Chapter 69: The wind and snow are fierce, shaking the mountains

There are three salt tax transport offices in Lianghuai, namely Taizhou, Huai'an and Tongzhou.

Each transport branch has about ten salt fields under it.

While Hai Rui was attracting attention in Huai'an Prefecture, Chen Dong was secretly checking the salt warehouses and salt fields in Taizhou Prefecture.

Taizhou is only about 300 miles away from Huai'an. Chen Dong and his party got off the boat at Guangling Ferry in Yangzhou Prefecture and headed straight for the Taizhou Salt Transport Office.

Southern Zhili is mostly plains, and the official road between Yangzhou Guangling and Taizhou is even smoother.

After the group requisitioned all the horses at the ferry, a hundred elite soldiers led the way.

The rest of them travelled light and walked. When they passed by an official post station, they requisitioned horses as soon as they saw them and followed closely behind.

Chen Dong was a civil official and did not know how to ride a horse, so he had to ride the same horse with Jiao Ze.

In order not to waste time, he asked Jiao Ze to tie him to the horse's back.

Jiao Ze hesitated for a while, but finally agreed after Chen Dong insisted.

It is now the twelfth lunar month and the weather is freezing cold. Although southern Zhili is not as cold as the north, the biting cold wind is still strong.

Chen Dong was tied to the horse's back, feeling the bumpy ride and the chill that scraped his bones, and he almost fainted.

He had no idea how much time had passed while on horseback.

Finally, the horses stopped running and they entered Taizhou, so they took a short break.

Chen Dong forced himself to stay alert and said to Jiao Ze, "Deputy General Jiao, take your men with me to the Taizhou Salt Transport Office!"

"There are still ten salt fields that need to be looked after, especially the Fu'an Salt Field, Dongtai Salt Field, and Anfeng Salt Field. Not a single grain of salt can be let go without me!"

Although the deputy general was of the second rank, he was still a military rank after all. Chen Dong's politeness and courtesy were limited, so he gave orders directly.

Jiao Ze was not surprised by his high position, so he immediately gave orders and left a few trusted men behind to inform the guards at the rear.

After making the arrangements, he looked at the fourth-rank Dali Temple Shaoqing and said, "Shaoqing Chen, are you in the way?"

Chen Dong gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go! There are only twenty miles left, hurry up!"

It has to be quick and unexpected.

Otherwise, if some people were given time to prepare, the salt warehouse would probably catch fire.

Jiao Ze also admired the civil official in front of him.

In order to seize the opportunity, they are willing to be tied up and walked. This kind of civil official is much better than those lowly scholars who hide in the carriage and point fingers.

He tied Chen Dong up again, held him between his legs, and galloped away.

The sky is cold and the earth is cracked.

The deputy general, holding the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, rode his horse into the snowstorm.

……

Half an hour later, Fu'an Salt Field.

Click.

The front door of the Fu'anchang Salt Tax Office was violently smashed open.

The wind and snow poured in.

Upon seeing this, the chief officer immediately stepped forward and shouted, "How dare the bandits be so bold! How dare they rob the government office!"

The leading officer held the man down and looked around.

Seeing that the situation was under control, he shouted loudly: "I am dispatched by Hai Rui, the governor of Lianghuai Salt Tax and the deputy censor-in-chief! Inspect the salt fields in Taizhou!"

"Before Dali Temple Junior Official Chen Dong arrives here, all officials must stand by and wait for orders!"

As he spoke, he saw a sly-looking clerk quietly moving back.

The captain picked up the steel knife from his waist, grasped the handle and smashed it hard.

The clerk immediately fell to the ground, wailing.

All the officials glared at him angrily.

The Qian Hu official seemed oblivious and shouted, "If you do it again... the higher-ups have issued an order that all of you low-ranking officials will be killed!"

The officials all shuddered.

He didn't dare to look at the official anymore and lowered his head to exchange glances secretly.

