King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

Chapter 156 The Kong family tricked me to death!

Chapter 156 The Kong family tricked me to death!

When the goldsmiths heard this, they all came forward and observed carefully.

"Can there be gold in this? Why doesn't the villain feel like it?"

"The color is dark and unclear, and it doesn't look like gold at all."

"It doesn't feel the same in the hand either."

"It's hard to say whether it's good or bad! But I think it's not much even if there is gold!"

"It feels like it's clearly an alloy of copper and some impurities, so it's not very similar to gold."

Kong Xixue listened to everyone's words, and his heart almost sank to the bottom!
From the very beginning when that old man sneaked away, his heart was always hanging!

Afraid of something happening.

But now, it seems to be fulfilling his guess!
That old Taoist priest really has a problem!
The gold was stolen by him without anyone noticing!

but
How can it be!

He was afraid of this problem, so he ordered people to watch the furnace and workshop all day long.

Even though the old Taoist priest and his men have left, the stove has not been moved!
How could the gold be gone?
Kong Xixue said in a trembling voice: "Are you right? Don't talk nonsense. This is clearly made of gold. I have seen it with my own eyes! There is no way this is fake!"

Everyone was frowning.

at last.

Someone smiled bitterly and said: "Master, if you have to refine this thing to make gold, then we don't dare to do it!"

When everyone heard this, they all agreed: "Yes! If this means that we have run out of gold, where can we reason with you!"

"Master, even if you refine all our bones and dregs, you still won't be able to get so much gold out of it."

at last.

A goldsmith said: "Sir, I have an idea! Why don't we knock off a few pieces of this furnace and refine it! If there is gold, there will be it, and if there is no gold, there will be nothing! In the eyes of everyone, no one can say that we have tampered with it!"

Kong Xixue said angrily: "Fart, there is nothing! There must be! I saw it with my own eyes! How could it not be! Practice! Practice right now! All of you do it together! I don't believe it! It must be because you are incompetent!"

After the words fell, everyone was shocked!
This is Duke Yansheng!

Descendants of the Confucian sage Confucius!
At this time, he was so anxious that he cursed!

Kong Xixue seemed unaware.

I was just anxious to roughly urge everyone to start dismantling the furnace for alchemy!
soon.

A row of crucibles was placed in front of everyone.

In every goldsmith's hand is a fragment of a furnace.

Beside them stood two tall and strong servants.

These people are the servants of Confucius's nursing home.

not far away.

There was also a row of government servants.

They were arranged by the county magistrate Kong Xizhen.

Kong Xixue watched everyone take their seats.

at this time.

The crucible was already burning red.

Kong Xixue said coldly: "Just now, someone was talking nonsense! They said that there is no gold in this furnace! I told you clearly! A total of 12 taels of gold were used to refine this furnace! How can there be no gold! Give me your tricks! Look carefully!

If gold is refined, everyone will be happy, and I will reward you greatly!
Five taels of silver per person!

If someone dares to hide something, they obviously have gold, but they say they don’t have it, and they can’t refine it on purpose!
That’s easy to handle!

The people from the government are here now!

If you are not afraid of seeing an official, give it a try! "

talking.

Kong Xixue gave an order and said: "Let's start! Practice!"

The words fell.

Everyone began to smelt a piece of debris in front of them.

What is burning under the crucible is coal.

At this time, after a long period of smelting, the temperature has reached thousands of degrees.

Fragments of the furnace were thrown into it, and they soon turned into liquid.

Craftsmen also put in sulfur ore.

Subsequently, there is precipitation, cooling, and pickling.
however.

The goldsmiths frowned as they looked at the pickled porcelain jars in front of them.

"Master, there is gold! But not too much!"

"Master! There is gold in my furnace! Just a little bit!"

"Master! There is gold, but it's really not much!"

Kong Xixue heard what everyone said and hurriedly went over to check.

But the sight in front of him drove him crazy!
Seeing that most of the furnace has been dismantled, the gold that can be refined is at most a few taels!

When Kong Xixue saw the result in front of him, he fell into a state of madness!
"It's impossible. There must be gold. There's no way this gold has disappeared! It's more than a hundred thousand taels! I watched him refine it with my own eyes! How come there's only so little left now?"

