Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 106 It’s time to sacrifice a high official
the next morning,

Huang Tongpan, who had not slept all night, had dark circles under his eyes.

He found Li Yu, and after meeting him, he stepped back and asked directly:

"The fake thief can be destroyed, but what if the real thief pops up again afterwards?"

Li Yu was stunned for a moment and then reacted.

"My lord, what do you think a real thief is?"

"I want to hear what you have to say."

"Apart from Bai Lian, there are no real thieves. They are just a bunch of lords who divide the spoils unevenly, and their subordinates fight against each other. In this world, everyone is seeking profit."

Huang Tongpan was thoughtful, as if this was the case.

"Brother Li Xian, you still haven't answered the most critical question. What if they jump out again? How to explain to the court?"

"Pull them all to the same table and discuss the distribution of benefits."

"is it possible?"

"It's possible, it's just the gang of salt sellers in Jiangbei. Soldiers first and courtesy second, but they can't touch the Yangzhou salt merchants, so why can't they touch their minions?"

……

Huang Tongpuan suddenly laughed:

"There's nothing to fear from the Salt Gang, but Taihu Lake is so big, I'm afraid it's hard to find."

"They have to go ashore and destroy his den on the shore."

"Do you have any information?"

"There are no secrets in the world, as long as the bonus is in place. Within 5 days, I will put the information on your desk."

"Okay, be careful."

"Don't worry, sir. If you get promoted, I'll make a fortune. From now on, I can count on the governor to take care of me."

Li Yu cupped his hands and complimented.

Huang Tongpan felt very comfortable after hearing this, and his steps became much lighter in an instant.

Power is the best medicine.

Li Yu watched this person leave with a solemn expression.

Lately, walking the tightrope has become more and more dangerous.

Local officials are not fools, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to cheat.

Qianlong was even more difficult to deceive.
It's time to sacrifice a heavyweight official and tell a lie, a big lie.

……

"Go and find Liu Qian."

in the library,
Liu Qian looked solemn, not only because of the information he bought from the Salt Gang.

But Li Yu placed a heavy burden on him.

"I want to set up a new organization to be responsible for intelligence investigation. You will be the person in charge."

"Jianghu intelligence?"

"No, I want all the information related to us in Suzhou Prefecture and even Jiangnan."

"Then it's going to cost money."

"Money is not the problem, the problem is the people and the organizational structure."

Li Yu simply told the truth:

"You have been following me for a long time, and I have never arranged a decent job for you. Make the best use of everything and make the best use of people. You should think more about intelligence."

"Yes, sir."

"You go back, think about it, and come up with a plan to repay me."

Liu Qian came out of the study happily, finally able to be on her own.

Intelligence organizations are no less powerful than anyone else.

However, we must first find out the land base of the Salt Gang.

The flowers bloomed and turned a few corners.

A mysterious person provided information.

In the area around Taihu Lake, the Yan Gang has 3 strongholds and 5 fixed transportation lines.

There are too many cooperation connections, including dozens of squires and subordinates.

The person who provided the information covered his face and was very mysterious.

Don't ask,
Most likely they are insiders.

2000 taels of bonus is enough to take risks.

In this world, everything has a price.

If you can't buy it, the price is too low.

"This is 2000 taels of silver notes, which is enough for you to spend in your lifetime."

The mysterious man was about to take the banknote, but was held down by Liu Qian.

He turned around and asked the third person present:

"Master Yan, can you vouch for this?"

"can."

……

Liu Qian then let go of his hand and watched the mysterious man leave.

This person is probably going to disappear, or at least travel thousands of miles to find a place where no one is around to live happily.

The third person also received the agency fee plus guarantee fee, totaling 200 taels.

This person's real name is unknown, but his nickname is Yanmou.

Born as a dart boy, he has quite a reputation in the world.

Later, he became an "information agency" in the world.

Over the past ten years, credibility has been his golden signature.

Whether it is the employer or the recipient of the bonus.

He will hunt and kill anyone who breaks the rules until death.

Relying on this mad dog-like will and superb assassination skills.

He has made a name for himself in the world of martial arts.
Since then, I have eaten this extremely difficult bowl of rice.

Over the past ten years, more than 20 rule-breakers have died in his hands.

The price was that he was missing an eye and had scars all over his body.

