97. Chapter 97
"none"
After counting only one of Wang Jinchang's warehouses, the amount of salt inside was found to be wrong, far higher than the amount that should have been in the account book.
Cao Yin stood aside with a gloomy expression, his emotions swirling. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to address corruption in the salt industry in Lianghuai for years, but in many cases, he had no control over it. The implications were too wide, and a single misstep could lead to irreparable consequences.
As a result, he also stepped into it and could no longer distance himself from it.
It was a warm spring day, but Wang Jinchang felt no warmth at all. The sun shone down on him, and his vision was hazy, with flashes of white light.
In my buzzing mind, only one sentence kept repeating: The Wang family is finished today!
Chen Jinwen wiped the sweat from his forehead, gave a few instructions to his confidants, and quietly retreated.
Seeing that the situation was not right, several other major salt merchants took the opportunity to leave.
Qi You saw their actions and looked away.
He should be able to recover the unpaid taxes.
The officialdom in Yangzhou and even in Lianghuai will soon be cleaned up.
Qi You sat there and watched for a while, then called Cao Yin over and asked, "Are you done watching?"
The high-end rattan chair had to be brought over. Cao Yin dared not sit there again. He stood there with his mouth hunched, a bitter taste spreading through his mouth as if he had eaten too much snowflake salt. "This is my negligence. Please punish me, Your Highness."
"Let's deal with it according to the law." Qi You said nothing more, and nodded towards Wang Jinchang, "Remember, collect the outstanding taxes first."
Cao Yin glanced at Wang Jinchang and muffled his response, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will put the Wang family's tax arrears aside for now."
Qi You hummed and asked, "Is Jiang Ning still short of salt?"
Cao Yin was stunned for a moment, his head lowered even lower, and said, "I understand. I will deal with this matter as soon as I return. But Your Highness, Lord Ashan is the Governor-General of Liangjiang, and this matter still requires his intervention. I cannot interfere in his responsibilities."
Qi You smiled and said nothing: "Just do your own job first."
Cao Yin did not forget to drag Ashan into the water and eliminate his dissidents. Qi You admired him for his quick reaction, ability to seize opportunities and recognize the timing.
As for Ah Shan, Qi You sneered. He really wasn't up to the job of a provincial governor. It was hard to tell whether a confused bastard or a corrupt official was more lethal.
As Kangxi's confidant, if Ashan did not rebel against the court, nothing serious would happen. If they wanted to capture Ashan, they had to wait a little longer and have enough evidence to prove his guilt.
Seeing Qi You didn't respond, Cao Yin had no choice but to order his followers in a deep voice, "Capture Wang Qichang!"
Wang Qichang came to his senses, stumbled over to Qi You, knelt on the ground, and wailed, "Your Majesty, I am innocent!"
Qi You's expression was calm, and he asked in a good-tempered manner, "How have you been wronged? Can you explain where this extra salt came from?"
Wang Qichang choked, his mind racing. To clear himself, he desperately shouted, "Your Highness, please be clear. I was forced into this! Selling official salt doesn't make much money. I have to pay taxes to the court and bribe the officials. Otherwise, this shop would be raided every few days, and I wouldn't be able to continue this business. The officials advised me to sell other types of salt, which wouldn't count as official salt. I didn't dare disobey, and in the end, all the money I earned was taken away by the officials. It's not the people who fight the officials. I'm just an honest businessman. Please be clear-headed, Your Highness!"
Cao Yin was both angry and shocked when he heard Wang Qichang's half-truthful cry of injustice. But since Qi You hadn't spoken, he didn't dare to act without authorization, as it would have made him appear guilty. He stopped Wang Qichang from filing a complaint.
Qi You smiled and listened attentively. He turned to look at Cao Yin and said, "What Wang Qichang said makes some sense. What do you think?"
Cao Yin suppressed his panic and replied, "Your Highness, merchants are cunning, and Wang Qichang is even worse. The evidence is before us, yet he still dares to cry out and sophistry. His words are completely false, so how can we believe them so easily?"
Qi You nodded, "You are right. The husband has his own reasons, and the wife has her own reasons. It's really a confusing account."
Cao Yin's heart had just relaxed slightly when Qi You looked him up and down and said calmly, "There's something I don't understand. Over the years, illegal salt has been rampant in Lianghuai, causing deficits in the national treasury. Although the government has arrested a few illegal salt dealers, it still hasn't solved the problem. This shows that these illegal salt dealers are really well hidden."
