Chapter 160: The Map of Loan Money
Yang Wenyuan's original intention was to do a good thing.

In this cold winter, we sent people to buy charcoal at a slightly higher price.

One reason is to provide winter subsidies to the families related to the Marquis’ Mansion.

The second is to sympathize with the poor people who cut down trees despite the cold winter.

Who would have thought that I would see the complaint!
"My Lord, that's not the case. Our mansion has never had any complications with its purchases."

The middle-aged butler's expression remained unchanged as he explained:

"We discovered the clues when we were buying charcoal, so we used the name of the Marquis' Mansion and some money to keep it quiet, and then we got it back from that low-level government office."

"You brought it back?"

Yang Wenyuan immediately found it interesting and an interested expression appeared on his face.

However, he did not rush to scold him, but waited for the butler to finish what he was saying.

Even if the butler can specifically bring up the name of the Marquis' Mansion, he must get the lawsuit back.

I guess something interesting happened in between?
"Yes, Lord Marquis."

The middle-aged butler said respectfully:
"When we bought charcoal from the people before, we also heard them complaining. Some even said they had written a petition to the government office to file a complaint, but we always turned a deaf ear to them."

Yang Wenyuan nodded.

Being the purchasing manager of the Marquis's Mansion, he must be accustomed to such things.

After all, things that cannot be eliminated in modern society would definitely be prevalent in all walks of life and were common in ancient times when information was even less accessible.

If we have to take care of each and every one of them, I'm afraid we won't be able to do anything, and the gatekeeper of the marquis's mansion will just serve as a small yamen that receives complaints.

"But just when we wanted to stay out of it, we heard the word 'Houfu' from the loan sharks..."

"Marquis Mansion?"

Yang Wenyuan couldn't help but sneer and said happily:

"Whose mansion is this? They couldn't make ends meet and turned to lending money?"

"..."

Yang Wenyuan laughed out loud, but the middle-aged butler's expression did not change at all. Instead, he stared at him intently, and the smile on his face gradually faded, which seemed a little unbelievable.

He pointed at himself and said in disbelief:

"my home?"

"Yeah." The middle-aged butler nodded heavily.

"Be bold!"

Yang Wenyuan was furious, and he slammed the table hard, saying angrily:

"Catch all those loan sharks now!

I want to see who gave them the courage to use our mansion's name to lend money at high interest rates!"

This kind of business of lending money at high interest is something that even a family with a little bit of status would not bother to do, let alone a powerful family like the Yang family!

Any such bad reputation will inevitably have a negative impact on the family's reputation.

If they were discovered by the government or reported by someone, their family would lose all reputation in the city of Bianjing.

Seeing that Yang Wenyuan was angry, the middle-aged manager immediately nodded, then went out and gave a few instructions before going back into the house.

The middle-aged manager knew very well that this kind of thing required witnesses, so he caught the man early on.

After a while, two blindfolded young thugs were brought into the study.

As the cloth covering his eyes was removed.

When the two of them saw the study room decorated with all the decorations around it, and the middle-aged man who had been so imposing in front of them not long ago, now bowing to the young man sitting at the desk above them, how could they not know that they had entered the Marquis' Mansion?

The butler had tortured them before, so they knew their current situation.

"Tell me, who asked you to lend money outside under the name of the Marquis' Mansion?" Yang Wenyuan said with a malicious look on his face.

Things like loan sharking, to...

Wait... usury?

Yang Wenyuan's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

At this time, I can be implicated in the loan sharking...

Could it be that Wang Ruofu has started lending money together with Wang Ruoyu?

So fast?
Thinking of this, Yang Wenyuan's face flickered.

If this is true, wouldn't it be a good opportunity to kick Wang Ruoyu out of the Sheng family?
Yang Wenyuan suppressed his thoughts and turned to look seriously at the two frightened people in the audience.

The two thugs in the audience had been tortured by the Marquis' Mansion before. The scars on their faces and the dull pain in their abdomen made them dare not hide anything, and they told everything they knew.

As the two of them spoke one after another, Yang Wenyuan knew that he had guessed correctly.

Although neither of them mentioned any specific names in their conversations—

It should be because they are just minions doing the work, and Wang Ruoyu certainly did not show up in person, but judging from their work style and the fact that the people behind the scenes told them that they could use the Sheng family's reputation to lend money.

In particular, he told them about the son-in-law of the Marquis's Mansion, so that they would understand that he had a strong background and could pursue their careers with confidence!
All of these can be said to be the most suitable for Wang Ruoyu.

At this time, there was a snowstorm.

