Prime Minister

Chapter 276, Section 275: A Glimmer of Light

Yangzhou Prefectural Government Office, Tongzhi Hall.

Xue Huai sat at his desk, reviewing the summer tax collection records of various counties.

Zhang Shi and Hao Shifang put a lot of effort into this matter. They were both seasoned local officials who had been rooted in the area for many years. With Xue Huai's support, they were able to solve all the difficulties in a decisive manner. In addition, the land illegally seized by powerful families such as Liu Zheng last year was returned to the people, and powerful families such as Shen Qiao took the initiative to survey the land. As a result, the summer tax collection in Yangzhou Prefecture this year was much higher than in the past few years.

As a hub of the Grand Canal, Yangzhou Prefecture had a lower land tax burden than other parts of southern Jiangsu. In the past three years, the average summer tax was about 250,000 shi per year, while this year it is roughly estimated to be 350,000 shi, without increasing the burden on the people within its territory. This is obviously a very outstanding achievement.

Xue Huai put down the scroll that still smelled of ink, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

Governing a prefecture is indeed not easy, especially a major city like Yangzhou where the interests of all parties are involved. In addition to collecting summer taxes and autumn grain and implementing new policies, he also had to bear the heavy responsibility of supervising the salt administration reform. Some things could be delegated to his subordinates, while others could only be handled by himself.

For example, the salt and grain transport dispute, which seems to be at a stalemate at present.

Under the organization of Qiao Wangshan and Shen Bingwen, the Salt Merchants Association continuously reduced the proportion of its chartering capacity for canal transport, prioritizing land routes for short-distance freight. Although this increased their costs, it effectively prevented them from being targeted by the canal transport authorities.

The response of the Grand Canal Administration was intriguing. They did not expand the scope of their crackdown further, and even lightly spared the properties under the names of big merchants such as Xu Deshun and Zhou Yan, focusing their efforts on the Qiao family's De'an ship and the Shen family's Guangtai ship.

The officials of the Grand Canal Bureau no longer fabricated charges to frame people, but the intensity of their investigations into the Qiao and Shen families reached its peak. At the same time, many people within the Salt Association received offers of favors from the Grand Canal Bureau and the Grand Canal Gang.

Some of these people immediately reported to Xue Huai, but it cannot be ruled out that some people's stance had already wavered. After all, under the premise that they had to pay their share of the money to the canal administration and the canal gangs, the canal transport still had the advantage of low cost. If the other party no longer collects the share of the money, it would be extremely tempting for profit-driven merchants.

Moreover, Xue Huai could not stay in Yangzhou forever, while the Grand Canal Administration would always exist. With this balance of power, disagreements were bound to arise within the Salt Merchants Association.

Xue Huai made no comment on this; he simply watched the situation unfold quietly.

According to his and Shen Wang's analysis and deduction, the emperor would likely send a high-ranking official south to mediate the salt and grain transport dispute. It would most likely be an old acquaintance, Fan Dongyang. Firstly, Fan Dongyang had previously escorted embezzled silver from the salt case south and was familiar with the situation in Jiangnan. Secondly, as the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, Fan Dongyang would naturally need a great achievement if he wanted to advance further.

Xue Huai was confident that he could get the other party to side with the Lianghuai Salt Association.

"grown ups."

Jiang Sheng walked in and reported, "Commander Ye of the Jing'an Division requests an audience."

"Please."

Xue Huai stood up and soon saw Ye Qing's travel-worn figure. He went up to greet him and said, "Brother Jiefu."

Ye Qingyi clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Brother Jingche."

The two sat facing each other. Jiang Sheng served fragrant tea and then withdrew, personally guarding the door.

Ye Qing was not in Yangzhou during this period. As the governor of Jiangsu, he would not only be in charge of Yangzhou. He had stayed there for a long time because he needed to cooperate with Xue Huai to investigate the hidden dangers of the Xuan Yuan Sect.

The Xuan Yuan Sect has now temporarily disappeared, and Hu Jiaoniang and Meng Shusheng have not been seen at all. Meanwhile, with the cooperation of local governments, Jimintang has eliminated its hidden dangers and reduced its size to only four pharmacies.

