Fenghou

But Xiang Kui didn't come here for the Baoji cabinet shop today. The cabinet shop was just a possession outside his body. He came for the Xiang family and even the entire powerful family of the Song Dynasty.

Xiang Kui first found an inn to live in, and then inquired and found the Cao Mansion. The Cao Mansion is the mansion of Cao De. Cao De was the governor of Taiyuan Mansion before, but he was just transferred back to Jingzhao to serve as the Minister of the Ministry of War. The Xiang family and the Cao family have a good relationship. Cao De's father, Cao Ju, gave Xiang Kui a letter of recommendation, asking him to come to Jingzhao to seek Cao De's help.

Not long after, Xiang Kui was led by the butler to the guest room. He took a sip of tea, only heard a cough, Cao De came in from the hall, Xiang Kui got up quickly and said, "Brother Cao, do you still remember my younger brother?"

Cao De nodded with a smile: "You are Xiang Kui. When I left Lin'an, you were only a teenager. Fast forward ten years. Sit down!"

Xiang Kui sat down, then took out Cao Ju's letter and handed it to Cao De, "This is a letter from Uncle Cao!"

Cao De took the letter and said with a smile: "It's actually my father's letter, is it a family letter?"

"Little brother doesn't know!"

Cao De asked the servant girl to serve tea again, and then he opened his father's letter for a closer look, his face became serious, he nodded and said, "His Royal Highness King Yong is going to inspect Tongguan County in two days, why don't you come and see me tomorrow He, or we have to wait for him to come back."

Xiang Kui leaned over and said, "It's better to choose the opportunity than to choose the time. Let's go in the afternoon! Father is still waiting for my news!"

……

In the afternoon, Cao De met Yong Wang Chen Qing and reported to him about Xiang Kui, which was expected by Chen Qing. In fact, Chen Qing was waiting for their arrival.

"Does Xiang Kui only represent the Xiang family?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

"Looking at the meaning of my father's letter, it seems that it not only represents the Xiang family!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Bring him to see me!"

Not long after, Xiang Kui was brought to Chen Qing's official room. He met Chen Qing and bowed to salute, "Xiang Kui, my little man, see His Royal Highness King Yong!"

"You're welcome, please sit down!"

Chen Qing smiled and asked him to sit down, "A guard came in to serve tea!"

Chen Qing asked: "How is the situation in Lin'an now?"

Xiang Kui leaned forward and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, Lin'an is riddled with holes and in chaos. I don't know what specific situation His Highness wants to know?"

"Tell me about the situation in Baoji Cabinetry!"

"Baoji has all closed down. Whether it is Yuezhou, Pingjiang Mansion, Jiankang Mansion, or the cabinet workshops in Lin'an, it is in chaos. Countless people and businessmen come to withdraw money. If they can't get the money, the out-of-control people rush They entered the cabinets, beat, smashed, robbed, burned, and I don’t know how many private treasure houses were looted, but the treasure houses of important people were taken away in advance, and we all got the news.”

"What do you mean? Is there a premeditated plan for smashing and looting?" Chen Qing asked puzzled.

"Reporting to Your Highness, this is actually a well-planned conspiracy. We heard from the big treasurer that Meihuawei has already taken the first step and emptied a lot of treasures, mainly from the savings of merchants and local wealthy families. The panic also triggered the final beating, smashing, looting, and burning. Many rogues also took the opportunity to rob money. Several cabinets were robbed of more than 1 copper coins at most. The cabinets were all burned. The person who robbed the money killed more than 100 people. Of course, the money cannot be recovered. There are too many people who robbed the money. In the end, nothing happened. The bad luck is all big customers, and all the responsibility falls on the Shi family and the people who caused trouble body."

"Good trick!"

Chen Qing sneered and said, "Now he won't have to worry about military expenses!"

"That's right. After looting the wealth of the Shi family and Guifang, the army is now expanding. I heard that the first batch of troops expanded by [-]."

"Then what do you mean?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Your Highness, the real estate and land prices in Lin'an continue to fall, and prices are rising. We all believe that the imperial court is on the verge of collapse. More importantly, once the emperor tastes the sweetness of confiscating the house, he will not stop. He will attack all families. We have to Self-preservation."

