Dugong

Chapter 118 Salt Smugglers
The title "Tong Jinshi" (a high-ranking scholar in the imperial examinations) was a major concern for Magistrate Gao. Anyone who dared to mention it to his face would be spat on.

Hearing this from Eunuch An, Magistrate Gao couldn't help but burst into tears.

"I really want a promotion!"

Magistrate Gao's legs went weak involuntarily, and his knees naturally slid to the ground, leaving the accompanying eunuchs dumbfounded.

Li Ping'an helped him up, saying, "Xiao Gao, there's no need for that. Our family and yours belong to different official systems, so according to the law, we don't need to perform the proper etiquette."

“Your father-in-law and your mentor are good friends, so he is naturally my elder. This is the proper etiquette between elders and juniors.”

Magistrate Gao skillfully steered the conversation back on track, and after sitting down again, he attentively poured wine and served dishes to Eunuch An, and also instructed the officials and gentry to take good care of him.

At first, he was a little reserved, fearing that he might offend some eunuch and bring about his death.

After a few drinks, the atmosphere gradually warmed up.

Magistrate Gao recounted an interesting anecdote about the county government office: "Years ago, this county was called Rongfeng County. Once, when the government office collapsed and was being rebuilt, a stone tiger was unearthed from the ground, standing two or three zhang tall. The magistrate reported this as an auspicious omen, and the imperial court issued an edict to rename it Shihu County (Stone Tiger County)..."

This stone tiger still stands outside the government office, and Li Ping'an glances at it a few times when he rides by.

After decades of exposure to wind and sun, the statue's features have become blurred, and it can only be barely identified as a crouching, ferocious beast.

Disdain flashed in the eunuchs' eyes. What was so surprising about a mere stone tiger? The late emperor had a fondness for auspicious omens, and the Imperial Household Department had built many magnificent wonders.

For example, the nine-foot-nine-foot-high terrace was specifically designed to collect rootless water for refining longevity elixirs.

The banquet ended at midnight.

Li Ping'an originally intended to return to the military camp, but he couldn't resist the magistrate's insistence on treating him with the respect due to a junior, so he had no choice but to spend the night in the back office.

At dawn the next day.

Li Ping'an woke up from his dream on time. The sky outside the window was hazy, and he could vaguely see a waning moon and sparse stars.

This was a habit developed in Cining Palace; Empress Dowager Zhou was about to wake up at this moment.

When the eunuch on night duty by the bed saw that Eunuch An got up, he quickly helped him change clothes and wash up, and handed him a hot towel to wipe his face.

This hot towel is made of silk, soft and gentle on the skin, and should be replaced after each use.

"Last night I dreamt that Your Majesty had a poor appetite..."

Li Ping'an ordered a eunuch to bring him paper and pen, wrote a letter of greeting and concern for Empress Dowager Zhou, and sent it back to the palace by fast horse.

Breakfast was ready, a local specialty called "hutu soup".

"tasty."

Li Ping'an nodded in approval and instructed the accompanying eunuch to write down the recipe. He then ordered the imperial kitchen to replicate the recipe upon returning to the palace so that the Empress Dowager could have a taste.

"Xiao Gao, which business do your clansmen run?"

Magistrate Gao's face flushed slightly, and he stammered, "My family doesn't own any businesses; we just transport and sell some smuggled salt in the county."

Li Ping'an frowned slightly: "Salt smugglers? That's a capital offense!"

According to the laws of the Da Yong, those who smuggle salt shall be beheaded immediately, accomplices shall be strangled but imprisoned with reprieve, and their entire families shall be exiled.

Magistrate Gao sighed helplessly: "Your Excellency does not know, the price of official salt has been rising year after year. I am selling private salt so that the people of the county can afford it."

As for making money, that's just a side effect.

Li Ping'an advised, "Xiao Gao, you should do some other business and not get involved in the salt business anymore. Our family came to Jiangnan this time ostensibly to investigate a case, but in reality, we are investigating the salt industry."

A county magistrate may not seem like a high-ranking official, but he holds the power of life and death over the county's people and has many ways to make money, both openly and secretly, without having to risk execution or exile.

Magistrate Gao dropped his fawning expression and sat up straight.

"When Eunuch An goes to Jiangnan this time, according to past salt inspection practices, he can confiscate a few salt merchants and arrest some smugglers, which will yield several million taels of silver. If he uses even more ruthless methods and forces the powerful families to make concessions, he may be able to recover tens of millions of taels of silver."

