There are five long wooden shelves placed in five rows in the archives room of Tingwei Mansion. They are piled with various archives. Some of them have not been consulted for a long time and are covered with dust.
"Brother Ren, why does this place smell so bad?" Liu Ningshi covered her nose as soon as she walked into the archives room and frowned: "Doesn't such a large Tingwei Mansion have someone dedicated to managing this archives room?"
"Originally, there was, but he retired and returned to his hometown a while ago." The ghost face spread his hands helplessly: "Miss Liu, our Tingwei Mansion is a Qingshui Yamen. Lord Zhi did not recruit more Tingwei in order to save money."
"Hmph! Why are you talking to Brother Xiangyun..." Liu Ningshi was about to joke, but her heart suddenly hurt and she changed the subject: "Can we really find out the past of those people here?"
"Don't worry, as long as there are cases tried in Tingwei's Mansion, there will be records." Ghost Face patted his chest: "I still vaguely remember that there was a conflict between the twenty-six servants of the Ministry of Revenue and Li Chongde, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. I was the one who took the lead. It took the imperial guards to put the matter to rest."
"Quickly check the names of these twenty-six people?" Liu Ningshi didn't care about the smell. She walked to the shelf in the first row, patted the dust on the file with her hand and started to look through it.
"Then I'll start looking from the fifth row." Ghost Face also walked to the last row of shelves and started looking through them.
About half an hour later, Liu Ningshi stood by the wooden frame in the third row and shouted excitedly: "Brother Ren, look, are they these people?"
"Ling Yuan, Zhou Shen..." Ghost Face took the file and browsed through it: "Yes, they are exactly these twenty-six people."
"Then why did they have a conflict with Li Chongde, the Minister of Household Affairs?" Liu Ningshi asked in confusion: "Is it because of money again?"
"It's not just money, it's dignity!" Ghost Face was also in awe when talking about this past incident: "These twenty-six people were originally members of the Pingman Army. After they retired from the army, the imperial court placed them in He is a servant in the Ministry of Household Affairs; but Li Chongde despises this group of people from the bottom of his heart, so their salary and status are far inferior to other servants, and they are even discriminated against by others."
"This is too much for Li Chongde. No matter what, they are all meritorious ministers of the country! How can they be treated like this?" Liu Ningshi couldn't help feeling sorry for these people.
"Yes!" Ghost Face sighed softly: "But they originally thought that they would be able to live the rest of their lives peacefully through forbearance; until one day, Li Chongde ordered that the salaries of these twenty-six people be cancelled, and they would be paid in silk. Wait for something to be replaced; this order is only for these twenty-six people, and it is euphemistically called a trial order."
"That is to say, after they received these silks and other items, they still need to go to the market to exchange them for silver." Liu Ningshi thought about the hostile eyes and figures as thin as reed sticks of the twenty-six people in her mind. Zhang Qiao's face was covered with frost: "But even if these silks are sold, they may not be able to replace the original salary."
"That's exactly what happened, so they lost their minds and besieged the lobby of the Ministry of Finance together." Ghost Face was slightly moved when he said this: "That day, Li Chongde and his confidants were besieged by these twenty-six people. There were two people in the lobby. At this time, if I hadn't led the imperial guards there, the consequences would have been disastrous."
"Then how did these twenty-six people go to Tianfeng Clothing Shop?" Liu Ningshi felt thrilling when she heard Ghost Face's narration.
"Although I sympathize with them, they must be expelled from the household department according to the law." Ghost Face put the file in his hand back on the shelf: "It was Salba who sympathized with them and asked his nephew Sha Tianfeng to expel all these people. Take it in.”
"Brother Ren, is Luo Bei a member of the Pingman Army?" Liu Ningshi thought of Wang Ma, Xiao Tudou and their eyes filled with anger, and thought to herself: "His series of characteristics are similar to those of the waiter at Li Laoshi Wonton Shop. The description is exactly the same."
"Yes, this Luo Bei was indeed a member of the Pingman Army. He escaped because he was not in Jinling City when the accident occurred and he was Salba's nephew." Ghost Face analyzed: "These people are all Being born in the Ministry of Revenue, they are familiar with all the customs of tax officials, and can easily obtain official uniforms. In addition, they are dissatisfied with the imperial court, so it is reasonable to do such a thing. "
"But where did the fake tax plates that they exchanged for the real tax plates come from?" Liu Ningshi expressed the question in her heart: "And what is the relationship between the burly man who secretly exchanged the tax plates and these fake tax collectors?"
"Miss Liu, we still missed one place that we didn't check." Ghost Face suddenly had an idea.
"Where?" Liu Ningshi asked.
"Dannian Blacksmith Shop!" Ghost Face shouted towards the file room: "Come, come with us to Danian Blacksmith Shop."
In the pavilion set up next to the east gate of Jinling City, a fat middle-aged man was sitting leisurely on a light blue futon drinking tea, his eyes staring at the passers-by at the gate.
"You? What about you?" The fat man pointed at a carriage that was about to leave the city gate, and then shouted to the guards guarding the city gate: "Why are you still waiting? Why don't you check the carriage?" box?"
"Yes, sir!" The two guards pointed their spears at the carriage's railing, and the other two guards had jumped on the carriage and were about to forcefully open the box.
"My lord, my lord! The common man is a serious businessman, please be careful." A businessman in fine clothes in front of the carriage hurriedly came to the middle-aged man and stuffed a piece of silver: "It's just a small thing.
