As a salted fish, I was forced to become the teacher of all ages

Qi Pengfei said depressedly: "That's not true. Originally, my father planned to let the two of us change Zhang Jiahao's beast, but after asking, I found out that this beast is still playing in Jinling. There is a salt lake or something here, and there are mines, so my father asked for a decree and asked the two of us to come and supervise it."

Qi Pengwu sighed and said, "Everyone thinks it's a good job, and they say it's for the royal family to run the salt industry to make a lot of money, but this place is worse than I thought..."

Huamanlou was even happier: With this pair of crouching dragon and phoenix chicks taking care of here, wouldn't he be able to return to Beijing after finishing the preliminary work?

But before he was happy, Qi Pengfei suddenly lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "I'll talk about this later, there is something you have to pay attention to now, and we two came here non-stop for this matter."

Hua Manlou was taken aback: "What's the matter?"

Qi Pengwu said in a low voice: "The people who came with us this time are mostly sent by some high-ranking families in the capital, you...understand?"

Before Hua Manlou could speak, Zhao Ren suddenly came in from outside the door: "Hey, you two are here? What are you talking about, what happened to the big family?"

603 How dare they!

"Your Highness...Your Highness!"

The Qi family brothers panicked when they saw Zhao Ren, and quickly got up to salute.

Zhao Ren waved his hand casually and said, "Why are you so oblivious? Keep your voice down, don't let others hear you!"

The Qi family brothers responded awkwardly, and then winked at Huamanlou desperately.

Hua Manlou didn't realize what was going on between the two of them at all, but in this daze, Zhao Ren continued to ask, "What are you talking about? What are you talking about?"

Qi Pengfei coughed dryly: "It's...it's nothing..."

"Why, it's not suitable for me to listen to?" Zhao Ren squinted at Qi Pengwu and said, "If he doesn't say it, you say it."

Qi Pengwu had a bitter look on his face for a moment: "Your Highness, this matter...we just want to remind my sister-in-law about this matter, those people must be handled properly..."

Zhao Ren cast doubtful eyes on Huamanlou, who just shrugged his shoulders to indicate that he didn't know anything, so he said impatiently, "Why have you become more and more mother-in-law in the past two years? Tell me, what's going on? "

Qi Pengwu sighed and said: "Your Highness, most of the people who came to Lanzhou this time were sent by some respectable people in the capital. They came here in a hurry. There are two situations. One is that they only heard about Xihai Salt Lake wants to take a share..."

Zhao Ren was taken aback when he heard the words: "Share a piece of the pie?"

Seeing that Qi Pengwu had already confessed, Qi Pengfei answered, "That's right. Your Highness, salt is an unremarkable thing, but anyone with a little knowledge knows how profitable it is to sell salt, so they naturally want to come and talk to Huamanlou. "

Hua Manlou clicked his tongue and said, "Tsk, Xihai hasn't taken it back yet, and Salt Lake hasn't been set yet, so you're in a hurry to talk about cooperation?"

Qi Pengwu said: "How should I put it, you should know that the salt produced in the West Sea can be transported downstream from the Yellow River, and the cost of transporting it is much lower than transporting salt from the two Zhejiang provinces, and no one has checked on the Yellow River, so it is natural Everyone flocks to it..."

Zhao Ren sneered: "Oh, flocking to it? Why didn't you see people flocking to it when Xihai fell into Tumote's hands?"

Qi Pengfei coughed twice and didn't dare to speak.

In fact, from the point of view of the Qi family brothers, the eating appearance of the Jingshi group is really a bit too ugly.

The West Sea has been lost for so many years, and these people in the court seem to have not taken it seriously all these years, but now they want to get involved after hearing that it is profitable here, isn't this ugly?

You know, when the war first broke out, no one in the court could even break the siege of the capital, and they just waited blindly for reinforcements. At the same time, Lanzhou Prefecture was in jeopardy. Uncle Huai An only had thousands of soldiers and horses in his hands. It was tens of thousands of enemy troops, and in the end, Hua Manlou repelled the Liaodong Army as quickly as possible, and then rushed to rescue Lanzhou Prefecture, and even the prince went to the battlefield—even though not many people in the court knew about it, But the fact is that no one stood up in the face of the national crisis, but when the situation just got a little better, this group of people jumped out to get a piece of the pie...