But this is only a temporary solution and cannot solve the problem of declining salt tax revenue. We can't just raid salt every few years, can we?

"It's not impossible!" In Li Ping'an's eyes, salt merchants were like fat pigs and leeks, fattened up and grown up before being slaughtered and harvested.

His Majesty gets the money, and we get the credit; it's a win-win situation.

Magistrate Gao was shocked by Eunuch An's murderous intent. He then asked, "With the price of government-issued salt soaring, the people can no longer afford it. How will this be resolved?"

Li Ping'an didn't care about the lives of ordinary people. When his family was starving, no one gave him even a single coarse flour bun.

However, His Majesty is benevolent and loves his people like his own children. Following suit, Eunuch An showed a compassionate expression, looked up to the sky, and sighed as he inquired.

"Our family suffers from many hardships. Xiao Gao, do you have any good ideas?"

Magistrate Gao took out a sealed memorial from his sleeve, bowed and handed it over: "I have been investigating the salt affairs for many years and have gained some insights. I would like to ask Eunuch An to take a look."

Li Ping'an took the memorial but didn't open it. He smiled and said, "With your skills, Xiao Gao, you should have been a high-ranking official long ago. Why are you still stuck at the seventh rank?"

Magistrate Gao sighed, "In my younger days, I had a violent temper. I angrily denounced the Wang family for forcibly seizing the people's land and led the destitute people to the government office to reason with them..."

The outcome was obvious: the government detained the troublemakers, and Magistrate Gao's career stalled due to suppression by the Wang family.

Although the Wang family was not as prominent as the Cui or Lu families, one member of the clan was a high-ranking official of the third rank, serving as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. With just a word, he could make someone a county magistrate for life.

After years of navigating the bureaucracy, the hot-tempered Magistrate Gao finally learned to flatter and fawn.

"Xiao Gao, you're very good!"

Li Ping'an sincerely praised the memorial and carefully read through it.

The salt administration of the Dayong Dynasty followed the system of the previous dynasty. The imperial salt fields produced salt, and merchants paid silver to the Salt Transport Office in exchange for salt permits, which granted them the right to extract and sell official salt.

Magistrate Gao begins by stating that since the reign of the late emperor, salt taxes have been decreasing while salt prices have been increasing.

The root cause lies in the collusion between salt merchants and officials to monopolize salt permits, leading to rampant corruption and exorbitant salt prices. This forced ordinary people to buy smuggled salt, giving rise to a large number of smugglers and further reducing salt tax revenue.

The words were concise and to the point; although Li Ping'an was unfamiliar with salt affairs, he could understand them clearly.

"Does Xiao Gao have a solution?"

Magistrate Gao replied, "Lower the threshold for salt permit issuance. Regardless of the size of the business, or even smugglers, anyone who purchases a permit can sell salt."

Furthermore, by not restricting sales areas, salt merchants were encouraged to compete with each other, thus naturally lowering salt prices.

"That sounds like a good idea."

Li Ping'an pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What benefits could our family possibly gain?"

Magistrate Gao seemed to have anticipated this question and replied, "The new Salt Permit Office should be directly managed by His Majesty's trusted confidants to prevent local officials from colluding with salt merchants and squeezing out small vendors from buying salt permits."

"very good."

Li Ping'an tucked the memorial into his sleeve and stood up, saying, "Xiao Gao, let me investigate the Qi Prince case and the Imperial Envoy case first. After we've slaughtered countless people in Jiangnan, you can then submit a memorial to His Majesty."

When Eunuch An left the capital, he said he would kill someone, and he would definitely do so, even if there were better ways to collect salt taxes; the knife would still draw blood.

Moreover, Li Ping'an's trip south from the palace was not only for inspecting salt, but also for other important matters.

Magistrate Gao knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Thank you, Eunuch An, for your support."

Li Pingan helped him up, looked at his bleeding forehead, and asked with a smile, "Does Xiao Gao have anyone in his family who wants to become an official?"

Magistrate Gao hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "My elder brother has been obsessed with becoming an official since childhood, but unfortunately, he is not talented enough and has failed the exams. Could you please arrange a job for him?"

"They're all juniors in our family, so it's no trouble at all."

Li Ping'an left the county government office with a smile on his face. The silver confiscated from his family and exterminated his clan would eventually be used up, and controlling the salt permit office would allow him to pay tribute to His Majesty every year.

The top seat in the Imperial Household Department is now firmly in my hands!

(End of this chapter)