Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

After returning to the carriage with excellent sound insulation, Li Heng said angrily.

"Master Participant, what on earth do you think this damn Imperial Master is up to? He is trying to reform the Salt Law. Don't he, the central committee, understand how much public dissatisfaction this will cause?"

It has nothing to do with Li Heng. Their Huai'an Prefecture relies on the salt industry. Once the salt industry is completely rectified, it will not only put the Huai'an Prefecture into trouble, but also cause a large number of officials to lose their hidden income.

If that's the case, that's all. The most important thing is that if these shady things see the light of day, they will be beheaded.

"well."

Wang Yuanshan sighed, shook his head helplessly, and said: "Our chief envoy (there is only one chief envoy in the newly built chief envoys such as Huanghuai and Jiaozhi), no one is checking now, he is panicking, and there is no way he can do it. He couldn't understand the situation. In the past two years, he had been focusing on the silver mountain, only caring about making money, and turning a deaf ear to the fighting in the court. He thought that he could preserve peace by not taking sides, but he didn't know that the fighting in the court had become more intense. It is becoming more and more powerful, the reformists have successively eliminated Wang Jing and Ma Jing, and have almost occupied half of the country, and His Majesty the Emperor has become more and more dependent on the Imperial Master, and even extended his hand to the Salt Service!"

"Where is reaching out? This is holding the pot!"

Li Heng frowned. The officials of the Salt Affairs Yamen who had been investigated before were the ones who planned to abandon their soldiers to protect their commanders. They wanted to give some achievements to the Metropolitan Procuratorate and reduce the major issue to a minor issue.

But the Metropolitan Procuratorate calmed down. Who would have imagined that the imperial court sent another imperial envoy to Jiangbei!

"This Xie Jin was originally a disciple of Dong Lun, the former left minister of the Ministry of Rites. Through some bad luck, he actually attached himself to the Imperial Master and became an imperial envoy." Wang Yuanshan murmured.

"Not as good as us?"

Li Heng made a gesture.

Li Heng sneered and said: "We'll have to wait until then to see who else dares to continue to sit in Yangzhou and command the Lianghuai Salt Fields?"

"Jie Jin is crazy, are you crazy too?"

Wang Yuanshan suddenly turned his head, stared at Li Heng, and said sternly: "Do you know who Xie Jin is? He represents the national master, and he represents Jinshang! Is Jinshang easy to mess with? How many nine tribes do you have? Did he kill him?"

"Then, what should we do?"

Li Heng just said those words out of fear.

"Cold salad!"

Wang Yuanshan glared at him again and said, "I tell you, don't make your own decisions regarding the salt affairs this time!"

Wang Yuanshan sighed. He had sacrificed a group of Salt Affairs Yamen officials and killed a few people before. Now it seems that he can't scare Xie Jin, who has a crazy energy. He can only look at Xie Jin. How does Jin deal with the collective strike of the kitchen households in the Lianghuai Salt Farm?

"First use the Zaohu strike to suppress it and try out Jie Jin's reaction. Then we can adapt accordingly on how to deal with it."

After that, he also flicked his sleeves, walked straight out of the carriage, and sat back in his carriage.

Li Heng leaned in the car, his face gray.

To be honest, from the perspective of the senior officials of the Huanghuai Chief Envoy Department, this Zaohu strike was a necessary measure, but their Huai'an government also suffered heavy losses as a result.

The kitchen households made trouble, some of the equipment in the salt field was destroyed, and the salt ships were impounded. The salt tax was reduced by nearly 90%. Correspondingly, the water transportation was suspended. The people in Huai'an Prefecture did not consume any food every day. Many times, food prices on the market have also seen a linked rise.

Huai'an Prefecture's own food production is not enough, and the population in the city is large. In addition, the Lianghuai Salt Fields are the basis for Huai'an Prefecture's survival. Now that the Lianghuai Salt Fields are temporarily abandoned, more than half of their Huai'an Prefecture's financial resources have been cut off.

This kind of shutdown of the whole government is actually a way to kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred to oneself. For them, they are also under huge pressure.

Because no matter how much the salt merchants encourage them, it is absolutely impossible for them to provide food for the millions of people in the government at their own expense. Not to mention supplying food, they have to take advantage of the opportunity to hoard goods and then raise prices severely. !

Look, the knife is hanging on the neck, and you still make money regardless of the overall situation. This is a businessman.