His heart, which had just begun to relax, suddenly rose again. Cao Yin stood there, his legs starting to feel weak.
Qi You said indifferently, "Wang Qichang's explanation is not without reason. You should investigate it carefully.
Qi You's words clearly pointed out the collusion between the salt merchants and the government. Cao Yin could no longer ignore it and pretend to be stupid. His shoulders slumped, his back dripping with sweat, and he replied dejectedly.
Qi You stared at Cao Yin with a serious look. His voice was neither too loud nor too low, but suddenly it became a little colder as he said, "Keep an eye on Wang Qichang. If he dies inexplicably, he won't die without evidence, but he will only have one more charge of murder!"
When Cao Yin heard the clear voice, his temples throbbed and he felt terrified.
Wang Qichang died, as did other salt merchants and the people in Yangzhou City who bought salt. They could all testify.
Cao Yin forced himself to bow and agreed. He looked at Wang Qichang, who was lying on the ground. He gritted his teeth, waved his hand, and shouted sternly, "Take him away!"
The surroundings became much quieter. Qi You looked at the bright sun in the sky, thought for a while, and gave Li Guangdi some instructions. He asked the guards to bring some salt to the City God Temple, and then returned to the post station to wait.
Cao Yin, on the other hand, was quite clever, and he frequently sent messengers to report back to Qi You. According to the law, Wang Jinchang had been arrested and brought to justice, his property counted, and he had initially sent cash to pay the tax.
Qi You knew that Cao Yin was impatient to send the silver, and that his pride had been hit and he was very angry.
The Imperial Household Department was usually responsible for the confiscation of property, and all the seized wealth went into Kangxi's personal pocket.
Qi You didn't take Cao Yin's little thoughts to heart at all, and he was never afraid of him.
The salt tax in Lianghuai originally belonged to the Ministry of Revenue. Even if Kangxi knew about it, he would have been too embarrassed to argue with the Ministry for the money. If he wanted to argue, he would have had to consider the reaction of the officials who were waiting for salary increases.
Seeing that the timing was not right, the officials of the Yangzhou government office seemed to come alive and rushed to the post station to ask to see Qi You.
Qi You ignored them all. In the evening, Li Guangdi came back, accompanied by Chen Jinwen and others.
Qi You sat in his usual spot in the lobby. Li Guangdi, still in high spirits after a busy day, happily stepped forward to report, "Your Highness, Chen Jinwen and his men have come to pay their outstanding taxes."
"You managed to raise the money so quickly?" Qi You asked with a smile, looking up at Chen Jinwen and the others waiting by the door. "It's so late now, let's collect it tomorrow. We have to collect the money openly and in broad daylight."
Li Guangdi smiled and said yes, "There's nothing hidden about the imperial court collecting taxes. We have to collect them publicly so that those working in secret can open their eyes and see clearly!"
Qi You pointed to the door and said, "Since they are here, let them come in and have a cup of tea. A cunning rabbit has three burrows. They must have other warehouses, so we don't have to go through the trouble of searching them."
At the City God Temple, the salt from Wang Jinchang's warehouse was transported there, but it was still sold out early.
Li Guangdi was worrying about how to open the store tomorrow. When he heard Qi You mention it, his eyes suddenly lit up and he quickly called a few people into the house.
Chen Jinwen and others did not dare to sit at the same table with Qi You, so they asked the waiter to put a lower table next to them, sat aside, and took turns to go forward and reply to Qi You and Li Guangdi.
Qi You explained the situation of selling salt and said frankly, "The salt is almost sold out. There will be no salt to sell tomorrow."
Chen Jinwen was stunned for a moment, then his eyes rolled around, his face filled with smiles. He nodded and said, "Your Highness, I've calculated that the City God Temple has sold two days' worth of salt. The remaining salt will be enough to last for another three to five days, so that the villagers can buy salt. I'll try my best to collect enough salt to sell for these three to five days."
When Li Guangdi heard this, he subconsciously looked at Qi You and couldn't help but admire his ability to foresee the future.
Qi You smiled and drank his tea without saying a word.
As long as the person is alive and the family is there, there will be a day when he will make a comeback.
If my house was raided like Wang Jinchang's, everything would be over.
When Chen Jin heard that Qi You did not respond, he did not dare to bargain anymore and was only concerned about saving the Chen family.
