Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 494 Giving birth

"There is still a way." Sheng Changbai said, "We just need to find out whether the Bai family needs to transport private salt in that direction."

"That's right." Li An nodded and said, "But we can only know this after Zhong Huai comes back."

The two chatted for a while, and then Li An left and went back to sleep.

There is too little information now and many things cannot be confirmed. It is meaningless to make groundless guesses, which will only mislead your vision.

The next day, Zhao Ceying sent some people out to investigate openly and secretly, while he continued to lead people to look at the account books.

It was almost noon when Gu Tingye came back looking haggard.

Zhao Ceying asked everyone to continue looking at the account book, and he took Gu Tingye to the next room.

Although he had some doubts about Gu Tingye, Zhao Ceying did not show it. Instead, he showed some concern and asked about the information Gu Tingye had found out.

"Your Highness, I am guilty!" Gu Tingye bowed.

"Now is not a matter of whether you are guilty or not. You should tell me what you have found out first. I will figure out whether you are guilty or not." Zhao Ceying said.

"Yes." Gu Tingye responded and recounted what happened after arriving in Yangzhou and the information he had found out.

The Bai brothers did bribe the owner of the salt shop under his name and used his salt shop to sell private salt.

All of this private salt was provided by a salt merchant named Cheng from Tongzhou.

After Gu Tingye found out the information, he took his men to Tongzhou in person.

Because the time was too short, it has not yet been determined whether the Cheng family was selling illegal salt.

However, the Cheng family was extremely powerful in Tongzhou and had connections with officials in Tongzhou. Not only did the family run many salt shops, they also owned tens of thousands of acres of land and were very wealthy.

In addition, the Cheng family bullied men and women in Tongzhou and did all kinds of evil.

However, due to the relationship between the Cheng family and Tongzhou officials, nothing was done.

Moreover, the Cheng family hired many thugs to guard the house, and if anyone reported him, they would send someone to take revenge.

Over time, no one dared to sue him.

"Are you sure that the Bai family's private salt came from him?" Zhao Ceying asked.

"I can confirm that the Bai brothers escaped, but many servants did not have time to take them away. This information was provided by them. But there is no conclusive evidence now." Gu Tingye said.

Zhao Ceying pondered for a while and said, "Please take some time to catch him now!"

"Your Highness, there is insufficient evidence to arrest people now. The officials in Tongzhou will definitely stop us." Gu Tingye said.

"Didn't you say that the Cheng family bullies men and women and does all kinds of evil? Although I am ordered to investigate the salt affairs this time, the people are stopping me and stating their grievances. I can't just ignore it, right? The Cheng family is not an official, but just a businessman. If I arrest people, do the Tongzhou government dare to stop me?" Zhao Ceying said calmly.

Gu Tingye was stunned when he heard this, and quickly understood what Zhao Ceying meant.

As the saying goes, if you want to accuse someone of a crime, you can always find a pretext.

What's more, this matter may not be a false accusation.

As for whether there is anyone who would stop the king to file a complaint, it is easy. Just find a few people to impersonate him.

As long as we arrest the Cheng family, we will be able to find the problem.

Even if the Cheng family refuses to confess, no evidence can be found. However, it is not difficult to find evidence that the Cheng family bullies men and women.

If these things were proven true, the Cheng family would be doomed.

In order to save my life, I will naturally confess when the time comes.

"Go ahead. I don't know how many people are watching me now. The news can't be concealed. You have to hurry. I don't want to see anyone run away again." Zhao Ceying said lightly.

The Cheng family hired many guards, so it was not obvious that they sent people to arrest people secretly.

There are too many people sent, and it is impossible to hide it.

"I understand. I will take people there right away!" Gu Tingye bowed and hurried away.

After Gu Tingye left, Zhao Ceying went back to continue looking at the account book.

At night, Zhao Ceying gathered everyone together again and asked, "Did you find anything unusual?"

Facing Zhao Ceying's gaze, everyone shook their heads.

Zhao Ceying's heart sank. Although he had not finished reading half of the account book, it had been so long and he had not noticed any problems. There was not much point in continuing to read.

"Your Highness, I have found some problems." Li An said.

As soon as Li An said this, everyone's eyes turned to him.

"Did Ziqian find anything unusual?" Zhao Ceying asked.

"Your Highness, I have discovered that the amount of salt taken away from the Lianghuai Salt Field every month is relatively evenly distributed. The difference is within a few hundred kilograms," said Li An.

Zhao Ceying thought about it after hearing this, frowned and said, "What's unusual about this?"

