Weng Wanda, the patrol censor, found Liu Xi, the water transport counselor: "General Liu, the cabinet has ordered the three law departments to jointly investigate the Sichuan private salt nest case, and the dispatched officials are all personally selected by Wang Shangshu. Does General Liu know about this matter?"
Liu Xi nodded and said, "I heard about it."
Weng Wanda asked: "Then what are General Liu waiting for? In order to investigate the salt affairs, the Bozhou chieftains are not afraid of rebellion. Why is Wang Shangshu afraid of those clan dignitaries?"
Liu Xi hesitated and said: "But what we want to do is water transportation. If the grain is delayed, it will be much more serious than the chieftain rebellion."
Weng Wanda straightened his clothes and bowed his head to Liu Xi: "Just at Huaiguan, there is a group of canal boats waiting to go north. It has been found that there is a large amount of illegal salt in the canal boats. General Liu is requested to send troops to search immediately!"
"I can't check the boat." Liu Xi looked troubled.
Weng Wanda, who had been extremely respectful just now, suddenly scolded him sharply: "What a green vegetable Liu, poor Liu, I thought you were an incorruptible person among the military officers, but I didn't expect you are the same as me! You are afraid of the Zhenyuan Marquis, but not so, so here you go."
Go to Huaiguan alone to check for illegal salt!"
Liu Xi sighed: "Oh, you don't need to provoke me, just let it go."
An anomaly among military generals, a seventh-grade patrol censor, went to Huai'an Chaoguan together, preparing to operate on the core area of illicit salt in the country.
"Prepare the troops and prepare the ships!"
Liu Xi gave the order, and the cavalry troops quickly gathered.
In less than half a day, Huai'an Chaoguan was blocked by warships in front and behind, and all the official ships and canal ships that were about to be released were waiting to be searched.
Zhang Peng, the director of Chaoguan, was frightened and ran over to ask: "General Liu, what do you mean?"
Liu Xi snorted coldly: "Search for illegal salt!"
Zhang Peng looked at the densely packed boats on the river and asked: "With so many boats, do you want to search them all?"
Liu Xi said: "Search everything!"
Zhang Peng was stunned for a moment, and then felt extremely ashamed. He raised his hands and saluted and said, "I admire the general's integrity and integrity. I apologize for not being able to help."
"Just don't make trouble!" Liu Xi said contemptuously.
Zhang Peng felt even more ashamed of himself and hid in Chaoguan without daring to show his face. He was obviously a civil official, but he did not dare to offend the powerful. Instead, he stepped forward as a military general.
The people in charge of Huaiguan are all newcomers, mostly recent Jinshi. They are enthusiastic but have no choice but to go with the flow due to reality. Zhang Peng has been in charge of Huaiguan for half a year and knows that official ship smuggling is rampant and the water inside is too deep.
, it is not for him, a seventh grade official, to get involved.
Liu Xi asked his subordinates to bring a grand master's chair, and sat on the edge of the canal. He said to Weng Wanda: "Weng Censor, I leave the soldiers to you. Take your time to check!"
Weng Wanda smiled and said, "Sir, you are very righteous."
The water surface of the canal was in chaos. Weng Wanda directed the cavalry soldiers to board the ships for inspection and ordered that no corner of each official ship should be spared.
The first official ship they searched planned to resist the search. A deputy inspector who returned to Beijing to return his orders angrily yelled at Weng Wanda: "This is nonsense. How dare you search my own ship?"
Weng Wanda raised his hands and said to the north: "As the censor of the patrol, I have been ordered by the emperor to search for illegal salt. The "Da Ming Law" clearly states that anyone who sells illegal salt and resists arrest will be killed! Come on, search for me. Who dares to resist?
Kill on the spot!"
The cavalry soldiers drew their swords one by one, and no one dared to stop them.
Half an hour later, he reported back to Weng Wanda: "Censor Weng, there is no salt on board, but there are dozens of loads of Jingdezhen porcelain on board."
Weng Wanda sneered: "Hold the porcelain and let them pass."
The deputy inspector from Jiangxi suddenly turned pale. It was common for official ships to carry private goods. Everyone had long been accustomed to it. They even didn't bother to check the banknotes along the way. But being caught by the inspection censor was another incident.
The thing is. This time he returned to Beijing after passing the exam to report on his work. He took some porcelain northward with him. He didn't have to pay taxes and didn't have to pay for shipping. All the profits he made went into his own pocket.
I was asked to read a book by the imperial censor. When I return to Beijing this time, I don’t want to be promoted. I just want to avoid being demoted.
The cavalry soldiers began to search the second official ship. At this moment, the canal transport commander Gu Ning, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, suddenly arrived. Gu Ning was extremely angry and pointed at Liu Xi and yelled: "You are a green vegetable Liu, a mere general."
, you dare to intercept the official ship of Chaoguan, who gave you the courage! You are the general of water transportation in Huai'an. Your duty is to keep the water transportation smooth. This ship is slowly inspected. Can you afford it if the water transportation is missed? Give it to me.
Take your troops back immediately, or you will be skinned! You bastard, a military attaché is going to study, he will become a fucking idiot when he studies!"
