Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

This is true for the Zhou and Hu families, and it must be true for the Zhu, Gu, Fan, Qi, Wen, Ren, Ding, and Zhao families as well.

It all depends on which one starts it first.

If it was the Zhu, Gu, Fan, and Qi families...they happened to come to Hongyuan County after being expelled from their families for stealing the Xinping King's Tomb. They were so reckless in their plundering, most likely because they wanted to rob and then move to another place, or they were ready to leave at any time. It was just that their families contacted them later, which cut off their plans to leave in the short term.

If it was the Wen family or the Ren family... After several rounds of interrogation by Li Tianliu, Wen Zhongtian and the managers of the Wen family said from beginning to end that the Wen and Ren families were dissatisfied with the Zhu, Gu, Fan and Qi families who came all the way to Jiannan Road to snatch their business, so they sent them to compete with them. Li Tianliu may not have any interrogation skills, but he is not short of torture methods. Judging from their past performance, Wen Zhongtian and the managers of the Wen family are not people who can withstand torture, so their confessions are 70% credible.

Since the Wen family and the Ren family came to Hongyuan County with a competitive mentality, it is understandable that they would do anything without regard for the consequences.

As for local small gentry such as the Ding family, the Zhao family, the Zhou family and the Hu family, they probably don't have such courage.

However, no matter whether it was started by the Zhu family, the Gu family, the Fan family, the Qi family, or the Wen family and the Ren family, it doesn’t matter now that only the Ren family is left.

Now, what lies before her is that if the shops under their names are really in such a bad state, she will definitely investigate thoroughly. However, after the investigation, how to quickly restore the economy of Hongyuan County will become a big problem.

The investigation of several families was already halfway done, and it was time to arrange for people to be sent to the border. Hongyuan County was far away from Anbei, Anxi, Mengchi, Kunling and Shanyu, where the Duke of Chen's Mansion was stationed. If the grain was to be transported there, in addition to planning the route, there must be a lot of escorts. The prince's party of the previous dynasty was in the dark, and she was in the light, so she had to take precautions.

There must be enough people to escort the food. If we deal with all the people in the shops, we will need enough people to recover quickly.

People are needed everywhere.

After investigating the Zhu family, the Gu family and others, she did have a lot of people in her hands, but there were not many who were available and trustworthy.

How can I find available people quickly?

Chen Shao stopped her thoughts in time when they were about to drift away. She looked back at Dong Dacheng and Jia Wenguang and asked them about the details of the medicine shop. She stopped only when Fu Jiu came back with Zhang Zhong, Zheng Fu, Lu Zhongren and Zhen's account books.

Zhang Zhong no longer had the radiance he had in the morning. He knelt on the ground in despair. After kowtowed twice, he opened his mouth for a long time, but could not utter a word.

Zheng Fu was not much better than him.

Li Tianliu asked the Yulin Guards to place the account books on the coffee table and chair next to Chen Shao.

Chen Shao picked up a book and flipped through a few pages. Looking at the records of families ruined and people destroyed by them under various pretexts, his eyes darkened slightly, and he signaled Dong Dacheng and Jia Wenguang, "Come and see if these are real account books."

The two crawled forward two steps before standing up. Li Li fearfully took a book and looked through it carefully. Then he said respectfully, "It's a real book."

Chen Shaosheng said coldly: "What can you learn from one book? Read a few more books first."

After the two of them flipped through seven or eight account books, they said respectfully again, "These are all real account books."

"Since these are all real account books," Chen Shao ordered calmly, "You two, plus Lu Zhongren, follow Miss Quan to check these account books. After the account books are checked, the balances must be matched with the actual items one by one, otherwise you will be held accountable!"

Dong Dacheng, Jia Wenguang and Lu Zhongren all shuddered and responded one after another.

"Go and inform Boss Shen," Chen Shao looked at Li Tianliu, "and ask him to bring people to arrest the people from Wanhetang and their families and put them under unified custody."

He then instructed Quan Shuyu, "You go with us and see where to find a few empty houses to house these people."

After the two of them left with Dong Dacheng, Jia Wenguang and Lu Zhongren, Chen Shao continued to flip through a few pages of the account book before slowly looking up at Zhang Zhong and Zheng Fu. The two were already terrified, and when they noticed her gaze, they kowtowed and begged for mercy in even greater fear.

Chen Shao closed the account book and replaced it with a new one. He asked as he looked at it, "Who taught you to keep false accounts?"

Zheng Fu said in a trembling voice: "It was Master Hu. It was Master Hu who taught me."

Hu Qinglu? Chen Shao raised his eyes slightly: "Those fake account books, were all kept by you?"

Zheng Fu's voice trembled even more: "Yes, it's all me who remembered it."

"Then tell me," Chen Shao said coldly, "How did Lord Hu teach you to keep false accounts?"

"He took the account books from the prefectural government," Zheng Fu said, his teeth chattering with fear, his words becoming increasingly incoherent. "He, he asked me to make false accounts based on that model."

"So," Chen Shao looked at him, "the account books of the prefectural government are also fake?"

"Lord Hu said this," Zheng Fu did not dare to hide it, "He said that Lord Li could never find fault with the account books he kept."

"I can never find fault with it..." Chen Shao laughed twice, unable to tell whether he was happy or angry. "Are the account books of all the pharmacies under the Zhou and Hu families handed over to Miss Quan all fake?"

Zheng Fu's forehead touched the ground, and his body trembled, making a thumping sound. "Not only the Zhou and Hu families, but also the account books submitted by the drugstores and shops under the names of the Zhu, Gu, Fan, Qi, Wen, Ren, Ding, and Zhao families are all fake."

"Yes, yes, all of them are fake, the account books of all the shops are all fake." Zhang Zhong tried to say something several times, but it seemed like it was stuck, and he couldn't say it. He finally agreed with this sentence, and his face turned purple. He didn't want to die, but he had committed too many crimes. If he added them up, it would not be a capital crime, but it was almost the same. If he wanted to get away with it, he had to drag everyone down with him. If the punishment is not for everyone, the total number of shops under the names of each person is at least 800, if not 1,000. He didn't believe she would dare to kill him.

Although he was touching his forehead to the ground like Zheng Fu, Chen Shao could not see his expression. But Chen Shao heard the implication of his words clearly. But she did not expose him. She bent her fingers, tapped the armrest twice, and said slowly: "Words are not enough. Since you said that all the account books of the shops are fake, then you two will lead Fu Jiu and bring back the real account books of each shop one by one. Remember, if you fail to bring them back, your crime will be even more serious."

Zhang Zhong's body suddenly froze. He had not expected that she would let him lead the way. His already pale face turned even paler. However, he did not dare to refuse. After Zheng Fu tremblingly answered yes, he got up in fear and followed Zheng Fu's footsteps like a puppet, taking Fu Jiu out.

"Go call Fu Jiu back and ask him to bring the list of each store with him. Tell him to go with Shen Dangjia. Also, ask Shuyu to arrange a few more houses for them." Seeing Fu Jiu leave excitedly without any preparation, Chen Shao quickly instructed Chan Yi, "By the way, ask Fu Jiu to tell Shen Dangjia to keep a good eye on them. If there are people causing trouble or stirring up trouble, bring them directly to me."

Chan Yi responded and quickly chased after him.

Deep night.

Chen Shao sat alone for a while. After Chan Yi came back, he thought it over again and again and decided to go back to his bedroom to sleep.

She woke up before dawn the next day, dressed neatly, washed up, and went to the study. She thought of a way to safely escort the food to the border!