After persuading the subordinates of the Salt Transportation Division with different minds to leave, Men Chen Xin ordered his subordinates to prepare a sedan chair, and he was going to visit Han Yiliang, the imperial historian of the salt patrol.

The two Huai Salt Transportation Division Yamen are in the east of Yangzhou City, and the Salt Inspection Institute is near the Guandi Temple in the west of the city, and the two Yamen are one east and one west, which happen to be separated from the east and west ends of Yangzhou City. Although these two yamen are the institutions that manage the salt administration, the Salt Inspection Yuan is at the top of the transportation department, and it is the yamen that specializes in supervising the officials of the transportation department.

As the yamen in charge of salt affairs, the transportation department was originally a rich yamen, and the exchanges with salt merchants were extremely frequent. However, they could not so openly call friends with the salt merchants in front of their own supervisors. So the officials of the Yun Division chose an address far away from the procuratorate as the Yamen of the Yun Division. If it weren't for the regulations of the imperial court, the officials of the previous generations of the Ministry of Transport would be eager to move their official offices outside the city.

From north to south, Yangzhou City is just divided into two urban districts in the east and west by a small river, and seven stone arch bridges have been built on the river for people on both sides to come and go. From the Yunsi Yamen in the east city to the inspection court in the west city, you have to pass the Wenjin Bridge in the center of the city.

From Wenjin Bridge to the north, until the riverside section of Taiping Bridge, it is the most prosperous commercial street in Yangzhou City. Although there was an errand officer of the transportation department to open the way, the sedan chair carrying the door Chen Xin was also stopped in three steps, five steps and one stop, and it took nearly one hour to move to the front of the procuratorate.

After instructing his entourage to send his business card, Men Chen Xin stood in the shade of the tree at the gate of the courtyard and waited. The time he spent in Yangzhou was only more than 3 months longer than Han Yiliang and others.

Yangzhou City is densely populated, but the gate of this procuratorate is very deserted. Standing here waiting for the reward, Chen Xinzhi not only thought about it. When Chongzhen first ascended the throne, he thought that the loss of power of the eunuch party had become a foregone conclusion, and there would inevitably be a new atmosphere when the new monarch ascended the throne, so he hugged the thigh of the Donglin party.

However, he did not expect that although the Donglin Party, who had been attacked several times by the Eunuch Party, had a high reputation among the people, they still did not make much progress in the political struggle. Wen Zhenmeng, the backbone of the Donglin Party and the banner of the Jiangnan scholars, was easily driven back to his hometown by the emperor, and also got a bad reputation for trying to bully the young emperor.

And he himself, although he escaped from the Shunyi rebellion, but for the sake of his own future, he had to completely fall to the emperor. Until now, he is still in the stage of making meritorious contributions.

When he went out of Beijing to serve as the Lianghuai Transportation Division, the emperor simply instructed him to pay more attention to the collusion between the officials within the Transportation Division and the salt merchants and the corruption of national taxes.

Chongzhen's words at that time were very relaxed, but in retrospect, Men Chenxin didn't feel simple. The great changes in the political pattern between the DPRK and China in the past year made him realize that this son of heaven, who is not yet 20 years old, is by no means an easy person.

The corruption in the salt industry of Lianghuai has now become a public act that is not concealed from the top. Everyone knows that the tax silver that enters Taicang from the Lianghuai Salt Industry is less than one-tenth of the tax silver receivable, and the remaining tax silver goes into the pockets of the officials of the transportation department.

In addition, the nobles of the clan accounted for two-tenths, the salt merchants accounted for three-four-tenths, and the local gentry behind the salt merchants accounted for three-tenths or fourteenth. Around the Lianghuai salt industry is a huge interest group, even if the emperor wants to move the Lianghuai salt industry, it is not a simple matter.

After Men Chenxin arrived in Yangzhou to find out the inside story of the Lianghuai Salt Industry, he suffered from the gains and losses of his mission this time, and it was nothing to move a deputy envoy of the Transport Division, but once the forces behind those salt merchants were alarmed, I am afraid that he and Han Yiliang may not be able to leave this Yangzhou City.

Before Men Chen Xin could figure out a clue, Han Yiliang had already gone out to greet him personally. Although Han Yiliang is now the official of Men Chenxin, when it comes to his background, he is not as good as Men Chenxin. After all, Men Chenxin stayed in the capital and was trained as a reserve official of the Minister of the Taiwan Cabinet, and he was just an official who was promoted from a local official position and moved to Beijing.

However, the current Han Yiliang is no longer a lonely minister who has just entered the capital. When he entered Beijing, he went to the "Rectification of Civil Officials Love Money", and advised Chongzhen to rectify the rule of officials, but he was reprimanded by the emperor, and he was transferred from the household department to the central government school for a few months.

He thought that his superiors had angered the emperor, but unexpectedly, the emperor had put him on the cold bench of the central government academy, not only to protect him, but also to give him the opportunity to start selecting personnel to form the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

When the Independent Commission Against Corruption officially appeared in front of the world, Han Yiliang's heart was no longer the little official who walked into the capital with trepidation. Having a formal establishment of the yamen and subordinates made him feel that he was no longer alone against those ** officials in the court, which also made his originally somewhat withdrawn personality become cheerful.

