Salt production

Liu Bian was shocked. "Boy, what have you done to deserve such a terrible crime?"

"Yes, this is the first time I've done something like this. They said I resisted arrest," Wei Cong said calmly.

"The person who tricked you into doing this kind of thing is really unethical; they didn't even explain things clearly to you."

Liu Bian patted his shoulder sympathetically, "All I know is that the salt merchants in Tongzhou get a share of the smuggled salt. Think about it, to get salt from the salt ponds, you need a salt permit. Who has salt permits? Only these people have them."

"Aren't they selling official salt? Why are they also selling smuggled salt?" Wei Cong asked.

Liu Bian looked at him as if he were a fool. "You're too stupid. Even if you die, it won't be a wrong. The price of government salt is so high, thirty to forty copper coins a pound. People can't even afford to eat, how could they possibly afford it?"

“If the government-owned salt is stuck in their hands and can’t be sold, how will they eat? They transport government-owned salt from the salt ponds and smuggle in smuggled salt. They sell the smuggled salt first, and then keep the government-owned salt to sell slowly.”

How much is your salt?

"Five copper coins a pound."

The price difference between government-owned salt and smuggled salt was nearly tenfold. As long as smuggled salt existed, government-owned salt would definitely not sell. If government-owned salt was difficult to sell, the imperial court would not be able to collect taxes.

The difference in taxes went into the pockets of these merchants.

Wei Cong recalled the day he first arrived, when Xu Yunliang hypocritically asked him to catch those smuggled salt dealers. But all he caught were poor people; he never managed to catch Wei Cong.

"Warden," Wei Cong called out. The warden had been waiting for him to call him.

"Change me to another cell."

"Okay, come with me."

"Huh?" Liu Bian asked in surprise, "How come you, a death row inmate, are treated better than me?"

The jailer yelled at him, "Quiet down, quiet down, you talk too much."

Wei Cong left the prison and, with the officers in tow, went to guard the city gate. "Tonight, will those salt merchants' carriages and horses be entering the city?"

"Yes, sir, you have a good memory; it's tonight."

"Keep watch tonight. When the carriages and horses arrive, search them thoroughly and compare them with the salt permits. Make sure there are no discrepancies in the quantities," Wei Cong instructed.

He left one group of men at the city gate, while the other group went to Xu Yunliang's warehouse.

"The government has sent people!" The head constable shouted, subduing the steward who was trying to stop them. The steward yelled, "Go find the master! Go find the master!"

"Sir, what brings you here to investigate? Please don't make things difficult for me; I'm just someone doing someone else's work."

"Bring out the salt certificates stored in your warehouse," Wei Cong said.

The steward went to fetch a few salt permits. "Sir, please take a look."

Is that all?

No, not all of them.

"I need all the salt certificates from your warehouse for reconciliation. If the quantities don't match, the excess will be treated as smuggled salt."

The steward wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "Well, sir, none of these salt permits are with me. If you want salt permits, you'll have to wait for Grandpa to come."

"Alright, I'll wait for your master."

When Xu Yunliang arrived, Wei Cong was standing at the entrance of his warehouse, straight and stiff, like a bamboo pole.

“Lord Wei, you really have no regard for sentiment. You gave my land to someone else with just a few words in the main hall, and now you suddenly brought people to take over my warehouse. May I ask what your title is? This is all government salt.”

Xu Yunliang found Wei Cong to be a difficult person to deal with; it was outrageous that he could become his brother's student.

He didn't bother Wei Cong at all, but this guy actually came to pick a fight with him.

"I suspect you are hiding smuggled salt, so I've come to investigate."

"Suspicion? I am a salt merchant listed in the imperial register. How could I possibly be associated with smuggled salt? Instead of arresting those who sell smuggled salt, you're arresting me. Is Lord Wei determined to oppose me to the very end?"

“Go against me? If you have nothing to hide, let me investigate. If it’s my fault, I will take responsibility for the consequences,” Wei Cong said.

"Consequences? Lord Wei, I just don't know if you can bear the consequences?"

"Stop talking nonsense, I'm going to check this warehouse today." Wei Cong waved his hand and said, "Open the warehouse door."

The person in charge was somewhat embarrassed, but Xu Yunliang sneered and ordered someone to open the door. "The door is open. Please, Lord Wei."

"Are all the official salt certificates in the warehouse that match the numbers here?" Wei Cong waved the salt certificates in his hand.

"There are still some left, Steward Liu gave them all to him." Xu Yunliang asked the steward surnamed Liu to bring some more salt permits.

Wei Cong sorted through the salt permits and handed them to his officers, saying, "Check them. I'll keep an eye on them. If they're not right, just say so."

The officials checked for almost an hour. "Lord Wei, everything is correct, and it matches the salt permit."

