Busy with official and military affairs, first falsely accusing Zhao Liewen's alternate acquaintance Wang Xun of escaping on the road only made Wu Chaoyue a little surprised, but he didn't care much - he didn't want to kill Teacher Zeng yet, and Zhao Liewen had completely cleared his innocence, so Wu Chaoyue didn't bother to care about whether Jing Shou could find out the truth behind the case. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Wu Chaoyue violently destroyed the heavens, but his unscrupulous master Zhao Liewen knew how to seize the opportunity very well, and just asked about the story of Wang Xun's escape on the way, Zhao Liewen immediately ran to Wu Chaoyue's front to slander, and said to Wu Chaoyue alone: "Comfort Ting, good opportunity, the people who escorted Wang Xun are all the servants of the Hunan Governor's Mansion Yamen, as long as this matter is operated well, it is very possible for Luo Bingzhang and the official system to completely turn their faces and fight." ”

"Possibly?" Wu Chaoyue said suspiciously: "Is that possible?" This matter is not in the hands of the official system, whether Wang Xun escapes or not is none of his business, how can he turn his face with Luo Bingzhang for this? ”

"But the messenger who escorted Wang Xun was from the Hunan Governor's Mansion, and Wang Xun's false accusation against me was forwarded to the capital by Luo Bingzhang," Zhao Liewen said quickly: "Luo Bingzhang can't escape the suspicion of deliberately arriving for others in this matter no matter what, and it is not impossible to even insist on planting him for the crime of murder." If the official system really wants to clean up Luo Bingzhang, this matter is a good excuse to justify! ”

"But the question is, will the bureaucratic station take this opportunity to make a big fuss?" Wu Chaoyue said helplessly: "Judging from some clues, the official platform is very dissatisfied with Luo Bingzhang, but he has always maintained restraint, Luo Bingzhang does not completely provoke him, he will not use this matter to rectify Luo Bingzhang no matter what." ”

"Then let Luo Bingzhang completely upset him."

Zhao Liewen's words were astonishing, and he quickly went to the bookshelf and turned out a stack of documents, put them in front of Wu Chaoyue and said: "Weiting, look at it, this is the statistics of import and export goods in Hankou since the opening of the port for half a year, and among the goods sold from Hankou to foreign countries, tea accounts for nearly half of the goods. In addition, this is the amount of tea shipped from Hunan to Hubei according to the tax statistics of Jiayu Wharf, accounting for about eighty percent of the amount of tea exported from Hankou. ”

"What does that mean?" Wu Chaoyue looked at the accounts and asked suspiciously.

"Weiting, why don't you understand?" Zhao Liewen smiled bitterly and said: "We also produce tea in Hubei, although the output is not as large as Hunan, but there is basically no need to buy tea from other provinces, and the tea from Hunan is shipped to Hankou, and basically all of it is sold to foreigners." However, before Hunan tea leaves the province, it has to pay one centimeter and eight cents (1.8 percent) worth of tea to the tax card set up by Luo Bingzhang. Can the official system not covet it? ”

Wu Chaoyue vaguely understood what Zhao Liewen meant, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "You mean, let me use this cent of money as bait, and let the official text force Luo Bingzhang to levy Hunan tea, so that the two of them will completely turn their faces for this matter?" ”

"There's no better way to be smarter than the Comfort Pavilion." Zhao Liewen applauded and said in a low voice: "Luo Bingzhang will not agree to give up Hunan Chali in order to supply the grain and grass of the Hunan army, as long as the official document can get benefits in this matter, after being rejected by Luo Bingzhang, he will definitely use Wang Xun's matter to violently rectify Luo Bingzhang, they will start pinching, you just don't want to sit and reap the benefits." ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded slightly, and after thinking for a while, Wu Chaoyue said: "This matter must be hurried, call Huang Sheng to me immediately, and ask him to secretly instigate the Hankou merchants to jointly petition, asking for the suspension of tea to expand overseas trade, and then secretly promise to give the official text eight points of commission, don't worry that he will not agree." ”

Zhao Liewen agreed, and reminded: "Weiting, you also have to fan the flames in front of the official platform, so that he knows that the sales of tea in Hankou will only get bigger and bigger, more and more." ”

"Of course." Wu Chaoyue smiled and agreed.