Speaking of this, Xiang Kui took a thick envelope from his arms and presented it to Chen Qing, "This is the joint loyalty letter of our 34 families, willing to pledge allegiance to His Highness, and support His Highness to replace Da Song."

Chen Qing has counted the dignitaries who still support the Song Dynasty before. There are a total of 31 families. Unexpectedly, there are three more. This is the basic situation of the Song Dynasty. Having already obtained the support of the Jiangnan family, once the Song Dynasty dignitaries collectively betrayed, then the Song Dynasty would really have no foundation. "

Chen Qing took the letter of allegiance and read it again. Below it were the signatures and fingerprints of the heads of various families, densely packed, but with a very sincere attitude.

Chen Qing nodded and said to Xiang Kui: "You want to keep your family's life and property safe, there are conditions, you have to know this!"

"We know, Your Highness, please speak up!"

If King Yong agreed without any conditions, they really couldn't believe it. Only with conditions can they truly accept allegiance, and they were afraid that there would be no conditions.

Chen Qing took two steps with his hands behind his back and said, "I don't need to move the wealth accumulated in your treasury, but the land must be obtained according to the rules of the Yong Kingdom. You must either obtain a title, or strive for an honorary officer, or obtain an official rank. Which level owns how much?" The land is clearly written. Common people can own up to five hectares of land. For you, there are two most convenient ways, either to donate food to the Western Army to obtain honorary officers, or to open workshops, according to the employment of common people The number of people can also get corresponding honorary officers, but Shangzhu Kingdom with the highest honorary officer can only get [-] hectares of land, even if it reaches the title of duke, it can't exceed [-] hectares of land, even me, King Yong, The upper limit is only [-] hectares, so you have hundreds of hectares of land at every turn, which is absolutely not allowed."

Xiang Kui's heart was very heavy. In fact, they all knew that they might not be able to pass the land issue. He pondered for a moment and said, "But as far as we know, Zheng Tongquan is only the Duke of the county. Even including his son Zheng Ping, his family owns the most land. There are only [-] hectares, but according to Zheng Tongquan himself, his family’s land has [-] hectares, so what’s the reason for this?”

The first thousand and 440 chapters supply

Chen Qing said lightly: "You asked a very good question. You should know that the Yu Qingfeng family and the Wang Zhenbang family also obtained honorary officials by donating money and food to the Western Army. According to regulations, the upper limit of land that the two families can own is Fifteen hectares, but in fact, the land owned by the two families is more than [-] hectares, what is the reason?"

"I implore Your Highness to clarify!"

"I can tell you that the Zheng family only owns 280 hectares of land in the territory of Yong State. It is a manor covering an area of ​​[-] mu. I rewarded Zheng Ping. The other [-] hectares of land of the Zheng family are overseas. The Yu Qingfeng family It’s the same with the Wang Zhenbang family, their family’s land is also overseas, and overseas is not restricted by land.”

"Overseas? What does overseas mean?" Xiang Kui was at a loss.

"The current overseas is the guide ocean, and it will be even wider in the future. We will build a powerful naval force and continue to occupy the vast unclaimed land overseas. You can carry out land replacement and replace the farmland in your hands with overseas land. According to the One to ten replacement, the current one hectare of Jiangnan land is replaced by ten hectares of overseas land, and three hundred hectares of land is replaced by three thousand hectares of overseas land, which can be replaced by a big island. This is actually the best way. The land can be sold, we have not forced it, and we will give a certain amount of time to process it, but it cannot exceed one year.”

Xiang Kui sighed, "I fully understand what Your Highness means!"

Chen Qing said again: "I am very happy that you are willing to declare your allegiance, but I also have a bottom line. I will do what I want to do. If you only express your allegiance when I am at the gate of the city, it will be impossible for you to keep your property. At most Save your life, so I only have one piece of advice for you, being pragmatic is the way to save your life!"

After finishing speaking, Chen Qing wrote a line and handed it to Xiang Kui, "Take it back!"

