Chapter 159 How dare they rebel with their guts? (Subscribe)
What kind of people were the merchants in the Ming Dynasty?

Yan Shaoting knew it clearly.

If we chop off the heads of these people, nine out of ten of them will not be wrongly accused.

That one left.

It is not enough to just behead the person, the entire clan must be punished as well!
Gao Gong frowned and said, "Master Yan, there is an urgent report about the Lianghuai area. We have just explained it clearly to His Majesty. We need to find out the cause before we can convict all parties. Now you are also making unwarranted assumptions."

Yan Shaoting looked at Lao Gao.

He took out a piece of paper from his sleeve calmly.

Without Yan Shaoting saying anything, Lu Fang had already recorded what Yan Shaoting had just said, walked forward to take the note and handed it to Jiajing.

Yan Shaoting continued, "Your Majesty, this is the specific increase in prices in Beijing that I have collected recently."

Everyone couldn't help but look at him.

Although prices in the capital have skyrocketed recently, causing complaints from officials.

But no one would really check what the specific prices are and how much they have increased.

Yan Shaoting said, "I am deeply indebted to the Emperor, and I feel that when I work for His Majesty in the court, I must always be pragmatic. No matter what I do, I must first investigate it thoroughly. Only with these figures can I speak.

"This records the recent soaring prices in Beijing, with the highest increase in salt prices in the capital, to more than three times the original price.

"Then there are firewood, rice and oil. Firewood is supplied by the people near Yanshan Mountain, and there is also Shanxi stone firewood (the ancient name for coal). So the price has not increased, and in fact, because it is not winter yet, the price is still a little lower.

"On the other hand, the price of new rice in Beijing has more than doubled compared to last year. The prices of all other goods in Beijing have also doubled or tripled.

“All of these goods with rising prices come from the south. But I checked the Ministry of Revenue archives before, and even though there were civil unrests in Lianghuai recently, the grain transport was not affected.

“Yangzhou is located at the gateway of the Grand Canal. The Lianghuai salt merchants are dissatisfied with the court’s salt tax investigation. In addition, Yan Maoqing may be eager to achieve results, so he allowed these Lianghuai salt merchants to take the opportunity to create chaos.

"First, they raised prices in the capital to attract the court's attention, and then created a so-called civil uprising in Yangzhou to make the court panic. They were worried that if the unrest in Lianghuai led to the interruption of grain transport, it would eventually lead to a shortage of goods in the capital and a shortage of money and food for the nine frontier troops. This would make the court cautious and stop the review of Lianghuai salt taxes."

Jiajing snorted coldly.

He looked up at the people in front of him.

"Tobe."

The Minister of Revenue Gao Yao hurriedly bowed and walked out.

Jiajing said coldly: "The prices in Beijing have been rising rapidly recently. Has the Ministry of Revenue found out?"

Bang.

Gao Yao knelt on the ground without saying a word.

It is obvious that the Ministry of Revenue did not investigate the specific circumstances of the price increase in Beijing.

Jiajing snorted coldly and looked away: "Gao Gong?"

Gao Gong was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue.

Hearing the emperor's call, Gao Gong stood up with a heavy face.

"Your Majesty, the figures of rising prices in Beijing investigated by Yan Shaoting, a doctor in the Zhejiang Qingli Division of the Ministry of Revenue, are largely true. He should be commended for his hard work."

Behind the curtain, Jiajing smiled silently.

Gao Gong was smarter than Gao Yao. He promoted Yan Shaoting to a higher position in the Ministry of Revenue. Then the figures he found could naturally be regarded as the credit of the Ministry of Revenue.

Jiajing shook the note in his hand and said, "Take it and have a look, lest some people in the court only know how to complain about the soaring prices in the capital, impeaching this and that, but don't know what exactly has increased in price."

The emperor's words were quite hurtful.

Many people lowered their heads in shame, but began to curse Yan Shaoting in their hearts.

Lu Fang took the note and passed it to everyone for circulation.

Yan Song finished reading it first, and after passing it to Xu Jie, he said, "Your Majesty, after reading this number, I feel that although the Lianghuai Incident has not been fully investigated, what Yan Shaoting said does make some sense."

Wait until Yuan Wei finishes reading it.

