Sure enough, something happened to the Xu Ji Strange Stone Pavilion, and the strange stone pavilion was full of people watching the excitement, and people were talking about it, especially the vendors in the strange stone lane, the strange stone pavilion was sealed, some people were happy, and some people were worried.

I saw more than a dozen county officials carrying out a large box full of stones, and affixing seals, and several large Taihu stones were also carried onto the boat.

"Uncle Li, what's going on?" Fan Ning saw the peddler Li Amao, so he walked up to him and asked with a smile.

Li Amao grinned and said: "I heard that it seems to be tax evasion, but it was actually the shopkeeper Li Quan who exposed it, it's really interesting!" ”

Fan Ning suddenly understood that it must be Li Quan who was the scapegoat, and hated the ruthlessness of the Xu family, so he exposed the tax evasion of the strange stone shop.

"Uncle Li, how does this kind of shop generally evade taxes?"

Another old man who set up a stall next to him said with a smile: "Little officials don't understand, we sit in a stall, sit for a day, and share the tax for 30 yuan, selling more and selling less are so much, we can't steal taxes if we want to."

And the shops are different, they sell stones, the commercial tax is three percent of the selling price, every month the tax office will come to collect taxes, the key depends on how much you sell the price, a stone, the expensive ten dollars, the cheap one or two dollars, the water in this is great. ”

Li Amao pursed his lips, "Talking so much nonsense, isn't it just that when you file taxes, the price is reported low!" Many transactions are not even booked. ”

Fanning's heart is like a mirror, where is it as simple as only reporting two pieces of money for ten yuan, it is a collection price to declare taxes at market price! This tax is ruthless.

At this time, Fan Ning saw the figure of Lu Yougen, the head of the store, and he walked into the store quickly.

Lu Yougen was directing the officials to carry several large Taihu stones in the shop, and Fan Ning saw at a glance the stones of the town hall that Zhou Liang had told him.

This is a piece of cyan Taihu Lake stone as high as one zhang, the body is extremely delicate and transparent, and the style is graceful.

The whole stone is covered with large and small holes, and the stone is slender, much like a coral, and it is extremely well developed.

It's called blue coral.

The first time Fanning saw this piece of green coral, he felt a sense of beauty and beauty.

The Strange Stone Pavilion certified it as a fine Taihu stone, but both Fanning and Zhou Liang agreed that it should belong to the category of the best.

The stone of the town hall is the title given to it by Zhou scale, and the strange stone hall does not recognize, Li Quan identifies a two-foot-long, nine-story pagoda of Taihu Lake stone as the treasure of the town hall.

At this time, this nine-story pagoda stone was lying in Lu Yougen's arms, placed in a long wooden box.

This is a difference in cognitive level, low-level stone appreciators pay too much attention to the stone shape, but do not understand the stone soul very well.

The shopkeeper Li Quan is like this, although he has been in the industry for 20 years, but the level of stone identification is still relatively low, and he lacks literary accumulation, otherwise he would not have missed the Xishan Travel Stone.

He paid too much attention to the shape of the stone, and regarded the nine-story pagoda stone as a treasure, but he could not understand the unique beauty of the blue coral.

However, according to the rules of the Strange Stone Pavilion, the large Taihu Lake stones must be identified by the proprietor Xu Chong.

The green coral has just been purchased, and it has not yet completed this process, so it will not be sold for the time being, and Zhou Liang is also waiting for the opportunity to buy it.

"Be careful when you carry these rocks out, don't break them."

Lu Yougen turned around and saw Fan Ning, and hurriedly stepped forward and said with a smile: "When did the little official come back?" ”

"I came back last night, how is it, did that Zhou Damao catch it?"

Lu Yougen shook his head, "Now that things are getting bigger, it is estimated that he will not dare to go home easily, and if he wants to catch him, I think it is a little difficult!" ”

"Then my case is closed?" Fanning was a little dissatisfied.

Lu Yougen looked at no one on the left and right, and whispered to Fan Ning: "Don't be too embarrassed about the county monarch in this case, there is news above that he was recommended as the Jiangning County Commander, and the court is passing the trial."

