Wen Ji smiled slightly and said: "Your Highness wants to do this, it is actually very easy!"
Guo Song immediately asked: "Please tell me, Counselor Wen, why is it so easy?"
"Your Highness, eunuchs are different from Zhu Si. Eunuchs have no descendants. They don't think about what happens after death. They value the money and power in front of them more. As for what will happen to the Southern Tang Dynasty in the end, they don't care at all? Your Highness, for eunuchs,
There is nothing dearer than gold and silver."
"Counselor Wen wants me to bribe them with money?"
Wen Ji smiled and said: "Actually, all we need to do is bribe Huo Xianming or Dou Wenchang, and we don't have to pay. I remember the last time we issued money, the big shopkeeper of Baoyuan Cabinet told me that Song Chaofeng had a lot of money.
It is stored in Baoyuan Cabinet, and people from the Chengdu Intelligence Station secretly visit Huo Xianming or Dou Wenchang and ask them to return Guo Shu and his family to Chang'an, and we transfer Song Chaofeng's money to their names."
Guo Song became even more interested and immediately said with a smile: "Baoyuan Cabinet Shop's main store is very close to us. We might as well go directly to Cabinet Shop to find out more."
Baoyuan Cabinet Shop is the first cabinet shop in Chang'an and the largest cabinet shop in the world. It was founded during the Kaiyuan period by Wang Yuanbao, a famous rich man in Chang'an. After various major events, Baoyuan Cabinet Shop still stands, which is also the reason why Baoyuan Cabinet Shop is still standing.
It is directly related to their purpose of not interfering in politics for decades and not getting involved in politics.
The main store of Baoyuan Cabinet is in Dongshi. Directly opposite the jewelry store is its store, which covers an area of five acres and has a large underground warehouse.
Guo Song, Du You, and Wen Ji, escorted by hundreds of cavalry, rode carriages to Baoyuan Cabinet Shop. Pan Da, the shopkeeper of the cabinet shop, heard that His Highness the King of Jin was coming in person, and quickly sent someone to notify the proprietor. He himself
Welcoming His Royal Highness the King of Jin and the two Prime Ministers at the gate.
Shopkeeper Pan was quite uneasy. He didn't know why His Highness King Jin came here. He was not notified in advance, so he was not prepared at all.
At this time, two carriages came slowly, escorted by hundreds of cavalry. The first carriage stopped, and the soldiers opened the door. Guo Song came out of the carriage. Shopkeeper Pan quickly stepped forward and saluted, "Your Highness is here, please order me."
The shop is full of glory!"
"It also makes you nervous, right?" Guo Song said with a smile.
Shopkeeper Pan smiled awkwardly and said: "The main reason is that I am not prepared at all, so of course I will be a little nervous."
"Don't be too nervous, we're just here to find out about Song Chaofeng's savings at the counter."
Shopkeeper Pan's heart skipped a beat. Last night, the proprietor had learned about Song Chaofeng's wealth and wanted to transfer his wealth. He persuaded him repeatedly that the government would definitely come to investigate and not to cause trouble for him, so the proprietor reluctantly accepted it.
My own advice.
Unexpectedly, it had only been one night, and the incident had indeed come true, and King Jin personally came to investigate. Shopkeeper Pan was secretly glad that he had dissuaded the proprietor, otherwise he would have been in big trouble today.
He quickly said: "Song Chaofeng was our client thirty years ago, and there is still a large amount of money deposited with us."
Guo Song nodded and walked into the cabinet with Du You and Wen Ji. They were seated in a guest room and a maid served them tea.
"How about the issuance of gold and silver coins?" Guo Song asked.
Baoyuan Cabinet Shop contracted gold and silver coins worth 800,000 guan. Although they had handed over the full amount of copper coins to the bank, Guo Song was still very concerned about the current situation of the gold and silver coins.
Manager Pan quickly said: "Reporting to your highness, the gold and silver coins have not arrived at the counter yet, but customers who got the news came to ask for purchases. We finally made appointments with forty old customers and sold gold and silver coins worth 800,000 guan.
Once it was empty, customers from out of town are still sending people to inquire, but it’s a pity that it’s gone.”
Guo Song smiled faintly and said: "You can make a reservation for next year. The gold and silver coins issued next year will be much more than this year, worth five million coins, which can be bought by more customers, but the premise is that Baoyuan Cabinet Shop does not make mistakes.
.”
There was a hint of threat in this last sentence. Shopkeeper Pan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said: "This small shop abides by the law and will never dare to do anything illegal."
“We won’t know until we talk about this!”
This last sentence happened to be heard by Wang Ling, the proprietor who hurried into the guest room. He suddenly became nervous. King Jin was afraid that the visitor was unkind.
"Wang Ling meets His Highness the King of Jin!"
Guo nodded and said straightforwardly: "I'm here today about Song Chaofeng's affairs. Boss Wang should know that, right?"
The proprietor Wang Ling is the great-grandson of Wang Yuanbao, the founder of the cabinet shop. He is in his early fifties and was named an earl by Emperor Daizong. However, the Wang family has always kept a low profile in Chang'an.
In fact, the Wang family is as wealthy as the country. Three of the top ten restaurants in Chang'an are owned by the Wang family, including the famous Taibai Restaurant, as well as countless land farms. However, their five large farms in Chang'an were distributed to the people by Zhu Si.
