Dai Hongde stared at Dai Hongyi's head, his eyes bloodshot.
The eldest son Dai Zhiguang's face turned pale and he wanted to leave the cabin but did not have the courage.
"Have Xu Zhiqiong's fleet been let through?" Dai Hongde asked.
"Let it go. According to father's instructions, the channel has just been opened."
"Take a fast boat and find someone to block the channel immediately. Call Guo Zhongbin. I want to see if Daxuan still has any rules!"
Guo Zhongbin was a disciple of Dai Hongde and had a seventh-level yin-yang cultivation. Dai Hongde immediately wrote a letter, writing more than a dozen letters in one night, and sent them to various important officials in the capital.
…
In fact, Dai Hongde need not worry, Xu Zhiqiong has no intention of leaving at all.
After the channel was opened, the warship stayed in place. Shan Yan urged to lift the anchor quickly. Xu Zhiqiong shook his head and said: "No, we will wait until all the merchant ships have dispersed before leaving."
Shan Yan widened her eyes and said, "How long will it take to wait?"
Mo Chi said from the side: "Marquis Yun, the merchant ships at Sanjiangkou cannot be dispersed. According to the rules of the Dai family, every ship must be carefully inspected. Even if we wait for a year, the merchant ships will not be able to leave completely."
Xu Zhiqiong said with a smile: "I just gave Dai Hongde a big gift. If he knows something about it, he should change this rule."
After waiting for about half an hour, the merchant ships not only did not disperse, but the channel was blocked again.
Shan Yan was extremely upset, and Mo Chi said from the side: "It seems that Marquis Yun gave a big gift in vain, and Mr. Dai doesn't appreciate it at all. Let me remind you that he has a deep foundation in the court, and I am afraid there will be many ministers
Prepare to impeach you."
"Don't worry, I have also prepared a generous gift for the ministers," Xu Zhiqiong turned around and said to Tao Huayuan, "Make a magic circle and send this emerald west mountain to the high official's family."
…
Bao Jingzhong, the Minister of Justice, received a letter from Dai Hongde in his study. After reading the letter, he immediately burned it on a candle.
"Xu Zhiqiong, my child's blood revenge has finally been avenged."
He immediately wrote a memorial and prepared to present it in person tomorrow.
He knew there was more than one person to play.
He knows how deep Dai Hongde's roots are.
The next day at the court meeting, Wan Xingbang, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, Zhao Yuangang, the new Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Deng Encai, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Ji Youquan, the Minister of the Ministry of Works, Mo Shouxin, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple... more than a dozen officials, large and small, all prepared memorials and prepared them.
Impeachment of Yun Hou Xu Zhiqiong.
They had endured Xu Zhiqiong for a long time, and now they were finally about to explode.
The reason for impeaching Xu Zhiqiong is very simple. We do not ask about the antecedents, only the results.
Xu Zhiqiong killed someone at Sanjiangkou and left a letter to the family of the deceased.
The lantern-bearing man has the power to enforce the law in the capital. He can kill people and then lay out the charges.
But outside the capital, why did he kill people? Why did he kill good people indiscriminately?
He is so cruel and arrogant, but he asks Daxuan if there is any royal method!
The ministers were gearing up in the Daqing Hall, and Emperor Changle, who was sitting on the dragon throne, heard the sound of their teeth being gritted.
But Emperor Changle did not listen to the report according to the procedure of the court meeting, but asked his chamberlain to carry up the jade rockery.
After looking at the jadeite's seed water and its exquisite workmanship, Yan Anqing exclaimed, "This is truly a rare treasure."
Emperor Changle smiled and said: "Yan Shoufu is a man who knows the goods. Do you know how much this emerald west mountain is worth?"
Yan Anqing shook his head and said: "I dare not make any rash judgments. This kind of treasure is probably priceless."
"How can it be priceless? No matter how expensive it is, it must have a price."
