Thousands of Mountains

Chapter 36

A group of people sat in the study room, and only two candles were dimly lit. Luo Qingshan explained that the county government was not well-off, and usually only lit one candle. Today, there are many people and there are still distinguished guests, so they specially added another candle.

Against the wind howling ghosts and wolves outside, the flickering lights and candles inside, and the vain faces of a group of people, it looks very much like... a conspiracy.

Yin Cen opened his mouth first, "Qin Zhi County, the emperor mentioned your memorial submitted by the Inspectorate in the court, and he attached great importance to the tea tax case stated by the magistrate. We deliberately avoided Zhaoyang Mansion and went to Cang Yuan County also wants to meet here first to learn more about the tea tax case under investigation."

Qin Nianqin frowned, but hiccupped abruptly. Yin Cen glanced at Qin Nianqin, seeing Chen Ji's disgusted look at Qin Nianqin, and gestured to Chen Ji, who rolled his eyes skyward. , Yin Cen caught Wu Ye'er covering his mouth and giggling again, a thought popped into his mind, he was a little surprised and a little funny.

Qin Nianqin cleared his throat and said, "My lord Yushi, I have listed all my findings in the memorial, don't you all know?"

Yin Cen explained, "The Chaotang was reported by Zou Hengkong, the censor of Zuodu of the Inspectorate, Mr. Zou. Only the tea produced in Zhaoyang Prefecture investigated by the county magistrate was five times different from the records recorded by the Ministry of Household Affairs. But we have not seen the memorial with our own eyes, so we have no knowledge of the other statements."

Qin Nianqin was silent for a moment, but asked, "The lord Yushi and His Highness the Crown Prince came here this time, what is the result of the investigation?"

Yin Cen blurted out, "Of course it is the truth."

Qin Nianqin's eyes sparkled, "What is the truth?"

Yin Cen was taken aback, "Qin County Magistrate, what do you say?"

Qin Nianqin smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth, "Most people in the world can't bear the absolute truth, but only choose the relative truth. The relative truth is the truth that is beneficial to oneself, acceptable, and pleasing to all."

Yin Cen didn't expect this person to make such remarks, and was thinking about it, Qin Nianqin said again, "If your lord is only looking for an explanation to the emperor and the Inspectorate, it will take too much trouble to come here this time, at most Resting in Zhaoyang Mansion, you can get a happy truth, Qin is not a self-willed and pedantic person, if the adults make this choice, Qin, a county magistrate, has no right to intervene."

Chen Ji frowned, and couldn't help but said, "Qin Zhi County, you have sent more than a dozen memorials, and finally the emperor saw it and sent someone to investigate thoroughly, but you are still mocking, why is that?"

Qin Nianqin was not afraid, and said calmly, "Your Majesty has the heart to investigate thoroughly, do you all? If it's just a formality, so that I can go back to work, what I said is quite frank."

Yin Cen said lightly, "Qin Zhixian is indeed frank, so Pingshan will also confess his confession. Although we don't know what the absolute truth the magistrate said, we think that since the magistrate has such worries, it must involve a wide range of people and deeply involved in the matter. "He fixedly looked back at Qin Nianqin, "But the truth is the truth, no matter how much can be revealed in the end, but first of all, what I want to see and understand must be the whole truth."

Qin Nianqin's face was serious, completely gone from the absurd look when the two sides just met, Luo Qingshan said at this time, "His Royal Highness, Lord Yushi, what Qin Zhixian said was not intended to offend, but the investigation process over the years. During the filming, the two of us were really frightened. We were chased and killed by unknown people several times, and there were threatening letters. All kinds of weird and scary things were thrown at the county government. It’s not perfect, and that’s why... the first time I saw a few people carrying knives, my first reaction was that someone was going to kill us again..."

Qin Nianqin interrupted, "Qingshan! What are you talking about?"

Yin Cen and Chen Ji's eyes met, so it was like this, no wonder the moment they met each other, they felt that the other party was always on guard.

Feeling a little bit of guilt in his heart, he also expected that the future of the tea tax case would be dangerous, Yin Cen cupped his hands to Qin Nianqin and said, "I don't know why it turned out to be so. I really frightened the county magistrate when I came here so abruptly, I have to pay for it here."

Qin Nianqin replied generously, "I don't dare, the lord Yu Shi went directly to Cangyuan County, the lower official was actually very happy, but..." He laughed at himself, "I'm just a scholar, I have to guard against it often. "

It was a misunderstanding in the end, Yin Cen said again, "Since that's the case, I would like to ask the magistrate of Qin to report the results of the investigations over the years."

Qin Nianqin got up, walked slowly in the study, and said calmly, "I haven't done anything special, but I have been checking the actual amount of tea produced by Zhaoyang Mansion every year."

He continued to explain, "Everyone knows that each batch of tea will be divided into three grades after picking, and the top ones will be sent directly to the palace as tribute tea by the supervisor of ceremonies. This ratio is no more than one-tenth or less. It has always been clear."

