Zhao Tai also felt suspicious after listening to Zhao Hu's narration, but the situation in the brothels of the Southern Song Dynasty and that of Qi was indeed somewhat different.
Some of the singers and musicians in the Song Dynasty did not serve people with sex, but used their "poems, songs and dances" to please their guests. They were different from prostitutes who sold themselves.
Zhao Tai is surrounded by some rough guys and may not understand these elegant things.
Zhao Tai asked, "Can Jinyiwei find evidence that they contacted the Southern Song Dynasty?"
Zhao Hu shook his head, "I've been watching them for a long time, but I didn't find them transmitting information to the outside world! However, based on my intuition, there is probably something wrong with them. I came here today because I hope that the king will allow me to take them back to the prison for interrogation. .”
"No evidence?" Zhao Tai pulled off a beard, pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "It is quite inappropriate to take someone without any evidence."
Jinyiwei is a double-edged sword. If used well, it can help Zhao Tai solve many problems. If used poorly, it may also attract hatred for himself.
Although the main function of the Jinyiwei is to bypass the small court of Qi State and directly deal with people without having to master too much evidence or go through judicial procedures, which can greatly improve efficiency, but if this power is abused, it will be very difficult for Zhao Taihe. Qi State will also cause more serious harm.
If there is no evidence at all, just taking people directly will damage the political and business environment of Qi State.
Although this brothel was not the handicraft industry that Zhao Tai hoped to transfer from the Southern Song Dynasty, it was still an important weathervane and could provide a lot of tax revenue.
When Zhao Hu saw Zhao Tai's refusal, he saluted and said, "That minister will continue to send people to keep an eye on them."
"Wait a minute!" Seeing that Zhao Hu was about to resign, Zhao Tai stopped him, and then mused: "What kind of guests do those girls receive? Which officials of the court have contact with them, and what do they mainly do?"
Zhao Hu said: "They go to the house to accompany the officials when they entertain guests. They mainly sing, dance and play musical instruments. One of them, Mao Xixi, seems to be very accomplished in poetry. Someone at the banquet composed a poem and called She commented.”
Zhao Tai touched his chin, "You continue."
Zhao Hu said: "Now in Ye City, many officials are proud to invite these prostitutes to banquets. Even Bachelor Yuan will invite them to banquets."
"Yuan Haowen." Zhao Tai felt more and more interesting.
After Zhao Hu finished speaking, he stood aside and waited for Zhao Tai's instructions.
Zhao Tai pondered for a long time, and a smile appeared on his lips, "If they are secret agents of the Southern Song Dynasty, I probably know why you couldn't catch them to pass the news to the Southern Song Dynasty. When they came to Yecheng, the Imperial City Department of the Southern Song Dynasty should not have sent spies for their own safety. Contact them. Their way of delivering information should be to collect information in Yecheng and then return directly to the Southern Song Dynasty. In Jiangnan, when they were doing business, they originally traveled among prosperous cities to serve the gentry and wealthy households in various places. .”
Zhao Hu asked: "What the king means is to arrest them when they leave."
Zhao Tai shook his head, "Go and invite Bachelor Yuan over!"
Not long after Yuan Haowen left, he was called back by Zhao Hu.
"Your Majesty!" Yuan Haowen saluted with some doubts.
Zhao Tai smiled and said, "Sir, please sit down!"
After Yuan Haowen sat down, he thought that Zhao Tai was looking for him to talk about the imperial examination, so he took the initiative and said: "Does the king want to ask about the imperial examination? Although there was a war in the past two months, I organized examinations in various places and they were relatively successful. Now I have already informed the magistrate of Yecheng County to prepare the residence of the scholars in advance, and the Autumn Palace will be held as scheduled."
Zhao Tai waved his hand, "Mr. Gu Zhao came here not for the imperial examination. I have already read the memorial about the imperial examination and he did a good job."
"Then the king summons his ministers?" Yuan Haowen asked.
Zhao Tai smiled and said, "I want to tell you a story today."
Yuan Haowen had a question mark on his face, and he couldn't help but feel a little frightened in his heart, thinking that he didn't seem to have done anything bad, "Please make it clear, Your Majesty."