Even if the two hundred and five of the Qi family think that all the good things are taken up by this group of people, is it okay?Is it true that the prince and the Hua family father and son have been taken advantage of?

Of course, there are still some deep-seated things involved, but Qi Pengfei didn't dare to say more at all.

Because, if lake salt is produced on a large scale, and it can really flow downstream as Qi Pengwu said, it will definitely impact the market share of sea salt in the north. It is something that many people do not want to see the vitality of some people who monopolize the salt industry along the coast be seriously injured.

In addition, if someone else is in charge of this matter, then the group of people who tinker with salt will have many ways to deal with him-you know, the salt production and sales in Dazhao require the permission of the court, so if ordinary people do this Tinkering, this group of people can concoct him through the court, but the building is full of flowers...

The adopted son of the emperor, the adopted brother of the crown prince, behind him are not only the shadows of Dongchang and Xuanwuwei, but also the father-in-law, a master of literature and martial arts, and even at least half of the people in the court follow him to make a fortune. How can you sanction him?Even if the censor is to be impeached, then you have to find a few powerful censors who dare to commit suicide, right?

And more importantly, there is a consensus in the current court, that is: Xishan Bo Na Zhuzi can play well no matter what he plays.

That is to say, if ordinary people make salt in Xihai, I am afraid that the group of people who want to share a piece of the pie will laugh their heads off. After all, the location of Xihai is really too remote, let alone the distance, and there are grassland people around. Woolen cloth.

But just because ordinary people can't do it doesn't mean that Huamanlou can't do it. Meteorites have been summoned from the sky, what else can he not do?

Therefore, none of the people who came this time wanted to engage in any threatening drama, and all of them hoped to take the opportunity to board the big ship Huamanlou—before this, whether it was trade with the grassland or shipping , those who missed it are all green with regret, so how can they continue to sit obediently after smelling the fishy smell now?It's better to be ugly than not to eat, right?

But the problem is that Salt Lake is full of flowers. I really have no idea. Now this part is already the property of the royal family... To be precise, it is the property of Zhao Ren. He also expects to use a large amount of salt to hit the market so that the people can eat cheap salt. , then...

"Hmph, if they want to meddle, just come and have a chat with me." Zhao Ren sneered: "I'd like to see who dares to take a share of my business."

Seeing this, Hua Manlou had a wry smile on his face: God damn it, I'm afraid they have to give a cup... No, giving a pot is not enough to calm Prince Zhao's anger, right?

"Anyway, it's been said that there's not much of a clue yet, so don't be too quick to get angry," Hua Manlou comforted, "I'll meet them first before making a decision, shall I?"

Even though Hua Manlou didn't want to flirt with these vampires, it was more troublesome to let them know that Zhao Ren had come to Lanzhou Mansion than this, so he would rather keep the matter out of the way first, anyway...

After returning to Beijing, there are some things that can be said. Naturally, Emperor Guangxing will take care of this group of people, and Huamanlou will be happy and relaxed.

Zhao Ren was noncommittal, and after a vague reply, he turned his head and asked Qi Pengwu: "You said just now that they came to Lanzhou Mansion for two reasons. Is there another one? Do you want to start from the mining industry?"

Qi Pengwu blinked, scratched his head, and finally saw that Zhao Ren was extremely impatient before he stammered and said, "The rest of you are waiting...cough, generally they are a little unclear with King Yiduan, so...so they are secretly They came here, probably hoping that my sister-in-law will let them go..."

Zhao Renning raised his eyebrows and said, "Let them go? What do you mean?"

Qi Pengfei said awkwardly: "We came here with an imperial decree. Your Majesty ordered your sister-in-law to search the Yiduan Palace, so it is likely that we can find some correspondence..."

