The wealth of salt merchants in Huai'an was beyond Hou Xuanyan's imagination. Although he was used to big scenes and searched countless houses along the way, the total number was not as high as this time.

A Huai'an Mansion searched more than 30 million taels of silver, 1.32 million taels of gold, and all kinds of jewelry, houses, antiques, calligraphy and paintings. The wealth of the salt merchants in the Huaihe River is famous all over the world, but they are still low-key. Such a wealthy person did not expect.

In the late Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen tried his best to squeeze out Liao Xiang from the north and forced millions of thieves to rebel, but he did not expect that Jiangnan had raised such a fat rice insect. Apart from enjoyment, their money was not used for the country, but they were willing to spend huge sums of money to bribe the civil officials at that time and exempt them from taxes.

In the office of the Governor of the Cao Transportation Transportation, Hou Xuanyan flipped through the searched account book and looked at the wealth that had turned into numbers, but was still surprised: "So much money?"

Hong Yizhuo nodded and said, "Everyone is aware of the rich and wealthy businessmen in Yangzhou. I never thought that Huai'an is richer than Yangzhou. Why do you have to make money if you have so much money? You can live a life of immortals wherever you escape, but you have to bow down and do things for the Tartars."

"People's greed is always endless. If they want to maintain this kind of pleasure that is rich and can match the country forever, they want to hold the thighs of the Qing Tartars. They don't know that the Tartars are the most greedy. Now the world is not determined, they can tolerate them to continue to make money. If they are successful by the Tartars, the first group of big-headed merchants will be killed first." Hou Xuanyan closed the account book to let himself wake up from the rich world, so as not to be blinded by money.

Hou Xuanyan was talking, and the spy from Qianxiang Camp rushed into the hall with six graceful women. In an instant, the fragrance was refreshing.

In fact, in all dynasties, officials responsible for searching for criminals often examine the female family members of the criminal family. If anyone is interested in appearance, whether it is a wife or a lady or a maid, they can be directly used as slaves to search for officials. Although it is contrary to the rules of the desk, no one in the world will not be able to escort the power, and gradually everyone will be like this. If the woman taken away can be found in the bedside of the boudoir in the future, even if these female family members are caught, they will be spared from the disaster of collapse.

With Hou Xuanyan's current status, he is considered a powerful person in the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention accepting a few sinners and female relatives as female slaves, even if he falls in love with the daughters of ordinary officials, he just speaks casually, for fear that the family will be happily sent to his bedroom in a sedan chair.

But in Hong Yizhuo's eyes, the eldest brother is a good man who stands tall and upright, and should not do such a thing. He looked at Hou Xuanyan with a complicated expression, and unexpectedly found that there was no evil thought in his eyes.

The six wealthy daughters were kneeling and lined up with geese wings. They were all luxurious Hanfu, and their faces were covered with tears at this time, and they were slightly sad.

Hong Yizhuo wanted to speak but stopped, Hou Xuanyan chuckled and said, "You are all daughters of the Cheng family. You have grown up with a golden spoon in your mouth since childhood and are spoiled. Your fathers have committed serious crimes, affair with the enemy and helping with the enemy. It is unforgivable. Originally, your male relatives were sentenced to prison for autumn and under the age of 12, and they were called palace eunuchs, and female prostitutes served as soldiers."

Hong Yizhuo thought to himself, "As long as I'm going to lie again. The Northern Expedition Army has been fighting for so long, but there is no such thing as a military prostitute. Although the six Cheng family daughters knew that their own disaster was coming, they couldn't help but feel in a mess when they heard that their fate was so tragic. Hou Xuanyan took the opportunity to say, "Now I'll give you a chance. If you want to avoid becoming a military prostitute, you have to listen to me. Do you understand?"

The six girls of the Cheng family were raised as daughters, and no one was as smart as their fathers. They could only be sad and anxious. Although Hou Xuanyan was their big enemy, he did not dare to disobey them at all.

Seeing them all the ignorant and unscrupulous, Hou Xuanyan said casually: "Now I am willing to give mercy, thinking of your young and ignorant, and not knowing the scandals of your fathers in your family, I will give you to my old subordinates. You will follow them and serve them happily in the future, which is worth it. It is rare for me to have a good heart."

With a light wave of his hand, the spy from Qianxiang Camp took the six girls out and detained them in the backyard of Cheng Mansion. Hou Xuanyan laughed and said, "Zheng Zhilong blocked the sea. Our Jiading business genius Gong Laosan brought two thousand Jiading survivors to do nothing at the beach. I plan to let them come to Huai'an and take over the business of making money for some days. Money is profitable, so why not come by ourselves? Although the family of Cheng Huang and other salt merchants have large families, they died at that time. What I want is the chicken that lays eggs, not eggs."

