The officials from the Third Law Department who were sent to Sichuan to try the illegal salt case had just passed through Huguang, and there was another illegal salt case in Lianghuai.
The Lianghuai area is the center of salt affairs in the world. As long as you are determined to investigate, you will find a lot of them!
Yang Tinghe, Jiang Mian and Mao Ji, the three cabinet ministers, sat across from each other, not knowing what to say.
After a long time, Jiang Mian said: "Those corrupt officials and profiteers are solely responsible for themselves. Even if they all deserve to have their heads chopped off, they deserve it."
Mao Ji also said: "Yes, everyone should be killed!"
Yang Tinghe, a salt merchant who had relations with the Yang Party, took advantage of the fact that the new salt law had not yet been implemented, and sent people to let them make a profit and leave the market in advance. Unexpectedly, greed has no end, and he was not satisfied with making a lot of money, so he turned to
Government and businessmen colluded to sell illegal salt.
Of course, only about 20 to 30 percent of the private salt dealers from Lianghuai and Huaihe involved in this incident were related to the Yang Party, and many other powerful people were also involved.
Including Yang Yiqing's clan members were also involved!
"Yang Yingning (Yang Yiqing) has resigned. His Majesty has not replied. He probably didn't read his resignation memorial at all," Jiang Mian said.
Mao Ji said: "In the Lianghuai salt smuggling case, this time I am on Wang Ruoxu's side. Regardless of officials or wealthy businessmen, it is best to kill a few to establish their authority, and then exile a few to confiscate their homes as punishment."
Yang Tinghe said: "We can no longer let Wang Er choose the officials from the Sanfa Division sent out to investigate the case. They must be our people."
The Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple are Yang Tinghe's base. As long as the Yang family is not involved and an obedient censor is selected, Yang Tinghe can control the outcome of the case at will.
However, Yang Tinghe no longer showed favoritism this time, because he was really angry, and his face was completely lost by those dogs!
As soon as the joint investigation team of the Three Law Departments came out, the eunuchs in Nanzhili were the first to be unlucky.
Yang Tinghe always gave face to Zhang Yong and Gu Da, but he would not give face to their successors. Regarding the punishment results of the local eunuchs, the Secretary of Ceremony continued to reject the cabinet's opinions, so Yang Tinghe went to Haoshanyuan to meet Zhu Houzhao in person.
One of the eunuchs who accepted bribes from salt merchants and secretly supported smuggling was thrown into guarding the imperial tomb, and three others had their homes searched and executed.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, gentry from the Central Plains moved into Huizhou, and there were a total of forty-seven clans. Many prominent clans continue to this day, among which the eight prominent clans in Huizhou are: Cheng, Wang, Hu, Wu, Huang, Wang, Li, and Fang.
These eight prominent families have been officials and engaged in business for generations, and at least half of them are involved in the salt industry.
After the eunuch was dismissed, Yang Tinghe started to attack these Huizhou merchants. But he was not courageous enough and did not dare to get to the bottom of it. He only attacked two of the eight major tribes in Huizhou. One tribe had nothing to do with Yang Tinghe, and the other involved Yang Party officials. Who could handle this method?
It can't be said that there is anything wrong.
Huang Ying, a Hui merchant, was executed for any crime. The Huang family was the head of the clan, and the whole family was confiscated and exiled. All the female family members were sent to Jiaofangsi.
Wu Yanxian, a Huizhou merchant, was executed for his crime. The head of the Wu family had his entire family confiscated and exiled, and all his female relatives were sent to Jiaofangsi.
Officials from the Huang and Wu clans, whether they knew it or not, were all dismissed from their posts and sent to the army! Officials from the ancestors were withdrawn from the imperial court. All Jinshi arches and chastity arches of the two tribes were demolished immediately!
Huizhou, Suzhou, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou... many prominent families were investigated, and a total of 100,000 taels of dirty silver were recovered. A total of 76 private salt dealers were exiled, and 238 were sentenced to three years in prison. Nineteen people were dismissed from office and demoted to forty.
Two people. This attack covers a very wide area, and the investigation team is all members of the Yang Party. They try to attack non-Yang Party members. The successors of Xinxue and Physics were involved in six companies.
