Prime Minister

Chapter 174, Page 173: [Shocking]

Outside Yangzhou city, at Nanlai Temple.

A burly middle-aged man sat under an ancient tree, holding a large bunch of grapes in his hand, eating them with relish while muttering curses under his breath.

Two elderly monks nearby listened to the man's nonsensical remarks, their faces filled with worry, yet they dared not step forward to offer any advice.

At this moment, an armored officer ran up quickly and said, "Reporting to the general, Governor Chen has led three hundred of his troops back to Suzhou without stopping!"

"Ran?"

The middle-aged man raised his head, his rough, sand-like face filled with deep contempt, and he cursed without any restraint: "Chen Yan, that old coffin-stuffer, he's practically half-buried in the ground and he's still causing all this trouble. Doesn't he fear falling and dying on the road?"

The young captain wisely shut his mouth.

The middle-aged man cursed again: "That old pale-faced Jiang Jizhou, he's always flirting with that rat in the gutter, Xu Guanlan. Let's see how arrogant he is now! Damn it, he's made my life miserable these past few years. Now that Xue Jingche, who's young and powerful, has arrived, I want to see how Jiang Jizhou will clean up the mess he's left behind!"

The officer could only force a smile and say, "Why is the general so angry? This time, the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commission will definitely be thoroughly purged. Governor Jiang will probably be too busy taking care of himself to have the energy to argue with the general."

"You still have the nerve to say it?"

The middle-aged man glared at him and said irritably, "If it weren't for you and Yu Chengguang being so useless, giving Jiang Jizhou's men plenty of ammunition against you, would I be being bullied by that old pale-faced guy every day?"

The young battalion commander was named Duan Yuanbiao. Like Yu Chengguang, he was a confidant of the middle-aged man and ranked high among the twelve battalion commanders of the grain transport army.

The middle-aged man was naturally the commander-in-chief of tens of thousands of canal soldiers, Wu Changling, the general of the canal army.

Duan Yuanbiao, however, was not afraid. He smiled obsequiously and said, "Please forgive me, General. I know I was wrong and I promise I will not do it again!"

Stop talking nonsense!

Wu Changling laughed and cursed. In fact, he knew that the officers below him were not seriously wrong. It was just that Jiang Jizhou's people were nitpicking. Because Jiang Jizhou had the support of the Grand Secretary, the voices of these soldiers were getting weaker and weaker. Even he, as the general, sometimes had to suffer a lot of resentment.

Duan Yuanbiao followed up, saying, "General, after Yu Chengguang returned last time, he praised that Xue Tongzhi to the skies, saying he was unparalleled. At first, I didn't quite believe it, but now it seems that Xue Tongzhi truly lives up to his reputation as the son of Lord Xue and the outstanding student of Minister Shen. He was able to turn the Salt Transport Bureau upside down in one fell swoop. Impressive!"

"The future life is terrible."

Wu Changling sighed, then remembered something and asked, "The Jing'an Division relayed Xue Huai's request, saying that there's a man in the Liu family named Liu Yi, Liu Fu's second son. Liu Yi specializes in doing shady things for Liu Fu, and he has quite a few petty thieves and scoundrels under his command. Did our men catch him today?"

This operation was planned by Xue Huai alone, with Wu Changling and Tan Mingguang in charge of cooperating. When the dozens of salt merchants gathered in the morning, Tan Mingguang ordered the patrol office to impose martial law on the entire city. In order to prevent some people from fleeing out of fear of punishment, Xue Huai specially asked Wu Changling to lead some of the elite transport troops to set up checkpoints at various key roads outside the city.

Duan Yuanbiao shook his head and said, "I didn't see any. There were only a dozen or so young men from prominent families in the city who tried to escape, but they were caught on the spot by our brothers."

Upon hearing this, Wu Changling couldn't help but frown slightly.

Having spent his entire life in the military, he had frequent contact with many outlaws and heroes, and he knew that if Liu Yi, a man who took the crooked path, was not eliminated, he would definitely become a hidden danger in the future.

"Damn it."

