"A hundred years ago, the Xu family was insignificant in the southeast, but since the Jiajing Dynasty produced the first assistant Xu Jie, this old fight has overthrown the power traitor Yan Song, which can be called a famous appearance. Xu Jie's official is clever, and the Xu family has accumulated a lot of money, from the initial hundreds of acres of fields, to the end of hundreds of thousands of acres of fields, as well as a large number of mulberry fields, which can be called the first in the southeast! ”

Mao Yilu told the history of the Xu family, Zhang Ke closed his eyes and listened, speaking of which he still knew a little about Xu Jie, and couldn't help asking: "Mao Zhongcheng, I heard that after Xu Jie's resignation, Gao Gong became the first assistant, and sent Hairui to be the governor of Yingtian, which is your current position!" That's the Daming Divine Sword, I was stunned that Xu Jie's two sons were confiscated, and the fields were cleared again, wasn't the Xu family defeated? ”

"Hehe, I don't have the ability of Haigangfeng." Mao Yilu said with a smile: "Grandpa Guo, it's just Qingzhang, and it's still in the name of the Xu family." When Zhang Juzheng came to power, Xu Jie was his teacher, so he naturally had to be treated kindly, and no one was looking for trouble with the decrepit old man. Later, the Xu family successively had people as officials, and after Zhang Juzheng's whip law was abolished, the Xu family's land in the southeast not only did not decrease, but also increased a lot. In the past ten years, I heard that I have meddled in overseas trade again, and I have made a lot of money! ”

"I see!"

Suddenly raised his head, and he came to the door of the Xu family, the old house of the Xu family is in Songjiang Huating, and the branch in Suzhou is only. However, the mansion is very elegantly built, with pavilions and pavilions, high and low, showing the beauty of the southeast garden.

"What a good house, it's just a pity, hiding dirt and dirt!"

Zhang Ke and Mao Yilu arrived at the front of the main hall, and there were a large number of people kneeling under the eaves, all men, women and children, many women holding children in their arms, snot in the cold weather, and kept crying.

"What is this for, raiding the house is not destroying the door, just take the woman and the child to the side room, and leave it to speak."

Sun Jiawen hurriedly waved his hand, and the soldiers dragged the people away, leaving only a dozen men in front of him. Kneeling in the middle was an old man of fifty or sixty years old, his forehead was covered with cold sweat and his whole body was trembling in the cold weather.

"Who are you?"

"Little Lao'er, Xu, Xu Xuchang."

"Well, get up and talk!"

"Thank you, sir!" The old man's legs were numb on his knees, and the soldiers came and crossed their arms before they lifted him up from the ground.

"Do you know why Benjue came to raid your house?"

When Xu Xuchang heard this, he immediately burst into tears and cried: "The little old man is law-abiding, and he will never dare to do anything wrong, and please be aware of it!" ”

"Don't dare? I think it's a lot! Sun Jiawen sneered: "Grandpa Guo, the humble position has been checked, in the backyard of the Xu family, there are three thousand stones of grain, all of which they bought from the black market and hoarded them!" ”

Who doesn't know that Suzhou is short of food, and hoarding at this time is simply looking for death.

Xu Xuchang was so angry that his lips were purple, his fingers trembled, and he said sharply: "My lord, my Xu family has been cultivating and reading heirlooms for generations, and I have never done anything against my conscience, you can raid my home, but you must not slander the name of the Xu family!" ”

Sun Jiawen sneered: "The name of the bullshit, I'll let you show your original form now!" Come on, bring all the food! ”

The soldiers descended one after another, and in a short time shoved from behind two dozen wheelbarrows, each with four sacks of rice on either side. They were all pushed to the middle of the courtyard and placed neatly on the ground.

Xu Xuchang glanced at the bags and frowned.

