In the purple-copper crane-billed incense burner, a thin and clear smoke continuously floats out from the crane-billed incense burner, carrying with it a light and ethereal fragrance. After being rendered by this smoke, the originally ordinary air around it becomes expensive after being tainted with the scent of sandalwood.
This is an antique study room. The crane-billed incense burner is burning century-old phoenix sandalwood, which is as valuable as gold. This study room is located in the east of the state capital of Yinzhou, one of the northwestern states. To be more precise, it is in the Northwest Transportation Office of Yinzhou City. The owner of this study room is the powerful Northwest Transportation Envoy Jiang Tianhua.
At this moment, the Northwest Transport Commissioner was wearing a scarlet official uniform, sitting next to a desk in the study. He stretched out two chubby fingers that were as well-maintained as green onions, and gently picked up a handful of something as crystal clear as white snow from the porcelain plate in the middle of the desk. He put it in front of his nose, observing it carefully over and over again.
Jiang Tianhua is in his 50s, with a square face, big ears and a somewhat fat body. Because there is too much flesh on his face, at first glance, one would think his face was swollen as if stung by a wasp. His eyes have been covered by the swollen flesh, revealing only two thin slits. Neither the eyeballs nor the whites of the eyes can be seen through the slits. Only occasionally, two frightening rays of cold light flash through the slits, which make people tremble with fear. Also because he is too fat, Jiang Tianhua's face always looks like he is smiling.
In the Northwest officialdom, the nickname of the Northwest Transport Commissioner Jiang Tianhua is "Smiling Tiger". Smiling Tiger Jiang Tianhua is ruthless and greedy. He has the power to supervise the Northwest officialdom and has the prime minister as his backer. Even the governors of various states have to give him some face and dare not offend him easily. As time goes by, Jiang Tianhua becomes more unscrupulous in the Northwest.
Jiang Tianhua stared at the small handful of white thing in his hand very seriously. After staring at it for half a minute, he put the small handful of thing into his mouth and closed his eyes.
After a long while, Jiang Tianhua finally opened his eyes and nodded. A beautiful maid beside him brought him a cup of warm premium Xuefeng tea. Another beautiful maid knelt in front of him and raised a pure gold spittoon in her hand.
"Gulp gurgle..." Jiang Tianhua tilted his neck back, took a sip of tea, rinsed his mouth with the tea, and spat the tea in his mouth into the pure gold spittoon. He then took the towel handed to him by the third beautiful maid, wiped the corners of his mouth and hands, and then waved his hand to let all the maids go away.
"Is this the new snow salt produced in Pingxi County?" Jiang Tianhua asked, staring at a pot-bellied businessman in front of him who also had a flattering smile on his face.
"My Lord, this is snow salt. Do you know how much it costs per pound?"
"How many?"
"This snow salt is in total short supply now. A pound of snow salt costs four taels and five cents of silver in the market. It is twice as expensive as the best green salt. That's twice as much!" When talking about the price of snow salt, the merchant's eyes sparkled, and he licked his lips with his tongue, with a greedy expression written all over his face.
"It's worth the price!" Jiang Tianhua nodded and smiled. "There are only a few places in the entire Han Empire that can produce salt like this. Even compared to tribute salt, it's not much worse!"
"Who said it wasn't?" The equally pot-bellied merchant was also laughing. "I heard that the snow salt field is completely in the hands of Ganzhou Governor Lei Sitong. My master sent a letter from the Imperial Capital, and wanted to ask for a favor. Can you talk to Master Lei and let our family sell 50% of the snow salt produced by the salt field in the future?"
"Hahaha, as Lord Gu, you can just write a letter directly to Lei Sitong. Why bother to come to me? I think Lei Sitong will definitely give face to Lord Gu!" Jiang Tianhua said with a big laugh.
The pot-bellied businessman also laughed, "My master said that there is a layer between him and Lei Sitong, which is not very convenient, and Lei Sitong is not easy to persuade. He is in the Imperial Capital, so it is not easy for him to interfere in the affairs of the Northwest. The salt is also transported with the army. If Master Jiang can get this done, then the thing that Master Jiang talked to my master about last time, my master will definitely be able to get it done!"
Jiang Tianhua's eyes flashed, and then he laughed, "Well, tell your parents, I'll think of a way. I'm going to Ganzhou in a few days. Let me talk to Lei Sitong first!"
"Then I will wait for your good news!" The pot-bellied businessman was very tactful. When he saw Jiang Tianhua picked up the teacup again, he stood up politely and left obediently.
After watching the businessman leave, Jiang Tianhua's smiling face slowly turned cold, and he snorted with disdain, "You Gu family have stretched your hands too far. How can you get such a business? Do you really think that the ministers in the imperial capital can have all-powerful connections? Wait until your minister becomes a minister!"
A figure flashed behind the screen in the study, and an old man with a thin face, silver hair, wearing a flowing blue dress, holding a fan in his hand and a beautiful long beard on his chin walked out quietly.
