allendalepharm Chapter 768 Jiangnan Salt Gang
Chapter 768 Jiangnan Salt Gang
It would take four or five days for a memorial to be delivered from Lin'an Prefecture to the capital, even if one rode at full speed, traveling day and night.
In other words, when Zhou Qing discovered the incident and reported it to the court, it should have been around the third year of Chinese New Year.
Although Xu Zhanrong introduced himself after arriving in Lin'an Prefecture, Zhou Qing did not often inquire about Xu Zhanrong's whereabouts in order to avoid suspicion, which led to the discovery of Xu Zhanrong's death a few days later. It is also possible.
After all, ancient times were different from modern times, when people had telephones to communicate.
Of course, Jiang Youzhen was not trying to excuse Zhou Qing, but was thinking about this possibility.
If Zhou Qing was an accomplice of those people, he could have concealed the matter. Xu Zhanrong was only here to inspect Lin'an Prefecture, and he knew that there would not be many people coming. If Zhou Qing had something to hide, he would definitely have concealed the matter.
These days, when someone dies, they just destroy the body and it's hard to explain. In any case, it's better to just say you know nothing.
"My dear Jiang, what do you think?" The emperor asked quickly after Jiang Youzhen understood what had happened.
This? Jiang Youzhen only heard these and could not come to a conclusion. If he could see the two memorials, he might be able to find some clues.
"Your Majesty, would you allow me to read the memorial?"
Everyone immediately started to whisper, this Jiang Youzhen was really arrogant because of his favor. Just as a sixth-rank official, he actually wanted to read the memorials?
"Zhou Zhong, pass the memorial to Lord Jiang for review!"
Everyone looked uncomfortable. They actually gave it to him? Wasn't the emperor too fond of Jiang Youzhen?
Zhou Zhong presented two memorials, and Jiang Youzhen first read the one from Xu Zhanrong.
The first part mentioned the problems encountered during the recent inspection of the Jiangnan Salt Road. It was a commonplace, that the illegal salt trafficking continued despite repeated prohibitions. Then it wrote about Lin'an Prefecture, and Jiang Youzhen saw Zhou Qing's name on it.
The city was right next to the salt road, and the dock at Lin'an was one of the places where salt was transported and supplied. But not far from Lin'an, the Grand Canal suddenly became plagued by bandits a few years ago.
Xu Zhanrong impeached Zhou Qing as the prefect of Lin'an Prefecture. The canal happened to be under Zhou Qing's jurisdiction, but Zhou Qing allowed bandits to disturb the people and even the official ship was looted last time.
The people were full of complaints and had many grievances against the government. For this reason, he went to Lin'an Prefecture incognito for several days and found out that the situation was basically true.
The salt gang that sells illegal salt seems to be in collusion with the mastermind behind the banditry. He finds out that one of the forces is the local salt gang, led by Chen Xiaotian.
This person is a force that has only risen in recent years, but in just a few years he has expanded the power of his gang and become a force that can compete with the imperial court.
He had many followers and bribed them with benefits, so even the government was helpless.
However, if private salt was sold, although it would harm the interests of the court, the people would benefit the most. However, since the rampant banditry in Lin'an Prefecture, the price of local private salt has increased significantly.
There was not enough official salt to begin with, and shipping was intercepted and looted, causing local salt prices to soar.
Xu Zhanrong had already written to Lu Shengyuan, the chief transport commissioner of the Salt Transport Commissioner's Office, asking him to take action to regulate the price of salt.
Moreover, the salt transportation was also related to them. Although the official ship was hijacked and returned later, it was also a provocation of the imperial court by the salt gang. They should report it to the imperial court and send troops to suppress the bandits.
Xu Zhanrong’s memorial contained a lot of content, but it ended here.
The next letter was Zhou Qing's memorial. As you gentlemen said, the owner of the house discovered Xu Zhanrong's death and reported it to the government, and he immediately reported it to the court.
After that, he just made excuses for himself, saying that Xu Zhanrong didn't trust him and liked to act alone.
