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In the prosperous area east of the capital, there is a large-scale trading firm called "Sitong Trading Firm", which operates many businesses such as tea, cloth, medicinal materials, grain, etc. Several stores are connected together and actually occupy an entire area. Half a street, even in the capital city where wealth and wealth are gathered, the scale of this business can be ranked at the forefront.
The boss behind this business is named Guo Min, who is the brother of young master Guo Tang. He is quite talented in business. The reason why "Sitong Trading Company" can develop to its current scale is Guo Tang's reputation, but Guo Tang's The key reasons are his sharp vision and ability to deal with all aspects. Just relying on Guo Tang's relationship, Guo Min established his own network of contacts. "Sitong Trading Company" has also received special care and preferential treatment from many yamen. In the past ten years, it can be said that It was smooth sailing and there was never any trouble.
But on this day, "Sitong Trading Company" suddenly encountered trouble, and it was a big trouble.
Before noon, suddenly a large number of government officials from the Ministry of Revenue and Shuntian Prefecture came outside the "Sitong Trading Company" store. Not only did they drive away all the customers in the "Sitong Trading Company", but they also All the stores, warehouses, banks, etc. of the "Sitong Trading Bank" were sealed, and several shopkeepers of the "Sitong Trading Bank" were even arrested.
There are many crimes for which these government officials seized the "Sitong Trading Company", such as selling counterfeit goods, evading taxes, bullying and dominating the market, etc. As long as the "Sitong Trading Company" can be involved in crimes, there must be no shortage of them.
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Luo Fu, the big shopkeeper of "Sitong Trading Company", quickly grabbed a clerk and ordered with an urgent expression: "Hurry up and tell your boss what's going on here. My boss has the widest connections and knows many court officials." , these government officials suddenly closed down our business, it must be because of bad intentions, now only the owner can solve it!"
When the clerk left quickly, the big shopkeeper Luo Fu hurriedly walked towards the official responsible for sealing up the "Sitong Trading Company". This official's name was Zhang Pei. We have become friends and take good care of "Sitong Trading Company" on weekdays.
Arriving in front of Zhang Pei, Luo Fu said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, you must have misunderstood. Our 'Sitong Trading Company' has always done business properly and has always been well-known among the neighbors. All taxes must be paid in a timely manner. How dare you sell fake goods, evade taxes, and bully the market? There must be some misunderstanding!"
With that said, Luo Fu took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and planned to put it into Zhang Pei's hand. He also said: "The common people don't have much silver in their hands, and all the silver in the store has been sealed. Now we can only take it out." That's a little bit, but don't worry, Mr. Zhang, as long as you can be a little accommodating this time, our boss will definitely be rich in rewards in the future."
However, in Luo Fu's impression, Zhang Pei, who had always been greedy for money, now looked like an upright and honest man. After weighing the weight of the money, Zhang Pei did not actually put the money into his arms, but instead handed it to his side. A government official then ordered: "It seems that there is one more crime for 'Sitong Trading Company', which is bribing court officials! Keep this ingot of silver, this is evidence of stolen silver!"
Hearing Zhang Pei's words, Luo Fu's expression suddenly changed, and he quickly asked for mercy, but Zhang Pei still had a cold face and did not respond, and even ordered the government officials to take Luo Fu into custody.
When the "Sitong Shipping Company" was almost sealed, Guo Min finally received the news and rushed there.
After seeing that "Sitong Shipping Company" was sealed by the government, Guo Min's heart sank, and he vaguely felt that this matter was not that simple. However, he relied on the fact that he was the younger brother of Guo Tang, the young master of the dynasty, and many important officials in the dynasty. They were all friends with each other, but they did not show too much fear. They just walked quickly to Zhang Pei's face, raised their hands and said: "Master Zhang, what is going on? Why did you suddenly close down my business? I don't know. Whose order did you take? I have always had a close relationship with Mr. Zhang Baozhang, the Prime Minister of Shuntian Mansion, and you also know this..."
After seeing Guo Min, Zhang Pei's eyes flashed slightly, and he did not answer Guo Min's question. Instead, he interrupted Guo Min and asked: "Who are you? What does it have to do with the 'Sitong Boating'? "
Hearing Zhang Pei's rhetorical question, Guo Min couldn't help but be stunned.
He was the mastermind behind the "Sitong Shipping Company". Zhang Pei knew this from the beginning. The two of them even drank together, so why did he ask questions even though he knew it?
Guo Min didn't react for a while, and just said: "I am Guo Min, the owner of 'Sitong Shipping'..."
Then, before Guo Min finished speaking, Zhang Pei waved his hand again and told the officials: "It turns out that you are the owner of this business, and you showed up on your own, which saves me the trouble of searching for it! ... ...Come on, arrest this profiteer too!"
Hearing Zhang Pei's words, Guo Min's expression changed drastically, and he finally realized that the seriousness of the matter was far beyond imagination. When the yamen servant took out the rope to tie him up, Guo Min was even more panicked, and kept saying: "Don't Tie me up! My brother is the young master of the dynasty, Guo Tang! I have a close friendship with Mr. Zhang Baozhang, the Prime Minister of Shuntian Prefecture! I and the Governor of Zhili..."
