Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Because of paying taxes and serving in the military, the Baojia captains often met in private and had their own small circle.

These people are most familiar with the bottom, and they know very well what happens in every corner of the country.

As one case after another was revealed, Yang Xun, the governor of Zuo who was sitting next to him as a jury member, looked calm and tense at first, but soon a look of shock flashed across his face.

During the Song Dynasty, people with the Yang surname registered in Sichuan accounted for about a quarter of the Yang surnames in the country.

Yang Shu came from the Yang family in Meishan.

He originally belonged to the direct lineage of Gao Jingshan. After Gao Jingshan died of illness, he turned to Zhang Gen and was promoted.

As Zhang Gen retired and returned home, this faction gradually evolved into the Jiangxi faction. Yang Shurong could not join the inner circle, so he moved closer to Li Hanzhang.

In twenty-three years, Yang Shu was steadily promoted from a former Song Juren to the left governor of Huainan Province. He naturally has outstanding political achievements, otherwise it would be difficult for Li Hanzhang to be promoted; and he is very honest and has never been corrupt, and he can avoid every major corruption case.

As his official position became higher and higher, Yang Xun remained sober and did not get carried away.

Under the leadership of Yang Shu, Huainan Province has no major problems. The population is increasing, taxes are increasing, industry and commerce are becoming more and more prosperous, and the overall living standards of the people are also improving.

This is a qualified bureaucrat.

But he stood too high and had a panoramic view of the mountains. He could only see the outline of the mountains, but could not see the flowers, plants and trees in the mountains.

Yang Shu knew that there was a problem with the Li family in Chuzhou, and he sent messages several times to ask Li Xiaojian to stay calm and stop messing around. He felt that the Li family in Chuzhou had been scholarly for generations, and there was also a member of the family who was the prime minister. No matter how they did things, they had a bottom line and would not cause such big things that would break the world.

For example, what Tao Ding'an said at the beginning was just a trivial matter in Yang Shu's eyes.

It wasn't until Tao Ding'an revealed a case that Yang Chen finally understood that it was difficult to end the case.

"There is a Shahe Society in Chuzhou. It was originally a group of trackers who formed a society to help each other. Later, a tracker named Yao Guangzu became the leader of the society. The Shahe Society soon changed its appearance and controlled the canal from Baoying to Huaiyin. The coolies along the coast , boatmen, trackers, all must pay money to join the union, otherwise they will not find work. "

"At first, they just bullied the market. After being supported by 'nobles', they started to engage in the business of intercepting merchant ships. They didn't dare to intercept official ships and tanker ships. They didn't dare to intercept merchant ships with strong backgrounds. They dared to intercept other passing ships."

"They never intercept the wrong ship every time. They know which ships can be messed with and which ships must not be messed with. If the intercepted ship does not pay, it will be unlucky. Two years ago, a merchant ship caught fire, and the government found out that it was The boatman knocked over the oil lamp and set it on fire, but the crew members who jumped into the river and escaped said that they saw the villain. This matter has been spread throughout Chuzhou, and they don’t know whether it is true or not..."

"I also know some boatmen and trackers. According to them, the Shahe Society also helps smuggle Huai salt..."

Guo Xiong, the commander of the capital, finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted angrily: "That's nonsense! I personally sit in the provincial capital to strictly investigate smuggling. How dare Shahe to transport smuggled salt under his nose? Is it possible that the officials at Mokou Chaoguan also Helping with smuggling?”

Zhao Dun, a political officer in Huainan Province who is in charge of commercial taxation, said quickly: "I don't know anything else. It is impossible for Mokou Chaoguan to help smuggling. If the censor doesn't believe it, he can investigate it at any time."

Tao Ding'an has completely given up: "It is true that it has nothing to do with the banknote. The trackers and coolies who joined the Shahe Society will take the illicit salt home in batches before the smuggling ship passes the banknote, and bypass the banknote from the wild at night. ”

"Xiaomin's home is in Yanhe Village, Mokou Township, and next door is Shawan Village, Shahe Township. Xiaomin's wife was also married from there. One night, Xiaomin was visiting relatives and staying at his father-in-law's house. He saw those people with his own eyes. Loading boats on the river.”

Yan Tao asked: "Huainan salt is cheap, so it is definitely impossible to sell it locally. They put so much effort into smuggling it, do you know where it was sold to in the end? To put it another way, did the smuggling ship go to the north or the west?"

"Going to the west." Tao Ding'an said.

"That is to sell it to Henan or the two capitals." Yan Tao, as the censor, was shocked by this matter.

In order to ensure the coordinated development of various salt-producing areas, salt produced cannot be sold casually.

Henan Province, Luoyang and Kaifeng are the sales areas of Lu Yan.

These guys smuggled salt and transported it to Henan, which violated the court's salt monopoly system.

As for officials at all levels in Huainan Province, as long as they don't involve themselves, they will turn a blind eye even if they know about it. Because this is conducive to the economic development of Huainan, and even benefits many merchants and people in Huainan. As for the Shandong salt merchants and salt workers who suffer, of course.

Yang Xun, the chief envoy from the left, had a calm expression at the moment, but his heart was in turmoil.

He thought Li Xiaojian was just intercepting merchant ships to collect tolls, but he never expected that those guys were so audacious that they dared to kill people, smuggle goods, and smuggle salt!

Yang Chen doesn't pay too much attention to money and thinks that as long as it is enough, it will be enough.

He still can't figure it out. Why did Li Xiaojian take so many risks and collect exorbitant taxes when he made so much money from the canal? The impact of collecting exemption money is too bad. Too many people are involved. If you don't pay attention, big trouble will occur, and the money gained is not as good as smuggling a few more ships of salt.

