A light is like a bean, Zhang Xiaohu and his third brother Zhang Xiaoqi are relatively speechless.

This mansion was the house of a small court minister of the Ruan family, and was later rewarded by Shouhan to Zhang Xiaohu, who was the commander of the left wing of the water division, to live. His residence is in Yulin Port in Qiongzhou, and this house may not be able to live for three months a year, but his two elder brothers usually live and take care of it more.

When Zhang Xiaohu had just been ordered to return to Hue, he received an order from the military department that in view of the fact that the general's ceremony was about to be held, all officers and soldiers of all departments who did not participate in the sentry patrol would be given five days off and could make their own arrangements. All ammunition on board the ship shall be handed over to the Military Department and the General Inspection Administration for sealing.

At first, I didn't think so, thinking it was a normal safety measure. But when Zhang Xiaohu returned home and saw his third brother Zhang Xiaoqi, it didn't feel right. Zhang Xiaoqi's face is sallow, and he is meticulous in combing on weekdays, almost until the hair of the fly is unkempt, and he doesn't know how many days he hasn't combed and cleaned, and his body exudes a burst of sweat smell.

Zhang Xiaoqi's dignity startled Zhang Xiaohu at the moment, he couldn't think of the third brother, who was the superintendent of the Manchurian Tax Department, why would he become like this? Since the third brother went to Manraka to take office, every time he exchanged letters or met, the third brother was full of spirit and full of energy.

Could it be that those people from the General Inspection Bureau, the Commercial Investigation Office, and the Law Enforcement Department saw that they had some strange expressions, and they came from their brother? Zhang Xiaohu didn't dare to think about it.

looked around the courtyard, and suddenly found that this courtyard, under the careful care of the third brother, had become very luxurious.

He could barely believe it was his home.

It seems that there is no end to the pavilions. In the courtyard of the courtyard, a new boat hall is made of nanmu, and the five-bay houses are all made of whole glass windows, which are unusually bright under the autumn sun. In the courtyard, under the pillars, the eyes were full of flowers and plants, and several huge multicolored parrots stood on shelves twisted with gold wires and shouted, "Guests! Tea! ”

The shuttle in the courtyard is a Goryeo maidservant, a Dongying woman. A charcoal-like Kunlun slave with black skin. A high-nosed, deep-eyed, waist-like snake with a soft orchid.

As soon as you enter the courtyard gate, behind the front wall, there are eight screens standing in front of the main hall along the corridor, on which the huge shells of pearl agate are inlaid with the pattern of hanging the seal of the marquis with the sun and the sun.

It is in the chamber at the door, and in the doorway of the gatehouse. It is also a table and chair with hardwood. As for the wood ware such as pear and red sandalwood in each room, it is everywhere.

This scene. Zhang Xiaohu was a little frightened.

Colleagues in the sailor privately said that when the lord returned this time, the situation along the way was very wrong, and he was afraid that something big would happen. The third brother is so swaggering. I'm afraid I'll be remembered.

"Third brother, you sue me, this house, this house, and these wooden maids orchids, etc., how much silver did you spend to buy them? Have you ever filed a document with the General's Mansion? ”

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaoqi fell even more depressed on the chair.

"Sixth brother, stupid brother is confused!"

Zhang Xiaohu's third and fourth brothers have no other skills, but they are naturally good at how to make a fortune. However, the fourth brother Zhang Xiaobiao went to become the prefect, but he also looked good, this Zhang Xiaoqi, since he went to the Manraka Customs and Excise Department to serve as a supervisor, seems to have fallen into a sea of gold and silver.

Every day, there are more than a dozen ships under him to handle tax declarations and customs clearance, and it is rare to have to chase wine and meat with the shippers and the Jiabidan who handle taxes, and return the favors.

Gifts were inevitably received from people who exchanged favors, from the local products at the beginning to the maids and servants who served their daily lives, followed by some furniture and woodware, and later, a few bold sultans and Kapitan simply gave him precious stones with a measure of rice.

As for gold and silver, it poured in like a tidal wave.

However, these things, in a vulgar saying, "When you come out to mix, you always have to pay them back." "Whether it's the Sultan, the King of the Earth, or those Jiabidan, they didn't give Zhang Xiaoqi gifts for nothing, they came with the request.

"The ship is transiting, please raise your noble hand!"

"There are some small contraband on the ship, and I hope Lord Zhang will bear with me!"