Huang Sheng was also very neat, the merchants of Hankou had a request for translation when trading with foreigners, and they were born to pursue profits and could not collect a penny of taxes, so they quickly organized themselves and handed a joint petition to Guanwen and Wu Chaoyue, requesting the cancellation of Chali to expand Hankou's foreign trade, and secretly got on the line with Guanwen's confidant Tang Shixi through the secret channel provided by Wu Chaoyue's white gloves Huang Sheng, and made a wish to Guanwen through Tang Shixi, promising that as long as Huguang Chali was canceled, He gave the official Hankou tea trade eight cents of the commission.

Originally, he was doing a ghost behind his back, of course, Wu Chaoyue did not hesitate to promise to consider the next petition, but Wu Chaoyue also said that he wanted to wait a few days for the matter to ferment a little, who would have thought that the official document would pass Wu Chaoyue to the yamen of the Governor's Mansion on the same day to ask about this matter, and ask Wu Chaoyue for suggestions and opinions.

The centimeter of gold was originally a small treasury set up by the local governor for the provincial treasury, and the additional tax on addition to the regular tax was abolished, and the Manchu court would not interfere at all, and at the same time, the tea was temporarily abolished to reduce the cost burden of the merchants, and the foreign trade of Hankou Port was encouraged and expanded, so that in the short term it would suffer a small loss, but in the long run, it would be very beneficial to Wu Chaoyue -- not to fatten the sheep and reduce the wool? Wu Chaoyue had already sought the consent of the Manchu court through Sushun to withhold part of the Hankou tariff to support the new army in Hubei.

Therefore, in front of the official document, Wu Chaoyue not only did not oppose the cancellation of the tea, but also instigated the official document to introduce to the official document the benefits of temporarily canceling the expansion of the gold capital and the prosperity of Hankou Port, depicting the glorious prospect of the Hankou tea trade, and unconditionally agreeing with the official document to agree to temporarily cancel the tea in Hunan and Hubei, and also said that he had already planned this, but he was worried that it would embarrass Luo Bingzhang and did not implement it, so Wu Chaoyue promised that as long as Luo Bingzhang agreed to cancel the tea, he would immediately exempt the tea in the whole territory of Hubei. In order to encourage merchants to invest heavily in the port of Hankou and rapidly expand the scale of trade in Hankou.

You can take eight cents of the rebate from the total amount of tea trade, which is of course a lot of money, and I heard Wu Chaoyue explain the various benefits of temporarily canceling the tea li, and the bright future of the tea trade in Hankou, this kind of good thing that benefits the country and the people and is beneficial to oneself is of course the most important official documents are wishing for more and the better. After praising Wu Chaoyue's love for the people like a son and his honesty and integrity, the official document did not hesitate, and immediately wrote an official letter to Luo Bingzhang, asking Luo Bingzhang to immediately cancel the tea for one year, reduce the burden of merchants, and expand the scale of trade in Hankou Port.

Even Wu Chaoyue didn't expect things to be so coincidental, only a day had passed, and the merchants of Hankou Port collectively ran to the door of the governor's palace in official documents to complain, crying that Luo Bingzhang not only suddenly raised the tea centi in Hunan to 2 yuan and 5 cents (2.5 percent), but also ordered the collection of centis in the major tea-producing areas in Hunan, and the collection of double taxes on Hunan tea to further increase the cost of trade. They asked the official to make decisions for them, and not to let Luo Bingzhang destroy the booming overseas trade in Hankou Port.

