Aoyama

Chapter 360: Opening the Court to Judge the Case

Meirui Tower, it’s night.

Chen Ji stood under the light and looked through the account books.

Shen Ye walked down from the second floor drunkenly, and said with a smile: "No wonder Brother Chen Ji asked me to go upstairs to take shelter earlier, it turned out that he wanted to say such unpleasant things to Brother Huang. It was hard for me to write letters to so many salt merchants for you... I wrote it clearly in the letter, two taels for a salt permit, how will I end up now?"

Chen Ji turned around and said sincerely: "I apologize to Brother Shen, but no matter whether it is the salt merchant that Brother Shen called or Brother Huang, I will give an explanation later."

"Shen doesn't care about these. Anyway, the salt merchants have made a lot of money. It's okay to let them bleed a little, as long as Shen doesn't bleed." Shen Ye held the wine jar, "But Brother Chen Ji's style of doing things seems to be too unscrupulous, not like a scholar."

Chen Ji said calmly: "I am not a scholar. Military tactics are all about deception."

Shen Ye sneered and said, "Last time I came, I didn't even get a glass of wine. This time, you prepared a banquet, but you want me to bear such a big infamy. Your wine is really not good."

But he complained and waved his hand as he walked out of Meirui Building: "Let's go, come back tomorrow."

Chen Ji closed the account book and asked calmly, "Brother Shen, are you not afraid of being tricked by me again?"

Shen Ye laughed: "Brother Chen Ji, you said such unpleasant words against your will. I have to come and see what you are going to do."

At this moment, Shopkeeper Ye Er led more than ten men to the back door of Meihua Ferry. The man on duty stopped them and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Chen Ertong followed suit: "Good man, we two are guests of the young master of the Chen family."

The man glanced at the few people and said, "The person in charge goes in, and the rest stay here."

Shopkeeper Ye Er said arrogantly, "I'm here to do business with money, get out of the way."

The man looked at the dozen people in front of him, but repeated expressionlessly: "The owner of this Plum Blossom Ferry is not someone you can mess with casually. Those who are in charge come in, otherwise leave."

Shopkeeper Ye Er stood in front of the door for a moment, then suddenly smiled and turned to the man behind him and said, "You guys stay here. I don't think there will be any danger in Plum Blossom Ferry."

The man stepped aside, and Chen Ertong led the shopkeeper Ye Er straight to Meirui Tower. On the way, they ran into Shen Ye who was staggering out.

Shen Ye stood on the side of the road and tilted his head to look at the two people. When Shopkeeper Ye Er passed by him, he subconsciously fanned his nose to get rid of the smell of alcohol, but Shen Ye turned around and followed the two people back to Meirui Tower.

Shopkeeper Ye Er quickened his pace. When he stepped into the threshold of Meirui Building, he first carefully looked at the accountants behind the long table, and then saw Chen Ji holding an account book in his hand.

When Chen Ji saw someone coming, he immediately closed the account book and said, "I just saw this person, why did he leave and come back?"

Chen Ertong introduced, "Mr. Chen, this is the manager of our salt shop. I told him about the salt permit and he came to see you right away."

Shopkeeper Ye Er bowed politely and said, "Young Master Chen, I'm here to buy a salt permit."

Chen Ji flipped through the account book in his hand and said, "You all know the rules, four taels of silver per ticket."

Shopkeeper Ye Er shook his head slightly: "No, I won't buy them in pieces. I want to buy 300,000 pieces at the price of two taels each."

"Oh?" Chen Ji looked up and down at Shopkeeper Ye Er, and after a while he said calmly, "Not for sale."

Shopkeeper Ye Er narrowed his eyes and said, "Not selling? Didn't Master Chen say he wanted to sell it before?"

Chen Ji threw the account book on the table beside him and said slowly, "It's just an excuse. You said, even if the salt permit in my hand is priced at four taels of silver, there are still many people who want it. Why should I sell it at a low price of two taels of silver?"

Shopkeeper Ye Er said calmly, "Young Master Chen, are you talking about selling salt permits to those private salt dealers? As the saying goes, a son of a wealthy family should not sit in the hall. Those private salt dealers live with their heads hanging on their belts. Why should Young Master Chen get involved with them? Aren't you afraid that one day they will drop dead and splatter blood on your boots?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "The shopkeeper doesn't need to threaten me. Since you are here, you must know what I rely on to gain a foothold in the Eight Great Hutongs. I am already covered in blood, so I am not afraid of a few more drops. Besides, you said the buyers are private salt dealers, are they? I said you are a private salt dealer."

