The residence of Lord Michiji of Heietsu Province.

Han Zhaozhi picked up the teacup and took a sip before praising it: "The tea is good." ”

Ye Kaitai said: "It's the same as the tea that people send to you every year." ”

Han Zhaozhi said: "So you can send more." ”

Ye Kaitai glanced at him: "This doesn't seem like what you said, the last time Qingsong Dao Chang passed by, he talked about you with me, saying that you are very different from the past, and after you entered the Imperial Governor's Mansion, he didn't smile, he said that it is much better now, it seems that it is." ”

Han Zhaozhi said: "The one who doesn't smile is you." ”

Ye Kaitai said: "Who is not pretending?" ”

Han Zhaozhi said: "Yes...... Pretending to be very hard, at that time, which of us in the palace of Yunxiao City was serious, and then we went into politics, you and I are the same, and we have been on our faces long enough, so long that we all think that is our original face, before I went south, His Majesty instructed me, when I saw Ye Kaitai and told him, it is natural to focus on official business, but you should also pay attention to rest and smile more. ”

Ye Kaitai asked, "Your Majesty really said that?" ”

Han Zhaozhi ignored him and pinched a piece of dim sum: "When is the dinner?" ”

Ye Kaitai said: "Your Tingwei Mansion is already so poor that you can't afford to eat?" Even you, a lieutenant, are like this, and the life of your people is even harder. ”

Han Zhaozhi said: "Our Tingwei Mansion is not poor at all, and the food and accommodation on the road are good, but when I get to your territory, do I have to spend my own money?" ”

Ye Kaitai: "Shameless? ”

Han Zhaozhi thought about it, and it was a cold thing to be shameless, and I was only occasionally.

"Big brother."

Han Zhaozhi looked at Ye Kaitai: "Let's get down to business first, do you know Li Hongkui, the county magistrate of Long-distance County?" ”

"Impressions."

Ye Kaitai said: "He was transferred from Hujian Dao to serve here the year before last, after His Majesty set up Pingyue Dao, the local officials were not enough, I wrote to the imperial court three times, and the household department transferred some officials from Hujian Daoxi East Road and Xishu Dao, Li Hongkui was a Jinshi in the sixteenth year of Tiancheng, and then worshiped under Mu Zhaotong, this person has a good ability, and he has done something for two consecutive years after being transferred to Pingyue Dao. ”

Han Zhaozhi: "Long-distance County is a large Sangma County, and the Jiangnan Weaving Mansion will send people here every year to purchase a large number of raw materials, are the accounts clear?" ”

Ye Kaitai frowned slightly: "Didn't you come to check on Mu Zhaotong?" Why is he suddenly interested in this Li Hongkui, there is no problem with the accounts of the long-distance county, if there is, I must know that the Jiangnan Weaving Mansion has a resident official in the long-distance county, and every year the Jiangnan Weaving Mansion will take a large number of businessmen from the Jiangnan Province to the long-distance county to purchase raw materials, and the silver flowing water has hundreds of thousands of taels every year, and last year it reached one million taels. ”

Han Zhaozhi said: "Mu Zhaotong will not send people to Long-distance County for no reason. ”

"Who?"

"Zhen Xuanyuan's wife."

Ye Kaitai thought for a moment: "Zhen Xuanyuan? ”

He has never been in Chang'an, and after thinking for a while, he remembered who Zhen Xuanyuan was: "Mu Zhaotong sent Zhen Xuanyuan's wife to Changchang County, so you suspect that Li Hongkui and Mu Zhaotong are still in contact, so what do you think about Jiangnan Weaving Mansion?" ”

"Where does Mu Zhaotong's money come from?"

