Three thousand miles in exile

In the spring of this year, Liuji Trading Co. sent [-] carts of furs to the south, [-] carts more than last year, probably because the yamen encouraged farmers to use their spare time to breed wild rabbits and minks.

These fifty carts of furs have already been reserved by the major cloth houses in the capital, and the guards escorting the team dare not neglect, they have to walk for six hours every day, and it is estimated that they will arrive in the imperial capital in about 20 days.

Transition from Luming Ferry, pass through Ruichang County, and cross the Hengshan Ridge at the southernmost end of Qiyun Mountains to enter the border of the Central Plains.

As soon as you step into the Central Plains, the temperature is obviously much warmer. At the end of March in northern Xinjiang, it is still covered with snow, but in the Central Plains, everything has recovered at the end of March. You can see green shoots sprouting on bare tree branches along the way, and early rice is planted in the fields.

After one season of rice is planted in the farmlands of the Central Plains, another season of cold-resistant coarse grains can be planted. If the two harvests are smooth and the weather is good, the income of farmers is twice that of northern Xinjiang.

Even if Liu Zhan is now exempted from exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, Qi Yunshan's rice income for one season is still not as good as that for two seasons in the Central Plains.

"Why is there not even half of the water in this river?" Liu Zhan was dressed as an escort and rode at the head of the team.

Song Fenglin, who was also dressed as an escort, had a worried look on his brows since he entered the Central Plains, because the farmland along the way was too dry.

Chen Gong rode his horse closer and replied: "There was only one snowfall in winter this year, and now I hope that God will give some spring rain. Otherwise, these farmlands will have no harvest."

If there is a severe drought for two years in a row, what will the common people rely on to survive?

Near noon, the head of the bodyguard yelled at the caravan to pull over and light a fire for cooking.

Zhang Xiaoman, Cao Ming, Zheng Fengtian, and Guo Donghu, who were also dressed as bodyguards, quickly set up a pot to light a fire. Chen Gong brought some potatoes and corn, and they sat around the fire and started making lunch.

"I'll do it." Liu Zhan winked at Song Fenglin. "Try your husband's craft today."

Song Fenglin smiled. He was making tea at the side, and deliberately boiled some more to enjoy the coolness, and poured it into a kettle to drink on the way.

"Speaking of which, we haven't eaten the dishes cooked by Tou Er for several years, so we can eat more later." Cao Ming chuckled.

Talking about the past, the few of them couldn't stop, you talked about the past one by one.

Over there, Liu Zhan has already put the cut wild boar bacon into the pot, and dropped some big ingredients such as pepper, pepper, and cinnamon. When the water boils, there will be bursts of aroma. After the meat is almost stewed, put potatoes and corn. You can eat it with salt.

Business travelers came and went on the post road, who would have thought that the two leaders of Qi Yunshan would sit on the roadside grass and have a picnic like this.

Everyone sat around and ate a pot of food together.

This was the first time Chen Gong was so close to Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin.

After Chen Gong married Liu Yuexin, the eldest daughter of the Liu family, he was in charge of delivering goods to the Hanzhong branch at the beginning, spending most of the year in northern Xinjiang.

In the past, Song Fenglin was seen more often, but it was limited to reporting work, and Liu Zhan was rarely seen once a year.

Two years ago, Song Fenglin suddenly promoted him to be the head shopkeeper, in charge of the Dijing branch. Chen Gong rarely spent a year in northern Xinjiang, and even less had the chance to see the two of them.

Although he is the son-in-law of the Liu family, Chen Gong always feels that he is a servant to the Liu family, and he is not welcome to follow Liu Yuexin to the Liu family.

Greetings to the elders, Liu Xueyi didn't see him, and the old lady didn't see him, so Liu Xueyuan would chat with him.

He had never had a meal at Liu's house, but now he actually sat on the side of the road for a picnic with the two big Buddhas in Qiyun Mountain.

"This piece of meat is tender." Liu Zhan put a chopstick of meat in Song Fenglin's bowl.

Although it was a picnic on the side of the road, Song Fenglin was still unhurried, elegant and relaxed, without any discomfort.

