Michagan took the teacup handed by the maid and put it to his lips to taste it slowly, while raising his eyes and glancing at Yuan Zai and Xiao Hua who were sitting opposite. It seems that the two of them are not of one mind, Xiao Hua is a little upright, but Yuan Zai knows how to advance and retreat smoothly, but since they dare to check, he is not afraid to take the bottom pocket out, and when he sees it, they can't catch it.

"Do you really want to know?"

"No more nonsense! If you don't say it at this time, do you have to go to the prison of the Criminal Department?"

Michagan put down the tea bowl and spread his hands: "All my pepper and spices come from the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce. ”

"Western Regions Chamber of Commerce? Who runs it? ”

"I don't know who runs it, but I know that it controls the whole of the pepper trade route from India to the Central Plains, and it will always be located in Yangguan, Dunhuang County, and has branches in Jiuquan, Zhangye, Wuwei and other places. The price given to me by the Chamber of Commerce is now 500 pounds per bucket of pepper. ”

Both of them were taken aback, no wonder this Michagan could become rich in Chang'an in just a few years.

From Zhangye to Chang'an back and forth nearly 1,000 miles, each bucket can be transported to make a profit of more than 100 times, and his monthly entry and exit are in seven stones, so that a monthly profit of more than 50,000 times, a year will reach more than 600,000 runs, in addition to the discount labor is also a large amount.

Even the merchants who received the goods from the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce were so rich, so wouldn't the money possessed by the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce be rich enough to rival the country? Xiao Hua Yuanzai's eyes flashed with a strange light, and even his breathing felt much more urgent.

Yuan Zai speculated in his heart that this would be a wonderful opportunity to turn the tables in this life, and it was best for him to be able to make a utilitarian double gain in this case, get rid of the value of this not wealthy six-grade petty official, jump over the threshold of the fifth grade in one fell swoop, and ride a green horse in a scarlet robe, which can be comforting for his life.

Xiao Hua's heart was also like a wave, thinking that his father Xiao Song had been in the prime minister, the official worshiped the Chinese book order, and was named the Duke of Xu. After the resignation of the prime minister, he served as the prince and the prince, and after the posthumous posthumous sealing of the Kaifu Yi and the three divisions. His lifelong ambition is to follow in his father's footsteps and be able to continue to write the glory of the Xiao family. This big case may have been the beginning of his beginning.

The two of them have their own ghosts in their hearts, but the ultimate goal is almost the same, and while the two of them are watching their noses and noses, they have already decided how to do it.

They stood up with a smile and arched their hands towards Michagan, who was sitting opposite with a calm face: "Thank you for the cooperation of the Mi Dong family, this case really has nothing to do with you, and after we catch the culprit in the future, we need you to testify in court before summoning you." ”

Michagan personally sent the two of them outside the door, and watched them walk out of the door, only then did a treacherous smile appear on his face: "You still want to catch the culprit?" If you know who he is, you will have to take off your official uniform. ”

……

Wei Jiansu was wearing only a white middle single, took off the robe from the shelf next to the bed and put it on his body, rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked, "Western Regions Chamber of Commerce?" What is the origin of this chamber of commerce and how big is it? ”

Xiao Hua forked his hand and said: "We don't know who the person behind the Chamber of Commerce is, but it has branches in the four counties of Hexi, and it is mainly engaged in transporting spices such as pepper and sandalwood from India in the Western Regions to Chang'an, and the quantity is huge. Michagan, a wealthy man in Chang'an, mainly received goods from them, and in just two years he amassed a lot of wealth. ”

Wei Jiansu twisted his beard and secretly wondered, this Western Regions Chamber of Commerce is all under the jurisdiction of Li Siye, and its influence is all over Longyou. It is also rumored that Li Siye had expanded a large number of post stations west of Yangguan a few years ago, and that he had used troops in Dabolu and North India last year, is there any inevitable connection between this?

It was Yang Guozhong who advocated the initiation of this case, but he hid behind the scenes and did not appear, did he already know that the person behind this case was Li Siye, so he pushed me out to host in front of the stage, and sent two chess pieces to Hexi to test the water or act as cannon fodder?

