After the Battle of the Gulf of Siam, the Chinese Empire's treasure fleet rested in the port of Bangkok for three days, briefly dealt with the damage to the Nuwa-class transport carriers, and then sailed to the Cam Ranh Bay Naval Base for further repairs, and then transferred soldiers from the naval base to replenish the treasure fleet, and finally rested for a month before returning north to Beijing.

After nearly three months of sailing, the slow-moving treasure fleet finally arrived at Tianjin Wei Wharf in the summer of the fifteenth year of Shenwu.

Since the thirteenth year of Shenwu, the Imperial Ministry of Industry has invested heavily in dredging and expanding the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Because of the enormity of the project, the provinces were responsible for the expansion of the canal within their own borders.

The canal was divided into the North and South Canals, the North Canal entered Beijing from Tianjin, and most of the grain and vegetables from Imperial Kyoto were transported through the North Canal. As the empire prospered, the capital Beijing, the heart of the empire, expanded dramatically and became a megacity with a population of two million, so the transportation burden of the Northern Canal increased several times.

After the new governor of Zhili, Lai Youguang, took office, he focused on the carrying capacity of the North Canal, so he spent a huge amount of money to dredge and expand the North Canal.

According to the plan, the expanded North Canal can be navigated in both directions by Nuwa-class transport carriers, and the entire North Canal will be directly connected to the Shuiguan Wharf in Beijing to the Dagu Port at the mouth of the sea in Tianjin.

Lai Youguang's request for a huge expansion cost of 30 million silver dollars was complained about by the Cabinet and the House of Commons, but strangely, in the end, the Cabinet approved the request for funding.

Of course, this is all Deng Haonan's behind-the-scenes operation. The purpose is to further expand Lai Youguang's ambition and make him even more reckless. To this end, Deng Haonan also specially summoned the relevant person in charge of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, asking them not to always investigate the Governor's Office in the near future.

Sure enough, Lai Youguang didn't find the atmosphere unusual, thinking that the emperor still favored him, and after sitting in the position of governor of Zhili, he became a little arrogant.

In the imperial study, Deng Haonan looked at the latest report sent by Wang Chen, and unconsciously smiled.

"Congratulations to the emperor, this time not only found out the core figure of the Bat Society, but also made Lai Youguang's fox tail finally exposed"

Wang Chen also seemed very happy, after investigating the Bat Club for more than ten years, he finally obtained its top-secret core recently. It turned out that the Bat Society turned out to be the remnants of the White Lotus Sect that was exterminated by Deng Haonan back then. At that time, the members of the White Lotus Sect, from the sect leader to the various rudders, were all mastered and exterminated by Deng Haonan. Then, Deng Haonan and his subordinates kept ignoring a shadow leader, that is, the White Lotus Left Envoy of the White Lotus Sect. At the beginning, in Deng Haonan's impression, there was only one White Lotus Right Envoy Liu Erhei, and he always ignored the White Lotus Left Envoy who never appeared.

And this White Lotus Left Envoy has been hidden deeply, in fact, the White Lotus Left Envoy is the real behind-the-scenes manipulator of the White Lotus Sect.

And this left envoy of the White Lotus Sect was Lai Youguang, the prefect of Wuhan back then.

Lai Youguang, as an old fox in the officialdom, is naturally very cautious. And the identity of the left envoy of the White Lotus Sect is even more hidden, and only the White Lotus Sect leader who died back then knows about it.

And with the White Lotus Sect leader being exterminated by Deng Haonan, the clue of the White Lotus Left Envoy has also been cut off. Moreover, Lai Youguang was afraid that his identity as the left envoy of the White Lotus Sect would be exposed, so he destroyed all relevant materials, thinking that he would have peace of mind from now on.

In the former Ming Dynasty, the branches of the White Lotus Sect were extremely large, and after the Jiangxi White Lotus Sect was exterminated, there were many other branches of the White Lotus Sect. As a careerist, Lai Youguang has not given up the goal in his heart - the supreme dragon chair, although he has lost a white lotus left envoy.

As a result, Lai Youguang re-selected trusted henchmen within his original organization and organized a new secret organization called the Bat Society.

The Bat Society used the huge wealth obtained by Lai Youguang to confiscate the Ming Chu King and Fu Wangfu of the previous dynasty as operating funds, and secretly coerced and threatened government officials of the Chinese Empire, thereby kidnapping a group of government officials to serve their organization.

