Listening to politics behind a curtain?Kill the Queen Mother at the beginning!

Chapter 88 Annihilation of the Four Great Merchant Gangs
Outside the palace treasury,
Hundreds of armored guards of the palace had already been cut down, and hundreds of guards in brocade clothes were moving wooden boxes from the warehouse. Fortunately, most of the goods sent by the four major business gangs were gold, which occupied a small area. Saved a lot of trouble, and now they have basically moved out of the hospital.

"Reporting to my lord, the lower officials have made a rough count, plus the original savings of the palace, it has been converted into a total of nearly 700 million taels of silver in the treasury." Ding Xiu saw Luo Porridge approaching and hurriedly leaned forward to report,

"In addition, these are the land title deeds found in the mansion and some properties you bought in the city. You should collect them first."

After all, Ding Xiu took out another wooden box and handed it over according to the previous rules.

"Ah."

Luo Porridge accepted the wooden box without hesitation and nodded. Over the past month, so many houses have been raided, and the land title deeds and properties obtained together are already worth a few streets in the capital. If you don't do it, the money collected every year is also an astronomical figure.

"Lord Luo, what should we do with this batch of money?"

Ding Xiu stood up and continued.

"After all, in order to bring down this Prince Shuo today, all the money you collected these days has been truthfully reported in the main hall. It may not be easy to share the money in private..."

Ding Xiu wanted to speak but stopped.

"Lord Luo, Chief Secretary Zhao of the Household Department is asking to see you."

The voice just fell,

There was a voice from outside the palace,

"Please come in."

After Luo Porridge finished speaking, he continued to frown and said, "Tsk tsk, it seems that the household department is also watching this batch of money, and wants to add it to the national treasury."

"In your opinion, how to deal with this batch of money is better."

Luo Congee asked.

"My lord, since this batch of money can't be kept, why don't you think of a way to hand it all over to His Majesty. If it goes into the national treasury, you have to spend money to build bridges, roads and dams, and you have to be greedy for money. A million taels won’t last a few days.”

"If it goes to the inner treasury, it will become His Majesty's private money. After the money-raising incident, His Majesty will not easily take out money outside, and His Majesty has the right to keep it for us."

"After all, storing it with His Majesty is not only safe, but also saves a large amount of storage fees for sending it to the bank."

Ding Xiu thought about it.

"Well, then you should think of a way."

Luo Congee nodded.

"Officer, take orders!"

Ding Xiu immediately responded.

Think about how to deal with it.

……

"Your Majesty, I have met Master Luo."

As soon as the two of them finished speaking, an elegant civil servant came out of the palace and bowed his hands to Luo Congee. Looking carefully, he was followed by several accountants with abacus and ledgers.

"Oh?"

"I don't know what Master Zhao is doing here?"

Luo Porridge asked knowingly, but he was also very speechless in his heart. After counting the time and just retreating from the court, the household department has already prepared it, even the abacus and account book have been brought.

"Your Majesty, under the order of the Minister of the Household Department, I came here to count the stolen money in the palace." The man looked at the fallen corpse outside the warehouse, his eyelids were twitching, but he still insisted on saying.

"I also hope that the adults will make it easier."

Master Zhao cupped his hands again.

"Stolen silver?"

"Master Zhao is wrong."

Seeing that Luo Porridge was silent, Ding Xiu said decisively.

"Isn't this stolen money?"

Master Zhao frowned.

"Of course not!"

"According to my Dali law, the prince is naturally considered an official, and there is a complete set of procedures for dealing with high-level officials. The three divisions' joint trial is the most basic, and the Holy Judgment is not too much, but the process must be completed. After the trial , you have to pronounce a sentence, and then you can only be found guilty after the criminal officer personally signs and draws a pledge."

"After the prisoner is found guilty, the money can be counted as stolen money and filled into the national treasury."

Ding Xiu said neither fast nor slow.

"But for Prince Shuo, on the one hand, His Majesty did not pronounce the sentence in the court, but let my adults handle it on their own; on the other hand, Prince Shuo himself did not sign and pledge, so naturally it is not stolen money."

"Master Zhao, is this officer wrong?"

