The boat sailed very fast, and it became even faster after passing Linqing. It went straight to Jining, passed Xuzhou, and was about to enter Yangzhou.
However, when they were in Huai'an, the group received bad news. Lin Ruhai had died of illness three days ago.
Before his death, he left several letters, namely to Jia Mu, Jia She, Jia Zheng, Jia Lian and Feng Ziying.
The messenger was arranged by Wang Wenyan, and people were arranged in Huai'an and Xuzhou. However, Feng Ziying and others had already passed Xuzhou before the messenger arrived, so they only had time to stop Feng Ziying and his party in Huai'an.
The person who brought the letter was also vague, saying only that Lin Ruhai's condition suddenly worsened. Despite the efforts of the doctors, he could only hold on for twelve days before he was pronounced dead.
However, Lin Ruhai had already prepared, and basically arranged everything in the past ten days.
Fortunately, Wang Wenyan was still there. After it was clear that Wang Wenyan would follow Feng Ziying, there was no need to hide many things from Wang Wenyan, including the disposal of some family property.
Although Feng Ziying's death was expected, the fact that it happened so quickly still made Feng Ziying suspicious.
However, as soon as he arrived in Yangzhou, he needed to deal with Lin Ruhai's funeral affairs. Even with Jia Lian's help, he still had to work hard for two or three days before settling these matters, and then he had the time to think about the cause of Lin Ruhai's death.
The only thing that made Feng Ziying feel relieved was that Daiyu performed well.
Maybe Lin Ruhai had talked to her many times, which made her mentally prepared, or maybe Shi Xiangyun was always by her side so that she would not be completely helpless, and the engagement with Feng Ziying had already been finalized.
There were no changes, so several factors combined prevented Feng Ziying from being struck down by the huge sadness.
Lin Ruhai doesn't have many friends in Yangzhou. He is cautious and low-key by nature. Although his special position as the censor of salt inspection in the Huaihe River means that no matter how low-key he is, he can't avoid friends and acquaintances, both public and private, but he can truly be called a close friend.
Very few.
Regarding the passing of Lin Ruhai, the salt merchants in Yangzhou City behaved quite well. Merchants came to express their condolences in an endless stream. Salt merchants from the Huaihe and Huaihe Salt Patrol Areas, including Jinling, Huguang, and Jiangxi, came one after another.
I came from thousands of miles away to express my condolences. Fortunately, Jia Lian, a skilled person, was here and it was easy to deal with these things.
"Mr. Lin's serious illness is still a bit unexpected. I saw you the day before and you were all normal. But in the middle of the night, you suddenly became seriously ill. The next day, you were a little confused. Later, the doctor came and looked at you. He only said
I was running out of oil, so I could only do my best, and I also prescribed some warm and tonic prescriptions. After using them, I got a little better, but it was far worse than before..."
Wang Wenyan and Wu Yaoqing sat opposite Feng Ziying and introduced the situation, "We also asked the doctor why it suddenly deteriorated. The doctor's explanation was that Mr. Lin was just trying to support himself, but on the surface it looked pretty good. In fact, his foundation
It has been hollowed out for a long time, and it is out of control if it is caused by external factors..."
Feng Ziying nodded, "So, is it really God's will? Have you checked the food and medication that night?"
"After inspection, there were no other abnormalities. It was all the cooks and servants who had been with Mr. Lin for many years, and no other abnormalities were found." Wu Yaoqing knew that he could not avoid this, so he was very careful.
Everything he could think of had been thought of. Although Feng Ziying still had some doubts in her heart, she couldn't find any other reason and could only keep it in her heart for the time being.
"Sir, is there anything else you think is inappropriate?"
"I can't say for sure. I always feel that although Uncle Lin's condition had not improved before I left, it was still relatively stable. How could it suddenly worsen? Besides, his illness is irreversible, but it seems to be slowly declining. Months have passed, why did it suddenly break out at this time?" Feng Ziying did not hide her suspicion, "Of course, we are not doctors, so it is difficult to judge the cause and effect of this illness. It is very likely that it is as the doctor said. Like,..."
Hearing what Feng Ziying said, Wang Wenyan knew that his future boss still had some suspicions that there was something fishy going on.
"My lord's suspicion is not without reason. To be honest, Yao Qing and I also have some suspicion, but there is no basis for it..." Wang Wenyan also nodded slowly.
"Oh? There is no basis, but there is still a reason, right?" Feng Ziying perked up.
"The reason is very simple. After Mr. Lin passed away, the imperial court has not yet decided on the new candidate for the salt inspection censor. It is said that the emperor and the emperor are difficult to reach an agreement on this candidate, so now the power of the salt envoy Si Yamen in Huaihe and Huaihe River is actually It is controlled by the salt envoys from the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River, and whoever benefits the most will be suspected."
Although this judgment is somewhat one-sided, if it can be confirmed that Lin Ruhai did not die of a normal illness, then this theory makes sense.
