Chapter 584 Tripartite Contract
When Zhu Lan asked about Qijun Tea House, Manager Mi's reaction was a little confused.
"This... I am just a bank manager, how can I know everything about the shops in the capital?
Maybe Master Liu has some special connections?"
Manager Mi speculated.
Zhu Lan saw that he didn't lie, so he stopped dwelling on it and took another look at the account book. He asked:
"After these funds were deposited into the account, most of them were transferred to the charity school. So, is Mr. Liu really so generous?"
Manager Mi nodded in agreement, saying that Master Liu has always been enthusiastic about education.
Zhu Lan asked again: "How much does the charity school spend every year? Have you seen it with your own eyes?"
Manager Mi was a little embarrassed. "This... I only know that there are purchases of writing materials and repairs of school buildings, but I don't know the exact amount of money."
Zhu Lan knew that the prices in some places in Daliang were special. Items such as the four treasures of the study were indeed more expensive in some areas with scarce resources, and sometimes the prices could even double or triple.
She thought for a moment, pointed to the inkstone on his desk and asked:
"How much did you spend on this inkstone?"
Manager Mi thought for a while and said, "About... two taels of silver."
Zhu Lan gently touched the outer wall of the inkstone with his fingertips and knew that the inkstone was made of Duan stone and was of a higher grade that ordinary people could use.
The price of two taels of silver is fair, which shows that the prices here are still at a reasonable level.
She grew up among books. In a mere Mao County, it was impossible for her to spend so much on the study supplies and school building renovations for the charity school.
In addition, I have been observing Mr. Liu's attitude towards Wu Zhiyuan, and it is obvious that Mr. Liu obeys the Xu family.
She could almost conclude that Mr. Liu's so-called "business" and "donations" were simply a cover for the Xu family to launder money!
It is actually very simple to verify this problem.
Zhu Lan pointed to the silver exchange bills mixed in the account book and asked Manager Mi why there were signatures of Wu Zhiyuan as well as Mr. Liu on the bills.
Manager Mi said "Oh" and said that it was something that happened here during the previous manager's term.
The previous manager of the money shop was named Chen. At the time of the handover, Manager Mi was curious why there was Wu Zhiyuan's signature on Mr. Liu's bills. Manager Chen told him that when Mr. Liu opened an account in Tongyun Money Shop, he signed a tripartite contract.
The so-called three parties are Tongyun Money House, Mr. Liu, and Wu Zhiyuan.
The contract stipulated that whenever Mr. Liu exchanged silver from his account at Tongyun Money House, he must have the signatures of both him and Wu Zhiyuan, otherwise the money house would not exchange the money.
Zhu Lan nodded. This could explain why the Xu family was confident in keeping a large amount of money in the name of Mr. Liu without worrying about him running away with the money. It turned out that they had taken out an insurance policy.
From this perspective, the chain of interests becomes very clear.
Mr. Liu's account was nominally his own, but the person actually in charge was Wu Zhiyuan.
The source of income for the Qijun Tea House is actually very easy to guess. It is nothing more than accepting bribes under the guise of selling tea. One tael of ordinary tea can be sold for hundreds of taels of silver.
Zhu Lan had worked in the Censorate for many years and had seen too many cases like this.
But Master Xu did a great job. He used his nephew Wu Zhiyuan who was far away in Maoxian to do the operation, and had Master Liu as the middleman to cover up his tracks. No wonder he didn't get any evidence against him in the capital.
Although he has made a judgment now, he still needs more favorable evidence to prove that the ultimate beneficiaries of the profits that Mr. Liu earned from the tea house are actually Master Xu and Wu Zhiyuan.
Qijun Tea House is far away in the capital, so it is difficult to check for the time being. It is best to start with the account books.
If Youyou were here, she would definitely be able to see the problem with the accounts at a glance. It's a pity that it's too late to ask her for help now.
Zhu Lan thought about it and decided to list all the questions he had about the account books one by one and ask Manager Mi to answer them.
Although she was not completely sure, what if?
Manager Mi was a little surprised at first when he heard Zhu Lan's questions, because some of them were indeed a little...unprofessional, and it was obvious that she was not an insider.
But Manager Mi changed his mind and felt that the person who could get the Qilin Golden Seal must have a special relationship with Pavilion Master Qiao.
What if it’s someone from above who’s assessing me?
Isn’t this just testing your own business capabilities?
Thinking of this, Manager Mi dared not slack off at all and answered every question of Zhu Lan meticulously.
Zhu Lan has an extraordinary ability to comprehend. As long as Manager Mi explains many insider tricks, she basically understands what is going on.
"Wait." Zhu Lan was listening, and suddenly frowned and interrupted, "You mentioned just now that every time Master Liu came with a bill of exchange from the capital, he didn't deposit it into the account, but directly exchanged it for silver?"
"That's right." said Manager Mi.
Zhu Lan felt strange and looked down at the account book, and indeed found something he had not noticed before.
In theory, if someone deposited a sum of money into Mr. Liu's account in Beijing, the Beijing bank would issue a bill of exchange. This bill of exchange was taken to the Tongyun Bank in Maoxian by a special person and recorded in the account. Later, Mr. Liu could quickly exchange the money for silver in Maoxian.
Unless he needs to use the money immediately, after the bill of exchange is brought to Maoxian, it only needs to be recorded in the account of the money shop and there is no need to exchange it immediately.
However, the records in Mr. Liu's account were very strange. Every time a bill of exchange came into his account, he would immediately cash out all the silver, deposit more money again after a few days, and then transfer the extra money to another account.
For example, he withdrew all the 1,000 taels of silver on the account at the beginning of the month, and after a while he would deposit 1,200 taels, and then transfer out another 200 taels, so that there would still be only the original 1,000 taels of silver on the account.
As for the period from withdrawal to redeposit, it usually ranges from three to five days to half a month.
Zhu Lan asked Manager Mi to whom Mr. Liu had transferred the extra money on the account.
Manager Mi replied that it was another account under the name of Mr. Liu.
"He has another account?" Zhu Lan's face turned grim. "Why didn't you tell me just now?"
“You didn’t ask…”
Zhu Lan: “…”
Zhu Lan pressed his solar plexus helplessly, took a deep breath, and asked Manager Mi if he knew why Master Liu took all the money away.
Manager Mi had a bitter look on his face. He hesitated for a while before whispering:
"I don't have any evidence, I'm just guessing... Mr. Liu and Mr. Xu took the money away, probably to lend it out at high prices..."
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