Ding Xiu asked back.

Hearing this Luo Porridge was also enlightened. After all, since ancient times, the laws of the past dynasties have been similar. According to the process, evidence must be presented, a sentence pronounced, and a charge can be made to convict.

It's like why so many corrupt officials in the previous life committed suicide immediately after the incident. It's not because their conscience found out that they knew their crimes were serious and they wanted to die. It's because when others die, they can't judge them, let alone convict them. .

The case had to be settled without any problems, not only the money that was corrupted before can be preserved, but also there is no stain on future generations.

"That's according to Ding Zhen Fushi's intention,"

"What is the money from the palace?"

Master Zhao frowned and said, suddenly hearing that Ding Xiu's words were justified, he couldn't refute them.

"It's a legacy!"

"Of course it should be sent to the internal treasury, not the national treasury!"

Ding Xiu said sternly.

"But even in terms of close relationship, the princess should be the first to inherit..."

"Well, the princess is dead..."

"As for how she died, this has nothing to do with the Ministry of Household Affairs. It depends on whether the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Procuratorate have the guts to investigate..."

Ding Xiu said quietly.

"According to the law of Dali, I will go to ask the parents of the princess, and brothers and princes of the same generation..."

"I think they will all voluntarily give up their inheritance."

Ding Xiu said with great determination.

"you……"

Director Zhao pointed at Ding Xiu and opened his mouth.

Never been able to speak.

"Forget it, let's go!"

After all, Master Zhao had no choice but to wave his sleeves, come here in high spirits and return in disappointment.

……

"You this..."

Luo Porridge looked at Ding Xiu who spoke with certainty, but hesitated to speak.

"Report to Master Luo,"

"The lower official knows that his strength is not enough, and he can't keep up with everyone's pace in many things, but he doesn't want to lag behind others, so he has also carefully studied my law of Dali recently, so that he can share his worries for you someday!"

"After all, many times you have to reason!"

"What if it doesn't make sense?"

"Then I have to trouble my lord to reason in person."

"After all, the truth of adults is in the knife."

Ding Xiu said with a straight face.

"..."

"Lord Luo!"

"The lower officials have already brought the quicklime in."

At this time, Wang Ruling also approached from the outside, seeing that he looked anxious, and his crimson official uniform was covered with a lot of lime.

"Your Excellency, please transport the silver out first."

"I'm going to set the fire right now. When the fire is over, the guards outside will put lime on it..."

After all,

Wang Ruling led a dozen guards in Jin Yi who were carrying heavy kerosene and rushed to the backyard.

Soon,
"My lord, let's live together."

Wang Ruling ran out again in a panic.

"My lord, do you want to try it?"

There were still two skewers of koi in his hand, and he handed them to Luo Porridge while muttering: "I heard that these koi are very expensive outside, so I happened to be at this stall to try something new, and my lord also padded his stomach by the way, so he was free." In the evening, Xiaguan is personally cooking a pot of dog meat for adults..."

"Can koi be eaten?"

Luo Congee frowned.

"Forget it, save it for yourself and eat on the way."

"Let's go, out of town."

Luo Porridge looked at the flattering Wang Ruling beside him and Ding Xiu, who was sending people to escort the silver to the inner treasury not far away, and felt deeply moved.

……

Twelve miles outside the city,

Qinglong is waiting on the official road,

"Hey, woo, woo..."

"How are things going?"

Luo Conge tightened the reins and looked at Qinglong.

"Reporting to Mr. Luo, the lower officials have just controlled the manors where the Shanxi merchants, Huizhou merchants, and Ningbo merchants are located. In the manor, absolutely no one escaped."

"But this is the only tide merchant with the most grain storage. The granary is farther away, and the officials are not manned enough. In addition, the processing here has not yet been completed, so we have not rushed there for the time being."

Qinglong bowed to report.

"Well, leave a few hundred tiki and tie up these people."

"Lead someone to accompany me to Chaoshang to have a look first."

Luo Porridge ordered.

"Let's go along with the official."

Luo Porridge waved.

"Bai Xiaosheng, why did this tide merchant set up a separate warehouse?"

