The Prodigal Son

Zhao Luan listened quietly to the arguments of the court officials.

Most ministers had their own reasons.

Only a very small number of ministers were simply joining in the fun!

"Alright, alright!"

Zhao Luan raised her hand to stop the arguing ministers, then turned to Shi Yi, "Lord Shi, you are the Salt Commissioner of Liangjiang. When it comes to salt affairs, no one in the entire court should know more about them than you. What are your opinions?"

Finally, it was Shi Yi's turn.

"yes!"

Shi Yi stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Promoting the Min salt policy has both advantages and disadvantages..."

As he spoke, Shi Yi began to talk at length, explaining the advantages and disadvantages one by one.

Regarding the interests involved, the ministers in the court had already said most of it, and he only added a few points.

However, there are several more drawbacks compared to when Zhao Luan summoned him alone yesterday.

Moreover, Shi Yi's reasoning is very clear and his arguments are well-supported.

After hearing Shi Yi's words, the ministers all fell into deep thought.

"Your Majesty, I have something to tell you!"

At that moment, Gao Yi finally spoke.

Zhao Luan: "Granted!"

Having received Zhao Luan's permission, Gao Yi immediately proclaimed loudly, "This old minister wishes to impeach Shi Yi, the Salt Commissioner of Liangjiang!"

As Gao Yi finished speaking, Shi Yi's eyelids twitched suddenly.

He keenly realized that today's court assembly was probably not as simple as he had thought.

"Why did Prime Minister Gao impeach Lord Shi?"

Zhao Luan feigned doubt.

Gao Yizhong said with great vigor: "Shi Yi, the Salt Commissioner of Liangjiang, has neglected his duties and abused his power for personal gain, causing numerous problems in our dynasty's salt administration! Now, Shi Yi outwardly agrees to promote Min salt, but in reality, he fabricates reasons to obstruct the court's implementation of Min salt at every turn, attempting to control the salt administration and monopolize salt transportation. His intentions are despicable!"

"Prime Minister Gao!"

Shi Yi's face darkened. "I can understand that Prime Minister Gao wants to establish his authority! But I cannot tolerate Prime Minister Gao's unfounded accusations and fabricated charges against me!"

"A frame-up charge?"

Gao Yi looked sharply at Shi Yi, "When I first took over the Ministry of Revenue, I examined the salt tax records from previous years and sent people to conduct undercover investigations in various parts of Liangjiang. Now, there are serious problems with the salt administration in various parts of Liangjiang, and these problems are all related to you, the Salt Commissioner of Liangjiang!"

Shi Yi, unfazed by Gao Yi's gaze, asked, "May I ask, Prime Minister Gao, what is the problem?"

Gao Yi was referring to Shi Yi's words.

"Alright, then I'll give you a simple overview!"

Gao Yi spoke with conviction, beginning to list the problems related to salt administration one by one.

Firstly, there was the salt permit fraud: falsely claiming and obtaining permits, reselling and reselling them, and double-taxing them, all to embezzle profits and taxes.

Secondly, interception and misappropriation: withholding salt tax money, setting up off-the-books funds, and misappropriating them for personal use.

Third, falsely reporting losses: embezzling the difference in official salt tax revenue under the guise of storage and transportation losses.

Fourth, using private salt to impersonate official salt: buying smuggled salt at low prices and selling it as official salt to make huge profits!

Fifth, protecting smuggled salt: Inspectors accepted bribes to release smuggled salt and pocketed a share of the ill-gotten gains.

Sixth, embezzlement: Saltworks officials embezzled salt produced and sold it for profit...

Gao Yi presented the issues in a clear and logical manner, including problems with officials, salt merchants, and collusion between officials and merchants.

Qin Yu listened to this and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

That old guy Gao Yi is definitely got some skills.

He explained the issues clearly in just a few words.

No wonder Song Zhuo strongly recommended Gao Yi as prime minister.

Gao Yi was clearly prepared, and he rattled off ten problems with the salt administration that existed in the imperial court.

Each question is simple, clear, and gets straight to the point.

However, Shi Yi remained completely calm as he listened to the questions Gao Yi listed.

