The Prodigal Son

When Qin Yu led his men to the hidden salt warehouse, everyone hiding there panicked.

"Oh no, they're from the imperial court!"

"The imperial court won't give us a way out; let's fight them!"

The foreman, in a state of panic, incited the salt workers hiding there, hoping they would seize the last chance to survive.

Hearing the foreman's voice and thinking about their own tasks, the panicked salt workers hurriedly grabbed whatever was around them, such as rakes, as weapons. If they couldn't find any weapons, they simply picked up wooden sticks and held them tightly in their hands.

It was as if the weapons in their hands were their only hope for survival.

A cold glint flashed in Qin Yu's eyes as he shouted sharply, "I am Qin Yu, an imperial envoy sent by imperial decree to reorganize the salt administration!"

"I know you were all forced by Wang Zhaojie and his son to produce salt for them!"

"This time, I will only arrest Wang Zhaojie and his son, along with their cronies; I will not hold you responsible!"

"Lay down your weapons immediately! Anyone who resists will be killed!"

As soon as the word "kill" was uttered, Qin Yu's murderous aura suddenly erupted.

Sensing the murderous aura emanating from Qin Yu, the salt workers trembled with fear.

"Don't listen to him!"

The manager added fuel to the fire, "We absolutely cannot surrender; we must fight them!"

A cold glint flashed in Qin Yu's eyes, and he immediately gave Qi Dachui a wink.

Qi Dachui understood and immediately grabbed his golden mace and charged toward the manager hiding behind the crowd.

Faced with Qi Dachui charging towards them like a heavy tank, the salt workers swung their weapons haphazardly, only to be knocked over and thrown to the ground by Qi Dachui.

Seeing that things were not going well, the manager immediately ran to the back.

Qi Dachui moved swiftly, grabbing the steward and lifting him up like a chick.

"Put down your weapons or face death!"

Qin Yu coldly looked at the salt workers, and slowly raised his hand.

Upon receiving Qin Yu's signal, Qin Xiong and the accompanying Golden Armored Imperial Guards immediately drew their weapons in unison.

"Zzz...zzz..."

A flash of blades appeared against the backdrop of the firelight, radiating a terrifying chill.

These salt workers had never seen anything like this before.

Seeing that Qin Yu was about to get serious, they all dropped their weapons and knelt down.

"Sir, have mercy!"

"My lord, spare my life!"

"I have elderly parents to care for and young children to raise; I cannot die!"

"Even petty people can be despicable..."

The crowd bowed their heads, pleading with tears streaming down their faces!

They just wanted to live!

"Get up, everyone!"

Qin Yu gestured for everyone to put away their weapons, then glanced at the kneeling salt workers. "Having traveled far and wide, I know firsthand how difficult life is for the common people!"

"I will not make things difficult for you. Those who wish to continue working as salt workers will be granted salt registration. Those who do not wish to work as salt workers will each receive one string of cash and be dismissed!"

"However, since you have been producing large quantities of salt without authorization, I must punish you. Each of you will receive ten strokes of the cane!"

What?

Upon hearing Qin Yu's words, the group of salt workers looked up in astonishment, almost unable to believe their ears.

They completely ignored any talk of receiving ten lashes or similar punishments.

All they had on their minds were the salt register and the one string of cash they were being sacked!

With a salt register, they were responsible for producing salt for the imperial court for generations.

Although it's hard work, at least we can make a living.

Even in the event of a natural disaster, the family will not have to worry about starving to death.

Moreover, once you have a salt register, you are exempt from other corvée labor.

When has such a good thing ever happened in the world?

"My lord, am I dreaming?"

"Thank you, sir!"

"I thank you, my lord..."

The salt workers were both surprised and delighted, and kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude.

"You can think about whether you want to continue working as salt workers!"

Qin Yu gave an order to the others, then turned to look at the steward who had been dragged over by Qi Dachui, "I was originally going to let you go, but you insisted on courting death!"

