Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 195 Collusion

Wang Zongsan died in mid-February, but the turmoil in the officialdom and underworld of Jiangyin Prefecture continued until late March before finally coming to an end. In the month or so that followed, countless ruffians, wandering knights, and merchants flocked to the Huangtian Trading Company, and the entire salt route north and south of Jiangyin was cleared up.

At the end of March, a salt smuggler from Jiangbei brought 15,000 catties of salt. After distributing it all, Shao Shuyi realized that he might have already taken over about half of the Jiangyin private salt market.

As for why there wasn't more, it's obvious: there wasn't enough salt.

So far this year, he hasn't personally gone out to buy salt; he's relied entirely on salt merchants from Jiangbei to deliver it by boat, totaling only about 30,000 jin (15,000 catties). If he wants to expand and strengthen this business, there's no doubt he'll have to personally go out and collect the salt.

On the first day of the fourth lunar month, the two ships, Pingjia and Pingyi, gathered at Huangtian Port to begin loading a new batch of 3,000 bolts of cotton cloth for delivery to Liujia Port. If all goes well, they will set sail for Liujia Port in the next day or two.

Shao Shuyi then took a carriage to Yang's Grain Shop on the banks of the Xueqian River to meet Ge Daji, an official in the Criminal Division.

When Yu Yuan and Liu Ming each carried a large bundle of money up to the second floor, they had already been talking for quite a while.

"After much effort, we finally managed to stop the officials from Wuxi and Changshu who wanted to come over." Ge Daji said this with a sigh. Shao Shuyi looked indignant and said, "Jiangyin's affairs are none of the business of outsiders. The position vacated by Lin Xuan will naturally be filled by officials from our own prefecture. It's not up to outsiders."

Ge Daji nodded repeatedly, automatically ignoring the fact that Shao Shuyi was also from out of town.

At Shao Shuyi's signal, Yu Yuan and Liu Ming placed the bundle on the table between them, gently untied it to reveal stacks of banknotes inside. "Clerk Ge, here is one hundred ingots. If it's not enough, just come back to me." Shao Shuyi pushed the bundle in front of Ge Daji and said, "In this world, it's all about you helping me and me helping you. I need official favors in Jiangyin Prefecture. Clerk Ge is a veteran official, familiar with the affairs of the prefecture. It's only natural that he should be promoted to the position of Chief Clerk."

Even though Ge Daji was cunning and shrewd, he was still somewhat excited when he saw the hundred ingots of banknotes. He sighed and said, "I have passed the three exams for many years and have been waiting for this day for a long time. Cao She is truly a timely help."

Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "Jiangyin Prefecture has 400,000 people. I can't earn enough money for them. Making friends is what's important. Please accept this, Mr. Ge. You'll need it for bribing officials."

After saying that, he gestured, and Yu Yuan and Liu Ming retied the bundle and pushed it towards Ge Daji.

Today's money came from both the Shao and Liu families, fifty ingots each, to be given to Ge Daji to bribe his superiors and subordinates, as he has a high chance of being promoted to the position of Chief Clerk.

This position has been vacant for a month, and beneath the surface, undercurrents are swirling, with various parties engaged in fierce competition.

Shao Shuyi even helped Ge Daji scare off a competitor; the rest would depend on "money power."

One hundred ingots are definitely not enough; Ge Daji himself has raised far more than that amount. Now it all depends on how effective the bribery will be. Ge Daji has clearly weighed the pros and cons for a long time and finally decided to take a gamble to see if he can defeat all his competitors and ascend to the throne of the state prosecutor.

He didn't mince words at this moment. He placed the two bundles at his feet, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, and said, "Cao She is truly public-spirited and righteous. I admire him." After a moment's thought, he said, "Regardless of whether I can advance further, I will remain a clerk in the Criminal Division for the next month or two. There are some things that Cao She might be interested in. I will speak my mind, and Cao She may take it as it comes."

Shao Shuyi nodded.

"Since last year, the north has suffered continuous famine, straining the court's finances and making the salt tax even more crucial. Although an edict was issued prohibiting the smuggling of salt in various provinces, it was ignored," Ge Daji said. "As for Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the crackdown on smuggled salt will likely peak after summer, at which point it may subside somewhat." "How will the crackdown proceed?"

Ge Daji held up his first finger and said, "First, fill the vacancies in the patrol and inspection department, and order them to strengthen patrols and arrest salt smugglers."

Shao Shuyi's heart stirred, and he nodded slightly.

"Secondly, the provincial government, the Censorate, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Transportation Bureau jointly dispatched personnel to search for grain shops, salt shops, and government offices in various prefectures and counties to see if there was any smuggled salt being sold."

"Thirdly, a letter was sent to each of the ten-thousand-household offices, requesting them to reorganize their troops and be on high alert to prevent the salt merchants from resorting to desperate measures."

After stating these three points, Ge Daji added, "Actually, these are all just formalities. They happen every two or three years, but this year's intensity should be greater than in previous years, so we need to be careful."

"What Master Ge says is quite right," Shao Shuyi agreed. "Is there any other news?"

"These are all fragmented matters, but I'll pick a few important ones to mention," Ge Daji said. "After the New Year, an imperial censor came from the south, inquiring about any news regarding red headbands. Judge Ma was very angry, secretly cursing these people for making trouble, but he still transferred the case to the criminal investigation department, ordering us to intensify our investigation. The second matter concerns Tongzhou. Last year, Yu Xixun Inspector was killed. After a long investigation, we couldn't find a solution. Later, a letter was sent from Bianliang to Hangzhou, requesting an investigation into whether any soldiers in the Wanhu Prefectures of Shizilu, Pizhou, Songjiang, Hupao, and Tongshi Hanjun were involved in smuggling salt. We didn't find anything else, but there were a lot of internal scandals. One of the Tongshi Hanjun's centurions was imprisoned, crying out that he was innocent. To prevent him from making false accusations, our criminal investigation department placed him in solitary confinement. In early March, he died in prison, and that was the end of the matter."

