Red House Shoufu

Chapter 30 Rebellion
Jinling Zhen's family, the head of the family, Zhen Yingjia, nicknamed Youzhong, is now the president of the imperial envoy Jinling Tirenyuan.

From the point of view of grade, there is only the humble fifth grade, but this was specially set up by the Supreme Emperor for the Zhen family.

Jinling Tiren Courtyard and Tiren Pavilion in the Forbidden City echoed each other from a distance. The Supreme Emperor's move was to show his respect for his former wet nurse, Mrs. Fengsheng.

Of course, Lin Shu once speculated that the Supreme Emperor's arrangement of the nondescript official position of the Zhen family was probably intended to monitor the officials and people in the south of the Yangtze River.

Lin Shu was absorbed in his thoughts, Wang Huan discussed with Jia Lian for a while, and found that Lin Shu hadn't spoken for a long time, and both of them looked at him suspiciously.

"Brother Jinyu, what are you thinking? You're so preoccupied."

"I was wondering what role the Zhen family played in this matter."

Lin Shu replied, "It's a coincidence that Xinli, the censor of Nanzhili, impeached the Zhen family, and Zhao Dushuai was about to rectify the salt administration, followed by the invasion of Japanese pirates. Don't forget, the Zhen family is the leader of the gentry family in the south of the Yangtze River." .”

Jia Lian was not very familiar with the situation in Jiangnan, but Wang Huan immediately understood what Lin Shu meant.

Yes, the imperial envoy Xingyuan intends to rectify the salt administration in the south of the Yangtze River. In fact, the emperor wants to take back the cornucopia of salt tax.

The Zhen family and those salt merchant families are all members of the Supreme Emperor, and the salt merchants have taken action, but the leading Zhen family is in danger of being impeached, which is too abnormal.

Wang Huan couldn't figure it out: "Could it be rebellion in the nest?"

"Impossible. After leaving the Zhen family, the rest of the people will not be able to withstand His Majesty's counterattack. After all, the Zhen family is the representative of the Supreme Emperor in Jiangnan."

Lin Shu shook his head. The Zhen family was backed by Concubine Zhen in the palace. After leaving the Zhen family, relying on only a third-rank servant could not fight against the emperor at all.

Jia Lian interjected at this time: "There is an incident that may have something to do with these things. When I was about to leave Beijing, I heard from my father that the Zhen family sent a lot of treasures into the palace, probably worth more than one million taels."

"So many? And it's not time to deliver the tribute yet?" Wang Huan thought for a while. There are still two months before the New Year, and it's not time to deliver the tribute.

The imperial envoy Jinling Tirenyuan has the responsibility of transporting tribute from various places in the south of the Yangtze River on behalf of the Supreme Emperor.Every New Year, the Zhen family will send a batch of treasures to Beijing.

Compared with Jiangnan tribute satin, porcelain, pearls and gemstones, etc., especially Suzhou embroidery tribute satin, it is a common item that the royal family rewards ministers every year.

Lin Shu suddenly patted the table: "The Zhen family is probably transferring Jinling's money, they must be planning something. Being impeached or something is just a deception, and even the one million two treasures sent to the palace are nothing more than Cover up the actual number sent to Jinling."

Immediately afterwards, he quickly searched around in a box next to him, and took out a few letters after a while.

"These are all letters from the managers of the Lin family. I once asked them to pay attention to the movements of the major forces, and they wrote to me every once in a while to report."

Lin Shu spread out the book on the table, pointed to some passages in it and said, "Look, since the ninth month of the fifth year of Zhide, the Zhen family has gradually sold off the shop and Zhuangzi's property in Jinling."

He pointed to another letter: "And here, this year, the Zhen family bought a large piece of land in Zhoushan. Don't want good fertile land, why buy muddy land?"

Jia Lian and Wang Huan squeezed together to look at the letter, which was full of records of the Zhen family's sales of shops and properties.

For example, Sangtian in Suzhou and Zhuangzi in Hangzhou bought more than 1000 mu of beach silt in Zhoushan.

Wang Huan scratched his hair and asked suspiciously: "What does the Zhen family need in Zhoushan?"

"Sparsely populated, it's easy to hide. Another important reason is that it is close to the sea, and even smaller ships can be docked."

Lin Shu didn't even need to think about it, Zhoushan used to be a gathering place for water bandits. There were rivers and lakes all over the place, separated from the mainland and connected to the sea, it was simply a natural base for pirates and water bandits.

The imperial court once had a decree that allowed local gentry with many bandits to build docks to resist banditry.

And the Zhen family bought a large area of ​​beach silt, which was an excuse to defend against water bandits and pirates and build a dock.As for whether they are really resisting banditry or hiding inside to do shady things, with the Supreme Emperor present, who would dare to investigate?

When Lin Shu spoke out his guess, both Jia Lian and Wang Huan's eyes widened in surprise.

"Cousin is saying that the Zhen family wants to rebel?"

Hearing Jia Lian's words, Lin Shu shook his head and said, "It's not a rebellion, but a preparation for a future rebellion. The Supreme Emperor is getting old, and King Zhongxin wants to fight for that seat. It's impossible to rely on the Supreme Emperor's favor! You know, since ancient times, he has won the throne. , how can you succeed without some strength?"

The Supreme Emperor Gao Rushao is almost seventy years old. Seeing that the current throne is becoming more and more stable, can the faithful Wang Gao Yongyi not be in a hurry?

As Gao Yongyi's biological uncle, the Zhen family must of course prepare silver and even weapons for their nephew's great cause of seizing the heir.

Jia Lian was silent for a long time, his heart was very restless.The relationship between the Jia family and the Zhen family has always been close, and the old lady probably knows a thing or two about the Zhen family.

The matter involved seizing the concubine, Lin Shu said so much, neither Jia Lian nor Wang Huan dared to talk to him.For a while, the study was quiet, only the sporadic sound of the fire burning coal.

Lin Shu smiled and broke the silence of the three of them: "You don't have to be so cautious, we are all His Majesty's people, we are all on His Majesty's side in public and private, don't we?"

"Of course, I am the envoy of the Dragon Guard Township personally promoted by His Majesty. If it weren't for His Majesty, I guess this would have been...not mentioned!"

Among the three, Jia Lian was the most grateful to the emperor. He immediately stated: "Whether this matter is true or not, I will send a secret performance to the capital. Cousin, this will not affect you, will it?"

Lin Shu replied: "No problem, no matter what the Zhen family's real purpose is, we can only rely on His Majesty to investigate. Besides, the Zhen family has an enmity with my Lin family. Cousin Lian is actually helping me by doing this."

The Lin family was almost ruined, and the Zhen family was definitely one of the masterminds behind the scenes. How could Lin Shu take this opportunity to give the Zhen family eye drops.

Wang Huan smiled bitterly: "Brother Jinyu, can I tell my father about this?"

He really couldn't figure out why Lin Shu would say this in front of him. No matter how good the relationship between the two is, this kind of secret shouldn't be revealed so easily.

Lin Shu replied solemnly: "Brother Weizhong, we have known each other for many years, and my uncle has protected me from wind and rain all these years. I believe in you, and I also believe in uncle."

He stepped forward and patted Wang Huan on the shoulder, and said: "What the Zhen family did, might cause Jiangnan to flow into rivers of blood. Uncle holds an important position, and you will tell me everything about it when you go back." He, prepare early."

(End of this chapter)