Fenghou

1442 Allegiance
At noon, the Chunming Gate of Jingzhao City was full of people, and it was extremely lively. At this time, three travelers came up the official road from a distance. All three of them were riding horses. The leader was about thirty years old. Thick eyebrows, thin eyes, gorgeous clothes, he looks quite smart and capable, he is Xiang Kui, the nephew of Xiang Desheng, head of the family, who was sent as an envoy to Jingzhao by his uncle.

Xiang Kui went to Shangzhou by boat, rented three more horses, and rode directly to Jingzhao. It took nearly a month, and it was already early winter in late November.

Walking into the Chunming Gate, a majestic aura rushes towards us. The wide avenue, neat storefronts, and magnificent palaces in the distance, including the vehicles like weaving, are basically horse-drawn carriages. Donkey carts are rarely seen, including pedestrians. The clothes are decent, even the pawns and peddlers in short clothes are full of energy and ruddy, sighing secretly to Kui, this is the atmosphere of the capital, where the market like Lin'an is withered and lifeless.

"My lord, look there!" A subordinate pointed to a shop on the left side of the street.

Xiang Kui saw it clearly, it was a cabinet shop with a red roof, and it looked like Baoji cabinet shop at first glance, but the brand turned into the No. [-] cabinet shop in Sichuan and Shanxi, Xiang Kui sighed secretly, Baoji cabinet shop in Jiangnan had all closed down , Baoji Cabinet Shop in Yong State was directly annexed by No. [-] Cabinet Shop, and Baoji, which had been in business since the time of Emperor Taizong, disappeared like this.

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!"

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

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

"Little brother doesn't know!"

"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."

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."

"Tell me about the situation in Baoji Cabinetry!"

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!"

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

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

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 will go to Tongguan County for inspection in two days, why don't you come see me tomorrow He, or we have to wait for him to come back."

"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 [-]."

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?"

"Good trick!"

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

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!"

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

"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.”

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. "

"You're welcome, please sit down!"

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

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!"

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

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

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.

"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."

"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?”

(End of this chapter)