The Six Arts of the Gentleman in the Bright Moon of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 685 The Yan Family’s Dowry [Subscribe*Monthly Tickets]

"Although we are not seeing guests, you can't just sit back and relax. We also want to know how much money King Jian of Qi has taken from the nobles of Qi!"

Gongsun Linglong didn't want Qi Wangjian, the middleman, to make too much of a profit.

"Well, our Ming family and the Military Control Commission's stations in Qi may be out of reach!" The second elder of the Ming family said helplessly.

Qi itself was not a territory of a famous family, and it had not maintained its military preparations for many years, so Bingzhou did not invest much energy in Qi. The fact that it had a military control station was only established because of Qi's status as a vassal state.

But even though it is set up, the total number of staff is less than fifty!
A large intelligence station has less than fifty people, even less than a small station of other princes.

Therefore, there is no need to think that the Military Control Commission will be able to find out the specific information before Gongsun Linglong goes to meet Prince Jian of Qi tomorrow.

"Prime Minister, the Confucian Yan family's patriarch is waiting outside the hall!"

Just then, the soldier suddenly came to report.

Gongsun Linglong and the second elder looked at each other.

The second elder was delighted. They had no one to use and could not get any more information. However, it was different for Confucianism. Yan Zi's lineage was the largest branch of Confucianism and could be called the local boss of Qi and Lu, regardless of the black or white world.

Gongsun Linglong's heart also trembled. Sure enough, Yan Lu was not as indifferent as he looked. He knew very well what they needed. To say that he was considerate was an understatement.

"Please come in!" The second elder ran out with the soldiers without waiting for Gongsun Linglong to speak.

"Confucian, Yan Xiu, nice to meet Mr. Ge Yang!" Seeing the second elder coming out, the middle-aged man in a green Confucian robe who was waiting at the door spoke first.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he directly called out the name of the second elder of the famous family.

Ge Yang was a little surprised, but he soon understood. After all, this was the territory of Confucianism. They might have just entered the territory of Qi State when Confucianism had already checked the identities of all of them clearly.

As for Yan Xiu, Ge Yang had also heard of him. He was not originally surnamed Yan, but a servant of the Yan family. Later, because of his outstanding talent and learning, he was given a surname by the Yan family and was betrothed to the Yan family's eldest daughter. Yan Xiu was very grateful to the Yan family and became the protector of the Confucian Yan Zi lineage.

In terms of status, he is still the uncle of the current head of the Yan family and the second-in-command Yan.

"Master, Ge Yang greets Mr. Yan Xiu!" Ge Yang did not dare to be negligent and bowed in return with Confucian etiquette.

"The head of the family said that you might need some help, so he sent me here specially." Yan Xiu said with a smile, and then looked towards the embassy, ​​as if looking for something.

Ge Yang naturally knew what Yan Xiu was looking for, and immediately stepped aside, "Sir, please!"

"Please!" Yan Xiu nodded and followed Ge Yang into the embassy.

In the embassy, ​​Gongsun Linglong suddenly felt uneasy and nervous. She heard the voice outside the door and naturally knew Yan Xiu's identity.

It can be said that Yan Xiu is now the closest relative, and naturally she is the parent who can make decisions for Yan Lu.

It is precisely because of this that Gongsun Linglong felt nervous.

She even suspected that she had been poisoned by Bingzhou. The big shots in Bingzhou seemed to break the rules when it came to marriages and do all kinds of fancy things.

It was even more terrifying when I got to her place. We met once, then got engaged, and met her parents in the afternoon.

"Linglong greets uncle." After Ge Yang and Yan Xiu walked into the reception room, Gongsun Linglong finally calmed down and bowed.

"Uncle?" Yan Xiu was stunned for a moment, and the people in the reception room were obviously stunned by Gongsun Linglong's words.

You didn't even ask for the change of statement fee, and you changed your statement so quickly?