What makes Li Heng even more uncomfortable is that if the kitchen households' strike works well, but if it doesn't work, then the Guizhou donkey is really at his wits end, and he can't really kill the imperial envoy, right?

——————

"Huh~"

Jie Jin returned to the house, shut out the sound of rain, and sat down with a heavy breath.

The aura that he had before that was so crazy that he wanted to fight anyone to the death has completely dissipated.

"Sir, I thought"

Looking at Wang Shijie, Xie Jin smiled bitterly and said: "What do you think? I am confident, but I still want to catch them all? It's just a bluff. To put it bluntly, a hemp pole is afraid of two wolves. They are afraid of me, so why am I not afraid of them? ?”

"What if we directly detain Wang Yuanshan and Li Heng?" Wang Shijie thought for a while and then said, "These two people are both heavyweights in Lianghuai, and they probably know some secrets. If they can open their mouths, it will not be difficult to follow the clues. "

"You underestimate those corrupt officials too much. At this time, I'm afraid it will be useless even if you detain the two people. It will only make those people in Lianghuai more vigilant. Besides, even if they are really caught, You may not be able to get anything out of the question, but it will easily fall off your tongue.”

Jie Jin shook his head. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly raised his head and looked at Wang Shijie.

"Prince Fuzun, when you were a fellow scholar in Changzhou Mansion, you didn't collude with Ding Meixia. Besides, you were promoted by the Imperial Master. I believe you, but I have to ask something clearly."

Wang Shijie said solemnly: "Your Majesty, please speak."

Speaking of this, Xie Jin suddenly lowered his voice and asked: "This Yangzhou Prefecture has always been inseparable from Huai'an Prefecture. Do you have a salt merchant you can trust?"

"this……"

Wang Shijie was a little hesitant. He had been raped by a salt merchant a while ago and even reported it to the Sanfa Department. Now that Jie Jin asked him, he really couldn't answer.

The look in Xie Jin's eyes became more and more crazy, but he still waited quietly for Wang Shijie's answer because he thought of a way.

"Yes, of course there is. There is a salt merchant named Liu Fuchun who has been trained by the Imperial Master and is trustworthy."

Liu Fuchun was the one who helped Jiang Xinghuo set up a trap for Xun Zhan. Jiang Xinghuo reciprocated the favor and naturally gave him some business help through Li Zengzhi and others. For such a medium-sized businessman, this was a real success. The buckled carp jumped over the dragon gate.

When Jie Jin heard this, a smile appeared on his lips.

The Wu family in Huaishang had already turned to the Imperial Guard, and the Wu family's grain transport business was taken over by Li Zengzhi.

In this case, since Wang Shijie can basically control Yangzhou Prefecture, the transportation of grain from Yangzhou Prefecture to Huai'an Prefecture will not be a problem.

And Xie Jin now only needs a salt merchant who is not in the Huai'an Prefecture circle.

He naturally knew that most of the salt merchants in Huai'an Prefecture were inextricably linked to this mess. If this incident broke out, they would not be able to escape cleanly, so they could only look outside the circle.

"In that case, let's just follow the plan!"

Jie Jin pulled Wang Shijie to whisper, but this time he did not act as a riddler, but told the other party the plan clearly.

After Wang Shijie heard this, he couldn't help but look at Xie Jin in surprise.

He didn't expect that Xie Jin, a gentle scholar, could actually have such crazy energy.

Are you crazy about doing something big?

"The counselors of ancient times, who entered the situation with their own bodies, were able to defeat half of the world. So why can't I do the same today?"

After hearing this, Wang Shijie's eyes flashed and he quickly responded: "As you please, my lord!"

"Send the order and leave the city from Yangzhou Prefecture tomorrow to inspect the Lianghuai Salt Fields at the border of Huai'an Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture. This is the territory under your jurisdiction, which is relatively safe. At the same time, many officials are invited to go. Remember, be solemn. I want everyone to know that I am going to take action against the Lianghuai Salt Farm."

When he said the last three words, Xie Jin's eyes flashed fiercely, and his body exuded a strong evil aura.

"I obey, my lord!" Wang Shijie looked solemn and quickly saluted with his hands in hand.

After he left, Jie Jinchang exhaled, but a hint of worry appeared in his heart. Don't let this knife be in vain.

——————

The next day, a certain area of ​​​​Lianghuai Salt Fields in Yangzhou Prefecture.

