Early the next morning, Chen Qing came to the official room. As soon as he sat down, he ordered Chao Qing to invite Zhao Kai.
After taking a sip of tea, Chen Qing took out the letter written by Zhong Huan and read it carefully. Many of the messages came from his father Zhong Hong, which made Chen Qing hear the name Sichuan Li Sect for the first time.
At this time, Zhao Kai walked in quickly and said with a smile: "The prince is looking for me?"
When Chen Qing met Zhao Kai in Sichuan, he was not in good health, and it seemed that he would not live for a few more years. But after arriving in Jingzhao, his health got better and better. Not only was he full of energy, but he also walked vigorously.
, completely like a changed person.
Zhao Kai is currently in charge of finance, taxation and material circulation. He is indispensable for the smooth flow of money in Sichuan and Shaanxi.
Chen Qing asked Zhao Kai to sit down, then asked the tea boy to serve tea, and asked: "What does Counselor Zhao think of Li Yi's assassination?"
Zhao Kai's eyes darkened, and he said in a deep voice for a long time: "It can only be said that these people have gone crazy for profit."
"Who are these people, the Chuanli faction?"
Zhao Kai nodded and said: "The prince also knows about the Sichuan Li faction. Yes, it's them. He claims to be a royalist and supports the court. It's just that the court can't control them and allows them to grab too much benefit. I'm in Sichuan as a transshipment
So, I spent most of my time fighting them.”
"Is it so cruel? Assassination was used."
Zhao Kai sighed and said, "There is a salt inspection office below the transfer envoy. There are ten officials in it, nine of whom died unexpectedly. The battle for salt interests in Bashu and the county king has always been a matter of life and death, and no matter what the means, Li Yi was assassinated for this reason."
"So sure?"
Zhao Kai nodded, "If the government gets all the salt tax in Sichuan, it should be more than 3 million guan every year, but in fact we only get 2.4 million guan every year, but last year the salt tax dropped sharply to 600,000 guan.
It can be seen that illicit salt is rampant. At the beginning of the year, the Internal Affairs Bureau deployed various states in Sichuan to crack down on illicit salt. Basically, the thunder was loud but the rain was small. Only the Chengdu government was serious about it. It has hanged more than a dozen salt lords in succession. I am very worried about Li Yi.
He was safe, and I even wrote to him specifically, but I didn’t expect that he would be assassinated so soon.”
"Is there any other way besides attacking the salt owl?"
Zhao Kai gave a wry smile, "Sichuan's financial and tax interests are like a pie, and it's just such a big piece. The government takes the big part, and the local gentry can only take the small part. This cannot be reconciled, unless the two families work together to deceive the people."
"So the two sides can only fight head-on!"
"This is inevitable. Your Majesty, please forgive me. Even the civil servants know that you will die or I will live. That's why Li Yi was assassinated, but the Prince behaved so hesitantly. It shouldn't be!"
Chen Qing said calmly: "I am actually considering whether to use this matter to eradicate the royalists together."
Zhao Kai thought for a while and said: "If this is the case, the commotion is too big. I suggest that we deal with it together, but the final result will be different. If there is no harm to the people, just move them out of Sichuan."
Chen Qing nodded, "He needs to get accurate information about Bashu before he can take action."
After Zhong Huan encountered threats, he asked Zheng Ping for help and sent his parents to Hanzhong overnight to avoid trouble. Zheng Ping gave him another 500 elite soldiers, plus 20 of his own subordinates. Zhong Huan once again had strong soldiers and horses.
Continue to investigate the murder of Li Yi.
In fact, there are still many clues in Li Yi's investigation. First of all, it is related to his attack on salt lords. All parts of Bashu and Shu were fighting against salt lords, but basically the thunder was loud and the rain was light. Only Li Yi took action and killed ten people.
Several salt lords effectively suppressed the rampant private salt sales in Chengdu Prefecture.
But Yan Xiao is actually a lackey of the Chuanli faction. In the final analysis, the root cause lies with the Chuanli faction. He needs to understand the specific situation of the Chuanli faction.
That day at the government office, Zhong Huan got an important piece of information. Li Yi's aide Lu Chuan disappeared immediately after Li Yi was assassinated. This Lu Chuan had a lot of important information. He might have been bribed by the other party, but he might also be afraid to abscond.
.
At night, Zhong Huan summarizes the investigation in the past two days in his room. This is a good habit of his. Every two days, he should record everything big and small to avoid forgetting. And every time he summarizes, he will have something new.
discovery.
No, he suddenly discovered the problem of poisonous arrows. The poisonous arrow that shot Li Yi was exactly the same as the poisonous arrow that warned him. This meant that the other party did not completely evacuate Chengdu after assassinating Li Yi, but continued to monitor them.
How do you know you've arrived?
