Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 233 Playing the piano to a cow
Feng Quan was quite capable and he soon found out something in Jiezhou. However, when the news from various places gradually came to Feng Quan, he lost the ambition he had when he first came to Shanxi and instead began to feel uneasy.

The reason is simple. As Feng Quan's investigation deepened, the problems behind the smuggling of salt gradually emerged. And when the huge shadow under the iceberg began to appear, Feng Quan was really shocked.

He initially wanted to investigate Zhu Shenzui's Hengtong Trading Company, Jiezhou's private salt, smuggling at the border, etc., but soon he found out that it was not just Hengtong Trading Company. The buyers of Jiezhou's private salt included almost all the trading companies in Shanxi, and the situation was extremely complicated.

As early as the Zhu Yuanzhang era, Shanxi implemented the Zhongkai Law. It has been more than two hundred years since the Zhongkai Law was implemented. With the birth of the Zhongkai Law, the phenomenon of private salt in Shanxi has always existed, and as time goes by, there are countless vested interests.

From the salt mine managers and white laborers to the local county government, the guards, the nine frontier troops, and even the provincial government, the governor's office, the bigwigs in the court, and the bigwigs in the palace, there are also shadows in it. These interest groups collude with each other to form a huge group, and Hengtong Trading Company is just one of them in this case.

Once the investigation is continued from this angle, it may be possible to verify that Hengtong is selling illegal salt. However, if the lid is lifted, the consequences will not be under Feng Quan's control.

It would be fine if this matter was only about Zhu Shenzui alone, but the problem was that the local authorities and the garrisons were involved. What was even more terrible was that the Dongchang soldiers who accompanied Feng Quan to Shanxi reminded Feng Quan intentionally or unintentionally that it would be better not to continue investigating Hengtong's private salt business. If he continued to investigate, Feng Quan would have to do it himself.

This reminder surprised Feng Quan even more. Anyone who could become a Hanlin scholar must have no problem with his IQ. He had no idea what kind of government office the Dongchang was. To put it bluntly, the Dongchang was a dog in the emperor's hands. It could bite anyone the emperor told it to bite. In terms of power, it was even more powerful than the Jinyiwei.

The leader of the Jinyiwei was the commander, but the power of the East Factory was in the hands of the factory supervisor. Who was the current East Factory supervisor? Wasn't it the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, who was very popular?

This time, Feng Quan came to Shanxi to investigate the case. He followed the emperor's instructions, but it was Wei Zhongxian who gave him the direct order and assisted him. Moreover, the people around him were all sent by the East Factory. It was because of these East Factory thugs that Feng Quan had the confidence to come to Shanxi. However, after investigating, he found that the East Factory was responsible. The reminder of the East Factory thugs made Feng Quan hesitate immediately. He knew very well what the East Factory thugs meant by saying this, and he also knew that if he continued to investigate, not only would there be many obstacles, but if he was not careful, he would find big problems.

Suddenly, Feng Quan realized that he had hit a snag. The situation in Shanxi was quite complicated, and Zhu Shenzhu was not as ordinary a member of the royal family as he appeared to be.

I can't investigate the illegal salt anymore. If I continue to investigate, I might not be able to get away with it, especially since Eunuch Wei is involved. If I really investigate it thoroughly, I don't know if I can find out the truth. Even if I can find out the truth, I won't get any benefit if it's not done well.

As for the smuggling issue, Hengtong Company seemed to be doing fine on the surface, and the border officials in Jiubian ignored Feng Quan, and there was no progress except for some unconfirmed news. Even though Feng Quan knew that there was indeed smuggling in Jiubian, those soldiers kept their mouths shut and refused to admit it. Feng Quan was not an official imperial envoy, so it was impossible for him to investigate the case through formal channels, and he had no idea where to start.

Furthermore, the problem of smuggling, like the illegal salt trade, involves too many people, not just one or two families. In this case, Feng Quan felt less and less confident the more he investigated, and became even more uneasy.

At this time, Feng Quan, who was in a dilemma, found himself in a dilemma. He originally thought that coming to Shanxi was a good job. As long as he did a good job, he would be valued by the emperor after returning to Beijing, and he would have the possibility of promotion. But he didn't expect that he would run into these obstacles not long after the start. And the more he knew, the more anxious Feng Quan became. He didn't know what to do for a while.

On this day, Feng Quan was worried and was thinking about how to solve the problem at hand. Before he could come up with a plan, someone suddenly came to report that Zhu Shencui, the lieutenant of the auxiliary state, wanted to see him.

"Zhu Shenzui? Why is he here? How did he know I was here?" Feng Quan was stunned, and his heart skipped a beat. The last time he met Zhu Shenzui was at the General's Mansion, under the pseudonym Ma Quan, and they met as a professor at the General's Mansion.

After that meeting, he never saw Zhu Shencui again, and he had his own residence, which was arranged for him by the East Factory. It was in Pingyang City. Outsiders had no idea that he lived here. He was careful when going in and out on weekdays and seldom made an official appearance. But now Zhu Shencui came directly to him. What was going on?

Feng Quan frowned. Zhu Shenzhui's sudden visit made him alert. What was his purpose in visiting him at this time?

After thinking about it, Feng Quan asked someone to invite Zhu Shenzhui in, and he calmed down, stood up, walked out of the house, and went to the corridor to greet the guests.

"I didn't know the lieutenant was coming. I'm sorry for not coming to greet you." After a moment, Zhu Shenzhui walked into the courtyard, and Feng Quan stepped forward to greet him with a smile on his face.

"Lord Feng, you are too polite. I came here uninvited. I hope you can forgive me..." When he saw Feng Quan, Zhu Shenzhui bowed with a smile.