He also said: "Your Majesty, everything is based on cause and effect. It is impossible for Lianghuai to change suddenly, and it is impossible for the Lianghuai to be in turmoil just because Yan Maoqing did something illegal during his duty.

The court's investigation of the Lianghuai salt tax naturally affected the interests of the Lianghuai salt merchants. If this is the case, the fact that the salt households from the 30 salt fields in Lianghuai went to Yangzhou City to denounce Yan Maoqing may have been caused by the Lianghuai salt merchants. "

Wait until Yuan Wei made his position clear.

Ouyang Bijin, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, who was the first to mention the affairs of Lianghuai today, went a step further.

"Your Majesty, I request that Your Majesty issue an order to strictly investigate the Lianghuai salt merchants! If it is true that the Lianghuai salt merchants were behind the uprising today, they should be severely punished one by one to uphold the law! Warn all merchants in the court to prevent any more villains from using the people to discuss the court's policies and oppose the court!"

In the main hall of Wanshou Palace.

The wind direction began to change.

Yan Shaoting smiled in his heart.

He didn't care whether Yan Maoqing was guilty or not, or how the court would deal with him in the end.

His real intention was to target the Lianghuai salt merchants.

This was the original intention of sending Yan Maoqing to Lianghuai.

Is Yan Maoqing a good person?
No.

Are the Lianghuai salt merchants good people?

Also not.

These are two dogs, let them fight each other.

When the matter came to this day, both of these dogs in Lianghuai were guilty.

Next, it is naturally time to break down and build up.

By taking advantage of the changes in the Lianghuai salt administration, various malpractices that had accumulated over the past two hundred years in the Ming Dynasty's salt administration were eliminated.

Xu Jie seemed to have noticed something as well.

When everyone speaks up to express their attitude.

He stood up with his hands clasped.

"Your Majesty, the current situation in Lianghuai may be caused by merchants' pursuit of profit, or it may be caused by Yan Maoqing's disorderly government. But no matter what, since Lianghuai has been in chaos, the court cannot ignore it. If Yan Maoqing is not recalled for custody and trial, the court will be unfair.

"The people are furious. If this continues for a long time, even if the Lianghuai salt merchants are behind the current Lianghuai uprising, people all over the world will think that it was caused by Your Majesty's improper use of personnel." And Your Majesty's wisdom will be tarnished for no reason.

"I think we should recall Yan Maoqing to the capital and keep him under custody for trial, and order Zhang Juzheng, who is the closest to the capital, to go north to Yangzhou to arrest all the Lianghuai salt merchants and interrogate them strictly.

Otherwise, if the imperial court continues to leave Lianghuai alone, and if Lianghuai salt merchants are really behind this incident, it may really cause changes in Lianghuai, and when the disaster spreads, Lianghuai will be in complete chaos. "

Minister of Justice Pan En also echoed, "I second the proposal. The court should order the recall of Yan Maoqing and investigate the two Huai regions to prevent the salt households in the two Huai regions from rebelling under the agitation."

Xu Jie looked behind the curtain with a deep gaze.

What he was focusing on today was the most important reputation of an emperor. He also took advantage of the changes in Lianghuai to get the job of investigating the salt affairs into the hands of his own people.

In fact, Jiajing was already somewhat tempted.

Let Yan Maoqing call him back, and then interrogate the Lianghuai salt merchants.

The job can be done by someone else, and the money can be recovered as usual.

But one's reputation cannot be ruined by the people below.

Yan Shaoting felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

He saw through Xu Jie's thoughts, and what he said today really touched the Taoist priest's heart.

but.

The current Zhang Juzheng knows nothing about salt administration.

Yan Shaoting immediately looked at the Minister of Justice Pan En.

Then he said in a deep voice: "Just relying on those businessmen who only care about profit, they dare to rebel? Even if they are given the courage of the sky, they dare not really rebel!"

Paine immediately turned around and looked at Yan Shaoting.

I was quite angry.

Your father made me lose all my face today, are you going to tease me too, little brat?

Paine immediately said, "If there really is someone in Lianghuai who wants to rebel, would Yan Shidu dare to take the blame?"

Yan Shaoting ignored him.

Instead, he turned and looked at Jiajing.

