Fix Smile Order - CH 78

Zhou Zhengdao asked tentatively, “My Lord, forgive this humble official’s  inquiry, if that’s really a gold mine…”

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Tang Tianyuan asked back, “County Deputy Zhou, after you came to Tongling County, have you ever heard that there was a gold mine here?”

Zhou Zhengdao shook his head quickly. “No.”

“This official hasn’t either. When I first came here, I read all the important documents, and I didn’t see any mention of a gold mine. If it is a gold mine and without the government hearing the slightest bit of wind, then most likely someone is illegally mining.”

Zhou Zhengdao remained calm. “How does the Lord plan to catch the illegal miner(s)?”

Tang Tianyuan scoffed and shook his head, “Catch? They won’t give me money if I were to arrest them; I won’t do such thankless things. Illegally mining is a felony, I just have to report it to the imperial court, and they will send someone over to make the arrest. This way my contribution will still be given. Oh, of course,” he looked at Zhou Zhengdao and smiled amiably. “The benefits for County Deputy Zhou will not be forgotten.”

Zhou Zhengdao was so nervous that he finally couldn’t hide it. Everything was going in the worst direction. He said dryly, “Thank you, my Lord,” and found a reason to quickly leave.

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After going out, he quickly went back and wrote a letter to the prefecture magistrate. However, distant water can not extinguish the nearby fire, so it may not be sending him a letter might be too late. Zhou Zhengdao’s first priority was to stabilize the county magistrate and prevent him from reporting this matter to the imperial court.

It doesn’t matter, he still had time, don’t they still have to go to Tianmu Mountain to dig a passage? The passageway must be blocked very well, and would take some time. He just needed to think of a countermeasure before the gold mine was confirmed.

It’s a pity that the day didn’t go as expected, and the digging went smoothly. Cong Shun was a smart man. From top to bottom, there were five filled holes around the well wall. He chose the middle one to dig. Filling the holes required moving soil from the top down, so the one in the middle was definitely the worst to fill up, and should have the weakest filling. After digging for two or so hours, the few young officers dug up all the blocked soil. Cong Shun led the people along the passageway; what they saw was a hollowed-out minefield.

After Tang Tianyuan received this report, he was about to write a letter to the imperial court.

Zhou Zhengdao was very anxious. He hadn’t come up with a good solution in such a short time, so he could only mention the prefect again. “My Lord, this is no trivial matter, should we report it to the prefect first?”

Tang Tianyuan comforted him, “It is fine. This is an extremely important matter to the Ministry of Revenue, but is only just a trifle for this official.”

“However, Lord Prefecture Magistrate…”

“The Prefecture Magistrate is busy with official business. If I have to ask him about such trivial matters, how can I have the face to be the head of this county?” Tang Tianyuan wrote while talking. He quickly finished a letter, packed it into an envelope and started looking for the wax to seal it.

Zhou Zhengdao had no choice but to say, “Lord, truth to tell, this official has heard some rumors about this matter.”

Tang Tianyuan stopped and looked at him in surprise. “What rumors have you heard? Do you know who is smuggling the gold? Very good, very good! Tell the imperial court directly and there will be bountiful rewards.”

“My lord, what I’ve heard is very limited. I only know… that the former magistrate died because of this.”

Hehe, a threat huh? Tang Tianyuan frowned, “Explain.”

Zhou Zhengdao sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know any more. This matter seems to be very complicated, and even the Lord, Prefecture Magistrate, would not breathe a word of it. Lord, please act cautiously. Lord is young and promising. After experiencing the taboos of officialdom, it would be wise for my Lord to heed my caution and not put yourself at risk.”

Tang Tianyuan hesitated for a while, put down the letter, and allowed Zhou Zhengdao go out first.

Zhou Zhengdao breathed a sigh of relief after exiting.

Tang Tianyuan also let out a sigh of relief in the room. According to Zhou Zhengdao’s reaction, he could see that Zhou Zhengdao knew about the gold mine and didn’t want others to know. Zhou Zhengdao was Zong Yinglin’s minion, and Zhou Zhengdao since knows of this, then Zong Yinglin should also know.

In other words, Zong Yinglin knew about the gold smuggling, but didn’t want it to spread, so this person must have something to do it.

The Prefecture Magistrate of Chizhou, Official Sun, Official Qi, plus the former County Magistrate, all of them had some kind of tie to illegal gold mines. These several people were likely to be in a relationship between the main culprit and the accomplice.

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Tang Tianyuan was not in a hurry now. He pushed the matter to this point, and it must be Zong Yinglin and others who should be anxious next. Tang Tianyuan knew they would either choose to kill him or to win him over. Since they can’t kill him, they could only rope him in.

Okay. Then let’s wait for them to rope him in.

Living in one’s own fake identity that was even more authentic and credible than the real one. This was the epitome of finesse. Tang Tianyuan couldn’t help but admire himself.