Fenghou

When we returned to the manor, it was already dusk. Chen Qing and his son walked into the round tent, but saw the eldest daughter Xueer sitting in the corner crying alone. Chen Qing stepped forward to hug her daughter distressedly, wiped away her tears and asked: "Why is Daddy's baby crying?"

"Daddy and brother are going hunting, don't take me!"

Chen Qing couldn't help laughing, "Who told you that your father and brother went hunting?"

Xue'er sobbed and said, "Ah Gang told me!"

Ah Gang is Zhou Kuan's grandson, the same age as Chen Ji, extremely smart and notoriously mischievous, probably he is coaxing Xue'er.

"Daddy and elder brother didn't go hunting, Ah Gang lied to you to play, if daddy went hunting, Ah Gang is also a boy, why didn't he go? Right?"

"Then why did you go?"

"Daddy is going to see other people's sheep. Their sheep are sick. Daddy is going to treat their sheep. Do you understand, baby?"

Xue'er nodded half-understanding, and asked again: "Then what gift did you bring me?"

Chen Qing knew that as long as her daughter mentioned gifts, she would be coaxed.

At this time, Chen Ji took out a round cake and said, "This is a cake someone gave me, I can give you half of it."

Xue'er nodded happily, the gift doesn't matter how expensive it is, as long as her brother's things are willing to share with her, she will be satisfied.

"What about your mother?"

"They're grilling outside!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Let's go! Daddy will make you a bowl of mutton soup. It is the best to make cakes with mutton soup."

He put his daughter down, took a child by the hand, and walked out of the tent.

Chapter 61 Accident

The second day of the autumn outing was horseback riding day. Everyone put on their samurai uniforms. There were dozens of ponies raised in Chen Qing Manor. This kind of horse is not a pony, but a very small one, the size of a healthy donkey, with a strong personality. Very docile, especially suitable for the elderly and women to ride.

People in the Song Dynasty rode donkeys just like people ride bicycles today, men, women and children can ride this kind of pony, so everyone has no problem at all, including children aged seven or eight, like Chen Ji can also ride a pony.

The younger children can only ride with their parents, but Chen Qing is holding two daughters in his arms today. The relationship between the two daughters is very good now. The two sisters sleep together at night. The two discussed it all night last night. Decided to ride a horse with Daddy today.

It was inconvenient for the two little ladies in pink warrior uniforms to ride the same horse with their father, but Chen Qing still had a solution. He ordered someone to bring out the Bactrian camel from the manor, and he rode on the camel. There are two big bamboo baskets hanging next to them, and the two children sit side by side in the bamboo baskets, their bodies are fixed with belts, and their hands can be supported on the sides.

Chen Qing yelled loudly, and the lying camel stood up. The two little guys screamed in fright, but after the camel stabilized, the two shouted happily again. High enough to reach out and touch someone's head.

The team did not rush, but walked slowly around the manor, walked through the shallow river, walked slowly along the hillside grassland, and enjoyed the scenery along the way.

"Your Highness!"

Zhou Kuan shouted: "When will we get some elephants and put some chairs on the backs of the elephants so that the children can sit on the backs of the elephants, it will be very enjoyable!"

Chen Qing suddenly knew who his grandson looked like, just like his grandfather, very naughty, at such an age, he still wanted to ride an elephant, but his suggestion is good, he can let Dali Kingdom donate a few docile elephants , riding is exempted, but children can perform.

"It's a good idea. I'll ask Dali Kingdom to present two elephants next year. Maybe we can see them in the spring outing next year."

The two little ladies clapped their hands in joy, "Daddy, we want to see elephants, so bring them tomorrow!"

Chen Qing smiled and said, "Tomorrow will not work. Elephants don't have wings, so they can't fly."

Walking through the grassland on the hillside and entering the woods, there is a tree-lined road in the middle. Everyone walks slowly along the quiet tree-lined road. The ground is full of fallen leaves, colorful, and the atmosphere of autumn is very strong.

"Ah! Little squirrel."

Xue'er suddenly pointed at the branch a few steps away, and shouted excitedly.

Sure enough, it was a little squirrel with shiny chestnut fur, a big bushy tail, and a pair of big round eyes. It was holding a pine cone, and it was not afraid of people at all. It stood on a branch and looked at it curiously. Two sisters.

