According to the division of positions, Fang Chongyong is actually not qualified to enter the Jinwuwei Yamen now.

Of course, Zheng Shuqing is the same.

But who let the Jinwuwei Yamen not far from the Yushitai Yamen, just after nightfall, Fang Chongyong went south of Zhongshu Province, the Yushitai Yamen in the west area of Daming Palace, to the Jinwuwei Yamen in the Imperial City area, and asked Zheng Shuqing to discuss important matters.

As a result, I don't know if I don't know, and I'm scared when I go.

In addition to Zheng Shuqing in the imperial history and Zhang Guangsheng, the general of Jinwuwei Zhonglang, Pei Min, the general of the right Jinwuwei Zhonglang, Yin Pei Kuan of Jingzhao Mansion, and Yin Yang Shenjin of Taifu were also present. The small signing room is actually crowded with people!

As soon as he saw Fang Chongyong coming, Zheng Shuqing pointed at Yang Shenjin and said: "This is Yang Shenjin, the Yin of Taifu, after we raided the house, he was responsible for sending someone to count the copper materials and bad money, and enrich the Taifu." ”

Hearing this, Fang Chongyong was very reserved and saluted Yang Shenjin.

He was not familiar with this person, but he had also heard of some of this person's "advanced deeds". It is said that this person took care of Ji Ge's inner treasury in good order, and he could be called the emperor's exclusive "account manager".

Yang Shenjin has appeared here, so at least one thing can be proven: this operation not only mobilized a lot of government forces, but Ji Ge also knew about it, and also acquiesced to Zheng Shuqing's behavior.

No wonder Lao Zheng was triumphant in the morning.

Fang Chongyong understood that after the last Li Heng rebellion, Li Longji obviously had a little more trust in the heroes who made a clear statement at that time and participated in the escort. And the courtiers who did not act or even acted indiscriminately at that time were all demoted to varying degrees.

There are even people who have been imprisoned.

It's just that Pei Min, the general of the Right Jin Wuwei Zhonglang, actually participated in this operation, which was a bit unexpected by Fang Chongyong. In his impression, Pei Min has always been low-key and doesn't like to mix with similar chores.

"Now that everyone is here, let Fang Yushi talk about this operation. He is solely responsible, and this official is just pressing the formation in the Yamen of the Imperial Historical Tower, and arranging manpower to support you. ”

Zheng Shuqing said to everyone with a smile.

He knew that he wasn't that material, so he just lay down and didn't play! Hearing this, Fang Chongyong didn't know how to shirk it, so he could only walk among the crowd, and then spread out the layout map of Chang'an City's inner square hidden in his cuffs and nailed it to the wooden board hanging on the wall.

This map has been marked out one by one according to the list on Zheng Shuqing's list.

"In this operation, there are fifteen in total. Distributed in fifteen squares in Chang'an City, in order to prevent the grass from startling the snakes, it is necessary to act at the same time tonight, and no one can leave the team to prevent leakage.

The left Jin Wuwei is in charge of the seven near the West City, the right Jin Wuwei is in charge of the seven near the south of the city, and the Jingzhao Mansion is in charge of the one near the East City. Five teams of people from each family went to raid the house, and one team of ten people. ”

Fang Chongyong held a thin wooden stick and told everyone present about the route of travel. In the event of an emergency, how to reinforce each other, and other details are all clearly explained.

When he finished speaking, he handed the wooden stick to Zheng Shuqing very knowingly, and then stepped aside and stopped talking.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem......"

Uncle Zheng faked coughing a few times, then looked around at everyone and said:

"These people who privately minted copper coins burned firewood and charcoal on a large scale, which also pushed up the price of grain in Gyeonggi, and also made the people unable to burn charcoal, so that the streets and alleys of Chang'an were full of complaints, which is really a great crime.

Therefore, in this operation, the official proposed, leaving no living mouth, and directly beating and killing with sticks. What do you think? ”

Zheng Shuqing looked pale, full of anger, not angry and arrogant.

"The matter is serious, so it is better to ask the saint first."

After a period of silence, Yang Shenjin stood up and sang the opposite, but as soon as he finished speaking, Pei Kuan, who was already gray, stood firmly on Zheng Shuqing's side, and said sonorously:

What Zheng Yushi said is true. According to the law of the Tang Dynasty: those who mint money privately will flow three thousand miles; Those who have prepared the tools but have not cast them shall be imprisoned for two years; and he that has not yet made the utensils ready, a hundred rods.

The fifteen families that have been discovered now have not only minted money, but also minted a huge amount of money, and they are only exiled for 3,000 li, which may not be able to deter the younger generation. This official agrees with Zheng Yushi's statement that these people are not enough to be angry if they are not killed. ”

No one was arrested, and even a trial was not made, and the crimes were already convicted. The rules of the feudal era can only be understood by those who understand, don't ask too much.

Fang Chongyong pretended to be deaf and blind, and he didn't say a word at the moment.

Zhang Guangsheng and Pei Min are both Jin Wuwei's generals, so naturally they don't have much say in this kind of matter, and they are very knowledgeable and silent and don't speak. Everyone looked at Fang Chongyong, as if his opinion was very important.