Later, it was even more blatant smuggling, and several Jiabidan simply sued Zhang Xiaoqi, "We heard the news that Master Li was beaten into a prison by Emperor Lao Tzu in the capital, but I am afraid that he will not be able to come back." Why don't you take advantage of this time to buy some belongings for yourself? ”

Zhang Xiaoqi thought about it, in case Li Shouhan couldn't come back, and the imperial court sent a new official to take over Nanzhong, wouldn't the owner of the country change? If you don't take advantage of this time to add more gold and silver to your pocket, when will you stay?

Just when Zhang Xiaoqi was happily hugging the anti-smuggling fleet and the tax charge d'affaires Kapitan was full of ditches, a bad news came from the north. Li Shouhan was not only not sent to the prison, but on the contrary, he was promoted to an official and crowned the king! (This is a rumor, and ordinary people can't figure out the difference between rewarding the prince's honor guard and making him a knight.) ）

"Third brother! How much money did you get?! ”

Zhang Xiaohu was not so frightened in the face of the Dutch fire, but now, a huge sense of fear made him feel helpless and timid, as if all the strength of his body was wiped out with the closing of Zhang Xiaoqi's two lips.

"I don't know." Zhang Xiaoqi shook his head, "At first, a fee of 100 yuan was collected from the tax agent Jiabidan when each boat transited, and later every time a boat was put into transit, there was a benefit of 2,000 yuan. In the past few months when the lord went north, I don't know how much money has come in every day. ”

"How much?!"

Zhang Xiaohu spit out these two words with all his strength, and from these numbers, he instinctively felt that his third brother was afraid that Huangquan Road was near.

"However, I was afraid that these people would calculate me and give me less money, so I kept an account and prepared to make a voucher with them."

Zhang Xiaoqi took out a small sweat-soaked notebook from his underwear pocket, and wrote down most of the book with various symbols and marks.

"This is a Dutch ship, this is a Portuguese ship. This is the Sultan's ship, and this is the Kapitan's ship. Zhang Xiaoqi pointed out the six brothers one by one and cracked the logos and representative characters on the ledger, "This is cotton, this is armor, this is gunpowder, and this is spices." ”

The symbols of each cargo are also on the paper.

After roughly estimating the number of ships and the types of goods, Zhang Xiaohu sadly found that his third brother was dead.

The amount of customs duties involved in these goods is as high as tens of millions! What is the concept? Even if all the ships of the Nanzhong Army Naval Division were replaced by his three-headed Tiger standard ship, there was also a slight surplus!

"Third brother, what are you going to do?"

"Six sons! You are the number one general in the main water division. Several foreign conquests are the vanguard of your lord! Such. You go to the lord to ask for intercession, and say that I am willing to return the stolen goods, and I will never dare to do it again in the future, as long as the lord can let me go. I'm willing to be a cow and a horse for him in my life! ”

"It's late! Third brother! You think. My face in front of my lord. Compared with the two Li Changshi brothers, which one has more face? ”

"Of course it's Li Changshi, there is Qin Jin between them! If it weren't for the girl of the Li family who died for her father-in-law. This time, she must have one piece of fate! And Li Changshi is the big butler of the Southern Chinese Army, a figure like Xiao Hecheng! ”

"But do you know that when he was in Ha Jing, the second master of the Li family trafficked some goods and did not file taxes in time, and was reprimanded by Lord Changshi! forced the second master of the Li family to go through the tax procedures early the next morning. For this reason, the lord also wrote the most Lezhai study plaque to the second master of the Li family. Third brother, do you think it will be more useful for me to intercede with the lord than Li Changshi? ”

After listening to Zhang Xiaohu's words, Zhang Xiaoqi's face was like ashes.

After a few moments, he suddenly jumped to his feet, his face flushed, and his eyes bloodshot. "Sixth son, since you are going to die here, it is better for our brothers to go to sea with a boat, Lao Tzu is originally a good man on the sea, it is a big deal to continue to find an island to live in, and continue to do his life at sea! It's like being treated like fish on a chopping board! ”

"I calculated, those sultans, earth kings, and Jiapitan have at least thirty or forty million yuan of property in their hands, let's take your three-headed tiger to the sea, go to Qiongzhou to gather a fleet, and say that we are going to Manraka to suppress bandits and rob the property of these fucking dogs, and then the sky is high and the earth is wide, and the cape is the end of the world, where is not where our brothers use their means?!"

"Third brother, I advise you not to fight this idea! I'm afraid that people have already opened a big net and waited! ”

Zhang Xiaohu smiled bitterly.

