Struggle in the early Tang Dynasty

"Show me three Dade Temples!"

"Here!"

All the yamen servants rushed upwards, but Old Wang Gui stopped them with his hands, and said, "Slow down! Slow down!"

Guo Ye said: "What? Could it be that you want to go back on your word?"

Wang Gui shook his head, and said: "The members of the Changlefang Big Bank are worth more than tens of millions? Don't say that you searched my Wang Gui's family temple, even if you searched my ancestor... er... In short, I will not go back on my word." " He originally wanted to say that it would be fine to dig up my ancestral grave, but it was too unfilial to say it, so he quickly swallowed it.

Guo Ye asked: "Since you are not going back on your word, why do you want to prevent someone from searching the Dade Temple three times?"

"The old man is not stopping you, but stopping your subordinates. Let me ask, this time you only searched the side hall, and you are not going to search the rest of the Dade Temple, are you?"

"exactly."

Wang Gui pointed with his finger and said, "Look, Lord Qin, the side hall is not big, so there are not many people needed. What I mean is that I will accompany you to search here, and your subordinates don't need to go in." Otherwise, if there are too many people, something is missing inside, or the statue of the old man’s ancestor is damaged, both of us will look bad."

"That's fine. Please, Mr. Wang first!"

"Mr. Qin, please!"

Guo Ye stepped into the side hall, and when he took a look, his heart felt cold!I saw that the entire side hall was paved with bluestone slabs, very clean and... empty!Apart from three statues and a confession, there are no other furnishings here, and it doesn't look like a place to hide things at all.

Wang Gui looked solemn, and said: "Since the Duke of Qin came to the temple of Mr. Wang, he must not lose his etiquette. Now, let's put some incense sticks on Mr. Wang's ancestors!"

"It should be, it should be!"

"This is Mr. Wang's grandfather, a taboo monk, who once served as the Taiwei and Shang Shuling of Liang in the Southern Dynasty... This is Mr. Wang's father, Taboo, the prefect of Leling who once served as an official in the Northern Qi Dynasty... This is Wang A certain person's uncle, Yan Ying, who once served as the doctor of the Sui Dynasty's son..."

Guo Ye respectfully put incense on these three, and then said: "It turns out that your family has been a prominent official for generations, which is really admirable. However, there is something unclear about Guo, and I still want to ask you for advice."

"Qin Guogong, please speak."

"Uh...according to the system of our Tang Dynasty, civil and military officials of the second rank and above have four temples; those of the fifth rank and above have three temples. If you live in the second rank, you should have four temples, that is to say, you can worship the ancestors of four generations. You In order to save money, the old people only use a side hall to worship their ancestors, this kind of behavior Guo does not dare to criticize. But why did they only worship their father and grandfather, but not their great-grandfather and great-grandfather?"

Wang Gui's face darkened, and he said: "Of course I have a reason for doing this. But this is Wang's family business, so I don't need Duke Qin to worry about it. Don't you want to search for evidence of crimes committed by monks?" ? Let’s search quickly!”

"Uh... well then..."

With a bitter face, Guo Ye began to search carefully. In fact, the furnishings here are too simple, and there is nothing interesting at all.

statue?There seems to be no problem.

altar?There seems to be no problem.

others?Nothing else!

Guo Ye walked back and forth in the empty side hall, feeling extremely restless in his heart!

Wang Gui said: "Duke Qin, don't worry, just take a look slowly, carefully, and carefully. This is an opportunity that you have spent tens of millions of money to get, so you must cherish it!"

Guo Ye blushed with shame and said, "Good! Good! Thank you Wang Shizhong for your understanding."

ding ding ding ~~ dong dong~ ding ding dong ~~ dong dong~

For a while, only the sound of Guo Ye's footsteps remained in the hall...

Suddenly, a light flashed in Guo Ye's mind, huh?wrong!Why do two sounds appear in the sound of my own footsteps?Could it be that the bottom of the side hall is partially empty?

Thinking of this, he walked a few more times, and found that the ground with "dong dong" was concentrated on a six-foot-square stone slab.He chuckled and said, "Wang Shizhong, this stone slab is weird!"

Wang Gui smiled wryly, and said: "Unexpectedly, Duke Qin discovered it. Indeed, there is indeed something weird down here. However, this weirdness is completely different from the weirdness you think. Forget it, until now, if the old man doesn't give You see, I'm afraid it won't work either. Find some people and lift up that slate."

"Why find someone? Let's see what someone Guo does!"

Guo Ye bent down, stretched his arms, and yelled "Get up!"The stone slab was lifted, and there was a gust of cold wind. Suddenly, a six-foot-square hole appeared in front of Guo Ye.Obviously, this is a cellar!

Guo Ye said: "Wang Shizhong, what's going on with this cellar?"