Wei Jiansu naturally didn't expect that Yang Guozhong was only in the third layer, and on the top layer was An Lushan, who was far away in Fanyang, and his advisor was noble. It was intended to completely deteriorate the relationship between Li Siye and Yang Guozhong, so that they could reap the benefits of the fisherman.

Xiao Hua and Yuan Zai saw that Wei was still hesitating, so they hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Wei Xiang, what should we do next, please show Wei Xiang." ”

Wei Jiansu lowered his head and rubbed his forehead lightly, raised his head and asked, "What do you mean?"

The two looked at each other, and Wei Xiang suddenly asked what they meant. Xiao Hua's meritorious service naturally didn't think much about it, and he stepped forward and said: "I also ask Wei Xiang to transfer two lieutenant generals from Jin Wuwei to go to Hexi with us to assist in the investigation of the case." ”

"Well, you guys stand down first, and let me think about it first."

"Wei Xiang." Xiao Hua was about to step forward to investigate the case, but Yuan Zai tugged at his sleeve and made a look.

"Let's go down." Wei Jiansu frowned again and waved his hand.

Wei Jiansu sat in the pavilion and looked at the distant figures of the two, frowned and sat back on the bed to think about countermeasures. He must not be used as a gunman, and offend a royal doctor and the king of Xiliang who has three towns and more than 100,000 troops in charge. The saint's kindness to this Dr. Li is already on par with An Lushan, and Cao Anding of the Hexi Jinju Academy has come to give gifts several times, and he has eaten people's soft mouths.

But Yang Guozhong's side can't directly pick a son, he can ascend to the stage, thanks to Yang's recommendation, this situation is really difficult to decide.

"There it is!"

Wei Jiansu put on his robe, tied the leather belt, paced to the study, sat in front of the desk and ordered the maid standing aside: "Polishing ink for me." ”

The maid held the jade bottle and poured water, Qianqianyu pinched the ink stick in her hand and grinded it in the inkstone, Wei saw that the pen was dipped in ink, and she pinched off the hair that fell off the tip of the pen with her fingers, and wrote on the paper: "The minister occasionally felt the wind and cold last night, and he was sick, and the doctor ordered him to recuperate for several months, so he was really worthy of His Majesty's kindness." ”

……

In the Zichen Hall of Daming Palace, the emperor sat cross-legged on the sandalwood beard bed, his fingers rubbing the armrests to carve delicate patterns, and the oily fragrance seeped out of it, making him feel relaxed and happy. This is also an item that Li Siye paid tribute to, and this child has been offering sandalwood objects recently, as if he wants to move the entire Zhongtianzhu to Datang.

Because of such a pleasant courtier, the emperor's life has become more and more extravagant recently, and even the gong bucket and foot-washing bucket used are made of red sandalwood, and dozens of catties of sandalwood will be burned in one day on the day of the sacrifice. What's even more outrageous is that Li Siye actually wants to build a Dan Hall for him in the Jiaotai Hall of Xingqing Palace, even if it is the structure of the palace house, the wood consumed also needs hundreds of tons.

In order not to delay the transportation of pepper, Li Siye specially ordered Zhao Congfang to recruit thousands of people and camel cattle from India, cut down sandalwood trees, and process them into materials to be transported to Chang'an through the post station.

Today is the norm for the court, and the participants are all the ministers and ministers of various ministries. Yang Guozhong stood on the hall with an ivory wat in his hand, wondering why Wei Jiansu didn't come.

The emperor looked down and instructed Yang Guozhong: "Wei Jiansu has occasionally felt cold recently, and he is sick in bed. ”

Got sick? Yang Guozhong had time to think about it in the future, bowed and crossed his hands and said, "Huh." ”

Li Longji covered his mouth and yawned, and said to the courtiers below: "If there is nothing to do today, everyone will disperse early and return to the headquarters to perform their duties." ”

"The ministers are leaving."

Yang Guozhong walked out of the hall, thinking left and right that something was wrong, this Wei Jiansu had only been the prime minister for a few days, why did he get sick? He told him to arrange for someone to investigate the case of collusion between officials and businessmen to accumulate wealth, but now he suddenly made a pick.

He suddenly came back to his senses, snorted and laughed: "What an old fox, obviously he didn't dare to offend Li Siye, so he took his illness to avoid the whirlpool of right and wrong." But I can't always get myself into danger, and I need to find someone who is not smart enough to take the lead. ”