Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1080 1075 [The Power of the Masses]

The case of Huainan was complicated, so the first thing to be investigated was naturally the smuggling of salt.

It was confirmed in just two days that the smuggling was real. Because there were so many people involved, many officials were frightened and confessed directly.

Except for the Shahe gang member who had committed a murder, the rest of the gang members confessed the truth. Because they were ordinary boatmen, coolies, and trackers, who were forced to join the Shahe gang to make a living. They did a business that cost lives but received the money of working like cattle and horses.

One of the gang members confessed as follows:
"I used to work as a porter at the Beishen Town dock, earning a living by working hard... If I hadn't joined the Shahe Society, I wouldn't have gotten any work, and if I tried to get work by bypassing the Shahe Society, I'd have been beaten... I also have to support my family, and if I didn't join the Shahe Society, I'd have starved to death..."

"We also know that it is smuggled salt, but we have to help transport it away... We carry 200 kilograms of salt for dozens of miles, bypass the banknote gate at night to load it on the ship, and we work so hard that we can only get 30 cents. It's not as good as carrying bags at the dock before... Later, we changed to a wheelbarrow, which saved some energy and transported more in one trip, but the wages dropped to 26 cents..."

"You work all night long, and it's all physical labor, and you only get 26 cents for it. Who would be willing to do it unless they were forced to do it?"

"We also went to make trouble together, but were beaten up by the thugs with sticks. One of my neighbors even had his leg broken."

"It is estimated that they thought the labor costs were too high and they were not so afraid of the government, so they changed the route of smuggling salt. They first pushed the carts around the bank for a few miles, and then under the eyes of the bank, they used small fishing boats to transport the salt to the north, and finally loaded it onto the merchant ships."

"Later, the small fishing boats were no longer needed. There were empty boats waiting north of the Chaoguan Pass, and they would load the smuggled salt directly from the warehouse onto the boats..."

"Ah? Do the officials at the bank know about this? They are not blind, they must be able to see it..."

"How did the private salt get out of the official warehouse? It's definitely not an official warehouse. The officials built private warehouses... It's definitely against the rules. We coolies all know that private warehouses are not allowed near the banknotes, otherwise it would be too easy to evade taxes and smuggle... But those private warehouses were built anyway, and the officials didn't care. What can we coolies say?"

"How do you smuggle salt now? Before entering the customs, you unload the salt right under the eyes of the government, use wheelbarrows to transport it a few miles to a private warehouse, and then transport it to the river to reload it on ships. The unloading ships don't pass through the customs from the south, and the loading ships don't pass through the customs from the north, so the officials at the customs don't bother to take care of it..."

"Is there any smuggling through the banknote customs? It's hard to say... I also asked someone why Mr. Li went to the trouble of bypassing the banknote customs. I heard that although local governments can also manage the banknote customs, it is actually the Ministry of Revenue who directly manages it. I also heard that although the officials in charge of the banknote customs are not of high rank, they are all young scholars. In the past, there have been incidents..."

"What happened? I heard about it, too."

"About seven or eight years ago, there was a banknote customs official named Meng. He found out that a banknote customs official was helping smuggling, so he arrested the official on the spot and sent him to the Censorate for punishment. I heard that he also reported it to the court... Two banknote customs officials were executed, and more than 20 were exiled or imprisoned. Since then, the Imperial Censor has often come to the banknote customs to investigate, and Mr. Li no longer dared to take over the banknote customs..."

"In my opinion, if nothing goes wrong this time, the banknotes will have to obey Master Li in a few years."

"Some clerks in the banknote customs have also been pulled into the Shahe Society. They have been helping the private warehouses as spies. They will report any disturbances. When another greedy banknote customs chief comes, everyone in the banknote customs will help with smuggling, and we won't have to push the carts anymore..."

Judging from the confession of this gang member, the smuggling of salt in Huainan was constantly evolving.

There were twists and turns in the process. He encountered a ruthless chief of the banknote customs, which caused the last banknote customs to be targeted by the Ministry of Revenue and the Supervisory Office. For several years, Li Xiaojian did not dare to directly involve the banknote customs. Instead, he adopted a step-by-step approach, corrupting the grassroots tax collectors of the banknote customs bit by bit, and waited until the storm had passed before dragging the officials into the water.

If we don't conduct a thorough investigation this time, it is only a matter of time before all the staff at the banknote exchange office are corrupt.

"Whose are those empty boats north of Chaoguan? I don't know, but the boatmen are from Henan. They transport legitimate goods from Henan, declare and pay taxes honestly at the customs, and then wait to load smuggled salt and transport it away... I haven't asked about it, and those Henan boatmen are tight-lipped. They won't say anything when asked..."

"The smuggled salt boats south of Chaoguan? They came from the Salt Grand Canal in the east... They are either grain ships or ordinary cargo ships... Who dares to use grain ships for smuggling? The imperial court conducts strict inspections every year. If you use grain ships to transport smuggled salt, you would have lost your head long ago..."