The returns are low and the risks are high. Li Xiaojian is not short of that little money, so why does he insist on reaching out?

In Yang Chen's opinion, this kind of behavior is like a wealthy man who insists on grabbing the leftover food from a beggar, and the beggar still has a knife in his hand.

Again, Yang Xun climbed too high and was already out of touch with the grassroots.

Li Xiaojian is not a person, but represents a group.

Li Xiaojian himself may not like the money, but the officials who collaborated with him were crazy about it. This person eats both black and white, and can't stop even if he wants to. Although he is full, the people underneath are still hungry!

Just like killing people and stealing goods, Li Xiaojian strictly prohibited it.

But a certain merchant was too disrespectful and offended the boss of the Shahe Club. The Shahe Club burned the boat and robbed them in anger. What can Li Xiaojian do about this? He just called people over afterwards to give him an angry scolding, and then used his connections to smooth things over for Shahe Club. After all, he still relied on Shahe Club to smuggle salt.

This illegal collection of exemption money was not initiated by Li Xiaojian himself. It was the subordinate officials at the prefecture and county levels who were causing trouble.

After Nie Wen sent people to post the notice, Li Xiaojian ordered that no chaos be allowed, and officials at the prefecture and county levels also severely reprimanded him. But those "poor", crazy and daring subordinates did not listen to the instructions from their superiors at all, and forced the wealthy family to send money to Li Xiaojian's home.

Li Xiaojian kept the door closed, and many wealthy households were frightened even more, kneeling directly outside the side door of Li's house and crying.

He has too many dogs that cannot be tied down, and they always go out and bite people.

Of course he was not unjust, because the arrogance of these dogs was developed because he often let them out to bite people.

In the past, countless people were bitten and killed, but they were not punished as they should be. As a result, those dogs had the illusion that no matter how much they bite, they are protected by their owners. Their master is omnipotent, and there is nothing that cannot be settled!

Yan Tao turned to look at Yang Chen.

Yang Chen closed her eyes and began to think about how to get out.

He is a truly incorruptible official, and he has strict restraint on his family, and he is not afraid of being investigated by the censor at all. But the provincial capital and the provincial capital were in such a state of ruin. As the left-wing governor, he was responsible for his negligence, and he would probably be demoted at least two levels or more.

The corners of Zhang Su's mouth turned up slightly, and then he said seriously: "Inspector Yan, I still have some people available, and General Li can also help handle the case. As for the officials at the prefecture and county levels, I'm afraid they have to evade them." Yes, the prosecutor needs to recuse himself from this case.”

Yan Tao raised his hand towards Li Jiang and said, "General Li, please lend me a thousand troops."

Li Jiang said: "We need official documents from the Ministry of War, and flags ordered by the king are also acceptable."

Yan Tao said: "I will immediately send a telegram to the Inspectorate, and the Inspectorate will report to His Majesty."

"Then I'll wait." Li Jiang said.

Li Jiang has been transferred to Huainan for only half a year, and he has little involvement here.

He is Li Bao's man.

And that Guo Xiong is Zhang Guangdao's man.

Watching Yan Tao and Li Jiang heading to the telegraph office, Huang Shilian and Guo Xiong felt their eyes turn black. They were finished. They were involved in the case too deeply. They were also involved in smuggling salt, and they also helped Li Xiaojian settle the criminal case.

A bunch of officials were waiting at the Chief Secretary.

About three hours later, Yan Tao returned to the Chief Secretary: "We didn't invite the Ministry of War to transfer orders, but we did invite the king's order. General Li has gone to mobilize troops to assist in the investigation. In addition, the Third Law Department will not come to Huainan to investigate. However, officials from Shandong and Nanjing have been seconded to investigate the case. The case is quite large and complicated, and the investigation may take several months. There is a deputy inspector in Nanjing who will temporarily take over the duties of the inspector in Huainan."

Huang Shilian almost fainted. He was dismissed from his post pending investigation.

Yan Tao also said: "Yang Shu, the chief envoy from the left, will immediately return to Beijing to face the saint. Zhang Su, the envoy from the right, will temporarily take over the duties of the left chief and must not delay the immigration. If any county officials are involved in the case and are investigated, Zhang Su The right to temporarily appoint corresponding officials to ensure the smooth progress of the immigration work.”

"Crack!"

There was a sound, and everyone turned to look.

However, Feng Liang, the deputy envoy and academic official, saw Yan Tao coming back and stood up to greet him. When he sat back down, he was empty. In a panic, he grabbed the armrest of the chair and flipped the chair to the ground.

Yan Tao frowned and said, "Deputy Ambassador Feng is in charge of Huainan's academic affairs. Could it be that there is something wrong with the imperial examination here?"

"Nothing happened, nothing happened in the imperial examination." Feng Liang quickly denied.

Yan Tao said: "If something happens, it's better to turn yourself in and get a lighter punishment. If we really get to the bottom of it, it won't be good for anyone."

Feng Liang said with a sad face: "Then...then I surrender. There is no malpractice in the imperial examination. Those who are students of the official school (self-financed students) pay an extra amount of money. Also, the exam for the promotion of the outer house to the inner house, There’s a little bit of a problem.”

Yan Tao smiled and said: "It's just a small matter, not to mention that your Excellency has surrendered. As long as the amount is not large, the most you can do is dismissal from office, refund of the stolen goods, a fine, and jail time. Deputy Ambassador Feng didn't take many bribes, right?"

"Not much, not much..." Feng Liang was really about to cry. He was actually very timid.