"The second level is the official tea. It is the tea with the best quality in each batch of tea, usually accounting for five to six out of ten. The official tea is divided into two types. One is used for the government's tea-horse exchange market. On the frontiers of western Sichuan, Kanxi, and western Yunnan, tea and horse exchanges are carried out with nomadic ethnic groups; the other type is monopoly, where tea merchants first purchase tea and then sell the tea to a predetermined area. The government controls it, and the tea tax for official tea is extremely high, which is the main source of tea tax.”

"The third grade is crude tea. It is the low-quality tea in each batch of tea, which accounts for only three to four out of ten. It can be traded freely. Ordinary merchants and people can trade without tea, and some people sell it to other countries. The army is all right, this part of the tea tax is relatively low, only one-tenth, only a small part of the total tea tax."

Everyone looked at Qin Nianqin and listened to his eloquence. At this moment, Qin Nianqin frowned again, looked at Yin Cen and Chen Ji, "Cangyuan County is a big tea-producing county, ten of the farmers Six or seven of them are tea farmers. In previous years, except for handing in official tea, they lived on the leftover rough tea trading. In recent years, the rough tea from tea farmers and tea merchants can hardly be sold. The more tea they grow, the more difficult life is. To investigate the heart."

"Why is this? Why can't it sell in recent years if it sold in previous years?" Chen Ji asked.

Qin Nianqian turned around and replied to Chen Ji, "Your Highness does not know, the quality of crude tea traded in the market is better than that of tea farmers, but the price is almost the same, or even lower. How do tea farmers and tea merchants live? Don’t say that this year’s new rough tea cannot be sold, and the old tea from two or three years ago is still piled up at home.”

"Then if this continues, no one will plant tea?" Yin Cen asked again.

"A tea field is different from a farmland. Once a tea field is planted, it is counted as a tenant farmer of the government. No matter what the field is used for, a certain amount of tea must be paid to the government every year. Although the life of tea farmers in the past was hard, it is better than that. Ordinary farmland has a high harvest, which is why the number of local tea fields has expanded rapidly, but now the more abundant the harvest, the more miserable life is, how can there be such a reason in the world?"

Yin Cen generally understands that the most important thing now is to find out where the high-quality "crude tea" entering the market comes from.

Qin Nianqin continued, "In order to find out the root cause, Master Luo and I have been disguised in various disguises over the years, sneaked into tea fields, tea farms, and even the tea and salt department to find out the inside story."

"How is the result?"

"After the tea farmers picked the tea, all the proceeds were handed over to the Tea and Salt Division, and then the Tea and Salt Division ordered the Tea House to select and process the tea leaves. The tea is handed over to the Tea and Salt Department. At this time, the uses and destinations of all kinds of tea are prepared by the Tea and Salt Department. The tribute tea is handed over to Jingzhong. The crude tea returned to the hands of tea farmers."

"Master Luo and I made an unannounced investigation and found that tea farmers would not stop tea production without permission, because once discovered, it would be a serious crime to implicate the three clans. Although the tea research workshop is supervised by the Tea and Salt Department, it is not a government agency in essence. It is run by private merchants, tea making and official tea sales are all related to it. Master Luo was discovered when he entered the tea research workshop in disguise, and he was beaten before he was released. The amount of official tea I wrote in the memorial , is also what Master Luo discovered in the tea workshop, so there is no mistake."

Yin Cen thought for a while, "So, I still don't know where the rough tea mixed into the folks came from."

Qin Nianqin and Luo Qingshan looked at each other, and said, "I have discussed with the master many times, this kind of secret method is either in the tea house, or in the tea and salt department, if the tea is made in the tea house If the quantity is correct, the problem can only lie with the Tea and Salt Division.”

Chen Ji asked again, "Why did the magistrate of Qin just say that the information obtained by Master Luo will not be wrong?"

Qin Nianqin was taken aback for a moment, then smiled, and said, "His Royal Highness, I, Master Luo, is not an ordinary person. Although I don't look good and I don't look very smart, I am a very delicate and intelligent person inside. The biggest The ability is to do good calculations and the ability to have a good memory, especially for digital ledgers."

At this time, Luo Qingshan also smiled proudly, touched his beardless chin, and said casually, "In the spring of Ningxi's 20th year, Cangyuan County, Zhaoyang Prefecture prepared a total of 20 catties of tribute tea, 30 catties of high-quality official tea, 50 catties of Zhongcheng official tea, 45 catties of Xiacheng official tea, 21 catties of crude tea, the spring of Ningxi's [-]st year..."

Yin Cen frowned and said, "This number is several times different from the record of the household department."

"Indeed." Qin Nianqin said, "I suffer from the lack of evidence that they sell official tea as crude tea, so I can only write down the difference between the actual harvest and the number of prepared tea leaves in the memorial. Pay attention and investigate this matter thoroughly.”

Yin Cen nodded, so far he was fully aware of the ins and outs of Qin Nianqin's quilt, he remembered something, and added, "Although the county magistrate and the master have checked, the research tea house is not fraudulent, but they also control the trade of official tea. They found that the amount of official tea sold was wrong, but they did not pursue it, that is to say, they were in collusion with the tea and salt department."