Hong Yizhuo said in confusion: "What's the point for brother to want these six women?"

"You are confused. The Cheng family's family business is so big. The shopkeepers, accounts, and friends under their sect... are all good businessmen. Cheng Liang's investment is not controlled by them. They are not guilty. I asked Gong Zifang to control these women so that he could take over these people in the name, so as not to lose weight. The court said that I had enough money."

Hong Yizhuo muttered: "Brother, this seems to be a pampering one's own pocket. Since Mr. Gong San has burned his own courtyard, he has regarded himself as a member of the Hou family. He has spent all the money he earned on him."

The three brothers of the Gong family, two brothers, died in battle at the top of the city with Hou Dongzeng, and the remaining one was hardworking with Hou Xuanyan. Hou Xuanyan always thought of it, and he felt a little sad, but for Gong Zifang, these were trivial matters. The most important thing in his heart was to wait for Hou Xuanyan to kill Li Chengdong and avenge Jiading.

"Haha, is that? I don't care. When the war is over, I will free up my hands to reform this. To be honest, the world is in my hands. What's the use of greed for these small wealth? It's just to use some temporary means to make the Northern Expedition sufficient food and salary." Hou Xuanyan didn't need to hide it and said his thoughts openly.

-----

In the suburbs of Huai'an, Huozi Camp was ready to go, and everyone's faces were filled with joy. Hou Xuanyan fulfilled his promise and rewarded the three armies with the money taken away by Wakda.

The next step is to purge Huai'an Prefecture. Huai'an Prefecture has governed Shanyang, Qinghe, Andong, Yancheng, Taoyuan, Suqian, Shuyang, Suining, Ganyu, Pizhou, Haizhou, and nine counties and two prefectures. Many places have officials stationed by the Qing court. However, they have lost the protection of Wakda's army and believe they will be captured soon.

At the order of Li Haoxian, several generals under his command took their troops to the southeast, southwest and northeast, but they were just regaining lost land like piercing the cave. Li Haoxian did not go there in person.

In the two months of the Northern Expedition, two victories have been won, and the Eastern Army has made great progress.

Although Zhongzhen Camp was suppressed by the four vassal kings, the city was not lost, and he could barely stalemate with the four traitors in Xiangyang. Hou Xuanyan used the whole country to transport grain to save Sichuan, and he also received feedback. Yang Zhan had already led the Sichuan army to attack Zhang Zongfan of Guzhou Prefecture, which relieved the great pressure on Zhongzhen Camp. The only thing that caught Hou Xuanyan off guard was the battle situation in the southwest. Zheng Zhilong's strength greatly exceeded his expectations. He thought Xia Wanchun would be able to drive them back to the sea soon, but who knew that the Zheng family's background had completely exploded. To sum up, it was just one word, money!

The Zheng family was too rich. Zheng Zhilong took out his wealth and recruited troops in Guangdong and Guangxi, and soon organized a Guangdong army worth more than 100,000 yuan. The Fujian people recognized him from the bottom of the Minjiang River. The Zheng family's flag was everywhere, and Wu Shengzhao guarded the Ganjiang River without any progress. In addition, the extraordinary emphasis of Shi Lang and Li Chengdong made Zheng Zhilong fight with Xia Wanchun on the front line. If it weren't for the Songjiang Navy of Wusong River, it was still quite successful, so the Zheng Navy was dragged on the coast and could not act rashly, otherwise their harm would be greater.

The chieftains from all over the southwest were also very dissatisfied with Hou Xuanyan's support for Peng Zhuze's revolution in the southwest. In the past, they swallowed their anger and dared not resist. What was taboo was that Hou Xuanyan's Northern Expedition Army was strong and powerful. But now with Zheng Zhilong, they suddenly found their backbone. Hundreds of chieftains went to Zheng Zhilong openly and secretly, making his strength stronger in the southwest. Although Xia Wanchun's Hunan soldiers were brave enough, they could not defeat Zheng Zhilong in haste.

Hou Xuanyan never thought that Zheng Zhilong was so powerful. What was the purpose of his surrender to the Qing Dynasty in his later generations and living a dog-like life? Did he know that I was going to travel through time and deliberately numb me? Thinking of this, Hou Xuanyan had a headache. Although he kept reminding himself not to use historical descriptions to measure people of this era, his strong thinking inertia still made him look away.

In the next time, Hou Xuanyan was in charge of Huai'an for a month. Gong Laosan brought his team to Huai'an and received a delicious gift on the first day he came to Huai'an. After laughing and thanking Hou Xuanyan, he began his career in the salt owl transportation.

The golden autumn of August has passed like this.

