Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wisps of smoke carrying an ethereal scent floated out of a copper crane incense burner.

The scent of sandalwood mixed with the ordinary air in the surroundings, causing it to smell expensive.

It was an antique study room. Inside the incense burner was a hundred-year-old phoenix sandalwood, comparable to the price of gold. The study room was situated on the eastern side of the Zhu and Yin provinces, or more accurately, in the Northwestern Transportation Office in the Yin Provincial Town. The owner of this study room was mighty Transport Commissioner Jiang Tianhua.

The Northwestern Transport Commissioner was dressed in dark red official robes and seated at a desk in the room. He reached out and pinched up snow crystal-like particles between his chubby and well-maintained fingers from a porcelain dish placed at the center of the desk, then brought them in front of his nose for closer examination.

Jiang Tianhua was over fifty years of age. He had a square face, a pair of big ears, and a rather fat physique. His face was so fat that one would think that it got stung by a hornet. His eyes were hidden by the fat, leaving only two narrow slits. His eyeballs couldn’t be seen, but bone-chilling gleams occasionally flashed across those narrow slits. Since he was obese, Jiang Tianhua looked like he was always smiling.

In the northwestern officialdom, Northwestern Transport Commissioner Jiang Tianhu was nicknamed the ‘Smiling Tiger'1 because he was a ruthless, greedy, and insatiable man. He not only had the northwestern officialdom in his control, but he also the backing of the Grand Chancellor. Even the provincial governors needed to give him some respect and wouldn’t dare to simply offend him. As time went on, Jiang Tianhua became more and more brazen in the northwestern region.

Jiang Tianhua examined the tiny white particles on his hand very seriously. After staring at them for half a minute, only then did he place them in his mouth before he closed his eyes.

A moment later, his eyes snapped open and then he nodded. A beautiful servant served him a cup of warm Snow Peak Tea of the finest quality. Another beautiful servant knelt before him and raised a spittoon made of pure gold.

Gurgle… Gurgle… Jiang Tianhua lifted his head and took a swig of the tea to rinse his mouth before he spat into the golden spittoon. The third beautiful servant came and handed a towel for him to wipe his mouth and hands. He then waved his hands and dismissed all the servants.

Jiang Tianhua stared at the paunchy merchant who was smiling obsequiously in front of him and asked, “So this is the new snow salt produced by Pingxi Prefecture?”

“Yes, my lord. This is the snow salt. Do you know the current price for a jin of this?”

“How much?”

“The snow salt is now in short supply. A jin of it is priced at four or five candareens of silver on the market, twice as expensive as the finest blue salt! Twice!” When the merchant mentioned the snow salt’s price, his eyes sparkled and he even licked his lips. Greed was written all over his face.

“It is certainly worth the price!” Jiang Tianhua nodded and chuckled mischievously. “Very few places in the Great Han Empire can produce this kind of salt. It is so much better than even the tribute salt for the royalty!”

“Isn’t it?” The paunchy merchant smiled too. “I heard Gan Provincial Governor Lei Sitong owns the salt pans which produce this snow salt. My lord has sent a letter from the Imperial Capital, hoping Lord Jiang can do us a favor by negotiating with Lord Lei if he can share half of the snow salt’s profit with my clan as commission from now on?”

“Hahaha, with Lord Gu’s status, he could have just sent a letter to Lei Sitong directly. Why would he even need my help? I believe Lei Sitong will definitely give Lord Gu some face!” Jiang Tianhua laughed.

The paunchy merchant laughed too. “My lord says that he isn’t very close with Lei Sitong, so it might be a little inconvenient to discuss that with him. Besides, Lei Sitong is unmoved by neither force nor persuasion. Since my lord is in the Imperial Capital, he’s not in a good position to intervene with anything in the northwestern region. The salt is considered to be goods transported by the military, so it would be perfectly justifiable for Lord Jiang to intervene in this matter. If Lord Jiang can settle this, then my lord will definitely settle the matter you previously mentioned to him!”

Jiang Tianhua’s eyes lit up before he started laughing. “Alright, tell your lord that I’ll think of something. I’ll visit Gan Province soon and have a chat with Lei Sitong first!”

“Well, then I shall wait for your good news!” The paunchy merchant was very attentive. Seeing Jiang Tianhua reach for his teacup, he stood up courteously to bid his farewell and left obediently.

After watching the merchant leave, Jiang Tianhua’s smiling face slowly turned icy as he snorted with disdain. “The Gu Clan is getting greedy. Do you think you’d have the turn to get your hands on such business? Did you really think that being a vice minister can get you anything? You should wait until the old master in your clan becomes a minister first!”

A figure flashed behind a screen in the study room. A meager, silver-haired man gracefully dressed in blue clothes sporting a long beautiful beard quietly came out, holding a folding fan.

The old man walked to Jiang Tianhua’s side, then spoke softly to him. “The Gu Clan is indeed too greedy. My lord, you should distance yourself from the Gu Clan from now on to avoid being implicated in anything!”

