Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 171 Wu Family
"I don't know your surname, brother? Can you tell me what's the problem here?" Jia Qiang asked with a smile.

"My name is Jiang Jingchen. This is not the place to talk. Don't you want to drink water? Come to my place!" Jiang Jingchen said, not wanting others to see him.

"That's too much trouble!" Jia Qiang replied.

Jiang Jingchen took Jia Qiang and Xu Qianhu to a dilapidated farmyard. The house was clean.

"My family is poor and there is nothing to serve, only water!" Jiang Jingchen said sheepishly, taking two bowls filled with water and placing them on the table.

"Thank you. As long as there is water, there is no one else here. Could you please tell me what's wrong with this village?" Jia Qiang asked with a smile.

"The name of the owner of that house is Wu Jinxiao, and his son's name is Wu Yuping. Wu Yuping liked to dance with swords and sticks when he was a child. He made friends with strong men outside and bullied men and women in Heishan Village. You look a little bit I'm afraid there will be trouble if Wu Yuping sees his wealth!" Jiang Jingchen shook his head helplessly and explained.

"You said Wu Yuping was on good terms with strong men outside. Who is this strong man?" Jia Qiang asked curiously.

"The strong men outside include military lords, gangsters, and it is said that there are also horse thieves!" Jiang Jingchen seemed to have wanted to talk to someone for a long time, and since Jia Qiang was an outsider, he answered without any scruples.

Jia Qiang and Xu Qianhu looked at each other. This place belongs to Jizhen. If there are so-called military masters involved, they are probably the officers and soldiers of Jizhen.

Jia Qiang did not look down on Jiang Jingchen, nor did her expression change.

Xu Qianhu walked out of the room, first took out a signal bomb from his arms, lit it and fired it, then rushed towards the gangsters surrounding him.

Heishan Village is located in a remote place, and outsiders rarely come here for several years. This is why the Wu family can do whatever they want here.

Jiang Jingchen was lucky enough to be arranged as a counting house, but the problem was that Jiang Jingchen was in exile, so how could he be sent to Heishan Village? The Hundred Households of Zhangwu sent Jiang Jingchen as a favor.

"It's been two years!" Jiang Jingchen replied.

This person was Wu Yuping. How could he not know at this moment that the two people in front of him were really here to find out the news.

The accountant in any home belongs to a higher level than the slave, and the status is not much different from that of the housekeeper.

Screams came from outside the door from time to time. Jiang Jingchen looked pale, but still maintained his sitting posture. This kind of cultivation made Jia Qiang nodded slightly.

Xu Qianhu is a strong general, and he is Zhao Zongbing's confidant. Zhao Zongbing can let him command a thousand cavalry, and his combat power is definitely not weak.

"This doesn't look like a place where the accountant lives!" Jia Qiang looked at the layout of the room and shook her head.

This man was stout and short. He was wearing a silk robe and had several pendants around his waist.

When he saw the Confucian shirt on Jia Qiang's body and the silk warrior uniform worn by Xu Qianhu like a guardian, this man's eyes were filled with vigilance.

Even though he was not wearing armor or carrying a weapon at the moment, his strength was not comparable to the group of men in front of him.

He remembered that just two years ago, news came from the government that the owner of the village was replaced by a viscount. It was said that the viscount was only a boy in his teens.

He first gave Jiang Jingchen a fierce look, knowing that Jiang Jingchen must have revealed a lot of information.

"Jiang Qiongsu, someone saw you bringing an outsider home!" At this time, a person broke into the room and shouted loudly.

"Xu Qianhu, let them come in and arrest him!" Jia Qiang ignored this person lazily, not even wanting to know who this person was, and turned to Xu Qianhu and ordered.

"What crime did you commit that sent you to this place? Do you still have any relatives at home?" Jia Qiang asked Jiang Jingchen without paying attention to outside matters.

"Are you two here to inquire about information?" This man was not stupid. He immediately thought of a possibility and asked in a deep voice.

"Seeing as you are also a scholar, why do you stay here?" Jia Qiang asked again.

He still understands about being in exile.

"Since you want to die, then stay here!" Wu Yuping shouted in a deep voice. He shouted outside: "Come here, catch them. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed!"

"It's not easy to stay alive. I'm still of some use. The Wu family doesn't want me to die. They can use an accountant like me that can control life and death without spending any money. It's cheap and safe!" Jiang Jingchen sighed.

"I don't know the specifics. It's just that when the Wu family did the accounting, they made two accounts. One account shows the real income and expenditure, and the other account shows the losses!" Jiang Jingchen thought for a while and replied.

"While the student was studying, his parents were beaten to death. I reported it to the government, but there was no evidence. The student killed the man in anger, was stripped of his rank, and was sent to this place. I am the only one left in the family!" Jiang Jingchen knew what was happening in front of him! He is a high official, he replied honestly.

