Chapter 154 Jia Jing: Do you think my sword is not sharp?

……

“The price of salt has gone up again!”

“Riots broke out in many places in Huaibei and Huainan.”

“The rioters threatened to attack the Salt Administration Office.”

As the messages came one after another, Jia Jing became annoyed and frowned, “Ru Hai, what do you think?”

Lin Ruhai thought for a moment and said, “It seems that the salt merchants are desperate. It is not ruled out that there are people behind the scenes who are trying to sabotage the salt tax reform.”

Jia Jing nodded. Changing the salt tax would undoubtedly infringe upon the interests of many people, so it was expected that someone would interfere.

“Why not change into plain clothes and go on a secret tour to see what the people are like, and then everything will naturally come to light.” Lin Ruhai suggested.

Jia Jing clapped his hands.

“Okay, that’s exactly what I want!”

The two men did what they said. They changed into ordinary plain clothes, took two trusted followers with them, and quietly left the Salt Administration Office through the back door.

Jia Jing was completely clueless about the situation here and said with a smile: “We need Ru Hai to be our guide.”

Lin Ruhai smiled and said, “That’s right. But to be honest, although I have been an official in Huaiyang for many years, I seldom go out for a stroll. I just remember that there seems to be a street market not far ahead. Let’s go and take a look.”

“it is good.”

The two of them strolled to the entrance of the street market. It was the end of the year, and the streets were crowded with peddlers. Various shouts and hawking sounds could be heard one after another, creating a lively scene.

The two of them followed the crowd and walked inside for half a day. There were all kinds of things for sale, but the only thing missing was salt.

Logically speaking, it shouldn’t.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

The two were wondering when an old man suddenly appeared beside them and whispered, “My lords, do you want salt?”

Jia Jing: “Do you have salt?”

The old man’s face changed, and he looked around nervously. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, “My lord, please speak softly!”

Lin Ruhai: “Private salt?”

The little old man hurriedly said, “Don’t worry, sir. We have official salt tickets.” As he spoke, he took out the salt tickets from his pocket and showed them to the two men.

Jia Jing took it, looked at it, and nodded, “Since you have a regular salt ticket, why are you so cautious? What are you afraid of?”

“Oh, it’s hard to put it into words!”

The old man took the salt ticket back, put it away carefully, and said seriously, “Would you like to buy it or not, sir?”

Lin Ruhai smiled and said, “Buy it.”

Old man: “How much do you want to buy?”

Lin Ruhai: “About 20 kilograms!”

The old man’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly pulled Lin Ruhai aside and whispered, “Master, wait a moment, I’ll go get the salt right away.”

Lin Ruhai quickly grabbed him.

“Wait a moment, old man.”

The old man asked doubtfully, “Master, do you have any other instructions?”

Lin Ruhai smiled and said, “Can we two follow the old man to get salt?”

The old man’s expression changed.

“No.”

“If you two masters don’t want to buy it, forget it. I won’t force you.”

As he said this, he was in a hurry to leave.

Lin Ruhai hurriedly said: “Buy it, let’s buy it!”

The old man said: “The two gentlemen please wait a moment. I will be back soon.”

“Okay, just go ahead, we’ll wait here!”

After the old man left.

Jia Jing said to Lin Ruhai, “There is something fishy indeed. Do salt merchants have such great power? They can make the whole street empty of salt sellers, and when there is one, he does it in secret.”

“What’s more, the six major salt merchants are gone now. Which salt merchant still has such great power?”

“If this is happening right under Yangzhou’s nose, you can imagine what’s happening in other prefectures and counties!”

Lin Ruhai shook his head and said, “Of course the salt merchants can’t do that. I guess there are probably people from the government who are involved in this.”

Jia Jing was silent for a while.

“Great!”

“Do you think my sword is not good enough?”

Feeling Jia Jing’s murderous intent, Lin Ruhai said in shock: “Think twice!”

Jia Jing: “Now it’s your turn to persuade me to think twice.”

