Nongmen Shenjue

It was really an accident to discover the secrets of the Qi family, but Mu Qingyan did not refuse to continue the investigation.He didn't pass the news to the government immediately, but checked it himself. In the final analysis, he guessed that the Qi family was digging a jade mine secretly.Jade, that's a good thing. Even if a vein is small, you can always find a few good pieces of jade.

Wen Jixue heard his reason and asked, "Do you like jade very much?"

I knew that Mu Qingyan didn't care about money, so I didn't feel that the other party was trying to make money.

"Good jade has aura and is good for me." Mu Qingyan planned to find out about this matter, and then take a few pieces of jade as his reward.

"What are you going to do?"

"Opening a private mine is not a trivial matter. Even if the Qi family has a backer, it will not be a good thing if this matter is exposed. I plan to find out things first, such as sales channels, sources of labor, and the chain of interests behind it. After clearing it up, let’s see if the local county magistrate is reliable, if the county magistrate is not good, go to the prefect, the government will definitely pay attention to it, follow the clues we gave, and we will find out.”

Wen Jixue thought for a while and said, "It's better to take this opportunity to return Jin Lilin's favor."

"Huh? You want to..."

"Jin Lilin's time in He County is too short, and he has no foundation. If we give him a chance, he will naturally know how to use it. This way, it will save trouble, and you and I don't have to contact the government."

"Alright."

"The mountain road is difficult, leave this matter to me." Wen Jixue's meaning was very clear, let him stay in the Zhuangzi.

Mu Qingyan did not object.

When they guessed that the Qi family was secretly mining, things were basically not difficult.The ore vein must be hidden within the range of the two hills of the Qi family. The wooden house is only one of the entrances and exits. There must be other passages, and the young masters of the Qi family will definitely stay for a long time to supervise by hunting or hot springs.He is not very useful here, and it is still a burden to carry him, but Wen Jixue or Gao Tian can stealthily, and can quietly check the details inside.

As for the sales channels, it is not difficult to guess that Liu Huan must be one of them.

The Qi family did not dare to speak up, so they could not openly sell jade, so the medicinal material dealers who came in and out of the Qi family's herbal medicine shop might be jade smugglers.Then, if Liu Huan and Fang Xuhai really got dirty because of their business, it may be that there is a limit on the purchase quota of jade.

Now he has only one doubt: where do the coolies for mining come from?

If it was a mine on the bright side, they would recruit people openly, but the Qi family didn't dare to do so.It is true that the Qi family has a big family and a lot of servants, but it is impossible to send the servants to mine. After all, mining in ancient times basically relied on manpower, which is not only slow, dangerous, but also inefficient. Therefore, in order to obtain benefits, it is necessary to Fill in a lot of manpower.Since ancient times, mining has been prone to death, especially in such private mines. Basically, those who are sent into the mine will never come out again for the rest of their lives.

The Qi family needs a lot of coolies that won't cause trouble.

Where did it come from?

Wen Jixue acted very quickly, and figured out the situation in two days.

"The mine is at the bottom of Zhuangzi, and there are three entrances and exits. One is a wooden house, which is mainly responsible for guarding against hunters crossing the border and crossing the stream, and it is also a passage for disposing of corpses. The other is at the foot of the mountain, where there are also two or three houses, which are called guards The one for medicinal materials, in fact, is the channel for transporting jade out. There is also one in the villa, which is convenient for the Qi family to go down to the mine for inspection.

There are many children in the Qi family, but not everyone knows about the jade mine.That hot spring Zhuangzi is recorded under the name of the young master of the Qi family, apart from the master of the Qi family, the eldest, second and third children often go to the Zhuangzi.They secretly put a lot of thought into managing the county government office, but judging from their tone, the mine matter was a secret, and those people in the county government office took advantage of it to give convenience to the Qi family, thinking that the Qi family was still a pure medicinal material business.

In terms of sales channels, it is true that medicinal material dealers from all over the country use smuggling. After all, this mine is not well-known, and smuggling is more profitable.Every year, the Qi family will redistribute the purchase amount, which requires competition to obtain, so for example, Liu Huan, Fang Xuhai and others compete fiercely with each other. "

"Tell me, where did those coolies come from?" Mu Qingyan asked.

"I don't know the specific situation in the mine, and the entrance and exit are very guarded, so I didn't go in. However, if you want to mine such a mine, at least dozens or hundreds of people are needed, otherwise the production rate cannot be supported. "Wen Jixue said with a smile: "I also heard one thing, the young master of the Qi family likes to entertain guests at that hot spring village, and those people are big customers of the Qi family's raw medicine shop. Regularly, four times a year, once a season. Just in time, the last day at the end of this month is the banquet day."

"three days left."

"Yeah, it must be very lively that day." Wen Jixue raised the corners of her mouth, looking forward to the arrival of that day.

Because apart from the source of coolies, there is one more important thing: Why did the Qi family entertain guests at the villa?

It stands to reason that the mine is a very important place, and people should not approach it casually. It must be profitable for the Qi family to do so.Four times a year, which is in line with the schedule of shipments. However, there is an exit at the foot of the mountain, which was dug for the transportation of jade. The jade must be transported back to the city and placed in the herbal medicine store, which is more convenient for buyers. loading.

