"What's going on?"

Wei Chen frowned and waited for Sheng Wei to continue.

Sheng Wei said with a bitter face: "Yesterday, the governor Yamen came, and he told me that amber wine was included in the list of tributes in Jiangnan Province!" From this year onwards, every October, 100 jars of original liquor will be escorted to the governor's yamen and bought. ”

Of course, Wei Chen knew that the so-called Hemai was to trade goods according to the number and price stipulated by the government, just looking at Sheng Wei's ugly face, it was obviously not a good errand to buy this time.

"How much does the government give?" Wei Chen asked hurriedly.

"Three or two."

"Three-two?"

Wei Chen's eyes widened: "A vat of original wine is six hundred catties, and the cost alone is five taels of silver." One hundred tanks is 60,000 catties, and there were originally tens of thousands of taels of input, but now it is a loss of 200 taels, and how much amber wine can we make in a year? ”

"Last year, it was more than 80,000 catties of ......" Sheng Wei said astringently: "Horizontal and vertical can't hold on, and now there is less than a month left before the day of buying, where can I have time?" ”

"Didn't my uncle make it clear to the people from the yamen?" Wei Chen stared at Sheng Wei and said angrily: "This is not asking for wine, this is fatal!" ”

"Of course." Sheng Wei sighed and said, "But that man said that he was ordered by the governor's yamen, and he couldn't bargain." ”

"What about the grand people in Yangzhou?"

"I went to the letter, Brother Hong said ......, he said that now is the key point for him to be promoted to the Beijing official, and he can't make extraneous branches, besides, the other party is the governor's yamen, and he can't afford to provoke him. He advised me to endure this, the Sheng family has so many properties, it's a big deal to think that I have never been in this winery......"

Speaking of this, Sheng Wei couldn't help but redden.

"It's as if you've never had this winery", Sheng Hong said lightly, but where did he understand how much effort Sheng Wei poured into the winery?

Sheng Wei was also frustrated with his cousin, and when he had nothing to do, he came to Wei Chen to discuss, hoping that Wei Chen could give him ideas.

Sheng Wei said in frustration: "In the past, I felt that such a thing as tribute was out of reach, so why did we let it be shared?" ”

Wei Chen eased up, but he was more calm than Sheng Wei: "People are afraid of being famous, pigs are afraid of being strong, and when they are fattened, they will naturally be slaughtered, this is the case in all dynasties, it is not unusual at all, but I didn't expect ......, heh." ”

When Wei Chen said this, the look of mockery and disdain on his face flashed.

I didn't expect Sheng Hong to be so unreliable!

The reason why he chose Shengwei to cooperate in the operation of amber wine is that on the one hand, he values Shengwei's business ability, and on the other hand, he values the official background behind Shengwei.

Sheng Wei is Sheng Hong's cousin, and the Sheng family firm is covered by Sheng Hong, which is well known in Jiangnan Province.

Therefore, whether it is the yamen or other commercial firms, they will give Sheng Wei three points of thin noodles when they act.

Who knew that now that the real thing is coming, Sheng Wei is still running around, looking for a solution to the situation, and the backer Sheng Hong started to shrink his head first.

"The mountains will fall, everyone will get old, and in the end, you can only rely on yourself!"

Wei Chen sighed, he was already disappointed in Sheng Hong, closed his eyes at the moment, and thought about how to deal with it.

After a long time, Wei Chen opened his eyes and asked, "Uncle, you said that someone from the governor's yamen said that he wanted to buy it, so is there an official document?" ”

Sheng Wei shook his head and said, "There is no official document, but after showing the seal letter, the person will tell you orally." But Master Huang, who came to deliver the message, is indeed a person close to Lord Futai, and he is quite trusted by Lord Futai on weekdays. He told me to go back and prepare first, and when the day of liberation was over, I would have an official document to be issued. ”

"Don't even have an official document?"

Wei Chen narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and said in a firm tone: "Uncle, I think there are ghosts in it!" ”

"You mean, that person faked the order of Lord Futai?"

Sheng Wei was taken aback, and then hesitated a little: "Then Master Huang has such a big courage?" He's not afraid of being exposed? Besides, he can carry the seal of Lord Futai on him, which is absolutely unfake! ”

Wei Chen's eyes were cold and said: "It is not known whether Futai's order is false or not, but the content of the official document is not difficult to know, this list of tributes is set by the capital, and the governor's yamen is only handling it. ”

"Well, that's all there is to it."

Sheng Wei hesitated for a moment, but still agreed to Wei Chen's method, at least do what Wei Chen said, there is still hope, right?

……

In the evening of that day, Shen Du, the prefect of Jiangning, cordially met Wei Chen in his private residence.

In front of this senior brother, Wei Chen had nothing to hide, so he got straight to the point and told Shen Du the ins and outs of the matter.

After listening to this, Shen Du twisted his beard and said: "This official has indeed seen the name of amber wine in this year's tribute list. ”

"How much of the list is in the list for us to pay tribute?" Wei Chen hurriedly asked.

"I didn't say that."

Shen Du pondered the words and said slowly: "There are some doorways in this, and public proclamations generally do not mention specific amounts and prices, and only the officials of the household department and the local specific handling do not know. ”

"It's just ......"

Shen Du paused, and said: "The list of tributes in the imperial court changes from time to time, but in a situation like this when the tribute is included for the first time, the amount will not be too large at first, and then it will be increased year by year depending on the situation, and it is really unreasonable to ask for so many at once." ”

Shen Du has been an official for many years and knows the unspoken rules in many tributes, but he is afraid that Wei Chen is too young and has no experience in the world, so he did not say a word, but only revealed a little bit of the trick.

After listening to Shen Du's words, Wei Chen became more and more convinced that this so-called Hemai had something else to do, so he pestered Shen Du with a dead face and said: "Senior brother, you must have many familiar fellow villagers, fellow subjects, and colleagues in Beijing, can you help inquire?" ”

"You kid!"

Shen Du couldn't cry or laugh, and finally nodded and said: "For the sake of the teacher's face, I'll take some effort, please ask the same year in the capital to ask, speaking of which, I happen to have a friend in the household department." ”

"Great!"

Hearing Shen Du's promise, Wei Chen was excited.

Shen Du has always been vigorous and resolute in his work, and immediately ordered someone to present pen and ink, preparing to repair the book and send it to Beijing urgently.

Shen Du dipped the pen in ink, and was just about to put down the pen, suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he slowly put the pen down again.

"Sending a message to Beijing, it will take half a month to make a round trip, maybe it doesn't have to be so troublesome."

Wei Chen was slightly stunned: "Senior brother, do you have any good ideas?" ”

Shen Du muttered: "I have worked with the governor for more than two years, and I think I know a little about him. Although our Governor Liu has suffered losses in private, he has always cherished his reputation the most, and it stands to reason that he will not oppress the people for no reason like this. ”

Wei Chen was surprised: "Senior brother mean, the problem is not with Governor Liu?" ”

Shen Du nodded slowly: "You said earlier, what is the name of the person who passed on Governor Liu's password?" ”

"The surname is Huang, and he is the master of the governor's yamen."

"There are a lot of masters in the governor's yamen, well, surnamed Huang? It seems that there is some impression ......, and I understand, it turns out to be him! ”

Shen Du slapped his palm lightly, turned his head to look at Wei Chen, and smiled indifferently: "There is no need to send someone into Beijing, I will do this for you tomorrow." ”