Chapter two hundred and twenty second interception
It was a dark and windy night, so Han Qian did not ride a horse, but took a carriage, surrounded by Zhao Wuji and others, and walked slowly under the night. This made it easier for him to organize his thoughts on the road.
After going through a lot of troubles to enter the city gate, it was already the end of the day when we arrived at Lanting Alley.
Han Qian passed through the car window and saw that the sky in the distance was slightly red. Jinling City was immersed in the quiet night. No more people could detect the murderous intention hidden in the night.
At this time, Zhao Wuji, who was riding in front of the carriage, stretched out his hand to signal the driver to rein in the horse and stop.
Han Qian looked forward. They were still some distance away from the entrance of Lanting Alley, and could faintly see several black carriage-like figures parked across the street.
Lin Zongjing put the sword on his waist in front of him, drove his horse forward a few steps, and asked in a low voice: "Who is there?"
"Nephew of the Han family, do you really don't want to see me?"
Several people walked across the street. Under the illumination of the bright corner lamp, they were Feng Wenlan with a white face and long beard, Feng Wenlan's eldest son Feng Liao, Feng Yi, Kong Xirong and others. Han Qian didn't know which gate they came into the city from.
Rush to intercept him at the entrance of Lanting Lane.
At this time, Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and Lin Haizheng walked out of the alley with a dozen people.
They had long noticed that several vehicles of unknown origin suddenly stopped at the alley late at night. They couldn't figure out what was going on. They just kept secretly on guard in the alley. When they saw Han Qian entering the city at night, they walked out of the alley to meet up.
Han Qian motioned to Tian Cheng to let everyone below him retreat first, as there was no need to disturb the neighbors.
Xi Rong opened the car curtain, and Han Qian saw Feng Wenlan's hairy temples illuminated by the bright corner lights, his eyes slightly swollen and haggard, and his long and unkempt beard covering his chin. He looked quite downcast, and he sighed slightly and said:
"Master Feng, you think too highly of Han Qian - if the matter is really as serious as Master Feng predicts, even if Han Qian is willing to risk his life, I'm afraid he won't be able to make any waves for Master Feng.
"
"Nephew of the Han family, you forced yourself to give hundreds of tons of tea from Xuzhou to the Feng family, but I didn't stop you from taking it back; while Yi'er secretly helped Linjiang Money Shop raise funds, I turned a blind eye.
." Feng Wenlan said.
Seeing that this old guy Feng Wenlan was shamelessly playing the emotional card with him, Han Qian could only laugh and said: "I'm afraid the matter is not as serious as Mr. Feng said."
"Then why did the wise nephew of the Han family hide back in Lanting Lane all night and not want to see me?" Feng Wenlan asked.
"That's why Mr. Feng scared me," Han Qian said.
"Can the wise nephew of the Han family introduce me to meet His Highness?" Feng Wenlan stared at Han Qian and asked.
"Master Feng wants to see His Highness, it's so late, it's really inconvenient!" Han Qian said with a laugh.
Zhao Ting'er and Xi Rong were both sitting in the carriage. They were all looking at Han Qian's face in the dark, showing a bit of laziness under the illumination of the bright corner lamp. They had no idea that Han Qian's words were referring to the time when Tai Shi was at this time.
Late, or it was too late for Feng Wenlan to meet the third prince.
"Nephew of the Han family, do you really think it's too late for me to go see His Highness?" Feng Wenlan asked.
"Master Feng, if you think so, my nephew has nothing to say." Han Qian still said vaguely, thinking to himself, aren't you talking nonsense? If not, why would I avoid you?
"Nephew of the Han family, can you please come into the house for a drink of water?" Feng Wenlan asked, staring at Han Qian persistently.
Seeing Feng Yi and Kong Xirong standing behind Feng Wenlan, both of whom looked deeply frightened, Han Qian could not force himself to shut them out, so he gave the belt to Gao Shao and said
"You go and invite Jiang Huo, and two elders, Yuan Guowei, come over. They say that Lord Feng is visiting Hanzhai at night. I'd like to trouble them to come over so late and talk about it."
Gao Shao didn't know what he meant. He was stunned for a while. He took the belt card handed over by Han Qian. Without holding the horse, he jumped directly onto the wall, flying over the walls and crossing the streets and alleys, like a civet cat in the night.
He ran as fast as possible to the residences of Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei.
Han Qian then signaled the driver to continue driving to the Han family mansion in Lanting Lane.
Looking at Feng Wenlan who was staggering onto the carriage behind him, Zhao Ting'er asked Han Qian: "If the Feng family chooses to side with the third prince at this time, will it not avoid disaster?"
"As ministers, it is the only way to save your life by not making rash assumptions about the Holy Judgment." Han Qian said solemnly.
"Don't you just speculate all day long?" Zhao Ting'er said coquettishly.
"If the Feng family still had a chance to avoid trouble at this time, why would he hide in the city like a dog overnight?" Xi Rong glanced at Han Qian disdainfully and said, "And Feng Wenlan can intercept us here,
We obviously know how serious the situation is, but we still have illusions. We even expect that when the imperial censor Zhang Han goes to court to impeach the Feng family, the third prince will stand up and speak for him. I'm afraid he's not smart enough."
Han Qian ignored Xi Rong and Zhao Ting'er's words. He looked through the car window and saw Feng Wenlan's car rushing over. He sighed slightly in his heart. The Feng family had been thinking about waiting and watching. Maybe it was one of the reasons why Emperor Tianyou finally lost his patience, but it was definitely
Not the only reason.
