Chapter 49: Gains and Losses

  Originally, Mou Xun's annual income was at most three thousand taels of silver, but Li Meng had such a high income. It turned out that during Mou Xun's tenure, there were two sources of income: one was his own private salt business, and the other was the salt workers' extortion and layer-by-layer submission and division of spoils. For example, if the lowest-ranking runner earned ten cents, he would have to hand over seven cents to the headman, who would then submit four cents to Mou Xun, forming a pyramid of shared profits.

  It's just layer upon layer of embezzlement, which doesn't form an effective control system, so it's all about layering and concealing, the subordinates under the inspector are like scattered sand, a large amount of silver is being embezzled by these small officials. This is an extremely inefficient way to make money, Li Meng's approach is to control the source, grasp the channel, making the process simple and direct, with a very high efficiency in earning money.

  I knew that without himself, Li Meng could make more money. Ning Shiyeh still had a sense of loss, how to show his importance. However, after working in the patrol department for a few days, Ning Shiyeh realized that Li Meng and his subordinates were a very united and unbreakable team.

  What shocked Ning Shifu even more was the combat strength of Li Meng's salt workers. Although Ning Qian Gui was a scholar, he could still see that these young men were much stronger than those seemingly ferocious salt workers from before.

  Li Meng's arrangements for the salt ponds and salt fields, as well as the sale of salt, were all simple and effective. Compared to before, they were almost perfect, making it difficult for others to find any loopholes.

  Having seen so much, Ning Qian felt increasingly worried about his own situation. He thought it through clearly: if he was of no use to Li Meng, he would inevitably be driven out in the future. Such a place with abundant income and protection was not easy to find in these chaotic times.

  However, he did not expect that Li Meng still appreciated him very much. Almost all official documents and daily administrative affairs were taken over by this Ning Shiyeye, and they were done in an orderly manner. With such a person, it really saved too many worries. Every day, Li Meng ran back and forth between Jiaozhou City, Mengtun Town, Lingshan Salt Field, and Lingshan Wei Suo, grabbing soldiers and production.

  One side was anxious, the other felt appreciated. Li Meng quickly added a month's salary to Ning Qian's pay, which greatly moved this Master Ning, thinking that Lord Li was generous and willing to work harder, determined to come up with something substantial to repay him.

  Li Meng is now training salt dings outside the city, with unchanged team and physical training, adding content to the drills. The salt dings are divided into two teams, forming arrays and fighting each other. Ma Gang came up with a good idea, which was to hire small children from inside the city to throw mud blocks and wooden sticks at the advancing salt ding troops.

  Anyone who makes a sudden movement will be severely punished, this is also a kind of adaptive training for long-range weapons, the effect in actual combat is unknown, but many people have been smashed to bruises.

  "Sir, there's something I need to report to you!"

  It's been nearly half a month since I returned to the patrol office, and Ning Shifu can only see Li Meng at breakfast and dinner. Li Meng is either training salt workers outside the city or running around in Pingmang Town and various guard stations, inspecting salt production and sales. In the past, when Mou Xunshen was in this position, he spent every day indulging in pleasure, whether it was in a wine house, a brothel, or a gambling den. Every time he went to investigate private salt sales, he would bring several instructors and bookkeepers, and even the salt workers' leaders would have to urge him repeatedly before he would reluctantly go once.

  So Ning Shifu, when planning for Mou Xun Jian, often felt disdainful. What future could such a nouveau riche have? But now Li Meng's hard work every day has left Ning Shifu puzzled. Sitting in this position, not enjoying it at all, running around every day, what is the point of it all?

  Looking at Li Meng's clothes, they were also ordinary shirts and pants, mostly half-old, drinking very little wine every day, and no women were seen around him. After finishing the business outside the city, he still had to practice martial arts in his own courtyard.

  "Old Ning? It's been a while!"

  Li Meng's voice came from inside the house, Ning Qian Gui smiled slightly, thinking that this host was too gentle, and never talked about official power with these people from the patrol department, even with the salt workers, he was strict and stern, not smiling or joking, it was indeed strange in many ways. He pushed open the door and went inside.

  The original study room had been converted into a dining hall, where Li Meng and Chen Liu Zi, Wang Hai were having lunch. The dishes were simple: a steamer basket of plain buns, a bowl of braised mutton, and a bowl of braised pork, all cooked in thick oil and sauce until tender. The people sitting there didn't have any airs about them, they were all just eating with gusto.

  When Ning Qian Gui came in, Chen Liu Zi and Wang Hai both smiled and stood up to greet him. Master Ning knew that these two were Li Meng's confidants, so he also asked about them with a smile. Although the days spent with these people were short, compared to those salt shop bosses Zhao, Chen, Wang, Ma and others in the past, they were less polite but more sincere, making one feel very at ease.

  Li Meng held a steamed bun in his hand and smiled as he greeted:

  "Lao Ning, have you had lunch? Sit down and add a pair of chopsticks. Sit down and talk, sit down and talk."

  Ning Qian smiled wryly and sat down opposite Li Meng, saying:

  "Thank you for your kindness, Inspector. The wine table at Shao Hai Lou has been booked and the deposit has been paid. Lin Zhangguan promised to take care of it, please don't worry."

  Li Meng nodded and turned to ask Wang Hai beside him:

  "Did you bring my words to Hou Shan?"

  Wang Hai's mouth was still chewing on something, and he replied vaguely:

  "It was already mentioned the day before yesterday, and when I went there yesterday, Hou Shan was leading a few people to busy themselves."

  Everything that needed to be discussed had been said, and Li Meng and the others yielded to Master Ning. They began eating again. At this point, Ning Qian Gui should either join everyone in eating or get up and bid farewell. Master Ning hesitated for a moment before speaking:

  "Lord Li, our patrol of the official salt monopoly has to investigate two directions for private salt. One is from Lingshan Saltworks and the coastal salt fields, and the other is from Haicang and Yuer Town near Laizhou Prefecture. In the past, Pingdu State in the north used salt from Weixian, Changyi, and Laizhou Prefecture, while south of Pingdu State they used Lingshan salt."

  "Oh?"