For Qian Lei, the reason why he defected to Zhu Mingzhong was to survive and to be able to find a family background. When he came to Qinghe from Changzhou, as the General Office of the Military Payment Bureau, he was still in charge of the Military Payment Bureau, although he had not received a new dispatch, but on the other hand, he was appointed to take charge of Huai'an Prefecture and would have been refused. Since he had agreed, he would take the responsibility of how to manage the counties of Huai'an Prefecture well, as if he was a prefect, and all the local affairs were pressed on his shoulders.

He was born as a master and was good at local government affairs, and he was also concerned about everything in the directors. No matter how big or small the matter he handled was not orderly and properly posted, and there were so many ideas. In front of him, there was almost no difficult thing in this place.

Zhu Mingzhong breathed a sigh of relief when he had such a good helper in charge of the place. Because of this, in fact, he had assigned all local affairs to Qian Lei. It was under his control that the chaos in Jiangbei quickly passed, and replaced it with a new atmosphere of good dispatch and busyness without any chaos.

After Zhu Mingzhong returned to Qinghe from the salt farm, he immediately discovered that the Qinghe was different from when he left. Not only did he reproduce the prosperity of the past, but he also built a circle of earthen enclosures. Although it was not as good as the city wall, there were finally some guarantees for Qinghe, which had no city walls.

Zhu Mingzhong only saw this and remembered it in his heart. The reason why he hurried back to Qinghe from the salt farm was simple because the messenger sent by Zheng Chenggong brought a lot of good news, such as he was assigned as the "Jianghuai Strategic Envoy" and gave full authority to travel to Jiangbei. In addition, there were also rewards for military supplies, and the rewards were far greater than Zhu Mingzhong's imagination.

But in addition to the good news, there is also some bad news.

Of course, Zhu Mingzhong did not show any dissatisfaction in front of the envoy. It was not until the messenger left that Zhu Mingzhong said to everyone with some dissatisfaction:

"This time, basically, Nanjing has agreed to what we ask for, but..."

Zhu Mingzhong, who was sitting in his head, looked at Zhu Daxian, Shi Lei and Zhang Guojiu, Xu Youzheng, Qian Lei, Wu Pinya and others and said with some displeasure.

"Who is this extra Wu Weiye? The Salt Censor... He is targeting the salt tax in Yangzhou. So what should I do?"

Unlike usual, Zhu Mingzhong would naturally focus on Qian Lei and Wu Pinya. They may not be as talented as Zhu Daxian and Zhang Guojiu, but what are their biggest characteristics? Their official experience is good at dealing with such things.

After pondering for a moment, Qian Lei looked at Zhu Mingzhong and said:

"What the manager is worried about is exactly what the Xiaguan has considered in the past few days after the manager goes to the salt field. After thinking about it, the two Huai salt taxes are important to me and are equally important to Nanjing. If we intercept the salt tax, it will definitely cause Nanjing to be unhappy and don't be able to do so. If the manager intends to ease the relationship with the extension, the salt tax will have to be intervened."

Although it is well known that Zheng Chenggong's suppression of Zheng Leung was the reason why Zheng Leung almost went to the Northern Expedition alone, Zheng Leung was after all, and even if the current Jing Leung has already established himself in Jiangbei, it cannot change this fact. At most, it is just that compared to the past, there is a territory, so there is no need to worry about the suppression there.

But despite this, Zhu Mingzhong's official position was given by Zheng Chenggong. This existence made it impossible for him to change the identity of Zheng Chenggong's general unless one day he could receive the reward from the Yongli court and be on an equal footing with Zheng Chenggong. Before that, as his general, he had to accept his command.

"But if there is no salt tax, what else can Jiangbei have? How much can it be taken out based on local taxes?"

Zhu Mingzhong said with some regret. Although he knew very well that even when he arrived in Jiangbei, he would not be able to escape from Zheng Chenggong's shadow, but he did not expect that the shadow would come so quickly, almost like a shadow.

A salt inspector seems inconspicuous, but it means that Nanjing cannot ignore all the salt profits he earns. Nanjing has to share the money!

"If the strategy really doesn't work, then the salt tax will be divided into one point..."

Shi Lei raised his eyebrows suddenly and said coldly:

"How can it be enough based on salt tax alone? Seven or eight out of ten salt profits in the world belong to salt merchants, and the world's salt merchants also refer to Yangzhou as the richest man in Yangzhou, and Lu Miaotang should be recommended. Lu Miaotang's name is Nanlin. His father Lu Xing was the manager of the so-called "Eight Great Imperial Merchants" of the Qing emperors. He went out of the pass several times to trade with the Qing emperors and had a deep relationship with the Qing emperors. That year, when the Qing emperor went south to Jiangnan, he followed the Qing emperors all the way south, selling their food, grass, weapons, and the property they plundered along the way. Qinghe descended behind the enemy, and the Lianghuai salt farms were all occupied by the Qing emperors. His father Lu Xing proposed to resume salt production, so that the Lu family could intervene in Huai salt production. Later, Lu Xing died of illness, and Lu Miaotang was home to Yangzhou, but he was only interested in business. Over the past decade, the Lu family had saved millions of households, and he could get hundreds of thousands of yuan a year with only salt profits..."