Wang Yuan did not come forward to defend his students, let alone help Wang Yangming defend his students. Moreover, he "added insult to injury" and exiled relevant personnel to Yinzhou, which for most people was more terrifying than being exiled to the frontier.
Zhang Peng, the director of Huai'an Chaoguan, neglected his duties and was dismissed to serve the people.
All the chief officers of the Southern Zhili Procuratorate were demoted and transferred.
Gu Ning, the chief military officer in charge of Cao Cao, was dismissed from his post and returned to Guizhou. He also took away his title and paid a fine of three thousand taels of atonement silver. His eldest son inherited the title of Marquis of Zhenyuan.
Liu Xi, the general of Huai'an's water transportation, was honest and dedicated to his duties. He helped to crack down on the illegal salt case and was promoted to the commander-in-chief of Cao and the governor of Huai'an.
Weng Wanda, the patrol censor, enforced the law impartially and was not afraid of the powerful. He was promoted to the Huizhou Prefectural Government. As the "chief culprit" that caused the Lianghuai salt smuggling case, Weng Wanda was promoted and secretly demoted, and was thrown to Huizhou to serve as an official.
, I don’t know how many Huizhou businessmen want to kill him.
The general judge is an official position with no fixed staff, which is equivalent to the level of deputy mayor or city director. There may be several general judges in one government.
Based on Weng Wanda's good deeds, after he was transferred to Huizhou as magistrate, Huizhou merchants went crazy sending money to the magistrate and arranged for him to take charge of water conservancy, agriculture and other errands. Huizhou has many mountains and little land, and agriculture is underdeveloped. There are local gentry constraints.
It is impossible for him to develop water conservancy projects. It is a thankless job and it is difficult to achieve political achievements. However, if Weng Wanda has good methods and achieves political achievements, his official reputation will spread far and wide in the future.
Weng Wanda was a physics student. Wang Yuan did not deliberately promote him, but wrote a private letter to encourage him to advance.
…
Huai'an, Governor Cao General Military Mansion.
This is an official residence, not a private residence.
However, the commander-in-chief and his family members can all live in the commander-in-chief's mansion.
Some of the maids and servants in the house followed Gu Ning back to Guizhou, and some were dismissed by Liu Xi. There was no way, the new commander-in-chief was a poor man and could not afford to support so many servants.
Weng Wanda cupped his hands and said, "Brother Huaiyu, brother Yu is here to say goodbye."
Liu Xi held Weng Wanda's hand: "I'm really ashamed. It was my brother who advocated the investigation of this case. The illegal salt case was solved. My brother, I was promoted to the chief military officer, but I transferred my brother to Huizhou Prefecture to suffer the consequences."
Weng Wanda smiled and said: "Brother Huaiyu, why should I be ashamed? As a patrol censor, I was ordered to inspect the local salt affairs. I clearly found that illegal salt was rampant. I reported it to the censor, but no one dared to take care of it. After I came to Huai'an, I visited all the yamen.
, only Brother Huaiyu took action. You, the commander-in-chief, are honest and upright, who dares to say no?"
Liu Xi is really famous all over the world. There are not many honest military attachés, not to mention that he is also a general in water transportation. He has enough oil and water to make him fat. Such a military attache and such a position have been honest and selfless for more than 20 years.
, the whole family can only wear old clothes and eat vegetables.
If Yang Tinghe dares to promote Liu Xi openly and secretly, Yang's party will inevitably fall apart, and his reputation will be completely ruined.
Not only could he not be promoted overtly or covertly, but he had to be promoted significantly. Many veterans of the three dynasties jumped out and jointly recommended Liu Xi to be the chief military officer of the Cao Cao. Entrusting this position to an honest person can save the court countless expenses every year.
The heaven and earth have righteous energy, and are mixed and endowed with manifolds. Below are rivers and mountains, and above are the sun and stars. To people, it is said to be vast, so abundant that it fills the sky!
An upright official who has been looked after for more than 20 years, once he became famous, his aura soared to the sky. He was so awesome that he could even break through the natural boundaries of civil and military officials.
Weng Wanda was about to leave Huai'an, so Liu Xi specially invited him to have a meal, and also called his wife and children out to meet him. This was called a good family relationship.
There is wine and meat, simple and rich.
Weng Wanda handed over his hand and said, "It's a waste of money for my brother."
