Chapter 171 Listening to Music on the Hook (Please Vote for Me!!!)

"If the villain gets the salt, he will divide it into ten parts and keep two for himself. The rest will take 10% of the profit and hand it over to the nobles of Jinling City for distribution."

Shengwei is able to make the business what it is today, and there is no lack of courage.

Zhao Yingce looked at Qin Hao and smiled: "Zihan really did not misjudge the person."

Then he said to Sheng Wei: "But your vision is still a bit wrong. It is not the nobles of Jinling City, but the nobles of the entire Jiangnan East Road."

Sheng Wei looked at Zhao Yingce in surprise and was stunned for half a minute, then he knelt down tremblingly: "I thank Your Highness for your cultivation."

Zhao Yingce waved his hand: "Don't be too busy thanking me. Do you know that this will put you on the opposite side of the Cao family?"

Sheng Wei's heart trembled, but now there was no way out, and with a huge opportunity in front of him, he didn't want to retreat.

"Your Highness, please rest assured that the world has been suffering from the Cao family for a long time. As long as we unite with nobles from all walks of life, the Cao family will not dare to risk the disapproval of the world and go against the imperial court!"

Zhao Yingce nodded with satisfaction: "Then I will look at your performance!"

Sheng Wei walked out of the room. He thought he was dreaming for a moment and pinched himself secretly. He grinned in pain, but he could not hide the excitement on his face.

All the way home, Sheng Wei was still in an unreal state. His wife should not ask curious questions when she saw this.

"Master, what's going on?"

Sheng Wei told what happened today, and his wife was immediately overjoyed.

"Is what the master said true?"

Sheng Wei had come to his senses and said with a straight face: "Of course it's true, how could I make fun of such a thing that concerns my family and my life!"

"God is really wise. It seems that our Sheng family will be completely prosperous this time!"

Sheng Wei said sternly: "This is all thanks to Chang Bai of the Sanfang family. If he hadn't been friends with Marquis Jinghai, this big pie wouldn't have been able to fall on my head."

"Yes, yes, I heard that Minglan and Mrs. Jinghaihou are still close friends. It seems that we have to prepare a generous gift for Minglan to bring over this New Year's Day."

Sheng Wei nodded: "Yes, Minglan's share cannot be less."

After saying that, Sheng Wei said with emotion: "My third brother is the one who has the foresight, and the children in the family are well educated. The eldest daughter married to the Earl of Yongchang, and Changbai became a high school scholar. Within a few years, he took control of such a crucial matter as the Shipping Yamen. The department has won the trust of His Majesty, and Minglan has married into the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion, and is really full of wealth."

"Yes, you have to be a scholar, but our family is getting better now. If His Highness Prince Huan is our family in the future, he will be an imperial merchant."

Soon, the news that Sheng Wei had obtained the salt of Jiangnan East Road spread, and the front door of Sheng Mansion became extremely lively. Some nobles who had never looked down on the Sheng family's merchant home sent people to the door one after another.

The happiest person is naturally the eldest wife of the Sheng family. In the past, these noble family members were too high-minded and did not look at her seriously. Now they are holding her in such a high position that she almost floats.

Of course, under the prosperity, there are also dangers. That night, Sheng Wei received an anonymous letter, and the letter was placed directly in his study.

Places like the study room are usually supervised by dedicated personnel. However, Sheng Wei asked the servants and did not see anyone entering the study room. Obviously, the other party was warning Sheng Wei that he had the ability to sneak into the Sheng family study room and obtain the information. He put a human head on his head.

The content of the letter was very direct, asking him to hand over Yan Yin after King Huan left. As for who he would hand it to, it did not say.

After staying up all night, Sheng Wei reported to Zhao Yingce the next day.

Zhao Yingce didn't say anything, but handed the letter to Qin Hao.

"What do you think Zihan?"

After reading it, Qin Hao put the letter aside and smiled: "There are only two possibilities. This letter is either from the Cao family or from Manichaeism."

Zhao Yingce nodded when he heard this: "What Zihan said is also what I think. What should we do now?"

Qin Hao looked at Sheng Wei: "Then it depends on whether Sheng Shibo dares to take the risk and cooperate."

Sheng Wei's heart skipped a beat, but he could only bite the bullet and said, "Sheng Wei is willing to do anything for His Highness."

