Chapter 460: It’s easy to get on the ship, but it’s hard to get off the ship

Jia Lian’s personal guards, plus the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Guards, totaled more than two hundred people.

With these manpower, it is enough to control the entire Salt Patrol Yushi Yamen. The idlers and others should be kicked out. Even the Yamen and handymen necessary to maintain the operation of the government office are stipulated. Range of activities, no movement allowed. Strict orders were issued, and those who violated the law would be punished directly as if they were trying to assassinate the imperial envoys, and the law would be rectified on the spot.

So, soon the entire Salt Patrol Yamen became austere.

Jia Lian also relaxed a little.

Although with his status, it is unlikely that these officials and squires in Yangzhou would dare to take action against him. But since he decided to help the emperor with some business, he naturally had to guard against the other party jumping over the wall in a hurry.

Jia Lian always likes to make decisions before taking action. He does not want the situation of capsizing in the gutter to happen to him. This is also the reason why when he returned from Suzhou, he would detour to Nanjing to deploy troops.

Yangzhou’s garrison and government officials were also numerous, but he was worried about using them.

"Second Master..."

Walking into the main inner courtyard, Zhao'er and Xing'er walked up. Jia Lian nodded, and they took the initiative to say: "We have changed the things in the second master's house, and the second master can sleep peacefully.

In addition, the wife and young lady of the An family have also been placed in the house for the second master. Aunt Aqi and the others are watching.

Second Master, you have to be careful. Mrs. An is very stubborn. The servants originally arranged for them to bathe and change clothes first, but they refused. The servants I don't dare to hurt them, so I can only let them go..."

Zhao'er and Xing'er were originally insignificant servants in the Jia family, but because of their good fortune, they were among the first batch People who follow Jia Lian, so now they are considered to be the highest ranking slaves in the Jia Mansion.

Especially Zhao'er, Jia Lian has taken him with him everywhere these years, which has resulted in his not only improving his knowledge and conversation, but also doing things more and more in line with Jia Lian's wishes.

Jia Lian stopped as he walked towards the main room, seemingly curious: "Bath and change? I just want to ask them something, what are you doing for bathing and changing?"

"Yes, yes, the second master really just wants to ask them questions... but the slaves are thinking that they have to discuss things with the second master face to face. The second master also likes to be clean, and a man has died in their family, so it is inevitable that they will have bad luck. , I was afraid that it would be passed on to the second master, so I wanted to ask them to clean it up."

Zhao'er and Xing'er nodded and bowed, smiling as if everything the second master said was right, but we all understood in our hearts. look.

Jia Lian was too lazy to pay attention to them, stepped into the house.

There were three people, three women, in the main room. Ah Qin was dressed in light clothes and bent down to make the bed. At the table next to her, Mrs. Xu and her daughter were standing dutifully in white clothes. They looked like they were clinging to each other and worried. But after seeing Jia Lian come in, they all looked at him with resentment.

"I'm back."

Ah Qin saw Jia Lian, turned around and went to the tea room to get a cup of hot tea.

Jia Lian sat down, turned to look at the mother and daughter in the corner, and then said to Aqin: "They have been standing like this, why don't they sit and wait for me? "

Ah Qin glanced at the mother and daughter who had wary looks on their faces, a trace of amusement and disdain flashed in his eyes, and then he said in a sweet voice: "I have wronged someone to death. I let them sit here. , but they refused and even scolded others, so they had no choice but to be slaves.

However, they didn’t dare to go out, hehe, my sister was guarding the door!”
< br /> Jia Lian asked Ah Qin casually to ease the atmosphere, and asked Ah Qin to step aside.

"Yes, I will not disturb my pleasure. I hope you have a good time tonight..."

" Xu Shi still holds grudges. Before Ah Qin went out, He specifically glanced at Mrs. Naxu and said this.

This naturally caused the expressions of the mother and daughter to change again. Mrs. Xu even directly pulled her daughter behind her to block them.

