Wu Zhirong and others were thrown into the courtyard of the Salt Patrol Censor’s Yamen, where the cold wind blew all night.

But no one dared to complain.

Seeing the officers and soldiers carrying boxes of belongings into the compound, Wu Zhirong and others did not know that Jia Lian had ransacked the Zhao family's home!

Although the Zhao family is just a salt merchant, their background is much better than that of local officials like them.

When Jia Lian dared to raid the Zhao family, he dared to strip off their clothes and raid their homes.

Suddenly heard that Jia Lian was coming back, Wu Zhirong and others hurriedly greeted him, flattered Jia Lian, and politely asked when they would be released back to the Yamen, saying that they still had government affairs to deal with.

"Go back? I'm afraid Mr. Wu won't be able to go back..."

The expressions of Wu Zhirong and others changed when they saw Jia Lian shouting: "Here, I will be the prefect." Wu Zhirong, who also knew Wei Jitong, the general judge Yan Shixiang, and the salt transportation envoy of the Salt Transportation Department, were detained to await their punishment!"

"Yes." The officers and soldiers rushed forward and held the four people tightly. Stop, ignore their shouts, and directly escort him down.

The expressions of the remaining two or three people, as well as Gao Kui and others who came from the side courtyard, also changed continuously, and they looked at Jia Lian with both flattery and vigilance.

Jia Lian smiled at them and said: "My lords, don't be nervous. Wu Zhirong and others colluded with salt merchants and embezzled salt taxes. The evidence is conclusive, so I took them down and waited for the court to deal with them. My lords, please He is a good official who is loyal to the emperor and patriotic. Naturally, I will not do anything to you."

After speaking, he looked at the middle-aged civil servant aside: "I have been in Yangzhou for a few days. I heard that Mr. Zou is diligent. He loves the people and has a good official reputation. He is a rare Qingtian master in Yangzhou City. For this reason, he was ostracized by Wu Zhirong and others.

I admire the mighty and unyielding officials like Mr. Zou. I admire him very much. Although Wu Zhirong and others were taken down, I still have to continue to investigate the salt administration and have no time to care about the government office. Therefore, before the court sends a new prefect down, I asked Zou Fucheng to take care of the government office affairs. ."

Yangzhou colleague Zou Tong looked solemn. Seeing that Jia Lian was not joking, he quickly clasped his fists and saluted: "Your Majesty, your words are serious. This is a matter within the scope of the official. Thanks to your trust, from now on. Later, if your lord has given instructions, I will do my best to carry it out."

Although Zou Tong was not used to Wu Zhirong's behavior, and he did receive some exclusion because of it, he was able to stay here peacefully until today without any problems. Reporting Wu Zhirong and others to the court was not entirely free of involvement.

He knew that Jia Lian might have let him go because he had some official reputation, or that Jia Lian still needed someone to stabilize the affairs of the government office, and he naturally felt grateful in his heart.

"Since Mr. Zou said so,, I just have something to ask you for help.

I left Beijing in a hurry and did not bring much paperwork with me. There was a lot of real estate and property copied from the Zhao family this time, and there are many salt industry accounts of the Zhao family to check. Just based on my current It is really difficult to find the manpower to check, so I also ask Mr. Zou to send a few more officials from the government office who are familiar with the literary work to assist me after he returns to the government office.

In addition, there is also the Zhao family’s property directory registered and sealed by the government. I will also copy it so that I can check it. ”

The Zhao family has been entrenched in Yangzhou for decades, with deep roots and numerous industries.

This era is not like later generations, where all industries are registered with the government. Nowadays, even if it is a business, Land and real estate can be transacted directly without going through the government. As long as both parties sign a contract, it is called a "white deed."…

Although a white deed is difficult to obtain protection from the government, it can save money. A large amount of tax was paid, and to avoid being troubled by officials, most of the private properties in the Wei Dynasty were white deeds, which were all proved by family inheritance or deeds.

This was also an era where powerful bullies were prone to occur. The fundamental reason for such things as encroaching on other people’s property.

It is naturally impossible for the Zhao family to register all the property in the government, so it is easy to copy the deed, but it will be difficult to check if there is not.< br />
But at least those registered by the government must be counted in detail.

Naturally, Zou Tong immediately agreed to Jia Lian’s request, and then said goodbye to Jia Lian. The other two officials left the Yanxunyan Yushi Yamen together.