Seeing that Fang Chongyong was silent for a long time and didn't speak, Zheng Shuqing couldn't help but remind:

"Even if these people are arrested, they will be sent to Dali Temple for interrogation, and these are also due to be right. It's just that in the end, they will also be sentenced to death, or hanged or beheaded, anyway, it is a death, there is no difference.

It's just that in the process of interrogation, if some prisoners bite indiscriminately, causing a lot of noise and all kinds of criticism among the people, the scene will be ugly, and the saint will not like it.

He died a few days earlier, but it saved a lot of trouble, Fang Yushi was not a woman's kindness, and finally made the scene uncontrollable. ”

Zheng Shuqing had already said it very explicitly, and Fang Chongyong nodded slightly: "Yes, such a scum, it is indeed not enough to be angry if you don't kill it." ”

Hearing that he was so "informed and interesting", the solemnity on the faces of everyone present relaxed.

Who made the Fang family father and son have a great merit to save the car and be able to speak in front of the saints?

Although Fang Chongyong's official is not big, the holy family on his body is very grand. It would be a very troublesome thing for this person to speak ill of them behind their backs in front of Brother Kei.

Now that Fang Chongyong said so, they are also relieved and can concentrate on their work.

"It's getting late, so let's get started."

Zheng Shuqing said to Zhang Guangsheng and Pei Min.

The two generals of Jin Wuwei immediately walked out of the yamen and went to order troops with their personal guards. Pei Kuan and Yang Shenjin also bowed their hands to say goodbye, they also had to organize people to do things, and it was impossible to stay in the Jinwuwei Yamen to fish.

When everyone else was gone, Fang Chongyong pulled Zheng Shuqing aside and asked, "Is there going to be a lot of death this time?" ”

"Yes, a lot of people will die."

Zheng Shuqing nodded slightly and said.

"Let them dig up the charcoal until they die, can't they, do they have to kill them now?"

Fang Chongyong asked with some dissatisfaction.

"It's not something that can be decided, don't you understand it?"

Zheng Shuqing pointed in the direction above his head, and everything was silent.

Behind all the private businessmen, there are big men who can or cannot be said, these people are the beloved relatives and friends of Brother Ji, the dignitaries of the imperial court, and even the "cornerstone" of the Tang Dynasty.

The problem now is that these private merchants continue to buy a large amount of charcoal and firewood, and at the same time use these charcoal firewood to privately mint copper coins, and then quietly distribute these inferior copper coins to the markets of Chang'an for circulation, forming an underground industry.

Double the harvest, double the joy, it can only be said that they are too good at playing!

However, although these people are happy, the people of Chang'an are unlucky! Now even ordinary officials have reached the point where they can't afford charcoal, so they can only wait for the imperial court to pay their salaries so that they can give a little more charcoal and firewood.

In the past, Fang Chongyong went to Pizhou to explore coal mines, and then Zheng Shuqing dealt with private merchants, all of which had one purpose: to ensure a balanced energy supply in the Chang'an region.

Fang Chongyong is "open source", Zheng Shuqing is "throttling", in essence, the two are using different means to do the same thing.

The steps of these private businessmen are too big, infringing on the interests of the majority of Chang'an central officials, and also indirectly infringing on the interests of Ji Ge, so it is inevitable that they will be dealt with. But that's the end of it.

It is already a blessing for the people to have someone stand up to "cure the symptoms", and it is unrealistic to expect someone to "cure the root cause".

Hitting the dog without regard to the face of the owner is already the limit of tolerance, and it is categorically impossible to let the stick hit the "master" in the face! That's breaking the rules.

Although Zheng Shuqing has a big problem at the implementation level and his adaptability is also very urgent, the action he planned this time is not much wrong with itself.

"I see."

Thinking of this stubble, Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said.

"It's good to understand.

Many of those private businessmen are involuntarily innocent.

The powerful people they are attached to want them to forge privately, they can't help but do it, and if they have any ideas that they shouldn't have, they will also be cleaned up.

They are pitiful indeed.

But you and me, how can you have the final say? Aren't we involuntarily self-conscious?

So since everyone is like this, don't blame someone for being ruthless.

In the morning, you reminded you, and you went to the palace to tell the saint. The sage said that he didn't want to hear some bad things from Chang'an City.

You ask what to do, and you can only do it now. ”

Zheng Shuqing sighed with emotion and said.

Hearing this, Fang Chongyong was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized.

The words he said during the day were not urging Zheng Shuqing to hurry up and deal with the matter of privately minting copper coins. Fang Chongyong believes that this kind of non-market behavior may cause a lot of trouble, but judging from past examples, the effect is not good, and it cannot be very good.

If there is pressure, there will be a bigger rebound, and maybe the situation of private casting will be more common later!

Fang Chongyong's meaning, simply put, is "Since the mastermind behind the scenes can't be cut off and can't afford to offend, then you have to think of other ways."

Unexpectedly, Zheng Shuqing actually understood "how to do things and let those behind-the-scenes people stay invisible and not interfere"!

