Outside the hotel, Alaya followed Lid and asked puzzledly:
"Master, what are we going to do now?"
Lid replied briefly:
"Send money."
"But didn't that man named Langte reject us just now?"
"It's not about sending money to him."
Alaiya held the box of jewels in her arms, a habit she had acquired long ago. Although Lide is no longer short of money, holding the money makes her feel at ease. She will unconsciously think how long the money can support her and her young master. After realizing that the number has become very large, she will Will be quietly happy.
Of course, when sending the money out, she will suffer even more.
"Is that going directly to the tax collector? He doesn't seem to be going that route..."
Alaya reminded Lid softly.
Lid shook his head:
"Now we don't have a way to directly entrust the chief tax officer to do things, but there are other ways."
Lide was very grateful that Langte didn't hold it steady and let the gift box fall on the table. Although even if Langt held it firmly, Lied would try his best to drop the box on the table. When the room was illuminated by the treasure, all eyes were on the treasure on the table, and Lid watched the reaction of each of them.
There was only horror in Langte's eyes, while Qizheng's eyes were full of scrutiny and coldness. The rest of the tax officials were mostly shocked, except for one of the middle-aged fat men who showed obvious greed. The gift was arranged by Li De himself, and the value is definitely not low, at least a few hundred gold coins. If the bait is thrown out, there is no fear that no fish will take the bait.
Lide took note of the man's aura, and led Alaya to follow.
After turning around a few times, the two came to a small house, and Lid knocked on the door.
The one who opened the door was naturally the fat man just now. He rubbed his eyes and muttered "Who?" After seeing the figures of Lide and Alaya, his eyes widened instantly. First, he looked around to make sure that there were no After the others, they blocked the door with their bodies and said in a low voice:
"Why are you here?"
Lide pretended to be sad and said:
"Tonight, I suddenly offended Mr. Langte and Mr. Qizheng. I am also a little worried. I want to ask my brother to help mediate, so as not to affect my future business. Don't worry, I will definitely not embarrass my brother."
The fat man's eyes moved between Lied and Alaiya, looked at the box in Alaiya's arms, moved his body to a gap, and said:
"Come in and talk."
…
At the wine table with only three people, everyone behaved much more naturally.
The fat man took a sip of sake and said to Lid:
"My name is Gaoqiu, a small official in the Taxation Bureau. The position is higher than Langte, but not too much. Your business, Langte's side can handle it, and I can just say hello to him later. But Mr. Qizheng It’s not easy to handle over there, it’s a bit troublesome.”
Lide toasted him with a glass of wine, signaled Alaya to open the box with his eyes, then took out a few pieces of jewelry, put them in Gao Qiu's pocket calmly, and said:
"Please tell me, brother."
Gao Qiu looked at Lide with a hint of appreciation in his eyes. I won't talk about how eye-catching the box is today. If someone bumps into Lide on the road, and the other party sees that the box is not on Lide, he can immediately follow the clues to check. The best thing to do is to give away the contents and take the box back untouched later.
"Mr. Qi Zheng has been an official for many years, and he is also known for his two sleeves in the official circles of the Western Qin Dynasty. You can see from what happened tonight that he is basically the type who doesn't get involved in oil and salt. If you want to ask him to do something, there is no way to do it." I really can't…”
Lid picked up a few more pieces of jewelry and stuffed them.
Gao Qiu stopped drinking, brewed for a while, and said:
"In the northernmost part of Yuanyang City, Qingfeng Street, there is a woman living in the third alley."
Lid stuffed a few more pieces of jewelry, and he felt as if he was talking to a coin-operated toy, except that those toys would sing you the song "Daddy's Daddy is Grandpa" after you put in the coin, and this one was called Gaoqiu The fat man is only a riddle. Even Alaya was vaguely impatient, but Lide still held his temper.
Gao Qiu drank the last sip of wine, and from the weight of the pocket, he knew that Lid's box was almost empty.
He lowered his voice and said:
"You take a box of good tea as a stepping stone first. After receiving the tea, the woman will ask to see you. Before meeting her, you have to buy a gift. Remember, you must not be stingy when you do something big and give a big gift. Then Then you go to see her, she will drink tea with you, and then ask you if you know calligraphy, you must answer yes, she will find a piece of rice paper and ask you to leave a sentence. You write down what you want to do In the above, if she returns the gift to you in a few days, it will be impossible, but if she invites you to drink tea again, it will be successful."
Lide also took a sip of wine, and said to Gao Qiu:
"This... Thank you, brother, for your pointers. But there is one thing I don't understand. This process is so obscure and cumbersome, how did brother Gaoqiu know it?"
Gao Qiu laughed and said to Lide:
"If you didn't prepare enough sincerity this time, you would have to go around a lot of detours to send the money to me. Similarly, if what you prepare today is not a few hundred gold coins, but tens of thousands, several If it’s 100,000 pieces, Qi Zheng will probably give you a few words directly, and you won’t come here.”
Lied took the last sip of wine and said softly:
"This kind of thing is... very common in West Qin?"
Gao Qiu thought that Li De was still worried about Qi Zheng's sentence "Next time you will not do business in Xiqin", he patted his chest and promised:
"I don't know about other industries. Taxation has always been like this. Don't worry, as long as you are willing enough, there is nothing wrong with it. Who would have trouble with money... and whose family has nothing to do? My mother gave birth more than ten years ago. A serious illness, I don’t know how much I have spent on medicine over the years. Most of the money I got outside was spent on her. This is why I took the risk this time and told you this... Paint Zheng's only son is a fool. He has found countless folk remedies to cure his son. How can he do it without money? He needs money more than me."
Lid listened silently, and when it was getting late, Gao Qiu waved his hand and drove him and Alaya out.
The cold wind blew past, and Lide's drunken appearance completely disappeared.
His eyes looked a little cold.
Alaya asked softly:
"Master, did that Gaoqiu make you unhappy?"
Lide looked at her hand on the sword and shook his head:
"I just find it weird."
Lied took Alaya to the hotel, and said as he walked:
"Everyone in the world knows that the Western Qin Dynasty has clear politics and strict laws, but this is the case in Yuanyang City. An ordinary tax official knows how his boss accepts bribes. Doesn't the West Qin lord really know? What are you thinking? It has only been 20 years since the rise of West Qin. If it really relied on reforms to make a fortune, the trampling of the legal system would definitely hurt its foundation. But today’s West Qin is still as strong as ever... There must be something here question."
Li De looked at Yuanyang City, it was only eight o'clock in the evening, but all the lights in Yuanyang City were turned off.
The streets were empty, and the echo of footsteps could be heard.
The dark city exuded a gloomy atmosphere, not to mention Lid, even Alayah couldn't help but clenched his sword tightly.