"As soon as my ship arrived in Hue, the soldiers and the battalion office told me that in order to celebrate the general's ascension, the troops and ships that were not on duty patrol were on holiday, and that my three-headed tiger was now an empty ship. The sailors went home to their own homes, or went to find their friends. The ammunition on board was sealed by the General Inspection Administration, the Military Division, and the Law Enforcement Department. Do you want to run away with the fleet? It's even more wishful thinking! When the lord was still in the north, Wang Bao sent a military order, and half of my left flank fleet was stationed in Taiwan to guard against Zheng Zhilong. Chu Tianlei's practice fleet and Xu Huanshan's right flank fleet also had ships stationed in Yulin Port in the name of replenishing the defense gap. Who knows if they have any secret orders in their hands?! ”

"And the sailors of today are not like us back then, they are all brothers on the sea, but now, it is the recruited fishermen, and those Arakan people, the students of the Sailor Academy, several groups of people are gathered together! I'm afraid that I will be notified to the law enforcement department before I get on the ship! ”

Zhang Xiaoqi, who was still excited just now, was completely broken by Zhang Xiaohu's words, and sat down on the rosewood Taishi chair, panting heavily.

"Whether it's from the speed of the ship to the number of guns, we can't compete with others! When the lord was building the army, he was afraid that he would guard against such things as defection and mutiny! ”

"Sixth son, then, what do you say to do?"

He couldn't escape, but he didn't want to be killed, so Zhang Xiaoqi had to continue to ask for help from his sixth brother.

stood up and paced back and forth indoors, and after a while, Zhang Xiaohu suddenly rushed to Zhang Xiaoqi with an arrow step. Stuffed the ledger that recorded the most original information of smuggling and tariff evasion into Zhang Xiaoqi's hand, "Go!" Third brother, come with me! ”

"Where to go?"

Seeing Zhang Xiaohu doing this, Zhang Xiaoqi couldn't help but feel a little surprised and a little surprised, and his tone of voice couldn't help trembling.

"Didn't you say you couldn't run away?!"

"What nonsense, when did I say I was going to run! I'll take you to the first place! Go to the first sue! In this way, even the lord wants to punish you. I also have to think about your surrender, I will give you a good farewell, and no matter what, I will also think of ways to save your rotten life! ”

On the seventh day of November in the ninth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xiaohu, the commander of the left wing of the naval division, persuaded his brother Zhang Xiaoqi to take the lead in making a complaint, and the black curtain of bribery and selling of the Manraka customs and anti-smuggling fleet was lifted.

Shouhan looked at the account books and confessions handed in by Zhang Xiaoqi, as well as the materials collected and sorted out by the three intelligence departments, and instead of showing anger, a smile appeared on his face.

However, the people who have been around him for a long time know it. This happened to be a precursor to his imminent outburst.

It's a huge network. It involved customs, anti-smuggling, Han and Yuan merchants, the Tuwang of Manraka, the Sultan, Kapitan and many other figures.

"Please, Lord! How do we do that?! ”

"What to do? Didn't I already transfer everyone to Hue City? Those who should be arrested, those who should be tried, those who should be raided, those who should be raided, and those who should be sent to exterminate will be exterminated! Just to wipe out their messy little country! ”

A bright smile appeared on Shouhan's face.

Three spy leaders who kill people without blinking. Seeing this smile that is a little brighter than the summer sun. I was soaked with cold sweat in my underwear.

Overnight. In the city of Hue, a big prison was set off.

Countless people who used to be proud of their toes and flaunt their wealth. In an instant, he was thrown into prison by the law enforcement department like a rabbit and became a prisoner.

The staff of the tax department of the customs originally wanted to deny it, but Zhang Xiaoqi of the tax department said, "I have sued for the first time, what else can you not say?" Immediately destroyed their psychological defenses, and immediately confessed what they knew like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

The captain of the brig and the head of the Han Yuan Merchant in charge of anti-smuggling were taken care of, interrogating how the heavy artillery and other weapons were quietly transported out of the warehouse, and were sold to Zheng Zhilong, the Spaniards, and the Dutch.

The sultan of Sumatra, the general officer and charge d'affaires of the Sultan of Sumatra, stood in his extravagant courtyard and listened to the sound of the door knocking outside. This mansion is magnificent, even compared to the Sultan's palace, which was proud of the fact that the guests were always full of wine and wine, and it was lively every day. But at this time, everyone in the house was shocked. Everyone looked anxious, and everyone had a feeling of impending disaster.

The butler was about to ask if to open the door when the door rumbled and knocked him down.

Hundreds of wolf-like sergeants swarmed in, each with a sword and a gun.

For things like taking people, announcing crimes, and raiding homes, Feng Yixia, who led the team, is already very familiar.

