Chapter 135: Kidnapping

"Your brother is dead?" Ouyang asked.

"Phew!"

Ouyang was prepared, blocked the saliva with his hand, and then wiped it on Wan Yanlan's clothes: "I'm very puzzled, your brother is dead, why are you bothering me?" ”

Wan Yanlan said angrily: "If it weren't for what you gave to the Khitans, how could my brother die?" ”

"Oops, that's trouble. Bai Lian, go back and inform the blacksmith who made the two crossbow arrows, tell them that they are the culprits who captured the county lord of Jinguo, and let them flee for their lives quickly. And we have eaten in the village, they are also the culprits, and what sells clothes, they are all the culprits, let them run quickly. ”

"Yes, sir." Bai Lian replied with a smile.

"Hire a wagon and take it away." Ouyang ignored Wan Yanlan, who wanted to eat him, and waved his hand to order. The robber theory is like this, you don't feel guilty for slaughtering so many people, and you will take revenge everywhere when you die. It's so unbelievable!

Wan Yanlan was secretly escorted back to Yangping and sent to a felony prison. This prison is not a big wooden stick, but a prison made of fine iron, which was built for more than a year, originally used to hold the most ferocious criminals, but it has not been used, and the fine iron has begun to rust, and now it is the first guest.

Ouyang handed the letter to Shen Ba in the study: "Give this letter to Wanyan Aguta." ”

Shen Ba asked curiously: "My lord, what kind of weapon are you selling this time?" ”

"Nonsense, do I seem to be such an untrustworthy person? This is a ransom note. Ouyang said: "Don't worry, he will never dare to hurt you." After the deed was completed, it was still two parts red. ”

"Good!" There is a way that people die for money, birds die for food, and they don't do business without capital. Shen Ba put away the letter and said, "My lord, just wait for my good news." ”

"By the way, tell him that if you want that mine detector, it's also negotiable."

"Good!" Shen Ba Khan, still thinking about it. Ouyang replied in his heart, nonsense, the ceramic mines on his side have been studied, and if Yan Agu can't buy his own mine detectors, people in Liao will not buy his own ceramic mines.

As soon as Shen Ba went out, a female official reported: "My lord, the prisoners have been on hunger strike for three days. ”

"Irrigation!"

"Yes!" Ouyang is good at imitation, which is inspired by watching farmers feed their ducks. The scientific name is cramming. Ouyang is not worried that Ah Guda will not agree to the conditions, after all, his requirements are not high, and he is only three cargoes. I was blackmailed by Zhao Yu, and I didn't find someone to blackmail him, and my psychology was really unbalanced. Even if everything is instructed by you, then you will naturally have to pay for all this. Yangping, including most of the officials, didn't know who the women in this heavy prison were, and after guarding Yan Lan, except for the two female officials, who were in charge of feeding, they were all officials who participated in the roundup.

Although Wan Yanlan was stubborn, she stopped her hunger strike after a cramming. The taste is not human, pinch the cheeks, stuff the rice into it, pour water, and then stuff it into the esophagus with a hard object, and some of the food can enter the trachea to cough up blood. If you can't die, why bother? After Liu Huilan learned the news of Yan Lan's secret detention, she made some side dishes and sent them over in person. She was accompanied by Zhan Ming and Liang Hongyu.

Although Wan Yanlan ended her hunger strike, she only had one meal a day, and Ouyang explained that in order to avoid self-harm, she must control her physical strength. Liu Huilan was dissatisfied with Ouyang at the first glance: "Adults too, they also have some feelings, why don't they even eat enough." ”

Zhan Ming said: "What feelings, that sword was stabbed by her." I think adults are a bit of a woman's kindness. ”

"You go!" Wan Yanlan was weak, she originally had lunch at noon, because she heard that Liu Huilan would come over, and she was worried that she would be too full, so the lunch meal was omitted.