They were so close, Chen Qing was sure to grab it.

The two girls jumped up and down excitedly, Chen Qing hurriedly held them down, "You two, if you jump up again, you will fall."

Frightened by their excitement, the little squirrel jumped up the tree and disappeared soon.

"Daddy, let's take the little squirrel home! We can also raise it in the back mountain of our house."

The two little ladies looked up at their father together, their eyes full of expectation.

"You can raise a few, but it's not it. It has parents! If you take it away, its parents will be sad."

"Okay! Let's raise two more."

Chen Qing smiled and nodded. At this moment, he suddenly found a deer in the birch forest. He quickly whispered: "You two look in the woods, there is a deer, don't make noise, it will scare it!"

The two little ladies stared wide-eyed, held their breath, and looked in the direction of their father's finger. Sure enough, they saw a sika fawn following the doe. The two little ladies sighed together: "What a cute little deer!"

"Daddy!"

The two little red faces looked at Daddy together again, Chen Qing smiled wryly and said, "Fawns are not easy to keep."

Xue'er grabbed her father's arm and shook it desperately, "Daddy, yes, there are grasslands and woods in the back of our mountain, which can be raised. I want to raise a deer!"

Chen Qing knew that these deer were raised by the villagers, and they would be sent to the mansion together with mutton as a harvest at the end of the year.

He didn't dare to tell his daughter this cruel fact, so he could only smile vaguely: "Okay! I'll get two fawns back to raise, one named Xiaoxue and the other named Xiaobing."

The two little fellows were overjoyed again, but soon they lost their minds. The deer was very spiritual. When he found them, he followed them all the way and took away the souls of the two little ladies.

……

After walking around the manor for a long time, I went to visit Yang Zaixing's manor next door to visit his family's fish pond. I didn't return to the manor until noon. I ate a simple meal at noon, all of which were farm-style meals.

Everyone was in high spirits, enjoying the fun of the autumn outing, and the children were playing crazy, clamoring to go fishing in the shallow waters of the small river, but they were strictly stopped by the adults. How could they still go into the water after the white dew had passed?

At this time, Wang Hao came riding from Jingzhao with a few of his men, which slightly reduced Chen Qing's vacation fun.

In a large tent in the military camp, Chen Qing listened to Wang Hao's report.

"It's really unexpected, that Lu Tang claimed to be able to get the formula of Tiehuolei, and it turned out to be true."

Chen Qing was startled, "What's going on?"

Chen Qing really couldn't believe that he was so tightly guarded, yet there was still a loophole?

"He is the son of a craftsman. The craftsman is called Yan Kuang. He is a craftsman who prepares gunpowder. He has three sons. Among them, the youngest son is studying at the craftsman school. He is only 20 years old this year. I don't know when he also got into the bad habit of whoring. , but his family didn’t have much money for him, so he asked his classmates to borrow money, promising high interest rates, and borrowing everything. He already owed more than 1000 yuan in debt. Now everyone started to ask him for money, when he was in a state of desperation, he heard from the old bustard that Lu Tang wanted to pay a high price for the formula of Tiehuolei..."

Chen Qing suddenly said angrily: "That person actually said publicly that he wanted to buy the formula of Tiehuolei?"

"Your Highness, this kind of person doesn't understand at all. He brags in front of prostitutes all day long that he is well-informed and dares to say anything. Some people are still pretending to be His Highness's brother in the brothel. In fact, no one will believe it."

"And then?" Chen Qing asked sullenly.

"Then Yan Sanlang approached Lu Tong, saying that he had a way to get the formula of Tiehuolei gunpowder, and also showed that his father was a first-class gunpowder craftsman. The two hit it off and reached a business contract. Money to buy Yan Sanlang's gunpowder formula, and the agreed time is within one month."

"The results of it?"

Chen Qing wanted to know if the gunpowder formula had been leaked?

"Our inner guard spies kept a close eye on Yan Sanlang. At noon yesterday, Yan Sanlang went home. As soon as he came out of the third district, my inner guard spies pushed him to the ground and found this from him. "

Wang Hao handed a piece of rice paper the size of a palm to Chen Qing, and Chen Qing took the rice paper. It could be seen that the paper was a bit old, maybe it was stuck in the book for a long time, and it looked very flat. It was written on the gunpowder formula. , which is similar to the current Tiehuolei gunpowder formula, lacking powdered sugar.