　……

　“Sir. "

In Jia Lian's temporary office, Jia Yu walked in. There were only a few people in the hall, and they were all leaders. I was a little surprised.

"Everyone, come together. Already? ”

Jia Lian raised his head and smiled at Jia Yu and others. Without talking nonsense, he took out four yellow seals from the drawer and handed them to Jia Yu, Yang Xun, Zhao Cheng and the captain of the imperial army respectively. Wu Jin.

"You all worked hard with me last night, and here is some hard-earned money. Please accept it. ”

Yang Xun, Zhao Cheng and the imperial guards were not too surprised. They had long seen that Jia Lian was a kind man. Last night, they confiscated the Zhao family, a wealthy and unkind businessman, and Jia Lian treated them very badly. It’s strange that he didn’t show any expression at all.

On the other hand, Jia Yu, a veteran warrior in the military camp, had never experienced such a thing before, and was a little confused for a while. After all, judging from the few times he came into contact with Jia Lian, , he thought that Jia Lian was a selfless and upright person, so he was favored by the emperor.

Unexpectedly, he would do such a thing.

When Jia Lian saw Jia Yu’s expression, he didn’t want to explain it.

"However, this is not only for you, but also includes the hard work of your brothers under you. The investigation of the salt administration is far from over. I still need you and your brothers. People work hard for the court and for me. As long as things are done well, I will not hesitate to share some reasonable benefits with you. At the same time, I don’t like you being short-sighted...

I hope that, All the brothers who are working this time, regardless of their positions, will receive at least ten taels of benefits. Do you understand what I mean?” Your Excellency treats us so sincerely, and we will not be so short-sighted as to deduct the benefits of the brothers below."

Zhao Cheng, a member of the Jinyiwei family, was the first to reply with a smile. He and Yang Xun had already received a lot of benefits on the day they arrived in Yangzhou. They thought they would not have a share in this, but they didn't expect that Jia Lian still prepared it for them.

As for giving at least ten taels of silver to each brother under him... Although they think it is too much, after all, except for Yang Xun, they have many brothers under them. But then he thought, since Jia Lian said so, he thought that the amount of money in Huang Feng was indispensable, so he became happy again.

Jia Yu took a deep breath. He has a total of 800 officers and soldiers, each with at least 10 taels. Doesn't that mean that he has at least 8,000 taels of silver in his yellow seal?

So after returning to my home, I couldn’t wait to open the yellow seal and found that there was indeed a stack of silver notes inside, and there were also a few gold leaves! …

After a little counting, his hands began to shake a little.

Eighteen thousand taels!

This... Even according to Jia Lian's explanation, the brothers at the bottom are divided into twelve taels, and those with higher grades have more. Isn't it true that he can still keep 10,000 taels for himself? !

Ever since he became President Qian and had a fifth-level official position, he felt that his salary and remuneration were quite good. He received two hundred taels of silver every year! It was enough for his family to live a prosperous life in Jinling City.

It was only at this moment that he truly understood why the civil servants in Jinling City called them Kuhaha warriors!

Damn it, following Jia Lian on an errand is worth his decades of hard work.

I don’t know whether other people’s hands were so generous, or whether Jia Lian took special care of him for the sake of his own clan.

But it doesn’t matter anymore. He knows that from today on, his vision needs to change.

There is no future in staying in the West Mountain Camp of Jinling City. You have to find an opportunity to fill a good position. It is best toIt would be best to work by Jia Lian's side.

It is ten thousand times better to hang out with this powerful cousin than to work alone in Jinling. I even began to thank Governor Liao Jihong in my heart. If he hadn't made it possible, he really didn't know how to fight for his great future and backing!

Jia Lian could probably guess what Jia Yu and others thought, but he didn't care.

What are the benefits given to them compared to the Zhao family’s wealth? The real gold and silver seized from the Zhao family last night alone amounted to nearly three million taels. In addition to the various industries that have not yet been inventoried, it will finally be reduced to too much to say, but it will definitely be around four million!

I’m afraid the emperor would be shocked if he received this amount.

Besides, this is not over yet...

Jia Lian always felt that the Wang and Bai families, in terms of the number of official salt dealers and the degree of rampantness, were only more than the Zhao family. Quite a few. It would be unfair to the Zhao family to let him go like this.