In Jinling City, today is the day when the new emperor ascended the throne agreed by Hou Xuanyan and all civil and military officials. The Duke of Yue went out to fight, but such a major event could obviously not be delayed.

In Fengtian Hall, the Honglu Temple Praises the Lecture Officer was singing in class. Ma Lingyao in the harem dressed up as a female official, holding a baby in a yellow robe in his arms, and walked slowly into the hall. The baby seemed to be very attached to her, and his little hands kept shaking to let her play with him, but Lingyao looked ahead, looking down at the civil and military officials in front of the hall, without any timidity.

The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Ma Shiying, looked a little angry, but his favorite little daughter, was always hung on his arms, but this time she didn't look at him at all.

The eunuch of the middle-ranking official, Wang Xiangnian, held the seal in both hands, raised it high above his head, and all the officials knelt down together, shouting long live the mountain. The little emperor was so scared that he didn't dare to move. The spiritual medicine quietly lowered his head and smiled slightly at her, and the little baby suddenly became alive.

The emperor was unable to speak, and the female official was temporarily acting. Ma Lingyao held the emperor in her arms and exercised her power on her behalf, saying crisply: "All officials are calm."

All the officials knelt three times and kowtowed nine times. After performing the great ceremony, they all got up from the ground and stood in the class.

The emperor ascended the throne and had a set of red tape. After finishing his work, it was already sunset.

The spiritual medicine in the harem stretched out his arms and twisted his waist, and he was not afraid of his beautiful figure. The exquisite curves of spring light leaked out. This is the courtyard of the deep palace, and all of them are women. Although Zhou Yujie is the leader of the palace maids, she has long been tamed by the spiritual medicine. And she knew that the little girl in front of her was amazing. She brought in by the Duke of the State personally. She walked up to her smooth and fair white arms of the spiritual medicine and smiled flatteringly: "Thank you for your hard work today, I will pinch it for you."

The spiritual medicine smiled and said, "Sister Zhou, don't be so polite, just call me spiritual medicine." Even though she said that, she still enjoyed it with her eyes closed. The twelve-year-old girl, holding a baby for a day, had already felt sore in her arms.

At this time, the little emperor on the dragon bed burst into tears, and Lingyao hurriedly said, "Call the nurse quickly, Your Majesty is going to have breastfeed."

The palace maid next to him responded, and the little spiritual medicine clapped his hands, teasing the emperor gradually stopped crying. Such a beautiful girl seemed to be born to like children.

At this time, a little eunuch shouted outside: "Miss Lingyao, Lord Ma of the cabinet is outside the palace, saying that there is something important to see you."

When Lingyao heard this, she happily walked out of the harem and followed the eunuch outside the palace gate. These two were both confidants of Duke Yue, and the guards pretended not to see it, and consciously gave up their seats to them.

"Dad." Lingyao's smile made Ma Shiying feel dazed. Is this the dignified female official in front of the palace?

Thinking of the terrifying fate, Ma Shiying put away his father's love and said with a stern face: "Yao'er, when I sent you into the Marquis' Mansion, I told you that you will serve the Duke of the Kingdom in the next life and please the Duke of the Kingdom. I have no reason to be a female official. My father is already feeling like he is a needle and needle. I don't know how many people are thinking about killing me and killing our Ma family. If you are this female official now, isn't you looking for these open and secret arrows to yourself? You are so outrageous, the Duke of the Kingdom is not in the court now. If someone really wants to harm our father and daughter, who can protect you and me?"

Lingyao seemed to have not felt her father's concern and anger at all. She stuck out her tongue and smiled and said, "Dad, don't be angry. This is all done by the master's instructions to Lingyao. If you don't believe it, go and ask him."

Ma Shiying's eyes lit up and he asked, "Is it really the Duke's idea?"

"I told you my dad but I don't believe it, so I only said it once." Lingyao's sweet voice came. The old father Ma Shiying was so crazy, but he still didn't believe it. This is obviously a cute and well-behaved girl, Ma Shiying refused to believe his precious daughter, and he was scheming to deceive him.

After pondering for a while, Ma Shiying said mysteriously: "If this is the case, it's OK. As long as you have the protection of the Duke of China, no one can harm us. Hehe, take good care of Your Majesty in the palace, and don't forget to invite more favors when the Duke of China comes back. The Duke of China is the benefactor of our father and daughter, and also our backer. Don't forget who's kindness is from the fact that we can't eat on the streets to the rich and graceful food now."

Lingyao squinted his big eyes and smiled innocently. Ma Shiying turned around and left happily.

Looking at the father's back, Lingyao muttered: "Although he didn't say it, this must be what he meant, otherwise what would you do if Lingyao entered the palace?"
Chapter completed!