Lu Xiucai's views can be said to coincide with Ji Chen's!

Guo Furong and Bai Zhantang looked at Lu Xiucai in surprise!

The shrinking and cautiousness in his eyes, as well as the resentment and unwillingness towards the world, have disappeared, replaced by wisdom, depth, and a bottomless city.

The two of them felt that Lu Xiucai seemed to be a different person.

When he was at the Tongfu Inn, Lu Xiucai looked like a poor scholar. He loved to brag and always talked about his ability to learn a thousand words at the age of three. For this reason, he was frequently shunned by Li Dazui.

Could everything at Tongfu Inn be an act?

It was deliberately shown to them!

Thinking of this, Bai Zhantang felt a shudder.

"Xiucai means that these two people are either in the Yan Gang or hiding in Lou Zhi County!"

Ji Chen opened his mouth and expressed his point of view.

"Your Excellency is wise!"

Lu Xiucai flattered, and then said: "Now the only places in Qixia Town that dare to take them in are these two places."

"Especially the Salt Gang, which controls the salt business. More than 90% of the salt in Qixia Town is basically produced by the Salt Gang."

"Although the imperial court did not explicitly prohibit the smuggling of salt, the scope of the salt gang's business definitely exceeded the imperial court's bottom line. This is very abnormal."

Bai Zhantang finally came to his senses and said doubtfully: "You mean, the Salt Gang is supported by Lou Zhi County."

Ji Chen said: "It's more than just support! Maybe the biggest boss behind the Salt Gang is the Lou Magistrate."

The reason why he was so sure was because of the death of the previous flag officer.

A banner official of Jinyiwei, starting from the seventh rank, is only one step lower than the magistrate, who is the seventh rank.

Although Jinyiwei is one level lower than the magistrate in terms of rank, his power is much greater than that of the magistrate.

For an official from the seventh rank, few people in the world dare to take action directly. Just like in modern society, no matter how awesome your gang is, if they ask you to kill a police chief, do you dare?

Therefore, the previous flag officer must have violated some taboo, which caused him to be silenced.

This taboo is most likely salt.

"The Salt Gang is a breakthrough point. Tomorrow I plan to visit the Salt Gang to find out their background. I will fight first and then be polite."

Ji Chen's method is very simple and direct. He seeks out the Salt Gang and suppresses them forcefully. He starts with soldiers and then with courtesy. He arrests and interrogates all of them and directly beats them to death if they refuse to obey.

Cut it down first, and then look for evidence. The Salt Gang is definitely not clean, and they can be found out with just one search.

Lu Xiucai didn't say anything. He was now Ji Chen's staff and he only needed to help him deal with the aftermath.

"Oh right!"

Ji Chen suddenly turned to look at Bai Zhantang and asked, "Has Auntie arranged the arrangements?"

"Thank you for your concern, sir. My mother is currently staying at Tongfu Inn, and is under the care of the shopkeeper, so she is fine."

"I'll go visit her when I have time."

"My lord, you can't do that! You're really trying to break me!"

"I have something to discuss with him!"

Ji Chen thought of the best person to support the new force. It was Bai Zhantang's mother, Bai Sanniang.

This person's martial arts value is sufficient. Bai Zhantang's martial arts was taught by her. In addition, Bai Zhantang is a Jinyiwei secret agent and is easy to control.

…

…

County government!

Lou Zhixian sat on the chair with a gloomy look on his face. He was now sitting on pins and needles.

Because there are still eleven days until Beijing Cha.

He promoted Ji Chen to the position just to deal with Jingcha, but now Ji Chen has fallen out with him.

"Sir!" A thin middle-aged man spoke.

This person is the county magistrate of the county government, a member of the eighth rank, and an aide to the Lou magistrate.

"explain!"

"Since this Ji Chen doesn't know how to appreciate others, let's just give him him directly!"

The county magistrate sat up and wiped his neck.

Lou Zhixian frowned, "He has just taken office and has received attention from the superiors. If we get rid of him at this time, I am afraid that the superiors will strictly investigate."

The county magistrate smiled slightly and said, "My lord, have you forgotten that this year's tax money has already been minted?"

"you mean?"

Lou Zhixian seemed to have guessed something, his eyes lit up.

"Da Ming Law, guarding the tax bank is the duty of the Jinyiwei. It's just that the Jinyiwei in Qixia Town has always been vacant, so the six gates and the county government jointly guard it. Why not hand over the tax bank to them now and let them guard it."

Lou Zhixian was silent for a moment and nodded.

This year, they have become accustomed to looking at taxes and deeds, so they naturally regard it as their errand.

"Okay, it's up to you to do this! Remember to do it cleanly and don't leave any clues. I have already handed over the certificate to the superior. After I am transferred, the position of county magistrate will be yours."

"Thank you for your support, sir!"

The county magistrate stood up and bowed his hands.

Then, he walked out of the county government office and walked towards Jin Yiwei.

…

When Ji Chen and Bai Zhantang came out of Jinyiwei, they happened to meet the county magistrate.

"Master Ji, I was looking for you, and I met you now!"

The county magistrate pretended to be surprised and hurriedly greeted him.

"Zhou County Cheng, is something wrong?"

"That's right."

Zhou Xian Cheng stepped forward and bowed to Ji Chen.

"This year's tax money has been minted. This batch of tax money is huge. Lou Zhixian was afraid that something might happen, so he asked me to come here and ask you to send someone to guard it."

"Guarding the tax bank! Why didn't I know there was such a job?" Ji Chen frowned.

Zhou Xiancheng quickly explained: "The tax bank has always been guarded by Jin Yiwei."

"Really?" Ji Chen was confused!

"How dare I, the lower official, expire my term, Lord Ji? If you don't believe me, you can ask Xing Baotou, or check the Ming Code. It is recorded in the Ming Code."

Zhou Xiancheng said it very seriously and did not lie at all. Moreover, it was actually true, so Ji Chen did not see any flaws.

But his intuition told Ji Chen that Lou Zhixian had already taken action, and it was probably the tax money.

Since it was Jin Yiwei's duty, he couldn't shirk it, so he asked: "How long will it take to watch?"

"After the investigation in Beijing, Rongcheng Prefecture will send someone to escort him away."

"Where is the tax money?"

"In the bank, sir, please follow me!"

Ji Chen did not leave immediately with Zhou Xian Cheng. Instead, he said to Bai Zhantang, "Go and call the scholar and let Xiao Guo stay at the government office."

He was sure that Lou Zhixian would do some tricks on the tax bank, so he asked the scholar to check the tax bank together. If there were any problems, he could use this to arrest Lou Zhixian directly.

"Yes, sir!"

Bai Zhantang turned around and walked into the government office, and soon led the scholar out.

The group of people followed Zhou County Cheng and walked towards the warehouse.

The tax warehouse is at the north gate, next to the prison, and is built underground.

After passing three iron gates, everyone arrived at the warehouse.

Ten boxes of tax money were placed in the warehouse. The boxes were sealed with seals and locked with copper locks.

Ji Chen said: "Xiucai, inspect the goods!"

Zhou Xiancheng consciously took out the key and handed it to the scholar.

The scholar broke the seal, opened the copper lock, and opened the box.

White flowers of silver dazzled the eyes.

He began to inspect the goods.

The silver is minted new silver, fifty ounces per ingot, and there are two lines of writing below each ingot.

One of them is in large characters, engraved with the word "Guanyin", and the other is in small characters, engraved with Daming Bank No. 187.

Bank No. 187 is the branch of Daming Bank in Qixia Town.
Chapter completed!