xymnovel Chapter 155 Chaos
Chapter 155 Chaos
On the afternoon of the second day of the eleventh lunar month, Xiao Xiang, the patrol inspector of Shiqiao (now Huashi Town, Jiangyin), led several archers to the Zhao family compound in his hometown and invited Zhao Yangui out to go to the prefecture together.
The matter was urgent, so the two of them did not delay.
Xiao Xiang rode a mule, while Zhao Yangui rode a fine horse. They traveled through the night and arrived at the granary next to the Confucian Temple on the morning of the third day.
This once empty granary was now filled with people.
There was no other way; too many people had been arrested, and the state government's prison was already overcrowded and couldn't hold them all. So, this place was used to detain the criminals. Judge Ma Yuanchong, representing Prefect Zhang Yang, personally oversaw the interrogations at the Junzi Hall of the Confucian Temple, working day and night.
Zhao Yangui, being of some status, was not imprisoned in the granary with ordinary diners and ruffians. Instead, he was invited to the Gentleman's Hall to await questioning. Zhao Yangui claimed that his ancestor was Zhao Shipeng, the military commander of Jiangyin Army during the Song Dynasty, who was a descendant of Emperor Taizong of Song. To be honest, this was quite suspicious. However, Zhao Yangui's grandparents were already very wealthy, so they were certainly not ordinary people.
"Wang Zongsan, stop beating around the bush. Tell me, where did you go on the night of October 30th?" The stern question from Judge Ma Yuanchong echoed in the main hall. Zhao Yangui's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously took two steps closer, listening silently.
The guards at the gate ignored him and even smiled at him.
Compared to people like Zhu Ding, Wang Zongsan, and Chen Xianwu, Zhao Yangui was much more tactful in his dealings with others. Even trainee clerks or lowly runners in the yamen could occasionally get benefits from him—not necessarily much, but much better than vicious people like Zhu, Wang, and Chen. After all, people are judged by comparison.
"I was drinking at home that day," Wang Zongsan said gruffly. "I didn't go out."
"Did you have a grudge against Zhu Ding before?"
"That's all ancient history, why bring it up? I don't even remember it myself. Judge Ma, let's go for a drink later, I'm inviting a few singing and dancing bitches." "You bastard!" Ma Yuanchong shouted.
"Okay, okay, okay. I won't say anymore."
Zhao Yangui listened outside with a blank expression.
It's not surprising that there were indeed conflicts between Wang Zongsan and Zhu Ding. They were both smugglers of salt in Jiangyin, so how could they not have some grudges after all these years? But as Wang Zongsan said, these were all old, trivial matters. At least in the past year, Wang and Zhu had a close relationship and even joined forces against the Zhao family.
Wang Zongsan has no reason to ambush and kill Zhu Ding, at least not now.
"Have you been doing business with Zhu Dingqi lately?" Ma Yuanchong continued to ask.
"You don't think I killed Zhu Ding, do you?" Wang Zongsan protested. "To be honest, we're related in some roundabout way. It's not that simple, it's really not that simple."
"You can refuse to speak," Ma Yuanchong sneered, "but I'll make your men talk. Guards!"
"Oh, no, no, you mustn't!" Wang Zongsan hurriedly pleaded.
Ma Yuanchong ignored him completely and quickly sent people to interrogate Wang Zongsan's core followers.
Zhao Yangui's brows gradually furrowed.
Although he did hate Zhu Ding and Wang Zongsan, he still felt a little uncomfortable seeing that the government didn't take them seriously at all, ordering them around at will and even interrogating them with torture.
In fact, when Shiqiao Inspector Xiao Xiang brought his archers to the door yesterday, he was tempted to take action.
A local tycoon like him, who always keeps his word, would be a hundred times unwilling to cooperate with the authorities in a trial. There's no other reason than that a tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs; once he's in jail, things will be out of his control.
However, Zhao Yangui ultimately refused to fall out with the government. After making his final arrangements, he followed Xiao Xiang. It wasn't that he couldn't defeat the people at the Shiqiao Patrol Office; in fact, if he really wanted to, he could have demolished the Shiqiao Patrol Office itself, but he had to consider the consequences.
If Wang Zongsan had gathered his accomplices and coerced his hangers-on and hooligans, he could have easily amassed a force of several dozen men and attacked the patrol office with his own. The problem was that he dared not do so.
In their eyes, smuggling salt was nothing more than seeking wealth; rebellion was neither necessary nor desirable. Although the Yuan Dynasty appeared somewhat complacent and indolent, once it got serious, it would mobilize a large army to suppress them, even at the cost of heavy casualties, to crush a traitor like you who dared to take the lead. Wouldn't that be a great injustice? "Think carefully about what other illegal things you've done, and whether you should do them," Ma Yuanchong's voice rang out again.
Zhao Yangui cursed inwardly upon hearing this, but he still gave Wang Zongsan a heads-up, telling him to behave himself for now and stop selling smuggled salt and salted fish. He should wait until things calmed down before doing anything else.
This Wang Zongsan, who usually appears to be extremely rough and boorish, is actually quite cunning and has an inexplicable and complicated relationship with the government.
Ma Yuanchong spoke with Wang Zongsan for a while longer before letting him leave.
When the latter came out of the main room and saw Zhao Yangui, his eyes narrowed.
Zhao Yangui raised his head and looked at the other person quietly.
Just then, a minor official rushed over and reported, "My lord, Chen Xianwu refuses to come and has even captured the archer from the patrol office who came to our door."
