On the morning of June 14th, the Shenjing Firearms Army set out for an expedition. In the afternoon, two big businessmen traveled all the way from the south of the Yangtze River to Shenjing City. One was Shen Yuanwen, the chief minister of Yangzhou, and the other was Li Danbai, the chief salt merchant of Yangzhou.
At the beginning, Jia Yun, as the commander of the Jinyi Mansion, went to Yangzhou on the emperor's order to rectify the Lianghuai salt industry. From then on, the life of the chief salt merchants in Yangzhou was difficult.
Shen Yuanwen and Li Danbai were both safe and sound.
Li Danbai was protected by Jia Yun, and under Jia Yun's arrangement, he was protected by Yangzhou Salt Patrol Censor Zou Jin and Yangzhou Qianhu Office Qianhu He Bing.
After the city of Jingjing was unblocked last month, under Li Feixue's instructions, Old Li sent people to Yangzhou to inform Li Danbai of Jia Yun's ascension to the throne. After Li Danbai learned about it, he couldn't help but want to go to Beijing in person, and Shen Yuanwen also wanted to come. Shen Jingcheng met Jia Yun, the new emperor, and the two of them got together.
At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Li Feixue was having dinner in the inner house of the Li Mansion in the Sedan and Horse Alley, when suddenly a servant came to announce: "Girl, the master is here!"
Li Feixue was so happy that she didn't care to continue having dinner and welcomed Li Danbai into the inner house.
Although Li Danbai was tired both physically and mentally from the dust, he couldn't wait to ask about Jia Yun's situation in detail. When he learned that Jia Yun hadn't sent anyone to find Li Feixue until now, he couldn't help but worry.
This time he was in a hurry to go to Beijing, but he wanted to gain a noble status for Li Feixue. Naturally, he no longer had to count on the queen, but he could still count on the imperial concubine.
When Li Danbai asked Li Feixue to come to Beijing to seduce Emperor Tianzhi, he had the ambition of Li Feixue becoming a noble concubine. Now that the emperor is Jia Yun, Li Danbai naturally has more such ambitions.
That's a noble concubine. One of the important reasons why the Shen family is so rich now is that the Shen family once gave birth to a noble concubine of Emperor Kangxing. Even for a noble family like Rong Guofu, Yuanchun became the concubine of Emperor Tianzhi. Rongguo Mansion has great benefits.
Even if Li Feixue only becomes a concubine, she will still be much nobler than the prince's side concubine that Jia Yun had promised before.
Li Feixue said: "My daughter originally wanted to see him, but now that he is the emperor, it is inconvenient for her to see him. She also considers that he has just become the emperor, and there is a war now, and the state affairs must be complicated, and he is in mourning period. How can you care about your daughter? When my daughter learned that her father had come to Beijing, she thought it would be better for her father to plan for her."
Li Danbai said: "The emperor will always be busy with state affairs, but state affairs come back to state affairs. No matter how busy the state affairs are, the emperor always has his thoughts on the harem, and the emperor's mourning period is as long as twenty-seven months. Is it possible that you have to wait until twenty-seven months?" Contact him again after seven months? By then, even if he still remembers you, he may not care about you anymore."
Li Danbai said again: "Forget it, since I'm here, leave this matter to me."
Li Feixue said "hmm" and said, "Thank you, daddy."
Li Danbai originally asked her to go to Beijing to seduce Emperor Tianzhi, hoping to gain benefits through her. Although she herself had such ambitions, she was still a little disdainful of Li Danbai's behavior, thinking that the father was very snobbish.
However, at the moment, Li Danbai was so eager to get her to hook up with the new emperor. Instead of feeling disdainful, she was happy and grateful, because he was not only the new emperor, but also the emperor who ruled the world, and he was also the man she liked and longed for!
Even for big businessmen, it is not easy for them to meet the emperor. Even for officials, only a very small number of people can easily meet the emperor.
Fortunately, Li Danbai had a special way to ask to see Jia Yun this time.
Just recently, a big shot moved into the mansion next to the Li Mansion. This person is Yu Zhu, the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Imperial Minister!
When Jia Yun moved from the second-entry house in Xiaohuazhi Hutong to the mansion in Chejioma Hutong, she sold the second-entry house. Later, when Jia Yun moved to the palace, the mansion in Chejioma Hutong was not sold.
It was dropped and some servants were arranged to take care of it.
Recently, Jia Yun rewarded this mansion to Yu Zhu, which means giving away, which means that this mansion will be Yu Zhu's private property from now on.
Imperial mansions like Rongguo Mansion were not actually the private property of the Jia family. They were just for the Jia family to live there. The mansion was the property of the imperial court.
Jia Yun gave this mansion to Yu Zhu, but the emperor Jia Yun lived there, and Jia Yun also has feelings for this place. Even if this is not considered, the normal market value of this mansion is several thousand taels of silver.
