Chapter 159 Three Missing One

Old Man Shen once told Qin Lei that if the value of the canal is not counted, all the property of the Xu family will add up, that is, about 40 million taels of silver. And the canal that runs through the north and south, even in the worst years, can bring the Xu family a net income of two million taels of silver.

And in Qin Lei's heart, if he can sell it for thirty or forty million taels of silver, he will burn high incense. Now Xu Beiqing said that he wanted to take out half of the family property from this canal and exchange it for a maximum of 10 million taels of silver, so Qin Lei couldn't help but be surprised.

Xu Beiqing also counted it, and as soon as the words came out, he no longer regretted it. He laughed and said: "The old man understands a truth through this matter: although this canal is good, if it is not good for future generations, it will definitely be coveted by others, and even bring about the disaster of extermination." At that time, it became a scourge. ”

When Qin Lei heard this, his old face turned red, wasn't he the one who coveted it? He smiled dryly: "The old man really sees the problem thoroughly, and admires and admires it." After all, he is the top three masters in Zhongdu, and he returned to normal in a blink of an eye, and said with a smile: "The old man is so generous, I don't know what other requirements there are?" ”

Xu Beiqing saw Qin Lei's face flushing, and his heart was secretly refreshed, but he didn't dare to go too far, and said respectfully: "The Han family has nothing else to ask for, I just hope that the prince can feel the Han family's determination to change the past, and ......"

He looked at Xu Tancheng and saw him nodding, so he lifted his placket and knelt down again and said, "The sincerity of the Han family's humble return." ”

Qin Lei had to admire the tacit understanding between these gate valves, as soon as Lu Yanwu heard that Xu Tancheng was back, he knew that he would definitely surrender; And as soon as Xu Tancheng saw Lu Yanwu coming in, he knew that Qin Lei had the heart to accept. This tacit understanding of advancing and retreating together is the most terrifying thing about these gate valves.

Qin Lei laughed and got up to pick up the old man, and smiled at Xu Tancheng again: "Lord Xu should also get up." "As for the guy who was tied hand and foot and gagged his mouth, Qin Lei didn't pursue it was the greatest grace, so no one objected to him still kneeling there.

At this time, it is also time to hold the lamp. Qin Lei left the two of them to eat, which was exactly what the two of them wanted, and followed Qin Lei to the dining room in the front yard. This time, Qin Lei did not put on any green seedling banquet for the two of them, but instructed the chef in the house to carefully organize a table of Jingxiang dishes.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, the embarrassment and embarrassment in the day will disappear. Qin Lei put down the soup bowl in his hand and smiled at the old man Xu: "Since I came to Jingzhou Mansion, I have been grateful to the old man for borrowing the house and giving him silver. This king really can't help it. ”

Xu Beiqing, who was tasting the soup, almost burst into tears, and said in his heart: Do you still know?

Xu Tancheng hurriedly continued: "This is the duty of the Han family, not to mention that the prince has also accepted the Han family, so he should not see outside." ”

Qin Lei waved his hand and said, "It's wrong, Lord Xu is wrong!" ”

Xu Tancheng leaned over and said sincerely: "Please teach the prince." ”

Qin Lei stretched out his index finger and shook it, "The Lone King never lets others suffer. Saying that, he smiled at Lu Yanwu and said: "How can there be a reason to let outsiders take advantage and let others suffer, isn't it?" ”

Koji Yanwu Twist smiled and said: "The prince is fair, even if he seems to be suffering a loss for a while, how can he know if it is a blessing?" ”

Qin Lei laughed and said: "Lord Koji is right, Old Xu, this canal should not be counted as a revival yamen." Just bid with those two million taels of gold, which is more than enough. ”

The Xu family started by relying on the canal, and their feelings for the canal are unimaginable to outsiders. If it weren't for the catastrophe they faced, they would never have given it. Now hearing the loosening in Qin Lei's tone, even Xu Tancheng became nervous.

Qin Lei looked at the two principals of the Xu family with a smile, and said with a smile: "Lone has an idea, let's talk about it." ”

The father and son nodded and said, "I would like to hear about it." ”

Qin Lei's face gradually became serious and said: "Ming people don't do dark things, and King Gu did have the idea of recovering the canal from you. ”

He is so frank that the father and son of the Xu family can't say anything except smirk.

