Xiao Hua turned around and looked at the towering door wall of Michagan's mansion, with an indignant expression on his face and said: "I thought that we loyal people who want to serve the country are still poor, but let a mere profiteer and a foreign prince make fun of us here."
As soon as Yuan Zai heard Xiao Hua speak, he knew that he was an angry young man. Cooperating with him to investigate the case was very likely to be implicated by him. However, it was not the time to escape now, so he had to hope that he could enlighten Xiao Hua and deal with the errands to close the case.
.
He quickly raised his hands and said, "Don't be angry, Mr. Xiao. We don't want to have a head-on confrontation with Yang Xuan. We should think of other ways."
How could Xiao Hua understand this sentence? He just said according to his own meaning: "That's right, I don't believe that Yang Xuan's son can always protect Micha Qian's house. When he returns to the house and leaves, we will arrest Micha.
Please bring the account book."
Yuan Zai smiled crookedly. As expected, the man didn't understand. He tugged on the other person's sleeve and said, "The two of us will find a secluded wine shop first, and then I'll talk to you slowly."
There are wine shops in every shop in Chang'an, some wholesale from the West Market, some brewed at home, each with its own unique flavor. When the two came to the small wine shop in Changxing Square, they saw a tall pole standing in front of the shop, with a white hanging hanging above it.
Wine flags. There are only five or six tables in the shop, and the wine doctor is standing behind the wine flags selling wine.
The two of them ordered a total of two liters of sake and a plate of mutton. They sat cross-legged in front of the table, and Yuan Zai picked up the wine bottle and filled it for him.
Yuan Zai drank a lot when he was at Mi's house, and now he was a little tipsy. He began to explain his strong relationship to Xiao Hua: "Brother Xiao, when you and I were first entrusted by Prime Minister Wei, I had doubts in my heart. If it's just
For ordinary officials and businessmen to collude to make money, there is no need for Prime Minister Wei to personally entrust it, nor for our two sixth-grade officials to intervene. So from the beginning, I felt that this case was not simple. Sure enough, as soon as I wanted to touch a small businessman, it was already
With so much resistance, how can we continue to investigate?"
Xiao Hua originally had no good impression of Yuan Zai, an all-around elegant man. After hearing these words, he immediately felt that what he said had merit. He picked up the wine bottle and filled it up for him, and asked sincerely: "With Yuan Zai, what should we do?"
?”
"I have two methods, both of which are strategies to solve this case. Do you want to listen to the good ones first or the bad ones first?"
Xiao Hua tapped the table with his fingers: "Of course I got it wrong first."
"We immediately went back to see Mr. Wei and explained to him the difficulty of the case, and then asked him for some advice. Can we continue to investigate the case? If we can get Mr. Wei's support, at least we have a way out.
.”
Xiao Langzhong smacked his lips and shook his head: "No, I have been sitting on the bench for three years in the Ministry of Punishment, and finally got Wei Xianggong's attention and appointment. If you encounter any difficulties, just go back and ask him.
Wouldn’t it be wrong to live up to Prime Minister Wei’s entrustment?”
Yuan Zaixin nodded happily and smiled: "That's what I mean too."
"Don't you have some good ideas? Tell me about it?"
"It's very simple. Since Michagan can reach Yang Guozhong's son, it shows that he is very wild. We can find a time to visit him specifically, explain to him his powerful relationship, and ask him to prepare two books for us.
Let us bring him back to the court as a scapegoat. In this way, we can give an explanation to Prime Minister Wei, and we don’t have to offend Michagan and the people behind him. We will be blessed if we have both sides."
"What kind of good strategy is this?" Xiao Hua snorted coldly and said: "As imperial officials, how can we do such a harmful thing? I will not consider this matter."
The corner of Yuen Long's mouth twitched, and then he returned to normal and said: "Of course, you are the leader of the two of us. If Xiao Langzhong doesn't like these two strategies, you can think of a way on your own."
Xiao Hua pondered for a while and said: "Let's use your first method. Let's go back and ask Mr. Wei and get his approval."
