The majestic sister-in-law of the Red Chamber

Hearing the words of Governor of Xuzhou, Situ Meng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. For him, this hour is like a year. It always feels that this short hour is as long as decades. Fortunately, he won the bet in the end.

"Well, tell me!" Situ Meng nodded and said, "What I can guarantee is that anyone in your family who has not participated in this private salt case will not be implicated in any way! Of course, absolutely not." Any accident will happen inexplicably!

If you are still worried, then I can completely change their identities and live in the Zhuangzi under my name.As for you, it depends on how valuable the information you have is. If the value is high enough, it might as well save your life!

But if it's not that important, and it's not enough to dig out the person behind the scenes, then you will be responsible for all the crimes of this private salt den discovered in Yunlong Lake!As for the final verdict, it depends on the Emperor's will! "

"Okay! As long as the prince can promise to keep the family of the lower official, the lower official will be grateful!" Xuzhou prefect paused and continued:

"Xiaguan has only one son in his life. He has been smart since he was a child, and he has been familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics. He has already obtained the fame of Juren before he is a weak crown. Originally, because he was too young, he was not allowed to participate in the last Chunwei Examination. I hope to participate next year, not to mention winning the championship, at least I can get a good ranking, I think because of the dismissal, he will never have the chance to take the imperial examination in his life..."

When Xuzhou Fu Yin said this, his face was full of remorse and helplessness, and tears flowed down his cheeks unconsciously. After a while, he wiped his tears with his sleeve, and continued:

"The lower official only asks the prince to give him a platform to perform, whether it is to become a teacher in an academy or a shopkeeper in a shop, in short, don't just waste it in the mountains and countryside for nothing..."

"That's no problem. After meeting your son, I can ask him for his personal opinion and give him a chance to show his ambition!" Situ Meng said without hesitation.

"Okay then, you can ask the prince what you want to know, I'm sure you'll know everything!" Xuzhou Fu Yin opened his eyes wide, looked at Situ Meng, and said solemnly.

"Then let's start with the chief executive of this private salt lair! What is his name? What is his origin and who is behind it?" Situ Meng asked coldly.

"Chief Manager?" Xuzhou Fuyin pondered for a moment, and said: "If I remember correctly, his real name is Zhen Er, and he is the younger brother of the chief manager of the Zhen family in Jiangning, Jinling Prefecture. Therefore, this private salt dealer The person behind it must be the Zhen family.

It's just that the Zhen family is very cautious in their actions. Even though I know that the chief executive is from the Zhen family, I don't have any evidence in my hand. Moreover, regarding this matter, I have always been in contact with Zhen Er alone, the rest of the Zhen family, not to mention the family, even the servants have never appeared! "

Speaking of this, the governor of Xuzhou smiled wryly. This is the sorrow of officials from poor families like them. Before Situ Meng could continue to ask questions, he said again: "The prince may find it strange, just because of such an inexplicable person, Whatever you say, you will believe it.

In fact, Xiaguan has no choice but to do so!Back in the day, when he was admitted as a Jinshi, he was a low-ranking official, and he was a big face for his family and clan.But since he sent an official to take office, he has run into obstacles everywhere and everything has been blocked.

At the beginning, Xiaguan was dispatched as the county magistrate of Huai'an. When I arrived there excitedly with my family, I wanted to use what I had learned all my life to show my ambition.However, the reality gave me a heavy blow.

In the county government, whether it is the county magistrate and edict of the eighth rank, or the master book, history, and patrol inspection of the ninth rank, even the scribes and government servants without rank, they are all obedient to the magistrate, the magistrate. Respect the official everywhere, in fact, as long as the government orders are not in their favor, they will never be able to reach the people!

Don't be afraid of the prince's jokes, the county magistrate at the time was just a decoration, not to mention these small officials, even the wealthy businessmen in the city are superficially respectful to this official, but in fact they don't care!

After all, almost all the people who settled there were vassals of aristocratic families. Even low-status businessmen were not afraid of Xiaguan, a mere seventh-rank county magistrate who had no background in the court.

Even so, there are quite a lot of filial piety they give to subordinate officials every year. In Huai'an County, there is almost no official salt but private salt being sold. This official has actually reported to the above before.

However, not only did he not get any reply, but he was severely reprimanded by his boss. He was given a bad grade in the evaluation of the year, and was almost dismissed directly!

It was at this time that Zhen Er suddenly approached Xiaguan in the name of a salt merchant, and offered to cooperate. He said that he could help me get promoted and make a fortune, and I don’t need to do anything else, as long as they sell goods to them within the jurisdiction. It is good to turn a blind eye to the matter of selling illegal salt. If the imperial envoy is sent to investigate, I need to come forward to deal with it, and he will give me 1 taels of silver every year as a reward.

