Wuchang, Admiral Xingyuan.

As soon as the mysterious middle-aged man stepped into the signing room, he felt that the atmosphere was wrong, because in addition to the new Huguang Governor Zhao Xin, there was actually a mysterious black-clothed masked woman in the signing room.

The middle-aged man tried his best to stabilize his mind and asked in a condensed voice, "Lord Dutai, what do you mean by this?" ”

Zhao Xin didn't answer, but asked: "The governor still doesn't know what to call the name of the gentleman." ”

The middle-aged man also replied, "Lord Dutai, what's the matter with this woman?" ”

Zhao Xin smiled faintly and said, "This girl is the intelligence secretary of the Governor, Miss Liu. ”

The middle-aged man gasped, turned around and left, Liu Qingyan's delicate body twisted, and he had already ghostly blocked the middle-aged man's way, and then reached out and twisted the middle-aged man's arm, tied his back, and then said coldly: "Since Your Excellency has already appeared, do you still want to leave easily?" ”

The middle-aged man had his hands tied, and he shouted loudly: "Lord Dutai, if you don't listen to good advice, you will die without a place to be buried." ”

"Hahaha." Zhao Xintian laughed and said, "Then the governor will have to wait and see who can take the life of the governor?" ”

The middle-aged man shouted: "The person who took your surname is none other than Wang Pu, the governor of the five provinces!" ”

"Sure enough, it's a lotus flower!"

Liu Qingyan snorted lightly, and the seemingly weak Rou Yi gently exerted force, and the arm behind the middle-aged man's back was tied back, and the middle-aged man's face suddenly turned pale, and a few bean-sized cold sweats had already appeared on his forehead, but he couldn't bear it without humming.

"Looks like there's still two pounds of bones." Liu Qingyan said to Zhao Xin again, "Lord Dutai, this guy is likely to be the one who instigated Zuo Liangyu to rebel, if there is nothing else, the little woman will take him away." ”

Zhao Xin arched his hand and said, "Girl, please." ”

Liu Qingyan turned around and beckoned, the two young women had already entered in response to the call, escorting the middle-aged man away, Liu Qingyan arched his hand to Zhao Xin again, and also turned around.

■■■

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Under the instigation of the Fushe, the provinces directly under the Zhejiang government have rioted, and the gentry and common people have united to resist the imperial court's levy of food and wages for the next three years, and the disturbances in Songjiang, Suzhou, and Changzhou are particularly large, and the officials sent by the imperial court to levy wages not only did not receive the levy, but were also hung up by the mob and beaten badly.

The news soon spread to Nanjing.

Emperor Longwu urgently summoned the cabinet ministers to the Qianqing Palace (Nanjing also has the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang repaired) to discuss matters, Sun Chuanting was ordered to be sick, and he was not allowed to appear in public if he was bedridden for less than half a year, so it was naturally impossible to enter the palace to discuss matters, Qian Qianyi and Lu Daqi were also sick in bed as usual, only Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang and Wang Duo hurriedly entered the palace.

After meeting, Emperor Longwu asked Gao Hongtu with a gloomy face: "Gao Ge Lao, didn't I repeatedly tell me that I must do a good job of pacifying the people, why are there large-scale disturbances in Songjiang, Suzhou, and Changzhou, and the officials sent to levy salaries have been beaten, what is going on?" ”

Gao Hongtu wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, knelt down and explained: "Long live Qizuo, the old minister has repeatedly told the officials who went down to collect salaries, so that they must pay attention to appeasing the emotions of the people and explain to them the difficulties of the imperial court, it stands to reason that this kind of thing should not happen." ”

Emperor Longwu frowned and said unhappily: "Gao Ge Lao, something has happened now!" ”

"Check." Gao Hongtu hurriedly said, "The old minister must send someone to investigate thoroughly, find out about this matter, and see who dares to fan the flames in secret and disrupt the imperial court to collect food and wages?" ”

"Naturally, you have to check." Emperor Longwu said, "But I want to know what Elder Gao Ge plans to do?" Do you continue to levy salaries? What if a mutiny is provoked? The two provinces of Zhejiang have always been the tax centers of my Ming Dynasty, if even these two provinces are in chaos, where will the money and grain of the treasury come from? ”

Gao Hongtu said in a condensed voice: "Long live, it is absolutely impossible to continue to levy salaries." ”

Emperor Longwu frowned and said: "If you can't levy money, there will be no silver, how can you repair the palace without silver?" How can I marry my royal sister without money? How can you select a draft girl without money? Could it be that Gao Ge Lao still plans to let me lower my voice and go to borrow money from the relatives in Nanjing City? ”

"Don't dare." Gao Hongtu hurriedly said, "The old minister never dares to have such a rebellious idea. ”

Emperor Longwu said loudly: "Then what do you say?" ”

"Hooray." Gao Hongtu's eyes flashed with a trace of viciousness, and he said in a condensed voice, "The old minister still thought of a way. ”

"Oh?" Emperor Longwu's expression slowed slightly, and he asked, "What method?" ”

Gao Hongtu glanced at Jiang Yueguang behind him, Jiang Yueguang took two steps on his knees, stepped forward and said: "Long live, in fact, the people of Zhejiang and Zhizhi provinces are already very poor, and those who really have silver are those big silk and hemp and cotton households, and the turmoil that happened in Songjiang, Suzhou, and Changzhou is also the most fierce of these big silk and hemp and cotton households." ”

Emperor Longwu said: "Jiang Aiqing means ......"

