Yin Chengyu walked out of the door with a smile on his face.
He felt extremely happy when he thought that just one of his random movements could make Xue Shu breathe rapidly and uncontrollably.
In his previous life, Xue Shu was not so easy to control. He was good at endurance, and now that he was in power, his only weakness was gone. He was always immersed in the vortex created by the other party, while the instigator always had a calm face and his breathing was not even disordered.
After waking up, it is even more humiliating.
Now that he had the upper hand and the situation was reversed, he could make Xue Shu lose his mind with just a few words or a single action, which was like venting his anger.
As expected, once a person has a weakness, it is easy to take advantage of him.
Yin Chengyu happily ordered his men to prepare a car and left the government office to look for Xiao Tongguang.
While Xiao Tongguang was still finishing up at the city gate, all the pirates had been captured and taken to prison in batches. The five ships parked at the dock and the cargo on the shore were taken over and counted by Xiao Tongguang's men.
When Yin Chengyu arrived, Xiao Tongguang was circling around a few boxes, his face full of joy. When he saw him coming, he hurried over to greet him, his expression as eager as he could be.
"What did you receive that made Commander Xiao so happy?"
"Your Highness, come and see." Xiao Tongguang rubbed his hands and opened one of the boxes to show it. Even though he had already seen it before, when he saw the cold iron-gleaming muskets in the box, he couldn't help but take a breath: "They are all muskets, a total of ten boxes, about a thousand."
"From the West?" Yin Chengyu leaned over, picked up a gun and examined it carefully, and found that this bird gun was slightly different from the official bird gun of Dayan.
He picked up the musket, loaded the bullet and fired it skillfully, then leaned his face close to the butt of the gun, aimed at the big tree a hundred steps away through the crosshairs, and pulled the trigger.
The lead bullet shot out and hit the tree trunk accurately. The impact was so great that the sturdy tree shook slightly and leaves fell all over the ground.
"It has a faster firing rate than the bird gun made by the Armory Bureau, and is more powerful." Yin Chengyu said, "It's no wonder these pirates were so anxious to land, as they were able to get such a good thing."
The Dayan Arms Bureau also manufactured bird guns, but the manufacturing process of bird guns was complicated, and the gun barrels needed to be made of fine iron. Over the years, only the imperial guards in the palace were equipped with more than 10,000 of them. The armies outside the imperial guards only had a few scattered ones.
No wonder Xiao Tongguang was so excited.
"According to custom, the loot collected at sea can be distributed by the guards themselves." Xiao Tongguang rubbed his hands again and looked at Yin Chengyu expectantly: "Your Highness, how do you think this... should be divided?"
There are thousands of bird guns here, all of which are captured loot. If the prince hadn't been here, he would probably have taken the loot back to Guangning Guard on the spot.
Yin Chengyu glanced at him, and because he had helped a lot, he didn't keep him in suspense: "Commander Xiao, thank you for your hard work. Two hundred muskets are a thank you gift."
Xiao Tongguang hissed, feeling that it was a little too little.
Just as he was about to bargain, he heard Yin Chengyu say, "We have to deal with these five ships too..."
He quickly added: "Tianjinwei is located in the middle of Liaoning and Shandong, and there have been few wars. However, Guangningwei suffers huge losses in fighting pirates every year and is in need of warships."
Otherwise, why is it said that buying and selling without cost is the most profitable? This group of pirates is not large in scale, but their equipment is better than that of regular troops. In recent years, the treasury has been empty, and military spending has been cut again and again. Even a guard post in a strategic location like Guangningwei has to tighten its belt to make ends meet.
The three cargo ships were not important, but the two 500-ton warships were quite solid and could be used by the army, thus saving the cost of buying ships.
In comparison, the bird gun is not that important.
The two men reached a consensus and tacitly divided the stolen goods. The ship and the two hundred bird guns belonged to Xiao Tongguang, and the remaining bird guns and goods belonged to Yin Chengyu.
These stolen goods had no official way of being transported, so they did not need to be recorded in the accounts; they all went into Yin Chengyu's pocket.
Yin Chengyu was in a good mood. After calling Zhao Lin to collect the goods, he made an appointment with Xiao Tongguang, who was also in a good mood, to go back to the government office for a drink.
The next morning, Xiao Tongguang took his men and returned directly to Guangningwei on the collection ship.
Yin Chengyu saw him off, and after returning from the dock, he planned to stop by to see Xue Shu.
When they were halfway there, they saw Zheng Duobao hurriedly catching up with them, holding a letter in his hand. He gasped and said, "Your Highness, there is a letter from the capital, written by the Empress herself."
Receiving a letter at this time... Yin Chengyu's heart moved. He opened the letter, scanned it quickly, and a smile appeared on his face.