Hua Manlou immediately covered his forehead when he heard this, while Zhao Ren was already furious: "You bastard! How dare they!"

604. These People Are Damn Damn!

As soon as Qi Pengfei opened his mouth, Hua Manlou knew why the two hundred and five had weird expressions at first, and they stopped talking.

Since ancient times, the exchanges between princes and courtiers have been very sensitive, especially those princes who theoretically have the right to inherit, which is so sensitive that no emperor can tolerate it.

Why?

It's very simple, if this matter goes wrong, the emperor's ruling power will be shaken, and there is even the possibility of being replaced.

So generally speaking, courtiers will also be very careful to avoid this matter-after all, the prince is a branch of the royal family, and even rebellion is probably the result of being banned or demoted to the people, but the courtiers are not necessarily, if they encounter that Such a suspicious or tyrannical emperor would most likely end up killing by mistake and never letting go.

But there are exceptions to everything. The so-called being an official for thousands of miles is only for money, and the salary of the court... how can a motivated prince give so much?

Therefore, in all dynasties, there have been such courageous ministers who dared to accept all bribes—for example, Yang Tinghe, a scholar in the Zhengde Dynasty, was rumored to have accepted bribes from King Ning, if he hadn’t done anything and he was still Emperor Zhengde Teacher, I reckon it is really inevitable to die.

So to get down to business, King Yiduan has been in business for so many years, if he said that he didn't buy anyone in the court, who would believe it?

Apart from other things, the assassination of Emperor Shixing Xing in Huamanlou's wedding can explain the problem very well. Even though it seemed that there were only some low-level officers who cooperated with King Yiduan at that time, if he could buy the low-level officials, he could also buy high-ranking officials. , and most of the time he doesn't ask these high-ranking officials to do particularly important things, he only needs to fool a little bit on the most critical nodes, or reveal a little information, even as long as they disturb the line of sight in the court.

For example, the easiest way is to impeach King Yiduan for his misbehavior and denounce his style of work—yes, you read that right, King Yiduan spent money to buy people to scold him.

And the fact is, if there is no persistent output from these people, emphasizing that King Yiduan is a stupid fat man, how can other people in the court and even Emperor Guangxing not have the slightest vigilance against him?

Of course, this is just the simplest method, as for other things...

For example, the information leaked when Xuanwuwei was ambushed after Emperor Guangxing was assassinated, or the number of five thousand and six guards in Xining suddenly changed to [-]. You can't know each other in advance or cover the sky with one hand, right?

But just because King Yiduan was doing wholesale gift-giving at the beginning, all the officials he bought were covered up, and there was no way to find out——Didn’t Xu Dacheng and Lu Kun ask Huamanlou for help because of this matter? ?

But the situation is different now: no one expected that King Yiduan would be defeated so quickly, and he himself fell into the hands of the court, and now he is even going to recover the West Sea with a large army...

To be honest, it doesn’t really matter whether King Yiduan falls into the court’s hands, it’s just that he identified certain courtiers, as long as there is no evidence, the courtiers will naturally argue that this matter is the other party’s random grabbing, and that’s the worst result. It is to be dismissed from office, not to be crowned with a hat of rebellion, and the whole family will go on the road together.

But if there is evidence, such as some correspondence in the palace, this thing is a bit terrible.

Before that, when King Yiduan abandoned Lanzhou Mansion and went to Xiningwei, his palace was seized by Bo Huai'an, but the seizure is different from confiscation. King Yiduan was also a prince before anyway, so he can't just copy it. ?

Now that the imperial decree has arrived, Huamanlou is responsible for the confiscation, so all the related things in the Yiduan Palace will fall into his hands.

In this way, trying every means to annihilate the evidence has become the last way of life for this group of people who were bribed by King Yiduan, and under normal circumstances, if they encounter a person who is a little courageous and not so loyal, they can really pass this There is no way to get out—anyway, I don’t know how many letters I have hidden, but after returning to Beijing, I can exchange many things with these letters, including but not limited to wealth, beauty, allies, or many more tricks , such a lucrative deal, how many people can refuse?

