The Incense Monopoly Order

Chapter 33: No Good Ending
"We can't go back to the city in this state. Do you want me to send someone to secretly deliver a message to your mother?" Cheng She asked.

After they met up with Cheng She's men, they found a secluded village and sneaked into a small courtyard under the cover of night. This courtyard was built by Cheng She in the name of someone else. There was also a doctor living in the village. At this moment, the doctor had already treated Cheng She's wound and was bandaging Shang Mingshu.

Across the curtain, Shang Mingshu frowned as the powder seeped into the wound, her voice steady: "No need."

Cheng She understood that Shang Mingshu had arranged everything, just as he expected. Fortunately, he did not act on his own. "Thank you for your help today, Miss San."

"It all started with me." Shang Mingshu was talking to Cheng She, her thoughts drawn away, forgetting the pain from cleaning the wound. "Second Brother Cheng, can you tell me what happened?"

The people who were chasing Cheng She were not good people. They had a narrow escape of death. If Cheng She's men had not arrived in time, she and Cheng She would have been in great danger.

"This matter is not caused by the Third Lady, nor by the Shang family. It is me who has implicated the Third Lady." Cheng She took out a few bills from his arms and asked the doctor's wife to bring them in.

Cheng’s Club Tickets!

There were no official money houses in this dynasty, and the "official Jiaozi" circulated during the Song Dynasty has not been passed down. Silver and copper coins were the main coins.

Large sums of money will be transferred via bills, with the money being remitted from place A and delivered at place B.

Usually, only merchants with excellent reputation and large businesses can issue meeting invoices, and only those who are willing to issue meeting invoices are willing to do so.

Shang Mingshu never expected that those people would take the "bribe money" from Shang's and turn around to give it to Cheng's trading company, get the meeting ticket from Cheng's family, return to the capital, and then use the meeting ticket to collect it from Cheng's property in Kyoto.

"Cheng's Trading Company's scales are balanced and full, and its rulers are stretched. There is nothing wrong with them choosing Cheng's bills. How can Second Brother Cheng implicate me?" Shang Mingshu was puzzled. If she were in his place, she would also choose Cheng's Trading Company's bills.

With such a large sum of money, the people would definitely arrive in the capital before the money. To get the money as quickly as possible, they would have to choose a large trading company like Cheng's, which could easily take out the money even if they didn't transport the money they had deposited in Huizhou Prefecture.

"Over the past year, the number of people who have obtained tickets from the Cheng family has increased by 40% compared to previous years," Cheng She said. "The special stamp on the Cheng family's tickets has gradually been deciphered, and there have been five cases of fraudulent claims so far."

Someone is studying the bills of exchange of Cheng's Trading Company, trying to make money from them and at the same time bring down Cheng's Trading Company.

This group of people is most likely targeting the bills of exchange from Cheng's Trading Company, and the merchants are just incidental.

After a pause, Cheng She continued, "They may have noticed that I was investigating this matter. Judging from the people who set up the ambush today, I'm afraid it was a well-planned trap for me."

The Cheng family's trading company had a history of fraudulently claiming bills of exchange, and now suddenly a huge sum of 100,000 strings of cash appeared, right under Cheng She's nose. How could Cheng She not get to the bottom of this?
It is very likely that this is a bait, to lure Cheng She to the place where they set an ambush, and then take the opportunity to take Cheng She's life!

However, the person who set up the trap did not know that the money was taken out from the Shang family. The Shang family had the intention to rob it back, and they did not expect that Shang Mingshu would find Cheng She to rob it back, which led to Cheng She taking action in advance and taking the initiative.

If Shang Mingshu had not intervened, Cheng She would have taken advantage of the situation and gone deep into the tiger's den. Cheng She did not dare to imagine what the final outcome would be, but the other party was using an open strategy, so even if he knew there was a tiger in the mountain, he would still go there.

Shang Mingshu understood clearly: "It's true that Cheng is the target, but Shang Jia is not necessarily the unlucky one."

