Hangzhou, by the West Lake, Zhu Houzhao's station.

Looking at the person kneeling in front of him, Zhu Houzhao waved his hand lightly, signaled the person next to him to retreat, and then slowly said: "It seems that you really want to tell the palace something, so let's talk about it." ”

This man had just been caught.

Yes, it was he who was caught, and not he ran over on his own.

Because there were quite a few people running over before, and most of them were people who had been contacted by that gentleman.

Some people came to confess their sins, and some people came to report it. But basically now there is a trend in Hangzhou City, that is, confession.

In such a trend, it is even more difficult for that gentleman to hide.

So a lot of actions were launched against Mr. Wang, such as starting to arrest people, starting to seize supplies, and so on.

Everything went very smoothly, and a lot of people were caught, but only two or three big and small fish.

It seems that the rebellion has been sabotaged, and no one wants to rebel with this gentleman.

The situation in Hangzhou is so good that it can even be celebrated in advance. But Zhu Houzhao felt more and more that his guesses were not wrong, these were all given to him by this gentleman, and he hoped that he would think so.

Zhu Houzhao waited quietly, and things finally took a turn for the better today, because Heilongwei caught a senior manager next to this gentleman.

The other confessors also knew about the person who had been arrested, and it seemed that he was the one in charge of transporting food, and many of them had contact with him.

After this person was arrested, he was immediately escorted to Zhu Houzhao.

seems to know his fate, this person did not resist or carry it, and directly said that he was willing to cooperate. There is only one condition, and that is to hope that he will not die.

The terms he exchanged for it were said to be a big secret.

So he was brought to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Hou looked at the person in front of him and looked him up and down.

This is a man in his 50s, with a somewhat thin figure and a somewhat dark face, and it can be seen that he is a person who often travels; The beard is not very neatly combed, and it can be seen that there is not much attention to detail.

When this person heard Zhu Houzhao's words, he hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, what does this mean?" ”

"Okay, you don't care what this palace means, you can say whatever you want. If you don't say it, I'll have someone pull you out and cut you down. As for your identity, Hongu will soon be able to find out. You don't have to think about your family, you should also know the charges of rebellion. ”

"His Royal Highness the Prince, the villain did not rebel, the villain was wronged!" The man hurriedly cried.

"Then tell me how you were wronged." Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "If you can prove that you were wronged, this palace will naturally not wronged good people." So let's talk about it. ”

"Yes, His Royal Highness the Prince." The man hurriedly said: "The villain's name is Wang Yan, and he is a grain merchant in Jiangxi. Originally, he didn't do much business, so he could only be regarded as a small family property. ”

But a few years ago, the villain received an order, and the person who placed the order at that time just asked the villain to transport the grain from Jiangxi to Zhejiang. At first, the villain was reluctant to accept this business, but there was no way, and the price given by others was high. The merchant is to make money, so the villain brought it. Fortunately, along the way, there were no surprises and no dangers, so I made a lot of money. Since then, it has been out of control, more and more grain, more and more I have shipped to Zhejiang, and I have made more and more money. ”

"I also have some connections with Zhejiang, that is, I am transporting the basic grain back. I also watched them continue to buy land in Zhejiang and change the land into mulberry trees for silkworm farming. Weaving mills have also been established in various places, and cloth is being weaved. ”

"The villain once thought that this could be different. But this has nothing to do with the villain, the villain is a person who does business. ”

Zhu Houzhao nodded, and then asked, "Then what is the big secret you said?" ”

The villain is also curious, where does so much food come from every year? Jiangxi itself can't produce any grain, and the food that those people give to the villains can also be identified by the villains, and it is not Jiangxi's grain, so it can be seen that these grains are not from Jiangxi. ”

Then the villain wondered where the grain came from. They were wary of the villain, and refused to tell the villain where the food came from, and the villain had nothing to do. ”

"But as time goes by, more and more business contacts are made, and the villain knows more and more. What's more critical is that they may have become more and more convinced of the villain, so let the villain know more things. ”