Due to the well-organized and careful actions of the Bat Society, the Imperial Chinese Police Department and the Independent Commission Against Corruption have not been able to obtain their true faces. The National Police Agency and the Independent Commission Against Corruption only know the tip of the iceberg about it, and in order to catch it all, they have been waiting for the right time for many years.

I have to say that Lai Youguang's organization of this bat club is very successful. However, what he never expected was that in this world, there was still someone who knew his identity.

This person is one of Deng Haonan's favorite concubines, Concubine Xiao Tan Wanqing, who was once the Holy Daughter of the White Lotus Sect. In fact, Concubine Xiao didn't know Lai Youguang's identity, nor did she know Lai Youguang. The reason for recognizing Lai Youguang's relationship with the White Lotus Sect was an accident.

Lai Youguang was directly promoted by Emperor Shenwu to become the governor of the Chinese Empire, as the first feudal official of the empire, the first thing Lai Youguang did after being elected was to enter the palace to thank the emperor.

It was Concubine Xiao serving the emperor that day, and when Deng Haonan summoned Lai Youguang, Concubine Xiao sat aside and listened. Inadvertently, Concubine Xiao found the red jade wrench on Lai Youguang's left thumb.

The red jade wrench that Lai Youguang carried was extremely rare, and Concubine Xiao, as the former saint of the White Lotus Sect, had seen the White Lotus Sect leader bring this red jade wrench. Later, he once said that this wrench was given to the White Lotus Left Envoy, the greatest contributor to the White Lotus Sect.

The stakes are high, in order to further determine the authenticity, Concubine Xiao deliberately said that she liked the wrench and asked Deng Haonan to get one for her.

Deng Haonan naturally didn't know the key, thinking that this red jade wrench could be obtained, so he promised Concubine Xiao. But Lai Youguang understands that there is only one red jade wrench in his hand in the whole world. In order to please Concubine Xiao and please the emperor, Lai Youguang directly told that the red jade wrench in his hand was a rare treasure in the world, and he couldn't get a second one, so he took the initiative to give it to Concubine Xiao.

Concubine Xiao deliberately pretended not to know, and asked about the origin of this red jade wrench.

Lai Youguang was originally very vigilant, but the fact that Concubine Xiao was the Holy Maiden of the White Lotus Sect had been deliberately covered up by Deng Haonan, and the entire empire did not know Concubine Xiao's true identity at all. Lai Youguang only knew that Concubine Xiao was the capital oiran given to Deng Haonan by Wang Qia, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and he didn't have any contact with the Holy Maiden of the White Lotus Sect at all. At the same time, things have been fine after so many years, Lai Youguang thought that no one in this world knew about it, and revealed the true origin of some wrenches.

Concubine Xiao also determined that Lai Youguang must be related to the White Lotus Sect, and after Deng Haonan sent Lai Youguang, Concubine Xiao told Deng Haonan about the situation.

After Deng Haonan listened, he was very surprised, and ordered the Security Bureau to investigate secretly, and the result was in response to Concubine Xiao's guess, Lai Youguang was indeed inextricably linked to the White Lotus Sect back then.

With new clues, for the Imperial Security Agency, the investigation was targeted, and the results were linked to the Bat Society, and it was finally determined that Lai Youguang was the real mastermind behind the Bat Society.

However, there is no direct evidence pointing to Lai. If the emperor wants to move a governor of Zhili, there is not enough evidence and reason for fear of being criticized by the world, so Deng Haonan began to target Lai Youguang to let his fox tail be exposed as soon as possible.

As the Bat Club gets bigger and bigger, the funding gap is very large, and Lai Youguang must try his best to collect money in order to continue to control some court officials who have been wooed. However, the imperial government's constitution stipulates that members of the royal family and government officials are not allowed to compete with the people, and many of Lai's side jobs are monitored under the supervision of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which makes his money even more strained.

It just so happened that he was promoted to the governor of Zhili, and public funds could be embezzled in the expansion of the North Canal. Because there is no specified scale and completion time for the expansion of the North Canal, Lai Youguang, as the governor of Zhili, can apply for funds first and then slowly repair it.

However, the funds of the North Canal can only be borrowed temporarily, and sooner or later the Independent Commission Against Corruption will inquire into the use of funds. Therefore, Lai Youguang Tunnel started the idea of the treasure fleet.