Qin Lei continued: "But Lone is not the little bit of silver that you are jealous of. Although Lone doesn't have a lot of money, he doesn't disdain to use that kind of tricky and indiscriminate means. ”

He talked to himself, and the father and son of the Xu family, who knew it bitterly, continued to giggle.

Qin Lei's face gradually became gloomy: "There are two troubles in the imperial court, one is empty and the other is greedy for ink. Eating empty quotas is a matter for the military, let's not talk about it. Speaking of this greedy ink, a few people are in the bureau, so they naturally know where the object of this greedy ink is. ”

The 4,000-mile Grand Canal, several of you know it. But that is the backbone of the official network compiled by Prime Minister Wen Cheng, whoever dares to touch it will not be able to get along with the officials of the Great Qin and Manchu Dynasty.

Qin Lei saw that the three of them looked nervous, and laughed at himself: "Do you think Gu has that kind of courage like a torture heaven? ”

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief and shook their heads in unison.

Qin Lei couldn't help but sigh a little that his image lacked a sense of justice, and he said in a deep voice: "But you also know that the canal has reached a precarious point due to exhaustive fishing, and the greedy officials even dare to swallow the disaster relief money. ”

Several people nodded with deep feelings, especially the Xu father and son, in the early years of Zhaowu, the Xu family could net five million taels of silver every year just by relying on proper transportation. And last year, in the sixteenth year of Zhaowu, relying on the monopoly, the freight was increased several times, plus the expenses of various names, and the income was only two million taels of silver. The reason is very simple, the silting of the river is becoming more and more serious, not to mention the narrowing of the waterway, and many sections of the river still have to rely on fiber pulling to pass. This not only increases the cost of shipping, but also seriously lengthens the time of sailing. More than ten years ago, it took me to run two trips, but now one trip is not enough. Originally, the exploitation was heavy, and I couldn't earn a few dollars per trip, but now the number of trips has come down again, and I really don't make any money. Why should businessmen bother to do some useless work, it is better to make money in another way.

The imperial court also knew about this problem, didn't it pay all the river taxes for dredging silver? However, dredging is the overall project of the 4,000-mile canal, not a province that has cleared it. This gave the government along the river an excuse to prevaricate, and after coming and going, the silver fell into the pockets of the silverfish.

Qin Lei looked at the three of them with blazing eyes, and said slowly: "King Gu wants to follow the example of reviving the yamen, and then build a Qinghe yamen, which is responsible for the tax determination and dredging of the canal." ”

Xu's father and son smacked their tongues secretly, and finally Xu Tancheng said: "The prince's vision is magnificent, if it can really be done, it will definitely be able to reverse the half-dead situation of the canal." But ......"

Qin Lei said with a smile: "But there are nine provinces and one government in the country, and the Grand Canal runs through six. If you don't open up the governors of the six provinces, you can't do this, right? ”

Xu Tancheng smiled and said, "Lord Mingjian." It seems that the wisdom pearl has long been in hand, and the lower officials are indeed worried. ”

Qin Lei nodded and said, "This matter already has a charter in the heart of the Lone King, and it must be discussed in the long run." I'm going to give you a start today, but I'm afraid that the old man won't be able to sleep when he goes back. ”

Sure enough, the old man Xu had already squinted with a smile, and a few people didn't talk about business, but picked up some spring flowers and autumn moons, and the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves for a while.

After the banquet, the satisfied old man Xu went back with his youngest son, but Xu Tancheng stayed. In addition to being the eldest young master of the Xu family, he is also the governor of Shannan Province.

The advantage of working after the private matter is that both parties do not have to repeat the things that are vain.

Knowing that Xu Tancheng had been on the road for a day and his body was weak, Qin Lei asked him to briefly report the banditry situation in Shannan, and sent him to take a bath and sleep. Xu Tancheng was grateful, but he still had to ask dutifully: "How should our province cooperate with the prince to quell the chaos in the next step?" ”

Qin Lei said with a smile: "Send a letter to Qiao Du and ask him to come to Qingcui Mountain Villa for a vacation." ”

Xu Tancheng was a little stupid and said, "What else?" ”

Qin Lei waved his hand and said, "Also, hurry up and go to the bath and sleep." Only then did Xu Tancheng, who was still a little confused, gotten away.

