Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

After the welcoming banquet, Jia Lian disregarded the reactions of the salt merchants and the Yangzhou government. He remained quietly in the Salt Inspector's Office, reviewing files and organizing past salt administration accounts. Occasionally, he would send people to bring relevant personnel and salt administration officials into the Inspector's Office for interrogation.

Their official, bureaucratic approach was clearly intended to coerce the salt merchants into submission.

His actions made even those around him begin to suspect that Jia Lian had been blinded by greed and forgotten his original purpose for coming to Jiangnan.

Inside the temporary office, Liu Xianglian handed the newly gathered information to Jia Lian, who sat at the head of the table, and couldn't help but ask, "My lord, if those salt merchants agree to your terms, do you really intend to let them go?"

Liu Xianglian was inside the headquarters at the time and overheard the confrontation between Jia Lian and the salt merchants.

Although the salt merchants' smuggling violated national law, the court's lenient treatment in order to stabilize the salt administration was understandable. Therefore, Liu Xianglian could understand Jia Lian's order for the salt merchants to hand over three million taels of silver to replenish the national treasury.

However, there has always been doubt about Jia Lian's claim that he demanded one million taels of silver from the salt merchants.

One million! What an enormous sum! You know, even ten thousand taels of silver, if converted into gold ingots, would fill a whole chest.

One million taels, that's a hundred chests of gold!

A hundred chests of gold—just thinking about it feels unreal.

Consider the Xue family, a renowned top-tier imperial merchant family in both the north and south, whose wealth is said to be in the millions.

In one breath, Jia Lian essentially demanded the entire Xue family's attention?

The Xue family only had a fortune of a million, but Jia Lian was demanding real gold and silver! I'm afraid even the Xue family couldn't come up with that much money.

The key point is that Jia Lian openly demanded such a huge sum of silver in public without any attempt to conceal it. Wasn't he afraid that the salt merchants would temporarily give in and then sell him to the imperial court? Even if the emperor trusted Jia Lian a lot, he would probably feel a chill once he realized that Jia Lian's appetite was so enormous.

Therefore, Liu Xianglian did not quite understand Jia Lian's actions.

Jia Lian looked down at the official gazette in his hand and shook his head: "They won't agree."

Liu Xianglian was taken aback. "Why are you so sure, Lord Marquis? No matter how well they cover up their smuggling of salt, as long as you keep investigating, you will eventually find solid evidence. Even if they have powerful connections, with His Majesty's support, you can still punish them according to the law."

"I can't understand it. What other options do those salt merchants have besides agreeing to the Marquis's demands?"

"I don't know what method they will use, but I do know that they will definitely not be willing to part with four million taels! Heh, four million taels, even I, the Marquis, cannot imagine how much silver that is. Perhaps only the officials who manage the national treasury have a clue about it."

You think those salt merchants, who value money more than life itself, would easily hand it over? Impossible. That would keep them up at night for ten years, heartbroken.

Hearing Jia Lian's certainty, Liu Xianglian couldn't help but ask, "Since you understand, why did you make such a request?"

Jia Lian then looked up, glanced at Liu Xianglian, smiled enigmatically, and offered no explanation.

He could tell that Liu Xianglian, though seemingly docile, was actually quite arrogant and proud, and probably did not truly respect or submit to him, the Marquis, from the bottom of his heart.

"Judging by the time, they should be here soon." Jia Lian smiled as he stood up and said to Liu Xianglian, "Let's go out and take a look. Perhaps you'll soon understand why I did this."

……

"This humble officer, Gao Kui, the garrison commander of Yangzhou, pays his respects to Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy."

In a side hall in the front courtyard of the Salt Commissioner's office, the Yangzhou garrison commander and his three lieutenants bowed to Jia Lian.

"What are your orders, Your Majesty, for summoning us here?"

The garrison commander Gao Kui was somewhat uneasy, so even though Jia Lian had a friendly demeanor and took the initiative to befriend him, he couldn't help but ask questions.

As the imperial envoy in charge of salt administration, Jia Lian should have instructed Prefect Wu Zhirong and others on matters, but instead, he summoned them alone, which makes his intentions somewhat unfathomable.

"It's nothing serious..."

Jia Lian smiled as he looked at Gao Kui and the others before him. Yangzhou was a major prefecture, so it had a standing army of nearly three thousand, and the garrison commander was a fourth-rank official, on par with the prefect.

Of course, the Yangzhou garrison commander was under the command of the Governor-General of Jinling and was only in charge of military affairs in Yangzhou. Moreover, Yangzhou was a stable inland prefecture, and in terms of authority, the garrison commander was far inferior to the prefect.

"However, during my two days of investigating the salt administration, I discovered many problems. I was about to carry out a major overhaul in accordance with His Majesty's decree, but I was afraid of disturbing the peace of Yangzhou. Therefore, I have summoned you here for only one thing: to strengthen the defenses of Yangzhou in the coming days and prevent those with ulterior motives from disrupting the city's security."

Although Jia Lian said this with a smile, Gao Kui and the others still looked at him with some surprise.

The most powerful figures in Yangzhou were not the prefect, nor the few retired Confucian scholars who had returned to their hometowns, but the wealthy salt merchants who owned major estates throughout Yangzhou.

This was common knowledge throughout the officialdom of Yangzhou.

