Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 493 Confusing
The proliferation of private salt will inevitably lead to a decline in sales of official salt.

This can be seen from the amount of salt permits purchased by each state over the years.

Wen Duo bowed and said, "Your Highness, the price of salt has risen sharply in recent years. Although the Jiangnan area is rich, the people cannot afford it. The sales volume of salt has dropped a lot compared to before, which is normal."

Salt was considered a pillar industry in the Song Dynasty. When the courts of other dynasties were short of money, they would find ways to increase taxes.

But once taxes are added, they are basically impossible to cancel.

In the later period of most ancient dynasties, various harsh taxes and levies made the people feel suffocated.

When the Song Dynasty court was short of money, it did not find ways to increase taxes, but instead raised the price of salt.

In fact, this approach is also beneficial to the people at the bottom of society.

After all, even if the price of salt did not increase, many of the lowest-income people could not afford it, and instead used things like vinegar cloth.

The ones who really suffer are the slightly wealthier people.

Rich people don't care about this, but for those who are slightly wealthier and can afford salt on a regular basis, the price increase of salt increases their cost of living.

However, doing so gave the officials in charge of salt affairs an excuse to sell private salt.

If the price of salt remained relatively low, they would not be so bold as to sell so much smuggled salt.

Otherwise, if the imperial court investigates, they will have no excuse to explain.

It would be more beneficial for them if the court raised the price of salt.

If the court asked, it would mean that the price of salt was too high for the people to afford, so sales would naturally decline.

However, the imperial court did not use salt to earn enough money to make up for the deficit, so it had to continue to increase the price of salt.

This creates a vicious cycle.

"This won't cause salt sales to drop so much, right?" Zhao Ceying was not satisfied with the answer.

"Your Highness!" Wen Duo said with a worried look, "The price of salt is indeed too high now. Take Yangzhou for example. Compared with ten years ago, the sales volume of salt has dropped by nearly half, but the price of salt has increased by nearly three times. Ordinary people simply cannot afford salt, which has led to the proliferation of private salt.

I have petitioned the court many times to lower the price of salt, but have yet to receive a response.

Ye Shihu glanced at Wen Duo unobtrusively, which was really smart.

He actually wrote a petition to lower the price of salt.

If he didn't know something about Wen Duo, he would have really thought that Wen Duo was a selfless person.

The reason why Wen Duo submitted a petition to lower the price of salt was because he knew that the court would not do so.

In the hundred years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, it was not just the salt business that had problems. Incomes from all other industries, including hidden farmland, were declining.

However, the court's expenses were also increasing.

However, the court's annual income remained almost the same.

Salt is a crucial factor in this regard.

Today, the imperial court can only barely maintain a balance between revenue and expenditure and is almost running out of money.

This is also the reason why most officials in the court do not support the war.

Because I can't afford it.

If the price of salt were lowered, the court's income would drop sharply and it would certainly be unable to make ends meet.

The trouble will be even bigger then.

Wen Duo was fearless and often submitted memorials to the emperor, appearing to be selfless and serving the country and the people.

"Then where does this illegal salt come from?" Zhao Ceying frowned.

He had some understanding of Wen Duo. Before coming to Yangzhou, he had learned about officials at all levels in charge of salt affairs in Huainan Road.

The one who impressed me the most was Wen Duo.

Wen Duo not only wrote many letters requesting a reduction in the price of salt, but also repeatedly cracked down on the people who made salt privately, and his achievements were remarkable.

"Salt is nothing more than rock salt and sea salt. Rock salt is okay, but sea salt is difficult to prevent. Many people along the coast secretly make and sell salt. I have cracked down on it many times, but with little success." Wen Duo said.

Ye Shihu sneered in his heart when he heard this. You cracked down on the people who made salt privately because those people were hindering you from making money.

Most of the real private salt came from the imperial salt fields.

By using any tricks, or simply not allowing people to store salt, you can get a lot of salt.

On the contrary, if you set up small workshops, not only will you get less salt, but it will also be easier to be discovered.

Wen Duo naturally disdained to do so. On the contrary, he tried his best to crack down on those people who made salt privately.

After all, as more people make salt privately, the sales of his private salt will also decrease.

Wen Duo used the power given by the court to appear righteous on the surface, but in reality, he was only doing it for himself.

Zhao Ceying didn't know this, and frowned when he heard this: "So there is no problem with the Lianghuai Salt Field?"

He had consulted the Duke of Qi according to Li An's suggestion before, and the answer he got was that some sources of private salt were privately made by the people, and another source was salt that leaked out from the imperial salt fields.

Wen Duo has arrested many people who made salt privately over the years, but Zhao Ceying did not doubt him much.

I just thought that what Wenduo said was true.

