The days when I ransacked the house in Jinyiwei

Chapter 227 The Dividend Conference
At noon the next day, in the south of the city, in Lion Alley.

In an unremarkable courtyard house, there were six tall and three thick men.

These men all have small skirts and short clothes.On his feet were grippy tiger boots.In his hand was a sheathed dagger.A scorpion crossbow hangs from his waist.

They are the plainclothes school lieutenants of Beizhen Fusi.This courtyard is one of Jinyiwei's besi (safe house).

Not long after, the courtyard door was pushed open with a "creak".

Chang Feng strode in.

The six men didn't speak, they just fisted at Chang Feng.

Chang Feng nodded slightly.Pointing to the eyes with two fingers, it means "be careful".

Then he entered the main room of the courtyard.

There are no beds, pots and pans in the main room.Some are just a bunch of torture instruments and an interrogation table.

Zhang Cai and Basha were already standing in the main room.

A middle-aged man in his forties was covered in injuries and slumped on a chair.

This middle-aged man is the son-in-law of the former Minister of Rites, Geng Yu, and one of the eight elders of the Maritime Chamber of Commerce 15 years ago, Lu Shaoyuan.

Chang Feng glanced at Lu Shaoyuan's feet.It was found that his pair of cloud-toed boots had been pierced, and there were bloodstains on the boots.

Jin Yiwei always starts with the nailing of the feet when he executes the prisoner.

Chang Feng asked Zhang Cai: "Have you ever sentenced him?"

Zhang Cai cupped his hands and said, "Afraid of delaying Master Chang's time, I decided on my own initiative and sentenced him first."

"To save you from having to spend time, personally execute him."

Think about what the leader thinks, worry about what the leader is anxious about, save time for the leader, and the leader does not need to worry about anything like Zhang Cai, who can get away with it in any yamen of any dynasty.

Chang Feng nodded towards Zhang Cai with satisfaction.

Chang Feng sat in front of Lu Shaoyuan: "Do you know me?"

Lu Shaoyuan opened his eyes, and his eyeballs were bloodshot.He said with a weak breath: "You are from Jinyiwei. Chang Tu, oh no, Master Chang?"

"You and I have no grudges in the past, and we have no grudges these days. My father-in-law never offended you before his death."

Chang Feng interrupted Lu Shaoyuan: "Do you still remember the first year of Hongzhi, when Japanese pirates broke out in Hangzhou, and eight gentry families were slaughtered?"

Lu Shaoyuan was stunned.

Chang Feng pointed at himself: "The one who attacked was not a Japanese pirate, but me, Chang Feng! Those eight people are all minions from the Four Seas Association."

"At that time, my seniority was still young, and I didn't have enough power. I couldn't move you eight elders, and I could only kill eight minions to vent my anger."

Lu Shaoyuan was extremely surprised: "You actually know about the Sihaihui?"

Chang Feng said: "I not only know the Universal Association, but also who are the eight elders. You are among them."

Lu Shaoyuan smiled wryly: "Just because of the Universal Association, you tied me here and gave me a big punishment?"

"I was still the elder of the Four Seas Association. How long ago did that happen?"

Chang Feng asked: "Why, the Sihai Society has changed?"

Lu Shaoyuan immediately fell silent.

Chang Feng said with a smile: "Why, want to suffer a second punishment, suffer a second time, suffer a second crime? I will fulfill you."

"As long as you can bear it and can't die, I can not only punish you a second time, but also a third or fourth time."

"Only until you confess."

Lu Shaoyuan had already suffered a lot just now: "Master Chang, please spare me. I will say anything."

"The Four Seas Society has ceased to exist long ago!"

Chang Feng was surprised: "Oh? The Universal Society was so powerful back then, how could it cease to exist?"

Lu Shaoyuan said: "She's not the little widow of the Lin family. That little widow is very resourceful."

"Back then, there would be eight elders and one deacon in the world. The elders would do the work of supporting the smuggling trade."

"Deacons are responsible for dealing with Japanese pirates and buying and selling goods."

Chang Feng said: "If I guess correctly, the deacon is the Lin family of Quanzhou, right?"