Only after Gao Yi finished speaking did Shi Yi speak up calmly: "Some of the problems that Prime Minister Gao pointed out do exist! I have been investigating these issues for many years, but the salt administration is indeed too complicated and involves too many aspects. There are certainly areas that I have not been able to investigate."

"Inspection?"

Gao Yi's voice suddenly turned cold, "You've been investigating for so many years, how much has the imperial salt tax increased? You've been investigating for so many years, why are the salt affairs problems getting worse and worse? I think you've neglected your duties and are colluding with those salt merchants!"

Shi Yi remained calm and said in a deep voice, "Prime Minister Gao, you must provide evidence before you speak!"

However, the historian had been in charge of salt affairs for many years and was extremely familiar with them.

The evidence pointing to them had long been quietly erased by them.

For those that cannot be erased, there are always scapegoats prepared there.

Otherwise, how could historians have controlled the salt administration for so many years?

"Evidence, huh? Well, I do have the truth!"

As Gao Yi spoke, he took out two account books from his sleeve and presented them to Zhao Luan. "Your Majesty, this is part of the evidence I have gathered. Some issues are still under further investigation!"

"Although many of these problems do not directly point to Shi Yi, the fact that he, as the Salt Commissioner of Liangjiang, never reported these issues to the court proves that Shi Yi was guilty of dereliction of duty!"

"This old minister also has reason to suspect that Shi Yi accepted bribes and paved the way for others!"

Without Zhao Luan's instruction, Shangguan Youyi immediately and quickly took the account book and presented it to Zhao Luan.

Zhao Luan picked up the account book and pretended to look through it.

Qin Yu saw this and secretly curled his lip.

What a show-off!

As expected, this must be the account book she showed to herself and Song Zhuo when she was at the Song residence.

Now, someone is handing the account book over to Gao Yi, giving it to him as a weapon for attack?

As Zhao Luan continued to flip through the account books, her expression grew increasingly grim.

"Inhuman! Absolutely inhuman!"

Zhao Luan was furious and grabbed the account book, intending to smash it at Shi Yi.

But she ultimately "held back," and instead handed the account book to Shangguan Youyi, ordering with a frosty expression, "Give it to Lord Shi, and let him take a good look!"

"yes!"

Shangguan Youyi accepted the order.

Soon, the account book was in Shi Yi's hands.

Shi Yi had only flipped through a few pages when his heart began to pound wildly.

The account book mainly records the transactions between Haizhou Saltworks, Fangzhou Salt Warehouse and a salt merchant surnamed Liu, but does not involve him.

But as Gao Yi said, this evidence is enough to prove that he is guilty of dereliction of duty!

This old dog was definitely prepared!

And that damned bastard Liu Donglai, how could he be so stupid?

How did this ledger end up in someone else's hands?

Little did he know that Zhao Luan had noticed the salt trade problem years ago and had already sent people to secretly collect evidence of the salt merchants' crimes, waiting for the right moment to bring it out.

She has some other incriminating evidence, but none as outrageous as this one.

However, as Shi Yi continued to look through the pages, he became increasingly alarmed.

Just as Shi Yi was filled with trepidation, Gao Yi's voice rang out again, "When I was in retirement in Fengzhou, I heard people say that major salt merchants were selling smuggled salt as official salt!"

"I've always believed that no matter how audacious these salt merchants are, the amount of smuggled salt they could pass off as official salt would at most be only one or two tenths!"

"But I never expected that someone would be so audacious as to use smuggled salt to fill 40% of their salt quota!"

boom!

As Gao Yi finished speaking, the court was immediately thrown into an uproar.

"Forty percent? Your Excellency, I haven't misheard, have I?"

"How dare you!"

"These damned salt merchants are absolutely depraved!"

"No wonder the imperial court invests so much silver every year in maintaining the salt fields and salt flats, yet the salt tax revenue is still so much less than when the late emperor was in power. So that's where the problem lies!"

"This not only demonstrates the utter depravity of these salt merchants, but also the rampant smuggling of salt in our dynasty!"

"That's right, ordinary smuggled salt can't be passed off as official salt; someone must have been encroaching on the imperial salt fields..."

This immediately enraged the court officials.

The entire court was engulfed in fury...