Shopkeeper Ye Er was startled: "That's not the case with me."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "What are you so nervous about, boss? I just said it casually. How about four taels of silver for a salt permit? Do you want to buy it?"

Seeing that he couldn't get through to him, Shopkeeper Ye Er immediately bowed and said, "Then I'll tell you..."

However, at this moment, Chen Ertong beside him suddenly said, "Si Liang, let's buy 10,000 tickets."

Shopkeeper Ye Er turned around and glared at Chen Ertong, and said in a low voice: "When will it be your turn to make the decision?"

Chen Ertong lowered his voice and said, "Manager Ye, this is the manager's order, please do as he says."

Shopkeeper Ye Er was speechless.

Chen Ji interrupted them and asked: "Are you going to buy it or not?"

Chen Ertong looked at Chen Ji and said, "Buy it."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "I've changed my mind again. I'll sell it for 150,000 pieces for 4 taels of silver. The silver you brought should be just enough... Do you still want to buy it?"

Chen Ertong was hesitant.

Chen Ji waved his hand and said, "See you off."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ertong gritted his teeth and said, "Buy it!"

Chen Ji waved behind him, and Pao Ge, along with Er Dao and his gang, brought seven wooden boxes to Chen Ertong and said, "Let's count them."

Chen Ertong opened the wooden box and untied the hemp ropes of each bundle of salt permits. He was relieved only after he was sure that the salt permits were real. "Master Chen, our people are outside. Please let them in to lift the box."

Chen Ji shook his head: "No need, our people will help you carry it out."

Pao Ge waved to several of his men.

Chen Ertong bowed again: "Goodbye."

Shen Ye leaned against a table, squinting his eyes as he watched Chen Ertong and Shopkeeper Ye Er leave. "Brother Chen Ji, the people who were willing to spend a huge amount of money to buy these salt permits must want to kill you."

Chen Ji stood at the threshold without saying a word.

Pao Ge took out his pipe and slowly filled it with tobacco. Chen Ji turned around and said to Pao Ge, "Please load the salt permits, the silver from the salt permits, and the salt account books onto the truck and send them to the Chen family. They should be useful tomorrow. Let's go."

Pao Ge responded with a "Don't worry", then brought the pipe close to the candlestick, lit it, took a few deep puffs, and then exhaled a puff of green smoke.

He looked at Chen Ji's back in the swirling smoke. It seemed that Chen Ji's back was blurry, as if it was slowly overlapping with the Chen Ji in his memory.

……

……

Shopkeeper Ye Er suppressed his anger and walked out of Meihua Ferry. A group of men carried boxes and walked out of the city.

After leaving the Eight Great Hutongs, he turned to look at Chen Ertong and said, "What do you mean, Chen Yue? I, Ye Yumin, have never received a salt permit worth four taels of silver in my life. If I want to buy a salt permit, I will bid three taels of silver, and those marginal households will have to kneel down and beg me to take it away!"

However, at this moment, Chen Bin walked out from the shadow of the alley: "Second Shopkeeper Ye, the big shopkeeper reminded me that it is only a matter of time before that kid finds out about the smuggling of salt. If you want to get away with it, you have to get rid of all the smuggling salt dealers under you. It's time to make a decisive move."

Shopkeeper Ye Er's face changed. "What kind of hero is Chen Yue? Why would he choose my people as the first choice when something happens?"

Chen Bin said sincerely: "Second Shopkeeper Ye, we are registered salt merchants. How can we have anything to do with those who sell private salt?"

Shopkeeper Ye Er angrily cursed, "Bullshit! The money earned by the salt shop these years was all from the private salt I brought in and sold in the salt shop. If it weren't for me, how could Chen Yue's account be clean?"

Chen Bin sighed softly: "Second Shopkeeper Ye, this is a different time now. Now that the master has sent a new owner, we should deal with the past."

Shopkeeper Ye Er sneered: "Why, I have been in charge of the private salt all these years, are you going to get rid of me as well?"

Chen Bin stared at him without saying anything.

Shopkeeper Ye Er turned around and ran out of the alley, but when he turned around, he saw that the man who was carrying the box behind him had put the box down and pulled out a dagger from his waist.