Lu Shaoyuan replied: "Exactly. The deacon is Lin Kewang, the head of the Lin family, oh, that is, Yan Pan'er's husband."

"11 years ago, Lin Kewang died of illness. His son was young. His continuation wife, Yan Pan'er, became a deacon."

"Originally, the Eighth Elder didn't like Yan Pan'er, a woman like her. He planned to kick her out of the Universal Club."

"I never expected that Yan Pan'er is [-] times smarter than her damn husband."

"Si Haihui's money has turned around in two years."

Chang Feng poured a bowl of water for Lu Shaoyuan: "Moisten your throat and continue."

Lu Shaoyuan drank the bowl of water greedily and continued: "Nine years ago, Yan Pan'er and Wang Zhi summoned all the elders to discuss matters in Hangzhou."

Chang Feng interrupted Lu Shaoyuan: "If I remember correctly, King Jingjiang suddenly made a request nine years ago to pay tribute to Beijing one year in advance. The emperor granted permission. His royal carriage passed through Hangzhou."

"The purpose is to discuss matters with the other elders in Hangzhou, right?"

Lu Shaoyuan nodded: "That's right. After the eight elders gathered in Hangzhou, the deacon Yan Pan'er treated everyone to a grassland hot pot meal."

"That hot pot banquet is no less than a Hongmen banquet."

"She used many ingenious methods to persuade the eight elders, disbanded the Four Seas Association, and established the Shuangmu Association."

Chang Feng said: "Shuangmu, Lin Ye. She actually wants to dominate the family? A group of high-ranking officials, nobles and feudal lords, you actually agreed?"

Lu Shaoyuan explained: "Whether it is the Four Seas Club or the Shuangmu Club, in the final analysis, it all comes down to the word 'profit'."

"As long as the Lin family in Quanzhou allows us to get more interest. So what if her family dominates?"

Chang Feng glanced at Zhang Cai.Zhang Cai is clearly recording the confession.

Chang Feng told Lu Shaoyuan: "What is the difference between Shuangmuhui and Sihaihui?"

Lu Shaoyuan replied: "The Four Seas Society has eight elders who have the final say. The Shuangmu Society has no elders, only the leader. Everything is decided by the leader alone."

"Yan Pan'er is naturally the only leader."

"The former members of the Universal Club have all become shareholders of the Shuangmu Club."

"The Lin family holds half of the shares, and the original eight elders hold [-]% of the shares."

In the words of later generations, the eight elders lost their decision-making power and only retained the right to pay dividends.

Chang Feng asked: "Where is the other fifty and a half percent?"

Lu Shaoyuan replied: "From the yamen servants in the coastal county government to the high-ranking officials in the capital, the other [-]% has been divided by one level."

"The minions' bonus money is distributed every six months."

"The dividends of the big shots are reconciled, settled, and written off in the capital every three years."

Chang Feng was stunned: "This time Yan Pan'er came to Beijing just for the three-year dividend distribution, oh no, the spoils sharing conference?"

Lu Shaoyuan replied: "Exactly."

Chang Feng asked: "The spoils are only divided once every three years. How many banknotes will she have to bring when she comes to Beijing this time?"

Lu Shaoyuan's answer made Chang Feng gasp: "At least 300 million taels."

In the 14th year of Hongzhi's reign, the imperial court levied physical taxes totaling 3203 million taels of silver and currency taxes in cash of 3105 million taels.

The three-year dividends of the smuggling maritime group Shuangmuhui actually topped Ming's one-year currency tax revenue.

And this is just the dividends for the big shots.If you add in the minions' share, it will be a shocking number.

Chang Feng asked: "When will Yan Pan'er's spoils sharing meeting be held? Where is the venue?"

Lu Shaoyuan smiled bitterly: "I don't know."

Chang Feng frowned: "You are a shareholder, don't you know?"

Lu Shaoyuan sighed: "Oh, my father-in-law has been dead for six years. Now I am not a big shot in the Shuangmu Society. I am just a minion. I am not worthy to participate in the triennial dividend meeting."

"The little widow of the Lin family, because I was an elder of the Sihai Society, I will be rewarded with two to three thousand taels of silver every year to live on."