Originally, after the expansion of the North Canal, treasure ships could be driven directly from Dagukou to the Shuiguan Wharf in Beijing. However, Lai Youguang could not have the idea of making treasure on the treasure ship, so he ordered that the North Canal should not be navigable during the dredging period, and let the treasure fleet unload the treasure from the ship and then transport it to the capital by land.

"We have intercepted information that bats will cause accidents on Beijing-Tianjin Avenue, and then take advantage of the chaos to rob some of the treasure trucks."

Deng Haonan sneered and asked: "This Lai Youguang is really bold, he dares to rob state property on the official road of Beijing and Tianjin."

Wang Chen said: "He is now the governor of Zhili, the route and time of the treasure transport car are clear, as long as the reinforcement time of the guard team is slightly delayed, the people of the Bat Club will have a chance to succeed."

Deng Haonan nodded and said: "Lai Youguang's ambition is probably not small, after he becomes the governor of Zhili, he will inevitably win over and threaten more and bigger officials, do you think the National Guard can be trusted?" ”

Wang Chen replied: "There should be no problem with the National Guard, but the premise is that they will not be deceived by Lai Youguang." Wechen thinks that it is better to mobilize the army"

Deng Haonan waved his hand and said, "The army is moving too much, and it will make the people uneasy." It's better to mobilize the Imperial Guards."

Wang Chen asked worriedly: "Although the Imperial Forest Army can quickly suppress the Bat Society, but Lai Youguang is scheming, I don't know how long I have been planning in the capital, the potential threat is too great, once the Royal Forest Army leaves the capital, I am afraid that the capital will change, and the emperor's safety will be at stake." ”

Deng Haonan smiled and said: "Before I make my own arrangements, I will just go south to Shandong to hold Mount Tai Feng Zen, and then the Shandong Military Region will be responsible for the security work, and I will be very safe." ”

Wang Chen nodded and said: "The emperor's southern tour can just avoid danger, and at the same time, if Lai Youguang has any action, he will also take advantage of the emperor's departure from Beijing to make some moves.

Deng Haonan sneered and said: "This time it is not only to deal with Lai Youguang and his Bat Club, but also to clean up those corrupt officials and heinous officials of the previous dynasty."

At that time, for the sake of supreme power and consolidating his ruling position, Deng Haonan had to woo the officials of the former dynasty and Ming, so he obtained the political stability and social stability of the Chinese Empire after the founding of the People's Republic of China on the condition that he would not be prosecuted for his crimes, and avoided the outbreak of civil war.

However, the people have been haunted by the corrupt officials who have been fished against them, and there are countless unjust, false and wrongful cases like Chen Yuanyuan's family, with the rule of the imperial officials and the people's freedom of speech and the right to supervise the country, the old accounts of the past began to slowly surface, many people had no economic ability before, no right to speak, and no yamen who could help them avenge their grievances, but now under the control of the Chinese Empire, the people have the economic ability to spend money to hire a lawyer to fight lawsuits, There were also the well-disciplined imperial judiciary and legislature, and they began to overturn the unjust, false and wrongful cases of that year.

The local senators and courts in the 72 provinces of the country have received more and more retrial cases, but because Deng Haonan had acquiesced in the past to all officials, the provincial courts have rejected them on the grounds that they have changed dynasties.

However, this is a palliative rather than a cure, and the long-suppressed public opinion and grievances must be channeled, otherwise it will bring instability to the imperial society.

Deng Haonan has always wanted to turn over old accounts, but he has never had a chance. This time, Lai Youguang's long-planned Bat Club will make a big move, and there are many officials involved, so Deng Haonan wants to take the opportunity to clean them up.

Wang Chen asked: "I'm afraid this is inappropriate, it will involve a lot of officials."

Deng Haonan said with a smile: "I won't kill them with a stick Among the officials who surrendered in the previous dynasty, I don't know how many old foxes are like Lai Youguang. I hope to take this opportunity to give them a good beating, so that they can cut off their thoughts if they have ideas, and keep up with their thoughts if they don't."

Hearing that the emperor didn't all turn over the old accounts, Wang Chen was also relieved, after all, none of the officials of the previous dynasty were clean, if they were really strictly investigated, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty would deal with more than half of the people. Although it is a good thing that the emperor has carried out a rectification movement, the empire has only been established for more than ten years, and strictly speaking, the foundation is not as stable as Mount Tai, so it is better to be careful.

