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Naturally, the Grand Administrator's convoy did not need to be inspected. It passed through the outermost salt field defense line of the county soldiers without any obstruction. From a distance, Wang Junlin saw stretches of salt fields with no end in sight, and even further away was the vast sea. In this era, whether it was sun-dried salt or boiled salt, they were only primitive and crude methods, so they were still inseparable from the sea.
The people in this large area were recruited by the imperial court to work in the salt fields. There were tens of thousands of them. Many of them had been salt farmers for generations. The wages and rations they were given were actually just to ensure that they would not starve to death. This was reflected in their sallow and thin bodies. You can see it.
Wang Junlin took a deep breath and smelled the smell of the sea in the air. He thought that he might kill some people again when he came to the salt field this time.
"Sir, many of the people in the salt field... are Lu's cronies." Qian Zhengkuo hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to show limited kindness to the prefect. After all, although the Lu family is not easy to mess with, but now he is young. Life is still in the hands of the prefect. Although the prefect said that the law does not follow the rule of the crowd, so far he is the only one who has been accused.
Wang Junlin raised his brows, and Qian Zhengkuo's incomprehensible chuckle appeared on his face, and said: "I don't care whose people were in this salt field before. Now that I am the prefect of Fanyang County, then they are mine, and If my people are disobedient, I will never be merciful."
Qian Zhengkuo was startled, thinking that the prefect had a big appetite! He hoped that the Lu family could share some of the Salt Bank's shares with the prefect. Otherwise, if the two sides fought, subordinate officials like them might be caught in the middle and suffer disaster!
Wang Junlin calmed down, glanced at Qian Zhengkuo with a half-smile, and said, "Master Qian, what do you think?"
Qian Zhengkuo said with a smile: "My lord, I think that your lord can sit down and talk with Lu Gong, the leader of the Lu family. With your majesty, I don't dare to neglect you, and I don't want to give you the benefits that should be distributed to you." There will be less.”
"It seems that you don't want me and the Lu family to break up. Do all the officials in Fanyang County think so?" Wang Junlin smiled sarcastically and said, "Don't worry! I won't kill people casually."
Lu wants to deal with it now
Wang Junlin has been able to roughly guess some of the methods he can take in the past few days. Wang Junlin is not worried about the attitude of the emperor and the central court. Anyway, as long as Yang Guang regards the wealthy family as his enemy, he will be defeated by Yang Guang. Always rely on weight.
As for what Qian Zhengkuo said cautiously just now, it is not unreasonable. In the eyes of the big shots who play politics, any grudges in the past can be abandoned in the face of a huge enough profit bargaining chip, not to mention the long distance between him and the Lu family. It is not a fight to the death. Perhaps in the eyes of the officials and nobles of Fanyang County, as long as the Lu family is willing to give in, the prefect has no reason not to accept reconciliation.
And in fact, the Lu family has shown signs of making concessions recently. At least in Fanyang County, the Lu family or the Lu family can control the officials. From Tongshou Sun Yang down, no one has made any obstacles to Wang Junlin, but Wang Junlin Junlin never showed any intention to accept it.
"Sir, the salt farm has arrived." Qian Zhengkuo's humble voice woke Wang Junlin from his thoughts. He nodded, straightened his clothes, opened the car curtain, and jumped out.
He jumped out of the carriage, which was naturally not consistent with his status as a prefect. Normally, a prefect was a civil servant and should maintain the appearance that an official should have. With the help of the servants next to him, he slowly and calmly stepped out of the carriage.
Yes. But neither Qian Zhengkuo nor the saltworks officials who greeted him in front of the carriage pretended not to see it.
With his feet on the somewhat hard ground, Wang Junlin looked at everything around him expressionlessly. Directly in front of him, there was a government office covering an area of two to three acres. There was also a street of about 500 steps in front of the government office.
Although the street is a bit deserted, the surrounding buildings are quite well built.
After the three officials from the salt field respectfully saluted Wang Junlin, they carefully explained: "The salt field is still far from the salt field office. It's a little late now. I and others have arranged a banquet. Why don't you rest here today and tomorrow?"
Let’s go down there and inspect it again!”
"That's fine." Wang Junlin seemed to be very talkative. At this time, in front of him, the gate of the salt field office was fully opened. Several adults from the salt field transfer department and the Yingyang Mansion responsible for security were divided into two lines to welcome the arrival of the prefect.
.
Wang Junlin walked in first, and Zhang Tiangang sent a team of guards to run ahead and control the inside and outside of the yamen.
After the officials paid their respects to Wang Junlin, Wang Junlin immediately started the banquet, and Qian Zhengkuo asked everyone to sit down in the Yamen and wait for Wang Junlin's lecture.
Wang Junlin was not very familiar with the situation in the salt field. He said some vague nonsense and let everyone leave. He was only waiting for the official opening of the office tomorrow. He came from the county town today and walked for most of the day, but he didn't
I'm too lazy to get into useless entanglements with these minor characters.
After rejecting the invitation of salt official Dong Kang to stay overnight at his house, he returned to the inn at the salt field. After having a simple meal with Qian Zhengkuo and his companions, he sent Qian Zhengkuo to go about his business. Then Zhang Tiangang led a
Xiaoshi, a man in his mid-twenties, walked in.
After Xiao Shi saw Wang Junlin, he looked excited and knelt down a little nervously, saying: "Xu Xiaohu, the No. 7 secret agent of the Fanyang County Branch Office of the Blue-clothed Guards House, pays homage to your lord."
Naturally, Wang Junlin would not be surprised by the identity of this little historian.
"Xu Xiaohu, thank you for your hard work, get up! Didn't you meet anyone else when you came in?" Wang Junlin waved his hand to excuse him and asked casually.
"Reporting to your lord, with the cooperation of Lord Zhang, I climbed over the back wall and the people inside the salt field didn't know about it." Xu Xiaohu said calmly.
"Very good, how long have you been a salt farm historian?" Wang Junlin nodded and asked.
"When your Majesty was appointed as the prefect of Fanyang County by His Majesty, there was an order from above to investigate all the information related to the Lu family in Fanyang County. At that time, he found a way to become a minor historian in the salt field. It has only been more than a month since." Xu.
Xiaohu said respectfully.
Wang Junlin nodded, motioned Xu Xiaohu to sit down, stopped talking nonsense, and said directly: "Tell me! Tell me everything you know."
Xu Xiaohu had been preparing for today's answer for more than a month. When Wang Junlin asked questions, he quickly told everything he had worked hard to find out for more than a month.
Wang Junlin nodded repeatedly as he listened. The No. 7 spy from the Fanyang County in blue clothes spoke very neatly, with clear voice and clear logic. During the conversation, he explained the current situation of the salt field clearly, which was simpler than Shen Guoer.
I mentioned that some of Qian Zhengkuo's words of avoiding the important and trivial need to be more detailed and true.