Xiang Kui could see clearly that His Royal Highness Yong Wang wrote exactly: "He who understands current affairs is a hero!" '

……

Xiang Kui left Jingzhao on the same day and returned to Lin'an. He stayed in Jingzhao for less than half a day, but he already got what he wanted.

Walking towards Kuigang, Chen Qing summoned Cao De immediately, Cao De clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, he has already left and returned to Lin'an!"

Chen Qing nodded, "I know, he is eager to go back and report, I don't know how they will choose in the end, but I am looking for you, there is another big thing!"

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said, "Your father is still in Lin'an, right?"

Cao De nodded, "Not only my father, but our entire Cao family is in Lin'an."

"Has the property been transferred out?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Father said in a letter that the property is being transferred to Fujian Road!"

"I wrote you a note. You immediately send someone to your father and ask him to take the note to Lu Gang for help. Lu Gang will use a sea boat to transfer the Cao family to Quanzhou. The matter is urgent, so act quickly. .”

As he spoke, Chen Qing handed an envelope to Cao De. Cao De was startled and asked anxiously, "Your Highness, what happened?"

"Actually, nothing happened, it was just a precaution. I was worried that the conflict between the powerful and the emperor would intensify. The emperor would attack the powerful in order to keep the throne. It is just a possibility. If the emperor really strikes, the first to bear the brunt would be someone who has something to do with the Yong Kingdom. Families, such as your Cao family, Huyan family, Gao family, Yang family, Liu family, etc., I want to protect these families, so I will inform you first."

"Understand, I will immediately send someone to ride a fast horse to Lin'an!"

Cao De walked away quickly, and Chen Qing paced back and forth in the official room with his hands behind his back. He knew that letting these powerful families give up their land would also endanger their vital interests. They would definitely not accept it, so they would definitely take another This method of self-protection, or another method they have already prepared, is only their last retreat to find their allegiance, and it is by no means their first choice.

Chen Qing waits and sees...

The next day, Jingzhao City was covered in a light snowstorm. This was the first light snowfall after winter. It snowed overnight. The next day, Jingzhao City was covered with a thin layer of white snow, and the weather became colder.

Today is a day off, and it is also the first day off after his family moved to the inner palace, but Chen Qing has no time to accompany his wife and children. Kui, and today he is going to meet Zhong Huan who has just returned to Jingzhao from Yanshan Road.

Chen Qing met Wang Hao and Zhong Huan in the Qilin Pavilion of the inner palace, where he handled court affairs and received ministers in the inner palace.

Chong Huan and four of his subordinates were promoted and rewarded by Chen Qing on Yanshan Road, Zhong Huan was promoted to deputy commander, Li Wan and Wang Fu were promoted to command envoys, Yelukang and the boatman were also promoted to capitals, and each was rewarded with 1000 silver two.

This time Zhong Huan returned to Jingzhao Mansion to report the details to Chen Qing, mainly the details. Chen Qing paid special attention to the development of Jin Guotiehuolei.

Zhong Huan reported very carefully. They entered the Liaohe River and began to report, describing in detail the situation along the way and arriving at Shangjing. I want to know, can the ship of three thousand stones reach Shangjing directly from the Bohai Sea?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, three thousand stones should be okay, but I'm afraid it won't work if the boat is bigger, and some sections of the river are relatively narrow."

Chen Qing nodded, "Continue talking!"

"After we went ashore, we went straight up the mountain. There were only ten sentries on the mountain. At that time, we couldn't figure out why there were so few sentries. We figured out the reason later. One reason was that we went up the cliff directly and didn't take the surrounding paths. There must be sentries on the surrounding paths. The second reason why people can’t go up to the hills is that the various experiments are relatively top secret, and the Kingdom of Jin doesn’t want more soldiers to see the experiments, so there are very few soldiers on the top of the mountain, which also helps us.”

Zhong Huan also explained in detail how he deployed, how the opponent tested Tiehuolei, and how he shot and killed Hu Shatu.

Chen Qing took a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "You mean that the wood fire mine was tested the day before, and the iron fire mine was tested on the day of the assassination. There was only a brick house at the scene, right?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, that is exactly the case!"

