Chapter 609 The reason for communicating with the Japanese
Mr. Shen glanced at the young woman in front of him with great interest, then looked at the gift list in her hand, and said with a smile: "Why, the Fuzhou nobles want to openly bribe this imperial envoy?"
"It's not a bribe."
The woman named Ye lowered her head slightly and said in a soft and gentle voice: "On behalf of Fuzhou Prefecture, I would like to express my gratitude to the Imperial Envoy and the anti-Japanese army. Fuzhou Prefecture has been harassed by Japanese pirates for many years and has suffered terribly. Now that the anti-Japanese army has defeated the Japanese pirates, I
The Fuzhou gentry are really grateful."
"These are put together by dozens of families in Fuzhou Prefecture. They are some thoughts for the Imperial Envoy and the officers and soldiers of the Anti-Japanese Army."
Mr. Shen reached out to take the gift list, unfolded it, and glanced at it briefly.
The gift list is very long and densely packed with probably hundreds of gifts.
But the top few are very conspicuous.
There is a mansion with two spans and three entrances in the east of Fuzhou City.
A set of pen and ink inkstones used by the famous scholar Su Xueshi in the former dynasty.
And...two hundred thousand taels of cash.
Apart from these three things, the rest are just some gadgets. Although they can be called precious, they are somewhat insignificant compared with the three big items above.
To be honest, this gift is very important.
And the delivery is very targeted.
Whether the two hundred thousand taels of cash belonged to Shen Yi or to the anti-Japanese army is a matter of debate. However, the Fuzhou mansion and the valuable items from the previous dynasty must have been given to Shen Yi, and there is no controversy.
Although the house in Fuzhou City is not as expensive as Jiankang, this house is much larger than the house that the emperor awarded to Shen Yi. In terms of value alone, it should not be much inferior, and it may even be better.
Of.
As for the objects used by famous artists in the past...
This thing is an absolute killer for civil servants or scholars, and no scholar will be greedy for it.
Even Shen Yi couldn't help his eyes twitching after seeing this list.
After taking a deep breath, he handed back the list in his hand, and then said calmly: "No reward for no merit."
"I resisted the Japanese army in order to suppress the Japanese pirates. I obeyed the emperor's order to clear out the Japanese pirates in the coastal provinces. It was not for the sake of the city of Fuzhou. This gift is too valuable and I will never accept it."
Ye Chan blinked his eyes and looked a little pitiful: "Your Majesty, this is a little thought from the Fuzhou nobles. Even if you don't want other gifts, you still have to accept the cash and give more money to the anti-Japanese soldiers."
of."
Mr. Shen glanced at the Fuzhou woman with a nonchalant look, and then said calmly: "Miss Ye, sending military pay privately without going through the court is a serious crime. Are you trying to harm me?"
Theoretically speaking, the imperial court's salary should be distributed by the Ministry of Household Affairs, or the Ministry of Household Affairs should allocate money to the Ministry of War, and then the Ministry of War should distribute it. It is definitely taboo for generals to pay salaries privately.
But the anti-Japanese army was actually different.
Since the Ministry of Revenue refused to give money to the anti-Japanese army from the beginning, so far, the money for the anti-Japanese army has basically been paid by Mr. Shen himself.
And the reason why he said what he just said was just prevarication.
"If the Fuzhou nobles really have this intention, they might as well donate money directly to the Ministry of Household Affairs or the Ministry of War."
Miss Ye's face darkened a bit. She lowered her head slightly and saluted Shen Yi: "Your Majesty, whether you accept this gift or not, I would like to treat you to a meal as a token of my appreciation..."
Shen Yi glanced at the woman with a half-smile, and said lightly: "It's okay to eat, but I need you Fuzhou nobles to find someone who can talk to me. I won't eat with a girl."
Ye Chan's expression changed slightly: "The imperial envoy looks down on women?"
"It's not that you look down on women."
Mr. Shen's face was expressionless: "I'm afraid you will use my private name to smear me. Shen has his own future, but he can't use his future to have this meal with Miss Ye."
After hearing the words "private name slanders me", Ye Chan's face suddenly turned red with embarrassment. She raised her head, glanced at Shen Yi bitterly, gritted her teeth and said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Envoy said that, it's too pretentious." People think it’s too small. Although the little girl is born as a girl, she has been running the house for her father for two or three years, so she may not be any worse than you men!”
When Shen Yi heard this, he glanced at the little girl in front of him in surprise.
You know, this is an era of absolute male dominance without any controversy.
In this era, even the Queen Mother, who is the direct mother of the emperor, sometimes has to make concessions to her son in some aspects and slowly transfer the power in her hands.
As for other women, there is no need to say more.
The woman in front of me is already very impressive even if she only manages one family.
"Then Miss Ye will take care of the house."
Mr. Shen smiled slightly and said: "As for the meal, I have been a little busy recently. I will talk about it when I am free."
After that, Mr. Shen glanced at Ling Su behind him. Ling Su immediately understood and asked the more than a hundred anti-Japanese soldiers behind him to clear a path for Shen Yi to come out. Shen Yi took Ling Su and Jiang Sheng and left in a swaggering manner. Walk away from the execution ground.
After leaving the execution ground, Shen Yi and others found a restaurant to eat in Fuzhou City. When ordering food, Shen Yi asked Jiang Sheng to call Duan Chong from the Di News Department. When the dishes came, Duan Chong happened to Arriving at the scene, Shen Yi pointed to the empty seat opposite him and motioned for Duan Chong to sit down.
