Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 142 Pull out the carrot and bring out the mud

A lightning-fast arrest was carried out around Beijing.

In just ten days, four silver dollar manufacturing dens were destroyed and hundreds of fugitives were arrested.

These people all have two characteristics.

First, you must not be afraid of death. If you are afraid of death, you would never do this.

Second, most people have people behind their chairs. After all, they cannot run such a big business on their own, even if they have the courage.

In the past few days, Han San's door has been trampled down by people.

These wealthy and powerful people who used to be so righteous and full of morality are now panicking.

They sent the butler to pretend to be a turtle grandson and come to Han San's house with a forced smile to inquire about the news.

Han San laughed it off and said he would deal with it if he could. If he really couldn't, he could only use Zhang Yunxiu and Zhang Juzheng as his banner.

But tonight, a very important person came to his house.

That was Qian Liang, the steward of Wuqing Hou Li Wei.

In order to avoid being seen, he even disguised himself and came to visit at night.

The two of them then went on to have Han San personally take Qian Liang to the study and sit down.

As soon as he sat down, Qian Liang leaned sideways and said anxiously: "Captain Han, let's not beat around the bush. One of our friends was captured by your people. Please raise your hand and let him go. I will thank you on his behalf."

Han San was alert, but he remained calm and asked, "Oh? How dare that blind man touch your housekeeper Qian's friend? What's the name of your friend? I'll go ask for you tomorrow morning."

"It's not a big deal. He just happened to pass by when you were arresting people, and your people mistook him for a gangster and arrested everyone." Qian Liang smiled at him and said lightly.

"With so many people, one more or one less won't make a difference. Just raise your hand and give us some face."

"Is your friend involved in a counterfeit currency case?"

"That's it."

"Then I'm afraid we can't let him go."

Han San was in trouble.

Qian Liang looked at him, secretly cursing in his heart, but flattering him on the surface: "Who doesn't know that you are a big shot in front of Zhang Sicheng, his right-hand man?"

"As long as you nod, it's just one person, it doesn't matter."

"What big shot? To put it bluntly, I am just a servant of the young master. I have to walk on thin ice and keep my butt between my legs every day."

"Brother Han is too modest."

"Brother Qian is praising me too much. I don't dare to do something that is uncertain."

The two of them argued for a long time, and no matter how Qian Liang flattered him, Han San remained unmoved. At the same time, he did not completely reject Qian Liang, always keeping this balance.

Make him feel that this thing can be accomplished with a certain degree of certainty.

Qian Liang realized that he was not important enough, so he directly brought up Wuqing Hou Li Wei: "Brother Han, you should know my identity, and you also know who is standing behind me."

"Is this what the Marquis meant?" Han San asked in surprise.

Qian Liang did not answer, but just smiled, picked up the teacup, blew two puffs of hot air into it, and then drank it down his throat.

An eerie silence permeated the hall.

More peaceful than death.

The silence lasted for about a cup of tea, and Han San broke the deadlock: "I wonder who Brother Qian wants to protect?"

"Sun Xiang." Qian Liang said a name and smiled sinisterly, "Brother Han, let's stop here. If anyone asks, just say you have never seen me."

"After releasing that man, get him out of Beijing, the farther the better."

"Then why not just kill him?" Han San heard the fear in Qian Liang's words, so he asked directly.

You think we don't want to?
Qian Liang shook his head, but his mind was recalling what happened a month ago.

But one month ago, when the silver dollar had just been issued, the Silver Dollar Street in Chongwen Street was bustling with people, and silver dollars worth less than two taels could be used as full taels.

Sun Xiang came to the door and said that he wanted to discuss a big deal with the old marquis.

Sun Xiang was originally from Nanjing. Both of his grandfathers were scholars. However, because there were too many scholars in Nanzhili, they felt that there was no hope for them to continue their studies.

So he simply gave up the path to fame and fortune. His grandfather started out by opening a rice shop, but because he was smart and his prices were more affordable than others.

Soon the rice shop opened branches.

