The steward hurriedly replied: "Of course there is, this should be the filial piety of the Mi Ji shop to Ah Lang, and I will accept it every time and place it in the back kitchen warehouse." ”

"How much does he give us each year?"

The steward was very curious why Ah Lang suddenly asked about the question that this person was concerned about, so he had to answer truthfully: "Qi Ah Lang, they pay one stone of filial piety every year. ”

"Only one stone?" Yang Guozhong frowned and pondered, the current market price of pepper is 600 guan a bucket, and one stone is only 6,000 guan, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the profit estimated by Gao Shang to be millions a year.

According to the noble statement, this Michagan is a businessman raised by Li Siye in Chang'an. This matter is very likely, because it was Li Siye who introduced him to this businessman in the first place, and also gave him a large amount of pepper money and grain. In the past three or two years, Li Siye has spent money extremely generously in Chang'an, whether it is bribing officials or presenting a thousand gifts to the emperor.

As the envoy of the three towns in the west of the Anxi Tinghe River, he happened to control the trade routes to the Western Regions, so he naturally had a way to control the transportation route of pepper, and it was not a problem to support a sitting merchant. But he made so much money with this, but he only gave himself a share of pepper, which is too picky!

Yang Guozhong would never have thought that the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce was not in control of such a businessman, they relied on the relay to transport more than 700 stones of pepper every year, after the large-scale expansion of the post road this year, the transportation volume has exceeded 1,000 stones, and the middlemen have spread all over Hexi, Guanzhong, Shuzhong, Luoyang and other places.

His heart is still a little entangled, although he is very dissatisfied with the matter of concurrently serving as the envoy of the Three Towns Festival, but Li Siye has not openly contradicted himself, and he has made outstanding achievements, and has been very favored by the emperor recently, and there are many henchmen in the court. And every year he has to send people to give him a lot of gifts, so it is really impossible to wipe his face when he is checked.

But if you don't check, it's really shabby to watch him accumulate a lot of money every year, and he can only eat the ones that leak out of his teeth. Whether it is public or private, such indifference is really not the prime minister's doing. Moreover, he Li Siye is the envoy of the Three Towns Festival, which is really unfavorable to his control of the Northwest Domain, if it can be found out that he used the profits of the Domain Town to collect wealth and compete with the people for profit to repay the saint, the saint will definitely be displeased, and order to take off one of his titles of the Three Towns, and after his power is weakened, he will presumably be much more deferential to himself.

But it is better to send two people to investigate in the name of the imperial court on the surface, not to make false accusations or exaggerates, and to make him upright, so that he has nothing to say.

It's just that how to determine the candidates for these two people requires one to be upright, and one needs to be good at adapting to complement each other.

He immediately instructed the steward: "You immediately go and call Dou Hua, a member of the Zhongshu House, to the house, and say that I have important matters to inquire about." ”

"Well, I'll go now."

Half an hour later, Dou Hua stepped on the wooden staircase and came to the corridor, bowed down to Yang Guozhong through the partition and said, "Yang Xiang, when do you call me?" ”

Yang Guozhong beckoned to him: "Come to Dou Hua, sit down and say." ”

"The prime minister wants to order someone to investigate a big case of controlling trade routes, wantonly accumulating wealth, and competing with the people for profit, but the person involved is in a high position and holds military power, so he needs a loyal and fearless person who knows how to observe words and feelings, and knows how to advance and retreat. Do you have such people around you who can recommend one or two for me? ”

Dou Hua raised his head and thought carefully, and then said to Yang Guozhong: "Since it is an investigation, it should be found from Dali Temple and the Criminal Department, I know two friends, one of whom is Si Zhi Yuanzai of Dali Temple, who is the most exquisite and good at flattery. The other person is named Xiao Hua, the eldest son of the late Prime Minister Xiao Song, and the current Lang Zhong of the Criminal Department, who acts above board, but he is unwilling to attach himself to Yang Xiangyou, I am afraid it will be difficult to call. ”

Yang Guozhong suddenly let out a treacherous laugh, clasped his palms with both hands and said: "It's okay, Wei Jiansu has just been recommended by me as the secretary of the Criminal Department and Pingzhangshi, so I summoned the two of them to openly investigate the case in the name of Wei Jiansu. ”

Dou Hua got Yang Guozhong's order, and turned around to leave, but was suddenly stopped by Yang Guozhong: "Wait a minute." ”

He turned around again, bowed down and asked, "What other instructions does Yang Xiang have?" ”

"Tell Wei Jiansu, don't let others know that it's my intention to investigate this case."