Under the circumstances at that time, this was almost my only life-saving straw, and I couldn't help but refuse to agree. So, in the second year, I became the sixth-rank governor of Xuzhou.

In the later contacts, he slowly revealed some news to me. It was only at that time that I found out that they actually got the salt from the Xunyan Yushi. It was packaged and sold as private salt. I couldn't even imagine the huge amount of personnel and materials used in it.

That is, in a party with Zhen Er, he accidentally got drunk, and then he told me in detail about the behind-the-scenes of this private salt sale in a show-off manner.

Among the four kings with different surnames, there is only a pair of orphans and widows in the Beijing Palace now, and the new Beijing King Shui Rong is just a kid in his teens. In the capital, be a rich and idle person.This kind of profit sharing is definitely not their share.

The other three kings of different surnames who hold heavy troops each have a share. They sent side branches or subordinates to claim the name of salt merchants to obtain a certain share of salt from the Xunyan Yushifu, and then the Cao Gang or the Shen family and Xue The caravan of each family is responsible for transporting them to their respective territories.

There, they packaged most of the official salt as private salt and sold it in the grain shops under Shen's family, Xue's family or their own names, so as to make huge profits.

Eight Dukes and the four families of King Jia Shixue of Jinling were also involved. As far as I know, among the Eight Dukes, at least Li Guogong and Qi Guogong were definitely involved.

The four major families in Jinling, because the center of gravity of the three families of Jia, Wang and Shi have all shifted to the capital, and the death of Rong Guogong Jia Daishan, none of the sons are worthwhile, and the death of the older generation of the Wang family has also greatly weakened them. The influence in it, so it should not be eligible to participate.

Both the historian and the Xue family are deeply involved, not to mention others, even Bi Guocai, the garrison general of the Xuzhou mansion, is the son-in-law of the historian, otherwise, this private salt warehouse would not have been built in Yulong Lake up!

As for the Shen family, which is known as the No. [-] royal merchant in Dayong, there is no need to mention them and the Xue family from the beginning to the end. After all, this huge profit chain of private salt sales almost depends on the two Homes are connected together!

On the contrary, what role does the Zhen family play in it, I have never figured it out.Let’s say they control the dominance, but it’s not like that, just like the warehouse in Yunlong Lake, they are only in charge of repackaging, they are neither involved in transportation nor sales, but they are the most important and inescapable The missing link! "

"Then do you know how many such transit warehouses there are in Jiangnan?" Situ Meng continued to ask.

Governor of Xuzhou shook his head lightly, and said: "I don't know about this official, but I guess there must be one in Taihu Lake! And it's definitely much bigger than this one in Yulong Lake!"

"Oh? How do you say that?" Situ Meng's eyes lit up and he asked.

"Hehe..." The governor of Xuzhou gave a wry smile, and continued: "The main way to transport official salt is the canal. After coming out of Yangzhou, isn't the nearest waterway directly connected to Taihu Lake? Moreover, there are many islands in Taihu Lake. The headquarters of the gang is built there, and there are many water bandits who often appear there, it is definitely a good place to hide!

Prince, don't forget that the current head of the Zhen family is Jiangning Weaving. Although he is only a fifth-rank, he is the second-rank Marquis of Cheng En conferred by the Supreme Emperor himself.The whole of Jiangnan has almost become his Zhen family's monopoly!What is a mere Taihu Lake!

Moreover, the members of the Zhen family don't need to come forward in person at all, just like this Zhen Er, get a person in charge, and let him handle it with full authority. He is the Zhen family! "

Situ Meng and Lin Tian looked at each other, and continued to ask: "Apart from these news, is it possible that Mr. Fu Yin doesn't even have any real evidence in his hands? If that's the case, then forgive me for being helpless. I can't do anything because of you." Just a few words from the governor of Xuzhou, so you can casually suspect Wang and Duke Hou of a different surname?"

"Hehe..." Xuzhou Governor Yin laughed twice, and said: "The lower officials do have some evidence of their passing and traveling to and from Xuzhou City, including the time of each entry and exit, and the proof of goods entering and exiting, especially the Shen and Xue families. Some specific account books such as the sales volume of the company under the name in Xuzhou City!"

"Oh!" After hearing his words, Situ Meng's eyes lit up.

With these, although he can't move to Wang and those dukes with different surnames for the time being, he can properly rectify companies like Shen's family and Xue's family!

As long as the shops that sell private salt under their name are vigorously cracked down on, and Lin Ruhai takes good control of the source of official salt, then the number of illegal sales of official salt can be greatly reduced, and more people can eat it. Salt on par.

Thinking of this, Situ Meng's heart felt hot.