Qing Yao

Chapter 257 Teacher Lou Becomes a Big Shot
Fu Chang's idea was simple: if Zhao An was indeed the emperor's illegitimate son, then he could definitely gain benefits by "colluding" with him, and if anything happened, he could put Zhao An in the spotlight.

If this "Five Blessed Ones" were to attain a high position in the central hall at a young age, just like the "Three Blessed Ones" and "Four Blessed Ones," it would bring even more benefits to his fortune.

In short, it has only benefits and no drawbacks.

Therefore, Master Fu naturally wanted to cling to Wu Fu'er's coattails.

Although Zhao An had managed to entangle Fu Chang, he was unaware that Fu Chang was completely "trapped" in him and regarded him as a powerful ally.

If he knew, he would find it both laughable and absurd, because how could he possibly have the ability to take a provincial governor as his subordinate?

The purpose of deceiving Fuchang was merely to make the other party "misunderstand" his identity, thereby facilitating his illegal activities. At the same time, he also wanted to use Fuchang to influence more officials in Liangjiang and make them work for him.

Whether they cheer or collude, as long as the old master doesn't come forward to clarify, Zhao An can use the title of "Fifth Prince of Fortune" to drag more officials down with him.

To sell the Jiangning Academy, the new academy must first be built. Zhao An plans to personally visit the new academy, make proper plans, and then work with the relevant personnel of the Jiangning Prefectural School after the new academy is nearly completed to ensure the smooth progress of the property transaction and generate millions in additional income for the old master.

On the way back to the Grain Transport Office, we had to pass by the Liangjiang Governor-General's Office. The newly appointed Liangjiang Governor-General, Sun Shiyi, had taken office half a month ago. The first thing Governor-General Sun did after taking office was to issue a document to all the prefectures and counties in Huaibei, demanding that they strictly crack down on private salt and protect the government's salt tax revenue.

In recent years, the rampant illegal salt trade in Anhui Province has seriously affected the province's tax revenue and has also caused numerous social security problems.

Sun Shiyi's main target was the Salt Gang.

Like the Grand Canal Gang, the Salt Gang was a large-scale social organization. However, unlike the Grand Canal Gang, which was only active in the Liangjiang region, the Salt Gang was spread throughout the country and even beyond the Great Wall.

It can be said that wherever salt can reach, salt gangs can be found.

Furthermore, unlike the grain transport gang, which was "recruited" and given a legal status, the salt gang remained independent of the Qing government's management system and was even more vicious than the grain transport gang.

They are targets of strict crackdowns by the government.

Some members of the salt gang, considering the long-term goal of "laundering" themselves and serving the salt merchants, while others continued the old ways of their predecessors, remaining enemies of the salt merchants and the government, and directly engaging in the underground smuggling of salt.

The salt industry was extremely profitable, which led many members of the old salt gangs to take risks and resort to any means to make money, completely disregarding the laws of the imperial court.

Minor incidents are tolerable; both salt merchants and government officials can turn a blind eye. But the problem lies in people's insatiable greed.

The catalyst for Sun Shiyi's crackdown on smuggled salt upon taking office was a major case in the Huaibei region where salt gangs ambushed and killed anti-smuggling officers.

The Fengyang Prefecture reported that the two leaders were Xie Hongyi and Yang Biao.

Both men were members of the salt gang. They colluded with salt producers to directly purchase hundreds of thousands of kilograms of smuggled salt from salt fields in Haizhou and Yancheng in Huaibei, and then transported it by water and land to Hongze Lake and surrounding counties.

The division of labor is quite clear, and a cross-provincial salt trafficking network has been formed, with tens of thousands of members.

In the Huaibei region, the salt market in Fengyang, Sizhou and other places was almost two-thirds occupied by smuggled salt, which seriously eroded the interests of salt merchants and government officials. Therefore, with the support of the salt merchants, Fengyang Prefecture sent troops to arrest Xie and Yang.