…
Cao Anding received a secret letter from the servant of Michagan's family and learned that the matter might be unusual. He thought it was necessary to write a letter to Dr. Li and inform him of the signs of the matter.
It may seem like the sky is falling to them, but leaving it to the people at the top to solve the problem may be just a matter of words.
He immediately wrote a letter, sealed it with beeswax, waved his hand to call a post soldier in, handed the envelope to the post soldier's hand and said: "Quickly ride a horse to Wuwei City, Liangzhou, and hand in this letter."
In the hands of Dr. Li."
A month later, the messenger came to the main hall of the Liangzhou Governor's Mansion, knelt on one knee and reported: "Doctor, Cao Canjun has an urgent letter, please submit it to the doctor for your reference."
"Bring it to me and see."
Li Siye took the small table knife on the desk and cut open the envelope, took out a stack of ephedra paper from it, opened it in his hand and read it carefully, then slapped the letter on the table, stood up with his hands on his knees, and twirled his beard on the ground.
Pacing back and forth.
He knew that this logistics trade route would be exposed sooner or later, but he did not expect that Michagan would be the first to be targeted. Who wants to go against him? This question hardly needs to be thought about. The choice is either An Lushan or Yang Guozhong, and even more so
It is possible that Yang Guozhong was used by An Lushan. If that was the case, that would be too fucked up. He had anticipated this situation for a long time, and asked Michagan to give him a stone of pepper every year. He also had to give him a stone of pepper every time he returned to Chang'an after expressing his merits.
He brought some gifts. If it was really Yang Guozhong who was causing trouble behind his back, wouldn't the gifts and property he sent before be equivalent to feeding the dogs?
He sat back on the desk, pulled out a piece of hard yellow paper, soaked it with ink, wrote a reply, and put it in the envelope sent by Cao Anding. He said to the postman kneeling in front of the hall: "This is the reply. You reply
Go to Chang'an and bring it to Cao Anding."
"Here!" The messenger stepped forward to take the letter and walked backwards out of the main hall.
Li Siye plucked his beard and thought about it for a while, then shouted outside: "Come here, call Du Fu over."
After a while, Du Fu strolled into the hall, crossed his hands and said, "Doctor, what are your orders for me?"
"Immediately summon dozens of local carpenters and take my order to the Huaqing Palace in Huichang to step up supervision of the Sandalwood Tang under construction. If there is a shortage of wood, immediately send a letter to the Yangguan Western Region Chamber of Commerce to urge you."
"Here."
Although Du Fu was a scholar, he had been in the army outside the Great Wall for a long time, and he was accustomed to the vigorous and resolute style of the army. Even if the superiors gave orders, you should not question them even if they were to go through fire and water, and there was no room for any delay in the execution of orders and prohibitions.
He wrote two more letters, one of which was sent to Dai Wang and Zhao Congfang who were far away in North India, instructing them to increase manpower at each post station and transport as much sandalwood as possible, which would appropriately reduce the amount of pepper transported.
He was granted the title of Cen Shen in Qiuci, and asked him to enter the palace on his behalf, present the drawings of the sandalwood alchemy hall, and start building it.
After writing these two letters, his heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment and expectation. He just wanted to deal with the conspiracy with an upright conspiracy and see how they could oppose him.
Li Siye's letter was quickly sent back to the Hexi Jinzou Courtyard in Chang'an. Cao Anding took the envelope from the postman and sent it away to rest. He went to a secret room at the back of the hall.
Michagan sat cross-legged in front of the desk in the secret room, with oil lamps lit all around, and a maid in a green skirt next to him making tea. He saw Cao Anding hurried in with a letter in his hand, and his dim eyes finally flashed.
bright light.
Cao Anding tore open the envelope in front of him, took out the ephedra paper from inside, and spread it flat on the desk. The two of them looked down under the light and saw only three big words written on the paper: Let him check.
"It's true that it's Doctor Li. His behavior is indeed different from ordinary people. But if the other party comes to investigate, should he take the initiative to cooperate?"
"Of course, at least that's how it should be understood on the surface."