"Sixth Young Master, something serious has happened!" the visitor said in a panic as soon as he entered the door. He was about fifty years old, thin in build, with a green complexion. He was wearing gorgeous brocade clothes and looked like he had been drinking too much.

"Master Zhou, why are you so panicked?" Dugu Lie asked.

"Something happened to that batch of salt!" Zhou Dingshan's anxiety and panic were palpable.

Dugu Lie sighed: "How was this matter discovered?"

"It's Zhou Ba. He was the first to discover that the batch of salt from Chaoge City appeared in the capital." Zhou Dingshan said.

"Why are you so careless?" Dugu Lie asked.

"We don't sell here at all, everything is shipped to Chaoge!" Zhou Dingshan said.

"Now that the capital has appeared, everyone can imagine that there is a problem with the Salt Road Department." Dugulie said: "It was agreed at the beginning that it could not be sold in Dazhou, why did you take such a big risk?"

Zhou Dingshan said: "We have checked and no one is suspected."

Dugu Lie said: "Only a fool would be so careless. What happened to the two in Qingzhou Mansion now?"

"In the prison!"

"Let them confess!" Dugulie said.

"The emperor has already asked questions, how can he still confess?" Zhou Dingshan wondered.

"Since we have asked and kept it secret, the emperor obviously also suspects that someone in the Yandao Department, especially the Zongren Mansion, has a problem. If he had suspected that it was them from the beginning, he would not have provided the technology to the emperor in the first place!" Dugu

strong.

"So..." Zhou Ding said with his eyes flashing.

"By the way, clean up the relevant personnel of that line quickly!" Dugu Lie said.

Zhou Dingshan said goodbye and left, but within an hour, he hurried back and said: "The two Qingzhou people are missing!"

Dugu Lie said: "How come it's not obvious? Aren't you in the official prison?"

Zhou Dingshan paced back and forth: "They disappeared the day before yesterday. The people who imprisoned them only said that people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted to interrogate them. They left and never came back."

Dugu Lie frowned: "Do you know which person from the Ministry of Internal Affairs took it away?"

"It's the palace father-in-law!"

Dugu Lie's expression changed, he looked at Zhou Dingshan and said, "Master Zhou, go back now and don't do anything. You don't know anything about this."

Zhou Dingshan was stunned: "Sixth Young Master...?"

Dugu Lie said: "Listen to me, there is no need to do anything, and there is no need to panic. What is needed at this moment is to calm down, and there is no need to do anything."

Zhou Dingshan thought for a while and left again, while Dugu Lie arranged for another carriage to go to another place.

…

When Ling Xin'an's figure appeared in front of Shuntian Mansion, Huang Shaohua's face was as ugly as possible. The outsiders and newcomers from the chamber of commerce who surrounded Shuntian Mansion shouted aggressively at the door. They were suppressed by the fact that such a thing happened in the capital.

The chambers of commerce could no longer control it at this time.

When the merchants saw Ling Xin'an, although they were not familiar with him, they had already heard about him, and they all came forward to greet Ling Xin'an. Ling Xin'an thanked him one by one, but Ling Xin'an did not enter Shuntian Mansion. He looked at the door and then left.

Leaving the crowd, Ling Xin'an wandered around to a remote place. When he appeared again, he was like another person. He walked into the street and disappeared completely among the crowd.

Yongji Bridge in the west of the city is a thousand-year-old famous bridge. It was built by Yangzi, a famous architect in the Shang Dynasty. This famous ancient bridge has suffered thousands of years of wind and rain, and has witnessed the changes of the city and the joys and sorrows of the world.

There are many tourists on the Yongji Bridge. Standing on the bridge, you can watch the flowing water and the houses under the bridge. Tourists are walking through the short bluestone alleys on both sides of the bridge.

Ling Xin'an came to the door of a craftsman's house. A sturdy middle-aged man was banging on a piece of iron tools. Seeing that there was no one in the house, Ling Xin'an asked: "How many hammers does one hammer of iron tools have?"

The man glanced at Ling Xin'an: "Brother, should I buy a hammer or iron?"

"Hammer, hammer!"

The strong man turned around and opened the curtain, and Ling Xin'an walked in immediately. Behind the curtain was a courtyard, located on the bank of the Yongji River. The yard was clean and tidy, and was covered by a tree in the middle, which provided shelter from wind and rain while maintaining sunlight.

adequate.

Opening the door to the middle room, Zhong Wuyan and another figure immediately saluted behind the door and said, "See you, sir!"

Ling Xin'an sat in the main seat, looked at the other person and said, "If I remember correctly, you are Sun Xiaobing, right?"

The man raised his head, showed a dark and honest smile and said, "Sir, you have such a good memory!"

