Chapter 173 Prince Yu Learns His Own Life
The person in charge of Gu's shipping company is currently at the Gu Mansion.
Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi were also at the Gu Mansion.
After reading the letter in his hand, Gu Zongci's frown relaxed and he said thankfully, "It was only a large ship that sank. All the sailors on board were rescued. No one was killed."
The person in charge wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and took the initiative to explain the cause and effect of the matter.
"Master, my youngest son wants to start his own business. He was about to get the approval from the government, but in the end, there was no follow-up."
"We gave them money and gifts, and even asked people to smooth things over and find out what was going on, but they just said it was against the rules."
"Until half a month ago, the official summoned my youngest son and allowed him to run a business."
"But the official has one condition. He wants my son to convince me to rent the large ship of Gu's Shipping Company to him to transport a batch of goods."
Having said that, the person in charge swallowed nervously, glanced at Gu Zongci, and continued speaking.
"My unfilial son didn't dare to agree. The official promised him that if a natural disaster caused the ship to sink, he would not ask us to compensate for the losses, but would compensate for the cost of damaging the ship."
Gu Zongci asked, "You rented it out?"
"My unfilial son agreed without permission and was even given a gift by the official. I didn't dare offend the official, so I returned the gift and rented the boat to him."
"I was hoping nothing would happen. Even if something did happen, it was clearly written in black and white that we wouldn't have to pay any compensation. I was afraid you would hold me accountable, so I kept it a secret from you."
"This is the first time I've violated the shipping company's rules. I'm feeling uneasy, so I've been thinking about renting a boat. The more I think about it, the more it seems wrong. Hongyun Shipping Company is competing with ours, operating even during the flood season, and they have a strong backer. Why didn't the official go to Hongyun, but went to all this trouble to find our Gu's Shipping Company?"
"At this time, I received a letter reminding me that the ship I rented was used to transport government grain. If anything went wrong, it wouldn't just be a matter of paying compensation. It told me to pass this hot potato on to the Hongyun Shipping Company."
"I had already suspected something was wrong with the official, and since the letter made sense, I did as it said. When the manager of Hongyun Shipping Company came to bribe me again, I subcontracted the order to them."
"If the official is fine, Hongyun Shipping will not be in trouble. If the official is indeed in trouble, they can still escape danger with the support of Hongyun Shipping."
"Who knew... who knew something would actually happen."
All the large ships of Hongyun Shipping Company sank.
The person in charge had been in charge of shipping for many years and immediately noticed something strange. No matter how big the storm was, it was impossible for dozens of large ships to sink. It was clearly intentional.
When he first heard the news, he broke out in a cold sweat.
Fortunately, he was careful and lied to the person in charge of Hongyun Shipping Company.
This order was for Gu's Shipping Company, which was specially appointed by the government to transport the goods. If he transferred the order to Hongyun Shipping Company, he would offend the government and also offend Gu Zongci. When Gu Zongci heard the news and came forward, he would not be able to give the order to Hongyun Shipping Company.
This matter still requires the cooperation of the people of Hongyun Shipping Company. When the goods are transported, the officers and soldiers transporting grain will ask which shipping company it is, and ask them to all say that it is Gu Shipping Company.
After this batch of official grain arrived at the destination, they would tell the government that they were from Hongyun Shipping Company. The reason they were transporting the goods was because Gu's Shipping Company was afraid of floods and was unwilling to rent a ship.
In this way, the Gu Shipping Company would offend the government and would definitely be suppressed by the government. At that time, the Hongyun Shipping Company would be the only dominant company.
"Master, all the ships of Hongyun Shipping have sunk," the manager said. "When the authorities come to investigate, I will say that I was fired by you a long time ago and that I am secretly working for Hongyun Shipping under the name of Gu's Shipping Company. I will not bring any trouble to you."
Gu Zongci: “…”
The chief apologized, "I nearly got you into trouble because of my personal affairs. I'm truly ashamed of your trust."
After Gu Zongci digested the news, he asked, "Did you deliberately accept the merchant's order to cover it up?"
The person in charge nodded: "The letter told me to do so."
Gu Zongci frowned and said, "How dare you do what I said to a letter from an unknown source?"
The person in charge said with a guilty conscience, "I think what is said in the letter makes a lot of sense..."
Gu Zongci ignored him and looked at Zhao Yi and Shen Qingtan: "Did you write the letter?"
If not for this, Shen Qingtan would not have stopped the boss when he proposed to go to Qingzhou, and would have asked him to spread the news of the employer's dismissal.
Shen Qingtan secretly pointed his index finger at Zhao Yi.
Gu Zongci raised his eyebrows and thought: He is indeed a cunning scholar with a lot of tricks up his sleeve. I wonder if Manman has suffered any loss at his hands.
Zhao Yi said in a gentle voice: "The advisor given by Tan'er."
There was a faint smile in Gu Zongci's eyes. She was indeed his niece, very clever and resourceful.
He inquired, "How did you know this? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Qingzhou's granaries are empty, so how could there be food being shipped to Guanzhou? Furthermore, they're recruiting merchant ships for the first time. It definitely seems like a conspiracy."
Shen Qingtan said in a cold voice: "As soon as this news came out, I asked the Second Master to send people to Qingzhou to inquire about the news. It turned out that Marquis Cheng'en was trying to assassinate the Gu family."
Marquis Cheng'en's intention against the Gu family was too obvious. He was probably aware of her relationship with the Gu family, but did not find out her relationship with the Zhenbei Palace.
Otherwise, she would definitely reveal her life story before Prince Zhenbei returned to Beijing.
"As for why I didn't tell you..." Shen Qingtan smiled and said, "Marquis Cheng'en must have sent people to keep an eye on the Gu Mansion. If I told you, and you heard the news of the shipwreck, and if you accidentally revealed any clues, all our efforts would be wasted."
Gu Zongci: “…”
He was looked down upon by his niece.
Gu Zongci asked again, "Did you come here on purpose in the rain?"
"Second Master was worried about a storm, so he wrote to the officer instructing him to switch to land transport when he reached the next dock."
Shen Qingtan said with a worried look on his face, "I didn't receive any news about the merchant ship docking at the pier. I was really worried when I heard that the ship had sunk."
Gu Zongci offered a few words of comfort. At this moment, Jiang Mu hurried over and reported, "Second Master, Prince Yu, for Ling Zhongshi's sake, revealed that the goods shipped from Qingzhou to Guanzhou were sandbags. Now Marquis Cheng'en has been imprisoned. I'm afraid his fate is in jeopardy."
Zhao Yi and Shen Qingtan looked at each other. They were not surprised by the news.
Sacrifice pawns to save the king.
Prince Yu’s usual tactic.
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Yuwangfu.
Prince Yu sat on the couch, looking down at the letter in his hand. There was only one sentence on it.
[Shen Qingtan is the daughter of the King of Zhenbei.]
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