Thousands of Mountains

Three years old accounts, Luo Qingshan checked them all day and night without rest, and the sedan chair took him back to the official post, only to see that his full moon face like a silver plate was completely thinner, his eyes were black and blue, and his whole body As if he was sleepwalking, but his hands were still holding the abacus on his chest, Yin Cen repeatedly arranged for someone to help him fall asleep.

This sleep lasted for a day and a night, and when he woke up, it was almost dark, Yin Cen ordered someone to cook nourishing soup, and served it with a few refreshing side dishes, Luo Qingshan couldn't wait to report to everyone after finishing eating.

The accounting books that Ye Mingzhi took out were naturally "clear accounts". Even so, Luo Qingshan, the best auditor, still found many mistakes.

In terms of the total amount of fresh leaves and the total amount of crude tea produced over the years, although there are discrepancies between the registered data of Chafang and Cangyuan County, it is not obvious and can be regarded as a normal error.

The biggest flaw is that the proportion of official tea that can be produced with this amount of fresh leaves is too low, and it shows a downward trend year by year. The higher the yield of fresh leaves, the smaller the number of flakes.

In Ye Mingzhi's account book, there is a detailed record about the preparation of official tea, and Luo Qingshan made excerpts and records one by one: In the spring of Ningxi's 19th year, on March 19th, there was a sudden heavy rain, and all the fresh leaves in the teahouse were washed away; In the spring of the [-]th year of Xixi, on April [-]th, a fire broke out in the tea baking room. Although it was extinguished, it lost [-] catties of official tea...

There are countless losses caused by natural disasters, man-made disasters, and accidents during the preparation process, and in the official tea trade, there are also countless losses during the transportation process, such as encountering robbers, horses falling off cliffs, and so on.

Yin Cen, Chen Ji, and Qin Nianqin all supported their heads, and when Luo Qingshan finished reading all the "losses", two hours had passed, and all three looked tired.

Chen Ji was angry from the heart, "This kind of gaudy and extravagantly compiled account books is clearly used to fool people, but we still have to pretend to calculate with him. He makes tea every year, which is harder than fighting wars. Heavy rains and floods Bandits and robbers have been touched by him all over the place, and he even dares to claim credit for these fabricated disasters!"

Yin Cen didn't panic, and said, "Since it's so hard work and the work is so inefficient, why don't we push the boat along the way and just change the owner of the tea research house? He made up so many excuses. As the inspector censor, I That means the meaning of the palace, as long as there is a result of high yield and high taxes, if you fail to achieve this result, no matter what your reasons are, you are incompetent, and giving this account book is a good reason to replace him."

Qin Nianqin also smiled and said, "Good reason."

Yin Cen said again, "It's just right, let's go and find out what's going on in this teahouse."

Yin Cen notified the prefect of Zhaoyang and the Department of Tea and Salt to go directly to the tea house, and ordered Ye Mingzhi to stand by in the tea house. People from all parties arrived one after another and gathered in the front hall.

After everyone arrived, Yin Cen directly spread out the suspicious points recorded in Luo Qingshan's account book on the case table, and said, "This is the result of Master Luo's inspection in the tea house recently. It is recorded that there was heavy rain on a certain day, but the county chronicles recorded that it was sunny on that day, and there are other incidents such as robbery and a large number of horses that stumbled, which are not recorded in local chronicles. It is doubtful whether these incidents are true or fabricated?

Yin Cen continued, "Secondly, the output of official tea has only been verified for three years, and it is getting lower every year. Such a low output is due to various natural and man-made disasters. The dereliction of duty of the prefect of Yangzhou and the Tea and Salt Division! Compared with the production of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian tea areas in the same year, it is higher than that of the local area. One year can still be called a natural disaster, but it is like this every year for two, three, and every year. What is it if it is not a man-made disaster? !"

Qiu Luhua was sweating all over his face, while Ren Tonghuan still pursed his lips and sat calmly. Yin Cen turned to Ye Mingzhi, staring at him every word, "Although you are a businessman, not an official, I cannot dismiss you immediately, but But this official can do it, starting today, this tea research house has changed its owner immediately."

Before Ye Mingzhi could answer, Ren Tonghuan got up, knelt down and kowtowed, "His Royal Highness, Mr. Yu Shi, please calm down. Boss Ye is in charge of the tea workshop, and the production has dropped. The Tea and Salt Department is indeed guilty of dereliction of duty. Let's talk about it." , it's all the fault of the slaves..."