Ling Xin'an said: "When you were in class, you talked too much and talked too much. When you didn't speak, you always offended people."

Sun Xiaobing said with a naive smile: "My lord, I have a photographic memory!"

Ling Xin'an said: "Okay, stop flattering me. You have worked hard during this period. How is the entire capital now?"

Sun Xiaobing said: "Sir, all your previous arrangements have been deployed. The salt ears have been put down, and we are just waiting to see the fish. Although the Duke's Mansion is not our focus, we need to investigate a little.

Later, I discovered something else."

"What's up?"

"Just half a year ago, the Duke's Mansion sent a group of people to Shuzhou. At that time, my lord, you were sending supplies to the border areas, but you were not transporting supplies there. At that time, my lord, you took a portrait of the shopkeeper who left midway.

Leave it to us. After investigation, we found that the man is very similar to a small shopkeeper under the Junqi Pavilion. I think you were plotted by someone during that time, so we have reason to suspect that someone from the Duke's Mansion was trying to murder you."

Ling Xin'an frowned: "There is no quarrel between the Duke's Palace and the Ling's Palace, and they are on the same side in the court. Why does the Duke's Palace want to plot against me?"

"Sir, you don't know that during that time, the whole capital was rumored about your reforms, especially about refined salt."

Ling Xin'an suddenly realized: "It seems that the Duke's Mansion and the Ling Mansion are not in the same boat, and Dugu Lie, after getting to know him in the past few days, he is an extremely conceited and arrogant person. Maybe this is the person who attacked me.

, but we can’t rule out whether there are others.!”

Sun Xiaobing said: "Yes, sir, this person is narrow-minded, will retaliate for his anger, and is extremely arrogant."

"How is Ling Zhiwei?" Ling Xin'an suddenly asked.

Sun Xiaobing was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "Sir, Ling Zhiwei does not have an official position. He is helping his father take charge of the Ling Mansion's property."

Ling Xin'an nodded: "Tell Ling Mansion Shadow to keep an eye on him, I'm afraid something will happen to him!"

"Yes, sir."

"Anything else?"

Sun Xiaobing calmly said: "Sir, can you help me bring a letter home to my parents?"

Ling Xin'an smiled and said: "You are not dead soldiers. You can go home if you want. Everything will be the same as before. But remember one thing, what I said when I taught you the lesson."

"Yes, sir, I will not forget this!"

Ling Xin'an nodded: "Wuyan, what's the information on your side?"

"Sir, all the Traveling Merchant Guild has evacuated, leaving no one behind, and the two adults from Qingzhou Mansion have disappeared!"

"Isn't he in the official prison?"

"It is said that he was taken away by people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and never appeared again."

"Has anyone gone to inquire about the two of them?"

"Yes, Zhou Dingshan of the Zongren Mansion. He is a member of the royal family who is responsible for supervising the import and export of coarse salt. After the refined salt appeared in the capital, there were two people who came into contact with Dugu Lie. One was the Ninth Prince and the other was Zhou Dingshan."

"It seems they are the ones. What are the businesses under Dugu Lie's jurisdiction?"

"Junqi Pavilion and Junzi Tower, we can only find these two at the moment."

"How is Zhou Dingshan like this person?"

"A dandy kid from a rich family, addicted to wine and sex, and has his old sweetheart in Zuifang Pavilion."

"Okay, let's start with him, Wu Yan. Keep an eye on him during this period. According to Dugu Lie's personality, there is a high probability that he will instruct Zhou Dingshan to continue as usual, pretending that nothing happened, and eat and drink as he should in the past two days.

Formulate a plan and we'll start with him."

"Yes, sir!"

"Instruct the merchants' chamber of commerce to go to Dali Temple in the capital to register chambers of commerce in large numbers after blanking their account books. This will make the local chambers of commerce in the capital feel the pressure. At the same time, tell them to seize the time to complete those arrangements. Don't forget that our purpose is not to seize the market with them.

Our purpose is to dominate the market."

"Yes, sir!"

"By the way, sir, there seems to be rumors in the palace about Princess Xiuning." Zhong Wuyan said.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone suggested that Princess Xiuning get married as soon as possible, but Princess Xiuning seems to have refused?"

Ling Xin'an frowned: "When did it happen?"

"Two days ago!"

"Does Ling Mansion know?"

"Not found!"

"As for Princess Xiuning, just pay attention. The Ling Mansion will notify me if there is anything."

"Yes, sir!"

"Wu Yan, tell the shadows in the palace to be careful and careful. It doesn't matter if you can't find out some things. They must not be exposed. Their first goal is to survive. At the same time, support them more. They need no less gold and silver. At the same time, they collect martial arts.
To be continued...