Although he borrowed the constables from the government office, he often left them behind and carried out secret operations. This time, Xu Zhanrong said he was going back for the New Year, so Zhou Qing thought Xu Zhanrong had already returned to Pingjiang Prefecture.
The letter expressed that he never expected Xu Zhanrong to die in Lin'an Prefecture, and he begged the court to send an imperial envoy to investigate the matter and clear his name.
"Your Majesty, Zhou Qing, as the prefect of Lin'an Prefecture, knew that the banditry and the salt gang were rampant, but he never asked the court for reinforcements. It is obvious that he accepted bribes. Your Majesty, please investigate this matter thoroughly to set an example for others!"
Du Yikun, the Minister of Revenue, was particularly angry. Salt transportation was also one of the important taxes of the court and was under the jurisdiction of their Ministry of Revenue. Now someone was blatantly robbing the national treasury, how could he not be angry?
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue is also to blame this time. The Ministry of Revenue sends officials to check the accounts every year, but they have never found anything. Didn't they find any abnormalities in the salt warehouse? Selling private salt must not match the official warehouse. Those people are so bold that they will definitely touch the salt warehouse."
The Minister of War Sui Yuanchao stood up again. This was a good opportunity to put pressure on Du Yikun.
"Your Majesty! The Salt Gang has existed since ancient times and has become a force to be reckoned with. Every time they are encircled and suppressed, they mobilize a large number of troops, but in the end they are defeated. This matter affects the interests of the people, and the people and the bandits are united, so it is indeed difficult to eliminate them.
It is indeed difficult to find evidence of abnormalities in the salt warehouse just by checking it every year. If there are officials colluding with the salt gangs and deceiving their superiors and subordinates, how can the Ministry of Revenue know about it?"
Du Yikun glared at Sui Yuanchao angrily. He was just a mad dog. He would bite whoever he caught.
"Your Majesty, the Salt Transport Commissioner did not report the robbery of the official ship to the court. What is their intention? I think the Salt Transport Commissioner should investigate all of them. If anyone is secretly communicating with the salt gang and the bandits, they will be executed on the spot."
For the first time, Prime Minister Lin Juhui was extremely angry. He was from the Southern Faction, and now that the Southern Faction had made such a big mistake, he felt ashamed.
Furthermore, Lin'an Prefecture's prefect Zhou Qing was originally his disciple. After becoming an official, he joined their Southern School. Otherwise, how could he be allowed to go to such a wealthy place as Lin'an Prefecture?
"I second your motion! I also ask the Emperor to send a large force of troops and imperial envoys to rectify the situation."
Minister of Rites Luo Chengyi stepped forward. This was not the time for factional strife. Officials sent to the Jiangnan Salt Road had repeatedly gotten into trouble. Everyone in the court was terrified when talking about it. The court had to strictly control it.
"I second the motion! Your Majesty, please send officials from the Censorate to Lin'an Prefecture immediately." Everyone said in unison.
The emperor cast his gaze towards Jiang Youzhen, "Lord Jiang, please tell me what you think."
"Your Majesty, I have no opinion. I am stupid, but I wonder why the Salt Transport Commissioner did not report the robbery of the official ship? Even if they returned it afterwards, it would still be a provocation to the court.
Besides, Lord Zhou has been in office for many years. Has he dealt with the Salt Gang issue?"
Jiang Youzhen felt that the Salt Gang had formed a complete industrial chain, with a single move affecting the entire body and involving such a wide range of issues that it would definitely not be able to handle it with Zhou Qing alone.
The imperial court must send troops to suppress it, but if there is collusion between officials and bandits, and some escape, it will be a disaster. It won't be long before it will come back again and will never stop despite repeated bans.
"That's right! Zhou Qingruo is not in collusion, but he is also incompetent. I plan to send two imperial envoys to Lin'an Prefecture this time, and they can mobilize the troops stationed nearby to suppress the bandits, 10,000 people."
This time the emperor was furious and determined to suppress the bandits. Although he couldn't completely eradicate them, he could at least stop them for a few years.