Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 158 Orderly rebellion, the first son falls

The watchman from Yangzhou City walked by leisurely, tapping the bamboo clapper in his hand.

He has been walking this road for 20 years, and he can't go wrong even with his eyes closed.

The big shot is here today.

This is an update, so be more careful.

In the distance, a group of military officers gathered around the fire, not even daring to sleep.

He heard that the governor was here. He didn't understand what kind of official a governor was.I don’t know what it has to do with tofu.

Suddenly, he saw the light of fire rising into the sky,

The official warehouse less than half a mile away was on fire.

Tens of thousands of stones of food can be stored there.

"Someone's coming, it's on fire."

In fact, he didn't need to shout, the patrolling officers and soldiers all saw it.

"Mr. Qian, what should I do?"

"Bang the gong, brothers go put out the fire."

Mr. Qian was very conscientious and took away all the Green Camp soldiers.

His idea is very simple. You have to put out the fire as early as possible, otherwise there will be no way to save it later.

……

Fukangan was also awakened. When he stood up, he took off the saber hanging on the wall.

"Master, the official warehouse in the south is on fire."

"Put my armor on."

As a general who fought on the battlefield, he was instinctively alert.

Late night, fire, chaos,
He had dreamed about this scene countless times at midnight, it was so familiar!
One word: Danger!Extremely dangerous!

The treasured armor passed down by the dead ghost father Fu Heng cannot be penetrated by ordinary arrows after wearing it.

A group of people surrounded him and Fukangan left the house.

Under the light of the torch, Li Ergou could see very clearly.

"Fire and blast them."

The muzzle was lowered slightly, and then white smoke erupted.

Two shells roared toward the crowd more than 300 meters away.

The hustle and bustle of the fire scene and the sounds of various gongs and shouts made the sound of the cannons not so harsh.

A cannonball fell in the yard,

He bounced twice on the ground and knocked away a guard. What he saw was that he was completely dead.

Another shell blasted a hole in the roof.

"There are assassins."

The guards immediately took Fukangan between them and quickly escaped from the yard.

These people were extremely experienced in the battlefield, so they threw away their torches and disappeared into the darkness.

……

Li Ergou sighed: "Brothers, withdraw."

"What about the cannon?"

"Throw it away, otherwise none of us will be able to escape."

Everyone was heartbroken and quickly ran down the pagoda.

Those monks are all sleeping at the moment. They will not wake up for a while after taking the sweat medicine.

Don't be afraid when you wake up, they are all tied up.

The entire city of Yangzhou was boiling.

The streets are full of people running around, including servants, officials, idlers, and people who want to take advantage of the sheep.

Li Ergou laughed loudly. Just as he expected, no one would notice them at all.

They quickly ran to the old city to the west, and climbed out through a broken drain hole somewhere in the city wall.

For a prosperous commercial city in the south of the Yangtze River that had been at peace for a long time, the city defense was shockingly lax.

An hour later, they were already catching up on their sleep in a safe place.

In Yangzhou City, people were neighing and horses were shouting, and the struggle continued until the next morning.

The Yangzhou magistrate had a dull look on his face.
Seeing the police officers running around the street, and Fu Kangan's gloomy murderous face, he fell to his knees and said, "Master Futai, I am unjustly dismissed from the official position."

"Take it."

The Eight Banners soldiers brought by Fukang'an immediately knocked off the warm hat on the prefect's head.

Then he took off his official robe in the street, tied him up, and pulled him aside.

Such a serious thing happened in his territory, and his life was guaranteed to be saved.

……

Facing the hurriedly arriving officials of Yangzhou Prefecture, Fukang'an sneered:
"Yangzhou is such a good place. Just now, I encountered a group of assassins. I have never heard of assassins playing with cannons."

Just as he was talking, the Yangzhou Battalion finally captured the two cannons, put them on the cart and came over.

Everyone was dumbfounded, 2 bronze cannons! !

Such an arrogant way of assassination would be worthy of entry into the Biographies of Assassins.

"Master You, have you heard of it?"

You Bashi broke into a cold sweat and said in fear:
"Xiaguan swears to God that this matter has nothing to do with Xiaguan."

"My officer said, does it have anything to do with you?"

"Master Futai, please believe it. Someone is sowing discord. This is definitely a conspiracy."

Fukangan suddenly remembered,

Did the two thin horses last night come to explore the road?
"Master You, I believe you. However, you have to hand over those two women last night to me."

"Follow Mr. You and go get the people."

You Bashi forced himself to calm down and stood there, his mind racing at high speed. He felt that he was being plotted against.