Although he had to cooperate with Xu Xianchun and Li Kuilong, the remnants of the eunuch party, in order to allow the Independent Commission Against Corruption to survive, he still accepted the emperor's order and conducted an inspection of the officials in Henan.

However, the Henan incident involved too many interests of all parties, and in the end it did not become the official achievement of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. It wasn't until he was sent to Yangzhou again to inspect the Lianghuai salt industry that this time he decided to make a big move.

Han Yiliang enthusiastically and politely introduced Men Chen Xin into the procuratorate, he did not introduce Men Chen Xin into his public house, but directly took him to the flower hall in the backyard.

Han Yiliang's behavior surprised Men Chen Xin very much, he came this time for official business. He didn't understand why Han Yiliang wanted to take him to the backyard of the procuratorate, this should be Han Yiliang's private residence in Yangzhou, and he felt that his relationship with Han Yiliang didn't seem to be good to this extent.

However, when he followed Han Yiliang into the flower hall, the two people who were originally sitting in the hall immediately got up and saluted them and said, "Lord Han and Lord Men, since everyone has arrived, it is better to officially start discussing." ”

Taking advantage of Han Yiliang's greeting with the two, Door Chen Xincai took a good look at the two people in the hall, and he quickly recognized one of them as Xu Xianchun, and the other was a strange middle-aged man. Xu Xianchun's appearance here had already surprised him, but the appearance of a man who looked like a military general in civilian clothes made him feel even more uneasy.

"What's the official beginning?" Door Chen Xin asked in surprise.

Xu Xianchun still said with a smile on his face: "Naturally, the investigation into the falsification of the salt introduction case of the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Division has officially begun, when Lord Men went out of Beijing, didn't His Majesty explain to you that when the time comes, Lord Men will begin to comprehensively rectify the Two Huai Salt Transportation Divisions?" ”

Door Chen Xin glanced at Xu Xianchun, then shifted his gaze to the only stranger in the hall, and asked quite vigilantly, "Who is this adult?" Also related to the salt case? ”

Xu Xianchun said without changing his face: "This is Yao Yuancheng, the newly appointed director of the First Shanghai Garrison Division, who happened to pass through Yangzhou with the First Garrison Division, in order to ensure that the Yan Yin case can be investigated smoothly, so he was also invited to come over to discuss together." ”

Men Chen Xin didn't want to ask about the inside story of the salt case, but continued to ask with a blue face: "The First Garrison Division? Is it necessary to use the army in the salt case? Don't you know that there are nearly 200,000 people living in Yangzhou City, and more than 300,000 people living within ten miles of the city wall.

If the use of the army caused a popular riot in Yangzhou City, who could take this responsibility. Yangzhou but..."

Xu Xianchun interrupted him unhurriedly and said: "It's not just the First Garrison Division, the army that was transferred from Shaanxi to Henan last year to quell the chaos has now been renamed the Shanghai Second Garrison Division, and it is stationed outside Yizhen City. ”

Men Chen Xin finally couldn't say any more, the corners of his mouth twitched a few times, and finally said dejectedly: "Commander Xu, do you want to turn Yangzhou into a battlefield?" If something happens, Your Majesty may not be able to protect you? ”

Xu Xianchun smiled and said, "Yes, so the official doesn't want things to go to the last step." The Second Garrison Division will not enter Yangzhou City, this army is only used to guard against interference from the direction of Nanjing, so that you can handle cases in the city with peace of mind.

The First Garrison Division was originally from Beijing, and they didn't make trouble in the capital, so how could they make trouble in the small city of Yangzhou. If you want to investigate and deal with the Lianghuai salt case, you can't rely on local manpower, otherwise you won't be able to find something there.

As for whether the sky of Daming will fall or not, it is not something we can consider. Could it be that Lord Men wants to shield the culprit who led the salt case? ”

Men Chen Xin was immediately enraged, and he raised his eyebrows and reprimanded Xu Xianchun: "Could it be that you still want to frame this official?" ”

Xu Xianchun didn't answer, just sneered twice. Han Yiliang, who had not spoken, said in a round: "Everyone calm down, we are now people on the same boat, and the boat has not docked yet, so don't rush to get off the boat." ”

Han Yiliang beckoned a few people to sit down again, and although Men Chen Xin was full of resentment, he still sat down. Of course, he knew that Jinyiwei, who had the support of the emperor, would not care about him, the salt envoy who had already lost his reputation in Shilin.

Although he sat down, he still insisted: "The army is not allowed to enter the city, this is the bottom line." Otherwise, once someone takes advantage of the opportunity to make trouble, who will guarantee the safety of hundreds of thousands of residents inside and outside Yangzhou? ”

Han Yiliang suddenly turned to Yao Yuancheng and asked, "Yao Dusi, can you guarantee that after the officers and soldiers of the first division enter the city, they will not disturb the people of Yangzhou?" ”

Although he didn't want to get involved in this dispute, since Han Yiliang asked, Yao Yuancheng hesitated for a moment, but still replied: "The last general can guarantee that the officers and soldiers of the first division can abide by military discipline. ”

Han Yiliang nodded and said, "That's okay, let's talk about the salt introduction case next." Whether or not the officers and soldiers want to enter the city depends entirely on whether we can handle this case as an ironclad case..."