Unable to figure it out for a while, Mu Qingyan looked at Wen Jixue: "What's the intention of the Qi family?"

Wen Jixue smiled and said: "You know, jade is just raw stone, covered with stone skin, who knows what is inside? I guess, the part transported to the city is the jade embryo with the stone skin worn off. The quality of the texture is clear, and the price is clearly marked. Inviting guests to the villa is probably a stone bet!"

Mu Qingyan was quite surprised. If this guess is true, the Qi family is too bold.

But think about it, the Qi family buried a lot of lives for mining, and the silver has already made their eyes red, so they don't care about other things.Naturally, they certainly want to maximize their profits.It is true that some people get rich by gambling with stones, but most of them lose their fortune overnight, and the wealth accumulated by the Qi family is equally astonishing.

Regarding the source of the coolies, Wen Jixue directly handed it over to Jin Lilin.

Of course, he didn't tell Jin Lilin about the jade mine in Qi's family, but just asked him to check if anyone was missing in the county town, and there were a lot of them.It is impossible for the Qi family to get a lot of people at once, but if they are shared, there will definitely be twenty or thirty people a year.Of course, the possibility of the Qi family buying people directly through human traffickers was also considered, but this cannot be done quietly, and there must be traces.

Jin Lilin has a keen sense of smell. He was entrusted to keep an eye on the Qi family because he noticed something strange because he was helping to investigate the case. How could he not notice it.

But, what exactly is the Qi family hiding?It's not like something happened to someone in the Qi family, but the whole Qi family was involved.

Seeing him wandering off into the sky, Liu Dahe couldn't help asking: "What did Mr. Mu say?"

"Those two want to give me a favor, and this favor comes from the Qi family. I just haven't figured out what's wrong with the Qi family, so that Mu Qingyan came all the way to He County in the cold winter."

"The Qi family? What benefits can the Qi family have?" Liu Dahe frowned. You must know that the Jin family is a silver house. Although it also has some other side businesses, it is just a vassal and a small trouble.

After the separation, Jin Lilin was sent to He County, and he was not allowed to get involved in the affairs of the Silver House. However, after all, Jin Lilin was born in the Jin family. He has been familiar with the operation of the Silver House since he was a child. .It is not easy to develop a business in a strange place, there are many things to take care of up and down, Liu Dahe knows all about this, but the Qi family grows medicinal materials, so it has nothing to do with them.

"Maybe it can help me find an official." I have to say that Jin Lilin's mind turned quickly, and following this guess, his eyes suddenly brightened.

It's not that Jin Lilin can't get in touch with the local officials, it's just that he's an outsider after all, and it's not so easy for him to intervene.Even if he pays the same benefits, the officials will still abandon him and choose other people who have been familiar with for a long time. If he increases the bargaining chip, his own interests will shrink.

What he needs is an opportunity.

Right now, Wen Jixue and Mu Qingyan may bring him such an opportunity.

The weather was gloomy again, the north wind was howling, and snowflakes were scattered here and there.

Mu Qingyan is currently staying in the greenhouse. The greenhouse has five or six parts of the land, and the humidity is very heavy. Some common small green vegetables, shallots, coriander are planted, and there are also a few shelves of cucumbers, eggplants, and tomatoes, but the fruits they bear are not as good as In season.The vegetables in the shed are all taken care of by a special person, and they are very meticulously taken care of. They get up early every day and pick the freshest dishes and send them to Jin's house in the city.

Of course, it is impossible to expect to eat all greenhouse vegetables in winter. Most of them are cabbage, potatoes, radishes and so on. Fresh green vegetables are the swap on the dinner table, and they are also luxury dishes, a symbol of wealth and power.

Mu Qingyan and Wen Jixue also took advantage of living here.

"Pick two cucumbers and eat them cold. Then ask the kitchen to fry some green vegetables with mashed garlic." Zhuangzili hot spring, in such cold weather, I can't help but take a dip.It is not good to soak too much in the hot springs. It is not to mention how comfortable it is to eat some fresh and tender vegetables and fruits in your mouth at this time.

Wen Jixue naturally followed his will, picked cucumbers, pulled out a few green vegetables, and went out of the greenhouse together.

The cold was blowing head-on, and Mu Qingyan tightened his snow cap: "The snow is starting to get heavy, have those people entered the mountain yet?"

Tonight is the day for the Qi family to entertain guests at the hot spring village.

"It's just a bit of wind and snow, how can it stop those people's enthusiasm." Wen Jixue made Gao Tian stare.Not only did some horses and horses go to Qijiazhuangzi, but Gao Tian also found out that there were many large and small rough stones piled up in a certain room in Qijiazhuangzi.

It seems that what they guessed before is almost the same.

Wen Jixue handed over the bamboo basket in her hand to the servant who was guarding the side, said the dishes, and took Mu Qingyan's hand back to the room.

Mu Qingyan looked at the hands that held each other, and felt that it was a little too tired, but Wen Jixue seemed to never tire of this kind of intimacy.Forget it, anyway, it's in Zhuangzi, and the Mu family is not around, so let him go.