Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 831 Wang Xu's Anxiety

Although the Manchus blocked the news that Azig was killed in battle, the entire army of [-] cavalry was wiped out, and the Nanyang Basin was occupied by the Ming army, the fire could not be covered by paper after all. As time went by, the news still came from Henan. It spread to Shandong, then to Beizhili, and then spread to the whole Beijing city as if it had grown wings.

Azige is the brother of the regent Dorgon. The shock of the Qing court can be described as violent. The prestige of the Manchu court was swept away. If Dorgon had not had the foresight to reconcile with Daishan, it would have strengthened the authority of the Manchus. Strength, let Daishan's two red flags march into Gyeonggi, I am afraid that there will be rebels everywhere.

Although the Eight Banners are intimidating, there have been no changes in the local area, but a sense of uneasiness that the building is about to collapse spreads in Beijing. The food brought by Daishan, the price of Beijing's food that was suppressed, immediately soared back to the sky. 30 taels, and it was still soaring, attracting people in the city to rush to buy food first, and other supplies also skyrocketed.

Food is the heart of the people, Beijing is full of panic and anxiety, even Fan Wencheng bought a batch of grain from Haoge, but failed to bring the price of grain back to below 20 taels, Daishan's plan to conquer Moxi Mongolia can only be advanced.

In Chengnan City, Beijing, Wang Xu, the head of the Heishuitang of Tiandihui, whose alias is Zhao Shijie, has been running a paper shop here for four years. Because of the continuous capital injection of Tiandihui, the business has grown bigger and bigger, not only opened a few more A shop, but also involved in restaurants, pawnshops and other industries.

After the fall of the south of the Yangtze River, various materials in Beijing were in short supply, including rice paper, inkstone and other items, but the supply of goods in this shop was rarely cut off.

With the soaring price of food in Beijing, many people have no money to buy. Recently, the paper shop has added another task, which is to recycle high-quality calligraphy and paintings, jade, inkstone and other elegant things. The price is also very reasonable, so every day is very lively.

At ten o'clock at noon, the business in the shop was booming, and the clerk was greeting several customers, some of whom were holding calligraphy and paintings to exchange money, and some came in to buy paper.

At this time, an old man in a long gown came in with a scroll of calligraphy and painting in his arms. He looked around twice, looked at the shopkeeper, and nodded slightly. Come up to him, "Mr. Liu, why do you want to sell calligraphy and paintings?"

The old man’s surname is Liu, and his first name is Daoqi. On the surface, he is the teacher of Zhan Ba, who enlightened Zhan Ba’s youngest son, but in fact he is the contact person between Zhan Ba ​​and Wang Xu. Many news inside the Qing court come from him. transfer.

It is very common for literati to use and buy paper, and it will not arouse suspicion.

"Food prices have risen so much, the old man can only give up." Liu Daoqi said rascally after he came in, "This painting is the authentic work of Fan Kuan and Fan Zhongzheng in the Northern Song Dynasty. Your master is an elegant person, so it should be eye-catching."

Several customers in the store sighed after hearing the old man's words, obviously they had a deep understanding of the soaring food prices.

"Sir, wait a moment, I'll call my boss for you!" The man bowed to him, then hurriedly turned around and went up to the second floor, and after a while, he ran down again and said, "Sir, my boss invites you to go up to the second floor." Let's talk!"

Seeing this, Liu Daoqi followed the assistant upstairs with his calligraphy and painting in his arms. When he reached the second floor, the old man whispered: "Don't let anyone come up." The assistant nodded and ran down again.

The layout of the second floor is very elegant. A huanghuali wood screen was placed at the entrance of the building. When the old man turned the screen, he saw Wang Xu standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back. The old man immediately stepped forward, put the painting on the table, and saluted, "See Lord!"

Hearing the voice, Wang Xu turned around with anxiety on his face, and asked directly, "It has been a month since the New Year's holiday, why hasn't there been any news from Bachelor Zhan?"

During this month, Daishan entered Beijing, and the food from Shaanxi was transported to Beijing. Since Tiandihui didn't know about it in advance, this shocked Wang Xu. If there were no news from several lines, he even suspected that he had been exposed, and started Ready to evacuate.

"Master, the Manchus don't believe in Han people at all now. Scholar Zhan used to take care of military affairs for Dorgon. Dorgon would often discuss with Scholar Zhan, but in the past month, Scholar Zhan hasn't entered the Hall of Qinzheng." The old man said sadly : "I came here this time to tell the hall master that the activities at the sticky poles have been very frequent recently. Dorgon rewarded many Hanchens with a group of domestic slaves, obviously with the intention of monitoring, and the scholar's mansion is no exception. It may be a long time, and I won’t be able to come here.”

Wang Xu frowned after hearing this, "Safety is indeed the number one priority, if you can't come, you won't come, but you have to tell Bachelor Zhan about something!"

"The hall master ordered!" The old man clasped his fists and said.

"Since Hauge established his name in Xi'an, he and the Qing court have been at odds with each other, but this time the Manchu Qing food shortage, Dorgon actually bought rice grain from Hauge, and I ask Bachelor Zhan to make sure that the Manchu Qing Has there been any compromise with Jin, and is there a plan against Daming!"

If the Ming Dynasty had God's help in the past two years, one of the big reasons was that the Manchus themselves split apart, which greatly reduced the pressure on the west of the Ming Dynasty, so that they could anger Dorgon in the east. It is definitely not a good thing for the Ming Dynasty if there is collusion with Ge Ge.

"This subordinate will immediately pass on the information to Bachelor Zhan."

Wang Xu nodded, then waved his hand and said, "You shouldn't stay here for long, leave the painting behind, then withdraw 300 taels of silver at the counter, and go back immediately!"

Liu Dodge bowed his hands, turned and went downstairs, took the silver and went out directly after a while.

Wang Xu sat on the second floor for a while, then called someone up to collect the calligraphy and paintings, told his subordinates to be more careful, and then got up and entered the room.

After leaving the shop, Liu Dodge went home with 300 taels of silver on his back. In order to hide from others, he bought himself a daughter-in-law. When he got home, he handed over the money to the daughter-in-law for safekeeping, and told her to buy rice with 20 taels. The trick was done, but the silly wife said, "There is still rice in the house, what kind of rice should I buy?" Liu Daoqi reprimanded Yifan, saying that in troubled times, more rice should be farmed, and the price of rice would rise again, so the woman hurried out.

After a while, Liu Dodge went out in the late afternoon as usual, and went to Zhan Ba's mansion to teach the "Three Character Classic" to his youngest son.

He entered the scholar's mansion and walked all the way to the study without hindrance. Zhan Ba's four-year-old son saluted him in a dignified manner, and he picked up the book and started teaching slowly.

After half an hour, Zhan Ba ​​suddenly came out of the window, and Liu Dodge hurriedly greeted him, "Lord Zhan!"

"Have you seen anyone?" Zhan Ba ​​smiled, looked at the youngest son, but whispered to Liu Dodge.

"See you!" Liu Dodge looked around and nodded, "The hall master asked me to convey a task to the bachelor."

Zhan Ba ​​showed a bitter look on his face, "What, you say!"

Liu Daoqi looked solemn, "Hall master asked the bachelor to find out the relationship between Man Qing and Jin, and find out whether the two parties have any plans to compete against Ming."

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(End of this chapter)