Yan Anqing still shook his head: "Making prices is something I am not good at."
Emperor Changle asked in surprise: "Is there anything in this world that Yan Shoufu is not good at?"
Yan Anqing sighed: "There are specialties in the art industry."
When the ministers heard that something was wrong, Emperor Changle and Yan Anqing sang in harmony, as if they had written a script in advance.
Several courtiers who originally planned to submit the memorial quietly put away the memorial and watched the situation quietly.
Emperor Changle nodded and said, "What Yan Shoufu said makes sense. The person who specializes in the art and is good at making prices should be our household department, Wan Shangshu. Can you give me a price? How much is this thing worth in silver?"
Wan Xingbang's heart trembled, and he realized that something was wrong.
Since Emperor Changle succeeded to the throne, Wan Xingbang has been unpopular.
The reason is simple, he is a member of the Nufu Cult.
Before Wu Ziqing, a generation of honest officials, died, he said that Wan Xingbang led him into the Nufu Sect. At that time, Xu Zhiqiong already knew that Wan Xingbang was a member of the Nufu Sect. After the new king came to the throne, Xu Zhiqiong
Zhiqiong naturally told Emperor Changle about this.
But Emperor Changle never touched Wan Xingbang. He sent people to spy on Wan Xingbang, hoping to get more inside information about the Nufu Sect from him.
But since Emperor Changle ascended the throne, Wan Xingbang seems to have cut off contact with the Nufu Sect and has never revealed any flaws.
Emperor Changle didn't wait all the time, he would take Wan Xingbang out and beat him up from time to time.
Some people will become cautious in times of adversity, while others will choose to take risks. Wan Xingbang belongs to the latter category.
Today he wanted to take a risk and write a memorial to take the opportunity to shock Xu Zhiqiong.
But he didn't expect that Emperor Chang Le would be given the opportunity to beat him.
"Wan Aiqing, let me ask you something. How much do you think this jadeite costs?"
Wan Xingbang pondered for a moment and said: "I know very little about jade and the like, and I dare not make a rash valuation."
Emperor Changle was surprised: "As the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, you don't know the price of jade?"
Wan Xingbang lowered his head and said, "I feel deeply ashamed."
"It doesn't matter if you don't know the price, but do you know the origin of this emerald mountain?"
"I don't know."
Emperor Changle said: "This emerald west mountain was given to me by Marquis Yun. Everyone recognizes Marquis Yun. He owes me 20,000 taels of silver and cannot pay it back. Now he is going to send Yu Xianguo as an envoy again. He is afraid that I will collect the debt, so he wants to
Use this emerald mountain to pay your debts,
I said this is not possible. Where did you get this piece of jade? You have to tell me clearly. If you are corrupt and pervert the law, I will not spare you.
Marquis Yun said that this was a gift from a businessman named Dai Hongde in Sanjiang County.
Isn't this a blatant bribery of the imperial officials? This businessman named Dai is too courageous!
I was very angry and wanted to punish this businessman, but Marquis Yun said that this businessman is a good man and has been secretly working for the court.
I was requisitioning grain from the south these days. Dai Hongde was worried that someone would pass it off as good quality and be short of jins and ounces, so he simply bought the grain himself, checked that it was correct, and then sent it to the north.
Not only grain, cloth, porcelain, pearls, jade, pepper, no matter what kind of business, Dai received it all, and it lasted for decades. In these decades, he never asked the court for a penny of salary. You say, we
Which official in Daxuan can do this?
When Yunhou told me, I still didn't believe it. Let's talk about such a big business, can he handle it by himself?
Marquis Yun also specifically asked about this matter, and he said that there are many people in the capital helping Dai Hongde with his business."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Daqing Hall was completely silent.
At this moment, everyone gave up the idea of impeaching Xu Zhiqiong.
Emperor Changle looked at the ministers and said, "Which one of you has ever helped Dai Hongde with his business?"