After the captain subdued all the officials, nearly a hundred elite soldiers were also stationed in various places to keep an eye on the salt workers and laborers.

Dongtai Salt Field, Anfeng Salt Field and other salt fields were almost identical and were gradually brought under control.

at the same time.

Taizhou Salt Transport Commissioner's Office.

Chen Dong leaned against the wall and vomited for a while.

Under Jiao Ze's concerned gaze, he put on his clothes again and wiped the stains from the corners of his mouth with the sleeves of his scarlet robe.

His eyes were slightly fierce: "Go! Go in!"

The soldiers had already rushed in and controlled the situation. Chen Dong held his head high and strode into the Taizhou Salt Transport Commissioner's office.

"I am the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, investigating the corruption case of Wang Ruyan, the Transport Commissioner of Lianghuai. Who is the chief officer here?"

Chen Dong was already morbidly thin, and after being bitten by the biting cold wind, his face looked even more hideous.

In one sentence, it was like exhaling all the cold air along the way.

Upon hearing this, many officials looked at a short and fat official.

The man, who had a big belly, sat upright on the main seat in the office. He showed no fear when seeing this: "I am Chang Ke, the deputy judge of the Taizhou Transportation Branch."

Chen Dong nodded and said to a captain, "Take this man and the bookkeeper with you and follow me to the salt warehouse!"

After saying that, he turned and walked out.

Chang Ke glared at the soldier who wanted to arrest him and said, "How dare you! I am not guilty of a crime and I will not allow you to humiliate me. Get out of the way. I will leave on my own!"

After saying this, he lifted the hem of his official robe and walked down from the courtroom with steady steps.

The fat body followed Chen Dong calmly.

The two men walked one in front and one behind, and were followed by soldiers and bookkeepers on both sides.

Without even turning his head, Chen Dong said in a cold voice, "According to the testimonies of Xu Fuyuan and Wang Ruyan, the Lianghuai salt warehouse has been emptied out. Deputy Judge Chang, is this true?"

Chang Ke shook his head: "Wang Ruyan and Xu Fuyuan have always had a grudge against each other. Maybe it's just an ordinary officialdom struggle and a smear campaign."

Chen Dong did not comment: "According to regulations, the salt warehouses in Lianghuai should store 210,000 yin of salt. How much should the salt warehouse in Taizhou store according to regulations?"

Chang Ke blurted out: "Two hundred and one thousand yin in Lianghuai, seventy thousand in Huai'an, fifty thousand in Tongzhou, and ninety thousand in Taizhou."

Chen Dong's energy recovered a little, and his steps became faster and faster.

Soldiers along the way lit torches.

Snowflakes began to float in the sky, landing on everyone's official robes.

Chen Dong, along with the deputy judge and the clerk, came to the salt warehouse of Taizhou Transportation Bureau. There were eleven large warehouses in total, named after the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

The door was closed and fastened with an iron chain, with a seal on it that read "Taizhou Transport Bureau's Salt Storage".

Chen Dong brushed the seal with his hand and said, "Deputy Judge Chang, do these eleven warehouses have 90,000 yuan?"

Ninety thousand yin is equivalent to 18 million jin, but according to Xu Fuyuan, it is probably only 20,000 yin. If there is such a big difference, it can be seen with the naked eye.

Chang Ke chuckled and said, "Chen Shaoqing is here to investigate the case. I am a suspect, so my words don't count. Chen Shaoqing is so capable, you might as well see for yourself."

His tone was extremely frivolous, and he patted his belly twice, making muffled sounds.

Chen Dong frowned and turned to look at Chang Ke.

The latter was not afraid.

Chen Dong took a deep breath slowly, and in front of everyone's astonished gaze, he snatched the sword from the thousand-household official next to him and put it on Chang Ke's neck.

His eyes were like dancing flames as he stared at Chang Ke.

He said coldly: "If I kill you now, I can only go back to fill in the paperwork and stamp it. Do you believe it?"

