Chapter 119: There is something a secret agent is doing
After sending Pei Xingjian back to his residence, Li Yan himself returned to Duke Wei's residence and immediately took off his clothes and went to bed.
In just one hour of deep sleep, his energy returned to its peak and he came to Li Derjian's hospital.
The Dou family is a member of the Guanlong clan, and the Duke of Wei also belongs to the Guanlong clan. Although he decided to get to the bottom of it, there are some things that still need to be asked clearly.
Li Derjian was also alarmed last night and learned from his servants that the elderly's sleep quality was poor to begin with, and later they couldn't sleep well either, so they simply got up to drink porridge.
It was still the fourth watch at this time, and Li Yan had never disturbed him so early. When Li Derjian saw him walking in, he asked solemnly: "Yuanfang, is there any difficulty in this case?"
Li Yan said: "I already have a clue about the case, and I came here to find out more about the Dou family."
Li Derjian raised his eyebrows: "You know?"
Li Yan was puzzled: "What do you know?"
Li Derjian was startled: "Mr. Dou has come to propose marriage. She wants to marry a virtuous wife. Women of the Dou family have always had a reputation for being virtuous. Don't you like it?"
Li Yan's pupils narrowed: "Sir, have you agreed?"
Seeing that his tone was different, Li Derjian quickly said: "No, only the two families are willing to accept it. I am going to ask your opinion."
To accept a gift is to propose a marriage, which is the first step in the six rites. It means to accept a gift, which means that both parties have initially made an intention, and the horoscopes have not yet been written.
Li Yan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, his family has a high status, and the current prosperity of Duke Wei's mansion is basically due to his reputation.
Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing to have an annulment...
At this time, he bluntly refused: "I am busy with official duties. Next, I have to drive out the Tibetan bandits from the west. I don't want to marry yet."
Li Derjian didn't pay too much attention: "Okay, there's no rush."
The nobles are no better than the common people. The common people at the bottom don't know when people will disappear, so they naturally want to get married early and have children early.
The children of the aristocracy are relatively free in marriage and love. For example, Mrs. Yang of Rongguo, because she worshiped Buddhism, did not get married until she was in her forties. Although there are not many examples of such late marriages, it is not like what later generations thought, and everyone got married in their teens.
marry.
Just when this topic came up, Li Yan took the opportunity to ask: "Is the marriage alliance between the Dou family and various ethnic groups very close?"
Li Derjian nodded: "Marry a wife to get a favor, seek talents and seek virtues. In Guanzhong, the Dou family's daughters have the best reputation and have excellent family education."
Li Yan frowned: "That's it..."
The Shandong gentry is currently in a shrinking state as a whole, with only a small number of gentry being active. The status of women with the five surnames in the early Tang Dynasty is really not top-notch.
The idea in unofficial history that one wished to marry a girl with five surnames did not become popular until the middle and late Tang Dynasty.
In this era, Dou's daughter is a good match and top of the marriage market.
Li Derjian saw that Li Yan seemed to be quite dissatisfied with the Dou family, so he directly stated another reason: "The Dou family has always married generously. If you marry a daughter of the Dou family, you can also get a huge fortune, and naturally you will be more sought after by people."
Li Yan nodded: "This is right. A key to a woman's status is economic independence."
Using a generous dowry can not only benefit the in-laws, but also increase the daughter's voice in her husband's family. It can be described as a win-win situation.
According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, when the dowry reaches the husband's family, it is nominally for the woman to use, and it can be taken away if they reconcile.
Thinking about it this way, if Dou's Chamber of Commerce is to be disturbed, Dou will have to fight even harder.
Maybe Li Longji’s fucking dowry will be lost...
It’s not a curse!
Li Derjian said with concern: "Yuanfang, what are you going to do? Since the death of the former Duke of Zhao, the Guanlong family has not been as good as before. The Dou family has a profound influence and cannot be touched lightly!"
Li Yan nodded slightly.
In fact, when I was sending Pei Xingjian back last night, the Minister of Civil Affairs also made a lot of pointers, intentionally or unintentionally.
When Changsun Wuji was still alive, he was the leader of Guanlong. At that time, the Dou family relied solely on nepotism and their status was not considered central.
However, since the death of Changsun Wuji, the major families became scattered and were divided and ruled by Li Zhi. At this time, the Dou family often had marriages with various clans and could speak to each other, so their position became more important.
He originally didn't want to take the case home and talk about it, but at this time he also wanted to hear the opinions of an experienced elder like Li Derjian, so he explained the matter in general.
Li Derjian frowned when he heard this: "Maybe the poisonous elixir of Liangzhou Jia's thieves flowed out from Dou's Chamber of Commerce? Nowadays, the scholars are poisoned, which has a bad impact. This matter is very involved. If it is confirmed, Dou's bones will definitely be broken.
They will also try their best to destroy evidence. If you want to investigate the Dou Chamber of Commerce, you must have a method!"
After all, Li Derjian is the son of Li Jing and the direct descendant of the Li family in Longxi. Even if he is in decline, he is not an ordinary cautious old man. Li Yan's eyes lit up: "Please give me some advice."
Li Derjian thought for a while and said: "The four major chambers of commerce, the Dou Chamber of Commerce ranks first, the Zhaojun Li Chamber of Commerce ranks second, the Lanling Xiao Chamber of Commerce ranks third, and the Xie... Xie Chamber of Commerce ranks fourth
, there are many frictions between the four chambers of commerce, you can pay attention to one or two."