On the way, Luo Porridge couldn't help but asked aloud, logically speaking, one of the four major business gangs should prosper and the other should suffer, so why go out alone.

"Lord Luo, you don't know that the gang of Chaozhou merchants are all from the coastal area. It is said that Chaozhou people are good at doing business. They are the sons of Sukong. They go abroad alone. They have nothing but leather pillows and quilts. They have been employed for several years. After a little bit of independent business, after a few years, almost all of them will become overseas giants, this is their own spin-off."

"As far as I know, there were Japanese pirates along the coast in the early years of the Dali Dynasty. Many of them were disguised by this tide merchant. They sold and plundered at the same time. They made a fortune very quickly. It ranks among the four major merchant gangs, and there is a faint tendency to overshadow those old merchant gangs."

"In the coastal area, there are no traitors and no merchants, and no villages and no bandits. If you really count them, they can be regarded as the most arrogant and cruel among the four major merchant gangs in the world, so the other three are unwilling to cooperate with them. Building warehouses together is only when we are going out to the outside world. After all, if we do business with the imperial court, the three can't afford it."

"And the shopkeeper who was the leader earlier was also a member of their Chaoshang. The idea of ​​colluding with Prince Shuo was probably also thought up by them, but it is nothing compared to what they did in the local area."

Bai Xiaosheng explained in detail.

"That's not to be underestimated."

Luo Congee thought about it.

"What your lord said is true. After all, the so-called merchant gangs are formed by a group of merchants gathering together. They are essentially no different from those Jianghu gangs."

"In comparison, the merchant gang needs to be more tightly organized, and His Majesty's worries in the court are not unreasonable. It is not difficult to rob this batch of food and grass and kill the perpetrators, but it is definitely not difficult to uproot them." A day's work."

"After all, the financial resources and strength displayed in the capital city are only the tip of the iceberg."

Bai Xiaosheng continued.

"What if you take it for your own use?"

Luo Congee said abruptly.

"Receive it for your own use?"

"If you really can collect it for your own use, not to mention the money they can earn every year, my Jinyiwei Intelligence Department alone can use their business ways to spread eyeliner all over the world. If there is a war, where the business ways are, the food and grass can be reached..."

Bai Xiaosheng said firmly.

"Let's give it a try..."

Luo Congee murmured to himself.

……

After half an hour,
"Coming……"

Looking from a distance, Luo Congee can already see the neat granary on the hill. The granary is all cylindrical civil construction, with purlins on the beams and rafters through the feet. Exquisite, and there are more than [-] granaries of this kind here, which shows that there are a lot of grain stored.

The outside of the granary is surrounded by wooden stakes, except for the part that goes into the ground, it is still higher than the flat bottom by nearly ten feet. From a distance, it looks like the base camp where the army is camped, and there are guards with weapons patrolling vaguely.

"Ding Xiu, let's send out 1000 people to surround the entire road down the mountain."

Luo Porridge ordered,
"Boom, boom, boom..."

The dull sound of horseshoes stamping on the ground was heard far away.

"Who are those people?"

The guard who was looking forward to the wind on the observation deck said.

The shopkeeper, who was patrolling among the granaries, obviously heard the commotion outside, went to a high place and looked away, and frowned when he saw the person coming.

"Luo porridge?"

"People from Jinyiwei?"

"What are they doing here?"

The shopkeeper's name was Li Mingxiang, and he was the leader who entered Luo's mansion that day, so he naturally recognized Luo Congee.

"Immediately go and inform the master to let them leave through the back door first. Seeing them like that, I'm afraid that the visitors are not kind."

"Also, ask the coolies to bring all the gold piled up in the warehouse here."

After Li Mingxiang sent two guards to report, he gathered all the people around the fence at the gate.

"Zhou Weiwei, go find some fire oil and pour all these granaries on."

Li Mingxiang looked at the iron cavalry that was getting closer and closer, and those Jinyiwei who spread out and seemed to be surrounded, his eyelids fluttered, and he ordered in a cold voice.

"Treasurer Li, what do you mean?"

The guard leader was puzzled.

"Let's hear why they came later."

"If you come here for the batch of gold purchased at a different price, you can give it to him in advance. We are not short of that."

