"Brother Chen, don't be nervous, the emperor wants to see you." Guard Zhao comforted him.

"The emperor, the emperor wants to see below? But the guards, I don't know what rules and etiquette are ordered. ”

"It's okay, it's okay, our Emperor Shunzhi of the Great Qing Kingdom is a benevolent monarch, you just have to kowtow to the emperor three times and say long live the emperor, long live, long live."

"Thank you, Lord Guard, for your advice." Ruiqian's cold sweat soaked his back, and at the same time he was a little excited, he was about to see the emperor! The emperor can be seen by everyone? I was also very lucky to be able to meet the monarch of the Great Qing Kingdom in my lifetime. ”

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhao Tieyan led Chen Ruiqian to the emperor, hugged his fists and saluted: "Your Majesty, Young Master Chen is here." Then he signaled that Ruiqian could kowtow and withdrew.

Ruiqian kowtowed to the emperor three times, bowed his head and said: Grass man Chen Ruiqian, see the emperor, long live the emperor, long live, long live! ”

"No courtesy, shopkeeper Chen, please get up."

"Your Majesty."

The emperor smiled and said, "Shopkeeper Chen, you should thank your brother-in-law well, he rushed to the palace when he heard the news." It's okay, it's okay, those guys from the Criminal Department haven't tortured you yet. ”

Rui Qian hurriedly knelt down for the prince and wanted to kowtow, but the prince pulled him up in time: "Young Master Chen, what are you doing?" In terms of seniority, this king is really your brother-in-law. Tell us about the situation. ”

"Yes, before selling the cloth, the grass people explained to every guest officer that the cloth was afraid of heat, and it should not be scalded by boiling water, nor should it be placed next to the stove. However, a female guest who had come to buy cloth the day before had brought the five-foot polyester cotton cloth she had bought in the cloth shop the day before, and there were only a little more than three feet left. Then it was time to claim compensation, and the new shopkeeper in the neighborhood fanned the flames among the people watching the excitement, and after a while, a few soldiers came and arrested him, and also loaded the previous Daqing cotton cloth from the cloth village and the cloth sent by the prince to the carriage and pulled it away. When they arrived at the Criminal Department, the adult who interrogated the grass people said that the origin of the cloth below was unknown. ”

The emperor asked, "They insist that the origin of your cloth is unknown?" ”

"Yes, they say that the grass people are the remnants of the former Ming Dynasty, and they also say that the grass people have a secret place for weaving cloth."

"How can this be true? Let them do their right thing, but there is a set of accusations. I told you clearly, that it was your neighbor who told you, and this person was the brother of the squire of the criminal department. The squire of the criminal department dared to blatantly grab things, and that brother was also very good at fighting people, don't worry, the squire's black gauze hat was immediately put on his head. I guess the cloth was brought back from a foreign land, right? ”

"Back to the emperor, exactly. The minister saw that the cloth over there was very wide, and Yun'er liked it very much, so he bought some more and brought it back. How much can Fu Jin and Yun'er wear? The minister was afraid that the fabric would become stale and unsturdy after a long time, so he wanted to simply sell it to Yun'er's cousin's cloth village, and he could get the capital back. ”

"It seems that the royal brother is not generally spoiled by his sister-in-law. She gives her whatever she wants, hehe......"

The prince also smiled: "Women, they like beautiful clothes and jewelry." It was not too early, and the minister was afraid of disturbing the emperor's business, so he retired. ”

"Brother Huang, wait a minute, I still don't know something, it's what Young Master Chen mentioned, how can your cloth be afraid of heat? No matter how much you shrink, you can't shrink from five feet to three feet, right? ”

Tian Liang clasped his fists and saluted: "Back to the emperor, this matter is still explained by subordinates." The population of foreign lands is large, and the area of arable land is small, and there are not many acres of land that can grow cotton without growing grain. But in such a big country, people need a lot of cloth to wear, and they will find ways to use other energy sources. There is an oil that can weave cloth to solve the problem of part of the cotton cloth. ”

"Oil? Can you still squeeze oil from a stone? ”

"It's not that there's oil in the stone, it's that there's this stuff between the stones. It is often mined in the deep sea, and the composition of oil is not the same, including seaweed, which turns into oil under the pressure of thousands of years under the stone. It is then refined into a material that can be woven. Since it is oil, of course, it is afraid of heat and fire. The shopkeeper Chen is very responsible in business, and whenever a customer buys cloth, he tells them in advance not to scald it with boiling water and not to bake it in front of the stove. The lady who found fault took advantage of this, and when she came home, she scalded the fabric with boiling water, and then claimed compensation. Behind her is probably the squire's brother, and they colluded to trap the shopkeeper. ”

"It's really a big forest, and there are all kinds of birds, so this thing can also take advantage of loopholes. The matter of the plaque must be made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the holy decree will be sent together with the plaque. The cloth taken away must be returned in the same amount. Shopkeeper Chen, I don't know if you are willing to drag you into the ranks of imperial merchants. When you go back, you will expand the store, and I and the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that every year the silk woven from the weaving bureau and the silk purchased from Suzhou and Hangzhou will bring you a copy. It's the other way around! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Shopkeeper Chen, it seems that you have a hard time doing business. Just so hard to earn a foot of cloth and a foot of cloth, standing all day and night, you will meet such shameless people to blackmail you. I still envy you for being unofficial and light, so you ......"

