At the beginning of Yang Jian's reign, the capital was located in Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty. However, Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty was too small to be used as a capital because of its small area, sewage flowing across the river, and the risk of being flooded by the Wei River. Therefore, during the Sui Dynasty, a building was built in the direction of Longshou to accommodate the city. With a population of one million, Daxing City became the political, economic and cultural center of the Sui Dynasty.
However, Han Chang'an City not only had several wide official roads connecting all parts of Guanzhong, but also the Guangtong Canal connected to the Wei River here. Therefore, Han Chang'an City did not remain abandoned. Many aristocratic families benefited from the convenient transportation here, which was conducive to the transportation of food and materials. For this reason, warehouses were set up in this city one after another.
To this day, there are still a large number of common people and workers living in Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty. Those aristocratic families with warehouses here almost all set up management "points" in the city in order to facilitate nearby management. And the Li family in Longxi is naturally no exception.
The Li family in Longxi has a long heritage and a great family. Li Mu, Li Xian, and Li Yuan also used their relationships with the Western Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, and Yang Jian to annex a large number of manors and industries all over the world, so almost all the Li family's descendants were sent to take charge of industries everywhere. Li Duan is mainly responsible for Yongzhou's industry.
Li Duan lost one of his legs in the battle against Qi. Although he survived by chance, he was not only inconvenient to move, but also had no future, so he also served as a military advisor and planner. The specific affairs were handled by his heir Li Ping. .
In the Li Family Villa in Chang'an City, Li Ping was discussing matters with his brother Li Jie in his study.
Li Ping, who was sitting behind the desk, put down his pen, looked at his younger brother who had just returned from an inspection in the warehouse area, and asked, "Is there anything unusual in the warehouse?"
Li Jie warmed his hands by the stove and drank another sip of hot tea. His whole body was warm and he felt much more comfortable. He looked up at his brother and complained: "In this kind of ghost weather, the whole city has not seen anything like this." A few passers-by. Brother, you are worrying too much. Is there anything unusual?"
"Ever since the caravan went north, I've always felt uneasy, so it's better to be careful." Li Ping sighed and said to Li Jie worriedly: "In recent years, basically no caravan has braved the wind and snow to go north to trade. Generally, We will wait until the snow and ice melt. And we just celebrated the New Year, and we hurriedly sent three caravans to brave the snow to go north. Such a special move will definitely attract a lot of attention, and I can’t tolerate being careless!"
Li Jie's heart trembled when he heard this, and he frowned and said, "Brother, why didn't you object in the first place?"
"My father and I actually objected, but our objections were all ineffective." Li Ping smiled bitterly: "Uncle Jin Cai sent an urgent report from Luoyang. He said that the imperial court decided to open the border markets, and the Ministry of Rites was responsible for providing services to Turks, Xue Yantuo, and Qigu , Xuehubu Alliance, Nanshiwei, Beishiwei, Silla, and Baekje were selling weapons and equipment. Once the court officially implemented this system, the surrounding foreign races could buy a large amount of weapons and equipment from the court in an open and honest manner, and no longer had to deal with smugglers. The merchants are trading.”
Li Jie was silent for a long time and asked casually: "So what?"
"After all, what we do is not visible to the public. We need to go around and around to reach the alien race. As a result, the price is naturally much higher than that of the imperial court. The alien race is not stupid, how can they buy expensive weapons?" Li Ping glanced at Li Jie, and then said: "But the weapons and equipment we created cost countless manpower and financial resources. If we cannot sell them, we will suffer heavy losses. Therefore, the whole family unanimously decided to sell the weapons and equipment before the court opened its doors." These weapons and equipment are sold cleanly. This way, not only will we not lose money, we can actually make a lot of money."
When Li Jie heard this, he finally understood. He comforted: "Our caravan has already arrived in the vast and sparsely populated north. It must be approaching the border now. Brother, there is no need to worry too much."
