bullyxtreme Chapter 268 Agreement Reached
Chapter 268 Agreement Reached
Chapter 268 Agreement Reached (Bonus Chapter 5 for Alliance Leader Yu Yuanchuyu)
While Shao Shuyi was arguing with local officials on Yuzhou Island, the scouts stationed near Yidu finally set out.
The entire thousand households and five hundred riders set out, one man on two horses, galloping towards Taoluochang.
The commander of the thousand-household army, Shi Mobeiye, was dispatched without receiving any orders from the Central Secretariat, the Shandong and Hebei Mongol Army Grand General's Office, or the Privy Council.
Clearly, this was invited by Wang Cheng, the chief steward of Yidu Road, through personal connections, and Darughachi Andula tacitly approved it.
Five hundred men, accompanied by seven or eight hundred horses, moved at a relatively fast pace. They arrived at Taoluochang, the scene of the incident, six days after Shao Shuyi and the others left.
Half a day later, the envoy from the Advisory Council, Manzi, also arrived with dozens of followers.
Of all the officials in charge of Taoluo, only Sicheng Li Mou was still alive. When he saw the barbarian, he hurriedly stepped forward to pay his respects, but unexpectedly, he was met with a severe beating with a whip.
Li Mou dared not flee, and could only endure it. In an instant, the seeping blood stained his clothes red.
"Take him down," the barbarian ordered, throwing down his whip.
Several archers from the patrol office rushed forward, tied up Li Mou, and put him on a prison cart.
The rank of the Assistant Minister is too low. As an imperial envoy sent to inspect the area, the barbarian could have handled it on the spot.
"My lord, spare my life—wooo." Perhaps knowing Li Mou's fate beforehand, the archers showed him no mercy, stuffing a rag into his mouth without any decorum.
After doing this, the barbarian finally calmed down a bit. Then, ignoring all attempts to stop him, he went straight to the government office, stared at the dark characters on it, and remained silent for a long time.
The knights split into dozens of groups, randomly capturing salt workers and then interrogating them separately to extract information.
Screams rose and fell, mixed with curses, cries, and even the clash of weapons.
In the low-lying shantytown, warhorses would occasionally rear up, neighing in pain, the riders on their backs filled with shock and anger—this was because someone distrusted the government, didn't want to be arrested and questioned, and didn't want to sit and wait for death, so they rose up in rebellion.
But those who rebel are ultimately a minority. Most people have parents, wives, and children, and many other concerns, so in the end they can only submit.
"When Wu Dalang returns, I'll send you all to the Yellow Springs one by one." The rough-looking salt worker evaded the capture of the two knights and rushed along the winding shantytown to the beach, cursing as he ran.
"Whoosh!" An arrow flew over and struck Yan Ding squarely in the back.
Yan Ding collapsed onto the beach, his body twitching slightly.
The barbarian seemed to be startled awake by the words "Wu Dalang," and suddenly turned around, just in time to see that scene.
"Alright, tell them to behave themselves." The barbarian waved his hand casually and said, "The people from the Shandong Transport Bureau spoke to me last night. Taoluochang still has to produce salt for the imperial court, so don't cause any trouble."
Having said that, he turned his head and took one last look at the five characters "Barbarian Duke exempt from escort," then sneered and said, "Interrogate him, interrogate him properly."
Shi Mobeiye, who was standing nearby, replied, "As you command."
He then led his men to conduct the interrogation himself.
Manzi Gong is the envoy of the Zizheng Yuan and a confidant of Empress Qi, so naturally, he must be currying favor with him. Nowadays, who among those with even a little influence doesn't know that Empress Qi is the most favored? To be honest, the Empress Dowager Bayan Hudu was only appointed by the emperor under duress. If he had a choice, he would only want to appoint someone from the Qi clan.
For this reason, if we don't try to curry favor with the barbarian prince, we'll miss a golden opportunity.
The barbarian strolled around casually for a few steps, then suddenly asked, "Is this Wu Dalang related to Guo Huonichi?"
The attendants looked at each other, unable to answer.