"Wan Yanchang also showed up at the test site on the day of the assassination?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Exactly, I think that he is here to check the explosion of the iron fire thunder, so it can be seen that he didn't know it beforehand?"

"How do you say that?"

"Because Tie Huolei had already been placed in the brick house, the soldiers moved it out to Wan Yanchang to check. He was pleasantly surprised and stroked Tie Huolei repeatedly. Therefore, I said that he didn't know beforehand, and after the match was lit, the soldiers There was no response until Hu Shatu yelled and squatted down with his ears covered, the soldiers reacted and covered their ears and squatted down. It can also be inferred from this that this is the first time to do the iron fire mine test, so everyone does not know how to prevent it .”

Chen Qing was silent for a while. From various indications, this should be the first time that Jin Guo exploded an iron fire mine. Regardless of whether Hu Shatu was assassinated or not, as long as the iron fire mine exploded successfully, they would be able to create a second one sooner or later. Tie Huo Lei, then the third, fourth... I really don't have much time left for myself.

Apart from Hushatu and Tiehuolei, another focus of Chen Qing's attention is Zhonghuan's return journey, from Tongmen River to Jinghai, then south along the coast of Koryo, and then around the Bohai Sea, let Chen see it again Another line of attack.

"Did the ship encounter any dangers or difficulties when you returned?"

Zhong Huan thought for a while and said: "The big ship is going along the coastline of Koryo, and there is no storm. If it is difficult, it means that it is a bit difficult to supply. If there is a supply point in the middle, it will be completely smooth."

Chen Qing nodded slowly. Regarding the problem of the supply point, he should take down Tamna Island as soon as possible.

The first thousand and 440 chapters and two stabs

Guo Changwu never imagined that he would return to Jingzhao again. Three months ago, he failed to assassinate Yong Wang Chen Qing at the intersection of Dongda Street, but managed to escape from Jingzhao and went to Jin Kingdom to join Wan Yanchang. He stayed in Jin Kingdom for less than one year. Month, was sent back to Jingzhao again.

Of course, this time he was carrying out the mission entrusted by the emperor of the Kingdom of Jin. The Kingdom of Jin even personally met him, gave him two tasks, and promised that as long as he completed any one of the tasks, he would be able to gain official status and glory in the Kingdom of Jin rich.

Needless to say, the first mission is to assassinate Chen Qing again, but Guo Changwu has been in Jingzhao for ten days, and he can't even see Chen Qing's shadow. He only found out yesterday that King Yong had moved to the inner palace, and his motorcade He will no longer pass by the downtown street, and when he goes out, he will go out of the city directly from the north gate of Taiji Palace. He doesn't even know when he is squatting in the city.

The emperor of the Kingdom of Jin promised Guo Changwu that if he could assassinate Chen Qing, he would be made a prince directly, but if he completed the second one, he would be made a thousand households. There was a big gap. Of course he wanted to complete the first one. task, but the reality is here, if he didn't seize the last chance, he won't have a second chance.

Guo Changwu still lived in an inn outside the east city. This time he was pretending to be a scholar who was rushing for the imperial examination. He lived in the innermost room on the second floor. He asked the buddy to reward him with the condition that he could not enter his room, and no one was allowed to disturb his study. This time he completely learned the lesson from last time.

In the room, Guo Changwu pulled out his dagger and slowly cut open a wax pill. This was another task of his. The Emperor of the Kingdom of Jin repeatedly told him that he could only cut the wax pill when the first task was really impossible to complete.

Guo Changwu was already desperate for the assassination of Chen Qing. He had no choice but to carry out the second mission. It would be nice to be able to seal up thousands of households, so he could only comfort himself in this way.

Inside the wax pill was a note. He unfolded the note, and there was only one sentence on it, 'Assassinate Zhao Chen, the former prince of the Song Dynasty! '

Guo Changwu was a little confused, why did he assassinate the former prince Zhao Chen by himself?In fact, he did not understand the mentality of Wanyan Quan, the emperor of the Kingdom of Jin. Of course, Wanyan Quan knew that he could not assassinate King Yong Chen Qing, so assassinating the former prince Zhao Chen was Wanyan Quan's real intention, which was a return gift to King Yong.

