Chapter 151 What bad intentions could Young Lord Jia have?
……

After rushing all the way, the imperial commissioner’s ship finally arrived in Lianghuai near the end of the year. After getting off the ship, everyone did not stay for long, but took a sedan chair at the dock and went directly to the Salt Inspectorate’s Yamen.

At this time, officials of all ranks in Yangzhou had received the news and were waiting in front of the Salt Administration Office, whispering to each other.

“This time, the Emperor sent the Minister of Internal Affairs and Jia Gelao to our Lianghuai area, but such a big thing happened. I don’t know whether it is a blessing or a curse.”

“I heard they were here to make money.”

“Alas, the people are suffering, and it’s not easy for us officials to do our job either.”

“Who says it’s not true? Good fortune and bad fortune are hard to predict.”

Amidst the whispers, a line of soldiers came galloping over on horseback and stood on both sides of the government office. Then, the umbrellas and gongs sounded to clear the way, and several officials followed closely behind and entered the mansion.

As soon as he got off the sedan chair, Dai Quan couldn’t wait to say, “My Lords, I have other important matters to attend to, so I won’t delay you any longer.”

Jia Jing, Lin Ruhai knew that Dai Quan came here only to get money for the emperor, and he didn’t care whether he stayed or left, so he smiled and said, “Eunuch Dai, please do as you please.”

Dai Quan called upon several Dragon Guards who were following him, hurried out of the Salt Administration Office, and arrived at the Lianghuai Supervisory Office.

“Godfather, please have some tea.” Dai Zhongliang carefully handed over the teacup.

Dai Quan took a bite, put down his teacup and said calmly, “How are the six salt merchants doing? Have they been searched thoroughly for us?”

Dai Zhongliang said hurriedly, “Godfather, when I first arrived in Lianghuai, I heard that the six major salt merchants had died mysteriously, so I immediately surrounded the mansions of the six major salt merchants and sent people in to search. We found some stuff, a total of 500,000 or 600,000 taels.”

Dai Quan stood up, took two steps in the hall, frowned and said, “The capital of the six major salt merchants is more than tens of millions, but only 500,000 or 600,000 was found. How can we explain this to the emperor?”

Dai Zhongliang knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, “Godfather, calm down. I am still looking for clues. If you give me some more time, I will definitely be able to find the place where the six major salt merchants hid their silver.”

Dai Quan nodded slowly and said, “Okay, I’ll give you another half a month. You can dispatch all the officials and soldiers in Lianghuai. You must find the place where the silver is hidden for us.”

As he said that, he stepped forward and patted Dai Zhongliang on the shoulder, and said with a smile: “Do your job well. If this is done, I will send you to the Imperial Household Department!”

Dai Zhongliang knelt on the ground excitedly and kowtowed: “My son will definitely live up to my godfather’s high expectations. I have carefully investigated these days and found that the deaths of the six major salt merchants were strange. Among them, the Bai, Liu, and Sun families seemed to have been prepared for it.”

“Oh? What do you mean?” Dai Quan asked.

Dai Zhongliang said: “Because the ladies and daughters of several of their families have all disappeared, it seems that it was planned in advance.”

“Oh!”

Dai Quan’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, “What about the other three?”

Dai Zhongliang said: “The girls from the other families are all here, and my son has arrested them all.”

“it is good!”

Dai Quan clapped his hands and laughed, “Interrogate carefully, especially the whereabouts of the family property! How could so much money disappear out of thin air? Check carefully, there must be clues!”

“In addition, since these three families were able to get the news in advance and make precise arrangements, they must have someone in the court. We must investigate this carefully as well!”

“Don’t worry, godfather, I understand.”

……

Salt Administration Office.

A group of Yangzhou officials are constantly complaining.

“Lord Lin, the six major salt merchants hold more than 50% of the salt permits in Lianghuai. Suddenly, they disappeared. Now the salt price in the whole Jiangnan area is in chaos. If we don’t find a solution, I’m afraid it will cause a big disaster!”

Lin Ruhai sipped his tea without saying a word.

Jia Jing pretended to be in deep thought, and after a while he spoke calmly: “I am new here and don’t know much about the salt business. Do you have any good suggestions?”

The crowd looked at each other for a long time, and finally someone said, “There is no other way now. We can only print another 100,000 salt vouchers and distribute them to ease the price of salt.”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked at Jia Jing.

Jia Jing hesitated a little and asked, “Who are you?”

The man bowed and said, “I am the Director of Lianghuai Salt Transport Department, Tan Jianbin.”

Jia Jing nodded and said, “What should we do if this damages the reputation of the court?”

Tan Jianbin smiled and said, “I am just choosing the lesser of two evils. If Lord Jia is not satisfied with my opinion, you can find another way.”

