Chapter 35: Incognito Visit
"I heard that Lord Feng has been very busy in Fengxian City recently." Yan Xuanyu said slowly, "Lord Wen."
Wen Yongwang stepped forward and said, "I'm afraid that patrolling the city is just a pretense, but collecting money is the real purpose."
As soon as Wen Yongwang opened his mouth, the officials who had originally calmed down became angry again.
With Lu Liang as an example, no matter how stupid Feng Guangwei was, he would not be so greedy at this critical moment. Although everyone is greedy nowadays, he was too impatient when he first took office. What's more, it was the time when the emperor went south. He thought Feng Guangwei was a scheming person, but he didn't expect him to be just like that.
The facts were right in front of him, and Wen Yongwang also found witnesses and evidence and presented them together, leaving Feng Guangwei with no way to defend himself.
Feng Guangwei's face turned pale and he knelt down quickly, "Your Majesty, I..."
Yan Xuanyu did not make things difficult for Feng Guangwei. It was already difficult enough for an originally upright and honest person to act. Fortunately, Feng Guangwei only needed to tremble a few times, and fortunately he lowered his head, otherwise people would have noticed.
The officials of Fengxian City below also knelt down after Feng Guangwei knelt down.
In the eyes of the other officials, the emperor looked over with a half-smile, "I haven't said anything yet, why are you all kneeling down?"
"Get out." Yan Xuanyu picked up the teacup beside him.
The previous Fengxian City prefect Lu Liang has been beheaded. I wonder what happened to Feng Guangwei.
Feng Guangwei was still kneeling steadily.
The officials in Fengxian City were all genuinely worried about Feng Guangwei, but the current situation was not something that these small officials could say anything about. The officials accompanying the emperor passed by Feng Guangwei on both sides, but Feng Guangwei remained motionless.
When the young eunuch came back to say that the adults had left, Li Zhongxian dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs on both sides and hurried down to help Feng Guangwei up, saying, "Oh, Master Feng, you have worked so hard!"
Feng Guangwei shook his head. "Your Majesty is right. If their plan fails, they will find another way. It's better to go along with them."
Yan Xuanyu took a few sips of tea and couldn't help laughing: "Lord Feng is indeed upright and honest. I can see that."
"I am indeed nervous. If the secret is exposed, wouldn't it ruin Your Majesty's plan?" Feng Guangwei also smiled and reached out to wipe the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve.
"Well done." Yan Xuanyu put down the teacup.
Next, it depends on what "interesting" things will happen during the incognito visit. Yan Xuanyu is really looking forward to it.
Feng Guangwei pondered for a moment and then spoke of the past few days. "According to your majesty's instructions, I have raised funds from the wealthy families in Fengxian City. I have found a few reliable individuals and explained the situation of the Pancreas Shop to them."
“However, most of them didn’t believe it, but they still agreed.”
Feng Guangwei said this without thinking too much, and Yan Xuanyu didn't think much about it. He knew that Feng Guangwei was not the kind of person who would use his power to oppress others. The selected wealthy families in Fengxian City all agreed to participate in this investment, mostly because Feng Guangwei had a very good image among the people of Fengxian City.
Yan Xuanyu had thought about this situation a long time ago. At that time, there was a wall between officials and the people. A commoner could not easily see the highest-ranking official in the city, let alone an ordinary minor official. Feng Guangwei walked up to the people, and unlike previous officials who threatened and exploited the rich, he first accumulated a certain prestige. Of course, whatever he said would be responded to by everyone.
"The 'factory' you mentioned has been selected, and we'll start hiring soon."
Yan Xuanyu nodded as he listened, "We'll sign the contract with them when the time comes. As for the investment, we'll determine the proportion when signing the contract. Talk to them about it to avoid confusion later."
Yan Xuanyu felt that Feng Guangwei was much smarter than himself in these matters, but he might not understand some of the terms and division of labor that Feng Guangwei proposed to imitate the factories of later generations, so he tried his best to express it in words that Feng Guangwei could understand, and instructed him one by one.
"Try to stay indoors for the next few days and let your trusted associates handle the work."
Feng Guangwei nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty."
——————
This time it seemed like just an ordinary incognito visit.
Yan Xuanyu specially brought Wen Yongwang and others with him, and they all changed into the clothes of wealthy businessmen from the Great Zhou Dynasty. Of course, there were quite a few people hiding in secret.
"Yes, the people in Fengxian City are really simple and honest, but I prefer Yuandu City." Yan Xuanyu walked in front, waving a folding fan.
They were walking towards the south of Fengxian City. The prefectural government was located in the north of Fengxian City. Because the emperor had sealed off the surrounding area during his southern tour and civilians were not allowed to enter or leave at will, most of the vendors flocked to the south of Fengxian City.
Yan Xuanyu ignored the people following him and walked out of the South Lane after many turns. In a city, there were both prosperous shops and the market where ordinary people lived.
There are all kinds of things for sale along the way, mostly small commodities.
The streets were not very clean, and there was everything on the road, including hay covered in mud.
The officials didn't understand what the emperor was doing here. Since he was on a secret visit, of course he wanted to see what the officials here were doing. His Majesty didn't know how he had taken several turns to end up in such a place.
The roads here are narrow, and there are vendors selling things scattered around. They can't be called vendors at all. Those with better conditions use something to pad the ground, while most of them just put the things they sell on the ground.
Yan Xuanyu observed the few people calmly. These were all smart people who would not show anything on their faces. He didn't know who was setting a trap for him on the road today, so he pretended to be wandering around.