Wang Gui didn't panic, and said: "Mr. Qin, you won't believe what I say now. As the saying goes, hearing is believing, seeing is believing. Go down and see for yourself!"

Guo Ye first ordered someone to light a torch and hang it down with a rope, and the torch would not go out.Another chicken was sent down, and a quarter of an hour passed.That chicken is also alive and kicking.Guo Ye felt relieved, and went down to the cellar with a torch in his hand.

"Ah! That's how it is!" Guo Ye couldn't help exclaiming when he saw the things in the cave!

Chapter 1737

Inside the cellar, there are layers upon layers, and the light is shining, which can dazzle people's eyes!

What's in here?Not gold, not silver, not jewelry and jade, but pieces of colored glass vessels!

Old Wang Gui also went down to the cellar, and explained: "Mr. Qin, these glazed artifacts do not belong to the old man, but to the five great gentry. They just borrowed the old man's cellar for use. When the five great gentry stored these glazed objects, they should be reminded. Tell the old man not to let this secret out, so the old man doesn't want you to check the cellar."

He paused for a moment, and then continued: "However, the secrets involved in glazed objects are not worth 1000 million guan. As long as the old man gives them half of your shares in Changlefang Big Bank, they will not hold the old man accountable." The crime of leaking secrets. Haha! Thank you Qin Guogong for your generosity, although half of the shares in Changlefang Big Bank go to the five noble families, but the remaining half is quite a lot. I am content!"

Back then, when Guo Ye was on his mission to Silla, he had a brief meeting with the heads of the five noble families.

The five gentry claimed to have mastered the method of making cheap colored glaze, while Guo Ye boasted that he could make glass. As long as the five gentry dared to use colored glaze to make waves, he would make glass, making the five clans lose their money.

Guo Ye talked a lot, forcing the five great gentry to make a promise not to make colored glaze on a large scale.It's been two years since this happened.Time can dilute everything, and now Guo Ye's glass production has not moved, but the five major clans are already ready to move.

They secretly made a batch of glazed objects, transported them to Chang'an City and hid them in Dade Temple, ready to play by ear.

Therefore, the old Wang Gui did not allow Guo Ye to search the side hall, not because there was evidence of the monks committing crimes in the side hall, and it was not because he did not want to alarm his ancestors, but because he wanted to keep the secret of the glazed vessels hidden in the cellar.

Later, Guo Ye insisted on searching, and Lao Wang Gui let him make a written statement.With the shares of Changlefang Big Bank, not only can he confess to the five noble families, Wang Gui can also make a fortune himself!

Thinking clearly about the consequences of this matter, Guo Ye felt miserable, and said: "Speaking of which, Mr. Guo would like to thank you for your generosity. Although the shares of Changlefang Big Bank are worth a lot of money, there is no such thing as Mr. Guo. A person's official position is important. You only want shares, and you don't want Guo to resign, and Guo is very kind."

Wang Gui said: "Duke Qin, don't get me wrong. Yes, the old man said that you are not allowed to resign. However, that means that you don't need to resign when you search this side hall. As for your search of the Dade Temple without evidence and evidence. The matter, the old man did not forgive you, you still have to fight the old man in this court case! Whether you will be dismissed from office or not depends on His Majesty's will."

"You...well...Ms. Guo confessed, let's enter the palace to face the saint."

When the two came out of the cellar, Li's uncle and nephew immediately went up to meet them.

Li Xinglian said: "Mr. Qin, how are you doing? Have you found any evidence that the monks committed crimes?"

Guo Ye spread his hands and said: "I'm sorry, there are some weird things in this cellar. But these things have nothing to do with monks. So... our trip to Dade Temple today will be in vain. return!"

"Then members of your Changlefang Big Bank..."

Guo Ye smiled wryly and said, "I'm willing to bet and admit defeat. I'm afraid the members of the big bank in Changlefang will belong to the king's servant..."

Li Xinglian said: "Mr. Li will sell all the family property to make up for your loss. Of course, although Mr. Li's family has been an eunuch for many generations and has little wealth, but I estimate that he can sell it for hundreds of thousands. , compared to your loss, it is far inferior. You must not be too small... Mr. Li has only so much ability."

Guo Ye waved his hands again and again, and said, "That's right, I, Guo Ye, can indeed be said to have suffered from the loss of members of the bank in Changlefang. But compared to you, to put it bluntly, a skinny camel is more Ma Da. Even if I don’t have members of Changlefang Big Bank, my family property is more than ten times yours. How can I ask for your money?”

"No! You must accept it. This matter is all started by someone Li, how can you lose such a large amount of money, but I, Li Xinglian, are safe and sound? Besides..." Li Xinglian sighed and said: "Today's event, Zhong'er must be doomed to survive. The old man is also at this age, what's the use of asking for so much money?"