"But, if you're here to kill people, just set the fire on fire, and you can't take advantage of them no matter what."

Li Mingxiang said harshly, although he had only met Luo Congee once, he knew Luo Porridge's temperament very well. He was either killing people or on the way to kill people, and he would never come here for no reason.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The hoofbeats are getting closer,
On the mountain road, earth and rocks splash and smoke billows,
"Hey, woo, woo..."

Luo Porridge tightened the reins and the horses stood up. Thousands of elite cavalry behind them also stood on their horses. They had just come here to kill people, but to make a sound, Li Mingxiang was terrified at the sight of the blood-stained black and red python robe.

"I don't know Mr. Luo, what is the purpose of coming here?"

Li Mingxiang stood on the ladder and squeezed out a stiff smile, but looking at the brightly armored Tiqi outside the door, his legs were still a little weak. The nearly ten-foot-high wooden fence couldn't bring him a little bit of safety. feel.

"Lead the string."

Luo Porridge didn't respond but waved.

"promise!"

The voice fell,

Thousands of riders raised the crossbow hanging on the side of the horse together.

The cold light on the arrow cluster made Li Mingxiang feel cold all over his body, and the guards behind him who had seen blood also subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Naturally, the elite cavalry in front of them is not comparable to the ordinary caravan they usually pretend to be bandits to intercept and kill. of.

"Lord Luo, don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry, if you have something to say, come here today, is it because you want to get back the difference in the last payment for the food purchased by the imperial court?"

Li Mingxiang asked hard.

"Fire arrows!"

Luo Porridge ignored it and ordered in a cold voice.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

The sound of crossbow arrows breaking through the air is endless,
"Puff puff……"

The arrow passed through the gap of the wooden pillar and fell into the crowd behind. Even though the wooden pillar blocked most of the arrows, the remaining half passed through and killed dozens of people in an instant.

"Hey hey..."

Li Mingxiang was so frightened by the battle that he fell to the ground, and the ladder was erected behind a thick log, so he was not shot immediately.

"Lord Luo, Lord Luo,"

"Put the gold down now, villain."

Li Mingxiang said anxiously as soon as he got up, waved his hand and the guards who survived behind him also reacted, and hurriedly climbed up the ladder and poured out the gold in the wooden box.

"This extra gold is the tea money that the villain gives to you brothers."

There was only a sound of gold and stone colliding, and countless gold bars were poured from the wooden fence, and the gold all over the ground shone dazzlingly under the midday sun.

But Luo Porridge didn't even look at it, and the crowd behind him didn't even look sideways. After all, it's a lot of house raids, and this little gold can't move their hearts.

"Lord Luo, you shot and killed dozens of people without saying a word. You must let the villain know why you came here, right?"

Seeing that Luo Porridge was unmoved, Li Mingxiang's heart sank to the bottom. He winked as he spoke, and asked the guards near the granary to light a torch.

"I only give you one option to open the mountain gate immediately."

"Hand over all the food and grass to the official!"

Luo Congee stretched out a finger and shouted in a cold voice. He could smell the smell of fire and oil in the air, otherwise he would have been hooked and locked and forced to break the door.

I also want Qinglong to go in alone, but his sword is fast, and it can't match the skill of throwing down the torch, but it is easy to irritate them.

"You know that by this time,"

"The price of a bucket of rice in Gyeonggi has been sold from the earliest 300 ren to more than [-] ren, which has more than doubled. As for meat, not to mention mutton, even pork is hard to find. Vegetables and fruits are also difficult to find. After looting everything, you are still building granaries and stockpiling grain."

"I'm afraid I'm just living a little life. To buy you a bucket of rice, you have to exchange a cart of copper coins."

"At that time, not only the official will come here to kill people, but even the ordinary old women and children in the capital city will be able to sharpen the cooking knife to sparks..."

Looking at the burning torch through the fence, Luo Porridge's tone became colder and colder. You must know that Chaozhou merchants accounted for nearly half of the grain this time. If they were burned together, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Lord Luo!"

"It is absolutely impossible to hand over all the food and grass."