Han Zhaozhi said: "I have to suspect now that a large amount of unknown silver is transferred out of the Jiangnan Weaving Mansion every year. ”

Ye Kaitai got up and said while pacing in the room: "If your speculation is true, then the way they settle the account can only be a ...... Jiangnan Weaving Mansion organizes a large number of businessmen to come to Changchang County every year, under the pretext of purchasing mulberry hemp, and sends silver to Changchang County, because the quality of mulberry hemp in Changchang County is good, so it is about 10% more expensive than the price of ordinary raw materials......"

Ye Kaitai turned around and walked out of the study and ordered: "Take the procurement accounts of the long-distance county and the Jiangnan Weaving Mansion in previous years." ”

After a while, two of his subordinates ran outside the study with a box, Ye Kaitai waved his hand, carried the box into the study with one hand, and glanced at Han Zhaozhi when he opened the box: "You said that you too, check Mu Zhaotong and check Mu Zhaotong, why do you want to think of Jiangnan Weaving Mansion in a good way?" You should know very well that once this case is confirmed, thousands of officials in the Jiangnan Weaving Mansion may be implicated, and it is a big case. ”

Han Zhaozhi sighed: "I'm doing this. ”

From Zhen Xuanyuan's wife to Li Hongkui and Mu Zhaotong related, and then because of the long-distance county associated with the Jiangnan Weaving Mansion, and then connect these clues, Han Zhaozhi has to suspect that someone in the Jiangnan Weaving Mansion has transferred a large amount of silver, and this is one of the sources of silver that Mu Zhaotong needs to win people's hearts.

"Something seems to be wrong."

Ye Kaitai said: "Before Li Hongkui came, the raw materials sold to Jiangnan Weaving Mansion in Changchang County were one percent more expensive than ordinary raw materials on the market, and in the two years after Li Hongkui arrived, the raw materials were sold at a price two percent more expensive than ordinary raw materials...... Prices fluctuate so much unless there is a natural disaster. ”

He looked at Han Zhaozhi: "But the wind and rain have been smooth for several years on this side of Pingyue Road, and there has been no major disaster." ”

Han Zhaozhi sighed: "No wonder he can sell it for a million taels of silver, this is still an account on the surface...... It is 200,000 taels of silver, which is only 200,000 taels of silver. ”

Ye Kaitai: "You're not right. ”

After he sat down, he said: "If Li Hongkui of Changchang County wants to get the 200,000 taels of silver, he must purchase a large number of ordinary raw materials from other places to replace the raw materials of Changchang County and sell them to Jiangnan Weaving Mansion, and Changchang County's own raw materials will be sold from other channels...... That is to say, in Changchang County alone, there are at least seven or eight hundred thousand taels of silver that are inexplicably lost every year, or even more. ”

Han Zhaozhi looked at Ye Kaitai: "Nearly one million taels of silver a year, why did Mu Zhaotong take this money?" ”

The faces of the two people became more and more solemn.

200,000 taels of silver, according to the configuration of Daning soldiers, can also arm thousands of people, if it is nearly a million taels, then what kind of army can be maintained? However, there were no rebels of this scale in Pingyue Province or other provinces in southern Xinjiang, and the rebels who had just destroyed South Vietnam and scattered all over the country added up to more than 100,000 people, but they had already been wiped out by the wolf apes and soldiers in southern Xinjiang.

But if Mu Zhaotong didn't raise soldiers, where would such a huge amount of silver be used?

Bribing court officials?

Mu Zhaotong is not stupid, he should know very well that those adults in the court don't need to be bought when he is in power, even if he loses power, even more silver can't buy people's hearts, if he is not in the court, then it can only be in the local ......

A layer of fine beads of sweat has gradually emerged on Ye Kaitai's forehead.

Han Zhaozhi looked at him silently, from the change in Ye Kaitai's face, Han Zhaozhi knew that even Ye Kaitai had such a reaction, then the matter could be so serious that it would endanger more than just a few people and a few counties.

"We have to find out where the money is going first."