"oh!"

Zhu Mingzhong shouted softly. Although he knew the wealth of the salt merchants before, he did not expect that the salt merchants' financial resources were so strong!

Millions of wealth!

This is just one of them!

"The second one is Wang Pingdu. He is the nephew of Wang Dayu, the "Eight Great Imperial Merchants" of the Qing Dynasty. In addition to operating salt goods, he also operates horses."

"Salt merchants still sell horses?"

Of course the answer is yes. Salt merchants cannot do without horses. As an imperial merchant, Wang Dayu can naturally trade horses from foreign trade to the south with the convenience of foreign trade.

"But Wang Pingdu became a salt merchant twelve years ago. Although he was not as good as the Lu family, the Wang family's property was at least two or three million. The third household was..."

Since coming to Jiangbei, Shi Lei, as the chief of military law, has been forming his Military Law Office on the one hand, and on the other hand, according to Zhu Mingzhong's instructions, established the Military Law Office Inspection Section, which is responsible for monitoring and collecting intelligence. The information of Yangzhou salt merchants was collected by the newly established Inspection Section.

When Shi Lei mentioned the identities and family business of these people, Zhu Daxian, Zhang Guojiu and others all looked at him. When they still felt a little strange, Qian Lei, who had copied the Yan family in Jiangyin, immediately understood the intention of the strategy.

"... There are also some small households that seem to be worth mentioning, but they also have a net worth of more than 100,000 or 200,000 yuan! Most of these salt merchants in Shaanxi and Shanxi have a deep relationship with the Qing emperor..."

Before Shi Lei could finish his words, Qian Lei, who had guessed the idea of ​​the strategy, immediately said sternly.

"Although these people are salt merchants, they are actually traitors. How can I tolerate such traitors in the Ming Dynasty, and how can I tolerate the money they earned by colluding with the Qing emperors to enjoy the precious glory in the world of my Ming Dynasty!"

Qian Lei's expression suddenly became ferocious.

"The traitors like this should not only kill them, but also scam their houses, lose their property, and collect their property, so as to use the people's fat and ointment they have taken to fight against the great cause of the Qing army!"

"This is a good idea."

Zhu Daxian touched the beard on his chin and said hesitantly,

"But if they were to confiscate their home like this, would there be any reaction in Nanjing?"

The reason why he did not respond was that Shi Lei emphasized in his previous words that the identities of these people were deeply connected with the Qing imperial merchants, more importantly, they were merchants from Shanxi, and in this room, no one had any relationship with them, so naturally no one spoke for them.

Even as people from Jiangnan, they died tragically under the sword of the Qing Dynasty because their relatives and friends were full of hostility towards the "traitors" who cooperated with the Qing Dynasty. It is precisely because of this that they did not mind chasing those people's homes. What's more, the search was to enrich the military supplies. If the money was enough, the people in Jiangnan could lose a little less burden. They naturally understood this principle.

"Reaction, what reaction? It's just a group of traitors! Who can still speak for traitors?"

Zhang Guojiu said coldly.

"Yushan said it, but it was just a group of traitors! What can't be copied?"

Seeing that everyone did not object to his proposal, Qian Lei thought for a moment. Suddenly, he looked at Zhu Mingzhong and said.

"If you can invite another person to participate, this matter will be easier."

"who?"

"Wu Weiye."

It was the new salt inspector, and Qian Lei's suggestion made Zhu Mingzhong's eyes lit up.

"He is from Nanjing. If he intervenes in the process and agrees to raid the house, Nanjing will naturally not be able to say anything about this matter."

But after thinking about it, Zhu Mingzhong shook his head and said.

"But if he intervenes, wouldn't it mean that Nanjing will intervene? The proceeds from the search of the house..."

"As long as he agrees, it will be done. As for how much you copy, isn't it our final say?"

Shi Lei sneered.

"Although the manager is relieved, the matter will naturally be arranged by the subordinates, but you cannot be too hasty about this matter! After all..."

He originally wanted to say that "the crime needs to be made true", but the tone suddenly changed.

"After all, we have not yet grasped the evidence that they are colluding with the Qing emperors. When the evidence is obtained, we will naturally not let them go!"

What is the evidence?

No one knows, and no one cares, but Shi Lei, as the chief of military law, knows very well that he must be impeccable in this matter. Only in this way can outsiders use this attack and strategy.

"Well, please give me four stones for this matter! As for the salt field..."

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Mingzhong nodded and said, despite being unwilling to do so.

"Just let Wu Weiye intervene for the time being. After all, now, another thing is more important,"

Looking at everyone, Zhu Mingzhong said in a deep voice.
Chapter completed!