If the two of them were deliberately captured, wouldn't it be possible to return to Beijing with a fortune of more than 10 million taels?

In that case, even the emperor would jump with joy.

After all, the annual income of the entire treasury is only tens of millions of taels a year, and most of them have fixed places to go. The rest is what the two monarchs and the Manchu civil and military forces compete for. share.

Moreover, most of them will be divided up by the Supreme Emperor.

So Jia Lian knew that Emperor Ningkang was actually very poor. This is also the reason why Emperor Ningkang secretly told him that he must give these greedy salt merchants a look, and even tacitly agreed to kill him if he refused.

In this case, if Emperor Ning Kang brings an extra 10 million taels of silver back, I wonder if he will directly make himself a prince...

After all, this is the benefit that I use my reputation to gain for him! It is conceivable that if he really ransacked the houses of all these salt merchants, the elites in the court would definitely criticize him verbally and in writing, and give him reputations such as "cool" and "skin-picking".

But after thinking about it, forget it. If Emperor Ning Kang really wants to make him the Duke of the country now, then he really has to be careful about whether Emperor Ning Kang intends to play the trick of a cunning rabbit and a dead lackey. After all, it is never a good thing for a minister to have no title. …

That’s all, if those two companies are lucky, the big deal is that if they do more blood work than other salt merchants, they won’t have to raid their homes.

So Wu Zhirong was brought out and asked about the whereabouts of An Siyuan's son. I didn't ask before, just to avoid alerting the enemy. Now that I have captured him, I naturally want to help Xu find her son.

At first WuZhirong naturally refused to admit it, but under Jia Lian's questioning, he still said: "This, if the lower official said it, could you put down the official and leave?"

Wu Zhirong deeply regretted having underestimated Jia Lian, so that Without any preparation, there was no room for resistance.

Jia Lian looked at him and said with a half-smile, "What do you think?"

Wu Zhirong became sad.

"Does Mr. Wu think that I have no friendship with An Siyuan? If you are willing to hand over his son, I can remember that you have repentance and can punish your crimes. Report the truth truthfully, and there will be no malicious slander.

If you don’t cooperate, it’s okay. It just adds one more crime to your crime: murdering a colleague’s younger heir. In this way, your Wu family’s sins will be further deepened. I have no loss at all."

Wu Zhirong knew that it was not a wise choice to offend Jia Lian now, and he has not given up completely yet. After serving as the prefect of Yangzhou for so many years, he, like the salt merchants, also used money to pave the way and find backers for himself. He also placed hope that the people behind him could save him.

In this way, we should not offend Jia Lian too harshly and let Jia Lian get into trouble, so he said: "I dare not deceive you in my humble position. Whether it is An Siyuan's matter or the kidnapping of his son, it is all the salt merchants." The official did not know about it. However, after the official knew that Mr. An's son was kidnapped, he also investigated and found out that An Siyuan's son was in the hands of the salt merchant Wang family. If you want to save people, We might as well start with the Wang family."

Unable to protect himself, Wu Zhirong would certainly no longer be the protective umbrella of the salt merchants and would betray him without hesitation.

"Seriously? Do you know the consequences of deceiving me?"

"I don't dare, my lord, just check and you will know the truth."


Originally I just wanted to find Ms. Xu to check the news, but when I saw Ms. Xu, she actually looked completely lost.

But when she saw Jia Lian, she seemed to want to hide it.

"What's the matter?

"No, it's nothing... Sir, you are tired, please relax your shoulders..."

Mrs. Xu helped Jia Lian sit down, and then wanted to rub Jia Lian's shoulders as usual.

Jia Lian frowned slightly, pulled her into his arms and sat down, but no longer asked, but instead raised his eyebrows His chin smiled and said: "You said that your son was in Wu Zhirong's hands, and I had already taken him in for interrogation, but he said that your son was not in his hands, but in the salt merchant Wang's family.

I don’t think he is lying. I dare you.guessed wrong? Don't worry, no matter whether your son is really in the Wang family or not, as long as he is still alive, I have full confidence in rescuing him. How many more days can you wait with peace of mind? "

Mrs. Xu raised her head and looked at Jia Lian blankly. She suddenly broke away, turned over and knelt down in front of Jia Lian, and cried: "How can I be so virtuous and capable as to make you worry about me! I have important news to tell you..."

"What? "

"There are still people who want to assassinate you! ”

　“!

　……