Of course, Wu Chaoyue knew that Luo Bingzhang was completely forced to do this, the Hunan army and Chu Yong were both fighting bloodily on the battlefield in Jiangxi, and they urgently needed the support of Hunan's money, food and materials, and the Hunan army and naval divisions that were almost completely annihilated were also in urgent need of warships, and the shipyards in Yuezhou and Xiangtan were not building the warships of the Hunan army, but the silver that Luo Bingzhang pulled out from between his teeth! At the same time, Hunan's tea is indeed eligible for high taxes, not to mention other Hunan tea, only one Anhua thousand taels of tea will throw off all the famous tea eight streets in Hubei, and the sales price in Hankou is much higher than that of Hubei tea. Finally, coupled with the fact that Hunan's tea production is much higher than Hubei's, it is not surprising that Luo Bingzhang leans heavily on tea.

Knowing Luo Bingzhang's hardships and the reason for the increase, Wu Chaoyue had to pretend not to know, in front of the official documents, and also in front of the Hankou merchants, Wu Chaoyue also announced on the spot that the tea in Hubei would be immediately suspended for one year, reducing the burden of the merchants and encouraging the development of overseas trade in Hankou Port, in exchange for the chorus of cheers and gratitude from the Hankou merchants. And the official Wen, who had unknowingly been pushed to the forefront by his nephew who lacked virtue, also announced on the spot that he would go to Luo Bingzhang again, forcing Luo Bingzhang to immediately stop the cruel exploitation of innocent businessmen, and also exchanged gratitude and kowtow from Hubei businessmen. Countless businessmen still said with tears in their eyes: "Good governor, good governor, we in Hubei can have such a governor who loves the people like a son, it is really a blessing that our Hubei people have cultivated in their previous lives!" ”

In this way, the pressure was forced on Luo Bingzhang, Xiang Jun and Chu Yong were constantly reaching out to him for money and food, the people of Hunan scolded him at the bottom for Luo Peeling Luo and Luo Blackheart, and the boss Guanwen suddenly sent a message to force him to cancel the tea, Luo Bingzhang couldn't bear it anymore no matter how self-contained, "Cancel the tea?" Do you want my life? He Wu Chaoyue has Hankou's tariffs that can be intercepted, and he doesn't have to bear the money and grain supply of Chu Yong of the Hunan army, in a word, he can directly cancel the tea, can I do it here? Eighty percent of the tea sold to foreigners in Hankou is produced in Hunan, and the Hunan tea is canceled, and the Hunan army Chu Yong drinks the northwest wind. ”

"Lord Futai, please calm down, calm down."

Zuo Zongtang, whose temper was far more irritable than Luo Bingzhang, was very calm at this moment, and first tried his best to persuade Luo Bingzhang to calm down, and then said: "Lord Futai, let's talk about it in our hearts, the official system of Taiwan's order is indeed to reduce the burden on the people of Huguang, and the cancellation of tea can also play a role in encouraging the people of Hunan to reclaim tea mountains and grow a large amount of tea, so that the people can become rich, and the imperial court can also increase taxes because of this, and in the long run, it will also benefit the people of Hunan, so his original intention is right." The only mistake of the official system is that it does not understand the situation on the ground in Hunan, and it does not hurt its back when it stands and talks. ”

After listening to Zuo Zongtang's opinion, Luo Bingzhang also nodded, and also admitted that this order of the official document was not wrong. Then Zuo Zongtang said: "Lord Futai, in the opinion of a student, it is best for you to write a letter to the official station, explain to him the actual situation in Hunan, state the importance of Hunan Chali, and ask him to take back this order for the sake of quelling the overall situation." ”

"Besides, Lord Futai, you might as well write a letter to Wu Chaoyue and Wu Futai." Zuo Zongtang also suggested: "I also complained to him, and asked him to say a few more good words for you in front of the official platform, and withdraw the order to temporarily suspend the collection of Hunan Chali." Wu Futai is a delicate person in all directions, and he gets along very well with the official system, and with his help and persuasion, this matter will be much easier to solve. ”

