Red Chamber: Bring Xue Baochai home at the beginning

Chapter 233 The Secret of the Zhen Family!

The Ching Ming holiday is coming to an end, and tomorrow I will go to work in the Ministry of Yingmao.

It's still early in the morning, just after noon.

When Feng Yibo received the invitation, he got up and went straight to the Lin residence.

Lin Ruhai had arranged for someone to wait for him at the door, and he was taken to the study as soon as he arrived.

"uncle."

As soon as he entered, he saw Lin Ruhai sorting out something.

Feng Yibo let out a soft cry, and saluted at the same time.

Hearing his voice, Lin Ruhai didn't raise his head.

He just said: "Sit first!"

Feng Yibo was not in a hurry, he just waited at the side.

After a while, Lin Ruhai seemed to have finished sorting out before putting down the materials in his hand.

He looked up at Feng Yibo, and said with a smile:

"I called you here because I have something to ask."

Hearing this, Feng Yibo got up quickly and said:
"Don't dare, uncle will just take orders."

Lin Ruhai smiled, waved his hands and said:

"Don't be busy yet. Come here! Watch tea!"

The two sat down as guests and hosts, and someone immediately offered tea cups.

Lin Hai gave another order, saying:
"Go down, don't let people come here."

The servant responded and went out to close the door.

Feng Yibo was a little curious, but Lin Ruhai didn't open his mouth and he didn't ask any more questions.

After the two of them each took a few sips of tea, Lin Ruhai got up again and went to the door.

Opened the door and looked around.

After confirming that there was no one there, he sat back in his seat and said:
"I may go to Yangzhou in the next few days. Daiyu and her aunt want to entrust you to take care of them."

As soon as these words came out, Feng Yibo was suddenly puzzled.

Lin Ruhai has now relieved of his errand of inspecting salt censors, only the doctor of Lantai Temple.

Yangzhou is not his hometown, so what else is he going to do?
Doubts are doubts, Feng Yibo immediately responded when he heard the words:

"Later, I will ask someone to take my aunt and younger sister to live there in the name of my teacher's wife."

If it's a normal walk, it's fine in his own name.

But now we have to live for a while, even if we have a long-term marriage contract, we should pay attention to some men and women.

Therefore, the name of the elders of Toney House is the best.

Feng Yibo agreed first, and then he couldn't help but wonder:

"It's just that uncle is still going to Yangzhou for what? Could it be that His Majesty sent another errand?"

Seeing that he thought well, Lin Ruhai nodded in satisfaction.

Later, when he asked about his trip to Yangzhou, he smiled and asked:

"Do you still remember what happened in Yangzhou before?"

Lin Ruhai looked mysterious just now, but now I hear him mention the past in Yangzhou.

Feng Yibo was stunned for a moment, and then thought of the big event recently.

A guess appeared in his heart that made him a little worried.

"Could it be that uncle wants to touch the Zhen family?"

Hearing this, Lin Ruhai stroked his beard and smiled, praising:
"You're really good at it."

At the moment, he stopped going around in circles and said directly:
"That's right, now that the Zhen family has completely lost their backing, it's time to eliminate harm for the country and avenge Daiyu's mother."

What Feng Yibo just thought of was the death of the old concubine of the Zhen family.

Hearing Lin Ruhai's own confession at this moment, his brows became tighter.

Hearing this, he hesitated, and said:

"Uncle, this matter..."

Seeing his expression, Lin Ruhai smiled and asked:

"how?"

Feng Yibo was a little tangled, then sighed lightly, and said:
"I just don't think now is the time."

"Oh?"

Lin Ruhai was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said:

"I'm afraid you don't know what the Zhen family has done. If you know, you will understand why I chose this time."

Feng Yibo shook his head slightly, and said:
"Although I don't know the specifics, it is nothing more than a matter of salt administration, and the matter of salt and iron has existed since the Han Dynasty, and the matter of corruption of ink has never stopped."

"Salt and Iron Theory" comes from the Han Dynasty.

Since then, salt iron has been a state monopoly.

It is also an important source of treasury revenue.

Hearing this, Lin Ruhai became even more curious, and asked:

"Since you guessed something, why do you still think it's not the right time?"

Feng Yibo pursed his lips lightly, then sighed lightly.

"Because the old concubine's body is still alive, even if the Zhen family has made a big mistake, at this time, for the sake of the old concubine, the Holy Majesty will inevitably leave two favors."

Seeing Lin Ruhai frown, Feng Yibo continued:

"If the house was originally going to be ransacked and the family wiped out, now the house is being ransacked at most, and they may even be resettled."

"If the house was to be ransacked in the first place, it may only be fined in silver now, leaving enough dignity."

"If the fine was originally fined, it may be now..."

Having said that, he paused slightly, then continued with a wry smile:
"Maybe it's a penalty of three drinks, just laugh it off."

Seeing that Lin Ruhai frowned, Feng Yibo continued:
"In short, with the favor of the old concubine, the sage will definitely punish her by downgrading her for showing kindness and filial piety."