Kong Xixue even went to other counties to hire a few more goldsmiths!
Let them continue to refine the remaining furnace fragments!
Because he suspected that the goldsmiths of the Kong family were joining forces to deceive him!

"Practice again! Practice again! Keep practicing! There must be this gold! How can hundreds of thousands of taels of gold disappear just because it's gone!"

Kong Xixue almost roared and ordered everyone!
beside him.

Kong Yanqing's eyes were straightened, and his whole person was in a state of stupidity.

Kong Xixue was also panicking at this time.

But looking at his son like this, he couldn't bear to blame him.

After all, he was involved in this matter and was responsible for it, so it was inappropriate to blame it entirely on his son.

not to mention.

The son's mind was a little unclear at this time.

Ugh.
learn from mistakes!
I just hope this kid learns his lesson!
Although Kong Xixue was in pain, he couldn't help but think about his son.

at last.

With the last batch of crucibles finished.

Regardless of whether they are craftsmen from other provinces or craftsmen from the Confucius family, the amount of gold produced is pitiful.

In the end, everyone gathered it together and found that it was only a hundred taels!

Kong Xixue asked with trembling lips: "Is this gone?"

All the craftsmen shook their heads.

A craftsman had already said with a bitter smile: "Master, there really is no more! This is the result of repeated refinement!"

Kong Xixue’s face was full of despair!
Looking up to the sky and laughing!

"One hundred taels! Hahaha. There are only one hundred taels left! My 12 taels of gold! There are only one hundred taels left! Hahaha."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion as they looked at Kong Xixue's crazy look.

Kong Xizhen stepped forward and consoled him: "We have sent out documents to arrest the liar Yan Shenggong. Maybe there will be news soon. Don't worry!"

Kong Xixue laughed sadly and said: "Those scammers are obviously well prepared! 12 taels of gold! How much money is that! Since they can defraud so much money, how can they be caught so easily?"

Kong Xizhen also sighed in his heart.

After all.

All this money belongs to the Kong family!

And he is also a member of the Kong family.

It was impossible to say that he was not distressed by such a huge loss.

the other side.

Kong Yanqing's face was numb.

The entire human form is walking like a zombie.

The stimulation he received seemed to be even greater than that of Kong Xizhen!
He just walked forward numbly.

"Hehe. It's over! It's all over! Haha."

Seeing this, Kong Xizhen hurried over and grabbed Kong Yanqing's arm.

"Yan Qing! Calm down! Wake up! Although this money is a lot! But it can't defeat our Kong family! If we keep the green hills, we don't have to worry about running out of firewood!"

When Kong Yanqing heard this, he suddenly grinned and said, "Uncle, what if the green mountains are gone?"

Kong Xizhen was stunned, shook his head and said: "Don't think nonsense! We haven't reached that point yet!"

Kong Yanqing smiled.

But didn't speak.

He just kept walking forward stupidly.

at last.

Kong Xixue screamed when he saw Kong Yanqing walking like a zombie.

"Go and catch that unfilial son back to me!"

soon.

Kong Yanqing was brought to Kong Xixue.

Kong Xixue looked at Kong Yanqing and cursed angrily: "Kong Yanqing! Didn't you just lose some money! Can't you bear this setback and blow? Our Kong family has been standing for thousands of years. If we were all as useless as you, we would have been finished long ago. !”

however.

At this time, Kong Yanqing's face was still numb.

Looking at Kong Xixue, his face suddenly turned pale and he fainted on the spot!
When Kong Xixue saw this, he immediately screamed in pain!

"Oh! What a sin have I done! Why did I agree to this child in the first place? Now I am not only hurting myself, but also the child!"

the other side.

Yanzhou.

At Guo Ying's house.

Yichenzi stood beside him, his face full of respect.

Guo Ying stood with his hands behind his back and frowned: "Are you unhappy for doing such a thing this time? You are a hero who has been to Mobei. You have been wronged by following His Highness King Lu's nonsense."

Yichenzi is an expert spy under Guo Ying.

I had previously disguised myself and went to Mobei Mongolia to lurk for a long time, and got a lot of information for the Ming army.

Speaking of which, the undercover spy's skills are not inferior to those of Jin Yiwei.

