eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 341 Play Your Majesty!

"Going to work," Zou Cheng said with a troubled face, "Stove households have private control, these things do exist. In the ninth year of Hongzhi, Nanzhili and Jiangxi were hit by disasters. Huaiyu Salt to help the victims, the late emperor is also allowed to play."

What Zou Cheng meant was that although these things were said in a bad way, the emperor actually knew about them.At that time, there was nothing to do about the disaster. Tens of thousands of people were starving for food. Looking around, they couldn't find any silver taels for disaster relief. There was some surplus salt in the salt field, so they quickly sold it.

It was an emergency move.
But in fact, it also has a bit of a set taste.

It is equivalent to finding a way to legalize "surplus salt" at that special pass.

The so-called leftover salt refers to the leftover salt left over by the kitchen households.

This is true in history. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the rulers had to admit the existence of surplus salt in disguise because of financial leaks everywhere.

Now the officials dare to speak out, so it is not possible for your emperor to say these things when he needs them, but now he does not need to change his tone and say no, right?
This is not the way to kill a donkey.

But Gu Zuo is not a vegetarian either, he can't deal with those officials who play tricks, but he is not afraid of the tricks of officials and subordinates.

"Ambassador Zou means that the imperial court shouldn't be in charge of the flood of private salt, and the plight of businessmen keeping their income should be ignored?" He said, taking a sip of hot tea, lowering his eyebrows, "Gu has no intention of arresting people. Why should Ambassador Zou be afraid?"

Zou Cheng's heart was pounding, and he said with a smile: "Where are the superiors? The inferior officials are not afraid. It's just the facts. Besides, businessmen's keeping income is not only a private system of kitchen households, but also frequent phenomenon of occupying nests." , These... are all questions that cannot be discussed."

As he spoke, he pointed his finger up.

That means, if you really want to solve this problem, you old man came here to show off your power and prestige. It is obvious that the people above want to pay salt in advance.

"It seems that Ambassador Zou is also a loyal minister who cares about the country and the country."

"Hey, where is it, it's just my duty as a minister."

"However, Gu came here with the intention of solving the problem of keeping the branch. Moreover, when Gu left the capital, His Majesty just rejected King Qi's memorial to begging for salt. The capital is full of smart people. No, none of the eunuchs in the palace or any future relatives will open this mouth again. It can be seen from this that His Majesty also intends to resolve this matter. Just now Ambassador Zou said that there is a sign of occupying the nest, and Gu feels that this matter is no small matter."

"Since Ambassador Zou is dedicated to serving the country, and has malpractice in his heart, why don't you join me in making a memorial to His Majesty!"

Zou Cheng's heart trembled, "Play what?"

"Naturally the one who occupies the nest!"

what? !

Zou Cheng was dizzy, and he wanted to look up to the sky and ask: Will this person be an official?
"Boss!" His buttocks were halfway from the chair, and he said with some kind of panic: "As soon as I come here, my officialdom in Ming Dynasty will definitely be shaken, and the boss will also be in a desperate situation!"

"Sacrificing one's life for righteousness is what I wish. It was Ambassador Zou who said that the phenomenon of occupying nests frequently causes businessmen to keep their income. Since you said it, how can I pretend that I didn't hear it? Three, what do you think?"

The three businessmen were a little dumbfounded, they looked at each other and didn't know what to say for a while.

I don't know what to say, I just want to mean it.

nonsense,

Of course it’s cool for businessmen, you officials take this risk, ask the emperor this question, and ask the emperor to punish those who occupy the nest. Once the dignitaries and internal officials who occupy the nest are restricted, it will naturally be extremely harmful to them benefit.

Businessmen pay more attention to profit than parting.

Even if they were supposed to be with Zou Cheng on weekdays, it was unavoidable for them to hesitate at this moment for such a lucrative matter.

They exchanged eye contact, and finally the oldest old man in the middle cupped his hands and said: "Little people are soft-spoken, and everything depends on the job. No matter what, the little people have no objections."

Gu Zuo smiled unrecognizably.

"Anyway, I must report the word "Zhanwo" to His Majesty. Otherwise, if His Majesty asks about it in the future, Ambassador Zou can still say that he has already reported it to the Xunyan Yushi. But what about my Xunyan Yushi? Explain to His Majesty?"

Zou Cheng wanted to slap himself.

How could someone have caught this handle!
And those three salt merchants had a glimmer of hope in their eyes.

For one thing, Gu Zuolai's banner is to relieve the businessman's financial difficulties.

Second, such a firm expression at the moment is logically correct.

If this memorial to Gu Zuo was indeed published, then these businessmen would have to confess Gu Zuo like a grandfather.

Although Xunyan Yushi was originally their grandfather, but whether he did anything that benefited them or not, this grandfather had something to do with his closeness.

And Zou Cheng would not go to this course no matter what,
No matter what Gu Zuo said, even if he explained the emperor's temper clearly enough that it would not mean what the emperor would do to him, Zou Cheng was still unwilling.

In his opinion, this matter is not the emperor's problem.