With a determined heart, Chen Jinwen wiped out the three cents per pound he was planning to charge and said, "Your Majesty, I am from Yangzhou and would like to do some good deeds for the elders of my hometown. Please grant me your favor."
Seeing this, the others hurried forward to express their opinions. Qi You also just hummed, without making any comments, and said, "Come early tomorrow to pay the outstanding taxes. We can discuss the rest later."
Chen Jinwen and others were unsure of Qi You's attitude and felt uneasy. After drinking a cup of tea, they said goodbye.
Li Guangdi watched the figures hurriedly leaving, pondered for a moment, and whispered: "Your Highness, over at the salt field..."
Qi You looked up at Li Guangdi and said, "We will deal with this matter after Cao Yin is done. On our side, first, we put the people first, second, we focus on taxation, and third, after the situation is clear, we will revise the salt tax and reissue salt tickets."
The Cao and Li families in Jiangnan cannot be said to be omnipotent, but at least they can call the wind and rain.
According to Kangxi's consistent attitude, Lian Ashan could sit firmly on the position of governor. As long as the Cao and Li families did not rebel, they would probably be reprimanded in the end.
Letting Cao Yin take action would be like letting them fight among themselves. After this incident, the Cao and Li families in Jiangnan would surely make countless enemies and suffer a heavy blow to their vitality.
Li Guangdi thought it would be best if he could avoid the danger inside. He secretly congratulated himself and said, "Your Highness is right. We just need to collect the silver. After receiving the tax silver, we need to mint it into official silver. Who should bear the cost of the fire?"
Official silver has a standard style, and the broken silver received must be melted and recast, and the loss caused by this is called fire loss.
Because of the problems caused by fire consumption, countless problems arose in order for local governments to confront the imperial court.
Officials would certainly not bear the cost, so all the fire consumption would be passed on to the people.
Qi You pondered for a moment and said, "Just send it back to the capital as it is. The official silver will eventually be spent and chopped off. One tael of official silver and one tael of broken silver are both one tael of silver. There's no need to make any more complications. We received countless copper coins from selling salt this time. There's no need to exchange them. If we exchange them back and forth, there's still a difference."
One tael of silver was worth one thousand copper coins, but the amount of silver that could be exchanged for one thousand copper coins on the market ranged from eight to nine cents, and there was no standard rule.
Seeing Li Guangdi stunned, Qi You patiently explained, "Whether it's copper coins or silver, they're just money. Take the old barter as an example. One roll of Songjiang fine cloth can be exchanged for one dan of rice. One dan of rice can be exchanged for half a roll of silk. One roll of silk can be exchanged for three rolls of Songjiang fine cloth. According to normal calculations, one roll of silk should be exchanged for two rolls of Songjiang fine cloth. Whether exchanging copper coins for silver or casting silver into official silver, the loss in between is the same as the loss of a roll of Songjiang fine cloth. It's completely unnecessary loss. Silver is considered whole money, while copper coins are change. Exchange change for whole, or whole for change, and it should be considered an equal exchange."
The local areas had been suffering from the problem of fire consumption for a long time. He had previously had the idea of taking credit for the fire consumption, but when he mentioned this to Kangxi, his idea was quickly rejected.
The imperial court was also short of money, and Kangxi did not agree, nor could he afford the difference.
Now that Qi You said this, Li Guangdi suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly.
Official silver was used to facilitate tax calculations and control the quality of the silver. In addition, silver ingots engraved with the words "official silver" were used for disaster relief and other purposes to prevent corruption among officials.
The desire to eliminate official corruption was merely wishful thinking on the part of the imperial court. It was as simple as scraping off the inscription "official silver" from the silver and recasting it so that no one could recognize it.
On the contrary, the problems caused by the annual fire consumption deficit and the increased taxes levied on the people are much more serious than the corruption of officials.
Li Guangdi said with great emotion: "If we can take this opportunity to solve the fire consumption problem, it will be a great blessing!"
Seeing that Li Guangdi failed to fully grasp his meaning, Qi You did not elaborate further as the matter, although simple, was too sensitive.
Silver is different from copper coins. Silver has always been a hard currency with stable value.
Copper coins are different. Some emperors would mint their own copper coins after ascending the throne, such as Kangxi Tongbao.
