Chapter 41: When Others Discard, I Collect
Li Meng heard this and smiled lightly, taking a sip of tea. Chen Liu-zi and Wang Hai, who were standing behind Li Meng, exchanged a glance, but couldn't hide their smugness. Whoever was involved in smuggling salt or managing the salt trade in Jiaozhou City had to consider the hundreds of bamboo rods used by the salt smugglers. Many salt merchants from various places had been beaten and left on the side of the road to die, with their bodies covered in blood. Just thinking about it made them feel very proud.
"Nowadays, when a new official takes office, they all have to borrow money first. Once in office, there are ways to repay the debt. In our province, apart from the usual silver coins, the largest sum of money is the 'adjustment fee' given by the inspector when the prefect takes office. Now that the inspector is dead, this sum cannot be collected, and the prefect's family has just arrived, I wonder how they will manage?"
Li Zhuang finished speaking and smiled first, without any respect for the newly appointed governor.
"Oh? How much silver is this seasoning worth?"
Li Meng couldn't help but ask, and Li Zhu also didn't think much of it, smiling as he said:
"Five hundred taels of silver, this county magistrate is probably worried to death about this amount. Yesterday, he had a drink with Zhang the historian in the yamen and said that whoever comes up with this five hundred taels will get the position of patrol officer..."
Li Zhuanggui laughed again and said with some disdain:
"These officials are all dignified, but they have become like this, it's really a loss of face for the imperial court."
Watching the high-ranking official make a fool of himself, no matter who it is, there's always a sense of schadenfreude. Chen Liu and Wang Hai couldn't help but chuckle along, only to notice Li Meng standing there with a cup of tea in hand, lost in thought, before quickly covering his mouth.
Li Zhuanggui laughed a few times, seeing Li Meng's state, and also shut his mouth. The room fell silent, and after a while, the tea in Li Meng's hand was almost cold. Suddenly, Li Meng put the teacup on the table with a "clink" sound, which startled the people around him. He stared at Li Zhuanggui and opened his mouth to say:
"Mr. Li, I'll give you 500 taels of silver, can you help me get this inspector position?"
Li Zhuangui was startled by this sudden request and hesitated for a moment, twirling his whiskers with his hand, saying in a low voice:
"This... I'm afraid..."
"Six hundred taels is how much, whatever is left over is all profit for the shopkeeper."
The naked benefit of this fruit is to make the shopkeeper's whole body shake, even if the annual salary of the governor is only eighty taels, the new governor urgently needs money, and the local salt administration inspector position is vacant and nobody asks for it. This deal of buying official positions by proxy will leave at least one hundred taels of silver for himself.
Moreover, the forces outside Jiaozhou City are now secretly the largest of Yan Zhangzi. After discussing Li Mengjiang's family business, it was also very beneficial to say with a smile:
"Thanks to Li Erlang's appreciation, I'll go ask someone to try, but this position requires some credentials..."
Li Zhuanggui thought Li Meng was a good fellow from the green woods, not a decent household, possibly a wandering outsider from elsewhere, but he didn't expect him to respond like this:
"It doesn't matter, I have the official document of the Ling Shan Wei's Xue family thousand households' general flag here, just take it and use it."
"....it was Lord Li after all, I am truly sorry for the disrespect!"
In the second month of Chongzhen's sixth year, although there were still small groups of rebels active in the border areas between Qingzhou and Yanzhou prefectures in Shandong Province, the entire province was jubilant. The Liaodong general Kong Youde, who had been wreaking havoc on the Dengzhou and Laiyang regions for nearly two years, took his troops out to sea, and this rebellion was finally put down.
Xunfu, Bu Zhengshi and various officials of all levels presented memorials to the throne, singing praises of the emperor's sacred virtues, saying that without the command of Emperor Chongzhen, such a great victory would not have been possible.
In this festive atmosphere, a small appointment in the Zhucheng District of Laizhou Prefecture went unnoticed by anyone. Li Mengde, a military household with a good reputation in the Wei-Suo area, was appointed as the salt policy inspector of Shandong Province stationed in Zhucheng, and took office immediately.
The entire Xue family's thousand households were shaken, and those who joined the salt stick people didn't mention it, even other hundred households and thousand households came to offer gifts to show their respect. The commander of Lingshan Wei also sent someone to pay his respects, although he was a ninth-grade official, everyone had seen the prestige of Mou Yanwang in those years.
The men under Li Meng's command looked more elite than the personal soldiers of the Commander-in-Chief, and with such a large salt farm producing salt, it was certain that they would be more powerful than the Mu Yan Wang in the future.
Li Meng also made no exception, and set up a banquet in the west village of Xuejia's thousand households, where he entertained his fellow villagers. However, the salt transport team and the salt cooking team's young men, although their food quality had greatly improved, were not given the treatment of being invited to sit at the table, and instead continued to practice on the beach.
Originally, those families who didn't dare to join in because of the risk of smuggling private salt all wanted to come and work. The salt fields must have needed a lot of manpower, so Li welcomed everyone and took them in. Meanwhile, the 160 young men from the salt-making team who used to boil salt on the beach every day were left with nothing but practice.
On March 1st, Li Meng went to Jiaozhou City to take office. The crowd saw him off for several miles and turned back reluctantly...
This time, Li Meng led the salt carriers on the official road. The role of this official road is to connect Weisuo, Lingshan Salt Field and Jiaozhou City. All the salt traded here is smuggled salt, and Weisuo has become a farm. As a result, there are hardly any people coming and going on this official road, so Li Meng and his 150 salt carriers behind him are quite conspicuous.
Zhao Neng was the only one among those people beside Li Meng who was allowed to drink at the banquet. He was still staggering as he walked, clearly not having sobered up from last night's drinking. After walking a few miles without seeing anyone behind them, he couldn't help but ask Li Meng:
"Brother Li, oh, Lord Li, is it really necessary for us to bring out so many people?"
Behind them, the salt carriers formed five rows. Although they had only been practicing for a few months, they were already showing results. One hundred and fifty people carrying bamboo poles walked solemnly on the road, very neatly. Li Meng smiled and asked Zhao Neng:
"Do you remember those three former salted fish heads who came over a few days ago?"
Zhao nodded his head, somewhat puzzled, and said:
"I naturally remember, didn't we let them disperse on their own, and get rid of these goods that harm the people?"
Li Meng smiled softly and didn't speak until half a moment later:
"These rascals have no other skills except for harming the people, if they can't be salt smugglers, they can only become thieves. Would they be willing? People from both Fengmeng Town and Jiaozhou City came to pass on messages, recently over 150 people gathered in Fengmeng Town, saying they want to intercept me halfway."
Hearing this, Zhao Neng's whole body shuddered, the lingering effects of his hangover instantly turning into cold sweat, and he hastily asked:
"What?! Then we'll take this road!!"
Li Meng gritted his teeth and smiled:
"It doesn't matter, gathering together is also a good thing, so we won't have to kill them one by one later!"