Before he finished speaking, Chen Ji interrupted with a cold snort, "The tea and salt department is indeed negligent, don't worry, Mr. Ren, after checking this tea research workshop, the next step is to check your tea and salt department. Jump in."

Ren Tonghuan raised his head, his forehead was also profusely sweating.

Ye Mingzhi was still as stable as Mount Tai, but Yin Cen was wondering what kind of secrets this person had behind him, and he was about to ransack his home, but he didn't feel flustered at all.

After a circle of people came around, Ye Mingzhi opened his mouth and cupped his hands and said, "His Royal Highness, Lord Yushi, the grassroots are convicted. Since taking over the research tea house ten years ago, from a workshop with only one room, to now occupying Ye Mou has built a tea-making villa in the entire valley, and everything Ye does is for the imperial court. He can produce more tea, sell more tea, exchange for more good horses, and collect more tax money, but Ye Mou It is true that the talents are limited, and the management is negligent when the property is big, which has led to omissions year after year. Now that the censor is being held accountable, Ye Mou has no half-hearted intention to blame himself. ——" Ye Mingzhi paused for a moment, wondering why, "For this autumn batch of official tea, Ye has already signed a horse exchange agreement with various nomadic tribes outside the border a few months ago. Recognizing the previous agreement, and maybe even thinking that I, Daning, deceived them and launched an attack, would be a waste of time and money."

Yin Cen sneered in his heart, threatening me?But he quickly figured it out, and his tone was still unquestionable, "I only recognize you? It's easy to handle, and you will still be in charge of the transaction at that time, but I will arrange for the person who will operate the specific affairs separately. After this autumn, anyone involved in tea business will , you don’t have to participate anymore.”

Ye Mingzhi said again, "My lord, I'm afraid it's not that simple. It took Ye [-] years to establish a tea-horse market along the border. Small and large traders and horse farms don't only see me every year, but every year before they recognize me. This is a mutual market transaction."

Chen Ji was furious when he heard the words, Yin Cen flicked his sleeves, his sword eyebrows and star eyes were like knives, and he said sharply, "Do you mean that I can't do without you at the Daning border market?!"

Ye Mingzhi then knelt down, "The Caomin dare not! The Caomin just told the truth."

Chen Ji said angrily, "The real situation? The real situation is that you took advantage of these ten years to become big by yourself, so arrogant that you ignored the court!"

Yin Cen shouted, "Come here!"

The hidden guards entered in unison, "Here!"

"Search the teahouse, check all the inventory in the warehouse, and hand over all the books and logs!" Yin Cen ordered.

"Yes!"

The hidden guards led the way, and Ye Mingzhi asked steadily, "How will your lord deal with the grassroots?"

Yin Cen said coldly, "Do you want to live in the government prison? I'm afraid it's not that easy. Before everything comes to light, the secret guards will be in charge of the official post, and no tea affairs will be involved."

After a while, the secret guard came to report, "My lord, I found a courtyard behind the teahouse. The gate is closed and I don't know what it is for, and no one answers when I knock on the door."

Yin Cen thought to himself, finally found this, and this is what he wanted.

He asked Ye Mingzhi, "Why is there such a courtyard? What is it for?"

Ye Mingzhi expressed embarrassment, "Strictly speaking, this place is not owned by Yanchafang, but the private residence of grass people. Because I don't live in Zhaoyang Prefecture all the year round, I need to move around the border. I only come here during the tea making period. , and built the house here as well.”

"Are there any family members inside?" Yin Cen asked.

"Caomin is not married, and there is only an elderly uncle who is with me at home and helps me with chores."

"uncle?"

Ye Mingzhi explained, "Caomin's parents passed away in the early years, and my uncle raised me alone. Then in an accident, my uncle lost his eyesight and hoarse voice, which made it difficult to move." Ye Mingzhi stood up while talking, "I Now let him open the door."

Yin Cen and Ye Mingzhi went to the backyard with the dark guard, but they had even bigger doubts in their hearts.

It sounds like an old man with no strength to restrain a chicken, but what he saw that night is obviously a top-notch master.

Ye Mingzhi said a few words, and after a while, a trembling old man opened the door. The old man's eyes were blank, and his hands were groping in front of him. Ye Mingzhi carefully helped them, and everyone entered the courtyard.

Yin Cen asked the dark guards to go down to search, and he went to each room to have a look. The room that was locked that night also opened the door at this moment. When Yin Cen entered, he found that it was just an ordinary study room. It looks like a study room, but there are no books, and there is no breath of pen and ink.