At this juncture, he didn't dare to have an incident, and he asked his brother not to mention the matter of that piece of jade. ”

The county order of Wu County is from the eighth grade, and the order of Jiangning County is the seventh grade, which is even promoted to three levels, no wonder Li Yun is so careful, and he does not dare to ask for his own Xishan Travel Stone.

"Is this the meaning of the head of the capital, or the meaning of the county king?" Fanning asked tentatively again.

"Of course it's the meaning of the county king!"

Fanning carefully looked at the Taihu Lake Stone around him again, with a hint in his eyes.

He smiled and said to Lu Yougen: "Where do I dare to embarrass the county monarch, that piece of jade really can't be recovered, and I can only admit it, but my losses should always be compensated!" ”

Lu Yougen suddenly understood, he laughed, "Don't worry, the county monarch will compensate you, go back and tell me which piece you like." ”

Fan Ning was overjoyed in his heart, he quickly glanced at the green coral, and hurriedly clenched his fists: "Then let Lu Dutou bother!" ”

Speaking of this, Fan Ning asked curiously: "The Xu family is also an official eunuch family, so if your county monarch raids his shop, you are not afraid of the Xu family's revenge?" ”

Lu Yougen snorted coldly, "Xu Chong's grandson instructed his subordinates to steal, and the shop he opened was a huge tax evasion, if the news reached the capital, Xu Chong's son would still be able to keep his official position?" The grandson still wants to participate in the imperial examination?

Now that the Xu family is too late to ask the county king, where can they dare to retaliate? ”

"Have you ever communicated with the Xu family?" Fanning asked again.

"There should be! I heard that the county gentleman said that Xu Daru was going to Xuanzhou to serve as the state school teacher, and he didn't plan to ask for this store. ”

Lu Yougen said in a low voice: "The key is that Li Quan handed over an account, which recorded every transaction in the Strange Stone Pavilion in the past fifteen years, and calculated that the Xu family had evaded taxes of at least nearly 10,000 taels of silver. ”

Fan Ning nodded, it should be Li Yun and Xu Chong who reached some kind of deal, Li Yun will not pursue tax evasion, and then send these Taihu stones to the capital, it is estimated that Li Yun's ascension will be ironclad.

If the Xu family doesn't want this store, is this their chance?

Fan Ning's heart was pounding, he needed to plan this matter well.

The tolerances carried all the Taihu stones onto the boat, and pasted the gate with seals, and the tolerances got on the boat and left.

The vendors in Qishi Lane refused to disperse, and still gathered around to discuss, and the closure of the Qishi Pavilion will undoubtedly stir up the flower and stone market in Mudu Town.

．．．．．．．

Early the next morning, Fanning changed into a new tuft of green satin robe, which he made for the New Year, but he did not wear it during the New Year, and did not change until today.

Today is Zhu Yuanfu's 60th birthday, and Fan Ning received an invitation the day before yesterday to go to Zhu's mansion to pay respects.

"My son really has a face! The Zhu family in the entire Mudu Town only sent out ten invitations, and there was actually one of you. ”

Zhang Sanniang was combing her son's hair while chattering.

"Yesterday, the lady of the Gu family next door showed off to me, saying that her uncle received an invitation from the Zhu Mansion, and I will show her your invitation, guess what, she was stunned at the time, hum! It's good that I don't show off to her, and she even shows off to me. ”

"Mother, I am a classmate with Zhu Daguan's granddaughter, and I take good care of her, isn't it normal for him to invite me to the birthday ceremony?"

"Fart!"

Zhang Sanniang knocked heavily on his head, "Are you a fool when your mother is a fool?" If you weren't the first county sergeant, he would have given you an invitation? ”

Fanning suddenly realized that if he didn't want to be hit again, the best thing to do was to shut up.

．．．．．．．．．

According to the customs of Wu County, birthday celebrations are the same as drinking wedding wine, and they generally take a few days.

In front of the gate of Zhu's mansion, hundreds of guests have arrived in Zhu's mansion one after another, the wide open space is full of horse-drawn carriages, and there are hundreds of gorgeous boats parked on the special dock of Zhu's mansion.