Her eyes were angry and helpless. She knew that she would inevitably end up being humiliated tonight, and she was mentally prepared. She just wanted to protect her daughter from harm.

I originally thought that Jia Lian would tease her and force her to submit as he did before in the mourning hall, but until A Qin left for a long time, Jia Lian did not move or speak, just held her hands. The teacup inside was sipping lightly, as if thinking about something.

After comforting her restless daughter, Mrs. Xu finally spoke first: "I am a humble concubine, Pu Liuzhi, and she is a member of an official's family, so I have a low status. And you are honored as an imperial envoy. I heard that you still have a body." How noble is the position of a marquis?

So, sir, why bother us and others? Please show your respect."

Mrs. Xu was afraid of offending Jia Lian, so she tried to look at her with a calm expression. With Jia Lian.

When Jia Lian heard the sound, he turned his head. Faced with Jia Lian's appearance again, even though she despised and hated Jia Lian in her heart at this time, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart, it was a pity that such a good person was given to such a dog official by God.

"When did I say that I would embarrass you?"

Seeing that Jia Lian was taking a rest, and even looking at her with a smile, she felt a little surprised.The madam frowned, "Since you don't mean to make things difficult, please let my mother and daughter leave..."

"This is not busy. I didn't agree, I have something to ask. You two, after I finish questioning, I will let you two leave."

"Sir, do you really mean what you said?"

Even if you guess that Jia Lian did it deliberately Teasing her, Mrs. Xu couldn't help but have some hopes.

Jia Lian then smiled and said: "Of course, if you are willing to recommend yourself to the pillow after asking, I would not mind letting you stay."

Jia Lian said this. Before Mrs. Xu could say anything, Miss An, who was hiding behind her, couldn't help but poked her head and cursed angrily: "Bah, you dog official, you are not allowed to insult my mother!"

It can be seen that this girl Resentment against Jia Lian has been building up for a long time. Just saying such a curse at this time was already the result of trying very hard to suppress it.

Jia Lian smiled, glanced at the little girl, and then said to Mrs. Xu: "Your love is so shameless in her words and deeds. Aren't you afraid of offending me? When the time comes, you will deliberately accuse Mr. An of a serious crime." , let all the female relatives of the An family suffer the pain of being dismissed as officials?"

Mrs. Xu's complexion changed drastically, she knew this would happen!

Jia Lian was ordered to go to Jiangnan to investigate the salt administration case. Once the court determined that there were major flaws in the salt administration, his husband would be the number one criminal. Even if his husband is dead, as long as the court thinks he has committed a serious crime, it will naturally punish the An family.

As for whether there were any mistakes in the salt administration, whether her husband An Siyuan was innocent or guilty, it was obvious that Jia Lian, the imperial envoy, had the final say.

Sure enough, Jia Lian still wanted to use this to threaten her and make her submit.

But what can she do? She has expected and prepared for this since the day her husband was escorted back to Beijing by the emperor's order.

Her husband is a court official, and if nothing happens, she will be a distinguished official wife, a royal wife.

When something happens to your husband, everyone in the family will be implicated.

The most common and frightening punishment for the family members of offending officials is what Jia Lian just said was dismissal from official positions.

What does it mean to be transferred to an official position? He was detained and brought to justice, pretending to be an official prostitute. In the Jiaofang Division, there are countless such women.

As for Mrs. Xu, she would give up on herself, but letting her daughter suffer this punishment was absolutely unacceptable to her.

So almost instantly, she accepted her fate and no longer had any luck or resistance.

He quickly stopped his daughter, and then apologized to Jia Lian: "My little girl is rude. I hope you, for the sake of her youth and ignorance, don't argue with her.

As long as you are willing to show mercy and let me live a safe life, I, a sinful woman, am willing to do whatever you want me to do..."

At this point, Mrs. Xu felt extremely ashamed. After all, she is a serious official wife. As for women who are not promiscuous, if they don't still care about a pair of children, they would rather die than say such self-degrading words.

