The Prodigal Son

The events in Fangzhou thoroughly enraged Qin Yu.

No matter how much Yang Jichun and Ruan Zhi tried to persuade him, they couldn't change Qin Yu's mind.

He really wants to clash with these people!

Compromise with these people will only embolden them!

Qin Yu made up his mind and immediately went back to his room to write a memorial.

"It's all your fault!"

Ruan Zhi glared angrily at Lü Si, "At a time like this, you're still stirring things up?"

"How dare you talk to me like that?"

Lu Si glared at Ruan Zhi with displeasure. "Before you speak, think about your status! You're not the imperial envoy you were when you went to Min now! I'm at least a deputy salt commissioner, and you don't even have a proper position. How dare you speak to me like this? You're supposed to be someone close to His Majesty, yet you don't understand any manners!"

"I……"

Ruan Zhi was furious, but she couldn't refute him.

After holding it in for a long time, Ruan Zhicai said resentfully, "Go ahead and fan the flames! When you get punished again, you won't have anything to put on your butt!"

He found that this jerk could sometimes say things that were absolutely infuriating.

He was more than happy to use this incident to completely eradicate historians.

But he didn't consider how serious the consequences would be if this continued.

The war between Da Ning and Bei Qi has reignited. If chaos were to break out in the Liangjiang region and the Hai and Yuan prefectures at this time, it would have a tremendous impact on the imperial court.

Putting aside everything else, if the Grand Canal, this vital transportation artery, were to encounter problems, the military supplies of the seven northern prefectures would likely be insufficient!

Now is not the time to act impulsively; our priority should be maintaining stability!

Lü Si scoffed, "If the imperial court can be threatened by a few merchants and local officials, then the court is truly beyond saving! These bastards were spoiled rotten by the late emperor! If they encountered Emperor Xiaowu, see who would dare to cause trouble!"

"If the late emperor hadn't indulged them, our dynasty's economy would have collapsed long ago!" Ruan Zhi retorted.

"It's not that serious!"

Lu Si remained unconvinced. "Two-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged people are easy to find? Just kill all these bastards, and we can always find replacements!"

"I……"

Ruan Zhi was speechless again.

However, this time it is not without its arguments.

She realized that talking to Lü Si about these things was like casting pearls before swine!

Lu Si didn't care about the consequences at all!

He had only one thought: to destroy the historians!

"Alright, let's all keep quiet!"

Yang Jichun sighed softly, "Didn't Lord Qin go to write a memorial to His Majesty? Whether this matter should continue or not depends on the outcome of His Majesty's discussion with the court officials. What we can think of, His Majesty and the court officials can certainly think of as well."

"this……"

Ruan Zhi opened her mouth slightly, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

He was unaware of Qin Yu's importance in His Majesty's heart!

Right now, Qin Yu is the one who knows the situation here best!

A single word from Qin Yu can be more effective than ten pieces of advice from those ministers!

The fear is that Qin Yu's forceful approach might give His Majesty the wrong impression that he can control the situation.

No!

I must also hurry up and submit a memorial to His Majesty.

In any case, His Majesty should at least understand the actual situation here before making a decision!

With this thought in mind, Ruan Zhi didn't bother to say anything more to the two of them and hurriedly went to her room.

"Why is a mere servant making such a fuss?"

Lu Si pursed his lips at Ruan Zhi's retreating figure, then grabbed Yang Jichun, "Lord Yang, do you think this matter might have been done by the Shi family?"

"I think you really deserve a beating!"

Yang Jichun gritted his teeth, "I can't deal with you now, but His Majesty, the Empress Dowager, and Minister Lü can deal with you slowly!"

After saying that, Yang Jichun quickly walked away.

This is a huge problem!

If the salt industry continues to be regulated and something goes wrong, no one will be able to take responsibility!

"Cowardly and afraid of trouble!"

Lu Si gave Yang Jichun a disdainful look and muttered to himself, "It's the Shi family! It must be the Shi family!"

……

The Imperial City, the Imperial Garden.

