On the dock of Yangzhou Canal, a large number of officials were waiting here early.
The formation made people who had been working on the pier for years unable to help but wonder which big shot had arrived in Yangzhou.
Their doubts were soon solved. As the officials and laymen gathered to stand, a huge official ship slowly sailed over on the river in the distance.
Just look at the officers and soldiers who were the first to come down from the deck of the official ship. They held high the big letters "Retreat" and the black pink signs "Quiet" in their hands. A knowledgeable person could not hide his shock.
Another imperial envoy came to Yangzhou City! But he didn’t know why he came.
"I am lowered to the post of Wu Zhirong, the magistrate of Yangzhou, and I will lead the officials from Yangzhou to welcome the imperial envoy!"
In the middle of the pier, straight onto the road, I saw people in official uniforms coming off the official boats. A middle-aged man of medium stature with a slightly bulging belly took the lead and stepped forward, bending down to salute.
He didn't hear anyone respond for a long time. Just when Wu Zhirong thought that the imperial envoy was going to give him a slap in the face, he only heard a very amiable voice about his age.
"Hahaha, it turns out to be Master Wu. I have admired you for a long time."
Wu Zhirong then stood up and looked around, and saw the person coming towards him. Although he was dressed in civil official uniform, he only wore a green robe. He was not of the right age. Obviously, he could not be the famous Zhenyuan Hou Jia Lian.
I glanced behind him subconsciously. Although there were two or three civil and military officials, they were all dressed in the attire of a junior official.
The leading civil servant seemed to know what he was looking for and did not rush him. He just stood there with a smile on his face.
Wu Zhirong reacted quickly. He immediately calmed down and smiled at the visitor: "This is Mr. Yang, Mr. Yang. I have admired him for a long time."
"Don't dare, don't dare, I am the official."
Knowing that the imperial court sent people to supervise the salt administration, Wu Zhirong and other local officials, of course, had to check the background of the main people to feel at ease.
After exchanging polite words with Yang Xun, Wu Zhirong couldn't help but said: "I heard that your Majesty the Imperial Envoy has arrived, and your subordinates and colleagues from Yangzhou have prepared a reception banquet for the Imperial Envoy. I dare to ask Mr. Yang, where is the Imperial Envoy now?
?”
Yang Xun smiled and said: "Master Wu, you have taken the trouble, but the imperial envoy is not in Yangzhou now, so we can skip this reception banquet."
"Not in Yangzhou?"
Not to mention Wu Zhirong, several subordinate officials who had great say in Yangzhou official circles who came forward at this moment couldn't help but look at each other with suspicion after hearing this.
Yang Xun naturally knew what they were thinking, and simply said: "The imperial envoy is temporarily busy with other matters, so I asked my subordinate to go to Yangzhou first. Your Excellency, he will arrive in a few days."
Anything else?
This statement is a bit perfunctory.
An imperial envoy is an imperial envoy who is commissioned by the emperor to deal with an important matter. How can he be delayed by other things?
Is it true that the imperial court is really serious this time? The legendary imperial envoy didn't even bother to spend time dealing with them. He went to various places in Jiangnan to investigate and collect evidence?
This is an easy guess, so for a while, not only was the Yangzhou chief official silent, but the salt merchants, big and small, who were standing behind and heard the news, all looked worried and panicked.
This imperial envoy didn't even give them a face, so how could their preparations be put to use?
"I wonder if Master Yang might inform the Imperial Envoy whereabouts? In this way, I can arrange for someone to receive and serve you, lest some blind person bumps into the Imperial Envoy, which would be bad."
"Well, I don't know about this. The imperial envoy has never talked to me. But Mr. Wu, don't worry. The imperial envoy said that he will go to Yangzhou as soon as he finishes his trivial matters."
Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of Yang Xun, Wu Zhirong didn't bother, burying his doubts in his heart, and smiled and asked Yang Xun to enter the palace first.
Unexpectedly, Yang Xun said that the imperial envoy had an order to let him and his entourage stay at the Yanzheng official residence to facilitate investigation, collection of files, etc.
This kind of direct and unconcealed behavior made Wu Zhirong and others even more uneasy. They arranged a separate dinner that night, and invited Yang Xun and the accompanying one from Beizhen Fusi Baihu.
Got a lot of money.
Yang Xun and the others did not refuse, which undoubtedly made Wu Zhirong and others secretly relieved in their hearts.