This caused the price of firewood in the city of Bianjing to start rising day by day, and many families could no longer afford it. During such natural disasters, it was most appropriate to lend them money at interest.

After understanding the whole story, Yang Wenyuan signaled the butler to leave and took the two thugs, who were already howling like ghosts, away for punishment.

After everyone left, the study became quiet again.

Yang Wenyuan stared at the complaint in his hand and fell into silent thought.

It seems that Wang Ruoyu has now started to lend money under Wang Ruofu's name.

In fact, because of my existence, I feel more confident than before.

Relying on the background of the Marquis' Mansion.

They actually made money from national disasters during natural and man-made disasters.

If this matter really gets to the court, not only the Sheng family, but also his own reputation will be affected!
The Great Zhou Dynasty always paid attention to the safety of Bianliang.

Especially since the current emperor has no heir, he always feels insecure and must have allowed spies from the Imperial City Bureau to infiltrate the city of Bianjing inside and out.

What if this matter has been known to the government...

Although it is not a big deal for my family, it will only reduce some impression points.

But for the Sheng family, things might be very serious!
The original timeline can obviously only be used as a reference.

In life, there's no rehearsal, only live telecast!
Thinking of this, Yang Wenyuan's original dissatisfaction with the original story line was successfully postponed to the present after this incident.

Good job, Wang Ruoyu!

I was thinking of finding a good excuse to deal with you later, but I didn't expect you to be so bold. In such a short time, you dared to use my family's name to do things!

Regardless of whether Wang Ruoyu intended to use the title of the Marquisate directly, she had at least made the name of the Yang family known to the public, so Yang Wenyuan defined her as destroying his family's reputation.

Fortunately, it was discovered in time.

Through the previous inquiries, Yang Wenyuan learned that they had only been lending money at high interest for a short time and their reputation had not yet been established.

Thinking of this, Yang Wenyuan immediately called Changqing over.

"You heard this clearly, so you know what to do, right?"

Changqing nodded affirmatively.

"Oh? Then what are you going to do?" Yang Wenyuan didn't expect that Chang Qing had the answer without even thinking about it, so he asked expectantly.

Could it be that Changqing is not stupid, but has some quick wit?

"I haven't thought it through yet!" Chang Qing's expression was very honest.

? ?
"Then why did you nod just now?"

Chang Qing smiled innocently:
"Cui Chan told me privately that I am not smart. If you ask me questions in the future, I just need to nod and I can think about it slowly later."

"Um……"

Yang Wenyuan was speechless. He could only sigh softly and patted Changqing's shoulder reluctantly.

You haven't got married yet!

There was no hope for Changqing to figure it out on his own, so Yang Wenyuan could only personally remind him:
"Go and find out who sent the loan sharks and whether they are using the name of the Sheng family."

Even though the two thugs just now have explained the whole story clearly, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Yang Wenyuan decided to send someone close to him to carefully identify the person before he could feel at ease.

I, Yang Wenyuan, will never score an own goal!

"Once the investigation is complete, erase all the relevant clues. If anyone's family is ruined because of the loan sharking, you will also compensate them generously."

Logically speaking, the usury had only been made not long ago, so it shouldn't cause too much trouble.

But again, just in case!

"My Lord, I understand erasure, but a large amount of compensation...?"

Changqing suspected that he had heard it wrong.

The Marquis' Mansion did not benefit from it, so why should it be compensated?

Yang Wenyuan looked impatient:
"She, Wang Ruoyu, used our family's reputation, so she shouldn't pay some copyright fees? I don't care about that little money, so I'll just give it away to accumulate merit!"

"oh oh!"

Changqing took the order and left. Yang Wenyuan also gathered his thoughts and went back to the pavilion on the lake to continue fishing.

Gu Tingye and Changbai both have good eyesight.

I didn't have the audacity to ask Yang Wenyuan what happened just because we were good friends.

Instead, he continued to talk about fishing.

So after a round of verbal sparring, a new round of fighting began.

When Hualan sent Caizhan to call people for dinner, the three of them had different expressions.

Changbai is very straightforward.

He flicked his sleeves and stood up leisurely, exuding the ease of a winner.

Yang Wenyuan, who was standing next to him, had a dark face and was somewhat skeptical about his life.

what happened?

We agreed that the best fishing spot today was here, why did you go to Changbai again?

Gu Tingye was very straightforward.

He kicked the fish basket away, swung the pole, and all the depression in his heart disappeared.

He immediately followed happily, with the joy of eating written all over his face.

However, even after the water in the fish basket behind him dried up, not a single fish jumped out.

Have a banquet at noon.

Since there were many female relatives, men and women each occupied one room.