"Everything in the world is for profit, and everything in the world is for profit. We are profit-seeking people, and we have spent so much effort. It is absolutely impossible to give it up."

"What's more, even if Master Luo didn't take care of the food and grass, it would be even more difficult for me to survive..."

Li Mingxiang also saw it clearly and flatly refused.

"Could it be that you really think that the official can't help you?"

"Is it true that this food can threaten the official?"

Seeing that Li Mingxiang was determined to die, Luo Congee's tone became more and more cold, and he also prepared the worst plan in his heart.

I am not one of those heroes who can be threatened for the suffering of the people in the world, if you insist on burning, then burn it, who the hell is willing to flirt with you.

"Hook and lock!"

Luo Porridge had a good idea and ordered directly.

"Boom..."

Countless sharp claws flew out and pierced into the wooden stake, pinching the horse's belly, causing the horse to suffer pain, hundreds of tyrants turned the horse's head and galloped back.

"Crack..."

Only the sound of the cracking of the stake was heard,

"Since that's the case, we will burn jade and stone together!"

"All set on fire!"

Li Mingxiang is also a ruthless person, upon seeing this, he grabbed the torch from the guard Zhou beside him and was about to throw it away.

"Pfft..."

Just when Li Mingxiang raised the torch and was about to throw it on the granary, the guard behind him suddenly took out a sharp knife from his arms and stabbed him in the heart.

"Clang..."

The torch also fell to the ground,
The rest of the guards who were about to light the fire were also stunned.

"Why do you..."

Li Mingxiang pointed at Zhou's guard and said weakly.

"You want to die, but our brothers don't want to die..."

"Is it possible that I have to be buried with you?"

"We are just the guards of the merchant gang, and we are not dead men. Damn it, we just take a few dozen taels of silver from you every year for food, pretend to be Japanese pirates in our hometown, pretend to be bandits, and kill ordinary people to earn some extra money. Okay, now you let us fight Jin Yiwei, don't you think we are mentally ill?
"spit……"

That Zhou guard kicked Li Mingxiang's body to the ground, and shouted after spitting out a mouthful of thick phlegm.

"Brothers, put down the torches!"

"Brothers, put down the torches!"

"Go and open the door!"

……

"Lord Luo, this thief is dead!"

"Don't hurt the innocent!"

"Don't hurt the innocent!"

in the rolling dust,
Only someone shouted.

"So smart?"

Luo Porridge rode his horse and entered through the open gate, looking at the guard leader kneeling on the ground, he said in surprise.

"grown ups!"

"As the saying goes, those who know the current affairs are the best."

"Although the young one is not considered a hero, he is also a person who knows the current affairs very well. Naturally, we have to follow the trend. We are just asking for food, and there is no need to work for him."

"My lord, do you think so?"

"If the adults want to clean up this tide gang, the younger ones, together with the brothers, can still lead the way for the adults."

Zhou Huwei smiled embarrassingly.

"The same is true."

"It's also thanks to the official you met today,"

Luo Porridge patted his cheek with the back of the knife and said with a smile.

"My little one, thank you Lord Luo."

"Thank you little..."

Zhou Huwei hurriedly fell to his knees when he heard the sound,
Together with the hundreds of guards behind him, they kowtowed.

"puff……"

The voice fell,

heads fly,

"If you meet someone else,"

"Maybe I'll let you go."

Looking at the headless corpse that fell to the ground, Luo Porridge finished the second half of the sentence in a leisurely manner, and for some reason, he always felt that these people were talking in a nonsensical way, and they would get angry when they heard it.

"Kill them all."

Luo Conge looked at the kneeling guards and said coldly.

"Reporting to Master Luo, someone escaped through the back door."

Soon,
Jin Yiwei Ti rode to report.

"Oh?"

"It's the master of the merchant gang."

"Did you escape?"

"I originally thought that the Chao Gang was composed of a group of merchants who were not afraid of death. Since they wanted to survive, it would be easy to talk about."

Luo Porridge's mind wandered, but he was misled by the aura of the leading merchants and merchants just now, and said to find another soft bone to control, now it seems that there is a theory.

"Let's go, and go down with me to search."

……

(End of this chapter)