In the attic, Yan Zhenghai and Hong Chengchou looked indifferent, and they drank wine one after another. The wine table was placed near the window, and the two of them only had to turn their heads to look out to see the courtyard next door. The snubbed heads of the house, looking at the restless appearance of those heads of the house, the smiles on the faces of the two became more and more intense.

Yan Zhenghai said with a smile: "My lord, half a day has passed now, or the next official will go down to calm their emotions, so as not to wait for something unpleasant." ”

Hong Chengchou looked indifferent, waved his hand and said: "Then let them make trouble, it's best to make some noise, and when we start tomorrow, we can also have more excuses." ”

Yan Zhenghai frowned when he heard this: "My lord, I'm afraid this is inappropriate, right?" ”

Hong Chengchou snorted coldly: "What's wrong? ”

Yan Zhenghai smiled bitterly: "After all, they are figures with heads and faces in the city, and none of them are good people. If we kill them all without proper reasons, I am afraid that there will be dismal remarks against our government. And the members of these families will definitely not give up, and fanning the flames is an inevitable thing. ”

Hong Chengchou said disdainfully: "As long as those people in the court don't join in, how big a wave can be made by a few local forces in their mere few places." Governor Yan, as an official of the imperial court, you shouldn't be afraid of this or that, you still have to come up with the means you should have. Getting used to these people is definitely not the root of the problem. ”

Yan Zhenghai felt quite uncomfortable in his heart, saying that Hong Chengchou didn't have a backache when he stood and spoke. He is a local prefect, and he doesn't dare to offend those officials in the court casually. Once he offends them, it means that he will return to his hometown at the very least, and his life will be ruined.

But Hong Chengchou is one of the top officials in the court, and no one dares to argue with him. This is said as if he is Yan Zhenghai greedy for life and afraid of death, you must know that he is under great pressure to dare to fight with these local forces.

"Then according to your lordship, these people will be executed tomorrow morning, right?" Yan Zhenghai no longer dodged, and went straight to the point.

"Yes, Li Yi and Xiao Bin should also do it, if it goes well, there is no need for those people next door to exist." Hong Chengchou's cold voice was full of murderous intent.

At this time, there was a knock on the door, Hong Chengchou glanced at it, and his face was up; An unfathomable smile. Yan Zhenghai said, "Come in!" ”

The wooden door opened in response, and the person who came was none other than Lin Kexi, who had disappeared for a while. He strode over with a smile on his face, stood beside Hong Chengchou, and then bowed his hand: "My lord, the Li family and the Xiao family have already started to move, and the news from all sides is very gratifying. If nothing else, the city will be calm before dusk arrives. After that, the Li family and the Xiao family can replace the rest of the forces. ”

Hong Chengchou nodded frequently, and he coldly instructed Lin Kexi: "Keep an eye on the movements of the Li family and the Xiao family, and if there is any trouble, you must come to report it as soon as possible." If there is anything wrong with these two families, they will be stopped immediately, and if they are resisted, they will be killed. ”

Lin Kexi gave up his hand and quietly retreated.

Hong Chengchou shifted his gaze from Yan Zhenghai, and he sneered: "The affairs of Xiangjiang Island have been completed, and everything is going well on the Fucheng side. The next thing to do is to look at the prefect Yan, and the smoking ban in the city must not make any mistakes. Otherwise, when smoking bans are enacted in other places, there will inevitably be great resistance. I hope that the prefect Yan will be mentally prepared for this, and the matter of banning smoking has a long way to go. ”

Yan Zhenghai didn't dare to slack off, so he immediately got up and said, "My lord taught the officials to keep it in mind. ”

Hong Chengchou nodded, got up and left satisfied.

The palace was quite quiet, but the city outside the palace was already staging bloody killings, and the Li family and the Xiao family, who had already ambushed the men and horses, attacked other forces at the same time. And Lin Kexi led the secret guards, disguised as these two horses, to assist them in attacking.

The wind was loud outside, but the wind was calm inside the palace. Ouyang Xiu and the others were still kept in the dark, unaware that their family and subordinates were being slaughtered. One by one, with an anxious mood, they waited for Yan Zhenghai's arrival. But Yan Zhenghai obviously won't come to see them, so they are destined to wait for nothing.

Mao Wenlong set off for Nanjing, five days after his departure, and he did not arrive at the sea area of Nanjing until the morning of the sixth day.

Mao Jingwen was anxious to see his father, and he didn't want to wait in the port, so he went directly to the sea by boat to meet him. With full joy, Mao Jingwen soon boarded the lucky boat that Mao Wenlong was on.

"Father, the son has seen his father!" Mao Jingwen directly saluted in front of Mao Wenlong.

Mao Wenlong carefully looked at Mao Jingwen, who was kneeling in front of him, and looked at this son who had fully grown up, and felt quite relieved. But when he thought of the foolish things that this kid did, Mao Wenlong was angry again.

"Get up and talk!" Mao Wenlong said coldly.

Hearing such dry words, Mao Jingwen was stunned for a moment, and he suddenly had an ominous premonition entangled in his heart. Carefully looking at Mao Wenlong's expression, Mao Jingwen found that his face was full of coldness, and now Mao Jingwen was even more sure of the guess in his heart just now.

With a hint of uneasiness, Mao Jingwen cautiously asked, "Father, did your son do something that made you unhappy?" ”

Mao Wenlong glanced at the cautious Mao Jingwen, and said with a wry smile: "Do you know how harmful it is to our Ming Dynasty by the Yi people to sell the big smoke of the Ming Dynasty today?" ”

Mao Jingwen's heart jumped when he heard this, and he clearly felt a trace of inappropriateness from Mao Wenlong's tone. No longer as straightforward as facing Hong Chengchou, Mao Jingwen still said cautiously: "Erchen has learned about those big smokes, and he also knows some of its harm. I don't think that this so-called smoke will cause harm to our Ming Dynasty, but it can bring us great benefits. For example, in the past, our treasury could not be boiled out, and various local governments were reaching out to the imperial court to ask for money and food. Since the implementation of heavy taxes on tobacco in various places, the local governments have not only solved the problem of financial emptiness, but also handed over the surplus money to the imperial court, and the emperor ......."

"Enough!"

Mao Wenlong shouted suddenly! His face was gloomy as water: "It seems that you are still obsessed with it, and you are not aware of the harm of big smoke." ”

"Someone! Take Jingwen down and tie it up! Mao Wenlong shouted loudly outside.

Mao Jingwen's face changed greatly when he heard this, and it was obvious that Mao Wenlong was really angry this time. But he still felt that he had done nothing wrong, but felt that he had no merit in the tax of Big Smoke.

"Father, the son is not convinced!" Mao Jingwen shouted loudly.