They couldn't guarantee whether the new master who took over Zhuangzi would ignore the place and leave it completely to the Wu family like the Jia family did before.

If it weren't for this man's rugged face, one would have thought he was a young master from some family.

But looking at Jiang Jingchen's residence in front of him, there isn't even any decent furniture in the house, and the mouth of the drinking bowl is broken. This is not like the treatment in a normal accounting room.

Wu Yuping thought he had practiced martial arts, but before he could show it, he was punched out of the room by Xu Qianhu.

Jia Qiang and Xu Qianhu were sizing up this man, and the man was also sizing up Jia Qiang and Xu Qianhu.

Good money is hard to give away. Although they knew that if their new master discovered their corruption, the consequences would be extremely serious. However, since the Jia family had been corrupt for so many years, how could they give up their interests?

"How long have you been working as an accountant in Heishan Village?" Jia Qiang asked again.

After he answered the question, he looked at Jia Qiang again. Through Jia Qiang's questions, he discovered that Jia Qiang's identity was probably not simple.

Then he took a few steps forward and rushed towards Wu Yuping.

"I heard that this place belongs to the Wu family?" After knowing that Jiang Jingchen was the accountant, Jia Qiang wanted to know more about Wu Jinxiao through him, so she continued to ask.

People like Jiang Jingchen who commit crimes will be exiled to the border to work as coolies.

"Yes, sir!" Seeing that Jia Qiang no longer concealed her identity, Xu Qianhu stood up and bowed in response.

Although he didn't care about a teenage boy, his father Wu Jinxiao had always told him to be careful about someone coming to find out the news.

"Sir, please wait a moment!" Xu Qianhu didn't take these people to heart, he said to Jia Qiang.

If Xu Qianhu cannot even deal with a few gangsters from his hometown, then this Qianhu will be in vain.

"I was exiled here. I was sent here by Zhang Wu's 100 households because I had studied, and I worked as an accountant for the Wu family!" Jiang Jingchen hesitated for a moment before replying.

The reason why Jiang Jingchen was asked to come over by Wu Jinxiao was precisely because Zhuangzi was given to Jia Qiang here.

Wu Jinxiao thought that he needed to find a good accountant and make the accounts more beautiful to prevent the new master from checking the accounts, so Jiang Jingchen was sent here.

"It's been two years, so you are still very familiar with this place!" Jia Qiang nodded and said.

"Of course I'm familiar!" Jiang Jingchen nodded affirmatively.

At this time, there was a lot of sound of horse hooves outside the door. It seemed that the cavalry and his soldiers from outside the village were coming.

"Come out with me!" Jia Qiang said to Jiang Jingchen with a smile.

Jiang Jingchen followed Jia Qiang with his hands tied. When he left the yard, he saw hundreds of cavalry.

The cavalry, under the command of Xu Qianhu, surrounded Wu Mansion.

Jia Qiang brought Jiang Jingchen to the gate of Wu Mansion. Although Wu Mansion was built luxuriously, it was very easy for hundreds of cavalry to break into it.

This kind of house was not built for defense. It could at most guard against bandits, but it could not guard against the army.

The door of Wu Mansion opened, and Wu Jinxiao walked out with a simple and honest smile on his face.

He did not recognize Jia Qiang. When Wu Jinxiao went to the capital to deliver gifts, he only saw the old manager Lao Shuntou. After he saw that it was not a gangster, he couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.

"The little old man knows Zhang Wu's family. I wonder why you military masters are here?" Wu Jinxiao asked with a flattering smile.

"Wu Jinxiao, I heard that the fields here belong to the Wu family?" Jia Qiang asked lightly.

Wu Jinxiao trembled. What he feared most was that others would ask him this question.

"The fields here belong to Lord Jia of the capital, and the young man is just helping to take care of them!" Wu Jinxiao did not dare to say nonsense in front of the officers and soldiers, so he bowed his body and replied.

"Do you know who I am?" Jia Qiang asked with a sarcastic look on her face.

"Young man, I don't know!" Wu Jinxiao looked up and down and replied firmly.

"I am the owner of the fields here!" Jia Qiang said in a deep voice.

Wu Jinxiao's body softened and he almost sat on the ground. He knew in his heart that this matter was troublesome.

Because he saw Jiang Jingchen following Jia Qiang, others may not know the secret here, but Jiang Jingchen, who is the accountant, knows it clearly.

Not to mention what happened before Jia Qiang took over, in the past two years, he had taken a lot from Zhuangzi.

"Take it!" Jia Qiang waved his hand and ordered.

The sergeant stepped forward and grabbed Wu Jinxiao and tied him with a rope.

"Jiang Jingchen, go get the account book and bring it over!" Jia Qiang turned to Jiang Jingchen and said.

"Let's go now!" Jiang Jingchen nodded quickly and responded.

He quickly ran through the gate. He had kept the account books, so he knew where to keep them.

"Xu Qianhu, go back and check this Qianbaihu!" Jia Qiang said to Xu Qianhu again.

