Towards dusk, the first session of the prefectural examination came to an end as the last candidate handed in his papers.

Lin Haoran looked a little tired, and saluted to the scholar: "You have worked hard today!" ”

"Don't dare!" The school palaces didn't dare to hold up in front of Lin Haoran, and they all returned the salute.

More than a dozen candidates who cheated in this government test were investigated, and there was a candidate with food poisoning in the middle, but the overall situation was quite smooth, which is undoubtedly the best result.

Lin Haoran knew that he would be very busy and tired during the government examination, especially this time, there were indeed more candidates from the fourteen counties participating in the government examination, but the benefits contained in it were huge.

The group of children selected from this provincial examination, not to mention that there will definitely be a few promising candidates, will also greatly enhance his influence in Guangzhou Prefecture.

It is precisely with this hidden benefit that we are mentally prepared to suffer and be tired. He plans to get through this period of time honestly first, and the short-term work is temporarily focused on this government examination until the government examination comes to a successful end.

The trees want to be quiet, and the wind does not stop.

Out of the Fuxue Palace, Sun Jixiang had been waiting here for a long time, and when he saw him come out, he greeted him.

The news is not big or small, the Guangdong Salt Class Lifting Division took the opportunity of Huang Dafu to organize a birthday banquet for his mother, and suddenly shot at the salt lord led by Huang Dafu, and almost wiped out the salt lord.

According to the latest news received, the prefect of Huizhou is also cooperating with this operation, and is also arresting suspected smuggling salt merchants everywhere in Huizhou City, and it seems that he really wants to exterminate the salt lords in Guangdong.

If we want to talk about which place in the whole Ming Dynasty has the most rampant salt smuggling, Guangdong will probably be ranked second, if not first.

Guangdong has the longest sea line in the Ming Dynasty and has abundant salt farms, thus becoming an important salt producing area in the Ming Dynasty. It's just that the imperial court ordered that Guangdong salt should not leave the province, and only a few prefectures in Guangxi were assigned to Guangdong salt.

Salt is cheap, so that Guangdong salt has become the cheapest salt in the whole Ming Dynasty, more than twice as cheap as Huai salt.

However, Guangdong is geographically advantageous, bordering Guangxi, Guizhou, Huguang, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces, and most of these areas do not produce salt at all, which is undoubtedly facing an unlimited market.

Compared with Huai salt, Guangdong salt not only has a price advantage, but also has a lower transportation cost.

For example, the official salt used in Huguang is designated as Huai salt, but Changsha, Baoqing, Hengzhou and other places are thousands of miles away from the Jiangsu salt farm, and many salt merchants are reluctant to transport salt over, resulting in extremely high local salt prices.

On the other hand, these areas are bordered by Guangzhou Province, and the distance between the two is only a few hundred miles, so the transportation cost will naturally be low.

Capitalists will take risks when they have 50 percent of their profits, dare to trample on all the laws of the world when they have 100 percent of their profits, and dare to risk being put on the gallows with 300 percent of their profits.

It is precisely these factors that have led to the emergence of many salt barons in Guangdong, who have made considerable profits by transporting Guangdong salt to these areas where there is a serious shortage of salt.

"It seems that the court is really going to be ruthless this time!"

When Lin Haoran heard the news, he immediately saw something deeper. The promoter of this action is certainly not a small Guangdong Yanjiao City Bosi, which must be mixed with the will of the imperial court.

The finances of the imperial court are currently stretched, and I heard that the holy lord wants to build a sacrificial altar in Xiyuan has no money, so he naturally has to be ruthless to the salt administration and attack these illegal salt dealers who damage the interests of the imperial court.

Of course, this seems to be a move to solve the financial dilemma of the imperial court, and at a deeper level, it is the vested group of Huaiyan to take the opportunity to strike a fierce blow to the vested group of Guangdong Yan.

