"Lord Hou, the brothers under the lowly subordinates, the officials who guard the ship in the household department, and the people on the dock already know about this."

After listening to Xue Lu's question, General Zhang's face became even more ugly, and he replied with a depressed expression, how could he not know that he had stabbed Xue Lu in a big basket this time, because there were many people who knew about it, even if Xue Lu wanted to, he couldn't hide it.

"You, you!"

Xue Lu really wanted to hide this matter, after all, this matter was very involved, he didn't want to make trouble for himself, but after listening to General Zhang's words, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly, since so many people knew, if he didn't take a way to deal with it, it would be a dereliction of duty, once the incident happened, he would not be able to eat and walk around.

"Master Hou, what should I do?" Seeing Xue Lu's helplessness, General Zhang couldn't help but ask nervously, in fact, he regretted it as soon as he found out the illicit salt from the cargo ship of the household department, but unfortunately there was no turning back when he opened the bow, so he had to report to Xue Lu hard, otherwise his guilt would be great.

"What else can I do, take one step at a time!" Xue Lu glanced at General Zhang angrily, paced back and forth in the room a few times, and then ordered with a cold face, "Pass the order and detain all the cargo ships of the household department to Benhou." ”

"In addition, inform the soldiers of the guards along the canal to intercept the cargo ships of the household department, and not one of them can be spared!" As he spoke, Xue Lu's face turned cold and said coldly.

For Xue Lu, since the matter has come to this point, it is better not to do nothing, and detain all the cargo ships of the household department, so as not to be blamed by the imperial court at that time.

"The lowly position understands, the lowly position is to interrogate those guys and let them confess honestly." Hearing this, General Zhang immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and the pressure on Xue Lu in front of him was undoubtedly much less, so he surrendered his hand to Xue Lu and prepared to interrogate the household officials who escorted the cargo ship.

"Stupid!" Xue Lu's brows suddenly frowned when he heard this, and he couldn't help but scold General Zhang, "You are a Cao official, how can you intervene in the matter of salt affairs?" ”

"Could you please show me this?" An embarrassed look flashed across General Zhang's face, and he bowed to Xue Lu and asked.

"Only arrest and not trial, only detain and not investigate, immediately send eight hundred miles to urgently report this matter to the Marquis of Zhenwu and the Yamen of Lianghuai Salt Road!" Xue Lu pondered for a moment, and said with a stern expression.

"Humble duty understands!" Hearing this, General Zhang nodded and understood that Xue Lu didn't want to get involved too much in this matter, so he hurriedly left to arrange relevant matters.

"Alas!"

After General Zhang left, Xue Lu sat on the chair weakly, he never imagined that he would be so unlucky and get involved in such a big case for no reason, he doesn't know how the case will develop now, it depends on what method the gang of people in Lianghuai Yandao will use to deal with it, and Li Yuntian's attitude towards this matter.

"Eldest son, no, that batch of goods had an accident in Huai'an?" The next morning, when Chen Guangzong of Yangzhou City was sleeping soundly with two beautiful singing and dancing girls in his arms, the anxious voice of the housekeeper came from outside the door.

This morning, as soon as the gate of Yangzhou City was opened, the Yamen of the Governor of Caoyun came to tell the Lianghuai Salt Road that there was a large amount of salt on the cargo ship of the household department, so he rode his horse straight to the Yamen of the Lianghuai Salt Road, and handed over the official document of the matter to Zhang Sheng, the transshipment envoy of the Lianghuai Salt Road.

When Zhang Sheng heard this, his eyes suddenly turned black, and he immediately stumbled under his feet, if he was not supported by the concubine next to him, he would have fallen to the ground, he originally thought that those private salt would be transported to the destination smoothly, but he never expected that something would happen in Huai'an.

Because of the importance of the matter, Zhang Sheng did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly asked people to go to inform Chen Guangzong and find Chen Guangzong to come to discuss countermeasures.

"What?" Chen Guangzong, who was asleep, sat up from the bed when he heard this, the batch of goods in the housekeeper's mouth undoubtedly referred to private salt, looked out of the door in surprise, and asked urgently, "What happened?" ”

"I don't know, Lord Zhang, please go and talk about it." The housekeeper didn't know how the goods came out now, only that Zhang Sheng was in a hurry to find Chen Guangzong.

Chen Guangzong knew the severity of the situation, and those private salts were enough for him to die hundreds of times, so he didn't feel sleepy, so he immediately got up and hurried to the Yamen of Lianghuai Salt Road to see Zhang Sheng.

At the gate of the Yamen of Lianghuai Salt Road, Chen Guangzong met Yang Muen, the president of the Salt Merchants Association, who was in a hurry, and the two talked in a low voice while walking, and the news of the illegal salt accident made the two at a loss now.

Zhang Sheng anxiously waited for Chen Guangzong and Yang Muen in the backyard living room, and after the two came, they took the official document of the Caoyun Yamen to them, according to the meaning of the official document, the people of the Caoyun Yamen received a report, claiming that a batch of weapons were hidden on the cargo ship of the household department, and as a result, a large amount of salt was found, and asked what was going on with the Yamen of the Lianghuai Salt Road.

"My lord, this matter is not so simple, even if the people of Caoyun Yamen receive a report that there are weapons hidden on the cargo ship, they will not dare to act rashly, they will definitely ask the officials of the household department who escorted the ship, but they dare to board the ship without permission, they must have something to rely on."

