The Prodigal Son

With Qi Baichuan and others being exposed, the entire network of illegal salt trade in Jiankou was finally uncovered.

As Qin Yu had anticipated, the outcome was exactly as he had predicted.

But that's not what he wanted to see.

Gan Dacheng knew Qi Baichuan when he was still a pirate.

At that time, Qi Baichuan was just a minor general, in charge of two small warships.

But at that time, Qi Baichuan was already involved in the private salt trade, but it was just a small-scale operation, and he could only make a hundred or eighty taels of silver a month at most.

Once, when Gan Dacheng was plundering a fishing village by the sea, he was stopped by Qi Baichuan and his men.

Gan Da, in order to cover his brothers' escape, fell into Qi Baichuan's hands.

Qi Baichuan saw that Gan Dacheng was loyal and righteous, so he had the idea of ​​recruiting Gan Dacheng to work for him.

Afterwards, he gave Gan Dacheng some silver and asked Gan Dacheng to smooth things over.

With his skills and the money to pave the way, Gan Dacheng quickly became the county magistrate of Jiankou.

They chose Jiankou because it belonged to Yuanzhou, but was also close to Haizhou.

In this way, even if something happens, it will be investigated in Yuanzhou and won't reach Haizhou, so Qi Baichuan will be relatively safe.

Moreover, Jiankou County is close to Haizhou, making it relatively convenient for Qi Baichuan to transport smuggled salt using naval warships.

At first, they were just playing around on a small scale.

Throughout the year, after deducting the money spent on bribing officials and giving money to subordinates, Qi Baichuan only received a few hundred taels of silver.

Starting three years ago, Gan Dacheng completely took control of Jiankou County, and his audacity gradually grew.

He knew Gan Dacheng was too arrogant and had personally reminded him to keep a low profile.

But Gan Dacheng, that bastard, was fearless and produced more and more salt, and the amount of silver in his hands also increased.

Faced with a steady stream of money, Qi Baichuan ultimately put the risks out of his mind.

In order to distract others, they would occasionally deliberately transport a little smuggled salt overland to small salt smugglers.

In this way, even if Gan Dacheng is investigated, the higher-ups will only suspect the people in Xiaguang County, and will not think of the Raojin Navy.

Moreover, ordinary people neither dare to nor have the authority to investigate the navy!

Qi Baichuan used money to pave the way, bribing his two generals and all their men to transport smuggled salt for them.

More than 90% of their smuggled salt was sold to He Yan, the Salt Commissioner of Haizhou.

As for where He Yan sold the salt, he had no idea.

After listening to Qi Baichuan's words, Qin Yu finally slowly walked out from behind the screen.

"Who?"

Upon seeing Qin Yu suddenly appear, many generals instinctively drew their swords.

However, after seeing Qin Yu's armor, they ultimately did not draw their swords.

"Stop it, all of you!"

Zheng Tingchao raised his hand, panting heavily, and said, "This is the newly appointed Grand Admiral of the Navy, General Qin Yu! Many of you should have heard of him!"

Qin Yu?

All eyes turned to Qin Yu.

They had indeed heard of Qin Yu.

With so many merchants coming and going from Haizhou, they naturally heard from those merchants about Qin Yu's great victory over the Min and Chu allied forces in Min.

Moreover, they had heard that the imperial court had appointed Qin Yu as imperial envoy to reorganize the salt administration.

They just didn't understand when Qin Yu had become the Grand Admiral of the Navy.

Qin Yu didn't explain to them, but just stared at Qi Baichuan with a complicated expression:

"You guys are very clever. I was indeed misled by you at first. I did try to investigate Xiaguang County while keeping my identity hidden!"

"If it weren't for the case of Sun Min's murder, I would have even detained and interrogated the Prefect of Xiaguang!"

"Furthermore, Gan Dacheng is very loyal; he would rather risk his life to ambush and kill me, the imperial envoy, than betray you!"

"If General Zheng hadn't told me that you were using naval warships to transport goods, I probably wouldn't have connected the navy with Gan Dacheng..."

Gan Dacheng was originally a pirate, and the navy was there to fight pirates.

Gan Dacheng transported smuggled salt by waterway, and one of the naval duties was to crack down on smuggled salt transport.

These two sides, who should have been irreconcilable enemies, have actually started cooperating long ago.

This is just like a wolf and a sheep falling in love!

A wolf falling in love with a sheep—that's truly insane!

Qi Baichuan bowed low, trembling as he pleaded, "This sinful general was blinded by greed. I am willing to hand over all the stolen silver, I only beg the Grand Commander to spare my life!"

"OK!"

Qin Yu readily agreed.

Qi Baichuan suddenly raised his head and looked at Qin Yu in disbelief.

He himself had no hope at all, yet Qin Yu actually agreed?

"No!"

Zheng Tingchao suddenly turned to Qin Yu: "Our Raojin Navy has produced such a scoundrel, he must die! You don't want to be the bad guy, I will! If he doesn't die, I won't have the face to meet the late Emperor in the afterlife!"

He tacitly allowed the navy to profit from idle warships.

But the bottom line cannot be crossed!

"Let me finish speaking!"

Qin Yu raised his hand to stop Zheng Tingchao, his gaze returning to Qi Baichuan. "Considering you share the same surname as my personal bodyguard, I'll give you a chance. Fight me! If you can defeat me, I'll guarantee your life!"

Upon hearing Qin Yu's words, Zheng Tingchao's pupils suddenly contracted.

He got it!

Liwei!

Qin Yu was trying to demonstrate his strength in front of the generals of the Raojin Navy and establish his authority!

But is it really necessary?

He didn't want to be this lousy naval commander at all, so how could he possibly compete with him for power?

"This sinner... dares not!"

The light in Qi Baichuan's eyes dimmed again.

"Have you thought this through?"

Qin Yu stared coldly at Qi Baichuan, "If you fight back, you might still have a chance to live! But if you don't even cherish that chance, I will have no choice but to behead you immediately!"

Establishing authority is definitely necessary!

But more importantly, it's about making an example of someone to scare others!

Qi Baichuan kept his head buried, but Qin Yu's words kept echoing in his ears.

Yes!

Since you're already facing certain death, why not take a gamble?

Whether we win or lose, we'll only know after the battle!

Thinking of this, Qi Baichuan raised his head again, "Is the Grand Commander's statement true?"

As he spoke, Qi Baichuan glanced at Zheng Tingchao beside him.

"How could what I've said in front of so many people be false?"

Qin Yu smiled and said, "As for General Zheng, you don't need to worry! Although I won't be the Grand Admiral of the Navy for long, it's not just a title I hold!"

Zheng Tingchao remained silent.

He understood, of course, that Qin Yu's next words were meant for him.

He wants to make himself obey his orders!

"good!"

Qi Baichuan, having gone all out, blazed with fury in his eyes and gritted his teeth, saying, "Though this sinner deserves to die a thousand deaths, even ants cling to life! Since the Grand Commander has given this sinner a chance to live, this sinner is willing to learn the Grand Commander's superior skills!"

Fight!

Qin Yu smiled with satisfaction and walked out on his own.

Qi Baichuan glanced at Zheng Tingchao, and seeing that Zheng Tingchao did not intend to stop him, he immediately stood up and walked out with a do-or-die mentality.

Seeing this, the generals also followed suit and went outside.

They wanted to see just how capable this seemingly random naval commander really was!

Yu Zhou stepped forward and tugged at Zheng Tingchao, "Let's go. Since he wants to establish his authority, let's go see just how capable this young general really is!"

Zheng Tingchao nodded silently, his face dark as he followed Yu Zhou outside...