The letter was actually handwritten by Imperial Envoy Lin. With Su Buchi's covert maneuvers, when the Supreme Court verified the handwriting, they found nothing amiss.
The emperor was furious and personally interrogated Imperial Envoy Lin. The veteran official shed tears and banged his head on the ground until it bled, repeatedly insisting that he had been framed and the letter was not written by him.
But the evidence was overwhelming. How could he refute it?
The Ministry of Justice subjected him to various tortures. Out of respect for the old official's former authority, they showed a bit of mercy.
But Imperial Envoy Lin, who had lived a life of comfort for many years, couldn't bear it.
Within half a day, he could no longer cry out his grievances.
Qingliu was a loyal servant. She took on all the heinous crimes and wrote a blood - stained confession, admitting to forging the dragon pearl and secretly sabotaging the tribute ship. Then she heroically rammed her head against a pillar, leaving no one to testify.
The Ministry of Justice sent back the news, but Qingliu was just a maid. How could the emperor be satisfied with this?
He just casually glanced at the blood - stained confession and then coldly waved his hand, ordering Su Buchi to continue the strict investigation.
Su Buchi had been planning for a long time. The entire Supreme Court rummaged through the files, looking for suspicious clues in this old and major case.
Back then, there were frequent floods in the south of the Yangtze River. The common people were displaced, and there was a salt shortage.
The emperor opened the national treasury and ordered the Salt Tax Commissioner to rush the official salt for disaster relief to the south of the Yangtze River day and night.
This was supposed to be a popular good deed, but unexpectedly, when the large ships transporting the official salt passed through the canal, they were attacked by water bandits. Not only were the ships sunk, but tens of thousands of dan of official salt also disappeared into the water.
The Salt Tax Commissioner knew that if this incident was exposed, his official position and head would be in jeopardy. So he secretly covered it up and didn't report it to the capital for a long time.
However, truth will always come to light. A few months later, there was finally an uprising in the south of the Yangtze River.
Salt was a necessity for the common people's livelihood. Since the official salt from the court didn't arrive for a long time, several private salt dealers emerged in the south of the Yangtze River, taking advantage of the national disaster to make huge profits.
The official salt was originally only twenty copper coins per dou, but the salt smugglers in the south of the Yangtze River sold it for as much as four hundred copper coins per dou. Such an exorbitant price was like taking the lives of ordinary people.
From then on, the uprising in the south of the Yangtze River was inevitable. The news reached the capital. The emperor was furious. Imperial Envoy Lin, full of confidence, was entrusted with a crucial task. He took the imperial sword and went to the south of the Yangtze River in person to thoroughly investigate this case.
The Salt Tax Commissioner committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Imperial Envoy Lin used his tough methods and conducted various investigations. Finally, he locked the head of the salt smugglers on the Lu family.
According to his investigations, the salt - transporting fleet was sunk by a group of water bandits. After the official salt sank into the water, it was secretly fished out and then quietly transported out of the city by a caravan of the Horse Gang and stored in a private salt warehouse.
After the storm of the sunken ships subsided, the official salt was transported back to the south of the Yangtze River by the members of the Horse Gang and sold at a high price.
At that time, in the south of the Yangtze River and even in the entire capital, only the Lu family had the manpower and resources and could command the Horse Gang.
This was just Imperial Envoy Lin's speculation without evidence. But somehow, a talkative yamen runner leaked the news.
The common people in the south of the Yangtze River, who had been driven to a dead end by the exorbitant price of private salt and were on the verge of family ruin, were extremely excited when they heard the news. They rushed to the Lu family mansion openly.
The master of the family was not at home. Lu Xunguang was still young at that time, so only Madam Lu stepped forward.
The people, who were already red - eyed with killing intent, didn't show any mercy just because she was a woman. They wished they could kill her and eat her flesh on the spot.
Fortunately, Imperial Envoy Lin stepped in time to calm the angry crowd. He took Madam Lu back to the prison and vowed to give the people an explanation.
The water prison was cold and damp. Madam Lu was just a delicate woman. How could she bear such torture?
However, after several days of interrogation, there was still no result. Madam Lu gritted her teeth and refused to admit the unwarranted charges.
When Imperial Envoy Lin was in a dilemma, he received a secret letter claiming that the Bai family, a salt merchant in the south of the Yangtze River, was the real mastermind behind the private salt case, stealing from their own custody.
Imperial Envoy Lin was skeptical. After investigations, he found that there were indeed crates used for transporting official salt hidden in the warehouse of the Bai salt merchant. Unfortunately, the official salt inside had already been sold out.
Only then did he realize that he had accidentally arrested the wrong person.
Although Madam Lu survived this disaster, her health was severely damaged. She contracted tuberculosis and didn't have much time left.
As for the Bai salt merchant, their collusion with the River Gang bandits to sink the official ships and their collaboration with the Salt Tax Commissioner were all exposed. The emperor was furious and beheaded all the members of the River Gang bandits and the Bai salt merchant family in the busy market as a warning.
The person who sent the secret letter was also found out. It was Lian Ji, the youngest daughter of the Bai family. She couldn't bear to see her father, elder brothers, and other elders do such inhumane things, so she acted righteously and denounced her own family.
However, this incident was too complicated. Since she was the daughter of a criminal official, it was inconvenient to praise her openly. So she was just spared, with her merits offsetting her demerits.
Within ten days of taking office, Imperial Envoy Lin thoroughly investigated the major case of the River Gang that had lasted for more than half a year. The emperor was very pleased. From then on, he rose rapidly in the officialdom and became a new noble in the capital.
"Your Majesty, since all the River Gang water bandits have been executed, why did they repeat the same trick and sink the ship transporting the pearls? Imperial Envoy Lin was supposed to eliminate all the evils. How did these remaining bandits escape?"
As Su Buchi spoke, he took out a thick stack of confessions.
"Your Majesty, after my investigations, I learned that the River Gang bandits have never been peaceful over the years. They have repeatedly harassed the fishermen in the villages and attacked the passing ferries. These are the testimonies in court."
What he held in his hand were the testimonies of the people on Pearl Island, Li Ying, Zhang Lu and others, clearly describing how Lian Ji had driven the River Gang water bandits to act violently in the countryside, killing and looting.
"Lian Ji is the descendant of the Bai salt merchant family. Your Majesty, I raided her residence. Before her death, this woman had correspondence with Lord Lin."
The emperor's face darkened. He slapped the table and stood up.
"What a so - called act of righteousness in denouncing one's own family! What a so - called loyal official!"
Su Buchi continued, "Your Majesty, I checked the files and there was one thing I didn't understand. To sink the official salt ships and transport all the salt crates out of the city via the canal, they must have passed through the strict inspections of the Canal Transport Commissioner along the way..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the emperor had already seen through it.
For such a shocking case, without the covert instruction of Imperial Envoy Lin, how could the private salt ships have passed the checkpoints of the Canal Transport Commissioner?
The "loyal" official he had whole - heartedly promoted was actually the biggest mastermind behind the private salt case!
All his so - called tough methods and acts of pleading for the people were just strategies to save himself after making enough money!