Chang Feng thought: It seems that Lu Shaoyuan is no longer the core figure in the smuggling network.

Chang Feng didn't ask Lu Shaoyuan any more about the spoils sharing meeting, as it was in vain.

He changed the subject and asked a question that seemed irrelevant to Shuangmuhui: "Do you know the inside story about the death of You Tianjue in the six cities of Yongning, Fujian Province, which were besieged by Japanese pirates?"

Lu Shaoyuan answered truthfully: "I am now a poor person. How can I know the inside story of such a big thing?"

"However, I can roughly guess that [-]% of the cases are likely to be done by Shuangmuhui by hiring Japanese pirates."

"It's been so many years, which sea merchant in the southeast doesn't hate You Tianjue so much?"

"He seized the smuggled goods and handed them all over to the Shipbuilding Department. Maritime merchants have to spend a lot of money to bribe the companies in the Shipping Department to get back the goods."

When Chang Feng heard this, his heart skipped a beat.

He felt unfair for You Tianjue!
The smuggled goods seized by You Tianjue risking his life have become the source of income for officials of the Municipal Bureau of Shipping.

In other words, You Tianjue was treated as a knife by the officials of the Shibo Department.A knife that scrapes oil from a sea merchant!

In the end, those smuggled goods will still be transported to sea to make profits for maritime merchants and Japanese pirates.

When the Japanese pirates got money, they could recruit troops and gather more people.The Japanese invasion in the southeast will be like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.

You Tianjue's more than ten years of fighting and sacrificing his life for the country ended up in vain.

"Crack!" Chang Feng slapped the table in a rage, so hard that he flinched in pain.

Chang Feng got up and left the main room.

Zhang Cai and Basha chased out.

Zhang Cai asked: "Master Chang, Lu Shaoyuan seems to have lost the value of interrogation. How to deal with him?"

Chang Feng asked back: "What is doing business with Japanese pirates?"

Zhang Cai replied: "It's considered treason."

Chang Feng asked again: "How do Jin Yiwei always treat those who collaborate with the enemy and treason?"

Zhang Caidao: "Understood. There will be an unidentified corpse at the mass grave in the south of the city tonight."

Chang Feng liked the young man Zhang Cai more and more.Every time he didn't need to clarify his words, Zhang Cai could understand his intention.

Lu Shaoyuan has become a little person who doesn't know the inside story.

But today's interrogation was not fruitless.At the very least, they knew the purpose of Yan Paner's visit to Beijing this time - to share the spoils.

For the time being, Chang Feng only knew the first purpose of Yan Pan'er's visit to Beijing, but not the second.

Kunning Palace.

Zhang Heling has successfully brought Yan Pan'er into the palace and recommended it to Queen Zhang.

At this moment, Queen Zhang was standing in front of the fifteen kilograms of ambergris.

Empress Zhang marveled: "What a rare treasure. I'm afraid the palace has never received such a rare tribute in more than 130 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty."

Yan Pan'er is really eloquent, without metaphors or rhetoric.

She knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Long live today is the most blessed benevolent monarch in the past and present. The empress is the most blessed mother of the country in the past and present."

"This rare treasure has been dormant in the sea for thousands of years. It will only appear in the world when the first blessed Mother of the Nation appears."

Yan Pan'er's flattery was very useful to Empress Zhang.

Empress Zhang lowered her head and glanced at Yan Pan'er: "You are serious. You have also spent money."

Yan Pan'er said: "As long as you can honor the empress and make the empress smile. Even if the Lin family loses all their wealth, it will be worth it."

When he said this, Yan Pan'er's tears flowed down like water onto the bluestone.

Queen Zhang quickly asked, "Why are you crying?"

Zhang Heling helped: "Sister, Mrs. Lin has been wronged."

Zhang Heling didn't call her "Empress Empress" in Kunning Palace, she just called her "Sister".It is a bad behavior without the courtesy of a courtier.

He is such an unruly person.No one cares, no one dares to care.

Empress Zhang said: "Don't cry. Tell me, what's your grievance?"