The salt scene in Lianghuai is very active, not just in Huai'an Prefecture.

In the salt farm, all the salt and stove households are gathered together.

The salt men were the strong men who were responsible for the salt service, and they must be young and middle-aged men, while the kitchen households were old, weak, women and children.

Although there is no salt boiling due to the strike, there are still a lot of things to do at home. They were originally staying at their respective homes to do things, but at this time they all stopped and were greeted by the minor officials. They looked at the representatives of the imperial court with burning eyes. Jie Jin came.

Behind Xie Jin, there were many officials, including Wang Shijie, the prefect of Yangzhou, who would shake his feet even when he stamped in the place.

"Everyone, this imperial envoy will definitely make the decision for everyone regarding today's matter and handle it impartially!"

When the officials heard this, they all agreed and acted enthusiastically.

"Wait!"

However, at this moment, a burst of yelling suddenly sounded from the crowd.

Immediately afterwards, a tall man with a beard and a soap robe strode out.

This man was about eight feet tall, with big shoulders and a round waist, and bulging muscles all over his body. He exuded explosive power. Standing in front of the crowd, he looked like a humanoid beast, which was intimidating.

The surrounding kitchen households were more like mice seeing a cat, retreating away and not daring to get close.

"Since you are the imperial envoy and you said you want to make the decision for us, may I ask a question?"

"What is this?" Xie Jin looked at the officials beside him.

The junior official in charge of this salt farm area reported: "He has always been a prestigious person in the salt field, nicknamed the Green-Eyed Big Insect."

When the officials took a closer look, they saw that it actually seemed to fit the nickname.

"Just tell me." Xie Jin said generously.

The man looked at Xie Jin and said: "We heard that the Wang Zhifu said that the court would punish us because we sold the remaining salt to salt merchants, and all of them would be taken out and beheaded. If you are impartial, this is how you will deal with it. of?"

"presumptuous!"

Wang Shijie next to him was furious, stood up suddenly, pointed at the man, and said sternly: "You can't slander the imperial official. When did I say this, and where did it come from?"

The man snorted coldly: "Stop pretending to be stupid. If someone hadn't reported that you colluded with the water bandits and robbed the salt merchants, why do you think you were accused of going to the capital? Now it's just because you have a strong backing, so nothing happened. .”

"You are blabbering. When did I collude with the water bandits to rob the salt merchants? What benefit does this do to me?"

Wang Shijie said sternly: "I am an honest and upright official, and I have never committed any corruption. You commoner, don't slander me and frame me with false accusations!"

"Are you wrongly accused? You might as well ask the Imperial Envoy to check it out. You can lie to us, but don't lie to yourself."

Seeing Jing Jin without saying a word, the expectations that the Yanding Zao households had just raised were as if they were on a roller coaster, being suddenly thrown from a high altitude and swooping down to the bottom of the valley.

It turns out that this imperial envoy is the same as the prefect!

Moreover, the imperial court may not really want to punish us as guilty and drag us out to behead us!

As soon as this thought arose, it became unstoppable.

People's herd mentality is extremely serious, especially in crowded scenes, such as the so-called rabble.

Instigated by the "green-eyed bug", the crowd instantly began to surge angrily like boiling sea water.

Soon after, the Zaohu saltmen surrounded the imperial envoy's team, while Xie Jin's face was ashen and his lips were trembling with anger.

"What are you doing? Who allowed you to do this?"

Xie Jin said angrily: "Come here, drive them out quickly. I am an imperial envoy. Do you want to rebel?"

"Are you crazy?"

The officials at the salt field turned red and panicked at this time, with large drops of sweat rolling down their foreheads.

If something happens to a bunch of high-ranking officials in scarlet and blue robes in the salt field, then even if they are lucky enough to be fine, their whole family will have to be buried with them, there is no doubt about it.

The green-eyed bug didn't bother to talk nonsense with them and just waved.

Swish, brush, brush!

Suddenly, dozens of saltmen pulled out their daggers and daggers from their sheaths, and the cold light flashed, revealing their sharp edges.

Everyone stared at Xie Jin and others with eager eyes, which made all the officials tremble in fear.

Salt is a huge profit business, and illegal salt trafficking is even more destructive. These people dare to transport residual salt to salt dealers. In order to make money, they naturally also participate in illegal salt sales. These are all secrets that are not revealed, and the salt in the salt field Ding, basically all have martial arts skills, and most of them are accustomed to using weapons such as daggers and daggers. They are by no means a kind person.

