Kowloon wins

Chapter 280 Intrigue ([-])

A massive salt merchants' struggle was arranged by Hongqing's skillful hands, and it was considered to have passed without much disturbance, but the aftermath was not yet. On the surface, the salt merchants honestly followed last year's votes The sales plan is busy, but in fact the dispute has come to the capital. Many local officials have come forward to talk about the matter, and attribute the root cause of the salt shortage in the market to Hongqing's salt affairs rectification. There were quite a lot of controversies between the court and the court, and there were not a few courtiers who came to this chapter for this reason. For a while, Hong Qing became the center of discussion between the court and the opposition, and the tendency of public opinion was obviously extremely unfavorable to Hong Qing.

Are you worried?not at all!Even though Hongqing is in Yangzhou, with a "sharp knife" staring at her, coupled with the strength of the old fifteen brothers, Hongqing knows the things in Beijing very well, but she doesn't take it seriously He didn't go to the book to defend himself, and he didn't intend to let the third master or the old fifteen brothers touch the book. It was nothing else, just because before leaving Beijing, Hongqing had already established a tacit understanding with the old man. Inside, no matter how much Hong Qing tosses, the old man will not intervene. Of course, if a decent result cannot be produced in a year, then the consequences may not be so easy to bear, but right now, it has just passed It's been two months, which is still a long time, enough for Hongqing to make a good plan.

Sure enough, the old man did not disappoint Hong Qing. Once all the chapters related to salt affairs reached the inner court, they would all be lost without even a sound. The ministers couldn't understand why, so they couldn't help guessing more. It was a bit thicker, until one day Li Guangdi pretended to mention the shortage of salt supply in Lianghu and other places, and had a faint intention to use it to participate in Hongqing's book, but unexpectedly he just started, and was immediately dismissed by the old man. He politely reprimanded him and asked him to concentrate on doing a good job in the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, and pay less attention to the things he should not care about.

As soon as the old man's instructions came out, the people in the government and the public were amazed by it, not for anything else, just because Li Guangdi is a bachelor today, and the Ministry of punishment is just his part-time job, and there are not many things in the world that he can't do. , but now only mentioned the matter of the salt affairs, which actually provoked the harsh criticism of the old man. This is obviously not only a warning to Li Guangdi, but a warning to those officials who dare to make an issue of the salt affairs, so Suddenly, the topic of salt affairs, which had been hotly discussed, melted away in an instant like snow meeting the sun.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, it is already the third day of September, and it has been more than four months since I came to Yangzhou. Hongqing seems to have forgotten that the main task of this mission is to rectify the salt affairs, and almost all her thoughts are devoted to the local governance of Yangzhou As for the matter of salt affairs, unless He Mingfu sent an official document, otherwise, Hongqing would not care about it. Of course, there is one thing that Hongqing has never done. The one that has been relaxed is the rectification of the salt patrol camp, but Hongqing himself rarely comes forward, and Ji Huaijin is in charge. However, whenever Ji Huaijin's request is for people or things, Hongqing Qing has always been responsive to requests and very talkative, and Ji Huaijin did not disappoint Hong Qing. After more than four months of rectification, the formerly sloppy salt patrol camps in various places in the Lianghuai and Huaihe Rivers have taken on a new look, although it is not enough to go out to fight It can be used to inspect smuggled salt, but it has been quite effective. In August alone, nearly ten cases of smuggled salt were seized. Although the amount involved was not large, for criminals, the salt patrol At any rate, the camp has some deterrent power, but it is hard to say how much deterrent power it has.

The Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, but the shortage of salt supply in various places since the early summer has not been relieved, on the contrary, it has become even tighter. Even if the salt merchants in Lianghuai and Huaihe Rivers ship the salt from the salt fields to the provinces, they still cannot ease the tension. As a result, salt stores in various places have quietly raised the price of salt by nearly [-]% in disregard of the express regulations of the imperial court. Quite a lot, this further stimulated the nerves of the salt merchants, but it is difficult to increase the amount of salt on the formal channels. The threat of patrolling camps is there, but in the face of huge profits, the salt merchants are already ready to move. No, today, Hongqing just finished the government affairs of Yangzhou government, and was planning to go to the back office for a while, so he heard Li Min came to report——Ji Huaijin has something urgent to report.

"You all back down!"

Ji Huaijin arrived very quickly, just as Hong Qing took his seat, he was already accompanied by Li Minxing to the study room, but after seeing the ceremony, he didn't make a sound for a long time, seeing this, Hong Qing was already certain If there is something confidential to report, he waved his hand knowingly, and all the people who were waiting on him were pushed back.

"I have reported to the Imperial Envoy that my subordinates have received a secret report that Chen Biao has shipped [-] catties of private salt and intends to smuggle it to Jiangxi tomorrow night. The matter is so important that I dare not make a decision. I am here to ask the Imperial Envoy to expressly stop."

After everyone retreated, Ji Huaijin's originally tense face showed a few traces of excitement in an instant, stepped forward, and reported in a low voice.

