Chapter 278 What we want is for all parties to be reluctantly satisfied!
Lv Cang is back.
The day before the second meeting, Lu Cang, who had been hanging out in the city, finally returned to Xia Zhibai.
Main hall.
Lv Cang has changed into clean clothes, his face is no longer dirty, he looks energetic, his eyebrows are dancing, his head is raised high, like a victorious rooster. Promoting his own majesty.
Xia Zhibai looked at Lu Cang who was farting aside and smiled helplessly.
Lu Cang went to the beggar's den to stay for a while, but it gave him some sense of honor, and he was a little bit dumbfounded.
Hua Lun looked at Lu Cang and asked: "Lv Cang, have you found out any news?"
Lv Cang took a few big sips from the kettle, and the warm water flowed down the corner of his mouth. After lying on the floor, he stopped without finishing his thoughts, let out a sigh, and even burped. Lu Cang smiled awkwardly, and continued to speak shamelessly: "I've asked about everything."
< br>“Each of the eleven prefectures in Zhejiang has a salt factory. Among them, there is a very large salt factory in Zhejiang, called Ningbo Salt Factory.”
“In the past six months, the salt produced by Ningbo Salt Factory has supplied almost half of Zhejiang.”
“Even the beggars on the street have heard of it.”
“Only in the past half month, Ningbo Salt suddenly became silent.”
“Apart from Ningbo Salt Factory, the largest salt factory in Fujian is Quanning Salt Factory, Jiangxi’s seems to be Jianglin Salt Factory, and Huguang’s is.”
Lv Cang detailed the situation of factories in various southern provinces in detail.
While he was talking, he also took out a piece of gray cloth from his body. The gray cloth was very dirty. Many black spots could be seen through the cloth. Moreover, it was wrapped around Lu Cang's body. Lu Cang turned around. After several rounds, he took off the gray cloth and saw that it was densely written with various words of different sizes.
This is Lu Cang’s real harvest.
Hua Lun's eyes lit up, and he quickly reached out to take the piece of gray cloth filled with information. He looked at the salt factory names that appeared on it, and his face was filled with joy. He didn't care that Xia Zhibai was still there. I ran a few steps quickly to get the roster from the table, and then compared it one by one.
Lian Zining and the others looked at each other a few times, then quickly walked closer and examined them carefully.
Xia Zhibai did not read the content on the gray cloth, but walked up to Lu Cang, reached out and patted Lu Cang on the head, and said with a smile: "I haven't been a beggar for so long, and I haven't been treated like Yu Hang. Bully the beggars next to you.”
Lu Cang raised his brows, as if he was humiliated. He immediately picked up his long sleeves, raised his two thin arms, bulged his biceps sideways, and said: "I was bullied, Brother Xia, you are too Look down on people."
"It's good if I don't bully them."
"They are all so skinny that they can fall down when the wind blows. How can I bully them? Beat up three or five of them. You haven’t seen how powerful I am wherever I go. I’ll just go up and beat anyone who refuses to follow my orders. Every one of them will be beaten obediently.”
Lu. Cang also boasted about himself.
Xia Zhibai smiled and did not expose it. How could a foreign beggar gain a foothold so easily? It would be good if he was not squeezed out. Moreover, he came from the north, even more so. But from Lu Cang’s words He also heard it, and he was afraid that when Lu Cang first arrived, he would often fight with beggars like Yu Hang.
After bragging for a while, Lu Cang stopped and said with a bitter look on his face: "Actually, being a beggar here is no different from being a beggar in Yingtian Mansion. People still hate each other. The big ones bully the small ones, and the strong ones bully the weak ones. , It is common to be hungry for nine meals in three days, but the environment here is better than that of Yingtian Mansion. If it is not possible, you can barely survive by chewing bark, grass roots and other things.”
“It’s just the same pain!”
Xia Zhibai nodded and said: "Human nature is like this, regardless of geographical boundaries."
"You did a good enough job this time."
Lu Cang rolled his eyes and took the share. Hua Lun and the others, who regarded Hui Bu as a treasure, wondered: "Is there something wrong with these salt factories?"
Xia Zhibai said: "Yes."
"Many of the lists submitted by the Salt Transportation Department are not among them."