The incident happened suddenly. Chang Ke looked at the skinny face and the rebellious eyes, feeling the coldness on his neck. Unconsciously, his crotch became slightly wet.

Chen Dong stretched out his hand to fan away the stink, threw the knife back to the Qianhu official, and instructed: "If this man pretends to be arrogant again, stab him in the chest."

After saying that, he looked at Jiao Ze and nodded.

"Open the position."

Jiao Ze accepted the order.

There was a sound of chains being pulled apart.

Several centurions pushed open the door of the salt warehouse at the same time.

creak.

creak.

The door seemed to have not been opened for years, and it made a wheezing and wailing sound.

Although it was late at night, when the door of the salt warehouse was opened, it was like the light of day suddenly breaking through, and the moonlight poured down inside and outside the salt warehouse.

The moonlight is selfless.

It reflected the pure white of the snow in the sky, as well as Chen Dong's astonished expression and Chang Ke's pride.

It also reflects eleven salt warehouses that are full to the brim!
What deficit? It’s clearly a full warehouse!
Chen Dong paced back and forth in a salt warehouse in disbelief.

Jiao Ze said nothing, drew out his steel knife, and stabbed the salt bags together with the soldiers.

When a white knife goes in, it brings out grains of salt.

The two looked at each other and shook their heads with unpleasant expressions.

Chang Ke's untimely voice sounded again: "Sir, please check the number of 90,000 salt vouchers."

Chen Dong remained silent.

The regulation for salt warehouses is 10,000 jin. If eleven salt warehouses are full, that means there are 110,000 jin!

There are still more!
The 90,000 yuan gap was filled in less than a month...

No, not even a month.

From the time Hai Rui planned to go south to the time Nanzhili received the news, there were probably only twenty days of preparation time!
Even if we buy it back from the salt merchants, it won’t be possible so quickly—the salt merchants can store 18 million kilograms of salt! ?

Chen Dong suddenly raised his head, staring at Chang Ke and the accountant behind him, and asked, "Where is the account book? Bring it up!" Chang Ke pursed his lips and said, "Chen Shaoqing, it was winter and there was a fire a few days ago, and the account book was accidentally burned."

Before Chen Dong could speak, Jiao Ze beside him flew into a rage: "You son of a bitch, aren't you afraid of death!"

Chang Ke frowned and looked at Jiao Ze, scolding him, "This military officer, be careful with your words. Losing the account book is a dereliction of duty, and the punishment is only a demotion of one rank. Why are you calling for war and killing?"

"Besides, it's not your turn as a mere general to take charge of this matter."

After he scolded Jiao Ze, he looked at Chen Dong again: "Chen Shaoqing, do you want me to take you around again?"

Chen Dong slowly raised his head and stared at Chang Ke until Chang Ke felt a little uncomfortable.

At this moment, a captain suddenly rode in on horseback.

Everyone looked around.

The captain looked anxious. He jumped off the horse before it stopped and fell, tumbling and crawling, leaving him with a lot of skin wounds.

The voice was anxious: "Shaoqing! General Jiao! Xiaohai Salt Field, Caoyan Salt Field, Dingxi Salt Field and other three places are on fire!"

Jiao Ze's face changed drastically.

Chen Dong was shocked, but finally realized where the salt in the salt warehouse came from!

I'm afraid it's the salt that came out this year!
Burnt an empty frame! Put the salt that was originally to be sold into the warehouse to fill the salt warehouse!

Sure enough, the fire broke out. He and Hai Rui made a feint to the east and attacked in the west, working day and night, but they were still one step too late!
Chang Ke seemed unaware of this and his expression changed slightly.

Then he said sincerely, "Chen Shaoqing, hurry up, let's go put out the fire!"

After saying that, his big belly twitched twice, and it was obvious that he was trying to hold back his laughter.

Jiao Ze clenched his fists, afraid that he would not be able to control himself and take action.

