Chapter 12 With five or two notices, three to four thousand taels of silver went into the pocket of Haizhou Yunjuan

In the past two months, Zeng Guofan concentrated his energy on studying the salt policy, and checked all the documents and files of Tao Shu's reform of the salt policy in the south of the Yangtze River.He also wrote a long letter to Zuo Zongtang specifically for this matter, asking him to talk about Mr. Wen Yi's own evaluation of the new salt policy, and also asking Zuo Zongtang to express his opinions.Zuo Zongtang did not reply. At that time, the biggest tax revenue of the imperial court was the salt tax.Table salt is divided into Huai salt, Changlu salt, Shandong salt, Hedong salt, Zhejiang salt, Fujian salt, Guangdong salt, Sichuan salt, and Yunnan salt according to its origin.

Among them, Huai salt has the largest market, including six provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Henan (parts).Therefore, the bulk of the salt class is the Huai class, and the imperial court attaches great importance to the income of Huai salt.During the Jiadao period, Jiangnan was exhausted and suffered a serious deficit.Huai salt should sell more than 1.6 million taels of salt every year, and pay 5 million taels of tax and silver, but actually sell less than 1 million taels of salt, and pay 2 million taels of salt tax.In the tenth year of Daoguang, Tao Shu served as the governor of the two rivers. While rectifying the river engineering, water affairs, and official administration, he also had the assistance of Wei Yuan, Bao Shichen and others who were talented in the past.Tao Shu first asked the permission to transfer the Lianghuai salt affairs to the governor of Liangjiang to unify the powers, and then make improvements in cost, procedures, transportation, sales, and personnel, and then change the bill method in Huaibei.That is to say, in Huaibei, where the transportation is inconvenient and the large salt merchants are unwilling to go to the place for trafficking, merchants with small capital are allowed to go to the branch office to take classes, issue official tickets, and buy salt with the tickets.Tao Shu's reform of the salt administration soon achieved practical results, which brought convenience to the people and increased income for the country.But it hit the salt officials and salt merchants and aroused their resentment.

At that time, two new cards were added to Yangzhou's cards.A painting of a peach tree, Yu Taoshu. Whoever gets this card wins or loses.Anyone who picks up this card will be criticized bitterly.Another picture shows a beautiful woman, the daughter of Yu Taoshu.Whoever gets this card wins even if they lose all. The old man took pleasure in this card and made fun of it.After Tao Shu's death, the Salt New Deal declined.After the Taiping Army occupied Liangjiang, Tao Shu's reforms disappeared. The year Tao Shu died, Zeng Guofan was leaving the academy to go to Beijing. From then on, the young Hanlin, who had just entered his official career, admired this senior fellow from his hometown and cited him as a role model. "The first step is to restore Tao Shu's old system of salt administration!" Zeng Guofan made this decision.At the same time, Zeng Guofan dispatched a group of capable staff members, including Peng Shouyi, Li Shuchang, Wu Rulun, Zhang Yuzhao, and Xue Fucheng, to investigate the current sales of Huaiyan salt in the areas of northern Jiangsu, Huaibei, Jiangxi, and Huguang.He did not forget his promise to Huang Tingzan that year, and specially invited Huang Tingzan to come to Jiangning to serve as the curtain, and Huang was in charge of the specific affairs of the rectification of the salt administration.

These days, Huang Tingzan called a meeting of his staff who came back from various investigations, reported the situation, discussed governance measures, and reported the details to Zeng Guofan. There are many problems in the salt affairs of Liangjiang, and it can even be said to be dark.To sum up, mainly in five aspects: One is serious debts.Over the past ten years, the Huai Ke received only 10% of the 30% each year. The imperial court lost a large amount of income, and the Yamen of the Governor of Liangjiang also lost a large amount of income. Second, smuggling is rampant.The methods of smuggling include entrainment, running wind, full round, flooding, releasing animals, steaming cakes in cages, etc., and they are varied and thoughtful.