"My dear husband, please be kind. I am just a laborer... Is it a crime to know about it but not report it? I, I, I... Who among the common people in the Chuzhou Canal area doesn't know that smuggled salt is being transported? Who dares to report it to the authorities? You might as well just arrest all the people..."

……

Jiang Kuan, the leader of the Shahe Society, was eventually arrested, and was sent to the provincial capital by enthusiastic masses.

The night he escaped, General Li Jiang dispatched 3,000 troops, who landed on boats in various villages along the canal to search for him.

Although the people were not caught, the news of Li Xiaojian and Jiang Kuan's misfortune quickly spread throughout Shanyang County.

This guy is notorious. Not only the common people at the bottom, but even many gentry and landlords want to eat his flesh and drink his blood!

The country gentry joined forces with the head of the baojia system and actively cooperated with the government to arrest people, and asked the villagers in each village to pay attention to suspicious persons.

Countless people responded positively. If a stranger entered the village, the villagers would be alert and report it.

Some high-ranking members of the Shahe Society were also handed over to the government by the common people because they often bullied the locals.

"Master Bao, Aunt Yu Liu went to the river to collect grass for pigs and saw a man who looked like a beggar... He didn't go into the village to beg for food, but was stealing melons from the sand fields by the river. Aunt Yu Liu had never seen a man named Jiang before, so she pretended not to see him and came back to report the news..."

"Go quietly and ask Captain Wei to gather the young and strong men. Also call our servants, but remember not to make any noise, or else they might be scared away..."

Jiang Kuan had a very difficult life.

The authorities were investigating too strictly and there were too many soldiers searching for him.

Not only were they searching for him, but they were also searching for officials who had fled for fear of crime, as well as those high-ranking members of the Shahe Gang.

Not to mention going to the town to buy food, he didn't even dare to go to the market in the countryside.

They could only hide during the day and move at night. When they finished eating the dry food they brought with them, they would steal food from the fields they passed by.

He planned to flee to Shandong disguised as a beggar, and then flee to Hebei or Liaodong. He would hide there for a while, and then spend money to buy property after the storm died down. He heard that Liaodong was a vast land with few people and it was easy to settle down.

Jiang Kuan was chewing a cantaloupe.

This is a relatively fertile sandy land, with mixed melons and vegetables planted but no grains. The owner probably wants to sell them in Chaoguan or Beishen Town.

He heard someone coming and quickly hid in the ditch to take shelter.

An old country woman passed by carrying a willow basket on her back and soon left and returned, which made Jiang Kuan, who was eating a cantaloupe, feel murderous.

But then the old woman shouted, "Third son, bring me my sickle! I forgot to bring it when I went to pick grass for the pigs... This bastard, he only knows how to play when herding cattle, he is as good as deaf!"

Jiang Kuan let down his guard and continued to eat the melon.

There were no mountains or woods nearby, so it was difficult for him to hide during the day. The wheat had already been harvested, so he decided to see if he could find a cornfield to hide in.

After eating two cantaloupes, Jiang Kuan crouched and moved slowly.

The cornfield is quite far away, after all, it is next to the river. Except in the dry season when water cannot be taken from the canal for irrigation, no one is in charge of water extraction during normal times. Who would be willing to plant corn on the fertile land near the water source?
"There he is, I saw him lying in the ditch!"

"It's gone. A few cantaloupes were picked, and the stems are still fresh."

"He definitely hasn't gotten far. Men, women, young and old, come and search. Place people on guard at every entrance!"

"The official surnamed Jiang has offered a reward of 300 strings of cash. Everyone, be alert. If we catch him, we will share the reward." "Hurry and look at the wheat field over there. There is a place for people to hide behind the haystacks."

"..."

The footsteps of the crowd were getting closer and closer. Jiang Kuan was so frightened that he lay down behind a haystack and dared not show his head.

"Mother, there are people here!"

A childish voice sounded, and I didn't know when it came from. The child walked without making any sound.

Jiang Kuan ran away and soon fell into despair.

But I saw villagers coming from all directions, both men and women, carrying sticks, hoes and other things.

Although he was carrying a dagger, if he really dared to hurt anyone, he would be beaten to death by the angry villagers in minutes.

Jiang Kuan pretended to be a fool, and said with a crooked mouth and squinting eyes: "I'm hungry...I need to eat...I need to eat..."

He pretended to be quite convincing, and before escaping, he changed into a set of coarse and worn linen clothes, which were now covered in dirt and looked like a beggar.

The villagers didn't care about that. They rushed over, pinned him down, tied his limbs with ropes, and carried him away like a pig.

A rich countryman came in late, panting and saying, "Wash his face and tie up his hair!"

Soon, the dirt on Jiang Kuan's face was washed away and his loose hair was tied into a simple bun.

The local rich man had obviously seen Jiang Kuan before, and laughed loudly, "That's the guy. I've seen him several times in Beishen Town. You bastard, you finally got what you deserved. You forced my in-laws to sell off hundreds of acres of land at a low price, and even occupied my in-laws' house outside Beishen Town. You only gave a few dozen strings of cash to transfer the house and paddy fields. What's the difference between that and robbery?"

