Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 220 Book of Accounts
"Master, I learned from a servant that Jiang Jingming often went to a concubine's courtyard, but never spent the night there. I thought it was a little unusual, so I had someone search it carefully, and found it in the concubine's bedroom. Enter the entrance to the secret room," Zhang An said.

"Haha, the entrance to the secret room was placed in the concubine's room. It's quite original. Where is the concubine?" Yuan Wenshao asked.

Generally speaking, normal people would definitely place the secret room where they feel most at ease. Since Jiang Jingming placed the entrance to the secret room in that concubine's room, he must have great trust in that concubine.

That concubine must know a lot of Jiang Jingming's secrets.

"It's already been taken," Zhang An said.

Yuan Wenshao nodded and said, "Let's go and see the secret room."

Arriving at the room where the entrance to the secret room was, Yuan Wenshao saw that a shelf with items in the room had been removed, revealing a small hole.

There is a stone slab beside it, which should be the cover of the cave entrance.

There is a ladder going down at the entrance of the cave, and it is pitch dark, so you can't see what's going on inside.

"Master, I will inform you when I find the entrance to the secret room. I haven't gone down there yet, how about I go down first to explore the way?"

Seeing that Yuan Wenshao was about to go down, Zhang An said quickly.

Yuan Wenshao felt that Jiang Jingming had hidden the entrance to the secret room so secretly that he would not have set up a trap. However, for the sake of safety, it was better to send someone down to explore first.

"Arrange for others to go." Yuan Wenshao said.

"Yes!" Zhang An responded, calling two soldiers and asking them to go down and explore the way.

The two soldiers held torches and walked down the ladder one after another.

The hole was not big, so both of them had to bend down when they went down, and Yuan Wenshao couldn't see what was going on below.

"Master Hou, there is no danger down there!"

After waiting for a while, shouts came from below.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Wenshao and Zhang An walked away.

When I got out of the secret room, I saw a lot of boxes piled up in the corners of the secret room.

These boxes look small and can be picked up by one person.

On the other side are several shelves with many rare treasures on them.

"Open those boxes and take a look." Yuan Wenshao ordered.

"Yes!"

The two soldiers responded and went up to bring down a box.

As a result, he couldn't hold it at all, so the two of them had to work together to lift it.

Even so, it was still very difficult, so Zhang An stepped forward to help.

The box was not locked. After the box was lifted down, Zhang An opened the box directly.

"Sigh~"

When the box was opened and they saw the contents, the two soldiers' eyes were filled with fire.

When Yuan Wenshao saw the boxes full of gold bars, he was not too surprised and said, "Open all those boxes."

"Yes!"

Zhang An responded and called to the soldiers to carry down all the stacked boxes.

There were more than 30 boxes piled up in the corner. After all the boxes were removed, Zhang An opened them all in turn.

"Master Hou, it's all gold bars, estimated to be around 6 taels." Zhang An said.

"Don't worry about the gold bars for now, look for a letter account book."

After Yuan Wenshao finished speaking, he started looking for it on the shelf next to him.

"Are there other secret rooms?"

Yuan Wenshao and others searched the secret room several times but found nothing. This secret room seemed to be only used to hide treasures, only the gold and the rare treasures on the shelves.

6 taels of gold was only 60 taels of silver. Although it was astonishing, as the largest businessman in Bianjing, it was normal for Jiang Jingming to have so much money in the secret room. On the contrary, Yuan Wenshao felt that it was still a little short.

Yuan Wenshao guessed whether there were other secret rooms.

"Take the things off the shelf and move the shelf away." Yuan Wenshao said.

"Yes!"

Zhang An and two soldiers carefully took down the items from several shelves, and then lifted the shelves out.

"Master, there is a secret door here." Zhang An exclaimed.

Yuan Wenshao came forward with a torch and saw a hole about one meter in the wall behind the shelf. He shined the light with the torch and saw that the hole was surrounded by iron plates. It was deep and dark and he didn't know where it led.

"Zhang An, take someone out of this secret passage and see where it leads. Be careful." Yuan Wenshao said.

"Yes!"

Zhang An responded and led a soldier into the secret passage.

Yuan Wenshao frowned as he looked at the secret passage. He suspected that this secret passage was used for escape. If so, Jiang Jingming either put the most important things in the secret room, or there was a secret room at the other end of the secret passage.

Thinking of this, Yuan Wenshao looked at those shelves again.

"Huh~"

Yuan Wenshao looked at it and suddenly found that the shelf was very uncoordinated. After a closer look, he found that some boards were thicker than others.

Yuan Wenshao stepped forward to examine it carefully, and soon he found a very faint gap under the wooden board.

There were the same gaps under several other thicker boards. If he hadn't looked carefully, he wouldn't have been able to find them.

