Unlimited Resources: Raising a Minister with a Space Supermarket

Chapter 580 - 511: Salt Transport Envoy of Lianghuai (Part 2)

"I’ve checked, I’ve checked. The medicinal soup is also being brewed in the boat’s kitchen. It should be ready to drink soon," said Gao Shi as she stepped out.

"That’s good. Have Fang Cao brew some ginger soup for everyone, and let each person drink two bowls to warm themselves up. Once the boat reaches the shore, it should be much warmer on the Lu State side," Yu Xiaolian said as she closed the door.

It wasn’t that she was unkind; it was just that her daughter was too young. If she caught a cold, it would break her heart.

Su Jingchen was not sharing a room with Yu Xiaolian.

When the imperial decree arrived, it was accompanied by a thick stack of files. Whenever Su Jingchen had the time, he had to read these files and familiarize himself with the matters of the Lianghuai Salt Field.

To say the position of Salt Transport Envoy of Lianghuai was lucrative would be an understatement. Though only a third-rank official position, even a first-rank official didn’t live as comfortably.

The previous Salt Transport Envoy held the position for twenty years. Just when he was about to retire, he was reported for embezzlement, his home was raided, and he was executed.

This wasn’t really the fault of the one who reported him; the blame lay with Envoy Yin for being too greedy.

Great Liang had especially strict control over the salt industry. All salt production bases nationwide were nationalized (operating in a monopoly), and all salt merchants had to purchase salt with a permit to sell it.

This meant that with the court’s strict monopoly on salt production, a type of purchase permit (salt permit, each allowing the purchase of 400 jin of salt) was invented. Merchants needed to have it to buy salt from production locations to make a profit, while the Salt Administration controlled the merchants by regulating the issuance of these permits.

Consequently, in a situation where production locations (sources) were monopolized, salt permits became a scarce commodity, and the allocation of them to salt merchants depended on the ’tributes’ (kickbacks) given to each Salt Administration Officer.

This virtually became an unspoken rule known to everyone and was not considered unusual.

But the previous Salt Transport Envoy, Envoy Yin, was insatiably greedy. He not only cited the reason of population increase to apply to the court for an increased annual issuance of salt permits (to enhance his corruption opportunities).

In his final year before retirement, he even creatively started "futures trading" (pre-selling the next year’s salt permit quotas) just to make one last haul before retiring.

The one who reported Envoy Yin was none other than his successor, Envoy You.

Envoy You spent a lot on tributes to secure this lucrative Salt Administration position and was eager to cover his losses once he took office.

Like Envoy Yin, he was inherently greedy and anxious to acquire wealth.

Upon taking office, Envoy You displayed no restraint or shame. Knowing that the salt permits for his first year had been entirely pre-sold by his predecessor, Envoy Yin, he blatantly demanded bribes from salt merchants.

Openly demanding bribes clearly disrupted the unspoken rules!

After twenty years of unspoken rules between officials and merchants, who could tolerate such disruption?

Moreover, these salt merchants had already obtained their permits for the new year from Envoy Yin. So the "arrogant" salt merchants paid no attention to Envoy You’s direct solicitation of bribes.

Clearly extorting bribes showed that Envoy You had no boundaries when conducting his affairs.

Since the salt merchants "refused to feed him," he decided to break the pot.

Thus, Envoy You decided to go all the way and lit the match, which led to the anonymous letter on Jun Tingye’s desk.

Of course, Envoy You just wanted to break the pot and did not want to get himself involved, so he submitted the anonymous letter by an underhanded method.

Jun Tingye knew someone was infringing on his domain and was naturally furious. However, he also needed to find out who had stealthily placed the letter on his desk.

Underneath the heavens, all land belonged to the king. Since Jun Tingye ascended the throne, besides closely guarding against the various princes, his study was forbidden to any approach. Therefore, the only ones who could place the letter unnoticed were the cleaning palace maid or the attending eunuch. It didn’t take much effort for Jun Tingye to identify the culprit by the surname You.

Upon investigation, discovering that the person named You had openly solicited bribes upon taking office made him furious.

He was thoroughly dealt with!

Thoroughly dealt with from top to bottom, inside and out, Jun Tingye’s rage resulted in the execution or exile of nearly a thousand people.

Though temporary faced with a shortage of personnel, seeing the replenished state treasury made Jun Tingye feel it was worth it.

Avoiding a shortage of personnel is no concern, exams will be held soon, no need to wait three years, exams will be held next spring.

Su Jingchen spent half a month flipping through the files until he memorized all the materials by heart.

Only by doing this could he arrive in Yangzhou and handle affairs without confusion and with composure.

Upon reaching Lu State, their group finally left the cold Northern Land, and the further south they traveled, the warmer the climate became.

It could be said they traveled from minus thirty degrees to a place with temperatures of minus five or six degrees.

Yu Xiaolian and Gao Shi parted ways in Lu State. Yu Xiaolian and her group headed towards Yangzhou, while Gao Shi, Sun Erji, and Sun Manhong went to Yu State. They were no longer headed in the same direction.

Sun Manyue insisted on following Yu Xiaolian, and since Yu Xiaolian failed to persuade her otherwise, she let her come along.

After parting ways, Yu Xiaolian and her entourage traveled for nearly a month before reaching Yangzhou.

Just as they were about to enter the city, the carriage procession was blocked on a mountain road by a landslide. The carriages stopped, and outside, local villagers could be heard, "Just a few days ago, everything was fine. It hasn’t rained, so why did the mountain suddenly collapse?"

Yu Xiaolian lifted the curtain to look and saw that the mudslides on both sides of the official road had sealed it off.

"Master, Madam, the road is blocked. Should we go around the mountain, or call for someone to clear these mud and rocks before proceeding?" He Jian came over to inquire.