Before leaving,
Liu Qian's mind suddenly moved and he called out to him:

"Master Yan, I will pay you 500 taels in advance. If anyone inquires about Li Yu in Weigtang and Xishan Island in the future, you must tell me."

"It's against the rules."

After that, he pushed the banknote back.

A man walked away silently, his back bleak.

Liu Qian was helpless, shook his head and returned to the carriage.

The man driving the carriage said:
"Master Liu, that man's back looks like a dog."

"To shut up."

Pa, I got hit on the forehead.

……

Information about the Salt Gang's stronghold was sent to Huang Tongpan.

One is in Wu County and the other is in Zhenze County.

The third place is in Huzhou Prefecture, close to Changxing Coal Mine.

Huang Tongpang picked up his pen and ticked off the list from time to time.

Suddenly, the disciple came to report:
"Yangzhou Prefecture Fu'an Salt Farm, the Salt Class Ambassador is asking for an audience."

"Bring it in."

A chubby and voluptuous man with a smile on his face.

"Master Huang, I have admired you for a long time. I finally see you."

"I'm very busy, what's the matter?"

"I would like to ask you to show your noble hand and bypass my brother-in-law. I'm petty and disrespectful."

"Who is your brother-in-law?"

"Director of Taihu Hall, Dong San."

Huang Tongpuan was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that this was the person he had just arrested yesterday.

However, these people are moving too fast.

He looked at the fat man playfully:

"When this officer clears up the case, I will naturally clear his name."

"see a visitor out."

After sending someone, he immediately summoned his confidants.

"Quickly, go notify Li Yu to come see me."

"There is also General Hu Qian, the city guard camp."

An hour later, they arrived one after another.

Huang Tongpan said:

"Without further delay, let's start tomorrow."

Li Yu was stunned:
"what happened?"

"Yesterday I arrested an official, and today someone came to plead for mercy. It was too late to rush from Fu'an to Suzhou."

After Li Yu heard what happened,
I also think there is something weird in it.

From Fu'an Salt Fields (today's Dongtai, Yancheng), we rushed to Suzhou Prefecture to plead for mercy. It was a full four hundred miles and we had to cross the river!
Time does not allow.

It means that this person was in Suzhou before.

What can a salt ambassador from Yangzhou Prefecture do in Suzhou?

"Shipping."

……

Huang Tongpan was obviously at war with heaven and man in his heart.

On both sides of the scale are the promotion officials and the Lianghuai Salt Affairs officials and gentry.

but,

He finally made up his mind to take advantage of the fire.

Anyway, he will never be an official in the Lianghuai Salt Service System in this life.

As long as the situation is controlled within the salt gang and the collusion between subordinates, don't dig deeper and don't bring out the big guys behind it.

The impact of this matter can be controlled.

"I have made up my mind and will take action tomorrow. Please cooperate well."

"I respectfully obey your Lord Jun's order."

That night,

Huang Tongpan's confidants rushed to Taihu Hall to conduct a surprise interrogation of the arrested official Dong San.

After using ten kinds of severe punishments, I got a satisfactory confession.

Dong San admitted to participating in illegal salt sales and also admitted that the salt gang had killed officers and soldiers.

Once in Huzhou Prefecture, he killed 4 anti-smuggling officers and soldiers.

the next morning,

Suzhou City Guards Camp Zuoying was dispatched with only half of the people.

With the official documents from the Governor's Palace and Huang Tongpan swiping his face, no one was willing to stop him.

It is better to do less than to do more, as long as it has nothing to do with yourself.

With this mentality, President Hu Qian easily brought out his own troops, and there were still a few who were willing to follow him.

There are about 200 people, equipped with swords and guns.

Fan Jing dispatched more than 20 people from the Shihu Inspection Department.

The Xukou Inspection Department, the nephew of Li Zhi County, also dispatched more than 10 people.

They all thought about gaining some military merit in this wave of operations.

Huang Tongpan's headquarters consisted of more than 50 officials led by head catcher Huang Si.

Li Yu suggested again,
Borrowing troops from Hengtang Flood, taking advantage of Mr. Hu Qian's favor.

All of a sudden, there were 20 more people.

Together with the 30 servants from Lijiabao, there are more than 300 people in total.