Qin Hao patted Sheng Wei on the shoulder: "Don't worry, I have taken over the Jinling Navy. The Cao family does not dare to mess around. You only need to be in contact with the other party and wait for the other party to show up. You don't need to worry about other things." ”

Sheng Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still a little uneasy. This was something that could harm the entire clan if he was not careful. How could he not be nervous?

After Qin Hao finished speaking, he bowed his hand to Zhao Yingce: "I just want to trouble Your Highness to leave Jinling for the time being and stay on the ship for a while."

"It doesn't matter. As long as we can catch these rats, it will be worth spending a year and a half on the ship." Zhao Yingce waved his hand nonchalantly.

Three days later, Qin Hao and Zhao Yingce boarded the ship and left Jinling. The dock was packed with nobles from Jinling City.

Zhao Yingce chatted with everyone for a while and then disappeared from everyone's sight.

That night, Qin Hao got on a small boat and returned to Jinling City.

Sheng Wei's home.

"I feel wronged, Lord Marquis." Sheng Wei bowed and saluted.

Qin Hao helped him up: "The cost of this room is not necessarily worse than that of the Marquis Mansion, please be considerate."

"They are all folk stuff, how can they be compared with the Hou Mansion?"

Qin Hao stopped the other party's flattery and said seriously: "I have arranged two personal guards for you. If someone comes to contact you, you only need to be vague and try to fool them. They will track the origin of the other party."

Sheng Wei felt a little relieved. With two guards, his safety was somewhat guaranteed.

"Then you two adults will have a hard time."

The two guards just stood behind Sheng Wei silently and did not answer the conversation.

After Sheng Wei left, Qin Hao smiled at Cui Zhi and said, "I heard that there are many stunning courtesans in Jinling City. How many days will you come with me to see them?"

Cui Zhi chuckled: "It is only by following the Marquis that I can see such a stunning beauty. Otherwise, with my status, I might not even be able to get in."

Qin Hao patted him on the shoulder: "Cui Hao is already in the sixth rank. If he makes military exploits in the future, he might be granted the title of viscount or something. When the time comes, you can marry him a daughter from a scholarly family and catch him. Children’s education, producing a Jinshi or something.”

There is no way this is the national situation of the Song Dynasty. Everything is inferior but education is high. The first choice of many noble families is to let their children study.

When Cui Zhi heard this, his face was full of longing, and he bowed deeply to Qin Hao: "Thank you, Lord Marquis, for your cultivation."

Qin Hao waved his hand: "It's late at night, you don't have to keep watch anymore, go to sleep quickly."

The brothel culture of the Song Dynasty was very developed. According to historical records, as early as the early Northern Song Dynasty, there were tens of thousands of brothel girls registered in Bianjing. When Su Shi was in Lin'an, whenever he had free time, he would invite many guests and friends to visit the lake. Sometimes he could gather more than a thousand brothel girls on one trip.

The so-called literati and poets are nothing more than this.

Jinling City, Yuehua Tower.

At the beginning of the lanterns, various colored lanterns were hung outside the Yuehua Building, giving people a hazy feeling of being drunk and reveling in wealth.

"This noble man, please invite me inside. Is there any girl you know that you know?"

Yuehua House is considered to be a relatively high-end brothel in Jinling City. There are no Yingying Yanyan soliciting customers on the street, so naturally there are a lot of wealthy customers who take the initiative to come to the door.

Qin Hao winked at Cui Zhi, and Cui Zhi took out a five-tael silver ingot from his sleeve and threw it to the woman who was picking up the guest: "Cui Huating, my young master has reserved a seat."

As soon as the money was obtained, the woman weighed it roughly and quickly and respectfully brought Qin Hao to the Cui Huating box.

"This young master, is this your first time here? Why don't the Ruonu family find some girls who are both good at sex and art for the young master?"

The brothel women don't say they are just selling their bodies or performing arts, they just want to sell them for a good price.

Qin Hao smiled and said to the woman jokingly: "Oh? Aren't you just a girl? Why do you need to work for her?"

The woman smiled sweetly and said, "Young Master really knows how to make fun of others. The beauty of this slave family is not worthy of serving Young Master."

"Oh? I think the girl is pretty good, so why don't you stay and have a drink with me." After Qin Hao finished speaking, Cui Zhi threw the girl another ingot of silver, which was twelve pounds worth.

The woman was a little confused. A woman close to thirty years old like her was already considered a marginal figure in the brothel. The people who came to her were all rough guys looking for cheap money. She had never received a generous young man like Qin Hao.

