The Prodigal Son

Shangguan Youyi talked to Qin Yu for a long time.

Although Zhao Luan's order to Qin Yu was to reorganize the salt administration in the Liangjiang region and the Hai and Yuan prefectures, it actually went beyond that.

The salt from the seven northern prefectures of Wuzhou, Jiazhou, Lizhou, Dingzhou, and Guanzhou, as well as the three prefectures of Tongzhou, Jiangzhou, and Dengzhou, all came from the sea salt of Haizhou and Yuanzhou.

Throughout the original territory of Daning, only a few places in the northwest, southwest, and north, namely Beizhou and Yizhou, used salt from other places.

These salts include lake salt, rock salt, well salt, and a small amount of sea salt produced in Chenzhou.

Wherever salt from Hai and Yuan prefectures is used, there will inevitably be problems with the salt administration!

However, the root cause should still lie in the Liangjiang region and the Hai and Yuan prefectures.

Qin Yu's purpose in going to reorganize the salt administration this time is to find all the problems and fix them properly!

Shi Yi, who was in charge of salt transportation in the Liangjiang region, was of paramount importance in the entire salt administration.

If historians are willing to cooperate, it will be relatively easy to clarify this line of events.

Currently, the imperial court has obtained evidence of collusion between officials and merchants to seize salt flats and salt fields.

However, the salt flats and salt fields they seized were insufficient to support the massive illegal salt industry.

Therefore, there must be many salt flats and salt fields that they are unaware of being encroached upon, and there should also be salt fields illegally opened in secret locations.

As Shangguan Youyi was talking to Qin Yu, there was a knock on the door.

"Thirteenth Young Master, Shi Yi, the Salt Commissioner of Liangjiang, has arrived."

Luo Qingyi's voice rang out from outside the door.

"Okay, I understand! Tell him to wait a moment."

Qin Yu replied, smiling as he looked at Shangguan Youyi, "Would you like to come with me to see Shi Yi?"

Shangguan Youyi nodded and smiled, "Go ahead and meet them! But you two can talk, I won't get involved."

"Alright!"

Qin Yu did not force him.

Soon, the two left the study and came to the front hall.

Shi Yi stood up and respectfully bowed to Qin Yu: "Greetings, Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy!"

Shi Yi was respectful in body, but inwardly he felt extremely disgusted and repulsed.

He hasn't forgotten that Qin Yu beat his daughter!

Qin Yu and Lü Si are neither good people!

"You're too kind, Lord Shi!"

Qin Yu raised his hand with an air of authority, "Sit down!"

Shi Yi didn't rush to sit down, but greeted Shangguan Youyi first: "When did you arrive, Lord Shangguan?"

"I have only been here a short time. I was ordered by His Majesty to deliver the files of the ten major salt merchants to Doctor Qin."

Shangguan Youyi smiled and said, "You two chat first, I still need to return to the palace to report to His Majesty."

"good!"

Qin Yu agreed and asked Luo Qingyi to see Shangguan Youyi off, while he sat down with Shi Yi.

Shi Yi took his seat and asked directly, "May I ask what business Your Majesty has summoned me here?"

Qin Yu, unusually upright, adopted the air of an imperial envoy. "I will soon be setting off to reorganize the salt administration. Before I depart, I would like to consult with Lord Shi. Based on your experience, where should we begin this reorganization of the salt administration?"

"The Liu family!"

Without hesitation, Shi Yi replied, "Liu Donglai is driven by greed and acts recklessly. Since the court already possesses conclusive evidence, let's start with Liu Donglai and thoroughly expose the entire salt administration issue!"

When Liu Donglai was mentioned, Shi Yi's eyes blazed with anger.

He wasn't faking it.

He truly wished he could tear Liu Donglai to pieces!

People who are as greedy as Liu Donglai deserve to die!

He couldn't tolerate this bastard, let alone Zhao Luan and the imperial court.

"I also considered starting with Liu Donglai."