Lin Ruhai pondered for a long time, then sighed, and said:
"Yibo, you're going in the right direction, but you obviously underestimated the amount of ink they're greedy for."

Obviously, Lin Ruhai realized that he was in a hurry.

But he firmly believed that even Emperor Jingshun would, as Feng Yibo said, show some dignity to the old concubine.

The Zhen family could not escape punishment either.

"Ok?"

Feng Yibo was taken aback when he heard the words.

Lin Ruhai pointed to the information he had sorted out before, and said solemnly:
"Over there are the accounts I sorted out. Just the last small part, there are nearly one million taels."

Hearing this, Feng Yibo blurted out:
"so much?"

He was not surprised by the million taels of silver, but that the million taels were only a small part.

"Among the secret books I gave to the Holy One earlier, there are already more than half of the accounts. This part is something you didn't have time to sort out before you went to Yangzhou."

Lin Ruhai got up and walked to the desk, picked up the account and handed it to Feng Yibo.

"Now that the Zhen family has no backer, I just sorted it out recently, and am going to deal the Zhen family a fatal blow!"

Feng Yibo took it and flipped through it, and saw that it was all about Invesco's Yanyin from around ten years ago.

He looked at it and said with some doubts:

"Is there anything wrong with this account?"

Lin Ruhai smiled and shook his head, saying:

"If you only look at this account, you can't find any problems, but you can immediately find out the mystery hidden in it if you compare it with the accounts of the account department."

Seeing that Feng Yibo was puzzled, Lin Ruhai started from the beginning.

"Back then when the Taizu was on a tour to the south, the ancestor of the Zhen family, that is, Zhen Yingjia's grandfather Zhen Qiu, was only the general merchant of the Lianghuai salt merchants. Later, because of his meritorious service in taking over the driver, he was promoted to the transfer history of the Lianghuai salt transport envoy. "

It turned out that when Emperor Taizu of the Great Wei Dynasty visited the south, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River did not dare to take it lightly.

The government also mobilized all resources to prepare for the pick-up.

At that time, the Zhen family was the head of salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, rich as a country.

Picking up the driver involved too much money, so the government pushed Zhen Qiu to the fore.

Let him figure out a way to solve the problem.

Naturally, Zhen Qiu couldn't bear it alone, but used the authority of the government.

Distribute the pressure to a group of Jiangnan salt merchants.

Receiving the emperor is not an easy task, and the size is difficult to determine.

Especially the founding emperor who founded a dynasty, who is not a murderous hero?

If there is a slight carelessness, the consequences will be worrisome.

Moreover, Taizu of the Great Wei's southern tour obviously had some political considerations in addition to his desire to travel around the mountains and rivers.

Fortunately, Zhen Qiu has done an excellent job in this regard.

He first tried his best to reject all opinions, and did not listen to Taizu's own request of "strengthening the vanity".

Instead, local civil and military officials dressed in court clothes, and representatives of elders, gentry, and students from all over the south of the Yangtze River.

Kneel down and greet them along the way.

It is also arranged that old men and women over 80 years old wear yellow cloth or yellow silk coats.

Hold Gao Xiang and kneel to receive it.

And set up dragon boat lanterns on the river, creating a grand scene of "alley dancing and singing".

It was the plan for this pick-up, coupled with the identity of the Lianghuai Salt Industry General Merchant.

Let Zhen Qiu fall into Taizu's eyes.

In the end, Taizu made a total of six southern tours.

Zhen Qiu was in charge four times!

And every time, he can come up with different tricks!

This made Taizu very happy.

Under the joy of Longyan, Zhen Qiu was specially promoted to the post of Transshipment History of Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy.

Moreover, Zhen Qiu was granted the title of doctor Guanglu, and he was rewarded with countless rare treasures.

The Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy is the current Lianghuai Salt Administration Yamen.

The chief officer at that time was Transshipment History.

And Lin Ruhai's inspecting salt censor was an additional errand assigned by Empress Jingshun.

Not a permanent position.

Three generations of the Zhen family presided over the Lianghuai salt administration until the eighth year of Jingshun.

Emperor Jingshun gave Zhen Yingjia an imperial envoy to Jiangnan Tirenyuan on the grounds of observing the people's sentiments.

Obviously also aware of some things.

"Back then, Taizu spent a lot of money on his southern tour, and the money was poured out like running water."

Lin Ruhai is also from a large family in the south of the Yangtze River, so he has obviously heard about this matter.

Because he was good at catering to Shangyi, Zhen Qiu fell into Taizu's eyes.

But the world is envious of his honor and favor, but they don't know that the Zhen family is also speechless!

"So the Zhen family was named as the history of the salt government's transshipment, which obviously meant compensation, and it should have been the consensus at the time."

Because the salt merchants are rich, they have become fat in the eyes of Jiangnan officials.

Anyone wants to tear a piece of flesh from them!
This is how Zhen Qiu was forced to come forward to meet him, but what he could use was the money of all the salt merchants.

Now that the pick-up is successful, the honor and favor belong to the Zhen family.

Naturally, other salt merchants did not agree!
You know, the four southern tours that received Taizu.