"The Ningbo Salt Factory and Quanning Salt Factory you just mentioned, None of them are on the list, and I am afraid that these salt factories are not suddenly unable to operate, but are deliberately hiding, trying to confuse the past, using these false accounts to hide these salt warehouses, and then use them to make profits. "< br>
"Ah." Lu Cang was surprised. He didn't expect the situation to be so serious. He said in disbelief: "The salt factories are so big, how dare they? If this is discovered, That’s not going to be beheaded!”
Xia Zhibai sneered, “Who will do it?”
"If the imperial court is the same and doesn't know about it, who can kill their heads?"
"Supervision, manufacturing, and trafficking are all under their noses. As long as they deal with the people sent by the imperial court, who knows what's going on?" Several chief secretaries in the south actually hide several large salt factories?"
"And are they really big?"
"The salt factory looks large, but it is generally large. They are all relatively remote and rarely go to densely populated places. As long as they are more careful and do not attract the attention of the outside world, how many people will really go online, not to mention that these are only some famous ones, and those who are not famous are probably even more. ”
“How can there be less private ones? ”
"There are also kitchen households."
"There has been a surplus of salt in the south, and there is a lot left."
"It's just that the salt ended up going to places it shouldn't have gone."
“Salt is just the tip of the iceberg.”
“The more serious ones should be spices and ivory.”
"These are the big ones."
"It's also a real huge profit. Exchanging salt for spices can be said to be a huge profit."
"With such a huge profit, if I had the way, I'd probably make it too The heart is moved, and money and silk are moved by people, and this has never changed throughout the ages."
Lv Cang smacked his lips and was dumbfounded.
Spice, ivory, he had never heard of these things before, he only knew that they were priceless.
Xia Zhibai glanced at Hua Lun and others who were still sorting things out, and then asked: "Have you found out who was in charge of this trouble in Yuhang?"
Lv Cang nodded vigorously and said : "It's clear."
"The first ones to make noise and trouble are Du An and Wang Ziming, but..." Lu Cang lowered his voice and said: "They were directly caught by the government at that time, and there were always people outside. It is rumored that these people are dead. Anyway, they are now led by Deng Muzi. This person seems to be missing now, but he is definitely still alive."
"Are you so sure?" Xia Zhibai frowned. .
Lv Cang nodded vigorously and said: "This is still certain."
"I asked the beggars that some of them had seen Deng Muzi in the past few days, but this man was very cautious. He basically showed his face and then disappeared. But because of this, he was never caught, and so were his wife, children, and children. Hidden, I don’t know where.”
“I asked a beggar I knew to give me a message privately.”
“But there was no response.”
Zhibai nodded and said: "Where are the other prefectures?"
Lv Cang said: "The other prefectures are actually similar. Basically, those who took the lead in making trouble were severely punished by the government, and the rest were smart and would not be punished. It’s very difficult for the government to take action, and they don’t believe the government.”
"It is said that the Ningbo government is so deceitful."
Xia Zhibai frowned and couldn't contact anyone. This was a problem, but it was probably intentional on the part of the government. He didn't want him to find people like 'Deng Muzi', so he used various tricks to make Deng Muzi and others suspicious and wary of the government, so that he could not be present, so that he could only discuss with the people arranged by the government.
"Brother Xia, how about I find someone to urge you?" Lu Cang asked with concern. Xia Zhibai shook his head.
He said in a deep voice: "It's not necessary."
"If you really want to come, you will come when the time comes. If you don't want to, no matter how many times you invite, it will be useless. In the final analysis, the local government has done too badly, which has damaged the government's credibility in the hearts of the local people and makes people unhappy. I dare to believe it."
"This matter is not urgent."
"We will wait until the salt factory matter is resolved."
"And I feel that they may not really want to continue. "After all, the Ming Dynasty still has the final say. What kind of trouble can they make? They can't keep hiding. They can handle it themselves." What about my wife, children, and children? We still have to solve the problem.”
"Making trouble shows that there is dissatisfaction in the heart and demands in the heart."
"As long as they are not determined to rebel, it means that the government's lack of sincerity makes them feel insecure."
"First of all. Do your best now, and when they see the court's attitude, they will naturally understand that we are here to solve their problems, and we will not choose to collude with the local officials."
Lv Cang nodded. .
Of course he believed in Xia Zhibai.
And if he was asked to believe that Xia Zhibai was colluding with the local government, he would never believe it.
Everyone knows that Brother Xia is a noble person. How can a mere local government let Brother Xia bend his back? Not even the current His Majesty can do it.
Xia Zhibai said: "You should go and take a rest first."