The imperial envoy team was accompanied by escorts, but the dozen or so government officials brought from Yangzhou Prefecture looked at the salt men in front of them. They might not be able to win these salt men alone, let alone the dozens of salt men here. Woolen cloth!

"You. You"

Jie Jin was really panicked. He was so frightened that he stepped back repeatedly. The people next to him were even more panicked. They fell to the ground and shouted with a pale face: "Come here, help me."

The salt men sneered and pressed forward with weapons in hand.

At this time, several imperial guards setting off communications fireworks.

After a while, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the crowd, and immediately a group of cavalry galloped into the salt field.

"People inside, listen, put down your weapons, don't make a big mistake!"

However, it was better not to say this. As soon as he said it, the green-eyed beast, taking advantage of his height, actually waved the short knife randomly, pushed away a few untrained government officials, and rushed directly to Xie Jin.

"I'll kill you bitch!"

Immediately afterwards, a knife was thrust into Xie Jin's stomach.

——————

"Um?"

Li Heng, who was actually under house arrest in the Yangzhou government office by the Jin Yiwei sent by Jie Jin, was pacing irritably. However, just as he was about to open the door and go out, he heard a muffled sound.

"boom!"

The door opened in response, and the junior official accompanying him stumbled into the house regardless of tripping over the threshold, knelt down in front of Li Heng, and wailed, "What a disaster!"

"Why are you panicking? Don't you have the grace to remain calm even if Mount Tai collapses?"

The official held his hands on the ground. He tripped and fell. He didn't want to give Li Heng such a gift. He tried to stand up, but his arms were soft and turned into a puddle of mud, and he couldn't hold himself up at all.

Wherever you fall, there you lie down.

The junior official simply lay on the ground and said: "The imperial envoy Xie Jin was assassinated by a saltman from the salt field. I heard that he was stabbed in the abdomen. He is currently being rescued. I don't know whether he is alive or dead!"

"What!?"

Li Heng was startled, and his expression immediately changed.

At this time, what he just said about "Taishan collapsed in front of him without changing his expression" was forgotten by him.

Li Heng slapped the table angrily. The table was not broken, but his hand immediately swelled up and was still numb for the time being. Li Heng was furious at first. He never expected that things would develop to the extreme. Bad results——

He tried so hard to set up a situation for the kitchen households to go on strike, but not only did it not work, but it was self-defeating and led to the worst possible situation.

The assassination of the imperial envoy, whether it was done by Yan Ding himself or not, will definitely be magnified in the end!

"This group of unscrupulous people is really bold and reckless. They don't know whether to live or die. It really makes me angry."

Li Heng said "Ouch", clenched his red and swollen palms tightly, his face was extremely ferocious, and he gritted his teeth and said: "I am being watched by the Jin Yiwei and you are still able to move freely. Go and inform the king to participate in politics!"

This junior official was an official of the Huai'an Prefecture and was directly under Li Heng. Naturally, he came to inform Li Heng first, instead of taking it upon himself to leapfrog the hierarchy and inform the officials at the Chief Envoy level. This was a taboo in official circles.

At this time, with Li Heng's consent, he stood up and then rolled on the ground to notify Wang Yuanshan.

Yangzhou Government Office, on the other side.

"How dare these bastards?"

When Wang Yuanshan received the summons, he also showed a look of shock. Apparently he did not expect that Yan Ding would dare to kill the imperial envoy.

You know, in the entire place managed by the Ming Dynasty government, Yan Ding has official status.

If you dare to kill the imperial envoy, you are rebelling, and you want to kill the Nine Tribes and even the Yi Tribes!

But Wang Yuanshan thought about it again and felt something was wrong.

Thoughts kept flashing in Wang Yuanshan's mind, and he thought to himself: "Could it be that Jie Jin himself staged a cruel trick? But is Xie Jin crazy and even willing to take his life? He is a great talent who is famous all over the world. He also wrote "Emperor Taizu Gao" "Record", he is still serving as an errand for "Ming Pao" and "Yongle Dadian", his future is bright, he will definitely be able to serve as Prime Minister in the future, why risk his own life? I'm afraid he is really that lard-obsessed Yandinggan It’s not like Jie Jin did the stupid things he did on purpose.”