His daughter An Cai'er feels that her mother is dying Holding her hand, I couldn't help but glance at my mother, and saw the shame in her eyes, and her little face was covered with tears.

But she was no longer an ignorant child. She understood what her father's death meant to the family, and she was frightened by the word "offer" just mentioned in Jia Lian's mouth and turned pale, so at this moment, she did not dare to do anything or say anything except shed tears.

Looking at the appearance of these two people, even Jia Lian, who was only planning to do a simple scene, couldn't help but wipe his nose and felt that he must look like the villain dog officer in the TV series.

So he coughed lightly, finally put away his joking mentality, and said seriously: "Okay, it was just a joke.

I have always been upright, strict and self-disciplined. How could I deliberately frame my colleagues?

If Mr. An is not guilty, I will naturally not maliciously frame him.

I would like to ask Madam again, Mr. An, did you really die of illness, and not even Madam noticed any doubt? ”

This is the second time Jia Lian asked this question, and this time, Jia Lian’s face was serious, as if he had bad intentions.

Mrs. Xu thought for a while and replied He said: "The magistrate sent someone to return my husband's body that day, saying that he could not bear the severe cold on the road and died of an illness. He also ordered me to put my husband's body in a safe place and not to bury it until the court came down to inspect it.

Since your Excellency still has doubts about the death of my late husband, why didn’t you open the coffin and conduct an autopsy, but instead kept questioning me? "

Mrs. Xu looked at Jia Lian seriously.

Seeing Mrs. Xu like this, Jia Lian smiled. Just open your mouth.

"Of course I can open the coffin and conduct an autopsy, but thinking about it, even if Mr. An died of murder, since the person behind it dared to kill the imperial official, he was not afraid of the imperial court sending people down to investigate, so he was naturally fully prepared.

In this case, I’m afraid that even if I open the coffin and examine it, I won’t be able to find anything.

However, if Madam can provide me with some clues and information, perhaps I will be able to find another way. "

Jia Lian said it naturally, and Mrs. Xu also put away her shameful attitude and looked at Jia Lian without blinking.

After all,She still shook her head, "Since you have said so, why bother asking me. When the prefect sent my husband's body back, I also checked it. My husband did die from the cold.

So, adults should be worrying too much.”

Wind cold? It seems that someone was frozen to death.

Jia Lian and Lin Ruhai absolutely did not believe that An Siyuan died of natural illness. There must be something fishy about Jiangnan's salt administration. Those people were afraid that An Siyuan would be exposed in front of the court after he went to Beijing, so they had no choice but to keep silent.

Even what the matter is, based on Lin Ruhai’s experience in leading salt politics for many years, he can probably guess it, and Jia Lian also believes that Lin Ruhai’s guess is reasonable.

It’s just that Mrs. Xu, since she lives with An Siyuan in the Xunyan Censor’s Yamen, it’s impossible for her to know anything about her husband.

Why must she insist that her man died normally?

"Madam and Mr. An's son are not in the ancestral home."

Jia Lian suddenly laughed.

Mrs. Xu was stunned for a moment, "Sir, why did you say this?"

"If my guess is correct, Mr. Ling should be in Yangzhou now, and , as long as I don’t leave Yangzhou for a day, my wife will not be able to see Mr. Ling for a day. And the only way for my wife to ensure Mr. Ling’s safety is to pretend not to know anything in front of me.

I don’t know, is my guess correct?"

As soon as Jia Lian said this, Mrs. Xu looked calm, but An Cai'er, who was only shoulder-high next to her, looked like a He was so shocked that he looked at Jia Lian as if he was an inhuman being.

"Madam, there is no need to deny it in a hurry. If I want to verify this conjecture, it is very simple.

"There are so many people in the Salt Patrol Yamen, as long as I send They arrested them all and interrogated them one by one. I didn't believe that each of them could be as secretive as the lady.

As long as any of them had seen Mr. Ling in the past four or five years, I will know that the lady is lying.

But if I really do this, I will inevitably alert the snake. For me, it is not a big deal, but for Mr. Ling, it is just a big deal. This is not a good thing.