"Chen Biao? Is this news reliable?"

Hongqing's memory is amazing, Ji Huaijin only mentioned this name, and Hongqing immediately remembered the person's appearance and background, and knew that this person was a capable officer under Liu Banu, and on the surface he seemed to be an independent salt Shang, but in fact he is just a running dog under Liu Ba Nv. Since this person intends to traffic in smuggled salt, it is obvious that he is doing it at Liu Ba Nv's will. Thinking of this, Hong Qing's eyes immediately lit up.

"Returning to the words of the imperial envoy, this matter was reported by Fang Wansheng, the general manager of the salt patrol camp in Anton (now Lianshui County). According to him, Chen Biao offered a thousand taels of silver to buy it. The money was paid, but the subordinate officials were notified early in the morning, intending to lure the snake out of the cave, since the matter is serious, the subordinate officials dare not make a rash decision, so I have come here to ask the imperial envoy to make a clear decision."

After hearing Hong Qing's question, Ji Huaijin dared not neglect her, and hastily explained what happened in detail.

"Oh?"

What Ji Huaijin said is in line with common sense, at least on the surface, there are no flaws, but Hong Qing doesn't think the matter will be so simple, nothing else, even though she doesn't have much contact with Liu Ba Nu, Hong Qing knows very well This person is a cunning and scheming person, and he should not be a blind person. This person has done such a thing of selling private salt many times. If it was really planned by him, how could he show such a big personality? Come to the flaw, if there is nothing strange here, then it is really strange.

"Imperial envoy, I have learned from you that the lower officials have verified that Chen Biao's salt quota for this season has already been exhausted, and the next season's salt quota has not yet been released. The salt transported at this time must be illegal salt!"

Seeing that Hongqing didn't come to a conclusion for a long time, Ji Huaijin became a little impatient. It's nothing else. Since he took over the salt patrol camp, although he has cracked several cases of entrainment in the last month, it can be counted. , the amount involved in the case was only less than 3000 taels of silver, and there was really no sense of accomplishment at all. Not only that, but also became the object of ridicule by colleagues, which annoyed Ji Huaijin, who was eager to do meritorious service. , In order to make a great contribution and show his own ability, this time he was holding back his energy to make a comeback, and he didn't want this matter to just fall through, so he said something from the sidelines.

"Well, Mrs. Ji, don't worry. Ben Baylor has some ideas, and I have to discuss it with Mrs. Ji. After all, is it possible for Chen Biao to play a trick of first-hand probing? The ticket on the other side of the Eight Girls deliberately pretended to be a smuggling of salt to lure us to take action. Once they launched a large-scale campaign, but failed, those salt dogs would have a reason to make trouble again. At this time, the serious consequences can be imagined, so we must guard against it."

In terms of eagerness to do meritorious service, Hong Qing will only be above Ji Huaijin, not below. Not to mention anything else, it has been almost half a year now, although the old man still has no urging, but always It's obviously not a problem to do nothing. It's hard to imagine the serious consequences once the old man's patience is worn out. For this alone, Hongqing wants to take Liu Banu down more than anyone else. Thinking, but not acting recklessly, Hong Qing still has enough vigilance in this regard.

"This……"

When Hong Qing said this, Ji Huaijin inevitably hesitated. After all, if there was an oolong in the search and seizure, how could those salt merchants quit? Such a situation is not what Ji Huaijin would like to see , but if he just sits and ignores it, Ji Huaijin is very unwilling, and in a dilemma, he really doesn't know what to say for a while.

"Is Fang Wansheng reliable?"

Hong Qing didn't explain further, but instead asked about Fang Wansheng's loyalty.

"Returning to the words of the imperial envoy, Mr. Fang Qian was originally the general manager whom the official knew when he was in the Yandao Daotai in Henan. In June, the official transferred him to Anton himself. He has always acted cautiously. Corrupt people."

When Hong Qing asked about Fang Wansheng, Ji Huaijin didn't dare to be careless, and hurriedly calmed down her chaotic thoughts, and hurriedly gave a guarantee for Fang Wansheng's loyalty.

"That's good, this time is only [-] catties of salt. In terms of the two lakes and many lands in Shanxi and northern Shaanxi that Liu Banu embraces, it is nothing more than a drop in the bucket. Regardless of whether it is true or not, let him pass the customs. It's not a big deal, if you really want to smuggle salt, it will definitely not be just this one time, and the amount will definitely be more than that. Mrs. Ji can secretly order Fang Qian to be false and submissive, and Ben Baylor will take care of everything, and stay on Liu Ba'v's side When there is a big move, I will report to Ben Belle to let you know, and that's it."

Hong Qing took a serious look at Ji Huaijin, saw that his expression was calm, obviously he did not look like he was lying, and he had a bottom line in his heart, so he pondered and made a decision.

"Catch the big and let go of the small? Well, the officer knows what to do."

Ji Huaijin is a clever person, she understood Hong Qing's plan as soon as she heard it, her spirit was lifted immediately, and she agreed immediately.

(End of this chapter)