The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 852 is not a salt case
At the first watch of the night, the key figure, Fat Monk, was captured and brought to the military camp. Fat Monk's real name was Ma Xiaoyi. As soon as he entered the camp, he turned pale with fright and his whole body trembled. When he was taken into the main tent, he immediately collapsed to the ground, crying out, "I'll confess everything, spare my life! I'm just an accountant, I only collect money, I didn't sell smuggled salt!"

The soldiers dragged him in front of Shi Xiaozhen. Shi Xiaozhen asked him a question, and he answered it one by one, pouring out everything he knew like beans spilling out.

The head salt merchant of Jiangdu County is Chen Haidong, the only son of Chen Zhongnian, the head of the Chen family. Chen Haidong seems to have joined some organization and often travels to Kuaiji County. Ma Xiaoyi does not know what kind of organization it is.

“There is a Northern Merchant Guild in Kuaiji County. I regularly send money to the Northern Merchant Guild in Kuaiji County.”

Remittance to other locations is a new service offered by the bank. As long as the paperwork is complete, the bank will transfer the money to the customer's designated account in another location within the same bank. This is very convenient, especially for large transfers, as it saves a lot of inconvenience in terms of transportation.

Is Chen Haidong in Jiangdu now?

"Yes! He just got back yesterday, and I just reported the expenses to him. He should be here now."

"Should be what?" Shi Xiaozhen stared intently into Ma Xiaoyi's small eyes.

“Every time he comes back, he stays at his mistress’s place for two days before going home. I wonder if it will be the same this time.”

Where does his mistress live?

"Diagonally opposite Sanyuan Bridge"

Shi Xiaozhen immediately led a thousand inner guards to Sanyuan Bridge and quickly surrounded the residence that Ma Xiaoyi had entrusted to him.

Chen Haidong was indeed in this house. Back when Xiao Xia was still in Jiangdu, Chen Haidong was only in his early twenties, leading hundreds of warriors of the Chen family. He was respectfully called Brother Dong by all the warriors. At that time, he was full of vigor and wanted to do something great.

However, as the powerful Guanlong nobles moved south, the Chen family was gradually swallowed up, and Chen Haidong also followed the Chen family into decline, indulging in wine and women. More than ten years passed in the blink of an eye, and he was already forty years old.

Last year, a group of like-minded people found Chen Haidong, giving him renewed hope for life, and he began to strive again.

This time, however, he was running wildly down the road to hell.

Clang! A copper basin fell to the ground with a piercing sound. This was a trap set by Chen Haidong, which was broken by the inner guards.

Chen Haidong, who was fast asleep, was suddenly awakened. He drew his long sword and jumped to the ground.

His concubine asked in alarm, "Brother Chen, what has happened?"

"Shh!"

Chen Haidong listened intently. He heard hurried footsteps outside. He leaped towards the back window, and with a 'crack,' the window frame shattered. Chen Haidong landed in the backyard.

Unexpectedly, a large net descended from the sky and caught him perfectly. "We've got him!"

Chen Haidong was in a panic. He swung his knife at the net, but the net pulled in, trapping him in a ball, and he could no longer swing his knife.

Several soldiers rushed forward, pinned him down, and snatched the knife from his hand. Behind them, hundreds of soldiers held torches, illuminating the courtyard as if it were daytime. Ma Xiaoyi was pushed forward, glanced at Chen Haidong tremblingly, and nodded, "It's him!"

Chen Haidong roared in fury, "Bastard! I've treated you well, and you dare betray me!"

The soldiers gagged him with rags and carried him away.

At this moment, Ma Xiaoyi timidly said to Shi Xiaozhen, "I know who the salt merchants in the various counties under him are, as well as the officials inside the salt and iron bureau. I'll send them some money, just begging the general to spare my life!"

"Do you know where the Registrar of the Bureau of Private Investigation is?"

Ma Xiaoyi nodded. "He's hiding in Hailing County. I went to deliver money to him." Shi Xiaozhen then realized that the accountant was the key person. He managed the money, so he knew everyone involved with money!

"If you confess honestly, I'll spare your life."

Ma Xiaoyi burst into tears, "I'll tell you everything, I promise I won't miss a single word."

At dawn, the Imperial Guards arrested Wang Yan, the chief clerk of the Bureau of Private Investigation, in Hailing County, and also arrested his brother Wang Shu.