After reading the official document, Chen Guangzong frowned and said to Zhang Sheng, it is obvious that the officials of the household department who followed the escort of the fleet will prevent the people of the Caoyun Yamen from boarding the ship no matter what, and the people of the Caoyun Yamen have no need to provoke the household department, and the two sides have always entered the water and do not violate the river.

"Could it be the ...... of Zhenwu Hou" At this time, Yang Muen couldn't help but open his mouth and said worriedly.

Xue Lu, the governor of Caoyun and the Marquis of Yangwu, had a close personal relationship with Li Yuntian, and Li Yuntian now investigated the matter of the two Huaiyan Roads, and those private salts were in Huai'an, where the Caoyun Yamen was located, Yang Muen naturally thought of Li Yuntian.

"No, if it's Zhenwu Hou, something will happen when our first batch of goods pass through Huai'an." Chen Guangzong's brows first frowned slightly, then he shook his head and said in a deep voice.

"Who is secretly doing it, it's just hateful!" Hearing this, Zhang Sheng slammed his fist on the table, gritted his teeth and said, his face looked a little hideous, he felt that he was really unlucky, there would be such a big mistake during his tenure, enough for him to be cut off ten times.

"Now the shape is unknown, it is best to wait and see what happens, and wait for the exact news from Huai'an, and then we will deal with it!" Chen Guangzong saw that Zhang Sheng was impetuous, so he groaned and said, now they have too little news in their hands, so they can only respond to changes with no change.

"That's the only way, I hope it has nothing to do with Zhenwu Hou!" When Zhang Sheng heard this, he replied with a grim face, the Lianghuai Yandao case was widely implicated, and as long as Li Yuntian did not interfere with it, he still had the confidence to hide this matter.

Finally, in the evening, a dusty horse rushed into the city before the gate of Yangzhou City was closed, and the knight on horseback came straight to Chen Guangzong's house, panting and handing a letter to the doorman guarding the door, telling him that he was in an urgent situation from Huai'an, and asked him to hand it over to Chen Guangzong immediately.

The doorman did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly rushed to the Yamen of Lianghuai Salt Road, and handed the letter to Chen Guangzong, who was waiting for news there.

"Bastard, what a bold and reckless act to ruin something big for his own selfish interests!" After reading the letter, Chen Guangzong couldn't help but feel cold, and angrily slapped the letter on the table.

"How so!" Yang Muen didn't know what was going on, so he quickly picked up the letter, and a stunned look suddenly appeared on his face.

The letter followed a salt merchant from the general association of salt merchants of the cargo ship fleet, in which he explained the cause and effect of the accident of the fleet as it was, and because of the curfew in Huai'an City, he could not send someone to deliver the letter last night, so he had to send someone to hurry up this morning, and Chen Guangzong was waiting for his reply.

According to the contents of the letter, after arriving in Huai'an yesterday afternoon, the fleet docked at the wharf, preparing to set off for the north the next day.

As a result, someone had an accident in the casino, and an inspector of Nanjing Hubu Zhengjiupin, who was escorting a cargo ship, lost his eyes in the casino, and drank a lot of alcohol, thinking that a young man who gambled with him was out of a thousand, and found the entourage of the fleet to beat him up, and then went back to the ship to sleep.

The young man who didn't want to be beaten was a member of the Cao Gang, so he asked someone from the Yamen, the governor of Caoyun, to help him get angry, and went on the boat to arrest the inspector of the Nanjing household department in the name of inspecting contraband.

Naturally, the guards refused to let the people of the governor of Caoyun Yamen get on board, so a conflict broke out on the ship, and then it was accidentally discovered that the goods on the ship were salt, which made the situation out of control.

Chen Guangzong and Yang Muen would never have thought that the cause of the incident was just because of a little gambling money, and they wanted to cut down the inspector of the Nanjing household department with a knife.

However, the two secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as long as Li Yuntian did not intervene in this matter, then in the eyes of the two, there was still room for things to turn around, and the rest depended on how they remedied.

Because Hangzhou was far away from Huai'an, the people from the Yamen, the governor of Caoyun, who sent the letter from Huai'an, did not arrive in Hangzhou until the morning of the next day, but they did not see Li Yuntian because Li Yuntian led Lei Ting and his party to the Qiantang River.

The tides of the Qiantang River are the largest on the third and eighteenth days of the lunar calendar every month, especially the tides on August 18, so it can attract many people to watch the tides every year.

Although it is now September, the tide is also very beautiful because it is the beginning of the month, and Li Yuntian naturally wants to go and enjoy it.

It was on the bank of the Qiantang River that Li Yuntian obtained the official letter written to him by the Yamen of the Governor of Caoyun, to be precise, written by Xue Lu to him, and told him that the Yamen of the Caoyun Governor had seized a Hubu freight fleet transporting salt, and that he was hereby notified of the huge amount of salt involved.

Not only that, Xue Lu also said in the letter that in order to ensure that the matter was investigated, he had ordered the seizure of several fleets carrying goods under the banner of Hubu on the canal.

Li Yuntian waited for Xue Lu's letter, and after reading it, a subtle smile flashed on the corner of his mouth, what happened in Huai'an was naturally carefully arranged by him, and the inspection of the Nanjing household department was just a scapegoat to cover people's ears, so no one suspected that this matter had something to do with him.

Although Li Yuntian was secretly happy in his heart, he couldn't express himself, and immediately rushed back to Hangzhou City after receiving Xue Lu's official letter, and after saying goodbye to Zhao Lun and others, he boarded the passenger ship going north, and hurried back to Yangzhou to deal with those private salt matters, which made Zhao Lun and the others confused and did not know what was going on.