Yuan Wenshao took out a dagger from his arms and pried it up along the gap.

"pat~"

As he pried, a thin wooden board and an account book fell out.

Yuan Wenshao's face lit up, and he opened it and saw that it contained some transaction accounts, which seemed to be just ordinary account books.

He naturally knew that these could not be ordinary account books, otherwise there would be no need for Jiang Jingming to hide them so tightly, but he did not have time to look carefully now and pry open several other places.

In the end, a total of six account books were obtained. Yuan Wenshao looked through them one by one. Five of them were account books, and one was a record of Jiang Jingming's gifts to officials.

It was recorded in detail, including the time, location, and how much money was given.

Yuan Wenshao looked through it and saw the names of many third-rank officials in the imperial court. When he saw Han Zhang's name, his eyes narrowed.

Han Zhang was the Grand Prime Minister, one person was worth more than ten thousand people, and he actually colluded with the Xixia spies. It was really shocking.

It records the date of the first gift to Han Zhang, not long after Han Zhang returned to the prime minister.

But soon Yuan Wenshao discovered something was wrong.

The dates recorded above are only a few years in total, only once or twice a year, and the amounts are not large.

The largest amount among them was only a thousand taels of gold.

The total amount was less than ten thousand taels of gold, which seemed like a lot of money, but it seemed a little too little to buy a great prince.

And the place where gifts are given is at Han Zhang's home.

In addition, Yuan Wenshao also saw the names of many military generals, including those from Bianjing and those from the northwest.

After a cursory glance, Yuan Wenshao picked up other account books and started reading them.

The gift-giving record can only show that Jiang Jingming bribed officials. Although the amount was a bit larger, businessmen all over the world have done this kind of thing, and it does not prove that Jiang Jingming is related to Xixia.

After looking at it for a while, Yuan Wenshao frowned slightly. These account books contained records of transactions between Jiang Jingming and Xixia.According to the above records, the things Jiang Jingming smuggled from Dazhou to Xixia were all ordinary things, and the more sensitive ones were only grain and salt. In addition to some Xixia specialties, what he brought back from the Xixia trade also included war horses and animal sinews. Military supplies.

There seems to be no problem at all.

"No, there must be something wrong. If there is no problem, there is no need to hide such a ledger so tightly."

Thinking of this, Yuan Wenshao looked carefully again, and soon Yuan Wenshao showed a smile.

"I see."

At this moment, Zhang An, who had gone to explore the road before, came back from the secret passage.

"Master, the exit of this secret passage is in the abandoned Taoist temple not far away." Zhang An said.

Yuan Wenshao closed the account book and smiled and said: "Leave some people to transport gold and silver treasures, let's go back first!"

"Yes!"

Zhang An didn't ask any questions after hearing this, and went up to make arrangements.

Yuan Wenshao came out of the secret room with the account books, gave an explanation, and then took Zhang An and a group of soldiers on horseback to Bianjing.

……

"How did Erlang find the evidence?" Zhao Ceying asked nervously when she saw Yuan Wenshao coming back.

He previously hinted that Yuan Wenshao must find evidence. In fact, he hinted that if Yuan Wenshao could not find evidence, he would concoct evidence and no matter what, he must establish the matter.

Yuan Wenshao assured him that he would find evidence, and also told Zhao Ceying that he understood what he meant.

When he took Zhao Ceying's token and went to Prince Huan's Mansion to mobilize the personal guards, all he asked Zhang An to do was prepare these things.

After all, Zhao Ceying has even mobilized his personal guards this time. If he can't take a firm position, he will be in trouble if he is caught.

However, framing is a method used only as a last resort. It is false after all and there is a risk of being discovered.

Naturally, he hopes to find real evidence.

"Your Highness, the evidence has been found. I found these account books in the secret room of Jiang Jingming's house. There are also records of him bribed officials." Yuan Wenshao said with a smile.

"Hurry and show me the king." Zhao Ceying said excitedly.

When Yuan Wenshao heard this, he quickly handed over all the account books.

Zhao Ceying took a cursory look and frowned: "These are just ordinary account books. Even if there are records of him bribed officials, we can't be sure that he is a spy of Xixia, right?"

Yuan Wenshao smiled and said: "Your Highness, don't worry. Once I bring Jiang Jingming over and confront him, Your Highness will understand."

Seeing what Yuan Wenshao said, Zhao Ceying pondered for a moment and said, "Please ask someone to bring him over."

"Yes!" Yuan Wenshao responded and sent someone to bring Jiang Jingming over.

"woooo~"

Jiang Jingming struggled violently, but his hands and feet were tied and his mouth was blocked, so he couldn't speak.

