Song Chun received news from Liu Xia that Tao Qingyu not only ordered people to abduct and sell prostitutes and powerless girls from good families, but also took advantage of the fact that Taoist priests in Taoist temples were practicing in various places to sell illegal salt.
In the Dayan Dynasty, salt was controlled by the imperial court, and only a few imperial merchants were allowed to sell it. The rest were produced and sold only by departments exclusive to the imperial court.
"How audacious!" Lu Zhixing shook his head. "If you leak this information to the Ministry of Revenue, they won't let Tao Qingyu off."
Because of factional struggles, the court was in chaos. Not only was the Ministry of Rites corrupt, but the Ministry of Revenue was also corrupt. It would be strange if the Ministry of Revenue was not anxious when its own interests were divided by others.
"Bang--"
Minister of Revenue Wang Zhili slammed the table fiercely, "That Tao Qingyu is truly audacious! He even dares to get involved in illegal salt?!"
"According to the information I've received, Tao Qingyu is trafficking in massive quantities of illicit salt, to the point of rampant activity." The Minister of Revenue nodded. "No wonder it's become increasingly difficult for the Ministry of Revenue to collect salt taxes in recent years. It turns out he's behind this!"
"This matter must be reported to the Eastern Palace immediately." After Wang Zhili slammed the table, he remembered that the prince was working to deal with Tao Qingyu. If this news was delivered now, Tao Qingyu would never have a chance to turn things around!
As expected, as soon as the news was reported to the Eastern Palace, the prince immediately entered the palace. Less than a quarter of an hour after he met with the emperor, the decree of the Ministry of Rites came out.
Tao Qingyu somehow managed to escape to Lu Zhichen's residence. As soon as he saw Lu Zhichen, he fell to his knees and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness! Please save me, this old minister!"
Lu Zhichen sat firmly in his chair, looking at him gravely, "Minister Tao, if you were just lustful, it would be fine, but how dare you get involved in illegal salt?"
Upon hearing this, Tao Qingyu was dumbfounded. Lu Zhichen had tacitly approved his illegal salt trafficking, and he had taken the lion's share! He was about to open his mouth to explain himself, but was interrupted by Lu Zhichen.
"Minister Tao, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say anything you want. You'd better think it through before you speak."
Tao Qingyu knew exactly what kind of person Lu Zhichen was. He looked at Lu Zhichen in despair, and finally thought of something. He crawled over and begged, "Your Highness, considering that I have been loyal to you for so many years, can you please spare my son's life?"
"Minister Tao, the court has its own laws, and I don't have the final say." Lu Zhichen looked at him coldly, unmoved.
If it weren't for the Lin family and my help, how could such a fool have sat on the position of Minister of Rites? And now that the imperial decree has come down, he still ran to me, which is simply stupid.
"Your Highness! Your Highness, you can't do this! I'm doing all this just for..." Before Tao Qingyu could finish his words, the guards behind Lu Zhichen put a knife to his neck.
The icy cold blade was pressed against his skin, and Tao Qingyu suddenly woke up. He looked at Lu Zhichen with a pale face.
Lu Zhichen bent down, the viciousness in his eyes almost overflowing, "Minister Tao, didn't I remind you? There are some things you can't say carelessly. Even if you don't have a son, you still have a daughter. You have to think about her carefully."
Tao Qingyu's legitimate daughter is Lu Zhichen's concubine, and she was just found out to be pregnant at the beginning of this year.
He was indeed lustful, but he loved his children very much. When Lu Zhichen mentioned his daughter, he could no longer speak and was dragged away.
Soon, more than a dozen officials from the Ministry of Rites, including Tao Qingyu, had their homes confiscated, were imprisoned, or executed or exiled.
Song Yushu stood on a high building, watching the prisoners in heavy shackles parading through the streets. "How glorious it was in the early years, how embarrassing it is now."
"If they weren't so greedy, they wouldn't have ended up like this." Liu Xia snorted. "From the information we have, the money they embezzled could fill the national treasury. Master, please don't sympathize with them."
She had no sympathy, as it was all her own fault. Furthermore, no one could rest easy forever in this quagmire of factional strife. "Now that this matter is settled, we should proceed to the Marquis of Wuyang."
The Marquis of Wuyang is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War and has a deep interest connection with the Minister of War, who is in turn the prince's man.
Song Yushu and Lu Zhixing had discussed that since the Crown Prince and Prince Yu were fighting each other, they could take advantage of this momentum and slowly dissipate the power of both sides.
By the time they were able to react, Lu Zhixing's power had become too powerful to be underestimated and there was no way to shake it. Now they could only do it in secret.
"Master, rest assured. The evidence slaves from Marquis Wuyang have already sent people to collect it. I believe there will be a reply soon." Liu Xia nodded. "The situation in the capital has been set up. We are just waiting for Marquis Wuyang's illegitimate son in Kyoto to step in."
"How confident are you?" Song Yushu frowned slightly. According to previous intelligence, although Wuyang Marquis's illegitimate son in Kyoto was a gambler, he was a thoughtful person and not a stupid or reckless person.
"Five points." Liu Xia thought for a moment and reported the level cautiously.
"That depends on luck, and luck is the most unreliable thing." Song Yushu pondered for a moment, "Just keep an eye on him first, don't act rashly."
"Yes, Master."
After leaving Liu Xia, Song Yushu brought Song Chun to Wenchang Tower. Hu Luyi received the news and flew out happily.
"Brother Song! How long has it been since you came to Wenchang Building?!"
After not seeing each other for a long time, Hu Lvyi had grown taller and was almost as tall as Song Yushu. Song Yushu looked at her expectant eyes and patted her head. "There's been a lot going on lately. Are you taking good care of Wenchang Building?"
"Of course, Wenchang Tower now has an extremely high reputation among scholars!" Hu Luyi raised her head proudly.
"Amazing." Song Yushu gave a thumbs up, "But if you can accomplish the next thing, it will be even more amazing."
"What's the matter?" Hu Luyi became even more excited when she heard what Song Yushu said. She was a person who never minded getting involved and wanted to join in any excitement.
"I heard that the son of Marquis Wuyang is good friends with your brother?" Song Yushu asked Hu Luyi to sit down and listen to him slowly.
When talking about her adopted brother, Hu Luyi's face turned unhappy. She was born to the concubine of the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture and could not be included in the family tree.
She lived outside with her mother, and the Jingzhao prefect never asked about her life or death. It was only recently that the Jingzhao prefect's legitimate daughter ran away from her marriage, and she was then taken back home.
I have seen him in the mansion, so I have also seen my cheap brother a few times.
"It seems to be going well. Several times when I returned home, I would hear that the boy came to the mansion to look for my cheap brother." Hu Luyi thought carefully, she glanced at Song Yushu's face, and asked cautiously, "Brother Song, did my cheap brother offend you?"
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