"Since this is the case, then Weichen will go down to arrange, what kind of Cheng does the emperor plan to complete?"

Deng Haonan said lightly: "Kill a batch, degrade a batch, warn a batch, and reuse a batch"

Wang Chen bowed down and said, "Weichen obeys the order"

Wang Chen was about to retreat, Deng Haonan suddenly said: "I think it's better not to use a real treasure car, in case those antiques are broken, it's not good, after all, they are treasures thousands of years ago."

When Wang Chen heard this, he smiled bitterly, he didn't understand why the emperor was very interested in antiques, and he liked to collect foreign antiques. Of course, he didn't know that Deng Haonan's hobby was purely because China in later generations was robbed too much by foreigners, and Deng Haonan was just based on revenge.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, Weichen will arrange a batch of fake targets to ship first, and those cultural relics will not be damaged."

"That's good" Deng Haonan thought of Li Yan and the others looting so many rare treasures from Egypt, and his heart was excited, and the troubles brought by Lai Youguang were diluted a lot.

Wang Chen said again: "Your Majesty, your royal garden needs to be completed in a hurry."

Deng Haonan looked at Wang Chen suspiciously, and the latter continued: "This batch of treasures may still be stored in the current royal museum, but the golden city from Peru has begun to be loaded, and it will not be long before it will arrive in the capital, and the museum will definitely not be able to load it at that time."

"That's what you said"

Deng Haonan then remembered that the Peruvian treasure fleet was about to return to China, and the existing royal museum would definitely not be able to fit at that time, so he called Wang Chengen, the head of the household department and the head of the internal affairs office, for questioning.

However, when Deng Haonan inquired about the progress of the construction of the Royal Garden, he had no doubt about the scale of construction and the cost, and was immediately shocked by the huge project of the Royal Garden.

"With a project budget of more than 400 million silver dollars, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is really willing to spend money."

Wang Chengen didn't dare to talk, just stood honestly. If he panders to the emperor, then he is bound to offend the entire harem, because this royal garden is required by the harem concubines. If you help the inner court to speak, it will inevitably make the emperor unhappy.

Simply, Wang Chengen put the responsibility on the cabinet.

"Your Majesty, Weichen is only ordered to allocate funds, and these are all approved by the cabinet."

Deng Haonan rolled his eyes, he knew that there was no need to ask about this matter. Since the empire is not short of money, the cabinet will naturally not ask how much money is spent if it curries favor with the harem. That is, the Chinese Empire has a solid foundation, otherwise such a huge amount of funds, even if the Old Summer Palace and Summer Palace built by the Qing Dynasty in history are not so vast combined, they cannot be compared at all.

However, Deng Haonan will also think in a good place. He was thinking at the moment that in a few hundred years, this royal garden would become the largest and most luxurious royal garden in the world, and there should be no problem with being the first in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Thinking about happy things, Deng Haonan didn't feel that he spent too much money.

On the basis of the original design, Deng Haonan believed that there were still many cultural relics in the Chinese Empire that needed to be accommodated in the museum, and the museum was more than tripled.

Soon, the southern tour began.

According to the plan, Deng Haonan took the harem concubines to Mount Tai to seal Zen, while Lin Feng and Wang Chen sat in Beijing and Tianjin respectively, waiting for Lai Youguang and his bats to take the bait.

Sure enough, Lai Youguang learned that the emperor was no longer in Gyeonggi, and as the governor of Zhili, he had the greatest real power, and he actively arranged the robbery of the treasure car.

Li Yan and Li Zicheng escorted the treasure back to Beijing, but they didn't know that the treasures in the car had turned into bricks.

When a large number of members of the Bat Club and their mercenaries suddenly rushed out of the woods on both sides of the official road and rose up to rob the treasure truck, Li Zicheng and Li Yan also commanded their subordinates to desperately defend it.

When a treasure truck was overturned, the moment the bricks inside fell, not only the people of the Bat Club were dumbfounded, but Li Zicheng and Li Yan were also stunned.

After discovering that it was a brick, the members of the Bat Society understood the plan and hurriedly fled. However, at this moment, the Royal Foresters, who had been ambushed nearby, quickly dispatched to surround and annihilate all the members of the Bat Society, and captured a large number of live mouths.

In the capital, Lin Feng also led the Imperial Forest Army to capture Lai Youguang and his comrades. V