Struggle in the early Tang Dynasty

Page 999

An ominous illusion suddenly occurred in Guo Ye's heart, and he murmured to himself, could it be that something major happened during my absence in Yangzhou?

Otherwise, why would Chen Jitao droop his head and look like he is bitter and bitter?

Salt tax!

These two words instantly appeared in his mind.Because in his opinion, there are basically no major issues in Yangzhou now, except that the salt tax that Guan Jiujiu takes care of is the current top priority.

Moreover, counting the days, Guan Jiujiu should have finished paying Yangzhou's salt tax and began to escort Chang'an to the Ministry of Households for delivery.

Guan Jiujiu didn't come to Dongmen Ferry Wharf to meet her this time, and she had obviously set off for Chang'an.

Could it be that something went wrong in the middle?

Immediately, he asked with concern: "Ming Ren, has Mr. Guan, the salt transport envoy, collected the salt tax as scheduled and sent him to Chang'an?"

Chen Jitao raised his head abruptly, looked at Guo Ye with some surprise, then nodded, and replied: "Master Governor, with the help of Liu Zhenxuan and Captain Liu, the collection of salt tax at the Salt Transport Yamen went smoothly. Ten days ago, Uh, on the morning of the 4608th day of the first lunar month, the Guan Salt Transport Envoy took away five hundred guards from the Salt Transport Yamen, and personally escorted [-] million taels of salt tax to Chang'an."

Call ~

Guo Ye breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, as long as there is no problem with the salt tax, then all problems will not be a big problem.

After relaxing, he laughed and scolded: "Let me explain to you, Ren, what's the matter with you today? You're so listless, like an eggplant knocked down by Shuang, it's wilting."

Chen Jitao smiled wryly, and sighed: "Lord Inspector, but the customs envoy made a mistake on the way to escort the salt tax. Alas, before leaving, my lord entrusted all the affairs of Yangzhou to the subordinate officials, but, but... my lord, The officer has disappointed you."

One day, Guo Ye staggered after hearing this, and the carriage bumped violently, Guo Ye almost threw himself into Chen Jitao's arms.

He sat down and asked in extreme surprise, "Ming Ren, don't tell me that the salt tax that Guan Jiujiu and the others escorted was robbed halfway, right?"

"How do you know it?"

Chen Jitao also foolishly replied to Guo Ye.

Oh my God!

Guo Ye was completely dumbfounded. There are still people who dare to rob the court of salt tax these days. This is not some bandit blocking the way to rob, and then two robbers jumped out foolishly. If you want to cross this road, leave money to buy the road.

This is a fucking robbery of the imperial court's salt tax, and it would cost millions of taels in one robbing. Who the hell has the guts to do this?

Although money touches people's hearts, there are rules in the green forest. In a peaceful and prosperous age, there are three kinds of money that people in the green forest will never touch.One is the entanglement of orphans and widowed women, the other is the property of upright officials returning to their hometowns, and the third is the taxes of the court.

The first two kinds of non-robbing are easy to explain, and there is a way to stealing.

As for the third type, it's not that you can't rob, but you dare not rob.Because as long as the imperial court's taxes were moved, it would not be a simple one hundred and eighty taels, but would provoke the encirclement and suppression of the imperial army.

As long as the imperial army mobilizes and crushes it, let alone a cottage of robbers in the green forest, even the site of Jiuzhaishibagou will be cleared for you.

Guo Ye temporarily put the shock out of his mind, and asked with a solemn face: "What about Guan Jiujiu and others? Also, have you found out about these people who robbed the salt tax?"

Chen Jitao said in a low voice with shame on his face: "Master Guan is fine, but he didn't come back to Yangzhou after the incident, but sent someone to send a letter, saying that he wanted to stay where he was and find a way to get the tax money back. Delayed adults."

"laugh……"

Guo Ye sneered and said: "He has a fart way to get back the tax money? If he has that ability, he won't be robbed of millions of taels of salt tax halfway. In this way, he It has not yet been found out who robbed him of his silver taels?"

After Chen Jitao nodded in recognition, he remained silent.

Although Guo Ye was furious, he still forced himself to calm down and asked, "Did he mention in his letter where the salt tax was robbed?"

Chen Jitao said: "As I said, after entering Hebei Road, they passed by a place called Qinghe County. That night, they booked an inn in Qinghe County, deposited the tax money in the small courtyard where they stayed overnight, and sent people to stay overnight Watching. But who knows..."

"Okay, I don't want to know the process, and I don't need to know."