Jiang Yueguang said: "What the old minister means is that instead of paying to the people who have no silver, it is better to pay these big silk and linen and cotton families!" As long as the blame for inciting the rebellion is put on these big silk and cotton households, we can take the opportunity to confiscate all their family property! ”

Gao Hongtu said: "Long live, Songjiang is a cotton-producing house, and there are millions of Songjiang cotton cloths produced every year, while Suzhou and Changzhou are silk houses, and there are more than 500,000 high-quality silk produced every year!" These provinces are also the richest provinces in Zhejiang, conservatively estimated, there are hundreds of large silk households, hemp and cotton households, each household has hundreds of thousands of dollars! ”

Hundreds of large households, each household has hundreds of thousands, plus a piece is tens of millions of taels of silver, if you can really return this silver to the treasury, then the court will have a lot of money in the next few years.

In fact, Gao Hongtu's estimate was indeed conservative, and the private wealth in Jiangnan at that time was already considerable.

Since Jiajing, the Ming Dynasty gradually lifted the sea ban, and the silk, tea, and porcelain in the south of the Yangtze River are the best-selling luxury goods in the Western world, and a large number of merchant ships loaded with silver from Nanyang, Yueben, Luzon, and even Europe come to the south of the Yangtze River for trade every year.

Since the Ming Dynasty officially forbade trade with the West, these trades were all smuggled by the people, and the huge wealth brought by trade flowed into the pockets of large silk households, cotton and linen households, textile households, tea households, and officials who colluded with them.

This is also a strange phenomenon unique to the Ming Dynasty, the wealth of the people is very abundant, but the country is so poor that it is bankrupt.

Emperor Longwu pondered for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Gao Ge Lao, this matter will be handed over to Jiang Ge Lao and Wang Ge Lao, Jiang Ge Lao, Wang Ge Lao, I hope you will plan and then act, don't provoke another civil uprising." ”

Jiang Yueguang and Wang Duo hurriedly knelt on the ground to receive the order: "The old minister receives the order." ”

Emperor Longwu waved his hand, and Jiang Yueguang and Wang Duo retreated outside the hall on their knees.

Emperor Longwu beckoned to Gao Hongtu again, Gao Hongtu took two steps forward on his knees, knelt at the feet of Emperor Longwu, Emperor Longwu leaned down and asked in a low voice: "Elder Gaoge, how is the other thing?" ”

Gao Hongtu said: "The old minister already has a perfect plan, and he is about to report long live." ”

"Oh?" Emperor Longwu said happily, "Tell me quickly." ”

Gao Hongtu said: "The old minister thinks about it, and there is only one way to disintegrate Wang Pu's central army. ”

Emperor Longwu said: "What way? ”

Gao Hongtu said: "The bottom of the kettle draws salary!" ”

Emperor Longwu said: "How to draw salary from the bottom of the kettle?" ”

Gao Hongtu said: "Wang Pu repeatedly defeated Jiannu, burned and looted in Jiannu Shengjing, and captured the slave chieftain Taiji, if the old minister expected to be good, Jiannu will definitely hate Wang Pu to the bone, this time Yang Tingjian led a delegation to Yanjing to negotiate peace with Jiannu, Jiannu will inevitably take the opportunity to put forward conditions, to us to get rid of Wang Pu." ”

Emperor Longwu bowed his head lightly when he heard this, and it was completely reasonable for Jiannu to put forward this condition, and it may be a very high surname.

Gao Hongtu continued: "As long as Jiannu puts forward this condition, then half of the big thing will be done!" As long as Jiannu puts on a posture of attacking Shandong, Wang Pu will inevitably lead the army to rescue Shandong again! After Wang Pu led the army, he transferred the troops of Nanzhi Jinshanwei, Zhejiang Linshanwei and Guanhaiwei into Beijing, forced to land the central army that stayed in the Yanziji camp, and finally released Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo, and Liu Zeqing, the three generals, and used them to control the 60,000 old Jiangbei troops in the Yanziji camp, so that Nanjing was completely under the control of the imperial court! ”

Zhang Zi'an on the side pursed his lips, and commented on Gao Hongtu's idea in his heart: talking on paper.

In Zhang Zi'an's view, Gao Hongtu's concept has too many loopholes, and there are too many subjective assumptions, taking it for granted that Jiannu will definitely send troops, taking it for granted that Wang Pu will definitely send troops to rescue Shandong, and even more taking it for granted that Wang Pu will send troops in a hurry without preparation.

