"Brother Cheng, what did you stop me from doing just now?"

"Why didn't you let me tell me about that?"

Not long after Ji Heng left, a businessman questioned Cheng Zheng.

Cheng Zheng frowned slightly, and sighed: "Brother Huang, although we are now falling to the government, but the official is an official, and the business is a businessman, the two are different, we are not qualified to make too many requirements, we must be a person in moderation, and we must see the situation clearly when we are a businessman." ”

"Being too aggressive will only hurt you."

"You think I don't know what I was thinking?"

"I want to take advantage of the fact that we have become 'officials and businessmen' and have given the government a lot of benefits, so I want to let the government relax its restrictions and completely determine the things we have done in private, such as 'buying and selling land', 'lending money' and 'buying and selling people', and become reasonable and legal."

"But this mouth cannot be opened."

"These things can't be put on the surface."

"The government has been investigating us so strictly during this time, can't it really find any clues?"

"Impossible."

"The government may have found out privately a long time ago."

"But Mr. Zhong didn't mention it from beginning to end."

"Why?"

"It's not that I don't know, but I deliberately don't mention it."

"Because the government can't trust us, these things we do in private, under the laws of the Great Qin Dynasty, are the knives hanging above our heads in the future, and they will always hang high on our necks, as long as the government is slightly dissatisfied, this knife will fall in an instant."

"This is a threat that the government deliberately holds in its hands."

"Do you think it would be useful to say it? Will the government agree? ”

The man's face changed slightly.

Feng Dong and the others had gloomy faces.

In fact, they have long been aware of this.

Although he was very dissatisfied in his heart, as Cheng Zheng said, the government would not trust the merchants, even if the merchants pressed all their net worth, the government still would not believe it.

Even if they knew, they couldn't do anything about it.

At the moment, they don't know anything about what the government is doing.

Now I don't know the situation of Cao Bingsheng and others, how dare they easily provoke the imperial court?

Once Mr. Zhong is dissatisfied, I am afraid that the abandoned 'Cao Bingsheng' and others will laugh, not to mention how can they know whether what Mr. Zhong said is true or false?

They don't have a choice.

Several people looked at each other, and their eyes were full of bitterness.

They were all silent.

Get out of the back hall.

A cool breeze blew and made people shudder.

They did not speak, but hurried away.

There is a kind of happiness for the rest of my life.

Feng Dong's pace was very slow, much more steady than when he came.

They never asked about the people who had been arrested.

They didn't really dare to ask.

I am afraid that I have reminded the government and let the government be able to make more progress, but now that he has left the prison office, Feng Dong's mind is gradually becoming active, he doesn't think that the government will do too much, Feng Zhen and the others will probably be locked up for a while, and when the matter of salt and iron falls, they will be put back.

Just this back and forth.

But they, the salt and iron merchants, have completely changed.

Bleak.

Half a quarter of an hour later.

Feng Dong returned to Feng's house.

Seeing Feng Dong come back, the Feng family was overjoyed.

Feng Ce hurriedly greeted him and said excitedly: "Father, I knew that you would be fine, father." ”

Feng Dong looked around, squeezed out a smile on his face, and said, "I'm a little tired, so you can all disperse." ”

After speaking.

He staggered towards the study.

Feng Ce followed closely behind.

After the father and son entered the study and closed the doors and windows, Feng Ce said with red eyes: "Father, you are really going to scare me to death, if you don't come back, our Feng family is afraid that it will really disperse." ”

Seeing Feng Ce's sad face, Feng Dong sighed lightly.

He didn't speak.

It's just a struggle to sit on the main seat.

The atmosphere was depressing.

After choking for a while, Feng Ce gradually regained his composure, wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, went out and poured a bowl of hot soup for Feng Dong, and then stood aside respectfully.

Looked at.

Feng Dongcai slowly spoke: "Has the list of people in the clan who fled during this time been sorted out?" ”

Feng Ce's face froze, scratched his head in embarrassment, and said, "Father, this was all done by my brother in the past, I. I didn't do it, but the people in the clan who fled during this period of time were almost seventy or eighty percent, and when you went to the government before you, father, a few more people in the clan fled. ”

said.

Feng Ce's voice gradually became quieter.

Feng Dong's eyes flashed with a hint of fierceness, with an extremely dissatisfied depression.

He glanced at Feng Ce deeply, thinking of what Feng Ce had done, his heart secretly softened, shook his head, and said, "You will wait to sort out the list of fugitives in the clan, these people will no longer be my Feng clan's clansmen in the future, and they are not allowed to come back." ”

Hear the words.

Feng Ce's face changed slightly.

He wondered, "Father, are you going to expel them from the family?" ”

Feng Dong snorted coldly and said disdainfully: "My Feng clan was robbed this time, not only did they not think about suffering with the clan, but they also directly took money and fled privately, how can this kind of person continue to stay?" ”

"I, Feng, don't come and leave as soon as I want!"

