Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

As prices continued to rise in Huai'an Prefecture and the Salt Commissioner Si Yamen secretly fanned the flames, large-scale riots soon broke out.

Zao households and citizens who could not afford rice began to gather together to protest outside the post station where the imperial envoy was temporarily stationed, demanding that the imperial court immediately restore the authority of the Huai'an government office under investigation for the assassination of the imperial envoy and stabilize prices.

"fart!"

An accompanying official in the post station became furious, slapped the case and shouted angrily.

"It's not as cold as one day! We've only been here for a few days? How can we be blamed when prices in Huai'an Prefecture have risen like this?"

"The imperial envoy represents His Majesty. How can they be disturbed when handling cases? Do they think the laws of the imperial court are just decorations? How can the majesty of the country exist?"

"."

The crowd was furious and spittle flew everywhere.

These officials were all transferred from various yamen in Beijing to work together to handle the case. They were both from the Metropolitan Procuratorate and professional bureaucrats from the Ministry of Household Affairs. They were used to being officials in Beijing, and their thoughts may not be appropriate for the local area.

At this time, Jie Jin just asked someone to bring a table, then spread the paper roll on the table and started writing.

After waiting for the accompanying officials to stop arguing, Xie Jin spoke.

"Everyone, listen to me."

Xie Jin pondered for a moment and continued: "We have just sent people to inquire about the news. There are thousands of people making trouble this time, and most of them are old, weak, women and children. Under this situation, even if they are driven away by force, I am afraid it will be difficult. There will be injuries.”

"Forcibly driving them away is indeed a bad idea. There may not be anyone behind this. Even if the people are dispersed, who knows if there will be another wave later? They will only kill a thousand enemies and suffer eight hundred losses."

"Master Jie, have you forgotten the instructions of the National Master? This matter is of great importance and there must be no mistakes, otherwise we will all be affected."

"Even if we come again, we have to disperse them first, right? Do we have to watch them gather around here? Is there anything we can do now?"

Xie Jin's words aroused everyone's discussion, and the atmosphere was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

"Shut up, everyone!" Xie Jin shouted.

Seeing Jin's resolute expression, everyone from different monasteries finally calmed down.

Xie Jin glanced around and continued in a deep voice: "It is His Majesty's will to rectify the salt affairs and cannot be violated. You should go back and prepare for the next audit. I will personally be responsible for this matter outside."

After hearing this, the officials who had gathered together dispersed.

"Master Jie, you must think carefully. If the commotion really gets serious and casualties occur, doing so will violate the law. If your Majesty is convicted, we will not be able to escape!"

After everyone left, an official who had known each other before worriedly tried to persuade them.

"I know."

Xie Jin sighed and said.

"But it's also a good thing."

"Um?"

The man was puzzled: "A good thing? Why is this still a good thing?"

Xie Jin smiled and said: "A group of officials from the Salt Envoy's Yamen are still in our hands, and the Salt Envoy's Office also knows that if they cannot let us go back home as soon as possible, then their pressure will become greater and greater until someone is unable to withstand it. Once they reveal a series of things during their stay, their losses will be huge. The current situation shows that the Salt Envoy Si Yamen is also anxious."

"Famine relief is good governance that local officials should do. Nowadays, most of the officials in Huai'an Prefecture are wearing shackles. If we do this, we will only achieve success but no fault."

What Xie Jin didn't say was that since the Imperial Master could point out the omissions in this matter thousands of miles away, it means that he had already expected it. We don't have to worry at all, and we don't have to worry about anything. We just need to get things done.

Hearing what Xie Jin said, the official suddenly understood and couldn't help but admire him.

This Mr. Jie is really smart, he hits the nail on the head, and what he says is indeed correct. However, the premise of all this is that there are still enough resources to help the hungry and stabilize prices.

In fact, Jiang Xinghuo has already prepared Li Zengzhi's line for Xie Jin. The Wu family's grain transportation business has been ceded to Li Zengzhi. A large amount of grain can be shipped from Changzhou Prefecture at any time, transferred through Yangzhou Prefecture, and finally delivered to Li Zengzhi. As for Huai'an Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture are both under control.

