Huang Qinghe was stunned for a moment because of Song Chengxuan's demeanor. After a while, he said, "Song Master is talking about... someone who has been strictly investigating smuggling."
for example.
This Master Song.
Huang Qinghe carefully thought about things related to Quanzhou.
Many years ago, Quanzhou fought against Japanese pirates. Although they finally won the battle, the Quanzhou Navy was almost completely damaged.
Therefore, the current Minister of War, Hong Chuanting, repeatedly requested soldiers and horses from the court to train new naval forces for the court before the Japanese pirates came again. However, the court officials were not optimistic about the navy. Some even suggested that it would be better to retreat thousands of miles to the sea and spend a lot of money to build the city wall.
Just like fighting against the foreign tribes in the northern border, as long as they defend the city and cannot leave, those people will have nothing to do. It is best to avoid trade at sea, so that it will be over.
Hong Chuanting scolded those people for not knowing the suffering of the people along the coast. Not to mention how much manpower and material resources it would take to build a city wall like the one in Northern Xinjiang. Before it was completed, would the people along the coast have to endure the bullying of Japanese pirates? Moreover, the maritime trade under the imperial government had also improved.
The lives of the people along the coast, besides, blindly giving in will only make the Japanese pirates despise the Zhou Dynasty even more.
For the Zhou court, building a city wall was more difficult than training a navy, so the court accepted Hong Chuanting's proposal, but the number of soldiers recruited was far from enough to form a navy. Even so, the Quanzhou Navy persisted and always
Guarding the coastal line, General Shi, the commander-in-chief of the Quanzhou Navy, who is over seventy years old, manages the army very strictly and always personally leads the troops to fight against Japanese pirates and pirates, which makes people admire him.
But when General Shi returned to his hometown after serving as official, there was no suitable candidate to replace General Shi in the court. Only one person wrote a letter willing to go to Quanzhou to serve.
This person is Xue Chen, the current commander-in-chief of the Quanzhou Navy. The Xue family was born in Taizu's horseman. Several of his children served in the court. Xue Chen's mighty general also came from his father who died in the battlefield, but this man was a weak man.
As a scholar, he could only go in and out of the military camp to advise the commander. Although he played a significant role in several battles, Xue Chen had always had a bad temper and would often conflict with the commander. Gradually no one wanted to work with him.
Xue Chen's own physical condition was extremely poor and he could not fight on the battlefield. He could only "talk on paper" and could not lead troops alone. As a result, he became useless.
Xue Chen was already over forty years old at that time and seemed to be disillusioned with his official career, so he called out for illness and traveled around. He happened to go to Quanzhou. I wonder what happened to Xue Chen in Quanzhou. When he came back, he seemed like a different person.
Not only did he pay attention to government affairs again, but he also wrote a eloquent memorial detailing the situation in Quanzhou. After General Shi took office, he repeatedly requested to see the emperor and asked for his permission to go to Quanzhou.
Anyway, there was no suitable candidate. The emperor ordered Xue Chen to temporarily take over the post of commander-in-chief of the navy. The whole court was very happy. Everyone knew that the news of General Shi's departure had spread to the Japanese pirates, and the Japanese pirates would definitely attack. Anyone with water
If the division loses a battle, they will be punished by the court. Xue Chen can be regarded as taking the blame for them.
Almost everyone concluded that Xue Chen would return in defeat.
What people didn't expect was that Xue Chen not only won the battle, but also killed all the invading Japanese pirates. This deterred the Japanese pirates and boosted the spirit of the navy. Xue Chen's methods were actually more ruthless than General Shi.
Li.
In the next few years, the Quanzhou Navy became more and more powerful. No matter the Japanese pirates or pirates, they could not get away under the eyes of the Quanzhou Navy. In the recent war, more than 20 Japanese warships were burned, and Xue Chen's reputation also increased.
Spread throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty.
From these things, we can see Quanzhou's attitude towards Japanese pirates and smuggling. If they were to say that the people in the Zhou Dynasty were most determined to deal with smuggling merchants, they were them.