Gu Tingye didn't drink because he was going home.

Changbai also thought about going with Yang Wenyuan to see the bet he had won, so he didn't drink either.

There are only three people in total.

The two of them didn't drink, and Yang Wenyuan wasn't a heavy drinker. He thought it was boring to drink alone, so he put down his glass and joked:
"That's good, it saves my family money on drinks!"

The banquet is over.

After a short rest, Yang Wenyuan saw that Changbai was absent-minded and knew what he was thinking about.

He immediately waved his hand.

He took Changbai to his study room, which was used to receive and send letters from home.

Naturally, Gu Tingye would not miss such an opportunity.

He and Changbai were both particularly concerned about the military situation of the Great Zhou, otherwise they would not have become close friends because of a map of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Gu Tingye has always been thick-skinned.

He then shamelessly shouted "just to be a help" and successfully squeezed into the queue.

Places like this where confidential documents are stored are mostly located in the front yard.

If it was placed in the backyard, it would be difficult to send personal guards to guard it day and night because the inner house was filled with female relatives. Therefore, the Yang family's secret letters have always been kept in a special outer study.

The three of them came to the east side of the front yard.

Walk to the study in the middle.

Then the guard opened the door and welcomed the three people in.

With a slight creaking sound of a door closing, the study room with bookshelves on three sides filled with letters came into the eyes of Gu Tingye and Changbai, full of curiosity.

Yang Wenyuan led the two to the desk on the right.

Then he walked to the wall hanging behind the desk, stretched out his hand and gently pulled a barely perceptible but extremely tough thin thread on the left side, and saw the wall hanging in front of him suddenly fall, revealing a huge scroll wall.

There are various scrolls among them.

Yang Wenyuan did not pick and choose, but took out the scroll on the top layer directly.

Untie the cotton rope tied to the surface, then place the scroll on the side of the desk and push it gently. Then a map slightly different from the current one will slowly unfold and come into view.

"You...your map?"

Gu Tingye is not Changbai. He is the eldest son of the family. Although he has never been to the Gu family's study where confidential letters are stored, he has seen a lot of special maps. However, they are slightly different from the ones in front of the Yang family. He immediately asked:
"Is your map different from the one in the army? It seems very concise."

"Yes, I modified the original map slightly!"

Yang Wenyuan nodded and said calmly:
"I felt that the original map was too complicated, so I made a simpler one, with detailed details, and divided it into different parts. It is more accurate and detailed than the original map!"

To put it simply: make the simple simpler and the precise more precise.

As for the reason for doing this, it was naturally because Yang Wenyuan wanted to facilitate the expansion of the map.

Why expand printing?
Naturally, it has something to do with Yang Wenyuan’s philosophy of leading troops.

Yang Wenyuan kept the most detailed ones for himself.

Gu Tingye looked at the obviously simplified map in front of him, and secretly pondered Yang Wenyuan's logic in his heart, but no matter how hard he thought, he was troubled by the fact that there was too little information and he could not get the point at all.

Changbai was also a little confused, but he was not from a family of military honors, and now he just wanted to know the situation in Lingzhou, so he opened his mouth and said:

"Brother-in-law, since we already have the map, just tell me about the current situation in Lingzhou!"

Gu Tingye was immediately cheered up when he heard this.

Seeing that both of them were looking at him inquiringly, Yang Wenyuan coughed lightly and said:

“Then let’s start with Lingzhou’s geographical location.

Lingzhou is not only the only remaining horse breeding ground of our Great Zhou, but also the only way to communicate with Hexi Tubo. If Lingzhou is lost, our communication with Tubo will be interrupted, and then our two warhorse supply routes will be cut off by Xixia!"

"..."

Afterwards, Yang Wenyuan continued to talk about the person in charge in Lingzhou today.

The former governor of Lingzhou, Ningyuan Hou Gu Yankai.

Commander of the army (the leader of an army, in charge of a western army, and supplemented by other wing armies).

We must return to Beijing immediately and rush to Lingzhou after the spring examination next year or when the war in Lingzhou breaks out.

The current Lingzhou Governor, Shaanxi Road Recruiting Envoy, Duke of Yingguo Zhang Fu.

He was appointed as the military commander-in-chief (the commander-in-chief of a front, with several armies under his command).

They had just arrived in Lingzhou not long ago, and were now building camps and training soldiers. They were also reclaiming the reclaimable land in the rear of Lingzhou, letting the old or disabled soldiers who were there to make up the numbers do the farming.

As I finished describing all the things about Lingzhou, the sun was gradually setting.

The sun sets early in winter, and it is only shortly after the start of the afternoon.

(End of this chapter)