From the Red Mansion, you can travel through the world of martial arts

Chapter 116 Salt Island
At this time of year, the Huai River area where Jia Wei is located is still full of flowers and green willows, but in the city of Shenjing, although it has not snowed yet, one can already feel the bone-chilling cold.

Daming Palace.

Inside the Yangxin Palace, the palace servants had already lit the hot floor heating, and it was as warm as spring.

The palace servants and eunuchs standing in the hall held their breath and dared not even to breathe.

Looking up again, the young Emperor Xuanwu had gloomy eyes. He smashed the cinnabar imperial pen and threw the memorial aside, his solemn eyes suppressing anger and irritability.

Dai Quan, dressed in a bright red python robe, had approached at some point. He picked up the imperial pen that had fallen on the ground and presented it to him.

"His Majesty……"

Emperor Xuanwu glanced at him, took the imperial pen and threw it aside, saying in a deep voice: "Jia Wei only raided the Jiang family, but he stirred up a hornet's nest. I have read three books in a row, all of which are impeachment memorials against him. These salt merchants donated grain to buy official positions, bribed officials, flattered the powerful, built academies, and bought off cynical scholars. They are really hateful!"

Emperor Xuanwu took back the discarded memorials, stacked them neatly and said, "It's fine that the Lianghuai salt administration official and the Yandao censor impeached him, but when did the Prince of Ningjing get involved in the affairs of the salt merchants? And was he related to the Jiang family?"

Dai Quan did not dare to say much about this topic. He took out a secret letter and handed it over: "Your Majesty, the ship that the Jinyiwei escorted the principal criminal of the Jiang family and their property has arrived in Bianzhou. This is the account received by Commander Jia."

Xuanwu took the secret letter and glanced at it.

"We confiscated 900,000 taels of silver, 76,000 taels of gold, and goods worth about 460,000 taels. We also sold other properties, such as real estate deeds, land deeds, shops, and manors, for 3.7 million taels..."

Xuanwu couldn't help but take a deep breath. He knew that the salt merchants were very rich, but he didn't expect them to be so rich that they were even richer than him...

The Jiang family is the most destitute of the seven major salt merchants. If the other seven families were also raided...

Xuanwu quickly put an end to this crazy idea. If Lianghuai were in chaos at this time, the Han Dynasty would almost be in danger of changing hands.

He sighed slowly, "Mr. Jia, you really did live up to my expectations..."

Now that the inner treasury was full, at least the shortfall in military pay for the border troops could be made up, and Emperor Xuanwu could sleep peacefully.

Dai Quan smiled and said, "Lord Jia is dedicated to serving Your Majesty. His loyalty is evident."

Xuanwu silently put down the memorial, "Salt business is already very profitable, but these salt merchants are still not satisfied... Put the Jiang family and others in the imperial prison, let the Northern Pacification Office try this case, investigate it thoroughly, and never tolerate those who are implicated!"

"Yes."

Xuanwu added, "Now that the money has arrived, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Go and make some preparations. Tomorrow I will go to Xiyuan for a boat ride..."

……

Suzhou, Taihu Lake, Salt Island.

This island is the headquarters of the Salt Gang, and most of the high-ranking members of the Salt Gang live here.

Tomorrow is the 60th birthday party of Song Ming, the leader of the Salt Gang. All the famous and upright gangs in the martial arts world are invited to go to Salt Island, so Salt Island has been very lively in recent days. Many ships have been temporarily added on both sides to facilitate the travel of guests.

Today, the leaders of the Huashan Sect, Qingcheng Sect, Quanzhen Sect, Emei Sect and other sects came together with their outstanding disciples.

The two deputy leaders of the Salt Gang, Wei Zheng and Wang Qianyuan, also went to the dock in person to greet them and invited the leaders to the main hall as a sign of respect.

The main hall was very lively, and it was obviously a grand event in the martial arts world.

Wang Qianyuan called out to Song Yuanqiao, "I wonder how Master Zhang is doing these days?"

