The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Cheng Xinyan followed, "Be careful, walls have ears!"

Wu Minqing was reminded. Although he realized that he was chatting again, his interest did not diminish.

He lowered his voice slightly and said, "Brother Wu and Brother Wang, do you think what I said is wrong?"

Cheng Xinyan said, "What you said makes sense, but we can't discuss this matter outside. If anyone with a heart listens to it, I'm afraid our lives will be at risk."

"Why is it so serious?" Wu Minqing felt that Cheng Xinyan and Wang Wende were too cautious. "The previous Jin Yiwei was so majestic, but I never saw these two brothers so nervous."

Wang Wende said, "The Jinyiwei of the former Ming Dynasty were powerful enough, but in the Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties, it was not as interesting as in the early years."

"But Da'ei's Embroidered Guards are incomparable to the Jinyi Guards - we don't usually see them, and we don't even hear any relevant news."

"However, once the court is in charge, they appear immediately and move like thunder. Don't you think this is more terrifying?"

Wu Minqing was really a little scared when he thought about the Xiuyi Guards' cooperation in the investigation and arrest of private money dealers last year.

But he said harshly, "Even if the Xiuyi Guards are powerful, they won't keep an eye on us."

Wu Minqing wanted to say more, but Fang Mingrui stopped him.

Fang Mingrui doesn't like nonsense.

He said directly, "Since Brother Cheng feels that this matter is not suitable for discussion here, let's change the time and place."

"How about we come to my home in Luliu Villa in the southwest the day after tomorrow?"

"can."

Cheng Xinyan and Wang Wende both agreed, and Wu Minqing was no exception.

Then the four of them chatted about some business matters and then dispersed to have fun.

Wang Wende is already in his early fifties, but he was born with a wealth that many people will never get in their lifetime. He has good clothing and food, a good tutor, and he is naturally well-maintained.

His beard and hair are black, his face has few wrinkles, and his cheeks are rosy, making him look like a man in his forties.

Tonight, after chatting with a famous prostitute in Yangzhou about life ideals for half the night, I am still in good spirits.

He was not used to staying out at night, so he returned to his mansion before midnight.

As a result, when he was about to reach the door of the house, he was stopped by several people.

The instructor who was walking in front of the nursing home scolded fiercely: "Bold maniac, don't you know this is Wang Yuanwai's sedan? Get out of the way quickly!"

The ten accompanying guards also drew their sabers, ready to fight if they disagreed.

The salaries in these nursing homes are extremely high, and all of them are very skilled. They can work for the Wang family at critical moments.

Although the five people opposite were all wearing ordinary people's clothes, they were all strong men, holding swords in their hands and bulging bags around their waists, as if they were hiding firearms.

If not, the Wang Family Nursing Home would not be so "polite".

Upon hearing the scolding, the leading man took out a waist card.

"Major Ding Ruzhang of the Xiuyi Guards has been ordered to invite Commissioner Wang Wende to come to our place for tea. I hope you will cooperate."

Embroidered clothes guard? !

The guards and servants were shocked when they heard this.

Some bearers even had weak legs and almost fell off the sedan.

Wang Wende in the sedan was stunned for a moment, and then his heart became anxious, thinking to himself: Could it be that Xiu Yiwei knew about what Fang Mingrui and Wu Minqing said in Yanchun Tower during the day?

He signaled to get off the sedan.

He came forward with the guard instructor and looked carefully at the badge of the embroidered guard. When he saw that it was the same as the one on the official document, he handed it over and said, "May I ask this general, what did I commit?"

Ding Ruzhang put away his badge and said, "You will know when you go."

Wang Wende's heart began to sink.

As far as he understood, if it was an ordinary matter, Xiu Yiwei would not be willing to disclose any rumors.

After all, he was a wealthy businessman in Yangzhou with a fortune of tens of millions, so he did not panic.

After thinking for a while, he said: "In that case, please allow me to give a few instructions to the servant before leaving with the general."

Ding Ruzhang said, "Just send two people from home to go back with our people to deliver the message. Everyone else has to go with us."

Hearing this, Wang Wende felt that the matter was serious and did not dare to resist. He immediately did as Ding Ruzhang said...
Although Xiuyiwei has the responsibility of internally supervising officials, the secret agents and informants are responsible for collecting intelligence, and they also have official agencies on the surface.

The Yangzhou Prefecture Xiuyi Guards Office is not far from the government offices, county offices and other government offices.

Wang Wende and other Wang family members passed by the government office and felt a little relieved when they saw that there were still office workers on duty at night.

At least you don't have to worry about someone pretending to be an embroidered guard and tricking them into assassinating them. Although the possibility of this happening is very small, it is necessary to guard against it.

The Yangzhou Mansion's Xiuyi Health Office has a sign, but it is an inconspicuous vertical sign hanging outside the courtyard.

It is called "Embroidered Yiwei Yangzhou Camp".

Wang Wende wanted to get off the sedan outside, but Ding Ruzhang stopped him and said, "Just carry it in."

