There are still all kinds of things ahead, the change of troops outside the Cypriot side, the rebellion in the south, and the sugar and thick ...... in the west Naturally, there are all kinds of major matters in the court discussions, and small matters are generally handled by the cabinet itself.

Wei Qiao listened carefully, discerning and analyzing, and never participated.

In the court, those who spoke in advance were often the elders, now the six books, then the squires and the like, and finally the elders made a statement, and the emperor made a decision.

Zhou Yanzhao's voice is full of confidence, every sentence is calm, majestic, and the power of the emperor cultivated in the past 20 years, almost no one in the court can face it head-on.

Big and small things, you argue with me, and in the blink of an eye, an hour and a half passed, although there were occasional quarrels, but they were also stable, and most things were resolved smoothly.

"Your Majesty, the ministers have their own music." After the end of the national event, Yuan Zhe, the waiter of the Criminal Department, stood up with an excerpt in his hand.

Emperor Wenzheng, who had been expressionless and unhurried, had a bright light in his eyes, and as always, he cherished words like gold, and said, "Say." ”

After the waiter took the fold, Yuan Zhe bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the Criminal Department has recently received a report that many shops in Jinling have evaded taxes. ”

Niu Yilang and Wei Qiao glanced at each other and nodded secretly. -- That's foreshadowing.

And the others who are not stupid have also come back to their senses, and their eyes have looked at Wei Qiao as if they were nothing.

Although Wei Qiao's identity is special, Wang Yuanhui can sink into the sand, why can't Wei Qiao?

However, now that both sides have not shown defeat, these people will naturally not express their positions at will.

Zhou Yanzhao sat up slightly and looked at Yuan Zhedao, "What are the merchants?" ”

Yuan Zhe's expression was solemn, and he said, "Headed by the Jinling Wei family, followed by the Chu family, there are also many merchants such as the Yun family, the Liu family, and the Ye family, involving more than 200,000 silver taels. ”

Interested people will understand that these merchants are all involved in the Wei family, and the naked ones are going to the Wei family and Wei Qiao.

Two hundred thousand?

"Two hundred thousand, these businessmen are too bold......"

"Yes, 200,000, I don't know how many people can be saved in the northwest......"

"I heard that there is still a military salary owed in the south, and this 200,000 is a lot of money......

Everyone in the hall looked at each other again and again, and there was a lot of discussion.

Now that the state affairs are difficult, money is used everywhere, and the treasury is almost depleted, the 200,000 taels of silver naturally appear to be extremely conspicuous in the eyes of everyone, even dazzling.

"The minister also has a play." Suddenly, Jiang Ci, who was standing on the edge of Wei Qiao, stepped out.

Niu Yilang frowned slightly and then let go, but the coldness in his eyes was still captured by Wei Qiao.

Zhou Yanzhao glanced at him, "Said." ”

"Yes," Jiang Ci bowed and said: "Recently, the business community in Jinling has been quite unstable, both the price of cloth and the price of grain have risen, and according to the minister's investigation, the struggle between the Wei family and the Chu family in Jinling is fierce, and the two families have almost coerced most of the shops in Jinling, and even now the scope of the struggle has gone beyond Jinling and has spread to Suzhou. ”

Carding is a vague word, which means that the organization can flexibly use various means.

"Oh?" Zhou Yanzhao turned his gaze to Liu Zhengxu and said, "Jinling Mansion, what Jiang Aiqing said is true?" ”

Liu Zhengxu stood up with a solemn expression, bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, the matter is basically true, but it is still under control, Jinling Mansion can handle this matter alone, and the emperor does not need to worry." ”

Liu Zhengxu's words somewhat expressed dissatisfaction with Jiang Ci.

And Cui Chen also signaled to Jiang Ci's eyes - at this time, it is only for Wei Qiao, and no one else can be involved.

After all, who can stand here, who does not have a few relatives and friends, offending one is equivalent to offending a group. Now at the critical juncture of dealing with Weiqiao, it is okay not to find allies, but you must not pull the enemy again.

Jiang Ci's expression was a little ugly, but he still suppressed his anger and didn't speak again, but he was secretly annoyed in his heart, this was originally explained by Cui Chen himself in advance, but now he lost face for nothing!

Zhou Yanzhao nodded, glanced at Jiang Ci and turned to Yuan Zhe, and said, "Well, is there any evidence for Yuan Aiqing's words?" ”

Yuan Zhe said in a deep voice: "Yes." ”

The Wei family was in turmoil before, and tax evasion became a trend at this time, and it was normal for the Wei family to evade taxes, and now they have annexed the Chen family, and the number of leaks has naturally swelled innumerable.

Wei Qiao looked at Yuan Zhe, and a strange smile flashed in his eyes.

Niu Yilang also knew that there was a lot of greasy in this, but this remoteness couldn't be explained, so he couldn't help but look at Wei Qiao with a slight expression.

But Wei Qiao always had a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, calm, or even indifferent. The others were instructed by Wei Qiao, and they did not intervene at this time, and the lobby was quiet for a while.