"Mr. Bao, is this really Jiang Kuan?"

"It's him. There's a scar on his forehead."

"We've made a fortune! A reward of three hundred strings of cash is offered. Hurry and take him to the government office to claim the reward."

“Everyone has a share. Everyone has a share.”

"My fellow villagers, when you return to the village, my Bao family will host a buffet to celebrate. We don't need any gift money, just a handful of rice as a gift money, and we can enjoy the buffet to our heart's content!"

"Master Bao is kind and righteous!"

"..."

The interrogation continued that night.

But Jiang Kuan knew he was doomed, so he said nothing and pretended to be dead in the interrogation room.

The officials transferred from Shandong and Nanjing had not arrived yet, so the person in charge of the interrogation was Yan Tao himself and the officers seconded from the army.

"Many of your men have already confessed. It doesn't really matter whether you confess or not," Yan Tao said, "but for a major case like this, the more matching confessions the better, so don't force me to use torture. The court says that torture is not allowed, but as the censor, I have ways to make you talk."

Jiang Kuan still didn't speak.

Yan Tao said in a cold tone: "If you confess, you can wait in peace until the case is closed and you are beheaded. If you don't confess, you will be tortured and then beheaded. You can choose a way to die."

Jiang Kuan finally looked up: "If you confess, you will be beheaded?"

"Is it necessary to lie to you?" Yan Tao asked back.

Jiang Kuan said: "Before I am beheaded, I want to eat meat every meal and drink a pot of wine every day."

"Eat meat once every five days, and no wine," Yan Tao ordered, "give him a roast chicken first."

In the middle of the night, the roast chicken shop in the city was called to open.

Jiang Kuan, who hadn't eaten much in the past few days, wolfed down the roast chicken and said, "Ask."

Yan Tao asked, "How did the private salt business begin?"

Jiang Kuan said, "About ten years ago, merchants from Yancheng came to us and asked Shahehui to help them transport smuggled salt. Shahehui was only responsible for transporting the smuggled salt from the upstream town of Baoying to Hongze Town in Huaiyin. Later, they simply changed the transportation to the north of Mokou Chaoguan. Li Xiaojian did not participate at that time and did not know about this business."

"The business got bigger and bigger, and Li Xiaojian found out. He was so scared that he told us not to do this business, saying that we couldn't cover it up after it got out. Hey, how could we stop doing this business that could get us killed? Li Xiaojian acquiesced, and then he asked for a share of the profits, and finally he even took over the private salt business."

"Which merchant in Yancheng? Regardless of whether they are transporting salt or producing salt, the top five Huainan salt merchants all have a share. The Huainan Salt Transport Commissioner must also know about this. Does he have an idea of ​​how much salt is produced each year?"

"Who is receiving the goods in Henan? I'm not sure. I only know that the merchant ship is from a company called Taixiangyun, and the ship owner in charge of the connection is called Lu Xiao, but I don't know if that's his real name..."

"Really, that's all I know. Shahehui is only responsible for transportation. We don't care about upstream and downstream matters."

"The previous commander-in-chief? He must have had a hand in it, otherwise we would have been arrested long ago. Of the three consecutive commanders-in-chief, only the first one did not take bribes, but he was not investigated strictly for the sake of the Li family. We also cooperated at the time. He would occasionally crack down on smuggling, and we gave him credit, and he was soon promoted and transferred. The next two commanders both helped with smuggling and took money..."

"Censor? I don't deal with him very often. It's Li Xiaojian who's in charge. Many of our brothers who were arrested were released directly, and some were released after serving time in prison. There were basically no beheadings or exiles..."

"Officials at the prefecture and county levels? The court is investigating very vigorously. Some of the chief and assistant officials are willing to cooperate for money, while others want to pretend to be honest officials and turn a blind eye. Some appear to be honest officials, but in fact they have connections with Li Xiaojian. I'm really not sure about this. I'm a dirty person, and they won't contact me personally."

"I can confirm it... Let me think about it. The former Chuzhou prefect Zhou Lian must have been corrupt... How do I know? I got his concubine! I thought Li Xiaojian fell in love with a girl from a certain family, but later I found out that she was sent to the government office to be a maid. She was called a maid, but in fact she was a concubine. The court did not allow officials to marry wives or concubines in the place where they were employed."

"And... and there is the current Hucao Yuan Ding Chou. When he first came, he was still pretentious. Later, he became a frequent visitor to the brothel. I don't know how much money he made, but I often met him in the brothel. In order to please the famous prostitute, he spent dozens or even hundreds of strings of money. He didn't even redeem the famous prostitute or take a concubine, but insisted on hanging out in the brothel..."

As the investigation into the case in Chuzhou Prefecture deepened, the court finally began to become turbulent from undercurrents.

One impeachment memorial after another was sent to Dongxi Garden.

Officials from various civil service factions impeached Li Hanzhang.

As for the punishment of Li Hanzhang, Zhu Ming only revealed it privately and it has not been officially announced yet.

(End of this chapter)