Lv Cang hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother Xia, can we take those beggars with us when we leave? "
Xia Zhibai frowned, shook his head and said: "I can't make the decision, I have to ask them themselves, and I can't bring them to Yingtian Mansion, I can only let them follow those Zao households. Go north and land in the north. Whether they want to or not depends on themselves.”
"If you don't want to, you can't."
Lv Cang showed a look of embarrassment on his face, and finally muttered in a low voice: "Then I will tell them later. I thought I could take him to Yingtian Mansion."
Xia Zhibai ignored it and strolled over to Hualun and the others.
"How did the comparison go?" Xia Zhibai asked.
Hua Lun shook his head and said: "Although we can't say that every government has a hidden secretariat, each Chief Secretary has two or three, and the scale seems to be quite large. These people are probably as you guessed, Thinking of fooling the court, I secretly tricked Chencang into hiding these things from the public, so as to monopolize huge profits."
"These people are looking for death!"
Xia Zhibai chuckled lightly and said: "We are all their people, so why are we looking for death? Being discovered by the court is called courting death. If the court cannot find it, then It’s not about seeking death, it’s about being shrewd and capable. “What’s more, if you are really discovered, wouldn’t it be easy to find just a few scapegoats?”
Hua Lun said coldly: “ Are they so confident that the court can’t find out?”
Xia Zhibai was silent.
He sighed: "Maybe the court really can't find it."
"It can't be said that it can't be found, but they can bribe the relevant officials."
"It's like floating on the water now. Yes, the prince-in-law of the current dynasty was involved, as well as many meritorious families, and even local officials and gentry. Looking at the world, this is a very powerful force, even enough to affect the politics of the court. Ordinary officials can really check it out. In the end?"
"How many people can remain unwavering even if they hold Shang Fang's sword?"
"And there is a big problem."
"Any official will eventually have to hand in a job."
"Once a job is handed in, if it is not cleaned up, how much more retaliation will be suffered in the future?"
"Among them How can we sort out the pros and cons in a short while?”
“In the end.”
“Most of them are trivializing major issues and hastily making them clear to both the superiors and the subordinates. , This is a good way to deal with it. If you want to trace the origin, how can an imperial envoy do it? ”
"You can't do it either?" Hua Lun was stunned and looked at Xia Zhibai.
Xia Zhibai shook his head.
He touched his nose in embarrassment and said helplessly: "You think too highly of me. How can I be so capable? This time, I am only here to solve the problem of salt administration. As for other matters, it is not It can be solved now."
"The power of the meritorious group and the local officials and gentry is too great"
"It will make the imperial court tremble."
< br>
"Have you not seen that Duke Xin Guo rarely stayed in Yuhang seriously after he came to Yuhang? He has been walking around with those meritorious families in Zhejiang. As long as the meritorious families and the local officials and gentry are still united, the problems in the south cannot be solved. "
"Only by separating the two can we solve it."
"However." Xia Zhibai sneered and said indifferently: "Most of the meritorious groups in the Ming Dynasty have military merit. Their minds are not as fast as those of the gentry. In fact, they are coerced and used by the gentry to a certain extent. As long as they are not on the side of the gentry, the power created by the gentry will be vulnerable to the court. "
Xia Zhibai did not take the local officials and gentry seriously at all.
The combination of civil and military forces is what the imperial court is afraid of. A group of local officials and gentry are no match for the imperial court at all. Even if they can inspire people and play conspiracy and calculations, in the face of absolute force, they will not be able to defeat the imperial court at all. Can't twist it.
As long as Zhu Yuanzhang is willing to kill.
These arrogant and complacent officials and gentry in the south will soon recognize the reality.
But it’s not that time yet.
The trouble today is that the meritorious group has connected with the forces of the officials and gentry. Although it is just a pure collusion of interests at present, it is also very dangerous because it involves local civil and military affairs. If it is not handled well, it will It can easily lead to disaster.
In Xia Zhibai’s opinion, this time it’s time to stop.
Just keep all parties above and below satisfied.
As for the others.
We can only wait until autumn to settle the accounts.
At least the local officials and gentry group should be separated from the military group.
And this was originally what Zhu Yuanzhang intended to promote, but now it has only accelerated Zhu Yuanzhang's determination.
Hua Lun was stunned.
The whole person was in a trance.
He suddenly felt that what he was doing was blurry.
(End of this chapter)