Song Yuanqiao smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, my master is doing well. He has gained some insights recently and is in seclusion, hoping to create a martial art of his own."

Wang Qianyuan sighed, "What Master Zhang created is a unique skill that has been handed down from generation to generation. If I can get away from worldly affairs and go to Mount Wudang to experience it, my life will not be in vain."

Before Song Yuanqiao could answer, Wei Zheng on the side said sarcastically: "Who wouldn't be able to survive without the Salt Gang? If you are willing, you can resign tomorrow. Forget about climbing Mount Wudang, you can even run around the Five Sacred Mountains."

Song Yuanqiao stroked his long beard and said nothing. The internal divisions of the Salt Gang were also serious, especially now that the gang leader Song Ming had reached the age of 60 and was considering retiring, the fight between the second and third leaders had become even more intense.

But Wudang never gets involved in the internal fights of other martial arts sects, let alone the Salt Gang, which has a special status.

Wang Qianyuan's expression remained unchanged. He was very good at cultivating his Qi, as if he hadn't heard anything. He looked at the man behind Song Yuanqiao and asked, "Is this your son?"

The man stepped forward and said, "Song Qingshu, meeting Uncle Wang."

Wei Zheng snorted coldly and muttered something...

Not long after, suddenly the head of the Emei Sect, Nun Miejue, stood up and said in a loud voice: "Everyone, it happens to be the birthday of Gang Leader Song. It is rare for us to gather together like this. Here, I also have something to discuss with the major sects."

The main hall gradually became quiet. Although Master Miejue had an extremely eccentric and lonely temper, the Emei Sect was second only to a few famous sects such as Wudang and Shaolin. As the head of the Emei Sect, she naturally had a lot of appeal.

Song Yuanqiao immediately responded: "I wonder what Master is talking about? Is it related to Wudang?"

"It's not only related to Wudang and Emei, the entire martial arts world is affected by it." Nun Miejue said coldly: "The Demonic Cult!" When everyone in the hall heard the name "The Demonic Cult", they all changed color, and immediately there was a lot of discussion, it was very noisy.

Nun Miejue said loudly: "Everyone here, including me, Emei, has a deep blood feud with the Demon Cult and we are irreconcilable! Recently, I heard that the Demon Cult had an internal conflict over the leader and turned against each other, so I want to unite all the major clans in three months, attack Guangmingding, and kill the Demon Cult in one fell swoop!"

The main hall, which had just quieted down, suddenly became boiling; the proposal of extermination was indeed shocking.

Sitting in the main seat, Wang Qianyuan drank his tea calmly, looking at Master Miejue as if he was watching a play.

Yan helps make money and has never been involved in underworld affairs, not to mention that now is the critical moment of selecting the next gang leader.

Wei Zheng was a little excited. He was a warrior through and through, and he wanted to get involved in such affairs of the underworld from the bottom of his heart, but his status did not allow him to do so...

Miejue continued, "Before I went to the island, I had received a reply from Kunlun and Kongtong sects, and they are willing to go to Guangmingding with Emei to eliminate this great harm to the Central Plains martial arts world! What do you think, leaders present?"

Wang Qianyuan said first: "The Salt Gang has low military strength and is unable to participate, but we admire the heroic deeds of all the heroes in exorcising demons. The journey to Guangmingding is long and difficult, and each faction is willing to provide 3,000 silver taels for travel expenses. I wish all brothers and sisters a safe journey."

Wei Zheng snorted again, but did not raise any objection.

Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this. Three thousand taels was not a small amount, and three thousand taels for one family. The Salt Gang was indeed wealthy and powerful!
It's a pity that destroying the Demon Cult is no joke. Although the Demon Cult is torn apart, it is still a centipede that will not die. There will be a tough battle waiting for them on the Bright Summit...

Nun Miejue said: "Thank you for your support, Wang Bang. Emei has no way to repay you. We can only kill a few evil cult thieves in Guangming!"

Song Yuanqiao said: "It is Wudang's duty to wipe out the evil sect!"

Shaolin Temple also immediately expressed its willingness to go together.