"I hope so!" Li Ping nodded. Just when he was about to arrange things, bursts of noise suddenly came from outside. The two brothers were horrified and got up and walked out of the study. They saw a group of strong men. Barging in aggressively, Li Ping asked angrily: "Why did you break into my mansion? Don't you know this is the Li family's mansion in Longxi?"
The strong men swarmed up and surrounded the Li brothers, and Yu Wenhuaji, who was walking behind, was also exposed. He said to the Li brothers: "If it hadn't been the Li family's mansion, we wouldn't have broken in! "
"Yu Wenhuaji, you are so brave. Who allowed you to break into my Gao Mansion?" Li Ping's heart became cold when he saw the infamous Yu Wenhuaji. When Yu Wenhua and this bastard were serving in the Department of Integrity, not only did they confiscate many people's homes, but even some idle officials of the Li family were captured by him, Xiao Yu, and Yang Gongren. Seeing him suddenly appear here, Li Ping felt a bad feeling in his heart.
Li Jie also shouted angrily: "Yu Wenhuaji, even if you are an official of the imperial court, you can't break into a private house without permission. Why don't you leave with me? Otherwise, I will go to Jingzhao Mansion to file a complaint against you."
"Who said I broke into a private house? You guys are so powerful!" Yu Wenhuaji took out an "Arrest Warrant" from his arms, handed it to Li Ping, and said with a sneer: "Look at it .”
Li Ping took it and looked at it, his eyes widened suddenly. It was actually a "search warrant" jointly signed by Yongzhou Prefecture and Jingzhao Prefecture. He tried to calm himself down and asked, "So what?"
Yu Wenhuaji glanced at the open study, strode over, and ordered the soldiers: "Catch them in here."
After hearing the order, the soldiers immediately arrested the Li brothers and took them into the study.
Yu Wenhuaji sat behind the bill and ordered the soldiers: "Let them sit down!"
"Here!" The soldiers immediately sat the Li brothers on two couches.
The Li brothers stopped struggling when they saw more than a dozen strong men with their hands on the hilts of knives surrounding them. Compared with Li Jie, who was trying to remain calm, he had already seen Yu Wenhua and sit behind the case. His face turned pale with fear and his whole body was shaking with fear, because the records were filled with account books that he had not had time to hide. Once Yu Wenhua could look through them, this would be the best evidence of his crime.
He hoped to get lucky and tried to divert Yu Wenhuaji's attention to himself, so he said loudly: "Yu Wenhuaji, what do you mean?"
Yu Wenhuaji's eyes were indeed drawn away by him, but the smile on his face began to become cold: "Don't you understand what you have done?"
Li Ping felt very tormented at this time. He didn't know what he should say, and he was afraid that when he didn't speak, Yu Wenhuaji looked through the booklet on the bill, so he had to follow Yu Wenhuaji's words and say: "I don't understand. what are you saying."
"I just received the news yesterday that your three caravans were captured by the Zhaozhao Army, Liangzhou Army and Lingwu Army respectively." Facing these two turtles in the jar, Yu Wenhuaji was too lazy to talk nonsense and said directly : "Li Xiaogui, Li Gongting, Li Fangcheng and the accompanying carriages and guards were all arrested, and no one could escape."
At this point, Yu Wenhuaji said to the pale-faced Li Ping: "Except for the silks, porcelain, gold, silver and jade used for disguise, your goods are all pig iron and weapons and equipment. The quantity and weight of pig iron are still there. There is no statistics, but the weapons and equipment have been counted, and it is said that there are more than 16,000 horizontal knives, more than 24,000 spearheads, and more than 36,000 spearheads."
The Yuwen family actually sold pig iron, weapons and equipment and other prohibited items to the Turks in the past. However, the officialdom of the Sui Dynasty at that time was not as "clean" as it is now, and the border control was not as strict as it is now. However, despite this, the Yuwen family did not Dare to sell so many banned items at once. When Yu Wenhuaji saw these data yesterday, he was stunned and felt a sense of worship for the greed and courage of the Longxi Li family.
