Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 499 Clues
"But will Xiao Qin be willing to help us?" Concubine Liu asked uncertainly.

"Gu Tingye is deeply trusted by the emperor and Prince Huan. If she doesn't help us, it will be impossible for her to seize the title from Gu Tingye. She is helping herself when she helps us. Besides, Xiao Qin has the Dongchang Marquis Mansion behind her, which is worth winning over." Aunt Liu said confidently.

"Okay!" Concubine Liu nodded and said, "I'll trouble you with this matter, big sister."

"We are all family. As the saying goes, if one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit. We have benefited from you and the higher your position, the better it will be for us." Aunt Liu looked at the third sister who had been silent and smiled, "Third sister, am I right?"

"Big sister is right!" Liu Sanniang nodded and said, "Don't worry, second sister, I will persuade the master when I go back!"

Although she was still a little scared, Aunt Liu's words were actually reminding her that they were able to live their current life thanks to Concubine Liu.

If one person's success can bring prosperity to the whole family, then naturally if one person's misfortune can bring misfortune to the whole family.

If she doesn't help Concubine Liu, she will definitely hold a grudge against her, and then she might lose her current position as husband.

She likes her current life very much, and many officials and their wives flatter her.

Of course she could also report it, but after reporting it, her husband might get some benefits, but he would not be reused.

She still understands this principle.

…………

Li An didn't know about what was happening in Bian Jing, but not long after King Huan left, the account books from the salt field were sent over.

Li An took a quick look and left the post station.

If you want to find out whether the salt field is taking advantage of the weather, it’s actually very simple. Just ask someone.

If the salt field wants to make something of itself, it's unlikely to create something out of nothing.

If it rains, the salt production does not need to be recorded. It only takes a few more days before and after, and a lot of extra salt can be produced in a month, plus the time saved in the process.

This should be the source of the need for private salt.

Li An checked the account book and found some records of relatively long and heavy rain.

It's unlikely that anyone will remember the next few days after a while.

But some people must have an impression of the heavy rain that lasted for ten days, half a month, or even a month.

However, when Li An left the post station, he found that someone was secretly monitoring him.

Li An thought for a while, wandered around for a while, and returned to the post station.

The direction of the investigation cannot be revealed now, otherwise the evidence may be erased before it is found.

In the evening, King Huan returned to the post station and called Li An over for questioning.

"Zi Qian, you are right. I made a special observation today. Those laborers worked slowly, but the supervising clerks did not scold them. On the contrary, when someone worked quickly, those clerks would scold them harshly." Zhao Ceying said.

Although he couldn't understand the local dialect, he could still feel the tone.

After Ang Lee said it yesterday, he paid special attention to it today.

"By the way, have you made any progress here?" Zhao Ceying asked.

"I took a look at the account book and wanted to go out and find someone to verify it, but I found that many people were secretly monitoring me. I was afraid of being exposed, so I returned to the post station and continued to look at the account book." Li An said.

"Humph!" Zhao Ceying snorted coldly: "The more this is the case, the more it proves that there is something fishy going on!"

"Your Highness is right, but everything requires evidence. I don't know how many people are watching us. A thorough investigation of the salt business must have sufficient evidence and not leave any handle behind." Li An said.

"That's right." Zhao Ceying nodded and frowned, "But there has been no progress so far, and I'm afraid the pressure from my father is not small. What can you do?"

"I thought about it. When Your Highness leaves the city tomorrow, we can quietly send a few imperial guards to conduct a covert investigation. However, the imperial guards have unfamiliar accents and are likely to arouse suspicion. It would be best to investigate in the nearby countryside. Anyway, we only need to check the weather conditions to verify whether the number of rainy days recorded in the account book is true.

It is most appropriate to ask the rural people about this. They may not remember these things normally, but if it rained for several days in a row during the busy farming season, they would definitely remember it. "Li An said.

"We can give it a try." Zhao Ceying nodded.

"Also, Your Highness cannot go to that salt field tomorrow. You have to raid another one. Then Your Highness can find some excuses to deliberately get angry." Li An said.

"I am also planning to visit other salt fields. What is your intention in asking me to take advantage of this issue?" Zhao Ceying asked.

"Your Highness has made no progress but is very calm. Those who have something to hide will inevitably think too much. They will only be more cautious." Li An said.

"I understand. If I get angry, they will think that I am anxious because I can't find anything. Then they will be exposed when they relax, right?" Zhao Ceying said.

