"Either way, Jiang is old and spicy. The old lady is really a genius."
Zhu Wanjian was thinking about this matter on his way to the county government office to consult with the magistrate.
When the Zhu family entered the county government office, they did not need to submit greeting cards. They just said hello to the concierge and then went directly to the side room to wait. Not long after, Shenli, the magistrate of Changshou County, came to see them.
"Master Zhu, what brought you here?"
When Shen Li saw Zhu Wanjian, he suddenly felt a headache.
Previously, Zhu Wanjian came to report his younger brothers and sisters, intending to seize the property of the orphans of loyal ministers and martyrs. Although Shen Li sent out yamen to assist, he felt very disgusted... For a local official like him who was born as a Jinshi, official reputation is more important than anything else. Although it is a farce
It ended in a hurry, but he always had a grudge.
Zhu Wanjian looked arrogant: "Zhixian Shen, let's be clear first. I'm here to give you a future. It depends on whether you want it or not."
Shen Li frowned.
Shen Li was a Jinshi in the sixth year of Zhengde.
Generally, those who are born as Jinshi will either stay in Beijing to observe the six ministries of government, and be promoted to Beijing officials after the period of observing government, or they will be sent to the local supervisory censors to practice for a few years and have a bright official career. After all, there were only 300 Jinshis in the three years of the Ming Dynasty. Even if they were born with the same Jinshi.
That is also the meat and potatoes of officialdom.
The strange thing is that Shen Li is from Pingliang Prefecture, Shaanxi Province.
The great eunuch Liu Jin was also from Shaanxi. After the fall of Liu Jin in the fifth year of Zhengde, the Jinshi from Shaanxi who were selected by the imperial court in recent years were in bad luck, and none of them had a good future. As a fellow Jinshi, Shen Li waited for two full years.
He was released from the post of magistrate of Changshou County, Fuguo County, Anlu Prefecture.
"Second Master Zhu, please don't laugh at my official words, just explain your intention directly." Shen Li said with a cold face.
Zhu Wanjian smiled brightly: "County Magistrate Shen, my Zhu family belongs to the Jinyiwei family, my father is Jinyiwei Qianhu, my brother is the deputy Qianhu of Fusi in Beizhen, and my Zhu family are people who are close to His Majesty today. I will never treat you badly if you help.
Besides, this time we are going to investigate a smuggled salt case involving huge amounts of money. If we can find out clearly, we can not only fill our wallets, but also have a bright future."
Shenli took a breath.
He originally thought that the Zhu family came to visit him and asked him to send someone to do the dirty work of fighting for the birth of a chaste woman. Who would have thought that it was to check for illegal property?
After the salt policy of the Ming Dynasty was changed from the "Liang Kaizhong Law" to the "Zhe Color Law" in the fifth year of Hongzhi, the national treasury was full for a time, but what followed was a long period of chaos in the salt policy.
If local officials can seize a huge amount of illegal salt, they can indeed greatly improve their political performance.
"Second Master Zhu, does the investigation of smuggled salt belong to the Jinyi Guards?"
Shen Li was doubtful.
With Zhu Wanjian's urine, he had previously asked him to send officials to seize the family property from the housewives. Will he kindly lead him to investigate smuggled salt to gain political achievements this time?
Zhu Wanjian smiled and said: "The case was not discovered by Jin Yiwei. The tip said that a merchant wanted to purchase a large amount of private salt from a private salt dealer. I asked you if you dare to take care of it?"
Shen Li hesitated again and again and sighed: "It's better to find out."
Shenli is not a fool.
He didn't understand why the Jinyiwei Zhu family didn't stay in the northern and southern capitals, but chose to settle in a corner like Huguang. Then he thought of Prince Xing's Mansion and had a clear understanding, but he quickly threw away the idea.
He doesn't think that the other party will take advantage of him if something good happens.
However, I felt relieved after learning the source of Zhu Wanjian's intelligence.
"The third lady admitted it herself? She...this is breaking the law knowingly. Mr. Zhu, you want to kill your relatives again for justice?" Shen Li looked at Zhu Wanjian in surprise.