However, before Guo Min could finish his words, Zhang Pei said coldly: "Unless you have friendship with His Majesty, no one can save you today!"
After saying that, Zhang Pei glanced at the "Sitong Boat Shop" and others who were tied up in a row, waved and shouted: "Take them all away! The 'Sitong Boat Shop' has committed serious crimes, take them to the Yamen and interrogate them as soon as possible!"
Then, looking at Guo Min who was still struggling, a trace of disdain flashed across Zhang Pei's face, and he whispered: "If you want to blame it, blame yourself for being stupid! For Zhang Fucheng's sake, I originally planned to pretend that I didn't know you. , so that you can take the opportunity to leave here, but you are stupid and insist on revealing your identity. In this case, I can’t help but arrest you... After all, you have offended someone who shouldn’t be offended, and I am not willing to get involved! "
After saying that, Zhang Pei turned to look at the sealed "Sitong Trading Company", with a slight gloating look on his face, and said: "No matter what, the Guo family is going to be in bad luck!"
If Guo Tang is the cornerstone of the Guo family, then Guo Min is the backbone of the Guo family, and Guo Mingtai, who is currently studying in the Imperial College, is the future hope of the Guo family.
But later that day, Guo Mingtai also encountered big trouble!
"Mr. Hu, you said students plagiarized articles?"
After being summoned to the room by Hu Zhen, the Prime Minister of the Imperial Academy, Guo Mingtai heard Hu Zhen's accusations against him, and his face was full of shock and disbelief.
Hu Zhen looked serious and said coldly: "Just now, I received complaints from several Imperial College students. They said that in the past two years, you have defrauded the world and used money to forcefully purchase their articles and works, and only modified them slightly. Sign your name and submit it to the superintendent! And they also provided tangible evidence, and there are several witnesses to prove this. Now that the evidence is conclusive, do you have any explanation?"
After hearing Hu Zhen's explanation, Guo Mingtai looked a little flustered.
In fact, within the Imperial College, it is a well-known unspoken rule that those supervisors who have spare money spend money to buy articles and poems from those who are in distress, and sign their names to publish them.
In this way, the supervisors who have spare money can use these articles and poems to expand their reputation and build momentum, while the supervisors who are living in embarrassment can use the articles and poems to improve their lives. Both sides can be said to be desirable and needed, and the senior officials of the Imperial College have always believed in this. It means turning a blind eye.
Guo Mingtai has always been rich in money, so it is inevitable for him to be influenced by his eyes and ears.
After all, although Guo Mingtai has some talent, he is not top-notch after all, and he cannot always write articles above the level. Many times, in order to maintain his reputation, Guo Mingtai will also buy a few articles for emergencies.
But Guo Mingtai did not expect that it was a well-known hidden rule, but now it was exposed, and the first person to be implicated was himself!
In a panic, under Hu Zhen's serious gaze, Guo Mingtai didn't know how to explain it for a while. After hesitating for a long time, Guo Mingtai said: "Master Jian Cheng, please be accommodating on this matter. After all, this kind of thing I am not the only one who has done this. Many of the supervisors have done this. The students just occasionally think poorly and cannot write good articles, so they are anxious and choose such a bad strategy... You promise that you will never do it again in the future..."
Hu Zhen snorted coldly and said: "Since you have admitted this, there is nothing more to say. In addition to being the highest institution of learning in the imperial court, the Imperial College is also responsible for supervising students. Your behavior has already If you have crossed the bottom line, you must not be lenient, so I decided to take away your status as a supervisor and report your matter to the Ministry of Etiquette! By that time, I am afraid it will be difficult to keep your reputation, so you should make preparations in advance..."
After hearing Hu Zhen's decision, Guo Mingtai's expression changed drastically again, and he subconsciously said: "How could this be possible! Mr. Hu, you know that my grandfather was the young master Guo Tang..."
Hu Zhen was completely merciless and said: "Don't use Mr. Guo to pressure me. This is my responsibility. Now there are people who are paying attention to this matter. If I bypass you, then no one will You can bypass me! There is no room for mercy in this matter!"
As Hu Zhen finished speaking, Guo Mingtai, who had always been extremely proud, collapsed to the ground.
Losing his status as a supervisor and possibly losing his fame, Guo Mingtai found that his path to the imperial examination might be completely over!
How disappointed would his grandfather Guo Tang be when he found out about this? Is it possible that from now on I can only do business like my uncle Guo Min?
However, Guo Mingtai did not know that his grandfather Guo Tang was now also in danger. As for the "Sitong Trading Company" that his uncle Guo Min worked so hard to run, it had also been closed down by the government. Even Guo Min himself had been shut down by the government. In custody!
The Guo family, which was originally considered a prominent family in the capital, was already on the verge of collapse in just one day!
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ps: Well, second update!
In addition, by now writing this book, Chongzi no longer expects things like grades, income, popularity, etc. He just plans to write it seriously and finish it! The words in the previous chapter are just a few words of emotion, not asking for rewards. If everyone is willing to subscribe to the official version, Chongzi will be very satisfied.
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