With Wang Yan and Chen Haidong's confessions, Shi Xiaozhen discovered an even bigger case hidden behind the salt smuggling case: someone was plotting a rebellion, and one familiar name after another came to mind.

As dawn broke, a pigeon took flight and flew to Luoyang, carrying a purple letter tube, signifying an urgent matter.

As evening fell, a copy of a message sent by pigeon was placed on Xiao Xia's desk.

'Liang Shidu fled south, colluding with the Xiao family of Jiangning and the Chen family of Jiangdu to jointly sell smuggled salt and recruit soldiers in preparation for a rebellion.'

The short line of text truly shocked Xiao Xia. After the Sui army destroyed the Northern Turks, they did not find Liang Shidu, who had defected to the Turks. Later, they received news that Liang Shidu had fled back to the Sui Dynasty, but his whereabouts were unknown.

Xiao Xia now realized that Liang Shidu was hiding in Jiangnan, but he had not stopped. He was still plotting a rebellion in Jiangnan and had colluded with the Xiao family of Jiangning and the Chen family of Jiangdu. Selling smuggled salt was their way of raising military funds.

The Jiangnan region is the most prosperous area of ​​the Sui Dynasty and a major center of tax revenue. Xiao Xia will never allow anyone to disrupt Jiangnan.

He immediately issued four secret edicts, ordering his guards to rush to Jiangnan.

First, he ordered Shi Xiaozhen to arrest key figures and capture Liang Shidu as soon as possible. At the same time, he ordered Wang Bodang, the military commander of Jiangnan, and Lai Yuan, the general manager of the Jiangnan navy, to immediately lead their troops to attack and nip the Jiangnan rebellion in the bud. The fourth secret decree was given to Xiao Lin, the governor of Jiangnan, ordering him to secretly investigate the officialdom of Jiangnan.

Inside the Jiangdu naval camp, Shi Xiaozhen, Wang Bodang, and Lai Yuan were urgently discussing countermeasures.

Shi Xiaozhen said to the two men, "According to Chen Haidong's confession, they originally planned to rebel this autumn, but it cannot be ruled out that they will rebel ahead of schedule after receiving the news."

I will lead my inner guards directly by water to Kuaiji County to capture their key figures. Meanwhile, the more than 10,000 men they have recruited are currently concentrated in Juzhang County. I suggest that our navy also travel by water, entering Juzhang County via the Yong River, cutting off their forces from both ends and preventing them from escaping to Yongjia and Kuaiji Commanderies.

Wang Bodang said, "If there are enough ships, I can also lead my army to cross by boat."

Shi Xiaozhen nodded, "That's fine, let's split up!"

The situation was urgent, so troops were dispatched that very night. All the troops sank their ships and sailed out to sea, exiting from the mouth of the Yangtze River and circling around to Qiantang Bay.

Three days later, Shi Xiaozhen led 5,000 imperial guards into Kuaiji County. The city gates were closed, and the guards began arresting people.

Kuaiji County was the stronghold of Liang Shidu's smuggling salt business. Two years ago, Liang Shidu came to Jiangnan and opened a northern trading company to start a fur business.

He soon met Xiao Mannu, who was widowed. The two were like dry wood meeting a raging fire, and immediately became involved. With the help of the Xiao family in Jiangning, Liang Shidu's business grew bigger and bigger.

At the beginning of last year, through Xiao Mannu's introduction, Liang Shidu met more than a dozen scions of prominent families in Jiangnan who harbored deep resentment towards the imperial court, including Chen Haidong, Xiao Lian, Kuang Wulian, and Ma Yingqi.
At Liang Shidu's suggestion, everyone agreed and elected him as their leader, preparing to rebel in Jiangnan. However, the rebellion required a lot of money to recruit an army and stockpile a large amount of supplies, so everyone unanimously decided to raise military funds by selling smuggled salt.

Since they had already decided to rebel, the crime of selling smuggled salt, though serious, didn't matter to them anymore.

Inside the Northern Trading Company, Liang Shidu was discussing the smelting of pig iron with his colleagues. They had purchased an iron ore mine in Dongyang County and stockpiled a large quantity of it. Previously, they had hesitated to smelt pig iron for fear of being discovered by the Salt and Iron Bureau, but now they had to take action.

Just then, a subordinate rushed in from outside, shouting in terror, "The Imperial Guards have entered the city! Our trading company is surrounded by countless soldiers!"

(End of this chapter)