Kang Yueran nodded. "I have a mountain of coal in Anzhou, which brings in over three thousand taels of income every month. If you make honeycomb coal and sell it, you can earn a few hundred more taels a month."
This does not require any technical skills. Meishan is ours, and we have regular customers over time, so it is very easy.
The Lin family was very excited. If they hired more people to mine coal, they could earn more than 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver a year.
Madam Lin beckoned Kang Yueran to come over to her. "If you give us Luoyang Mountain, you'll earn a lot less!"
"I have other businesses that are enough to support Jing and I."
"No wonder the prince likes you, I like you too!" This is her true words. Only by giving can you gain. Everyone understands this truth, but not many can really do it.
Kang Yueran smiled and said, "It's a Luoyang Mountain. The old lady must like me!"
Madam Lin laughed out loud, "What a mischievous girl!"
After seeing Kang Yueran off, Old Madam Lin went to Prince Ping's Mansion. The two talked for a long time. Finally, Old Madam Lin returned to the Marquis' Mansion with red eyes.
Chai Shijing went to find Kang Yueran and expressed his gratitude and love to her again.
Kang Yueran curled her lips. She felt that Chai Shijing was the monster in the mountains and she was the one who was deceived.
Four days later, Luoyang Mountain officially became the property of the Dunning Marquisate.
The Lin family sat together to discuss who would manage the business of Luoyang Mountain. The eldest wife, Lin Dong, was not available, but his son was free; the second and first wives were all free, and they all wanted to go.
After several rounds of discussion, Mrs. Lin took her family to Shengzhou, intending to see the place in person before making a decision.
This matter soon spread among the officials' families. Some people were envious, while others cursed it but secretly envied it in their hearts.
Emperor Jianning also heard the news. He was silent for a long time, considering whether to find an opportunity to meet Kang Yueran.
But before he could figure out what opportunity to find, Li Xi told him that someone had gone to the Ministry of Justice to sue Duke Lu for abusing his power for personal gain and Gao Qi for taking advantage of the situation.
Zhang Yuan knelt in the lobby of the Ministry of Justice, holding an account book, and shouted, "The men who deliver goods from the south to the Baiyi Silk Shop every month are all officials from the Salt Court. Duke Lu uses court officials to make money for himself. I have the Baiyi Silk Shop's account book as proof.
The Salt Bureau transports salt to various places, and most prefectures use large carts. In fact, there are not that many officials transporting salt. You can find out by sending people to each prefecture to investigate."
Since this matter concerned Duke Lu, the newly appointed Minister of Justice, Zhou Yang, came in person and said, "Bring up the account books!"
Zhang Yuan handed over the account book and said, "I admit that I stole this account book from Shopkeeper Chen of Baiyi Silk Shop. I am willing to be a witness!"
Ever since Shen Yi took the goods away from his shop, he sent his family out of the capital. He would rather die than let this evil happen to him.
Zhou Yang said: "I will investigate it myself." He would definitely investigate it. Even if he couldn't kill Duke Lu, he would at least make him suffer a lot.
Zhang Yuan said, "Sir, if I leave the Ministry of Justice, I'm afraid my death won't be far away. So I'd like to stay in the Ministry of Justice's prison. Please grant me that."
Zhou Yang agreed, "Okay, I will send someone to protect you."
Both of them hated Duke Lu, so their discussion went very smoothly.
Upon receiving the news, Duke Lu hurried to the palace to ask for an audience with Emperor Jianning.
Emperor Jianning was also worried. Without Duke Lu, Chai Shirong would be like a tiger without teeth, essentially useless. Meanwhile, Chai Shijing had the capable Kang Yueran.
The balance between the two was about to be broken again, which was something Emperor Jianning was very reluctant to see.
Li Xi came to report that Duke Lu had arrived.
Emperor Jianning was very angry and blurted out two words, "No!"
He quickly added, "Let him personally find out what's going on and report back to me!"
Go and investigate it personally? Duke Lu was overjoyed. The emperor was giving him a chance to destroy the evidence.
When he got home, he called Xie Zhi and gave him a few instructions. Afterwards, Xie Zhi sent someone to Baiyi Silk Shop to tie up Shen Yi and bring him back.
When Shen Yi saw Xie Zhi, he started cursing.
The servant went up and slapped Chen Yi twice, "Keep your mouth shut, Manager Xie has something to tell you."
Xie Zhi looked down at Shen Yi, feeling very happy. "Shen Yi, I have kidnapped all your family members. The Duke needs you to help him now.
As long as you do as you are told, your family will be taken care of by the Duke's Mansion. If anything goes wrong again, none of them will survive."
When I left home in the morning, my family was fine. "You're talking nonsense, Xie Zhi, what on earth do you want to do? I want to see the Duke!"
"But the Duke doesn't want to see you. He hates you. If you hadn't reported it to the authorities, how could Prince Ping have used it as evidence to bring up the salt profits issue? If you hadn't forcibly robbed Zhang Yuan's goods, how could he have gone to the Ministry of Justice to file a complaint?
Also, Zhang Yuan has an account book in his hand, which was stolen from you, and you were completely unaware of it. Shen Yi, tell me yourself, how much trouble have you caused for the Duke? Isn't it your responsibility?
Shen Yi's psychological defenses collapsed instantly. "I want to see the Duke. The Duke won't send me to die. Xie Zhi, it must be you. It was your idea, right? You've always been jealous of me..."
The servant slapped Shen Yi a few more times, making him shut up.
Xie Zhi added, "I don't have time to argue with you, Shen Yi. If you don't want your entire family to die, go to the Ministry of Justice and take all the blame."
Shen Yi thought of a solution in a hurry, "Zhang Yuan is suing the Duke and Mr. Gao, how can I bear the consequences?"
"You can do it. Everyone in the capital knows that your mother, Shopkeeper Shen, is the Duke's wet nurse. In the Duke's Mansion, even I, the chief steward, have to give you some respect.
It's possible that you could use the Duke's influence to do something foolish. Didn't you just rob Zhang Yuan and two other silk shops of silk a few days ago?"
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