Prince Duan himself was also quite frightened, as he had always known how to make money.
When the late emperor was alive, he was like a big rat. The other brothers were fighting like black-eyed chickens. Although he openly interfered, how could he not have his own ideas in mind
Everyone thinks he is a coward, but he knows that he is making a fortune in silence.
Going back more than ten years, when the late emperor was still alive, he had not yet left the capital for his fiefdom, and there was no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate princes. At most, there was only a distinction between the oldest and the youngest, and everyone showed their unique abilities.
He firmly held the position of Lianghuai Salt Administration.
The 27th Salt Administrator was his man, and through his hands, at least two or three million taels of silver were presented to Prince Duan.
It is precisely because of this that he can live a prosperous life.
Later, the previous emperor died, Emperor Longqing succeeded to the throne, and the salt administration was changed. However, he was very familiar with the means of making money from the Salt Administration, and his connections were all ready in front of him.
When his confidant was about to step down, he would let him nominate a new person to take the position. If he couldn't find his own person to take the position, he would let his confidant take care of the salt merchants before he left office.
All arrangements were made for each term, and before the person took office, the salt merchants were asked to offer tributes.
All year round, there were always various reasons for giving money to the salt administration - when a son gave birth to a son, when a son married a concubine, or even when a dog gave birth to puppies, the salt merchants would wish they could make a golden cage and send the dogs in.
Money can make people's hearts move, and what's more, his fault had long been caught by someone - he knew the amount of silver that was sent, and asked the salt merchants to record it extra. Then he could turn around and control the salt administrators and make them issue more salt permits.
One thing leads to another, the salt administration is more corrupt, but he gets even more commission.
He only thought of getting rid of this business completely after the Prince of Chu rebelled. In fact, he had gradually restrained himself since Emperor Longqing came to power. He no longer dared to be so greedy, at least he no longer dared to influence the selection of salt administrators. He just took advantage of his connections to support a few salt merchants, and used the leverage he had over the salt administration to withhold more salt.
But even this is still a considerable income.
It had not been discovered for so many years, but when he saw that Emperor Longqing had a son, he thought he had restrained himself, but suddenly it happened.
He stared, clenched his fists, took a step back, and sat down on the chair dejectedly. After a long while, he said in a daze: "It has been so many years since I took it over. You know how our palace is in the fiefdom."
Princess Duan's throat choked. Thinking of the prince's mansion in their fiefdom, which was almost the same size as the imperial palace, her face turned pale, and then she trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind and fell heavily to the ground.
"What should I do..." As soon as she opened her mouth, tears could not help but fall like beads from a broken string, and she was as frightened as a frightened bird: "This time the inspection is strict..."
Prince Duan himself has been worried for so many days. Since he found out about this, he has not slept well for more than a month. Now he is pale and shakes his head: "It may not have come to that point. Hasn't the truth been found out yet?"
With so many salt administrators in succession, it is not certain that they would investigate the reign of the previous emperor, right
At that time, the old ministers had to consider the face of the late emperor to some extent...
He tried to comfort himself, but he was actually so anxious that he didn't know what to do. After thinking it over again, he realized that there was no other way, so he urged his wife, "Go to the Queen's Palace more often..." He gritted his teeth, and after a moment of distraction, he said, "If there is really no other way, go to the Fang family and look for the old lady..."
Princess Duan became more and more diligent when she entered the palace, and every time she saw the little prince, she would say a lot of auspicious words.
Empress Fang never showed any abnormality, and treated her as gently as always, and even talked about her children. Then she said, "You have been free recently." Then she joked, "Don't worry, the Ministry of Rites and the emperor are watching, and there will be no mistakes in choosing this person."
She was talking about choosing concubines for the princes.
If it had been the previous time, the princess would have naturally been asking questions in an indirect way, but now, she didn't have the heart to ask a single word. She forced a smile and chatted for a while before she mustered up the courage to bring up the matter of the salt permit case: "This matter caused a lot of trouble... I was originally planning to hold a big celebration for the little prince, but it delayed his full moon."
Otherwise, according to Emperor Longqing's temperament, the little prince's full month celebration in the first two months would have been celebrated with great fanfare.
Queen Fang smiled and shook her head: "He is a little boy, he shouldn't be spoiled too much."
But he didn't mention a word about the salt permit case.
Princess Duan was so anxious that her lips became cracked and her tongue hurt when she spoke. She said goodbye and left the palace in fear.
Queen Fang was watching her life getting worse, but she couldn't just sit there and wait for death. After thinking it over again, she decided to go to the Fang family.
When Old Lady Fang and Madam Fang met her, they were very respectful and polite.
Princess Duan felt relieved, but when she asked again, she still couldn't get any information out of him.
She was busy for a while but got nothing. She was like a headless fly, running around anxiously. She grabbed Prince Duan and asked him with her lips bitten: "Now that things have come to this, tell me the truth. Is it because you offended the Fang family that this disaster happened? Otherwise, why did you... "
Let’s talk about the Fang family first
Prince Duan clenched his fist and then released it, then clenched it again, and finally he hummed and told the reason with a grim face.
Making things difficult for Zeng Yao has always been a rule.
The salt administrators controlled the fate of the salt merchants, but the salt merchants also gave money to the salt administrators, so naturally they had to show some attitude.
It just so happened that the last Huang Bingqing originally wanted to stay in office for three years, and even promised the salt merchants a lot of advance salt permits, but was squeezed out of the job by the Fang family... ..
The salt merchants then thought of giving Zeng Yao a warning.
Who knew Zeng Yao was such a stupid person? In fact, all he had to do was promise more salt merchants and issue more salt permits. With the salt permits in his hands, couldn't he make the salt merchants bow their heads
But he was just a young and ignorant man, and relying on the power of the Fang family, he exposed the matter without knowing anything.
After the incident was exposed, Zeng Yao could no longer clean up the mess.
Princess Duan didn't fully understand what was said, but she knew that Zeng Yao was a relative of the Fang family.
She looked up at Prince Duan blankly: "Then let me go find the Fang family..."
Prince Duan smiled bitterly: "If it really comes to that, I will have no choice but to give away all my wealth to save my life."
Princess Duan finally understood that if this matter was implicated, Prince Duan would never let it go. He wanted the Fang family to pay money to avoid disaster for him, and use Queen Fang's words to save his family's lives.