The third is the corruption of salt officials.From the salt transport envoys in Yangzhou, to the transport judges in Taizhou, Haizhou, and Tongzhou, and down to the officials at various checkpoints, all of them were full of corruption, extortion, and accumulated wealth as much as two to three million taels of silver. There are tens of thousands of taels.Most of the pavilions and gardens in Yangzhou, where the Lianghuai salt transportation envoy is located, were built by salt merchants who made a fortune.Among them, Kangshan Thatched Cottage is the most luxurious, built for a man nicknamed Zhang Dazi.This man was originally a poor man who started to pay for the Tongzhou transport judgment when he was fifty years old. In ten years, he had invested more than one million yuan and bought 50 acres of land beside the Slender West Lake to build this thatched cottage.The main building of the thatched cottage is three stories high, overlooking the Yangtze River. There are special gardens for plum blossoms, lotus, osmanthus and chrysanthemums.What is even more obscene is that there are 30 suites in the hall, with twists and turns, outsiders can't tell the way, and the rooms are full of gold, jade and brocade.There is a Meiji in each room, and there is a passage under the bed. Zhang Dazi often sleeps in one room at night, and sleeps in another room when he wakes up early.A student in Yangzhou imitated Liu Yuxi's "Humble Room Inscription" and wrote an "Inscription on Humble Officials", which bitterly satirized these salt officials: "If the officials are not high, they will be famous if they have a field. If they are not deep, they will be good if they have salt. Although Si Rude officials, only profit is sweet. Silk rounds are piled up with white cases, and the color is reduced to blue. Talking and laughing, there are merchants, and the exchanges are all stoves. There is no need to tune cranes and pianos, and do not leave scriptures. Or borrow Yuan Gonglu, or Drunk Bamboo West Pavilion. Confucius said: 'Why is there such a thing?'" When Huang Tingzan read out this "Inscription of the Poor Officials", all the staff laughed, but Zeng Guofan didn't laugh, he His heart was trembling at the corruption of Liangjiang's officials, and two fierce lights quickly gathered in his hazel eyes.

Four is the high price of salt.Salt merchants bought salt at coastal salt farms for less than ten yuan per catty. When they landed in Hankou Town, they sold it for hundreds of yuan per catty. One hundred and fifty texts.Many poor people cannot afford salt, so they have to eat light food, and it is common for them not to taste salt for ten and a half months.The people complained a lot. The fifth is encroachment by neighbors and private interests.Because of the high price of Huaiyan salt in a remote place, neighboring Yanyan took advantage of the cheap price of the nearby roads, occupied the Huaiyan sales land, and affected the sales of Huaiyan salt.For example, Changlu salt invaded Huaibei, Sichuan salt invaded western Hubei and western Hunan, and Guangdong salt invaded southern Hunan.

Facing the serious situation of Liangjiang salt affairs, Zeng Guofan thought hard about how to manage it.During the day, I discussed repeatedly with my staff, and at night, I was thinking alone in the study.Zeng Guofan believes that there are many reasons for the chaos in the salt affairs, the most important reason being lax administration of officials.Whether it is to restore Tao Shu's reforms or to further rectify the salt affairs, the administration of officials must be rectified first.To rectify the administration of officials, it is necessary to crack down on those corrupt officials who are extremely angry with the people, and to formulate new regulations on salt affairs.Now there are too few upright and promising people in the officialdom, and corrupt, corrupt and stupid people are everywhere.Zeng Guofan remembered a small matter he had dealt with last month.

One day, the Jiangning Feudal Secretary sent a report.The report said that on February 14th, three grain ships from Shangyuan County capsized in a strong wind 30 miles away from the Jiangning River, and all 90,000 catties of grain sank to the bottom of the river. Please excuse the escort.The county magistrate of Shangyuan said that the report was true, and the Jiangning feudal secretary also responded accordingly: "This matter is true, and we agree not to pursue it." Zeng Guofan thought that if the wind overturned the grain ship, the wind must be very strong. In his memory, there was no such wind in mid-February.Check the diary of the day, and there is no record of wind and rain.