Turn away and don't look at the disgusting look of the deputy judge of the Transportation Department.

He was about to answer Chen Dong and ask what to do next.

Suddenly, Chen Dong stretched out his hand and grabbed the steel knife at his waist.

Jiao Ze subconsciously wanted to hold it down, but then something suddenly occurred to him and he involuntarily let go of his hand.

There was no expression on Chen Dong's skinny face, and he pulled out Jiao Ze's steel knife.

With Chang Ke's stunned look on his face, he slowly and forcefully inserted it into his waist.

A snowflake floated into Chen Dong's eyes. He blinked hard and looked at Chang Ke.

Chang Ke's throat made a hoarse sound and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

Chen Dong turned the steel knife in his hand vigorously and pushed it in half an inch.

He spat out a word from between his teeth: "I told you that you are just a lowly seventh-rank official. If I want to kill you, the most I can do is to issue a written document. Why don't you believe me?"

In full view of the public, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple actually killed a seventh-rank deputy judge with his own hands!

Everyone looked horrified.

Chen Dong was completely unaware. He let go of his hand after he finished speaking, grabbed the clothes of the bookkeeper next to him, and wiped the blood off his hands.

He did not forget his business and said to Jiao Ze: "I am going to the government office now. Please ask Deputy General Jiao to bring the ambassadors of the various salt fields."

Then he looked at the trembling accountant and said gently, "Accountant, please call all the salt merchants who transport Taizhou salt."

The clerk's teeth chattered: "Ah...ah?"

Chen Dong ignored him and walked straight back to the office, followed by Jiao Ze.

The heavy snow dyed Chen Dong's official robe white, with red and white mixed together, leaving only his back.

Half an hour passed.

The bookkeeper shuddered and finally dared to lower his head to take a look.

There was only a mess on the ground.

The deputy judge had his eyes wide open, his hands covering the blade that was biting deep into his chest, and his whole body was twitching.

The bookkeeper finally woke up from his dream.

He came to his senses and grabbed his deputy's sleeve.

With a ferocious look on his face, he roared, "Go! Call the salt merchant! Call the salt merchant!"

He looked at the blood on the ground again, and a sentence jumped into his mind... It was a murderous night with wind, snow and cruelty.

……

At noon the next day, Nanzhili, Yingtian Prefecture.

If one were to ask which mansion in Nanzhili was the most beautiful, people of the time could only reply that each had its own merits.

But when it comes to elegance and luxury, the Duke of Wei’s Mansion must be the best.

This garden, which later became the first garden in Jinling, is now undoubtedly the first prefecture in Nanzhili.

Although it does not occupy a large area, it is extremely valuable after all because it is blessed by the old palace of Taizu and the residence of King Zhongshan.

The Duke of Wei's Mansion faces south and covers an area of ​​more than 30 acres, with green plants, water courtyards, rockery and everything else.

A couplet in front of the door, "Full of Jinling wine, autumn wind and the sound of Huai River", shows that Duke Wei only cares about love and has no intention of interfering in state affairs.

Because of this, any official who wanted to come here to pay a visit was stopped at this threshold.

At this time, the heavy snow after a night of heavy snow finally stopped, leaving only the sky a little dark. The snow on the ground had been shoveled clean by the servants.

An old man was fiddling with a rockery in the back garden. The rockery was called "Xianren Peak" and was a whole piece of Taihu stone, carved into the shape of an immortal by a craftsman.

The maid was kneeling behind him, making tea for the old man.

Just at this moment, the butler slowly approached, bowed and waited.

The old man waved his hand and the maids retreated.

The butler then spoke up, "Master, the prince went to Huai'an Prefecture and was detained by Hai Rui."

The old man continued to quietly fiddle with the gravel on the rockery without saying a word.

The butler continued, "Hai Rui said that the prince spied on the imperial envoy's secrets and should be tattooed and exiled according to the law."