"Your Highness, some people eat salt every day, but some people don't. However, during festivals, some people will spend some money to improve their lives. For example, during the Chinese New Year, some people will buy cloth to make clothes and some meat to eat. Vinegar cloth doesn't taste good, so naturally some people will bite their teeth and buy some salt."

"Normally, during festivals, salt sales would be higher, and salt merchants would also charge more salt. However, I counted the amount of salt produced by the Lianghuai Salt Fields every month last year, and the amount was almost the same every month, with only a difference of a few hundred kilograms."

"The Lianghuai Salt Field is the largest salt field in the Song Dynasty, supplying salt to almost half of Jiangnan. Even if it is not a festival, the difference between each month will be very large. Such a balance is obviously not right."

There are actually patterns in many things.

Li An found that there was no problem with the records in the account book, so he did not continue to look at the account book one by one.

Instead, the amount of salt produced in each month of last year was counted.

Sales of anything have peak seasons and off-peak seasons.

Salt, a necessity of life, is also available.

However, the amount of salt produced by the Lianghuai Salt Fields each year is almost the same, which is not right.

Zhao Ceying still didn't quite understand what he said. He didn't understand market rules or anything like that.

Li An saw this and could only explain: "Your Highness, let me give you an analogy. When spring and summer come together, wealthy families will make a few sets of thin clothes. Few people will save cloth in advance, and most people will buy it when the season comes.

This is the peak season for fabric sales.

All cloth shops are well aware of this, so they will prepare more cloth in advance.

Otherwise, if customers come to buy but there is not enough stock, it will be too late to mobilize them from other places.

The same goes for salt. It is impossible for salt merchants not to stock up on extra salt as the year draws to a close.

However, the amount of salt produced by the Lianghuai Salt Field in the two months before and after the New Year was no different from usual.

Of course, this is just what I saw based on the total salt output.

The Lianghuai Salt Field supplies too many places, and the situation in different places is sometimes different, so the difference in the total number is normal.

We can summarize the salt extraction amounts of each state and if there are big differences, it means there is no problem.”

Salt merchants bought salt by paying money directly to the local salt transport offices and purchasing salt permits.

Take the salt leash to Zhenzhou Salt Depot to draw salt.

As Li An said, the Lianghuai Salt Field supplies too many places, and there are indeed some problems just looking at the total amount, but it cannot be confirmed.

For example, the sales volume of salt is high during the Chinese New Year, but if natural disasters occur in some places, the sales volume of salt will decrease instead of increase.

This will naturally reduce the amount of salt output.

Count the monthly salt extraction amounts of all states. If the monthly salt extraction amounts of each state remain at a relatively stable number, then there is definitely a problem.

Zhao Ceying also understood the general idea at this time. He did not even take a rest and ordered everyone to count the amount of salt collected by each state overnight.

This workload is quite heavy.

These accounts are recorded in a unified manner and are not separate.

The total amount is easy to count. When each account book is full, the total amount of salt recorded in the original account book will be calculated. Just find the account book for each month and add up the total amount recorded in the account book.

However, if we calculate the amount of dike salt in each state every month, it would be like peeling off the silk from an onion, which is naturally not that easy.

More than a dozen people worked all night and only managed to count most of the data.

Because Zhao Ceying was anxious for results, everyone couldn't rest and had to keep working.

It wasn't until the next afternoon that all the results were tallied up.

After getting the results, Zhao Ceying looked through them carefully and sneered, "There is indeed a problem."

After listening to Li An's explanation last night, he sent someone to inquire after daybreak. It is true that more people buy salt during festivals.

It’s not so bad during normal holidays, the difference is not that big.

The real difference is that during the Chinese New Year, more people buy salt than at other times.

The owners of the salt shops didn't care about these things at all, and when people went to inquire about them, they told them everything.

According to them, the salt shop's business is 50% better than usual at the end of the year.

But the results he has now shown that the monthly salt extraction amounts in each state are almost the same, with very minor differences.

This is true even for some states that have suffered natural disasters.

Due to natural disasters, people can no longer make a living, so sales should be even lower than usual.

Zhao Ceying still understood this principle.

However, even with natural disasters, there has not been much change in the amount of salt extracted from these states.

Of course, it is also possible that the salt merchants stored the salt.

However, according to the information obtained by the people he arranged, this was not the case at all.

Salt is not easy to preserve, so salt merchants would basically only store a month's supply and then replenish the stock half a month in advance.

So the numbers don’t vary much from month to month, which is obviously a problem.

"You all have worked hard, go back and rest early." Zhao Ceying said.

"I'll take my leave!" Everyone had been busy for two days and one night without sleep, and they were really unable to bear it anymore.