Liu Zhan brought him food from time to time, and he knew exactly what Song Fenglin liked to eat and what he didn't like to eat.

Chen Gong only knew about the relationship between the two, but he didn't know that General Liu was so caring in private.

It wasn't until Song Fenglin was served that Liu Zhan opened his mouth to eat.

A large pot of food, the weight of nearly 20 people, the five soldiers wiped them all out, and Chen Gong was stunned.

Over there, Song Fenglin finished his meal early and went to put the cool tea into the pot, and then distributed the rest to them, without any airs.

Cao Ming, Zheng Fengtian, Guo Donghu, and Zhang Xiaoman also chatted and laughed with Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin, without any estrangement, just like when they were young.

The caravan continued to set off, and stayed at the post station when it passed by at night, or camped there if there was no post station.

Liu Ji's caravan was accompanied by Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin on this trip, and the head of the escort did not dare to neglect the care of the horses and horses along the way, and was more attentive than Chen Gong who was distracted from time to time.

Ten days later, the caravan finally entered the Gyeonggi area.

Jinyang City is already the largest city in northern Xinjiang, but compared with the capital city, Jinyang City is compared to a rural county seat. The scale of the capital city stunned these countrymen who had never seen the world.

Liu Ji Commercial Bank also has a branch in the capital, and the big shopkeeper of the branch is Chen Gong.

The shopkeeper of the Beijing branch is a dream position for many managers. If it is based on seniority, Chen Gong will not be able to get it. He is given this preferential treatment only because he is married to the eldest lady of the Liu family.

The caravan stopped outside Liu's House, and Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin went to Beijing secretly, so no one except the escort and Chen Gong knew their identities.

"Big shopkeeper! You are back, but you want a small one..."

Chen Gong pressed Wang Xingshun's shoulder. "No need, why should I go?" Finally said in a very low voice. "Tell the people below to shut up, and don't say what they shouldn't say."

Wang Xingshun immediately realized that it was someone from above. "Little one understands."

The goods have been delivered, and the bodyguards pretending to be bodyguards are all gathered in the backyard, where they live.

The backyard of the firm is a courtyard with three entrances, surrounded by warehouses and rooms, enough for 200 people to stay temporarily.

Chen Gong ran up and down to personally arrange, and each of these personal guards had the rank of a hundred households, and they were people he could not afford to offend.

"Zheng Fengtian, Guo Donghu and his brothers live in the business house, and Cao Ming and Xiaoman just follow me." After Liu Zhan explained, he led Song Fenglin out.

Chen Gong chased him out. "That, will... No, Patriarch, I am familiar with the capital, shall I guide you?"

Thinking that Chen Gong was not considered an outsider, Liu Zhan nodded and allowed him to come with him.

"Look for an inn to live in first, it doesn't need to be too good, just clean.".

Chen Gong hurriedly agreed to lead the way.

Just in case they ran into acquaintances, Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin both wore bamboo hats, Cao Ming and Zhang Xiaoman carried light packages, and the five of them stayed in a medium-sized inn.

It was already evening.

Song Fenglin asked Chen Gong to find a set of pens, inks, papers and inkstones, and wrote a letter on the spot asking him to send it to the official residence of Zuo Chengpei.

At night, Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin had just had dinner when there was a knock on the door.

Chen Gong, who was waiting on the side, went to open the door, and Pei Gongli, who was dressed as a servant, stepped in.

"You are too courageous, you dare to enter the capital, you are not afraid of being found out by the Prime Minister whether you have come or not!"

"If you don't take this trip, you will miss the opportunity to get rid of the Zhou family? You can do it alone without us?" Liu Zhan smiled back and sat down at the table.

Pei Gongli was embarrassed and sat down at the table. "I met Mr. Song."

Liu Zhan gestured to send Chen Gong away.

"What's Zhou doing recently?" Song Fenglin made tea for him.

Pei Gongli said: "Since the emperor's party proposed to rehabilitate the unjust case during the Hongzhi period, the Zhou family has been busy in the past two months to clean up the hands and tails of the year, killing those who can kill those who can't, or threatening or luring."