Once the dynasty changed, the copper coins of the previous dynasty would be either discarded and unusable, or their value would be greatly depreciated due to the change of emperor.
After accumulating some copper coins, ordinary people would go to a bank to exchange them for silver, thus keeping hard currency on hand to counter the instability of the copper coin value.
The monetary risks caused by the court and the emperor's indiscriminate minting of copper coins were all borne by the people.
If the imperial court held a large amount of copper coins, they would consider the losses that would result from re-minting the coins.
Qi You's move was intended to curb the court's chaotic politics of killing but not burying people.
It not only stabilized the prices of silver and copper, but also protected the little spare money in the hands of the poor people.
When the silver was transported back to the capital, Kangxi wanted to mint it into official silver. The Ministry of Revenue had to bear the loss with gritted teeth and would not pass it on to local governments or the people.
Whether to re-mint official silver and bear the cost of this fire consumption depended entirely on Kangxi's willingness to do so. He would also ponder how the local governments had actually managed to balance the fire consumption issue.
Li Guangdi thought of Ashan, whom Cao Yin had mentioned. He was still a little worried, and said anxiously, "Your Highness, it will be very difficult for Cao Yin to apprehend the officials at the salt field. Based on their tactics, I suspect they'll bring in someone irrelevant to take the blame. We still lack evidence to truly convict them!"
Qi You was calm and composed, and comforted him, "It's okay, don't worry."
Seeing Qi You's confidence, Li Guangdi, though skeptical, ultimately didn't ask any more questions. Thinking of Cao Yin's appearance during the day, he said with mixed feelings, "Cao Yin was a man of extraordinary learning. Not only was he a master of poetry, he also wrote all the Cao family plays himself. Everyone praised him, saying he was kind and generous, with a house full of guests and a great reputation among scholars. Alas, now..."
Qi You smiled faintly and said, "Master Li, if you possess supreme power and countless silver, you can become the most elegant person in the Qing Dynasty."
Without power, you can't make money, and even if you do make money, you won't be able to keep it like the salt merchants. It's okay to have a good reputation, just take a gamble.
It is not easy to be elegant. Elegance requires money, and one must spend money in a way that only others who are also elegant can see it. This is not elegance at all, but a mountain of gold and silver.
After Li Guangdi figured it out, he shook his head, laughed, and said, "I'm a person who always likes to overthink things. I've overthink things. Your Majesty is really capable. Many people have been caught up in this mess in the Huai River and Liang River regions. Your Majesty will sort it out in a short time."
Qi You smiled faintly and said nothing.
It’s not that he is powerful, but that he is open and honest and has no scruples.
The imperial court was never short of intelligent and capable people. For example, the Ninth Prince and his men, being able to extend their hands to the salt tax was also a great skill.
Li Guangdi, Soetu, Cao Yin and others were all first-rate intelligent people.
But they are different. They are afraid to act rashly, are factional, take sides, are involved in many matters, and act hesitantly.
Being in it, you have no choice but to consider various things, and your mind is too complicated, so you can't do things well.
After dinner, they drank tea and discussed for a while. Qi You considered that Li Guangdi was tired after a day, so they all went back to their rooms to rest.
After washing up, Qi You sat at the table, looking at the paper in front of him filled with the names of officials. He took a fine pen and connected the names of the officials one by one.
In the end, the paper became a dense spider web, and the final line all pointed to Kangxi.
Qi You looked at it expressionlessly for a while, and finally laughed himself to death. He crumpled up the paper and threw it into the brazier to burn it.
As the fire started, Degao knocked softly on the door and entered the house with ease. He took out a wax-sealed oil-paper package and whispered, "Your Highness, Chen Jinwen sent someone to bring this to me while I was outside."
Qi You raised his eyebrows, De Gao retreated, closed the door and stood guard outside.
After scraping off the wax seal and opening the oil-paper package, Qi You found account books inside. He flipped through them and a genuine joy appeared on his face.
Finally here!
The author has something to say:
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-12-06 23:43:29 and 2022-12-07 23:37:31~
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 50 bottles of Huaixu Shier; 40 bottles of Lanlan; 35 bottles of Nightmare Master; 26 bottles of Zhaocai Na; 25 bottles of Y; 10 bottles of Huhu and Tiantian Tiantian; 4 bottles of Yuri; 1 bottle of Lu Xiaomei Qinglian, Balala La, Tianzhou Zhou, and Haloxylon ammodendron;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
