The Red Mansions Across the Four Seas

Chapter 264 Breakthrough Progress

The day after the whistleblower box was hung up, there was a harvest.

In the box of Wang Ji's grocery store, a report letter was found, saying that Zhong Ding had a private house in the back street of Daodong.

Lin Dajiang immediately took people to search and made a major discovery.

The things that were searched were roughly divided into three parts.

The first part is various precious substances.

Including 4000 taels of silver bills, 120 pieces of mink skins, 70 pieces of otter skins, 70 pieces of yuan skins, about three catties of ginseng, more than ten catties of deer antler, fifty or sixty catties of monkey head, and seven or eight catties of matsutake.and other delicacies.

In addition to the silver found last time, a small assistant collar, there are more than 9000 taels of silver and so many precious materials, obviously, it does not match his normal income.

He couldn't explain the money and materials alone.And once the explanation is clear, there will be a series of shady scenes.In this chain, many people will be implicated.

If that's all, it's just a corruption story.

However, this Zhong Ding seems to be a person who is afraid of small things. A small assistant leader can do nothing but big things.

Compared with these major events, those banknotes and mountain treasures are simply insignificant.

These major events are reflected in several letters and a gift list.

These letters turned out to be letters between him and the leader of the Tiefo tribe.In the letter, he exposed his business dealings with the Tiefo tribe.

It is not surprising that he has some business, the problem is that he is in the pig iron business.This is a big problem.

In the northern part of Bukui, there are four relatively large fishing and hunting tribes, they are the Tiefo tribe, the Luoshun tribe, the Khaki tribe and the Mailai tribe.

These four tribes are mainly fishing, hunting and nomadic, and also have some farming industries.The population of each tribe is about 7 to [-].

Among them, the Tiefo tribe is the largest, with 3 people, and the Mailai tribe is the smallest, with more than [-] people.

Although these tribes are nominally under the rule of the imperial court, the imperial court has never exercised effective jurisdiction and governance over them.

When you are happy, you can hand over something to Bukui Yamen and pay tribute to the imperial court.When they were unhappy, they ignored the court, and even dispatched from time to time to plunder passing merchants, and came to plunder near Bu Kui.

The garrison yamen sent troops to encircle and suppress them, but they broke them up and hid in deep mountains and old forests.As soon as the soldiers withdrew, they went on as usual.

Therefore, the strategy adopted by the imperial court was to suppress and appease them.When they make a big fuss, they should be wiped out.When it's not too noisy, appease it.

However, the inflow of strategic materials such as salt, tea, pig iron, ironware, sulfur, and saltpeter was strictly controlled.There is a certain quota every year.

It is undoubtedly a big taboo for Zhong Ding to sell pig iron to the Tiefo tribe without permission.In peacetime, at least smuggling.In times of war or even when the relationship between the two sides is not good, this is collaborating with and capitalizing on the enemy.

It was a felony no matter the period.Based on this alone, the emperor could have his head chopped off.

The letter also exposed a few of his accomplices, the businessman Kong Youxi and his two subordinates—the two Xiaoqi schools of the first assistant.

Lin Dajiang immediately sent someone to arrest the two Xiao cavalry schools, but Kong Youxi was not in Bukui, so he escaped temporarily.

Another weapon with strong lethality is the gift list.The handwriting of this gift list is Zhong Ding's, obviously written by him himself, this is almost irrefutable evidence.

There are 21 names on the gift list, and their official positions and places of work are also listed on it.

There is General Ningguta's Mansion, Fengtian Mansion, and of course the Imperial Capital.The names of the others were very unfamiliar to Jia Min.However, there are two names that he is familiar with.

One is Ma Qiming, deputy governor of the Beijing Camp, and the other is Luo Qihua, a university scholar.

This Zhong Ding is really a character with some energy, no wonder he dares to be so arrogant.

Such a powerful figure, and the nephew of General Ningguta Han Tiankui, how could he be a small leader?Besides staying in a remote place like Bukui?
Previously, Bu Kui belonged to General Ning Guta's administration, as long as his uncle said something, he could go to a better place and become a bigger official.

This made Jia Min suspicious.

A more logical guess is that Han Tiankui put him here on purpose.

The purpose of placing Zhong Ding here is firstly to serve as his eyes and ears to monitor Bu Kui's movements, and secondly to let him collect money here and make friends with various officials.

To make friends with officials from all walks of life, with Zhong Ding's status and level, it seems that the weight is not enough.It should have appeared as Han Tiankui's agent.

It's just that whether Zhong Ding has taken on other missions, there is no evidence yet.

However, ignoring the silver and mountain treasures, the case can be turned into an iron case based on these two points alone.

Smuggling pig iron to Tie Buddha is a must, and you can also rely on collaborating with and capitalizing on the enemy.