Zhu Wanjian cursed: "There is no such thing as annihilation of relatives. We are no longer a family. It is best for such an unruly woman to be dipped in a pig cage."
Perhaps remembering that some things should not be said in front of outsiders, Zhu Wanjian forced a smile and said: "Let her receive some punishment so that she can be more peaceful when she returns home. My brother-in-law certainly doesn't want his woman to come out in public.
"
"Um."
Shen Li nodded, but thought about it in his heart, what kind of family is this that betrays its family members again and again?
Do you still have the nerve to brag?
At this time, the sky turned dark unconsciously, and the official who was sent to investigate came to report.
"Back to the county magistrate, the third wife of the Zhu family did indeed lead a group of people out of the city and rushed to fifteen miles southeast of the city. There was a long motorcade there with a large number of salt bags stacked on the car. I asked the salt shop in the city and they all said it was not me.
The goods, and these people are hiding in the woods and acting sneaky, they seem to be private salt dealers..."
The news returned by the Yamen investigation seems to confirm Zhu Wanjian's statement.
Zhu Wanjian slapped his thigh and said, "I said the information will not be wrong. It is a serious crime for a woman to buy and sell private salt."
Shen Li asked cautiously: "But the investigation has revealed that those people are really private salt dealers?"
Before the official could reply, Zhu Wanjian became anxious.
"Zhi County Shen, are you still hesitant? There are only a few salt dealers in Anlu, and it was their work to jointly raise prices before. Am I not sure if they are selling official salt?"
Shen Li nodded and waved his hand: "Come here, summon the three squads of government officials...and bring the people from the inspection department with me to capture the salt owl. If there is resistance...shoot to death!"
Seeing this scene, Zhu Wanjian showed a proud smile on his face.
…
…
Night falls.
The doors of Zhu's rice shop in the city have been closed long ago.
Zhu Niang took Uncle Zhong, Yu San and Gouzi's gang to buy salt. Aunt Li was cooking with her daughter. Zhu Hao was sitting at the desk in the east room of the middle courtyard, writing on a piece of paper with an oil lamp.
painting.
"Brother Hao, do you think it will go well if Madam goes to batch the salt?"
Aunt Li was a little uneasy that day, because Zhu Hao had grown up a lot recently, so she asked in a dependent tone when she was free.
Zhu Hao put down the brush in his hand and said with a smile: "Of course... it won't go smoothly. If what is expected is true, the Zhu family will bring official officials and kill all the mothers and salt sellers."
"ah?"
Aunt Li was horrified after hearing Zhu Hao's words: "Master, why don't you call your wife back quickly?"
Zhu Hao said: "Don't worry, my mother and I have already found out clearly. The man who sells salt to us has a very powerful background. He is the brother-in-law of Huang Zan, the new left chief minister of Huguang... Huang Zan was just transferred from the position of right chief minister of Jiangxi this year.
, he would let his brother-in-law stay here?"
Aunt Li was completely stunned.
When Zhu Niang came back from the Zhu Mansion to discuss countermeasures with Zhu Hao, she was not present, but even if she participated, she could not understand the complicated official affairs.
Zhu Ting came over, widened her eyes and asked cutely: "Brother, what is a chief envoy?"
Zhu Hao smiled and touched his sister's little head: "The chief envoy is the largest official in Huguang. He is much larger than the magistrate. Above the magistrate, there is the prefect. Some prefectures have the prefect. Above the prefect, there is the chief envoy.
At the top of the list is the chief envoy, who is also called the feudal envoy..."
Aunt Li was doubtful: "Does that mean Madam is okay?"
Zhu Hao put away his smile and sighed softly: "It's too early to say that there is nothing wrong with it, but in general risks and opportunities coexist. If everything goes well, our channels for entering salt should be guaranteed."
…
…
The moon is dark and the wind is high.
I can't see my fingers.
Zhu Niang and a dozen people were waiting to meet the salt seller outside the woods fifteen miles southeast of Changshou City.