Wu Changling rubbed his forehead and muttered, "Why isn't the Jing'an Division keeping an eye on this? Isn't that their strength?"

Duan Yuanbiao was startled and quickly looked to the side. Fortunately, the monks had already moved far away.

Just then, a junior officer rushed over, saluted, and said, "Reporting to the General, Magistrate Xue of Yangzhou has sent a message saying that the situation in the city has been stabilized and requesting that the General come to the Salt Transport Office for a discussion."

Wu Changling immediately beamed with joy, and Duan Yuanbiao also looked eager. He thought to himself that this Xue Tongzhi was a truly straightforward man who had not forgotten his brothers in the canal army who had disguised themselves and gone south to set up defenses!

"Let's go! Enter the city!"

Wu Changling stuffed the remaining grapes into his mouth and strode forward with high spirits.

……

In Yangzhou City.

With the entire Liu family arrested, the government officials and patrolmen, as arranged by Xue Huai, went to the residences of the three powerful families of Zheng, Bai, and Ge. Zheng Boyan, Bai Xiu, and Ge Huaicheng received the news of the investigation into the Salt Transport Bureau and the Liu family amidst their anxiety, and their last hope was extinguished.

Even if some still tried to resist, when a troop of transport soldiers led by Yu Chengguang appeared, these three families could only wail and open their gates to be arrested by the officials.

The only exception is the Wang family.

Wang Shilin had actually expressed his willingness to join Xue Huai through Wang Gui long ago, but Xue Huai, for the sake of the overall situation and to avoid arousing Xu Guanlan's suspicion, let the Wang family continue to mingle among those powerful families. They could show their wavering intentions appropriately, but they could not reveal their true stance too early.

In exchange, Wang Shilin had to explain the Salt Transport Bureau and the powerful clans to Xue Huai, hand over the criminal members of his clan, and confess to his past illegal acts. Only in this way could he have a chance to survive and avoid ending up like the Liu family.

At this moment, Wang Shilin was hiding in his own mansion, listening to his clansmen constantly reporting news from the outside world. When he learned of the tragic fate of the Liu, Zheng, Bai, and Ge families, he couldn't help but feel secretly relieved. The resentment he had felt earlier because of Xue Huai's somewhat harsh demands had long since disappeared.

Thus, the four powerful families of Yangzhou, once renowned throughout Jiangnan, were completely reduced to prisoners.

Yunsi Street, inside the Salt Transport Office, which resembled a military stronghold.

The three masterminds, Xu Guanlan, Lou Shizong, and Chen Lun, were imprisoned separately and guarded by elite agents from the Jing'an Division brought by Ye Qing. This was at Xue Huai's own request, as he trusted these trusted confidants of the emperor more at the moment.

Hundreds of salt soldiers were temporarily imprisoned in Qingjiang Camp outside the city, under the supervision of Yangzhou Guard.

Inside the main hall, Xue Huai and Tan Mingguang sat facing each other. The latter had a relieved expression on his face and said with emotion, "Brother, this time I've really experienced a big scene. If it weren't for you sending Commander Yu with the canal soldiers to help, and arranging for Magistrate Huang to be inside to provide support, I really wouldn't have been able to break through the salt commissioner's impenetrable defenses." This was the truth, and Huang Chong and Shen Bingwen, sitting below, smiled knowingly.

As the central hub of the Lianghuai salt administration, the Salt Transport Office was extremely difficult to attack and easy to defend. Although Xu Guanlan was lured away by Xue Huai and took most of his elite troops with him, Lou Shizong was able to hold out for a long time with only two hundred salt soldiers under his command. In the end, thanks to Huang Chong leading his men to open the Binyang Gate on the east side, the transport army was allowed to enter.

Xue Huai smiled and said, "Your Excellency has made a great contribution by directly attacking the enemy's lair this time, and I believe you will be rewarded by the imperial court."

Tan Mingguang suppressed a laugh and waved his hand, saying, "Hey, don't flatter your foolish brother, this is all thanks to you, my good brother!"