"This adult, there are more than 100 people in my Xu family, and there are many domestic slave workers, so it's not unusual to have a little food! Why do we say that we hoard? ”

"That's a good question! Let you know now! ”

Sun Jiawen walked in front of a belt of rice, swung his knife violently, and split the rice bag. The rice flowed out with a bang, about half of it. saw a small wooden plaque appear inside, Sun Jiawen took it in his hand and sent it to Zhang Ke.

"Grandpa Guo, please see, this is the number of military rations, which is ironclad evidence that the Xu family bought grain from the black market!"

Xu Xuchang is not stupid, when he saw the wooden sign, he immediately understood, dare to love that someone has dug a pit, waiting for the prey to jump inside!

Who can do such a good thing, no need to ask, it must be his precious nephew Xu Zhongliang.

The old man's eyes were blood-red, and the Xu family's century-old reputation was ruined!!

"Where is Xu Zhongliang?"

……

"Gao Gong, you can save me!"

Gao Guifang snorted coldly, turned his head, and didn't bother to pay attention to Xu Zhongliang at all.

Xu Zhongliang had no choice but to turn his head, kneel and climb a few steps, and hugged Ye Yongxin's thigh.

"Ye Gongzi, you are the most righteous, now that the Xu family is in trouble, you have to help your brother!"

"Alas! You did it all yourself! Ye Yongxin said mercilessly: "How did we discuss it at the beginning? Zhang Ke is so fierce and cunning with soldiers. We must do things in accordance with the rules, and we must not leave a handle. It's good for you to run to the black market, buy 3,000 stone of grain in one go, and ship it home with great fanfare, who will you clean up! ”

Xu Zhongliang knelt on the ground, snot and tears, crying miserably.

"I was also confused for a while, I didn't think that Zhang Ke would dare to risk the world's disapproval! even said that if you copy your home, you will copy your home, doesn't he know that you are afraid? ”

"I'm afraid of you big-headed ghost!" Gao Guifang grabbed the tea bowl and slammed it on Xu Zhongliang's head, and the blood came down instantly, so frightened that Xu Zhongliang didn't dare to wipe it, so he could only hold on.

"Zhang Ke commands thousands of troops, and the last thing he is afraid of is to come hard! Don't talk about raiding your home, even if it is to destroy your full house, people will not frown! ”

Gao Guifang pointed at Xu Zhongliang's nose and scolded: "What I look down on the most is a fool like you who is greedy for a small bargain? You buy food from the black market, it's just because you buy food everywhere these days, you spend too much money, and you want to earn a little back! But do you know that Suzhou is full of Zhang Ke's people, if he catches the handle and touches the melon, we will all be finished! For the sake of you, you hurt the big guy, why don't you die! ”

The more Gao Guifang spoke, the more angry he became, and he flew up and kicked Xu Zhongliang out.

"Oh no, sir, it's a big deal!"

The house slave ran in panting from outside, and the noble face turned blue for a moment.

"What's wrong? But Zhang Ke is here with his troops? ”

"Back to the old man, no, yes, it's the people from the governor's yamen who are arresting Xu everywhere, Mr. Xu!"

"Oh!"

Gao Guifang's face softened a lot, but he just arrested Xu Zhongliang, and it didn't seem that things were very bad. In fact, he also felt that he was a little worried, no matter how powerful Zhang Ke was, he couldn't find out the movements of these local snakes in a short time. Besides, even if you find it out, you may not dare to do it!

"Uncle Gao Shi, what do you think should be done," the representative of the Zhao family asked.

Gao Guifang was silent for a long time, and then said: "Don't do anything, go home separately, stay honest, don't show your handle!" ”

As soon as I heard this, many people turned their heads to each other, and people did it, but they didn't do anything on their side, isn't this sitting still!

