Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 155 Snake Tail
In the second hall of Yangzhou government office, Shi Bangyao sat on the main seat as an imperial envoy, and Chen Qiyu sat on the first seat on the right side to accompany him, and next to him sat the patrol salt censor, Tongzhi transfer envoy, envoy Si Tongpan, Tiju and other yamen officials; Liu Zuo, the prefect of Yangzhou, sat at the first place on the left in the name of local officials, followed by Yangzhou prefect Tongzhi, Tongju and other assistant officials.

Shi Bangyao, who was sitting in the main seat, glanced around all the people present with majesty, and said in a deep voice: "I came to Yangzhou by order this time, and I came here for the Huai Salt Class; I accidentally learned that someone in Yangzhou Prefecture dared to instigate the people to gather secretly, intending to blackmail the court with public opinion and obstruct the reform of Huaiyan in accordance with the law! This is no different from blatantly despising the court! Gatherers, withdraw from it quickly, if not, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

All the people in the transit envoy, including Song Sizhang, were aware that the court intended to harm him, but they still had illusions in their hearts.I felt that the imperial court would deal with them selectively, and would not catch them all like Huai'an's promotion department, so although I was worried, I had to bite the bullet and come to see the imperial envoy.And many people secretly support the actions taken by the salt merchants, hoping that this civil uprising can successfully beat back the hand extended by the imperial court.

It's just that the absence of Hu Ting Road made them feel puzzled. They heard that Mr. Hu went to Nanjing on business, but they didn't know what happened.

The officials in Yangzhou Prefecture have long known the actions of Cheng Fang and others. They usually have close contacts with salt merchants. What is more laissez-faire.

The officials at all levels of the yamen basically received the benefits of the salt merchants more or less, so who would do their best to fight against the profit conveyers?Sending them out to suppress the civil uprising is equivalent to beating a dog with meat buns. With their deliberate indulgence, the whole situation is even more uncontrollable.

For Shi Bangyao's warning, Liu Zuo and others didn't care at all.What happened to your imperial envoy?You have no evidence to prove that we were involved. We are all officials ordered by the court, so naturally we stand with the court.

Chen Qiyu had an attitude that had nothing to do with him.

Originally, he could be the protagonist in dealing with the incident, but he didn't expect the arrival of the imperial envoy to take away his role. Then he would not make any suggestions on this matter, and just watched how the imperial envoy handled the matter.

Liu Zuo cupped his hands solemnly and said, "Master Xiantai, I don't know where he heard such rumors! The people in Yangzhou City are peaceful, the market is still prosperous, and there is no gathering of criminals! I don't know what is the intention of those who spread this rumor? Please Xiantai is clearly investigating!"

Before Shi Bangyao left Beijing, he was summoned by Chongzhen alone. Chongzhen briefly informed him of the connection between the salt merchants and the local government, and reminded him to be prepared for the difficulties of the trip.

What Liu Zuo said really confirmed the emperor's warning. Although he didn't like Jin Yiwei, he believed that Jin Yiwei would never lie and deceive. From Liu Zuo's words and deeds, it can be seen that Jianghuai is not the Jianghuai of the imperial court, but the Jianghuai of the salt merchants.

Shi Bangyao had no intention of competing with him for the advantage of words, and decided to get down to business first, killing a chicken to show these monkeys.

He suddenly shouted: "Come on! Take the salt envoys of the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River!"

A group of captains in Jinyi rushed up from the hall with ropes, and before the relevant people could react, they rushed to the side where Chen Qiyu was sitting, pulled Song Sizhang and others from their seats, knocked off their black gauze, and stripped them of their belts. After tearing it apart, he took off the official uniform, revealing the moon-white tunic inside, and neatly tied it up with ropes.

All this was completed while the Yangzhou government officials were stunned, and it took dozens of breaths of time.

They had seen the Jinyi guards in the hall for a long time, and they all thought that they were specially sent by the emperor to show their prestige as imperial envoys, but they didn't expect that they were used to arrest people.

With his hands tied behind his back, Song Sizhang yelled at Shi Bangyao with his hair loose, "Lord Xiantai! What crime have we committed? What I have gained! Could it be that those who seek profit for the imperial court will end up like this, while those gangsters are still in high positions! The officials refuse to accept it!"

Shi Bangyao sneered and said: "You keep saying that you are seeking profit for the court! But as I know, what you are seeking is more for personal gain! Come here, take all the people out of the hall, and take them to the government prison for safekeeping!"

Captain Jin Yi teamed up with two people, quickly set up a few criminals, turned around and ran down the hall, and went straight to the prison of Yangzhou Mansion on the side.

Chen Qiyu had expected all of this a long time ago, and he also knew that Jin Yiwei would definitely start to search the criminal's property, so he was not surprised by it.

The emperor is short of money, you happen to have money, and it should belong to the imperial court, if they don't make excuses to take it back, they still keep it for you?

The officials of Yangzhou Mansion were taken aback by the scene just now. Although they knew that the emperor had restarted the factory guards and had handled several major cases in Beidi, they always felt that such things were too far away from them, and it was impossible It happened in the Jiangnan area where the imperial court was weak. I didn't expect this terrible scene to happen suddenly beside me.Only then did the family realize that they were still officials of the imperial court, and this was still the world of Ming Dynasty. If the imperial court struck a ruthless hand, they really had no power to resist.