In desperation, the bearers could only carry the sedan into the courtyard.

After getting off the sedan in the yard, the guards, servants, and sedan bearers were all led away one by one by the embroidered guards.

Wang Wende was led into the largest hall in the courtyard by Ding Ruzhang.

After entering, Wang Wende only saw a few embroidered guards discussing something in low voices. When he came in, he immediately stopped.

Then he saw Ding Ruzhang giving a military salute to an elegant middle-aged man among them.

"Report to the group, Wang Wende has brought it back!"

The elegant middle-aged man glanced at Wang Wende, then nodded with a smile, "Okay, you can take him to the waiter to ask."

"Yes!"

Ding Ruzhang responded, obviously a little excited, and immediately motioned to Wang Wende to follow him.

After leaving the hall, Wang Wende suddenly realized something, and couldn't help but ask: "General Ding, is that the general in charge of the embroidered guards in the entire Jiangbei area?"

After all, he is a giant businessman, and the salt merchant is also an official businessman, so he knows a little bit about Xiuyiwei.

The Xiuyi Guards belong to the personal bodyguards of Emperor Damei, so their current organizational structure is similar to that of the army.

However, the rank of the Guards is already one level higher than that of the ordinary army. The Xiuyi Guards are responsible for supervision and intelligence work, so naturally they are half a level higher.

Wang Wende heard that the head of the Yangzhou Mansion Embroidery Guard was just the main camp.

The elegant middle-aged man just now was actually honored as "Regimental Leader" by Ding Ruzhang, the battalion deputy. He was probably the General Xiuyiwei who was in charge of the Jiangbei area of ​​​​South Zhili, and he was a real general!
Because Wang Wende noticed that the epaulette of the elegant middle-aged man was an oval leaf with two yellow stars.

This means that the opponent is a two-star brigadier general!
There is no need for a high-ranking official of the Xiuyi Guard like Xu Du to conceal his identity, and there is no way to do so.

So Ding Ruzhang nodded and said, "That's right."

Soon, Ding Ruzhang took Wang Wende to an independent building.

Borrowing the lantern carried by Ding Ruzhang, he discovered that this was a cement brick house - because the exterior walls were painted blue-grey with cement.

Cement, a new building material said to have been invented by Liu Sheng, is now owned by the government in Da'ei.

If the private sector wants to buy it for use, it is not only expensive, but also requires strict approval procedures.

Because cement is useless without it, even a giant businessman like Wang Wende cannot own a cement house.

Probably only the government can build houses and paint walls with cement so extravagantly.

Wait for Ding Ruzhang to enter one of the rooms.

Wang Wende found that this room was not big, but it had very few furnishings.

There is only one table and a few stools. It seems a little empty.

The room also has cement walls and cement floors, and there doesn't seem to be even a window.

Even if Ding Ruzhang came in with a lantern, it still looked dark and a bit eerie.

Ding Ruzhang hung the lantern aside and stretched out his hand to signal, "Wang, please have a seat outside."

What Ding Ruzhang was referring to was a high stool slightly behind in the center of the house.

Wang Wende walked over and sat down, and found that his feet could barely touch the ground and it was difficult to exert force.

Sitting on this stool is not uncomfortable for a while, but it is definitely uncomfortable. As for what will happen after a long time, Wang Wende has not yet thought about it.

Ding Ruzhang and several embroidered guards who followed him sat down behind the table directly opposite him.

The table was very close to the wall, a dozen steps away from him.

Logically speaking, this distance is not too far, but because the room is so spacious, Wang Wende feels that Ding Ruzhang and others are quite far away from him.

Then someone lit a strange lamp.

There was a weird trumpet-shaped thing on the lamp head, and there was a silver mirror inside!

After Xiuyiwei ignited it, a bright and dazzling light suddenly shot out, covering Wang Wende.

After Wang Wende reluctantly adapted to the light, he opened his eyes and found that except for the lights and light, other things around him could not be seen clearly. Ding Ruzhang and other embroidered guards were only a blur of figures.

It was as if there was endless darkness all around him.

If he is not careful, he will fall from this light and fall into the endless darkness.

This gave rise to a sense of tension and oppression that I had never felt before.

Although Wang Wende was a wealthy businessman, he was born in this way and had never suffered any hardships. This was the first time he had experienced such a weird and depressing battle, and he suddenly panicked.

At this time, a young embroidered guard spoke.

"Wang Wende, male, named Xiu, from Qimen County, Huizhou Prefecture, Huainan Province."

"I was born in the 21st year of Wanli in the former Ming Dynasty. My father, the Wang family of Qimen, became the head of the family, Wang Bozhang, and my mother was Wang Bozhang's wife, Yan..."

With the words of the young embroidered clothes guard without any emotion and even the tone of his voice, Wang Wende's information was disclosed bit by bit in this weird cement room.

This made Wang Wende increasingly nervous and panicked.

Because even he had forgotten some of the information, or even didn't know it at all.