But who set up this trap and what its purpose was cannot be determined at the moment.

You can only react calmly and be prepared to take advantage of the situation.

……

Jiang Chun, the leader of the four major merchants in Yangzhou,
An industry on the bank of Slender West Lake,
The two beautiful thin horses huddled together in fear.

As a girl who has been practicing for 12 and a half years, her debut is not her peak, but her death.

An old lady looked at them quietly:

"Don't be afraid, you will be relieved after eating it."

"Otherwise, you will fall into the hands of the government officials and your life will be worse than death."

"Mother Wang, I'm only 16."

Grandma Wang sighed and strangled her throat with her iron-like hands.

Then, pour the water into the cup.

He let go of his hand, grabbed the second girl who wanted to escape, and drank it.

Looking at the two people who were beginning to lose consciousness, she shook her head:

"I will be reincarnated into a good family in my next life. As a woman, our life is never our own."

Grandma Wang has been an informant of the White Lotus Sect in Jiang Chun's mansion for almost 20 years.

During these years, she spent most of her time dormant and occasionally acted.

Usually they are to inquire about information and help other believers.

After all, Jiang Chun has a lot of money.

The servants in the mansion all took advantage of the situation.One or two ingots of silver, no one will trace them at all.

If you are too greedy, you will be kicked out.

The servants didn't know that Jiang Chun did this deliberately and allowed his servants to steal.

His theory is: if the servants feel that they have taken advantage of their master, they will feel ashamed and will be loyal at critical moments.

Whether it is right or wrong is difficult to comment on.

In short, Jiang Chun has a good reputation in Fucheng.

Even the poorest cook on the shore of the Yellow Sea would only scold other salt merchants behind his back, but not him.

Among a group of stingy and cruel people, Jiang Chun's light of humanity is like the starlight in the dark night.

……

The Eight Banners soldiers rushed over and saw two cold corpses!

"You want to see people alive, you want to see your body dead, take them away."

This time, Youba Shi was even more frightened. He could almost conclude that someone had set him up.

Fukangan, on the other hand, was gnashing his teeth.
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. They actually directly mobilized troops and stationed them near the Yamen of the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Department.

Prevent Yu Bashi from absconding in fear of crime.

Jiang Chun was also quite distressed, and accidentally got on the verge of trouble again.

A few days ago, You Bashi suddenly came to the door and asked for some women.

Although the relationship between the two is very bad, there is no need to lose face over this trivial matter.

There were many girls in the garden, so he casually arranged for his servants to take care of it.

As a result, people were pushed back.

You Bashi borrowed flowers to offer to the Buddha. He was afraid that Fu Kang'an would make a fuss about this, so he sent him back to the garden overnight.

Then, something like this happened.

"Butler, tell me, how did the two girls know the news in advance and take the poison?"

"Back to the master. I have asked. Lord Futai's personal soldiers were brought to the garden by Lord You's subordinates. Logically speaking, there is no time difference."

"Strange thing."

Jiang Chun pondered, and he realized that a storm was coming.

The governor fights against the salt transport envoy, one of the emperor's relatives and one of the emperor's confidants, it's a battle between dragon and tiger.

Suddenly, a servant came to report: "The Immortal Wang is here."

"please come in."

Wang Shenxian, an old acquaintance in the salt merchant circle.

As soon as he entered the door, he closed his fan and looked at Jiang Chun.

"General Shang Jiang, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to listen to?"

……

Jiang Chunhe failed the imperial examination when he was young, so he took over from his father and became a salt merchant in Yangzhou.

Good at management, good at dancing,
Qianlong made several tours to the south, and he was always there to receive him when he passed through Yangzhou, and he won the Holy Heart.He was awarded the title of Chief Envoy, and was known at the time as "handing over his cloth to the emperor".After hearing Wang Shenxian's words, he smiled and said:
"Let's tell you the bad news later."

Wang Shenxian swaggeringly sat down in the Grand Master's chair, cupped his hands and said, "Youba Shi is about to collapse. Is this good news?"

"Calculate."

"The bad news is that before he dies, he will drag everyone down and bury him with him."

Jiang Chun restrained his smile:
"With the kind of person Mr. You is, he can actually do it."

Wang Shenxian leaned forward on the rope and whispered:

"Guess, Mr. Jiang, who will he bite to death?"

"Jiang is an ordinary person who cannot understand the secrets of heaven. Why should he ask gods for guidance?"

……

They both laughed at the same time,
Wang Shenxian was a little embarrassed and said awkwardly:
"I was entrusted by someone to come to your door to make a deal. He can guarantee the safety of your salt merchant's wealth, but the condition is 50 taels of silver."