When Li Ping and Li Jie heard what Yu Wenhuaji said, they knew that the crime had finally been committed. Their faces were extremely pale, their lips were trembling, and they were speechless.
"We all know that the accumulation of these forbidden items is a serious crime for the Yi people." Yu Wenhuaji glanced at Li Ping and said meaningfully: "It's just that you brothers are just insignificant people in the Li family. We neither have the power to resell so many forbidden items that are enough for the Yi people, nor can we summon or direct so many people, so you are just following orders."
"As far as I know, the Li family in Longxi made the Duke of Hexi County responsible for the family business and industry in Yongzhou, but he was disabled, had limited mobility, and basically didn't care about things, so he couldn't make the decision. I don't know if I'm right. ?”
Li Ping and Li Jie looked at each other after hearing the words that seemed to help them excuse themselves. Li Ping swallowed and asked, "You, what do you want to do?"
Yu Wenhuaji learned this skill from Xiao Yu and Yang Gongren. At this time, he was very proud to see that Li Ping, who was ashen and about to collapse, had regained some energy. Then he added more fuel to the fire and continued to use words to break the will of the two people and eliminate their worries: "You brothers are small people who act under orders. Hexi County Duke can't control the Li family's major affairs. You yourself are not the principal culprits. If you commit crimes and make meritorious services, , atone for your sins and confess everything, and I can intercede for you in front of the saints.”
The Li brothers are not stupid either, so they naturally understand Yu Wenhuaji's intentions, but this method is a conspiracy.
In the face of many forbidden objects, no matter whether they cooperate or not, the final result will be the same, but if they cooperate with Yu Wenji, the case will become simpler and clearer; but for them, there is no way to survive in a desperate situation. A glimmer of hope.
Just when their expressions were uncertain and they were deep in thought, Yu Wenhuaji picked up a thick account book and flipped through it casually. He found that the contents contained in it were actually the accounts of the warehouse. It contained detailed descriptions of pig iron, Looking at the number of weapons and equipment, he smiled happily and said: "The account books are actually here, I really didn't expect it!"
Li Ping glanced at Yu Wenhuaji but said nothing. When he heard that all three caravans were caught red-handed, he was no longer tormented by the account books in the documents. At this time, it didn't matter to him whether Yu Wenhua could read these account books or not.
When Li Jie saw that his brother was silent, he swallowed and asked Yu Wenhuaji in a trembling voice, "What do you want us to do?"
"The family members of the family have very strict requirements for industries in various places. Every shipment of goods in and out, every money income and expenditure must be recorded in detail. I believe you, Li, are the same." Yu Wenhuaji said: "I want you to enter and leave the account books over the years, especially For pig iron and weapons and equipment, they must have the signatures and seals of the shipper and the person who picked up the goods. You should understand this."
Li Jie was silent. Of course he knew what Yu Wenhuaji wanted, but these things were too important. Once handed over, they would be like guillotining the family.
Yu Wenhuaji glanced at the two of them with a half-smile, and then said: "The imperial court has now captured your caravan. As long as you interrogate them one by one, the truth will eventually come to light. And Li Xiaogui is a greedy, selfish, and afraid of death." For a self-interested person, once he confesses, the court can capture a lot of people, so for the court, it is just a matter of time. But for you, it is the only chance of survival. What do you think?"
When Li Ping heard this, he knew that he had no choice. If he knew what was going on, his brother and his father might still have a chance to survive. Otherwise, everyone would die. He gritted his teeth and said firmly: "I hope you will keep your word."
"Of course!" Yu Wenhuaji nodded and said with a smile: "I will give you brothers one day. Before noon tomorrow, I want to see all your account books."
After agreeing, Li Ping calmed down and said, "You don't have to wait until tomorrow. I can hand over all the account books to you today, but there are still some in Daxing City."
"Hurry up!" Yu Wenhua raised his finger and praised.