Only Ye Yongxin's brows gradually relaxed, waved a small fan, and said with a smile: "Amazing!" Zhang Ke is a tiger, let him target him will not end well, the best way is to hide in the cave honestly and not give him a chance to shoot! ”

Everyone was a little puzzled, and asked in unison, "Brother Ye, do you mean that we admit defeat?" Do nothing? ”

"Confused!" Ye Yongxin sneered: "There are Zhang Ke's soldiers in Suzhou City, and there are people from the governor's yamen, which are ironclad. But what about the rest of the world? Songjiang, Zhenjiang, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, these places are always our world! Let Zhang Ke toss in Suzhou, as long as the grain is stuck, not a single grain will be transported to Suzhou, and sooner or later Zhang Ke will not be able to hold on. ”

Everyone was instantly reassured, and while the searching soldiers had not yet come, they quietly left, each went home, and each looked for his own mother.

Only Xu Zhongliang was left, he was still kneeling on the ground, kowtowing, and his head was bruised.

"Gao Gong, save me, save the Xu family!"

"Alas, the foundation of your Xu family is in Huating, and it's not a big deal if something happens in Suzhou. You just surrender to Zhang Ke, saying that you are confused and greedy. ”

"Gao Gong, maybe you can't keep your little head like this?"

Ye Yongxin fanned the fan and said with a smile: "If you don't say that, your head is really uncertain!" As long as the blame is borne by one person, we will find a way to deal with it. Rest assured, as long as Zhang Ke is driven away, you will be safe. ”

……

"Grandpa Qiguo, we have seized a total of 7,000 stones of grain, 350,000 taels of gold and silver at home, and more than 60 shops!" Fang Chongwen respectfully sent the list to Zhang Ke.

"Well, you immediately put up a notice, saying that we caught the black-hearted merchants who hoarded Juqi, and all the seized grain was sold at a fair price. All the family property is used to buy food and stabilize prices! ”

"Wonderful!"

After Zhang Ke finished speaking, Mao Yilu slapped his face.

The common people rushed to buy food because they were afraid and afraid, and at this time, taking the Xu family sacrifice flag was just right to appease the people. Although the Xu family does not have much grain in stock, it is just to dispel the doubts of the people and increase their trust in the imperial court, which can be described as a multiplicity.

"Grandpa Guo, as soon as you make this move, I'm afraid that Suzhou will be peaceful, and I can breathe a sigh of relief, I almost scared my humble position to death in the past few days!"

Mao Yilu was overjoyed, but Zhang Ke was not happy at all.

If the clans in the southeast succumbed so easily, it would be better to jump into the river one by one and die, saving them from wasting food.

It is conceivable that after the fall of the Xu family, they will definitely retaliate more frantically, and their methods will be more secretive and clever. But Zhang Ke was not afraid. After a few days, he had thoroughly thought of a set of coping plans.

In this battle, it is necessary to completely kill the big households in the southeast and pinch the economic lifeline of the southeast in their hands from now on. From Liaodong, to Shandong, and then to the southeast, the soldiers of Liaodong, the people of Shandong, the grain and silver of Jiangnan are perfectly integrated, and the strength in Zhang Ke's hands is enough to compete with the imperial court and become a veritable number one warlord!

Come on, let Benjue see what other tricks you have up!

On the eighth day of the food crisis, an alarming news spread that the Xu family had been raided for participating in black market transactions and hoarding.

In the former majestic and tall Xu family compound, the walls in front of it were pushed to the front, separated into grain sales points. Bags of rice and flour were taken out of the mansion and poured into wooden troughs.

"Everyone is lined up, the Xu family has food! Don't worry! ”

Without the fence to block it, the carved beams and paintings inside are all in front of you, coupled with piles of rice and white noodles, the panic of the common people has turned into resentment against the Xu family!

"Grandpa Guo has done too well, the Xu family should have been raided a long time ago!"

"Kill them, kill the black-hearted thief!"

……

The officers and soldiers escorted Xu Zhongliang past the crowd, and when he heard this, Xu Zhongliang's eyes were dark, and he fainted with fright! R1152