The vice-president turned around and pursed his lips. The accountants quickly came to the next door and moved the wooden frame against the wall. They used chisels to lift off the wooden boards on the wall, revealing the secret room inside. There were four or five large boxes on the ground.
"Bring it out!"
Everyone hurriedly carried these boxes to the center of the accounting room. The lids of the boxes were opened and there were stacks of account books inside. Xiao Hua squinted his eyes and walked to the box, grabbed one of the books and flipped through a few pages before he was satisfied.
He nodded and said, "Yes, this is the real account book."
He ordered everyone in the Chamber of Commerce to clear away the false accounts, and sat cross-legged with Yuan Zai on the ground with the account books in his left hand and the abacus in his right hand to carefully check the calculations. The deputy leader simply stood aside with his hands down, ready to answer questions at any time.
He moistened his thumb with his mouth and turned over the account book page by page. His brows were always relaxed and his mouth was smiling. When he saw the key points, he pointed to the account book to show others: "This is the profit of your chamber of commerce last March, of which ten
Fifty thousand coins were transported to Tingzhou, and one hundred thousand coins were sent to Wuwei City. Whose hands did these money end up in?"
The vice-president stood on the ground with his hands clasped in his hands, looking at his nose and nose and remaining calm.
"Don't say it? Still don't dare to say it?" He smiled calmly and said: "I'm just saying, who else in the world has the ability to build a commercial road station to India? Even if you don't say it, you will eventually arrive at the Zichen Hall of the Daming Palace, the saint.
It’s very clear in my heart.”
He lowered his head to read through it carefully, and raised the corner of his mouth sarcastically: "Hey, this is the money given to Xiao Bolu's Quyen Army. This is the silk and silk allocated to the secret protector. Is this a salary payment?
?I didn’t expect you to buy out the entire Western Region. It’s really a big deal, a big deal!”
Yuan Zai's eyebrows suddenly condensed, and the hand holding the account book trembled involuntarily. He quickly walked a few steps to Xiao Hua's side, pointed to one of the entries and whispered: "Sixty thousand taels of gold can be exchanged for 5,000 taels of gold, and the transport is here
Jinzouyuan sent Cao Anding to the Jinxiu Huating in Kaihuafang."
He held the account book and his eyes widened: "Where is Splendid Huating?"
Yuan Zai leaned into his ear and whispered: "The residence of Mrs. Yang's Guoguo."
The corners of Xiao Hua's eyes drooped, and he held the spine of the account book tightly with his palms. He hesitated for a long time, and then said slowly: "Fold this page first, and we will talk about it later."
Mr. Xiao's brows have never relaxed since he saw this terrible entry in the account book. Sometimes he looked up at the vice president of the chamber of commerce who was standing aside with an increasingly arrogant expression. Sometimes he lowered his head and shook his head slightly with trembling fingers.
They were all shocking contents, which made his eyes burn and his heart seemed to be stirred up by turbulent waves.
"In the eleventh year of Tianbao, Yuan Zheng sent a stone of pepper and forty pounds of sandalwood to Yang Guozhong's mansion in Kaihuafang."
"On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, send five measures of pepper and several sandalwood cases to the Yongwang Mansion, the residence of the Sixteenth Prince."
…
Next, there are Yan Wang Li Bin, Sheng Wang Li Qi, Ji Wang Li Huan, Xin Wang Li Wei... Xuanzong's disciples sent everyone alive as long as they were alive. The most hateful thing is that they didn't even miss the prince. Shuofang Lingwu City
The prince's villa delivered a total of 30,000 guan in two shipments. The three sisters of the Yang family could get 30 taels of dipterocarp in spring and summer. The price in the East Market was 1 penny and 430 guan, and the total price was 2 taels.
Wan Guan.
The last straw for him was that from June of the 12th year of Tianbao to now, more than 600 kilograms of red sandalwood were sent to Huaqing Palace in Huichang every month to build the sandalwood soup for the imperial concubine.
Starting from September, a large amount of sandalwood was sent to the Jiaotai Hall of Xingqing Palace in Chang'an City.
No wonder they were so confident. It turned out that the entire superstructure of Chang'an City had been kidnapped by the little pepper.