Therefore, I advise my wife to think carefully about whether to tell the truth to the officer while there is no one else around, or whether to continue to pretend that she knows nothing and plot to kill her husband. A group of thieves are collaborating together.

I also don’t hide it from my wife, I have already obtained a lot of evidence that the major salt merchants in Yangzhou are selling illegal salt. I am going to Jiangnan this time to represent the imperial court. , tidy upSalt politics, kill the arrogance of those salt merchants who are becoming more and more greedy.

Therefore, my wife has chosen to assist me, and I may be able to help you too. If he continues to work for the tiger, I'm afraid Anjia will be not far away from having his family confiscated and exterminated. ”

After all, Jia Lian was someone who had fought in the wind and snow, and was able to play with ease in front of the emperor.

At this time, he spoke seriously to Mrs. Xu, with a sense of Powerful.

Mrs. Xu's face turned a little pale. She didn't know why Jia Lian, who was still a money-grubbing and lustful dog official, was able to transform into the incarnation of justice! He even acted in collusion with others. , talking about her as someone who helped others, as if she was already a vicious and evil woman!

She was silent. People grow up in suffering. She used to be a wealthy and honorable lady. When something happened to her husband, she had to shoulder the burden of the family and worry about the future of the family and her children.

Her strength was too weak, so she could only let others control her.

If the seemingly powerful man in front of her is really as just and selfless as he says, then can she really take this opportunity to win a chance for her family and children?

"Sir, you actually know about smuggling? "

"Don't underestimate the imperial court. If you are not sure, why did you send me down?

Since I dare to come, I am confident that I can clean up this mess. If Madam can't even trust me, she is destined to be wronged and humiliated. ”

Being wronged and humiliated!

Yes, she has reached the point where she is being humiliated. What else can’t she take a chance on? Even if Jia Lian deceived her, the An family would be happy. It was just a more complete defeat.

"Bang~"

Suddenly Mrs. Xu took a step forward, her legs naturally knelt down, and she smashed a big bang on the ground. Sound.

“Please, Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, please save my son for the sake of being an official in the same court as my late husband.

If the imperial envoy can rescue my son safely, I will call you my concubine and work as a cow or horse for you for the rest of my life. I am willing to do it! "

Mrs. Xu nodded several times at Jia Lian, her voice was sad, as if she was grasping the last life-saving straw.

Jia Lian bent down to help her up, and sighed. He said: "Madam, please tell me in detail. "

"Yes, that's it... That day, my husband was scolded by the court for not doing things well, and was then escorted to Beijing by the Yamen. I and my two children were in panic all day long, fearing that something would happen. .

Who knows, before my late husband’s accident happened, my sonThe son suddenly disappeared.

He went out to burn incense and pray for his father. Who knew that someone would kidnap him halfway there? We mobilized everyone to look for him, but we couldn’t find him.

Later, Wu Zhirong sent his late husband’s body back, saying that he died of a cold on the road, but I didn’t want to believe it.

Who would have known that Wu Zhirong sent someone to threaten us, saying that an imperial envoy from the imperial court would come to Jiangnan in the near future. If the imperial envoy asked questions, let us reply according to his wishes.

Anyone who dares to disobey his wishes or cause trouble will never see my son again...

Please have mercy on me, sir. Save my son, even if his father made a mistake and the child is innocent, please show mercy and save my son. I kowtow to you..."

Mrs. Xu cried, Tell the story in detail.

Jia Lian was not too surprised. He had previously felt that it was unreasonable for the An family to send their only son to his father-in-law's house, so he put it to the test.< br />
On the contrary, as Mrs. Xu and others are relatives around Ellsworth, if there is really something fishy about Ellsworth, Mrs. Xu and others will know something about it.

As for those behind the scenes, To put it bluntly, to silence An Siyuan would be to risk the disapproval of the world and it would not be possible to calm down the situation easily.

If Mrs. Xu and others were to be silenced as well... As long as there is anyone in the imperial court with a sane mind Everyone knows that there is a big problem!