The Ming Cult has done a lot of bad things over the years, and has more or less had grudges with all the major sects.

For example, Xie Xun killed Master Kong Jian of Shaolin with a palm strike and stole the Seven Injury Fist Manual of Kongtong Sect; Yang Xiao angered Miejue's lover Gu Hongzi to death and raped Miejue's most proud disciple Ji Xiaofu; the daughter of White-browed Eagle King indirectly harmed Zhang Cuishan and Yu Daying...

For a moment, Miejue had the support of the four major sects, and his confidence increased instantly. He then looked towards the location of the Huashan Sect.

Among the Five Mountains sword sects, the leader of the Songshan Sect, Zuo Lengchan, did not arrive, and only sent an envoy to deliver gifts. Among the remaining Four Mountains, only the Huashan Sect was impressive enough.

Nun Miejue asked, "I wonder what Master Yue thinks?"

On the Huashan Sect side, the leader Yue Buqun leads Ning Zhongze, Yue Lingshan and Linghu Chong.

Linghu Chong was in a playful mood, and his face was full of excitement when he heard that they were going to go to Guangmingding to wipe out the Demon Sect.

However, Lady Ning knew the danger, so she quietly pulled her husband's sleeve.

Yue Buqun stood up and pondered for a moment. Although he was unwilling in his heart, he had always been promoting the image of a gentleman sword. Now that Nun Miejue had brought up the righteous cause and gained support from many factions, if he refused, wouldn't it be like he was greedy for life and afraid of death? The image he had built up for half his life would be ruined...

"Exterminating demons and defending the Way is the unshirkable responsibility of those of us who practice martial arts. Huashan Sect is willing to go!"

Ning Zhongze bent his straight waist and sighed secretly.

The Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect are both sects in Shu. The first one to receive the invitation had already rejected it. At this time, Yu Canghai also remained silent and had no intention of changing his mind.

Miejue turned to Quanzhen Sect. After Qiu Chuji's death, Ma Yu took on the responsibility.

Ma Yu bowed and said, "Quanzhen is willing to fight alongside you, but is powerless to eliminate the demons. I hope Master and you will forgive me."

Wei Zhengqi, who was sitting in the first position, asked, "Master Ma, what do you mean? Quanzhen and Wudang are the two major Taoist sects in the world. If everyone goes to Wudang, why don't Quanzhen go?"

Ma Yu did not show any embarrassment and said frankly: "To be honest with you, Chief Wei, the Quanzhen Sect is facing a disaster and we are already busy with our own affairs..."

The leader of the Quanzhen Sect, Qiu Chuji, was killed. This was a major event that shocked the martial arts world. Everyone in the hall knew about it, and Wei Zheng also reacted.

Ma Yu continued, "That day, the leader of my sect went north to resolve the rebellion of the Red Snake Fairy, but was murdered by a villain in Linqing. The villain also threatened us to disband the Quanzhen Sect, otherwise when he attacked the mountain, everyone would be in turmoil...Now, Quanzhen really has no extra strength and has gone far away to Kunlun."

Nun Miejue said: "That boy is really hateful. He first stole our Emei sword and then killed Senior Brother Qiu. He is even worse than the thieves from the Demon Sect!"

Although everyone in the martial arts world thought that the Sword of the Heavenly Sword was stolen by the Sun and Moon Sect, Nun Miejue was determined to get it from Jia Wei and would not let go.

Wei Zheng slammed the table and said angrily, "Are we just going to let that kid do what he wants?"

Yue Buqun said: "He is a member of the imperial court..."

"So what if he is a member of the imperial court? Will we let him slaughter us if he wants to kill us in the future?" Nun Miejue said coldly.

"He is extremely sinister and ruthless, and he will do anything to get what he wants. A few days ago, I heard that he raided the Jiang family in Yangzhou. The Jiang family repaired bridges and roads, and often helped the poor. They were a well-known benevolent family, but he relied on his power to frame them and embezzled all of the Jiang family's property! This is truly an unforgivable crime."

(End of this chapter)