Zhou Yanzhao's expression showed a look of intimidation and indifference, and he looked at Wei Qiao and said, "Wei Aiqing, you are from the Wei family, but what do you need to explain to me?" ”

Wei Qiao stood up, bowed down and hugged his fists and said: "Your Majesty, the minister said before that the minister has never participated in the Wei family's business, so he doesn't know whether the Wei family has evaded taxes. If the Criminal Department has evidence, it may as well cooperate with Jinling Mansion to directly inspect it, and the minister has nothing to say. ”

Everyone was stunned, Wei Qiao really said the word 'not involved'. But everyone still had a lot of doubts in their hearts, almost everyone in the Wei family evaded taxes and evaded taxes in the court could be sure, why was Wei Qiao not afraid that the criminal department would really come hard? Could it be that he still dares to pretend to be noble here at this time?

"Your Majesty, the minister asks the emperor to order the raid of the Wei family to warn the merchants of tax evasion in the world." Yuan Zhe raised his head, clenched his fists and said in a deep voice.

He is also smart, if all the listed tax evasion merchants are really raided together, it will be a big mess in the world. can only come one by one, and the Wei family is obviously the first one!

Zhou Yanzhao nodded and said, "Since this is the case, then the Criminal Department will be ...... with Jinling Mansion."

"Your Majesty, slow down." Before Zhou Yanzhao finished speaking, Wei Qiao suddenly interrupted loudly.

Zhou Yanzhao turned his eyes to Wei Qiao and said with a light smile: "Wei Aiqing has something to say?" ”

And the others also turned their eyes to him, with different eyes.

Yan Yi sneered: Hmph, I really can't help it.

Cui Chen is calm and unfathomable.

Chang Zhi's expression was indifferent, and his face was solemn.

And Ye Kang and the others looked curious, they all knew that these were just appetizers and had nothing to do with the overall situation, and the real feast was still to come, but they still wanted to see how this appetizer Wei Qiao would eat?

As for the others, they also have different expressions. Or scrutiny, or sympathy, or smile, or indifference, or nervousness, or mockery.

Wei Qiao clenched his fists and bowed, and said: "Yes, back to the emperor, although the minister has never been involved in the Wei family's business, the minister also knows that the Wei family has connections with many imperial businessmen. Liwangfu, Zheng family, Li family, Fang family and so on. The minister was worried that the criminal department and the Jinling government would be resisted in the process of investigating and prosecuting tax evasion by merchants in Jinling, so he suggested that at least the old cabinet should be taken the lead, otherwise the case would inevitably be closed, and the merchants who evaded taxes would go unpunished, damaging the face of the court and the majesty of the emperor! ”

As soon as Wei Qiao's voice fell, everyone's faces changed in horror.

Yuan Zhe's body trembled, his face stiffened, the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching, he seemed to cry and laugh, and his whole face was more ugly than crying.

Princess Li has a close relationship with the queen, and Fu Li has to call her aunt when she sees her. King Li died early, and the royal family remembered that it was not easy for Princess Li to not only turn a blind eye to the business of King Li's mansion, but also take care of him everywhere.

The Zheng family, Queen Zheng Tong is from the Zheng family, and now the head of the Zheng family is the queen's nephew!

The Li family, the current head of the Li family is the elder brother of Li Yuanfang Li Gelao, Li Yuanfang is now ranked third in the cabinet and is an indispensable right-hand man of the emperor.

The Fang family, the current head of the Fang family is the uncle of Fang Cang, the secretary of the ministry, and Fang Cang is Fu Li's protégé, otherwise it would not be his turn to sit in the prominent position of the secretary of the ministry.

These four, any of them are not something that the Criminal Department and Jinling Mansion can deal with, even if it is the elder of the pavilion, even if it is Fu Li, it is extremely tricky to deal with.

As soon as Wei Qiao's voice fell, there was silence in the court, and even the Wenzheng Emperor Zhou Yanzhao above was a little speechless, not knowing how to express his position.

Niu Yilang had a strange smile on his face, and couldn't help twitching the corners of his mouth, looking at Yuan Zhe, and couldn't help but feel a burst of sympathy in his heart.

Ye Kang's eyes when he looked at Yuan Zhe were also full of pity, it was not good to offend anyone, so he went to provoke Wei Qiao. This time Yuan Zhe was unlucky, even if Wei Qiao let him go this time, the four families mentioned by the Wei family just now would not easily spare him.

No one in the court made a sound for a long time, and everyone's eyes looked at Yuan Zhe, who looked like a mournful woman, and it was time for him to speak.

Yuan Zhe's legs trembled, the corners of his mouth trembled, and his face was full of bitterness.

He has been mixed in Dali Temple for many years, and he doesn't know what these four families represent. His career begins today -- it's over.

In the silence of everyone, Tang Yan in the front row suddenly stood up, clasped his fists and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the old minister believes that the matter of tax evasion by merchants is widely implicated, and it is better for the cabinet to come up with a statement first, and then discuss it." ”

Zhou Yanzhao nodded indifferently and said, "What Tang Ge Old Cheng Mouguo said is very true, and this matter will be discussed later." ”

"The minister has his own music." Maybe it is because he understands the reason that he is chasing after victory, no, it is a reason to exhaust himself after one blow, as soon as Zhou Yanzhao's voice fell, Cui Chen stood up.

Zhou Yanzhao looked at Cui Chen, and said lightly with a look that had remained unchanged for twenty years: "Say." ”

Cui Chen took the fold and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, the minister received a report that some merchants were smuggling some materials forbidden by the imperial court to be smuggled to the north. ”

Zhou Yanzhao's face immediately turned cold, and he raised his hand to the waiter with an expressionless face, and the waiter immediately went down and picked up Cui Chen's fold.

The emperor opened it and glanced at it, then slowly raised his head and looked at Wei Qiao.

(To be continued)