From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 74 I'm very angry today

"Your Majesty, I, Wang Ning, the Censor of the Censorate, am reporting this."

A month passed in the blink of an eye. During this month, the Daqing court and the underworld were in chaos over the salt administration.

The Neiku participated in the salt administration and competed with various salt merchants. The price of salt in Kyoto and even the whole Daqing fluctuated like a roller coaster.

After a month, the price of salt in Kyoto finally stabilized at around 15 wen per catty. Areas outside Kyoto were repeating what happened in Kyoto, with varying prices. However, judging from the trend, it was gradually going down, just like Kyoto.

During this month, the Crown Prince was not seen, and the Princess's inner treasury and various salt merchants engaged in an extremely exciting business war.

Although the Princess was a woman, her tactics were extremely aggressive. Using money to pave the way and leveraging the commercial channels of the Neiku, she combined both defense and attack, dealing a heavy blow to the Daqing salt merchants. Now, nearly all shops affiliated with the Neiku began selling salt, and the low-priced, high-quality Neiku salt had already eroded a significant portion of the market.

I don't know where she got so much salt.

Similarly, during this month, the court also engaged in a lot of attacks and defenses surrounding the salt administration. Of course, it was mainly others who attacked. The crown prince did not see anyone, and the eldest princess did not attend court. Neither of them took any precautions and seemed to be completely unconcerned about the criticisms that poured into the palace like snowflakes.

Today, Li Chengqian, who had been dormant in the Eastern Palace for a month, finally went to court.

Li Chengqian walked into Chengtian Hall with his newly grown long legs, with a gloomy face that looked like he was owing me ten million taels of silver. Most of the court officials stared at his legs as if they were watching a foreign spectacle.

With the arrival of Emperor Qing, the court meeting began.

As soon as the eunuch finished singing his praises, someone jumped out.

"Your Highness, I report that as the head of the Salt Administration, you have taken the lead in disrupting the salt administration, causing unrest throughout the country. The Princess has openly violated Qing law and privately participated in the salt business, competing with the people for profit. Your Majesty, please punish her."

There was silence in the palace.

Everyone knew that this was just a first exploratory shot.

If the prince does not respond properly, the next wave of criticism will come like a storm.

"Cheng Qian, you say."

"He deserves to die, just kill him." Li Chengqian raised his eyelids and said the cruelest words in the most indifferent tone.

There was an uproar in the hall. What did "He deserves to die, just kill him" mean?

Is this what you, a prince, should say in response to impeachment?
"Asshole." Emperor Qing was also angered by the Crown Prince's attitude. He yanked the handle of the dragon throne. "I asked you to be in charge of the salt business, and this is how you manage it? People impeached you, and you want to kill them. Who do you think you are? I'm not dead yet!"

"He is not impeaching, he is framing. He framed the crown prince and the eldest princess in public, shouldn't he be put to death?" Facing the scolding of Emperor Qing, Li Chengqian did not even raise his eyelids.

"Your Majesty has put me in charge of the salt business, and I think I've managed it very well. The six million taels of silver deficit this year has been fully recouped, and the price of salt in Kyoto has also dropped. It's now fifteen wen per catty, nearly seventy percent cheaper than the previous fifty wen per catty. The people of Kyoto have benefited greatly and are full of praise. Anyone with eyes that can see and hear can see. I'm an imperial censor living in Kyoto, so how could I not buy salt?" Li Chengqian looked at Wang Ning with dead eyes, as if he were a dead person. "Wang Ning, doesn't your family buy salt?"

Wang Ning already felt something was wrong. What was wrong with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince today? Why was his gaze so creepy?
How could it not be creepy? Early in the morning, his second soul was dismembered and sunk into the blood lake!

Do you think he can be in a good mood?

I'm so angry that I have no place to vent.

In other words, he still had some sense and restrained his breath, otherwise he would have scared this guy to death on the spot.

Even so, Wang Ning's heart trembled under his gaze. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty has never been concerned with these trivial matters at home. I really, really don't know."

"Bullshit! You're the Imperial Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate. You've heard rumors and reported to the emperor. The salt policy of the imperial court and the price of salt in the capital have been a hot topic for a long time. You don't know about it, and you dare to impeach me if you don't know about it? You bastard."

"Your Majesty, this Wang Ning, as the Imperial Censor, not only openly framed the Crown Prince and the Princess, but also bullied the Emperor and showed contempt for the court. He claimed he didn't know the price of salt in the capital, and treated Your Majesty and the officials in the court as fools. Kill him."

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, spare my life, Your Majesty!"