They set off in a mighty manner, targeting the Salt Gang stronghold in Wu County.

……

This stronghold is

It is actually in Dongshan, only 10 miles away from Taihu Xieshui Village.

This made Huang Tongpuan doubt Shi Linglun's quality all the way.

Li Yu rode on the horse and was silent all the way.

He wondered how he could pull more people into the water.

Should we take advantage of this opportunity to make Shi Linglun the number one rebel in Jiangnan?

Is the movement a little too loud?
Also, will it be self-defeating?You can't bring in privately made cannons.

Li Yu felt that he had fallen into the fog of war recently.

Doing things where you can no longer see the boundaries is like entering the depths of a swamp.

unpredictable,

What will you step on next.

Phew, life and death are determined by destiny, wealth and honor are in heaven.

Just do the work and leave the rest to God.

Thinking of this,

Li Yu felt much more relaxed, urged his horse to catch up with Huang Tongpan, and whispered:
"The Salt Gang is alert and will definitely arrange secret sentries."

"First send a team of capable people to enter the village in civilian clothes. The large team will wait later."

"Okay, listen to you."

This trick really worked.

Hearing the call of the cuckoo, a large group of people rushed forward.

At the entrance of the village, two bodies were lying.

A sharp knife was found in the clothes.

"Salt Owl is cruel, don't show mercy later."

"Master is wise."

……

A courtyard in the village.

It is the stronghold of the Salt Gang, and there are vicious dogs and thugs at the door.

The moment they saw the officers and soldiers,

He ran away and locked the door.

I could only hear shouting from inside:
"Copycat guy, the Navy guys have turned against you."

Huang Tongpuan was stunned and looked at Li Yu.

Why do they think they are water masters?What a shame.

but,

This is not the time to get entangled. He pointed the tip of his whip and said:
"Go in and capture them alive."

Huang Si immediately raised his sword and led the officers to attack.

The door is very strong and cannot be broken open at all.

Mr. Hu Qian smiled and shouted:

"Get out of my way, Musketeers, fight."

A volley of shots fired at the thick wooden door.

Suddenly, there were many messy gun holes.

I also heard the screams of the person who was shot inside.

"Pull the cannon up and blast open the door."

When Mr. Hu Qian shouted, Huang Tongpuan was stunned and looked around. Where was the cannon?

He reacted immediately,

This is cheating, I blush slightly.

……

really,

All the salt gang men behind the door ran away and no longer dared to hold the door open.

Solid cannonballs of this era are no joke.

The officers and soldiers swarmed up, opened the door bolt, and broke in.

"kill."

There were only a few dozen members of the Salt Gang, and they entered the battle in a hurry.

After a burst of firepower from muskets and bows, they were defeated.

The few brave men were also hacked to death by officers and soldiers.

The battle went well,
With just a cup of tea, he took control of the scene.

"Lord Huang, behead level 28. 17 people were captured, and 5 others were seriously injured and probably cannot be treated."

After a while,
A happy Huang Si came over and said he found a cellar in the backyard.

There are 6 silver winter melons inside, which cannot be moved at the moment.

There are also a lot of scattered silver coins and personal salt in the house.

"My lord, I suggest interrogating the prisoners on the spot."

"it is good."

Huang Tongpan walked into the house and saw a pool of blood on the blue brick floor.

He didn't take it seriously and stepped on the bloody footprints to look around.

In Li Yu's eyes, he gained another layer of understanding and fear about this person.

yard,
The screams of the prisoners were heard constantly, which was very penetrating.

In order to obtain a confession as soon as possible, the officers and soldiers used very cruel methods.

Li Yu caught a glimpse from the window,
A dark and fierce man from the Salt Gang spat at the officers and soldiers.

Then, a whole mouthful of teeth were smashed out.

He continued to spit out blood and scream vaguely.

The officer and soldier felt embarrassed and asked his two companions to step on his wrist.

Kaka two knives,

He raised the knife and dropped it, splattering 3 feet of blood.

……

Li Yu sighed and looked at Huang Tongpan.

He was looking through a stack of letters attentively.

"These rough guys from the Yan Gang are actually good at handwriting?" Li Yu joked.

But there was no response from Huang Tongpuan.

I just kept putting the ones I had browsed to the end, my eyes widening.

"Master Huang, what's wrong?"