It is also a serious crime to make friends with foreign officials and Beijing officials.

He wanted to weave a huge network of relationships, but this big network is now backfired, and he is caught in the network.

"Put these letters here and keep him under strict surveillance. No one is allowed to have contact with him. Tomorrow I will interrogate him personally."

Lin Dajiang agreed and went out.Jia Min fell into deep thought.

Zhong Ding's belongings were seized, totaling more than 1 taels of silver.The money was taken from Bu Kui and used by Bu Kui. Jia Min was not going to hand it over.

Now, he is preparing to implement some reforms, and the money will come in handy.

Jia Min has made up his mind and is ready to solve the high death rate and escape rate of exiles.

He can ignore the past, but if he still can't solve this problem in the future, he will be responsible.

This is not only a matter of being responsible to the court and giving these prisoners a way out, but also his own problem.If this problem is not solved well, it will be a sword hanging over his head all the time.

If someone wanted to hold him accountable for this issue, he really couldn't get away with it.

In order to solve the death and escape problems of prisoners, the most urgent task is to solve two problems.

One is to bring the fugitives to justice as soon as possible.The other is to improve the living environment and living conditions of exiles, so that they have a chance to breathe and survive, and don't push them all to a dead end.

The requirements of the exiles are actually not high.It is nothing more than being able to eat enough. On the basis of being full, if you can eat a little better, it will be even better.

The second is to dress warmly so that you won't freeze in winter.Then live warmer.Not freezing or getting too wet.

The other two points, one is to reduce labor intensity and labor time as much as possible, so as not to work endlessly beyond time, physical strength and super ability.

Without changing the tasks handed in, this can actually be solved by improving tools, promoting labor enthusiasm and other methods to improve labor efficiency.

The second is to avoid being bullied and exploited by the head of the village and the prison bully as much as possible.This, in fact, can be done.

However, relying on the current old Zhuangtou is not enough.

Although these old Zhuangtou are soldiers, in many cases, they are no different from bandits. Some are even worse than bloody people, more vicious, they are parasites, sucking the blood of bloody people endlessly.

Moreover, their ideas are destined to conflict with Jia Min's ideas.Because they live in very scattered places, their supervision is not only difficult, but also requires huge costs.

The only quick and easy thing to do is to remove them from the position of the head of the village and replace them with their own people.

Only those who are themselves can fully comprehend their own intentions and execute their own will.

On the surface, this is a battle of ideas.In fact, it is a conflict of interests hidden behind the concept.

Zhong Ding is only a leader, and he can amass so much wealth.What about the others?It might not be clean either.

Relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the sea to eat the sea, and relying on the flow of people to eat the flow of people, should be their basic interest ecology.

Of course, it is impossible for them to take these benefits for themselves.Their bosses, unscrupulous businessmen outside, even bandits and the four major tribes may all be beneficiaries of this chain of interests.

Rich products, fertile land, free labor, and the cost of feeding labor has been reduced to the limit, coupled with low administrative costs and low living costs.The salaries of officials and soldiers were also borne by the imperial court.

Just bring a dog to guard Bu Kui, and he can make money lying down, but he can even make money?It is simply the biggest joke in the world.

Who would believe that there is no massive, group-style corruption and fraud?

Zhong Ding was able to collude with the Iron Buddha Tribe, so what about the others?Haven't noticed Zhong Ding's behavior at all?

Can others not collude with other tribes?In Wulong Mountain at the foot of the Son of Heaven, both Ma Qiming and Chen Jiayin were able to collude with bandits.In Bukui, where the emperor is far away, no one can collude with bandits?

So many officers and soldiers are helpless against a group of bandits. Let them endanger them for so many years. Isn't it a replica of the scene of Lu Bawang in Wulongshan?

Now, winning Zhongding is a deterrent to them. What attitude will others take?
Zhao Dahai is currently watching, Feng Kui is watching, and Xu Mingtao is also watching.What are they waiting for?
What roles did Bu Kui's other two leading figures, Yang Lin and Wu Minqiu, play in this ice and snow drama?Are they innocent?What are they thinking right now?Are you watching too?
Are you waiting for some kind of external force to intervene?If yes, then who is this external force?

Is it just a flower?After all, she was just a bunch of bandits. If she wanted to control the big drama, her role would be too light.

The Zhong Ding was captured, important evidence was obtained, and a corner of the shady scene was solved.

However, this dark scene is a bit big.The depth and breadth involved are beyond imagination.

These evidences are actually a double-edged sword.A carelessness caused the forces behind Zhong Ding to counterattack, not only could not unravel the shady scene, but it might even involve myself in it.These people can do anything.

Alas, this time, it seems that there is another big trouble.

(End of this chapter)