They couldn't get it back, they had lost at least one million yuan, which was very heavy. They didn't dare to complain, so they could only break their teeth and swallow it.
Of course Wang Ling already knew why King Jin came here today. He bowed to Guo Song and said respectfully: "To be honest with His Highness King Jin, Song Chaofeng has a lot of wealth in Chang'an and Chengdu, but these two transactions have been
It has become a dead debt and has no master."
"Why do you say that?" Guo Song asked puzzledly.
"This depends on the original deposit agreement. Song Chaofeng agreed that only he could take away the property from Baoyuan Cabinet in Chengdu. The wealth from Baoyuan Cabinet in Chang'an could be taken away by himself or his nephew Song Qiu. However, in the Song Dynasty,
Feng died, and his great-nephew Song Qiu was also killed."
"Isn't there any agreed upon proof to take away the property?" Guo Song asked again.
Wang Ling shook his head and said: "There are two ways to save money in the counter. One is to leave a voucher and a password, which is the most common case with half a jade pendant. The other way is to withdraw the money in person, and your fingerprints must be checked. What Song Chaofeng agreed is
The second type.”
Du You smiled and said, "Unless his fingers are cut off, it will be all over once he dies?"
"Du Xiangguo was joking. In fact, it is useless to cut off the finger, because the murderer does not know which finger's fingerprint was used."
At this time, shopkeeper Pan walked in with a plate. On the plate were two scrolls of cloth, both one foot long. He slowly unfolded one of the cloths on the table and introduced: "This is the story of Song Chaofeng in Chang'an."
The money deposit record of the cabinet must be obtained by himself or his nephew Song Qiu himself, with the fingerprint of his left thumb."
"How much money do you have?"
"Song Chaofeng is the sixtieth treasure trove. There are 3 million taels of silver, 200,000 taels of gold, and 20 large boxes of gold and jewelry. These are the wealth accumulated before the Jingyuan mutiny, accumulated over more than 20 years."
"What about Chengdu?" Guo Song asked again.
Shopkeeper Pan picked up another cloth scroll and said, "This is the money deposit record of Chengdu Cabinet Shop. It was delivered last night!"
He slowly unfolded the cloth. What was different from before was that there was only one fingerprint on the cloth. Shopkeeper Pan Da said: "In the seventh warehouse of Chengdu Cabinet, there are 1.2 million taels of silver and 100,000 taels of gold."
, no jewelry, jade, and no copper coins.”
Guo Song frowned, "Why are there so few cabinet shops in Chengdu?"
Shopkeeper Pan Da said: "Your Highness, Song Chaofeng secretly transported a batch of money to Chang'an the year before last. He felt that Chengdu was not safe."
Guo Song nodded. Song Chaofeng's feeling was correct. Chengdu was indeed unsafe for him.
At this time, Guo Song asked: "How to deal with this kind of ownerless wealth?"
Wang Ling bowed and said: "Each cabinet shop has different regulations. When Baoji Cabinet Shop was first established, my great-grandfather made an agreement with Emperor Xuanzong that unowned wealth should be handed over to the court."
This is interesting. Guo Song asked calmly: "Which court does Wang Dongzhu refer to? Chang'an or Chengdu?"
Wang Ling saw sweat on his forehead, and he quickly said: "The headquarters of Baoyuan Cabinet is in Chang'an, so it is naturally handed over to the Chang'an court."
This answer was almost enough. At this time, shopkeeper Pan suddenly realized something and quickly added: "After a dead debt occurs, the cabinet shop will wait for another three years. Only when no one comes to claim it will the cabinet shop deal with it!"
Guo Song's face changed slightly, and he said coldly: "Song Chaofeng has plundered so many people's wealth and ruined his wealth. Is Baoyuan Cabinet still planning to hand it over to his family?"
These words were so serious that Wang Ling suddenly broke into a cold sweat and said quickly: "Your Highness has misunderstood. The rules mentioned by the big shopkeeper are for legal and legitimate wealth. The wealth of those corrupt officials who plunder the people's wealth is not included in this rule."
, the same goes for Song Chaofeng’s wealth, which is not within the rules of Baoyuan Cabinet.”
After saying that, Wang Ling glared at Shopkeeper Pan fiercely. He couldn't even see the basic situation, so why would he still be the shopkeeper? Today, King Jin made it clear that he was here to seize Song Chaofeng's wealth.
Guo Song nodded, "Very good, Counselor Du and Counselor Wen, you two can handle this matter!"
The two agreed quickly. Guo Song stood up and left. Wen Ji whispered: "Your Highness, is the price of the transaction too high?"
Guo Song laughed, "What's wrong with giving him more? Huo Xianming is just keeping it for us. Sooner or later it will still be ours."
Wen Ji was stunned for a moment and said with shame: "Your Highness is still smart!"
Everyone sent King Jin out of the gate and watched King Jin's carriage go away. Wang Ling wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked Du You in a low voice, "Du Xiangguo, is King Jin going to severely punish Baoyuan Cabinet?"
The Du family is a famous family in Chang'an and is relatively familiar with the Wang family. Du You smiled and said, "As long as you handle Song Chaoen's wealth properly, you don't have to worry too much."
Wang Ling nodded, "I hope Du Xiangguo can give me some advice!"