Fate with you

Meng Xiuyi handed Lin Tai over to the guards around her because he disliked the slow action of Dali Temple and the Ministry of Criminal Justice. He sent people in and tried them from left to right. It lasted ten days and a half months without any results. Show more.

Early the next morning, the two guards dragged the bruised Lin Tai back, and presented a confession that clearly stated how the state treasury was short of money.

Meng Xiuyi took it, looked at it again, a sneer appeared on the corner of her mouth, she handed the confession to Mai Rongen lightly and deftly, raised her hand to lift the twelve handles in front of the crown, and looked at lying on the ground like a dead person Lin Tai said, "Why bother to ask for trouble." There was not even a trace of dignity left.

Lin Tai was severely tortured, his snow-white tunic seemed to have been soaked in blood, it was red, with a disgusting smell of blood.Hearing the emperor's words, he lay there lifelessly as if he had never heard of it.

Meng Xiuyi waved his hand: "Send it to the Ministry of Punishment and dismiss him for investigation."

Sure enough, without being restrained by the government office, the guards began to torture and extract confessions very quickly.Although the Dali Temple of the Ministry of Justice is a government office inherited from the past dynasties, it is not a big mistake to use it like this all the time, but because it has its own set of regulations, it is too well-regulated, and it is unreliable at critical moments, not to mention that all courtiers always have their own plans , the verdict of the case may not be in line with her wishes.Maybe she should set up a guard army that only obeys the king's orders, and divide the duties of Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment.

The emperor secretly pondered whether this matter was feasible or not.

With such a big move yesterday, many ministers have heard that 500 million taels of silver disappeared from the treasury.

The silver stored in the national treasury is owned by the people of the world. For one year’s expenditure, or appropriating funds for road repairs, land reclamation and bridge building, or armaments and military salaries, to relieve victims of disasters, there must be accounts to check, and everything must be meticulous and rigorous. .

Now, a huge amount of treasury money has disappeared. It is so appalling that the direct teachers are furious!

As soon as the morning court came, the ministers impeached Lin Tai one after another.

The culprit must be investigated and dealt with first, and the problem must also be solved.

After Pei Bo'an's death, his henchmen were indeed not uprooted, but those who were deeply implicated could not escape.After this selective cleansing, the ministers became much better, and the emperor's prestige was far higher than before.

The ministers saw that the emperor sitting on a high place listened carefully, and got the news that His Majesty summoned Cui Yunji yesterday and had a secret conversation until late at night, so they knew what His Majesty was up to.After much deliberation, there is indeed nothing faster than the Yanzheng to get money.

The old man Ji looked at the faces of the ministers around him from below, and he knew that His Majesty must get his wish this time.Next, there will be a drastic change inwards and outwards, and everyone will be busy.

A look of sadness flashed across the old man's wrinkled face. His Majesty's life-long event has worried him for many years. He originally wanted to take advantage of this period of time to bring it up calmly and urge His Majesty. He is already a big man. The family has left a bloodline, who knows that such a big event will happen again, and I don't know when I will find a good time to mention it.

Meng Xiuyi was sitting on the imperial couch, as soon as he saw Old Man Ji's wrinkled old face, he knew that he was thinking about how to embarrass her again.Turning his eyes away, he called the names of several courtiers.

All the ministers unanimously took the initiative to bring up the matter of the Yantie official camp. It was blocked and delayed last time, and now it is time to pick it up again.The courtiers may have different political opinions or have high interests, and it is always necessary to have different signs in private.However, around the time of the founding of the country, Prime Minister Xie made a good start. Over the past few generations, the ministers fought for power and profit in private. Once it involved important court affairs, the ministers would put the important things first.If the imperial court is not good, they will not be much better if they are in it.

This time is different from the last time. The last time the salt and iron private sector was taken back, it was a choice or not, but this time it had to be done.

However, who to send and how to deal with the matter after going to benefit oneself is another dispute.

The noisy morning court has never been able to talk about anything in detail. What can really decide the world's major events is the small meeting in Jianzhang Palace after the dynasty is over.

Meng Xiuyi handed over Lin Tai's confession to Ji An, and asked him to investigate according to the above. Lin Tai is a second-rank minister after all, so he must know a lot.In this way, you can get twice the result with half the effort.

Ji Ang took it respectfully, read it carefully, put it in his sleeve, and said "Your Majesty is wise".

The next step is to discuss the specific matters of implementing the official camp.

It's autumn now, and Mu Sheng has passed the time between old and new in peace, and everyone inside and outside the Sheriff's Mansion is very docile.The rain this summer was not enough to drain the water, and the dam was newly built last winter. Mu Sheng only had to strengthen the corvee a little bit, and this summer passed smoothly.

"Your Majesty, the Huang family, the Zhao family, the Lin family, and the Liu family sent famous thorns this morning, and they intend to entertain you in the lotus garden at the end of the application tomorrow." Bo Lin took three bronzing famous thorns in his hand, and followed Mu Sheng Behind him, he walked and reported.

Mu Sheng pondered for a moment, these four are all salt merchants, and they suddenly hosted a banquet, could it be that the court has taken action?

Salt merchants have no rights, and to protect their wealth, they have to build a network of intertwined relationships. They have their own channels to know the news in the capital.Mu Sheng took the famous thorn and looked it over, and handed it back to Bo Lin: "Respond to the four residences, I agree."