Wang Ning was completely upset. He could tell that the prince was not joking, he was serious. God had mercy on him. His mission today was just to fire a spearhead, he didn't expect it to explode!

"Your Majesty, Wang Ning has no such intention. It's just that over the past month, the Crown Prince, despite being ordered to act as the head of the salt administration, has not been seen. He has also sent the Black Cavalry to seal off the Salt Administration and has teamed up with the Princess to interfere in the salt industry. This has caused chaos in the court's salt administration and has affected people's livelihoods. That's why I made this memorial. I have no other intentions."

"Are you a worm in his stomach, or his feces? How do you know he doesn't have other intentions?" Li Chengqian sneered at the Right Censor who jumped out. "He said the people are competing for profits, but the price of green salt in the inner treasury is only ten coins per catty. Is this competing with the people for profits? This is clearly giving benefits to the people. What else can this be but a frame-up? Can't you see such an obvious frame-up? And you, the Right Censor, what did you just say? The salt administration is chaotic and affecting people's livelihoods? Is that what you said?"

The prince is going crazy again!

Looking at the prince who seemed to have taken gunpowder, the Right Censor-in-Chief Wu Haicheng felt a little uneasy, but the arrow was already on the string and had to be shot.

"Your Highness, is it true that His Majesty has asked you to take charge of the salt administration?"

"Yes!"

"So after you took over the salt administration, did you only go to the Salt Administration once? Did you even smash the official plaque of the Salt Administration and send the Black Cavalry to seal off the Salt Administration?"

"Yes!"

"Isn't this ignoring His Majesty's will and ignoring government affairs?"

"Bullshit!" Li Chengqian did not give him face just because the other party was the Right Censor-in-Chief, but directly retorted, and then turned to Emperor Qing without even looking at him.

"Your Majesty, I have followed your instructions and acted as the acting salt official. I have accomplished two things. The first was to make up for the shortfall in salt tax last year. The money has now been paid to the Ministry of Revenue. The second was to abolish the salt monopoly, allowing merchants to buy and sell salt freely. The Inner Treasury did this, and within ten days, it stabilized the price of salt in Kyoto. Although salt prices outside Kyoto have fluctuated, they have also begun to fall. I believe that in a few days, the price of salt in Daqing as a whole will stabilize. However, only the Inner Treasury is currently doing this. Your Majesty, please issue a clear decree to abolish the salt monopoly. This will reassure the people of the world. As more and more merchants participate, the so-called salt tax will naturally become part of the commercial tax, and there will be no need to send special salt inspectors to urge and supervise. In this way..."

"Your Majesty, no!"

Before Li Chengqian finished speaking, another person stepped out from the crowd and started shouting.

"Your Majesty, you see, the treacherous officials who have colluded with the salt merchants are about to come out one by one."

Li Chengqian was in a bad mood and didn't want to get entangled with this group any further. He sneered and said, "Breaking up the salt monopoly will benefit everyone in the world. The only ones who will suffer are the original salt merchants and the officials who colluded with them. What's going on? Are all of you in collusion with the salt merchants?"

"Your Highness, this is a bit biased." The Right Censor-in-Chief's forehead was sweating.

Li Chengqian stared at Wu Haicheng intently, then raised his eyes and glanced at the crowd in the hall. The murderous aura in his eyes was as tangible as a substance.

"Since the Kaiyuan era of our dynasty, following the old practices of previous dynasties, the salt business has been controlled by these salt officials and the six major salt merchants, and has been passed down from generation to generation.

In the past, they needed to transport grain in exchange for salt permits. Since the establishment of the Neiku, they no longer need to transport grain. They can just buy it with money. If they can buy it, why can't others?

Wang, a salt merchant from Wu County, owned more than 100,000 mu of fertile land, and his estate alone stretched for ten miles.

The Wu family of Yangzhou bribed the salt official, and the amount of bribery at one time reached more than 1.3 million taels.

Xu from Songjiang, a bastard, planted a thirty-mile peach orchard to win the smile of a beautiful woman.

Nanyang Li...

Hangzhou Ding...

The six major salt merchants have been doing this for over seventy years, three generations. They've made enough money, right?"

The cold and stern voice echoed in the hall, and no one dared to respond.

Bang! !

Li Chengqian kicked Wang Ning to the ground. "Two days ago, you accepted 30,000 taels of silver from the Xu family in Songjiang, and the Wu family in Yangzhou also gave you two skinny horses. You accepted bribes and framed the Crown Prince and the Princess in court. Tell me, what is your crime?"

(End of this chapter)