However, the woman didn't think much about it and quickly asked someone to prepare the food and drinks. She also sat down and poured wine for Qin Hao.

Qin Hao naturally had no interest in women, but it would be a little awkward if he didn't ask a girl to accompany him to a brothel. After all, this was his first time in a brothel.

The window of the private room could just see the stage downstairs. At this time, a woman with a silk scarf on her face was playing a pipa song, which was also the most commonly played song by women in ancient brothels.

Qin Hao didn't do much research on ancient music, but after coming to the world of Zhifu, his appreciation level has improved. The woman's skills are quite proficient. Judging from her figure, she is not very old, at most fifteen or sixteen years old. Being able to achieve such a level in modern times will definitely kill all the art school teachers instantly.

In fact, it’s no wonder that the living environment for women in brothels in ancient times was quite harsh. Regardless of how literati and poets tried to beautify it, this non-ferrous industry has been the most exploited place since ancient times. Brothels often purchased some pretty girls and trained them. As for these girls The origin is very complicated.

Some were girls from official families whose families were in ruins and were forced to sell themselves in brothels. Some were picked up and adopted, and some were abducted from others. There was an ancient saying: "Cars, boats, shops, feet and teeth, even if they are innocent, they should be killed." That's it.

In addition, child prostitutes were particularly popular in ancient times. Many girls aged twelve or thirteen would come out to pick up customers. Those romantic poets were somewhat involved in lolita, which was shameless.

The woman serving on the side saw that Qin Hao had been watching the piano playing downstairs, so she suggested: "How about the Nu family let this sister come and play a piece for the young master alone?"

At this moment, the door was pushed open, and the appearance of a person made the woman's eyes widen.

Qin Hao winked at Cui Zhi, and Cui Zhi took the woman out of the room.

Cui Zhi whispered: "If even a word of what happened today is leaked, it will be irreversible. Don't make any mistakes!"

The woman nodded her head tremblingly, her upper and lower teeth chattering. She didn't recognize the noble gentleman, but she had seen the Marquis of Xiangcheng who came in.

"Marquis Jinghai's trick of building a plank road to seduce Chencang secretly was so clever that he almost deceived me." Marquis Xiangcheng laughed.

Qin Hao raised his hand to the Marquis of Xiangcheng and said, "The matter is a bit complicated, so I had to make this decision. Please forgive me, Marquis of Xiangcheng."

"That's right. This matter is also related to the rise and fall of our Xiangcheng Marquis Mansion, so be careful not to make a big mistake."

While talking, people came in one after another.

If the woman just now was here, she would be so frightened that she fainted on the spot. Almost all the powerful nobles from Jiangnan East Road were here.

Qin Hao bowed his hands to everyone and said straight to the point: "Everyone, the main reason why we are invited here today is about the Yanyin. His Highness King Huan has decided to divide the Yanyin in Jiangnan East Road into ten parts, and each of you here will have one share."

Everyone's faces couldn't help but show joy. Salt is a hugely profitable industry. Even though one person only has one portion, Jiangnan East Road is actually a terrifyingly large area. This is a huge cake. Just one portion is enough to enjoy.

Of course, everyone also knew that it was impossible for the pie in the world to hit them directly on the head, so they looked at Qin Hao and waited patiently for the next sentence.

The expression on Qin Hao's face also became solemn: "His Royal Highness King Huan carried out the salt tax reform according to the orders of the officials. However, we encountered an assassination on the way. It may be the Manichaeans, or it may be the Cao family, no matter it is This is all a provocation to the imperial court, so I hope you can help the imperial court get rid of this bold worm!"

Now everyone present knew that this cake was not that delicious, and it was nothing more than Manichaeism. It was just a cult that needed to be eradicated, but the Empress Dowager Cao was still behind the Cao family.

With the rightful name placed there, even the officials could not touch the Queen Mother Cao. If the Cao family was offended severely and the officials did not support them, then there would be trouble.

Seeing everyone's hesitation, Qin Hao was not impatient. He waited for a while and then said calmly: "Do you think that all the guilds in this dynasty are willing to see the court in turmoil and military disasters?"

The reason why Zhao Zongquan was able to secure the throne was that Emperor Renzong left a succession edict before his death.

On the one hand, the civil service group reached an agreement on this matter, and the Song Dynasty could not be in chaos.