Tao Guolu was the salt envoy from Huaihe River to Huaihe River. In the absence of the salt inspector, his importance suddenly became apparent, especially now that many well-informed officials, including salt merchants and officials, knew that the emperor and the emperor were there. There was a lot of competition over the selection of the Salt Patrol Censor, and the Salt Patrol Censor couldn't be finalized in a short period of time. So this salt transfer envoy would really have the power of the entire yamen. Lin Ruhai had all the power in his hands before. .
So when this guy came to express condolences to Lin Ruhai, even though he offered a generous one thousand taels of silver, the joy between his brows could not be suppressed.
Of course, it is a bit premature to conclude that Tao Guolu is the "culprit or so", but there is no doubt that this person is highly suspicious, or that he has caused a huge obstacle to Feng Ziying's next work.
Without Lin Ruhai's support as the Salt Patrol Censor, although the preliminary work has been basically carried out, it will still have an impact on the next step. Fortunately, the influence of Zhongshu Ke has been slowly established and spread, and merchants We have become more and more aware that Li Daitao's department is increasingly playing a different role, so we are also trying our best to cooperate with Feng Ziying's many requests.
"Wen Yan, Yao Qing, I trust your and Yao Qing's judgment, and I also trust my own intuition. Since you and I both feel this way, what do you think we should do now?" Feng Ziying nodded.
"Although we are not sure, we still feel that there may be something wrong with the medicine or diet Mr. Lin took that night or the day or two before. Regarding diet, Yao Qing has learned about it. Mr. Lin has been eating very light since he became seriously ill. If there are other medicines, Master Lin will probably be able to detect them easily, but the stewed concoction has a very strong taste. If a small amount is added, it may be difficult to detect..."
Wu Yaoqing pondered for a while before saying: "It's just that although the Salt Transport Secretary Si Yamen dare not say that Longtan Tiger's Den, but it is definitely not something that ordinary people can enter and exit at will. The Qiushui Sword Sect has several masters stationed in the inner courtyard every day. The general Jianghu Xiaoxiao couldn't come in at all, and the personal servants of Master Lin were responsible for preparing and boiling the medicine. Outsiders couldn't interfere at all, and it was impossible for people in Yangzhou City to have the courage to participate in such treasonous things, so if there were any problems , that is definitely a powerful dragon from a foreign enemy, so I have arranged for people to check the foreign martial arts masters who entered Yangzhou City half a month before and after that time to see if there are any doubts..."
Feng Ziying listened very carefully, which made Wu Yaoqing very excited.
Wu Yaoqing knew very well that he could not compare with Wang Wenyan in terms of overall strategy and overall coordination ability. In terms of word planning strategy, he could not compare with Cao Yu. With the passing of Lin Ruhai, the dispersion of their team had become a foregone conclusion.
Although Feng Ziying said in the early days that she would take over Lin Ruhai's staff team, now that the situation has become clearer, Feng Ziying participated in the opening of the sea affairs of the Chinese Book Department as a Hanlin Academy editor, and both Wang Wenyan and Cao Yu were quickly put to use. , and the affairs he is involved in seem a bit marginalized.
If I can no longer show my unique value and meaning, I am afraid that even if I can stay in this team in the future, my importance and value will be greatly reduced.
You must know that everyone in their team is also involved in various external connections. To fully play their role, they must involve all parties.
In the Lianghuai Capital Salt Envoy Office, it costs a lot every year just to maintain and consolidate these personal relationships, not just as simple as one's own salary.
With the scope of affairs that Feng Ziying is currently involved in, is he still willing to invest so much to maintain this area?
If I cannot continue to invest, I am afraid that the various personal relationships and informant system I have established in the three sects and nine streams of Jianghu sects may shrink significantly, and my abilities and functions will also be greatly affected.
So after Lin Ruhai's incident came out, Wu Yaoqing realized that there were some doubts here, so he took the initiative to negotiate with Wang Wenyan.
Wang Wenyan also supports Wu Yaoqing's point of view, that is, even if this matter is really the deterioration of Lin Ruhai's condition and has nothing to do with other factors, their team, especially Wu Yaoqing, should take this opportunity to show off their abilities from all aspects. Proving that they have carried out work in all possible areas that can be considered in advance is not only a way to repay Lin Ruhai, the former proprietor, but also a demonstration and proof to future proprietors.
Wu Yaoqing is a good player in this area. He considers the problem carefully and thoughtfully, and has abundant resources in this area. Therefore, he put it forward bit by bit, which made Feng Ziying very satisfied.
"So Yao Qing, has there been any progress in your investigation?"
"Sir, we have some clues. Although we cannot say that this is definitely related to Mr. Lin's death, at least we think there are some clues that need to be further investigated..." Wu Yaoqing seemed very sure.
"Oh?!" Feng Ziying was quite surprised. He didn't expect that the other party actually gained something. Although he said it a bit modestly, he definitely felt confident if he dared to say this.
This chapter has been completed!