The third matter occurred a few days ago. A number of officials who had ties with Lin Xuan were punished; some were imprisoned, some were dismissed, and some paid money to avoid trouble. If Cao She were so inclined, he could easily select one or two people to serve as probationary officials in the government.

It's not just the officials who are anxious; merchants are also filled with unease. Does Cao She still remember Master Xu from Furong Tower yesterday?

"I remember," Shao Shuyi said with a smile.

Last night, he took several key members to Furong Tower to watch a performance. When the performance reached a particularly good point, he spent ten ingots on a newly debuted actress. Everyone in the audience knew this—after all, this wasn't Liujiagang, and spending so much money on an actress was rather conspicuous; people had been talking about it for days. Liu Shi mocked him, saying he'd only given Han De twenty ingots and had been asked to do him a favor for a long time, yet he'd spent ten ingots on a novice actress who "didn't even know how to be considerate"—it was utterly absurd.

Shao Shuyi burst into laughter.

He gave money but only got a bowl of tea brewed by the person behind the scenes; he didn't even get to touch her hand before leaving. It did seem like a loss. But to be fair, although the actress was unwilling, she still approached him with a humiliated expression at the master's prompting, trying to get close to him. Unfortunately, Mr. Shao took his leave and didn't give her a chance.

However, now that I hear it...

"That owner is a distant relative of mine. He and Wang Zongsan are both from Chian and have close ties. He was really a bit panicked this time, so he asked me to ask Cao She if he would be willing to protect him," Ge Daji said. "If he is, he will give you five ingots of paper money every month, without fail. If you are tired, you can also go to the theater to listen to a play. He will definitely arrange everything perfectly."

"It's nothing," Shao Shuyi said with a smile. "Just have him go to Huangtian Trading Company; someone will take care of him."

Ge Daji breathed a sigh of relief.

The relationship between this Mr. Xu and his family was somewhat distant, but they were still relatives, so it was only right that they should help each other out to some extent, not to mention that Mr. Xu had even paid money to help him get a government position.

"Oh, right!" Ge Daji suddenly remembered something and said, "The imperial court recently issued a document soliciting grain from wealthy households across the country. Those who contribute fifty shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice can be honored with the title of righteous man."

"What are the benefits? And where will the grain be used?" Shao Shuyi asked.

"The grain will be allocated to disaster relief nearby," Ge Daji said. "If Cao She donates fifty shi of grain, it should be sent to Qingyuan Road for relief. The title of 'righteous man' isn't very useful, but if Cao She wants to climb the ranks, he can't skimp on doing good deeds, like building bridges and roads. Sometimes when the higher-ups investigate, things are ambiguous; they can either let it go or they can pursue it. That's when the title of 'righteous man' comes in handy."

Shao Shuyi understood.

To put it bluntly, being a righteous person can improve his social status and whitewash his gangster image, even if it's only a tiny bit, it's better than nothing. "Alright, I'll arrange it right away." Shao Shuyi turned to look at Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan nodded and made a note of it.

After thinking for a moment, Shao Shuyi brought up another matter: "Does Master Ge know the patrol inspector of Ma Tuosha River?"

"Jiang Guanbao?" Ge Daji asked.

"Exactly."

"Of course I know him," Ge Daji said. "The prisoners he captures are handed over to us."

As one of the six departments of the state government, the Criminal Affairs Office was mainly responsible for assisting officials in handling judicial cases. It also managed the prison and coroner system, and even the Baojia register, which had become defunct in name only, was under their control.

For Shao Shuyi, the judicial system was his nemesis. From the lowest level of the patrol and inspection offices to the middle level of the criminal investigation offices and the highest level of the state judges, they were all people he needed to win over, corrupt, or even threaten.

"He's been having a run of bad luck lately, losing some men, and the higher-ups might have a negative opinion of him," Shao Shuyi said. "But if he solves a few cases and catches a few bandits, could he earn some merit?"

"Of course," Ge Daji said. "Catch the thief, bring the victim here, and I will personally arrange for people to record the case, register the prisoners, and write the case file." "Is the prison still short of people?" Shao Shuyi suddenly asked.

"We're always short-staffed," Ge Daji said with a wry smile. "Clerks don't get paid. Some jobs are good, you can make money, so people fight tooth and nail for them. Other jobs are bad, there's no kickbacks, and you even have to pay out of pocket, so nobody wants to do them."

"I don't care if the job is good or bad, I just want to get someone in there, what do you say?"

After pondering for a moment, Ge Daji said, "There is indeed a vacancy now, but it's in high demand and might cost money."

"How much?" Shao Shuyi asked.

"Not many, ten or twenty ingots will be enough."

"What do you do?"

"A clerk must be able to write and calculate," Ge Daji said. "And he needs to stay in the prison for a long time, supervising the guards and managing the prisoner register." "Can he do it?" Shao Shuyi asked, pointing at Liu Ming.

"Can."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Ge," Shao Shuyi said with a smile. "Money is no problem."

Ge Daji glanced at him, then quickly looked away.

In his view, Cao She was similar to Zhu Ding, or even more ambitious.

He wondered to himself whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.