Queen Yu said in the letter that she had given birth safely on the third day of March, and just as Yin Chengyu had said, it was a boy.
After the three baptismal ceremonies, Emperor Longfeng bestowed the name Yin Chengqian on him.
Everything is different from the previous life.
The queen mother gave birth safely, and Yin Chengqian was born full-term. Both mother and child were safe and healthy.
When he returns to Beijing after reviewing the Tianjin Wei case, perhaps he will be able to attend Yin Chengqian's full-moon banquet.
After handing the letter to Zheng Duobao, Yin Chengyu smiled and said cheerfully, "The Empress is very happy. I will reward you."
Zheng Duobao said "eh" and his face was also full of joy.
He put away the letter and went downstairs to arrange the reward. When the master is happy, the servants will also benefit from it.
With double happiness coming, Yin Chengyu was in a very good mood. When he went to see Xue Shu, there was a smile in his eyes, and when he spoke to him, even his tone was softer than before.
On the contrary, Xue Shu was unable to relieve his irritation last night because Yin Chengyu had left. He had been unable to sleep all night. His eyes were dark blue, with bloodshot eyes, and he looked at Yin Chengyu with more eagerness than before.
Like a hungry beast staring at the prey hanging in a trap, it is eager to move, but has to restrain itself and observe etiquette due to the only remaining rationality.
He clenched and unclenched his hands at his side, clenched and unclenched them again, trying his best to suppress the urge to overstep the line. He stared at Yin Chengyu with his dark eyes, scanning him from head to toe over and over again.
Yin Chengyu knew this very well, but pretended not to notice it.
After finishing a cup of tea slowly, and feeling that Xue Shu would burn holes in his clothes if he continued to stare at him, she finally met his gaze and said with a quirk of her lips, "You've been staring at me for half a day. What do you see?"
"Your Highness is handsome." Xue Shu did not avoid his gaze and answered his question as frankly as always.
His frankness once again pleased Yin Chengyu.
——Xue Shu, who used to say weird and irritating things, now even said pleasing words.
Yin Chengyu leaned forward, closing the distance between them. He raised his eyebrows, and Xue Shu's shadow was reflected in his sparkling eyes. He deliberately lowered his voice with a bit of seductive hoarseness: "I want to ask you, what are you thinking when you look at me?"
He stretched out his hand, traced Xue Shu's eyebrows with his fingertips, and finally stopped at his chest and tapped lightly.
Xue Shu's eyes followed his jumping fingertips involuntarily, and his voice became deep and heavy due to tension: "Your Highness will be angry if I tell you."
Countless thoughts of rebellion and treason swirled in his heart and mind.
The bestiality that has been suppressed constantly attacks the shackles, trying to subvert reason.
"Tell me, I'll spare you this time." Yin Chengyu withdrew his hand, picked up the teacup and took a sip, narrowed his eyes comfortably, and only glanced at Xue Shu's movements with the rest of his eyes.
Xue Shu seemed to be hesitating. He was silent for a long time before he lowered his eyes and said, "I'm thinking about your hand."
All dark thoughts are blocked by drooping eyelashes.
He chose the most reliable answer.
Yin Chengyu was slightly stunned, and subconsciously looked at his hands. Then he remembered something and smiled.
He looked at Xue Shu meaningfully: "So you like this."
These words were spoken to Xue Shu, but not to him.
Xue Shu's answer happened to accidentally solve the doubts he had in his previous life.
In his previous life, Xue Shu was very keen on giving him jade rings and other small things, including red agate, purple jadeite, pigeon blood, all in strong and bright colors. He disliked Xue Shu's vulgar taste and never wore it once.
Later, Xue Shu asked him why he didn't wear it. He replied perfunctorily, "It's cumbersome to wear." Xue Shu didn't mention it again.
However, when she tortured him again later, she liked to stuff those rejected jade rings into his mouth and force him to hold them.
At that time he thought that Xue Shu had seen through his perfunctory attitude and was taking revenge on him out of anger and shame.
Now it seems that she was really angry out of shame, but it was not because of his perfunctory response, but because she was too embarrassed to ask him to wear it?
Yin Chengyu laughed suddenly and looked at Xue Shu with malice in his eyes.
No wonder there was such a big reaction yesterday.
"like?"
Yin Chengyu reached out and pinched his chin, then pressed his thumb on his lips, pressing lightly and heavily with his fingertips.
Xue Shu lowered his eyes. Because he was too close, he could only see a section of his snow-white wrist, with slightly raised joints, which looked delicate and beautiful.
Suddenly, there was an unbearable itching at the base of his teeth. Xue Shu tightened his jaw and swallowed hard twice. Finally, he could no longer bear it and bit the annoying finger.