Jia Yun awarded this mansion to Yu Zhu, which can be said to be a heavy reward. Yu Zhu has followed him for many years and made a lot of achievements. Yu Zhu is now the second-rank minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the minister in charge of the imperial court. He deserves to have a decent residence.
’s mansion, and Yu Zhu also has feelings for this mansion.
That evening, Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen came to Yu Zhu's mansion together and handed their name cards to the gatekeeper.
The disciple did not neglect, and went in to report to the chief steward. The chief steward did not neglect, and reported to Yu Zhu. Yu Zhu did not neglect after learning about it. He knew the special relationship between Jia Yun and Li Feixue, and he was about to summon Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen.
"My lord asked you two to go in and see him." The disciple said to Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen.
Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen were both pleasantly surprised. In their expectations, Yu Zhu might not want to see them, and even if he wanted to see them, he would not meet them immediately and would delay them.
Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen walked into the mansion together and were greeted by the butler. They were immediately taken to the front hall. After waiting in the front hall for a while, Yu Zhu walked in.
"Li Danbai, a common man, pays homage to your lord." Li Danbai saluted respectfully.
"The humble minister Shen Yuanwen pays homage to your lord." Shen Yuanwen saluted respectfully.
Li Danbai did not have an official status, but Shen Yuanwen was different and had already donated an official status to him.
After the salute was completed, Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen presented the meeting gifts they brought. Yu Zhu looked at the meeting gifts of the two and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "As expected of the chief salt merchant of Yangzhou, he is really rich!"
The meeting gift for both of them was one thousand taels of gold, which is also ten thousand taels of silver.
Over the years of following Jia Yun, Yu Zhu has been given many gifts, but only a handful of people have given him a thousand taels of gold at once, not to mention that there are currently two thousand taels of gold, but Yu Zhu is not surprised, knowing that the relationship between the two
So, not only did I want to ask for something, but I also wanted to take the opportunity to curry favor with him.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Yu Zhu looked at the gold and went straight to the point and asked why the two asked for a meeting. When he learned that the two wanted to see Jia Yun, Yu Zhu said: "I will report this matter to the emperor tomorrow.
If the emperor wants to see you, he will send someone to summon you."
"Thank you, sir." Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen were pleasantly surprised again.
Yu Zhu said: "You can take all the meeting gifts back with you."
Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen became embarrassed and asked Yu Zhu to accept it. Seeing that Yu Zhu refused to accept it, they had no choice but to take away the gold.
Yu Zhu is not a greedy person, not to mention that he is very rich now, and he does not want to damage his image in Jia Yun's heart because of two thousand taels of gold. Even if this matter will probably not be known to Jia Yun, he will still be cautious.
The next morning, when Yu Zhu finished his morning court in Qianqing Palace and dismissed the court, he deliberately found an opportunity to say to Jia Yun: "Your Majesty, Yangzhou Chief Executive Shen Yuanwen and Chief Salt Merchant Li Danbai came to my house last night and wanted to Please see the emperor."
Jia Yun said: "Announce their presence!"
What I was thinking was: "Here comes the money giver!"
Jia Yun went to the Yangxin Hall to have breakfast, then went to greet the Empress Dowager Yin, the Imperial Concubine Qingwan, and Bu Wuniang. She returned to the Yangxin Hall to read for an hour, and then returned to the Qianqing Palace to work. .
In the morning, Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen were brought into the palace by the palace guards.
Both of them had seen a lot of the world, especially Shen Yuanwen. Even so, they both became nervous when they walked into the palace. This was the first time that they walked into the palace to meet the emperor.
The two were led outside the Qianqing Gate by the palace guards. After being rigorously searched by the guards, they waited for another half an hour. During this period, they saw several princes, ministers and officials entering and leaving the Qianqing Gate, including an acquaintance, Jing Lie.
The two found Jing Lie walking out of Qianqing Gate wearing the official uniform of Jinyi Mansion.
When Jing Lie took over the Longshun Escort Bureau, he lived in Yangzhou. Therefore, he not only became familiar with Li Danbai, but also had contacts with Shen Yuanwen.
Last year, under Jia Yun's order, Jing Lie came to Shenjing City. Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen never saw Jing Lie again. Now that they meet again, they did not expect that Jing Lie has become an official of Jinyi Mansion.
Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen both wanted to say hello and get close to Jing Lie, but now they were standing outside the Qianqing Gate, surrounded by palace guards. They both had the desire but lacked the courage.
Jing Lie also noticed the two of them, and did not take the initiative to greet them. He just nodded to them, which was regarded as greeting them.
Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen both had similar thoughts in their hearts, that is, one person can ascend to heaven through chickens and dogs. Look, because Jia Yun became the emperor, even merchants like Jing Lie became officials of the Jinyi Mansion. They both wanted to I’m fawning over Jia Yun.