Zeng Guofan concluded that there was a fraud in it, and called Shangyuan County and Jiangning Feudal Chiefs to reprimand them and order them to investigate carefully.It was later found out that the 90,000 catties of grain were not in Shenjiang at all, and all of them were privately distributed, and the county magistrate received 10,000 catties.The county magistrate was confused, and he believed the words of the county magistrate, and the feudal secretary did not investigate, so he directly approved it.Zeng Guofan remembers that in the 30th year of Daoguang, he went to the Shu, pointing out that the current situation in the officialdom is that Beijing officials are withdrawn and trivial, and foreign officials are perfunctory and perfunctory. , but also add four words: greedy, despicable.

Zeng Guofan entrusted Huang Tingzan with the formulation of the articles of association, and told him to learn more from Tao Shu's effective experience back then.As for punishing corrupt officials, he will preside over it himself.After comparing the typical examples reported by his staff, he decided to arrest Haizhou Yun judge Yuqi first. Yuqi is a Mongolian, born in Donna, and served eight years in the Haizhou branch.This person completely disregarded the laws of the country, and he would not let go of any way to make money. In just eight years, he made six or seven million taels of silver in Haizhou's salt business.Yuqi has a unique skill, which is beyond the reach of other salt officials.Every year at the beginning of spring, he used the excuse of attracting merchants to lower the purchase price of salt on the grounds of unsalable sales, which made the merchants in the pool panic, so everyone had to gather together 30,000 to 40,000 taels of silver for him. A notice, borrowing the mouth of the pool merchants, to restore the price of salt on the grounds of sympathy for Zao Ding.Just like this two notices before and after, tens of thousands of taels of silver went into his pocket.Yinshang and Chishang all hated him deeply.He was a member of Horqin's left-wing rear banner, and had some relationship with Seng Gelinqin, so he claimed that the monk king was his cousin.Monk King is the emperor's cousin, since he is his cousin, isn't he also the emperor's cousin?Although the businessmen don't know his details, seeing that he speaks with roots and roots, who is not afraid of him!They all obediently let him be exploited.