Emperor Longwu was very satisfied when he heard this, and said happily: "Gao Ge Lao, the important task of eradicating Wang Pu will be handed over to you." ”

"Hurrah don't worry." Gao Hongtu said solemnly, "The old minister must live up to the trust of Long Live the Great Living." ”

"Alright." Emperor Longwu said happily, "I don't have anything special to advise, you can leave the palace." ”

"In this way, the old minister retires."

Gao Hongtu gave a long swipe to Emperor Longwu, knelt on his knees and walked out of the hall, and met Jiang Yueguang and Wang Duo outside the hall and went straight to the Wenhua Palace.

■■■

Wuchang, Liu Qingyan's residence.

In the gloomy dungeon, the middle-aged man was hung up on the beam with his hands behind his back, and the whole person could barely reach the ground on his toes, and two big men with leather whips held by them viciously, whenever the middle-aged man closed his eyelids and wanted to fall asleep, he would whip the middle-aged man hard, and the middle-aged man would wake up with a scream.

Three days, it's been three whole days!

In the past three days, the middle-aged man has been hung like this, not allowed to eat, not allowed to drink, not allowed to sleep, and when he is sleepy, he will be whipped to wake him up.

This is the most typical method of boiling eagles, within three days, even the most ferocious eagles will be tamed into obedient birds, and the willpower of ordinary people will not be able to resist for two days!

"Kill me, man." The middle-aged man's spirit finally collapsed, "Please, give me a knife." ”

A big man whipped the middle-aged man on the back again, and sneered: "Sample, I don't believe that I can't get to know you." ”

"Say it." Another big man brought a bowl of water, put it to the middle-aged man's mouth, and asked in a cruel voice, "What's your name?" ”

"Water water water ......" The middle-aged man smelled the fragrance of water and said continuously, "I want to drink water, drink water ......"

"Say your name and I'll give you water to drink!"

"I said, I said, my name is ...... Zhu San. ”

"Boom."

As soon as the big man's hand was loosened, the porcelain bowl fell to the ground, and the water in the bowl spilled on the ground.

The middle-aged man's spirit was completely complete, and he cried loudly: "God, God, let me die, I don't want to live anymore, hahaha, let me die, please, kill me......"

"Boil, boil!" Another big man said coldly, "Lao Tzu doesn't believe that he can't break him!" ”

"I say, I'll say anything." The middle-aged man shook his head vigorously, cried bitterly and said, "My name is Fan Wencheng, a native of Shengjing, Liaodong, and the Mandate ......of Heaven has returned to the Qing Dynasty for three years."

"Daqing? Jiannu! The big man changed his color, "It turned out to be Han Jian!" ”

Another big man said, "I'll report to Miss!" ”

After speaking, the big man left in a hurry, and in less than a moment, he led Liu Qingyan and the two maidservants into the basement, Liu Qingyan's cold gaze fell on Fan Wencheng's face like a knife, and asked in a condensed voice: "Your name is Fan Wencheng?" ”

Fan Wencheng nodded weakly.

"Said that the Hou Ye talked about you, hardcore Han Jian!" Liu Qingyan said, "Why did you run to Wuchang?" ”

"It's a long story, heh......" Fan Wencheng yawned and said, "Originally, I came to Nanjing on the orders of Dolgon to provoke the party struggle in the Southern Ming Dynasty, but later I found that Sun Chuanting and Wang Pu had completely controlled the government and couldn't provoke the party dispute at all, so I had to find a way to get close to Zhu Changfang, the king of Lu......"

Fan Wencheng's spirit had completely collapsed, and he told everything that had happened since he infiltrated Nanjing.

Liu Qingyan was like a treasure, immediately returned to the boudoir to repair a book, and sent the news back to Nanjing with a flying pigeon, although Liu Qingyan was not in Nanjing, but she knew everything about what had happened in Nanjing recently, she knew what this news meant to Wang Pu, this is simply a sharp butcher's knife!

Fan Wencheng is not only a lackey of Jiannu, but also has something to do with the traitor Zuo Liangyu, and is also involved with Zhu Changfang, the king of Lu! If anyone has anything to do with Fan Wencheng, he will immediately have to bear the three heinous crimes of communicating with foreign countries, plotting to usurp the throne, and rebellion, any of which is enough to destroy the nine clans.

■■■

Nanjing, Jingnan Hou Mansion.

Wang Pu and Chang Yanling, Li Zushu, Xu Hongji a few friends rubbed two rounds of mahjong just came back, before entering the backyard heard bursts of laughter like silver bells, laughter came from the round Mu Dan Pavilion, Mu Dan Pavilion is Wang Pu specially for Chen Yuanyuan's bed, Wang Pu felt that among the hundred flowers, only Mu Danhua is worthy of the beauty and generosity of the round, so he gave such a name.

This is very cheesy in the eyes of scholars, but Wang Pu is a little proud, because he still thinks about the Orchid Pavilion, the Narcissus Pavilion, the Rose Pavilion, and the Mandala Pavilion......

Wang Puzheng was thinking about which women had gathered in the Mudan Pavilion, so lively?

Lu Liu suddenly approached Wang Pu and whispered softly: "Master Hou, the eldest princess came to visit, and she didn't bring Luanjia, she came alone." ”

……

(To be continued)