At this time, a eunuch came to the Qianqing Gate to announce Li Danbai, and Shen Yuanwen came to see him. The two of them immediately walked into the Qianqing Gate quietly, and then walked into the bright room in the palace.
Even though both of them were familiar with Jia Yun, especially Li Danbai, they had made a lot of mental preparations before coming today. When they saw Jia Yun wearing a dragon robe and sitting on the emperor's throne, the two of them immediately had feelings for each other. It feels like worshiping a god, with a strong sense of majesty, and I am extremely respectful and rigorous when performing great rituals.
Jia Yun let the two of them level up and smiled slightly: "You two, we haven't seen each other for a long time."
This simple sentence made both of them feel flattered. They both knelt down in a hurry, and a series of flattering words came out of their mouths.
Jia Yun asked the two of them to level up again and asked, "Why do you two want to see me?"
Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen, both with their heads lowered, glanced at each other. Li Danbai spoke first, and Li Danbai took out a floral note and a letter: "Your Majesty, I asked the common people to present a floral note for her. Your Majesty, there is something that I can’t say to the common people, so please write it down on the letter paper.”
Jia Yun said: "Send it up."
The eunuch stepped forward and took the flower note and letter paper, and handed them to Jia Yun. Jia Yun looked at the flower note first and then
It is still the familiar Juan Xiu and elegant handwriting, and there are not many words written. Li Feixue said that since last year, she has been waiting for Jia Yun in the carriages, sedans and horses alley, and also attached a few lyrics:
"The sky does not move when the wind blows and the clouds move, the water does not move when pushing the boat to the shore, the knife keeps cutting the lotus root silk, the mountains are high and the water is far away, and the love is still there. The rain is continuous, and there are so many stories in my heart."
After reading it, Jia Yun sighed in her heart: "As expected of Miss Feixue!"
Back then, he sang a song to Li Feixue on the boat by the Slender West Lake in Yangzhou. These lyrics are selected from the song "Singing in the Smoke and Rain over Yangzhou". Obviously, Li Feixue is expressing his longing for him through these lyrics. , it is also bringing back the good memories between him and her.
After reading the flower note, Jia Yun looked at the letter paper again. There were even fewer words on the letter paper. It said that Li Danbai was willing to pay 20,000 taels of gold to make Li Feixue become Jia Yun's concubine, but now he is willing to pay 20,000 taels more. Two taels of gold, begging Jia Yun to make Li Feixue his concubine, that is, a total of 400,000 taels of silver!
Jia Yun sighed in her heart: "This Li Danbai has really spent a lot of money!"
Jia Yun knew that Li Danbai had previously had the lowest status among the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou and had the smallest property, estimated to be worth just over one million taels of silver. Now Li Danbai was willing to give Jia Yun four hundred thousand taels of silver.
This kind of behavior is not stupid but shrewd. With 400,000 taels of silver, Li Feixue can win a concubine position in the harem, and can also curry favor with Jia Yun, the current emperor.
Jia Yun looked at Shen Yuanwen: "Why is Mr. Shen asking to see you today?"
Shen Yuanwen said: "I also have something that I can't tell you, so I wrote it on the letter paper."
Jia Yun then asked the eunuch to present Shen Yuanwen's letter. It said that when he was in Yangzhou, he owed Jia Yun a favor. He was really uneasy. After thinking about it, he boldly repaid the debt with thirty thousand taels of gold. kindness.
How could Jia Yun not see that Shen Yuanwen was just looking for a reason to send money to curry favor with him, but this was really a big deal. Li Dan gave 40,000 taels of gold for nothing, mainly to win Li Feixue a concubine. Shen Yuanwen There was no such demand, but thirty thousand taels of gold were given as a gift.
It's not surprising, Shen Yuanwen is the chief executive of Yangzhou, and the Shen family is also the richest businessman in Yangzhou. His family property is much more than that of Li Danbai. With such a large family property, they spent 300,000 taels of silver to curry favor with the new emperor. , in Shen Yuanwen’s opinion, it is very worthwhile.
At this moment, Jia Yun looked at Li Danbai and Shen Yuanwen standing side by side in front of her, feeling like she was looking at a pair of money-spreading boys...
Jia Yun found that she was luckier than Emperor Tianzhi in another way. Emperor Tianzhi often worried about lack of money when he was in power, but he made a fortune one after another just after he became emperor.
After a slight hesitation, Jia Yun decided to accept the money from the two of them.
Firstly, the current money is useful to him, and secondly, he knows that in prosperous times there will inevitably be big businessmen, and he even plans to train Cheng Huanian to become a big businessman.
Jia Yun has already planned to vigorously rectify the Lianghuai salt industry in the future and change the "gang salt system" to the "vote salt system". At that time, general salt merchants like Shen Yuanwen and Li Danbai will suffer fatal losses. .
For the sake of today's money, and for the sake of both of them being knowledgeable, Jia Yun doesn't mind pointing out a way out for them...