Qin Yu nodded slightly, then looked at Shi Yi with feigned profundity, "But Liu Donglai's crimes have already been exposed. I don't even know if Liu Donglai will still be alive when I get there!"

"this……"

Shi Yi feigned deep thought, a hint of worry on his face. "Your concerns are not unfounded. Just one Liu Donglai alone will surely implicate many people! Some might even kill to silence witnesses in order to cut off the trail!"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm worried about!"

Qin Yu sighed, "So, I'd like to ask Lord Shi, if Liu Donglai were to be silenced, where should we begin?"

Shi Yi lowered his head in thought again, then replied, "Either start the investigation from the source in Hai and Yuan prefectures, or from the major salt warehouses! Or, start with my Shi family!"

Yo?

Self-destruction?

Or is it self-preservation?

Qin Yu looked at Shi Yi with a deep gaze and a playful expression.

Meeting Qin Yu's gaze, Shi Yi remained calm and composed, his face radiating righteousness.

Why is this kid acting all deep and mysterious?

Isn't he just trying to test me?

With such limited skills, how dare he show off in front of me?

After a long silence, Qin Yu withdrew his gaze and smiled, "His Majesty still trusts the historians! His Majesty said that you have served as the Salt Commissioner of Liangjiang for many years and have made great contributions to the court!"

"This humble official is ashamed!"

Shi Yi lowered his head and sighed, "Having served as the Salt Commissioner of Liangjiang for many years, I have witnessed the appalling state of the salt administration in the Liangjiang region, yet I was slow to realize it. I have truly failed His Majesty's grace!"

Qin Yu raised his eyes and smiled: "You are indeed responsible for oversight this time, but since His Majesty has not punished you, it means he does not blame you and is still willing to believe you!"

Ugh!

It hurts!

If it weren't for conveying Zhao Luan's goodwill towards the Shi family to Shi Yi, he wouldn't have bothered wasting time talking to Shi Yi here.

Hearing Qin Yu's words, Shi Yi couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

After all this back and forth, isn't it just about getting historians to cooperate with the imperial court in reforming the salt administration?

Shi Yi, "trembling with fear and trepidation," quickly rose and bowed, saying, "Please convey my gratitude to His Majesty on my behalf, sir! I will certainly cooperate fully with you to thoroughly reorganize the salt administration in Liangjiang and Hai and Yuan prefectures!"

On the surface, we definitely have to cooperate.

No matter how wealthy a historian is, he cannot openly challenge the imperial court.

However, behind the scenes, it all comes down to who has the greater ability!

"Okay, sure!"

Qin Yu smiled with satisfaction, "With Lord Shi's cooperation, this matter will definitely go much more smoothly!"

"This is my duty!"

Shi Yi asked earnestly, "When does Your Excellency plan to depart?"

"In the next couple of days!"

Qin Yu gave an ambiguous answer, "When will you return to Yunhuai?"

Shi Yi replied, "I also have many matters to attend to. I have received approval from the Ministry of Personnel and will depart first thing tomorrow morning!"

"OK!"

Qin Yu nodded and smiled, "I'll pay you a visit when I pass through Yunhuai!"

"good!"

Shi Yi nodded emphatically, "After returning to Yunhuai, I will immediately launch an investigation into the salt administration issue. If there is any progress, I will send someone to report to you, sir, as soon as possible!"

Afterwards, the two chatted casually for a while.

Qin Yu asked Shi Yi about the situation of the top ten salt merchants, and Shi Yi reported back to him as if he knew them all by heart.

However, what Shi Yi said was basically the same as the records in those archives.

It's all official stuff!

He didn't say a word about those private, unspoken things.

Around noon, Shi Yi excused himself and left, citing some official business to attend to.

Qin Yu symbolically invited Shi Yi to dinner, but Shi Yi politely declined and did not try to persuade him to stay any longer.

No sooner had Shi Yi left than Luo Qingyi came looking for him.

Without Qin Yu needing to speak, Luo Qingyi took the initiative to sit on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck with a look of affection...