"Your Highness is wise!" Li An complimented him and said, "I actually have another purpose."

"What's the purpose?" Zhao Ceying became interested.

"Your Highness, the whole world is in turmoil because of profit. The salt industry is corrupt, but no problems have been found for so long because many people are vested interests."

"Whenever there is interest involved, there will be unequal distribution, or some people will not get the benefit. If such people know that the court is going to conduct a thorough investigation of the salt business, will they think of reporting it?"

"But it has been a month since we set out from Bian Jing, and no one has come to report us."

"Even if someone feels that the matter is too broad and they are afraid of retaliation, it is still okay to pass on the information secretly."

"But after so long, there has been no news. Do you find it strange, Your Highness?"

"It's not that there isn't one." Zhao Ceying smiled and said, "When I was in Yangzhou, someone secretly sent me a letter saying that there was something wrong with Wen Duo. But they didn't say what the problem was. That's why I didn't tell you."

"People like this should have benefited from it, but they feel that the distribution is unfair, or they think Wen Duo is in the way and want to take the opportunity to get rid of him."

"I think there must be someone who knows something and is not involved in it, and wants to take the opportunity to gain merit." Li An said.

"Then why don't they come to me?" Zhao Ceying frowned.

"They're waiting!"

"wait?"

Zhao Ceying looked at Li An in confusion.

"That's right!" Li An nodded and said, "If they had found His Highness right after he arrived and presented evidence, they might have made a contribution, but His Highness might not remember them."

"But if His Highness fails to turn the situation around, they can submit evidence. Not only will they be rewarded, but the Emperor will also remember their kindness."

"I understand. You asked me to pretend to be angry because you wanted to tell them that I have no other options and it's time to help them, right?" Zhao Ceying said.

"Not only that, these people may also be waiting and watching. After all, the emperor has just ascended the throne not long ago. I am afraid that many people are speculating that the emperor's thorough investigation of the salt affairs is just to establish prestige and win the hearts of the people, and will not really conduct a thorough investigation."

"After all, the salt business involves a wide range of issues, and the emperor has only been on the throne for a short time, so he also has to consider internal stability."

"They are watching the government's determination to thoroughly investigate the salt affairs and to what extent they will investigate." Li An said slowly.

He had felt something was wrong before.

Zhao Zongquan's proposal to thoroughly investigate the salt business may have caught many people off guard.

But the reactions of those people afterwards were a little too strange.

He just used some means to delay Zhao Ceying's departure from Beijing.

After that, there was no movement at all, which looked very strange no matter how you looked at it.

Li An thought about it carefully and felt that it was very likely that those people did not think that Zhao Zongquan wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.

Zhao Ceying pondered for a while and said, "What you said makes sense, but those people will probably hesitate and wait and see. I have to let them see the determination of my father and me!"

Li An was startled and asked, "What does your highness mean?"

"If there is no problem with the salt administration, then there are no other problems?" Zhao Ceying sneered. Li An pondered for a while, then bowed and said, "Your Highness is wise!"

He understood what Zhao Ceying meant. Since no problems could be found in the salt administration, he had to find another way.

Since these officials were corrupt in the salt administration, they must be not clean.

I also did a lot of other things.

Even if they do it secretly, what about their children?

As long as other problems are found, people can be arrested and held accountable.

If someone else was responsible for thoroughly investigating the salt affairs, it would definitely not be possible, but Zhao Ceying could do it, because he was King Huan and the eldest son of the official family.

Moreover, after arresting those people, if their crimes are serious enough, they might even confess the affairs of the salt administration in order to reduce their punishment.

"Haha." Zhao Ceying laughed and said, "Everything else will be done as you say. You are responsible for checking whether they have falsified the weather reports."

He came up with this idea today and told Xia Shaohua about it on the way back, who helped him improve it.

Xia Shaohua also praised it highly, which made him very proud.

After the matter was settled, Zhao Ceying let Li An go back and rest.

The next day, Li An stayed at the post station to look at the account book, while Zhao Ceying took Xia Shaohua out of the city to the salt field.

Although Zhao Ceying was also watched by many people, he was always followed by one or two thousand imperial guards whenever he traveled. The team stretched for several miles, and the people who were monitoring him did not dare to get too close, so it would be difficult to discover him if there were fewer people among the retired soldiers.

When they were almost reaching the salt field they had visited yesterday, the team suddenly turned and went to another salt field not far away.