But the problem is that this time they are telling the truth, and they met the Prince of Zhao who just happened to want to rectify the administration of officials.

To be honest, Huamanlou doesn't care about them, he doesn't care about their lives, and he doesn't want to have any deals, so he doesn't really care. Conceal one or two—Of course, Huamanlou is not short of money, but he would not refuse to have a few more younger brothers who can take the blame or handle errands. For example, wasn’t a certain old Nie used as a bag carrier?

But the problem is that Zhao Ren has been sensitive to corruption issues recently, and they came out suddenly, and Zhao Ren knew about it, so...

"Don't let any of them go!" Zhao Ren was as irritable as if his ass was touched by a gay guy, and he looked at Huamanlou angrily: "Catch them all, investigate, investigate to death!"

Hua Manlou agreed with a wry smile.

Zhao Ren already knew about it, so naturally he couldn't be vague about it, and seeing the brat's posture, he was thinking of raiding the house together, maybe even thinking of raiding the house of the officials who had colluded with King Yiduan, right?

"This group of dog officials spends all day in the court hall either threatening the emperor to treat his ministers favorably or accusing me of being too playful. Each of them speaks righteously and looks like a gentleman, but in fact the crows in the world are as black! Where do they have the face to scold others? Where are they? The face that comes here says I am not?" Even Hua Manlou followed his will and said that he would investigate, but Zhao Ren was still angry and roared: "After the investigation here, go back to Beijing to investigate, and don't send these dogs away. It’s not over when all the officials go to prison!”

This is a bit of a personal grudge.

It can be said that Zhao Ren grew up with scolding all the way. At first, it was just a complaint from Zhan Shifu, then scolded by the censor, the officials, and the Hanlin. In the end, even the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty almost believed that the next generation of emperors in Dazhao was probably [-]% Is a fool.

In the past, Zhao Ren might feel a bit guilty when he did something absurd—such as going out of Beijing privately, forging imperial edicts, etc. He knew it was wrong to do so, so he was ready to be beaten , And let the courtiers know that even if he is scolded, he will suffer.

But now, after such a series of incidents, the civil servants standing on the moral high ground suddenly turned into a group of thieves who appeared to be dignified on the surface, but were actually full of men and women. Can Zhao Ren bear them?

"Tomorrow we will go to the Yiduan Palace, and after we are done, we will wipe out all the people who came to the door!" Zhao Ren looked at Huamanlou fiercely, and said through gritted teeth, "Now that the artisans have arrived, I don't have to stay here anymore. Let's go back to Beijing as soon as possible after the investigation is over! It's time to rectify the officials of Dazhao!"

"Okay." Hua Manlou sighed, with a sad expression: I thought that at least I would wait until Zhao Ren came to power before I would touch such things as officials, but now...

Well, this group of people are so damn damn!

605. A flash of inspiration

"Hua ManLou still refuses to see me? What does he mean!"

In the middle of the night, several gloomy-looking people sat together in a private house in Lanzhou Prefecture, and the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

The person who spoke was a middle-aged man with a rich face, and he looked like a businessman, but at this moment his whole face was distorted, and he looked extremely irritable.

The other person glanced at him, and said with a solemn expression: "The name card and the gift list have been sent in, but he just didn't move at all. Maybe he wants me to wait more?"

"Overweight?" The middle-aged man's eyes blazed: "The things I'm waiting to give are worth at least 30 taels of silver. Isn't that enough? How about adding more? What a big appetite!"

Another person said: "So what if he has a big appetite? Brother Chen, don't forget, this is our family's life-buying fortune. Huamanlou is the one who sets the price, not me."

As soon as these words came out, the room fell into silence for an instant.

These few present here are considered "characters" of the capital—at least they think they are characters, because not many people dared to shut their doors to them when they were in the capital.

That's right, this group of people is the butlers of some high-ranking officials.