As word got out, Xie and Yang, without hesitation, led over a thousand of their gang members to ambush the arresting officers sent by Fengyang Prefecture, resulting in over two hundred officers being killed or wounded.

This is no longer an ordinary salt smuggler; it's a group plotting a rebellion.

The case quickly alarmed the officials in Liangjiang. The newly appointed Governor-General of Liangjiang, Sun Shiyi, was furious and sent a letter to the Anhui Provincial Governor's Office demanding that a large force be deployed to arrest the two traitors, Xie and Yang, and to set up additional checkpoints in key locations such as Xuzhou and Fengyang, offering a reward of a thousand taels of silver for the heads of Xie and Yang.

These matters were reported to the Circuit Intendant by Zheng Fuyang, the Grain Supervisor in charge of inspecting the warehouses in the Huaibei region, in an official document. Zhao An did not take it to heart, because his job was to manage grain, not salt. Therefore, no matter how much trouble the salt smugglers caused, as long as they did not rob the grain transported by the grain transport authorities, it was none of his business as the Grain Commissioner.

There's no need to meddle in other people's business.

Secondly, Zhao An himself also wants to engage in salt distribution. With Lao Ding's help, Xinglonghao in Yangzhou has already started operating and is following a formal and legal distribution model. He can only expand his business after he has become familiar with the market.

If he could obtain a legal salt permit, that would be best. If not, Zhao An became an underground salt dealer. In this way, although he would have a conflict of interest with the private salt dealers in various places, they would all have a common enemy—the salt merchants.

In this way, not only is there no need to fight among themselves, but they can also try to cooperate and deal with the salt merchants' power together.

Undermining the salt merchants was essentially undermining the old masters.

Because salt merchants were a major source of funding for the old man's financial scheme.

If the salt merchant earns one less tael of silver, the old man will lose at least one hundred coins.

Similarly, if the government's salt tax revenue decreased by one tael, the Qing court's national treasury would lose one tael.

The only thing that interests Zhao An now is the dragon-headed staff kept in the Viceroy of Liangjiang's office. Unfortunately, given his current status, he has no chance to see it, let alone take it out to unify the fragmented canal gang.

Ding Jiu came with a letter, saying that the old master of the four major temples above sent people to Yangzhou to investigate the cause of death of the former leader Zhang Baofa, and at the same time criticized the Yangzhou branch for cutting off the canal last year.

Given that Zhao An preemptively labeled the leaders of the First Gang as anti-Qing and pro-Ming elements, the old patriarch above also readily accepted that the First Gang was responsible for all of this.

The current problem is that the old masters want the Yangzhou branch to elect a new "leader".

The old master of Zhu Si'an, the "head of the household," designated Zhang Baofa's son, Zhang Anle, to succeed him. Zhang Anle was Zhang Baofa's eldest son. Although he came from the canal gang, he had been doing business in Jiangnan, dealing in silk and tea, and had some wealth.

The practice of sons inheriting their fathers' businesses was a common practice within the canal gang. Unless Zhang Anle withdrew from the competition, with the support of the old master Zhu Si'an, it would be natural for him to take over the position of leader left by his father.

Ding Jiu was worried that if Zhang Anle took the position of leader, it would affect Zhao An's position as the young leader of the branch. Therefore, he joined forces with the second and third gangs to suggest to the temple above that Zhao An, the young leader, should take over the position of leader.

The four major temples haven't given their opinions yet.

Zhao An's reply to Ding Jiu indicated that he had no intention of competing for the position of leader, and that it would be best for Ding Jiu to take the position, or for someone to be chosen from among the leaders of the second or third gang.

The implication was that, as a court official, it was better for him, as a fourth-rank grain commissioner, to remotely control the Yangzhou branch from behind the scenes. Taking the lead directly would have a negative impact and would be inconvenient.

Ding Jiu also felt that this was the best approach, and was currently discussing with the second and third gangs who should be chosen.

Zhao An has already written to Fu Song, the governor of Suzhou, hoping that his construction team can contract part of the construction of the new governor's office and the academy.