"Whoa."

Dou Hua stepped out of the door and sighed quietly alone, hearing Yang Guozhong's attitude and words just now, he knew that it was impossible to investigate this case. Although he didn't name him just now, as soon as he mentioned that he controlled the trade routes and was in a high position, he knew that the person he wanted to investigate might be Li Siye, the envoy of the three towns of Longyou.

Isn't that embarrassing? Even you, Yang Guozhong, know that you are hiding behind the scenes, but you want others to offend a feudal official of the three towns of Jiedu, who can persevere, is not afraid of offending the strongman and cutting off his head?

The person who receives this case is 100 percent splinted.

……

Wei Jiansu sat in the political hall of Zhongshu Province in the imperial city, and put a stack of notes sent by local officials in his hand, he opened it and looked at it, and it was full of unnutritious songs and praises. How could the music with real content be put here, it had already been sent to Yang Guozhong's house in Kaihuafang by the people of Zhongshushe.

The fine tradition of Zhongshu Ling working in his own mansion began with Li Linfu, when Chen Xilie, a servant of the door, sat in the political Tang Hall and was deserted and undisturbed, but the right minister's mansion was full of traffic. Now Yang Guozhong has also learned this traditional art, and Wei Jiansu has been completely hollowed out.

He simply leaned on the Hu bed and closed his eyes to recuperate, and Dou Hua, a scholar from the middle school, crossed the threshold and entered the hall, bowed down and saluted him: "See Zuo Xiang." ”

Wei Jiansu said with a little self-deprecation: "Dou Sheren, you are not waiting in Yang Xiang's mansion, how can you come to this political hall?" “

Dou Hua stepped forward and whispered in his ear for a while, Wei Jiansu's expression gradually became solemn, and he suddenly raised his hand and slapped it on the desk: "It's too much, this is obviously a hot potato!" Yang Guozhong, his power is monstrous, and he is still squatting behind the scenes, don't you know that not seeking government in his position is negligence? ”

Dou Sheren said with a smile: "Why should Zuo Xiang be angry, Yang Xiang is the kind of person who is afraid of the heavy, you just take the lead and command, and when the time comes, he will stand up and uphold justice." ”

Wei Jiansu sighed helplessly: "Since this is the case, it is up to you to invite the two of you to the political hall, and I will teach you face-to-face." ”

"Whoa." Dou Hua crossed his hands and turned to leave.

After waiting for nearly an hour, Yuan Zai and Xiao Hua walked into the side hall of the political affairs hall respectively. The two were stunned for a moment when they met, Yuan Zai took the initiative to smile, and Xiao Hua also returned the salute, but his expression was much colder.

The two are mixed in the officialdom together, although they know each other, they don't know each other very well, and because they don't belong to the same circle. Xiao Hua has always been straightforward, and he has never looked down on those who have achieved utilitarian benefits, and he was born in the famous Lanling Xiao family, and his father was the prime minister. Yuan Zai is just Wang Zhonghe's poor son-in-law, and he is a sycophant, so he naturally wants to put on a posture of rejecting people thousands of miles away.

Yuan Zai wanted to go over and set it off, but when he saw that Xiao Hua's eyes were above the top, he had to retreat to the side with a stupid smile.

"Left to the left!"

The two hurriedly tidied up the crown belt, stood on their sides, and said in unison to Wei Jiansu, who entered the door: "See Zuo Xiang." ”

Wei Jiansu glanced at the two of them indifferently, looked at Xiao Hua and said, "I invited the two of you to the political hall today to ask the two of you to sincerely cooperate in handling an important case. ”