After the secret guard searched, he also reported that there was nothing wrong, Ye Mingzhi followed and said to Yin Cen, "Uncle is old, I thought he could spend his old age in this undisturbed place, but now I am dragging him down... Please forgive me and allow uncle Stay in the courtyard, Master Qiu and I will go back to the official post."

Although Yin Cen had huge doubts in his mind, it was difficult to refute them. The case has not yet been clarified, so it is difficult to detain his relatives together, let alone such an old man who is "in his dying years".

After all, he nodded slowly, Ye Mingzhi seemed to let go of his breath, the old man heard Ye Mingzhi's words from behind, and hurriedly babbled as if he wanted to say something, but his voice was hoarse and he couldn't say anything, Ye Mingzhi comforted his hands, and slowly Said, "It's okay, it's okay, Xiao Yezi will come back as soon as he goes, and uncle will wait for me at home."

Yin Cen became very suspicious of this uncle. He suspected that this was not the person Yin Cen saw in the courtyard that night. The person in front of him could not see half of his internal energy. The natural appearance of internal strength, but when Ye Yincen saw the people in the courtyard, after the internal strength was mobilized to the peak, they withdrew their breath like a corpse|body, which is completely different.

It would be too scary if the same person disguised two different faces.

Thinking of this, Yin Cen's scalp felt a little numb again. He looked at the old man opposite, knowing that the other party could not see him, but cold sweat still broke out from his back.

Back in the front hall, there was a large pile of account books and tea-making logs found by the secret guards in the tea house on the table. The existing warehouses were also counted and recorded. Yin Cen and Chen Ji got up and asked the dark guards to escort Ye Mingzhi to the official post.

When they arrived at the post station, Yin Cen detained Ye Mingzhi in the opposite room, surrounded by secret guards.

Yin Cen waited until midnight when he was sure that Chen Ji had fallen asleep, so he quietly left the door, waved away the hidden guard, entered the opposite room, moved a chair, and sat opposite Ye Mingzhi, separated by a desk, face to face.

Yin Cen said, "There is no one else here, and every word you say will not be recorded."

Ye Mingzhi also looked at him, and said, "Then every word I say is inaccurate and uncountable."

Yin Cen was expressionless, "I'll save you the formalities."

Ye Mingzhi leaned forward, his eyes sparkling, "What do you want to hear, sir?"

Yin Cen opened his mouth and said a few words slowly, "The real account book."

Ye Mingzhi smiled, and leaned back again, his upper body trembled, but he didn't make a sound. He thought for a moment, the corners of his mouth twitched, but he asked Yin Cen, "I heard that your lord is from Chaha Town, Weiqingyuan Prefecture, Guanxi?"

Yin Cen remained calm, just staring at him.

Ye Mingzhi sighed, "Everyone knows about the tragedy back then..."

"What do you want to say?" Yin Cen said.

Ye Mingzhi lowered his head and thought for a while, seeming to remember something, raised his eyes and said, "I've been traveling all over the world for many years, and I'm familiar with all of Kansai, western Sichuan, and northern Yunnan. I heard a strange thing at the Kansai Mutual Market this spring."

Yin Cen still didn't speak, Ye Mingzhi seemed to look into his heart, and continued, "The local tribe has been taken over by Tak Hulun, the Great Khan of the Shule Kingdom. The name is Chongfei, and she is also Han. That Han concubine grew up in the Shule military tent since she was a child, and she can't remember clearly what happened before she came to Shule. I also forgot all about it, but the maid next to me said that the princess often had dreams at night and called out to Brother Chen."

Ye Mingzhi spoke the last few words very slowly, as if waiting for Yin Cen's reaction.

When he was halfway through speaking, Yin Cen's heart exploded like thunder.

Is it Yin Qi?is she still aliveHow...became a princess?

Yin Cen was silent for a while, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and said in a low voice, "What does this matter have to do with me?"

Ye Mingzhi sighed when he heard the words, "I thought... I heard that my lord had also entered the Shule military camp when he was young, and thought that you and this princess had met and had friendship before. Since they are old friends, I now know about it. You should tell the truth."

Yin Cen shook his head slowly, "I don't know each other, and I disappoint you."

Yin Cen said again, "Today only the tea house will be closed."

Ye Mingzhi put his hands on his knees, smiled slightly, and said steadily, "If I tell the truth, what will my lord give me in return?"