Shen Bingwen chimed in, "Why are you two so modest? It is truly a blessing for us common people that Yangzhou has two such leaders in charge!"

Huang Chong sat there with a smile. He had been suppressed and ostracized by Xu Guanlan for many years. As a dignified sub-prefect, he was not even as good as the salt commissioner. But he had always stayed here and refused to ask for a transfer. Finally, he got his chance.

At this moment, Jiang Sheng strode in and reported, "My lords, Commander Wu of the transport army has arrived."

Xue Huai and Tan Mingguang exchanged a glance, then got up and went out to greet them, with Huang Chong and Shen Bingwen following closely behind.

"Prefect Tan, Assistant Prefect Xue!"

There was still some distance between them when Wu Changling's loud voice rang out.

Xue Huai and the others stepped forward to greet him, saying, "Greetings, Commander!"

"No need to be polite!"

Wu Changling looked around at everyone, his gaze settling on Xue Huai's face. He couldn't help but praise, "Truly, heroes emerge from among the young! Jing Che is indeed worthy of being from a prestigious family. If Lord Xue could see this in heaven, he would surely be proud of you!"

Xue Huai said respectfully, "Thank you for your praise, General."

Although this was his first meeting with Wu Changling, Wu Changling had once received a favor from Xue Mingzhang, and he had been suffering greatly from the suppression of the Grand Canal Governor Jiang Jizhou in recent years. Therefore, when Xue Huai sent someone to ask for help last time, Wu Changling did not hesitate to send Yu Chengguang to lead troops. This time, with the emperor's secret decree arranged in advance, he would naturally do his best.

After exchanging pleasantries, Wu Changling asked curiously, "Jing Che, how is the situation here?"

Xue Huai glanced at Tan Mingguang, then gave Wu Changling a brief introduction.

While several groups of people were confronting each other on Jinxiu Street, Tan Mingguang led his officials and the canal soldiers into the Salt Bureau. After taking control of Lou Shizong and his subordinates, Huang Chong led them to quickly seize control of the Salt Bureau's secret locations and uncover a large amount of crucial evidence.

Xue Huai concluded, "General, there's only one area here that hasn't been thoroughly investigated yet."

Wu Changling asked curiously, "Where?"

Xue Huai replied, "Xu Guanlan's inner quarters."

Wu Changling may appear rough and unrefined, but he is actually quite shrewd and quick to understand.

As the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai, Xu Guanlan's family must be hiding mountains of gold and silver. Xue Huai waited for him to arrive before conducting an investigation, naturally to avoid unnecessary suspicion and trouble. This shows that this younger generation is well-versed in the ways of officialdom.

He suppressed his thoughts and said with great interest, "Then let's go take a look?"

Tan Mingguang stepped aside and said, "Please, General."

The group headed deeper into the courtyard.

Xu Guanlan's residence is located in the heart of the entire Salt Bureau and is currently guarded by Ye Qing and his men.

Even though they were mentally prepared, Wu Changling, Xue Huai, and the others were still so shocked that they were speechless when they stepped into the elegant mansion and entered the storeroom.

As the secret agents of the Jing'an Division began their initial inventory, lists gradually appeared before everyone.

"More than 130,000 taels of gold!"

"More than 800,000 taels of silver and bank drafts!"

"More than 40,000 salt permits!"

"Seventy-three contracts for equity ownership in the salt merchants!"

"The land deeds and land contracts total over 60,000 mu!"

"Fourteen chests of precious jade artifacts!"

"Forty-six property deeds for shops and residences!"

"Silk shops, pawnshops, money shops, and receipts..."

The clerk in charge of reading the document turned slightly pale, and even Ye Qing, who was usually expressionless, couldn't help but frown deeply, not to mention Tan Mingguang, who had never seen so much money and property before.

Wu Changling clicked his tongue in amazement and said, "Damn it, that son of a bitch Xu Guanlan really knows how to make money!"

Looking at the mountains of people's ill-gotten gains, Xue Huai finally managed to squeeze out two words through gritted teeth: "They deserve to die!"

(End of this chapter)