When the prefect came to discuss business with Xie Yuan, he found that the other businessmen had already left.
"Where have all the other merchants gone?" the prefect asked curiously.
"They looked at the salt with me and felt that the quality was very high. They wanted to buy more, but they were afraid that they would not be able to move it, so they left to find people from the trading house and buy more slaves." Xie Yuan laughed,
"Strange to say, there is no slave market in the entire Nanhai County. We walked around a lot and asked people, but they all said there was no such thing, so we had to go elsewhere to buy slaves."
"Oh, that's it. It's better to buy more, it's better to buy more." The prefect touched his nose and said with a smile.
"I have something to ask the prefect." As if he suddenly remembered something, Xie Yuan brought a muddy shoe and handed it to the prefect for inspection.
"The color of the soil in your salt mine is really weird. Why is it so dark and ugly?"
The prefect touched his nose again, his eyes moved from side to side guiltily, and then he smiled and said, "That's because the quality of my salt mine is good."
"Oh." Xie Yuan nodded thoughtfully.
The prefect also looked at Xie Yuan thoughtfully, with a bit of chill and inquiry in his eyes.
This foreign businessman wouldn't have discovered anything.
He found an excuse to leave, and then took a sedan chair directly to the Xu family's old house.
The Xu family in Nanhai is a prominent local family. Their ancestor is the Ying family of the Great Qin Dynasty. They moved south here in the name of the First Emperor. Later, the dynasty changed. In order to avoid suspicion of the previous royal surname, they changed their surname to the Xu family.
By the time of the Jin Dynasty, the Xu family had been around for hundreds of years, and by virtue of their profound heritage, they had become the head of a prominent family in Lingnan.
The sedan stopped at the door of the old house. The prefect straightened his clothes. When he walked to the door, he was stopped by two doorkeepers.
"I would like to see Mr. Xu, and I would like to ask you two to tell me something." The eunuch smiled flatteringly and handed over two ingots of gold.
He was promoted by the Xu family to be the county magistrate, and he was later promoted to the position of prefect by Grand Duke Xu.
Originally, he could be the governor of Yangzhou in two years, but Xie Yuan came along and took away the position.
It was just a matter of snatching him away, but it happened that he was from a poor family.
The prefect was from the Xu family. When he found out that a young boy from a poor family had taken away the position of governor, he was so angry that he couldn't eat for two days.
How could a disciple from a poor family step on top of his head? It was so frustrating.
But that's fine. Staying in Nanhai County, he can better serve the Xu family and cover up for them.
After receiving the gold, the servant immediately beamed with joy and told the eunuch to wait a moment while they went to report and come over.
The prefect waited for a moment, and soon the vermilion door was opened, and a man with shrewd eyes walked out.
His name is Xu Sheng, he is a retainer of the Xu family and the most powerful confidant of Taigong Xu.
Seeing Xu Sheng, the prefect immediately bowed to him.
"You don't need to be polite, Grandmaster. The master of the house is already waiting in the flower hall." Xu Sheng said calmly.
The prefect agreed repeatedly, gave Xu Sheng another ingot of gold, and followed him to the flower hall.
Today is February 10th, the day when the Xu family pays homage to their ancestors.
The prefect bowed in front of the flower hall in the direction of the ancestral hall, then took off his shoes, lowered his head, and went in like a junior to meet Taigong Xu.
The old man could not see the wind and was sitting behind the curtain drinking tea. Hearing the voice of the prefect, he asked quietly: "How are the salt mines lately?"
"Everything is fine." The prefect knelt on the ground, flattered and holding the tea brought by the servant. He glanced at the curtain and said softly,
"Yesterday, the junior met with an imperial merchant from the Western Regions who wanted to buy our salt. The junior agreed and took them to see the salt mine. The foreign businessman who took the lead found that the soil was different, so he asked about it today.
The younger generation was afraid that the foreign businessman would become suspicious, so he came to visit the Grand Duke and wanted to ask the Grand Duke for advice."
The person behind the curtain didn't speak for a while, but he could clearly feel that the atmosphere here had become colder.
"Is there anything else you haven't said?" The old voice came from behind the curtain again.
The prefect shrank his neck and lowered his head guiltily: "All the other businessmen disappeared this morning, and he is the only one left here."
From behind the curtain came the sound of Taigong Xu putting down the tea cup, and a faint sigh——
"I have taught you carefully for many years, but you still haven't made any progress."
The prefect lowered his head and did not dare to express his anger.
After a moment, the old man's voice came again from behind the curtain -
"Served by family law."
The prefect's face turned pale.
The servants who were waiting outside came in through the side door and dragged the prefect outside to beat him with ten sticks. The pain made him grimace and cold sweat broke out on his back.
"I realize my mistake, please forgive me!" After being dragged down, the eunuch knelt in the center again and bowed respectfully toward the curtain.
"He asked you to leave, and then asked you about the color of the soil. He must have become suspicious and discovered something, and asked someone to tip off the news. As for what to do next, do you still need my advice?"
"Junior, thank you for your advice." The prefect bowed again, stood up staggeringly, and limped outside.
When the prefect walked away, a cough came from behind the curtain.
Xu Sheng went over and said worriedly: "Master, do you still need me to get some medicine for you?"
Behind the curtain, the old man sitting cross-legged on the soft mat waved his skinny hands: "Treating the symptoms but not the root cause."
"Here."
"Xu Sheng." The old man suddenly sighed with a deep expression on his face, "Our plan will probably be advanced."
Xu Sheng understood and bowed to Taigong Xu: "I, the Xu family, have been planning for this matter for ten years. Now the time is favorable, the location is favorable, and the only thing left is the east wind. If those people dare to come, they can lend us an east wind to help us complete the task."
A big deal."
"Well, if they come, they can take advantage of me and fulfill their ancestors' long-cherished wish." Taigong Xu nodded, a look of solemnity flashed in his cloudy eyes,
"It's time for our old Xu family to stir up troubled waters in this world."
Xie Yuan expected that the prefect would be suspicious, but he did not expect that he would act so quickly.
As soon as he finished asking questions in the morning, people came over in the afternoon, knocked him out and threw him into a salt mine to be a slave.
But that's fine, as it saves him the trouble of trying to sneak in again.
After Xie Yuan was thrown in, all his clothes were taken away and he was put on a dirty and shabby coat.
He was still new here, and the clothes of the captured young men and the slaves who had been raped had many holes chewed by rats.
Xie Yuan worked for a few days and discovered that besides being dirty and messy, there were actually women among these workers.
In addition to the official prostitutes who were not registered as slaves, there were also many young and beautiful refugees - they were all captured and became military prostitutes to satisfy the desires of the soldiers stationed here.
If they hadn't been together when receiving meals, Xie Yuan would have never known that there were hundreds of women imprisoned in this mine.
One of them was the youngest girl here. She looked eleven or twelve years old and saw Xie Yuan's blond hair and blue eyes. She was extremely strange.
She always came quietly and peeked at Xie Yuan's work with her watery eyes. She noticed that he was no different from anyone else and curled her lips.
"Ada, Ada, where did Nong come from?" The little girl said Wu Nong's soft language, and her sweet voice sounded very cute. This chapter has been completed!