Having said this, he secretly observed Jiang Chun.
He looked normal, but secretly praised him for being a character, while at the same time criticizing Li Yu for being too evil-hearted.

If the painted pie wasn't so tempting, I wouldn't have come.

"Wang Shenxian, this is a serious matter. Please wait here for a moment while the four chief businessmen gather before we can discuss the matter."

"Understand, understand."

"Enter your distinguished guests well. I'll be right back."

Jiang Mansion has a wide range of actors and actresses and recruits famous chefs.

Naturally, Wang Shenxian had no complaints. He played happily and ate with great joy.

Confucius said: Happy time is always short-lived.

2 hours passed in the blink of an eye.

At this time, a fierce debate broke out among the four major merchants in Yangzhou, Su, Huang, Mi, and Jiang.

Huang Desheng, the stingiest among the general merchants, has the most sinister temperament, is thin and has a mustache.

He said aloud:
"President Jiang, don't be intimidated by that charlatan. You Bashi is a tiger that fell into a trap. Who else can he kill? It's good that we don't add insult to injury. How dare he retaliate against us?"

The other two people looked solemn.

They were unwilling to pay the 50 taels, but they were also wary of You Bashi.

Especially those with a history of going crazy.As soon as he took office, he overturned the salt industry. From top to bottom, countless salt officials were confiscated and exiled, and the uncle's head was lost.

The Yangzhou salt merchants were even more harassed. If Jiang Chun hadn't stepped forward,

I'm afraid that grass will grow on the graves of the four major merchants.

It was during this battle that Jiang Chun was elected as the chief.

Now that he is going to collapse, guess what?

……

Jiang Chun was still good-tempered and analyzed unhurriedly:
"You Bashi is different from other people. He doesn't do things according to routines. When he first arrived in Yangzhou, he dared to risk the world's disapproval because his predecessor, Mr. Gao, sold the next year's Yanyin in advance for a mere 10 taels of silver. Turn the table over.”

"Nowadays, Youba Shi is likely to be dismissed from office or even exiled and beheaded. With his personality, can he be captured without hesitation?"

"Three general merchants, what do you think?"

After a long silence, even Huang Desheng had to admit that Jiang Chun's worries were justified.

"Then let's go meet and ask for high prices. Why don't we bargain on the spot?"

"Go, go together."

So, Wang Shenxian was reluctantly pulled out of the fox's den,
Calm yourself down and start dealing with the four old foxes.

They are all old acquaintances.

Talk about money without hurting feelings.

……

"You Bashi is the salt transport envoy to the Huaihe River. If he wants to speak, no one can stop him. Even the governor has to wait for the emperor's decree before he can deal with him."

"There are too many accumulated shortcomings in the Lianghuai Salt Service. If he jumps over the wall and exposes all the bad debts in one breath, who can stop him?"

The four major businessmen, one by one, told me all their worries.

Wang Shenxian chuckled:
"No matter how much you say to a traitor, no one will believe him. Gentlemen, what do you think?"

Jiang Chun looked at him in surprise and asked: "The fattest official in the Qing Dynasty, the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy, rebelled? Who would believe it?"

"A dog jumps over a wall in a hurry, and does something outrageous in broad daylight in front of everyone. Who dares not to believe it?"

The hall was extremely quiet, everyone was pondering the meaning of this sentence.

Wang Shenxian closed his eyes, not to pretend to be an outsider.

But he was really confused about whether to cooperate with Li Yu and make a huge deal.

In comparison, extorting 50 taels from a salt merchant today can only be considered a small business.

When Li Yu described it like this, he almost doubted his ears, it was so ridiculous.

If the two hadn't been working together for a long time, it would have been smooth.

He must have sneered twice and walked away.

What kind of big deal can even cost 50 taels and be considered an appetizer? Could it be that the Forbidden City is being washed away?

……

Su, Huang, and Mi, the three general merchants, nodded silently and told Jiang Chun, the chief executive, with their eyes that they approved.

Jiang Chun calmed down, dipped his hands in tea, and wrote the word "和".

He asked: "Wang Shenxian, we are already old acquaintances. Can we open the skylight and speak openly? Really?"

Wang Shenxian shook his head and nodded again.

This ambiguous attitude made Huang Desheng disgusted.

He grabbed the conversation and asked, "It's not that I don't believe you, but just taking away 50 taels in vain, we are worried that the risk is too great."

"What about Mr. Huang's wishes?"