On the surface, there is no need to worry about the Xuan Yuan Sect causing trouble for the time being, and the Jing An Division only needs to maintain the follow-up investigation. However, neither Xue Huai nor Ye Qing dare to be careless. The destructive power of this kind of demonic sect should not be underestimated, and no one knows when they will stir up a storm.

Xue Huai asked first, "Brother Jiefu, has that ship arrived in the capital?"

"arrive."

Ye Qing's expression turned slightly grave. He then said, "Based on the estimated distance, the official ship arrived at Tongzhou Wharf about five or six days ago. Brother Jing Che, according to the reports from the brothers I arranged on the ship and those who followed along the way, although they noticed that someone was secretly watching them, they did not encounter any danger from beginning to end."

Xue Huai couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

When he asked the Jing'an Division to escort all the Xuan Yuan Sect criminals except Liu Ying to the capital, his most important purpose was, of course, to lure the high-ranking members of the rebels hiding in the shadows to take action, thereby uncovering the spies hidden in the Grand Canal Administration and the Grand Canal Gang. At the same time, it would also provide the court with an excuse to investigate the Grand Canal Administration.

However, the other party was clearly not stupid. Knowing that this was Xue Huai's trap, how could they fall for it again?

After all, they had already suffered a loss once before at Shen Garden in Yangzhou and Daming Temple outside the city. Even though it was the old ancestor's plan to lose all of Liu Ying's trusted confidants, whom she had cultivated for more than ten years, the loss of a large number of elite troops under Hu Jiaoniang's command was beyond their expectations.

So even though they really wanted to kill him to cover their tracks and create an accident on the canal, they ultimately held back.

Fortunately, Xue Huai had been preparing for both possibilities, and the ship did not encounter any accidents. However, the rise of the Salt Merchants Association was unacceptable to the Grand Canal Administration, and they were ultimately dragged into the quagmire by Xue Huai.

The only pity was that they didn't catch the Xuan Yuan Sect in the act. Ye Qing took a sip of tea and, seeing Xue Huai's slightly solemn expression, comforted him, "Brother Jing Che, although we didn't lure the Demon Sect into a trap this time, their existence has been exposed. Commander Han has already listed the Demon Sect's high-ranking members as key targets for the Jing'an Division. If they dare to cause trouble again in the future, the Jing'an Division will definitely not let these rebels go."

Xue Huai sighed, "I just feel it's a bit of a pity. If we could have wiped out the Xuan Yuan Sect this time, His Majesty would have been able to save a lot of trouble, and Brother Jiefu could have made further progress."

Ye Qing was already familiar with Xue Huai's loyalty, and the last sentence made him smile even more. He humbly said, "Actually, I had already accumulated a lot of merit last year when I assisted Brother Jingche in investigating the Lianghuai Salt Case. Speaking of which, among the nine local officials of Jing'an Division, I should be the luckiest. Those guys would love to pay a lot of money to trade with me. They all say that Xue Tongzhi is a lucky star, and being with you will definitely bring me a lot of merit."

Although it's true that many people help each other in a beautiful sedan chair, for Ye Qing, given his status, to say something like this shows how close his relationship with Xue Huai is.

"Brother Jiefu, you are too modest."

Xue Huai smiled and then asked, "I wonder if there's any progress on the matter I asked Brother Jiefu to investigate earlier?"

"That matter related to the Ling family?"

After receiving Xue Huai's affirmative reply, Ye Qing nodded and said, "I was just about to tell you. After Ling Qing and his wife passed away, their two sons also died suddenly one after another. According to the files preserved by the Jing'an Division, although the two were married, they had no children. As for Ling Ying, there are not many records about her, but I asked a colleague to investigate the elderly people who lived near the Liu family back then. I learned that Ling Ying had a daughter after marrying into the Liu family. After that major case broke out, Ling Ying was divorced by the Liu family, and the baby girl was also driven out of the Liu family. Judging from the timeline, the baby girl should still be in swaddling clothes at that time."

Xue Huai frowned slightly, and Xu Zhiwei's cold and beautiful face appeared in his mind.