For the imperial envoy Jie Jin, as long as he handles this matter clearly, he will not have to take the risk of forcibly evicting those people, let alone pay the price of "possible casualties". After all, even if he evicts by force, it may not be possible. It is guaranteed to be unscathed, but if you follow the methods instructed by the national master, even if you encounter an accident, you can successfully resolve the crisis - and you can also benefit from it.

Xie Jin is full of confidence in this. This time, he will use the power of the national adviser to thoroughly investigate the matter of corruption in the salt tax and get to the bottom of it!

"The imperial court is rectifying the salt policy. How are we poor people going to live?"

"Sir, you are the imperial envoy, we rely on you to save our lives!"

There was a lot of noise, and some people even rushed to the door of the inn and smashed things.

Zhao Haichuan and others in the posthouse stood in the middle of the steps with livid faces, looking at the scene outside the door.

Under such circumstances, even if he is a Jin Yiwei, he would not dare to step forward rashly, otherwise, if he suppresses it forcefully, he may immediately become the target of public criticism.

He could only watch helplessly, letting some unscrupulous people among them secretly instigate, stirring up the emotions of the people even more.

At this moment, footsteps suddenly came from behind, and everyone followed the sound and suddenly looked happy.

"Master Jie is here."

Xie Jin arrived in a hurry, but as soon as he arrived, the whole scene became much calmer.

"The Imperial Master is really powerful. Without this kind of preparation, I am afraid that even if we have advanced to this point, it will be extremely difficult to go further."

Jie Jin glanced out through the crack in the door, looking at the chaotic scene in front of him, feeling secretly happy in his heart.

Although the Imperial Guard is currently facing many difficulties in Beijing, he still gives him undivided support. Not only did His Majesty approve the request, and three guards will be mobilized to prepare for the Japanese army, but also professionals from the Accounts Department and Da Ming Bank are also following up. Assemble and prepare to go north to help Xie Jin complete a large-scale audit.

In addition, the food problem has also been solved. Instead of using the reserved grain, it is directly transported from the Japanese rice sold by Fei Fu. If you don’t leave the children, you can’t trap the wolf. Although this part is the cost of appeasing the people, in fact, as long as If the kitchen households can be fully mobilized, then the salt tax found to have been corrupted will surely be able to make up for this part of the food cost.

Xie Jin was not in a hurry to go out, but organized and controlled the situation first.

Since Jinyiwei didn't have that many manpower, some of the government officials from the mansion were called in, which seemed quite intimidating.

Zhao Haichuan led dozens of Jinyi guards and more than a hundred government officials, quickly blocked the intersection, drove the Zao households and citizens who had gathered to make trouble inside, and allowed them to curse inside and were not allowed to leave.

"Everyone, please be patient, the imperial envoy is here!"

Zhao Haichuan stood on the high platform and shouted loudly.

Hearing this, the angry and aggrieved kitchen households and citizens suddenly became much quieter. After all, they were just ordinary people, not criminal thieves. After their goals were achieved, they did not dare to make trouble, especially those who were the instigators did not dare to smash them when they saw him. , and stepped aside obediently. After all, Xie Jin represented the emperor.

Seeing this, Xie Jin nodded with satisfaction, then ordered someone to open the door, walked out of the inn, and said loudly: "Dear fellow villagers, the imperial court has decided on the plan to clean up the salt tax revenue from the Lianghuai Salt Farm, and now it is time to clean up the salt tax revenue in various places. Accounting.”

"Recently, we have arrested dozens of officials suspected of embezzling salt taxes, and the speed of case progress has been greatly accelerated. This is a very exciting figure."

"However, compared with the progress of the salt tax investigation case, the skyrocketing price of food in Huai'an Prefecture is shocking."

"Fellow folks, please think about it. Is it really our arrival that has caused the price of food to rise?"

"Obviously not! Someone is causing trouble behind my back. Someone is using you, simple people, to put pressure on me!"

