Paper Maker: This is the end of the Ming Dynasty in Liaozhai

Chapter 140 When the heart is scattered, the soul is dusty
"Governor, let General Lu and General Yin go to stop the enemy."

Fu Zonglong cupped his hands and said: "Next, we will garrison the land, set up a stronghold along the river to garrison troops, completely blockade the Shuixi area, and wait for the reinforcements from the imperial court to arrive. Once the reinforcements arrive, we will attack from both sides and defeat the enemy easily."

"Fu Jianjun, this plan is good, but we have suppressed the rebellion for more than half a year, but we have hardly achieved an inch. I am afraid that the court will convict us."

Hearing Fu Zonglong's suggestion, Cai Fuyi sighed. At other times, this is indeed a good strategy. Now their strength is not superior to that of An Bangyan. If they fight now, the outcome is still in suspense.

However, there are still a large number of soldiers and horses in various parts of Ming Dynasty. As long as the soldiers and horses from all over the country arrive and encircle and suppress with several times their strength, they only need to fight steadily. A mere An Bangyan is not enough to cause trouble, but it is very difficult for him to stay out of the matter now that the court is fighting so fiercely. If there is no result, it will inevitably be implicated.

It is said that the other generals also looked downcast. Now that the civil servants are in power and the eunuchs supervise the army, these generals have neither the right to lead the army nor the right to govern the army. Apart from leading the troops into battle, they have no right to speak, and they have to be impeached by the civil officials from time to time In this situation, crossing the river to block the enemy has no chance of winning, but it is a pity that they have no right to speak.

.........

On the other side, after Su Hao and the others left Jinan Mansion, because they cared about Zhao Xiaoer, they didn't ride horses, but boarded a boat from the Daqing River, merged into the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, went straight down the river, and arrived at Yangzhou Mansion. Entering the Yangtze River and finally going upstream along the Yangtze River, it took nearly ten days for a group of people to arrive at the seat of Huguang Chief Envoy, Wuchang Mansion.

After showing the token of Jinyiwei Qianhu, Su Hao brought Zhao Xiaoer and others to see Huguang governor Xue Zhen without hindrance.

"Governor Xue, I have come to investigate the case of tax bank robbery under the order of Eunuch Wei. I also hope that Governor Xue can make it easier for me."

After a few words of politeness, Su Hao got into the topic. For this case, he was prepared to do it if he could, and if he couldn't do it, he didn't force it. If it was too dangerous, he would run away, even though he couldn't finish it. Otherwise, he will definitely lose points in Wei Zhongxian's heart, but he doesn't care much, with Fang Haichuan around, his position as a thousand households is still very secure.

"Su Qianhu, the person in charge of escorting the tax bank to Beijing is Du Hui, the prefect of Wuchang Prefecture. I'll have someone call him here."

Hearing Su Hao's words, Xue Zhen quickly said, now he is almost cornered, the tax money was robbed, and the officials were bribed, either of these two cases is enough for Lang Dang to be imprisoned, the two together, At least it could be exile, and at worst it could be a trip to Caishikou. Now that the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party are fighting so fiercely, the possibility of the latter is not small.

Not long after, a middle-aged scholar with a vicissitudes of life walked in. From his thick dark circles, it can be seen that he has not had a good rest recently, and is even in a state of fear all the time.

"Du Tongzhi, this is Su Qianhu who was specially invited by the official from Jinan Prefecture to track down the tax bank. What Su Qianhu asked, you must explain it clearly!"

Seeing Du Hui coming in, Xue Zhen said with a serious expression.

"Don't worry, the governor, the subordinate officials will definitely explain everything clearly."

Hearing this, Du Hui quickly assured that he only felt relieved when Su Hao came. For more than a month, he was almost driven crazy by Xue Zhen, but Xue Zhen didn't let him tell anyone. Stop urging him to find the tax bank that was robbed as soon as possible. If Su Hao didn't come again, he might be so tempted to commit suicide in a few days.

"Du Tongzhi, I don't know where the tax money you escorted was robbed?"

Seeing that the two had finished talking, Su Hao asked directly.

"The tax money we escorted was robbed near Liziguan."

Hearing Su Hao's question, Du Hui quickly said.

"Can Du Tongzhi talk about the specific situation?"

Su Hao's eyes narrowed slightly. It's not an easy task to rob the 60 taels of tax silver. Taxes with low value and large quantity like food basically go by water if they can, but silver and copper coins are so precious. Taxes are generally paid by land.