"The grass people still have a situation to tell the emperor." Ruiqian looked at this as an opportunity. Hurry up and kowtow.

"Oh? Let's talk about it. ”

"The grass people have been dealing in cloth on Zhengyang Street for six or seven years. It was the first time that a relative of this squire had directly framed the grass people. The grass people guessed that he might be going for the prince. In addition, in the past few years of operation, the grass people often encounter the exploitation of local ruffians. They were just thugs on the streets, and they came to the shop to ask the grass people for land tax, protection money, and poll tax. The grass people wondered, why didn't anyone care about these people? Didn't the adults of the Five Cities Terracotta Division maintain local order? How can you let the ruffians run rampant? Later, my colleagues told the grass people that the reason why those ruffians dared to be overbearing was because they had the support of the adults of the Soldiers and Horses Division behind them. ”

"It's the other way around, it's the other way around! The world of the Qing Dynasty has become a world of gangsters! ”

The prince hurriedly comforted: "The emperor is angry. This kind of thing has been going on for a long time and involves a wide range of things, and it is not something that can be found out in one fell swoop. You can send an official from the Criminal Department or the Inspector to inquire secretly. If you leak the news without waiting to check it, they will lie dormant and it will be difficult to check it later. ”

"Brother Huang is very right, just do what you say. Shopkeeper Chen, do your family know about your arrest? ”

"Xiaomin's family is in the backyard of Buzhuang, and I already know about it."

"Okay, well, the information you provided is too important, I have to investigate this matter carefully. Go home first, so that no one in your family will be worried. Tie Yan, you should go and send Shopkeeper Chen home. ”

"Huh! Subordinates obeyed. Shopkeeper Chen, please! ”

"Your Majesty, the prince, the grass people are retiring."

"Hurry home, it's a good journey."

Ruiqian kowtowed to the emperor and the prince, respectfully withdrew from the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, and followed Zhao Tieyan out.

The emperor said to the prince: "I am too busy, I wanted you to enter the palace to talk about the foreign land you went to, but I couldn't spare time." I just heard what Guard Tian said about oil, and I was very interested. ”

"Your Majesty, we don't have the equipment to extract oil, and we don't have experts in the industry, so we can only look at the ocean and sigh. The cloth woven by that kind of thing is strong, but some people are not satisfied with it when they wear it, itchy and pimple, and cotton cloth cannot be compared, it is best to make a coat and not touch the skin. It's not the right way, it's a substitute. In fact, the cloth of our Qing Dynasty is the right way. But the cloth brought back by the minister looked very good on the surface, both in color and texture, it was very delicate. This will arouse the covetousness of some people, and many people have a habit of dabbling in novel goods, so some people pay attention to the cloth village of Chen's shopkeeper. Speaking of which, it was the minister's cloth that caused the trouble, and it affected the shopkeeper Chen. ”

"Brother Huang can't say that, you and Shopkeeper Chen are both for our country. This matter is obviously the intervention of the court officials, which means that they have already targeted Young Master Chen. Rest assured, I will settle it for you. In fact, it's not that the cloth is bad, it's too good, they take a fancy to it and want to keep it for themselves. Originally, I wanted the royal brother to quietly start a small business slowly, and it was not obvious, but I really had a heart, I saw the royal brother's business, what is the imperial brother doing now? ”

"Back to the emperor, the minister is now teaching the gardeners in the garden to graft flowers and fruit trees. In addition, the seedlings cultivated in the greenhouse are also being transplanted to the gardens of Nanwai Province one after another. ”

"Who can a conscientious person like the royal brother offend? Come. ”

Another guard beside the emperor came in from outside the door, clasped his fists and said, "The emperor commands." ”

"You go and check in detail, who pulled away Young Master Chen's cloth? After finding out, let him return every inch of it, and then tell the shopkeeper to expand the storefront, and I want him to be the imperial merchant and the imperial merchant who sells cloth to me. ”

"Huh!"

"Your Majesty, the minister just got a little bit of cloth from Young Master Chen's shop, and the cloth made by the girl in our house, like a sachet, a purse, and a small pocket, all of which are gadgets that girls like, and they don't make any mistakes at all."

