Chapter four hundred and eighty third timely reminder
After entering February, Zhang Lei increased his efforts to exchange gold and silver, doubling the amount compared to December last year. As a result, the price of silver on the black market rose to one tael of silver for one thousand four hundred cents, and the price of gold also rose accordingly.
At noon that day, shopkeeper Yang Da from Jubao Pavilion hurriedly found Zhang Lei and said urgently: "Proprietor, the situation is not good. I just got the news that people from Hidden Sword Pavilion started investigating the black market gold and silver exchange situation this morning."
Zhang Lei was shocked, "Have they found out?"
"Probably not yet. The few people who exchanged gold and silver with the proprietor are all hiding, but I guess Hidden Sword Pavilion will find them soon."
Zhang Lei slapped his forehead and said, "It's too late, I have to leave today!"
Zhang Lei initially decided to leave the capital at the end of the month, but the imperial court began to recruit ships to transport grain. Five of the ten large ships he had rented were taken away by the imperial court at once. Zhang Lei felt bad. If he did not leave, he would not even have the ships.
He changed the plan to leave in three days, but now...
They have to leave tonight.
"Proprietor, will the Jubao Pavilion be confiscated?" Shopkeeper Yang Da asked worriedly.
"It's possible that you go back quickly, close the business today, move the most valuable jewelry away, pay a sum of money, and let the stewards and employees go home and hide."
"Proprietor, the most valuable jewelry is a big box, so please take it with you, proprietor!"
Zhang Lei nodded, "Okay! I'll find a few people to go back with you."
Zhang Lei ran out of the lobby and found Zhao Xiudao: "The Hidden Sword Pavilion has begun to pay attention to us. We must leave tonight. You take everyone to the Jubao Pavilion and send someone to inform Yang Jun that they will sail into the city and move the boxes as soon as it gets dark.
.”
"But what to do at Qujiang Pass?" Zhao Xiu asked anxiously.
Zhang Lei punched himself in the head so hard that he almost forgot about this important event.
"I'll make arrangements now!"
Seeing that Zhang Lei was about to leave, Zhao Xiu hurriedly shouted: "Dr. Zhang, I want to send an eagle letter to Ganzhou and ask the envoy to send someone to respond."
Zhang Lei was a little anxious and dizzy. Fortunately, everything had been prepared in advance and there was no need to pack it up temporarily. He immediately wrote a letter to Mengzi and asked Mengzi to send it away. He got on the carriage and rushed to Dugu Mansion.
Zhang Lei had had two contacts with Dugu Lingqiu before, and Dugu Lingqiu told him Tian Wenxiu's true identity.
Not long after, the carriage stopped in front of Dugu Mansion, Zhang Lei jumped out of the carriage and ran towards the steps.
"Is something wrong, Boss Zhang?" The housekeeper of Dugu Mansion was at the door, and he quickly stopped Zhang Lei.
"I have something urgent to see your head, please report it to me."
"Proprietor Zhang, please come in and wait a moment. I will report to the proprietor right away."
Zhang Lei entered Dugu Mansion and waited in front of the screen wall while the housekeeper hurried to report.
Not long after, the housekeeper came back and said: "Brother Zhang, please come with me!"
Zhang Lei quickly followed the housekeeper to the outer study, where Du Qiu was already waiting for him.
Of course, Dugu Guqiu knew what Zhang Lei was doing during this time. He immediately guessed that Guo Song was preparing for a retreat. This approach of not leaving his fate in the hands of others was very commendable, although it was impossible for the Dugu family to fully help Guo Song.
, but he also wants to form a good relationship, maybe he will use it one day?
Zhang Lei walked into the study, bowed and said: "A gift to the master of the family!"
"Don't be polite, Mr. Zhang, please take a seat!"
The two of them sat down separately. Zhang Lei said: "I received a letter from my junior brother. In order to thank the family master for his help, he decided to give 70% of the money from Meishou Liquor Shop to the family master. I hope the family master will not refuse."
Du Lingqiu laughed and said, "Shijun Guo is so generous! He actually gave me the hen that laid the golden eggs."
Zhang Lei sighed and said: "Actually, the head of the family also knows the reason. Rather than being confiscated by the court, it is better to give it to the head of the Dugu family to thank the head of the Dugu family for his help."
Dugu Guqiu pondered for a moment and said: "Let's do this! I will take advantage and buy 30% of the wine shop with one hundred thousand taels of silver. In an emergency, the Dugu family will come forward to protect the safety of Meishou Liquor Shop. How about that?"
"Well... I'm afraid junior brother will blame me."
Du Guqiu chuckled and said, "That's it. I'll send someone to deliver 10,000 taels of gold to the Jubao Pavilion tomorrow."
Zhang Lei hesitated and said: "Let me tell you, the head of the family, I plan to leave tonight."
"Leaving tonight?"
