Chapter 34: Framing and shifting blame

Chapter 34: Framing and shifting blame
Lv Xiucan's perspective can be said to be coincidental with Ji Chen!
Guo Furong and Bai Zhantang looked at Lv Xiucan in surprise!
The fear and caution in his eyes, as well as his resentment and unwillingness towards the secular world, have disappeared, replaced by wisdom, depth, and unfathomable cunning.
两人感觉吕秀才似乎变了一个人似的。
在同福客栈的时候，吕秀才就是一个穷酸秀才的模样，爱吹嘘，总是把三岁识千字的事迹挂在嘴边，为此没少遭到李大嘴的挤兑。
Are everything in Tongfu Inn just for show?
It's deliberately staged for them to see!
Thinking of this, Bai Zhantang felt a shiver down his spine.
"What the scholar means is that these two people are either in the salt gang or hiding in the county of Lou Zhixian!"
Ji Chen spoke up and expressed his own opinion.
"The adult is wise!"
Lv Xiucai flattered and then said, "Nowadays, only these two places are daring enough to shelter them in Qixia Town."
"Especially the Salt Gang, which controls the salt business, more than 90% of the salt in Qixia Town is basically from the hands of the Salt Gang."
"Although the government has not explicitly prohibited the smuggling of private salt, the business scope of the Salt Gang definitely exceeds the bottom line of the country, which is very abnormal."
Bai Zhantang finally reacted and asked in confusion, "Are you saying that Magistrate Lou is supporting the Salt Gang?"
Ji Chen replied, "It's more than just support! The biggest backer behind the Salt Gang might be Magistrate Lou himself."
The reason he dares to be so sure is because of the death of the previous flag officer.
A flag officer of the Imperial Guards, with the seventh rank, is only one rank lower than a county magistrate, who is of the seventh rank.
Although the rank of the Imperial Guards is one rank lower than a county magistrate, they have much greater power.
An official of the seventh rank, very few martial arts practitioners dare to directly intervene, just like in modern society, no matter how powerful a gang is, would you dare to go and kill a police chief?
Therefore, the previous flag officer must have touched upon some taboo, which led to his being silenced.
This taboo is very likely to be salt.
"The Salt Gang is a breakthrough point. Tomorrow I plan to visit the Salt Gang and explore their background, starting with force before diplomacy."
The method of Jichen is very simple and direct. Find the Salt Gang, exercise strong control, arrest them all and investigate, and if they resist, directly kill them.
Firstly, eliminate them, then find evidence. The Salt Gang must be corrupt. Once investigated, it will be revealed.
Lv Xiucan didn't say anything. He is currently working as Ji Chen's advisor, only needing to assist him in handling things afterwards.
Oh, by the way!
Ji Chen suddenly turned his head and looked at Bai Zhantang, asking, "Has Auntie been properly settled?"
"Thank you, sir, for your concern. My mother is currently staying at Tongfu Inn and is being taken care of by the innkeeper. She is doing well."
"I will visit her when I have the time."
"Sir, you really shouldn't trouble yourself! This is causing me great distress!"
"I have something to discuss with him!"
Season thought of the best candidate to support the new forces, which is Bai Zhan Tang's mother, Bai San Niang.
This person has enough strength, and Bai Zhan Tang's martial arts were taught by her. Coupled with Bai Zhan Tang's role as a spy for the Jin Yi Wei, it is easy to control him.
……
……
County Government!
County Magistrate Lou sat in his chair with a gloomy expression, feeling extremely anxious.
There are only eleven days left until the Imperial Examination.
He promoted Ji Chen to his position in order to prepare for the Imperial Examination, but now Ji Chen has turned against him.
"Adult!" A thin middle-aged man spoke.
This person is the county magistrate's deputy, eighth-ranked, and also an advisor to the magistrate, Lou.
"Speak!"
"Since this Jichao does not know how to appreciate kindness, let's just deal with him directly!"