Obviously, the black gloves and white gloves who pushed the elites to the front desk were silenced, which was the easiest way, and it was also Zheng Shuqing's personal choice.

He was not the founder of this law, in fact, a hundred years ago, Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, in order to prevent private coins from entering the market, strictly stipulated that if anyone dared to mint coins privately, they would be killed immediately.

That's right, there is no need to interrogate at all, it will be slaughtered on the spot. In the final analysis, Zheng Shuqing is just imitating the "killer feature" of Emperor Wen of Sui. As for whether the effect works or not, Zheng Shuqing has to try it, otherwise his "charcoal envoy" will be in vain, and in the end, Brother Ji will not be able to spare him.

The two of them sat quietly in Jin Wuwei's signing room, waiting for news from Jin Wuwei and Jingzhao Mansion.

……

This night in Chang'an is destined to be recorded in the history books, but it will definitely be forgotten by the world as if it were understated.

The places where copper coins are minted privately in Chang'an are distributed very regularly.

Either in the vicinity of the West Market, where the fish and dragons are mixed, the population flow is huge, and the small shops in each square are gathered, which is convenient for the circulation of bad money.

Either in the inaccessible part of the south of the city, the least populated fang, with less than 500 people living there. On weekdays, there are many birds, and it is a secret place for private copper coins.

That night, Changmingfang, near Anhua Gate in the south of Chang'an City, opened the door to the west. A group of heavily armed Jinwu guards was rushing in. Fang Zheng led the way, Zhang Guangsheng led the team to follow behind, and a group of people came to an inconspicuous house.

Many people think that private copper coins can only be implemented in a high-profile mansion, but this is not the case. The threshold for privately minting copper coins is very low, and the technical requirements are not high, which is much lower than that of casting copper Buddhas. You only need a few skilled foundry masters, as well as some strong laborers.

What really limits the scale of private casting is copper, charcoal (firewood), molds and other materials, and there is no need for a site as large as a palace. It is precisely because there are not many objective conditions that since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, private casting has been repeatedly banned.

Minting money is "money makes money", who can endure it if there are conditions to do this!

"Is this where the Zhang family lives?"

Zhang Guangsheng asked Fang Zheng with a cold face.

"General Hui, that's true."

Fang Zheng said cautiously.

"Hmph, you know that copper coins are minted here privately, but you don't report it, what's the reason?"

Zhang Guangsheng asked in an unkind tone.

"Alas, General, this kind of thing, is it also something that can be managed by a certain fang?

Behind them...... There are also people. ”

This Fang Zheng said in a low voice.

"Go and open the door! Otherwise, you will be questioned for not reporting your knowledge! ”

Zhang Guangsheng scolded, and he didn't have a good face at all.

"Okay, okay, I'll call the door here."

Fang Zheng was very discerning, and saw that when Jin Wuwei came today, he brought not the usual wooden sticks on duty, but everyone brought knives.

Why does Jin Wuwei use wooden sticks on duty on weekdays?

Because there are many dignitaries and nobles here in Chang'an, there are also many people who have a close relationship with them. When Jin Wuwei was on duty, if he used the knife casually, it was easy to kill people who should not be killed, so that both sides could not turn back.

And there is no such problem with the use of wooden sticks, no matter how big the misunderstanding is, as long as there are no dead people, it is easy to say and easy to mediate.

So looking at it the other way, now that Jin Wuwei is not bringing a wooden stick, it means that they are going to die tonight!

Fang Zheng opened the gate of this courtyard in a cold sweat, but as soon as the courtyard gate opened, the wolf-like Jinwu guards rushed into the courtyard and knocked the slaves holding sticks in the courtyard to the ground with three blows and two blows.

"Search! Don't miss a spot! ”

Zhang Guangsheng pointed in the direction of the backyard and shouted.

After a while, all the people living in this courtyard were taken to the front yard and sat on the ground trembling with fright, and a dozen Jinwu guards with torches surrounded them.

"General Zhang, I found a mold for minting coins, and several boxes of bad money."

A Jin Wuwei's Si Ge whispered in Zhang Guangsheng's ear.

"You led people to slaughter everyone here, leaving no one alive.

Then send a brother to the yamen to inform Yang Fu Yin of Taifu and ask him to send someone to take over here.

Let's go look elsewhere first. ”

Zhang Guangsheng said a word to Si Ge beside him, turned around and left.

Killing is inevitable, it's a death order, but he's not perverted enough to like watching his subordinates kill.

Just when Zhang Guangsheng led people to kill in Changmingfang, some squares in Chang'an City were staging similar stories.

Longevity Fang, Huaide Fang, Tongshan Fang, Changle Fang...... In the middle of the waiting room, the courtyard doors of one after another were pushed open by Jin Wuwei's people, and they searched indiscriminately, and slaughtered regardless of right and wrong, good and evil.

When I was privately cast, I was so happy to take the money, and now when I am destroyed, I will die a miserable death. It seems that all the gifts from fate are secretly marked with a price.

If there is no bloody atmosphere, it gradually spreads in Chang'an City.

(End of chapter)