There was a slight pain in the fingertips. Yin Chengyu was bitten unexpectedly. He pulled his hand back angrily and scolded, "It seems that I have been doting on you. How dare you talk back!"
Xue Shu said nothing and licked his lips silently.
Yin Chengyu became more and more angry when he saw this, but he couldn't treat the injured person lightly or severely, and he didn't know where to start the punishment. In the end, he just glared at him fiercely and walked out.
Xue Shu's eyes followed his back until he could no longer see him, then he withdrew his gaze.
He stared at the ceiling of the tent in silence for a while, reminiscing about the past. Then a guard outside the door came to report that Wei Xihe wanted to see him.
——Since the accounts of the Wei family were released, Wei Xihe came out into the open. Because the plan of alienation worked, the heads of the families were afraid that their accounts would be useless if they were submitted too late, so they all rushed to send their accounts over.
And Wei Xihe no longer needed to hide, he left the Wei family openly and joined the prince.
He was originally staying in Tianjin City. After hearing that Xue Shu was injured and needed to recuperate, he guessed that Xue Shu might need someone to do something for him, so he took the initiative to ask for a meeting.
Xue Shu sat up with his arms propped up and looked Wei Xihe over.
Wei Xihe was wearing a grey robe, with his hair tied up in a crown. His eyebrows and eyes were clear and handsome, but his eyes were full of hostility. This made him look very divided and inharmonious, but he had no intention of hiding it.
Xue Shu was quite satisfied with him.
If he wants to gain a firm foothold in the palace, he must cultivate confidants in the future. At present, Wei Xihe seems to be a good candidate.
"The hundreds of pirates we captured yesterday, as well as the pirate leader, are now in jail. You've come just in time, so go and interrogate them for me."
Wei Xihe accepted the request respectfully and told him about the situation in Tianjin: "Fang Yushi has already started to interrogate the salt merchants and the heads of the grain transport gang. Cao Feng and his gang have all been imprisoned."
He only mentioned it briefly, but Xue Shu already understood what he meant: "Ke Shouxin is no longer useful. Before he is convicted, just keep him alive and await trial. As for Wan Youliang and Guan Haishan, I will personally try them."
"Yes." Wei Xihe got the answer he wanted, and after listening to the instructions, he retreated.
Yin Chengyu and his party stayed in Dagukou for four or five days before returning to Tianjin with a group of prisoners.
According to the pirates' confessions, the evidence of General Guan Haishan's collusion with the pirates was confirmed, which added fuel to the trial of the smuggling case.
The head of the salt merchant's gang was used as a witness, and the private salt account was used as physical evidence. Wan Youliang and Guan Haishan finally confessed after being interrogated one after another, and more officials were implicated. No one in the Salt Commissioner's Office was spared, and even the governor of Hejian Prefecture was involved.
According to the smuggled salt accounts handed over by the salt merchants, the Changlu Salt Commissioner had incurred losses totaling 26 million taels of silver over the past decade from overissuing salt permits, withholding tax silver, and reselling smuggled salt.
This was more than five times higher than the five million taels that the Ministry of Revenue had initially calculated when checking the accounts!
As the amount of deficit was too large, Fang Zhengke did not dare to act on his own. He wrote a memorial and ordered someone to send it back to the capital by express horse, waiting for Emperor Longfeng to make a decision.
It is said that when Emperor Longfeng saw the empty account, he was so angry that he smashed a set of blue and white porcelain. He then drafted an imperial edict, appointing Fang Zhengke as an imperial minister to supervise the case.
All officials involved were dismissed from their posts, their property confiscated, and executed.
For a time, nine out of ten offices in Tianjin were empty, and the prisons were overcrowded.
"A Changluo salt field has bred so many woodworms." Yin Chengyu frowned and sighed as he looked at the accounts presented by Fang Zhengke.
Fang Zhengke also shared the same sentiment: "If the Changlu Salt Field is so corrupt, the other salt commissions are probably the same..."
He hadn't finished speaking, but Yin Chengyu understood his concerns.
"Step by step." Yin Chengyu took the account book, picked up a pen and wrote out a list, and said to Fang Zhengke: "Tomorrow I will have people search every house, and the silver they find will be able to make up for the loss."
Fang Zhengke came to see him for this very reason, so he bowed to him and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your consideration."
Although he can investigate cases, raiding houses is not his strong point.
This time the prince travelled with 540 soldiers from the guard camp. These soldiers were trained by eunuchs and were best at confiscating property, so he came specifically to ask for help.
After seeing Fang Zhengke off, Yin Chengyu called Wei Xihe over and handed him the list: "Xue Shu still needs to rest, so I'll leave this matter to you."
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