Yansi Yamen did not have its own prison, so the prisoners were imprisoned in the prison of Suzhou Fuyamen.
Wang Xian was a member of the Yamen. Even though it was his first time to come to the Suzhou Yamen, he still easily bowed to the right temple gate and met the cell leader of Suzhou.
, the prison boss readily agreed to take him to visit him in prison.
Arriving at the dimly lit and smelly prison, the cell leader opened a gate and said, "Smugglers of salt, someone is here to see you!"
Wang Xian and Shuai Hui went in and saw that those sitting or leaning on the haystacks inside were none other than Sima Qiu, Zhou Yang, and the Lu Yuan who opened the herbal medicine shop, as well as several of their clerks.
Several people rubbed their eyes and took a closer look. They were all surprised when they saw it was Wang Xian. Mr. Sima felt more like seeing a savior. He rushed towards him and burst into tears: "Looking forward to the stars, looking forward to the moon, I've been looking forward to you..."
…”
Asking Shuai Hui to open the food box he brought, Wang Xiandao said: "I have wronged you all during this time. Let's eat something to sacrifice to the five internal organs temple."
Needless to say, everyone's mouths were already watering when they looked at the roast goose, roast chicken, and bacon in the food box. They rushed forward, and they didn't care whether their hands were dirty or not, and they just tore them apart and started chewing them up.
.
Wang Xian felt very uncomfortable when he saw this, "Eat slowly, I will deliver it every day these days."
What was meant to be a comforting word made everyone choke. Sima Qiu held the chicken butt in his mouth and Baba asked: "Do we have to continue to go to jail?"
"No." Wang Xian hurriedly comforted him: "This time I come with the autograph letters from Zheng Fantai and Zhou Zhitai, so I don't have to worry about Yun Si Yamen not letting them go."
"That's okay..." Sima Qiu then felt relieved. Seeing that everyone had eaten all the roasted goose and only one goose butt was left, he immediately said angrily: "I'm not a rabbit, why do you eat so many butts!"
"
In the wind and the clouds, a box full of meat went into everyone's stomach in a blink of an eye, and everyone leaned on the haystack with satisfaction. Only then did Lu Yuanwai remember that he was a person with status, but he was also grabbing food like a hungry ghost reincarnated.
I couldn't help but said with embarrassment: "The prison food is really terrible. I dream about big elbows all day long..."
"The members have suffered a lot." Wang Xian smiled understandingly and asked, "How could it be like this?"
"We don't know either." Lu Yuanwai scratched his head and said: "This trip went smoothly at the beginning. The food in Huguang is as cheap as dirt. Even in the spring famine season, one tael of silver can buy three stones of rice. The silk we transported
and tea were also very popular, and the two parties hit it off and finalized a long-term cooperation.”
"The grain merchants in Huguang were very enthusiastic and helped us get the approval slip from the Chief Secretary of Huguang. Because we were worried about the grain shortage in our hometown, Mr. Sima and I escorted the first batch of grain ships back." Lu Yuanwai continued: "We have the approval slip from the Chief Secretary of Huguang in our hands.
Tiaozi, in the two lakes, the Yangtze River flows unimpeded, all the way to Suzhou Xushuguan, I paid the tax, and just when I was about to pass the customs, people from the Salt Transportation Department wanted to search again. I thought they wanted to extort a sum, so I gave the money. Who
I don’t know that they actually said that I bribed them, so I must have a guilty conscience, so there must be some illicit secrets on the ship.”
"Then we searched the ship, and the result was really eye-catching. We found several bags of coarse salt in the grain pile." Sima Qiu said with an expression that he had seen a ghost: "Then we used these few bags of coarse salt to seize the ship.
, we were also caught in jail.”
"I escorted the last batch of grain ships and arrived three days later than them," Zhou grain merchant said with a bitter face: "But the experience was exactly the same as them. The Salt Transportation Department also found illegal salt, and then seized the ships and arrested people...
…”
"You were wronged, right?" Wang Xian said softly.
"We can earn at least 10,000 taels of silver from selling these grains in Huguang. A few bags of private salt only cost a few bucks. Who would throw watermelon for sesame seeds?" Zhou Yang said with infinite grievance.
"Did someone from below take it in?" Wang Xian asked.
"It's impossible. Salt is produced in eastern Zhejiang, but not in Huguang. Even if we want to sell private salt, we should sell it from eastern Zhejiang to Huguang, not the other way around!" Lu Yuanwai said with a depressed look.
"Are you ready to go to court?" Wang Xian frowned slightly and asked.
"No." Sima Qiu shook his head and said: "This matter is extremely strange. I suspect that we fell into a trap. The reason why we did not go to court is because the frame-up was too clumsy and we were afraid that the secret would be exposed when the light comes..."
"Is this blackmail?" Wang Xian said softly.
"It's not like that." Sima Qiu said in an authoritative tone: "If it was blackmail, someone should have sent a message long ago to let us lose money and eliminate the disaster. But now they have ignored us, how does it look like blackmail?"
"Then there's another reason..." Wang Xian sighed, and asked about the situation at that time, which official led the team, etc. It wasn't until they revealed everything they knew that he stood up and said, "You guys just have to bear with me for a few more days, and I will
Get you out as soon as possible."
Everyone nodded slowly, but they didn't have much hope in their hearts. Because after the conversation they had just had, they also understood that someone was causing trouble in secret, and the person who could affect the Salt Transportation Department of Zhejiang and Zhejiang must be a high-ranking official.
If a little shrimp like Wang Xian wants to fight with others, wouldn't it be like a small worm trying to shake a big tree...
