is now revealing clearly is that he wants them to deliberately force the seven major families to rebel.

The benefits of doing this are very obvious. As long as these people raise the banner of rebellion, all the loopholes they left behind will no longer exist.

The Qingliu Group will not overturn the verdict for traitors. This is a matter of principle.

By the way, they can also use the rebels to implicate more members of the Qingliu Party and seize the opportunity to weaken their political opponents.

The disadvantages are equally obvious. If we are not careful, the situation in Huaibei will deteriorate, and it may even affect the entire Jiangnan region.

If the emperor blames them, they, the executors, will most likely become the scapegoats.

……

Walking on the streets of Yangzhou, Li Mu just felt bored.

Affected by the city lockdown policy, businesses have closed their doors and people no longer go out on the streets for fear of getting into trouble.

The prosperous city of Yangzhou suddenly became depressed. "Send the order to notify all merchants in the city to open for business.

Tell them that the assassination of the imperial envoy by the rebels has been solved and that the imperial court has sent troops to capture them, so they don't have to worry. "

Li Mu gave the order decisively.

The supplies stored in people's homes are limited, and order in the city must be restored as soon as possible, otherwise there will be a big chaos.

It’s sad enough just to think about it.

A group of colleagues set their sights on the salt merchant imprisoned in prison. Everyone was busy making money, but this poor guy was the only one who took on the important task of managing the city of Yangzhou.

Officialdom emphasizes balance and cannot monopolize all the benefits.

The credit for solving the case was too much. Li Mu just understood the will of the higher-ups and took the lead in following the ideas of the bigwigs.

If someone else were to go there, at most there would be a few more twists and turns, but the mission would still be completed in the end.

Marquis Wuyang still gave him the first credit, so when it came to making money, Li Mu naturally had to make concessions wisely.

Having personally participated in the conviction of the salt merchant group and witnessed the seven major families in Lianghuai becoming meat on the chopping board, Li Mu was very open-minded about money.

Greed is the original sin.

The Salt Merchant Group is the best negative example.

Salt is a necessity of life. In peacetime when the population continues to grow, the salt tax should continue to increase.

During the peak period of Dayu's salt tax, the annual revenue was 330 million taels, but by the sixth year of Tianyuan, it was only 130 million taels, among which the tax revenue of Lianghuai salt industry saw the largest decline.

In order to solve the problem of the continued decline in salt tax, the imperial court sent people to inspect the salt roads many times, but unfortunately the results were very limited.

The bizarre way the previous Salt Inspector died made the emperor even more disgusted.

Since you're still unwilling to give the money after all the persuasion, then send someone to get it yourself.

“My lord, something terrible has happened!

A group of scholars gathered in the west of the city, and they were suspected of going to the government office to cause trouble. "

Captain Deng said in panic.

The status of literati reached its peak during the Dayu Dynasty.

Every time scholars cause trouble, it causes a sensation.

This is the trickiest thing to deal with.

If you are not careful, a scholar's pen can also kill people.

"Do I need to teach you such a simple thing?
People were immediately sent to block the nearby streets in the name of arresting the rebels, trapping these troublesome guys inside.

Whoever dares to take the lead in causing trouble is an accomplice of the rebels.

Find an opportunity to identify the planners and investigate their social background.

Knowing that we are dealing with a counter-investigation case, someone still dares to show up at this time. I don't believe there is no one behind it!"

Li Mu gave the order coldly.

He is obviously the imperial court, representing the side of justice, but now he is becoming more and more like a villain.

Even if it doesn't feel good, things still need to be done.

The salt administration was related to Dayu’s finances, and finances were related to the survival of the empire.

On this issue, whoever dares to jump out and make trouble is the enemy of the empire.

As a member of the noble camp, Li Mu was very clear about his position.

"I will obey your orders!"

Captain Deng replied with gritted teeth.

He came to report to Li Mu because he didn't want to do this miserable job.

But I can't get rid of this hot potato.

It would be even worse if he did nothing, because if he did nothing, the scholars would cause trouble.

It is estimated that one more name will be added to the list of those who died while marching south.

Watching Captain Deng leave, Lan Linjie slowly said:

"Sir, I'm afraid this matter is related to the salt merchants.

When I was reminiscing about the past with my classmates, I heard them say that some scholars were working hard to rescue the arrested salt merchants.

Many scholars in Jiangnan region have received funding from salt merchants, and some of them have leverage over them..."

(End of this chapter)