The so-called King of Hades is easy to deal with little ghosts, and the so-called seventh-rank officials in front of the prime minister. Bureaucrats cannot do without these people who handle chores for them. Sometimes they even know more than the sons of bureaucrats.

These people didn't come hand in hand, but all of them were grasshoppers on the same rope, so after arriving, they tacitly gathered together, intending to exchange information, but Huamanlou But there was no movement at all, which made this group of people extremely angry.

But no matter how big the fire is, they have to suffer, because before coming, all of their masters seem to have realized the hard truth of 'money is something outside the body' overnight, so before coming, they all got something like 'at all costs' 'Authorization, this is enough to prove the seriousness of this matter.

"The people from the Liu family haven't arrived yet. Is Huamanlou waiting for them?" After a long silence, one person cleared his throat and said, "It is said that King Yiduan was captured alive. Knowing who is involved in his affairs, I want to eat them all."

"It makes sense. King Yiduan gave gifts to the officials of the capital one by one before, so after Huamanlou searched, he said that there was no evidence in the palace and no one dared to say anything about him, so it is only natural that he has such an appetite. "The rich middle-aged man pondered for a while, nodded, and then became irritable again: "But what the hell are the people from the Liu family doing? When they are dying, they are still so slack?"

One person said: "Maybe there was an accident on the road?"

Another person sighed, "We can only wait for two more days."

There was another dull moment in the room.

In fact, Huamanlou was really waiting for this Liu family—the family of Liu Chao, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials.It's just that what he wanted was not a gift list, but to wipe out this group of people, because King Yiduan had said it when he was taken down, and he didn't keep any correspondence with these officials in the court.

This is not because King Yiduan is kind or wants to cover up one or two things for the briber, but because these things are dispensable to him—even if he told the group of Beijing officials that he had burned all the letters, who would Will you believe it?

In other words, the deterrence had already been formed when the letter arrived at the Yiduan Palace, and there was no need for Yiduan King to use these things to stimulate those people.

Therefore, this group of housekeepers who traveled thousands of miles to the Lanzhou government to bribe them became the deadliest witnesses, so Huamanlou would not let them go of course.

But here lies the problem. The group of people that King Yiduan admitted impatiently sent name cards and gift lists, hoping to buy Huamanlou, but such a key Liu Shilang's family was missing.

The Minister of the Ministry of Officials of the third rank, this is the person with the highest position bought by King Yiduan, and also the person with the most party members and disciples. If there is no real evidence, there may be a lot of trouble after he is taken——it is King Yiduan’s identification , He may deny it without real evidence.

The reason is simple: Who do you say would believe a rebel?Who knows if he is framing and biting randomly in the hope of causing some trouble?There are a lot of people biting and biting before death in the execution ground, some of them want to get back, some just want to understand hatred or create confusion, so this kind of identification cannot constitute evidence, especially if it involves the big bosses in the court Sometimes, this kind of thing will be more cautious, at most it is a suspension of investigation.

On the other hand, Zhao Ren hoped to make this matter an iron case, because in his opinion, if the deputy head of the Personnel Department of Dazhao had been targeted at the beginning of the purge of officials, many things would go much smoother afterwards.

But the Liu family seemed to be unaware of the news of King Yiduan's defeat, and no one had contact with Huamanlou at all, which seemed very strange.

While the housekeepers were discussing secretly, Hua Manlou was also discussing the current situation with Zhao Ren: "King Yiduan said earlier that he hinted that Chao Liu had destroyed the letter, if Liu Chao really believed it, it is estimated that the Liu family's People probably won't show up in Lanzhou Mansion..."

Zhao Ren frowned and said, "The question is, will he believe it?"

"Probably not. It is said that Liu Chao is suspicious." Hua Manlou shook his head and denied his guess: "If he believed it, most likely he would send someone to investigate the situation... Maybe the person has already arrived, but he is still there. Waiting and watching?"

Suspicious people will certainly not completely trust others, and most of them are cunning, so when things are not sure, the people of the Liu family may not take any action at all.

Zhao Ren nodded: "It's possible. Then, should we find a way to lure the snake out of the hole?"