This year he did it again.The pool merchants had already made preparations and pooled 30,000 taels of silver for him, but he didn't accept it, and had no choice but to add another 10,000 taels of silver, but he still didn't accept it.It turned out that Yuqi took a fancy to a string of real Qin Nanchao beads brought back from Nanyang by a pool merchant with 8,000 taels of silver.This hanging court bead is made of Jade Rhinoceros Jade as accessories, it is as soft as mud, moisturizing without leaving your hands, and the fragrance smells half a mile away.After Yuqi's servant disclosed the news, the pool merchants had no choice but to gather another 8,000 taels of silver to buy this string of court beads and give it to him.Only then did he post the second notice: The price of salt remains the same. Zeng Guofan thought, Yu Qi is as greedy as a tiger, even beheading him would not be too much, and it would not be wrong to punish him first; at worst, he is really some relative of Seng Gelinqin, and he brought out the monk king as a threat.Zeng Guofan had long had an unnamed grievance with Seng Gelinqin, and it happened to be a good time to knock this prince who thought he was invincible! Zeng Guofan first sent Xue Fucheng to Haizhou quietly to find out the situation, and asked him to contact several pool merchants and write a complaint in their names.Haizhou Chi merchants heard that Mr. Zeng wanted to punish Yuqi, and they were all enthusiastic, exposing all of Yuqi's crimes.The young and energetic Xue Fucheng could not wait for this corrupt official to eat his flesh and blood. He used all his life's writing skills and spent three days and three nights to write a complaint in a down-to-earth manner.After Zeng Guofan read the certificate, he immediately sent patrols to Haizhou with a token to arrest Yu Qi.He also sent Peng Shouyi to temporarily take charge of the Haizhou transportation judgment, check the accounts of the Haizhou branch over the years, and find out the amount of Yuqi's corruption before ransacking his home. When Peng Shouyi and the Superintendent's Office came to Haizhou to patrol and announce the order of the Governor of Liangjiang to lock up Yuqi and seal up Yu's mansion, the Haizhou Salt Farm, including the merchants, pool merchants, Zao Ding and nearby people, all clapped their hands and cheered.This incident quickly spread throughout the two rivers and three provinces, and the officialdom was shocked. Yu Qi was unprepared in advance, and when he was on the road, he called his younger brother Yu Xiang aside, and secretly ordered: He will try his best to win this lawsuit even if he spends a lot of money. Take it out, go to Beijing to find the monk king's mansion, ask the monk king to come forward, and meet with Zeng Guofan. After Yu Qi was escorted to Jiangning, Zeng Guofan interrogated him himself.Yu Qi did not admit that he had been involved in bribery and corruption. As for lowering the price and resuming the price, it was originally to combat the arrogance of the pool merchants and force them to bleed, and all the money was used to dredge the canal and repair the saltworks. He did not corruption.Zeng Guofan did not argue with him, and temporarily detained him until the results of Peng Shouyi's investigation. At the same time, Yuqi's younger brother Yuxiang is also active.Yu Xiang first packed a pack of treasures, and went to Yangzhou to find the capital transfer salt transport envoy Si Yun envoy Zhong Lian, begging him to intercede in front of Zeng Guofan. Zhonglian is Yuqi's immediate boss, and the relationship between the two is extraordinary.Zhonglian is a Manchu, and the best thing in his life is to eat.After coming to Yangzhou, I took a fancy to the fresh shad from the Yangtze River in late spring and early summer, and often regretted that the ones bought in the market were not delicious enough.So Yu Qi hired a few experienced fishermen on the river to row a small boat to cast nets in the rapids near Jiaoshan Mountain. There was a small stove on the boat with a silver pot on it.After the shad were netted, they were dissected on the boat, and then stewed in a silver pot over a warm fire. At the same time, they rowed the oars and went straight to Yangzhou City.When the silver pot arrived at Duzhuan Yamen, the fish was just cooked, and the aroma was overflowing.Yuqi's flattery hits the spot, and Zhonglian appreciates it very much. Although he knows that Yuqi is a corrupt official and has great public grievances, he ignores it and lets him do what he does. At that time, Zhong Lian received a gift from Yu Xiang and considered how to intercede for him.Zhong Lian knew in his heart that although Yu Qi was greedy and amassing money, he was not number one.There are 23 saltworks in Lianghuai, among those belonging to Huainan, the Tongzhou branch has nine, the Taizhou branch has eleven, and the Haizhou branch has only three in Huaibei.Compared with Tongzhou and Taizhou, Haizhou has the smallest jurisdiction and naturally has the least number of blackmail targets.Yu Qi once told him such a grievance in person—— That year, Yuqi visited Akegui, the Yunjuan of Tongzhou, as a guest.A Kegui showed his grandeur, and the road from Yuqi's boat stop to the mansion was paved with scarlet hala, which was five miles long, with lamp sheds erected along the road, and he did not hold candles at night.The mansion is as beautiful as a fairy palace with