All banknotes in the Daning Dynasty were in charge of the Papermaking Institute, and the Sichuan paper used in the banknotes was directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. Private individuals were not allowed to purchase and print them, and those who violated the order would be beheaded.
But now Lao Mao said that the one hundred taels of silver note in front of him was fake money.
No matter in terms of patterns or anti-counterfeit watermarks, Lu Anran and the others could not find any inconsistencies when comparing them with real coins.
Old Mao pointed to a certain place on the bank note, "You ordinary people can't tell the difference. Otherwise, how dare they use such bank notes to enter the market. But I have an unusual perception of colors. It's difficult to hide it from me. Look here, the last pattern is made of different materials.”
"Oh~~~" Lu Taotao blinked: "I can't tell."
The old cat affirmed: "He must be trapped and asking me for help in this way."
Putting aside the truth and lies, Lu Anran asked: "Then what did you do?"
"The owner of this counterfeit currency is a merchant in Yi County. If you have checked Jin Yu'e, you should also know him."
Lu Anran felt blessed and asked: "Could it be Liu Zhiquan?"
"Yes." Old Mao nodded: "I looked for opportunities to have sex with him, but he had an accident not long after. It happened that I discovered his relationship with Jin Yu'e again at that time. Unfortunately, that woman lived in seclusion and only made friends with merchants. , it was difficult for me to get close to her, and in the end I had to start with pandan."
"What is your relationship with Xianglan and the Mark of the Divine Fox?"
"What I know is that a fox fairy happened to appear in Yi County, and Xianglan recommended me to tattoo Jin Yu'e with the mark of the divine fox. I didn't tell any lies before. They did provide me with the dye. Even though I noticed something was wrong after I got it, it was just strange.”
It’s not unusual for dyes to be familiar with the root of esculenta, and it’s not unusual for perfume makers to be familiar with dragon lychee, but few people know that the two together can cause psychedelic effects.
The old cat went from being puzzled to deepening his doubts, because "Jin Yu'e died, Xianglan died again, and even Liu Changhe died, so I felt something was wrong." It was such a coincidence that the dead people all had the same name. He had tattoos.
"I secretly checked a lot of books, but I couldn't find out anything. At that time, I was afraid that they would silence me, and I didn't dare to blatantly ask for a doctor. Just when I was hiding in a prostitute, I saw the thugs inside. The woman was using poison, so I changed my direction and finally discovered that the combination of Ru Ga and Long Li actually had such effects."
Lu Anran had seen from the previous time that Lao Mao was very slippery and cunning. Otherwise, he would not have been able to hide in the capital for so long while everyone was secretly rounding him up. Therefore, it was unlikely that he would have discovered the secrets of Ru Gao and Long Li. Very surprising.
Old Mao said from the side: "I secretly went to Xianglan's room, but because the ashes were not obvious after the Longli was burned, I didn't find any clues, but I know that they used this method to kill people."
Lu Anran believed it because Feiyan had indeed seen him sneaking into Xianglan's room.
Lu Taotao squeezed both sides of his face inward with the palms of his hands, making his mouth look like a rooster's mouth, "Why don't you go to the government to report the case?"
"Don't think that I don't know that the master behind Qiongxian Tower is a high official in the court. They dare to brazenly mess around in Qiongxian Tower. Who knows if anyone in the court has a hand in it."
Lu Anran's eyes flashed with thought, "According to you, whether it was Jiang Chao at the beginning, or Jin Yu'e or Xiang Lan later, the reason why they were killed was because of counterfeit coins?"
"That's what I thought." Lao Mao found nothing in the process of searching for Jiang Chao. "Jin Yu'e and Xiang Lan have different identities on the surface, but they are both working for the people behind the scenes in order to sell those counterfeit coins. .”
Lu Anran couldn't help but think of what Wu once said -
"Liu Zhiquan's heart was as high as the sky, and he only thought about making a fortune. Before the accident, he kept shouting that the opportunity was coming soon."
There are also more than 10,000 taels that Liu Zhiquan disappeared, as well as the mistress who has not been found.
If Liu Zhiquan bought all his silver coins into counterfeit coins, and then tried to sell the counterfeit coins in his hands to make a fortune...
The more Lu Anran thought about it, the more frightened he became, because although there was only one Liu Zhiquan, he didn't know how many people like Liu Zhiquan there were, and he didn't know how many counterfeit coins had harmed ordinary people and merchants in the Ning Dynasty.
No wonder!
No wonder Jin Yu'e traveled among various merchants and was obsessed with the resemblance to her deceased husband. In fact, she was simply a middleman in selling stolen goods.
"Well, I remembered there was a wicker or something. His uncle was the prime minister. Wasn't he also killed?"
Lu Taotao's voice woke up Lu Anran. She heard the old cat say disdainfully: "Liu Changhe? I think he died unluckily."
Lu Taotao probably thought this reason was very interesting, and chuckled.
"Liu Changhe saw me hiding in Xianglan's room that day. He was probably suspected of seeing something he shouldn't have seen and was silenced. Either Xianglan did it or the person behind her."
This explanation is reasonable. Lu Anran still has another question, "Banknotes can be fake and real, but the font sizes are connected. If the same font size appears, one of them must be fake. No matter how similar the banknotes are, they are fake. Sooner or later, the real ones can be found out." Fake."
Lu Taotao spread his hands: "Yes, isn't it a waste of effort?"