"Are you Xu Meizhen? Sultan's generals? My Daming Southern Chinese Army charge d'affaires for taxation of Jiabidan? ”

After receiving confirmation, he took out a piece of paper from the protective book he had with him.

"You are suspected of evading customs duties, stealing state property, smuggling arms and other crimes, I am ordered to take you! Come on, take it! Raid the house! ”

Several wolf-like sergeants stepped forward to press Xu Meizhen to the ground and tied him firmly like a pig. At this time, Xu Meizhen was no longer afraid, he shouted loudly: "Smuggling? I'm not alone! Which of the Sultans, the Princes, and your Revenue Collectors did not take advantage of this waterway? Why are you just arresting me?! Bully me without fists, without courage, without soldiers?! Why don't you dare to touch the Sultan?! ”

Feng Yixia bent down and looked at Xu Meizhen, who was tied up like a zongzi, like an old cat teasing the mouse under her paws, "Tell you the truth, after copying your home, let's go to the Sultan's palace." I'm not afraid of him resisting. General Wang Bao's army is just outside the city, as long as he is slightly off, even if he swings his fist at us, it will be against the army of the Celestial Empire! Destroy the Nine Clans immediately! ”

Hearing this, Xu Meizhen was immediately thrown into the corner by several soldiers like a deflated pig's urine bubble, and asked him to watch how the wealth he had worked so hard to accumulate was confiscated, and how his wife and concubine became military prostitutes.

"Brothers, search well! Don't miss a silver dollar, a foot of cotton cloth, these possessions are ours! As long as it is handed over to the general, there will be our benefits, and the general will pay us military salaries, start construction, open mines, and build big ships, which is called taking from the people, using it for the people, and benefiting the people! ”

"My lord! There's something weird about this wall! ”

With the shouts of the soldiers, a team officer picked up a pickaxe, in the yard separating the front yard and the back house under a flower wall under the hard digging a few times, soon, as the surface of the bricks were chiseled, a strange scene appeared in front of everyone's eyes, a piece of cowhide will be silver dollars wrapped tightly, was neatly stacked under the foundation of the corner, it turned out that the whole wall, all are paved with silver dollars, and even some gold bars, the end is to hit the wall with silver!

And this was just the beginning, and the raid on the Sultan's palace was an eye-opener.

Almost all of the pillars of the interior courtyard were wrapped in gold leaf, and in the fish pond behind the entrance, a soldier scooped up a stone and wiped the sludge off the surface, and it turned out to be a ruby of good color!

Smashing open the secret door of a dark room, and soon descending down the passage, a huge treasure trove appeared in front of everyone. In order to prevent theft, it seems to be popular here to wrap silver dollars in slaughtered fresh cowhides, and after the cowhides are dried, the silver dollars will be tightly wrapped, and hundreds or even thousands of silver dollars cannot be quietly transported away by a few people. Here, I don't know how many silver dollars wrapped in cowhide are stacked.

Next to the neat cowhides stacked, there are densely arranged large and small cages.

After smashing it open, it is pearl agate, gemstone tortoiseshell, and rare treasures abound. For a while, everyone was a little confused by this jeweled eyes.

"Register! Make a book! ”

Feng Yixia swallowed a mouthful of spit, moistened his chapped throat, everyone likes money, I'm afraid that I have a life to take it, and I don't have a life to spend it!

The activities of arresting people and raiding homes continued until the wax moon of the ninth year of Chongzhen, and then gradually subsided.

For this purge within the South China Army, the results are surprising.

Judging from the confiscated property, the number of inspections made by Zhang Xiaoqi of the Manraka Tax Department alone is as high as nearly five million silver dollars! And the wealth confiscated from various sultans, Kapitan, and earth kings is as many as several times. Among them, there are many generations of these sultans and earth kings, and the accumulation of more than ten generations.

"My lord, what should we do with these belongings? Also, what about those personnel? ”

In addition to the seized property, there were people involved in the arrest of various places, as well as the sultans and the kings associated with them.

The more important harvest is to clean up the messy country within a country in the Manraka region, what bullshit Sultan and the like, and select personnel from the Han General's Office to form an administrative team for this region.

How can there be toast in such an important place? And is it a toast that is different from our beliefs? Shouhan and his civil and military officials have long reached a tacit understanding in their hearts.

As the property was cleared and put into the treasury, officials who took over vacant positions were constantly dispatched to various places, and another huge shadow hung over the hearts of the guards.

"What should be done with these people who have been arrested?" (To be continued......)