"Sister Lan, eat a little bit. Your Excellency doesn't want to embarrass you, as soon as your emperor's ransom arrives, he will send you on the ship. ”

Wan Yanlan said coldly: "He still has the face to blackmail." ”

"That's not right!" Liang Hongyu said: "Your emperor assassinated first, can't you extort it?" No wonder the officials said that the Jurchens, including you, did not treat aliens as equals. It is said that you have tasted the sweetness of plunder, and you will inevitably continue to plunder. ”

He said so to Jin naturally. How do you know the past when the Jurchens were bullied by the Khitans. The Jurchens were forced to pay a large amount of horses, mink, pearls, and sea holly every year. When the Khitan officials went to the Jurchen tribe, they saw that they were passable, forcibly took away the rape, and then threw them on the side of the tribe and left them to fend for themselves. The Khitan people regard our people as non-humans, why should our people treat the Khitans as human beings? Wan Yanlan said: "I don't blame him for my brother's death, but why did he treat the Jurchens like this?" Are we destined to be bullied? ”

"If the Jurchen tribe is willing to be included in the territory of the Great Song Dynasty, not only can they move your tribe south to the Song Dynasty, but they will also treat you like the Song people." Ouyang suddenly appeared and said, "Are you willing?" ”

"I don't want to see you."

"You can end your nomadic life, you can marry the Han people and have children, and the imperial court and I, Yangping, will vigorously help you to produce, and you can be exempted from taxes and taxes. Give you farm tools, plough cattle, and give you fields and houses. Teach you to read and understand etiquette, and live like Han Chinese. Are you willing? I have talked about all this with the emperor, and he is absolutely in favor of it. ”

Ouyang Dao: "You were very willing before, but now you are unwilling. Because you are doing well, you think that the Jurchens are invincible, because you think that the Jurchens can not only destroy the Liao, but even the Song Dynasty. You want to be superior, and you want other peoples to lick your toes. It is a success and an honor to use and buy and sell other people as if they were animals. ”

Wan Yanlan said angrily: "We don't want to fight with the Song people, we just want to avenge the Khitan people." ”

"You may think so, but Aguta doesn't."

"Official, are you here?" Liang Hongyu greeted him.

"Yes." Ouyang nodded and said, "So only by defeating you, and then offering such conditions, will you be willing to give up force." Otherwise the war would not have ended. You can also tell Ah Guta that as long as you put down your blades and summarize them to the Song territory, all the conditions are valid. We can even send an army to defend against the Khitan attack. ”

Wan Yanlan shook her head: "I can't talk about you." Otherwise, you will be dead in the Kingdom of Jin. ”

"Another point, I know that you are poor in materials, if you are willing to sell the land, Da Song is also willing to buy it. Of course, it is bought and sold on a state-by-state basis, and the price is negotiable. Ouyang said: "I have sent a letter to the Liao State, if there is a need, we can also buy the land of the Liao State." ”

Wan Yanlan gritted her teeth and said: "Jin Liao is fighting, but you are picking up cheap. ”

"Hehe, one state can be exchanged for three ships of arms. At present, you are eligible to change Chenzhou, Suzhou, and Kaizhou. After you go back, you can tell Aguta that exchanging land for supplies is really a very cost-effective deal. Not only mines, sky-shattering cannons, but also thunderbolts, incendiary cannons, rocket cars, I'm sure he will also be tempted. Or buy it directly with money, 500,000 yuan in a state, you need cash, and you want silver tickets. ”

This is really a good proposal, Wan Yanlan understands in her heart. Now what Jin lacks is materials, iron, salt, and grain. If you can really exchange land for supplies, you may not be able to do it. 500,000 yuan, how much grain and iron tools can be bought. Wan Yanlan asked, "When will you release me?" ”

"A month and a half later, wait for Shen Baa to come back from the Kingdom of Jin." Ouyang said: "I hope you don't have any more hunger strikes and other incidents recently." ”

Liu Huilan hurriedly said: "Sister, eat a little." ”

"Thank you, Sister Whelan." Wan Yanlan really ate something.

Liang Hongyu asked: "Official, you didn't report the matter of land exchange for money to the court, isn't it inappropriate?" ”

"You officials don't need the court's money. The three states add up to 1.5 million, and I can still afford to borrow this money. Ouyang said: "In the future, you will only have so much money that you will have no place to spend it, so you won't be able to afford millions." ”

Liang Hongyu worried: "What if Jin Ren really agrees, and then doesn't talk about credit and forcibly takes it back?" ”

"Don't worry, as long as I dare to sell it, I will dare to buy it."