If the interests of the imperial court were really to be considered, in fact, these places could be directly assigned to Guangdong salt, which had its own geographical advantages, and the imperial court would inevitably get more salt taxes. There is simply no way to adopt this method of treating the symptoms but not the root cause, forcing the people in some areas to eat sky-high salt prices.

In the final analysis, this matter is actually the vested interest group of Guangdong Salt harming the interests of the benefit group of Huaiyan. The latter relied on his influence in the imperial court to promote this ferocious retaliation, or to set an example for the monkeys.

Lin Haoran didn't want to be easily involved in this big whirlpool, after all, the water in it was too deep, and it was not in line with his way of being an official to seek benefits and avoid disadvantages.

When he was about to get on the sedan chair, he suddenly thought of a question, that is, he asked Sun Jixiang: "Mr. Sun, Huang Dafu was not caught by the people of the Guangdong Salt Section?" ”

"Qin Zhongzheng led people to surround the entrance of the tunnel, but only the tiger girl came out, and Huang Dafu disappeared mysteriously!" Sun Jixiang replied honestly.

Ay......

Lin Haoran heard that the tiger girl was actually involved, but he couldn't help but sigh lightly.

This wild girl is simply omnipresent, and she can intervene in everything. Originally, I wanted to wait and see what happened, but this girl is good, I'm afraid I'll have to involve him in the incident again.

Back at the mansion, a messenger came up to report that Qin Zhongzheng, the director of the Guangdong Salt Division, had been waiting here for a long time.

Lin Haoran was not surprised, after all, with such a big movement today, Qin Zhongzheng really had a reason to explain to him, the prefect of Guangzhou, and immediately went to the living room to meet this Qin Tiju.

When the two sides saw each other, Lin Haoran asked straight to the point: "Lord Qin, what are you looking for in this mansion?" ”

"My lord, please look!" Qin Zhongzheng uncovered a letter and handed it over directly.

Lin Haoran saw confidence in his eyes, and quietly accepted the letter. What he never expected was that this was a letter from Yan Song, the first assistant of the dynasty, so that Qin Zhongzheng would make every effort to clear the salt lords in Guangdong.

But it has to be said that there are some people whose letters are more effective than holy decrees. The Guangdong Salt Section Promotion Division is not under local control, but is directly subordinate to the Ministry of Households, and the new Ministry of Households, Shangshu Jiangdong, is a member of the Yan Party.

Although the letter is not explicitly stated, the underlying meaning is clear. If Qin Zhongzheng can get this matter done, then he will definitely be rewarded, and it is very likely that he will return to the household department of the capital and become a foreign minister with greater authority.

For Qin Zhongzheng, who is about to expire, this is undoubtedly a great temptation. As long as things are done, not only does he not need to worry about going to Nanjing to retire, but he is also very likely to take advantage of this to soar.

When Lin Haoran saw this letter, he took a deep breath and felt a great sense of oppression.

However, he quickly relaxed a little, although the letter was stamped with Yan Song's private seal, it was not Yan Song's words. Obviously, this may not be Yan Song's true will, but only Yan Shifan's or Yan Maoqing's personal intentions.

Although he lived in Guangdong, he also paid attention to the dynamics of the imperial court. After the new head of the household department Shangshu Jiangdong took office, the first axe pointed to the salt administration, advocating the unification of the salt administration of the four salt transportation divisions of the two Zhejiang, the two Huai, Changlu and Hedong.

It was Yan Maoqing of the Yan Party who served as the prime minister of the Yan Party, and Yan Maoqing would naturally be hostile to Guangdong Yan. If he uses the power of the Yan Party to crack down on Yueyan and the salt lords in Yueyan, this will undoubtedly allow him to carry out his work better.

As soon as he thought of this, Lin Haoran faintly saw through the truth of the whole incident, and at the same time felt that this matter was very tricky. If it were according to Yan Shifan or Yan Maoqing's intentions, I am afraid that the salt lords in the entire Guangdong would really be washed in blood.