"I cannot guarantee whether there are any problems with the Lianghuai Salt Field. After all, I am not directly responsible for it. There must be some problems, but there shouldn't be any major problems. The government office has kept the account books of the Lianghuai Salt Field over the years. I can have someone send them to Your Highness for review." Wen Duo said.

"Then I'll trouble you, Lord Wen." Zhao Ceying nodded.

"Your Highness, you are too kind. This is what I should do." Wen Duo said with a smile.

Zhao Ceying asked Ye Shihu again.

In response to Zhao Ceying's questions, Ye Shihu was vague, and his general meaning was that these had nothing to do with me and I knew nothing.

Although Ye Shihu was a transport envoy, the salt affairs were directly managed by the Three Departments.

He had no right to interfere.

He also knew how complicated the matter was, so he naturally didn't want to get involved.

Wen Duo lowered his eyes slightly, and when he heard Ye Shihu's words, a trace of gloom flashed in his eyes.

He asked Ye Shihu to speak well of him because he wanted him to say some compliments when Zhao Ceying asked.

This might make Zhao Ceying believe that there was no problem with the Lianghuai Salt Field and he could go to other places.

As long as Zhao Ceying doesn't find any problems with him, even if problems are found elsewhere, it has nothing to do with him.

Although the possibility of this happening is small, it's still worth a try.

As a result, Ye Shihu not only did not say so, but also acted as if he knew nothing about it.

He would be in trouble if he aroused Zhao Ceying's suspicion.

Zhao Ceying was somewhat unhappy about this, but Ye Shihu was a provincial governor and did not have the authority to directly manage the salt affairs, so he could not get angry.

He asked Wen Duo to deliver the account books as soon as possible and then sent the two away.

After the two left, Zhao Ceying summoned Xia Shaohua and others and told them the information he had heard from Wen Duo and Ye Shihu.

Li An frowned slightly after listening to this. On the way to Yangzhou, Zhao Ceying showed them the files of all the officials in charge of salt-related work in Huainan Province.

When Li An saw Wen Duo's file, he felt something was wrong.

Wen Duo's file was very good. He wrote many letters to the emperor, stating that the price of salt was too high and the people could not afford it, and requested that the price of salt be lowered.

They even arrested people who made salt privately many times.

Judging from the archives alone, Wen Duo was not only a rare good official, but also had outstanding abilities.

But judging from Wen Duo's reply to Zhao Ceying, things are not that simple.

Wen Duo had been the highest official in charge of salt affairs in Huainan Road five years ago. He described the corruption in the salt affairs of Huainan Road as minor problems.

As the highest official in charge of salt affairs along the way, Li An believed that he could not solve the problem of corruption in the salt affairs.

But if someone said that there was no problem at all, Li An would not believe it at all.

Li An felt that there was something very wrong with Wen Duo.

But this was just his guess. He didn't say it out loud because he had no evidence.

Wen Duo acted quickly. Less than an hour after he left, he had delivered the account books of the Lianghuai Salt Field for the past ten years.

Zhao Ceying then took everyone to check the account books.

This is a huge task, and to say that the account books from the past ten years are piled up like a mountain is a bit of an exaggeration.

But it also filled eight large trucks.

There are so many account books to look through, and it would take at least ten days or half a month for just a dozen of them to finish.

After looking at the account books for most of the day, Li An felt a little dizzy.

It is actually very difficult to find any problems with the salt field's account books.

This is very different from checking other accounts.

For example, if you want to investigate an official for corruption, you only need to check his income and expenditure over the years.

When officials embezzle, it is nothing more than cooking the books or making false reports.

But looking at the salt field account books this way, there is no problem at all.

The salt field's account books record how much salt is produced each year, how much is lost, and how much salt is taken away by merchants.

The salt works did not collect money directly, and there were no records of silver and money.

Li An felt that since Wen Duo sent the account books so quickly.

They are confident that no problems can be found in the account books, or that there are no problems with the account books themselves.

After all, they don't necessarily need to account for the salt they get from the salt fields.

When the salt is produced, it is underreported when it is put into storage, and no account is kept when it is transported away.

As long as the amount of salt in the warehouse matches, there will naturally be no problem.

However, doing so is not conducive to concealment, after all, the action is too big and many people know about it.

At first, Ang Lee was a little skeptical, wondering if the film was making a fuss about the loss.

After all, salt is not easy to store, so it is normal for there to be a discrepancy between the quantities entering and leaving the warehouse.

However, after looking at some account books, Li An did not find any problems with the records of losses.

Although he did not know the exact loss of salt during storage, he could make a rough estimate, and the damage recorded in the account books was not high.

The total amount per year is only a few hundred kilograms.

