Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

"Are you really so comfortable leaving your beautiful and wealthy ex-wife alone in Luoyang?"

Yuan Min moved closer to Xue Wei's face, "What if that Cui guy isn't giving up, and that Wu guy still wants to cause trouble? You're not by my side, what if something happens to me?"

Xue Wei gave a wry smile. "I'm not going to Chang'an, I'm going to Chenzhou, that far away place. It'll take at least two months to get there..."

"You know you'll be gone for two months!"

Yuan Min interrupted him without any politeness, "If you come back and find that I've already married someone else, don't blame me for not waiting for you!"

Xue Wei hesitated. This society is very realistic. Power, wealth and beauty have always been the focus of public attention. Yuan Min has two of them. How could she not attract attention?

Young, beautiful, and wealthy unmarried women like Yuan Min are often the targets of many men. Those without power can only pursue her and daydream about her, but powerful men might actually make a move on her.

Xue Wei was persuaded by Yuan Min, and he put up a weak resistance.

"The journey is too arduous; I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it."

Yuan Min perked up. "I'll give you a plan. If you can accept it, we can set off together."

"What plan?"

Yuan Min took a piece of paper and began to draw. "You can take a boat from Luoyang via the Tongji Canal, but you don't need to go to Yangzhou. Instead, after reaching the Huai River, you can take the Chaohu waterway into the Yangtze River, then go through Dongting Lake to the Xiang River, and then from the Xiang River to the Lei River to Chen County in Chenzhou. Yinkeng is only fifty li away. I'll wait for you in Chen County. You can go to Yinkeng to investigate. I'll wait for you for three days at most, which is better than waiting for two months!"

Xue Wei accepted the proposal. In fact, the two of them were currently deeply in love and couldn't live without each other.

Xue Wei readily agreed, "Alright! Let's be well-prepared so we can suffer less on the journey."

Yuan Min was overjoyed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "I knew my husband was the best!"

…………

Preparations were needed for the trip to Chenzhou, and arrangements had to be made for the families of his subordinates. Xue Wei gave each of the three officials an advance of thirty strings of cash for settling down, and each of the officials in charge of matters an advance of twenty strings of cash for settling down, so that they could travel with him on this long journey with peace of mind.

The initial preparations took about five days, and Xue Wei used these five days to begin the preliminary investigation.

One is the process investigation, which examines the steps required for various metal raw materials to travel from their place of origin to the warehouse of the Imperial Household Department. Yuan Renjing served as the Vice Director of the Imperial Household Department for six years, and he was the most authoritative figure in this regard.

"The system of the Imperial Household Department is very strict. For decades, there has never been a case of raw materials being switched. However, since Wu Chengsi took over as the director of the Imperial Household Department, there have been four cases of raw materials being switched during his short three-year term. Short weights and measures are commonplace."

"How could this happen?" Xue Wei asked, puzzled.

Yuan Renjing smiled and said, "It's practically the rule of every government office to live off the land. Otherwise, you can't support your family with that meager salary. The Imperial Household Department also has many ways to make money. One is refining crude copper. For example, 20,000 catties of crude copper can be refined into 18,000 catties of refined copper. The remaining impurities are discarded. But in reality, if the refining technology is more advanced and the raw materials are better, you can refine 18,500 catties of refined copper. The extra 500 catties are the extra stuff."

"What does this have to do with the white copper case?"

"I need to clarify something. I've tested it, and it's not white copper, but lead. It's also silvery-gray and very shiny, like a lump of broken silver. White copper is quite expensive, but lead is much cheaper, and it's produced in many places, including the Chenzhou silver mine. It's a byproduct of silver."

Xue Wei nodded. "Go on!"

"That's the problem. Unlike copper, which is difficult to distinguish, and silver, which is hard to fake, lead is easy to identify. You can feel the lead dust just by touching it, and it's very soft. You can tell by gently tapping it with a small hammer. Why wasn't it detected when it was put into storage, and why was it only discovered at the silver refining stage?"

"Where did the problem lie?"

"The problem arose during the years when Wu Chengsi served as the Director of the Imperial Household Department, when he abolished the inspection process upon entry into the warehouse."

Xue Wei was taken aback. "Why?"

Yuan Renjing sneered, "It's just like I said before, he needs to make money. Wu Chengsi seems like a nice guy, but he abandoned many principles to seek benefits for his subordinates. His reason was that he was busy casting the Nine Tripods at that time, and a large number of raw materials were transported from all over the world. Many of them could not be inspected in time, so he used this as an excuse to cancel the inspection upon entering the warehouse."

Once the incoming inspection is eliminated, a lot of illicit activities begin. The most common problem is short-weighting; it's not uncommon for 20,000 jin of raw materials to actually only contain 19,000 jin, because without the incoming inspection step, it becomes unclear where the problem lies.