"Yes, sir!" Xu Qianhu bowed and responded.

He knew Zhang Wu's 100 households, and heard that he had some connections in Beijing, but did not belong to General Zhao's family.

However, Zhang Wuyi offended Jia Qiang, and even with connections between Beijing and China, it was impossible to offend Jia Qiang for his sake.

Jiang Jingchen ran back with the account books. He was out of breath because he ran too fast and was malnourished.

"Sir, here is the account book!" He took a deep breath and said, holding the account book.

Jia Qiang took the account book and looked at the contents recorded in the account book.

I have to say that Wu Jinxiao is quite a talent.

In these years of operation, the number of Zhuangzi under his management has tripled.

No matter what methods Wu Jinxiao used, or whether he took advantage of the Jia family's connections, he did expand his land twice.

"Jiang Jingchen, are you willing to take over the job of managing Zhuangzi?" Jia Qiang looked at Jiang Jingchen and asked.

"How can students serve adults when they are waiting for sin?" Jiang Jingchen replied hesitantly with joy on his face.

"You stay here, and you will be protected by the Ji Town General Military Mansion. As long as you behave well, you will be able to get away with it in a few years!" Jia Qiang will not use the power in her hands to directly absolve Jiang Jingchen. He waved his hand and said.

Anyway, as long as Jiang Jingchen stays in Heishan Village, there will be no trouble. With the protection of Ji Town General Military Mansion, he can follow the normal procedures and reduce his sentence time and time again.

"Students are willing to do things for adults!" Jiang Jingchen heard the meaning of Jia Qiang's words, knelt down and kowtowed and said loudly.

Based on his original crime, if no one takes care of him, it will be impossible for him to be free after serving his sentence.

But if you work with Jia Qiang, you will be exempted from the crime in a few years.

Even if he is guilty, he will not suffer here. In charge of such a big Zhuangzi, the power in his hands is not small.

At this time, Jia Qiang's powerful generals and soldiers had raided the Wu Mansion, and many boxes of silver were brought out, as well as some treasures unique to this place, which were quite large in quantity.

All in all, if converted into silver, it would be almost two hundred thousand taels.

Jia Qiang couldn't help but shake her head. He just copied Wu Jinxiao's house, and that's all he got.

Wu Jinxiao's younger brother was in charge of Zhuangzi in Rongguo Mansion, which was just a hundred miles away. The Zhuangzi he was in charge of was bigger than Wu Jinxiao, and he probably had more greed.

But he won't worry about that, it's Rongguo Mansion's business.

It's funny to think about it. At this time, the Rongguo Mansion probably couldn't come up with more than two hundred thousand taels of silver at once, but he got so much by ransacking a slave's house.

"Jiang Jingchen, if there is anything that cannot be solved, go to Ji Town to find General Zhao, or send a message to Jiahou Mansion in the capital!" Jia Qiang could not leave Ji Town for a long time, so he finally told Jiang Jingchen.

Jiang Jingchen did not live in a luxurious house. He still lived in the original courtyard, but arrangements have been made and a house will be built for him to live in soon.

The original Wu Mansion house was used as the house where the owner lived.

After hearing Wu Jinxiao's case, Jia Qiang handed it over to Zhao Zongbing after returning to Jizhen, and he was tried by Jizhen.

The fate of Wu Jinxiao's family will not be good. In this era, any slave who dares to embezzle his master's property will be severely punished.

No one would want such a slave to appear in their own family. Only heavy punishment can prevent latecomers.

On the eighth day of March, Jia Qiang gave up hope of participating in the examination.

"General Zhao has invited you!" A soldier came in to report.

These days General Zhao often invites Jia Qiang to come over. Some military reports are extremely important and he cannot leave the General Military Mansion, so he can only invite Jia Qiang to come over.

Jia Qiang entered the General Soldier's Mansion and came to the hall, where she saw a relaxed smile on General Zhao's face.

"But there is a new battle report?" Jia Qiang asked as she came in.

"Master Jia, a battle report was sent from Datong Town. It was discovered that the Tatar army appeared outside Datong Town. There will be no war in Ji Town!" General Zhao handed over a battle report and said.

Jia Qiang received the battle report and found that it was just as General Zhao said.

"Can Datong Town be defended?" Jia Qiang didn't know much about Datong Town, so she asked.

"Should be able to hold on!" Regarding Jia Qiang's question, General Zhao's tone was uncertain.

Jia Qiang shook her head. It was not easy for him to interfere in such matters.

The control of the nine provinces sounds high and powerful, but it only has the power of supervision, not command.

He also did not want to bring two guardsmen to support Datong Town. Before Datong Town could no longer support him, the consequences of rash intervention might offend the military attachés of Datong Town.

"Now that the crisis in Ji Town has been resolved, I will return to Beijing!" Jia Qiang said to General Zhao.

(End of this chapter)