Wei Cong's expression changed slightly. The smuggled salt wasn't in the salt merchants' own warehouses, which meant there were other secret warehouses in Tongzhou.

Tongzhou is neither too big nor too small; where is he supposed to find a warehouse like this?

"Lord Wei, what do you have to say now?" Xu Yunliang asked with disdain. "Before, because of my brother, I treated you with great favor. But what you're doing now is utterly disgracing me. I will go to Xi'an Prefecture to submit a petition. We'll meet in court then, and I hope you'll give me an explanation."

Wei Cong glanced at him, his expression unclear. "Whatever."

He led his men back to the city gate, and the news they received was that nothing unusual had happened.

The matter in Tongzhou is not so simple. There is no salt in the warehouse, nor in the carts. So how was the salt transported out, and where did it go?

"Don't tell anyone about tonight's events. Go back and rest first." Wei Cong was somewhat frustrated and returned to the back office of the government office to rest for the night.

The next day, when Liu Bian and his associates were to be interrogated, Wei Cong glanced at the people below and said loudly, "Seek justice."

"Huh?" The group looked at each other in bewilderment. What injustice? Weren't they caught red-handed?

Liu Bian heard a familiar voice, looked up, and saw the death row inmate he had just seen the night before, now dressed in an official robe, sitting upright under the plaque with the bright mirror hanging high.

He thought about whether he had cursed the corrupt official last night. He figured the man wouldn't hold a grudge and make things difficult for him.

"What were you doing last night?" Wei Cong asked.

What do I do? Sell salt.

Liu Bian's mind raced. Could this man not want to sentence them? They arrested them last night, but they couldn't find any salt; all the salt had already been sold.

Li Daniu scratched his head, about to speak, when Liu Bian interrupted him, "We've come out to sell some grain."

“Yes, yes, yes, sell grain,” Li Daniu nodded in agreement.

"What about the grain?"

"Sold out."

Why sell in the dead of night?

"To be honest, sir, I come from a humble family and am not free during the day."

"Alright." Wei Cong slammed the gavel. "Then this time the wrong people were arrested. You have done nothing wrong. Release them in court."

"Huh? Sir?" Zhang Shuqi was memorizing something, and his eyes widened when he heard him say that.

"They really released him?" Li Fang looked at Wei Cong.

"I released it. I said I'd release it, so I released it."

Liu Bian was untied on the spot. He breathed a sigh of relief and was still somewhat dazed when he led Li Daniu and the others out.

What's wrong with this new corrupt official? He actually let them go.

He said everything last night. They were involved in smuggling salt, and this corrupt official knew all about it, yet he let them go. What is he trying to do? Play the long game to catch a big fish?

He couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it and happily went home. His elderly parents, with their white hair, could hardly believe it when they saw him.

"Ah Bian, you're back? Am I seeing things?" The father put down his work.

"Brother, brother, you're back." Little Flower, who was as thin as a bean sprout, ran over. Her hands were wrinkled and cracked from being soaked in salt water for many years.

"They sent the money back last night, saying you were arrested. Why are you back today? What happened?"

"That corrupt official must have gone mad; he didn't punish us and released us all."

“Oh dear, this is no corrupt official, he is a righteous and upright official,” the mother exclaimed. “He is your savior, otherwise you would have spent three years in prison.”

Liu Bian thought about it and realized that it made sense. "I still think he's no different from the previous prefects. He just made a mistake for a moment. Otherwise, look at those salt merchants, why weren't they arrested? As for the smuggling of salt, who sold the most?"

"Alright, stop gossiping and get to work. The salt for today's lesson isn't ready yet."

"Okay, I'm coming right now." Liu Bian hugged Xiao Hua and took the wooden stick from his white-haired father. "I'll stir it, you rest."

＊

Since Wei Cong had run into a snag with Xu Yunliang, he stopped leading men to arrest salt smugglers and instead stayed to guard the city gate.

"Why didn't that convoy of carriages need to go through inspection?"

"Replying to your question, sir, that was a convoy from Tongguan Guard, transporting military supplies. We have no authority to investigate."

Tongguan Guard? Wei Cong remembered that these people were also involved in the land dispute last time.

"Do they often come to Tongzhou to buy things? How often do they come, and what do they buy?" Wei Cong seemed to have grasped something and quickly asked.

"Sir, these questions have stumped me. I'm just a gatekeeper, how would I know so much?" the gatekeeper said, sounding troubled.

Just then, Xu Yunliang's salt transport convoy arrived. "Lord Wei, are we going to investigate again this time?"

"Investigate, why not investigate? Verify the facts thoroughly and clear your name."

Xu Yunliang's arrogance has subsided, because his original intention to file a complaint against Wei Cong in Xi'an Prefecture was suppressed.

He only found out after asking that it had been suppressed by the newly arrived assistant prefect. That person and Wei Cong were both Jinshi graduates of the first class, and they seemed to have a very good relationship. Liang Lingfeng was someone who didn't care about anything.

