In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

"In the dead of night, more than a hundred loads of official salt were seized."

Yang Xuan's voice was like a death knell.

"Mo San, tell me, which article of the laws of this Tang Dynasty states that merchants can privately transport government-owned salt out of the country?"

The perpetrator was caught red-handed.

Mo San knew that things could no longer be resolved peacefully.

This new magistrate wasn't there to audit the accounts; he was there to take lives.

"Brothers!" Mo San suddenly roared hysterically, his face contorted with rage. "Yang Xuan only has a few men! If he intercepts the salt today, none of us will survive! Kill him! There will be a reward from the land elder! Kill him!"

Under the reward, there must be a brave man.

Although the burly guards were wary of Yang Xuan's official robes, they knew that if the salt were lost, the Tian and Hu families would never let them off the hook. So, they were filled with malice and charged at Yang Xuan with their knives and spears.

"court death!"

Pei Zhao roared angrily, swept his sword horizontally, forcing back the enemy in front of him, and pounced on Mo San like a fierce tiger.

Another fierce battle erupted inside the pass.

Yang Xuan sat upright on his horse, showing no sign of yielding.

His crossbow kept firing, and with each pull of the bowstring, a burly man who tried to approach would scream and fall to the ground.

The wound on his back had completely reopened due to excessive exertion, and blood soaked through his inner clothes, flowing down his back, but he didn't even flinch.

Chen Ye's spear flashed through the crowd. He was in high spirits, his face covered in blood, yet he fought with increasing ferocity: "This is exhilarating! Much more exhilarating than being a coward in Chang'an!"

Lu Cheng was the most steadfast, guarding Yang Xuan's horse a zhang away. Anyone who tried to launch a sneak attack was mercilessly cut in two by his thick-backed longsword.

In less than half an incense stick's time, more than a dozen corpses were lying on the ground.

A strong smell of blood mixed with the salty taste permeated the pass.

The men Mo San brought were originally a bunch of bullies who relied on their power. They fought fiercely when things were going well, but once they encountered real killers like Pei Zhao and his group, their mental defenses quickly collapsed.

Watching their companions fall one by one, the remaining men finally broke down, throwing down their weapons and fleeing in tears into the surrounding mountains and forests.

Mo San tried to run, but as soon as he turned around, a cold blade was pressed against his neck.

Pei Zhao stood behind him with a murderous look on his face, the blade already cutting through the layer of skin on his neck.

"Move again, and your head will be moved."

Mo San's legs went weak, and he knelt down with a thud, his whole body trembling like a leaf.

The battle is over.

The wind was still blowing, and the torches on the ground were still crackling.

Yang Xuan slowly rode his horse to Mo San.

"Your Excellency... Your Honor, spare me... I... I was merely following orders..."

Mo San kowtowed repeatedly, his earlier arrogance completely gone.

"Acting under orders?" Yang Xuan looked down at him. "Fine. Then I'll show you the way today. Take these men who aren't quite dead yet and drive these dozen or so carts of salt back to the county government office, not a single one missing."

Mo San was stunned: "Rush...rush back to the county government?"

"What, you're unwilling?" Yang Xuan's tone grew colder.

"I...I'm willing! I'm willing!"

Mo San dared not utter a single word of dissent. He scrambled to his feet and directed the remaining few terrified survivors to re-hitch the carriage.

Pei Zhao walked to Yang Xuan's horse and whispered, "Young master, are we really going to take all this salt back to the city? If the Tian and Hu families see it, they'll probably go crazy."

"We just want them to see it."

Yang Xuan raised his head and looked at the first hint of dawn appearing on the horizon.

"They cut off the county government's food and medicine supplies, trying to secretly starve me to death. Well then, I'll openly pour this dirty water out on the streets. I want to see how they'll launder this batch of smuggled government salt in front of the entire city."

……

The sky was bright.

In the streets of Yanjing County, early risers and vendors are preparing to start their day's work.

Although the county government posted a notice yesterday stating that the powerful local magnates cutting off food supplies was a treasonous act, most people still preferred to avoid trouble and stayed far away from the county government.

Everyone knows that the Tian and Hu families hold absolute power in Yanjing County, and the newly appointed magistrate is no match for them.

However, at that moment, the sound of heavy wheels rolling broke the morning's tranquility.

"Get out of the way! Everyone get out of the way!"

A long convoy of cars slowly drove up from the main road in the south of the city.

Leading the way was Yang Xuan, riding a tall horse.

Although his face was pale, his eyes were as sharp as a knife.

Behind him were Pei Zhao, Lu Cheng, Chen Ye, and others, each of them reeking of blood, their weapons still unsheathed.

What shocked the entire city the most were the dozen or so large carts in the middle of the procession, and Mo San, who was tied to the back of the carts with ropes like a dog!

"Isn't that... isn't that Third Master Mo?"

"My God! Master Mo has been arrested by the county government?!"

"Look at the truck! The tarpaulin is torn, and it's full of salt! Pure white government salt!"

People and vendors from both sides of the street poured out, pointing and gesturing, their faces full of disbelief.

Who is Mo San?

He was a living god of wealth in Yanjing County, well-connected in both the legitimate and underworld circles, and a white glove who specialized in doing favors for wealthy families.

Normally, everyone would bow and scrape before him.

But now, he was being led around by the county government guards like a stray dog, and he was caught red-handed!

The procession went straight through most of the county town and finally stopped outside the eight-character wall in front of the county government office.

At this moment, the few bags of moldy bean curd skins that were smashed and carried out yesterday were still piled up in front of the county government office.

Yang Xuan dismounted, his movements somewhat slow, but he still managed to stand firmly.

He turned around, looked at the growing crowd, took a deep breath, and said loudly:

"Fellow villagers!"

Yang Xuan's voice was not loud, but it had a powerful and awe-inspiring quality.

"Yesterday, someone cut off the county government's food and medicine supplies. They thought that this would force me to bow my head and turn a blind eye to the mess in Yanjing County!"

He pointed to the dozen or so large carts loaded with government-owned salt.

"Look what these carts are carrying! It's salt! It's official salt from the Tang Dynasty! It's salt that should have been stored in the granary, but some people are embezzling it and trying to smuggle it out of the city to sell for money overnight!"

A suppressed gasp of surprise erupted from the crowd.

Although everyone knew that the powerful were stealing salt, no one had ever dared to bring it up openly.

"Why are they cutting off my food supply?" Yang Xuan's gaze swept across the crowd, his voice resounding, "Because I've arrested the person who falsified the accounts, because I'm going to investigate the shady accounts at Qing'ao Well! They're scared!"

Yang Xuan walked to a carriage, drew the sword from Pei Zhao's waist, and slashed open the largest salt bag.

Snow-white coarse salt cascades down the bluestone slabs like a waterfall.

"The county government has no grain, but I am not afraid. Because I have salt in my hands!"

Yang Xuan slammed the bloodstained sword into the ground with a thunderous roar:

"By my order! From this moment forward, a market will be set up at the county government gate! All merchants and commoners willing to sell grain or medicine to the county government must exchange it for these government-issued salts at a fixed price! One dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice will be exchanged for two jin (a unit of dry measure) of salt! One liang (a unit of weight) of medicine will be exchanged for one jin of salt!"