The Prodigal Son

That night, because the tide was low and it was inconvenient, Qin Yu and his group spent the night in the salt warehouse in the cave.

In the morning, taking advantage of the rising tide, they went to check out the Dongpu Saltworks.

Dongpu Saltworks is not very large; compared with the several large saltworks established by the imperial court in Linhai, it can only be considered a medium-sized saltworks.

The salt fields are clearly newly built, proving that they were indeed established here just last year.

Dozens of salt workers' huts are hidden in the woods and cannot be seen unless you go in.

Wang Yunchuan and his men left in a hurry, and they didn't have time to take many things from the salt field with them.

It must be said that Wang Zhaojie and his son were indeed not very lucky.

They were hoping to make a fortune from the Dongpu Saltworks, but after setting up such a large operation, they only managed to acquire 30,000 shi of salt before being caught.

Of the tens of thousands of taels of silver, after deducting the initial investment and daily costs, the amount that actually ended up in their pockets was probably no more than ten thousand taels.

Why ruin a promising future and the lives of your entire family for such a small amount of money?

After a moment of reflection, Qin Yu took advantage of the tide before it receded and quickly led his men away from the Dongpu Saltworks, ordering them to hurry and pick up the salt workers.

By the time they returned to the prefectural governor's residence, it was already noon.

Upon learning that Qin Yu had returned, Lü Si and the others hurriedly came looking for him.

Before Yang Jichun and Ruan Zhi could speak, Lü Si handed him a confession as if to claim credit, "Take a look at this!"

Qin Yu took it and saw that it was the confession of the Liao brothers.

According to their testimonies, less than 10% of their salt was sold in coastal areas.

The vast majority of salt was transported to Fangzhou via hidden salt routes in Nanping Mountain and sold to Jia Dequan, a salt merchant in Fangzhou.

The salt road was located in Cuiping County in the southeast of Yuanzhou. Passing through the hidden salt road, one could enter Fangzhou.

The magistrate of Cuiping County had long been bribed by them. Not only did he not send anyone to investigate them, but he could also send people to escort them as long as they were willing to spend money.

Their finely crafted snowflake salt was all sold to a man named Ma Laoqi for 150 coins per catty.

Ma Laoqi's identity is very mysterious. They don't know who he is or even his real name.

This person never delays payment and only accepts snowflake salt.

On the 21st of every month, Ma Laoqi would appear in Caoba Town in northwest Fangzhou and stay there for a day.

If they cannot deliver the refined snowflake salt to Caoba Town on the 16th, they will have to wait until the 21st of the following month.

Moreover, Ma Laoqi explicitly told them that if he found out they had sold the snowflake salt to other people, he would never cooperate with them again!

Because Ma Laoqi had an excellent reputation and offered high prices, they readily accepted Ma Laoqi's unfair terms.

After reading the confession, Qin Yu looked up at Lü Si. "That's it?"

"Isn't that enough?"

Lu Si gave him a disapproving look. "According to my analysis, this Old Ma Seventy is most likely a member of the Shi family! As long as we find this Old Ma Seventy, we can obtain evidence that the Shi family is passing off smuggled salt as Snowflake Salt!"

"..."

Qin Yu's forehead instantly became covered in black lines.

How persistent is this guy?!

So, they came to regulate the salt administration, while this guy came to regulate the Shi family?

After silently cursing Lü Si in his heart, Qin Yu instructed Lü Si, "Regardless of Ma Laoqi's identity for now, find someone to draw a portrait of Ma Laoqi based on the Liao brothers' description!"

Twenty-one!

I'm seventeen today!

The news of the Liao brothers' arrest should not have spread yet.

It's hard to say what will happen next month.

We'd better catch this Ma Laoqi as soon as possible.

Although Lü Si harbored some resentment towards the historians, his analysis still made some sense.

Being generous, trustworthy, and only accepting the finest snowflake salt, it's quite possible that he's a member of the Shi family.

Of course, it could also be someone from other salt merchants, or even someone from the government.