carved beams and painted buildings.For three days in a row, delicacies from mountains and seas, singing and dancing dramas were entertained every day.At the banquet, A Kegui asked Yu Qi: "Do you think there is anything that I don't like here?" Yu Qi thought for a long time, but couldn't find any flaws, and finally said two words like a thorn in an egg: "Everything is good. The floor tiles in the flower hall are several feet in length and length, like a palace, which may attract criticism; and the pond outside the study room has clear fish swimming, and it will be more beautiful if the pond is filled with lotus." Akegui remained silent.Two hours later, Yu Qi was invited to walk around inside and outside his mansion.But all the flower halls were replaced with one-foot-square water-milled green bricks, and the pond was full of lotus flowers.Yu Qi was surprised, but also felt that A Kegui was too brave in front of him.He has a sense of being ridiculed. Now that Zeng Guofan is rectifying the salt affairs, he does not rectify Akegui first, but uses Yuqi to sacrifice the flag. He is injustice for Yuqi; superior.However, he also knew that the former commander of the Hunan Army was a typical Hunan barbarian, and it was indeed very difficult for him to give up his own ideas and submit to others.After Zhonglian thought about it in the Yangzhou Yamen for a few days, he still took a boat to Jiangning City. He knew that Zeng Guofan was not accepted, so he didn't dare to bring a penny as a gift. "My lord, it is inappropriate for Yuqi to knock money out of Chi Shang's hands by means of lowering the price and repaying the price. Of course, this is not his invention, and all previous Haizhou Yunjus have done it like this!" Zhonglian was about the same age as Zeng Guofan, tall and thin, with a slightly curved back.Through the investigation of his staff, Zeng Guofan knew that loyalty is not honest, but compared with his predecessor, he is still a bit restrained.Lianghuai salt transport envoys, although they are only from the third rank in terms of rank, are the most lucrative in the world in terms of duty, which is not something ordinary people can get.Zhong Lian served as an envoy for transporting salt between Huaihe River and Huaihe River for three years. The wealth he accumulated was not too much, and his methods were not too harsh. His official reputation was acceptable, and Zeng Guofan was also polite to him. "Deputy Zhongyan, I also know that the previous Haizhou transport judges have some bad deeds, but ten years ago in Xianfeng, I didn't serve as the governor of Jiang, so I didn't care about it. Before I entered Jiangning City, I was too busy cutting down the long hair and had no time to care. Now I have time to do it. Now that this matter is done, can I see him behaving so mischievously and not ask questions?" Zeng Guofan leaned on the grand master's chair, holding the armrests loosely with both hands, and said calmly.He had already prepared for Zhonglian's intercession. "In view of this background, I would like to ask my lord to be lenient on Yu Qi's punishment; and it is true that he used the money to repair the canal, which is beneficial to the sailing of the salt boat. As his superior, I know this situation well." "How much money did he spend to build the canal?" Zeng Guofan asked, looking intently at Zhonglian. Zhong Lian didn't discuss it with Yu Xiang beforehand, so he couldn't answer for a while, rolled his eyes twice, and said, "It's always around 250,000!" "He said he had 500,000 yuan. You, Shangfeng, have concealed his achievements!" Zeng Guofan sneered twice, and Zhonglian's spine was numb from his laughter. "Yuqi always shouted to build the canal, and he did build it twice, but the money was paid by the merchants. Before and after his appointment, the merchants gave 500,000 taels of silver to build the river. In fact, less than 300,000 yuan was used for river engineering, and the rest went into his pocket, and the Haizhou section of the canal has not been repaired so far. Zhongyan Secretary, take a look at this!" Zeng Guofan took out a large stack of letters from the drawer and handed them to Zhong Lian, and said coldly: "These are complaints from the businessmen, you should take them to the posthouse to have a closer look!" This large stack of letters, like a row of shells, defeated Zhonglian.He took a breath and said: "Seeing that Yuqi has worked hard these years and collected nearly a million taels of salt for the country every year, let him pay tens of thousands of silver as appropriate, and let him be dismissed. The Ministry of Communications has strictly proposed ransacking the house." "Silk Zhongyan, a person like Yu Qi is only dismissed and compensated tens of thousands of silver. The punishment is too light. If the law is not heavy, the treacherous will be lucky. Zhongyan has been an official for many years, and this truth must be understood. I don’t need to say more. I’m sending people to investigate how much he has embezzled, and I won’t wrong him. The Zhongyan Department is busy with salt affairs, so there is no need to stay in Jiangning for too long, please go back to Yangzhou tomorrow!” This cold expulsion order forced Zhong Lian to stop talking, so he had to withdraw embarrassingly.When he told Yuxiang who was waiting for the letter in Yangzhou, the younger brother of the former Haizhou Yunju was disappointed in the plea.