Zhong Huan tried hard to recall the situation at that time. After they entered the city, they immediately went to find Zheng Ping and then stayed at the inn. Han Zhengfu took the people south overnight and returned home at night without even going out for shopping.
"Inn!"
The thought flashed across Zhong Huan's mind like a flash of lightning. There must be someone spying on the other party in the inn.
There were not many people in the inn. There was one steward, two deputy stewards, and then a few waiters, grooms, and chefs. The lower level had little to do with him. Zhong Huan targeted the deputy steward who was responsible for receiving them. This person was called
Li Jin.
Should we arrest him directly?
Zhong Huan thought about it and decided not to alert the snake, but to observe it for a while first.
Zhong Huan immediately arranged for two men with strong martial arts skills to monitor Li Jin.
Early the next morning, as soon as Zhong Huan went out and mounted his horse, a little beggar slipped over quietly, gave him a note with a smile, and quickly ran away again.
Zhong Huan opened the note, and there was only one sentence on it, 'See you at Wangsi Tea House soon.'
Zhong Huan had lived in Chengdu for ten years, and of course he knew where Wang's Teahouse was. He urged his horse and led a few of his men to walk calmly in the direction of Shuixian Bridge.
Wangsi Tea House is under the Narcissus Bridge, very close to where Li Yi was stabbed.
In the morning, the teahouse was open for business, but there were not many customers. As soon as he walked into the door of the teahouse, a waiter came up to him and said, "But Mr. Zhong?"
Zhong Huan nodded, "Is anyone waiting for me?"
"Exactly, please follow the villain's direction."
Zhong Huan asked his men to drink tea in the lobby. He followed the men to the second floor, pushed the door into a private room, and saw a very elegant middle-aged man sitting inside.
"You must be Mr. Lu!" Zhong Huan said with a slight smile.
The middle-aged man gave a thumbs up and praised: "You are worthy of being an internal guard, I'm in Lu Chuan!"
"I'm thinking that if Mr. Lu is not the other party's person, then he should show up in the next two days."
Lu Chuan sighed, "How could I be theirs? They are chasing me everywhere."
"Why?"
"Because I know too much. To be precise, Prefect Li knows too much."
The two sat down and each poured a cup of tea.
Lu Chuan sighed and said: "Prefect Li actually died because of his balance. For so many years, he has been trying to balance the interests of several parties. He wants to ensure the finances and taxes of the Western Army, but does not want to overly exploit the interests of the local gentry.
He repeatedly warned the local gentry that enough was enough, otherwise he would take action. His warnings have always been effective, but the warnings have become ineffective since last year. Last year, they were selling illegal salt like crazy, and the salt tax in Chengdu Prefecture alone was reduced by 90%.
It's similar in other places, so this year Magistrate Li started to severely crack down on salt lords, which can be regarded as a complete rebellion.
Just five days ago, he received a warning letter. Someone warned him not to execute the salt lord Wang Jian, otherwise he would definitely trade his life for his life. However, Magistrate Li was not moved at all and hanged Wang Jian in public the next day.
."
"Who is this Wang Jian?"
"He is the nephew of Dongyuan, the scholar king of Guozhou."
"Who is this Wang Dongyuan?" Zhong Huan asked.
"He is one of the three leaders of the Sichuan Li faction."
Zhong Huan was overjoyed, "Who is there in the Sichuan Li faction that you actually know about?"
Lu Chuan smiled bitterly and said: "How could I not know that Magistrate Li has been dealing with them and sent me to negotiate with them, Wang Dongyuan of Guozhou, Li Jinxiao of Hezhou, and Zhang Jian of Chongqing."
"What is the relationship between Hezhou Governor Wu Miao and Changzhou Governor He Qiangong and them?"
"Hezhou Governor Wu Miao is Li Jinxiao's son-in-law, and Changzhou Governor He Qiangong is sponsored by the Zhang family of Chongqing Prefecture."
Lu Chuan took out a thick piece of information and handed it to Zhong Huan, "This is the information I have collected from dealing with them over the years. It will definitely be useful to you, but I remind you that it is best to leave Chengdu Prefecture first or hide in the military camp.
"
Zhong Huan took the information and asked in confusion: "Why?"
"Because they have deployed at least several thousand people in Chengdu Prefecture. I guess they are going to rebel. They have set up a dragnet in Chengdu, including the inn where you live. Alas! It was all connived by Governor Li's balancing strategy. He
If I get stabbed, I will run away."
"Why don't you, Mr. Lu, come with me to the military camp? Maybe the prince wants to see you."
Lu Chuan's eyes lit up, "Is the prince coming over?"
"I'm not sure, but from what General Zheng said, it's possible."
Lu Chuan thought for a moment and nodded resolutely, "Okay! I'll go with you."
