From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 257

The public opinion of "Three Kingdoms" is still fermenting, and Song Wu, this stinky boy, needs to be slowly adjusted. Maybe he will be of great use in the future.

Zhou Yuan can't be idle every day. After all, there are still many things that are worrying him, such as the five military camps, which is a huge problem.

Without military pay, it is difficult to eat, not to mention that the soldiers' families are still poor, which requires a mountain of silver and money to pile up.

Originally, there was military pay intercepted by Wei Wei, the governor of the Beijing camp, but with this rebellion, there was no reason to pay it.

Zhou Yuan was given the mess, and it was impossible for Zhou Yuan to find a way to make money in a short time.

So, he can only find a unique way to steal and rob.

"Just in front, the wind was tight these days, and these bastards wanted to run away, but they were driven back by my people, and they all stayed in the room without coming out."

Xiong Kuohai's complexion was obviously much better, and the appearance of Maitreya Buddha gave people an inexplicable sense of joy.

He said slowly: "I won't go up. It's not appropriate to involve Jinyiwei in this matter, otherwise the censors of the Imperial Censorate will use this to make trouble again."

Zhou Yuan said: "It's okay, I can handle it myself."

Xiong Kuohai said: "But I have to remind you, there is no evidence. Their smuggling methods are very sophisticated. All processes are in line with the rules and regulations. Moreover, the court also allows the sale of tea, porcelain and silk. This is their confidence."

Zhou Yuan said slowly: "They have confidence, so I naturally have confidence."

After speaking, he looked up at the hanging sign, which read: "Shanxi Guild Hall."

There are many business groups in the world, but the best ones are undoubtedly Shanxi merchants, Zhejiang merchants and Chaozhou merchants.

Shanxi merchants open mines, sell tea and salt, but the most important thing is to open silver shops and bills, which can be said to be connected to the world.

But merchants are profit-seeking, how can they make enough money? Moreover, every economic group will naturally pursue political interests when realizing economic interests. Even in this era, it is still the same, but they encounter too many shackles.

Going upstairs, the reception room was luxurious and elegant. The strong tea was already brewed. Two beautiful women stood cautiously beside them, as if they were ready to serve.

Two old men came over first and saluted: "Qiao Chaiqing of the Qiao family in Qi County, I pay my respects to the Earl of Zhongwu."

"Chang Baizhi of the Chang family in Taigu County, I pay my respects to the Earl of Zhongwu."

Zhou Yuan glanced inside the room. More than a dozen old men were standing with their backs bent, their faces full of flattery.

It was a fact that businessmen had a low status. The key point was that they also knew that they had made a big mistake this time and had no confidence.

Moreover, the biggest backer had collapsed, and now there was no one to make the decision.

Zhou Yuan sat down, looked at the two women, and said, "You go out, there is no need for service here."

This sentence made the leaders of more than a dozen Shanxi merchants present secretly think that it was bad. The way they infiltrated the court officials was often money and sex. They spent a lot of time and effort to select these two beauties, ensuring that they were clean and talented, but they didn't expect that the other party was not interested at all.

"Step down, step down!"

Qiao Chaiqing laughed softly, "The Earl doesn't like it, don't be an eyesore here."

Zhou Yuan said, "Don't stand, sit down, I'm not here to show off my official style, I'm here to do business."

This kind of words are what they don't want to hear the most. Shanxi merchants like to speak in official language the most, because this way there is room for negotiation and the possibility of bribery. Being too direct often means that the other party will not be persuaded.

Chang Baizhi smiled and said, "Master Zhou, if you have any instructions, just tell us. Our Shanxi Guild will definitely help you."

Zhou Yuan looked at the two and said, "Then you two are the ones who make the decision. Do you know the current situation?"

Chang Baizhi laughed dryly and said, "Yes, yes, so please tell me, Master."

Of course they know everything, but they will not admit anything. These businessmen are smarter than anyone else to make such a big business.

What they hope most is that the matter will be resolved in ignorance, and it is best not to put it on the surface. Human relations are not business. The latter requires integrity, and the former is best kept tacitly understood.

Zhou Yuan said: "What do you mean by order or not? I don't understand. I just know that you smuggled salt and iron, colluded with Xuanfu, sold them to Mongolia and the Eastern Tartars, and earned huge rewards."

Qiao Chaiqing hurriedly said: "Don't dare, don't dare, Master. We Shanxi merchants do sell some tea and porcelain to make a little money, but we really don't dare to sell salt and iron. That is a capital crime."

The former is just a fine and tax, while the latter is to confiscate the family and exterminate the family. These Shanxi merchants know the law better than the family tree and will not make low-level mistakes.

But Zhou Yuan will not tolerate it. He wants to use thundering means to quickly subdue the other party. If he delays any further, there will be no chance.

So he said in a deep voice: "No need to explain, everyone knows it well, and there is no point in talking nonsense."

