The smuggling of private salt actually involved the father-in-law of the country, so the court discussion could only be temporarily ended. Zhao Gou called Yan Xin to the imperial study and asked angrily: "Have you gone to investigate Feng Ji's Dry Goods Shop in detail to find out the truth?"
Yan Xin bowed and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I just found out about this, and I didn't have time to investigate. Maybe the head of state didn't know about it, and it was the people below who acted rashly."
Zhao Gou is not a fool. Of course he knows that selling private salt must be Feng Daji's decision. One family sold several hundred kilograms of private salt. With so many families in Lin'an City, how many thousands of kilograms of private salt were sold?
He suppressed his anger and asked again: "How do you plan to investigate?"
Yan Xin said quickly: "When it comes to the abbot of the country, I must follow His Majesty's instructions."
The implication is that if there is no will, he will not take action.
Zhao Gou paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. Concubine Feng Def was his beloved concubine, and Zhang Feng had just been named the Prince of Guangling County. If it was a small matter, forget it, but this was selling private salt! It would directly destroy his career.
Sheji.
On one side were the relatives of the emperor and on the other side were the country and the country. In order to protect the country and the country, Zhao Gou had no choice but to kill Ma Su with tears.
Zhao Gouyi gritted his teeth and said: "Let's do a thorough investigation and give me a detailed report in three days!"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, if we want to investigate Feng Ji's Dry Goods Store, we can only put Feng Daji and his son under house arrest first."
"Okay! He will be placed under house arrest first, and I will be the one to deal with him in the end."
"I obey the order!"
Yan Xin bowed and hurried away.
Zhao Gou was upset. He suddenly thought of the three million yuan he had promised, and he became even more upset.
He knew in his heart that the so-called court borrowed money, and the possibility of repaying it was very small. In fact, it was just a different trick, using a tactful way to get him to pay.
Zhao Gou was stingy to his core. The inner treasury was his private property. How could he be willing to spend three million guan to support the court? The most he could give was one million guan and the other two million guan. After much deliberation, he decided to let the Queen Mother contribute the money.
Money, didn't she want to bring her son from the north to enjoy the glory and wealth? Yes! The condition is two million dollars.
Of course, Zhao Gou still had a bottom line. These two barbarians were not allowed to set foot in Lin'an. They could be placed in Pingjiang or Kangkang Mansion. He would be out of sight and out of mind.
Having made up his mind, Zhao Gou ordered: "Let's go to Qingfeng Pavilion!"
In midsummer, Empress Dowager Wei usually took refuge in Qingfeng Pavilion.
Zhao Gou finally reached a compromise with Empress Dowager Wei. Empress Dowager Wei agreed to lend two million yuan to the court, with half of the money provided by her and the other half by her brother Wei Tong. After Wei Tong's wealth was emptied by Chen Qing, he has been doing overseas business in recent years.
He had made a lot of money from trade, so one million wouldn't put much pressure on him. Besides, if the Queen Mother had an order, he would get it without giving it.
As a condition, Zhao Gou agreed to the Empress Dowager Wei's bringing back the two sons born in Beidi, and also agreed to grant them the title of Duke and grant them a farm and a house. However, Zhao Gou also put forward additional conditions, and the Empress Dowager could take the two sons back to them at will.
It can be placed anywhere, except in Lin'an.
Empress Dowager Wei finally agreed to the emperor's additional conditions and decided to place her two sons in Xiaoshan County, Yuezhou, which was only a few dozen miles away from Lin'an and was very convenient to visit.
At the same time that the Emperor and the Queen Mother were negotiating, Yan Xin, the commander of the Plum Blossom Guards, came to Feng Mansion, also known as Guangling County Prince's Mansion, with hundreds of Plum Blossom Guard soldiers.
Feng Daji was originally the concubine of Poyang County. After his daughter was drafted into the palace, she gradually became favored by the emperor and was named a concubine. Feng Daji's worth also increased, and she was named the Prince of Guangling County and received many privileges, such as being responsible for paying tribute to the emperor.