After thinking about this, Huang Qinghe saluted Song Chengxuan and said, "Please give me some advice, Mr. Song."
…
The account book that Sun Runan took out should be the reason why Mr. Sun Er was killed.
The accounts recorded were all simple transactions of goods, and the goods on them were all items that the imperial court allowed to be bought and sold, such as silk and satin, cotton, jade, pearls, etc.
Huang Qinghe handed the accounts to Song Chengxuan, "At first, I also wanted to find the involvement of the Sun family, Ding family, and Zhang family in the accounts, but I didn't find any."
In other words, those involvements are not superficial.
Huang Qinghe continued, "The Yan family started out with jade, and the Sun family mainly sells silk and cloth. In recent years, they have added some gems and pearls."
Song Chengxuan looked at the accounts for a long time before saying, "This account must be different from other accounts of the Sun family. Businessmen like the Sun family should have money and goods coming in and out every day, but this account is only recorded about once a month."
Huang Qinghe also discovered this, "Does it mean that the goods recorded in the accounts are extremely special?"
Song Chengxuan said, "And the amount of goods recorded each time is huge."
Huang Qinghe nodded.
Song Chengxuan then asked, "Merchants have certain rules for keeping accounts. What reason does Master Sun have for doing this?"
Huang Qinghe thought about it and said, "Is it possible to record all the transactions of the month together?"
"If the accounts are really divided into months, they should be recorded at the end of each month. However, the recording time of this book is not fixed. It is especially obvious in June, July and August. For example, there were no records in June and July last year.
"
Huang Qinghe didn't understand, "Then why?"
"Because of the strong wind," Song Chengxuan raised his head, his eyes twinkling slightly, "the strong wind and heavy rain hit, and no ship could go into the sea."
Huang Qinghe exclaimed, "This account records goods shipped in or out by sea."
"The last account was recorded in January this year," Song Chengxuan said. "When was the first time something happened to the Sun family?"
"At the end of February," Huang Qinghe remembered very clearly, "It was at the end of February." This is the connection between this account and this case.
Huang Qinghe said, "But even if the Sun family trades goods at sea, these are not items strictly prohibited by the imperial court."
Song Chengxuan took a sip of tea without saying anything.
The room was quiet for a while, and Huang Qinghe kept thinking in his mind, "Although what he remembered was silk and satin and spices, it was probably just a cover. What they really bought and sold was not these things, but how can we prove..."
"Master Huang does not need to prove it. He only needs the Sun family to provide proof. Whether it is buying or selling, the Sun family must have proof. As long as it cannot be reconciled with the items on the account, the Sun family will have a problem."
Caught, this is the real secret of the Sun family.
Song Chengxuan said, "Master Huang, you can still call that person for questioning."
The person Master Song was referring to was the person who handed the silver soaked in sea water to Master Song.
"But... Li Xu?" Huang Qinghe asked.
Song Chengxuan did not deny that "Sir Huang is going to knock on the door of the Minister of Justice tonight. Whenever smuggling is involved, the court will treat it as a serious case, but what Mr. Huang did tonight is only the first step."
Huang Qinghe naturally understood.
"Before going to the home of the Minister of Justice, Mr. Huang has one more thing to do."
Huang Qinghe listened quietly.
Song Chengxuan said, "Let her meet Jiang Zhiyi."
She refers to Miss Xu.
Huang Qinghe hesitated, "After all, it is the Shuntian Mansion Prison."
Song Chengxuan curled his lips slightly, "I believe you can do it."
After coming out of Shuntian Mansion, Song Chengxuan returned to the small courtyard.
Zhang Zhenren was already impatient with the wait. When he saw Song Chengxuan, he immediately said, "Xue... the military advisor will definitely blame the young master. It would be a bit reckless to confront the Zhang family like this."
Reckless? Song Chengxuan raised his eyebrows. Why didn't he feel that? Instead, he felt very happy.
