The Golden County Magistrate

"Three days?" Bai Lu opened his eyes wide.

Chen Yan still didn't answer, and bent a finger, and the remaining upright fingers became two.

"Two days?" Bai Lu was surprised.

Chen Yan didn't mean to speak, and bent another finger.

"One day? How long do you have to wait?" Bai Lu said angrily.

Chen Yan bent the last finger down.

"Ah?"

Bai Lu was dumbfounded, what on earth does this mean!

At this moment, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside, someone walked quickly to the gate of the courtyard and stopped.

"Sir, I'm back!" The man outside shouted.

Chen Yan opened his eyes again, glanced at Bai Lu, and laughed: "Just wait until now. Come in!"

The last sentence was said to the person outside.

Bai Lu looked at him with a black face.

So he was counting down three, two, one!

Outside the courtyard gate, a burly figure stepped in, holding several thick stacks of books in his hands.

Bai Lu couldn't help but be moved.

Papermaking is not easy. Except for the rich and powerful families in the Great Zhou, few people use paper to write. Most people use cloth, leather, shells, leaves, etc.

Like the booklet she brought with her this time to record the information of the franchisees, it was made of silk cloth.

But the booklet in this person's hand, which was a foot high, was made of paper!

"Sir, this is what you asked me to check. All the information of everyone is here."

The burly man didn't even look at Bai Lu and put the book in his hand on the stone table.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Chen Yan nodded slightly.

"How can it be hard to work for you? I will go down first."

The burly man bowed and left the yard.

"What are these?"

Bai Lu couldn't help but reach out and pick up the top one. After touching it, he was even more moved.

There is also paper in the palace, but the surface is rough and the pages are very thick, so the ink is easy to spread when writing.

But this page is surprisingly thin and smooth, and the words written on it do not show any signs of spreading.

It is even better than the paper used by the palace!

"I had people investigate the merchants recorded in the book you sent yesterday overnight, and these are the results of the investigation." Chen Yan picked up another book and flipped through it.

Bai Lu snorted lightly and pouted her lips, not believing it at all.

Who can't brag?

Feng Lingwei is definitely the best elite in the Great Zhou in terms of investigation. It will take at least ten days and a half months to investigate so many people.

From the time she sent the book yesterday to now, it has been at most ten hours. How can it be investigated in such a short time?

She flipped the page and read it.

Gradually, her eyes widened and she showed disbelief.

This guy is not bragging!

The things recorded in the pages are extremely detailed.

From the target's appearance, family background, daily habits, business dealings, etc., everything is included!

There is even an item called "sexual intercourse", which actually records the frequency of sexual intercourse, the duration of each time, and the approximate time distribution of the intercourse!

Bai Lu's cheeks blushed, and she couldn't help but curse the pervert in her heart.

Who would check this for no reason!

Moreover, how did she get this information?

It's impossible to send someone to squat outside the wall of the man's house every day and listen to the movements in the bed, right? Besides, it's only been less than a day, and there is not enough time to hear these patterns!

"Investigation has its own means."

"You don't have to get a lot of information yourself. As long as you find the right person, you can find out what you want."

"After all, as long as this person lives in the city, there is one thing that is indispensable."

Chen Yan said casually as if he saw through her thoughts.

Bai Lu was curious: "What is it?"

Chen Yan smiled: "Neighbor."

Bai Lu came to his senses.

No matter what year, there are always neighbors who like to eavesdrop, and they are indeed the best source of information.

Drawing inferences from one example, business dealings are naturally inquired from business partners; daily habits should be inquired from the other party's servants.

But it is impossible for others to tell him for no reason. Nine out of ten times, they spent money to bribe him.

In this way, such a thick book must have cost a lot of money.

Chen Yan stopped talking and turned the pages attentively.

One by one, until the sun was at its zenith, he finally finished flipping through all the books.

Bang!

He threw down the last book and said, "I have a rough idea. Go back and inform your boss and let her inform everyone who wants to join. The franchise will be open tomorrow night and the agreement will be signed uniformly."

Bai Lu was stunned, and then he couldn't believe his ears and said, "Say it again?"

This guy is crazy!

He clearly knew that someone was behind this, and he had previously acted as if he would never allow anyone to violate the rules.Look, now he changed his mind so easily and agreed to let people join?

Chen Yan lowered his voice and spoke slowly.

Bai Lu's eyes widened as she listened, and she was still speechless until she finished listening.

After a while, she said with a strange expression: "You are too bad!"

Chen Yan grinned: "Thank you for the compliment!"

Bai Lu felt extremely strange.

This guy is really different from ordinary people. He actually thinks that being called "bad" is a compliment!

The person who played tricks behind the scenes is really unlucky. He actually met a bad guy like Chen Yan...

After sending Bai Lu away, Chen Yan pondered on the rattan chair.

He already had a rough idea of ​​the person behind the scenes.

There are three major wealthy merchant families in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Shang family in the capital, the Ji family in Nanling, and the Jia family in Donghai.

The person behind the scenes is the Shang family in the capital!

More than 400,000 taels of silver is just a drop in the bucket for merchants who are rich enough to rival a country.

The investigation results of the Nafuying Camp found a lot of things that were hidden. Among the information just now, most of the people's businesses were mainly business partners of the Shang family.

Some people's businesses even had the background of direct investment from the Shang family.

Of course, this is not enough to prove that the Shang family was behind the scenes, at best it can only show that they are more suspicious.

But combined with another thing, Chen Yan can now conclude that it must be the Shang family.

The first shop to follow the trend of Yaochi Xianniang, Yaochi Shenniang, is the business of Shangjia!

It can be said that Shangjia was the first to keenly discover how bright the business prospects of Yaochi Xianniang were.

Naturally, he was the most motivated to do such illegal operations.

"Unfortunately, if you want to escape the sharp eyes of this official, you are still far from being able to do it..."

Chen Yan lazily muttered to himself and stretched.

Originally expected to make 500,000 taels in three days.

Now it seems that thanks to Shangjia, this silver can be doubled!

At dusk, Bai Lu returned to the capital and went to the palace to tell Tang Yun what Chen Yan said.

"What!"

Tang Yun was shocked.

She had never thought that someone would secretly do something like this.

"Chen Yan also said that we should pretend to be unaware and not leak any information before tomorrow night."

Bai Lu knelt on the ground and continued.

Tang Yun quickly calmed down and nodded: "I know, you will tell Minister He about this later, and everything will be done according to Chen Yan's plan."