After hearing Xiande's words, Man Pi had a bottom in his heart, and deliberately tried to say: "Brother Xiande, do you know the details of the Huguang Chamber of Commerce?" ”

Xiande's heart moved, and he pretended to be at a loss: "My lord, after all, Xia Guan has just come to Hubei not long ago, and he is not very clear about the people here, so please give me advice." ”

Seeing that Xiande was still pretending, Man Pi gritted his teeth fiercely, considering the three million taels of silver, he had to say softly: "This Huguang Chamber of Commerce is amazing, behind it is the wealthy families in the Huguang area, such as Ning, Cheng, Zheng, Wang, Xu and several others have participated, and it is said that the total share capital has three million taels of silver." ”

"Three million taels! Huguang is rich and does not lose to Jiangnan. When Xiande heard this number, his heart was on fire.

People at the time often said: Three years of Qing prefect, 100,000 snowflakes of silver. Even for the governor or governor, the three million taels of silver were still an unimaginable fortune, and it was no wonder that this man Pi kept staring at it.

Man Pi touched his beard, took a sip of tea with satisfaction, and didn't speak, now that the bait has been thrown down, he is not afraid that this fish will not be greedy.

Xiande hesitated: "Lord Qiyu, on the way to Xiaguan to visit, I have also heard of the prestige of these families, especially this Ning family, it is said that the family is strong, and there are always millions of family assets, not long ago it seems that they were still selling smuggled salt, and they did a game with the Huaibei Salt Gang, and the result was a big victory!" ”

Man Pi only knew a rough idea, but he didn't know much about the inside story, and said, "Please tell Brother Xiande in detail." ”

Xiande said with a smile: "This thing is not very unusual, Xunyang County has been circulating this news recently, it is said that a few years ago, the Ning family had a group of private salt robbed by the bandits of Peach Blossom Mountain, and killed people, but the Ning family sent some family members within two days to uproot the entire Peach Blossom Mountain, as if.... The leader is still the young master of the Ning family, and he is only seventeen or eighteen years old. ”

Man Pi sensed the key and said, "Oh...... But as far as I know, this Peach Blossom Mountain group of bandits is not so simple, last year Xunyang prefect Cai Guozhen also wrote a book, saying that the Peach Blossom Mountain group of bandits is not less than 1,000 people, has become a big problem, and it is urgent for the governor Yamen to send troops to suppress it..... Now that the Ning family has casually sent some family members, it will be solved?"

Speaking of this, Man Pi nodded sympathetically again, "Is this Cai Guozhen really too incompetent, or is this Ning Zhongyuan leading the troops in a good way?" Even the family members in this house have become the army of tigers and wolves. ”

"Ning Zhongyuan, I have seen it, he is indeed a good man, but even if he leads the troops well, how many people can there be in this capable family? Incredible, incredible. ”

Man Pi said in a low voice: "But what if those soldiers are not family members? ”

As soon as these words came out, Xiande understood what the governor meant, and he had a bottom in his heart, so he said in a low voice: "If this is the case, then the so-called family members should all be dressed by the soldiers of the Hanyang battalion, hum, this Ning Zhongyuan is so bold!" ”

In today's Qing Dynasty regulations, a general with troops must not use a single soldier without a warrant from the governor's yamen, otherwise it can be punished as a crime of treason.

Man Pi naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity, slapped the table hard, and said angrily: "Some people said before that the Ning family can be called the overlord of soil in Xiaogan County, with at least 30,000 acres of fertile land under their name, most of which are excellent paddy fields, and the entire Xiaogan County is even more impregnable. Now that I think about it, it's a wolf's ambition! ”

Xiande muttered in his heart, a family like the Ning family has eighty even if there are not a hundred in the whole world, and when it comes to wolf ambitions, it really can't be ranked! If you really want to talk about family property, which family in this Huguang has more fields than the Governor?

But thinking about it in his heart, Xiande followed the meaning of Man Pi in his face, and said: "That Zhang Xiandeng was one of the backers of the Ning family in the past, and now that Zhang Xiandeng has fallen, he gave a gift to the old man, and at this end, you can see that the Ning family is by no means good!" ”

Man Pi said with satisfaction: "If this is the case, then the Ning family has been planning for a long time, but it is a trick. Then don't hesitate, Brother Xiande, after the arrangement here, you can capture the Ning family. ”

Xiande said in a deep voice: "My lord, you must not act recklessly, think that the Ning family has been operating in the land of Huguang for many years, if you are a little careless, it will be difficult to win completely, if you fail to win completely, how can the lower officials explain to the imperial court?" I also asked the Governor to give the subordinate a month, and wait until the arrangements were completed before acting. ”

Man Pi was still a little hesitant and said, "If the news is leaked, won't there be endless troubles?" ”

Xiande has a little disdain in his heart, greedy for small profits and forgets the great righteousness, and does big things and cherishes his life, this Man Pi is really a straw bag thing. If you do it casually, how will this Ning family's backlash end?

At that moment, Xiande painstakingly persuaded: "My lord, the Ning family is now a turtle in an urn, don't be too anxious, wait until the lower officials lay a net of heaven and earth, and the Ning family will naturally be captured." ”

The two of them were gossiping, and they wanted to push the Ning family to a dead end, but in the end, they revealed their true thoughts.

Xiande said with a smile: "The Ning family has 30,000 acres of land, dozens of shops and seven or eight mines, these are all things on the surface, I have heard that there is also a salt mine, if it is talking about silver, I am afraid that it is not less than two million taels of silver, plus the Huguang Chamber of Commerce behind it, there are three million taels of silver in it, this ...... I wonder what the adults plan to do? ”

After hearing this, Man Pi said with a righteous and stern face, "All the property obtained should naturally be used as the treasury to report to the court and the saint." ”

Xiande was furious in his heart, you are an old boy, you are bent on swallowing it alone, and you are counting on the old man to take advantage of the fire for you, so he immediately put away his smile and said coldly: "What the lord said is extremely true, and the lower officials should follow the adults." ”

Think that he Xiande is his uncle, his family background is no worse than your Manpi, and he is also a well-known figure in the capital, so he will eat your Xiande's dismount? Although you are the governor, the governor is not a dog slave in front of your governor's door, how can you be so humiliated?

Man Pi also realized that something was wrong, and he was not in a hurry at the moment, so he smiled and said: "Brother Xiande, this Huguang is now our own territory, and the days in the future will be long, those shops and mines are cumbersome, the road is far away, the old man is old, and there will be Brother Lao Xiande at that time." ”

When Xiande heard this, it was not bad to get these shops and mines, and he no longer objected at the moment, even if the two of them had a big banquet and toasted each other, they also invited a famous theater team in the city, which was so lively.

Just with such words, the huge Ning family became the fat targeted by the governor and governor, and the Ning family at this time never expected that the situation would suddenly reach an irreversible level.

No matter how prominent his family background is, he is always a little powerless in front of the court.