“Yes, that’s right. The Gu Clan is overstepping their boundary. They are now earning at least more than four hundred taels of silver annually in the northwestern region. Yet, they are still not satisfied and want to instigate me to snatch Lei Sitong’s business. Since when could Lei Sitong be simply provoked? Do they really take me for a fool?!”

The old man lightly fanned himself and smiled. “It doesn’t matter what Lei Sitong thinks. Most importantly, what does the Grand Chancellor think? He is an ambitious man with great plans. If the Gu Clan doesn’t know their limits and ends up offending everyone, the Grand Chancellor may decide to eliminate the Gu Clan since he has no use for them anymore. Not only will the wealth that the Gu Clan accumulated over the past few decades become the Grand Chancellor’s, but this will also boost the Grand Chancellor’s reputation among the commoners. Since it’s a really good thing, do you think the Grand Chancellor will decide to do that, my lord?”

Jiang Tianhua was shocked and quickly stood up to cup his fists at the old man. “Thank you, sir. It seems like I should really stay away from the Gu Clan from now on!”

“Yes. As long as you take over the manufacturing bureau, the salt pans in Pingxi Prefecture will eventually fall into your hands too, my lord!”

“Ah, are you comforting me, sir? The salt pans are Lei Sitong’s lifeblood. How can they possibly fall into my hands?”

“Do you not feel strange, my lord? The Pingxi Prefecture’s salt pans are in Yuntao County. The salt pans there have been producing earth salt since before, but why are they suddenly capable of producing such fine salt?”

“Didn’t the news from Pingxi Prefecture mention that Lei Sitong got lucky and discovered a rare underground salt mine beneath the salt pan in Yuntao County?”

“My lord, do you really believe that explanation?”

Jiang Tianhua slightly frowned. “You mean to say that…”

“Before Yan Liqiang’s return, the salt pans in Yuntao County produced earth salt for so many years. Why did no one discover some sort of rare salt mine back then? Why was this salt mine suddenly discovered as soon as Yan Liqiang returned? Don’t you think this is too much of a coincidence, my lord?”

“You are implying that Yan Liqiang has a way to refine that low-quality earth salt into snow salt?” Jiang Tianhua had a look of shock on his face. To him, such news sounded like being told someone could magically turn stone into gold. It was simply incredible.

“My lord, do not forget that Yan Liqiang was well-known in the path of mechanics and the investigation of things in the Imperial Capital. He could even sit down and debate with Zhang Yourong, the best engineer in the world! Everyone in the northwestern region claims that Yan Liqiang has been receiving guidance from a deity in his dreams. In fact, the method he shared to save the drowned was imparted to him by the deity in his dream, and this method is now being circulated everywhere. My lord, how can you relate common sense with such an individual?”

Jiang Tianhua was taken aback. The fat on his face shook a bit before it was covered by an oily sheen. He rubbed his hands in excitement. “If Yan Liqiang has this ability, then I really underestimated him before…”

“As long as you manage to take over the manufacturing bureau this time and get a firm foothold in Pingxi Prefecture, we can slowly plan this out. If we find out Yan Liqiang’s method, you will be able to turn earth salt into snow salt. By then, you will get as much money as you wish! If you share this method with the Grand Chancellor, I’m sure he will think even more highly of you and you will have boundless prospects ahead of you, my lord…!”

“Hahaha, right. You are right. As long as I get a firm foothold in Pingxi Prefecture and take over the manufacturing bureau, that Yan Liqiang will completely be in my grasp. I wonder what happened to Zhong Xiankui. I haven’t heard from him for so many days now…”

While both of them were chatting in the study room, a bureaucrat from the Transportation Office came running to the study room with a stack of documents, requesting to meet Jiang Tianhua. Jiang Tianhua allowed the bureaucrat to come in. The moment he unsealed the official document, the expression on his face instantly contorted…

Since there was no news from Zhong Xiankui for the past few days, Jiang Tianhua thought Lei Sitong was deliberately making things difficult for Zhong Xiankui and his entourage in Gan Province. He ordered the Transportation Office to send a formal document to the Gan Provincial Governor’s Office, and he was prepared to pressure the Provincial Governor’s Office through authority. He didn’t expect the latter to drag the matter for another few days and only sent a reply today saying that they were totally unaware that the Transportation Office had sent people to Gan Province on duty. There was no news about Zhong Xiankui and his entourage in Pingxi Prefecture either…

“Summon Qu Mingcheng here at once…!” Jiang Tianhua shouted angrily in the study room.

After half an hour, the hurried footsteps of a cold-looking man clad in armor approached Jiang Tianhua’s study room…

…

Two Patrol Cavalry Battalions stationed outside of Yun Provincial City grew rowdy tonight. Countless military officers in the Patrol Cavalry Battalions were yelling for everyone there to assemble…

The next daybreak, the Northwestern Transport Office’s Chief Patrol Examiner Qu Mingcheng rushed out of the Yin Province’s barracks with two patrol examiners and more than a thousand full-armored cavalrymen with great murderous intent. They then rode swiftly to Gan Province.

Today was already the 26th day of the ninth lunar month…