The county magistrate made a gesture of rubbing his neck.
Magistrate Lou frowned, "He has just taken office and has attracted attention from above. If we eliminate him at this time, I'm afraid there will be a thorough investigation from above."
The county magistrate smiled faintly, "Sir, have you forgotten that this year's taxes and silver have already been minted?"
“What do you mean?”
Magistrate Lou seemed to have guessed something, his eyes brightened.
"According to the Great Ming Law, it is the responsibility of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to guard the taxes and silver. It's just that the position of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Qixia Town has been vacant, so Six Ministries and the County Office have jointly been responsible for guarding them. Why not hand over the taxes and silver to them now and let them guard it."
Lou Zhi County remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
After a year, they had become accustomed to dealing with taxes and money, naturally considering it their own job.
"Okay, then you can handle this matter! Remember to do it cleanly, don't leave any handles behind. I have already submitted the report to the higher-ups. Once I am transferred, the position of this county magistrate will be yours."
"Thank you for your guidance, Lord!"
The County Magistrate stood up and bowed.
Then, he walked out of the county government office and headed towards the Jin Yi Wei.
……
When Ji Chen and Bai Zhantang came out of the Jin Yi Wei, they happened to meet the County Magistrate.
"Lord Ji, I was just looking for you and here you are!"
The county magistrate pretended to be surprised and quickly greeted him.
"County Magistrate Zhou, is there something important?"
"It's like this."
County Magistrate Zhou approached and bowed to Ji Chen.
"This year's tax silver has already been minted. This batch of tax silver is enormous. County Magistrate Lou is afraid of accidents, so he specifically asked me to come and tell you to send someone to guard it."
"Guard tax silver? Why did I not know about this assignment?" Jin Chen frowned.
The county minister Zhou quickly explained: "The tax revenue has always been guarded by the Jinyiwei."
"Is that so?" Ji Chen doubted!
"This official dare not doubt Judge Ji's words. If Judge does not believe, you can ask Xing Catcher or check the Ming Law, which has records."
County Magistrate Zhou spoke very seriously, without any trace of falsehood, and this incident was true, so Jichen did not detect any flaws.
But Jichen's intuition told her that County Magistrate Lou had already taken action, and it was very likely related to this tax silver.
Since it is the duty of the Jin Yi Wei, he couldn't easily refuse, so he asked, "How long do you want to watch?"
After the inspection in the capital, the Rongcheng government will send someone to take away.
"Where is the tax silver?"
“在银库，大人请随我来！”
季晨并没有立即跟周县丞走，反倒是对着白展堂说，“去把秀才叫来，让小郭留守府衙。”
He was confident that Louzhixian must have manipulated the taxation money, so he took the scholar with him to inspect the taxation money. If there were any issues, they could directly arrest Louzhixian.
"Yes, sir!"
白展堂转身走进了府衙，很快便领着秀才走了出来。
一行人跟着周县丞，朝着库房走去。
税银库房在北门，和大牢紧邻，而且修建在地下。
After passing through three iron gates, the crowd arrived in the warehouse.
Ten boxes of tax silver were placed neatly in the warehouse, with seals attached to the boxes and locked with copper locks.
Ji Chen said, "Scholar, inspect the goods!"
The county magistrate Zhou conscientiously took out the key and handed it to the scholar.
The scholar tore open the seal, unlocked the copper lock, and opened the box.
The dazzling white silver coins entered his sight.
He began to inspect the goods.
Silver is freshly cast silver, with fifty taels per ingot. There are two lines of text below each ingot.
One line is in large characters, carved with the words "Government Silver", and the other line is in small characters, carved with "Daming Money House, No. 187".
The 187th Qianzhuang is a branch of the Daming Qianzhuang in Qixia Town.
In other words, this batch of official silver was minted by the branch of Daming Qianzhuang in Qixia Town.
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(End of this chapter)