Xiao Hua's blood rushed to his heart, and his vision suddenly went dark, and he hurriedly held the table with his hands. The vice president of the Chamber of Commerce pretended to walk to him and supported him, sighed and said: "I said I won't let the envoy see it, you
I just want to see it, but now I can’t stand it. Now that there is still a chance to remedy the situation, I will pretend that the two envoys did not see it, and re-seal these account books behind the dark room wall, as if nothing happened."
"Shut up!" Xiao Hua gasped and said angrily: "You are so deceitful! Bribing the palace and officials with huge profits, do you think this can deter me? Load these account books on the truck tomorrow and transport them back to Chang'an at starry night. I will knock them down
I will sound the drums and carry the coffin to the palace to admonish Your Majesty, we must uproot the cancer of the pepper trade of the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce!"
A dark and gloomy voice came from the stairs: "You said it is a tumor. It grows in the body and is inseparable from the five internal organs. People may live for a long time if they don't remove it, but once it is removed, it will inevitably open the intestines.
If you break the belly, not only will the tumor be removed, but someone will also die. Then you are a quack doctor and the chief culprit causing trouble in the world."
"Who's talking!" Xiao Hua and Yuan Zai stood up from the desk, turned around and looked over.
But I saw a man wearing a silver mask and a black crotchless robe walking down the stairs. He stood in the corridor. His aura of calmness spread far away, and he stood in the corridor and the accounting room.
The vice president and gentlemen bowed towards him like sunflowers and crossed their hands.
Xiao Hua had already guessed the identity of the person coming, but he still put his hands behind his back and raised his chest and asked: "What is your identity? How dare you speak to an official of the imperial court like this."
The other party crossed his hands in front of his chest, and laughed from behind the mask: "I am Dai Wang, Cao Cao of Liangzhou joins the army, and is also the president of the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce."
"It turns out to be the good boy beside Dr. Li. Why don't you dare to show your true face?"
Dai Wang was not angry when he heard this. He smiled calmly and said: "Mr. Xiao, do you still remember what I said last night in the Muzhuang Pavilion of Chuiyue Square in Dunhuang City? You have so much blood and you want to serve the saint, so you have to go to the palace."
Even though the swords and axes add up, the will will not change. Now you have only two choices, either take these account books and send them to Chang'an, and show Yang Guozhong and An Lushan who they want to investigate. Or
Just pretend you haven't seen these account books. I will give you fake account books and a scapegoat. You can still make meritorious deeds and be rewarded after returning to Chang'an. The former is related to your wealth and life, and the latter is related to your official career. Please ask Mr. Xiao,
Oh, and Yuan Si must think about it in detail."
Yuan Zai felt that the hairs on his back were standing on end, and his limbs were cold and cold. This was like making a choice between the entrance to hell and the human world. He looked at Xiao Hua worriedly, fearing that he would be impulsive and destroy the world because of the dignity of an upright official.
Poke a hole. Not only will you not get any reward for finding out the truth, but you will also offend everyone in the court. And these account books are not just a hot potato, but a real scourge.
Taking advantage of this tense moment, Yuan Zai smiled and said: "These are obviously fake account books, and the ones just now are the real account books. Please bring up the real account books. We will check them in detail before we go back and submit them."
"Yuan Zai!" Xiao Hua yelled angrily: "How can we treat what happened as if it didn't happen? I can't deceive myself and others! I want to transport these account books to Chang'an to meet His Majesty Cheng, and detail the crimes of the Western Region Chamber of Commerce. Tell me.
These people behind the saint have ulterior motives and are trying to control the court with wealth!"
Yuan Zai persuaded him bitterly: "You can't enter Chang'an with these account books, and you can't see His Majesty if you enter Chang'an. Will Yang Guozhong give up? Will His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the kings be willing to do so? Even His Majesty and the imperial concubine... they like it.
It's Sandalwood, not you, a harsh-tongued loyalist."
"I have made up my mind, don't try to persuade me again." Xiao Hua cast his eyes coldly on Dai Wang: "I just want to teach you that there is no shortage of loyal people in our Tang Dynasty."
Dai Wang once again crossed his arms and saluted Xiao Hua: "Although your loyalty is not in the right place, Dai Wang still deeply admires you."
Xiao Langzhong trembled with trembling lips and clenched his teeth, spitting out a voice from between his teeth: "Give me all the account books to load into the car!"