"However, what I can promise you is that the imperial court will not ignore Huai'an Prefecture. Although stabilizing food prices is not one of my orders from the emperor, this responsibility is my responsibility!"

"Starting from tomorrow, enough grain will be shipped from the south, and the government will put it on the market at the previous grain price. Of course, in order to prevent unscrupulous merchants from hoarding goods on a large scale, we will set a daily limit for each household on a household basis. Purchase limit.”

Listening to Xie Jin's words, there was a lot of discussion among the crowd. Some people felt that the court's action was too timely, but others felt that it was a trick to trick them into going back. Such a good thing would definitely not happen.

In fact, in ancient times, local gentry had far better control over the countryside than the government. Every autumn, when grain production in various places decreased, the gentry would definitely notice in time, and then they would unite with grain merchants to suppress grain prices, causing farmers' surplus grain to be reduced. Purchases were made at low prices, and food prices began to skyrocket.

Similarly, for grain merchants, as long as they have food, they can gain wealth, but without high grain prices, they will have nothing. Therefore, grain merchants would rather pay a lot of money and benefits, and hope that the government will not intervene and maintain the grain. They are willing to pay no matter how much they supply, because only by ensuring their interests can they obtain a large amount of wealth from the hungry people.

The government often turns a blind eye to this, because once it takes action to stabilize food prices, the space for the profitable class will be squeezed, and even the opportunity to make money will be gone. This is also the basis for collusion between government and businessmen.

And this method was actually the court's favorite method, because what the court needed were hungry people who didn't have enough to eat but didn't have the energy to rebel, not strong farmers who had been raised by good weather every year.

Xie Jin continued: "During this period, we sent people to inspect various counties. After combining the statistics reported by officials from various places, we found a very bad situation."

"The rise in food prices has not only caused great trouble to the citizens who do not have land, but also has a great impact on the kitchen households who cultivate part of their fields. I know that there are many kitchen households among you. Here I want to What I am saying is that the imperial court would not embarrass Zao households in the matter of privately selling surplus salt, and some areas south of the Lianghuai Salt Fields near Yangzhou Prefecture have also resumed normal production of boiled salt. I hope that after you go back, Also tell this news clearly to more people.”

Xie Jin talked a lot, and the people's emotions gradually calmed down. There were still people who wanted to stir up trouble, but as soon as they started, they were taken away one by one by the Jin Yiwei.

With Xie Jin's repeated assurances, the people who came here gradually dispersed.

Obviously, this news will soon spread throughout Huai'an Mansion.

The majesty of the imperial power in this era is still unchallenged, and the imperial envoy, on behalf of the emperor, personally made a promise. Even though food prices are generally high in all the prefectures in Jiangbei, the people are still willing to believe in the promise of giving priority to helping Huai'an Prefecture.

Jie Jin watched them go away, and suddenly his eyelids couldn't stop twitching. He couldn't help but murmur to himself: "Finally, we got over it, but I'm afraid a bigger chaos is coming soon."

But he had just sat down and had half a cup of tea when another Jin Yiwei came in to report: "Sir, there is someone outside who wants to see you, claiming to be the head of the Jiang family."

Jie Jin was stunned and blurted out: "Jiang Ge?"

He remembered that among the several big salt merchants, except for the local Huai merchants who were in a group, the Huai merchants, who were important distributors, had indeed never taken the initiative to contact him. Jiang Ge was not only a leading figure among Hui merchants, but also some of the Huai merchants. A certain clan background.

"Why would Jiang Ge come to see me at this time? Is it possible?"

A trace of speculation emerged in Xie Jin's mind, but he quickly shook his head and put the thought out of his mind.

Although Jiangge is an important branch of Huizhou merchants, in the final analysis, they are still merchants. Unless they are abandoned by the forces behind them like the Wu family, they are unlikely to betray their own class interests.

After thinking for a moment, Xie Jin didn't care much and took the initiative to get up and walk out of the room. As expected, he saw a person being led by the Jin Yiwei to come in a hurry, looking here with some anxiety.

"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy."

Jie Jin stepped forward and raised his hand.

