When Yan Hong heard this, he smiled and said, "Then Old Man Guo, what is your purpose in coming today?" Could it be that you are kind enough to come to inform us of Wang Xuan's awesomeness. I advise us not to provoke it, hide it, and leave Jinan as soon as possible, is it the right reason? ”

Guo Shoucheng looked at Yan Hong's hippie smiling face and said, "Qin is so bad. My Guo family is in Jinan, and it has been inherited for a hundred years, and it does not rely on any rich and powerful, or even to make friends with the government, but to know the current affairs. The old man asked himself, running a business and governing a family is just a middle-aged person, and the family business is not defeated in my hands, which is already a fluke. However, when it comes to looking at things and people, the old man is not boasting, and there may not be anyone stronger than me in Jinan City. Wang Xuan now, don't look at his arrogance for a while, he is really digging his own grave, I am afraid that the ghosts and gods will be difficult to save. The old man has been inherited for several generations, and the family business has been a hundred years old, so he can't die with him. Therefore, I came here today just to change the peace of the family. ”

Yan Hong said: "Why did the staff say this? We are just a messenger for relief, and we are not here to arrest Wang Xuan. No matter how big his family business is, no matter how suspicious his behavior is, it has nothing to do with me. Not to mention, whether it is selling smuggled salt or buying land at a low price, I am afraid that it will be difficult to catch his evidence, so why should I provoke him? ”

Guo Shoucheng said: "But if Wang Xuan deliberately created a food shortage and wanted to take the opportunity to rebel, isn't this a capital crime?" The whole house is beheaded, and the clan is not protected, but this kind of disaster can be avoided? Since the old man and he are already considered in-laws, when they raid the family and destroy the clan in the future, they are afraid of being implicated by him. The old man is sixty this year, even if he is dead, it is not an untimely death, but my Guo clan has more than a thousand mouths, but I can't die with him! Therefore, I came to see the head of the Qin mission, and asked the Qin to read the old man's words. Save your clan's life! ”

Hearing this, Guo Shoucheng bluntly said that Wang Xuan wanted to rebel. Only then did Yan Hong condescend and said: "This is a rebellious thing. It's not trivial, but it can't be done casually, and I don't know what evidence I have outside? ”

Guo Shoucheng stared at Yan Hong for a moment, then sighed and said: "Yan Qincha, Yan Dagongzi, you are a smart person, and the old man is in front of you, so he won't say clichés." Shandong Governor Liu Cai Liu Lao. Speaking of which, he is the righteous son of Ling's grandfather Yan Ge Lao, and he is commensurate with the old brother of Lingzun Xiaoge, and he is your eldest son according to his generation. However, he and Wang Xuan got involved together, and doing this kind of incident was really self-defeating, and it was dangerous, and I was afraid that it would bring Yan Ge Lao tired. ”

As soon as Guo Shoucheng's words fell, Hai Rui said sharply: "I came to Shandong on the order of the king, and Xiu Dao is a Liu Cai." Even if Yan Song himself violated the law, he will be severely punished! ”

Guo Shoucheng ignored Hai Rui. Just look at Yan Hong. Yan Hong nodded and said: "Except for Old Guo, Liu Yingshi is indeed my grandfather's righteous son, and he should be called Shibo when it comes to private affairs." It's just that Ben Qincha sent this glory and wealth, not given by Liu Yingshi, but by today's long-lived grandfather, whoever dares to disobey and commit a crime is a dead end. ”

When Guo Shoucheng heard this, his face eased again. So he didn't keep it, and confessed everything he knew. It turned out that Liu Cai took office eight years ago, and at the beginning, he really looked like a clean official who wanted to benefit the locality. But later, Yan Zheng, Ma Zheng, River and so on, all intervened, and people gradually understood that this was also a money-loving master, and what he did before was nothing more than a good reputation.

As for the mining strike, it is even more boring. The mine supervisor of the court on the front foot left, and the people of Wang Xuan's family behind him went to mine iron ore in a grand manner. As for ordinary businessmen, they don't even think about this benefit.

The monopoly of salt and iron in the imperial court is a law. Wang Xuan's illegal theft of iron ore has already violated the red line. It's just that Liu Yingshi escorted him, and it was naturally difficult for others to really bring him to justice.

It stands to reason that although Liu Cai is the governor of Shandong and has the greatest authority in a province, he can't cover the sky with one hand when the officials of the Ming Dynasty are small and large. Since having the support of Wang Xuan, a mysterious local tyrant, the officialdom of Jinan has gradually been expanded and bought by him, using both soft and hard, and gradually turning Jinan Mansion into an iron cylinder. Those who don't eat this set will either be convicted and exempted, or will be squeezed out of other places. Therefore, this heinous crime was so tightly covered up that there was no trace of noise in the court.

After this transaction, Liu Cai and Wang Xuan formed an iron-clad alliance, and they were embarrassed and had equal interests. The entire Jinan officialdom, under the integration of Liu Cai's power and Wang Xuan's money and underworld methods, gradually condensed into a vanity fair that colludes up and down and does all kinds of evil. For example, Xu Jie's protégé, who came later, patrolled the imperial history Fang Yongxian, who was aggressive at first, and later under the control of Wang Xuan, obediently cooperated with Liu Cai to share the spoils.

In the past few years, the two families have actually gained an inch and began to resell the rice and grain in Fanku. The main model is that Liu Cai gets the public grain out, and Wang Xuan finds a way to sell it. It is said that the business is very good, and there is not a small amount of silver paid to Liu Cai.

Historically, it has been one of the gray revenues of the government, and half of this income at the local level has to be handed over to the government, and the government has to hand it over to the provincial capital. There is indeed a surplus hidden grain in the treasury, and it is not surprising if this part of the rice grain is resold again. But Liu Cai didn't stop there. He not only took this part of the gray income and sold it, but also included the proper grain in the account. And the means adopted are even more diverse, such as forging account books, embezzling military rations, and doing everything else.

