Kowloon wins

Chapter 265 Strict Investigation Order ([-])

It's almost June, the temperature is already quite high, it's only time, the sun is already scorching hot, it's as if people are in a steamer, but they are neatly arranged outside the Yamen of Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy The officials didn't dare to move a little bit, and they all waited for Hong Qing's arrival with bated breath. Even though the sweat was dripping all over their foreheads, they didn't dare to wipe it off, because no one could. I don't know when Hong Qing will arrive. No one wants to take the risk of leaving a bad impression on Hong Qing. If she is beaten as a young bird, then the consequences must not be a joke. As for such a small discomfort, she should bear it I can only bear with it first.

"The imperial envoy is here, avoid it!"

Time passed by every minute and every second, and half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and finally a burst of shouting sounded from far and near, and after a while, hundreds of palace guards surrounded Dingba with banners unfurling. The big sedan chair turned out from the corner of the street, and all the officials who had been waiting anxiously for a long time were all stunned for it, and looked at the large group of people winding up in unison.

"Drop the sedan!"

With a loud shout, the big sedan chair that slowly arrived at the gate of the yamen fell to the ground, and two guards rushed forward and opened the curtain one from the left and the other from the right. Get out of the sedan chair.

"The lower officials are waiting to kowtow to the imperial envoy!"

Seeing that Hong Qing had already shown up, the two chief officials, He Mingfu and Che Ming, did not dare to neglect in the slightest. The officials also knelt all over the ground.

"It's all free."

Facing the big salutations of the crowd, Hong Qing had no smile on her face, she just raised her hand in vain, and shouted indifferently.

"Thank you, Mr. Long En, the imperial envoy."

Those who can be in the officialdom are not fools. Seeing Hong Qing's indifferent expression has a faint evil spirit circulating, the already uneasy heart can't help but become a little more uneasy, and then think of Hong Qing's usual cruelty, no one He wasn't afraid that Hong Qing's first fire would burn his own head, so the voice of Xie En neatly had a few traces of vibrato obviously.

"Qing Baylor, please!"

In terms of uneasiness in his heart, He Mingfu definitely ranks first, probably because as the person in charge of the salt transport envoy's yamen, he must bear the primary responsibility for the troubles in the salt affairs. If Hong Qing wants the new official to set fire first, That point must have been burned on He Mingfu's head first, thinking about Hongqing's past methods, if he said he was not afraid, how could it be possible, but at this moment, He Mingfu was unwilling to show weakness, so he could only use force Conquering the uneasiness in his heart, he forced out a few smiles that were not much better than crying, stepped forward two steps, bowed to Hong Qing, and respectfully asked.

"Well, all the gentlemen are invited."

Hong Qing nodded indifferently, without any nonsense, and gave an order in a calm voice, and then, regardless of the reaction of the crowd waiting, she walked into the yamen, went straight to the back of the copywriting in the middle of the lobby, and Lifting the hem of his robe, he sat down.

Seeing Hong Qing's behavior, the hearts of all the officials tightened a bit, but no one dared to say anything at this time, so they could only follow into the lobby silently, divided into two The ranks are ranked according to the rank - the Yan Yun made the officials of the Yamen have higher ranks, occupying the left side, while the Yangzhou local officials led by Che Ming stood on the right side.

"The Holy Spirit has a purpose!"

Hong Qing looked around the hall full of officials expressionlessly, then got up suddenly, shook her hands, took out a yellow silk masked imperial decree from her wide sleeves, held it with both hands, and raised it high above her head, As soon as this move was made, all the officials who had just stood still immediately knelt down on the ground.

"Following the heavens, the emperor issued an edict saying: Salt affairs are tax-heavy, and there is no room for loss. Now that the salt affairs are corrupt, I am very worried.... Dorobele Hongqing is the governor of the two Huaihe Rivers, in order to reorganize the salt affairs. Everything I do is done on my behalf, and no one can shirk it, and anyone who violates it will be severely punished and will not be negligent, this is my honor!"

After all the officials knelt down, Hong Qing unhurriedly spread out the imperial decree, cleared her throat a little, and proclaimed it melodiously.

"Your Majesty's order is respected, my emperor, long live, long live, long live!"

What the imperial decree said was not beyond the expectations of the officials. Although this is the first time they have heard the announcement, the officials have already known the content from different channels, so they are not surprised. Thank you After receiving grace, she stood up just like that, and focused all her eyes on Hong Qing. Obviously, in the eyes of the officials, the imperial decree was irrelevant, what mattered was how Hong Qing planned to rectify it.

"My lords, the imperial decree has been proclaimed, and His Majesty's intentions have been made clear. Do you have anything to say about the corruption of salt affairs, huh?"