Ye Kaitai looked at Han Zhaozhi: "It is impossible for them to take the ticket number, and the silver transactions of all ticket numbers have been reported, especially the transactions of large amounts of silver, so they can only take cash." ”

He opened the account again and took a closer look: "Sure enough, all the Jiangnan Weaving Mansion came to buy raw materials with cash, and for this reason, the Nanping River Sailor will specially assign a few warships to escort them along the way...... However, how can they get out of such a large amount of cash? ”

Han Zhaozhi said: "A small long-distance county, the water is too deep. ”

At the same time, long-distance counties.

The county commander Li Hongkui's face was ugly, because he knew very well what he was going to face next, and he glanced at the county prince and grandson, who were also worried, and both of them had not slept for a whole day and a night.

"You said yesterday that you would send that woman to see Han Zhaozhi and Ye Kaitai, isn't that looking for death? Once the silver we handle every year is exposed, it will be the first case since the founding of Daning! Not only will you and I definitely die, but on this side of Pingyue Road, on the side of Jiangnan Weaving Mansion, plus other people who will be involved, hundreds or even thousands of heads can be chopped off. ”

Gao Wangsun sighed: "I shouldn't have ...... in the first place"

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Li Hongkui: "What's the use of talking about this now?" Every year, you and I take at least 30,000 taels of silver from each of them, and according to the laws of Daning, you can ask for a hundred taels of ink if you are greedy...... Yesterday we said that we couldn't give our lives to the elder anymore, but we didn't have a safe way to clean up this matter. ”

"I'm asking you something."

Gao Wangsun looked at Li Hongkui's eyes and asked seriously: "In the past two years, the elder has taken away at least 700,000 taels of silver from our Changchang County every year, what is the use of so much silver?" ”

"How would I know!"

Li Hongkui glared at Gao Wangsun: "Do you think Elder Ge will tell me what he does?" ”

Gao Wangsun sighed: "You don't know...... It's okay if I don't know. ”

Li Hongkui asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Gao Wangsun shook his head: "It's better to not know than to know, if you know, you may be more scared than now." ”

Li Hongkui looked at Gao Wangsun suspiciously: "Do you know anything?" ”

Gao Wangsun shook his head: "You don't know, what can I know, don't forget that it is you who is the one who connects me with the elder of the pavilion." ”

Li Hongkui let out a long breath: "I really don't know what Elder Ge is going to do." ”

Xishu Road, outside Yunxiao City.

The small Taoist temple is still so clean, there are no pilgrims and no tourists, Mu Zhaotong sat next to the stone table and looked at the chessboard on the table in a daze, he had been sitting like this for nearly an hour, holding a chess piece in his hand but never falling.

The master of the small Taoist temple, Wuwei Taoist, carried a pot of new tea and put it on the table: "The elder should get up and move." ”

Mu Zhaotong hummed but didn't move, it seemed that his thoughts hadn't come back yet, Wuwei Taoist poured a cup of tea for Mu Zhaotong, and then walked behind Mu Zhaotong and began to massage his shoulder, Mu Zhaotong exhaled comfortably: "My waist, I can't get up after sitting for a long time, and it's difficult to turn over at night." ”

"Ge Lao is tired."

Wuwei Taoist asked: "What is the difficult thing to decide?" ”

"Nope."

Mu Zhaotong said: "What I want to do has been conceived a long time ago, where is there anything difficult to decide, but I am suddenly a little reluctant in my heart...... Although it is not the real Ning people who are going to suffer, it will also implicate many Ning people, and at the beginning, those things began to be planned to draw a big cake for Li Xiaoran, who thought that he really did it, and later this big cake was painted to the prince. ”

He looked into the distance: "It's overkill for me to bury a Han Zhaozhi in a pit as big as a place, but Han Zhaozhi is not important..... The important thing is that this pit can make His Majesty uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. ”

His gaze returned to the chessboard: "No one has yet been able to win Your Majesty, even if it is half a child, the queen has tried, lost, I want to try." ”