Funing Hall.
"The official family, the Korean envoy gave a gift to Feng Shitang."
After receiving the secret report from the spy, Lei Yungong rushed to Funing Hall to report.
"What did you give?"
Li Jie raised his eyebrows and asked casually.
"I gave you an inkstone, three swords of Chengxintang paper, Korean ginseng, and two boxes of floral dew."
Li Jie smiled slightly when he heard the name of Hua Xianglu, but he didn't expect that the Koreans also knew about it.
Huaxiang Dew is a perfume developed by Li Jie. As soon as it came out, it became popular in the capital. A bottle the size of a baby's fist costs ten dollars.
The Korean people are willing to give up the floral dew. A box of six bottles of floral dew is worth more than a hundred dollars.
If you include She inkstones, Korean ginseng, etc., this gift-giving cost at least several hundred guan.
If it were a later generation, receiving gifts like this would definitely be regarded as giving or receiving bribes, but at present, Feng Yuan's receiving gifts is not considered accepting bribes.
Xishe inkstone and Chengxindang paper are both elegant objects, while Korean ginseng is a specialty of Korea.
As for the floral dew, no surprise, it should be given in the name of a gift book for girls.
"What exactly did they talk about?"
"The specific details are unclear, but according to insider reports, the Koreans probably want Feng Shidao to gain more benefits for them."
While Lei Yungong reported carefully, he quietly looked at the officials' expressions out of the corner of his eyes.
Seeing the official frowning slightly, he quickly explained.
"It's just that Feng Shidao doesn't seem to agree."
Feng Yuan is not a fool, so it doesn't matter if he accepts gifts or something, but he cannot harm the interests of the Song Dynasty at the expense of accepting gifts.
After all, the task of mediating the contradiction between Gao and Liao was personally assigned by the officials.
If he dares to harm the public and enrich himself, he will never be spared given his official temperament.
Hearing this, Li Jie nodded slightly, expecting that Feng Yuan was not the kind of person who didn't know the general situation.
Although receiving gifts is not in line with his wishes, Li Jie also knows that it is almost impossible to completely eliminate the trend of giving and receiving gifts.
"Um."
"I understand."
Therefore, Li Jie didn't say anything, ignored the matter lightly, and asked about the situation in Hangzhou.
"Ding Wei, is there any news over there?"
"Liu Maoqin just sent back a secret report yesterday."
Lei Yungong bowed and said: "The situation in the Shipping Department is far more complicated than expected. The maritime trade issue involves many local wealthy families."
"Quite a few?"
Li Jie was obviously not very satisfied with this answer.
"How much is no less?"
Hearing this, Lei Yungong sighed in his heart, and he smelled something unusual.
"The Xie family in Fuyang, the Hu family in Yongkang, the Liu family in Yuhang, the Zhang family in Mingzhou, and the Wang family in Taizhou are all involved. In addition to these local big families, almost all the small and medium-sized families that depend on them are involved."
The involvement Lei Yungong mentioned was of course not a warehouse fire, but maritime trade smuggling.
"In addition, someone from the Wuyue Qian family seems to be involved."
Wuyue Qian family?
To be fair, Li Jie was not surprised at all when he heard this name.
Although the Qian family of Wuyue took the initiative to submit to the Song Dynasty, their influence and prestige in the Wuyue region alone was still very high.
After all, many local families were once ministers of the Wuyue Qian family.
In addition, after the Qian family of Wuyue entered the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty officials also rewarded them very much. When compiling hundreds of family surnames, the 'Qian family' was ranked after the Zhao family.
This shows the favor of the Qian family in Wuyue.
Of course, there is also the meaning of buying horse bones with thousands of gold.
However, no matter how you say it, the Wuyue Qian family is one of the top wealthy families in the Song Dynasty.
"Does Qian Weiyan know?"
"Send someone to Heyang to personally question Qian Weiyan and ask him to investigate himself first."
After pondering for a moment, Li Jie felt that it was not appropriate to investigate Qian for the time being.
Qian's influence in the two Zhejiang regions must be taken into consideration.
Qian Weiyan is a smart man. Li Jie believes that after Qian Weiyan meets the envoy, he will know what to do.
"yes."
As he spoke, Lei Yungong was somewhat surprised.
Does the official family not want to involve the Qian family?
After thinking about it, Lei Yungong suddenly realized that Qian was indeed not that restless.
Firstly, the Qian family is a meritorious family, and secondly, the Qian family is also an in-law of the Queen Mother.
…
…
…
Three days later.
Heyang.
Upon learning that the palace had sent someone over, Qian Weiyan immediately put down his official duties and hurried to the government office.
After seeing the envoy, Qian Weiyan still greeted him politely, although he seemed young and not of high rank.
"The envoy from China has come a long way, but I am disappointed to meet him from afar."
"Mr. Qian is so polite."
Zhou Jizhong repeatedly surrendered. He and Zhang Mao entered the palace in the same batch, but he was two years older than Zhang Mao.
After some polite courtesy, Zhou Jizhong cleared his throat and took the initiative to explain his purpose.
"The officials have given instructions."
"I'm waiting for you!"
With that said, Qian Weiyan dusted off his official uniform, faced the north, and gave a big salute.
"Qian Qing, is the Wuyue Qian family involved in sea trade smuggling?"
"I'll give you a month to verify it clearly, and then report it truthfully!"
Qian Weiyan's heart trembled when he heard the word 'sea trade'.
The Qian clan of Wuyue is a large clan with many branches and an unknown number of members. Even Qian Weiyan does not know how many people there are in the Qian clan of Wuyue.
However, one thing Qian Weiyan can be sure of is that the branch they lead has definitely not done anything illegal.
But on the branch side, he couldn't guarantee it.
"I obey the decree!"
After a while, Qian Weiyan bowed again respectfully.
"Now that Mr. Qian knows about it, the young one has resigned."
After saying this, Zhou Jizhong walked away without giving Qian Weiyan a chance to pry.
Seeing the other party turn around and leave, Qian Weiyan's eyes flashed with astonishment.
this……
This situation is not common.
Could it be that he is too scrupulous?
Thinking of this, Qian Weiyan couldn't sit still.
Could it be that the officials wanted to rectify the Qian family?
Otherwise, how could a mere envoy who was delivering a message dare not give him face?
no!
It is necessary to summon the capital immediately and find out what is going on in the palace as soon as possible.
At this moment, Qian Weiyan was really panicked.
Although he was far away in Heyang, he still knew what happened in Beijing.
Although the Qian family of Wuyue had the merit of donating land, that was all a matter of the founding of the Song Dynasty. After several generations, the Qian family's remaining shadow has been almost exhausted.
Moreover, with the current prestige of the official family, even if the Qian family is moved, it will not affect the overall situation.
Thinking of this, Qian Weiyan immediately summoned his confidants and asked him to rush to the capital day and night, entrusting his sister-in-law to enter the palace to find out what the Queen Mother was saying.
the other side.
After Zhou Jizhong came out of the government office, he didn't stop for a moment and set off towards Beijing the same day.
In fact, his unreasonable behavior just now was not his own intention, but the intention of Lei Goudang.
Lei Yungong asked Zhou Jizhong to be more arrogant, just to provoke Qian Weiyan and make Qian Weiyan understand the seriousness of the matter.