"By the way, how is the county?" Sima Qiu asked when they parted.
"There are still six days left, and there will be no food in the official treasury." Wang Xian said bitterly: "Those big households are hoarding food and sharpening their knives, waiting for this moment."
Zhou Yang and Lu Yuanwai were very envious when they heard this, and then they remembered that they had brought the grain back to prevent the people from selling their land at a low price. They immediately put on a righteous face and said: "It is really shameless to take advantage of others' danger!"
"Don't worry, the government has stopped private land transactions." Wang Xian sighed. "They have also put out newly opened government land for sale. We won't let the common people sell their land at a low price..."
"The eldest man has a kind heart..." Zhou Yang and Yuan Lu praised: "It is a blessing for the people of Fuyang to have such a clear sky like the eldest man!"
Wang Xian couldn't help but roll his eyes, ball, I was so gorgeously ignored...
.
After leaving the prison, Wang Xian chatted with the prison head for a few more words. Under his introduction, he met the pian of the execution room of the government office. He invited him to have a drink on Guanqian Street and presented him with a envelope of silver.
He pointed out: "This case is indeed strange. As a rule, the Salt Transportation Department has no power to arrest and try. If illegal salt dealers are found, they are always interrogated by the government. But this time, the people from the Salt Transportation Department specifically informed our department.
He will be punished and the case will be adjourned for one month."
"The affairs of Suzhou Prefecture are heavy, and the execution room receives more than a hundred cases a day, so it is normal to delay it for a month." The officer took a sip of wine and said, "What's the secret behind this has nothing to do with us.
I don’t want to know, it’s the Salt Division’s case anyway, they can try it whenever they want.”
"Can we try to advance?" Wang Xian asked.
"Impossible," the clerk squinted at him and said, "Brothers are also members of the same profession, and I won't hide it from you. The Salt Transport Department is a big customer of our execution room, and the executioner will never offend them."
"Haha..." When we first met, it was good to be able to get some useful information. Wang Xian didn't expect to rely on him to do anything. If the other party was taking over everything, he would be suspicious. Fortunately, people thought he was
They were of the same kind, and they showed some kindness and didn't cheat him.
After inviting the official to dinner, Wang Xian asked Tian Qi to take him to the Changzhou County Government Office to pay his respects.
The yamen porter everywhere is always asking for money. Wang Xian handed over the door bag and handed over a letter saying: "I am the clerk of Fuyang County, Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. On the order of my eldest master, I have come to give you a letter."
The eldest sir delivers the letter."
For the sake of the concierge, the concierge asked him to sit in the concierge for a while, then went in with the letter to report. After a while, he came out and said: "My eldest husband happens to be free, you can come in with me."
Wang Xian followed him into the back office and waited in the waiting room outside. After a while, a short, handsome-looking official in his thirties or forties came out, wearing a seventh-grade uniform. Wang Xian hurriedly saluted and paid homage.
"Get up." That official was Xu Ming, the magistrate of Changzhou. The capital of Suzhou is divided into two counties, one of which is Changzhou. In his previous life, he was a county official in the provincial capital because he was not a cultivator. Although Suzhou is not a provincial capital, it has many yamen.
, the relationship is so complicated that it is more painful than other provincial capitals.
However, Xu Zhixian was kind to Wang Xian and asked him to sit down and talk. He sat down and said, "I read your eldest master's letter. Since you are his noble disciple, you don't have to treat him as a public servant."
Come and pay homage." He paused and said, "He and I are from the same hometown, and our friendship is extraordinary, so please call me uncle."
"Uncle." Wang Xian said flattered, and couldn't help but secretly sigh in his heart, the Gan Party is so damn strong, they have their own people everywhere...
"I already know your purpose of coming." Xu Zhixian said calmly: "I have also heard about the impoundment of the Fuyang grain ship. I wrote to your teacher the day before yesterday to inform him, and I also helped him find a solution..."
"Let me worry about it, uncle." Wang Xian said respectfully: "To be honest with you, uncle, I only have a few days left to store grain in Fuyang's official warehouse. Once the food runs out, the people will sell their land at a low price. Even if the people swallow their anger and sell their land,
I will hold back a lot of resentment. Who will I vent my anger on? It must be the victims of the disaster who are robbing them of their jobs, and my master..." Wei Zhixian didn't mention his farming business in the letter, so naturally Wang Xian couldn't talk too much.
"Hmm." Xuzhi County nodded and said, "I am also a county magistrate, and I feel the same way." He paused and said, "The day before yesterday, I went to a fellow villager from the Salt Transportation Department to intercede, and he secretly told me that this case was ordered by one of their colleagues to arrest him personally.
The boat, without his order, they dare not let it go privately..."
There are seven major Salt Departments in the world. Among them, Suzhou and Zhejiang belong to the Salt Transfer Department of the two Zhejiang Capitals. Their chief is the Salt Transport Department of the two Zhejiang Capitals. He is informed by Tongzhi, and the deputy envoys assist him. The yamen is located in Hangzhou. Under the Salt Department of the Two Zhejiang Provinces, there are
The fourth branch, Suzhou Prefecture, is under the jurisdiction of the Susong Salt Transportation Branch. Because of its extremely important position, the second-in-command of the Salt Division Yamen, Mr. Tongzhi, is in charge.
The person who stirred up trouble this time was the second-ranking figure in the Liangzhe Salt Department...
"I think this matter should be settled in Hangzhou," Xuzhi County glanced at Wang Xian and said, "Let's see if the province can talk to the capital transfer envoy and make some accommodations. It's better than me, the county official."