Chapter 238 Forced Gifts
"After all, our Ming Dynasty has been around for nearly three hundred years. What kind of storms have we not seen?"

"Back then, the Oirat tribe captured Emperor Yingzong alive, and even took him all the way south, earning him the title of Gate Emperor. In the end, they surrounded the entire city of Beijing. Didn't they survive such a huge change?"

Speaking of Zhu Qizhen, Wang An couldn't help but sigh in his heart. There were 16 emperors in the 300 years of the Ming Dynasty, and there were indeed many weird emperors, but the most shameful prodigal son was none other than this man.

The strange thing is that for such a person, his brother Zhu Qiyu didn't use any tricks to defeat him, and he even had a large group of civil and military nobles supporting his restoration.

He was first captured by kidnappers to perform the sheep-leading ceremony, then he was able to return home alive without receiving the ransom, and he was not killed by the new emperor. In the end, he was able to successfully restore the throne and become emperor again. He is probably the only one in history who was so lucky.

No wonder even his mother didn't support him and directly established a new king while he was studying in Wala.

However, Wang An's series of advice did not make Man Gui smile at all. He just sighed and said, "I hope so..."

Since both of them had their own concerns, the atmosphere of the conversation was not very lively. After sitting there for a while in a depressed mood, Wang An saw that it was getting dark, so he stood up and said goodbye.

However, although Man Gui was busy with official duties, he still kept Wang An for dinner before letting him leave.

After Wang An left, the housekeeper came up immediately and handed Man Gui a gift list.

Man Gui took it and looked at it, and found that it was a gift brought by Wang An.

There is nothing messy or fancy, but just two or three simple and neat things.

One portion of soap and one portion of moisturizing glycerin. The key is the third gift.

Ten thousand small silver fish!

The so-called silverfish is the dark form of bribery in official circles, referring to silver.

If it is gold, it is called small yellow croaker.

Ten thousand pieces, which is ten thousand taels.

This was something Wang An had just exchanged for with the corresponding business in Datong Prefecture using the ticket given to him by Chongzhen.

The main reason why Lin Danhan's life was not saved before was that the bills were not silver bills. Not only did he need to go to the corresponding business in Datong to exchange them in person, but he also had to be present in person.

Man Gui looked at the numbers on the gift list and couldn't help but scold him, "How dare you, my good brother, give me this!"

"Do you think I'm one of those corrupt officials?"

Then he turned to the housekeeper and scolded, "You too, accepting gifts without even considering the recipient?"

"This is my good brother, how can I accept his money?"

"Go and get him back quickly. If he refuses, just carry the silver directly to the inn where he is staying!"

The housekeeper immediately showed an awkward look when he heard this, and said, "I've told Shopkeeper Wang that you will definitely not accept it, and you will definitely scold me."

"But Shopkeeper Wang insisted on having me as his subordinate, and he also forbade me to tell the master before he left, saying that the master was a decent man and would definitely not accept this money."

"It's just that the border is in troubled times right now, and the master still has a few less servants. Let the master use this little money to add a few more servants. If they can play a role on the battlefield in the future, it will be a token of his gratitude to the court and you, the master!"

After listening to the housekeeper, Man Gui no longer insisted on finding Wang An. Instead, he looked in the direction Wang An left and sighed, "My brother is also a man who values ​​friendship and loyalty. If he can enter the officialdom and serve the country, my Ming Dynasty will have one more capable official!"

………………

When Wang An returned to the inn, it was already late. However, he still found Zhao Dekui and Tian Erlangzi to discuss the departure for the capital tomorrow.

Tian Erlangzi, who was in charge of escorting the caravan, said, "The goods that were brought out have been traded, and those that were signed for have been signed for."

"Originally, we should have purchased some local specialties from the grassland or Datong, shipped them back to the capital, and sold them to earn some money. But since the bag was full of oil, we can save on this. We can just buy some food for the journey and set off."

Wang An nodded and said, "If that's the case, then we will return to the capital tomorrow."

Tian Erlangzi naturally had no objection and immediately nodded in agreement.

However, Zhao Dekui looked hesitant because he knew that Wang An had promised Ligdan Khan to traffic in armor and armor-piercing arrows.

Therefore, Zhao Dekui asked: "Boss, since you have a brotherly relationship with General Man, and Shanxi is also a major iron-making province, why don't you ask him to think of a way to fulfill Lin Danhan's request?"

However, when Zhao Dekui said this, Tian Erlangzi immediately got angry, "What are you talking about, old man?"

"Don't you know who Lin Danhan is?"

"If the boss really makes him armor, who knows if he will use it to attack our Ming Dynasty in the future?"

"Datong Prefecture is Marshal Manchu's trusted territory. If Lingdan Khan makes any unusual moves, wouldn't that mean he is helping the Tartars to fight Marshal Manchu?"

Zhao Dekui frowned and said, "Then what do you say we should do?"

"Now Lin Danhan is obviously blackmailing our employer. If we still want to do business on the grassland, we have no choice but to meet his demands!"

"You've been at the border for so many years, you should know how profitable the border trade business is. Do you really want your boss to just give up like that?"

"Even if the boss is willing to give it up, don't forget that the boss is still the imperial merchant of the court. When the Honglu Temple asks you why you didn't run to the grassland, what will you say?"

"Could it be that the boss has played tricks on Lin Danhan's wife and now he doesn't dare to go to the grassland?"

Tian Erlangzi was immediately speechless after being rebuked by Zhao Dekui. He just said angrily: "In short, making armor for Lin Danhan is treason and betrayal!"

"Tian Erlengzi, ah Tian Erlengzi, you are really a fool!" Zhao Dekui was helpless and was about to say something but was interrupted by Wang An.

"Okay, Lao Zhao, what Lengzi said is right."

Wang An said solemnly: "Lin Danhan is not an easy person to deal with."

"Let alone getting him armor, he might use these things to mess with our Ming Dynasty in the future. If we say we want to get him these things, once we are discovered, it will be a capital crime!"

"We are just ordinary businessmen now, and there is no one in the court who can help us. It doesn't matter if I die at that time, but the most worrying thing is that I will implicate you!"

"You are not like me. You all have families to support. If I harm one of you, I will harm your entire family!"

Zhao Dekui advised: "Who said that there is no one in our court? Isn't Marshal Man the one?"

"By the way, didn't you just take out 10,000 taels from the Desheng today and send it to Marshal Man?"

Wang An smiled bitterly and said, "Old Zhao, you still look down on me!"

"I gave Marshal Man silver because I admire his loyalty and righteousness and he is a man who donated silver to help with military expenses!"

(End of this chapter)