After a silent estimate in his mind, he concluded that now that the Lianghuai salt merchants had taken action, it could be basically concluded that Yan Maoqing had almost plundered all the salt, and the Lianghuai salt merchants had been plundered to the point where they were beginning to feel the pain.

He said, "Your Majesty, I think that even if Yan Maoqing is recalled now, he should not be detained in the capital for trial. At least the court cannot do this openly.

"Yan Maoqing went to Huainan and Huaibei as an imperial envoy to work for the court and Your Majesty. If he is recalled and detained for trial because of the changes in Huainan and Huaibei, wouldn't it be a perfect opportunity for those with ulterior motives in Huainan and Huaibei to criticize Your Majesty for using such a person?
"I think that we should recall Yan Maoqing on the pretext of reporting his work and order him to bring back the silver he had obtained from the recent salt tax investigation in Lianghuai. In secret, officials in the court should examine whether Yan Maoqing had done anything illegal in Lianghuai.

"And the inspection of Lianghuai salt merchants and the subsequent salt tax investigation should not be handed over to Zhang Gelao. Zhang Gelao is now in charge of the court's increase in silk production and overseas sales, which is more important than the Lianghuai salt tax.

"Now the incident happened in Lianghuai, which is under the jurisdiction of Nanzhili. It is better to let Jinyiwei and Dongchang go south to Yangzhou and thoroughly investigate the Lianghuai civil unrest. Once it is confirmed that the Lianghuai salt merchants were inciting the people behind the scenes, they will be arrested immediately and their property will be confiscated.

We can also send the Southern Zhili Governor Zhao Zhenji to Yangzhou to appease the people and persuade them to withdraw, and continue to investigate the salt tax in Lianghuai."

After Yan Shaoting finished speaking, Xu Jie frowned.

He didn't expect that there was a Zhao Zhenji in the south.

And this Zhao Zhenji just happens to be the governor of Southern Zhili.

Compared with Zhang Juzheng going to Yangzhou, it is more appropriate.

Yan Shaoting was also waiting quietly.

The matter of the salt merchants can only be reported to the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot so that these people can be caught in one fell swoop.

As for Zhao Zhenji, who was so slippery, even if he went to Yangzhou, the most he could do was to persuade the Lianghuai salt households and salt workers who were blocking the outside of Yangzhou city to return.

As for continuing to investigate the salt tax in Lianghuai?
According to Zhao Zhenji's approach, the best he could do is maintain the status quo.

Xu Jie did not expect Zhao Zhenji, and neither did Jiajing.

But he felt that Yan Shaoting's proposal was more appropriate than Xu Jie's.

Yan Maoqing was not recalled to Beijing under the pretext of being detained and awaiting trial, but was recalled to report on his work with the silver he had obtained earlier.

Then, as the emperor, he did not make a mistake in employing the right people, and he also got the money back.

As for the Lianghuai salt merchants who dared to incite the people to resist the court, it would be more appropriate to let the factory guards investigate.

especially.

Jiajing heard what Yan Shaoting had just said, and also included a sentence about confiscating the property of the Lianghuai salt merchants.

This is a good opportunity.

Without waiting for anyone to speak.

Jiajing, who had thought it through clearly, immediately said, "Just do as Yan Shaoting said."

Gao Gong, however, frowned.

Although Yan Shaoting also proposed to recall Yan Maoqing and let Zhao Zhenji go to Yangzhou to appease and persuade the people to return, and to investigate the follow-up matters of the Lianghuai salt tax.

They were indeed getting things done, and there was no power struggle in the court.

But he felt that this was not the way things were done.

Gao Gong said, "Your Majesty, Yan Maoqing was recalled to the capital, and Zhao Zhenji went to Lianghuai. Now we also know that the Lianghuai uprising was probably caused by the Lianghuai salt merchants behind it.

"If the imperial guards convict all of them, all the salt merchants in Lianghuai will be wiped out, and how will the Lianghuai salt business operate?

I believe that we should make plans before taking action, and we must discuss the matter now."

As soon as Gao Gong finished speaking.

Yan Shaoting immediately clasped his fists and looked at Lao Gao deeply.

"Your Majesty, what Mr. Gao said is absolutely right!"

…………

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(End of this chapter)