Yan Pan'er began to pretend to be pitiful to win Empress Zhang's sympathy: "Empress, a commoner's wife is a widowed woman who has to keep her husband's integrity. She has to take care of her young only son and support the Lin family's family business."

"From time to time, there are still people who bully us orphans and widowed mothers. Ying Ying Ying."

Empress Zhang was very sad: "Oh, it's not easy for you as a woman."

"Tell me, who bullied you? Bengong decides for you."

Yan Paner did not directly say the word "Changfeng".

She did her homework before entering Beijing.Know the relationship between the Chang family and Queen Zhang.

Since ancient times, we have been close.She wouldn't be stupid enough to say that Chang Feng bullied her and let Queen Zhang decide.

Yan Pan'er replied: "There are too many people who bully the orphans and widows of the Lin family, too many to count."

Empress Zhang actually took off a gold and jade butterfly love flower hairpin from her head.The hairpin is decorated with dragon and phoenix patterns.Only the master of the harem can use such hairpins.

Empress Zhang handed the hairpin to Yan Pan'er: "If someone dares to bully you in the future, you can take this hairpin out."

"The presence of this thing proves that you are from this palace. Let's see which evil person dares to bully you orphans and widowed mothers again."

Queen Zhang is a woman who is really kind and stupid.The token that the Mother and the Queen wore with her was randomly awarded to a woman she had only met once.

With this thing, the Lin family can walk sideways in the southeast in the future.How many officials dare to provoke the mother of the country?
Yan Pan'er took the hairpin with both hands, and cried even louder: "What kind of virtues did the peasant woman accumulate in her previous life, she can be rewarded by the empress."

Empress Zhang sighed: "Oh, don't cry. Being a man is hard, and being a woman is even more difficult. Being a woman who manages a family's business is even more difficult."

Jin Yiwei's side.

Changfeng thought hard about where to start to uproot Shuangmuhui.After much deliberation, I couldn't figure out the right solution.

No matter how powerful and capable a person is, he cannot fight against the entire court.

That well-rounded widow, with her superb skills, has dragged the entire court into the water.

Before I knew it, it was evening and the wind started to pick up.

Coincidentally, Wang Shouren also came out from the military department across the street.

The two walked side by side tacitly.

Chang Feng asked: "Bo'an, where does the word revenge come from?"

Wang Shouren replied: "From the "Yue Jue Shu Xu Wai", ministers do not seek thieves, sons do not take revenge, and they are not ministers."

Chang Feng didn't speak any more.Leaving aside the righteousness of his family and country, even if he wanted to avenge Pao Zeyou Tianjue, he would have to fight Shuangmuhui.

Chang Feng returned to the mansion.From a distance in the front yard, he saw a family standing in the living room, as if they were looking at something rare.

Chang Tian also went back to her mother's house and was also in the living room.

Chang Feng walked in: "What are you doing?"

Liu Xiaoyan replied: "What do you think this is?"

Chang Feng looked at the table.I saw two small boxes on the table.The box contains white powder.The fragrance is astounding.

Chang Feng is also a person who has enjoyed wealth for more than ten years and has seen the world.He asked: "Where did you get the ambergris?"

"These two boxes add up to six taels of ambergris. It's worth 2000 taels of silver."

Liu Xiaoyan replied: "The Empress gave it to her. She just got a piece of ambergris weighing fifteen catties. In the afternoon, let Tangtang and I go to Kunning Palace to watch it."

"Before she left, she asked the palace maid to cut three taels for each of us and grind them into powder. Just put half a penny in the sachet and it will last for a year if you hang it on your body."

Empress Zhang truly regards Liu Xiaoyan as her sister and Chang Tian as her younger sister.Whatever good things happen, I think of the two of them.

Chang Feng was stunned: "Fifteen catties of ambergris? It has never been heard of before! Which vassal state in Nanyang brought it here?"

Chang Tian interjected: "It was given to the empress by a woman from a merchant family surnamed Lin in Quanzhou."

Chang Feng's heart skipped a beat: Yan Pan'er actually climbed up to the queen?This matter is getting more and more difficult to handle.

(End of this chapter)