Facing his immediate superior, Liu Xi straightened his back: "General Gu, as a general of water transportation in Huai'an, I am not allowed to interfere with private salt matters. But if someone uses canals to transport private salt, it is within the scope of my humble duties."
.Please Commander-in-Chief Gu, please don’t stop your humble position from abiding by your duties!”
"Nonsense!"
Gu Ning shouted at the canal soldiers on the river: "I am Gu Ning, the chief water transport officer. You all come back and don't interfere with the canal grain transportation anymore!"
The soldiers looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
Liu Xi also shouted: "Continue the search, if something happens, I, the poor guy Liu, will take care of it!"
These water transport soldiers were all Liu Xi's subordinates. After receiving the order, they actually stopped looking at the water transport commander and continued to search passing ships seriously.
"Idiot, how dare you do this!"
Gu Ning pulled out his saber, pressed it on Liu Xi's neck, and gritted his teeth: "Get your soldiers back quickly!"
Liu Xi's expression did not change and he smiled and said: "General Gu, Mr. Gu, Liu lost his mother when he was just one month old, and his father when he was young. My grandfather taught me to be an honest man since I was a child. From transporting grain to transporting ginseng,
General, I have not taken a grain of grain privately for more than 20 years. I have worn this official uniform for six years, and it has as many patches as a beggar. My wife, son, and daughter are also wearing endless clothes, and I wear them every day.
Green vegetable soup and rice to satisfy my hunger. Poor ghost, Liu Qiong, Green vegetable Liu, these nicknames are not a shame to me, but more like a compliment. If you kill me today, it will be regarded as my reputation, and you died for the country and the people.
What’s there to fear?”
The dignified Marquis of Zhenyuan, the dignified water transport commander, faced the unscrupulous men in front of him, and the arm holding the sword actually began to tremble.
—————
Gu Ning was scared and angry and said: "Liu Qiong, if you do this, you will die miserably."
Liu Xi still smiled: "I should have died three years ago."
Three years ago... Gu Ning recalled three years ago. He was so angry that he sheathed his sword and ordered his subordinates: "Go back and let this poor guy go make trouble!"
In the past, in the Huai'an section of the canal, not only official ships were forced to transport illicit salt, but ordinary merchant ships were also forced to transport illicit salt. Those powerful people sent people to block the currency pass and forced passing ships to help carry the smuggled goods, causing countless watercraft to be blocked at the pass and unable to go north.
At that time, Liu Xi was carrying a coffin and pointing a knife at the powerful minions: "If you are not afraid of death, come here. Either I will die or you will die!"
From then on, the dignitaries were always far away from Qiaoguan, so they stopped passing ships and stuffed their own goods on them, trying not to cause traffic jams at Qiaoguan. Moreover, the phenomenon of illegal salt trafficking by boat was also due to
Liu Xi but reduced a lot.
Last year, the new salt law was implemented, and the Huaihe and Huaihe regions were the key reform targets. Many hoarders suffered huge losses and began to crazily stuff private salt into canal ships.
"Yushi Weng, this official ship does not have private salt, but it carries several hundred kilograms of copper."
"Yu Shi Weng, this merchant ship has hundreds of stones of private salt. Do you want to detain it?"
"Yu Shi Weng..."
The sound of crying on the water surface of the canal was loud, and many merchants knelt down and begged for mercy. They didn't want to transport smuggled salt. It was forced in by the powerful. If they didn't help bring the smuggled salt, they couldn't get through. The smuggled salt even occupied their shipping space.
cabin.
Official ships are checked with certainty, whether there is illicit salt or other illicit goods, no one is spared.
In just one day, the illegal salt and goods confiscated on the shore had piled up into mountains, and countless merchants, officials, water transport officers and soldiers were detained.
Liu Xi only brought a hundred cavalrymen, but he detained hundreds of cavalrymen and more than 2,000 servants.
Many of the grain transport commanders, including Mr. Qian, glared at Liu Xi. Liu Xi stood there alone and sneered: "Whoever disobeys will kill me, a poor guy!"
No one dared to move.
Weng Wanda no longer boards the ships personally. He personally interrogates every ship with private salt on the shore.
Weng Wanda was also a poor man and lost his mother when he was young. Historically, he was rated as "the first famous official in Lingnan" by Jiajing and the "first border official in Jiajing Dynasty" by Zhang Juzheng. This king was not only honest and upright, but also dealt with border troubles and peace.
Rebellion is also second to none.
At this moment, although Weng Wanda was only a seventh-grade censor and was so poor that he didn't even have a servant around him. But he was sitting there alone, but no one dared to disturb him while he was reviewing the case. In the middle of the way, some powerful and powerful minions came over, and Weng Wanda sternly reprimanded him.
: "Here is Mr. Weng's head. If you don't accept it, take it for yourself. If there is any unusual movement today, as long as Mr. Weng is not dead, none of the troublemakers can escape!"
The powerful people and wealthy businessmen involved in selling illegal salt just wanted to cry when faced with these two poor men.
People are not even afraid of death, how dare they actually take action?