"There are two issues here. Do you think Wu Chengsi's 'good guy' attitude is just an act, a ploy to avoid inspection and allow this batch of lead, disguised as silver, to slip into the warehouse?"

Yuan Renjing shook his head. "I dare not say that this Prince Wei is suspected of acting intentionally; I have no evidence!"

"Alright!" Xue Wei smiled. "Let's talk about another issue. You mean to say that there wasn't actually 20,000 jin of lead ingots?"

"Yes! Actually, it's only 19,400 jin, 600 jin less."

"What does this have to do with our case?"

Yuan Renjing did not answer directly, but led Xue Wei to the storage room next to their official residence. Upon opening the door, Xue Wei immediately saw three large wooden boxes with the words "Seventy-eight batches of Chenzhou silver" clearly written on the side.

The box was opened, revealing black metal blocks. Yuan Renjing laughed and said, "These are the 600 catties of raw materials that were embezzled when they were put into storage. They were found in the house of a warehouse manager, hidden in the cellar. He was arrested before he could deal with them, and his whole family was exiled to Lingnan with him. Last year, only his son was granted amnesty and returned. His son had no idea that there were 600 catties of stolen goods hidden in the house."

"Why is it black?"

"Lead will turn black over time, and so will silver."

Yuan Renjing scratched it with a copper key, and sure enough, it was bright silver inside.

Xue Wei looked at Yuan Renjing and said, "You still haven't answered my question. What does this have to do with our case?"

Yuan Renjing laughed. "Captain Xue, this is of great importance to the case. With these 600 catties of embezzled lead ingots, it proves that they were originally lead ingots when they were put into storage, and that they were not replaced with lead after the silver was put into storage."

"You're right, it is indeed important evidence!"

Xue Wei nodded. "This proves that the problem occurred before the silver was put into storage. I have seen the records. This batch of coarse silver was unloaded at Luoshui Wharf. From the time it was unloaded to the time it was put into storage at the Shaofujian, it was about two miles. Also, could it have been switched at the wharf? For example, perhaps it was left at the wharf overnight?"

Yuan Renjing shook his head. "The overnight stay situation did not occur. From the moment the goods were unloaded to when they were put into storage, the entire process was monitored by the Plum Blossom Guard. I checked back then and found that three hundred Plum Blossom Guards provided full protection. The goods were loaded directly onto carts and sent to the Imperial Household Department as soon as they were unloaded. The records are very detailed and should still be in the Plum Blossom Guard."

Xue Weixin said happily, "Let's go to Meihuawei to retrieve this record!"

..........

Xue Wei never expected that five days later, when he arrived at Luoshui Wharf, he would see such a jaw-dropping scene.

A luxurious passenger ship with a capacity of 5,000 shi was moored at the dock. Such ships were the mainstream vessels on the inland waterways of the Tang Dynasty. According to later standards, this luxurious passenger ship was 60 meters long, 18 meters wide, had a carrying capacity of about 400 tons, a draft of 3 to 4 meters, and could carry up to 500 to 600 passengers, requiring dozens of sailors.

"This is...you rented it?" It took Xue Wei a while to recover from his shock.

Yuan Min shook her head. "This is a new ship I bought a month ago, and then it was modified according to my requirements. Last time we went to Chang'an, I decided to buy two passenger ships of my own, one to be moored in Luoyang and one to be moored in Chang'an. I will never again ride on ships controlled by Plum Blossom Guard spies, or those large dormitory-style passenger ships. I can't stand them."

"What about the crew? Are you going to keep supporting them?"

Yuan Min smiled slightly and said, "I have several fleets. If I need crew members, I can just draw them from the fleets. The key is that the bow of the ship is reliable. It's the bow of a ship that has been with my father for fifteen years."

Xue Wei gazed at the large ship for a long time, his eyes slowly brightening. "I'm really looking forward to sailing on this ship!"

"I need to discuss something with you!"

Yuan Min hesitated for a moment before asking, "Maybe Gillian will be coming with us too?"

"Because of your third brother?"

Yuan Min nodded. "Third Brother just returned from Chang'an and is enjoying a blissful reunion with Ajiao after a short separation. When Ajiao heard that I was going to Chenzhou with you, and then she saw this big ship, she got excited and insisted on coming with us. What do you say? Is it okay?"

Xue Wei smiled slightly and said, "I don't mind, as long as your third brother agrees."

"Third Brother will definitely agree. The key is you. After all, this is a case-solving trip. Don't let it turn into a vacation."

Xue Wei smiled and said, "I'm not on an official business trip. I'm handling a private case for the Emperor, so there aren't many rules. If you want to bring the candidate fairy and the wine maiden along, I won't object."

"Neither of them will do. The candidate fairy's family is very strict and doesn't allow her to travel far. The wine maiden is busy with her engagement to Dugu Yizhi. She finally managed to get married. Even if you give her money now, she will never leave Luoyang."