"good!"

Lü Si immediately went to do it.

Seeing Lü Si's energetic appearance, Qin Yu couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

For others, money is the greatest motivation; for Lü Si, hatred is the greatest motivation.

After a moment of reflection, Qin Yu asked Ruan Zhi and Yang Jichun, "What's the matter between you two?"

Yang Jichun said with great concern, "There was a slight disturbance at the county garrison last night, but fortunately, the Di Rong suppressed it in time, preventing a major disturbance! Doctor Qin, we need to think of a way to stabilize the morale of the people and the army, otherwise, I'm afraid things might really get out of hand!"

Qin Yu's methods are too ruthless!

Although they knew Qin Yu's intentions, the outside world did not!

Those people assumed that Qin Yu, wielding the authority of an imperial envoy, was acting impetuously out of youthful arrogance and intended to deal with everyone involved in the salt smuggling case.

The spread of this panic can easily lead people to a desperate, all-or-nothing mentality.

"Didn't I tell you to write a public notice to reassure the people?"

Qin Yu frowned and looked at Ruan Zhi.

"It has been written and posted in many places throughout the city."

Ruan Zhi's face was full of worry. "However, these proclamations to reassure the people have had very limited effect, or rather, the soldiers and civilians in the city simply don't believe them! In addition, there are malicious people spreading rumors in the dark, saying that the imperial court will bring all those involved in the salt smuggling case to justice..."

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is there anyone else causing trouble?"

Ruan Zhi nodded and said, "Someone is trying to manipulate public opinion and put pressure on us!"

"None of these people should be let off the hook!"

Qin Yu immediately summoned Qin Xiong, "Take fifty men, change into plain clothes, and infiltrate the city to find out the source of those rumors!"

"My lord, you mustn't!" Yang Jichun hurriedly advised, "If we arrest all those people now, it will only incite public anger and make the situation even more uncontrollable!"

"Yes, Doctor Qin! Our priority now should be to appease the people!" Ruan Zhi also quickly chimed in with his advice.

Now, the hearts of the people of Linhai are as taut as a bowstring.

If this string snaps, something terrible will definitely happen!

"Don't worry, nothing serious will happen!"

Qin Yu waved his hand, smiled nonchalantly, and said, "Our reinforcements will arrive this afternoon!"

"Reinforcements?"

"Where are the reinforcements coming from?"

The two looked at Qin Yu with puzzled expressions, while secretly worrying in their hearts.

Could it be that he secretly mobilized the Yuanzhou garrison troops, preparing to suppress the Linhai civilians with iron-fisted methods?

Qin Yu smiled and replied, "Salt workers from Dongpu Saltworks."

"what?"

The two looked at each other in bewilderment.

Salt workers?

How did the salt workers become their reinforcements?

Qin Yu smiled and told the two men what he had said to the salt workers.

"Excellent! A combination of kindness and firmness should be enough to win back public support!"

"Yes, as long as these soldiers and civilians know that we are not going to exterminate them, they will not risk their lives to fight against the imperial court."

The two were overjoyed.

They had previously worried that Qin Yu's methods were too harsh and would ultimately backfire.

In retrospect, their worries were completely unnecessary.

Those soldiers and civilians weren't fools either.

They must have understood that with their limited strength, confronting the imperial court head-on would be tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock.

As long as they are not driven to the brink of despair, who would willingly seek their own death?

"Alright, don't worry about it."

As Qin Yu spoke, he asked Yang Jichun, "Have the inventory checks of all the warehouses in Linhai been completed?"

"no."

Yang Jichun shook his head. "I was worried that the matter would get out of hand and cause unrest, so I only did a simple inventory of places like the granaries and salt warehouses. The treasury silver, on the other hand, was inventoried in detail and it matches the accounts perfectly."

"Then let's continue the inventory!"

Qin Yu didn't blame Yang Jichun, but instructed him, "Don't be afraid of offending people; this is exactly the kind of thing we're doing that will offend people!"

"Your humble servant obeys!"