Liu Xi laughed loudly: "Thanks to Wang Shangshu, all officials in the world have received a three-level salary increase. Otherwise, I wouldn't have the money to treat you to meat, so I can only treat you to vegetable soup."
Weng Wanda said: "Sir, it is indeed valuable to increase the salary of officials all over the world. At least an upright official like my brother can live a slightly easier life."
Liu Xi asked curiously: "My dear brother called Wang Shangshu sir, could he be Wang Shangshu's disciple?"
Weng Wanda said: "Ashamed, Yudi's qualifications are limited, he is just a disciple of Mr."
Weng Wanda in history studied Yangming's philosophy after becoming an official. In this time and space, Weng Wanda entered the School of Physics while staying in Beijing. His imperial examination ranking was not high, and his talent and learning were not very outstanding, so it was difficult to attract Wang Yuan's attention.
"Wang Shangshu is a good man and has made countless achievements on the battlefield. My dear brother, I will be a disciple of King Shangshu and have great potential," Liu Xi greeted, "Quickly eat vegetables and drink. Today we only have vegetables and fried meat. My dear brother, don't feel shabby."
."
Weng Wanda smiled and said: "Stir-fried meat with vegetables is a delicacy all over the world. Growing up, I ate a lot of fish, but I rarely saw meat."
Liu Xi saw that Weng Wanda's clothes had turned white after washing, and said with emotion: "My dear brother seems to have come from a poor background."
Weng Wanda looked sad, then smiled and said: "Don't say so much, eat meat, eat meat!"
Weng Wanda was born in an extremely poor family. He was relatively wealthy in the early Ming Dynasty. After four generations, his family fell into decline. His mother died when he was five years old, and his father had to take his son with him when he was fishing. Fortunately, a teacher from the village school appreciated him.
The teacher in the village school was a scholar. Not only did he teach Weng Wanda to study for free, he also betrothed his daughter to him. He also taught Weng Wanda how to practice the piano and sword. Weng Wanda was also very good at swordsmanship.
Unfortunately, the family is too poor and the imperial examination is too expensive. The father-in-law also has a son, so it is impossible to support his son-in-law unlimitedly.
His wife scrimped on food and clothing, putting things in the bowl before serving rice, but she couldn't even eat enough every day. Weng Wanda ate quickly and went to study after eating. It wasn't until he was about to go to Beijing to take the exam that he discovered the secret in his wife's bowl. The couple hugged each other
Headache and crying. Weng Wanda entered high school in one fell swoop, but bad news came that his wife had died of illness in her hometown.
This kind of regret and heartache is simply unspeakable. He still wants his wife to live a good life.
After three rounds of drinking, Weng Wanda became drunk, expressed the regrets buried in his heart, and burst into tears in front of Liu Xi's family.
"Alas, you are also a miserable person." Liu Xi sighed.
The next day, Weng Wanda set out alone, without any followers. He only had a piano on his back and a sword on his waist, which were given to him by his father-in-law and mentor.
"Qiang!"
Weng Wanda stood on the bow of the ship, suddenly pulled out the iron sword, flicked the sword's spine with his fingers, and chanted in a low voice: "I have sharpened my sword for ten years, but the frost blade has not been tested. I will show you this today, who will have any injustice?"
Those wealthy businessmen in Huizhou have had a hard time.
Weng Wanda was not a fool, so why didn't he use it even if he had a backer? He didn't ask for a transfer, he just wrote to Wang Yuan to arrange for him to get the arrest job from the Huizhou prefect. He was a deputy mayor in charge of law enforcement, water conservancy, and agriculture.
, enough for Weng Wanda to go to Huizhou to ask about the injustice.
Yang Tinghe dared to raise Weng Wanda openly and secretly, and Wang Yuan was not a vegetarian.
The deputy leader of the investigation team that went to Sichuan this time was Wang Yuan's good friend Jin Lei. Jin Lei had served in Dali Temple for many years and had been marginalized by the Yang Party. This time he went to Yang Tinghe's hometown, and it would be strange not to take the opportunity to vent his grievances.
Yang Tingyi, who is in charge of the affairs of the Yang family, will definitely be targeted by Jin Lei.
The illegal salt case is one thing, but the fish and meat village is another matter. This does not mean that Wang Yuan is clinging to the case!