Li An was fine. He had practiced martial arts for many years and was now in his prime, full of energy, so he didn't feel tired at all.

Zhao Ceying sent everyone away, but kept Xia Shaohua.

"Minister Xia, it seems that the problem lies with the Zhenzhou Salt Depot. I plan to go to the salt depot in person tomorrow to take a look." Zhao Ceying said.

"Your Highness, it may not be the salt depot. I think there should be no problem there. There are too many people there, and the problem is still at the salt field." Xia Shaohua shook his head.

Zhao Ceying thought about it carefully, nodded and said: "Minister Xia is right, I am blinded by one thing."

"Your Highness just failed to distinguish between the salt field and the salt warehouse." Xia Shaohua shook his head slightly and said, "Your Highness, Wen Duo is not trustworthy."

"I have also thought of this. No matter where the problem lies, Wen Duo is in charge of the salt business in Huainan Road and the Lianghuai Salt Field. The problem is so serious, but he seems to be unaware of it. Obviously there is something wrong. However, this person is in a high position, and I cannot touch him without evidence.

There is no need to rush now. Knowing that he has a problem will make it much easier to investigate." Zhao Ceying sneered.

…………

Bianjing is still prosperous.

There were no changes as a result of the thorough investigation of the salt business.

Of course, this is just an appearance.

After Zhao Ceying set out, no officials talked about a thorough investigation of the salt administration.

Zhao Zongquan thought that many people would petition to stop the process, but that didn't happen.

On the contrary, it was very peaceful.

Such calmness did not make Zhao Zongquan happy.

The calmer it appears on the surface, the more turbulent it is secretly.

Zhao Zongquan didn't believe that there was no one in the court who was involved in the corruption in the salt business. On the contrary, there should be many people involved.

These people are not reacting now, they are just waiting for an opportunity.

The undercurrents in the court have nothing to do with the Li family.

After Li An left, the only people left in the Li family were Li Nan, Liu, Minglan and Ruichu.

Because Minglan was about to give birth, the family rarely went out.

Two days ago, Minglan suddenly felt some pain in her stomach, and Mrs. Liu thought she was about to give birth, so she got busy.

At that time, Liu also sent someone to the Sheng family to inform Old Madam Sheng.

Old Mrs. Sheng rushed over, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

However, experienced midwives all said that the delivery date would be in the next few days.

Giving birth is very dangerous for women.

Especially the first child, it’s like going through the gates of hell.

Old Mrs. Sheng was worried about her granddaughter, so she decided not to leave and stayed at the Li family's place.

"You are going to give birth in a few days, so don't be so sad all the time. Your husband is accompanying King Huan to investigate the salt affairs, so there will be no danger." Old Lady Sheng comforted.

"My granddaughter knows, but she can't help but think about it." Minglan said with a frown.

Because Li An was not around and she was about to give birth, she felt a little anxious.

She knew very well that the thorough investigation of the salt affairs was presided over by Prince Huan, and Li An did not hold a high position. Even if there was a problem and someone needed to take the blame, it would not be Li An's turn.

But I can't help but worry.

"I was like this when I gave birth to a child. I liked to have wild thoughts. Relax, everything will be fine." Old Lady Sheng patted Minglan's hand.

"Yeah." Minglan nodded.

Just then, Danju came over with ginseng soup.

"Drink the ginseng soup quickly." said Mrs. Sheng.

Pregnant women need to take supplements, but not too much.

All experienced old ladies know this truth.

Like how Lin Xiaoniang kept sending supplements to Wei Xiaoniang, hoping that she would have a large baby and a difficult delivery. However, Wei Xiaoniang didn't have an old nanny by her side and her mother died early, so no one told her these things.

If there was an old lady around, he wouldn't fall into the trap.

Although Old Lady Sheng and Madam Wang both knew that Miss Lin was giving supplements to Miss Wei.

But I don’t know how much was given, nor do I know how much Wei Xiaoniang knows.

And this kind of common sense stuff is often the easiest to overlook.

Minglan also restrained herself from taking too much tonic during her pregnancy, but now that she is about to give birth, she needs to replenish her energy so that she will have the strength to give birth to a baby.

It's already this time, no matter how much you supplement the child, he won't grow much.

Minglan took the ginseng soup and was about to drink it when she suddenly felt a pain in her stomach. Her originally rosy face turned pale and cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

"Ming girl..."

Old Madam Sheng didn't react at first, but when she was about to ask, she came to her senses and said anxiously, "Quick, go and notify the midwife to come over, and bring the prepared things over quickly."

(End of this chapter)