Fenghou

Chapter 1411 Compromise
The smuggling of salt actually involved the head of state, and the court meeting could only end temporarily. Zhao Gou called Yan Xin to the imperial study room, and asked angrily, "Have you investigated Feng Ji's dry goods shop in detail to find out the truth?"

Yan Xin bowed and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I just found out about my humble position, and I didn't have time to investigate. Maybe the head of the country didn't know about it, and it was the people below who acted recklessly."

Zhao Gou is not a fool, of course he knows that selling illegal salt must be Feng Daji's decision, one family sold several hundred catties of illegal salt, how many tens of thousands of catties of illegal salt were sold by so many families in Lin'an City?
He held back his anger and asked, "How do you plan to investigate?"

Yan Xin hurriedly said: "When it comes to the head of the state, the humble position must follow His Majesty's instructions."

The implication is that without a will, he will not act.

Zhao Gou paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. Concubine Feng De was his favorite concubine, and Feng Guozhang had just been crowned King of Guangling County.It will directly destroy his country and society.

On one side are the relatives of the emperor, and on the other side is the country. In order to protect the country, Zhao Gou could only kill Ma Di with tears.

Zhao Gou gritted his teeth and said, "Check it out, and give me a detailed report in three days!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, if you want to investigate Feng Ji's dry goods store, I can only put Feng Daji and his son under house arrest first."

"Okay! House arrest first, and finally I will release it."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Yan Xin saluted and hurried away.

Zhao Gou was upset, and suddenly he thought of the 300 million yuan he had promised, and his heart became even more agitated.

He knew very well that the so-called imperial court borrowed money, and the possibility of repaying it was very small. In fact, it was just a trick to get him to pay in a tactful way.

Zhao Gou was stingy from the bottom of his heart. The internal treasury was his private property. How could he be willing to spend 300 million guan to support the court, at most a million guan, and the other 200 million guan. After much deliberation, he decided to ask the Queen Mother to pay the money. Don't you want to bring the son of Beidi to enjoy the glory and wealth?Can!The condition is 200 million yuan.

Of course, Zhao Gou still has a bottom line. These two barbarians are not allowed to set foot in Lin'an, and they can be placed in Pingjiang or Health Mansion.

After making up his mind, Zhao Gou ordered: "Show me your car, go to Qingfeng Pavilion!"

In midsummer, Empress Dowager Wei usually takes refuge in Qingfeng Pavilion.

Zhao Gou finally reached a compromise with Empress Dowager Wei. Empress Dowager Wei agreed to lend 200 million yuan to the imperial court, with half of the money paid by her and the other half by her brother Wei Tong. After spending a lot of money, 100 million won't put much pressure on him, and besides, the Queen Mother has orders, so he can get it if he doesn't come out.

As a condition, Zhao Gou agreed that Queen Mother Wei would take back the two sons born in Beidi, and also agreed to confer titles on them as dukes of the country and grant them fields and houses. It can be placed anywhere, but it cannot be placed in Laian.

Empress Dowager Wei finally agreed to the emperor's additional conditions, and decided to place her two sons in Xiaoshan County, Yuezhou, which is only a few dozen miles away from Lin'an, so it is very convenient to visit.

At the same moment when the emperor and the queen mother were negotiating, Yan Xin, the commander of the Plum Blossom Guard, brought hundreds of Plum Blossom Guard soldiers to the Feng Mansion, also known as Guangling County Prince's Mansion.

Feng Daji was originally the governor of Poyang County. After her daughter was drafted into the palace, she gradually gained the favor of the emperor and was named a concubine of virtue. Feng Daji's social status also increased. The palace supplies food, and has earned a lot of money in these years. In addition, the emperor rewarded him with a large amount of land, and he does not need to pay taxes. The annual land rent is hundreds of thousands of shi.

However, since the year before last, Feng Daji's wealth has also suffered a severe blow. His land is mainly concentrated in the Poyang Lake area of ​​Jiangnan West Road. As a result, it was confiscated by the Western Army as military land, and his land rent dropped sharply to several thousand shi.

How could Feng Daji be willing to let his wealth shrink? He wanted his daughter to ask for the land in the south of the Yangtze River for him. It doesn't matter if there are two, but unfortunately his daughter has passed the period of being the most beloved, Zhao Gou will not give him any more land, and finally only gave him [-] yuan as compensation, which is considered to have fulfilled the friendship of a son-in-law.

Feng Daji suffered a lot, but he couldn't get compensation, so the emperor sent him away with a mere [-] guan, which transferred the dissatisfaction and anger in his heart to the emperor Zhao Gou.

Since last year, he has been secretly operating private salt. As a security officer, he also knows that the consequences of operating private salt are serious, but his dissatisfaction with the emperor and his eagerness to get compensation made him start selling private salt without hesitation, let alone others The rich and powerful can sell private salt, why can't I?
In the lobby, Feng Daji is discussing with his two sons about opening a branch in Yuezhou. Their Feng Ji dry goods store has opened [-] stores in Lin'an, basically monopolizing the dry goods market and condiment market in Lin'an. Of course Feng Daji will not be satisfied , starting this year, he plans to expand the store to other places, and Yuezhou will bear the brunt of it.

At this time, there was a fierce noise outside, "You can't go in, this is the county palace, you can't mess around!"

Feng Daji and his two sons looked at each other, they walked quickly to the hall, only to see the butler running in, and said anxiously: "My lord, Plum Blossom Guard broke into the palace!"

"what!"

Feng Daji was furious, "Who is it? You dared to break into my palace!"

"it's me!"

Yan Xin walked in with a large group of soldiers.

Feng Daji was startled, "Yan Dutong, what do you mean by this?"

"It's nothing, I just want to ask the county king and son to live in another place."

Feng Daji gritted his teeth and said: "I am the king of Guangling County, do the officials know that you are so rude?"

Yan Xin nodded, "The officials asked me to treat the prince with courtesy, please!"

Feng Daji suddenly felt bad, lay on the ground and yelled, "Killer! I want to go to the palace to find Concubine De, and someone wants to kill her father. Go and report to Concubine De, and say that Plum Blossom Guard killed someone!"

Yan Xin was really annoyed, and waved his hand, "Take them away!"

A dozen Plum Blossom Guard soldiers rushed up and dragged Feng Daji away. Feng Daji struggled desperately and yelled, but was gagged by a ball of rags, covered his head with a black cloth, tied his hands and feet, and forcibly pulled away. His two sons were more cooperative, but they were covered with black cloth bags and did not suffer from gags and tying up.

With Feng Daji, Yan Xin issued a search order. More than 1000 Plum Blossom Guard soldiers searched 20 shops and warehouses of the palace at the same time, and arrested Zhang Ying, the chief steward in charge of the salt industry. Nine shops seized more than [-] catties of illegal salt, and according to the chief steward's account, another [-] catties of illegal salt were found in a warehouse outside the city. Almost all of the illegal salt in Lin'an City was sold by Feng Ji's dry goods store.

Soon they got a detailed statement from Zhang Ying, the chief steward, that their salt was supplied by Li Zengping, a salt lord in Xuanzhou. As for where Li Zengping got the salt from, they didn't know.

Only then did Yan Xin suddenly realize that he was a bit alarmed, and it might not be easy to catch Li Zengping.

(End of this chapter)