As Zhu Hao said, this time Mipu brought in official salt, and the other person was the brother-in-law of Huang Zan, the newly appointed envoy to the left in Huguang. Huang Zan was famous in history for resisting the rebellion of Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao. In the first month of the ninth year of Zhengde, Huang Zan
The right chief envoy of Jiangxi moved to Huguang as the left chief envoy.
Being an official requires money to make money, and you must have white gloves around you. For example, the Mi family in Xuzhou was to Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms, and Hu Xueyan was to Zuo Zongtang in the late Qing Dynasty. Huang Zan's money bag was his brother-in-law. Where did he become an official's brother-in-law?
Wherever the business channels are laid.
The business in the world where one is least worried about losing money is selling official salt, so soon after Huang Zan took office, he arranged for his brother-in-law to sell goods in various prefectures in Huguang.
Since he had just arrived, Huang Zan needed to maintain his official reputation, so he repeatedly reminded his brother-in-law to keep a low profile when selling salt, so as not to provoke the censor and make him a target of criticism.
"coming."
Yu San suddenly pointed to the bright torch in the distance and said eagerly.
Zhu Niang immediately led people to greet him.
The convoy on the opposite side was very large, with more than a dozen carriages transporting official salt.
Leading the way, a man in his thirties, dressed in outer clothing, came over. Before he met Zhu Niang, he started complaining: "I only bought twenty dollars of salt at a time, and I had to abandon the waterway to send it here. Who will bear the wear and tear of the axles?"
?”
At first glance, he seems to be a businessman who spends his money and is very calculating.
Zhu Niang quickly stepped forward to salute.
"I have met Dongzhu Su."
Through an intermediary, Zhu Niang knew that the other party's surname was Su Mingxigui, and that he controlled a huge business group, so he was respectfully called Su Dongzhu.
Su Xigui took the torch and looked at it, and asked in surprise: "It's a woman? It's rare, it's rare... Can you bring money?"
Zhu Niang said: "They are all on the carriage at the back. Please count them, Mr. Su."
Su Xigui waved his hand: "It's enough to simply call them names, but let's agree first, copper coins will be depreciated at 98, and silver will be depreciated at 96, is that okay?"
Not only did he want to get the freight for abandoning the ship and taking the carriage, he also wanted to get some discount on the color.
"These are all rules, just as Su Dongzhu said."
Zhu Niang readily agreed.
In this era of transactions, just counting the payment is very complicated. After all, whether it is copper coins or silver, it contains different impurities. Whether it is collecting money in a money shop or making business payments, it needs to be weighed, and silver cannot be weighed by ordinary methods.
When choosing a scale, use a special scale to weigh it.
After a series of procedures, it was still night, and the handover alone took half an hour.
…
…
"Delivered, delivered!"
At this time, Zhu Wanjian, Shen Li and others were on a hill not far away, staring at everything happening under the light of torches outside the woods.
Shen Li solemnly asked the county magistrate on his side: "Looking at this posture, there shouldn't be anything wrong, right?"
The county magistrate is an old man who was born and raised in Changshou County. Hearing this, he nodded: "It's almost the same. It's rare for official salt to be traded like this."
Shen Li gritted his teeth: "Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and gather people to cover up and kill them. Surround them from all sides. Don't let the thieves get away. If you take them, you will be rewarded!"
The government officials, officers and soldiers quickly mobilized and approached the woods.
Su Xigui had originally had the silver weighed, and after properly disposing of it, was about to have someone carry the salt bags to the carriage brought by Zhu Niang, when he suddenly felt an unusual atmosphere around him.
"Sir, let's let the government officials surround us!"
Su Suxigui's men hurriedly came over to report.
Su Xigui looked confused.
official?
What official?
Am I not the official representative?
Who else in Huguang has a higher official position than my brother-in-law?
Immediately, shouts of killing were heard not far away.
"If you don't kill anyone who refuses to surrender, you will kill those who resist!"
Seeing a group of men looking at each other in confusion, Su Xigui raised his eyebrows: "Could there be thieves pretending to be officials and committing crimes?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves was heard. The inspection department sent more than ten cavalry to rush forward. The officials and soldiers swarmed up and captured both parties who were trading.