The Prodigal Son

Hearing Qin Yu's doubtful words, Zheng Tingchao immediately showed displeasure.

"If you don't believe me, sir, feel free to send someone to investigate!"

Zheng Tingchao's tone hardened, "If you find that I am involved in the salt smuggling case, I will have no complaints, whether you kill me or torture me! Although I really don't want to stay in the navy, I will not allow others to pin dirt on the navy!"

Using naval warships to transport other goods and smuggling salt are two completely different things!

With His Majesty so determined to crack down on smuggled salt, if the navy gets involved in the smuggling case at this time, it won't just be a matter of reputation; it will cost many people their lives!

Even if he didn't want to stay in the navy anymore, he couldn't just stand by and watch his naval officers and soldiers lose their heads because of being slandered!

"General Zheng, you've misunderstood me again!"

Qin Yu shook his head and smiled. "What I mean is, you've given orders that no one touches smuggled salt. Are you sure your men won't? How can you guarantee they won't secretly use naval warships to transport smuggled salt for others?"

"this……"

Zheng Tingchao's face stiffened slightly, but he still firmly said, "This humble general believes that the men below don't have the guts!"

"Then let me tell you something, and you can help me analyze it!"

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes slightly: "I found out in Jiankou County that someone is producing large quantities of smuggled salt, 80,000 shi a year, and they rarely use land transport. Most of the time, they transport the salt to the coastal area of ​​Xiaguang County and then leave!"

"Is it more convenient to transport so much smuggled salt to Haizhou by land or by sea?"

Upon hearing Qin Yu's words, Zheng Tingchao and Yu Zhou's hearts skipped a beat at the same time, and they exchanged a silent glance.

After a moment of silence, Zheng Guanchao countered Qin Yu, "How can you be so sure that it was my Raojin navy's warships that were helping people transport smuggled salt, and not that the salt smugglers themselves were using their own ships for the transport?"

He admitted that Qin Yu's suspicions were somewhat justified!

Transporting goods by sea is definitely much more discreet than transporting them by land.

But why must those ships be naval warships?

"I can't be sure, I only have a suspicion!"

Qin Yu nodded noncommittally. "I was thinking, if it were smugglers' ships transferring salt, the navy would probably intercept some of the ships transporting smuggled salt, right?"

"Of course!"

Zheng Guanchao answered without hesitation: "At the end of last year, our patrol ships intercepted two vessels transporting smuggled salt! However, those people abandoned ship and fled after discovering the naval warships, and one of the ships even sank after running aground due to loss of control."

"right!"

Yu Zhou nodded and continued, "We were too embarrassed to report this insignificant achievement to the imperial court, so we just gave them a small reward internally and that was it! But it's recorded in the navy's patrol log, so you can certainly check it out, sir!"

"I'll give you a chance; conduct a self-examination first!"

Qin Yu glanced at the two men. "I believe you wouldn't order anyone to transport smuggled salt! But with so many people and warships in the navy, if the men below colluded and did something illegal behind your back, you might not even know!"

The two exchanged a silent glance, and finally nodded slightly.

Let's investigate!

If this matter isn't thoroughly investigated, and Qin Yu uses it as a warning to others, people could die!

……

"Knock knock knock..."

The urgent drumbeats of the rallying drums resounded throughout the naval camp.

Upon hearing the sound of the drums summoning generals, naval commanders of a thousand or more obeyed and came forward.

In less than a quarter of an hour, all the generals had arrived.

Inside the room, a screen was drawn back.

Qin Yu sat behind the screen.

Looking at the more than fifty generals, big and small, Zheng Tingchao silently prayed in his heart.

Hopefully, no one was involved in the illegal salt trade!

His Majesty has really made up his mind this time.

Anyone who gets involved will find it impossible to protect themselves.

Inspecting smuggled salt was one of the naval duties.

If someone in the navy is using naval warships to transport smuggled salt, even if I am not implicated, I will lose all face!

Taking a deep breath, Zheng Tingchao stood up, his gaze sweeping coldly over the crowd, and growled menacingly, "I have received intelligence that some members of my navy are using warships to smuggle salt for others!"

"I'm in a bad mood right now and I'm too lazy to check each one individually!"

"You all know my temper. I'm giving you a chance. Those of you involved, step forward now, don't wait for me to investigate!"

"Otherwise, when I find out, I'll send a coffin to every single member of his entire family!"

Zheng Tingchao was too lazy to waste words and went straight for the big move.

As soon as Zheng Tingchao finished speaking, the group of generals erupted in chaos.

"Who the hell dares to smuggle salt?"

"Damn it! If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"

"Exactly! General Zheng is considerate of our brothers' hardships and allows us to use our idle warships to earn some silver to improve our meals. And who dares to smuggle salt for others? Why don't you just rob those merchant caravans directly?"

"Fuck your mother, if you've got the guts, step forward..."

The generals were filled with righteous indignation, and each of them glared angrily at the others.

However, after shouting for a long time, not a single person stood up.

It seems that everyone has a clear conscience.

Seeing that no one stepped forward, Zheng Tingchao's face grew even uglier. "You're not going to step forward, are you? You think I'm bluffing you? Fine, I'll see how long you can keep up this act! Guards!"

At Zheng Tingchao's command, several personal guards rushed in.

Zheng Tingchao coldly ordered, "Bring all the patrol logs from each unit here, and thoroughly search every single barracks here, leaving no place unchecked! Including this place of mine, search it as well!"

What?

Upon hearing Zheng Guanchao's order, everyone's expression changed drastically. He wasn't even sparing his own side?

He's really made up his mind!

"Bang!"

One of the thousand-strong soldiers, unable to withstand the pressure, knelt down, his face ashen, trembling and wailing, "General, spare my life!"

Upon seeing this person, Zheng Tingchao's eyes immediately blazed with fury.

He had previously assured Qin Yu that no one in the Raojin Navy was involved in the salt smuggling case.

At that moment, he felt a burning pain on his face.

He even clearly remembered that this bastard was one of the loudest shouters just now!

I never expected that once I got a little serious, this bastard couldn't hide it anymore!

Enraged, Zheng Tingchao lunged forward and kicked him to the ground with a thud, roaring menacingly, "Weren't you yelling the loudest just now? Weren't you telling others to step forward?"

"Cough cough..."

Zheng Tingchao's kick, delivered in anger, was naturally quite forceful.

The general was kicked to the ground, coughing up blood, but he forced himself to his feet despite his injuries, knelt down again, and pleaded tremblingly, "This humble general knows his crime, please spare my life, General!"

He thought he could keep it a secret.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Tingchao ordered a search of all their residences.

He knew exactly how much silver he had hidden.

This search will surely expose the large amount of silver he has hidden.

With so much money of dubious origin, combined with the patrol logs, no amount of sophistry could change that.

Zheng Tingchao clenched his fists tightly, suppressing the urge to smash this bastard to death, and roared furiously, "Who else? All of you, get out here!"

With Zheng Tingchao's roar, two more people knelt down, their faces ashen.

Zheng Tingchao looked closely and realized that these two bastards had been shouting quite loudly just now!

Row!

It works!

Before I could even conduct a thorough investigation, three people suddenly appeared!

Qi Baichuan, one of them, was a commander-in-chief!

If Qin Yu hadn't insisted on conducting his own investigation, he would still be completely in the dark!

An endless rage spread through Zheng Tingchao's body. He was so angry that he was panting heavily, pointing tremblingly at the three people kneeling on the ground, unable to speak for a long time.

"You damned bastards!"

Yu Zhou's face was also extremely ugly, and he roared menacingly, "Speak, who are your accomplices?"