"I wonder what the Lord of the Jiang family does for coming here?"

"well!"

Jiang Ge sighed and said, "Originally, we should have reported this matter to the officials, but now no one in the Huai'an government office can take care of the matter. To make a long story short, my family's granary was burned to the ground, leaving only some ashes."

Speaking of this, he showed a grief-stricken expression: "We originally wanted to transport grain to various counties, which could be considered as a small contribution to stabilizing grain prices, but a fire broke out for no reason, so I had to find this place. Mr. Xie, you They are loyal ministers trusted by the Holy Emperor today. These people are all His Majesty’s subjects. We, the Jiang family, also want to do our part. Do you think we can donate some precious money to share some of the pressure with you?"

Xie Jin thought to himself: "This person acted very quickly when he got the news, and he was also very slick. He immediately wanted to distance himself from anything involved."

But on the surface, Xie Jin frowned: "Master Jiang, I also want to help you with the fire, but this matter is really not ours to investigate. How about I ask my fellow Jin Yiwei to help investigate?"

Jing Jin simply pretended not to understand the meaning of his words. Jiang Ge didn't know that this rush to clear up the relationship was probably not very successful. What's more, Jie Jin had to send Jin Yiwei to investigate, so " "Good intention", how dare Jiang Ge accept it?

"However, does the Jiang family have anything to say about the matter of the Salt Envoy?"

Jiang Ge looked sad and said sadly: "We businessmen are the lowest in the country. How can we know anything about the Salt and Iron Envoy? I really can't do anything about this matter. I hope Lord Jie can understand."

"Is it your Jiang family, or you?" Xie Jin keenly captured the key words in Jiang Ge's words.

If Jiang Ge came on behalf of Huizhou merchants, he probably wouldn't be able to easily waver in his position.

"us."

Xie Jin nodded and said, "I really can't help."

Jiang Ge also knew that things in the world were not that cheap. It was not so deeply involved, and it was possible to escape easily with just a few words. After hesitating for a while, he finally decided to wait and see. After all, in the salt affairs, there must be salt merchants. Illegal means, but Xie Jin is not directly targeting salt merchants like them. Even if the reform is carried out after the opening of China, it will be a matter of the future. The unlucky one now is the Salt Envoy Si Yamen. They all only pay the salt tax. If you pay too much, don't pay too little.

But at the moment, although he is very optimistic about Xie Jin, he can't confirm whether in the end it will be the Yanshi Yamen that will continue to stand, or whether Jie Jin will make a breakthrough. It is not easy to choose sides. If the Imperial Master comes here in person , then he must have no hesitation, but now he is not only representing the Jiang family, but also representing the entire Huizhou merchant gang, and he just said "we", so it is not easy to do it at this time What a promise.

"If you need me, sir, just call me at any time."

Jiang Ge did not block the way for cooperation between the two parties, but left a hole, and quietly replaced "we" with "I".

Hui merchants are, after all, just distributors.

In this wave of change, the hardest hit was the Salt Envoy Si Yamen, followed by the Huai merchants who were based in the land, and finally the Hui merchants who were the distributors.

When Jiang Ge returned home from the inn, he immediately gathered his children.

Huizhou merchants are merchants, but they have been operating here for decades and have started to develop industries.

"Dad, what do you say to Jie Jin?"

"Oh, don't mention it."

Jiang Ge sighed and said, "Of course I don't buy it."

"Then what should we do?"

Jiang Ge thought for a while and said: "Send a letter to the Imperial Preceptor and explain clearly the current situation and our difficulties. The Salt Envoy Division is like a worm to the Imperial Preceptor. Being tied to the Salt Envoy Division is It’s no good, it’s just that we are too involved now to retreat, and Xie Jin can’t decide some things, in the final analysis, they are just puppets on strings.”

And he did this just to gain favor with Jiang Xinghuo.

At the last auction, Jiang Ge contributed a lot. As a top businessman, he naturally has a keen sense of changes in the temple. Now that Shenfa Temple has begun to take action, next, various business systems and supporting measures will be implemented. Even the sales system of specialized products will definitely change accordingly.