"It was probably the year before last that they started to let the villains go to the beach to carry food, and the little ones knew that the boats were unloaded from the big ships on the seaside. The ship came loaded with grain, and went with silk. ”

Only then did the villain know that the grain had been shipped from overseas. At that time, the villain was startled, they were going to sea, but this was not allowed by the imperial court. At that time, the villain was very scared, so he was a little overwhelmed. ”

Zhu Hou looked at this Wang Yan and said expressionlessly: "You don't have to say these words to the palace, do you think the palace doesn't know?" There are people who go to sea everywhere, and the court knows about it, but it doesn't pursue it for a while. So there is no need to say these words. If you hear you say such a thing again, this palace will cut you directly. ”

Zhu Houzhao's words startled Wang Yan, and he hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, His Royal Highness the Prince." It turned out that the villain still had some worries, but the villain they told him didn't have to worry at all, there were adults behind this matter, let us do whatever we should do, and there would be nothing.

It was the gentleman who said these things to the villain at the time. ”

"It's just that I never knew who the adults behind this were all along. It was probably last year that I learned that this gentleman was actually a staff member of King Ning's side, just like his father. That's when I found out who their father and son were. ”

"Their father and son were originally from Huizhou, and it is said that they were in the salt business. After the salt case in Yangzhou was reported, the two of them had no livelihood, so they somehow ran to Jiangxi to find King Ning and became King Ning's staff. ”

"This gentleman's father is called Wang Qian, and it is said that he is the teacher of Ning Wang Shizi. As for this gentleman, his name is Wang Huai. Both of them won the trust of King Ning, Wang Qian made suggestions in King Ning's Mansion, and Wang Huai was in charge of King Ning's external business outside. The silk and grain were made by the two of them. ”

"It was also at that time that I learned that they were actually all King Ning's people. Originally, the villain was quite happy, thinking that this could be regarded as having a big backer, and this business could continue for a long time in the future. But who would have thought that such a thing would happen? ”

"After His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arrived in Nanjing, he actually began to panic here. Because the affairs of Zhejiang cannot be hidden, the imperial court will definitely check the source of the grain. ”

"As far as I know, they have enough grain overseas, but they have to buy grain from the Hubu grain depot in Nanjing. At the time, I was very puzzled, but later I learned that they actually used this trick to bribe, and it worked very well. In the words of that Wang Huai, if you don't do something bad with him, he won't accept your bribe. ”

"So things are going well. At this time, there was a problem in Nanjing, and after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arrived in Nanjing, Wang Huai prepared this plan, which required to eliminate the people of the household department in Nanjing, and at the same time kill several insiders. ”

"But as far as I know, those insiders in Nanjing only know some very small things. There are many more people who have accepted bribes from Wang Huai, and they have hidden very little. And it's not just the household department, there are many other officials. That Wang Huai has to go to Nanjing to live for a few months every year,

After arriving in Nanjing, some cultural meetings will be held, and even cruises will be organized. ”

"Wang Huai has a lot of flower boats on the Qinhuai River, and even a lot of green buildings, which are all places he uses to bribe officials. In his words, only beauty and silver should not be disappointed. ”

"Originally, I thought he was just for business, but now the villain knows that he is not just for business."

Zhu Hou looked at Wang Yan, only to see him looking tearful, but he was not moved at all in his heart.

Zhu Houzhao didn't believe what Wang Yan said, because there were many things in it that he passively knew.

That is to say, what he knows is only what someone wants him to know, or what someone wants to tell him.

The accuracy of these messages is questionable. If his guess is not wrong, this is what Wang Huai wants him to know, and he also wants him to tell himself.

From his message, I can summarize two points:

One is that King Ning of Jiangxi is instigating this rebellion. Sure enough, he pointed the finger at King Ning, which was not wrong with what he had guessed before.

The other is that Wang Huai buried a lot of foreshadowing in Nanjing.

Is this news true?

Half true and half false?