Qin Lei was not joking, the war in the south gave him the opportunity to establish absolute authority here,

And tying the governors of the two provinces to the waistband of the trousers is the proper meaning of the question. Therefore, Koji Yanwu and Zhuo Wenzheng are almost inseparable day and night. Now send Qiao Yuanshan, the governor of Shannan, to gather this table to supervise the horse hanging.

After a busy day, Qin Lei was also tired, so he returned to the room and washed hastily and fell asleep with Ruolan in his arms.

Just when Qin Lei had a tryst with Shiyun in a dream, the Zhennan army, which had been moored on the canal for more than two days, finally pulled anchor and set sail.

And Qin Youcai's troops, who were stationed on Cuiwei Mountain, also lit torches, went down the mountain in a mighty way, and the troops drove to Jingzhou City in four ways. The sergeant guarding the city gate had already received the order, and when he saw that Jiangbei General Gu Pei was also among them, he opened the city gate and let this tiger and wolf army enter the city.

At midnight, the entire Jingzhou City was completely under the control of the Zhennan Army.

On the tower of the city gate, Qin Youcai, Bo Xianyang and Shi Meng gathered under the torch and began to assign tasks.

Shi Meng had already changed out of the fancy apprentice Luohan costume and put on the black clothes and light armor that he had not seen for a long time. For the black-clothed guards who are related to their lives, Qin Lei will naturally not be stingy, just this light armor made from the craftsman's mansion costs 1,200 taels of silver for each set, and the price of five sets of cavalry armor is high. Although it is not ruled out that Qin Lei may be slaughtered as a wronged leader, this light armor weighs only one-fifth of ordinary armor, and its defensive strength is twice that of ordinary armor. Moreover, this armor, which has been improved and designed by Qin Lei himself, not only has the protection range been greatly increased, but it is also basically unaffected when it moves.

Another point is that this armor is majestic and enviable. Ignoring the envious gazes of Bo Xian Saiyang and Qin Youcai, Shi Meng said in a rough voice: "The prince has a decree, the 1,300 people on this list must be wiped out before dawn." This hard-won list is the biggest gain from his and Manan's blending into the Maitreya Sect, and even the best monks can't compare.

Only then did the two of them take their minds, each took a bound list, and went their separate ways. Shi Meng, who was lagging behind, pursed his lips and muttered softly: "I don't know if Lao Tzu will have a son in the future without assholes." Thinking that Li Hun had done so many bad things and had four eldest sons, he relieved himself and went down to the city gate.

It didn't take long for the fires to disperse to the streets and alleys of Jingzhou City, where they were torches in the hands of a group of sergeants who had gone to arrest people. They searched from house to house according to the list they had been assigned. found the address on the list, didn't knock on the door, kicked the door open with a flying kick, rushed in like a wolf, and indiscriminately dragged the people out of the bed, whether you were a gray-haired old man or a young lady who didn't come out of the door, they were all tied up and pulled to the street.

Among them, there are naturally scum who see the beautiful woman in the bed, so they take the opportunity to step forward and slap the oil and water, which is very rude; There are also those who take the opportunity to rummage through boxes and cabinets and rob jewelry and silver money. If anyone dared to resist, several sharp spears did not hesitate to stab them out, knocking them to the ground.

On this night, all the families who had anything to do with the Maitreya Sect, as long as they were not wealthy families, whether rich or poor, were all robbed.

On this night, I don't know how many innocent families were robbed, and I don't know how many chaste martyrs committed suicide with hatred.

There is always countless squalor behind this seemingly righteous behavior. But history is written by the victors, and only the actions of the losers are branded with words like 'bestiality' and 'robbers'.

Fortunately, there are still many people who have not suffered. But these families also had a sleepless night of fear. People were awakened from their sleep, and families huddled together to hear the incessant screams, shouts of killing, cursing and even the moans of women. It wasn't until almost five watches that the voice gradually became quieter. But immediately after the sound of the water dragon spraying water on the ground, it was not until dawn that the outside was quiet again. An outrageous calm.

Anyway, it's dawn.

When the trembling people looked out through the crack in the door, they could still clearly see the places on the street that had not been washed before, and there were still fresh traces of blood.

The breeze brings a burst of May flowers, but with a faint smell of blood......