It is known that Liu Ying was ordered to hunt down Ling Ying as a newcomer to the Xuan Yuan Sect eighteen years ago. She admitted that she succeeded in the end. In the same year, she found Xu Zhiwei in the wilderness. If the information Ye Qing found out is true, then Xu Zhiwei's age matches that of Ling Ying's daughter.

If Xu Zhiwei is Ling Qing's granddaughter and Ling Ying's biological daughter, then wouldn't Liu Ying be her mother's killer?
Ye Qing was also well-versed in the details of this matter. He observed Xue Huai's expression and said cautiously, "Brother Jingche, if that Physician Xu knew that she had been recognizing a thief as her mother, I'm afraid..."

"Perhaps it's just a coincidence."

Xue Huai sighed. In his opinion, if Xu Zhiwei's background was related to the Ling family, the biggest problem was not the existence of Liu Ying, but that it would involve the major case that shocked the court and changed the political situation eighteen years ago.

Please keep this a secret, Brother Jiefu.

Xue Huai gave a word of advice, then asked, "Brother Jiefu, have you noticed anything unusual about the Grand Canal Office and the Grand Canal Gang these past few months?"

The collusion between the Canal Gang and the Xuan Yuan Sect has been established, but it is still unclear whether this is the collective action of the Canal Gang or the profiteering of certain high-ranking figures. Xue Huai went to great lengths to bring the Canal Administration into the game not only to promote the reform of the canal transport system, but also because it was related to the rebels hidden behind the scenes.

"You know that the Grand Canal Administration has always been extremely wary of the Jing'an Division, so it's not convenient for our people to make any big moves."

Ye Qing first explained, then said in a low voice, "About half a month ago, my men discovered a smuggling ship belonging to the Canal Gang. After the brothers carefully investigated, they found a batch of precious medicinal herbs disguised as ordinary goods on the ship."

"Medicine?"

Xue Huai's heart stirred. He would not forget that before the incident, the Xuan Yuan Sect had transferred a large amount of wealth from Jimintang, including many rare medicinal herbs.

"That's right, it's medicinal herbs. Brother Jingche, do you know where this ship is headed?"

Ye Qing leaned closer and said solemnly, "The destination of this ship is a house in Huai'an City. The owner of this house is named Dong Dachang. He is just an unknown medicine merchant, but he has another identity. He is the wet nurse of Jiang Fangzheng, the son of Jiang Jizhou, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner! Dong Dachang's mother was the wet nurse who took care of Jiang Fangzheng back then!"

Xue Huai suddenly stood up.

The news provided by Ye Qing was like a ray of light in the fog, giving Xue Huai a jolt.

During this period of time, there was something he couldn't understand: where did Chiang Fang-cheng's hostility towards him come from?

He had never crossed paths with the other party before, nor did he have any conflicts with the sons of powerful families. Moreover, Jiang Fangzheng was not a proper official of the canal transport office. Even if the salt transport dispute were to be resolved, it would not be up to a son of a high-ranking official like him to take the lead.

Ye Qing continued, "Brother Jingche, we cannot confirm that the medicinal herbs on that ship are related to Jimintang, nor can we confirm that Dong Dachang's actions were at Jiang Fangzheng's behest. However, if the influence of the demonic cult has already infiltrated the home of the Grand Canal Governor, then this matter is becoming quite troublesome."

"Brother Jiefu, could you please write down the list of medicinal herbs on that ship for me?"

Xue Huai turned to look at him and said seriously, "In addition, this matter must be kept absolutely secret. Not a single word can be leaked, and Dong Dachang or even Jiang Fangzheng must not notice anything amiss."

"Okay, I was prepared."

Ye Qing took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Xue Huai. It listed the types of medicinal herbs on the smuggling ship. He then instructed, "Brother Jing Che, according to the rules of the Jing'an Division, I should not have told you about this, but I know you are dedicated to the public good, so whatever your plans are, you must inform me in advance."

Xue Huai took it and said solemnly, "Brother Jiefu, please rest assured, I will not act rashly unless... the truth is revealed."

(End of this chapter)