Wang Yuanshan felt that it was very difficult. Regardless of whether it was Jie Jinyan's trick or not, once it was reported to the court, the situation would escalate, the emperor would be furious, and the entire Huanghuai Chief Envoy Department would be destroyed.

In the past, the emperor did not use the army. It was because he had no name. Now he directly handed over the "name". Wang Yuanshan did not believe that the murderous usurper emperor would let this opportunity pass.

"Sir, what should I do?"

The junior official also looked pale and said, "Should we evacuate immediately? Return to Huai'an Mansion?"

Wang Yuanshan shook his head and said: "If we escape now, wouldn't we be convicted of treason, and it will be out of control by then."

He thought for a while and then said: "Tell Li Heng that this matter will be put on hold for now. We will be in Yangzhou Mansion, waiting for the next news."

Although the junior official was panicked, his mind was still clear and he asked the most critical question directly.

"What about the salt affairs yamen in Lianghuai?"

"Jie Jin's matter is certainly troublesome, but the top priority right now is not here."

Wang Yuanshan pointed outside and said in a deep voice: "Take someone to keep an eye on Jie Jin. If anything happens to Jie Jin, report it to me immediately!"

"yes!"

——————

"Tell me, who ordered you?"

In the gloomy room, Jin Yiwei hung the "green-eyed bug" upside down and was preparing to torture him.

However, then the door was pushed open with a creak and a person walked in.

This person was none other than Jie Jin who was seriously injured in full view of the public. He was stabbed with a short knife and was bleeding profusely. He fell into a coma.

The royal guards all stood up and saluted.

The leader was Zhao Haichuan, who was specially transferred from Jiangnan by Jiang Xinghuo to protect Xie Jin.

Zhao Haichuan is now also an official of a hundred households. He and Cao Song had been staying in the handicraft factory area before they really couldn't deal with them.

"Um."

Xie Jin nodded indifferently, responding to the salutes of the royal guards.

"Zhao Baihu stays, and the others go out."

After all the Jinyi guards had gone out, the green-eyed beast saw Jie Jin and was no longer as arrogant as before. He had a smile on his face and his body seemed to be full of wrinkles: "Sir, the show is over, it's time to let me out."

Jie Jin's eyes fell on the hanging green-eyed bug and said: "I have already guessed who the master behind you is. Since he is so unkind, don't blame me for being unjust. Today, we will settle the old and new accounts together. "

After hearing this, the green-eyed bug's face suddenly changed: "Sir, what are you talking about?"

Xie Jin sneered: "What do you think?"

Then, Xie Jin made a gesture of wiping his neck towards Zhao Haichuan.

Zhao Haichuan understood, laughed ferociously, and stuffed an iron ruler into the mouth of the green-eyed bug. He stepped hard on the floor with his feet, jumped up with the force, grabbed the throat of the green-eyed bug with his palms like eagle claws, and then pushed the iron ruler hard Pull upward.

The blue-eyed bug was in pain, and its legs struggled desperately. However, it was difficult to move even half an inch with its hands tightly clasped around its neck, and the iron ruler on its throat was getting tighter and tighter...

Poof!

Blood spurted out and splashed onto Feiyu's suit, and a strong fishy smell filled the surrounding area.

The green-eyed bug tilted its head and died.

The Jinyi guards walked in and looked at the visceral fragments that had been vomited upside down on the ground. Their faces were all pale. Some people's stomachs were so upset that they couldn't help but vomit.

Jie Jin clapped his hands, looked around the room, his eyes fell on the Jinyi guards, and said slowly: "Thank you very much this time. I will treat you all to a drink another day. I will leave today."

"Congratulations, my lord."

The Jinyi guards all clasped their fists and watched Jie Jin leave.

It wasn't until Xie Jin left for a long time that several Jinyi guards dared to raise their heads and wiped the sweat from their foreheads, and whispered: "Zhao Baihu, this surname Jie is too ruthless. In just a few words, he can The head of a salt cub was taken off."

Another person said: "You must be ruthless. Look at the salt men who were arrested. Which one is not afraid?"

Zhao Haichuan sighed and said: "Alas! This guy with the surname Jie really shouldn't have come to Yangzhou. He is just a famous person, but he was forced to become a butcher! But that's all, this green-eyed bug won't live long anyway, we are still popular. The one who drinks spicy food should consider it as atonement for his dead brothers."