…
Besides, when Jia Lian was about to enter Yangzhou, he asked Yang Xun and others to proceed slowly. He himself took Daiyu and others to enter Yangzhou Mansion first.
Just when Yang Xun and others entered Yangzhou City, he had already taken Daiyu across the entire Yangzhou towards Suzhou.
At this time, he seemed to have no idea that the entire Yangzhou Prefecture was uneasy because of his disappearance.
It was better for him to let Zijuan and others set up the grand master's chair, put out a fruit plate, and took Daiyu to enjoy the breeze on the deck of the lucky ship.
Daiyu sat on the high stool next to Jia Lian, with her feet on the leg loops of the stool. She looked sideways with some joy and some speechlessness. She lay on her back on the Taishi chair and asked Xiangling to peel grapes for him to eat.
Jia Lian even straightened her legs and let Xue Yan beat her legs!
"Zijuan, are you the laziest? Didn't you see that your girl is crying with greed? Why don't you peel some fruit and feed it to her?"
Zijuan stood behind Daiyu and looked at Jia Lian helplessly after hearing this.
Why didn't she realize that Mr. Lian had such a side before? In her eyes, although the former Mr. Lian was kind and gentle, he was also very serious. Except in front of the old lady and others, he was also a serious person.
How should I put it? It's just that I'm a little bit arrogant.
However, since he asked to marry his own girl, especially after boarding the lucky boat, as his relationship with the girl became more and more intimate, Second Master Lian became more and more lazy in front of them.
I don't know if he has such a temper to begin with, or if he behaves like this on purpose in order to get closer to the girl.
When Daiyu heard Jia Lian's joke, her face flushed a little, but she didn't show anything.
For more than half a month, she has been spending time with Jia Lian every day, and she has become more aware of Jia Lian's personality that she didn't know before.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Like Zijuan, she also suspected that Jia Lian was doing this just to get close to her. But no matter what, she has indeed been very happy in the past half a month, and
It really reduced a lot of the feeling of alienation from Jia Lian.
Of course, what also decreased at the same time was respect for Jia Lian!
Daiyu even felt that Jia Lian used to act like a cousin in front of her, but now he is the real him!
Although she felt a little cheated, who asked Lian's second brother to be so kind to her? Even if she was cheated, she could only admit it. Anyway, compared to the previous Jia Lian who loved and cared for her like a father, she preferred this one.
A cousin who, like his peers, would tease her or tell her a novel joke from time to time.
Therefore, she didn't mind too much when Jia Lian ordered her maid. Instead, she turned her head and asked, "Second brother, if you don't go into Yangzhou City, please accompany me to Suzhou first. Is it true that there won't be any trouble?"
Daiyu grew up in fine clothes and fine food. Both her parents were first-class figures. Even when she came to the Jia family, although her life was not happy at times, materially, Jia's mother always gave her almost the best.
Because she was unaware of the sufferings of the world, she could write poems such as "When there is no hunger or discouragement in the prosperous times, why bother farming and weaving?"
But it doesn't mean that she is exactly like Jia Baoyu, completely ignorant of worldly affairs.
On the contrary, Daiyu is very smart. She has a certain knowledge about secular affairs and even social and officialdom, but she just doesn't bother to show it.
After all, she is Lin Ruhai's daughter. She has been exposed to it since childhood and knows many rules that others don't know.
Of course she knew that Jia Lian was on this trip as an imperial envoy and had the emperor's orders, but now he left most of his entourage to accompany her to escort her father's coffin to Suzhou. She didn't say whether it would delay Jia Lian's official business, just in case someone knew about it.
, isn’t it also a crime to impeach him in front of the emperor?
"No, what trouble can I cause if I escort my uncle? Or do you not believe in your husband's ability, and are you worried that I will not be able to complete the emperor's errand in just two or three days?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? What kind of gentleman...jun...is frivolous~!"
When Daiyu heard that Jia Lian claimed to be her husband, her face immediately turned red with embarrassment and she glared at Jia Lian fiercely.
For her now, this kind of title is still too embarrassing for her. Unless, after getting married, it will be more or less...
Regarding this situation, Zi Juan smiled and said nothing. Xue Yan, who was squatting on the futon on the ground, looked at the two masters blankly, was kicked by Jia Lian's feet, and continued to massage Jia Lian's calves.
.