Bang, Huang Tongpuan smashed the letter on the table, his face turned gray.

"Look here."

Li Yu casually picked up the top letter and was instantly stunned.

In the red box of the recipient, it was clearly written, Taihu Deputy General Shi.

He read the contents of the letter at a glance, and his heart palpitated even more.

signature,

He turned out to be the salt transport envoy between Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers, and he was extraordinary.

"It's a big deal. We've made a big mistake."

Huang Tongpuan lost control of his emotions, jumping to his feet and shouting.

The guards didn't know what was going on and ran in quickly.

He pointed at him and yelled:

"Get out."

inside the house,

Only two people were left staring at each other.

It seems that time has frozen.

In just a short moment, Huang Tongpan was sweating like rain.

The Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy was the emperor's money bag.

There was no one who was most fattening in the Qing Dynasty.

……

Li Yu's thoughts were spinning at a high speed.
said in a low voice:

"Master Huang, the top priority is to retreat as soon as possible."

"Behead all the prisoners. No one may know that this letter fell into our hands."

"Yes, yes, why is this letter not in Shi Linglun's hands? But in the hands of the Salt Gang?"

Li Yu lowered his voice:

"My good lord, don't worry about it now and deal with the head and tail quickly."

"Yep."

Huang Tongpuan ran out of the door in a few steps:

"Behead all the prisoners and leave no one alive."

"As ordered."

There was a scream in the yard, and everyone bowed their heads.

Huang Si and his men were struggling to drag the silver winter melon.

Suddenly, the rope slipped.

Boom, the silver winter melon hit the ground.

Everyone felt their feet shaking, so terrifying.

Liu Wu couldn't help but glance at Li Yu,
In the Li Family Fort, everyone had discussed the difficulty of transporting silver winter melons.

I saw it today, it really is.

“Look further, there must be a matching car.

Sure enough, after a while.

The crowd cheered,
With the tools at hand, the silver winter melon was successfully transported.

……

Just got out of the village,

A group of green soldiers suddenly arrived, with the flag "Shi".

The leader, fully armored, riding on a horse asked:
"Which yamen are you from?"

Huang Tongpuan took a deep breath and urged his horse forward:
"Who are you?"

"It turns out to be Huang Tongpuan, sorry." Shi Linglun recognized it.

The two of them had cooperated during the last battle against bandits.

"Vice General Shi, what are you doing?"

"While talking?"

The two left the team, chatted for a while dozens of steps away, and then left separately.

Li Yu thought to himself,

It seems that the letter is true and Shi Linglun really has something on his mind.

Silent all the way,

Near Lijiabao, Huang Tongpan suddenly said:

"I have a few words to say to you."

"I do too."

Inside the castle, there is a room that is absolutely undisturbed.

Huang Tongpan said:

"You Bashi, the salt transport envoy to the Huaihe River, how much do you know?"

"I know a thing or two. As soon as this person took office, he overturned the table and exposed the salt affairs deficit to the court. He is a ruthless person."

"Not only was he ruthless, he was also greedy. He revealed the shortcomings because he could not command the Huaiyang salt merchants and asked for bribes to no avail."

"Master Huang, now that things have come to this, I have some words from the bottom of my heart."

"speak."

“Wealth and honor can be obtained through danger, but can we obtain wealth and position by chance?”

Li Yu's rhetorical question made Huang Tongpian silent.

"If you follow the plan step by step, is it possible for you to become a prefect in this life?"

"It's very unlikely."

"For the sake of his own position, Youba Shi dared to start a big case and exposed the deficit of more than 1000 million taels of salt. For this, the three salt transport envoys were convicted and exiled. Oh, and by the way, he also took the head of his uncle Gao Heng. "

Gao Heng,

He was Qianlong's brother-in-law and the younger brother of Concubine Huixian.

His background is also very prominent, his father is a bachelor.

……

"Master Huang, if You Basi doesn't know that we copied the letter, we will pretend we don't know about it and keep silent."

"If he wants to deal with us, we will do whatever it takes to pin him as the commanding officer behind the banditry in Suzhou Prefecture. We will wait for the emperor's judgment."

Huang Tongpuan closed his eyes and pressed with his hand:
"Wait a minute, let me think about it, it's a bit confusing."

(End of this chapter)