The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 39 Watertight
Zhang Yunyi knew nothing about what had happened at home.

When he arrived at the inner palace, he gathered his men.

"The snowflake candy has already started to be produced. I am new here and have been busy with production recently. I don't know how the inner court will sell the output."

He asked the question even though he already knew the answer. Although the imperial palace had no output in the past, the imperial merchants still used the imperial treasury to purchase goods to fill the Guangchusi.

Therefore, even if this sales business did not exist before, it would be impossible for the imperial merchants to ignore it and spend time and effort to find another way.

Therefore, the sales rights of this white sugar will most likely fall into the hands of various royal merchants.

Unlike modern times, ancient times emphasized free trade, and silk, leather, porcelain, tea, salt, iron, ginseng, etc. were all government-run projects.

The imperial merchants did not do business for the royal family, but instead used the imperial treasury to make purchases to fill the various warehouses of the Guangchusi for use in the palace.

Not only is there no profit to be made here, but a lot of subsidies are required every year.

But once you have the title of royal merchant, you will also obtain the authorization for those exclusive projects, which is a very profitable business.

Although he wanted to find out about the Xue family's problems, asking too directly would not only put him at a disadvantage, but also make it easy for others to see through his intentions.

Therefore, although it seemed that he was asking about the sales of sugar, he was actually directing the topic to the imperial merchants.

Sure enough, a clerk below said, "Yesterday, Zhao Changshi and Dong Guangrun, the general doctor of the Guangchusi, came to visit together. It was probably for this matter, but they didn't get to see you."

"Yes!" Zhang Yunyi nodded and said, "What's your name?"

The man was flattered and said, "Your Excellency, I am Gu Wenhui."

"Okay! Come with me to the Guangchusi now."

"Hey! I will lead the way, sir!"

Of course, he didn't like Gu Wenhui so he called out his name.

A Biteshi was only a low-ranking official in charge of paperwork, but Gu Wenhui not only knew the names of Zhongshun Wang Changshi and Guangchusi Langzhong, but also knew their purpose of visit, which shows that his identity might not be simple.

Although he is only a sixth-rank official now, he has the emperor's favor and the Tiangong Academy is related to the so-called immortal skills. It is normal for him to place some people there before he becomes successful.

He does not reject this point. On the contrary, if these people use it well, there will be unexpected results.

If no one remembers you, you are a mediocre person.

As he expected, Gu Wenhui led him all the way with a nod and a bow, and they arrived at the Guangchusi smoothly.

"I am waiting here for you, sir!" Gu Wenhui stopped in front of the main hall and bowed.

Zhang Yunyi stepped into the hall and shouted, "Master Dong made a wasted trip yesterday. Your humble servant Zhang Yunyi has come to apologize!"

He then exclaimed, "Hey! Zhao Changshi is here too?"

"Master Zhang, you've arrived just in time. I have something to discuss with you."

The two of them immediately invited Zhang Yunyi in.

"Is it about the sale of snowflake cotton candy?" Zhang Yunyi said with a smile, "I was just asking about this matter at the government office, and I learned that the two gentlemen visited yesterday, so I took the liberty to come here."

After some polite talk, the two of them got straight to the point: "It would be time-consuming and laborious to find another way. It would be better to let the imperial merchants sell the snowflake candy, which would save a lot of trouble..."

I have said a lot, but it is nothing more than how to make things convenient.

Zhang Yunyi did not show any impatience. He waited until they finished talking before saying, "I wonder how many imperial merchants there are in the inner court now?"

Dong Guangrun said, "The inner court has always been composed of eight imperial merchants. Even if one of them is relieved of its duties, there will be routine replacements. Is there anything wrong with Lord Zhang asking this?"

Zhang Yunyi keenly grasped the words "routine supplement", but said without revealing it, "No, no! Please forgive me, Master Dong, for making fun of you. This is my first assignment, and I am afraid of failing to honor you, so I am being extra cautious!"

"So that's how it is!" Zhao Lianggong said with a smile, "Don't worry, Lord Zhang. The emperor has high hopes for Tiangong Academy, and no one will dare to slack off."