The capital looks calm on the surface, but in fact, the Zhao, Xu, Fang and Zhou families are already in dire straits.

"What are you doing for the Zhou family now?" Song Fenglin asked.

Pei Gongli laughed at himself and said: "In the early years, when I was in Jinyang City, I was able to touch some accounts. Now I am Zuo Cheng in the Ministry of Officials, which is equivalent to the eunuch of the Zhou family. The Zhou family can approve whatever they want, and occasionally get approved. The Prime Minister recruited into the government to discuss some matters together."

When the two came here this time, they didn't believe what Pei Gongli said. They also had eyes and ears in the imperial capital. Seeing that what Pei Gongli said was almost the same as what they secretly investigated, they got to the point.

"Do you still have any memory of the accounts you handed over when you were in Jinyang?" Song Fenglin asked again.

After all, it has been such a long time, and Mr. Pei looks distressed. "I can't remember the exact amount of silver, but I still have an impression of the general situation."

Song Fenglin nodded. "That's enough, now write down the part that impresses you."

"Mr. Song is this plan?" Pei Gongli was puzzled.

Liu Zhan crossed his legs. "Don't ask so many questions, lest you get caught by Zhou Chan and can't stand the torture to extract a confession and ruin the event."

If a few years ago, Pei Gongli jumped up and fought with Liu Zhan for a few rounds, but after all these years of tempering, the irritable nature of his character has already been smoothed out.

The lights in this wing of the inn stayed on all night.

Liu Zhan grinds and Song Fenglin is in charge of copying.

The table was full of ledgers, including the seized ledgers of Yan's Baoshan, some of the ledgers left by Pei Gongli, and the ledgers obtained by Song Fenglin after he took over Jinyang.

In the early hours of the morning, Song Fenglin wrote the last word.

Liu Zhan flipped through the account books in amazement. "I can't tell it's your handwriting at all. I never knew you could imitate other people's handwriting."

These account books are all imitated by Pei Gongli's handwriting, which is exactly the same as the handwriting on the accounts left by Pei Gongli. If Pei Gongli was here at this time, he would be shocked.

As soon as the ledger was completed, the two put on their bamboo hats, Cao Ming and Zhang Xiaoman quietly left the inn before dawn.

"Who is it, early in the morning." The concierge of the Emperor's Mansion got up and opened the door muttering.

Opening a crack in the door, he saw four people in simple clothes standing in front of the door. Zhang Xiaoman handed over the bronze medal in his hand, and the porter immediately staggered to let the four of them in. When he closed the door, he looked carefully to see if anyone had seen him.

"But there is a secret letter?" asked the porter.

Zhang Xiaoman handed over a letter, and the porter hurriedly took it, "Sit down a bit." After saying that, he turned and went into the backyard.

At this time, both Zhao Hengfu and Zhao Jizhang got up, had some breakfast and were ready to enter the palace for the morning court.

The concierge delivered the letter and waited for the owner to reply before taking it, but this time Zhao Hengfu's face changed drastically. "Where is the person? Quickly lead the way!"

The porter was startled and hurried ahead to lead the way.

Before and after Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin waited for a while, they saw Zhao Hengfu in a crimson official uniform rushing over.

Liu Zhan took off the bamboo hat, and Zhao Hengfu almost stepped on the ground. "You little bastard! You've been gutted after eating the bear's heart and leopard!"

"Teacher." Song Fenglin also took off his bamboo hat.

Seeing that Song Fenglin had also come, Zhao Hengfu was already impatient.

Zhao Jizhang who came out hurriedly said: "Go to the room and talk." He made the porter shut his mouth tightly again, no one has been to the Emperor's Mansion today.

As soon as he entered the study, Zhao Hengfu grabbed Liu Zhan and scolded him. "Do you know how many people in this capital want to kill you! How dare you enter the capital alone!"

In the past two years, Liu Zhan has shown his sharpness and opened up new territories. He has repeatedly resisted orders and disrespected him. Not to mention the Zhou family who regards him as a thorn in his side. Can bury him.

