The two servants struggled to lift the wooden box from the carriage.
One after another, the two men carried him into the Yamen.
Pei Shun smiled and said to Butler Tian: "Steward Tian, please wait here for a while. I will go in and see the master. Your Tian family is so thoughtful, I think my master should agree to meet you."
"Then there's Butler Lao Pei." Butler Tian bowed his hand to Pei Shun.
Pei Shun turned around and entered the Yamen.
The wooden box was full of silver, and he had to watch the two guards personally carry the wooden box into the back office before he could rest assured.
"Okay, put the things here, you can leave."
The wooden box was carried into the back office. The two officers slowly placed the wooden box on the ground and bowed out of the back office.
Pei Hong, who was sitting on the Grand Master's chair, closed the book in his hand, frowned slightly, and asked, "Where did you get such a broken wooden box?"
"Master, this is not a broken wooden box." Pei Shun walked to the wooden box with a smile, raised his hand and opened the lid of the wooden box.
The wooden box was opened, and an ingot of silver was exposed inside.
Snap!
The book in Pei Hong's hand fell to the table.
"Where did you get this?" Pei Hong looked surprised, and greed flashed in his eyes.
When he was in Beijing, he was just a small censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Although he could receive some ice and charcoal gifts from foreign officials, he piled up the silver into a mountain-shaped pile like this. This is the first time I have seen mountains.
Pei Shunying smiled and said, "Just now, I met the steward of the Tian family outside. This box of money was sent by steward Tian."
"The Tian family's money." Pei Hong frowned deeply.
Pei Hong noticed it and said with a smile: "I have heard about the Tian family's affairs. I think the Tian family sent this box of money because they want you to come forward and save the Tian family."
"Hmph, since you know this, why do you bring the money to me!" Pei Hong snorted coldly, with an unhappy look on his face.
Pei Shun stayed with him for many years.
When you are really angry and when you are fake, you can naturally tell clearly.
This situation is just fake anger, and so much money has been delivered to the doorstep. Based on his understanding of the master of the family, there is no reason to push it out.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have let the people below carry the money in privately.
Pei Hongxiang pretended to be angry and said: "Why are you still standing there? Why don't you return the money quickly?"
As he spoke, his eyes stayed on the silver in the wooden box for a long time without moving away.
Obviously, he did not want Pei Shun to send the money back as he said.
"Master, it doesn't matter if we just keep the money. How dare the Tian family want it back?" How could Pei Shun not see that his master was reluctant to give it back? Naturally, he would not really give the money back.
Pei Hong's face sank and he said: "I will not interfere with the affairs of the Tian family. Collusion with slave thieves is a serious crime. If I really want to take their money, wouldn't I want to save a lowly businessman who is a slave trader?"
"It's not up to you, Master, to decide whether to save me or not." Pei Shun said with a smile.
Pei Hong glanced sideways at him and said, "What do you mean by this?"
Pei Shun took two steps forward, stood next to Pei Hong, and whispered: "Sir, the Tian family has been arrested. For such a crime of being a slave, they may be beheaded in a while, even if you accept it, master With this money from the Tian family, when the Tian family members are beheaded in the future, even if the Tian family is unhappy, they will not dare to come to you to ask for this money back."
"You think I am afraid of a small Tian family, but I don't want to get into trouble because of the money." Pei Shun said in a bad tone.
He liked the money, but the matter of being a slave was too big, which was why he didn't dare to accept the money, but he couldn't bear to give up the money he was about to get.
In a dilemma.
Pei Shun, who was standing next to him, smiled and said, "Young man, I have a way. Even if you accept the money, others will not be able to find an excuse to involve you in the slave trade."
"What can I do?" Pei Hong asked curiously.
Pei Shun said: "The young man just asked someone to carry the wooden box containing the silver into the yamen. Except for the two servants who carried the wooden box, no one else knew the condition of the wooden box. All he had to do was take out the silver. , let the two guards carry the wooden box out of the gate openly, even if one day someone uses this money to make trouble, you don't have to admit it, after all, you didn't accept this wooden box."
"This..." Pei Hong was a little moved.
But his status as a scholar made him embarrassed to do so.
Pei Shun then said again: "Master, I made a rough estimate. Such a box of silver is at least two to three thousand taels. With this money, I can buy a lot of land in my hometown."
The Pei family where Pei Hong was born was not a big family and there was not much land in the family, so Pei Hong always had a wish to buy more land in his hometown.
When he retires and returns to his hometown in the future, his family will have fertile land and live an enviable rural life.
It's just that although he became a Jinshi and became an official, he was just a small censor.
During the days in the capital, just relying on the censor's salary, and not going back to his hometown to buy land, would not even be enough to cover daily expenses, and he would need to borrow money to live.
Buying land in his hometown has become an obsession in his heart.
Pei Shun has been by his side for many years, so he naturally knows what Pei Hong wants most and knows how to persuade him to accept the money sent by the Tian family.
Sure enough, after Pei Hong heard Pei Shun's words, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Just do as you say. Keep the money and send the wooden box back to the Tian family."
"Master, you are wise." Pei Shun praised from the side.
Pei Hong picked up the tureen on the table and looked at the silver in the wooden box. No matter how he looked at it, he felt that it was so joyful, and he even felt much better.
Pei Shun called the government servant outside the door.
The yamen servant was asked to find a new wooden box to hold the silver, and then all the wooden box and the silver were carried away. However, the wooden box containing the Tian family's silver was left in the back yamen and the lid was closed again.
After doing all this, Pei Shun said: "Master, everything is done. We can let the Tian family people in."
"Go and bring people in!" Pei Hong waved his hand.
Pei Shun took a few steps back, turned around and left the back office.
Not long after, Butler Tian was taken to Houya by Pei Shun.
"The common people kowtow to the Grand Censor." Steward Tian knelt down and hit his forehead on the ground.
Pei Hong glanced at Butler Tian who was kneeling on the ground, and said in a calm tone: "Who are you from the Tian family!"
"The grass people are the stewards of the Tian family."
Without permission, Butler Tian did not dare to stand up and could only kneel down to answer Pei Hong's words.
Pei Hong's face sank and he said: "Is there no one in the Tian family? I asked a housekeeper like you to come to see me. Could it be that you don't take me seriously?"
As he spoke, he slammed the table with one hand.