The Yangzhou salt merchants headed by Zhen Qiu have invested millions of dollars!
In addition to the money donated to the court, there will be more.

No matter how big the financial resources are, they can't afford such consumption.

As a result, all the salt merchants had no choice but to block, and the only one who seemed to be gaining was Zhen Qiu.

He must give an explanation!

"When Emperor Taizu reformed the salt policy, he changed the laws of previous dynasties and began to use the method of salt quotations. At the beginning, he distributed 40 yuan a year, and he could receive 120 million taels."

Taizu's reform and implementation of the advance salt introduction system also points to Zhen Qiu as the history of transshipment.

This allows the salt merchants who spend money like water to see the possibility of making up for losses.

Not only them, but also Zhen Qiu, appointed by Emperor Taizu to transport the salt between Huaihe River and Huaihe River, also found room for maneuver.

The two sides hit it off, and they each get what they want!

Unfortunately, human greed has no limits.

"But since the Taizu toured the south of the Yangtze River, the annual quotation ranged from 20 to 40, and it continued until I went."

Hearing this, Feng Yibo was taken aback.

More than [-] years have passed since Taizu's last southern tour.

The Zhen family has not withdrawn yet?

"If calculated on the basis of three taels per quotation, there has been a shortage of at least ten million taels in the past twenty years, and no amount of compensation can be justified."

An additional 20 to 40 salts are issued each year.

If it is said that the beginning is to make up for the shortfall, it makes sense.

After all, Taizu acquiesced.

It can go through three generations and more than [-] years.

That is an income of 1000 million to 2000 million taels of silver!

Apparently the Zhen family took this as a business!
Feng Yibo also found a big strangeness in it, or it was obvious.

That is, Zhen Yingjia was transferred away first, and then Lin Ruhai was appointed as the censor of Yanyan.

It's hard to say that Emperor Jingshun didn't do it on purpose!

"Because I accidentally discovered something strange back then, I checked the records of the household department, and found that there was no record of the number of newspapers and distribution items to check. It was obviously confusing and eroded the situation without authorization."

"I went back to inquire about the strangeness of this account, only to find out that this bank balance has never been used for private actions? At that time, I felt so horrified!"

Speaking of this, Lin Ruhai showed a trace of emotion on his face, and said:
"It was also at that time that I understood the purpose of the Holy One sending me to inspect the salt, but I reported the secret, but the Holy One only asked me to continue to collect evidence, not to act rashly."

As Feng Yibo expected, Lin Ruhai also found out about this.

There is no way, Emperor Jingshun's arrangement is too obvious.

Feng Yibo felt that Emperor Jingshun and the Zhen family knew each other well.

It's just that one is to stop the loss in advance and knock it out.

One can only struggle to the death, frantically making money.

In order to make up for the shortfall, even at the expense of colluding with Japanese pirates!

"Later, I realized that Jinshang and Prince Zhongshun were both descended from the old Dowager Zhen, so I obviously had some scruples, so I stayed put and waited for the time to come."

This is obviously the reason why he didn't tell Feng Yibo at the beginning, the secrets of the palace involved.

Such moths have been kept until now because of the consideration of the old concubine's face.

If such inside information is revealed, the royal family's face will not be good.

Feng Yibo heard this, but suddenly thought of a question:
"Then the Supreme Emperor didn't know about this when he was in power?"

Lin Ruhai obviously thought about this question too, and immediately replied:

"Thinking about it, there was Taizu Yu Ze at that time, and the power of the Great Wei State was rising steadily. In addition, the only two princes of the Supreme Emperor were born to the old concubine, so I didn't delve into it."

Speaking of this, he sighed faintly and said:
"But now that the national treasury is empty, and internal and external troubles continue, the Holy One naturally cannot tolerate them continuing."

Obviously, now Da Wei has begun to go downhill.

Not only do natural disasters continue, but the nine borders are restless.

There are also issues such as the annexation of noble lands in the Manchu Dynasty.

What happened to the Zhen family is a microcosm of this kind of problem.

Feng Yibo sighed lightly, and said:
"The Zhen family is also insane. No wonder they are collecting money like crazy, and they dare to collude with Japanese pirates. I think they know that the Holy Spirit intends to move them, and try their best to make up for some shortfalls, so as not to be driven out and killed."

Lin Ruhai nodded and agreed:
"That's how it should be."

After a moment of silence, Feng Yibo asked again:
"So Uncle knows that he has this intention early this morning, and the amount is huge, so he feels very sure?"

Lin Ruhai nodded and said frankly:

"Now that the old concubine has been buried, the funeral procession must be returning. I am going to submit the last piece of evidence to the court as soon as the Holy Majesty returns. I will try to get this job. When the time comes, the Zhen family will be caught off guard. In order to avoid any accidents."

Speaking of this, Lin Ruhai showed longing on his face, and said:

"In this way, you can retire as soon as possible, and when you and Daiyu get married, you can take care of yourself for the rest of your life."

"Uncle, what you said makes sense, but..."

Feng Yibo pursed his lips before saying:

"I still suggest you wait."

(End of this chapter)