Du Guqiu was slightly startled, "I originally wanted to advise you to leave early. Once the war breaks out in the Central Plains, the court will definitely tighten control and it will be difficult to leave the city. But is it a bit hasty to leave tonight?"
"It's not that I'm in a hurry. The Cangjian Pavilion started investigating the black market gold and silver trading situation this morning. I have to leave."
Du Lingqiu nodded, "I see, you really need to leave quickly. If your gold and silver are found by Zangjian Pavilion, the emperor will be very happy. His financial resources are very tight now, and the imperial court's salary for this month will not be paid until the end of the month.
"
"But... I need help from the head of the family at the checkpoint in Qujiang." Zhang Lei stuttered out his request.
Du Guqiu took a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "How many ships do you have?"
"There are five thousand stone cargo ships."
Dugu Qiu thought for a while and said: "For this war in the Central Plains, the Dugu family pledged 300,000 shi of grain to the court. I originally decided to arrange a ship to transport grain to Yong County at the end of the month. Since you are leaving tonight, I will just
If you can in advance, I will send a fleet out of the city from Qujiang tonight, and your ships will follow in the middle. I have a food transportation pass from the Ministry of War, and no one dares to intercept it. I will just do my best and send you out of Guanzhong."
Zhang Lei was overjoyed and bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.
The two discussed the handover of the wine shop again, and Zhang Lei hurried to the West Market.
Time was very tight, and Dugu Qiu also started to get busy. He asked his son Dugu Qian to go out of the city to notify the fleet to enter the city immediately.
.........
It was just an accident that Zangjiange started investigating the black market gold and silver. The reason was that Li Man accidentally discovered that the amount of silver and gold in the Cangjiange warehouse had dropped sharply and had all been turned into copper coins. After her investigation, the warehouse manager had to admit that they had
The gold and silver were transported to the black market and exchanged for copper coins, and the price difference was obtained.
This investigation result made Li Man furious. She immediately severely punished the warehouse manager and sent people to recover the gold and silver. However, several big moneymen in the black market had gotten the news and hid them one after another. All the gold and silver in the Hidden Sword Pavilion were stolen by them.
How can I still hand it over after I have redeemed it?
In the afternoon, Li Man held a tea cup in his hand and listened to the report from his subordinates with a gloomy face.
"For the record, Pavilion Master, we checked one by one according to the list issued by the steward. All the seven black market moneymakers are hiding. It is scary to exchange silver on the black market now. One tael of silver has actually increased to 1,400 yuan. During the Chinese New Year,
It’s still 1,200 coins, but now I can get gold and silver from the official treasury, and I’ve made a lot of money.”
"Why do gold and silver prices rise so sharply?" Li Man asked with a frown.
"I didn't ask about the specific reasons."
Li Man slammed the table and said angrily: "Why don't you ask me clearly? If the emperor asks me the reason, how should I answer?"
Several hall leaders were trembling with fear, and one of them said: "According to my experience in humble positions, it may be because the imperial court is going to war. In the past, when the imperial court went to war, the governors from various places would send people to the capital to exchange gold and silver in large quantities, and the prices would skyrocket. This time it should be
also the same."
This reason is indeed very good. Once a war breaks out, the price of gold and silver will rise sharply. This is the case every year. Li Man did not ask further. She is now more concerned about whether the gold and silver in the Hidden Sword Pavilion can be recovered? The transportation and use of copper coins are very important.
It's very inconvenient because many of their things require gold and silver.
"No matter what, I have to catch those bastards and let them spit out the gold from the Hidden Sword Pavilion. I'll give you two days. If no one is caught, I'll take your heads!"
The several hall masters were so frightened that they hurriedly agreed and ran away crawling on the ground.
The main task of Zangjian Pavilion during this period was to monitor various vassal towns. Li Man also focused most of his energy on this aspect and could not deal with Guo Song for the time being. Since Yuan Xuanhu had successfully sent the supervisory army to Guo Song, basically
Already confident of winning, in order not to alert the enemy, Zangjian Pavilion stopped monitoring Guo Song's relatives and friends.
However, Zangjian Pavilion is still monitoring Guo Song. Every once in a while, Li Man will receive news from Hexi and report Guo Song's movements to her.
However, the news was cut off in the past few months. The main reason was that the roads in Hexi were blocked by heavy snow, and the information from Ganzhou could not be sent to Liangzhou. It could not be sent until the ice and snow melted.
Li Man has been really upset these past two days. The emperor asked her yesterday about Zhu Si's movements, but she couldn't get it out. The emperor scolded her severely and asked her to hide her sword and closely monitor Zhu Si's every move.
You must know that the relationship between Zhu Si and the Yuan family is not trivial. Li Man felt that it was necessary to meet the head of the family tonight and ask him to be careful about Zhu Si and prevent the Yuan family from being implicated by Zhu Si.