Luo Qingshan nodded and said, "There are two very important books, one is the preparation account book of the research tea house that I have seen before, and the other is the actual trade sales account book of official tea, which I have never seen before. , but it must also be in the tea house.”

Chen Ji asked, "Who is in charge of this tea research workshop?"

Qin Nianqin replied, "A big businessman, Ye Mingzhi."

Chen Ji asked again, "Have you seen the magistrate of Qin?"

"I met him once. This person is used to dealing with the prefect of Zhaoyang. I am not qualified to sit with him as a mere magistrate."

"So arrogant?"

"This person controls the preparation of official tea and exclusive sales of tea in Yunnan and Sichuan. The government relies on him to make money. Even the tea-horse trade market needs his mediation to get the best horses. His words are comparable to most officials. It has more weight."

Yin Cen said, "The businessman has some ability to do this."

Chen Ji snorted coldly, "I'm afraid the tree will attract the wind."

Yin Cen glanced at him. This kid had been at odds with Qin Nianqin from the very beginning, and he had a slight headache. He said to Qin Nianqin, "It's getting late today, everyone, let's rest first. Tomorrow we will formally go to the Zhaoyang government office to pay a visit. Prefect Qiu Luhua, Master Qiu, in order to avoid alarming others, the magistrate of Qin County doesn’t have to go with us tomorrow, just wait here for the news.”

Qin Nianqin nodded, "If the prefect Qiu knows that His Highness the Crown Prince and Lord Yushi came here first, I'm afraid he won't let me go."

The five people stood up in the room while talking, but no one moved. Luo Qingshan slapped his head in a little embarrassment, "My lord, there is no official post in Cangyuan County, and there is probably no suitable one in the county now." Why don’t we just spend the night in the county government’s inn?”

Only then did Qin Nianqin come to his senses, and said again and again, "There are vacancies in the county office, but the conditions are quite simple. I don't know how many..."

Yin Cen and Chen Ji were about to speak, but Wu Ye'er blurted out, "It doesn't matter! We can settle for anything."

Chen Ji was taken aback, why is this kid so active?

Luo Qingshan led the three of them out of the house, Yin Cen and Chen Ji entered the courtyard, but Wu Ye'er was still in the study, and a voice came, "Master just said that your injury is not healed, where is the injury? Let me see." Look."

Qin Nianqin lowered his voice anxiously and startled, "His Royal Highness and Lord Yushi are still in the courtyard... What are you doing?! Let me go..."

Luo Qingshan stood there dumbfounded as if he had been pinned down, and was about to rush back into the house when Yin Cen quickly grabbed him back, "Don't worry, there will be even half a hair in Qinzhi County."

As Yin Cen dragged Luo Qingshan, the three of them left the courtyard quickly, and came to three bedrooms side by side at the back. Luo Qingshan said, "I live in one with the county magistrate of Qin, and there are two others. Please invite some generals to sleep in." gone."

After all, he still glanced at the front yard from time to time, very worried, Qin Zhixian is a white and weak scholar, that black-faced man is tall and big, if Qin Zhixian is bullied, he will not suffer!

But Yin Cen said to him again, "Go back to the house and sleep on your sleep, and you are not allowed to come out when there is a lot of noise outside."

Fatty Luo shrank his neck and walked into the room.

Wu Ye'er held Qin Nianqin's quilt tightly with one arm, and as soon as it touched Qin Nianqin's shoulder, there was a hiss of pain. Wu Ye'er tore off his clothes, and saw a sharp knife wound on Xuebai's shoulder, I took a deep breath in my heart, who is so cruel!

Qin Nianqin couldn't move in his arms, his eyes were already filled with water, he didn't know if it was the pain or he felt humiliated|humiliated.

Wu Ye'er let go of the person, pressed him on the chair, took out a small bottle from her waist, and bit off the stopper with her mouth, Qin Nianqin asked in surprise, "What is it?"

Wu Ye'er didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "The good medicine for wounds, I applied it today, and the pain will be gone when I go to bed at night, and I'll be almost healed by tomorrow."

Qin Nianqin was skeptical, and watched Wu Ye'er sprinkle some powder on the wound, grinning and screaming in pain again.

After applying the medicine, Wu Ye'er let go of her hand and said, "A scholar, why is he shouting so loudly, like killing a pig."

Qin Nianqin actually blushed, "Of course you don't know if you don't hurt."

Wu Ye'er smiled and stretched out her arms forward, "If you bite me, I promise not to bark."

Qin Nianqin said in embarrassment, "You're crazy..."

Wu Ye'er said again, "Ah, no, do you have any medicine?"

Qin Nianqin: ...

I, a scholar, can't beat a martial artist...

Wu Ye'er stuffed the vial into his arms, "I'm going to Zhaoyang Mansion with me tomorrow, remember to apply the medicine every night, when I come back, you'll be all right."

After finishing speaking, he smiled at Qin Nianqin, turned around and walked into the courtyard.

Qin Nianqin sat on the chair, unable to recover for a while, what do you mean waiting for him to come back?I touched my face, it was hot.