Jiangling is located in the north of Jingnan, west control Bashu, north of Xianghan, with rivers and lakes, finger arm Wu Yue, is the Central Plains to communicate with Lingnan, is the southeast of the important town, its place of governance is the world-famous Jingzhou City. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

At noon, on the official road in the east of Jingzhou City, a carriage was bumping on the official road, and around the carriage, five or six horses followed.

At this time, you can already look at Jingzhou City in the distance, and under the sky, Jingzhou City is crawling on the vast land like a giant beast in the wilderness.

For several days, day and night, Yang Ning and his party finally arrived in Jiangling.

Gu Qinghan insisted on coming to Jiangling to check the tax and silver in person, Yang Ning was naturally relieved, his intuition told him that there must have been a very major change in Jiangling, Gu Qinghan's trip may not be smooth sailing, he proposed to follow Gu Qinghan to come together, Gu Qinghan did not object, feeling that Yang Ning would soon inherit the position of marquis, and it was okay to take this opportunity to take a look at the former residence of Jiangling.

Duan Canghai was supposed to follow the escort on this trip, but there was still a big mess in the capital, and Gu Qinghan was worried that Manager Qiu would be difficult to deal with alone, so he taught Duan Canghai to stay in the capital to assist Manager Qiu, and only let Qi Feng take a few guards all the way.

A fire in the capital has made the Marquis of Jinyi carry a lot of debts, and the biggest entry of the Hou Mansion at the moment is the tax silver on the side of Jiangling, once there is a problem here, the Hou Mansion will definitely fall into a desperate situation, Gu Qinghan wants to find out why the tax and silver in Jiangling have been delayed as soon as possible, so except for occasional stops along the way to take a break, it can be regarded as non-stop.

On the way, Gu Qinghan also expected to be able to meet the team escorting the tax silver, but he was disappointed all the way, but he was not shocked all the way, and rushed to the outside of Jingzhou City very smoothly.

"Shizi, there is Jingzhou City in front." Qi Feng knew that since this prince was born, he had never returned to his homeland in Jiangling.

The Marquis of Jinyi, the ancestral home is in Jiangling, from hundreds of years ago, it is the family of Jiangling, it has a very high prestige here, after the old Marquis of Jinyi settled in the capital, the direct family members also moved to Kyoto, but the food of the Marquis of Jinyi is here, so it is still deeply rooted in this place.

When the old marquis was alive, if he had time, he would often return to Jiangling to live, and when he came to Qijing's generation, he came back a lot less, but he also occasionally came back to worship his ancestors.

However, after the birth of the son of Jinyi, he has never returned to his homeland.

Qi Feng's ancestral home is also in Jiangling, and he also returned to his hometown with Qi Jing back then, so he is naturally much more familiar with this side than Yang Ning.

"Is our former home in the city?" Yang Ning asked.

Qi Feng shook his head and smiled: "The old mansion of the Hou Ye is not far from Jingzhou City, only thirty or forty miles to the south, there is Qijiazhuang, and the old mansion is on the side of Qijiazhuang. The first emperor originally planned to build a mansion for the old marquis in Jingzhou City, but the old marquis missed the old and did not let it be built, and when he came back, he still lived in the old mansion of Qijiazhuang. With a glimmer of light on his face, he said with a smile: "When the general comes back, he also lives in the old mansion, and whenever that happens, officials from all over Jiangling, including the Taishou of Jingzhou City, also go to the old mansion." ”

"I see." Yang Ning said with a smile: "Our fiefdoms and fields are all on the side of Qijiazhuang?" ”

"Most of the 3,000 households given by the first emperor back then were scattered around Qijiazhuang." Qi Feng explained: "However, the fields and properties are not together, and the first emperor asked the Jiangling Taishou to select the best paddy fields in the territory as the fields to be granted, so the distribution is different. The prince didn't know that the Qi family was a big family in Jiangling back then, and it was not an exaggeration to say that it was a rich party, in fact, it was not an ......exaggeration! ”

"Qi Feng, you will talk nonsense." Gu Qinghan had already lifted the curtains of the car, and scolded with a smile: "What kind of rich party, it doesn't hurt for you to talk about it in private, but when you get in front of people, you are not allowed to talk nonsense." The general also told you back then, this is the homeland, all the old folks, the more you get here, the more cautious you are, and you must not talk nonsense in front of the old folks. ”

Qi Feng hurriedly said: "Third lady, the little one doesn't dare." ”

"Sanniang, you still let him finish." Yang Ning rode by the carriage window and smiled at Gu Qinghan: "You let him hold it now, you really want to suffocate him to death." Xiang Qi Feng said: "Keep talking, what happened later?" ”

Qi Feng raised his hand and scratched the back of his head, and said with some embarrassment: "I want to say that the old marquis followed the first emperor to quell the chaos, and dedicated the Qi family's wealth and furniture to the first emperor to quell the chaos. ”

Yang Ning thought to himself that this old marquis was really a long-term person, and the first emperor attached great importance to the family utensils, of course, because the marquis of Jinyi was able to fight well and was a pillar of talent, and in addition, it may have something to do with the old marquis who gave his family fortune back then.

"Sanniang, are we going to the city first, or are we rushing to the old mansion?" Yang Ning asked as he walked into the car.