Anyway, there were people secretly protecting them. He saw that these officials all walked unsteadily and none of them knew martial arts.
There was nothing unusual at the moment, except that their shoes were all dirty. Yan Xuanyu was protected by Li Zhongxian, so he was still neat.
"What are you doing?" Yan Xuanyu pointed.
Wen Yongwang was standing behind Yan Xuanyu. Upon hearing this, he quickly smiled and said, "Sir, these are just some low-quality items. Why don't we go forward? There are many shops there."
Yan Xuanyu's face darkened. "Do I need your guidance on what I want to see?"
Wen Yongwang quickly confessed his crime.
Li Zhongxian came over to help, saying, "Sir, those are small baskets made of grass branches."
"It's just a long strip, how can it be turned into a basket?" Yan Xuanyu asked curiously as he folded his folding fan.
There was quite a bit of noise on their side, but the middle-aged man with his head lowered said nothing and just silently weaved the long strips in his hands. Yan Xuanyu stood aside with his hands behind his back, watching, as if he was very interested in this.
They were wearing the clothes of wealthy businessmen, which made them very conspicuous in this small alley. No one knew what they did for a living, but judging from their clothes, they were people that ordinary people could not afford to offend, so some of them had already quietly left.
The skinny middle-aged man was neither blind nor deaf, so he could definitely hear the sound.
Yan Xuanyu saw a dirty medicine bag in his arms, which was empty and filled with some medicinal herbs. This was probably the only thing the skinny man cared about, and he kept holding it tightly in his arms.
Apart from that, he did not show any reaction to the arrival of Yan Xuanyu and others, as if there was a piece of air in front of him, and he was only concentrating on weaving the small basket in his hand.
These grass branches are very thin, and even if they are woven into baskets, they are not of much use. At most, they can hold small items, so ordinary people rarely buy them.
"Let's go." Yan Xuanyu yawned lazily and began to walk in circles with the people behind him.
He's not in a hurry anyway.
Walking further, the view suddenly opens up. Coming out of Minxiang is a long street where people sell all kinds of things.
"This, this, I want them all." Yan Xuanyu was playing with a monkey made of bamboo in his hand. Its joints were movable, which was quite interesting.
The vendor's face was full of smiles. "Okay, a total of thirty-five cents." Then he packed up the little things.
Li Zhongxian, who was standing next to him, reached out to take it, but was hit by Yan Xuanyu with a folding fan. "What is the person following behind doing?"
He then said to Wen Yongwang, "Come here."
Wen Yongwang's smile froze, "Sir, I..."
Yan Xuanyu's face darkened. "Why, you don't have money?"
"I have it, I have it." Wen Yongwang quickly took out a brocade bag and took out a silver coin.
"This..." The vendor didn't dare to take it, and said with embarrassment, "Sir, I am just a small business."
Yan Xuanyu directly took the brocade bag and placed the silver in front of the vendor, saying disdainfully, "No need for change."
It was as if taking the silver would dirty his hands.
That's right, when has Your Majesty ever touched silver? Rewards are always given in gold.
Wen Yongwang: "..."
He was in so much pain, but couldn't make a sound.
After a while, the four officials who followed behind came over, their hands full of things. Especially Wen Yongwang, he now had a good reputation in front of the emperor, which was also a good thing.
Wen Yongwang comforted himself like this as he walked.
Just then, he accidentally glanced and saw a familiar-looking person behind a tree. The person nodded to him and then left without anyone noticing.
Yan Xuanyu turned around again, waving his folding fan. When he returned to the starting place, he saw that the skinny man was still there, and there were already several small baskets in front of him.
He walked over, picked one up, and looked at it. Just as he picked it up, the skinny man suddenly spoke: "Sir, this grass branch is not clean. Don't dirty your hands."
After a pause, his hoarse voice sounded again: "These are just little gadgets used by us rough folks."
Yan Xuanyu was stunned. It was said that one could roughly tell who a person was by the way they spoke. The skinny man was wearing a ragged linen shirt, his fingers were covered in bloodstains from grass branches, but the words he said gave Yan Xuanyu the feeling...
No wonder martial arts novels always say that as soon as you meet someone, you can tell that "this boy is extraordinary". After hearing Yan Xuanyu say these two short sentences, he knew that this person was definitely extraordinary.
But here, in this environment, it's difficult.
Yan Xuanyu looked around. He took out the last bit of silver from his brocade bag and threw it to him, "Take all of these."
After saying that, he no longer cared about the skinny man. He had walked a lot today, and he had to cooperate with others to act so that he could go back early after the performance.
The four people following behind him were not surprised. They had seen the emperor's performance along the way. The emperor rarely left the palace, and the customs and habits here were completely different from those in the capital. It was normal for the emperor to be curious about everything.
...
After leaving the alley, Yan Xuanyu got on the carriage and leaned on the cushion. A pile of junk he had bought that day was piled up nearby.
Despite being covered with many layers of cushions, the carriage was still a little bumpy. Yan Xuanyu held the movable bamboo monkey in his hand and found that he could put it on a pole and lead the bamboo monkey to climb a tree.
He took out a Fengxian pastry that he had just bought and took two bites. He could not taste it, but instead had a mouthful of choking dry powder.
Just as Yan Xuanyu was leaning on the couch and drowsy, the carriage suddenly stopped.
A woman's sobbing sound as delicate as a nightingale could be clearly heard outside the carriage.
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