Because the risk of going by water is too great, once the ship sinks or is robbed by water bandits, the loss will be huge. It is difficult to salvage and track down in the rolling Yangtze River. A large part of it was copper coins, and if it was robbed on land, it would be difficult for the other party to escape. For 60 taels of tax silver, at least two or three hundred horse-drawn carts were needed to pull it, and more than a thousand soldiers escorted it.

This is also the reason why he does not want to touch this case. It is conceivable that he can rob tax money from a few first-class warriors and more than a thousand soldiers. It is not a small risk to touch this case with his current strength. Although he acted alone before, the premise was that the risk was controllable, at least he could escape at any time, but this time the risk was out of his control.

After thinking about it for a while, Du Hui said: "After we escorted the tax bank to leave Fucheng, the whole journey was calm at first, but when we were about to reach Liziguan, it suddenly rained heavily and the road became muddy and difficult to walk. The carriage was heavy, which delayed the scheduled itinerary, and I couldn't find a place to stay."

"Later, we found a deserted temple nearby. After some discussion, we decided to spend the night in the deserted temple and set out on the road the next day. Before resting, I also arranged for two hundred households to lead a vigil."

Speaking of this, Du Hui's face turned ugly: "But who knows, when I woke up the next day, it was almost noon, and the people I arranged to watch the night had already passed out, and the carriage and money were gone. Fly."

"Is that so?"

After listening to Du Hui's narration, Su Hao lightly tapped the handrail with his finger. The situation was a little better than he had guessed. The other party used tricks to rob the tax money, which showed that the other party's strength was not strong enough to rob.

Of course, it's also possible that the other party doesn't want to make a big fuss, but this may not be a big deal, because tax robbery is a big deal, and it's impossible to keep a low profile.

After thinking for a while, Su Hao asked again: "Du Tongzhi, you have been investigating this case for more than a month, what have you gained?"

"After discovering that the tax bank was missing, I immediately divided the others into several teams and chased them along the main road."

Du Hui said with a bitter face: "But until we chased to Liziguan, we didn't find the convoy of tax money, as if the more than 300 carriages disappeared out of thin air. Afterwards, I asked people to set up checkpoints on all the roads near Liziguan , and sent people to search around, but nothing was found.”

"In other words, the tax money should still be somewhere in Liziguan?"

Su Hao fell into deep thought. Although there are spells in this world, such as five ghosts' transporting spells, there are very few things that can be transported. At most, there are only a few catties or ten catties of weight, and the transporting distance is also short. At most, the distance is only a few miles or ten miles, and it consumes a lot of mana, otherwise the capital would not have to rely on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal for blood transfusion.

Du Hui and the others did not find the carriage transporting the tax money, indicating that the other party just hid the carriage somewhere. Liziguan is located in the Dabie Mountains, and there are only a few official roads. A carriage including tax money weighs at least two to three thousand catties , except for the official road, there is no road that can take so many carriages.

"It should still be there."

Du Hui said bitterly: "But I took people and almost searched the area around the lost tax bank for dozens of miles, but I didn't find any trace at all."

After listening to Du Hui's words, Su Hao pondered for a while, and asked, "Du Tongzhi, have you made up your mind?"

"This... this..."

Du Hui opened his mouth, but he didn't speak for a long time, so he could only lower his head helplessly.

Seeing this scene, Su Hao shook his head imperceptibly, but didn't say anything more. Today's Daming is already rotten from the root. There are so many civil servants in the world, there are not many who can stick to their hearts.

Perhaps there are many people who really set their minds when they were young. When they were studying, they set up a heart of self-cultivation, wanting to be honest and honest, and serve the people wholeheartedly. Well, everyone accepts the routine, how many people can be like Hai Rui, with the same aspirations, and become an outlier in the officialdom.

Maybe there are some wealthy people who want to become Hai Rui, but in life, no one has relatives and friends, no one has many acquaintances and close friends, and the interests are intertwined, so in the end it is inevitable to live in harmony.

There are also many people who have set their hearts to govern the country, but the party struggle in the court is like a storm, and if they enter the court, even if they are passionate about governing the country, there is much room for development. Besides, having a heart does not mean that they have the ability to govern the country , For a hundred years, there has only been one Zhang Juzheng.

Du Hui, as the magistrate of the government, must have been born in the imperial examination. He may not have had aspirations when he was young, but his career in the officialdom for so many years has already smoothed his edges and corners. will become no different from ordinary people.

"Perhaps the thieves who robbed the tax money used illusions to confuse Du Tong's friends."