There is no benefit in trying to resist the tide of the times as an individual when the general trend has become established.

What kind of tyrannical being is the National Preceptor?

Even the Chief Envoy and the Governor of Water Transport, who were the most powerful in the Huanghuai area, were not heavyweights in front of him at all. Didn't he realize that Jin was making such a big fuss, and no one dared to say anything in the court? If it were any other person, he would have been disgraced long ago, and it wouldn't be because beating a dog depends on the owner.

Jiang Ge definitely understood Jin's attitude, and the various information revealed in Xie Jin's speech also proved from another aspect that the national division's plan has begun to enter the final stage, and he must seize this opportunity to put The boundaries that should be drawn should be drawn quickly, otherwise it may be too late later.

——————

As the content of Xie Jin's speech spread and some news gathered, the officials of the Salt Envoy's Yamen also began to feel uneasy.

Every move of the imperial court cannot completely bypass the eyes and ears of the Lianghuai Capital Transport Salt Envoy Department. After all, the area under their jurisdiction is too large.

Whether it was the large-scale mobilization of Japanese troops at the junction of Shandong and Huanghuai in the north, or the grain ships starting to depart in the south, Shi Youmin felt deeply uneasy.

His group had embezzled the salt tax of six to seven hundred thousand taels a year for ten years.

Being targeted at this time, it would be too difficult to escape easily.

Originally, Shi Youmin, based on his experience in dealing with Chen Ying of the Metropolitan Procuratorate last time, thought that as long as he killed the Huai'an prefect to avoid the assassination of the imperial envoy, and then dealt with other clues that might lead to him, Xie Jin could not find anything, so that's all. He also returned in vain. Then, with the money he had earned over the years, he could naturally manage his connections and serve as chief envoy in other places.

But now, he found that he was wrong.

Not only did Jie Jin act like a mad dog, he did not hesitate to use himself as bait to clear away the obstacles from the Chief Envoy and the Huai'an Mansion. He also took advantage of the injury and took advantage of the situation to seize a group of salt envoys from the lower levels of the Yamen through Liu Fuchun. Officials, and even worse, went to the banquet alone and captured several senior officials of the Salt Envoy's Yamen.

On the surface, as a party under investigation, he did not dare to violate the imperial envoy's wishes, and he also tried his best to help the imperial envoy carry out the matter smoothly.

Therefore, during this period, he deliberately pretended to cooperate with the investigation and secretly promoted the plan to fan the flames, hoping to use public opinion and public opinion to force Xie Jin to retreat.

If these kitchen households stay in the countryside and are scattered in various salt fields, over time, the high food prices and the guilt of selling surplus salt to salt merchants will definitely cause huge psychological pressure on the kitchen households, cause riots and cause disasters, and if Relieve their pressure, and things will become much simpler.

Of course, this matter is not without risks. If you are not careful, it will lead to disaster. For example, he himself will not be able to escape responsibility no matter how clean he is. Once the matter is exposed, he will definitely be severely punished. Even if he was lucky enough to survive, he would be demoted and exiled to the army, and he would never be able to recover from the fall, but he had no choice.

At first, Shi Youmin had some wishful thinking that this year's grain harvest was poor, and most of the stocks in the south of the Yangtze River supported the war in Annan. There was a general shortage of grain in the north of the Yangtze River, and it was impossible to use a large amount of grain alone to stabilize the grain prices in Huai'an. But now it seems that it is How wrong.

Until now, Shi Youmin was still confident that he would pass the test safely, but things began to move on a track that was completely out of his control. Now Jie Jin has the full support of Jiang Xinghuo. He needs people and food. This is I want to punish him to death.

Shi Youmin was not sure that the central line would work.

The chief envoy to Huanghuai was protected by the eldest prince, and the governor of water transport was protected by the emperor. Who else could he really rely on?

Shi Youmin hesitated again and again, but still wrote a post and called his servants to give instructions.

"Go and send it to Chef Hao in Dongshi and tell him that I want to eat crab (solution)."