As soon as the Niu Dafu incident was over, the case was back on track. Fan Xiaodao and others worked day and night, conducting investigations and interrogations. As time went by, more and more people were summoned. Some people could not withstand the pressure and began to After confessing, some of Baihualou's evil deeds gradually surfaced. With the support of Li Baniang's confession, Six Doors has obtained enough evidence to shut down Baihualou.

However, Prince Zhu Yan and Fan Xiaodao are not satisfied with just closing their doors and closing their businesses. Since the two sides are at odds, they will inevitably fight to the death. There is a saying that people can't help themselves in the world, but in officialdom. , either you die or I live, there is no need to hide it.

Six Doors is also under tremendous pressure.

In the five days from October 25th to 30th, there were more than 30 memorials to impeach the Six Doors alone. They included false reporting of accounts, illegal distribution of benefits, and behind-the-scenes operations. You had to wait to get the card. What's more, some people impeached Yang Deshui for trespassing on his homestead in his hometown of Guangxi, as well as annexing land, etc. As a result, Yang Deshui was either being called for questioning or on the way to the questioning, and even normal operations were seriously affected. .

Prince Zhu Yan was not having a good time either.

This was also what he had expected. He had taken action against Princess Taiping's property and was already prepared to deal with the counterattack. Sure enough, on the second day after the Baihua Building was sealed again, a Jinling merchant came to the capital to file a complaint, saying When the prince was in Jinling, he raped a common girl and made his daughter pregnant.

There were so many such small impeachments. At first, Zhu Yan thought that the Qing Dynasty would self-purify, so he ignored it. However, a few days later, another secret report was sent to the palace, saying that when the prince Zhu Yan was in Jinling, he had secretly asked the local people to A silk merchant in the country sewed a set of dragon robes for him.

Suddenly, Zhu Yan couldn't sit still.

The lethality of this secret report is far more than a hundred times higher than the memorials of the imperial censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. You must know that making dragon robes privately is no different from treason, not to mention that you are the prince and the first heir to the Ming Dynasty throne. , this behavior makes people even more suspicious of his motives. Today, His Majesty is in good health and practices day and night. He is only one step away from the road to immortality. You, a prince, secretly make dragon robes. What do you want to do?

The emperor could ignore the other bullet lists, but this secret report also made Emperor Long Yan furious and ordered Xue Yingxiong, the royal guard, to conduct a strict investigation. Zhu Yan was busy cooperating and was not so concerned about the Liumen case.

…

As November enters, the weather gets colder.

This year's winter has come a bit early, and people in Beijing have begun to put on winter clothes. Some wealthy families have burned earth dragons early. If the conditions are slightly worse, they have also prepared charcoal to burn for warmth in the morning and evening when the weather is cold. , as for ordinary people, it is considered good to be able to heat a kang when cooking.

Prince Consort's Mansion.

Master Yu was wearing a thick cotton-padded jacket and was sitting by the fire. His face was a bit ugly. There were more than ten people in the room, all of whom were also dressed in luxurious clothes, but Master Yu looked at them with eyes full of disgust.

These people are the housekeepers and retainers of many high-ranking officials in the capital. They came here today with only one purpose: to ask for money.

Politically speaking, they are the same party and lineage of Princess Taiping, but economically, they are all creditors of Princess Taiping. All this is because of the large-scale trade in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Originally, Jiangnan and the mainland were Shipping silk, tea, salt and iron to the Northern Zhou Dynasty was a sure-profit business, and it was done this way in previous years. This year, we borrowed nearly 10 million taels, but unexpectedly something went wrong and the goods were seized by the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Stay, but it has not been released yet.

And all this money was borrowed by Master Yu from some big guys in the capital in the name of the princess. The goods were withheld, but the interest was not less. Originally, a few hundred thousand taels a month was enough for Baihualou to make money.

, they can barely maintain it, but now that Baihualou has been investigated, their cash flow has encountered a serious crisis, and today, it is the day of interest payment, and these people are here to collect debts.

Master Yu smoked a dry cigarette and said nothing.

Some people couldn't sit still and said, "Master Yu, you have to give me an answer as to whether I can get the money today. My family has left all our belongings with you, and we are about to spend the winter. There are dozens of people in our family."

People are counting on this money, you see, we can’t even afford a cotton coat.”

Someone else said: "No, for some reason, prices in Beijing are extremely expensive this year. For example, last year, a pound of charcoal was only 20 cents. This year, it has reached 50 cents, which has doubled. If this continues, we will have to drink from the northwest.

The wind is blowing."

Everyone said something to each other, and there was a lot of discussion.

Master Yu was impatient and interrupted: "That's enough."

When everyone saw him getting angry, they fell silent.

Master Yu said: "There will be money, but it will take time. There was something wrong with the batch of goods in Northern Zhou Dynasty. I am a little nervous about the money. There is something wrong again at Baihualou. You go back and report to the adults and wait for grace.

In a few days, you will find the money."

After that, he took out 200,000 taels of silver notes from his pocket and said, "These are part of it, you can divide it one share, and we'll talk about the rest next month."

"Next month, that's the money for next month." A steward wearing a blue silk cotton-padded jacket said, "At the end of this month, my eldest young master is getting married, and there are places to spend money everywhere. The master said before he came, no matter what

, we also want to get the money back, but if that doesn’t work, we won’t do the Northern Zhou business, just return the principal to us.”

Master Yu's face was ashen and he said in a deep voice: "Manager Ding, who came to me with licking his face and holding money to beg me? Mr. Qi is the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. The money for river dredging this year was allocated by the Ministry of Household Affairs in July.