Ang Lee doesn’t know whether this number is fake or not.

But even if it's all fake, what's the point of this little bit of salt?
Zhao Ceying rubbed his swollen head and asked, "Did you find anything unusual?"

Everyone shook their heads upon hearing this, saying that they found nothing unusual.

Zhao Ceying sighed when he heard this, but he also knew the difficulties of investigating the salt affairs, so he would not be discouraged.

"It's getting late. We've all been busy looking at the account books all day. I've asked someone to prepare some wine and food. After you finish eating, go to bed early and continue tomorrow." Zhao Ceying said.

"Your Highness, it's still early and I'm not tired. Let me watch for a while longer." Xia Shaohua said.

After Xia Shaohua spoke, the others also expressed their opinions, saying that they were not tired.

"I am very pleased that you have all done your job conscientiously. However, investigating the salt business is not a matter of a day or a night. I feel dizzy after reading these account books, and I think you are all the same. If you continue to look at them, even if there are problems, it will be difficult to find them. Let's continue tomorrow." Zhao Ceying said.

After hearing this, no one said anything else. They were indeed tired of watching.

After the meal, Zhao Ceying gathered everyone together for a chat and asked them what they thought about the next step.

Some people said that we should continue to look at the account books and send people to investigate secretly at the same time, investigating two lines at the same time.

Some people also said that since there was no problem with the account books, they should go to the salt field to take a look.

Zhao Ceying was undecided for a moment and looked at Xia Shaohua.

Before leaving, his father had told him that Xia Shaohua was very talented and he could ask him more questions.

"Your Highness, what you all said makes sense. We can take multiple approaches. We can continue to look at the account books and send people to conduct multiple investigations. Lianghuai Salt Field is the largest salt field in the Song Dynasty. If there is no problem with Lianghuai Salt Field, then the problems of other salt fields will not be too big either."

In fact, Xia Shaohua was somewhat suspicious of Wen Duo. He almost said directly that there must be something wrong with the Lianghuai Salt Field.

Zhao Ceying was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "I understand. Everyone, go back and rest."

"We will take our leave!" Everyone bowed and left.

"Ziqian, come sit in my room?"

Li An and Sheng Changbai's rooms were next to each other. When they arrived at the door, Sheng Changbai invited them.

"Yeah." Li An nodded.

There is no reason to refuse the invitation from my brother-in-law.

When they came into the room, Sheng Changbai asked Li An to sit down, poured him a cup of tea, and said, "Ziqian, is Zhonghuai not back yet?"

Li An sighed and said, "Your Highness asked me and Zhong Huai to go ahead in order to capture the Bai brothers and see if we can get evidence so that we can quickly open up the situation.

However, the Bai brothers got the news first and fled, and now the situation is somewhat unfavorable to Zhong Huai.

Even if His Highness does not suspect Zhong Huai, Zhong Huai will be in big trouble once the news spreads.

Although His Highness has suppressed the news now, I am afraid it will not be concealed for long."

Gu Tingye’s matter is more troublesome, and now it is not a question of whether Zhao Ceying believes him or not.

Zhao Ceying was the lead leader on this trip, with Gu Tingye and Xia Shaohua as his assistants.

Li An and his men can only be considered as odd jobs.

Now that Gu Tingye has run into problems, if someone makes a fuss about this, it will be a big trouble.

Gu Tingye also knew this. He was anxious to find the whereabouts of the Bai brothers and the people behind them, just to break the situation.

"Zi Qian, don't you think there was something wrong when the ship carrying smuggled salt collided with our ship that night?" Sheng Changbai said.

"Is there a problem?" Li An was stunned and asked in confusion: "What problem?"

"Going from Bian Jing to Yangzhou is going upstream, but the Lianghuai Salt Field is upstream," said Sheng Changbai.

Li An's face changed slightly when he heard this, and he said, "I understand, there is indeed a problem here."

They were located downstream at that time, while the Lianghuai Salt Field was upstream.

The Bai brothers were active in Yangzhou. Regardless of whether the private salt they transported came from the Lianghuai Salt Field or was privately produced by the people, the salt-carrying ships transported the salt to Yangzhou and it was impossible for them to go downstream.

After all, their location at that time was still a hundred or two hundred miles away from Yangzhou.

No wonder he always felt that there was something wrong. If Sheng Changbai hadn't pointed it out, he wouldn't have thought of it.

However, Li An quickly thought of a question and said, "Your Highness, didn't you interrogate those people later? Where was the salt transported to?"

"I asked them, and they said they didn't know. Only the manager knew. Unfortunately, the manager was not caught." Sheng Changbai said.

"In this case, we can't be sure there is a problem." Li An frowned.

(End of this chapter)