"yes, what's wrong with these things? Aren't they all used at home? Even the shopkeeper Chen sells your cloth on behalf of you, and he doesn't make any mistakes. Some shops also sell goods from the Western Regions and the West, and there are also goods from Korea and India, so why can't you sell foreign things in the shopkeeper's shop? I must find out what the purpose of the person who pulled Young Master Chen's cloth, and the cloth he took will definitely be returned, otherwise he will not have the head on his neck. How can you say these people are so bold? How dare the Son of Heaven be so lawless at his feet? ”

"As far as the minister knows, some officials not only carry out open fire and steal people's property under false pretenses, but also frame and frame people, and impose a crime on others, and they also instruct local ruffians to swagger and go from shop to store to collect land tax and protection tax. Received the stolen goods and shared them with the officials. Those merchants were extorted every few days. There are a few dozen texts, a few hundred texts, and some have been extorted to ten taels or twenty taels. How much money can you make in a day? It's all gone, and people work hard in vain. ”

"And this kind of thing?"

"A few days ago, Manager Tian saw three ruffians extort money in Young Master Ruiqian's cloth village, and they were taken away by Manager Tian in a way. But I can't hide from the fifteenth year of junior high school, I didn't receive the money this time, and I have to make trouble next time. ”

"It's the other way around! What do those people in the Five Cities Terracotta Division do to eat? ”

"The two soldiers who pulled the cloth from Young Master Ruiqian's shop away are from the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses, and there are people who often enter and leave the city gates who know them. This is what the minister just found. ”

"Ilgen guards! You can do it! Be sure to find those two soldiers, and get Young Master Chen's cloth back first. Then thoroughly investigate the people in the Terracotta Division, who has a relationship with the ruffian? Isn't this a family of officials and bandits? This matter must be seriously investigated! ”

"Brother Huang, you go back to the house first, and I will ask for advice on foreign affairs another day. I will arrange the following things, whoever bullies Young Master Chen again will have him good-looking, and the imperial brother has me as the backstage, don't be afraid of anything. ”

"Thank you for the emperor's compassion, then the minister also retired."

"Okay, brother Huang go back to the house to rest."

Yulong Buzhuang closed the door, and the shopkeeper was arrested. The shopkeepers of the two silk villages opposite are very relieved: these days they see the Jade Dragon Cloth Village rubbing shoulders one after another. I don't know where the shopkeeper Chen got the lasagna cloth from, and what kind of ground silk it is, which attracted a lot of women to squeak and scream. There are also those sachets and purses, which make the boys and girls linger. Okay now, right? Arrested, to the prison of the Criminal Department, but it is enough for him, a scholar, to drink a pot, can he come back with all his subjects, but he is pitiful, leaving orphans and widows with old mothers, how can he live.

It only took three or four days to find out that a group of low-level officials of the Terracotta Division took advantage of their power to collude with some ruffians in the city, and let those ruffians come forward to collect the so-called land tax, protection money, or something, and then sit on the ground and share the spoils. This kind of income is much higher than that of his errand. If no one dares to interfere with the sweetness, they will be even more unscrupulous, collect from door to door, and set up a name. There are also those who really can't continue to operate, and they close their doors.

Ruiqian's house is in a mess! Where have you encountered and how can you withstand such a sudden disaster in the small world where Ruiqian's mother lives? She is such a son, covered and protected, and finally grew up, and was suddenly arrested by the Criminal Department, who doesn't plan for the worst? Kong fainted again and again. The old family member Chen Wang also cried to death. Ruiqian's daughter-in-law Ming Luan is a very virtuous woman, and she is also heartbroken, but her mother-in-law is in pain, and if she falls again, there will be only a few children left. Mingluan couldn't be busy, so he woke up this and that dizzy, and began to cry when he woke up.

"Hey, brother, brother? Look at it, isn't that the shopkeeper Chen? It's back! The eyes of the two chatting and chatting bosses of the silk village fell in the distance, Chen Ruiqian was being helped down from a carriage by a man wearing the costume of a large internal guard, the two of them politely clasped their fists and saluted, and then the guard took the car back.

The sun shone on Chen Ruiqian, Chen Ruiqian looked calm, and walked home steadily. There is neither shame nor arrogance, and it is the same as on weekdays, as if it were a walk, and it is leisurely to come over. The boss of the silk village hurriedly stepped forward and hugged his fists to salute: "Ouch Chen shopkeeper, you are a lucky star." Congratulations! ”

"Thank you, thank you, thank you for your concern."

"You, are you alright?"

"It's okay, a little misunderstanding. The two of you chatted slowly, and went home to take a look. ”