Liu Zhan laughed indifferently. "Who will know if I come quietly?"

Not to mention this, the two of them must have entered Beijing without incident, Zhao Jizhang hurriedly asked. "But something happened?"

Although both Zhao Hengfu and Zhao Jizhang knew that Liu Zhan was bold and bold, but he was not the kind of person who would just go to Beijing if he had something important to do.

"Fenglin will tell you, he will be more careful." Liu Zhan sat on the chair in a leisurely manner.

Song Fenglin told Zhou Chan's beating and killing of Zhou Sui's relatives, the accounts provided by Pei Gongli, etc. Zhao Hengfu's face immediately became serious.

Zhao Jizhang was even more excited and said: "Recently, we have suffered from the fact that we have no real evidence to convict the prime minister, so we can only let him get away with it."

Song Fenglin said: "The Zhou family has been in charge of the court for 14 years, just like that centipede. You fight with him, and he plays with you. The evidence and witnesses back then were fictitious. You only need to repeat At the end of the day, there is no way to verify it.”

If there is not enough evidence to overturn the case, Zhou can get away, and others can't do anything to him.

"Exactly!" Zhao Jizhang slapped his palm. "Now that we are in a passive position, if we drag it out for a long time, it will only make the people of the world think that Mrs. Zhou is indeed innocent."

"Teacher and brother, let's take a look at this account book." Song Fenglin gestured with his eyes, and Zhang Xiaoman immediately handed over a package.

Zhao Jizhang's face changed drastically after just one glance. Zhao Hengfu was still calm, but he also turned up his volume. "Where did this ledger come from?"

Song Fenglin told the truth. "I forged it by imitating Zhou Chan's close friend Pei Gongli's handwriting."

"This is a fake account?!" Zhao Jizhang was shocked, he couldn't see it at all.

"Not exactly." Song Fenglin explained. "Pei Gongli wrote some of the accounts, and I combined the accounts of the Yan family's wealth accumulation in Jinyang."

This is called using one's own way to treat one's own body.

It is a fact that Zhou Chan has amassed money wantonly in northern Xinjiang over the years, the authenticity of the account book is not important, this account book is only a stepping stone to knock on the Zhou family's barrier.

As long as Pei Gongli's testimony is added to the item, the witness and material evidence will be complete.

"Good! Good!" Zhao Hengfu blushed with excitement. "With this account book, Mr. Zhou can't quibble."

Xiang Shi and Zhou Chan couldn't argue that whether he confessed to Baoshan or admitted that he owed the Air Force's salary is a capital crime, Zhao only needs to take advantage of the victory to pursue and accuse Zhou Chan of killing Emperor Xuan and the prince. If this series of charges is deducted, Zhou Chan will only die.

Liu Zhan suggested. "This matter, in conjunction with Xu's and Fang's, first finds the person and then decides the case. If it is brought up in the court, those Zhou's party members will fight to the death to defend Zhou Chan, and there may be side effects."

He was afraid that Zhao Hengfu and the others would be restrained by the so-called uprightness, Zhou Chan was slippery and would catch him unprepared, and he would definitely escape.

"Yes! That's how it should be." Zhao Jizhang agreed very much.

"Don't worry, this matter will be discussed with Da Sima after the old man comes to court." Zhao Hengfu said.

After all, Zhou Chan is the prime minister of a country. How to win Zhou Chan is not easy and requires careful planning.

Moreover, the forces in the imperial capital are complicated, and there is a mixture of visible and invisible fish and dragons. It is reasonable for Zhao Hengfu to seek safety. However, Liu Zhan always feels that the longer it takes to ask for instructions, the more variable it will be.

It was getting late at this time, and Zhao Hengfu and his son had to rush into the palace for the morning court. Liu Zhan left the address of his accommodation and took Song Fenglin and the others away.

Zhao Hengfu originally wanted to keep them to live in the mansion, but the Emperor's Mansion was also full of people, so he didn't want to keep them.

Now everything is ready, just waiting for Zhao Hengfu and Xu Muyuan's plan.