Xiangling, on the other hand, looked at Daiyu, who was blushing and more beautiful than a peach blossom, and thought to herself: Miss Lin is more beautiful than a flower when she is shy. Only the second master can match a beauty like Miss Lin.
!
Originally, Xiangling didn't know about Jia Lian and Daiyu, but after spending so many days of close service and seeing the growing relationship between Jia Lian and Daiyu, no matter how slow Xiangling was, she would still see some problems.
of.
Finally one day, when I was serving Jia Lian to take a bath, I couldn't help but ask Jia Lian, and then I knew the truth.
Xiangling was very grateful to Daiyu. When she was rescued from the kidnapper by Jia Lian, she received a lot of care from Daiyu who was only eight or nine years old. When she arrived at Jia's house, Daiyu was helped by Jia Lian.
, became her mentor.
For Xiang Ling, being able to study is one of the happiest things she feels, second only to following Jia Lian.
Therefore, Daiyu's status in Xiangling's heart is very high. Therefore, when she knew that Daiyu would become Jia Lian's second wife in the future, Xiangling was not jealous at all, but was secretly happy.
Because in this way, in the future, she can repay Jia Lian's kindness and perform her filial piety to Daiyu at the same time, without having to worry about the problem of loyalty and filial piety.
After all, Daiyu didn't care much about worldly affairs. Seeing that Jia Lian was confident, she put her worries aside. Anyway, she was happiest when Jia Lian was willing to put aside other things and accompany her to Suzhou first.
Before, she was still worried that if Jia Lian disembarked in Yangzhou, she would continue to stay in Yangzhou and wait, or return to Suzhou first.
This is the best outcome for her now.
Feeling grateful for Jia Lian's benefits to her, Daiyu couldn't care less about Jia Lian's talk of taking advantage of her. But after all, she was shy because she was heard by the maids, and she couldn't stand Jia Lian's comfortable appearance, so she wanted to get up and go back.
The house has gone.
Who would have thought that Jia Lian just happened to peel a grape himself, leaned up, handed it to his mouth, and said with a smile: "Zijuan is too lazy, and she won't even peel a fruit for you. I really don't know that this is the case."
Girl, how do you think of her as a treasure? I have to do it myself."
Daiyu rolled her eyes at Jia Lian, but she was used to Jia Lian quarreling with Zijuan. If it wasn't too much, she also liked to watch Jia Lian quarrel with Zijuan. Who told Zijuan to control her everywhere just because she was sent by Jia's mother?
, like an old mother.
After hesitating for a moment, he still didn't want to waste Jia Lian's efforts, so he lowered his head, opened his mouth slightly, took the white and tender grape flesh with watery shine, put it into his mouth from Jia Lian's fingertips, and started chewing it.
Although she usually doesn't like eating grapes very much, at this moment, she felt that the one Jia Lian peeled for her was particularly sweet, and she couldn't help but smile slightly.
But she soon regretted it.
Jia Lian seemed to have found something interesting to do, and stopped letting Xiang Ling serve him. He sat up and concentrated on peeling grapes for her. After peeling one, he fed her one. When she showed an expression that she didn't want to eat it,
, and even coaxed her with gentle words.
But Daiyu was Daiyu after all. Even if Jia Lian tried to coax her, after taking the third pill, she still stubbornly tilted her head and firmly rejected Jia Lian's kindness.
She was even a little angry.
Perhaps because she had fed greedy little squirrels, she could probably guess why Jia Lian did this. Because she had often caught two little squirrels in the past and kept feeding them food with her own hands.
Just because, watching the little squirrel eat, its mouth is round and bulging, it is very cute.
She suspected that Jia Lian regarded her as a small animal.
Of course, there was also the reason why every time she took food from Jia Lian's hands, her lips would easily touch Jia Lian's fingers, which made her a little embarrassed.
"Hahaha……"
Jia Lian did this because he liked the way Daiyu sipped her food, but seeing that Daiyu didn't cooperate, she didn't force it.
Just at this time, Aqin and the stairs came over. Although they did not speak, their expressions indicated that something was wrong.
Jia Lian casually threw the fruit in his hand into Xiang Ling's mouth, stood up and said with a smile: "Sister Lin continues to watch the scene here, I'll go down and have a look."
In front of Xiang Ling and others, Daiyu could still be more casual. But in the presence of others, Daiyu was stingy about showing her closeness to Jia Lian, so she nodded slightly, which was regarded as agreeing with Jia Lian, and watched Jia Lian go downstairs.