Shopkeeper Ye Er said sternly, "Do you think you can deal with the good men I have placed in the farm? You overestimate your abilities! If you can't handle them well, they will definitely expose your ugly deeds. Let me go now, and I will handle this matter." Chen Bin smiled and said, "No need, we have our own way."

A trace of doubt flashed across the eyes of Shopkeeper Ye Er, but he understood in an instant: "It was the Second Master, it was the Second Master who asked you to do this, right? Is it the officials around him who are going to take action?!"

……

……

Early morning, at the hour of Mao.

Chen Ji carried the shoulder pole and walked along the gravel road back to Ginkgo Garden.

As soon as I entered the yard, I saw the middle-aged man beside Elder Chen waiting in the yard.

When the other party saw him, he bowed politely and said, "Sir, the master of the family sent me to invite you to the Wendan Hall, saying that there is something important to discuss."

Chen Ji carried a shoulder pole into the side room and poured the water in the bucket into the vat: "Wait a moment."

The middle-aged man did not urge him, but put his hands in his sleeves and asked curiously, "Don't the servants in the mansion fill the water tanks in the Ginkgo Garden every day?"

Chen Ji smiled and explained: "No, I just have nothing to do."

He emptied the two barrels and put down his rolled-up sleeves: "Let's go."

The middle-aged man walked in front to lead the way, and Chen Ji followed behind. Both of them seemed to have become dumb and refused to say a word.

After passing through Xiaoyingzhou, we arrived at Wendan Hall, where we saw Chen Ge Lao, Chen Lizun, and Chen Lizhi sitting in the Wendan Hall, Chen Wende standing behind Chen Lizhi, and Chen Yue, the chief manager of Chen Family Salt Shop, standing in the hall with his hands hanging down. However, Chen Liqin was not among them.

Several members of the Chen family wore red official robes, as if they were in court to judge a case.

The middle-aged man stepped over the threshold of the Wendan Hall and whispered, "Master, Chen Ji is here."

Elder Chen didn't say anything. Chen Lizhi was using his fingers to apply tea to his eyelids, and he didn't say anything either.

Chen Lizun looked at Chen Ji and asked in a deep voice, "Chen Ji, the head of the family asked you to share the affairs of the family salt company a few days ago. How is it going now? Is anyone giving you trouble?"

Chen Lizhi wiped the tea off his eyelids with his sleeve, opened his eyes and sneered, "Brother, you can't be so partial. Today I want to call him here to question him, not to ask about his well-being. If you can't ask, we will ask."

Chen Lizun's face darkened and he kept silent.

Chen Lizhi raised his finger and pointed at Chen Ji. Chen Wende asked, "Chen Ji, I heard that you took away the salt company's account books and salt permits. Is that true?"

Chen Ji glanced at Chen Yue, then turned to Chen Wende and said humbly, "Brother, I am the new owner of the Salt Company. The first thing I have to do when I take office is to check the accounts of previous years and take inventory of the Salt Company's warehouses. How can I say that I have taken away the Salt Company's warehouses?"

Chen Wende said calmly, "If you want to audit the accounts, just take the account books. Why do you need to take the salt permits? If you take the salt permits away, how can my Chen family salt shop open for business? In recent years, the salt buckets in the salt shop have been empty. Outsiders will laugh at my Chen family for not having capable people."

Chen Ji said calmly, "It would take at least seven days to exchange a salt permit for salt, and then transport it from the nearest Hangu to the capital by mule, horse, or ox cart. How come the Chen Family Salt Shop has gone out of business just after I took the salt permit? In this case, whether I took the salt permit or not, the salt shop would have no salt to sell."

Chen Wende was about to refute when Chen Lizhi raised his hand in boredom and said, "Don't talk about these trivial matters. Let's talk about the big things, Chen Yue."

Chen Yue, who was standing in the hall, took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Chen Ji, yesterday the city was rumored to have sold half of the salt permits of my Chen Family Salt Company to private salt dealers. Is this true?"

Chen Ji replied: "That is not the case."

Chen Yue was stunned and said in a low voice, "Nonsense, yesterday the salt inspector arrested a group of private salt dealers in the farm outside the city and found 150,000 salt permits. Those 150,000 salt permits were the ones you sold to them yesterday."

Elder Chen suddenly opened his eyes.

Chen Yue continued, "Chen Ji, do you know that my Chen family is a noble family, and we do a clean business that is on the books? How can we disregard the laws and regulations of the country and collude with private salt dealers just for a little profit?"