Yichenzi smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr. Marquis! My subordinates just obeyed orders! What's more, based on the evil things the Kong family did in Shandong, His Highness King Lu punished them like this. It's not nonsense! Instead, it's for the people." I am very willing to eliminate harm!"

Guo Ying nodded.

Suddenly he sighed.

"Even if you want to mess around, you still need to be capable. I don't know how Tan'er did it! He was able to steal gold under the noses of the Kong family!"

Yichenzi smiled and said: "His Highness once explained to me that he relies on two subjects, one is called physics and the other is chemistry!

A large amount of copper was originally added to the alchemy furnace. As soon as gold is put in, it will melt and turn into a mixture of gold and copper.

After that, His Highness put a lot of salt, borax, fluorite and other things in it.
The gold reacted with the ingredients in the salt and turned into dregs, sinking to the bottom of the alchemy furnace. The copper turned into copper water and was poured into a furnace.

And the scum that sinks to the bottom is the real gold! "After hearing this, Guo Ying gradually understood the secret behind this.

It's just a little unbelievable.

He couldn't help but ask: "Are the Kong family members just going to let those scum from your family take them away? And the stove is obviously a copper stove, can't they tell the difference?"

Yichenzi smiled and said: "Kong Xixue was a little surprised when he saw the furnace at first. But I immediately used the furnace to make a batch of alkali, so they didn't care. In short, they saw the gold being used with their own eyes. What is thrown in becomes a furnace, and this furnace can actually produce alkali!
As for the scum, it is a bit black because it is green in color and mixed with many impurities. The Kong family are all scholars, and they don't bother to look at the situation at the bottom of the furnace. Even after looking at it, they feel dirty, so they don't bother. Take care!
Then the dregs were transported out and turned into gold! "

Guo Ying couldn't help but take a breath after hearing this.

"There is such a magical thing in this world! I really don't know how my nephew came up with it! It's amazing, it's really amazing!"

Yichenzi said with some emotion: "I have been in the army for so many years, and I have seen all kinds of strange things, but this is the first time I have seen such ghostly methods as His Highness King Lu! I am really impressed!"

Guo Ying nodded.

Although his nephew seems unreliable, he always does something unexpected and shocking every time.

This time is no exception.

Guo Ying sighed.

"It's just this one time, I'm afraid even the huge Kong family will suffer a lot! The losses are too heavy! I heard that they lost a total of 200 million Ming Dynasty treasure notes?"

Yichenzi shook his head and said: "Four million strings!"

The words fell.

Yichenzi shook his head again and said: "It's not even more than 400 million, it should be 400 million with 5000 taels of silver spared!"

Guo Ying was stunned.

"Why. Why are there two more million taels of silver? What happened to the 5000 taels of silver?"

Yichenzi smiled and said: "This is because the young master of the Kong family is too greedy.

He watched me build the first soap workshop for the Kong family.

And soap was also produced.

I think we are very reliable.

He just wants to build a second one!
And this matter was carried out without telling his father.

He mortgaged 20 acres of Confucius' property and borrowed 50 taels of silver from the bank! Later, it was also converted into gold and given to me!
This time I didn't even have to change the trick, because after he told me to build the workshop secretly, he handed me all the gold! "

Guo Ying was stunned when he heard this.

Taking a deep breath, he couldn't help but sigh: "It's so powerful that it makes you faint, so much so!

Is he out of his mind? What happened to the 5000 taels of silver? "

Yichenzi smiled and said: "In order to win his trust, I summoned craftsmen to start building other parts of the soap workshop. The total consumption of that part was 5000 taels of silver. I told them that this was the workshop of the Confucius Mansion. When it was built, Let’s settle the settlement together! They are convinced of this, it has probably been completed now, and maybe they are waiting for money at the Confucius Mansion!”

Guo Ying:.
"You are cruel enough!"

Yichenzi sighed.

"Master Marquis, the people of the Confucius Mansion are so shameless! They rely on their tax exemption to accept the surrender of other people! Most of the fields in Qufu County belong to their Confucius Mansion!

Although they are exempt from tax, because the imperial court implements a quota system for tax payment, the tax burden in Qufu will fall on ordinary people!

For no reason, the tax burden on these people is more than twice as high as elsewhere!
In a year of famine, it would be difficult for these people to raise taxes even if they sold their children and daughters!
At this time, the Kong Mansion took advantage of the situation and took over the fields of those common people!

