Cutting 1719

Chapter 56 Conspiracy
After listening to Xiande's words, Man Pi had a solid idea in his heart, and deliberately asked: "Brother Xiande, do you know the details of the Huguang Chamber of Commerce?"

Xiande's mind was moved, and he pretended to be dazed: "My lord, after all, I just came to Hubei not long ago, and I don't know much about the people and the world here. Please enlighten me."

Seeing that Xiande was still pretending, Man Pi gritted his teeth fiercely. Considering the 300 million taels of silver, he had no choice but to say softly: "This Huguang Chamber of Commerce is amazing, and behind it are the wealthy families in Huguang area, like Ning, Cheng, Zheng, Wang, Xu and others have all participated, and it is said that the current total share capital has reached 300 million taels of silver."

"300 million taels! Huguang's richness is as good as Jiangnan's." Hearing this figure, Xiande's heart was filled with enthusiasm.

People at the time often said: Three years to clear the magistrate, one hundred thousand snowflakes.Even for the governor or governor, this 300 million taels of silver is still an unimaginable wealth, no wonder Man Pi has been staring at it and not letting go.

Man Pi stroked his beard, took a sip of tea in satisfaction, and said nothing. Now that the bait has been thrown down, he is not afraid that the fish will not be greedy.

Xiande hesitated and said: "My lord, I have heard of the prestige of these families during the search for officials, especially the Ning family. It is said that the family is strong and has millions of dollars. It seems that it was still there not long ago. Salt smuggling, I did a battle with the Huaibei Salt Gang, and the result was a big victory!"

Man Pi only knew the general idea, but he didn't know much about the inside story, so he said, "Brother Xiande, please explain it in detail."

Xiande said with a smile: "This is not very unusual. The news is spreading around Xunyang County. It is said that a group of private salt in the Ning family was robbed by the Taohuashan gangsters a few years ago, and they were killed. Well, it turned out that the Ning family sent some servants to uproot the entire Peach Blossom Mountain within two days, it seems that the young master of the Ning family was the leader, and he was only seventeen or eighteen years old."

Man Pi noticed the key point, and said: "Oh, but as far as I know, the Taohuashan group of bandits is not that simple. Cai Guozhen, the prefect of Xunyang, wrote a letter last year, saying that the Taohuashan group of bandits numbered no less than a thousand, and it has become a massacre." Serious trouble, urgently need the governor's yamen to send troops to suppress it, now the Ning family can just send some servants to solve it?"

Speaking of this, Man Pi nodded again, "Is this Cai Guozhen really too incompetent, or is this Ning Zhongyuan capable of leading troops? Even the servants in this mansion have become masters of tigers and wolves."

"I have met Ning Zhongyuan, he is indeed a good man, but even if he leads troops well, how many servants can he have who can fight? It's incredible, incredible."

Man Pi whispered again: "But what if those soldiers are not servants?"

As soon as these words came out, Xiande understood what the Governor-General meant, and he had the bottom line in his heart, so he whispered: "If this is the case, then the so-called servants should all be dressed up by soldiers from the Hanyang Camp, hehe, This Ning Zhongyuan is so courageous!"

In today's laws and regulations of the Qing Dynasty, without a warrant from the governor's yamen, the commander of the army must never use a single soldier, otherwise he can be punished as a crime of treason.

Naturally, Man Pi would not let this opportunity go, he slammed the table down, and said angrily: "Before, someone said that the Ning family was called a toubob in Xiaogan County, with at least [-] mu of fertile land under their name, most of which are The good paddy fields, and the entire Xiaogan County are managed like gold. Thinking about it now, it is a wolf's ambition!"

Xiande murmured in his heart, families like the Ning family have [-] if not [-] families in the whole world. Talking about wolf ambition, they really can't be ranked!If we really want to talk about family property, which one in Huguang has a lot of land for the governor?

But thinking about it in his heart, Xiande followed Man Pi's intentions in face, and said: "That Zhang Xiandeng was one of the backers of the Ning family in the past, and now that Zhang Xiandeng has fallen, he gave the old man a gift. It can be seen that the Ning family is definitely not kind!"

Man Pi said with satisfaction: "If this is the case, then the Ning family has been planning for a long time, but they are full of tricks. Then there is no need to hesitate any longer, brother Xiande, after the arrangement here is completed, the Ning family can become a net. capture."

Xiande said in a deep voice: "My lord, you must not act recklessly. I think that the Ning family has been operating in Huguang for many years. If they are a little careless, it will be difficult to win completely. If they fail to win completely, how will the officials explain to the court?" ? Please also ask the governor to give the next official a month, and it will be appropriate to act after the arrangement is completed."

Man Pi still hesitated, and said: "If the news is leaked, wouldn't there be endless troubles?"

Xiande has a bit of disdain in his heart. He is greedy for small profits and forgets righteousness, and he cherishes his life when he does great things. This Man Pi is really an idiot.If he did it casually, how would the Ning family's backlash end?

Immediately, Xiande tried to persuade: "Sir, the Ning family is now a softshell, so don't be too impatient. When the lower officials set up a net, the Ning family will naturally be captured."

The two chattered a lot, thinking of pushing the Ning family to a dead end, but in the end, they revealed their true intentions.

Xiande said with a smile: "The Ning family has 200 mu of land, dozens of shops and seven or eight mines. These are all things on the surface. I have heard people say that there is also a salt mine. If we talk about silver , I’m afraid it’s no less than 300 million taels of silver, plus the Huguang Chamber of Commerce behind it, there are still [-] million taels of silver in it, I don’t know how you plan to deal with it?”

After hearing this, Man Pi had a righteous expression on his face, "Of course all the property you get should be used as the national treasury to repay the imperial court and the sage."

Xiande was furious in his heart, good old boy, you only want to take it all by yourself, and you still expect the old man to help you out of the fire, so he immediately put away his smile, and said coldly: "My lord's words are very true, and I should follow my lord."

Thinking that his Xiande, as the boss of the banner, has a family background no worse than your Man Pi, and he is considered a well-known figure in the capital, so he will be under the authority of your Xiande?Although you are the governor, the governor is not a dog slave in front of your governor's door. How can you be so humiliated?
Man Pi also realized that something was wrong, so he was not in a hurry at the moment, and said with a smile: "Brother Xiande, this Huguang is now our own territory, and the days to come will be long. Those shops and mines are cumbersome, and the road is far away. I'm already old, and then there will be brother Lao Xiande."

When Xiande heard it, it was not bad to get these shops and mines, and he no longer objected at the moment. The two of them should have a big banquet and toast to celebrate each other. They also invited the famous theater troupe in the city, which was very lively.

With just such words, the huge Ning family became the target of the governor and the governor. At this time, the Ning family never expected that the situation would suddenly reach an irreversible level.

No matter how prominent the family background is, in front of the imperial court, they are always somewhat powerless.

(End of this chapter)