Wang San's words stunned everyone present. Did he admit that there was illicit salt in the carts?
Was this guy crazy?
Selling illicit salt in Daming was a serious crime, punishable by death. Was this Wang San crazy?
All the salt traffickers that were caught in the past resisted with all their might. It was rare enough that they surrendered, but he actually took the initiative to admit that this was illicit salt.
Wang Yongji was even more puzzled. Something was not right no matter how he looked at it!
Sun Piyang did not care what Wang Yongji thought. Since Wang San had acknowledged that this was illicit salt, how could he not ask? So he asked, "This official is asking you. You say this is illicit salt?
What is going on?
Why don't you tell me the truth? "
"Replying to Your Excellency, this lowly one and my father make a living by driving carts. Our family has a carriage and horse business. We bring the villagers to earn some hard-earned money."
"This time, this salt belongs to the Zhou Family, a wealthy family in the city. This lowly one did not know that they were illicit salt. After all, the Zhou Family has a few shops and they also sell official salt."
Wang San said with a sad face, "But when this lowly one was loading the carts, I overheard the Zhou Family's housekeeper talking to the people loading the carts. They said that someone from the imperial court was coming to investigate the illicit salt.
"They had people hide all the salt. The Zhou Family did not have enough manpower, so they came to us."
At this point, Wang San cried, "But this lowly one was afraid!"
"Those who sell illicit salt are not afraid of death. The Zhou Family is a wealthy family in the city. If they find us to transport illicit salt, they will kill us when they return!
At that time, I did not dare to be unlucky. If I had not been lucky, the Zhou Family would have killed us! "
"Your Excellency, this lowly one is innocent. This lowly one did not sell illicit salt. Your Excellency, please investigate!"
Sun Piyang nodded and said in a deep voice, "So that's how it is. Was there anyone from the Zhou Family with you?"
Wang San nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, there is a fat man over there. He is the Zhou Family's warehouse manager. This time, he was sent by the Zhou Family to escort the carts." At this point, Wang San knelt and begged for mercy, "Your Excellency, this lowly one really did not sell illicit salt."
"If what you said is the truth, I will forgive you. If you dare to lie to me, then don't blame me." Sun Piyang said directly, "Go and catch the person for me!"
Several Embroidered Uniform Guards ran into the group of people who were watching over the prisoners and quickly picked up a fat man. After they pressed down on him, Sun Piyang opened his mouth and asked Wang San: "This person is the Zhou Clan's warehouse manager?
The one who escorts the carts? "
"Sir, his name is Zhou Cang. It's him, it's him!" Wang San hurriedly pointed at the fatty and said.
Sun Piyang nodded, "Detain him. Detain the others as well. Let's go to Cang County. When we arrive there, we'll interrogate him properly!" After saying this, Sun Piyang turned around and walked towards the carriage.
Since Sun Piyang had left, the others naturally couldn't stay behind. They could only follow him to the carriage.
Eunuch Wang and Xing Shangzhi were both very happy. They once again chattered about how great this was. Cao Yikui was also very pleased. Only Wang Yongji frowned.
The entire matter was filled with strangeness. Since when was catching salt smugglers so easy?
Even if the Zhou family wanted to hide salt, why did they hide it outside the city? Was there no place to hide it in the city?
They could just dig a cellar and hide it!
With a stomach full of questions, Wang Yongji returned to the carriage. Without waiting for him to think too much, the group set off again. The group of people continued on their way to Cang County in a grandiose manner.
What Wang Yongji didn't see was that in the carriage next door, Wang San had already entered Eunuch Wang's carriage.
In the carriage, Eunuch Wang Zhong sized up Wang San and then said, "I didn't expect that the person sent by the Inner Sanctum would be so young. Is your surname really Wang?"
"Sir, my surname is really Wang!"
Wang San nodded. It was as if he did not want to say much about his identity. Wang San said directly, "Eunuch Wang, Zhou Cang's entire family has been kidnapped by us. The person outside is one of us."
"We can't let Lord Sun interrogate him in front of all the officials in Cang County. Once he appears, our cover will be blown."
Wang Zhong was stunned. That Zhou Cang was actually a fake? Wasn't this a little too much?
"Sir Wang, don't worry. We've already interrogated Zhou Cang. We've also found the Zhou family's salt hiding place. When we reach Cang County, Sir Wang can just bring your men to search it. When the time comes, the real Zhou Cang will appear in the salt hiding place."
Wang Zhong nodded and said with a smile, "You guys are quite considerate. This matter better be real. Otherwise, if we can't escape, your inner sanctum won't be able to escape either."
"Sir Wang, don't worry. Our inner sanctum naturally wouldn't do anything that would tarnish our reputation. We've long discovered that Cang County is rife with salt smuggling. When we secretly investigated, we discovered this Zhou family.
Our men even pretended to be salt smugglers and came into contact with them. Someone has seen their family head. "
"We can confirm that this Zhou family member is a salt smuggler. However, I don't know the person in charge of the Zhou family. I'm not in charge of such matters."
Looking at the capable Wang San, Wang Zhong sighed in his heart. Why didn't his Dongchang have such manpower? However, he also knew that the Emperor wouldn't allow Dongchang to do the same.
He nodded with a smile and said to Wang San, "Alright, I understand. You can go first!"
Wang San left Eunuch Wang's carriage without a sound. It was as if he had never appeared.
At this moment, the entrance to Cang County was also very lively. The Zhizhou, Yao Renji, had led the county's aristocrats and elders to wait there.
Yao Renji had long known about the imperial envoy's visit to Cang County. He also knew that the imperial envoy was here to investigate the salt administration.
Yao Renji hadn't had a good night's sleep over the past few days. He had a guilty conscience. Naturally, he knew his own business.
The salt smugglers and those peasants carrying salt were all small businesses. The real big players were the salt merchants.
Official salt was not as profitable as the salt smugglers. These people bribed the salt officials of the salt works and turned official salt into private salt. This kind of thing was almost a norm.
Even the Zhou family of Cang County went out to the salt sea every year, not to mention others.
However, Yao Renji knew that the Zhou family only had 20,000 taels of official salt. How could so much salt be official salt?
Most of it was private salt. Sometimes, the Zhou family even sold the private salt as official salt.
This wasn't what Yao Renji was worried about. He was worried about himself.
These past few years, he had received a lot of benefits from the Zhou family. In fact, in the entire Cang County, who didn't accept money from the Zhou family?
It wasn't just him, the Zhizhou. All the officials in Cang County, big and small, turned a blind eye to the Zhou family's matters.
Now that the imperial court was investigating, Yao Renji could only hope that the Zhou family wouldn't give themselves away. Thinking of this, Yao Renji couldn't help but look at the Zhou family's patriarch, Zhou Feng. However, he saw that Zhou Feng was unperturbed, as if he didn't care at all.