Therefore, Mrs. Xu and others cannot be killed. But how to make them obedient and not become the person who leaks the news?

Controlling the only bloodline of the An family and forcing Mrs. Xu to submit is indeed the simplest and most effective move.

If Jia Lian had not made up his mind to fight with the Yangzhou gang, and also If you have the patience to slowly break through Mrs. Xu’s defense, I’m afraid you won’t get the news.

It seems that Mrs. Xu really knows something about the situation.

Also Without rushing to ask about the salt administration, Jia Lian asked first: "How are you sure that it was Wu Zhirong who kidnapped your son and that he said it himself? "

"It's not that he said it himself, it's just that he threatened me verbally that day. Those who kidnapped my son that night sent letters threatening me, and combined with some of their activities with my late husband, I I still can’t guess where he is, but he kidnapped my son!

Sir, please, this Wu Zhirong must be brought to justice.

A large part of the reason why Yangzhou’s salt administration collapsed was caused by Wu Zhirong. ”

In order to win Jia Lian’s trust, Mrs. Xu alsoWithout waiting for Jia Lian to ask questions, he took the initiative to explain: "As your Excellency said, the reason why the salt tax in Lianghuai was reduced so much last year was because those salt merchants secretly sold large amounts of private salt!

My husband had actually noticed it a long time ago. On the one hand, the salt merchants were very thorough and concealed. On the other hand, every time my husband wanted to summon the salt messengers from the Yushi Yamen and the Salt Transportation Department to arrest them, Either the salt merchants had received the information in advance and withdrew, or they were favored and hindered by the prefect Wu Zhirong and others.

The most serious case was that those people even took the lives of my entire family. Threat, so my husband had no choice but to submit and did not dare to inspect private salt anymore...

When there was an increase in private salt, official salt was naturally squeezed, and the salt tax was greatly reduced.

It was not until the final accounting last year that the salt tax was found to have dropped sharply by 30%. My husband knew that the matter was not going to work out, and he began to panic. Before being escorted back to Beijing by the imperial court, my husband made a lot of preparations. , saying that if his visit to Beijing cannot be concealed, in order to protect Anjia, he will reveal everything to the court one by one, so as to make up for his mistakes, and beg the court to forgive Anjia for his own death.

Who knows, Those people were so cruel and ruthless that they killed my late husband on the way..."

Mrs. Xu said with a sad and indignant look.

Jia Lian listened quietly. He believed that Mrs. Xu did not lie. Because Lin Ruhai also said that the court's new policy requires salt merchants to help the court transport grain and grass to the border in exchange for more salt.

The advantage of doing this is that the court can save a lot of expenses, but accordingly, the interests of the salt merchants will be squeezed.

In order to make more profits, it makes sense that salt merchants would choose to smuggle private salt to avoid salt taxes.

"Oh, if Madam says it this way, Mr. An is actually a good and upright official. Was he completely coerced by Wu Zhirong and others?

I'm just curious. Mr. An has been in charge of the Salt Administration for two years. Why didn’t he report it to the court when he discovered the clues? Why did he decide to expose the massive smuggling of salt merchants to the editor at the last moment?”

"This... maybe my husband didn't expect the matter to be so big at first."

Looking at the beautiful woman kneeling on the ground in front of him, she was still trying to cover up her appearance. , Jia Lian shook his head and smiled, but he didn't expose her.

Why didn’t you reveal it at the beginning? Naturally, the salt merchants gave you enough benefits!

It was just that the appetite of the salt merchants was getting bigger and bigger, making Mr. An more and more uneasy. When he wanted to find a way out, he realized that the pirate ship was in trouble.

It is a pity that it is difficult to be an upright official. specialEspecially a big fat guy like the Salt Patrol Censor.

This further illustrates Lin Ruhai’s ability. After working in Yanzheng for so many years, I have never made any major mistakes, and I can still maintain my clean image...

My uncle must have some skills. It's a pity that it's not a holiday, otherwise he would have needed another backer and help.