Later, he used some tricks to get the salt primer, and with the profits from selling salt, the Sun family accumulated a huge fortune over two generations.

As the saying goes, when you’re full of food and drink, you’ll think about sex.

Once they have money, they naturally want to seize power. Although Nanjing is a prosperous city, it is far away from Beijing, and most of the people in the city are frustrated officials.

A casual sneeze by Zhang Dage Lao in Beijing could cause a tornado in Nanjing.

In order to expand his business, Sun Xiang brought his servants to Beijing and opened a branch.

Through a friend's introduction, he met the housekeeper of Wuqing Hou Li Wei. Because Sun Xiang was willing to spend money, after a night of drinking, gambling and whoring, the two became good brothers.

Because they were familiar with each other, the two of them became bolder.

As soon as the silver dollar came out last month, Sun Xiang came to Qian Liang and asked, "Brother, a big business has come. Do you dare to do it with me?"

Qian Liang was itching to do so and asked, "What big deal?"

Sun Xiang took out a silver dollar from his pocket slowly and said with a smile: "This is it. If you make one, you can make ten times the profit."

Qian Liang took it and looked at it, but he began to back out.

Privately minting coins is a life-threatening act. Money is a lovable bastard, but one must have a life to spend it.

Sun Xiang saw his concerns, so he smiled and comforted him: "Brother, you are so timid. You are the steward of Wuqing Hou. Who is Wuqing Hou? He is the emperor's grandfather and the father of the current empress dowager."

"Maybe no one would dare to investigate him."

Qian Liang was somewhat tempted, so he passed the news to his master.

Who is Wuqing Hou?
He is a man who is obsessed with money and would try to pick dates from a monkey.

When he heard that there was money to be made, he relied on his age and the fact that he was the most important relative of the emperor and immediately agreed.

With Li Wei's help, the two of them were like wild boars that had taken aphrodisiacs, screaming and howling, and they built the stage in just five or six days.

Then they started minting silver coins crazily.

Unexpectedly, in less than a month, a thunderous sweep turned everything into nothing.

Li Wei and Qian Liang were worried that Sun Xiang would reveal something, so they had no choice but to use their connections to get him out first.

Han San, who was standing by, saw Qian Liang was speechless and said again: "Butler Qian, we can't make the decision on this matter. We have to ask for instructions."

"Okay, but do it quickly. Also, put that kid in solitary confinement and don't believe anything he says." Qian Liang nodded and agreed.

"Let's save it."

After Han San finished speaking, he sent Qian Liang out of the house and headed straight for Zhang Yunxiu's residence.

By this time, the night was already dark. Zhang Yunzheng was teasing his daughter in the small carriage in the bedroom when he suddenly heard a servant come to report.

It is said that Han San wants to see you for something important.

It's so late, what are you doing here?
Zhang Yunxiu was puzzled, and Zheng Xier beside him reminded him: "Captain Han is always a steady person. He must be here at this time for some big event."

"Then you comfort your daughter first, I'll go see him."

"Ah."

After bidding farewell to his wife and daughter, Zhang Yunxiu ran straight to the small hall. Inside, Han San was sweating profusely, panting, and looked as if he was busy all the time.

In fact, this guy has been ordering his subordinates to arrest people these days, while he himself has been hiding in the yamen, just to pretend in front of his superiors.

He ran so hard on purpose.

"What happened?" Zhang Yunxiu saw it, frowned and asked, then quickly walked to the main seat and sat down.

Han San quickly got off the bench and clasped his fists, saying, "Sir, we caught a big fish, and now they are begging us to help. I dare not make the decision, so I came to ask for your advice."

"Who?" Zhang Yunxiu asked

"The housekeeper of Wuqing Hou Li Wei."

Sure enough, he is there.

Zhang Yunxiu had a premonition in his heart that this old man loved money like his life, and relying on the fact that he was a royal relative, he was extremely bold.

Seeing that Zhang Yunxiu didn't say anything, Han San reminded him again: "What are you going to do with it, sir?"

"Let's go check on the person being held down first. We must catch a typical example this time."

(End of this chapter)