The palace supplied food and made a lot of money over the years. In addition, the emperor rewarded him with a large amount of land and he did not have to pay taxes. The annual land rent was hundreds of thousands of dan of grain.
However, starting from the year before last, Feng Daji's wealth also suffered a serious blow. His land was mainly concentrated in the Poyang Lake area on Jiangnan West Road. As a result, it was confiscated by the Western Army as military land. His land rent was suddenly reduced to a few thousand dan.
How could Feng Daji be willing to lose his wealth? He wanted his daughter to ask for land in the south of the Yangtze River for him, but there was no spare land in the south of the Yangtze River. It was basically divided up by the powerful and the officials. Although the emperor Zhao Gou had more than a dozen imperial mansions, he was given a land.
It's okay to have two, but it's a pity that his daughter has passed the period of being most favored, and Zhao Gou will not give him any additional land. In the end, he only gave him 10,000 yuan as compensation, which was regarded as fulfilling his duty as a son-in-law.
Feng Daji suffered heavy losses but could not receive compensation. The emperor sent him away with a mere ten thousand guan, which made his dissatisfaction and anger transfer to the emperor Zhao Gou.
Since last year, he has been secretly operating private salt. As a police officer, he also knows the serious consequences of operating private salt. However, his dissatisfaction with the emperor and his eagerness to get compensation made him start selling private salt without hesitation, not to mention other people.
The rich and powerful can sell private salt, why can't they themselves?
In the lobby, Feng Daji was discussing with his two sons about opening a branch in Yuezhou. Their Fengji dry goods store had opened 19 stores in Lin'an, basically monopolizing the dry goods market and condiment market in Lin'an. Of course, Feng Daji would not be satisfied.
, starting from this year, he plans to expand his stores to other places, and Yuezhou will be the first to bear the brunt.
At this time, fierce shouting came from outside, "You can't go in, this is the county prince's mansion, you can't mess around!"
Feng Daji and his two sons looked at each other in shock. They walked quickly down the hall and saw the housekeeper running in. He said anxiously: "Your Majesty, the Plum Blossom Guards have forced their way into the palace!"
"What!"
Feng Daji was furious, "Who is it? You dare to break into my palace after eating the heart of a bear!"
"it's me!"
Yan Xin walked in with a large group of soldiers.
Feng Daji was startled, "Yan Dutong, what do you mean?"
"It's nothing, I just want to ask the prince and your son to change their place to live."
Feng Daji gritted his teeth and said, "I am the Prince of Guangling County. Do the officials know that you are so rude?"
Yan Xin nodded, "The officials asked me to treat the prince with courtesy, please do it!"
Feng Daji suddenly felt something bad. He lay on the ground and shouted, "Killing people! I want to go into the palace to find Concubine De. Someone wants to kill her father. Go and report Concubine De. Tell Concubine De that Meihuawei killed someone!"
Yan Xin was really annoyed and waved his hand, "Take them away!"
More than a dozen Plum Blossom Guard soldiers rushed up and dragged Feng Daji away. Feng Daji struggled desperately and shouted, but his mouth was gagged with a ball of rags, his head was covered with a black cloth, his hands and feet were tied, and he was forcefully dragged away.
His two sons were more cooperative, but their heads were covered with black cloth bags, and they did not suffer from gagging or binding.
Taking Feng Daji with him, Yan Xin issued a search order. More than a thousand Plum Blossom Guard soldiers searched 19 shops and palace warehouses at the same time, and arrested Zhang Ying, the chief steward in charge of the salt industry. The search continued until night.
Nineteen shops were searched and more than 70,000 kilograms of illicit salt was found. According to the instructions of the chief manager, 200,000 jins of illicit salt were found in a warehouse outside the city. Almost the entire illicit salt in Lin'an City was supplied by Feng Ji Dry Goods Store.
Selling.
Soon they obtained a detailed confession from the chief steward Zhang Ying. Their salt was supplied by Xuanzhou salt lord Li Zengping. As for where Li Zengping got the salt, they did not know.
Only then did Yan Xin suddenly realize that he was a bit alarmed, and it might not be easy to catch Li Zengping.