There was no one on guard at all and was caught off guard by Zhao Ceying.

Although no major problems were found, there were quite a few minor ones.

Zhao Ceying took advantage of the situation and scolded the man in a rage.

After Zhao Ceying left, the news spread and many people laughed.

Zhao Ceying got angry, and in their opinion, he was just getting anxious because he couldn't find the problem.

Zhao Ceying didn't know this, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

However, the spies he sent out will not come back today.

There are many eyes watching the post station now, and it will be impossible to hide it if someone comes back.

The next day, Zhao Ceying did the same as the day before, but this time the salt fields were prepared and did not give him any chance.

When they returned to the city in the evening, no one noticed and a few people quietly returned to the team.

After returning to the post station, Zhao Ceying called a few spies over to question them.

There is indeed a problem with the record of rain in the salt field's account books.

For example, there was almost no rain during the spring plowing season last year, but the account books showed that there were several intermittent rains.

Within two months, half of the days recorded in the account book were rainy.

There are many similar things.

It has now been confirmed that there are problems with these salt fields.

However, this only proves that the salt field lied about the number of rainy days and reduced salt production.

It is not entirely certain that they embezzled the salt.

And this is just one salt field. There are dozens of salt fields of all sizes near Yancheng County.

If we arrest people rashly, it will be troublesome if the other salt fields react and destroy the evidence.

Zhao Ceying asked people to investigate other issues of those officials, but there was no progress.

But this is normal. It is impossible to just listen to rumors about this kind of thing. There must be real evidence, otherwise it will be difficult for Zhao Ceying to arrest the person.

The next day, Zhao Ceying sent people out to continue investigating and verifying as he had done before, and at the same time ordered the other salt fields to send over all the account books for the past three years.

When the time comes, we just need to check and find that the records of all the salt fields are the same, which means that there are problems everywhere, and these are all empirical evidence.

If they are all different, then the problem is even bigger.

The officials at the salt fields didn't think much about it and sent the account books over after receiving the order.

This was a tough time for Li An, as only he and Xia Shaohua were accompanying him this time. Xia Shaohua followed Zhao Ceying, so he had to look at all the account books alone.

Fortunately, it is just a matter of checking whether the recorded rainy times are the same, and the workload is not that great.

After a few days, Li An confirmed that the number of rainy days recorded in these account books was the same.

The result of a secret investigation by Zhao Ceying was that the actual number of rainy days each year was overreported by more than half.

The troops sent out to collect evidence of illegal activities by salt field officials have also made considerable progress.

There are dozens of salt fields of various sizes in Yancheng County, and the officials in charge number more than one hundred.

Zhao Ceying didn't expect to find evidence against everyone. So far, he has only identified a dozen people, but that's enough.

Just when Zhao Ceying was about to order the arrest, Gu Tingye arrived in Yancheng County.

…………

"What did you say?"

When Zhao Ceying heard that the Cheng family had escaped, he became so angry that his face turned pale.

"Zhong Huai, you disappoint me so much."

"I know that I have not done my job well. This time I came here to apologize to Your Highness and also to remind Your Highness." Gu Tingye bowed.

"Remind me of what?" Zhao Ceying frowned.

"Your Highness, I think this is a trap. According to my investigation, the business scope of the Bai brothers is in Yangzhou. There was something wrong with the salt ship we encountered at that time. I was ordered to go to Tongzhou to arrest people. Before the operation, I sent people to the city to inform them. However, when the city broke into the Cheng family's courtyard, the Tongzhou army still came. If it weren't for the army's obstruction, the Cheng family might not have escaped." Gu Tingye said.

The reason why he said it was not certain was because he really did not expect that the Cheng family had built a secret passage.

This is Gu Tingye's personality. He won't lie to shirk responsibility.

Zhao Ceying frowned slightly when he heard this. He also knew Gu Tingye. Although he was a little angry that Gu Tingye was not doing a good job, what Gu Tingye said did make sense.

He asked Gu Tingye to arrest someone, but he didn't do it rashly.

After all, if a group of soldiers suddenly appeared to arrest people, who knows if they were imposters.

There are local troops everywhere, and it would be bad if misunderstandings were caused.

When he asked Gu Tingye to go, he gave him his identity token.

However, even though Gu Tingye sent someone to inform them in advance, the other party still came, obviously deliberately delaying time to give the Cheng family a chance to escape.

"Your Highness, I think this is a good thing." Li An said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)