A group of people used their merchant's money to set up a scheme for the Cheng family, making a fortune out of nothing. Cheng family had to recognize the money no matter what, and even if the fake bills were discovered by the Cheng family, they would still make a profit. "My plan and the third lady's plan coincided with each other." Cheng She actually thought so, but if Shang Mingshu didn't think so, he would be shirking responsibility by saying so.

After Shang Mingshu's injuries were treated and the doctor left, she sat up and flipped through the receipt in her hand. "What do you want to do with this money, Second Brother Cheng?"

Cheng She paused for a moment and said, "Mrs. San, I have instructed someone to seal this money somewhere else. If you can find a suitable place for it, I will have someone send it back to you."

What he meant was to give it to Shang Mingshu secretly, because the ticket would be lost and without the sample, it would be difficult for them to copy one.

Shang Mingshu checked her clothes, pulled aside the curtain, and met Cheng She's eyes. "Second Brother Cheng, are you willing to let them go just like that?"

It was originally her money, and she nearly lost her life when she tried to get it back. Cheng She was willing to do so, but Shang Mingshu was not!

The girl had long black hair, and was wearing a simple peasant girl's cloth dress. She had no fancy clothes and no makeup on, and there was even a bloodstain on her forehead. She should have looked gray and disheveled, but her thin body stood straight, her eyes cold, like a bloodthirsty sword, eager to be unsheathed and kill everyone and everything that stood in her way.

"What are your plans, Miss San?" Is Cheng She the type to settle things peacefully?

It's just that this money involves Shang Mingshu. He promised Shang Mingshu early on that he would return the money to Shang Mingshu, so it's not easy to use Shang Mingshu's money to set up a scheme to deal with that group of villains. There are plenty of opportunities and ways to do it.

"Lure the snake out." Shang Mingshu handed the ticket to Cheng She.

"Lure the snake out of its hole?" Cheng She subconsciously took the ticket, thinking about something.

"Second Brother Cheng, 100,000 strings of cash is no small sum. I doubt these people soliciting wealth under the guise of 'tribute tea' will be willing to see the fat meat disappear." Shang Mingshu's eyes darkened. "These corrupt officials in the court are so brazenly exploiting merchants. Shouldn't we strike a blow against them? Put an end to their arrogance and buy us merchants a moment of respite?"

It is impossible to completely eliminate it. Once things get out of hand and the imperial court intervenes, these people will always restrain themselves.

"You want me to..." Cheng She probably guessed Shang Mingshu's intention, and couldn't help but feel excited.

Shang Mingshu dipped her fingertips into the teacup, and water droplets fell along her fingers onto the receipt, blurring the image of the Cheng family. "Second Brother Cheng, why don't you find someone who can handle the receipt and file a complaint with the authorities?"

A person who returns lost money finds a banknote worth 100,000 strings of cash. Because they can't clearly identify the banknote's origin and don't know who paid it to, they're worried that someone might lose a large sum of money and do something foolish. So, wouldn't it be a good idea to report it to the authorities?
Once the government accepts the case, it depends on whether the person will come to claim the property himself. If not, it doesn't matter, because the recipient's information is on it. When the government brings the person over, if someone else comes out to refute the claim, saying that it is impossible for this person to have such a huge fortune and suspects that his source of wealth is unknown, shouldn't the government investigate?

"Will your father protect me?" Cheng She asked.

If Shang Jinliang, out of a desire to avoid offending the government, claimed that the money was a gift from him...

"The person who took the money is not the one my father knows as the arranger. Second Brother Cheng only needs to let the person who reports to the police state the tragic fighting in which the ticket was found. My father will then believe that the person who came to him for the arrangement was murdered for money!"

　Here is a digression. There were no silver notes in the Ming Dynasty. Silver notes first appeared in the Song Dynasty, but the Ming government did not allow silver notes to circulate or even appear in the Ming Dynasty. Only the merchants mentioned in the article would use silver notes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)