, you, Mr. Qi, have reaped a lot of benefits, right?"

Manager Na Ding said: "This... we are not very clear about it now."

Master Yu said, "You also know that he belongs to the current generation? Three years ago, your Lord Qi was just a poor scholar in the Hanlin Academy. If the princess hadn't taken a fancy to him and helped him persuade Zhang Cifu, this minister of the Ministry of Industry would

Why can't he get the job? What's the matter? Now that the princess is in trouble, you all crossed the river and burned the bridge, and you came here to add insult to injury? "

His voice was a little stern, "There are only two hundred thousand taels this month. Those who agree will sign to receive the money. The rest will be owed first. Those who disagree will not receive a penny. As for when and how much they will receive next month,

I’ll let you know when the time comes!”

Manager Ding refused and said, "Master Yu, if you do this, you are a bit untrustworthy."

Master Yu was angry and asked: "Manager Ding, how many taels should I give you this month?"

Manager Ding said, "We have released a total of 500,000 taels. According to the profit of three points, this month should be 15,000 taels. Of the 200,000 taels just now, we should be able to get 6,000 taels, and there are still 9,000 taels."

gap."

Master Yu said: "You wait."

After that, he walked out.

The others all said, "Manager Ding, we are very careful when asking for money every month. You are really courageous."

Manager Ding said: "Killing to pay for one's life, and debts to pay for money, it is a natural thing. What's wrong with her being a princess, so she doesn't have to pay back her debts? How did it happen that all of them who owe money have become uncles?"

Another person laughed and said: "In my opinion, this squealing child will have milk to eat."

"Although Master Yu doesn't like me, he is not a courtesan. We are just doing business. As for official matters, let the adults handle them. All we can do is do our part." Ding

The steward paused and then said, "Besides, he belongs to the princess. Who is the princess? The royal family of the Ming Dynasty, the whole world belongs to the Ming Dynasty, how can they still be short of such a small amount of money? In my opinion, they have money.

It’s just that they don’t want to take it out.”

"how do you know?"

Manager Ding smiled and said, "This is how I deal with others."

Everyone praised, "It's really high!"

"Just wait. If I can get the money, you can follow my example and try to force him into the palace like this and see how he handles it."

After a while, Master Yu returned to the house.

Manager Ding asked, "Master Yu, do you have anything to say?"

Master Yu said, "I didn't go to the toilet just now, what do you want to do next?"

"About money?"

Master Yu made a cry, went to the fireside, took the dry tobacco, put another pot of tobacco, clamped a piece of charcoal with iron tongs, lit the tobacco, took a few puffs, and said slowly, "Sent from the governor of Yunnan

The tobacco that came here is a bit strong."

He blew out a puff of smoke and said: "This pipe was used by Qin Shihuang's grandma. I spent ten thousand taels of silver and asked someone to get it from the Shihuang's mausoleum. Now it is worth thirty or forty thousand."

two."

Manager Ding said, "It's a good thing, but it's not easy to get rid of."

Master Yu said: "You misunderstood."

He took a few puffs of the cigarette, and the tobacco burned the cigarette butt red. He said to Manager Ding, "Come and take a look." Manager Ding came over and said, "There is an emerald on it, it's a good thing."

"Look again!"

Manager Ding took two steps forward.

"Look carefully. This is your last look."

ah!

A scream spread throughout the Prince Consort's Mansion.

Manager Ding covered his eyes and rolled on the ground in pain. Not long after, he passed out from the pain.

When the others saw Steward Ding's miserable state, they did not expect that Master Yu, who looked like a scholar, would be so vicious. He thrust the hot cigarette pot into Steward Ding's eyes, and they all stood up in fright, becoming silent.

Master Yu stood up and everyone else stepped back.

"Why, who among you still has any objection to the amount?"

Everyone waved their hands and backed away while saying: "No, no!"

Master Yu's expression softened slightly and he said: "In the past two months, the princess's money has encountered some difficulties. I will go back and explain it to you adults. After two months and things have eased, the money, including the principal and interest, will

I'll give it to you in exchange for a penny."

Everyone collected their money and left one after another.

Master Yu glanced at Manager Ding who was lying on the ground, and said to his subordinates, "Send him to Mr. Qi's house."

Not long after everyone left, Prince Consort Qian returned to the mansion. When he saw Yu Ren, he said, "Master Yu, you came just in time. I fell in love with a tobacco pot in Panjiayuan. Please pay me 10,000 taels of silver from the accountant."

Master Yu said: "Prince-in-law, we have no money in our account."

When Qian Shoudao heard this, he became furious and said, "I have no money. I leave such a huge industry to you to take care of. You tell me that you have no money?"

Master Yu explained, "Consort, you also know that the princess's shipment in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, which contains more than 10 million taels of silver, is still being detained. In addition, Baihua Building has been sealed up, and the economy has indeed been somewhat stretched recently."

Qian Shoudao said: "Didn't we reach an agreement with the people of the Northern Zhou Dynasty?"

Master Yu said, "It was true that the agreement was settled at the beginning, but later when the prince returned to Beijing and renegotiated with the Northern Zhou Dynasty, it did not meet people's expectations. The promised rebate of two million was not given, and the other party was also very open about that batch of goods.

We will only let you go if we take 50% of the profits."

"Then we have been busy for a long time, why don't we work for them? Those northern barbarians are really unreliable." However, Qian's consort had a special liking for the snuff bottle and would not give up until he got what he wanted.
To be continued...