"My lord, I think there is a connection," said Tuoletemur, the Darughachi of Yidu County who was accompanying them. "He received assistance from salt workers at Taoluochang to transport official salt. It is unlikely that he would not know him."
The barbarian nodded slightly, agreeing that there was some truth to it.
Tuolitemur, observing the situation, continued, "Previously, Guo Huo disappeared without a trace, neither alive nor dead, and no one knew where he went. Now it seems that he may have sailed out to sea and gone to Jiangnan. Now he is leading his men back, perhaps under the alias Wu Dalang, or perhaps Wu Dalang is one of his important generals."
"Just thieves, what's with all this talk about generals?" The barbarian glared at him and said, "But what you say is quite right. After the inspection is over, I will definitely send someone down to Jiangnan to see if this Wu Dalang is hiding there."
All the taxes collected in Jiqing Road were handed over to the Advisory Council. As the envoy of the Advisory Council, it was perfectly normal for the barbarian to send someone to Jinling, and it wouldn't be surprising if he came himself.
He's got his eye on Wu Dalang.
Tuolitemur stood by, his face beaming with delight.
His earlier guess wasn't his own idea, but rather something he'd heard from rumors circulating among the salt farmers in Taoluochang.
As a Mongol official whose only hobbies besides drinking, eating meat, and playing with women were hunting, he had no mind for anything complicated. He had simply overheard some rumors during an interrogation while wandering around, and then presented them as if they were treasures, earning the barbarians' praise.
That's a huge profit!
Of course, he believed these words without a doubt. Just as some salt farmers said, if Guo Huo wasn't one of your cronies, why would he treat them so well, offering them an exorbitant five strings of cash for helping transport goods? It must be that Brother Guo's men have returned.
Based on this, Tuolitemur felt that he should focus on monitoring the salt producers in his region, lest Wu Dalang come again and cause chaos and corruption throughout the region. However, this was beyond the control of a mere county darughachi like himself.
The barbarian left Taoluochang on the morning of the 27th.
The trip was somewhat fruitful; we obtained some information about the thieves.
However—we don't know where Wu Dalang went. It's been six or seven days, and we haven't heard anything about him seizing a second salt field.
******
At noon on the 27th, the negotiations on Yuzhou Island were nearing their end.
Not only Xiongshan County, but Haining Prefecture also seems to be involved.
Chen Shouzhen, a mere clerk, carried the heavy responsibility entrusted to him by nearly twenty officials from Haining Prefecture, Xiongshan County, and various salt fields. He engaged in a heated debate with Shao Shuyi for an entire morning, but in the end, it was all for naught. He obediently accepted the annual "deal" of one million catties.
However, since this will be the off-season for production, they can only supply 200,000 jin until June, of which 100,000 jin can be supplied now.
In mid-to-late August, 500,000 jin can be supplied at once, and before the end of October, a final 300,000 jin will be supplied.
The three batches totaled 2,500 jin, valued at 5,000 ingots.
Undoubtedly, these five thousand ingots will not appear in the government's accounts; they will certainly be divided up among officials from Haining Prefecture, Xiongshan County, the three salt fields, and even some officials from the Lianghuai Transportation Office.
Money can move even the gods. Five thousand ingots—that can settle so many problems!
As for how to make up for the shortage of salt, Shao Shuyi didn't care; he believed the corrupt officials would find a way.
Zhu Chen colluded with officials of the Liangzhe Salt Transport Office to steal and sell government salt. The amount was difficult to count. In any case, the total output of the 34 salt fields under the jurisdiction of the Liangzhe Salt Transport Office gradually decreased from 480,000 yin to 350,000 yin. Where did the missing 130,000 yin (52 million catties) go?
On the surface, it appeared that the transport officials were showing compassion for the salt farmers' hard work and had reduced or exempted their expenses.
Perhaps some did, but certainly not all. In any case, according to the news Wang Huadu heard in Pudong, the salt farmers at the sand pits were still boiling salt day and night, and their lives had not improved at all.