Gu Qinghan said: "It's still early, if we enter the city and are delayed for another day, let's go straight to the old house." Let's travel lightly this time, and there is no need to go into the city to disturb. ”

Yang Ning hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Sanniang, I have a few words I want to say to you." ”

Gu Qinghan lifted the curtains, looked at Yang Ning with beautiful eyes, and asked, "Since yesterday, it depends on what you are thinking, what are you thinking in your little head?" Speaking of which, thinking that Yang Ning has grown up, it is better not to say anything about this little head in the future.

Yang Ning turned over and dismounted, threw the reins to Qi Feng, jogged in small steps, jumped to the head of the carriage, opened the curtain and got in, Gu Qinghan was slightly surprised, seeing Yang Ning enter the carriage, he couldn't help but shrink to the side, this carriage is much narrower than the big carriage commonly used in the Hou Mansion, and it is also to be lighter for the road.

In addition, Gu Qinghan also had other ideas.

She is an extremely smart woman, after discovering Yang Ning's strange eyes last time, she immediately realized in her heart that Yang Ning had grown up, and Yang Ning's speech and behavior after that were no longer as ignorant as at the beginning, which made Gu Qinghan even more sober Yang Ning was no longer the little boy he used to care for.

Women are the most sensitive to emotional things, she has been taking care of Shizi before, and her feelings are quite deep, in fact, she also understands that the little boy who has been taken care of by herself has a different kind of affection for herself because of adulthood, which is not incomprehensible, but such things, she naturally can't let them continue to develop.

Although her care for the prince is still the same as before, she has paid a lot of attention to her speech and demeanor, and since then, she will never easily approach Yang Ning, let alone take the initiative to take Yang Ning's hand, and try to draw a ditch in it, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.

This time from the capital to Jiangling, the road is quite long, if it is the past, Gu Qinghan is bound to let Yang Ning follow him to ride on the carriage, so as not to ride a bumpy and tiring horse.

But this time, he still chose a small car, which could speed up the journey, and secondly, he could also ride alone, and only let Yang Ning ride on horseback.

At this time, Yang Ning suddenly got into the car, Gu Qinghan panicked at first, and then secretly thought in his heart that he was really too sensitive, although he usually had to pay attention to the proportions with Yang Ning, but he was always careful, but it was a little too much, Yang Ning may not have other meanings, but he couldn't let go of it in his heart from time to time, which hindered the normal emotions of the two.

"Ning'er, what do you want to say?" Gu Qinghan calmed his heart and motioned for Yang Ning to sit down on the side, his voice was gentle, smiling, and trying his best to show his identity as an elder.

Yang Ning opened the curtains and said to Qi Feng: "Don't rush to the old mansion first, you haven't used dry food at noon, go to the front to find a place, you eat something first." ”

Qi Feng agreed, and Yang Ning had already lowered the curtains.

Gu Qinghan saw that Yang Ning was mysterious and a little strange, but Yang Ning had already come closer and said in a low voice: "Sanniang, let's go directly to the old mansion like this?" ”

Although Yang Ning got closer, Gu Qinghan didn't think much about it when he saw him looking serious, and said softly: "Why didn't you send the tax money to the capital, naturally you want to go to the old mansion, Ning'er, what do you think?" ”

"Sanniang, we came all the way, and we didn't encounter a convoy transporting tax silver, and I haven't heard that anyone has hijacked the silver car." Yang Ning thought for a moment and said in a low voice: "I've been thinking, the tax money was not sent to the capital, is there a problem with the old mansion?" Without waiting for Gu Qinghan to speak, he asked, "Is our tax money irrelevant to the local government, and is it the responsibility of the old mansion?" ”

Gu Qinghan said: "There is also a chief manager over there in the old mansion, and he is also a member of the Qi family, over the years, the food and land properties on this side of Jiangling have been handled by the chief manager, and the tax silver and the harvest from the fields are sent to the capital twice a year. ”

"Didn't the chief manager go to collect the tax money himself?" Yang Ning asked.

Gu Qinghan explained: "The three thousand food estates are divided into dozens of villages, each village has a land, and when the time comes, the land of each village will send the taxes payable in the village to the old house. Gangneung is suitable for growing grain, and there are spring and autumn harvests every year, and after the harvest that should be paid is brought to the old house by the head of the land, the chief manager will exchange it for cash, and then send it to the capital. ”

"In other words, the tax money is on the side of Gangneung, and it is controlled by the chief manager." Yang Ning's expression was grim, "If anything goes wrong, the chief manager will be responsible?" ”

"Exactly." Gu Qinghan said, "Ning'er, what do you want to say?" ”

"Sanniang, I've been thinking about it, delaying the tax money, naturally it's not those villagers who haven't paid the taxes." Yang Ning said slowly: "If all the taxes have been paid to the old mansion, why has the old mansion not been sent to the capital for a long time?" Is the chief manager doing something? ”

"The Grand Steward?" Gu Qinghan frowned and said, "How can he have such courage? We came back this time to find out what difficulties the chief manager was encountering. ”

"Have you seen the Grand Steward?" Yang Ning stared at Gu Qinghan's watery eyes, "Do you know much about the Grand Administrator?" ”

"The chief manager has been to the capital a few times, but I don't talk to him much." Gu Qinghan said: "The general is away all the year round, and Mrs. Tai is dedicated to worshipping the Buddha, so many things in the mansion are handled by me and Chief Manager Qiu. After thinking about it, he shook his head and said, "The chief manager has not delayed anything over the years, and he definitely doesn't have the courage to press the tax money and not give it away." ”

Yang Ning sighed lightly: "Sanniang, I'm not worried that the chief manager will not give away the tax silver, but that someone will force him to withhold the tax silver." ”