After hearing this, Jia Jing looked at the others and asked, “Do you have any other good ideas?”

Everyone was silent and said nothing.

After a long while, Jia Jing said helplessly: “Let’s do this for now. You can go back and think of a solution carefully. Overissuing salt permits is really a bad idea. It should not be used unless it is absolutely necessary.”

“Mr. Jia has a point.”

“Mr. Jia is mature and steady.”

Everyone paid a few symbolic compliments and left the Salt Administration Office.

Tan Jianbin walked with a few friends.

Someone asked, “Do you think Lord Jia will agree to print an extra 100,000 salt permits?”

Tan Jianbin smiled confidently and said, “I will!”

“Although issuing salt permits at this time will affect the credibility of the court, that is a matter for the future. Jiangnan is about to be in chaos. Who dares to take the responsibility? Lord Jia, I definitely don’t dare!” “Lord Tan is right.”

Then, everyone changed the subject and said with a smile: “I heard that the young minister has also come to Jiangnan to join in the fun?”

“Yes, it happened in the past two days.”

“Haha, now that he’s here, we finally have a backbone.”

……

After Lord Jia came to Jiangnan and entered the Salt Administration Office, he remained silent and it seemed that he had no good solution to the situation in Jiangnan.

The salt merchants became more and more rampant, and some people fanned the flames, fighting hard for the positions of the new six major salt merchants, and even risking their lives to go bankrupt.

A Lianghuai salt permit cost as much as ten taels of silver.

You know, in the past, a barrel of salt was sold for only about fifteen taels. You can imagine how high the price of salt is now.

Many ordinary families have decided not to eat salt during this New Year.

How could the salt merchants in Shandong, Fujian and other places not be tempted by such a huge business opportunity? They would smuggle salt even at the risk of being caught and exiled.

However, it was obvious that some people who were already ready to take action would never allow outsiders to disrupt the situation, so they organized officers, soldiers and runners to frantically catch the illegal salt dealers.

For a time, the prison of the Lianghuai government was overcrowded.

It was at this time that the young cabinet minister Ye Huayang came to Huaiyang.

He is very satisfied with the current situation in Huaiyang.

Jia Jing had no power to turn the situation around.

Or they would print salt permits, causing a credibility crisis for the imperial court.

Or sit back and watch the chaos in Jiangnan happen without doing anything.

Either way, the impact will be extremely adverse, and he may even withdraw from the cabinet.

“This humble official has met the young minister.”

“We have been looking forward to your coming with great eagerness.”

“I have prepared a banquet, and I hope that the young minister will honor us with his presence…”

Faced with the flattery of a large group of Jiangnan gentry, the young cabinet minister politely refused them all.

Why did he come to Jiangnan?
His father just asked him to look after Jia Jing.

But he felt that Jia Jing was no longer a concern.

His current thoughts are on the assets of the six major salt merchants.

That’s tens of millions of taels of silver. Who wouldn’t be tempted? Even if three of the families were not easy to move, the assets of the other three families would belong to him.

“Somebody come!”

“Contact Patriarch Bai and tell him I want to see them.”

……

Jia Rong did not go to the Salt Administration Office with everyone else. He took two warships to the Yangzhou coastal defense.

Lin Daiyu was naturally very dissatisfied with this.

However, knowing that Jia Rong was going to do some serious work, he did not say much, but only told Jia Rong not to forget to study.

Jia Rong agreed reluctantly.

Jia Rong was puzzled by Aunt Lin’s increasing concern for him these days, and finally he simply stopped thinking about it.

He was thinking about more important things.

A mere Jiedushi can use the Lianghuai coastal defense as his own public property for personal use, so why can’t he, as a junior cabinet minister, do the same?
He had a very bold idea.

The Lianghuai Coastal Defense Army was brought under his command.

Of course, what bad intentions could Young Lord Jia have?
It’s purely for the country and the people.

No other selfish desires.

……

A few days ago, Jia Rong talked to Jia Jing about Li Chongshan, and Jia Jing got furious on the spot.

The Huaiyang coastal defense is of vital importance and even concerns the safety of the entire Jiangnan coastal area. I didn’t expect that the Jiedushi would be such a person!

Jia Jing first interrogated Li Chongshan carefully, and then sent Zhuge Lan there ahead of time. Once the facts were verified, he would definitely be severely punished.

He readily agreed to Jia Rong’s wish to broaden his horizons. After all, he and Lin Ruhai had already made a completely thorough plan, and it would be the same whether Jia Rong was there or not.

He only told Jia Rong to pay attention to his own safety, and gave all the personal soldiers from the Jia family to Jia Rong to ensure his safety.

……

(End of this chapter)