"Report!" A servant said, "My lord, the official letter of the Privy Council." ”

"Yes." Ouyang took the official document, and guessed correctly, it was an order for weapons, and the highest amount was ordered for the hand-throwing cannon, 200,000 pieces. The minimum number of mines was set at 5,000. The profit here is not as high as that of Liaoguo, and after calculating the cost of tax, it will only earn 30%. The delivery deadline for the first batch of goods is set for February next year, the second batch is in May, and the third and fourth batches must be fully delivered by July. With the addition of 3,000 van troops, it is time for farming to be slack, and the construction period is not a problem. Ouyang instructed: "Forward the official document to Lord Zhan." ”

"Yes!" The official took the official document and left. Zhanming has long focused on the military factory, which is equipped with three copywriters, responsible for finance, transportation, delivery, construction schedule and other details. Now the development of gunpowder has further results, no longer use artificial stone grinding grinding, people grind out gunpowder also has half a large millet grains, experts found that the importance of the grinding process is far greater than drying. Inspired by Ouyang's hydraulic power, he uses hydraulic impact to drive grinding, which can be rolled to a powdery form.

The most important point was the creation of the scales, which were made to be more accurate than before. And because of the balances, experts can test gunpowder in various proportions. After repeated verification, the proportion of gunpowder that is the most powerful and least likely to absorb moisture is obtained. The emergence of accurate balances has made the preparation and testing of gunpowder more scientific, except that the purification process cannot be completely solved for a while, and the gunpowder of the military factory has the prototype of modern gunpowder.

The two girls hired by the Ouyang family are indeed quite capable, and they are very loyal to Liang Hongyu. Ouyang didn't say it on his face, but he knew it in his heart. This house is much cleaner than it already is, and the food is much more delicious. Liang Hongyu has begun to study review, and she has no shelf and is not embarrassed by reporters. But compared to Liu Huilan, she is a little stricter, and her memory is very good, she sent a follow-up report last month, and she didn't publish it in time, she is worried about it. Anyone you have met can name them. And his heart is as meticulous as a hair, and the proportion of water that can read the news from the text is admired by the reporters.

In addition, Liang Hongyu also began to go on business trips, not far away, that is, the surrounding four states, and she had to go down once a month. But tossing back and forth, I couldn't be at home for half a month every month. When Ouyang was alone, he sighed, he didn't like a woman with a yellow face, and a woman was a strong man in his career, so why didn't he like it?

Wan Yanlan had been sent back to the Jin Kingdom, and the ransom of the three ships of furs, pearls, and ginseng worth more than 200,000 yuan in the Jin Kingdom also made Ouyang very satisfied. With the reduction of Liu Huilan's daily work, Liang Hongyu finally stopped going to other places and concentrated on the work of deputy editor-in-chief. The relationship between the two is deepening day by day, from the original kindness to the current relationship between men and women.

And Ouyang is not idle, and now the focus is also on the military factory. Zhang Xuanming also came down once or twice a month to inspect. The emperor also sent internal guards to Yangping to see the progress of the military factory, and the three parties attached great importance to this battle in the coming year.

Everything went well, Ouyang crossed his feet in the court, and looked at the monthly routine official documents with tea in his left hand and his right hand, still full of ease. Now the public hall is deserted, and the rows of houses on the left and right of the yamen have been bought and converted into office spaces. Basically, there is no money, the expansion of the new city is exchanged for the land deed, there is a land deed and nearby residents to adjust the house, and soon the nearby industries will be summarized into Ouyang's private industry, of course, it is an office nature, Ouyang has not planned to rent. This style has surpassed the administrative level of China's second- and third-level counties and cities. Unified row of facades, with units hanging at the door, and signs clearly writing the matters handled by this façade. Even if it is a complaint, someone has to share it. Unless the head is hot, except for the drum that has to come to the yamen.

Of course, according to the rules, the yamen still has to be opened, and now the public hall is like Ouyang's private office, except for the occasional chat between the officials on duty at the door, no one comes to disturb them. You can't blame Ouyang for being lazy, many cases of Ouyang are very inexplicable.

For example, a mother-in-law came to sue her daughter-in-law, saying that she had murdered her husband. After asking the reason, it turned out that his son had not returned for two days, and he had had a quarrel with his daughter-in-law before, and the mother-in-law counted all kinds of things about her daughter-in-law's violence against her son. So Ouyang took the officials out and washed the whole house with vinegar, no blood stains were found, and the mountain behind the house searched for new soil. Then the whole village was visited, but Mao didn't find it. After tossing for two days, the man wandered home, and it turned out that he had gone to the kiln to find a good match. Ouyang interrogated her mother-in-law, and her mother-in-law admitted that her son was beaten by her daughter-in-law's family and that she had made up these lies in order to get the yamen to help her son come back.