But the handwriting is a bit faded, and it should have been written a long time ago. There is also an indistinct seal underneath, and the words "Firearms Bureau Seal" can be vaguely recognized.

"what is this?"

"Reporting to His Majesty, we asked the gunpowder maker about the gunpowder formula. This is the gunpowder formula of the Bianliang Firearms Bureau. Yan Kuang kept it in a book for 20 years, and he was taken out by this rebellious son to deceive Lu Jiang."

Chen Qing knew very well that this was not a lie. This was Tie Huolei's gunpowder formula. If the gunpowder was made properly, even without adding sugar powder, it could explode the low-quality iron shell.

They are not lying to Jin Guo, they are afraid that they will make Jin Guo develop successfully by mistake, so they can't be careless at all.

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said, "Close the Internet cafe! Catch all Jingzhao's spies from the Kingdom of Jin, and we don't need them anymore."

"The humble official obeys the order. In addition, the humble official has an important matter to report."

The first thousand and sixty-two chapters close the net

"What else?" Chen Qing asked.

"There is also good news about the extermination of private salt on Jinghu South Road."

"Wait a minute!"

Chen Qing ordered the soldiers at the door of the tent: "Go and invite all four counselors!"

Cracking down on private salt, the entire Internal Affairs Hall is extremely concerned, and naturally invites them to participate together.

Not long after, Zhou Kuan, Zhao Kai, Zhang Miao, and Jiang Yanxian all rushed over, except Guan Shigu, the head of the military department, who stayed in Jingzhao to sit in the town, so they couldn't all come for the autumn outing.

Chen Qing said with a smile: "What you are interested in is the progress of cleaning up illegal salt on South Jinghu Road."

Everyone was overjoyed and found chairs to sit down one after another.

Chen Qing smiled at Wang Hao: "Let's report to everyone!"

"His Royal Highness, all counselors, Commander Zhong Huan of the Internal Guard led his army into Poyang Lake, destroyed the largest salt lord Zhang Tai, and beheaded him. Currently, he is doing his best to eliminate the salt dealers in the states along South Jingnan Road."

Zhou Kuan hurriedly said: "We must not be soft when dealing with these salt lords and salt dealers, otherwise it will not be enough to deter criminals!"

"Please don't worry, Counselor Zhou. We use Bashu's experience. Basically, salt lords and private salt dealers are all over the house. Even people who sell private salt in shops will be arrested and killed. The only difference is that they don't implicate their family members. We issued the circular on cracking down on private salt last year, and there is nothing they can do if they don’t listen to it.”

On the standpoint of cracking down on illegal salt, the counselors of the Internal Affairs Hall have the same attitude. Only by using the most severe means to crack down on illegal salt can criminals be deterred.

Jiang Yanxian asked: "Didn't you say that private salt is related to Zhang Jun?"

"Reporting to Counselor Jiang, what is currently being attacked is the southern half of Jinghu South Road, which is controlled by Yan Xiao, and then several states in the north, including Jiangling Prefecture, Lizhou, Dingzhou, Yuezhou, and Ezhou. These five states are all along the river and Along Dongting Lake, they are occupied by smuggled salt from the north, which should be related to Zhang Jun’s army, and Chong Huan’s next step is to clean up the smuggled salt from the north.”

At this time, Zhao Kai said slowly: "Everyone didn't ask the key point, I just want to know how much wealth has been seized, and to what extent can it make up for the loss of our salt tax?"

The four counselors looked at Chen Qing together, Chen Qing understood what they meant, and said with a smile: "This time it will not be used as spoils of war, all confiscated and seized wealth will go into the temple treasury, not the government treasury!"

Everyone was relieved by Chen Qing's statement, and Wang Hao said again: "It is true that a large amount of wealth has been confiscated. At present, it is mainly the wealth of private salt dealers. Their wealth has exceeded one million guan, but the big salt lord Zhang Tai has accumulated wealth for 20 years, but only a small part has been confiscated, and the bulk has not been taken."

"What's going on?" Chen Qing asked.

"Zhang Tai has stored most of his wealth in the warehouse of Lin'an Baoji Cabinet Workshop. Please send someone to take them out, Your Highness. I am worried that the imperial court will also do something to this wealth after they get the news."

Chen Qing nodded, "I see, I will arrange it immediately. Besides, there should be many officials involved in covering up private salt!"