“Don’t worry, I’m measured!”

The two talked for a long time, but until noon, the old man still didn’t come back.

“What about the father-in-law? It shouldn’t take so long to dry the salt, right?” Lin Ruhai asked doubtfully.

Jia Jing said: “Maybe they saw that we were confused and thought it was a trap set by the salt merchants, so they were scared and dared not come.”

Lin Ruhai: “Didn’t I act like a salt buyer just now?”

Jia Jing shook his head: “I don’t know.”

“I didn’t buy any salt.”

Lin Ruhai: “…”

The two of them casually ate two baskets of soup dumplings at a roadside bun shop. At this time, a young man quietly approached them and whispered, “My two masters, do you want salt?”

The two looked at each other.

Lin Ruhai hurriedly whispered, “Little brother, do you have any? The mansion is just short of salt, and the housekeeper asked me to buy some cheap salt to bring back.”

The young man’s eyes lit up and he said hurriedly, “Master, my salt is cheap, buy mine.”

Lin Ruhai asked: “It’s formal, right?”

The young man hurriedly took out the salt ticket and handed it to Lin Ruhai: “Don’t worry, sir, it’s absolutely legal!”

“Ah.”

Lin Ruhai took a look, returned the salt ticket, and said with a smile: “I want thirty kilograms. Bring it here for me, and we will exchange the money and the goods.”

The young man was overjoyed: “Please wait a moment, sir. I will get it right away.”

“Well, let’s go.”

After the young man left, Lin Ruhai smiled and said, “Do you look like a salt buyer this time?”

Jia Jing smiled and said, “I don’t know.”

“But I think we should be able to buy salt this time.”

Lin Ruhai smiled, obviously very confident.

After all, young people are not very worldly-wise.

After a while, the young man came over with a sack on his shoulder. When he saw the two of them, he smiled and said, “Master, the salt is here.”

Lin Ruhai smiled and said, “Thank you for your hard work, little brother.”

The young man shook his head: “It’s not hard, it’s not hard.”

Lin Ruhai smiled again and said, “Can you help me carry it home? Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to work for nothing. I’ll give you extra money for running errands.”

The young man smiled and said, “Of course.”

As soon as he finished speaking, an old man came running over from a distance: “Erwazi, come back quickly!”

“Ah I……”

“Come back quickly!”

The old man in the distance was stamping his feet anxiously.

Jia Jing and Lin Ruhai looked over and saw that it was the old man who had made them wait all morning.

Lin Ruhai smiled and said, “Father-in-law is so unreasonable. You tricked the two of us into waiting for the whole morning. Now that we have reached an agreement with the little brother, you want to do business again?”

The old man hesitated for a while, and when he saw that the two men did not move, he stepped forward suspiciously and asked, “Are you two really here to buy salt?”

Lin Ruhai: “What else?”

The old man said, “Not like that.”

“But he doesn’t look like someone from the government.”

Lin Ruhai smiled but said nothing.

The old man continued, “If you two were government officials, they would definitely arrest you now that you have caught them red-handed.”

As soon as the old man finished speaking, there was a loud laugh, and a large group of people gathered around from all directions.

“Haha, I finally caught you!”

The old man was horrified, pointing at Jia Jing and Lin Ruhai, and angrily said: “You are indeed the lackeys of that gang!”

“Go away, son!”

Although the young man was terrified, he did not move. Instead, he said to the old man, “Dad, you go first. I’m strong and I’m not afraid of them beating me!”

The old man stomped his feet in anger!
“You unfilial bastard! Do you want our Liu family to be extinct?”

“I can’t watch you get beaten!”

Son: “Dad, go!”

Old man: “Go!”

“Haha.”

The leading officer laughed arrogantly: “Stop pretending to be a loving father and a filial son. None of you can leave today!”

“Selling illegal salt, wait for the mine to open!”

The old man gritted his teeth and said, “We didn’t sell private salt. We have salt tickets!”