After thinking about it for a while, Luo Bingzhang could only nod weakly and said, "Okay, just do it, I hope this matter can be solved smoothly." ”

…………

Speaking from the bottom of his heart, Wu Chaoyue actually admired Luo Bingzhang's character and talent, and at the same time, Wu Chaoyue also knew that Luo Bingzhang was a rare Qing official in the Manchu officialdom, and he was so poor that he wore coarse cloth clothes at home - this was something that even Wu Chaoyue, who was already a Qing official, could not do. However, it is a pity that the Tao is not the same, although the silver obtained by Luo Bingzhang's financial management is not to fill his pockets, but it is given to the Hunan army Chu Yong to massacre his anti-Qing comrades-in-arms and help the Manchu court maintain and continue the brutal rule. So......

Therefore, Luo Bingzhang's sincere letter for help of course failed to impress Wu Chaoyue, not only failed to impress Wu Chaoyue, but also used this letter to make an article by Wu Chaoyue, the white-eyed wolf who had received Luo Bingzhang's selfless help, and the night after receiving the letter, Wu Chaoyue took this letter to see the official text, and directly asked the official to read the letter written by Luo Bingzhang to himself. After reading the letter, of course, the official text asked Wu Chaoyue for suggestions and attitudes.

"Uncle, forgive the little nephew for saying something from the bottom of my heart, the little nephew really hopes to cancel the tea in Hunan and develop Hankou Port as soon as possible."

Wu Chaoyue gave up his hands and made a gesture, and said very sincerely: "But judging from Luo Futai's letter, Chali is very important for Hunan to fund neighboring provinces to quell bandits, and Hunan is also in urgent need of Chali for money and grain - although the little nephew has never been to Hunan and doesn't know the situation there, but for the sake of the overall situation of the imperial court, the little nephew thinks that we would rather believe what we have than what we don't. It's better to ......, it's better to ....... ”

"What's the best?" Guan Wen quietly urged: "Say it, my uncle won't blame you for saying it wrong." ”

"Let's cancel the stop of Hunan tea." Wu Chaoyue sighed and said: "Uncle, little nephew is also for your sake, you are the governor, it stands to reason that you should not interfere too much in local civil affairs, you should focus on military affairs, Luo Futai is deeply trusted and favored by the court and the emperor, if you insist on forcing him, I am afraid that he will ......, and he will take advantage of this to play you." ”

With a bang, Guan Wen slammed his fist on the table, shaking the tea overflowing, and roared with a blue face: "Play the old man's book? The old man still wants to impeach him first! The criminal officer Wang Xun escaped during his escort, and the old man hasn't settled accounts with him yet, and he still wants to impeach the old man?! ”

Secretly happy in his heart, Wu Chaoyue's face was full of panic, and he hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Uncle, forget it, forget it, such a trivial matter, you can't commit such a serious impeachment on the table." Uncle, I beg you, this matter is over, Luo Futai wants to collect the tea, let him put it away, anyway, this silver has nothing to do with us, let's take a step. ”

"Who said it had nothing to do with us?" Guan Wen Tie roared with a blue face: "That's the silver of the imperial court, the silver of the people of Huguang, as the governor of Huguang, this official has to uphold justice for the people of Huguang!" Wang Xun's matter can't be counted like this, and the matter of Hunan Chali can't be counted like this! This official will go to the court and impeach this old horseman! ”

Wu Chaoyue was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly urged the official to calm down and not provoke Luo Bingzhang, who he absolutely couldn't provoke, and said: "Uncle, if this is not the case, you send someone to the Hunan Governor's Yamen to see if the real situation of Hunan's money and grain is really as serious as Luo Futai introduced, and see if Hunan Chali should really continue to be collected, and then make a decision?" If there is discord between the governors, it is not good for the country! ”