Hearing Feng Dong's words, Feng Ce's eyes moved slightly, as if he realized something, and his eyes showed a hint of joy, and said, "What my father means by this, is it that our Feng clan has escaped?" Won't be targeted by the government again? ”

Feng Dong nodded.

Feng Ce said excitedly: "I know that once my father makes a move, my Feng clan will be safe, those guys who eat inside and outside, I have long been unaccustomed to it, if it wasn't for the stability of the clan in the past, I don't want to see them in general, they also deserve to stay in the clan?" Ordinary things are a mess, and when they encounter something, they want to be fooled, and they should have let them go a long time ago. ”

"Don't worry, father, I'll take care of it."

Feng Dong bowed slightly.

He took a deep breath and continued: "During this time, let the clan be quiet, don't care about the disturbances of the outside world, try to cooperate with the government, the salt stored in various places in the clan, wait a few days, someone should find out, and then secretly hand them over to the government." ”

"There are also salt workers recruited in the past in the clan, if the government comes to levy them, they can agree to it with a little excuse."

"This is an agreement we made with the government."

Hear the words.

Feng Ce's eyes were full of shock and disbelief.

His eyes widened, and he couldn't believe his ears, these words actually came from Feng Dong's mouth?

How is this possible?

For these salt and iron, they Feng have paid too much, why did my father go to the government and give it up directly?

Feng Ce said: "Father, why is this? ”

"Didn't my Feng clan's painstaking plan this time just want to be greedy for these salts?"

"Why do you have to hand it over now?"

"This is table salt, the salt that has fallen into the water, once the government knows about it, won't our Feng clan suffer?"

"Father, why are you confused?!"

He was in a hurry.

Feng Dong's face was as usual, and he said coldly: "Do you really think that the government doesn't know?" ”

"The government has already guessed it."

"Now the salt and iron don't belong to us anymore."

"Not only my Feng family, but all the salt and iron that fell into the water this time must be attributed to the imperial court."

"No exceptions."

"Father, what happened when you went to the government this time?" Feng Ce's eyes widened, his eyes full of confusion and puzzlement.

Feng Dong did not explain.

He just commanded, "You don't need to know so much, now the matter is settled." ”

"It's done."

"You've been working a little harder these days."

"When this salt and iron matter is over, your brother and others should be back."

"I'll explain it all then."

"Now."

"You just have to do it."

After speaking.

Feng Dong waved his hand dejectedly, signaling that he could leave.

Feng Ce's eyes were full of confusion.

But after hesitating for a while, he still didn't be stubborn anymore, saluted Feng Ce, and walked out respectfully, just muttering all the time.

Waiting for Feng Ce to walk away, Feng Dong coughed lightly.

The whole person instantly languished.

He looked up and saw that the study was a little dim.

Long.

Feng Dong sighed and said quietly: "Going around and around, I have reached the idea, but I Feng has lost too much, is it really worth it?" If I hadn't done this, maybe my Feng family's results would have been better, but Mr. Zhong had been thinking about it for so long, even if there was no trouble this time, I was afraid that there would be a next time. ”

"So I want to come."

"Maybe it's not too bad."

"Compared to the Cao Bing clan and other clans, my Feng clan can at least be preserved."

"Just."

"Under the overall control of Mr. Zhong, the government can be said to have stripped us and other businessmen fiercely, not only collecting tens of thousands of jun of salt and iron for their own use, but also collecting a lot of money through this.

"Huh."

"That's it."

"It's come to this, and there's nothing to be done."

"It's just that I don't know where the money from the government can be used in the hands of this person, it's just the situation of Great Qin, how can a little money and food be changed?"

"When the world changes in the future, I, Feng, may not be able to break free from the reins."

"But"

"After I calm down, I can still analyze these situations clearly, and with this person's intelligence, I am afraid it is even more so."

"I just don't know what to do next."

Feng Dong frowned and thought about it, and finally shook his head.

He couldn't have imagined.

He didn't bother to think about it.

He's a lot old, and he can't figure it out.

The only thing he could do at the moment was to preserve the Feng family as much as possible, so that the Feng family could continue to exist.

Besides.

Nothing matters anymore.

The other side.

After Ji Heng asked about the situation, he handed over all the bamboo slips presented by Feng Dong and others to the little officials, and went home by himself.

He's done with what he's going to do.

As for the follow-up disposal, that's what Fusu has to do.

He won't meddle.

The spring breeze is blowing, and the streets are crowded.

He didn't stop and leaned against the wall and walked away.

Not much.

Fusu received the relevant bamboo slips.

Seeing the salt and iron hiding address above, Fusu was overjoyed, but compared to before, he was much calmer, and he did not give the order in a hurry, after pondering for a while, he asked people to invite Du He and Zhang Cang, and he was thinking about the follow-up in his heart.

It didn't take long.

Du He and Zhang Cang arrived.

Fusu handed the bamboo slips on the case to the two of them.

He smiled and said, "Look, two of you, under Mr. Zhong's careful interrogation, the salt and iron merchant Jia has summoned all the salt and iron that he has hidden. ”

(End of chapter)