The study was right in front of him, Bo Lin saw that he had nothing to report, so he didn't follow him in, and went to the veranda to order the servant girl to make tea to serve the mansion.

Mu Sheng walked to the desk, thought for a while, took out a piece of paper, picked up the brush, and was about to lick the ink into the inkstone, when he saw that the dark inkstone pool had dried up, he took a closer look, and there were a few white particles in the middle .

There are not many things, and the distribution is very scattered, so you can't see it without looking carefully.If you look closely, you can see that they are white and transparent, like the inferior colored glaze.Why is there such a thing in the inkstone pool?Mu Sheng was very puzzled, put the brush back on the pen holder, and dragged it over the inkstone to take a closer look.

The Sheriff's Mansion is related to the peace of the county, and has many secrets of its own. Since coming here, Mu Sheng has been extremely cautious. Why is there such an unknown thing in the study for no reason?She frowned and thought for a while, then lightly stroked with her finger, lifted it up, and got some on her fingertips.

Mu Sheng looked at it for a long time, then stuck out the tip of her pink tongue and licked it.

Salty?

Mu Sheng thought about it, her dark eyes dimmed a little bit. After a while, she pursed her mouth and called someone loudly: "Where did the water for grinding ink come from?"

It is her maids who serve in her study, and they also fetch the water.

The servant girl didn't even think about it, and said: "It must have been drilled from the well in the mansion..."

Mu Sheng held the inkstone, tilted her head to look over and over again, and shook her head: "No, if you think about it again, it's not like this after the ink dries up in the past."

"Your servant remembers." The servant girl really recalled it carefully, and said blushingly: "My lord, forgive me, this water is sea water. The kitchen sent fresh sea fish that day, and they were kept in wooden barrels. , The servant girl originally took the water that the lord used to study ink, so she scooped up a cup from the head."

She was afraid that Mu Sheng would blame her, so her voice became lower and lower: "The water is very clear, and the mansion is in a hurry to call the servant girl, so the servant girl took advantage of it..."

Mu Sheng's frowning eyebrows slowly relaxed, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

At this time-

"Your Majesty, the Holy Majesty issued an edict!"

Mu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes wide.

The inkstone in his hand slipped and fell to the ground, torn apart.

This is a secret edict, and it is the officials of the Ministry of Rites who came to announce the edict.

After the reading, the official put away the imperial edict written on the black brocade, smiled and stretched out his hand to support Mu Sheng, and said: "When the next official left Beijing, how many people did His Royal Highness King Qi and the former Lord Cui still have?" The adults who are familiar with salt matters are all ready to leave, and they will arrive in Lin'an in a few days."

Mu Sheng took the imperial edict, put it in his sleeves, cupped his hands and said: "Thank you for letting me know." She paused, puzzled, "It's just that I never thought that King Qi would be alarmed?"

This king of Qi is the first emperor, His Majesty's uncle. He resigned from his post a long time ago to enjoy the family life at home, and has not asked about court affairs for a long time.

The lord who announced the decree smiled when he heard the words, and said without any concealment: "I heard that I didn't intend to work on this person, but for the sake of safety, Your Majesty used his status as a highly respected and noble clan to dominate the battle."

Mu Sheng listened thoughtfully, and continued to exchange polite greetings: "Your Excellency has come from a long way, and I feel ashamed for not being well received by the officials. I hope that you will stay here overnight."

A group of people have been through hardships all the way, and now they can finally have a good night's rest, so they readily agreed.

That night, the Sheriff's Mansion arranged a banquet for several envoys.

Mu Sheng is not good at drinking, and the envoys will leave for Beijing early tomorrow morning, so it is not appropriate to let go of a banquet. This small banquet with exquisite warmth from Jiangnan is just right.

The rice is plump, soft and glutinous, the dishes are fresh, the rice wine is warm and mellow, and the cold soup is warm at night. Although there is no whole jar of fine wine to add to the fun, it can be said that the guests and hosts enjoy themselves.

When the banquet was over, Mu Sheng ordered his servants to send the envoys back to their rooms, while he walked slowly under the moonlight.

The rice wine is gentle and not intoxicating, but if you drink a little too much, you will inevitably get over it when you leave.Mu Sheng's cheeks were a little hot, she raised her hand to touch it, thinking that it has been five months since she left Beijing, and she seldom left home since she was a child, and now she is in a Jiangnan water town that is completely different from the heroic northern country, Mu Sheng felt a sense of loss for a moment .

She stretched out her hand to take out the edict from her sleeve, and unfolded it slowly under the moonlight, every word and every sentence, she had already heard someone read it once, but when she read it now, it was more profound thoughts.

This is written by His Majesty himself, the seemingly smooth strokes are a bit more leaked than when I saw them on the imperial case last time, and I am full of ambition.Presumably, most of the things she planned in her mind have already turned around.

It's good that she gets what she wants.

Mu Sheng curled up her lips and smiled, her eyes were tender, happy for her, as if she saw the peaceful and prosperous world that she had described in her words.The faint sadness just now somehow enveloped her whole heart, impenetrable, and made her eyes wet.

Early the next morning, after seeing off the officials who announced the decree, Mu Sheng got on the fast horse alone and ran to the seaside until the afternoon before returning to the mansion.When I came back, I was covered in mud and smelled of salty sea breeze.

All the people in the house were confused by the sudden abnormality of the Lord Fu Jun.

But Mu Sheng couldn't control them, bathed and washed, changed into casual clothes, and went to the banquet.