In fact, the impeachment of Shi Luo Bingzhang, the pillar of the Hunan army, is just a momentary anger of the official text, and even if the hypocrite Wu Chaoyue does not persuade him, the official secretary may not be able to make up his mind and completely tear his face with a governor -- especially when it is difficult for this governor to be brought down. After listening to Wu Chaoyue's persuasion again, the official document who had subsided a little bit of anger also took the opportunity to get off the donkey, nodded and said: "Okay, for the sake of your virtuous nephew, the old man will bear with it first, and send some people to Hunan to see the actual situation there." ”

Wu Chaoyue was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly thanked the official Wen again and again, and finally gave up a little bit of respect to the official Wen before leaving. However, after returning to his yamen, Wu Chaoyue called Zhao Liewen as soon as possible, first told Zhao Liewen about his negotiation with the official text, and then instructed: "Write a letter to Luo Bingzhang for me, saying that after my strong persuasion, the attitude of the official system has been somewhat loosened, and suggest that he also take a step back, reduce the Hunan tea to one centi, and cancel the origin of the centi, so that the official platform also has a step down in front of the people." ”

Zhao Liewen agreed, and then asked: "Comfort Ting, should we also stab the official system of Taiwan's plan to impeach Luo Bingzhang on the grounds of Wang Xun?" ”

"Of course we have to be stabbed, but if we can't come forward, it will be troublesome if the letter evidence is taken away." Wu Chaoyue said: "Didn't Luo Bingzhang give us secret news through Master Shaoxing last time? Let's draw a scoop according to the gourd, and also use this method to poke the news to Luo Bingzhang. In the letter you wrote to Luo Bingzhang for me, you can also remind him to step up the arrest of Wang Xun, and he will understand the meaning. ”

Zhao Liewen agreed, but Wu Chaoyue said in a low voice: "Also, let our Shaoxing master add another sentence - he has heard that after the cancellation of tea, someone can take a commission in the Hankou tea transaction." ”

Zhao Liewen laughed when he heard this, and while giving Wu Chaoyue a thumbs up, he smiled in a low voice and said: "Weiting, I have convinced you, hand the knives on both sides, you are really afraid that they will not fight hard enough." High, really high. ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled, and said in his heart: "If I'm not mistaken, you Zuo Zongtang not only seems to have a bad temper, but also likes not to take others in his eyes the most-when the official and civil servants go to the Hunan Governor's Yamen to verify, you must not let me down!" ”

Whether Zuo Zongtang will disappoint Wu Chaoyue is difficult to know for the time being, but the important news that Wu Chaoyue revealed to Luo Bingzhang through both light and dark channels immediately aroused the vigilance of Luo Bingzhang and Zuo Zongtang. At the same time that he suddenly realized why the famous corrupt official Guan Wen suddenly loved the people so much, Zuo Zongtang also immediately suggested to Luo Bingzhang: "Lord Futai, for the sake of prudence, it is best for us to go to Hankou in advance to verify the official document to the tea merchant, if we can get real evidence, then we not only don't have to worry about being forced to cancel the tea by the official document, but we don't have to worry about him borrowing Wang Xun's matter to fix you!" ”

"If you want to get real evidence for the things behind the scenes, is it so easy?" Luo Bingzhang smiled bitterly, and after thinking about it a little, Luo Bingzhang still said: "Okay, anyway, if you want to know the situation in Hankou, let's check it by the way, and see if there can be a miracle and get the talisman of this official and Hunan Chali." ”

Anyway, for the sake of prudence, Luo Bingzhang still listened to Wu Chaoyue's suggestion, ordered to step up the pursuit of Wang Xun, and then said hatefully: "Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guofan, I was really killed by you this time!" I knew that you instructed Wang Xun to falsely accuse Zhao Liewen that it would change to this point and involve me, so I shouldn't have pushed the boat down the river to help you! ”

(Zeng Guofan: ......, I am 10,000 times more wronged than Dou E!) (To be continued.) )