"Take the cloth out of his mouth." Yuan Wenshao ordered.

"Yes!"

The soldiers who were escorting Jiang Jingming pulled the cloth out of his mouth.

"Even if Your Highness is a prince, you can't arrest me without knowing anything, right? Although I am just a businessman, I have donated money and food when the court needs it. By doing this, Your Highness, aren't you afraid of chilling the patriotism of the people in the world? ?" Jiang Jingming asked.

Zhao Ceying said nothing and looked at Yuan Wenshao.

"Clap clap~"

Yuan Wenshao smiled and applauded, and said: "We have reached this point and still don't panic. No wonder we have been able to lurk in Dazhou for so many years."

"I don't know what the Marquis will say anymore," Jiang Jingming said.

"Ha ha."

Yuan Wenshao sneered, picked up the account books, and said, "You should know these people, right?"

Jiang Jingming was not surprised when he saw these account books. He had already guessed this after being locked up for so long.

"This is just an ordinary ledger."

"What about this?" Yuan Wenshao picked up the record of bribery of officials.

"Which businessman in the world doesn't give gifts to officials? I have no power. Isn't it normal to find some backers in order to avoid being made trouble?" Jiang Jingming said calmly.

"Haha, I really can't cry until I see the coffin."

Yuan Wenshao picked up an account book, flipped through it, stopped, and read: "On the eighth day of October in the second year of God's blessing, Xuzhou collected 6000 shi of grain, [-] taels per stone, and a total of [-] taels of silver."

"On November [-], the second year of God's blessing, Xuzhou harvested grain..."

After Yuan Wenshao finished reading, he sneered and said: "In your account books, you have accumulated as much as one million dan from harvesting grain in Xuzhou over the years. You really prefer Xuzhou."

"I have acquaintances in Xuzhou. Xuzhou has high grain production and cheap prices. What's the problem with me collecting grain in Xuzhou?" Jiang Jingming retorted.

Yuan Wenshao smiled slightly: "According to what you said, there is indeed no problem, but haven't you ever thought about why I only recited Tianyou for two years?"

When Jiang Jingming heard this, his pupils shrank and his expression changed.

When Zhao Ceying heard Yuan Wenshao's words, she was also thinking. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she exclaimed: "I have remembered that in the second year of God's blessing, there was a severe drought in Xuzhou, and the grain harvest was only [-]/[-] of previous years. That year, the late emperor also exempted Xuzhou from of taxes.”

"That's right, with the severe drought in Xuzhou, the price of food will inevitably rise. Let's not talk about whether we can receive so much food. The price alone is a big problem." Yuan Wenshao said lightly.

Seeing that Jiang Jingming was silent, Yuan Wenshao continued: "There are also big problems with the records of grain collection in Xuzhou in previous years. The price of grain fluctuates every year, but the price he collects grain has always been three hundred yuan and one stone. Does your highness think it is normal?"

"This is abnormal. Did he bribe officials in Xuzhou?"

Zhao Ceying did not grow up in a deep palace compound, and he was also familiar with some situations among the people.

Yuan Wenshao shook his head and said: "If he bribes Xuzhou officials, the price of grain harvesting should be cheaper. What he buys is not grain at all, but iron."

Zhao Ceying was stunned when he heard this and said, "You mean Li Guojian?"

Yuan Wenshao nodded and said: "Yes, Xuzhou Liguojian is the place with the largest iron production in Dazhou."

"This is nothing more than the Marquis's speculation. There's no need to accuse him." Jiang Jingming argued forcefully.

Yuan Wenshao sneered, ignored him, and said: "Your Highness, in addition, there are also problems with the records of the purchase of cloth in Jiangnan in the account book. The price is too cheap. A piece of cloth only costs more than 200 yuan. I feel that those cloths Records are food.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ceying quickly took over the account book and looked at it. With Yuan Wenshao's reminder, he found that many of the prices recorded in the account book had problems.

"What else do you have to argue with?" Zhao Ceying looked at Jiang Jingming and said.

"Your Highness, I..."

As soon as Jiang Jingming opened his mouth, he slammed into a pillar on the side.

"Stop him!"

Yuan Wenshao's expression changed, he shouted and rushed over.

"boom!"

However, it was too late. Jiang Jingming hit the pillar hard and fell to the ground motionless.

Yuan Wenshao helped him up and saw that his head was broken and bleeding, so he reached out and poked his nose.

"How is it? Is the person alive?" Zhao Ceying asked.

Yuan Wenshao smiled and said: "Don't worry, because the distance was close, the impact force was not enough, so I just fainted."

"That's good! Erlang, you have done a great job this time. I will take him away now. I will report to my father and the queen and ask for a reward for you." Zhao Ceying breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)