All the ministers bowed their heads at the same time and said nothing.
"Wan Aiqing?"
Wan Xingbang quickly denied it: "I don't recognize Dai Hongde. I never knew there was such a person in Sanjiang County. Your Majesty knows it for sure!"
Emperor Changle smiled and said: "I'm not asking you Dai Hongde, I'm asking you how much this jade mountain is worth, and is it enough to pay off the debt of Marquis Yun?"
"This, this, I think, since it is jade, it should be worth twenty thousand taels of silver."
"Twenty thousand taels is less. I think this piece of jadeite is worth at least one million taels. Wan Aiqing, since you are the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, you should know more about business matters. I will give you three days to put this
Jade Xishan was sold to me for one million taels of silver, and I'm waiting to get the money from you!"
Wan Xingbang did not dare to say anything more. Emperor Changle looked at the ministers and said, "What else do you want, sir?"
The ministers bowed their heads and remained silent.
Emperor Changle stood up and said, "If nothing happens, just retreat from the court."
After the disbandment of the dynasty, He Fang found Emperor Changle and said: "Your Majesty, Dai Hongde has colluded with the court officials to occupy the mouth of Sanjiang River and take advantage of it for many years. I think this matter should be investigated strictly."
"It is indeed necessary to strictly investigate, but we can no longer let Zhiqiong do the investigation," Emperor Changle sighed, "Zhiqiong is alone outside and is in a very dangerous situation. This kind of offending thing must be done by someone else.
Let him go all the way south first, and let him see for me how the country of Daxuan has been ruined by these bastards!"
…
Dai Hongde waited for a whole day and finally received a secret letter at night.
The secret letter was unsigned, and it was not clear which adult's handwriting it was.
There were only two lines of words written on it: "The imperial envoy is coming. Let the marquis of Yun be released quickly and the merchants from all over the country be released."
Dai Hongde burned the letter, sat in silence for half an hour, and told his eldest son Dai Zhiguang: "Let him go."
"Did you let Marquis Yun go?"
"Open the channel and let out all passing merchant ships."
"But our business..."
"The business is no longer available," Dai Hongde gritted his teeth and said, "After decades of hard work, our entire business was destroyed in the hands of this yellow-mouthed man."
…
At Sanjiangkou, ships from various places left, and it took a whole night to disperse.
Mo Chi stood on the bow of the ship and sighed repeatedly: "The Dai family has been entrenched in Sanjiangkou for decades, and even my Dayu's ship that sells grain has been repeatedly deducted by him. I think I, Dayu, can get a small profit from him, but I can't.
After using many means, Xu Zhiqiong managed to make Dai docile in just a few days."
Shan Yan said: "It is not uncommon for officials and businessmen to collude and occupy one side. This kind of thing is not uncommon in our country."
"So we need capable ministers like Xu Zhiqiong to root out these scum."
"Xu Zhiqiong's methods are too arrogant. If he hadn't gained Emperor Changle's trust and was constrained by everything, he would have been unable to achieve anything."
"Emperor Chang Le trusts him," Mo Chi nodded, "I also trust people like him."
A shout came from the cabin:
"You thief, what are you going to do? You are so bullying. I will fight for you..."
Mo Chi sighed: "How wonderful it would be if I didn't have this hobby."
At dawn the next day, the fleet was preparing to weigh anchor. Dai Hongde boarded the ship and apologized to Xu Zhiqiong.
"Dai is short-sighted. I hope the Marquis will forgive him for what he has offended before."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "Master Dai, don't say anything about Haihan, I am not that big-hearted, you should worry more about yourself, collect the money you have earned over the years, and let yourself live for a few days.
"
Dai Hongde was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and said, "Master Hou, don't worry too much. Daxuan has its own rules. Dai is a rule-abiding person, so he can naturally keep his life."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "Let me advise you again, just this one, Mr. Dai, the rules have changed."