There were other cases that made Ouyang cry and laugh, so a criminal team was set up, and after receiving a criminal report, someone immediately went to confirm it. Injury cases will be assessed and investigated, and homicides will be investigated by Zhan Ming or Ouyang. In this way, Ouyang and Zhanming were much more relaxed.

Ordinary people don't go to court to harass them now, but today some people are coming. The official on duty reported: "My lord, there is a Luzhou businessman named Li Decai who asks to see you. ”

Ouyang took a sip of tea and said: "The business is looking for the Chamber of Commerce, and it is stolen and robbed to find the torture hall." ”

"Yes!" The official went out of the door, and after half a cup of tea, he came back and reported: "My lord, he is kneeling there and not leaving." ”

TMD disturbed his good mood, Ouyang said: "Let him in." ”

"Yes!"

As soon as the man named Li Decai came in, he knelt on the ground and shouted: "My lord, help!" ”

Ouyang put down the official document and asked, "Was it robbed or stolen, or was someone trying to kidnap you?" ”

"My lord, someone wants to harm the grass people."

"Hurt you? Who is it? Are there any threatening letters? Is there any intimidation of witnesses? ”

Li Decai said: "It's Zheng Ping from Luzhou." ”

"Brother, you came to Shouzhou for the case in Luzhou? Shouzhou is Jingbei Road, and Luzhou is Huainan West Road. This boss is different, if you sue me here, I suggest that you go to sue the royal court. Ouyang said psychologically: Are you, do you see that this official is handsome and dashing, and he has come over for hundreds of miles to pay respects? Or is it to see that I Ouyang is a bully?

"My lord, listen to me." Li Decai saw that Ouyang didn't let himself get up, so he knelt down and said the matter with tears and snot. It turned out that this Li Decai was in the textile business in Meixian County, Luzhou. Last time, I also came to participate in the Yangping Business Fair, and I also paid the annual fee of 10 times of the Yangping Chamber of Commerce. Later, the Chamber of Commerce took him to visit some factories, and after he returned, he also learned from others to carry out reforms and expand operations. Originally, there was a prospect for development, but I didn't think that there was also a textile factory in Luzhou businessman named Zheng Ping, who was the nephew of Huainan West Road's 'Jiedu Envoy Liuhou', seeing that Meixian County was annexing the Luzhou market and threatening his own territory, so he colluded with the general judgment of Luzhou to seize Li Decai on trumped-up charges, and used the relationship to make all the printing and dyeing factories in Luzhou not provide printing and dyeing materials, and let the magistrate of Meixian refuse to let it be sold on the market on the grounds that the textile tax was not clear. In the end, Li Decai came out and found that his goods were backlogged, and the workers were waiting for the salary to fail, so they had already sued the official. The Meixian county decree has sealed the textile factory, and the auction of the textile factory will be used to pay off the debt.

"Get up and sit down." This is not local protection, but a typical collusion between officials and businessmen. Ouyang thought about it and asked, "You joined the Yangping Chamber of Commerce, why don't you go to the people of the Chamber of Commerce first." ”

"Looking for it, Master Su said that if it is in Shouzhou, forget it, but in Luzhou, they are not easy to interfere. The grass people were forced to have no choice, so they had to trouble the adults to make decisions for the grass people. ”

Wise to protect yourself. Ouyang instructed: "Come on, take Shopkeeper Li down to rest, and inform you to go down to the Chamber of Commerce tomorrow night." ”

"Yes!"

The next night, more than a dozen wealthy people in Yangping from the Yangping Chamber of Commerce looked at each other when they heard that Ouyang was holding a meeting for this matter. Master Su spoke first: "My lord, we know about this. But first, the incident happened in Luzhou, secondly, it also involved the four major members, and thirdly, even if we wanted to help with this matter, there was no way. Fourth, Luzhou still takes care of our Yangping Chamber of Commerce. ”

"That's what I say." Ouyang shook his head: "You didn't think that one day this thing would fall on you, what would happen?" Have you ever thought about what to do if I am transferred or die one day, and someone colludes with the government to devour your property? Everyone considered their own interests, but they didn't think that it was not Wang Decai's bad luck that this matter, but Wang Decai's eyes. At that time, I set up the Yangping Chamber of Commerce, and the purpose was to let everyone form a group. Have you ever seen ants cross a river? They were all swept away by the river, but they crossed the river in a ball, sacrificing a small number of ants, but most of them were still alive. ”