After pondering for a while, Su Hao said: "Governor Xue, when you track down the tax money, have you invited Taoist masters or heretic warlocks who are good at tracking?"

Although Taoist priests and heretic warlocks are in the minority compared to warriors, with Xue Zhen's status, it is not difficult to find a few Taoist masters or heretic warlocks to help track down the tax money.

"found."

Du Hui sighed: "After I couldn't find any trace of the carriage, I invited several famous Taoist masters here to help, but in the end I found nothing. After that, I also asked two famous witches in the prefectures to invite them I took a trip to Yin, but there was no clue."

"Du Tongzhi, please take my people to the place where the tax money was lost."

Hearing this, Su Hao could only helplessly say, the hope of getting back the tax money is much smaller now, other Taoist masters and heretic warlocks can't find any clues, he wants to find it with the paper man tracing technique, Not much hope.

"it is good."

Hearing this, Du Hui nodded.

"Su Qianhu, won't you go with me?"

Hearing Su Hao's words, Xue Zhen hurriedly said, now Su Hao is his only life-saving straw, if Su Hao refuses to do his best, then he is doomed.

Su Hao shook his head and said: "Governor Xue, I have other matters to investigate."

The circumstances of this case are unknown, so he doesn't want to take risks. Although Wei Zhongxian did promise him two spells, for him now, the two spells are just icing on the cake and cannot bring about a qualitative change in his strength. If Wei Zhongxian He wouldn't mind taking a risk to be able to give him the Taoist foundation building method and cultivation method, but it's a pity that the hope is not great.

He had also seen the exchange price of the Foundation Establishment Method in the Jinyiwei General Office before, which was a total of [-] great achievements, and there was no guarantee that the foundation could be successfully established. Wei Zhongxian would never give him such a thing no matter what.

Hearing Su Hao's words, Xue Zhen's face turned pale instantly. He has been in the officialdom for most of his life, how could he not understand the perfunctory meaning in Su Hao's words.

After a moment of silence, Xue Zhen gritted her teeth: "Su Qianhu wait a moment."

After finishing speaking, Xue Zhen got up and walked into the back hall. After a while, Xue Zhen came out from the back hall.

"Su Qianhu, this is a bank note of 3 taels of silver. I hope Qianhu can do a lot of hard work. If Qianhu can get back the tax money, Xue will have a big thank you."

Xue Zhen smiled and handed over a stack of banknotes to Su Hao, with a hint of heartache in his eyes. Although he is the governor of Huguang now, 3 taels of silver is not a small amount.

"Your Majesty will do his best."

Seeing the bank note in front of him, Su Hao took it with a smile. He was entrusted by Wei Zhongxian to come here. If you don't take the benefits for free, you won't take it for nothing. If you find out the words, everyone will be happy. If you can't find out, Xue Zhen will be out of luck. It can't be involved in him anymore.

"Then leave everything to Su Qianhu."

Hearing this, Xue Zhen quickly said that the news that the tax bank was robbed is still crushed by him. Those who know about it are all at Liziguan, and even Du Hui came back secretly. Don't dare to use it, because once the news spreads, before he finds the tax money, the imperial court's imperial decree will arrive, so if Su Hao refuses to put his heart into it, he has no other options.

Several people walked out of the lobby. At this moment, Su Hao suddenly took a step behind Du Hui. A small paper figurine in his hand flew to the sole of Du Hui's shoe, and then stuck to the shoe. Then Su Hao walked quickly as if nothing had happened. step.

"Tang Baihu, the five of you will go to the deserted temple with Du Tongzhi."

When they reached the gate, Su Hao said to Tang Xiangjin and the others: "Try to see if there are any clues left."

"Yes!"

Tang Xiangjin and the others clapped their hands together.

...

Looking at the leaving figures of Tang Xiangjin and Du Hui, Zhao Xiaoer asked suspiciously, "Master, are you suspecting that Du Hui is guarding himself?"

"It's not true, it's just being prepared."

Su Hao shook his head. Du Hui, as the magistrate of Wuchang Mansion, usually has 5000 taels a year. Although 60 taels of tax money is a large amount, it's not enough for Du Hui to take risks. Besides, he lost his taxes. Yin, Xue Zhen, the governor of Huguang, must bear the main responsibility, and Du Hui can't escape. Losing his official position is inevitable. Without his official status, no matter how much wealth Du Hui has, he can't keep it, and it may even lead to disaster. Well, there is no need for Du Hui to take such a risk.

(End of this chapter)