King Yong Chen Qing sent someone to assassinate Hu Shatu, a demon monk of the Liao Kingdom. Wanyan Quan also wanted to assassinate an important figure in the Northern Song Dynasty. He chose the former prince Zhao Chen, who was an important pawn of King Yong. A chess piece is enough to make King Yong extremely annoyed.

I can't figure it out, but Guo Changwu must carry out the mission without compromise. Before leaving, Wan Yanchang gave him an address, Shanzhentang Pharmacy on Qinzhoumen Street, and told him repeatedly that it is not a last resort, don't Go find this pharmacy.

After packing up his things, he put on a felt hat. He purposely covered the space between his eyebrows. There was an obvious feature between his eyebrows, and he was worried about being recognized. Fortunately, it was snowing, so wearing a hat to keep warm went smoothly.

After carefully locking the door, Guo Changwu left the inn and entered the city. Qinzhoumen Street is located in the southwest of Jingzhao.

He rented an ox cart, and arrived at Qinzhoumen Street not long after. The street is neither wide nor long, only two miles long, with residential houses on one side and shops on the other. This is actually a slum area, as everyone knows. It is about to be demolished, so private land speculation is very expensive, and the price has risen to [-] guan per mu. When Lu Xiu and the others bought the land, it was only [-] guan per mu, which increased more than ten times in just a few months. Part of it is government land, no matter how much the price increases, the biggest beneficiary is still the government.

Guo Changwu could easily find out that Shanzhentang Pharmacy was an old store that sold medicines and also saw doctors. Its real identity was an intelligence station in the Kingdom of Jin. It was only established last year. Public information, such as army buildup, war outbreak, major disasters, etc.

Then send the information to Yanshan Road, and then send it to Liaodong by Eagle Letter at the Yanshan Road transfer station.

Guo Changwu walked into the lobby, went directly to the shopkeeper, and without saying a word, spread out his palm, which contained a silver medal, which was a token from Wan Yanchang.

The shopkeeper is a Han Chinese named Wang Kuang, about 40 years old, a Han Chinese drug dealer in Liaodong, who was ordered to open a drug store here to collect information. Wang Kuang looked at Guo Changwu for a moment, then nodded, "Please come with me!"

The two came to the inner courtyard one after the other, sat down in the inner hall, Wang Kuang asked: "Are you sent by Wanyan Shangshu?"

Guo Changwu nodded, took off his hat and put it on the table. Wang Kuang couldn't help but look at him. He saw that he looked very ordinary. The only thing special was that there was a big black mole between his eyebrows, which was quite conspicuous.

Wang Kuang asked again with a smile, "May I ask what your name is?"

"My surname is Guo!" Guo Changwu cherished his words like gold.

Wang Kuang laughed and said, "So it's Mr. Guo, how can I help you?"

Guo Changwu was silent for a moment and said, "I want to know the residence of Zhao Chen, the former crown prince of the Song Dynasty?"

"Ex-Prince Zhao Chen?"

Guo Changwu nodded, "That's him!"

Wang Kuang pondered for a moment and said: "This information is very unpopular, we have never paid attention to it, how about it! Mr. Guo will come again at noon tomorrow, or Mr. Guo will give us the residence, and we will come!"

"No, I'll come back at noon tomorrow!"

After speaking, Guo Changwu got up and left...

Wang Kuang sat for a while, and then greeted the shop assistant, "Take care of the store, I'll go out for a while, and I'll be back soon!"

Wang Kuang went out and stopped a carriage, told the driver the address, and the carriage immediately drove towards West Street.

……

Zhong Huan returned to the inner guard after a three-day vacation. He has been promoted to deputy commander and has become one of the three major commanders under Wang Hao. It was handed over to another commander, and he has no new arrangements for the time being.

At this time, Zhong Huan was sitting in his official room looking through the files. At this time, a soldier reported at the door, "General Xiao Zhong, everyone has something to look for!"

Zhong Huan nodded, got up and walked quickly to Wang Hao's official room.

When he came to the official room soon, he bowed and saluted, "See Du Tong for humble posts!"