Old Mao said in a more cautious tone, "I don't know what's extra. Once when I was getting a tattoo, I overheard them saying something about buying in large quantities and stocking up on food and weapons."
Lu Anran clasped his hands and was silent for a moment. He thought of something and suddenly raised his eyes: "Where did they sell the counterfeit coins?"
—
Imperial Palace, Linhua Hall.
The emperor was also talking to Nangong Zhi about the scourge of counterfeit money, "Fake banknotes were used to buy food and weapons in the southwest, causing prices to skyrocket, the poor could not afford to eat, and the wanderers gathered into bandits, making it difficult for the people to live in peace."
It turned out that a small amount of counterfeit currency was found circulating in some places in the southwest a year ago. When the number increased sharply later that year, the emperor secretly ordered Yunqi to go and verify it. Yunqi left the capital at that time because of this matter.
After hearing this, Nangong Zhi said clearly: "Your Majesty sent Prince Yun and Qi Shen to lead the way, apparently to eliminate bandits, but actually to investigate the counterfeit currency case."
The emperor shook his head: "It's true to eliminate bandits, but it's also true to investigate the case."
Nangong Zhi frowned and said, "I don't understand, since the emperor wants to investigate the case, why should he make such a big fuss? This will make things difficult for Prince Yun."
"Yuan Su, do you really think that since the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, you can do whatever you want after leaving the capital?"
The emperor's deep voice was lowered, and Nangong Zhi was startled.
"I sent Yunqi there twice, but nothing was found the first time. What do you think the thief will think?"
They must think that the imperial court is incompetent, not to mention that Yunqi has a reputation as an embroidered pillow, so they will let their guard down.
Nangong Zhi's mind was spinning rapidly, "So the emperor sent Prince Yun again, in order to tell others that the court had discovered something and forced the other party to reveal their flaws. But in this way, Prince Yun's safety would be in danger..."
"Yuan Su, those who achieve great things do not stick to trivial matters. Prince Meng Duyun is also a minister of our Great Ning Dynasty. He is loyal to the court. I will remember his contribution."
Nangong Zhi lowered his eyelids. The emperor glanced at him lightly and said in a slow tone: "I trust you not only because your father once took a stab for me, but also because you are worthy of great use and will take over the important task of the cabinet in the future. Today, I want you to remember one sentence: being soft-hearted is a taboo."
Stepping out of the gate of Linhua Palace, Nangong Zhi's expression didn't look strange. He nodded to Wang Qie and left the palace.
Passing by the Imperial Garden Stone Bridge, Concubine Shu and her maid were feeding fish on the bridge. Nangong Zhi couldn't avoid it and saluted the graceful and wealthy woman in the center of the bridge.
Concubine Shu gave birth to three children, and they still looked young and beautiful. The second prince looked like his mother, but they were only similar in spirit, not even close to Concubine Shu.
Seeing Nangong Zhi, Concubine Shu threw the remaining fish food into the lake and smiled, "The emperor has recruited you into the palace again?"
"Yes, concubine."
"It's true, Your Majesty. You haven't asked anyone to have a good rest even though you've been touring east for a long time."
"This is all a minor matter."
Concubine Shu said with a smile: "Young assistant is young and does things properly. No wonder the emperor thinks highly of me."
Naturally, Nangong Zhi didn't dare to take the credit, so the two of them said goodbye and went back after saying a few polite words.
Concubine Shu asked Hong Shang, the eldest maid next to her, to help her as she walked back, saying, "Did you see that this treatment is closer than your own?"
"Mom, please relax. Even the broken bones are still connected. The emperor and the second prince are the biological father and son who share the same blood."
Concubine Shu raised her willow eyebrows sideways, raised her red lips, and said without a smile: "I'm just so angry that I'm talking about patrolling the east. All the pirates in Juhai have been killed. What's the point of patrolling for him? Why don't he just go away?" I mean, I want to put gold on my body. I remember when I approached the emperor for this errand and asked the second prince to go with me, the emperor refused."
Hongshang thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, you don't worry about scarcity but inequality. Maybe the Emperor is worried that once the second prince is gone, the Queen will have some opinions."
Concubine Shu sighed: "Yes, that person is also used to taking advantage of loopholes."
"In the final analysis, the empress should still be more careful with Jiaofang Palace. No matter how capable Nangong Shaofu is, he is still a minister. Even if he is in charge of the cabinet in the future, he will still work for the emperor. Whoever is the king will be his master."
Concubine Shu looked sideways at her, "You are right to remind me that there is a difference between monarch and minister. No matter how powerful Nangong Zhi is, he can't change the world." Concubine Shu didn't think of this herself, but she saw the emperor attacking Nangong Zhi every day, so he treated her instead. The second prince is neither cold nor hot, and it is inevitable that he will be angry.
At this time, Hongshang thought of something and said, "My dear, I heard that Madam Langzhongling entered the palace yesterday?"
"The queen wants to marry her niece to the prince again?" Concubine Shu sneered, "She has made a good plan and will not fall behind others. Give herself some room."
Hongshang shook her head, looked around cautiously, covered her lips with her hands and whispered a few words to Concubine Shu. Concubine Shu's eyes lit up after hearing this, "Seriously?"
"Yes, there were one or two sentences with a high pitched voice, and the little palace maid who was sprinkling water outside listened."
Concubine Shu rolled her eyes, "Bring a message to my father and ask him to secretly find out what happened. Who died in the hands of the Gu family?"