The Zhu Mansion sent out a total of 300 invitations, and the guests came from all over the world, and even many people came to the capital, of course, the guests were mainly in the Jiangnan area.

Those who come to worship their lives are either rich or expensive, and they have become an extremely dazzling scenery in Mudu Town, which has caused a sensation in the entire Pingjiang Mansion.

For this purpose, Pingjiang Prefecture also specially sent hundreds of township soldiers to the town to maintain order, and the three days of the birthday brought a little inconvenience to the lives of the townspeople.

There are also people in Mudu Town who have received invitations, mainly neighbors and friends who usually get along well with the Zhu family.

In the morning, Fanning came alone to the gate of Zhu's mansion, holding a gold-painted vermilion lacquered wooden box in his arms.

In the wooden box is a bottle of wine that he distilled and purified, about forty degrees, which can be regarded as the crown of liquor in the world, this is his birthday gift to Zhu Yuanfu.

Behind him was a porter, carrying Fanning's three Taihu stones.

There were still more than twenty steps away from the gate of the Zhu Mansion, and a housekeeper who had been paying attention to Fan Ning for a long time greeted him.

It's no wonder that a teenager with a porter doesn't look like a guest who comes to pay homage to his birthday.

"Little official, please stay!"

The butler was very polite, and stepped forward to bow his hand to Fanning, "May I ask where is the family of the little official?" ”

He thought Fanning had come with his parents.

Fan Ning handed him the invitation, and the housekeeper was immediately in awe, "It turned out to be a small official Fan, it's rude, please come with me." ”

The housekeeper gave the porter more than ten cents, and then changed to a housekeeper to pick stones for Fanning.

As soon as he reached the gate, he saw Juppi running out of the mansion, followed by her guard, Jian Meizi.

Today, Juppé changed into women's clothes, wearing a crimson short, narrow-sleeved undergarment, sewn with fine Suzhou satin, printed with a cloud pattern, embroidered with gold thread on the cuffs and placket, a wide pale yellow gold-rimmed skirt underneath, and a pair of green embroidered shoes on her feet.

From a distance, her dress is extraordinarily colorful and eye-catching, and her face is specially painted with eyebrows, which makes her pretty face crystal like snow, and her facial features are delicate and lovely, like a little fairy in a flower.

She was in a good mood, and when she saw Fanning, her pretty face smiled, but her tone was still complaining.

"Dumb, why are you here!"

Fanning scratched his head and smiled, "It's still early!" ”

"But I'm in a hurry!"

Zhu Pei glanced at the three Taihu Lake stones, and she immediately smiled, "Great, you really brought the stones." ”

"Of course, I'm a trustworthy person, there are three Taihu Lake stones here, you can pick one yourself."

Fanning pretended to be generous, he was betting that Zhu Pei had not seen the map of the Xishan trip.

"Really?"

Juppey smiled slyly, "Don't regret it!" ”

Fan Ning suddenly realized that something was wrong, and he copied the Xishan Travel Stone in his hand, "This one doesn't count, you can choose one of the other two." ”

Zhu Pei pouted, "You really have no sincerity, people will cheat your old bottom casually, no!" I want that piece in your hand. ”

Fanning realized that she had been fooled, this stinky girl was too shrewd.

He laughed dryly, "This Taihu stone is just a general product, and the other two are high-grade and high-quality." ”

"Nonsense! If it's just a general product, the shopkeeper of the strange stone shop will send a thief to steal it? ”

Fanning was stunned, "You know too?" ”

"I just found out yesterday, you're pretty good! I actually ran to find the county magistrate alone, and my grandfather praised you to the sky. ”

Fan Ning thought about it, and then handed her the Taihu Stone in his hand, "Okay! This piece is for you. ”

Juppe looked at him for a moment, "Are you sincere to me?" ”

Fan Ning nodded, "My third uncle is doing well now, thanks to your help, this stone is called Xishan Xinglu Stone, which can be regarded as the best Taihu Lake Stone, and its taste is higher than that columnar Thousand Cave Stone." ”

Zhu Pei was a little moved in her heart, she smiled, "I'm actually teasing you, I'll choose one of the other two!" ”