"That's good, that's good! However, please forgive me, sir. Please show me the list of these families." After hearing this, Zhao Lianggong and Dong Guangrun looked at each other, and the latter immediately said, "Okay! Okay!"

Then he winked at a clerk in the hall, and the clerk immediately trotted out.

After a while, he came in holding a booklet.

Zhang Yunyi took it and looked through it. It contained records of the purchases made by the eight imperial merchants in the past three years.

However, on a list attached on the last page, several families had already signed and verified, except for the Xue family's column which remained empty.

Seeing this, he already understood the Xue family’s problems.

After the gourd case, Xue Pan had nominally become a living dead. How could he dare to come to the inner court for a review in broad daylight?

Since Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai were women, it was naturally impossible for the court to recognize them.

However, although he saw the problem, he pretended not to know. Instead, he pointed at the list and said with a smile: "Could this Jinling Xue family be the Xue family that is related to the Rongguo Mansion by marriage?"

"Eh! I forgot about that. It seems that Lord Zhang and the Xue family are also old acquaintances?"

"To be honest, my Lord, this is what I'm afraid of." Zhang Yunyi bowed to the two of them and said, "Everything else is fine, but I have an unreasonable request, and I hope you two Lords can fulfill it."

"Master Zhang, please speak."

"The Xue family and I are related, and now they want to take over the sales of snowflake cotton candy. In order to avoid gossip, I think we can give them 10% of the share. What do you think?"

He didn't want to get involved in Xue Pan's case, and he didn't want to leave any lingering thoughts about the review.

Therefore, while the other party had not yet raised the issue, they used the excuse of avoiding suspicion to finalize a 10% share for the Xue family. As long as the other party agreed to this 10% share, they would take care of the rest of the secret operations.

Moreover, this 10% share was not given to the Xue family, but to the You family.

I had promised to give Youshi some shares before, and I planned to make them into notes similar to salt permits and sell them, but now I can kill two birds with one stone.

Not only could the Xue family take the opportunity to retain their title of imperial merchant, they also had channels for sales. In fact, this was a lot more than previously expected.

After all, there were only eight imperial merchants, and as the chief officer, he only allocated a 10% share, and it was still selected within the designated range. He didn't have to worry about the consequences no matter where he took the money.

As for the Xue family, they were lucky enough to keep the title of imperial merchant, so how could they dare to make any more demands?

What's more, there are subsequent trade routes for soda ash.

Zhao Lianggong and Dong Guangrun naturally would not ignore Zhang Yun逸's interpersonal relationships.

The reason why I brought the review list was to bargain with him.

Officialdom requires one to blend in with others and keep a low profile, but Zhang Yunyi had just entered officialdom, and they were still not sure about his style of doing things. In addition, his cheap father Zhang Changqing had threatened to die in order to dissuade him from doing so, and they were also worried that he would follow the family tradition and cause some trouble.

Although the two had the support of Prince Zhongshun and their official positions were higher than Zhang Yun逸's, the sugar was after all produced by Zhang Yun逸. As the chief official, he was highly regarded by the emperor, so it was not convenient for the two to suppress it by force.

Therefore, it had been discussed before that as long as Zhang Yunyi agreed to let the Royal Merchants sell on his behalf, even if he asked for more benefits, he would agree to it.

Unexpectedly, not only did he not make any demands, but he only gave the Xue family 10% of the share.

The two looked at each other, fearing that there would be no further complications, and made the decision immediately.

Zhang Yunyi bowed and said, "Thank you very much, my Lords. However, although I am related to the Xue family, everything must be in accordance with the rules and regulations. Please do not sacrifice public interests for personal gain because of this relationship!"

"Naturally!"

Although it is necessary to exaggerate the difficulty of helping others in order to make them grateful, that is only possible when the other party asks for help.

Now, the Xue family hasn't even opened their mouths yet, but I have already done the job. Not only will this not make them look down on me, but it will leave them with an impression of being unfathomable.

……

(End of this chapter)