EBE Chapter 501 Salt Widow
Chapter 501 Salt Widow
When the carriage entered the city gate, we saw several ragged women kneeling on the ground with their hands tied in the open space on the left. The skin on their arms exposed to the air looked festering.
The women all had numb expressions on their faces, and their festering skin seemed to cause them no pain.
The women looked very young, one of them only looked thirteen or fourteen years old.
Shen Sui'an couldn't help but frown, "What crime did they commit?"
"Madam, these people are concubines. They were caught when they were sneaking out of the city." Chai Wang heard the question outside the carriage and replied casually.
"Salt Widow?" Shen Suian had never heard of this term and looked at Fu Jinyuan in confusion.
Fu Jinyuan lowered the curtains and explained to Shen Sui'an in a low voice: "The salt widows here are salt merchants who put the private salt into coffins or dowry boxes in order to sell it privately, and use the widow's privilege of exemption from inspection to leave the city."
There was a regulation in the Southern Dynasties that any widow who remained faithful to her husband would be exempt from inspection.
This privilege became a good way for salt merchants in Salt Lake City to sell private salt.
Shen Sui'an frowned, "If that's the case, shouldn't we arrest the salt merchants? These women are innocent too."
The carriage stopped in front of the Salt Monopoly Office.
A man in an official robe came out to greet him. "Sir, are you Lin the Garrison Commander? I have heard that a new garrison commander is coming to Dongning to take up his post. I am sorry that you have come to Salt Lake City to welcome me."
Fu Jinyuan's tall figure slowly got off the carriage. He raised his eyebrows and glanced at the middle-aged man opposite him, "Lord Wang, you remembered it wrongly. My surname is not Lin, and Dongning has never been stationed in Shoubei. I am the first person."
The defense of Dongning has always relied on the Suzhou military. This time, Fu Jinyuan used this identity, and it is the least likely to be discovered that he made any mistakes.
The middle-aged man suddenly understood what was going on when he heard this. "I remembered it wrongly. Please forgive me, sir. It's just that I am short-sighted and didn't recognize you..."
"This is our Lord Lu, a garrison commander personally selected by the Regent." Shi Qing beside him said calmly.
"Greetings, Lord Lu." The middle-aged man hurriedly greeted him. "I am He Zhengdong, the deputy envoy of the Salt Monopoly Commissioner's Office. Our Lord Salt Monopoly Commissioner was very happy to hear that Guardian Lu was coming, but he was busy with official duties, so he asked me to come out to greet Guardian Lu."
Fu Jinyuan waved his hand and said, "I am just passing through here and will not disturb Lord Wang."
"Lord Wang has already asked someone to prepare a banquet at Tianxiang Tower to welcome Guard Lu." Deputy Envoy He said quickly.
"It was just a misunderstanding outside the city gate just now. If the soldiers guarding the city knew it was Guard Lu, they would not dare to be rude and bump into him."
Fu Jinyuan looked at He Zhengdong's flattering smile, but felt that he was smiling with a dagger hidden. Including the Salt Commissioner Wang who had never shown up, everyone should hope that he would leave Salt Lake City as soon as possible.
"We have already made an appointment with a friend, so we will say goodbye today. We will make another appointment with Lord Wang in a few days." After Fu Jinyuan finished speaking, he turned around and got on the carriage again.
How many days will it take?
He Zhengdong was stunned when he heard this. Does this mean that they still want to stay in Salt Lake City for a while longer?
This place is not far from Dongning, and it will arrive in a few days. Why do you have to stay in Salt Lake City?
Could it be heading for Salt Lake City?
Deputy Envoy He bowed with a flattering smile, "If Garrison Lu needs any help in Salt Lake City, I will do my best to help him."
"When Lord Wang returns, I will explain the reason and host a banquet for Lu on another day."
Fu Jinyuan smiled faintly, without comment, and ordered the carriage to continue moving forward.
"Is there a problem?" Shen Sui'an asked in a low voice.
"Those concubines are not very old, some are only thirteen or fourteen years old, it is unlikely that they are widows," said Fu Jinyuan.
"Let's talk about it after we get to where we are staying."
The places they stayed along the way were all arranged by Zhao Jiuling in advance, and there was also a house that had been prepared in Salt Lake City.
"Grandma, please watch your step." Fu Jinyuan went to support the Empress Dowager's carriage.
The Queen Mother looked around and said, "The water in Salt Lake City is deep. If you want to move, you must be careful."
Fu Jinyuan humbly asked, "Grandma, what do you think I should do?"
"Let's talk inside." said the Empress Dowager.
Shen Sui'an handed the child to the wet nurse and took her down to sleep. After entering the house, she first poured a cup of tea for the Empress Dowager.
"Grandma, have a cup of warm tea first." Shen Sui'an said.
"You sit down too." The Empress Dowager clapped her hands.
She talked to Fu Jinyuan in detail about the complicated relationships in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City belongs to the northwest of the Southern Dynasty. Led by the Lu family and the Hong family, they control the entire northwest. They annex land and hide the population. Whether it is salt transportation, land or taxes, what the court receives is probably less than one-tenth of what these two families receive.
If the taxes in the northwest can be cleared and the official salt can be brought back into the hands of the court, it will greatly increase the court's tax revenue and reduce the pressure on the treasury.
The late emperor had thought about taking back control of the northwest. If he wanted to take action in the northwest, he would have to go against thousands of powerful families here.
The difficulties are immeasurable.
The Empress Dowager said, slowly looking at Fu Jinyuan, "You deliberately took a detour to Salt Lake City. Are you planning to regain control of the northwest for the court?"
Fu Jinyuan: "Grandmother, the richest place in the Southern Dynasty is the Northwest. If the Northwest can pay taxes normally, it will account for one-third of the country's total tax revenue each year."
"And now that the official salt has arrived in Yanhu City, does it still have anything to do with the imperial court? It's all in the hands of the Lu and Hong families."
"Today we passed by the salt lake. You can see how many workers are drying salt. There are only a few of them. They are all skinny and bony. There is no strong man. When I investigated He Zhiyuan, I found that he received a generous bribe from the northwest every year."
"If I'm not mistaken, Salt Lake City has salt wells in addition to iron mines."
Shen Sui'an whispered, "But we are unfamiliar with the place and don't have enough people with us. How can we investigate?"
Fu Jinyuan smiled and said, "Someone has already investigated it before us."
"I have my own ideas about this matter, Grandmother, Sui Sui, you should just treat it as a trip and don't let any clues show."
Hearing him say this, Shen Sui'an turned to the Grand Empress Dowager and said, "Grandmother, I will go shopping with you tomorrow to buy some things and eat some food."
The Empress Dowager smiled and nodded.
She still reminded Fu Jinyuan, "A strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. You should be careful and don't rush to win."
"Yes, grandma." Fu Jinyuan nodded.
Since he was planning to liquidate the Northwestern nobles, he had conducted a thorough investigation.
Although the Northwest seems like a hard piece of iron to chew, in fact, the Northwest wealthy families are mainly divided into two factions. The Lu and Hong families are not in harmony with each other and are always thinking about annexing each other.
As for other small clans that are not as powerful as theirs, how could they not have other thoughts in their minds except relying on these two families for survival?
As the regent, Fu Jinyuan has fame but no foundation.
So he was not in a hurry. This matter must be done with wisdom.
"Prince, Princess..." Ningshuang walked in with a grim expression.
"What's the matter?" Shen Sui'an asked.
Ning Shuang said, "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Prince, Princess, a salt widow was found at the back door."