After announcing the imperial edict, Hong Qing did not sit down, but bent down and placed the rolled up imperial edict lightly on the copy, then straightened her back, stood up straight, looked around at the officials in the hall, and looked solemnly. asked a question.

"..."

Dead silence, a dead silence, the Yangzhou officials headed by Che Ming have nothing to do with themselves, and they don't want to talk too much about the salt affairs, so as not to provoke Hongqing's displeasure. They didn't dare to talk too much, for fear of getting into trouble, so the crowded lobby fell into an eerie silence.

"Why? Don't you have anything to say, that's good, Ben Baylor will have a good time talking to you. I only have four taels of silver for the salt tax, compared with the six taels of the previous Ming. Money and silver have dropped by almost half, but the price of salt in the world is almost the same. Less than 30%, what's wrong with it, huh? Mr. He, please explain to Ben Baylor."

I've seen Hongqing's big scene a long time ago, so I don't feel flustered by the silence of the officials. I waited for a moment with a serious face, and seeing that no one is willing to stand up, I stopped being polite. Directly named He Mingfu, asking him to give an explanation for the corruption of the salt service.

"Official, official..."

As the envoy of salt transportation between Huaihe River and Huaihe River, He Mingfu knew that he might not be able to escape Hong Qing's blow to the head, but when Hong Qing called his name, He Mingfu still had a feverish old face, hesitating and uttering nothing. To put it in a complete sentence - the salt affairs have gone wrong, the board should naturally hit He Mingfu on the ass, the problem is that the corruption of the salt affairs is a long-term thing, poor He Mingfu has only just served as a salt transport envoy, and it has only been five years since then. It's only time, it's obviously unfair to ask him to take full responsibility, but it's not fair to say it in public, after all, knowing that there is a problem and not being able to solve it, it's also dereliction of duty, and it's just as hard to escape. Banzi's fate, all in all, at this moment, no matter what He Mingfu said, he could not escape. Because of this, even if he lost face in public, He Mingfu didn't care so much, he hesitated for a long time, but refused to say why. .

"Why? Mr. He doesn't want to say it, or can't say it, huh?"

Hong Qing didn't show any kindness to He Mingfu at all, and pressed her relentlessly.

"Returning to the words of the imperial envoy, this subordinate official, this subordinate official only knows a thing or two, and I really dare not speak nonsense."

Forced by Hong Qing, He Mingfu couldn't keep silent any longer, so in desperation, he could only perfunctory indiscriminately.

"It doesn't matter, Mr. He can say whatever he thinks, and Ben Baylor just listens."

What Hong Qing wanted was for He Mingfu to expose his filthy deeds in the matter of salt affairs, how could he be fooled by him casually, and waved his hand, commanding in a very heroic manner.

"So that the imperial envoy can know that the lower officials are just hearsay, and there is no real evidence, so it can only be said tentatively. Well, according to the rumors in the market, it is said that those salt dogs often tamper with the salt boats. One lead should have been two hundred catties, but some lowly people tampered with the salt bags and put more on them. This was the case with the former Wang family and the Sun family. Many salt boats were big and dense. My salt There is not enough soldiers, it is really hard to make a thorough investigation, and this is why those salt dogs took advantage of the loopholes. If we can arrange more soldiers, maybe we can solve this problem, but the officials are not so capable, but they are soft-spoken. Today, fortunately, Qing Baylor, you are here to preside over the overall situation, and this matter may be expected."

Although He Mingfu is a bannerman of the Han army, he followed the way of writing and posting, and had never passed the imperial examination. With the support of Prince Yu, he was able to get into the high position of Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy, but he was not a fool. On the contrary, when it comes to the way of being an official, there are really two hands. After this opening, he talked eloquently.

"Well, Mr. He has got to the point. It is really a big problem that my salt fortune makes the yamen not enough. Benbaile wants to ask for more quotas. However, the imperial court has its own rules. I am afraid that the quotas will not pass the court." It's just that Ben Bayle can't just sit back and watch the salt affairs corrupt and ignore it. That's fine. Ben Bayle will issue a warrant to know all the provinces, and the governors of the provinces will assist in the investigation of the salt transportation. The banks of the provinces, and all the salt roads along the route that have not been found to be entrained must be held accountable for this. Those who should be exempted should be exempted, and those who should be killed should be killed. If there is such a thing, the problem of salt affairs can really be completely solved. What does Master He think of this strategy?"

Hong Qing is such a shrewd person, she can tell what He Mingfu's idea is just by hearing it, but she didn't point it out, instead, she followed He Mingfu's answer and extended it down. The officials were all dumbfounded by the answer.

"Om..."

The strategy suggested by Hong Qing was really unimaginable. All the officials were stunned on the spot at first, and then they all exploded. The hall was filled with noise like a vegetable market.

(End of this chapter)