The steward trembled all over, his face ashen, and pleaded, "My lord, spare my life! I know I'm guilty!"

Qin Yu glared coldly at the steward, "I'm giving you a chance to live! Answer my questions, and if you utter a single lie, not only you, but your entire family will be wiped out!"

"Yes, yes..."

The manager nodded repeatedly.

How much salt do you produce each month?

"When the weather is good, the monthly production of medium to high-grade salt is around four thousand shi (a unit of dry measure), and when the weather is bad, it's only a little over one thousand shi..."

"You only produce medium to high-grade salt?"

"Yes, Young Master Wang instructed that only medium to high quality salt is needed..."

"How much salt have you produced so far?"

"Nearly 30,000 shi..."

"How are these salt workers' wages calculated?"

"Two meals a day are provided, and one coin is paid for every three catties of salt produced. On a good day, a skilled worker can produce thirty or forty catties of salt..."

"..."

The two exchanged questions and answers, while Qin Yu silently made his own calculations.

So, if the weather is good, these salt workers can only earn less than four qian of silver a month at most?

But the medium to high-quality salt they produce each month should sell for at least six taels of silver, right?

Even if you factor in the costs of braising, transportation, and other miscellaneous expenses, they could still earn at least two or three taels of silver per month from a salt worker, right?

No wonder so many people are eyeing this business; it's incredibly profitable!

However, since its opening, the Dongpu Saltworks has only produced 30,000 shi of salt. Even if we include the salt that other people in Linhai have embezzled in various ways, the total amount of smuggled salt produced in the entire Linhai Prefecture in a year is at most about 150,000 shi.

But Liu Donglai alone had more than 200,000 shi of salt in his possession, which was privately owned salt that was passed off as official salt!

There must have been many other salt merchants who also passed off smuggled salt as official salt.

The annual output of smuggled salt in Hai and Yuan prefectures likely exceeded 800,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).

This only represents the amount of smuggled salt held by the top ten salt merchants.

If we add the salt produced and sold locally, as well as the salt smuggled by small salt merchants and salt smugglers, the annual output of smuggled salt in Hai and Yuan prefectures should exceed one million shi!

Where did all these smuggled salts come from?

Was my judgment wrong?

Was the bulk of the smuggled salt traded in Yuanzhou or Haizhou?

After asking the steward, Qin Yu ordered him to take him to see the salt warehouse.

The manager dared not delay and hurriedly bowed and scraped as he led Qin Yu and the others to the salt warehouse.

Inside the cave, there were baskets piled high with salt. Qin Yu lit a torch to examine them; they were all bluish-white salt, indeed of medium to high quality.

Qin Yu grabbed a handful of salt, only to find it was a bit damp.

Qin Yu turned to Wang Yunchuan and asked, "You're just going to sell salt to the Liao brothers like this? With such a high moisture content, don't they have any objections?"

The moisture content of this basket of salt will increase its weight considerably.

Although a basket of salt won't cost much more money, the amount can add up to a considerable sum when you have a large quantity!

Are the Liao brothers willing to suffer this injustice in silence?

Wang Yunchuan replied with a deathly pale face, "After they buy it, they'll dry it again, and some will be boiled and brine added again to make the finest snowflake salt. As long as they can profit, they have no objection..."

Qin Yu was surprised, "All the snowflake salt comes from here?"

Snowflake salt is a luxury item among salts, only the powerful and wealthy can afford it.

Take the capital city for example, a pound of snowflake salt costs four hundred coins.

Wang Yunchuan lowered his head and said with a hint of sarcasm, "It's not just snowflake salt! Even tribute salt might have some smuggled in!"

"Could tribute salt be smuggled salt?"

Qin Yu found it hard to believe.

Tribute salt was collected, processed, and transported by designated personnel, and the demand was not very large.

How could this have been infiltrated by smuggled salt?

Wang Yunchuan's gaze was unfocused as he muttered, "We're just earning a meager living through hard work. The methods of those gluttonous monsters are beyond our comprehension..."