What's even more outrageous is that for those fields that were donated to the Confucius Mansion, on the surface, the rent they paid was indeed less than the taxes paid to the court, but the Confucius Mansion would find ways every year to collect the rent before the grain matured.

If those people can't pay the rent, they will owe the Confucius Mansion money!

When the grain matures, you will have to pay a lot more rent. This is called interest!

Except these things.

The people from the Kong family are even more like bullies in Qufu.

There are quite a few people who rape civilian girls and even kill them!

The county magistrate Kong Xizhen is a member of the Kong family, so naturally he is extremely partial to the Kong family.

This also puts the Kong family in trouble, but no one can take care of it! "

Guo Ying sighed.

"Yes, the head of the Kong family, Kong Xixue, is Duke Yansheng!

His Majesty’s appointed second-grade official!
Another descendant of a saint.

Under normal circumstances, which local official would dare to take charge of their family?
Even the Chief Envoy of Shandong was only in the second rank, and could only learn from Kong Xi on the same level! "

Guo Ying suddenly asked again: "Did you give all the gold to Tan'er?"

Yichenzi hesitated for a moment, and then said: "His Royal Highness King Lu didn't ask for it! He took out 1 taels of gold and rewarded it to his subordinates and the more than 20 brothers!"

Guo Ying was stunned and said: "You don't want it at all?"

Yichenzi nodded, and suddenly explained: "Master Hou, I don't want those rewards from His Highness! I gave all the gold to the families of my brothers who sacrificed their lives in Mobei!"

Guo Ying patted his shoulder.

"You should save some, it's time to start a family!"

Yichenzi shook his head.

"The Champion Marquis said that back then. The Huns are not destroyed, so why do we need to take care of our family? People like my subordinates are destined to go to the battlefield, marry wives and have children. If they die on the battlefield, they will kill other girls for nothing! It's better not to mention this matter. Got it!"

Guo Ying frowned and said: "What kind of bastard idea is this! Did those brothers who died on the grassland harm their own families?
If everyone stopped reproducing, would the Ming Dynasty still have a future?
If you should marry and have children, marry your wife and have children. Even if you really die on the battlefield one day, it will be a worthy death! You are a real hero and a real man! I take care of your family! If I die too, the imperial court will still support me! What are you afraid of?
If you don't get married, you will not only be sorry for your parents, but also sorry for Ming Dynasty! "

Yichenzi smiled bitterly and said, "Yes!"

Guo Ying snorted and said, "I'll find a match for you someday! I promise I won't lose you."

As he said that, Guo Ying suddenly remembered something and asked, "Tan'er only gave you 1 taels of gold. How did he arrange the rest of the gold? Why did he say he didn't want it?"

Yichenzi smiled and said: "Master Hou, all the gold has been delivered to your house! His Highness Prince Lu said that all the gold has been given to you!"

Guo Ying was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly retreated: "Nonsense, what do I need that gold for? In these years of fighting in the south and north, the rewards and salaries given by the court are enough! What's the use of that gold! What a mess."

Yichenzi shook his head and said with a smile: "Master Marquis, His Highness said that the gold is for you to train your troops!"

"Troop training?"

Guo Ying asked curiously: "What kind of soldiers are you training for?"

Yichenzi said: "Lu Wangwei!"

Guo Ying was inexplicably surprised when he heard this!

"King Lu Wei?"

I had a dispute with Zhu Tan for a while.

Guo Ying thought that after Zhu Tan dismissed all the guards in King Lu's land, he was focused on making money.

But he didn't expect that Zhu Tan later rebuilt King Lu Wei.

Guo Ying has always felt a little uncomfortable in her heart.

On the one hand, Zhu Tan secretly met Lu Wangwei without telling him.

After all, my mother is my uncle, and I have been taking good care of him these years, and I have never neglected him.

But he didn't expect that Zhu Tan was still distant from him.

On the other hand, what makes Guo Ying even more unhappy is that when it comes to knowing soldiers in Yanzhou, who can compare with him?
It is simply unreasonable for a bastard like Zhu Tan not to train his own troops but to use outsiders!
Now when he heard Yichenzi say that Zhu Tan wanted to ask him to help train soldiers, Guo Ying was extremely surprised, fearing that he had heard wrongly.