"Good, good, good!" Yan Xiu carefully looked at Gongsun Linglong. Needless to say, she was talented. She was a famous contemporary master and the foreign minister of Bingzhou. This was enough to prove her talent. There was no need for the Yan family to test her.

Therefore, what Yan Xiu and Yan Zi's lineage wanted to know most was what Gongsun Linglong looked like.

After all, the Tan Tai lineage is also a branch of Confucianism, and it has frightened all the Confucianists.

However, after seeing Gongsun Linglong's appearance, Yan Xiu finally felt relieved.

It was because Yan Lu told them that he was engaged and completed his family mission when he returned, so he just treated it as sleep paralysis.

The words "sleep paralysis" made the people in power of Yan Zi's lineage believe that Gongsun Linglong's appearance was real, so they sent Yan Xiu to come and make the assessment in person.

"This is called sleep paralysis. I want to find one too!" Yan Xiu thought to herself, but she still held out a jade pendant. "Since you call me uncle, you can't miss a gift!"

"I cannot refuse a gift from the elder. Linglong thanks uncle very much!" Gongsun Linglong knew that this piece of ancient jade was of great value with just a glance.

"Although this jade beads itself is precious, its real value lies in the fact that with this jade beads, Linglong can mobilize all the elders and below of my Yan family!" Yan Xiu did not hand the jade beads directly to Gongsun Linglong, but solemnly explained the value of the jade beads.

Although it is not as good as the Yan family's patriarch's token, it is also the second most important token after the patriarch's token.

"This..." Gongsun Linglong didn't dare to take it. It was too expensive.

However, Yan Xiu did not give her the chance to refuse. She let the jade pendant fall into Gongsun Linglong's hands.

"Zilu is rather lazy. He doesn't like to take care of other things and doesn't know how to help out. I will teach him a lesson when I get back!" Yan Xiu said again as she saw that she liked Gongsun Linglong more and more.

Gongsun Linglong and Ge Yang didn't dare to say anything.

No matter what, Yan Lu is still the second in command of Confucianism.

"I already know what happened in today's court meeting. The King of Qi executed Lord Gao Tang in court, and at the same time ordered nobles from all over the country to pay money and grain to hire Bingzhou to send troops." Yan Xiu continued.

Gongsun Linglong and Ge Yang nodded. The Yan family was indeed terrifying. The morning court session had just ended, but the Yan family already knew the content and all the details of the session.

"How much does Emperor Xuanwu intend to pay for lending the army, and how many troops can he lend?" Yan Xiu directly asked about Bingzhou's bottom price.

"At most 30,000 troops, with an annual grain budget of 300,000 dan, and all grain and grass consumption in Qi will be paid by Qi!" Gongsun Linglong did not hide it.

The price is fixed and can only fluctuate up or down by a decimal point at most.

Otherwise, if the salary of the loaned mercenaries is far higher than that of the local soldiers in Bingzhou, it would be easy for Bingzhou's elite troops to run to Qi.

Therefore, Gongsun Linglong’s autonomy is actually not as high as imagined.

"Then it will be four hundred thousand, of which one hundred thousand is the betrothal gift from my Yan family to Linglong!" Yan Xiu said lightly.

"Ah?" Gongsun Linglong and Ge Yang were both stunned. Could the bride price be given in this way?
"Can't do accounting?" Yan Xiu misunderstood Gongsun Linglong and Ge Yang's doubts and asked back.

Gongsun Linglong and Ge Yang nodded. They really didn't know how to do this.

After all, this kind of thing has to be recorded in the official books.

"It's very simple. Just write 300,000 in the letter between Bingzhou and Qi, but the actual amount will be 400,000." Yan Xiu said with a smile.

"?" Gongsun Linglong and Ge Yang were still confused.

The imperial letter stated that there were 300,000 yuan, so how could the Prime Minister of Qi give out 400,000 yuan?
(End of this chapter)