"The Gu family is indeed too greedy. You should stay away from them in the future to avoid being implicated!" The old man came to Jiang Tianhua and said softly.
"Well, that's right. The Gu family is indeed getting more and more outrageous. Now the Gu family earns at least 400,000 taels of silver a year in the northwest, but they are still not satisfied. They actually want to instigate me to snatch food from Lei Sitong's bowl. Is Lei Sitong easy to mess with? They really think I'm a fool!"
The old man waved his folding fan and smiled. "It doesn't matter what Lei Sitong thinks. What matters is what the Prime Minister thinks. The Prime Minister has great ambitions and plans for something big. If the Gu family doesn't know how to restrain themselves and cause the wrath of heaven and people, they will definitely not be tolerated by the Prime Minister in the future. If the Gu family is destroyed, the wealth accumulated by the Gu family in the past few decades will belong to the Prime Minister. Moreover, the Prime Minister can also leave a good reputation and be praised by the people of the world. Do you think the Prime Minister will do such a good thing?"
Jiang Tianhua was startled, and quickly stood up and bowed to the old man, "Thank you for your reminder, sir. It seems that I really can't have much contact with the Gu family in the future!"
"Well, as long as you take over the manufacturing bureau, the salt fields in Pingxi County will sooner or later fall into your hands!"
"Ah, sir, are you trying to comfort me? The salt field is the lifeblood of Lei Sitong. How could it fall into my hands?"
"Don't you find it strange, sir? The salt fields in Pingxi County are in Yuntao County. The salt mines in Yuntao County used to only produce crude salt, but now they are producing such high-quality refined salt!"
"Didn't the news from Pingxi County say that Lei Sitong was lucky enough to discover a rare and top-quality refined salt mine underground in the salt field of Yuntao County?"
"Does Your Excellency also believe this?"
Jiang Tianhua frowned slightly, "Sir, what you mean is..."
"Before Yan Liqiang came back, several salt mines in Yuntao County had been producing earth salt for so many years, but why hadn't any top-quality refined salt mines been discovered? Why was this top-quality refined salt mine discovered as soon as Yan Liqiang came back? Don't you think this is too much of a coincidence?"
"Sir, do you mean that Yan Liqiang has a way to turn inferior earth salt into snow salt?" Jiang Tianhua was shocked. To him, such news was like hearing that someone had the magic to turn stone into gold. It was really incredible.
"Don't forget, sir. Yan Liqiang is well-known in the capital for his knowledge of the way of studying things. He can even discuss the way of things with Zhang Yourong, the world's number one master of mechanical devices. Moreover, people in the entire northwest are saying that Yan Liqiang can be enlightened by gods in dreams. The method he passed down to save drowning people was taught by gods in his dreams. It has now spread throughout the world. How can you use common sense to infer such a person?"
Jiang Tianhua was stunned for a moment, the fat on his face trembled for a moment, and then a layer of oil appeared on his face. He rubbed his hands excitedly, "If Yan Liqiang has such ability, then I really underestimated him before..."
"As long as you can take over the manufacturing bureau this time and gain a firm foothold in Pingxi County, we can slowly work on it. As long as you have Yan Liqiang's method, you can turn the earth salt into snow salt. At that time, you will have as much money as you want. If you present this method to the prime minister, you will definitely be more important in his eyes, and your future prospects will be limitless..."
"Hahaha, yes, sir, you are right. As long as I gain a foothold in Pingxi County and take over the Manufacturing Bureau, I can control Yan Liqiang. But I don't know what happened to Zhong Xiankui. There has been no news for so many days..."
While the two were chatting in the study, an official from the Transportation Office came running out of the study with a bunch of official documents, asking to see Jiang Tianhua. Jiang Tianhua let the official in, opened the document, and his face changed immediately...
Just a few days ago, because there was no news about Zhong Xiankui, Jiang Tianhua, who thought that Zhong Xiankui and his party were being harassed by Lei Sitong in Ganzhou, asked the Transportation Office to send a formal document to the Ganzhou Governor's Office, preparing to use official channels to put some pressure on the Governor's Office. Unexpectedly, the Governor's Office dragged it out for a few days, and today the document returned to Jiang Tianhua, telling him that they had no idea that the people from the Transportation Office had gone to Ganzhou on official business, and that Pingxi County had no news about Zhong Xiankui and his party...
"Call Qu Mingcheng to me immediately..." Jiang Tianhua roared in the study.
Half an hour later, a man in armor with a gloomy face hurried into Jiang Tianhua's study...
…
That night, the two patrol cavalry battalions stationed at the transfer office outside Yinzhou City became completely noisy and boiling. Countless officers of the patrol cavalry battalions began to shout loudly in the barracks, asking the people in the cavalry battalions to gather...
The next morning, just after dawn, Qu Mingcheng, the chief inspector of the Northwest Transportation Office, led two inspectors and more than a thousand cavalrymen, fully armed and murderous, and rushed out of the Yinzhou camp and headed for Ganzhou...
Today is September 26th...
(End of this chapter)