Li Yan thought of Li Qianru's statement last night and smiled slightly: "Your Excellency is wise."
Li Derjian said: "It is impossible for Mr. Dou to accept Jia Thief's poisonous elixir to harm the people. If it is not an oversight, something unknown must have happened. Do you have any information sources about the internal affairs of the Chamber of Commerce?"
Li Yan shook his head: "The responsibility of the internal defense is to maintain peace and stability with the outside world. We have no information about the Dou Chamber of Commerce."
Li Derjian frowned: "That's troublesome. I'm afraid you don't know how big Dou's Chamber of Commerce is? In the East Market alone, Dou's has seventeen large shops, all of which sell valuable and good things. They are loved by everyone. In the West
In the city, Dou’s Store also has nine stores. Hu people especially like to buy there. If you identify the store, the premium doesn’t matter..."
Li Yan's expression changed as he listened.
There are only so many large shops in Chang'an, but Dou's shop has more than a hundred!
Except for those uninhabited ghost markets in the south, the Dou family can be seen in other markets no matter how poor they are, trying to seize the market as much as possible.
No wonder it can be called the number one in Chang'an. No wonder it can purchase a dowry that is extremely generous for a nobleman for every daughter who gets married...
In the business world, it is truly a giant.
Li Derjian asked again: "Is there a time limit for solving this case?"
Li Yan said: "Ten days."
Li Derjian frowned: "In just ten days, there are so many shops. If the way of selling poisonous pills is very secretive, how can you check it?"
Li Yan took a breath: "I didn't expect the Dou Chamber of Commerce to reach this scale. Tsk, it's troublesome..."
Li Derjian looked at him and hesitated: "Actually...you..."
Li Yan didn't pay attention. He was immersed in thinking. Suddenly he frowned and stood up: "I have a solution, sir. I'm going to work first!"
Li Derjian was startled: "Okay, go ahead and do your work. Feel free to call the people in the house! But when dealing with the Dou family, it's best not to get involved unnecessarily. After all, the relationship between in-laws is no better than others. When it comes to a real crisis, other families will do something."
The choice..."
"clear!"
Li Yan nodded.
Although the power of the Dou family is huge, there are no heroes in the family, and they have always relied on their relatives to rise to power.
It looks like flowers are blooming, and fire is cooking oil. Once something big happens, there will be a big question mark about the attitude of other nobles.
After walking out of Li Derjian's house, Li Yan called Mr. Xu Dahetian who was also awake: "Do you still pay attention to the spy from the Dou Chamber of Commerce?"
Xu Da Dao: "I saw her appear a few days ago. This woman has been promoted and is a low-level manager. Her appearance has changed and she is almost unrecognizable."
Li Yan said: "Okay, bring Shu San."
Madam Shu San was quickly called up and saluted: "Alang!"
In the house, the competitive pressure of Pingkangfang was gone. She was not afraid of being overtaken by other famous prostitutes by accident. She lost her status as a famous lady. She could just lie down. Her face was fair. Even if she was woken up, her complexion was still there.
pretty good.
Li Yan said: "Shu San, your fake mother has changed her appearance now. You can draw another portrait for me based on Xu Da's description."
"good!"
Lady Shu San didn't quite understand why it took so long to catch a fake mother, but she liked the life she was living now, so she followed the instructions and drew another one.
When the portrait came out, Li Yan looked at it carefully, and after hearing Xu Da's description, he couldn't help but be surprised.
Although this woman's facial features have not changed much, her body is much thicker, her skin has become darker, her movements, posture, and accent have all changed. It can be called a makeover-like technique.
Li Yan thought of Pang Sanniang in the Tang Dynasty in history.
Pang Sanniang was a geisha who was good at singing, dancing, and makeup. One time she was seen without makeup. The person called her grandma and asked where the famous geisha was. Pang Sanniang calmly said that she was my granddaughter and she was not here today.
You come back tomorrow, but the man comes back the next day. When he sees Pang Sanniang after her beauty, he doesn't recognize her at all, and even says he saw her grandmother yesterday.
Qiao Biluo: What a waste of learning! What a waste of learning!
Fortunately, at least there was no plastic surgery technology in ancient times, and the facial features could not be changed after all. Li Yan looked at the portrait several times, noted it down carefully, and curled his lips: "Isn't this the information about the Dou Chamber of Commerce..."
Mr. Xu Dahetian was gearing up: "Li Jiyi, do you want us to catch him again?"
Li Yan shook his head: "No, it's okay to monitor remotely occasionally. After last time, the other party must be on guard. You go to the internal security and cooperate with Di Huaiying and others to solve the case through formal channels!"
Mr. Xu Dahetian didn't understand what he meant, so he took the order and left: "Yes!"
Li Yan cared for Mrs. Shu Sanni with a few words to reassure her, then turned his eyes to Chongrenfang, which is north of Pingkangfang.
He can go to a Taoist temple that he once wanted to visit but couldn't.
…
Xuandu Guanli.
Li Yan was led to the guest room by the yawning Taoist boy.
Along the way, this Taoist temple exudes the atmosphere of poverty.
There are a few peach trees, with lush branches and green leaves reflecting the red flowers, exuding a light and elegant fragrance.
Li Yan sat down and admired the peach blossoms for a moment when he heard Ming Chongyan's voice coming from behind: "Li Shanxin!"
Li Yan turned around and smiled sincerely: "Master Ming, excuse me!"