Fu Song had no reason to refuse such a small matter, so Zhao An instructed Ding Jiu to select personnel to go to Suzhou in batches.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, construction should officially begin in March.

The official sedan chair that Zhao An is now riding in is a four-person sedan chair that only fourth-rank officials can ride in. It has a tin roof and black curtains. The interior space is much larger than the professor's sedan chair he rode in before, and it is equipped with a heater, making it very comfortable to stay in.

This also allowed Zhao An to truly experience the comforts of being an official.

Besides the four sedan chair bearers, there were six yamen runners clearing the way in front, followed by Baili Yunlong and several other guards dressed in yamen runner uniforms.

The festivities were not grand; they were quite simple. It wasn't that the scale didn't allow it, but rather that Zhao An deliberately kept it that way.

There was no such thing as having a gong used to clear the way, because that was a privilege reserved for local officials.

People like Zhao An, the top officials of provincial government departments, do not enjoy the privilege of having a gong spur their way through.

As Yu was pondering how to proceed with the sale of the Jiangning Academy, the procession suddenly stopped, and a voice reached his ears: "Is the person in the sedan chair Zhao, the grain commissioner of Jiang'an?"

Zhao An recognized the voice and quickly lifted the sedan curtain to peek out. It turned out to be his old acquaintance, Teacher Lou.

"When did Lord Lou arrive in Jiangning? Why didn't you come to see me?"

Zhao An quickly got out of the sedan chair. A few days ago, when Lao Song escorted Zhao Youlu's parents to Songjiang and returned, he was entrusted by Zhao An to visit Teacher Lou in Jiangyin. Unexpectedly, he was told by the people from the Education Bureau that Teacher Lou was not there and that his wife had passed away at the end of last year.

Zhao An thought that Teacher Lou was saddened by the death of his wife, with whom he had spent his life, and that was why he had temporarily put aside his work to go somewhere else to relax. He never expected that he would come to Jiangning.

Teacher Lou looked somewhat haggard, but fortunately, he was in good spirits. He nodded to Zhao An, who had just gotten out of the sedan chair, and pointed to the Governor's Office not far away, saying in a low voice, "My mentor has taken office in Liangjiang and has summoned me here in a letter."

"Mentor?"

Zhao An was taken aback. How did Sun Shiyi, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, become Teacher Lou's mentor?

"Lord Zhao, you are unaware of this,"

Teacher Lou explained that although he did not pass the imperial examination to become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination), he was admitted as a supplementary Juren by Sun Shiyi, the chief examiner at the time. Sun Shiyi then recommended him to study at the Imperial Academy and later put in a good word with the Jiangsu Provincial Education Commissioner to arrange a job for him.

Therefore, in Professor Lou's eyes, Sun Shiyi was none other than his mentor, even though the two were only a few years apart in age.

Yeah!

Zhao An was shocked; he never expected that Teacher Lou had such a powerful backer.

He and Teacher Lou have such a close relationship, so isn't Teacher Lou's support his support as well? In that case, shouldn't he also respectfully address Governor Sun as "Master"?

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

The Governor-General of Liangjiang may seem less powerful than a Grand Councilor who is a member of the Standing Committee, but his actual power is higher than that of the Grand Councilors who are ranked last. If one can get on the good side of such a powerful figure, then apart from the General of Jiangning and the Provincial Treasurer of Jiangsu, all the other big shots in Liangjiang will be there.

He hurriedly asked Teacher Lou why his mentor, Sun, had summoned him there.

"My mentor summoned me to work as a clerk in the Governor's Office."

Teacher Lou's expression remained very calm.

This surprised Zhao An again, because the Document Office was a specialized agency that was in charge of drafting, receiving and sending, and handling confidential documents for the Governor-General's Office.

It is equivalent to a secretariat.

Does that mean that Professor Lou is now the Secretary-General of Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces?

this.
Teacher Lou is a real powerhouse!
(End of this chapter)