"II came here today to tell you that I can let you die or live. Your Majesty does not need evidence, only a list. "

"Of course, I believe you are also very clear that you are not on the list given by Yao Guangyi because you have been behind the scenes."

"But I also tell you frankly that I can intervene in this matter, and I can add your names."

"The next step is that the Jinyiwei and the government will jointly investigate the case and confiscate the family and exterminate the clan."

"I have just made a new contribution, and I am in the emperor's heart. I am your majesty's favorite minister. You can guess whether your majesty will believe me."

All the merchants were dumbfounded. How could this be possible? He came up and directly said that I wanted to harm you. It was simply a hooligan!

Qiao Chaiqing said in a deep voice: "Master Zhou, this is not good. Dajin is also a place that talks about laws. We can't admit what we didn't do."

Chang Baizhi also said: "Master Zhou is in charge of military affairs. He won't send soldiers to kill us! "

Zhou Yuan kept silent with a cold face, but slowly took out a packet of powder from his arms, poured it into his teacup, and stirred it slowly with his fingers.

He said lightly: "This is Hedinghong powder, commonly known as arsenic. You attempted to poison the court officials. This is an ironclad fact."

After speaking, he drank the tea in one gulp.

"No! ”

Qiao Chaiqing had seen many officials, and even had the honor of meeting King Jing, but he had never seen an official like Zhou Yuan.

Too cruel, how could he feed himself poison!

All the merchants were so scared that their faces turned pale.

If the newly appointed Zhongwu Marquis of the court was poisoned to death here, he would never be able to wash it off even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

What's more, this is the favorite of the empress. They had investigated in advance. Two months ago, Zhou Yuan was assassinated. All the killer organizations in Shenjing and the surrounding areas were purged. The empress was furious.

Now... Now it's probably the turn of the Shanxi merchants!

Chang Baizhi was stunned, and stamped his feet anxiously and said: "Master Zhou, please talk nicely, everything can be discussed, why gamble your life!"

Zhou Yuan said coldly: "Arsenic is highly toxic, and the poison will take effect in one hour at the latest. You don't have much time. Let's gamble whether we can save him in time or not."

Qiao Chaiqing hurriedly said: "Master Zhou, please speak quickly! We can definitely do it. "

Zhou Yuan said: "Two million taels of silver and a high-quality iron ore. Gather the silver within three days and transport it to the Fifth Army Camp. I only have three days to get the iron ore. I want a private certificate."

This sentence directly shocked everyone around. He asked for two million taels of silver. How could this be possible!

The key is that he also wants the ore!

Chang Baizhi said anxiously: "Two million taels of silver is too much. We usually have to pay tribute to King Jing, and we gave more before the New Year. Now we really can't take it out!"

"Don't even mention the iron ore. The iron ore doesn't produce much iron now, and it's useless to give it to Lord Zhou."

"How about... we can get together and send 200,000 taels of silver to the Earl's Mansion tomorrow. Lord Zhou will be satisfied now! ”

Two hundred thousand taels is already a very large sum, and as for the iron ore, its value is far more than one million.

Of course, none of these shrewd people wanted to give it.

Zhou Yuan grinned and said, "It's okay, I'll wait here until you agree."

As he spoke, blood had already flowed from the corners of his mouth, and it was obvious that the poison was about to take effect.

Qiao Chaiqing was so anxious that his face turned pale, and he shouted, "Master Zhou, we really don't have that much money, please spare my life, go and get treatment!"

He couldn't help but kneel down, and the others also knelt down and kowtowed to Zhou Yuan, each of them in tears.

Zhou Yuan said lightly, "It's okay to have no money, it's okay to have no ore, we will die together."

"I, Zhou Yuan, was killed by the Shanxi merchants, and I will definitely be posthumously conferred the title of Marquis, and my wife at home can enjoy it."

"But all of you here, not only will your century-old foundation be gone, I'm afraid your entire family will be wiped out, and your descendants will be cut off. ”

“You really think you can get away with not admitting to the smuggling of salt and iron? You wish!”

Qiao Chaiqing had no other choice. He saw that Zhou Yuan’s mouth was bleeding, and he knew that the other party was not playing tricks.

So he finally shouted: “Promise! We all agree! Please go find the imperial physician! We are convinced! We are really convinced!”

Zhou Yuan stood up and said lightly: “It’s good to be convinced. Let’s get up. It’s time to talk about other things.”

“Quick! Treat it quickly!”

Chang Baizhi’s voice was trembling.

Zhou Yuan waved his hand and said: “No need, it’s not arsenic, it’s just flour.”

Everyone was stunned.

Qiao Chaiqing said in a trembling voice: “But your mouth…”

“It’s bleeding, right?”

Zhou Yuan wiped his chin and said lightly: “It’s just a bit of tongue bite, it will be healed in two days. "

You must be kidding. How could he fill himself with arsenic? He's not a fool.

It's just to scare these businessmen.If they can't be scared, then think of other ways.

However, the Jin merchants are too scared to take the risk of poisoning the court military officer and the empress's favorite minister!