As he spoke, he took out the salt ticket.

The leading officer picked it up without even looking at it, and tore it into several pieces.

“The prefect has ordered that forging salt tickets will be a more serious crime!”

“He should be exiled to the frontier.”

“Come here, tie him up and take him back to the prison!”

“Yes!” A group of officers and soldiers swarmed up, covered the mouths of the father and son, tied them up tightly and dragged them away.

Beside them, Jia Jinglin and Ruhai watched all this quietly and did not stop it immediately.

Jia Jing’s face turned dark.

Lin Ruhai looked the same.

I really didn’t expect that an incognito tour would have such a result.

This happened right under the nose of the Salt Administration, so you can imagine what the situation is like outside!
If we continue to think about it, what would the imperial decrees become if they were issued from the cabinet, passed down layer by layer, and finally reached the common people?

“Which government office is this from?” Jia Jing asked.

Lin Ruhai said: “Judging from his clothes, he should be from the Yangzhou government office.”

Jia Jing nodded and told his personal guards, “Go back and ask Mr. Nangong to take the imperial sword and wait at the gate of Yangzhou government office.”

In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the salt tax reform, the emperor specially gave Jia Jing the Shangfang sword, which gave him the power to execute first and report later when encountering problems.

It was precisely because of this that the retired emperor sent Dai Quan to follow him, fearing that Jia Jing would have no one to check and balance him.

Here.

After finishing the work, the leading official looked at Jia Jinglin and Ruhai. Seeing that the two were dressed in extraordinary clothes, he guessed that they must be local gentry who came to Yangzhou to buy salt. He was delighted and said with a stern face: “Buying and selling private salt is a serious crime. You two must also go to the county government office.”

“Good! Good!”

……

Soon, the group arrived at the Yangzhou government office.

The old man and his son were forced by the police to kneel at the door. There were several other families kneeling together, with banners stuck behind them.

Letter:

Selling illegal salt is an unforgivable crime!
The arresting officer chuckled and said to Jia Jinglin and Ruhai: “See? This is the fate of buying and selling illegal salt!”

“What do you two think?”

In fact, he had been waiting for the two men to confess their guilt. As for the gentry who took the opportunity to buy salt, they would mostly let them go after asking for some money.

Unexpectedly, these two people were like fools, not saying a word along the way, and they had to be reminded by him.

Jia Jing sighed.

“I have so many thoughts!”

The officers and soldiers smiled.

“That’s interesting. Now that we’re here, I can’t let you go without one thousand taels.”

“If you had confessed your guilt at the beginning, it would have been done for two hundred taels.”

He wanted to see the two of them regretting their actions.

But he was disappointed.

There was no remorse on their faces, and they sneered instead.

“Do you have the right to arrest and release people at will?”

“hehe.”

The official smiled smugly: “I’m afraid it would scare you two if I told you this, but the prefect’s brother-in-law is my sworn brother!”

“What do you two think? I’m not afraid to tell you that the prefect has recently personally supervised the illegal salt business. You are lucky enough to witness the great prefect’s ‘face’.”

“But let me make it clear in advance that when you meet the prefect, it’s not as simple as a fine. You may be beaten with a stick, go to jail, or even be sent to the salt field to do hard labor.”

“You two should not be too optimistic. The prefect has issued an order that all those who buy and sell illegal salt will be severely punished. No one will be spared, no matter how powerful their backers are.”

The officers continued to intimidate the two men, trying to take advantage of the opportunity to gain some benefits.

But he was disappointed again.

Jia Jing sneered and said, “I just want to see the great Lord Qingtian’s face. Please lead the way.”

Lin Ruhai smiled and said, “That’s right. The sky is also the sky. I also want to see the face of the sky!”

The officer clapped his hands and laughed when he heard this, stroking his mustache.

“it is good!”

“OK!”

“I, Zhang San, have been working as a clerk for so many years, but this is the first time I’ve seen such tough country squires like you!”

“Somebody come!”