This kind of illegal business is just a matter of doing it on weekdays. In the past two years, there have been disasters in Shandong, and Liu Cai and Wang Xuan have refused to let go of the opportunity to make profits. On the one hand, Liu Cai asked for tax reduction and exemption and allocated relief, but on the other hand, he did not lose a penny of the tax that should be collected, and at the same time embezzled the rice and grain that was provided. This kind of oil extraction at both ends only suffers those people, who can neither reduce taxes nor get relief, except for starving to death, they have to be displaced. Later, he acquiesced to the rich gentry in Shandong to hoard, cover up grain and sell it, and raise the price of rice. As soon as the price of rice is high, it is beneficial for rich merchants, and the grain that Liu Cai embezzled will not be sold.

When Hai Rui heard this, he was already furious, and said: "Bastard, bastard!" Liu Cai was dressed in vain for the imperial court, and even colluded with profiteers, for which he did not have the bad behavior of the king, and put millions of Li people as mortal enemies for his own selfish desires. Hai will not take your head this time, and swear not to return to the capital! ”

Guo Shoucheng said: "When Hai Qin heard this, he must say in his heart that this collusion between officials and businessmen is dominated by Liu Cai. However, from Xiaomin's point of view, he is afraid that Liu Cai is just a chess piece in Wang Xuan's hands. What Liu Cai wants is nothing more than to exchange power for money and make a fortune, but what Wang Xuan wants is not just to make a fortune. ”

Yan Hong said: "I would like to hear about it." ”

So Guo Shoucheng continued. At the beginning, several wealthy businessmen in Jinan were very interested in participating in this kind of business, after all, selling grain is not illegal, as for reselling grain and maliciously raising the price of rice, etc., it was Governor Liu's idea, and he would not be implicated, so he responded one after another.

It's just that after doing this for two consecutive years, Guo Shoucheng is a little afraid. While their own money bags are getting fuller and fuller, the price is that there are more and more displaced people, the number of bankrupts is increasing day by day, and people everywhere are fleeing one after another. Although this allowed the Guo family to obtain a lot of low-cost land, Guo Shoucheng felt that this was by no means a good sign.

I remembered that when I was young, I listened to the old people in my family reminiscing about the Tang Sai'er Rebellion, that is, after the martyrdom of King Yan, he sent a conscription in Shandong, making the people miserable, and finally rose up, and today, the people of Shandong are being carried on like this, won't they also go to a dead end? If it causes a large-scale riot, at that time, how much money and real estate can the Guo family have worked so hard to earn in this riot? I'm afraid that I may not even be able to keep my head!

Yan Hongxin said, this Guo family seems to be not simple, not the kind of greedy and plundering landlords in many novels, who understand the truth that they can't drive the poor to a dead end. At this time of great disaster, it is also rare to be able to think about the future while making a fortune for the country. He nodded and said, "Old Man Guo is really admirable when he is out and about danger. ”

Guo Shoucheng smiled bitterly: "Little Lao'er just doesn't want his ancestors to work hard to create a family business, and it will be ruined in my place." The Guo family has been rich for several generations, and it is just a rich man who has doubled his land and property. However, if Shandong's people are restless, no matter how much land there is, it will become a burden and a disaster. Even rough people like Xiao Lao'er understand this truth, so how can Liu Laojunmen be born in two lists, how can he not know? However, I'm afraid that he is already difficult to ride a tiger. ”

It turned out that when there was a famine for many years, the displaced people were scattered, and even alarmed the imperial court, Liu Cai saw that the situation was a little out of control, and he panicked in his heart. He convened the major tycoons in Shandong to discuss, and asked Wang Xuan and all the staff to sell grain at low prices, provide rice for disaster relief, and make up for the deficit of the treasury, cooperate with the imperial court to provide relief, and control the disaster first.

As a result, Wang Xuan said that in the past few years, the rice and grain that have been moved out of the treasury have long been left behind, and most of them have been sold, and there is not much grain in his hands, which is not enough to make up for the deficit in the treasury. According to the practice of the imperial court, the money and grain are coming, and then find a way to use the money and grain of the imperial court to make up for the deficit in Shandong.

He also secretly informed the rest of the families that they should ignore Liu Cai's words, and the grain must not be let go. He would only take out the grain and put it in the porridge, saying that if the victims of the disaster were fed, there would be no change.

Wang Xuan's statement also moved Liu Cai, so he acted according to the plan, but he didn't expect that in addition to distributing money and grain, the imperial court actually sent a messenger, which was still the responsibility of picketing hundreds of officials in Shandong. Liu Cai's heart rose again, although he is a party of the Yan family, Yan Song's righteous son, and has some means of self-preservation, but after all, it is not easy to fool when he comes to Qincha, and it is not so easy to be generous to the country.

Therefore, Liu Cai mobilized all the wealthy businessmen to collectively pool money and go to other places to buy food for emergencies. This time, Wang Xuan didn't do it right, and took the lead in donating 20,000 taels, and several other major families also contributed their own money, and made up 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver, plus the silver that Liu Cai paid by gritting his teeth, this figure has exceeded the appropriation of the household department. Liu Cai, Wang Xuan, and the major families organized people to use the silver to go out to buy grain in batches.

The silver was robbed one after another on the way back to the rice and grain bought in other provinces. You must know that Wang Xuan has never had a problem selling illicit salt, smuggling grain, medicinal materials and other things over the years, why did he miss one after another when it came to life-saving food? Several batches of grain were lost, and several families no longer refused to pay for rice, and the situation in Shandong became more and more erosive. (To be continued......)