"Exactly, more than 30 officials who cover up private salt have been arrested. The evidence is solid. These officials have been sent to Jiangling Mansion for detention!"

Chen Qing glanced at Zhang Miao and Zhou Kuan and said, "These officials should be dealt with by the Supervision Department and the Officials Department!"

Zhang Miao and Zhou Kuan hurriedly said, "I'll arrange for people to go south!"

Chen Qing issued three Yongwang decrees, ordering Dangtu Xijun, Lin'an Intelligence Station and special envoy Hu Yun to fully cooperate with the inner guards to take out Zhang Tai's wealth.

At the same time, more than a dozen officials from the Department of Supervision and the Department of Officials set off overnight and took the Shangluo Road to Jiangling Mansion.

……

In the middle of the night, a hundred internal guard soldiers surrounded a folk courtyard. The soldiers jumped over the courtyard wall and surrounded two houses from all directions. Not long after, one person was captured from each of the two houses. It was Wang Shuang and Zhou. Hua, the two of them looked pale, knowing that their lives were in danger, Zhou Hua shouted: "Lu Sima from the military is also one of us!"

The soldier knocked him down with a slap, Wang Hao stepped forward and snorted coldly: "Don't dream, Lu Sima is following the order of King Yong to deal with you, you really take it seriously!"

Wang Shuang and Zhou Hua looked at each other, they were too regretful, Wang Shuang suddenly yelled, spit out a mouthful of blood, and fainted out of breath.

"take away!"

The soldiers put on hoods on the two men, tied them behind their backs, and took them away.

Juxiang Restaurant was also surrounded by nearly [-] inner guard soldiers. Han Feng desperately killed a bloody road and jumped onto the courtyard wall. Unexpectedly, hundreds of crossbow arrows shot from all directions. Han Feng only split five or six arrows, and the other arrows Ya couldn't hold back any longer, and was instantly shot into a hedgehog, and fell straight from the courtyard wall to the ground, killing him on the spot.

This time, Lu Tang almost leaked the secret, which made Chen Qing weigh the pros and cons again. Although the other party's spies could be countermeasures, but the other party's continuous spying on Tie Huolei's secrets also put the Western Army at a great risk of leaking secrets. After careful consideration, Chen Qing Qing finally decided to rule out the risk of leaking the secret. Wang Hao personally led the [-] internal guards to arrest Wang Shuang and his more than [-] subordinates from four locations.

The inner guards have been following them for a long time, and they know every point of information about them very well.

The night before, all the Jin Bing spies were arrested, and none of them slipped through the net. The last one was Lu Tang. The inner guard soldiers found him in a brothel and grabbed him from the bed of a prostitute.

……

In Lin'an, after the farce of arresting the intelligence spies of the Western Army ended, basically there was no disturbance.

The Changfeng Teahouse opposite the newspaper office of the "Beijing News" recently changed owners. This is of course a trivial matter. Even the government has not transferred ownership, and no one pays attention to it.

Dong An, the shopkeeper of Liuweiju Teahouse, continues to be the shopkeeper of this teahouse. They are not afraid that Yang Yizhong will find out again. Some games are played on the table. According to the rules, if you are forced to raid, I will cooperate. You, so that you can explain to the superior, if Yang Yizhong really broke the rules, then the Western Army will not show mercy.

Hu Yun was still the same as usual. In the afternoon, he came to Changfeng Teahouse to drink a cup of tea and chat with Wang Mu.

But today he has a special mission. He came here specifically to find Dong An. In a private room on the second floor, Hu Yun put a wooden box on the table and pushed it to Dong An. The certificates in Lin’an Baoji cabinet workshop, King Yong asked us to take out the wealth as soon as possible, and Wang Qinghui led a fleet to meet it in the sea outside the Qiantang River.”

Dong An took the box and opened it. Inside was a certificate and half a piece of jade. Dong An asked again: "Does the imperial court know about this wealth?"

"Zhang Tai will definitely not leak it. Now I am worried about Baoji Cabinet, how much do they know? If they know who Zhang Tai is and that Zhang Tai is dead, then they must tell the court about it, so we There must be no delay, and action must be taken as soon as possible."

Dong An also heard about the background of Baoji Cabinetry, which was founded by some dignitaries from the previous dynasty in partnership.