Zhao Taidao: "In the past, there were two regimes in the land south of the Yangtze River. One of them, named Zhou, was surrounded by many parties and was always harassed by another named Fang. This Zhou state was located in Suzhou, and there were many beauties in the territory, so the Zhou state collected some The beautiful women were sent to Taizhou, where Fang was, to spy on intelligence. Although Fang was a pirate, he invited the most famous talented women in the territory to entertain these singers from the Zhou Dynasty, chant poems to them, and treat them with courtesy. Finally, , when Fang bid farewell to these singers, these singers were moved by Fang and felt that Zhou only treated them as tools, but Fang truly treated them as human beings. These singers in turn informed Fang of all the information about Zhou. .”
Yuan Haowen was confused at first, thinking that there seemed to be no such two regimes in history, but later Yuan Haowen understood and asked tentatively: "The king is talking about the singers from the Southern Song Dynasty."
Zhao Tai smiled and said: "Sir, you understand correctly."
The story Zhao Tai told was not made up by him, but actually happened in history.
However, this period of history takes place more than a hundred years later at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the protagonists are Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen.
At that time, Zhang Shicheng had Zhu Yuanzhang to the west and Yang Wanzhe to the south. After Fang Guozhen, who occupied this east, was ordered to be settled by the Yuan Dynasty, he often attacked him from the sea.
In order to deal with Fang Guozhen, Zhang Shicheng selected some beautiful spies from the territory and sent them to Taizhou to spy on the military. However, these female spies were conquered by Fang Guozhen and betrayed Zhang Shicheng.
It was when Zhao Tai thought of this story that he wondered whether the Southern Song Dynasty was learning from Brother Cheng.
Yuan Haowen was a smart man and asked again: "What does the king want me to do?"
Zhao Tai smiled and said: "These Southern Song Dynasty singers are well-informed and talented. It is difficult for ordinary people to conquer such women. They must be people who can surpass them in knowledge and talent. Mr. Shilin is the leader of our literary circle in Qi State. A leader should be able to take on this important responsibility."
Yuan Haowen's cheeks were slightly red, "Your Majesty, I am nearly fifty years old, so I'm afraid I won't be able to do it."
If Zhao Tai hadn't been busy with official duties and worried about being assassinated, plus Zhao Tai could only plagiarize and his real cultural level was limited, it would be easy to expose him if they were together for a long time, otherwise he would have enjoyed it by himself.
Zhao Tai smiled and said: "Mr. Gu Dao must be fine. As long as he treats them as friends, respects them, and shows off his talents, Gu Dao is sure of success."
Seeing Zhao Tai's insistence, Yuan Haowen could only reluctantly say, "Then I'll try my best."
When Zhao Tai saw Yuan Hao's answer, he sent him away. After he left, Zhao Tai took out his treasures, had them packed tightly, and shipped them in a confidential manner, and asked his subordinates to send them to Yuan Mansion.
When Yuan Haowen returned to the mansion, he felt a little worried. The task assigned to him by Zhao Tai was obviously not easy.
Yuan Haowen was thinking at home when his servant suddenly came to report that several rewards had been sent from King Qi's palace.
Yuan Haowen thought about it and asked his servants to put the reward on the table.
At this time, his son Yuan Zhen came over. Seeing the rewards on the table, he couldn't help asking: "Dad, has the king given you another reward?"
Yuan Haowen just agreed casually. When Yuan Zhen saw that the things were packed tightly, he couldn't help but be curious and said: "Dad, let me show you what the king has rewarded!"
Seeing Yuan Haowen nodding in agreement, Yuan Zhen immediately opened the package. When he saw what was inside, Yuan Zhen was stunned for a moment.
Inside was a small medicine bottle with the words Shenlong Dan on it, followed by tiger whips, deer whips and other kinds of whips. There was also a small note on it that said, "My dear, please pay attention to your health."
After reading it, Yuan Zhen looked panicked. He quickly wrapped up the things and ran away without saying hello.
Yuan Haowen was a little confused when he saw this. He came over and opened it, and his face turned red immediately and he was dumbfounded.