Feng Quan was stunned when he heard this, and his expression changed slightly. "You..."

"Sir Feng, Sir Feng, why do you have to be like this? When I saw you in the general's mansion that day, I felt that you were extraordinary, definitely not an ordinary professor. As a Hanlin, you are indeed extraordinary. If I had known your identity earlier, I would not have been so reckless that day. I would like to apologize to you here, and please forgive me." Zhu Shenzhui said these words while holding Feng Quan's hand with a smile. Feng Quan's face was gloomy, and he subconsciously looked at the East Factory man beside him, but the East Factory man seemed not to see Feng Quan's gaze, and stood there as usual, his eyes on the nose and his nose on the heart.

"Haha, Lieutenant, you are wrong. I am Feng Quan, just a small Hanlin. How can I be extraordinary? I wonder why Lieutenant came to me today...?"

"Hahaha, of course I have something to do with Lord Feng. What's the matter? Does Lord Feng plan to entertain guests here?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a smile, pointing left and right.

Feng Quan smiled and said, "Look at me. I was so happy to see the lieutenant that I forgot how to entertain guests. So... please!"

"please!"

The two exchanged pleasantries before entering the house. When they got inside, the host and the guest took their seats, and then someone served tea. After the tea was served and the person left, Feng Quan looked at Zhu Shenzhui but did not speak for a while.

Zhu Shenzhui looked normal, and took the tea slowly and carefully. After taking a sip, he shook his head slightly, as if he was quite satisfied with the tea. It was as if he had nothing else to do today, and just came to ask for a cup of tea.

After a while, Feng Quan could no longer sit still. He could not help but say, "I had never heard of the name of Lieutenant before coming to Shanxi. I did not expect that Lieutenant was so extraordinary."

"Haha, Lord Feng is exaggerating. I am just an ordinary member of the royal family. There is nothing simple or extraordinary about me. It is Lord Feng's coming to Shanxi that is extraordinary."

Feng Quan straightened his face. Since he had said so much, Feng Quan understood that Zhu Shenzhui was here to confront him today. This was good. He could not investigate it properly. Once he investigated it carefully, there were too many people involved. He, Feng Quan, was just a small Hanlin. His shoulders could not bear such a heavy burden. If he offended someone, he would not be able to make any achievements, and he might be in trouble.

However, since this trip to Shanxi was the emperor's intention, and the target was only Zhu Shenzhui, Feng Quan had to make some achievements no matter what, right? If he returned to Beijing without success, the emperor would have no way to explain. More importantly, Feng Quan knew exactly where the incident came from. Although the emperor kept the memorial of the censor Liu Ce, as a Hanlin, Feng Quan also knew about the situation of the memorial. In addition, he came to Shanxi because of this memorial. If he returned empty-handed, even if the emperor did not blame him, what about Liu Ce?
Liu Ce is not an ordinary person. Although his current official position is not high and he is just an imperial censor, it is heard that Emperor Tianqi intends to make him the governor of Shanxi. In other words, Liu Ce's purpose of impeaching Xu Shaoji is to replace him. Once Xu Shaoji is impeached and stepped down, Liu Ce can replace Xu Shaoji as the governor of Shanxi.

Furthermore, Liu Ce was well-known in the court, and there were even rumors that he would be in charge of the military preparations of Tianjin. If this position was added, Liu Ce would become an important official of the court, holding two positions, the governor of Shanxi and the military preparations of Tianjin. According to convention, with these two positions, he would definitely be promoted to the rank of Right Censor-in-Chief.

As for Liu Ce's faction, he was also a member of the Donglin Party, with a strong Donglin Party background. Otherwise, he would not have written to the emperor to impeach Xu Shaoji as a mere censor, and pointed the finger at the Shanxi royal family.

Everyone knows how powerful the Donglin Party is in the court. They control the main voice in the court. Many times, even Emperor Tianqi has to listen to the Donglin Party. There is nothing he can do to the Donglin Party. Once he offends Liu Ce, it is not as simple as offending Liu Ce alone. It is equivalent to offending the entire Donglin Party. Feng Quan is very clear about the power of the Donglin Party. He does not want to be the next target of the Donglin Party.

Feng Quan's choice was simple, with ordinary clan members on one side, Liu Ce and the Donglin Party on the other, and Emperor Tianqi on the other. Even though Wei Zhongxian was behind Zhu Shenzhui, Feng Quan felt that some things could still be done. He thought that as long as it did not affect Wei Zhongxian's interests, he could separate Wei Zhongxian from the matter and only target Zhu Shenzhui, which would make things easier.

Thinking of this, Feng Quan had an idea in mind. He looked at Zhu Shenzhui deeply and said immediately: "I, Feng Quan, came to Shanxi under the order of the emperor. I think the lieutenant knows why now. Since it has come to this, let's just speak frankly."

"As a member of the royal family, the lieutenant should have lived peacefully in Pingyang and obeyed the laws of the country. However, he did such a thing in private, disregarding the emperor's grace. It is really unwise. In my opinion, the lieutenant should stop at the brink of danger and submit a memorial to the emperor to plead guilty. The emperor may show mercy to him for the sake of being a member of the royal family. I can also say a few good words for the lieutenant after returning to the capital and do my best to negotiate. As for Eunuch Wei in the palace..."

"Wait!" Before Feng Quan could finish his words, Zhu Shenzhui asked in surprise, "Sir Feng, what do you mean by that? What do you mean by disregarding the emperor's grace? What do you mean by stopping at the brink of disaster? What do you mean by asking for forgiveness? And you want Sir Feng to speak well of me? And you're involving Eunuch Wei in this, why don't I understand?"

(End of this chapter)