Invite the brothers to tea. "
"Well! You know the rules very well!" The middle-aged man shook the money in his hand and waved his hand towards the guard: "No need to check, just let me go."
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir." The merchant with money in his pocket kept bowing to the fat gatekeeper.
"Let's go, let's go, don't disturb my tea drinking here." The fat gatekeeper waved his hand impatiently at the merchant.
"Second brother, what do you think?" On the second floor balcony facing the Wanzhuang Tea Shop at the city gate, a burly man said with disdain while drinking tea: "The taste is too bland, it's better to drink wine."
"Third brother, you were very drunk yesterday. Are you not satisfied that the elder brother didn't argue with you?" The man sitting opposite the burly man stared at the city gate again: "The two teams of fake merchants we have arranged have already We left the city smoothly, it seems that all the hidden sentries have been withdrawn."
"Second brother, you and the eldest brother are too suspicious." The burly man took off a gourd from his waist and took two sips: "Ah! This one still tastes good."
"Ahem!" Another man put his fist to his mouth and coughed twice: "Third brother, drink less. If something goes wrong in the mission later, how will the elder brother explain it?"
"Second brother, I got it." The burly man put away the wine bottle, grinned and said, "You can take a look at it later."
In just one cup of tea, the burly man, with his waist bulging out, his belly puffed out, and his rich clothes transformed into a lifelike wealthy businessman. Behind him were two carriages, each carrying two big red iron boxes. The lid of the box was sealed with red satin tied in the shape of a red flower. There were two attendants in purple on the left and right sides of the car, which looked very grand.
"Stop!" The fat middle-aged man stood up from the futon for the first time and walked towards the burly man in Chinese clothes: "What is in this car? Routine inspection."
"My lord, my young lady is going to leave the court in the near future. These are his dowry and will be sent to the groom's family." The burly man also took out a large amount of silver like the previous merchant: "My lord, please be accommodating and don't make any mistakes." It’s an auspicious time.”
"The lady is coming out of the cabinet. Which family is she from? There is no wealthy family in Jinling City that I don't know about." The fat man wandered around the carriage and looked at the rear of the carriage: "There is actually half an inch of indentation on the axle. It’s so deep, it seems like the contents of this box are very heavy.”
"The Lu family in the east of Jinling City." The burly man approached the fat man and chuckled, "He is the daughter of Lu Guifei's younger brother Lu Qin and Lu Yuanwai."
"Oh, it turns out he is the daughter of the Lu family." The fat man laughed loudly, his left hand casually holding on to an iron box, while his right hand kept weighing the money: "That's what happened; however, such a big happy event , this silver..."
"Understood! Understood." The burly man suddenly understood. He took a large ingot of silver from his arms and gave it to the fat man: "A little wedding money will make all the brothers happy."
"Haha, my friend is indeed on the road." The fat man greedily stuffed the two ingots of silver into his arms, and waved his hand towards the guard: "What are you doing, why are you not letting me go!"
Danian Blacksmith and Pangu Blacksmith Shop are located in Shuanglong Alley, but the reputation of this shop is very different from Pangu Blacksmith Shop. It has not yet reached noon, and the sound of blacksmithing has disappeared from the shop, and the furnace has stopped. The iron tunnel was gone, and the iron tunnel was cold. Instead, a few bored men used the iron tunnel as a tool table for gambling.
"Where is your shopkeeper?" Ghost Face walked into the shop with two court guards and knocked heavily on the counter. Liu Ningshi shook her head when she saw the scene in front of her; the desertedness here formed a contrast with the excitement of Pangu Blacksmith Shop. sharp contrast.
"The shopkeeper is not here." A man on the counter wearing a short shirt and bare strong arms was taking a nap with his chin in his hands. He was very unhappy to be woken up all of a sudden and stared at the ghost's face angrily.
"I am Tingwei Mansion Eagle Catcher Ghost Mian, I ask you again, where is your shopkeeper?" Ghost Mian slapped his palm on the cabinet, and wood chips suddenly flew everywhere, leaving a deep palm mark in it.
"It turns out to be Mr. Ghostface. I'm blind, but I can't see Taishan. Please forgive me." The man on the counter was stunned by the power of the palm, and quickly apologized: "Our shopkeeper went out to have a banquet, and I guess it will be very late. Only then can I come back.”
"The Tingwei Mansion was ordered to investigate the case. Since the grandson Zhang Danian is not here, you will take us to the warehouse to have a look." Ghost Face shouted.
"Yes, yes!" The man on the counter was frightened by Ghost Face's palm, and his attitude suddenly changed 180 degrees.
"You two stay here, no one here is allowed to move around." Ghost Face ordered to the two imperial guards.
"Yes, sir." The two imperial guards just stood beside the group of men who were betting on the sieve, so scared that they didn't dare to move.
"Brother Ren, you are so majestic." Liu Ningshi teased the ghost face.
"Miss Liu doesn't know that the shopkeeper of this blacksmith shop, Zhang Danian, is the godson of the right servant of the Ministry of Revenue. Just like his godfather, he doesn't do his job all day long, but he is proficient in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. It is said that he is a worshiper. This godfather didn't want to change his surname, so he changed his name to Danian to please Zhu Danian." A disdainful expression appeared on the ghost's face: "This grandson is a tough guy and not a softie. People are all infected with this problem. If they don’t use force and scare them, they won’t cooperate with us in investigating the case.”
"No wonder his shop is so depressed. It's because the upper beam is not aligned with the lower beam." Liu Ningshi shook her head and sighed.