Duan Chong sat down carefully, then bowed his head slightly to Shen Yi and said, "Sizheng, what are your orders to your subordinates?"
"There is a Ye family in Fuzhou City..."
Shen Yi glanced at Duan Chong and asked, "Do you understand?"
"Know something."
Duan Chong answered very modestly.
Shen Yi stretched out his hand to take a bite of vegetables and said calmly: "Tell me."
Duan Chong nodded slightly, and then said: "The Ye family is also a century-old family in Fuzhou City. Our ancestors have been established in Fuzhou for four or five generations."
"There are also people in the Ye family who are serving as officials in the imperial court. They should be prefects now. They seem to be prefects of a large place. It's just that I can't remember which prefecture it is specifically."
Mr. Shen nodded slightly, and then asked: "I met people from the Ye family today. The person in charge seems to be a woman. What's going on?"
When Duan Chong heard this, a smile appeared on his face: "Originally, men were in charge, but the head of the Ye family passed away three years ago. Fortunately, he was treated in time. Fortunately, he survived and could only lie in bed to recover. Just stay here and don’t care about anything.”
"Because my son was still young, the Ye family was later taken over by the daughter of the head of the Ye family. I heard that in order to take care of the family affairs, Miss Ye put off all the engagements and concentrated on managing the family business. In the past three years, The Ye family did not collapse, but became increasingly prosperous in her hands."
Shen Yi nodded slightly.
It turns out that she is still a yellow flower girl.
No wonder she reacted so violently after she said that "private name" just now.
But no matter what, there is something wrong with the Ye family after all.
Mr. Shen is not the kind of animal who thinks with his lower body. Although he thinks this woman's experience is a bit strange, he still knows how to do things.
Thinking of this, Shen Yi waved to Duan Chong and said with a smile: "You're already here, so don't leave in a hurry. Let's sit down and have something to eat and drink together."
Duan Chong shook his head quickly: "Sizheng, my subordinate has eaten..."
"Then come and have a drink with us."
Shen Yi looked at Ling Su and smiled: "By the way, I'll have a good drink with General Ling. There will be many opportunities for you to work together in the future."
The leaders had spoken, so Duan Chong naturally had no reason to refuse. Besides, he, the person in charge of the Di Di News Department, actually had no rank. Being able to drink with Ling Su, a fourth-grade military attaché, was actually Shen Yi's promotion of him.
As a result, Duan Chong stood up carefully, filled himself up with wine, toasted Shen Yi first, then toasted Ling Su, and drank it all in one gulp.
After all, he is in a lower position and has no right not to drink in the wine shop.
…
Because Shen Yi and others ate late, after a meal of wine, it was already halfway through the afternoon. Duan Chong drank too much and was almost unconscious, so Shen Yi asked two anti-Japanese army soldiers to carry Duan Chong. rushed, and then the group wandered back to their residence in Fuzhou City.
As soon as everyone arrived at the gate of the house, before entering the house, they saw a young woman and two servants standing quietly at the gate, as if waiting for someone.
Ling Su frowned slightly, took a step forward and said, "Mr. Shen, I'll chase them away."
Shen Yi hesitated for a moment and shook his head slightly: "You lead Duan in and I'll ask her a few words."
Ling Su hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly: "Yes."
After that, he supported Duan and rushed into the house.
This young woman is naturally Ye Chan from the Ye family.
At this moment, Miss Ye also saw the figures of Shen Yi and others. She hurried forward and walked in front of Shen Yi in two or three steps. She respectfully said a blessing to Shen Yi and her voice was a little hoarse: "Concubine I have met the Imperial Envoy myself."
Shen Yi took a serious look at her and saw that the corners of the woman's eyes were slightly red, as if she had just cried.
The woman mustered up her courage, raised her head and glanced at Shen Yi, then lowered her head and said, "The imperial envoy is afraid that meeting the little girl in private will affect his reputation. It's broad daylight and it's outdoors, so you won't be afraid, right?"
Mr. Shen touched his chin thoughtfully, and then asked: "Why is Miss Ye looking for me?"
"I want to tell you about the Japanese pirates."
After saying this, she looked back at the two servants and gritted her teeth slightly: "You guys, step back."
The two servants immediately lowered their heads and withdrew about ten steps.
Ye Chan then raised her head to look at Shen Yi, her eyes a little red: "Ms. Shen, I know that you have letters from the Ye family to the Japanese pirates..."
Here in Shen Yi, there are indeed letters exchanged between these four families and the Japanese pirates.
To be precise, Ling Su collected it from the Japanese pirates' lair.
It was precisely because of this that he rushed to Fuzhou Prefecture to handle this case of treason with the Japanese.
When she said this, she lowered her head deeply and said with tears: "But sir, that happened a few years ago. A few years ago..."
Ye Chan gritted her teeth: "A few years ago, how could the people of Fuzhou Prefecture have thought that a royal master from the imperial court would come down to clean up the Japanese pirates..."
Mr. Shen narrowed his eyes: "So you just want to talk to the Japanese?"
"Sir, that's not Tongwa!"
Ye Chan became excited. She looked up at Shen Yi and her voice trembled: "Sir, you have never done business along the coast. You don't know..."
"A few years ago, if you didn't say hello to the Japanese pirates, you wouldn't even be able to sail a ship..."
"Our Ye family..."
She choked and said: "A large family also needs to eat, sir..."