Elder Chen looked at Chen Ji calmly: "Is this true?"

Chen Ji bowed and said, "Return to the master, there is absolutely no such thing."

Chen Wende was calm and said, "Someone has already exposed you, are you still trying to make excuses?"

Chen Ji stood up straight and asked, "Where are those salt smugglers? Can you bring them to court for a confrontation?"

Chen Wende said calmly, "These salt bandits are extremely evil by nature. They refused to surrender even when surrounded. The salt inspector led his troops to capture them and killed them all to serve as a warning to others."

Chen Ji asked again: "Then how can you say that I sold it to them?"

Chen Wende explained: "One of them threatened to get in touch with Chen Ji, the son of the Chen family, while drinking wine in the Eight Great Hutongs. Even if they were engaged in illegal salt business, no one dared to arrest them. That's why the salt inspector was able to find out the clues and catch them all in one fell swoop."

Chen Ji hummed: "The lie is well-made and concise."

Chen Yue looked confident of victory: "You still don't admit it?"

Chen Ji bowed and said, "I won't admit to something I haven't done."

Chen Yue said loudly: "Then let me ask you, is the Chen family salt permit still in your hands?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "Of course we have, we just counted the number last night."

Chen Yue's face darkened. "That's good. We just need to check whether you are missing 150,000 salt permits. Then we can clear your name."

At this time, Chen Lizhi glanced at Chen Lizun and suddenly said, "Chen Ji, you are a member of my Chen family. Even if you are bewildered for a while, no one will kill you like outsiders would. As long as you are willing to admit your mistakes, you can still be saved. But if you insist on being stubborn, no one will be able to save you if they find out something later."

Chen Ji said sincerely: "Second uncle, I transported the salt permits to Ginkgo Garden last night and I am personally looking after them. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to bring all the salt permits to Wendan Hall for inspection now."

Chen Yue's face changed, and he felt something was wrong. Aren't Chen Ji's account books and salt permits all in Meihua Ferry? Why were they all transported back to Chen's house, as if they were waiting for this moment to be convenient for inspection?

He looked up at Chen Lizhi, but saw a flash of doubt in the other's eyes.

Looking at Chen Lizun again, he actually relaxed with a smile on his face.

Chen Lizun said to the middle-aged man next to Chen Ge Lao: "Chen Xu, send someone to bring all the boxes in Chen Ji's room over."

Chen Xu said yes in a low voice.

An incense stick later, Chen Xu came back with more than 40 servants, carrying more than 20 large boxes and placed them outside the Wendan Hall.

Chen Xu glanced at everyone in the Wendan Hall and opened the boxes one by one, only to see that they were filled with bundles of salt permits and account books.

Chen Yue has been running a salt shop for decades and can tell at a glance whether the quantity of salt permits is sufficient.

All 300,000 salt permits are here.

Chen Ji pointed at the box and said, "The salt permits and account books are all here. Manager Chen, please check them."

Chen Yue whispered, "How is that possible? No, this is the salt permit you moved from somewhere else."

Chen Ji said calmly, "What are you talking about, shopkeeper? Every salt permit issued by the Ministry of Revenue has a number. The Chen family is the first batch of salt merchants to receive salt permits this year. The numbers from 1 to 300,000 are all here. Just look at the number and you will know if it is my Chen family's salt permit."

Chen Yue suddenly looked up, only to see Chen Lizhi staring at him coldly with a sinister look on his face.

He turned and looked at Chen Lizun again.

Household Department.

Now Lord Chen has already handed over the Ministry of Revenue to Chen Lizun, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Only this Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue can spend so much salt so quietly.

The salt permit that Shopkeeper Ye Er bought was not the salt permit from Chen’s Salt Company, but the salt permit that Chen Lizun secretly withdrew from the Ministry of Revenue!
Without waiting for him to think, Chen Ji said to Chen Lizun, "My nephew has been checking the accounts recently and has not been interested in the affairs of the salt shop. Chen Yue, the chief shopkeeper, said something very right. My nephew is a layman and needs to look through the account books to understand how the salt shop is run. However, my nephew has not checked one thing. The account books now record that the Chen family salt shop should have 270,000 taels of silver in its warehouse for turnover... Shopkeeper Chen Yue, I wonder if this silver is still there?"

(End of this chapter)