Liu Zuoqiang calmed down and asked, "Lord Xiantai, why did you do this just now? What did the Lianghuai envoys commit? Why did you use the factory guards?"

Shi Bangyao said with a solemn expression: "The envoys of the Lianghuai and Huaihe Rivers are greedy for ink, and they colluded with the salt merchants to steal the public children. When the court is in trouble, but they still don't stop, they are actually seeking their own death! This case was appointed by the emperor. The case of the Judiciary is also a den case. The court's emphasis is to warn the court officials that the interests of the court should be the most important in everything, and those who bend the law for personal gain and don't know how to repent will all end up like this!"

Liu Zuo and the others lost their calm expressions just now, and they all lowered their heads in anxiety, fearing that the court would take the opportunity to implicate them, after all, no one's buttocks are clean.

Chen Qiyu cupped his hands and said, "Lord Shi, I dare to ask, since the Lianghuai Salt Envoy has been taken down, how will Huaiyan manage its business? Who will control such a huge profit?"

Shi Bangyao cupped his hands in return and said: "Since Mr. Chen took office in Water Transport, he has worked diligently and fulfilled his responsibilities with all his heart. His Majesty, the old and important ministers of the cabinet, have all praised Mr. Chen! The Holy Majesty has made a final decision on the use of salt, and the transfer envoy of Daming Salt Capital will be abolished from now on." , cancel the salt introduction class, the imperial court buys salt from the kitchen households; all the salt used is priced and sold by the imperial salt yard, and everyone can sell salt!"

As soon as this remark came out, everyone in Yangzhou Prefecture, who were originally out of their minds, was taken aback. What the quick-witted people immediately thought was: the civil uprising planned by the salt merchants might have become a joke.

What the salt merchants were afraid of was that someone wanted to smash their golden jobs directly, but the final action of the court was considered as benevolent, because the court only used this method to benefit from the Huai salt, not to occupy all of it. Sell ​​salt according to the same pattern for profit.

The imperial court used money to buy the salt produced by the kitchen households, and then sold it to the salt merchants at a higher price. In this way, all the profits generated by the salt introduction and salt class in the past became transparent. self-interest.

The kitchen households will definitely welcome this move. As long as they produce as much in the future, the imperial court will pay cash to buy it according to the price, and save the effort of transporting it to the salt merchant's purchase point, which gives them enough motivation .As long as they hear about the imperial court's move, the kitchen households who are coming must be in a riot. Who will oppose their own benefactor?

Liu Zuo reacted quickly, he got up and cupped his hands and said: "Master Xiantai, Governor Chen, I suddenly remembered that there is still an urgent official business that I have not understood. If there is nothing else in Xiantai, I will go to deal with it! I will leave!"

After Shi Bangyao nodded in agreement, Liu Zuo left in a hurry.

He has to inform those self-righteous idiots quickly, and send people to dismiss the kitchen households who are still on the road; otherwise, when the kitchen households gather in the city, they will just give them an excuse to raid their homes.

Other officials of the Yangzhou government also stood up and said goodbye one after another. They also had acquaintances in the salt merchants, so they had to rush to inform the sponsors.

Shi Bangyao watched the actions of these officials coldly, feeling both cold and helpless in his heart.

This group of people has no sage and the imperial court in their hearts, let alone the common people; they only have one word in their eyes, and they always focus on self-interest in everything. This kind of official is not worthy of sitting in a high position. After returning to Beijing, he must report the truth to the sage I hope that the Holy Majesty will come up with a way to deal with such officials.

Chen Qiyu said with a smile: "Lord Shi, you don't have to worry about the civil uprising anymore, the people from the Yangzhou government will take care of this matter; I just don't know if Master Shi came to Jianghuai this time, does His Majesty have any other words for the salt merchants?"

Shi Bangyao said sternly: "The sage said that although the country's sons are scarce, they should be obtained in the right way; although the salt merchants are rich in the world, it is helpless for them to bribe officials. The root of the prevalence of bribery lies in the administration of officials, and only the administration of officials is clear. , this trend must be eradicated! This time, the Holy Majesty has no intention of getting involved, and punishing corrupt officials is the top priority of this official, and the rest has nothing to do with it!"

Chen Qiyu nodded and said that the emperor is wise, but he didn't think so in his heart.He still tends to adopt the method of sitting together, picking a few fat sheep and slaughtering them, so as to relieve the imperial court's financial distress, and also take advantage of the situation to deter those who despise the imperial court.

Afterwards, the two chatted for a while, Chen Qiyu said goodbye and went back to the official ship to rest, while Shi Bangyao went to the largest Telford Inn in the city.Jin Yiwei took them all in order to prevent the imperial envoy from being disturbed by the outside world.

When it was getting dark, an official sedan chair stopped in front of the Defu Inn where Shi Bangyao was staying. Liu Zuo, the magistrate of Yangzhou in casual clothes, got off the sedan chair, tidied up his clothes and walked towards the middle of the inn. Jin Yi, who was on duty at the gate, The school captain met Liu Zuo during the day, and Shi Bangyao had explained, so he was put in the courtyard.

It was Haishi when Liu Zuo came out from Shi Bangyao with a relaxed expression on his face. No one else knew what the two of them were talking about, but the result seemed to satisfy Mr. Liu and the salt merchants behind him.

　Thanks to the book friend SHAJIA for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)