But Xiu Yiwei read it out like it was a trivial matter.

This gave rise to a feeling: Everything he did could be checked by Xiuyiwei!
He has no secrets in front of Xiuyiwei!

After the young embroidered guard finished reciting, an unknown number of breaths passed, and when Wang Wende shivered slightly, Ding Ruzhang spoke out.

"Wang Wende, we invite you here today because the Holy Spirit intends to rectify the salt industry and thoroughly investigate all official salt merchants."

"Ever since the late Wanli Dynasty when the Xinggangyun method was introduced, two generations of your Qimen Wang family have been wealthy salt merchants in Huaihe, so naturally they are also included in the investigation."

"However, your Wang family has a good reputation among the people, so I am just inviting you to tea today, not arresting you."

Hearing this, Wang Wende wanted to cry.

I thought to myself, do you call this a treat for tea?

Do any of you invite people to tea like this?
Even drinking tea is so scary. If he is arrested, wouldn't it scare people to death?

Ding Ruzhang seemed not to notice Wang Wende's complicated and weird expression, and continued: "Next, I will ask some questions, and I hope you can answer them truthfully."

"If you are guilty and actively cooperate with our inquiries, you may be able to reduce your crime and punishment by making meritorious service."

"Even if you are not guilty, active cooperation can help the interrogation end as soon as possible so that you can go home early."

Come back home?

Wang Wende has never been so homesick as now, missing the yellow-faced woman at home and several unfulfilled children.

He hurriedly swallowed his dry throat and said, "General, please tell me everything I know, and I will tell you everything!"

"That's good."

Ding Ruzhang seemed to smile.

Start asking questions according to the process.

"Name."

Wang Wende thought to himself, don’t you know my name? Why are you still asking?

But he is a smart man and knows that there must be a reason for Xiuyiwei to ask this question.

So after being stunned for a moment, he replied: "Wang Wende."

"gender."

Wang Wende didn't understand these two words at first, but when he remembered what the young embroidered guard had thought before, he understood and said: "Male?"

that's it.

Wang Wende went through several hours of interrogation in the cement room of the Yangzhou Prefecture's Xiuyi Ward Office, and it didn't end until dawn.

Xiuyiwei asked many simple questions again and again.

At the beginning, Wang Wende would also consciously conceal some secrets that were not easy to tell.

But later on, because Xiuyiwei repeatedly asked, the answer he made up didn't match up, so he had to tell the truth.

In the end, when he felt as if he was about to collapse, he no longer had any intention of hiding anything. No matter what the embroidered guard asked, he told the truth. He just wanted to end the interrogation as soon as possible and leave this weird and depressing room as soon as possible...
The next few days.

Without attracting the attention of others, Xiu Yiwei successively invited the big salt merchants in Yangzhou to the government office for interrogation.

Among them, Fang Mingrui, a Huizhou merchant, and Huang Yaozu, a Shanxi merchant, thought they were going to be arrested by the Xiuyi Guards. They resisted arrest and ran away. Several guards and servants were shot to death by the Xiuyi Guards on the spot, and then they were arrested.

Subsequently, the two people's residences, villas and other properties in Yangzhou were temporarily surrounded and sealed by the Embroidered Clothes and Guards Association's security forces.

At this point.

Only then did the people of Yangzhou realize that a big storm involving officials, merchants and people was about to come.

If we don't do it right, it might be like the Hongwu case of the previous dynasty, where people were killed!
···
Yangzhou government office.

Lin Jiading, Chen Jitai and Yangzhou Magistrate Li Daoying bowed to each other before taking their seats.

Although Li Daoying was only in his thirties, he was just an ordinary scholar in the Qianming Dynasty. He was not even a child, and he had only been in officialdom for a few years.

One of Lin and Chen was a Jinshi in the seventh year of Chongzhen in the former Ming Dynasty, and the other was also a candidate in the Chongzhen period.

This time, the two of them came under the emperor's orders to do something important.

But the two of them didn't show any disrespect to Li Daoying.

Because Li Daoying came from the Wei tribe, he was originally a brigade administrator of the Second Division of the Standing Army. After the Wei army captured Yangzhou, he was transferred to the prefect of Yangzhou and later served as the councilor of Southern Zhili.

In terms of qualifications, Li Daoying comes from the Wei tribe and is a real veteran in Dawei.

He even listened to Liu Sheng's lectures in the military and political class, and he was considered a disciple of the emperor.

In terms of official rank, the magistrate of Yangzhou is the fourth rank, and the counselor of Nanzhili is the third rank!
And Lin Jiading, a doctor from the Ministry of Finance, was only a fifth-rank official.

Even if he comes to handle important matters in the salt industry and is temporarily granted the title of Minister of Finance by the Central Government, he can still be regarded as a third-rank official, the same level as Li Daoying.

As for Chen Jitai, the co-organizer, his level is even lower.

However, after the two arrived in Yangzhou today, Li Daoying had been quite enthusiastic so far, which made the two of them relax a little. (End of chapter)