Once the Queen Mother wants to establish a new monarch, the first to oppose it will definitely be the civil servant group. In the Song Dynasty, the emperor and the scholar-officials were not just talkative.

This is also the reason why the Queen Mother has never broken up with Zhao Zongquan. If the salt tax reform had not completely shaken the foundation of the Cao family, Queen Mother Cao would not have intensified the conflict.

All the smart people present understood what Qin Hao meant. Queen Mother Cao was old after all, and she could not depose Zhao Zongquan and establish a new monarch. The end result was that Zhao Zongquan would torture her to death and then completely take power.

"But listen to His Highness King Huan's orders."

After everyone looked at each other for a while, they cupped their hands and said.

Qin Hao also bowed and cupped his hands and said, "Then I would like to thank you all for your great help on behalf of His Royal Highness King Huan."

With the support of these nobles, Qin Hao has the confidence. After all, the Cao family has the support of the Queen Mother Cao, and Zhao Zongquan certainly does not want to make the situation too ugly with the Queen Mother Cao.

It is unrealistic to come directly to pick someone up, and the confrontation is best conducted under the card table.

Qin Hao distributed the salt to these nobles in order to use their strength to attack the local Cao family. The Cao family is now like a huge squid. If the head cannot be cut off directly, it can only You can clear its tentacles first and eat away at its power bit by bit.

Soon, this trick had an effect. After the nobles from all over the country got the salt, they took the initiative to clean up the illegal salt for their own benefit, which involved many forces of the Cao family. Qin Hao also followed the lead and led the Jinling Navy to start clearing Qinhuai. Water thieves near the river.

These water thieves are also cunning, taking advantage of their familiarity with the local waterway environment to try to escape by entering the waters of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

However, Qin Hao was determined to destroy them this time. King Huan Zhao Yingce had already ambushed them on their only way. He came out from the reed swamp and attacked from both sides.

Ordinary water thieves faced the regular navy, including a thousand Mingzhou navy, and were naturally defeated. However, when taking inventory after the war, Qin Hao discovered that these water thieves were actually equipped with five eight-oxen crossbows, which also surprised him.

King Huan Zhao Yingce's face was also extremely ugly. He gritted his teeth and said, "No one can give them so many eight-oxen crossbows except the Cao family. These people are simply crazy!"

The Song Dynasty had very strict control over bows and crossbows. The extremely destructive weaponry of the Eight Bull Crossbow was a core secret. Once the two armies faced each other and were defeated, the first thing the crossbowmen had to do was not to escape, but to attack them. The Eight Bull Crossbow was destroyed.

If the enemy gets the complete Eight Bull Crossbow, even if he escapes back, he will not be able to escape death, and his family will be harmed.

Five Eight-Niu Crossbows can already attack the city. This has risen to the level of national security. No wonder Zhao Yingce is so angry.

After interrogating the prisoners, Qin Hao discovered something very interesting.

Many of these water pirate leaders were actually Manichaean believers, and Zhao Yingce was also a little confused.

"So, are they members of the Cao family or Manichaeans?"

Qin Hao thought for a moment and suddenly smiled: "Your Highness, maybe we are thinking too complicatedly. These water thieves are sponsored by the Cao family, but that does not prevent them from believing in Manichaeism!"

The most terrifying thing about religious belief is that it has hidden attributes. These water thieves can become followers of Manichaeism while collecting money from the Cao family.

Zhao Yingce also noticed the seriousness of the situation: "This Manichaeism has penetrated so deeply?"

Qin Hao also felt a little solemn. The Cao family was already difficult to deal with, but now a Manichean sect appeared. It was really difficult for him to do this job!

After cleaning up the battlefield and returning to Jinling, there was news from Sheng Wei. Just last night, a mysterious man found him and wanted to buy the salt in his hand.

Later, the guards arranged by Qin Hao found the meeting place of the mysterious man through tracking. To Qin Hao's surprise, the meeting place was actually at Yuehua Building.

"Check the owner behind Yuehua Tower." Qin Hao ordered.

"promise."

Two days later, the investigators came back to report.

"Master Hou, we found out that the proprietor behind Yuehua Tower is Yongyi Houfu."

Qin Hao was slightly startled: "Yongyi Hou Mansion? Xu Family?"

I vaguely remember that the old lady of the Sheng family seems to be the only daughter of the previous generation Yongyi Hou.

"interesting!"