But other than that, Gu Zuo didn't make particularly excessive demands, and didn't ask him about his guilt on the spot, so Zou Cheng wouldn't do anything else.

It's just that in this way, the first meeting inevitably broke up, leaving only superficial politeness to cover up the embarrassment.

But Gu Zuo was confident, and he just had to wait for the next step.

Two more days passed,
People from the Si Yamen of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy have been monitoring the imperial envoys.

In fact, the salt merchants were also looking at Gu Zuo.

"...Aside from composing poems and playing for fun, don't you have other actions?" Zou Cheng didn't quite believe his subordinate's replay.

"It's true that there are none. We watched the imperial envoy day and night. He went out twice in total, once to visit old friends, and once to go out of the city to enjoy the scenery. We saw all the ins and outs."

"Old friend? What old friend?"

"It's a woman, a courtesan."

Zou Cheng glared at his subordinates, "Then make it clear, my lord, I thought it was some old court official!"

"Yes, yes, the villain will pay attention next time."

The salt merchants on the other side were also a little more suspicious.
Those who followed Zou Cheng that day were the three families of Luo, Ji and Tong.

It turned out that they still had some expectations for Gu Zuo, but they only got in touch with him that day, and the imperial envoy couldn't see any difference after that.

Gu Zuo didn't move, and they didn't dare to take any risks.

After waiting for a few more days like this, Gu Zuo also felt that something was wrong, so he quickly adjusted his method. He met with some salt merchants again, and the main topic of discussion was also the issue of saving money.

From this, people slowly began to believe that this imperial envoy really came for this matter.

And the one who really can't wait is not Luo, Ji, and Tong, but a small salt merchant named Ye Liyuan. He probably has his family ruined because of the problem of keeping income, so there is no way, look. When there is such a life-saving straw as Gu Zuo, he grabs it without hesitation.

Gu Zuo is also very simple to the kneeling people - I help you, you help me.

"Your three hundred salts are not a big number. I am the inspector of the salt censor personally appointed by His Majesty. Even if you go to force it, you can still attract your salt to the branch. But now the problem of guarding the branch is getting worse. Why is this official If you want to help you, you have to give me a reason."

Ye Liyuan's ideological struggle was extremely fierce, but in fact there was nothing to fight for him, he would kneel here, basically he was desperate.

That is to say, the censor of Yanyan said that he wanted to solve the problem of keeping the branch,
In the past, how could officials help the people?If he doesn't ask you to knock some money, he is considered a good official.

"The villain can do whatever the lord official wants the villain to do. It's just that the villain is a cornered salt merchant, and he really doesn't know how to help the lord official."

"No, you can help me." Gu Zuo stepped forward and pulled him up, "Although you are not a big salt merchant, you must know how to do the salt business. So you can tell me many things. Sir."

"But I don't know... what does the official want to know?"

"For example, how do kitchen households make private salt."

Ye Liyuan brushed and knelt down, "My lord, I know a lot of kitchen households. They are all poor people. They have nothing to do. The court doesn't even pay enough for labor and rice. If they don't steal some private salt, many people I can't survive at all!"

"Money is a definite number in the world. Since the kitchen household has no money, and the businessman also said that he was losing money because of keeping expenses, then I don't understand. Where did the money go?"

Ye Liyuan lowered his head, he didn't dare to speak up to this point.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao’s understanding of the salt law of the Ming Dynasty came from historical materials, but the emperor could not rely on historical data when handling cases. He had to rely on real evidence. There are so many twists and turns in the salt law, what occupying nests and buying nests, these cases have to break out Come out, so he can take measures.

You can't tell your courtiers that you have read this history before, right?

So no matter what, he needs an opportunity.

This is also what Gu Zuo is doing at the moment.

But Ye Liyuan stopped.

He is afraid.

"Let me tell you, the money on the salt has been greedy for officials at all levels, and it has been taken by noble ministers, and those salt merchants have been hidden, right! The taxes paid are not paid!"

Ye Liyuan still didn't dare to speak.

He just wanted to pay for the salt he had paid for three times, so that he could sell it for money.For the rest, he didn't dare to get involved at all.

At this moment, Gu Zuo's maid came to report, "My lord, Ambassador Zou from the Salt Transport Envoy is here."

It seems that he is also unstable, knowing that salt merchants will come to him all the time.

"Ye Liyuan,"

"The little guy is here."

"Go and wait behind the screen first."

"Yes."

After ordering these, he Gu Zuo tidied up his official uniform and raised his hand, "Tell him to come in."

At this time, Zou Cheng was already too anxious,
He sent someone to look at the Xingyuan, so he naturally knew who was coming in. What can a small salt merchant do with Xunyan Yushi?

Zou Cheng already had an ominous premonition,

Judging from the current situation, Gu Zuo did not think of directly arresting people in Yangzhou, but a literati has a literati's knife. Once he grinds down his characters, he will report all the things here to the court, and to his majesty.
What should I do?

Don't say this guy can't do it!
(End of this chapter)