Fu Jingene used to ride a horse when he went out on a mission, but this time he went to Jiangnan on an official boat.

As soon as the ship docked, a guard came over and said, "Lord Qincha, Lord Ke, the prefect of Jinling is waiting below with more than ten officials. ”

"Let's go down!"

Du Yin, the prefect of Jinling, gave Fu Jingene a water, and immediately stepped forward to salute: "The lower official pays a visit to Lord Qincha." ”

Tongzhi Tongju and others who came with him also made a big salute together.

At this time, the sun is shining, and standing on the pier is like roasting in a steamer. Fu Jingene frowned and said, "Get up!" ”

After a few people got up, they saw that Fu Jingene's face was a little red, and he knew that it was hot at a glance.

Ke Heng frowned and said to Du Yinshui: "Master Du, it's too hot here. Qin Cha was a little unwell, and he would wait until he arrived at the post station. ”

The prefect said cautiously: "Lord Qincha, the post station is not only located in a remote location but also relatively hot, and the lower officials have prepared a small courtyard for Lord Qincha. ”

Fu Jingene didn't refuse, just frowned and said: "The emperor advocates frugality and can't be extravagant and wasteful. ”

When Governor Du heard this, he felt that there was a play, and hurriedly said: "The lower officials dare not go against the emperor's holy will, and the mansion prepared for the adults is not big, only a courtyard and a garden. ”

Actually, this is not wrong, it is indeed a yard and a garden. It's just that there are eighteen rooms in that courtyard, and the garden covers an area of three acres, but this house is located on the most prosperous street in Jinling.

When you walk into this house, you will see that the trees inside are lush and green. There are tall plane trees, slim poplar trees, and verdant elm trees. The branches of these trees are like large green umbrellas that are stretched out, keeping out the hot sun.

Because the sunlight is blocked, it feels very cool as soon as you walk under the big tree.

Walked through a cobblestone road and through a long corridor before entering the courtyard.

Except for two plane trees and some flowers and plants in the courtyard, there is nothing special. The house is also very simple, but the furniture is agarwood.

After taking his seat, Du Zhifu immediately sent chilled lychees and watermelons. Those lychees were all peeled and cored.

The chilled lychee was cold and sweet, and Fu Jingene ate a small half bowl before stopping.

The body was comfortable, and the indifferent expression on Fu Jingene's face eased a lot.

Governor Du was very discerning, and when he saw this, he said: "This is what Xia Guan went to the market to buy this morning." Adults like it, I'll buy some later. ”

"How much a pound?"

Du Zhifu hurriedly said: "Now is the time for lychees to go on the market, so it is relatively cheap, and it is only 200 yuan per catty." ”

Fujian is thousands of miles away from Jinling. Fresh lychees like this will be delivered within two to three days, so they will definitely be sold for 201 catties on the market. This Du Governor said that the price was a hundred times worse.

Ke Hengle said happily: "I didn't expect the lychees here in Jinling to be so cheap, my lord, it seems that we have a good fortune on this trip to Jiangnan." ”

Fu Jingene didn't speak.

He didn't speak, Ke Heng assumed that he agreed: "Lord Du, since it's so cheap, then buy more tomorrow so that my soldiers can also eat." ”

Seeing Governor Du nodding, Fu Jingene asked, "Lord Du should also know that the emperor sent his official down this time to track down the salt tax in Jiangnan. ”

Du Zhifu's heart sank, but his face was not obvious: "My lord, the salt tax is not under the control of the lower officials, so the lower officials don't know about these things." ”

Fu Jingene snorted and said, "You don't know that the salt transport envoy Rao Yu must be clear, Ke Heng, you have someone to call him over." ”

Governor Du hurriedly said: "Lord Rao went to Tang County below today, and he may not be able to come back until the evening." The adults will rest first, and when Lord Rao comes back, please accompany him to meet the adults. ”

"Okay."

Du Zhifu said: "Yes, my lord." ”

Fu Jingene said coldly: "I'm not used to using people, you take all the people in this house away." ”

"My lord, if they are all gone, who will do the laundry, cooking, tea, and water for the adults and your guards?"

Fu Jingene said with a displeased face: "This is not something you should worry about. ”

"Yes, the lower official has overpassed."

After Governor Du took all the people in this house away, Ke Heng asked puzzledly, "Why did you drive these people away?" ”

Fu Jingene and Ke Heng have worked together twice before, and the compatibility is very high. So this time when he came to Jiangnan, he named Ke Heng to protect him.

"Who among these people knows how many nails were inserted."

"Also, beware of the ears on the wall."

Ke Heng said with some confusion: "Haven't the people here been taken away?" ”

"These people have been taken away, but you can guarantee that there are no secret passages here, and maybe someone is hiding in the secret passages at this time and eavesdropping on us."

Ke Heng's face turned blue, but he quickly said, "You just bluff me!" If someone is hiding in a secret tunnel and eavesdropping, your ears are so good that you don't know? ”

He knew that Fu Jingene's facial features were sharp and his observation was also extremely strong, and if someone secretly eavesdropped on them, he would definitely be able to detect it.

Fu Jingene said: "I'm not omnipotent, and there will be times when I miss." ”

Ke Heng was taken aback: "Is there really a problem with this house?" In that case, why don't you take us to the caravanserais and stay here? ”

Fu Jingene said: "Living here is no different from living in a post station. ”

Ke Heng shook his head and said, "What do you mean, the post station is likely to have a secret passage?" How could it be, unless they bought off all the people at the inn. ”

Fu Jingene said: "Do you know how much taxes Jiangnan paid every year in the early years of Hongde? More than 16 million taels of silver. But last year, Jiangnan handed over less than 5 million taels of tax silver to the imperial court. ”

Ke Heng was so shocked that he almost jumped up: "How can there be so much less?" ”

The first four emperors amassed a huge amount of wealth. Otherwise, this world would have been tossed apart by the first emperor, how could he still reign for forty years.

"All this money has been coveted by these officials and the salt merchant gang."

Ke Heng felt a little chill in his heart, he knew that there was a problem with the salt tax in Jiangnan, but he didn't expect these people to be so bold.

"Scared?"

Ke Heng didn't deny it, and said, "I'm afraid." However, I am afraid that this group of moths will have to be dug out, otherwise the situation in Jiangnan will only be more serious. ”

Fu Jingene said: "I was only ordered to recover the salt tax, but it is not my duty to clean up the Jiangnan officialdom. ”

Ke Heng asked: "After the salt tax is paid, those corrupt officials will be brought to justice, these two are the same thing!" ”

Fu Jingene shook his head and said: "It's not the same thing, now that the treasury is empty, the most important thing is to recover the taxes." ”

Jiangnan is different from Guangxi, Jiangnan is one of the most important places to pay taxes, so it is impossible to mess up. Therefore, it is impossible for the emperor to kill and replace all the officials. If you want to do Jiangnan like that, you have to make a mess of porridge, which is definitely not what the emperor wants.

Therefore, starting from the overall situation, the emperor will only deal with the others as appropriate, except for a particularly bad group of people. Of course, sparing them as far as the emperor's temperament is only an expedient measure, and the account will still be settled afterwards.

Ke Heng sighed and said, "I listen to adults." ”

His mission is to protect Fu Jingen's safety, so he doesn't bother to think about other complicated and difficult things.