"Bang!" Ma Yuanchong slammed his hand on the table, abruptly stood up, and roared, "Fine, very well! Since he wants to die, let him have his way!" With that, he immediately began drafting warrants, ordering the prefectural governor, the ward chief, and all the patrol offices to gather archers and able-bodied men to arrest Chen Xianwu. Wang Zongsan and Zhao Yangui exchanged a glance, having already given up any further attempts to retaliate.
Chen Xianwu was truly unwise; resisting the government at this critical juncture could easily backfire. If he continued down this path, he would be in danger when the government decided to abandon the investigation and simply arrest someone to cover their tracks.
Of course, Chen Xianwu may have had other reasons, fearing that the authorities would find out, so he had something to hide and dared not show his face.
There are actually more than one person like him.
As soon as Zhao Yangui arrived in the city, he heard from a familiar official that a group of salt merchants from Tongzhou had been blocked on the road because the government had increased its search efforts. The two sides fought on the spot, and the government troops were defeated. Five officers from the Chengjiang Patrol Office were killed and more than ten were injured.
Knowing he had caused trouble, the Tongzhou peddler abandoned the salt and fled on the spot.
The prefect personally went to request the Jiangyin Hupu Wanhu Prefecture to dispatch troops to encircle and suppress the enemy, but the outcome is still unknown.
These are truly turbulent times.
Zhao Yangui sighed inwardly, but at the same time felt a little excited: if the imperial court cracked down on these out-of-town salt merchants, it would also benefit his business. He just didn't know if he could crack them down on them.
After an unknown amount of time, Judge Ma Yuanchong composed himself and ordered the bailiffs to bring Zhao Yangui in for further questioning.
News of the government's widespread torture and interrogation throughout Jiangyin Prefecture quickly reached Yunting City.
"Shao Shuyi runs really fast!" Liu Xing exclaimed in amazement.
Wrapped in a fur coat, Liu Ming frowned in deep thought: "If things continue like this, won't it backfire and bring disaster upon us?"
"The fish and salt are sold out, what's there to be afraid of?" Liu Xing grinned and said, "Taking care of these people one by one, and then cracking down on the Tongzhou smugglers who cross the river to sell salt, isn't a bad thing. After everything settles down, Sister can open the door and sell fish and salt without worrying about others stealing business. Isn't that wonderful?" Liu Ming was too lazy to talk to his third brother anymore, and turned to Madam Liu, asking, "Sister, how is Zhu Daocun doing?"
Standing at the window, looking at the bustling market outside, Liu said after a long while, "It should be alright now. I heard from Madam Fei yesterday that the woman from Zhenzhou has changed her story. Now we need to find a way to get the Guabu Inspector to drop the matter. Zhu has quite a few connections in Yangzhou Road, so he should be able to turn a big problem into a small one, and a small one into nothing. However, quite a few people have already found out about this matter. In a few months, I'm afraid the whole city will know. Zhu Daocun will lose face and his life won't be easy either."
"As long as I haven't lost my job, that's fine." Liu Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
The officials in the government office aren't fools; without cover, they'd come and raid our premises.
However, if Zhu Daocun were still in office, he could simply say at a crucial moment that they were selling salted fish, not salt, and that salted food was permitted to be sold in the Ji Xiu case (1279), the Zhang Qing Er case (1303), and the Lin Xun case (1319). In that case, salted food was clearly permitted to be sold, so there would be no problem. There would be no need for them to offend the assistant prefect who was the prefect's assistant.
"Sister, did Madam Fei just let Zhu Daocun off so easily?" Liu Xing seemed more interested in gossip than anything else, asking with a grin. Madam Liu shook her head and said, "You two go to Xiapu tomorrow. Madam Fei is coming to stay here for a couple of days."
Liu Ming responded.
Liu Xing grinned mischievously and said, "Zhu Daocun probably got scratched."
Madam Liu glared at her younger brother and said, "Madam Fei is well-educated and courteous; she would not do such a thing that would be beneath her dignity."
Liu Xing gave an "oh" and then dropped the matter.
"Before the winter solstice, take some men to Matuosha and bring back several thousand catties of salted fish," Madam Liu instructed. "Don't sell them at the Confucian Temple; sell them in Xiapu and Yunting. They should be sold out by the beginning of the twelfth lunar month at the latest. If there's still time, go to Matuosha again in early December."
"Okay," Liu Xing replied.
After saying that, he added with a sigh, "Shao Shuyi is quite formidable; he actually managed to kill Zhu Ding. Liu Bao said they only lost one person and injured two others. That's really impressive. Hmm, this guy is also quite bold; he even dared to go to Caijing to rob someone else."
Liu and her second brother Liu Ming exchanged a glance.
Liu Ming looked worried.
Liu's feelings were rather complicated. Some birds are destined to be caged, and some people are born unruly, finding opportunities even in the cracks. Liu Xing was not sensitive to why Shao Shuyi went to Caijing, but Liu was all too aware of the stakes.
To put it bluntly, she even considered killing that Madam Qing to prevent her from handing over the account books and registers to Shao Shuyi. However, that woman seemed to have retreated back to the Lu family, and there was no way to deal with her for the time being. The Lu family was a scholarly family that settled in the Caijing South Gate area. Their ancestor, Lu Wengui, was quite famous in the late Song and early Yuan dynasties.
Ha, men!
For a fleeting moment, Liu felt a surge of hatred, already deciding that she would never give the old ghost a kind look the next time he came.
However, it seems I should open more shops in Jiangyin.
Zhu Ding is dead, leaving behind an unimaginable void. Those who act first will gain even greater advantages in the future.