Arriving at the bow cabin, his bodyguard, his deputy, and others, as well as Lin Youquan, were all here.
Although he did not bring all the more than fifty personal guards with him on this trip, he did bring Captain Zhang Yong, Deputy Leader Zhao Sheng and Liu Xianglian.
Of course, Aqi originally held the position of deputy commander, but she only protected Jia Lian personally and did not care about the affairs within the squad.
Even so, Zhang Yong and others respect the Aqi sisters. Not to mention that they can always follow Jia Lian, the fact that Her Royal Highness the Princess of the Kingdom has appointed them as the third-class bodyguards of the Princess Mansion is also discussed by Jia Lian.
Word spread through the government.
People with serious official status naturally have an extraordinary status.
In addition to his own personal guards, the Fu ship was followed by three small boats, containing dozens of guards officers and soldiers. These were the clippers hired before the border of Yangzhou in order to cover up others' eyes.
"Second Master's prediction was good. We were indeed discovered. Just now, news came from the Forbidden Army brothers, saying that they had discovered a sneaky speedboat trying to follow us and that it had been dispersed."
As soon as he entered the door, Zhao Sheng was the first to speak.
When Jia Lian heard this, he frowned slightly.
The power of the Yangzhou salt merchants is well-known throughout the world. It's not unusual. Money can make all the difference. Every year, the profits of at least tens of millions of taels of silver are earned by just twenty or thirty companies. The power of those salt merchants
, it’s strange that it’s not big.
So it's not surprising that he could be found so quickly.
But he was not worried at all. One of the reasons why he and Yang Xunbing split up was to accompany Daiyu to Suzhou and help her sort out Lin Ruhai's funeral. The second point was to put a smoke in the Yangzhou officialdom.
bomb.
After all, there is really a problem in Yangzhou officialdom. It has been so long. The other party must have dealt with everything that should be dealt with long ago. They will not wait for him to investigate in vain. So I arrived in Yangzhou one day earlier and one day later.
all the same.
It would be better not to go to Yangzhou, the base camp of salt merchants, because there may be more accurate information in other nearby state capitals.
In that case, it will be easier to open up the situation.
Even if he knew his whereabouts, it would be nothing. He had never thought of hiding his whereabouts in the first place. Lin Ruhai was a second-rank official, and it was a big deal for his coffin to go south. It would be very easy for others to check if they really wanted to.
This was his second smoke bomb, leaving those people unsure whether he was leaving to escort Lin Ruhai's coffin to Suzhou, or to avoid them and check their sore feet.
The imperial court sent people down to investigate in such a high-profile manner. The people in Yangzhou Prefecture must have gone all out to prepare for the investigation.
At this time, the more unconventional the cards are, the more people in Yangzhou Prefecture will feel guilty and uneasy. As long as they are not sure of him, or the true intentions of the court, over time, those who really have problems will be safe.
If you are not correct, you will get confused and expose your flaws.
As for how to solve the two issues of Yangzhou Salt Policy and An Siyuan's death, Jia Lian had already made certain calculations when he was in Beijing. At present, as long as the matter is done as well as possible within the time limit given by the emperor, that is,
Already.
After her parents died, Liu Xianglian began to wander north and south. She also visited Yangzhou and saw its prosperity.
Because of his own ability, he also made friends with some Yangzhou celebrities and knew some things about Yangzhou officialdom.
Seeing that Jia Lian seemed to be taking the salt affairs lightly, Liu Xianglian couldn't help but remind him: "Master Hou, my subordinate has been to Yangzhou before, and even met Wu Zhirong, the prefect of Yangzhou, so he knows a thing or two about things in Yangzhou.
Because the Lianghuai Salt Administration was established in Yangzhou, Yangzhou has long become one of the most prosperous and prosperous state capitals in the entire Jiangnan.
The most famous among them are naturally the major salt merchants, especially seven of them are the most famous.
Rumor has it that these seven salt shops all have deep backgrounds and amazing power.
Since the Marquis has come down to supervise the salt administration under the emperor's order, he should be more cautious in everything he does."
Liu Xianglian said, looking at Jia Lian's expression.
Although Jia Lian took a fancy to him and took him under his command, he still had to judge Jia Lian's abilities and methods based on Jia Lian's reactions and actions on major events. This would allow him to judge whether he should work hard to be loyal to him in order to achieve a great future, or whether he should be a vain person.
, spend these three years peacefully and then leave.