“Take them in and wait for your punishment!”

“Here!”

Several officers came running over and pushed the two men into the yamen.

Inside, the prefect of Yangzhou was trying a case.

“How dare you, a rude and unruly person, defy the imperial law by buying and selling salt illegally. Come, take him away and beat him 30 times, and send him into exile!”

The people kneeling below immediately started crying and shouting.

“Injustice!”

“My Lord, this is unfair!”

I saw the great judge in heaven wave his hand.

“Shut up and pull it down!”

“Here!”

The people around him immediately stepped forward, covered his mouth, and dragged him away forcibly.

Yangzhou prefect Zhong Shengjie took a sip of tea and looked at the next person.

“Bold and unruly people…”

Recently, more than ten cases of smuggling salt were tried in one day. The procedures were similar and Zhong Shengjie was already familiar with them.

After finishing the task, Zhong Shengjie looked outside.

“Is there anyone next?”

The sworn brother of the prefect’s brother-in-law hurriedly ran in, bent over and said carefully: “Your Excellency, I have caught a case of smuggling salt, and caught the person and the evidence. The two people who bought the smuggled salt were also brought here.”

“Yes, Not Bad!”

Zhong Shengjie nodded with satisfaction: “Bring the person in!”

The sworn brother of the prefect’s brother-in-law shouted outside: “The prefect has ordered that the prisoners be brought in!”

The first people to enter were an old man and his son, as well as an official carrying half a bag of salt.

“Sir, this is physical evidence!”

The officer put the salt down.

The father and son kept shouting “unfair” and “unfair”.

“Snapped!”

Zhong Shengjie slammed the gavel impatiently.

“Silence in the courtroom!”

“You are such a rude person! You still dare to deny it despite all the evidence. Come, shut your mouth and take him away to be severely punished!”

At this time, the sworn brother of the prefect’s brother-in-law hurriedly reminded him: “There are two more people who bought private salt… They are coming in!”

“Oh?”

The prefect looked at the two people who came in through the door, slammed the gavel, and shouted, “How dare you…”

Halfway through his words, the prefect suddenly widened his eyes.

He stood up tremblingly.

“Jia, Jia, Lord Jia?”

“You, you, why are you here?”

Jia Jing smiled slightly.

“As you can see.”

“I went out to buy a piece of salt, but was caught and brought back by your brother-in-law’s sworn brother.”

The sworn brother of the prefect’s brother-in-law widened his eyes.

Lord Jia?
The Lord went to the street to buy salt?
How can it be!

dream!

I must still be dreaming!
“Snapped!”

The sworn brother of the prefect’s brother-in-law slapped him hard in the face.

pain!
It hurts so much!
How he wished he was dreaming!
Zhong Shengjie ignored his brother-in-law and hurriedly walked down, apologizing with a smile: “It’s a misunderstanding, it must be a misunderstanding, Lord Jia, please calm down, your subordinate, your subordinate…what are you still standing there for? Why don’t you let him go!”

“This matter must be thoroughly investigated!”

“Don’t worry, old man. I will not let a bad guy go, nor will I wrongly accuse a good guy. I will definitely give you justice!”

Zhong Shengjie said with a righteous look on his face.

As he spoke, he personally untied the old man and his son.

The old men looked at each other in bewilderment.

These two who are buying salt…Lord.

What kind of official is the Lord?

Is he a higher official than the judge?
“Wonderful!”

Jia Jing clapped his hands and laughed, “It’s really wonderful.”

“I really saw something new today!”

Zhong Shengjie smiled awkwardly: “Please calm down, sir. It’s all my fault for not keeping a close eye on my subordinates.” As he spoke, he looked at the trembling man and said, “Someone, take this lawless guy down and give him a hundred beatings to serve as a warning to others!”

“Here!”

Someone immediately came forward to arrest the person.

Zhong Shengjie slightly changed his expression.

Killed directly.

The man nodded slightly and started to walk away.

“Wait!”

……

(End of this chapter)