Uncle Detective Di Renjie, I build a crime-solving team

"I was deeply saddened, and always remembered that I should not let Zanpu down, so I asked him for a solution."

"But he asked for one million taels of silver right off the bat, saying he needed to bribe officials at all levels. I'm really worried about this."

After Barkley finished speaking, he managed to squeeze out a few tears.

Hidden on the roof, Old Hei revealed a sympathetic look, but of course, he wasn't sympathizing with Barkley, nor with his own master, Wu Yanhao.

He felt sorry for himself, coming here to lie there in broad daylight, and having to lie there all day before he could go back at night, otherwise he would easily be discovered.

However, it doesn't matter if they are discovered, as long as they are not seen by these messengers.

But lying here was truly torture for him. Listening to these people's insincere words was worse than going back to his bed and taking a nap.

Inside the house below, the envoys cursed Wu Yanhao, saying he was no good. One million taels of silver was no small sum; they hadn't spent that much bribing Prince Jin, Wu Chengsi, or Prince Zhou, Di Renjie.

If a million taels of silver were actually given away, everyone present would be penniless.

"Gentlemen, we have come here to form an alliance. If we do not do so, I fear that His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty will not be willing to form an alliance with us!"

Barkley wept bitterly:

"It's worth sacrificing some silver for the great cause of the Zanpu!"

"If the Zanpu takes the opportunity to conquer the Tang Dynasty in the future, he will surely make up for our losses, as he is very understanding."

The envoys racked their brains but couldn't come up with a solution. In order to implement the plan, they had no choice but to start gathering resources.

Fortunately, besides forming alliances, they also had plans to contact local merchant families and brought out a considerable amount of silver with them.

Logically, after forming an alliance, they should have been able to find local merchants, but unexpectedly, this wave of investment resulted in almost all the silver being given away.

Barkley wiped away the crocodile tears and took out 300,000 taels of silver from his pocket.

Those were six flying coins, each marked with 50,000 taels. This was Barkley's only remaining silver. Apart from the silver his family gave him to cultivate relationships with merchants, there was also silver given to him to bribe officials.

It must be said that Qi Nuxi is still too young; a mere few hundred thousand taels of silver is simply not enough to shut up the big mouths of these people in the court.

With Barkley taking the lead, everyone took out the silver given to them by their families. Although they were very reluctant, there was no way to turn back now.

Soon, the group had raised another million taels and handed it all over to Barkley. One of them sighed for a while and then walked straight up to Barkley and stood there.

"This is money given to us by our respective families, and it is all for business purposes. You must be very careful and use it wisely."

Barkley tearfully bid farewell to everyone and left the Honglu Temple Hotel after nightfall.

After Li Cunxi came to power, the curfew in Luoyang was moved to Hai Shi (9-11 PM).

The hour of Hai (亥时) corresponds to the time between 9 and 11 in later generations. When the hour of Hai arrives, people are not allowed to wander around the streets.

He arrived at the Liang Prince's mansion with his entourage, and reluctantly took out a few taels of silver from his private treasury, which finally brought a slightly friendly smile to the icy gatekeeper's face.

"Please inform him that the Tibetan envoy, Bakri, has come to pay his respects to His Highness Prince Liang."

The old doorman was probably a little hard of hearing: "What, Ba-she-li?"

"Bakri, the Tibetan envoy." Bakri greeted him politely.

"Buck what?"

"The Tibetan envoy, Bakri."

"What Klee?"

"Barkley."

“Oh, the Japanese envoy, Buckley.”

"It was not an envoy from Japan, but an envoy from Tibet named Bakri."

"Oh, a Tibetan envoy." The old doorman suddenly realized.

Barkley, still smiling, said, "Now that you know, please go in and inform them."

"Okay, what was the Tibetan envoy again, Ba something?" The old doorman was about to leave when he turned back and asked.

Barkley was furious, staring at the old doorman with a burning hatred in his eyes.

He felt that the old man was just playing him for a fool!

Suppressing his anger, Barkley took out ten taels of silver, pried open the old doorman's hand, and placed the silver in the old doorman's palm.

“Please remember, I am Bakri, the Tibetan envoy.”

The old doorman beamed: "I may not remember the names of those who give me money, but I certainly can't remember the names of those who don't!"

Barkley almost stopped laughing and asked, "Does the old man remember my name?"

The old man patted his dry chest: "The Tibetan envoy, Bakri!"

“Very well, very well. Then please go and tell His Highness Prince Liang that Barkley requests an audience.”

The old doorman nodded, turned around and went to the door, saying to a doorman, "The Tibetan envoy Bakri wishes to see our master. Go and tell him."

The doorman chuckled, glanced at Barkley with disdain, and then turned his head to the side.

Barkley was furious and wanted to teach this wretched doorman a lesson, but the words wouldn't come out.

He looked at the doorman, knew what the other wanted, and took out some loose silver coins from his pocket. He took a few steps forward, came to the doorman, and handed over the loose silver coins.

"This is just a small gift, please accept it. When you have some free time, go out for tea and some snacks."

The doorman weighed the loose silver coins in his hand for a moment, and finally put away his previous expression.

“My dear messenger from afar, young man, let me teach you a lesson.”

“Here, we are not worried about scarcity but about inequality, not about poverty but about instability. If you want to give money, you should give a little to everyone. The amount doesn’t matter. You can’t have one person give and another not give.”

"It's very simple to see our prince. Just wait here for a moment, and I'll go in and tell our steward."

The doorman turned and entered the Liang Prince's mansion, remaining silent for quite some time.

Barkley was pacing anxiously, worried that the doorman hadn't notified him properly, and also that Wu Yanhao was resting and wouldn't see him.

After waiting for a full quarter of an hour, the butler Wu Zhe finally led the doorman out. As soon as he stepped out, he hurriedly went to Barkley, cupped his hands, and gave a deep bow.

"Your Excellency has been waiting for a long time."

“No.” Barkley bowed in return.

"These damned scoundrels actually dared to make the envoy hand over his silver! It's outrageous! Envoy, don't worry, I, the steward, will certainly not let them get away with this today!"

"It's just human nature. As the saying goes, even a seventh-rank official has to stand in front of the prime minister's door."

Wu Zhe was still indignant: "As the saying goes, a death sentence may be waived, but a living punishment is hard to escape. Punish them by not allowing them to have a midnight snack tonight!"

Barkley was utterly speechless. He never imagined that the Liang Prince's Mansion would punish such a thing by forbidding him from eating a midnight snack for one night.

Do the servants of such wealthy families need a midnight snack?

"Please come in, Your Excellency. Our Prince is waiting for you."