The Jingxiang War was over, and Du Chongtao finally defended the Xiangzhou Army. When reinforcements arrived, the imperial court did not punish Du Chongtao, and naturally would not admit its defeat in the Jingxiang War.
The local forces in Jingxiang were double purged before and after the war, which will greatly strengthen Jinling's control over the Jingxiang area, which to a certain extent cannot be considered a bad thing.
However, the huge amount of war funds and subsequent investment in defense line construction and rewards for meritorious generals were like a huge mountain weighing on the precarious finances, so heavy that it seemed as if there was a violent creaking sound that kept echoing in everyone's ears.
In addition to the huge expenditures in the direction of Chuzhou and Shouzhou, the war expenditures in the direction of Deng Xiang, which lasted less than a year, although the Duzhi Envoy Department has not yet been finally written off, Han Qian estimates that it will not be less than 4 billion.
This does not include the huge subsequent construction costs of the Deng-Xiang Defense Line.
The annual revenue of Da Chu's treasury is only about 12 billion yuan.
Although a considerable part of the huge expenses before and after the Jingxiang War was advanced from Jiang'e and other prefectures, since it was advance, Jiang'e and E's prefectures would naturally have to deduct this part from their taxes in the next few years.
overhead.
This will also directly lead to the annual revenue of Da Chu's treasury, and will directly lose the tax contributions from Jiang'e, Jing, Huang and other states.
However, if we add in the deductions for war expenses in Chuzhou and Shouzhou, how much money will Da Chu have left in its treasury revenue this year? Can it fully pay all the civil and military official salaries of the Manchu Dynasty?
In the past two years, the climate in Jianghuai, Jiangnan East Road, Jingxiang and other places has been very different from previous years. Small disasters have been reported almost every day, but major disasters, such as the Huaihe River bursting its banks and floods flooding Sizhou City, have already caused great concern in the DPRK.
The situation is overwhelming. In the past few days, news has come from Ganzhou, Hongzhou, Jiangzhou and other places that the Poyang Lake flood has worsened.
In addition to the matter of establishing a direct heir and guarding against relatives and frontier commanders taking power, there were many things that gave Emperor Tianyou a headache at this time.
The Feng family is still too fat.
The Feng family, like the Han family, is originally from Xuanzhou, but the ancestors of the Feng family moved to Jinling very early to develop. They served as salt and iron transport envoys on the Jiangnan East Road, and once controlled the taxation, mining, and other prefectures of Yue, Hu, Run, Xuan, and Xi.
Before Emperor Tianyou established his capital in Jinling, the Feng family had already accumulated a large amount of wealth.
The Feng family assessed the situation and surrendered to Jinling before Emperor Tianyou launched his troops. They donated more than 200,000 dan of grain to help Emperor Tianyou pacify Ning, Jiang, Xuan, Hong and other prefectures. Therefore, Feng Wenlan's father Feng Yue also served as the Great Chu Governor.
The first salt and iron transfer envoy after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Feng Wenlan also gradually climbed to the high position of Minister of Household Affairs.
Han Qian had secretly found out how rich the Feng family's wealth was before.
The Feng family has farms in Xuanzhou, Jinling, Yangzhou and Runzhou, with a total of 134,000 acres of land and nearly 10,000 slaves. In addition, there are mines, tea mountains, iron yards, shipyards, weaving mills, and medicine shops.
, there are more than a hundred silk shops, pawn shops, gambling counters, restaurants and warehouses.
As for the gold and silver treasures secretly hidden by the Feng family, this is not something that Detective Zuo Si can investigate clearly.
…………
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Entering the mansion, Han Qian asked everyone to leave, leaving only Zhao Ting'er. Xi Rong was serving tea in the yard. Seeing the fine beads of sweat oozing out from Feng Wenlan's white and fat forehead, he knew that it was already the end of August and autumn was here.
Afterwards, the air still felt damp and hot late at night, which made me irritable and restless.
Han Qian took the tea brewed by Zhao Ting'er, took a sip, and then asked Feng Wenlan again: "Why did Mr. Feng have a premonition of impending disaster?"
"Zhang Han's reference book slanders my Feng family for deliberately destroying the dragon veins of the imperial mausoleum and having evil intentions," Feng Wenlan said with difficulty, "and my nephew must also know that in the past few years, although Zhang Han has been a small imperial censor,
, but none of the people he joined could stand firm."
Han Qian looked at Feng Wenlan, not knowing whether he was smart or confused. He thought that if he had such a strong desire to survive and vigilance at this time, why had he stayed in Jinling City and sat on the fence before, and why did he go to greedy people?
This little bargain will hand over the handle in real life?
Seeing Han Qian's silence, Feng Wenlan said: "If my nephew can help the Feng family survive this disaster..."
Seeing Feng Wenlan's promise, Han Qian stopped him and said: "Master Feng, please don't harm me. I still want to keep my head on my neck for a while. At most, I can help Master Feng to capture Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei."
Sir, please come over."
Zhao Ting'er glanced at Xi Rong in confusion. With outsiders present, it was not convenient for her to ask Han Qian directly. Since they had directly refused to take Feng Wenlan to meet the third prince, what would be the use of inviting Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei over?
However, Zhao Ting'er was shocked when she saw that Feng Wenlan didn't say anything more after hearing Han Qian's words, but was walking around in the yard anxiously. Could it be that Feng Wenlan also knew the identities of Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei, as well as Han Qian's identity?
Qian Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei were invited over for what purpose?
Zhao Ting'er sighed bitterly in her heart, looking at Feng Yi, Kong Xirong was fidgeting with confusion, obviously he didn't understand what kind of riddle Han Qian and Feng Wenlan were playing!