Guo Ye interrupted Chen Jitao's detailed description, then smacked his lips and muttered, "Qinghe County, Qinghe County, sounds familiar. Hey, yes, stop, stop!"

Suddenly, he stopped the carriage, then lifted the curtain and shouted outside: "Tell Liu Zhenxuan to come and see me quickly!"

Soon, Liu Zhenxuan came galloping from the team that cleared the way ahead, and was about to inquire when Guo Ye urged him, "Didn't you mention that there was a young man when you collected the corpses in Gujing Lane last time?" The dead body is not from the Zhang family, but a foreigner surnamed Cui?"

Liu Zhenxuan was startled when Guo Ye suddenly asked about this matter, but he still nodded and replied: "Yes, this person is not from the Zhang family. Afterwards, we found out that this person's surname is Cui, and his name is true. He is a child of the Qinghe Cui family. And It is said that he is a direct descendant of the Cui family, and he came to Yangzhou this time to discuss cooperation with the Zhang family to open the Yangzhou Bank. Hehe, the Yangzhou Bank was opened, but his life was lost in our Yangzhou."

With some clues in Guo Ye's mind, he asked again: "Then how did you deal with this corpse? Have you ever spread the word about this person's death?"

"No, absolutely not!"

Liu Zhenxuan replied categorically: "Since you told us before, my lord, we must act covertly when cleaning up the mess in Gujing Lane, so we directly deal with the corpse of Cui Yizhen along with the corpses of the members of the Zhang clan, and buried them all in a remote area of ​​Yangzhou." It is in a mass grave, and the Qinghe Cui family has not been notified to come and collect the corpse."

"What about the Yangzhou Bank? Is it taken over as official property, or sold?"

Guo Ye asked Chen Jitao this time.

Chen Jitao shook his head and said: "Not at all, my lord, three days after you returned to your hometown to visit relatives, a young man from Qinghe Cui family came to take over the Yangzhou Bank with the deed. It was exactly ten days ago that the Yangzhou Bank was reopened Come."

"Oh……"

Guo Ye nodded slightly, nodded thoughtfully, and muttered: "Cui Yizhen, Cui family of Qinghe, hijacked the tax bank, Yangzhou bank, haha, I probably know what's going on. It's true that a wise man will have a thousand thoughts." Miss, it seems that the Cui family should have received the definite news that Cui Yizhen died in Yangzhou."

"Huh? It can't be such a coincidence, can it?"

"The Cui family dares to rob the tax bank? This is a serious crime of ransacking the family!"

Listening to Guo Ye's deduction, Liu Zhenxuan and Chen Jitao exclaimed and questioned inconceivably.

Chapter 819 Make it up first, then get it back

The carriage slowly drove into the east gate of Yangzhou, and slowly headed towards the Fuya.

Guo Ye probably guessed who robbed the salt tax in Qinghe County, and it was Cui, one of the eight great families, who was sitting in Qinghe.

As for why the Cui family of Qinghe dared to take the risk of ransacking the family and exterminating the family to impose the salt tax, Guo Ye almost guessed the reason.

It should be that the Cui family of Qinghe has received the news of Cui Yizhen's death from a certain channel, and also learned from this channel that Cui Yizhen died at his own hands.

Once he figured it out, Guo Ye couldn't help cursing inwardly for being unlucky, unexpectedly, Cui Yizhen turned out to be a variable.

To be honest, he didn't intend to put Cui Yizhen to death, but who made him stay in Gujing Lane that day, and still be a guest at Zhang's house?

Cui Yizhen's death was obviously caused by the fire at the city gate and the fish in the pond. He had requested that no one should be left alive in Gujing Lane, and the unlucky Mr. Cui lived in Zhang's house for a long time at that time, so he had to lie on the ground and was shot innocently.

It's all right now. After Qinghe Cui learned about the situation, he began to counterattack and began to retaliate wantonly.

He knew that the background of the Cui family in Qinghe was definitely not comparable to that of the Zhang family in Yangzhou. Most of the children of the Cui family worked in the imperial court or in the local area, and they had criss-cross and immeasurable connections in the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty.

Otherwise, the Qinghe Cui family would not be the most well-established family of officials and eunuchs among the eight great families.

It is precisely because the Cui family has this confidence, this network, and this ability, that they dared to make trouble in the Qinghe boundary, forcibly taking millions of taels of salt tax away quietly, Do it without anyone noticing it, and even more so without leaving any tails or traces.

As long as there is no real evidence for them, Guo Ye has nothing to do with them.