Zhao Luan sat in the pavilion in the Imperial Garden, holding a memorial that Qin Yu had urgently sent.

After carefully reading the memorial, Zhao Luan nodded in approval, but inwardly cursed Qin Yu as a bastard.

In the past few days, officials from several places have submitted memorials impeaching Qin Yu.

The largest number of these cases were found in Yuanzhou and Haizhou.

Prefect, Governor, Salt Commissioner, Salt Transport Commissioner...

Their reasons for impeaching Qin Yu were all pretty much the same.

Without obtaining any evidence, Qin Yu forcibly arrested all the officials in Linhai County and subjected them to torture and forced confessions.

Although the final result proved that the officials in Linhai deserved their punishment, the procedure was wrong!

In particular, the issue of torture and forced confessions led many ministers in the court to submit memorials impeaching Qin Yu.

Although he ignored these impeachments, he grew tired of hearing them so often.

He thought Qin Yu was going to report to him on the results of their efforts to reform the salt administration in Yuanzhou, and he even thought of using these results to shut up the ministers in the court, so that they wouldn't have to listen to their daily impeachments of Qin Yu at court meetings, which had annoyed him.

As it turned out, this bastard sent Zhu Songlan's memorial instead!

Although Zhu Songlan had unique insights into the salt administration issue and her proposed solutions for governing Linhai were very appealing to her, the thought that Qin Yu, that bastard, hadn't told her about their achievements in reforming the salt administration made her inexplicably want to slap him.

After calming herself down, Zhao Luan handed the memorial to Shangguan Youyi, saying, "Take a look at it too!"

Shangguan Youyi, out of curiosity, immediately took the memorial and read it carefully.

After reading Zhu Songlan's memorial, Shangguan Youyi couldn't help but smile. "Congratulations, Your Majesty, you've gained another great talent!"

"A great talent, isn't he?"

Zhao Luan smiled, "I haven't seen any great talent yet, but this person is indeed a useful talent! Let him temporarily serve as the prefect of Linhai! After Qin Yu has finished reforming the salt administration and rooted out those corrupt officials, we will exonerate him!"

Shangguan Youyi understood, "Then...should we put this memorial aside for now?"

"Keep it down!"

Zhao Luan nodded, "I will discuss his opinions with the ministers when I have time."

Upon hearing Zhao Luan's words, Shangguan Youyi immediately understood.

The fact that there was discussion indicates that His Majesty also found Zhu Songlan's suggestions feasible.

If nothing unexpected happens, Zhu Songlan is going to be lucky!

Just then, Yun Ying rushed forward with a report in her hand: "Your Majesty, an urgent report from Fangzhou, delivered by express courier!"

"Is this another memorial impeaching Qin Yu?"

Zhao Luan took the report, her face showing displeasure. "These people are really getting more and more outrageous! Impeaching Qin Yu, and they even used a five-hundred-li urgent dispatch?"

Although the 500-tael express courier service is not as fast as the 800-li express courier service, it is only used when there are urgent and important events in various places.

How dare they use an urgent 500-li express mail to impeach Qin Yu?

Zhao Luan added another name to her mental notebook.

Filled with displeasure, Zhao Luan opened the report.

However, upon seeing the contents of the report, Zhao Luan's expression suddenly turned icy, and a hint of murderous intent flickered within him.

"Your Majesty, come out..."

Just as Shangguan Youyi was about to ask a question, Zhao Luan handed over the report.

Soon, Shangguan Youyi's expression also turned ugly.

Zhao Luan suppressed her murderous intent and asked Shangguan Youyi with a frosty expression, "Do you think this is a fight to the death, or a conspiracy?"

"Based on a single report, I dare not make any rash judgments!"

Shangguan Youyi gently shook his head. "Your humble servant suggests suspending the rectification of the salt administration and ordering Imperial Physician Qin to thoroughly investigate this case as an imperial envoy!"

Zhao Luan remained silent, weighing the pros and cons in her mind, her face cold...