Jia Lian's visit was also about the salt administration. Now he was telling them he wanted to reform the salt administration, and that his actions might jeopardize the peace of Yangzhou, urging them to strengthen the city's defenses…

Could it be that Jia Lian, or even His Majesty the Emperor, is really going to take action against those salt merchants?

Not daring to reveal his thoughts, Gao Kui clasped his hands and said, "Maintaining the stability of Yangzhou City is our duty. But I wonder, what exactly does Your Excellency wish us to do?"

"It's hard to say exactly what I'll do, because I don't yet know which people in the city are loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and which are those with ulterior motives."

Therefore, Commander Gao and the other captains might as well remain in my headquarters for the time being. That way, even if anything unexpected happens, I can promptly dispatch you to assist. What do you think, sirs?

"this……"

Perhaps because they were military officers, the men immediately understood Jia Lian's meaning: he intended to place them under house arrest.

"What's wrong? Are you gentlemen unwilling to assist me in serving His Majesty? Or do you have some concerns, such as that you have already secretly colluded with the salt officials and salt merchants, and are worried that you can't go out and inform them?" Jia Lian asked with a smile.

Gao Kui's expression changed, and he immediately knelt down and said, "Your Honor, you are wronged! Although we were stationed in Yangzhou, we were only responsible for city defense and suppressing bandits within our jurisdiction. We had absolutely nothing to do with the salt administration, let alone have any connection with the salt merchants..."

Gao Kui's heart trembled. The current situation clearly indicated that Jia Lian was about to take action against the salt merchants. At this point, even if he had connections with the salt merchants, he absolutely could not admit it.

Following Gao Kui's actions, the other captains immediately knelt down to express their gratitude.

Seeing that Jia Lian was still scrutinizing them, Gao Kui immediately said tactfully, "We are willing to serve you, sir, and follow your orders within the headquarters."

Jia Lian then smiled, "In that case, gentlemen, please rest here in this courtyard. As long as you don't leave this courtyard, if you need anything, please feel free to ask me or my guards. Don't be shy."

After saying that, Jia Lian turned and left.

Gao Kui knelt and turned to watch Jia Lian leave before wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, exchanging glances with his three subordinates, and standing up.

He walked to the door and looked outside, only to find that there were already more than a dozen guards with swords and armor standing outside. Even the two guards who had come in with him had disappeared. Gao Kui understood perfectly well what was going on.

"Sir, we..."

"What do you mean, 'we'? Didn't you hear the Imperial Envoy say that we should wait here for orders? Don't blame me for not warning you, we're all facing a life-or-death situation now. Without my orders, if anyone dares to make any small move and try to implicate everyone, don't blame me for not showing any mercy!"

"Yes, we dare not."

At this point, Gao Kui was somewhat nervous, but not afraid.

Since Jia Lian has placed them under house arrest here, it means they are not in any danger. The real danger lies with those outside who are not entitled to be placed under house arrest.

He certainly knew why Jia Lian wanted to place them under house arrest. He was worried that they, as military officers in Yangzhou, had been bribed by the salt merchants. If Jia Lian were to take action against the salt merchants, leaving them outside would endanger their own safety.

By inviting their leaders to the headquarters, the potential threat posed by his two thousand-plus soldiers could be effectively eliminated. They could also be used to command those soldiers.

He couldn't help but feel worried for those salt officials and merchants. Jia Lian had gone to such lengths, demonstrating his resolute attitude.

Those salt merchants weren't that wealthy, and they were all very cunning. How come they didn't manage to win Jia Lian over, but instead offended him?

Thinking about what Jia Lian might do, Gao Kui felt a secret sense of pleasure.

In fact, as the highest-ranking military officer in Yangzhou, he had indeed received benefits from the salt merchants...

But that's too little!

At least, it was far less than that of Prefect Wu Zhirong, or even the Assistant Prefects and Sub-Prefects under him.

There was no way around it; this was the prosperous and peaceful Jiangnan region, where civil officials held absolute power, and the status of military officers was infinitely low. Even a well-known local magnate dared to disregard their existence, let alone the powerful and influential salt merchants.

But there's nothing that can be done about it; the military shouldn't interfere in politics—that's an ironclad rule.

Since these common soldiers posed no threat to the salt merchants, they didn't need to be taken too seriously. As long as they were given some benefits to keep the merchants from feeling too resentful, that would suffice.

This distribution of benefits, which was not commensurate with his rank, naturally made him somewhat dissatisfied over the years. Therefore, when he saw that Jia Lian intended to take action against the salt merchants, he felt a sense of satisfaction.

He wasn't worried at all about being implicated by the salt merchants, because he truly had no right to interfere in salt administration, and naturally wouldn't be seriously implicated. Any benefits he received were simply easy gains, going in one hand and out the other; unless the salt merchants themselves spoke up, who would know?

He wasn't too afraid that the salt merchants would voluntarily confess. He knew all too well that in the eyes of high-ranking officials and powerful figures in the capital, these salt merchants were nothing special. They could be appeased when needed, but once they were no longer useful, or if they made mistakes and were to be punished by the court, they were nothing at all.

The bites of a drowning dog pose no real threat. As long as we continue to serve Jia Lian well, he is unlikely to take action against us without any evidence.

Gao Kui thought so, and the other captains thought similarly. In fact, even if they had other plans, what could they do now?

They're all under house arrest here. How can we expect our brothers below to risk a rebellion to rescue them? That would be tantamount to courting death.

(End of this chapter)