It can be seen from the affairs of the household department in Nanjing that this Wang Huai does have a lot of hands and feet in Nanjing, and he does have many diehard loyalists. But it's definitely not what he says it is. There will be many officials in Nanjing who take bribes from him, but only to take bribes.

In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, taking bribes itself is not a matter of too much caution, and it can be said that corruption is common from top to bottom. There is nothing surprising that many officials simply have no scruples.

But it is impossible to say that these people took bribes and rebelled against him.

He told himself the news, on the one hand, to let himself know the King of Ning in Jiangxi, and to point the finger at King Ning of Jiangxi. In a word, he forced King Ning to rebel, and he didn't want King Ning to continue to retreat in Jiangxi.

Maybe if he doesn't come to Nanjing, he doesn't come to Zhejiang, he may be able to wait.

But once they carry out their own reforms in Zhejiang or in the whole of Jiangnan, they can't help it, because their hard work will be in vain. At this point, it's time to give it a go.

The way they fought was to let King Ning raise the flag and rebel in advance.

The second thing they want to do is to constantly create a crisis for themselves, the prince, so that they no longer believe in the future officials and generals, so that they can completely become the object of their own suspicion, and even dispose of them.

That's how people get scared. At that time, these officials will be used by them, making these people think that they have reached a dead end.

Strategies work, and it's hard not to be fooled if you don't have insight into their plans and their ideas in advance.

But in fact, I have been mentally prepared for a long time.

I knew that King Ning would rebel, and I knew that the frequent fighting had something to do with them.

Since they arrived in Hangzhou, they know everything they have done, and they also know what their ultimate purpose is.

So they can't hide it at all, and they can't deceive themselves.

Glancing at Wang Yan, Zhu Houzhao opened his mouth and said, "Okay, take him down." ”

"His Royal Highness the Prince, are you locked up or?" Yang Lian said with some hesitation.

Glancing at Yang Lian, Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Just find a place to lock it up." Don't let him come into contact with outsiders, give him good food and drink, don't let him die. It's a pretty interesting one. ”

Zhu Houzhao can't judge Wang Yan's true identity now. Maybe he really is who he says he is; It is also possible that this is a rebellious die-hard element who came here to play fake surrender, just like Zhou Yu and Huang Gai deceived Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

But it doesn't matter, you just need to know what the main contradiction is.

After the person was escorted down, Zhu Houzhao turned his head to look at Liu Jin beside him, and then asked, "Is there any news from Nanjing?" Zhu Fu hasn't arrived in Zhejiang yet? ”

This is what Zhu Houzhao is more concerned about. After Zhu Fu led his troops to Zhejiang, he had enough manpower to deploy.

Although there is a Black Dragon Army by his side, his combat effectiveness is relatively strong, but there are not many of them after all. If something really happens, I can't cover it.

But if there are Zhu Fu's people, at least the place can be stabilized. They may not be needed to fight, but they can do a lot of things for themselves. As for Nanjing, Zhu Houzhao was not worried at all.

The Wei Mansion will do things well, that is their family's lair, and there is not the slightest room for them to turn around

Plus those officials in Nanjing, so there won't be anything over there. Even if there is a villain, nothing will happen.

Now the most important thing is Zhejiang, as long as Zhejiang is brought down, other things will be easy to do.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, there is no news yet." Liu Jin hurriedly said.

Zhu Houzhao nodded, there is no news if there is no news, think about it soon.

Just as Zhu Houzhao was about to say that he would send someone to contact him again, a little eunuch ran in outside, and he came to Zhu Houzhao and said, "His Royal Highness the Prince, the people who went to the capital are back." ”

"Let him in." Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment, and then nodded.

The Ming Dynasty's eight-hundred-mile rush is still quite fast. I really don't know what the person who gave Emperor Chongzhen the idea to dismantle the post station thought in the first place.

The most important thing is not what that person thinks, but what Emperor Chongzhen thinks. Can he agree to this kind of idea?

If everything is bad and everything is removed, what about the good ones?

It's like choking.

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