"Traveling with the prince were Zhang Huan, the Imperial Secretary, the younger brother of the Earl of Xuancheng, the brother-in-law of Wan Hao, the chief academic officer of the Nanjing Imperial College, and about seven or eight other people."

The old man still turned a deaf ear.

The housekeeper continued, "In addition, Chen Dong went to Taizhou Prefecture last night and took control of the Transportation Department and several salt fields. During this time, the Deputy Judge of the Transportation Department, Chang Ke, was imprisoned for burning files, but... I heard that he is actually dead."

"In the early morning, Hai Rui and Chen Dong began to meet with salt merchants. As for what the meeting was about, the details will not be known until the evening."

After the old man fiddled with the last stone, there was finally some movement.

He clapped his hands, admiring his masterpiece.

He picked up the teapot and drank directly from it, taking a big gulp, chewing the peony like a cow, and took advantage of the break to casually ask, "Who asked the prince to go?"

The housekeeper bowed and said, "The uncles and elders from each branch of the family came to see you before, but you didn't respond and went to see the prince."

The result is self-evident. Naturally, it is the young boy who is easy to provoke.

The old man cursed: "These old immortals, after eating and using them, they still want people to die!"

"How long have I been released from the capital? I just got some fun and you want me to take the blame."

"This title is for them!"

The housekeeper didn't dare to answer the call.

The old man turned around and told the housekeeper, "Go, tell each room that you can let me take care of this matter, but you have to hand in your account books and return all the things you collected behind my back! Otherwise, there's no way!"

The butler bowed and responded, indicating that he understood.

The old man cursed and calmed down.

After venting your anger, you naturally have to plan for the real thing.

Although Hai Rui came to inspect the salt this time not to target anyone, they, as tall people, naturally had to take the lead.

However, all the efforts to negotiate were in vain, just like flirting with a blind man.

Now that we have begun to control the salt fields and contact the salt merchants, we can no longer rely on luck.

Duke of Wei Xu Bangrui stroked his beard for a while and said, "I will write a few letters later. You can send them to Xu Jie, Li Chunfang, and the people of Xuancheng Bo."

"Tell them another message, saying... this time the people here have bad intentions, so why not let Liangcheng go, and let Wan Hao handle this case!"

The housekeeper waited for the old man to finish speaking, then asked, "What about the prince?"

Xu Bangrui finally couldn't hold back his anger and yelled, "Wan Hao is the chief priest of the Imperial College, a fourth-rank official! Isn't that enough to establish authority with the cabinet and Hai Rui?!"

"If you still shamelessly hold him hostage, don't blame me for personally smashing his ceremonial guard of honor!"

"A bunch of idiots."

Xu Bangrui started cursing and was about to drive the person away.

Suddenly he remembered something, called him back, and said, "Oh, and the Minister of Finance Cao Bangfu, tell him..."

"Didn't that eunuch Zhang Jing come to take office with several hundred people from the Imperial Stables?"

"Don't give him money, let him ask Wang Zongmu for it! He has plenty of food."

A cold look flashed across Xu Bangrui's eyes.

Now the Cabinet is really too disrespectful. It wants Nanzhili to make concessions, but it insists on sending an imperial envoy to embarrass it.

Are we not taking these people seriously enough?

Hai Rui, a mere figure, couldn't even deal with Xu Jie at the beginning.

There are more than two or three Xu Jie involved in the Lianghuai salt administration issue now.

A mere fourth-rank Censor-in-Chief, no matter how impartial and just he was, could not only punish all these people, but he also had to perform formalities when meeting them.

And still punishing? Humph... Forget about Hai Rui, even if Zhang Juzheng comes in person, let's see if he dares to take action.

The 20% profit this time is already a big concession. If you are not willing, don't blame us for our thunderous measures.

Xu Bangrui looked up at the dark sky.

The storm is coming - these four words come to mind.

Then he shook his head again. In Nanzhili, only the super-class people could call the wind and rain, and it was not Hai Rui's turn yet!
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(End of this chapter)