“Lord Wei has very powerful connections. I couldn’t even find justice in Xi’an Prefecture.” He sighed. “You are my brother’s student. I didn’t want things to turn out like this. Why don’t we both compromise?”

Wei Cong looked at him and nodded slightly. "Okay." He waved his hand. "Stop investigating. Let them go."

"Then I will host a banquet tonight to invite you, sir. I would be grateful if you would do me the honor of attending."

"Okay, sure."

Xu Yunliang saw that the man was on the right track, but he still had doubts. It wasn't until evening that Wei Congzhen arrived.

The group finished their meal together amicably, a feast meant to settle scores.

"My brother wrote me another letter, asking how Lord Wei is doing. I had a falling out with Lord Wei before, and I don't know how to reply to my brother."

“No need to trouble Brother Xu, I wrote back to my teacher myself,” Wei Cong replied. He didn’t believe his teacher was involved in the Tongzhou affair, but he was certain that Xu Yunliang’s hands were not clean.

However, he kept investigating these salt merchants but couldn't find anything. He had to try a different approach. If he could find a smuggler who sold private salt for the higher-ups, he could find their secret stashes and the transport vehicles.

What is the current price of government-mandated salt?

"Forty-five copper coins a pound."

"So tall?" Wei Cong exclaimed in surprise.

"Lord Wei doesn't know this. Buying salt permits with silver is a one-time payment, but transporting them back from the salt lake involves layers of inspections, and there are always extra charges for bribes and favors. The salt tax is not just what's on the surface."

"But if the price is too high, and you can't sell them, won't you just be stuck with them?"

“It’s already not high enough. We’re selling it at cost price. Any lower and we’ll be losing money.” Xu Yunliang sighed. The other salt merchants also sighed. Wei Cong sneered inwardly.

How could these seemingly respectable people possibly do a losing business? Why would they spend so much money to buy salt permits? It's all to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune by illegally obtaining salt.

The amount of smuggled salt that the salt producers secretly sold was ultimately a minority; the majority of the salt still came from the hands of these people.

There's a lot to learn about salt certificates. People can obtain smuggled salt by using fake or old salt certificates, which is probably related to the Ministry of Revenue.

His teacher, Xu Ziliu, had long been at odds with Sun Gu in the imperial court, but his younger brother had become accomplices with him.

Lost in thought, Wei Cong ran into Liu Bian again on his way back to the government office from the restaurant.

Although he wasn't wearing official robes, Liu Bian recognized him and immediately put away what he was carrying and tried to run away.

Last time there was no evidence, but now we've caught them red-handed.

Wei Cong didn't say anything, nor did he chase after him. Liu Bian glanced back at him, then stopped running. "You corrupt official, why don't you arrest me?"

"What? You're a corrupt official whether I arrest you or not?"

Wei Cong leaned against the earthen wall by the alley, the clear moonlight casting a beautiful silver glow on him.

Liu Bian gave him a serious look, then ran off as fast as he could without looking back.

Wei Cong wanted to reform the salt tax, and this wasn't something he was planning to do anytime soon. His essay for the imperial examination was about the salt tax, and now Tongzhou, where private salt was rampant and the salt tax had been ruined, was a cruel twist of fate.

The salt tax needs to be reformed, but only if the largest illegal salt trade here is blocked.

He let out a long sigh and returned to the government office to write a letter to his teacher.

He didn't mention what Xu Yunliang had done, nor did he express his suspicions. He simply asked him about the salt permits issued by the Ministry of Revenue and asked him to find a genuine salt permit that had already been revoked for him to use as a reference.

He suspected that the salt permits issued to Xu Yunliang were counterfeit.

At this point, Wei Cong's eyes finally regained some luster. Seeing that Gu Yu had brought him some wine, he took a couple of sips.

Gu Yu listened attentively and did not interrupt him. When she saw that he was tired, she asked, "Was the 100,000 taels of silver in the government office placed there by Xu Yunliang?"

"I don't know, because I didn't investigate him further afterward, but the only person who could produce so much silver at once was him and his group of salt merchants."

“Since that’s the case, and you’re already here, let’s bring Xu Yunliang in for questioning as well,” Gu Yu said. “Wei Cong, you need to understand that even if they want to investigate you for embezzlement, they can only suspect you. You can’t convict you of that crime.”

“They won’t torture you, but it will be different when the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner arrives. He was promoted by Sun Gu, and you said that the salt permits are related to the Ministry of Revenue. He definitely doesn’t want you to leave alive.”

“You can’t say anything related to smuggled salt. Xu Yunliang seized farmland, so use that as a pretext to talk about your affairs in terms of land.”

"He wasn't arrested for bribery, but for the farmland he seized from the people."