"Do the work first, then give the money. Our four major businessmen have lived in Yangzhou for generations. If the monks run away and cannot run away from the temple, they will give 40 taels."

Wang Shenxian glanced at Jiang Chun and saw that his expression was as usual, knowing that it was a red face and a white face taking turns to perform.

Bang, unfold the fan,

"make a deal."

Jiang Chun then raised his hands and said:

"I'm sorry. Everyone in the world says that the salt merchants are rich, but there are officials from the imperial court who have donated money to help me, and friends from all walks of life who are asking for help. The salt merchants have no food left at home. Sorry, sorry."

"Understand, understand."

Wang Shenxian's chubby face looked generous and honest.

Uncharacteristically, he left immediately after talking, without giving the goblins in the fox den a chance to pry.

……

"Mr. Jiang, what do you think?"

"Something is going to happen in Yangzhou City! All the nursing homes and servants should be alert. If there is not enough manpower, hire an escort agency first."

Mr. Mi is the fattest one.

He teased the colorful parrots in the hall and said:

"We Yangzhou people haven't seen blood and fire for five generations, right?"

"Lao Mi, be careful what you say."

Jiang Chun interrupted him with a rare seriousness, and his tone was stern.

Everyone felt a chill in their hearts. Knowing what he meant, they quickly changed the topic.

"Do you know, on the day Master Futai was assassinated, how many fires broke out in the city?" Before they could speak, Jiang Chun lowered his voice and said, "It was seven."

"Where did the assassin come from? Such a big name?" the three general merchants said in shock.

"Seven of them are official warehouses, including a rice warehouse, a salt warehouse, a cloth warehouse, a warehouse for storing account books, and a warehouse for storing armor and firearms. That night, the officials under the government The warehouse caught fire first, and then the assassins opened fire. Half an hour later, the warehouses under Jiangdu County, Yanyun Division, and Yangzhou Battalion were on fire one after another. Everyone, is something strange? Do you understand?"

Jiang Chun seemed to be talking to himself, his tone was steady, but when he finished speaking, his tone became a little shaky~
The three general merchants also felt a chill on their backs and wrapped themselves tightly in their leather jackets.

How many beasts are hidden under the stagnant water of Yangzhou City?

The colorful parrot on the birdstand suddenly shouted: "Silver, silver, silver..."

In the past, everyone only thought it was funny.

But today, they feel like their hairs are standing on end.
This sweet bird call is like the call of the King of Hell.

The obese General Merchant Mi took off the huge gem ring from his chubby finger and threw it hard.

The parrot was knocked upside down and struggled to flap.

Don't dare to make any noise.

……

The four major general merchants were in despair, just like the Lianghuai salt transport envoy You Bashi.

The fear of the big shot eventually affected the entire city.Restaurants and brothels were unexpectedly deserted and depressed.

The salt transport envoys and general merchants were all shrinking. How could the officials and small salt merchants below dare to come out to consume? "

All of them were well-behaved and began to hibernate, fearing that at this critical moment, they would be angered by the big shot and become a target.

There is precedent for this kind of thing!

Fukang'an had already left Yangzhou City, and the road was heavily guarded.

They set up a guard formation to surround him.

Not only did the guards wear full armor, but he himself also wore two layers of armor, both inside and outside. He also rarely refused to be approached by any of his subordinates along the way.

He didn't even dare to eat the meals carefully prepared by the local officials. He only randomly bought dry food and water along the way, and was quite vigilant.

That's because he received a chilling emergency military report.

More than 300 soldiers of the Taihu Association, together with their leader Bu Letai, were all poisoned and died in a horrific manner.

When I found out, it was already 1 day later.

The shipbuilders who lived next door to the camp were all missing.

When the governor's yamen's fast horse delivered the information to him, his hands trembled.

This incident did not happen in Jinchuan, nor in Junggar of the Western Regions!

It happened in Suzhou, a place where singing and dancing are flourishing!

……

Li Yu was also digesting this fact, staring at Liu Qian with incredible eyes.

"Lord, am I being reckless?"

"No, you did a great job. But I have some doubts. If the poison is highly poisonous, once the person who is poisoned first gets sick, the people behind will not eat it again. If it is slightly poisonous, it will definitely not be able to kill so many people. So, how did you do it?"

Yang Yunjiao, Lin Huaisheng, and Li Xiaowu also stretched their necks, very curious.

Liu Qian coughed twice:
"The thing is like this, I took a boat trip to Jingzhou, Hubei Province a few days ago."

"Hey, the boss of the boat treated me to a delicious Jiangsu delicacy on the way~"

(End of this chapter)