Yichenzi smiled and said: "His Highness said that King Lu Wei was only temporarily entrusted to others. The situation was complicated at that time and he did not want you to be involved in it, but now with His Majesty's will, it doesn't matter!
He also said that you are a famous general in the world, and you will definitely train King Lu Wei to become the most powerful elite in the world! "

Guo Ying had a complicated expression when he heard this.

He suddenly remembered.

Zhu Tan caused an uproar when he dismissed the guards on the feudal land.

Even His Majesty issued an order to reprimand him.

If he was involved at that time, it would be a collusion between the leading general and the feudal king.
It is estimated that there is indeed a risk.

And after that, since His Majesty said that he would work with King Lu to rectify military affairs, it is justifiable!

That's it!

Guo Ying felt warm in her heart for a moment.

A smile appeared on his face.

"You brat! You still have a conscience and don't cheat on your uncle!"

After saying that, Guo Ying couldn't help but sigh.

"I spent millions of taels of silver to train a mere five thousand troops! My nephew is really brave!"

Yichenzi smiled and said nothing.

His Highness King Lu's wisdom, agility and courage had already made him heartbroken.

Guo Ying coughed lightly and said: "In this case, then I will help His Royal Highness King Lu train his troops! No matter what, we must train them into a strong army in the world! Let's go to King Lu's guard's barracks to have a look!"

Yichenzi was stunned for a moment and said, "Are you worried? Are you in such a hurry?"

Guo Ying smiled and said: "Time waits for no one! Since His Highness King Lu handed over King Lu's guard to me, didn't he give me any token?"

Yichenzi smiled and took out a jade charm from his arms and said: "This is the token given to you by His Royal Highness King Lu! He said that the people of King Lu's guard will obey orders after seeing it."

Guo Ying nodded and put away the jade charm.

Order your servants to prepare your horses and prepare to go to King Lu's Guard immediately!
Qufu.

Confucius Mansion.

At this time, the whole Confucius family was filled with sorrow and gloom.

Kong Xixue sat at the tea table, sighing with sorrow on his face.

He suddenly lost decades of savings from the Kong family, and he was in a daze.

Suddenly, the housekeeper Kong Cheng walked in.

"Master, a few people suddenly came outside the door. They said they were debt collectors!"

Kong Xixue was stunned when he heard this, and then cursed angrily: "Asshole, don't they know where this is? How can the Yanyan Government owe them money?"

As he spoke, Kong Xixue couldn't help but cursed to himself: "It's true that a tiger has been bullied by a dog, and any bastard dares to step on Kong's house!"

Kong Xixue frowned and said, "Bring some servants and beat those people out! Debt collection? Who do our Kong family need to borrow money from? This is really unreasonable!"

Kong Cheng was stunned when he heard this, and said with a wry smile: "Grandpa, it's better to meet him. I see that the faces of those debt collectors are quite familiar. They seem to be the same people who helped us build the soap workshop some time ago!"

Kong Xixue was stunned and frowned: "Soap workshop? We don't owe them any money, so why do we come to collect debts?
I remember that the silver for other parts of the soap workshop had already been settled, and it was given directly to them! "

Kongcheng looked innocent and said he didn't know.

Kong Xixue frowned and sighed.

"Let those people come and I'll ask what's going on!"

Soon, a dozen coolies walked into the hall of Confucius Mansion.

Kong Xixue said coldly: "Since when did the Kong family owe you money? Haven't all the money from the soap workshop been paid in full?"

Everyone looked at each other in shock when they heard this.

One of them couldn't help but said: "Master, the money for the first soap workshop has indeed been paid.

But Master Tao also asked us to build a second soap workshop, saying it was the young master’s order!

We followed orders and built the second soap workshop a few days ago! But your government has never paid us the wages and materials!

At the beginning, the Taoist priest said that he would provide money once the construction is completed, but now we have not seen the money! Instead, your housekeeper tried to coax us away at first, calling us liars!

Master, now you say that, this is so unfair! How dare we ordinary people defraud your great master of his money! "

Kong Xixue was suddenly stunned when he heard what everyone said.

"What? What second soap workshop?"

(End of this chapter)

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like