allendalepharm Chapter 785: Those Imperial Salt Inspectors Are a Lesson
Chapter 785: Those Imperial Salt Inspectors Are a Lesson
Before going to bed, Jiang Youzhen asked the waiter for several addresses before going to sleep.
Late at night, Jiang Youzhen changed into night clothes, climbed out of the inn window, and went to Yu Lane.
I remembered the address on the note, "On the west side of Yu Lane, the third house starting from the willow tree, the key is under the willow tree."
When Jiang Youzhen arrived at Yuxiang, he first looked for the willow tree. Lying on the highest roof, Jiang Youzhen had a panoramic view of the entire Yuxiang.
Yuxiang is not big, with only about 20 to 30 households. Jiang Youzhen's eyes can see at night, and the night is as bright as day in her eyes.
Finally, she found the willow tree in the west. She couldn't help but twitch her lips. The willow tree was only as thick as a fist and was at the base of a family's wall. If Jiang Youzhen hadn't searched carefully, she might have overlooked it.
After observing for a while, he found that there were no other willow trees, and then he flew down.
Seeing that there was no one around, Jiang Youzhen began to dig. After a while, he saw a package wrapped in silk. He opened it and found several keys inside.
I was so happy, I found it!
This was a very small courtyard. Jiang Youzhen didn't even open the door to go in, but simply climbed over the wall to get into the courtyard.
I took out the key and unlocked the house. I looked around the house and found that the furnishings were very simple. There was a layer of dust on it, and it looked like there was no trace of life.
It seems that this yard is not used for living, but for hiding evidence.
Seeing that there were still three keys left in his hand, Jiang Youzhen was puzzled. He searched around in these three small rooms but found no place to open the door.
"Is there a mechanism?" Jiang Youzhen wondered and began to slowly explore the house.
The furnishings were so simple that Jiang Youzhen searched through them in just a few moments, but unfortunately found nothing.
She held the key and thought about it. Since there was a lock, it couldn't be a small object.
The rooftop was in plain sight, and there was no way anything could be hidden. If it wasn't up there, it must be down there.
So she began to carefully observe the floor tiles below, and finally found something unusual in a corner on the eastern side of the bedroom. She knocked gently with her hand, and the sound coming from this place was different from other places, and it seemed a little hollow.
Jiang Youzhen used a dagger to pry open the floor tile and found that there was indeed nothing underneath. He took out a wooden box that was half a meter long and forty centimeters high.
He couldn't wait to insert the key, and after opening it, Jiang Youzhen couldn't help but twitch his lips, because there was a wooden box inside.
He took out the wooden box again and opened it. Jiang Youzhen rolled his eyes again. Where is the doll?
The box inside was small, only slightly bigger than an adult's palm, but the lock was very delicate. If you didn't have the key and tried to force it open, you might damage the items inside.
Fortunately, she had the foresight to get the key under the willow tree, otherwise even if she climbed over the wall, she would not be able to open the box.
This time, after opening the box, there was no nesting doll. Inside were two booklets, one of which had a cover titled "Lin'an Prefecture Salt Warehouse In and Out Inventory Book?"
There is another one, which is "Lost Salt Warehouse in Lin'an Prefecture".
Judging from how old these two books are, they must have been frequently read. Or is it possible that they are the account books for daily accounting?
Jiang Youzhen was overjoyed. He didn't expect that Xu Zhanrong could get these two account books.
He didn't intend to take a closer look here. He stuffed the two account books into the storage space, then put the box back in place, locked all the padlocks, and then returned the same way.
Jiang Youzhen quickly returned to the inn, avoiding the patrolling guards along the way.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, she took out two account books from the storage space and planned to look through them carefully.
But the more she looked at them, the colder their expressions became. These people were truly so bold that they had absolutely no intention of concealing anything.
For example, the account book records the loss of salt warehouse for two years. Since the middle of last year, each loss has been greater than the sum of the previous two or three months.
Another example is the "In and Out Inventory Book", which is the inventory registration for last year and this year. At first glance, there seems to be nothing unusual, but Jiang Youzhen saw through the trick at a glance.
Before arriving in Lin'an Prefecture, Jiang Youzhen had already checked the population growth of Lin'an Prefecture at the Ministry of Household Registration. The Ministry of Household Registration conducts household registration checks every five years, and last year was exactly the five-year period.
The household registration of the Ministry of Household Affairs is the most accurate, and even if there are errors, they should not be large.
As of last year, the entire city of Lin'an has had a population of over 1.68 million.
In his previous life, Jiang Youzhen had heard that each person should consume six grams of salt per day. But in ancient times, it was impossible for everyone to consume so much every day, so it would be necessary to halve it, right?
By this conversion, it would be at least more than 10,000 kilograms per day.
The salt warehouse delivers salt at fixed times in the middle of the month and at the end of the month. More than 150,000 kilograms of salt must be delivered each time to meet the daily consumption of the entire city's residents.
Each time the salt was delivered, enough salt was added to prevent loss, but the quantity shipped out was quite different from the quantity received, so the loss was large.
Jiang Youzhen pondered for a moment and then came up with an idea.
Not sure where to start? Then try two parallel approaches.
Jiang Youzhen gave a meaningful smile, and then fell asleep contentedly.
In a luxurious four-courtyard house in East City, a man with a white beard and rich clothes was walking back and forth in the study.
The steward opposite him bowed and asked, "Master, I heard that those assassins failed to stop the imperial envoy sent by the court. Now we have lost the whereabouts of the imperial envoy. What should we do?"
The old man's gray beard twitched and a gloomy light flashed in his eyes.
"Why are you in such a hurry? We're not the only ones who should be in such a hurry."
He snorted coldly, "He's just a young boy, what are you afraid of? After all, we have the leader to back us up, so who cares if he's an imperial envoy or not. Once you come to Lin'an Prefecture, don't even think about leaving alive."
"But, sir? I heard that the imperial envoy is extremely powerful, and he was the one who brought the remnants of the previous dynasty and the tea ceremony into the court.
Before he entered the government, he had already meddled in the affairs of the court. Moreover, because he eliminated the remnants of the previous dynasty, he was promoted to a higher rank in just two months. He should not be underestimated!"
The manager felt that things were not optimistic. For some reason, she always had a bad feeling in her heart.
"Hmph! Even if he is the king of heaven, what kind of trouble can he cause in Lin'an Prefecture? Those imperial salt inspectors are a lesson for him. The entire Lin'an Prefecture is already an iron wall. Even if he is a dragon, he will have to be coiled by us."
Yu Zhaorong said, looking at the chief steward Qiu Ling, "Have you finished what I asked you to do? What did the prefect say?"
Manager Qiu hesitated to speak. Seeing this, Yu Zhaorong frowned and asked, "Why? The prefect disagrees?"
"The prefect said the imperial envoy is coming. He can't do that."
"He is afraid of the imperial envoy, but isn't he afraid of the gang leader? It is still unclear whether the imperial envoy can save his own life, so how can he expect him to protect him?"