The next day, Jarry set off.

He did not go back to Suzhou directly, but sent Wang San back and asked Jia Yun to escort Daiyu to Jinling.

Leaving Zhang Hua in Jinling to continue to investigate the affairs of the old mansion, he himself took Lin Zhixiao and Hu Xingshan to Tongling.

Their target this time was Jia Fang and Jia You's copper mine in Tongling.

The reason why I brought Hu Xingshan here is because Hu Xingshan is a native of Wangjiang County.

Hu Xingshan will come forward and make an appointment with Jia Ao.

Jia Ao is the uncle of the Jia brothers in Jiajiaying, and he arrived at the old house of the Jia family in Jinling four years ago. Later, Jia Fang and Jia You went to Tongling to open a copper mine, so they asked Jia Ao to go to the copper mine and became a small steward.

Jia Rui's purpose is to get the secret of Jia Ao's copper mine from Jia Ao's mouth.

Because he and Lin Zhixiao both have northern accents, in order to avoid startling the snake, Hu Xingshan came forward and asked Jia Ao out.

Of course, Hu Xingshan didn't know Jia Rui's true purpose, Jia Rui only said that he knew about the Jia family's business. He couldn't tell the complicated relationship between the two mansions in the capital and the old mansion, and he didn't ask too much, so he readily agreed to Jia Rui.

Tongling is located in the upper reaches of Jinling, and has been mining and smelting copper since the Spring and Autumn Period, and is the most famous and important copper producing area.

Copper is an important industrial raw material, daily utensils, weapons, etc. are used in copper, copper is also an indispensable raw material for minting coins.

Due to the limited production volume, it is very tight and expensive.

Going upstream, it took two days to get to Tongling and live in the Yunlai Inn.

There are few horses in the south, and the next morning, the three of them hired a few donkeys, the former Jinjiling.

The copper mine of the Jia family is in the area of Jinjiling.

Ox carts carrying ore can be seen from time to time along the way, and a few smelting workshops can occasionally be seen on the roadside.

When Hu Xingshan used to do business with his family, he had been to Tongling and had some understanding of the situation here.

According to him, these mines and smelting workshops are all privately set up black mines and black factories.

I inquired along the way, and it was almost noon, and I arrived at Jinjiling.

This is a ravine, and the copper mine is in the ravine.

There were a few people who looked like people in the ditch and stopped Jia Rui and a few people.

"Stop, don't go in casually."

Jia Rui and Lin Zhixiao stopped, and Hu Xingshan stepped forward.

"Brothers, I'm here to find someone."

"Looking for someone? Who to look for? ”

"Jia Ao of the Jia family in Jinling is in charge of the mine inside."

"Looking for Jia Ao? Who are you? ”

"I am from Wangjiang County, and my surname is Hu and Hu Xingshan. Jia Ao's hometown is from Jia's camp where we are, our two families are neighbors, and there is something going on in his hometown, so I happened to be here to do some business, so he asked me to give him a message. ”

"Who are those two?"

"My shopkeeper and bookkeeper."

"Oh, you are not allowed to go in casually, you said you are a stranger, how can you be allowed to enter? Even if there is something really going on, it's not easy to ....... ”

"Brothers, I came all the way here, and my neighbors asked me to do something, but if I can't even send a message, how can I go back and explain? With a little heart, take it to buy wine and drink. ”

Hu Xingshan grabbed the copper coin from his coat and stuffed it into his sleeve.

"Oh, it's not easy to see you come all the way. But it's true that outsiders are not allowed to enter here. Come on, I'll go in and find him for you. Wait here, stay away, and don't let the shopkeeper see it. ”

"You two take care of it, I'll be back in a moment. Stand away. ”

Seeing Jia Rui and the others exit a stone's throw away, the guy went in.

"Master Rui, Master Hu, this road is just a mine, so guarded. It's weird. ”

Lin Zhixiao also saw that the hall of fame was coming.

"You don't know anything about that. The mines here are all black mines. It is necessary to guard against both the people outside and the people inside, so it is natural to guard them strictly. ”

"Master Hu, I don't understand what you're saying, who are the people outside guarding against? Is it to guard against the government? With such a big business, would the government not know about it? ”

"It depends on where the government is. The local government naturally knew about it, and not only did they know that there were often their shares in the mine. ”

"What you have to guard against is the government above, the Chaoli Metropolitan Procuratorate, the eunuchs in the palace, and the Jinyi Army. It's always to guard against the people sent by the emperor. ”

"Why guard against the people up there?"

"I'm afraid that the people above will come to collect taxes."

"Don't they pay taxes locally?"

"This is a black mine, so naturally you don't have to pay taxes."

To put it bluntly, the magistrate deliberately connived at the black mine and even partnered with unscrupulous businessmen to open the black mine.

The mine owners, the magistrates, and their spokesmen in the court, the ministers of the Xilin faction, colluded with the upper and lower levels to form interest groups to oppose the legalization of the mines.

Because it was legal, the tax money paid was taken by the imperial court, and they could not get it.

As for guarding against the people inside, it is because all mines are places where people gather.

Dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people gather together, and it is easy to make trouble, and once they make trouble, it is a great force.

Therefore, it is necessary to strictly guard against the reconnaissance and infiltration of outsiders, and also to prevent people inside from escaping and making trouble.

Half an hour later, the man came out with a man.

Hu Xingshan greeted him, talked to the man for a while, and brought him over.

"Qianhu, this person is Jia Ao."

The thousand households that Hu Xingshan mentioned are Jia Rui, and Jia Rui asked him to say so.

Until now, Hu Xingshan didn't understand why Jia Rui asked him to say that.

Jia Rui raised his hands behind his back, straightened his back, and coughed lightly.

"You're Jia Ao?"

"The contemptible person is Jia Ao, I don't know what advice the Lord of Qianhu has?"

"I don't want to tell you anything, just to save your life."

"Save my life? I don't know ...... Senhe-sama. ”

"You don't have to know too much, to tell you the truth, we are from the Rongguo Mansion in the capital. Jia Fang and Jia You swallowed the money of Rongguo Mansion and Ning Guofu. This time I'm here to investigate the matter. Are you literate? ”

"I know some of the words."

"Lin Zhixiao, show him the irrelevant evidence."

What's Critical? What doesn't matter?

There is nothing else, just the ones that Zhang Hua and I collected, can they all be regarded as evidence?

Lin Zhixiao took out those things and looked at Jia Rui, Jia Rui nodded, and Lin Zhixiao handed them to Jia Ao.

"It's just something that doesn't matter, and as for the things that matter, I won't show you that. Knowing too much is not a good thing for you. ”

Lin Zhixiao has also experienced wind and rain, and by the way, he fooled Jia Ao.

Although Jia Ao didn't understand what was going on, he heard that it was someone from Rongguo Mansion, and Jia Fang made trouble again, so he didn't dare to slack off, so he watched it.

This is really just an analysis, but not conclusive evidence.

But where does Jia Ao understand this, see the things listed above, the one on the left and the one on the right, all about money.

He had heard of the embezzlement of money from the two mansions in Jinling before, and he had already preconceived about it, and he had hinted in his heart, and when he saw such detailed information this time, he panicked. In addition, the weather was also hot, and I was in a hurry just now, and I was sweating on my head.