The 29th Saltworks of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Office had the largest output among all the salt transport offices, but its output gradually decreased from 950,000 yin to 650,000 yin. Can't you give me 2,500 yin out of the 300,000 yin that was lost?
It was indeed not easy for officials to carry out, because every salt shipment had a destination, but it was not impossible.
At worst, we'll just have to sacrifice one salt merchant.
"Chen Dianshi, the deal is done, everyone's happy, why the long face?" Shao Shuyi patted his shoulder and laughed, "Besides, even if I get the salt, I won't abandon this place."
Chen Shouzhen looked at Shao Shuyi with some confusion and asked, "Master Wu, what do you mean by that?"
"Yuzhou Island is isolated, has it never been harassed by pirates?" Shao Shuyi asked.
Chen Shouzhen's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "There are some, but not many."
Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "But there's still a problem. How do we defend ourselves when pirates attack?"
"Let it go on its own."
Shao Shuyi understood. So what if they let them rob us? They'll leave once they've taken their fill.
"If I have the time in the future, I am willing to drive away the pirates for the people of Haining Prefecture," Shao Shuyi said. "If there are any bandits within the prefecture, I will not stand idly by if I can lend a hand."
"Oh? Really?" Chen Shouzhen was not entirely convinced.
The man in front of me just robbed the Xudupu Saltworks. How is his behavior any different from that of a pirate?
Shao Shuyi saw through his thoughts but didn't spell it out. He just smiled and said, "It's okay if you don't believe me. If you really can't help in the future, feel free to let me know. I'll help if I can."
Chen Shouzhen, not wanting to dwell on the matter any longer, brought up another issue: "The Li family of this county has two boats, which have been moored at Xudupu for many days. I heard they were seized by the Wu family, but I don't know why."
Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "So these two boats have owners."
Chen Shouzhen remained silent.
They spent a lot of money to buy it from Fujian, intending to use it for the Koryo route and do some business, and you insist that it's unclaimed. Is that reasonable?
"I am only acting on behalf of Heaven, and it is indeed not right for me to rob the people of their property." Shao Shuyi pondered for a moment and said, "How about this, consider the two boats as a loan from me, and I will pay him back slowly when I have the money. Right now, I only have three hundred ingots on hand. Can Clerk Chen inform Master Li and have him come to Yuzhou Island to collect them?"
"Li Heng, the son of Master Li, is waiting on the other side of the sea," Chen Shouzhen sighed. "I wonder if he will agree or not."
The two ships cost nine thousand ingots when they were bought, but you only received three hundred. Is that reasonable? Do you think these are grain transport ships on the canal register that someone is willing to give away for free?
But there's really no other way now. These thugs are clearly not going to give up, what can you do?
"Let Li Heng come over. I'll personally hand over the three hundred ingots to him." Shao Shuyi waved his hand and said, "I'm a man of my word. If I say I'll pay, I'll pay. I won't renege on my promise."
That sounds nice, but actually, using 300 ingots as a down payment to buy two large ships, and then paying the rest in installments, not only is there no interest, but you can also continue to profit from inflation, which is already a huge profit.
Chen Shouzhen left quickly.
He still had a lot to do, the most important of which was communicating with state, county, and salt field officials.
Furthermore, the matter of the robbery at Xudupu Saltworks must be kept strictly confidential and must not be leaked.
It doesn't matter if the common people find out; they can't reach the highest levels of government. Just don't let the Minister of Personnel, Ding Seng, and the Vice Director of the Xuanzheng Academy, Wei Jingdao, who are on an inspection tour of Henan and Jiangbei, find out. Otherwise, they'll have to pay a hefty price. These two imperial envoys are currently on their inspection tour to Nanyang Prefecture.
Fortunately, the Xudupu Saltworks is located on an island, which is relatively isolated. By taking care of some details, it should be possible to cover things up—this is actually the main reason why the state and county officials were willing to talk to this Wu Dalang.
Not long after Chen Shouzhen left, a British man named Wu Hanzi, with a strong bow at his waist and an iron spear in his hand, boarded a fishing boat and came to the island.
This person was Li Heng.
>