If I add money to become a layman, I can cultivate immortality

Chapter 59 Promotion, Thousands of Imperial Guards【Please order first】

"Then what use does the imperial court have for having a hundred households like you?"

As soon as these words came out, Zeng Hu was so frightened that the soles of his feet became cold and he almost fell to the ground.

He knew very well that Ding Xiu and Pei Lun must have left the capital under secret orders to investigate the case. Anyone could be arrested, or even beheaded first and then reported.

If he continues to be ignorant, I am afraid that not only he will be unlucky, but the whole family will also be affected.

Ding Xiu cooperated tacitly, smiled and waved his hand at Pei Lun: "Master Pei, please calm down. I believe Master Zeng is a smart man and knows what to do. Am I right, Master Zeng?"

One of the two played a red face, the other a bad face, which made Zeng Hu sweat profusely.

Speaking of which, he has indeed received a lot of benefits from the Fan family, and he should share the joys and sorrows with the Fan family.

That's what he planned from the beginning.

In his opinion, the Fan family's power was not comparable to that of ordinary people, and they also had many connections in the court.Even if the higher-ups send people to investigate, in the end it will be nothing more than loud thunder and small raindrops, and a major matter will be reduced to a minor matter.

As a result, the development of the situation was very different from what he imagined. This time it seemed that it was serious.

According to the information he received, Ding Xiu and others came to Jinzhong this time to investigate not only the Fan family, but also the Wang family, Liang family, Tian family...

Just as Zeng Hu's expression kept changing, Ding Xiu said again: "Master Zeng, we have checked your details. Although you have received a lot of money from the Fan family and done a lot of things for them..."

"Sir..." Zeng Hu tried to defend.

Ding Xiu waved his hand: "Master Zeng, please listen to what I have to say... Fortunately, what you did for them did not involve the Jurchens.

If you are willing to go back and make amends now, I can guarantee that bygones are bygones.Otherwise... I don’t need to say more about Jin Yiwei’s methods, right? "

Hearing these words, Zeng Hu couldn't help but look surprised, and said with a trembling voice: "Sir, do you really... let bygones be bygones?"

Ding Xiu smiled: "That's right! But the premise is that Mr. Zeng must make enough contributions."

Zeng Hu gritted his teeth, then took a step back, and saluted Ding Xiu and Pei Lun: "Thank you two adults for giving me a chance. I am grateful in my heart, and I will definitely live up to your high expectations."

"Well, that's great!" Ding Xiu nodded with a pleased look on his face: "Now I'll give you an important task."

"My lord, please order!"

"Go to Fan's house immediately to arrest Fan Zhimin and others."

"Ah?" Zeng Hu was startled.

"What? Mr. Zeng doesn't dare to catch you? Or..."

Zeng Hu looked troubled: "Two gentlemen, Fan Mansion...Fan Mansion has many masters guarding the courtyard. I'm afraid...if they don't want to be taken lightly, I'm afraid..."

"Haha, you can arrest people, I have my own arrangements."

Having said that, Zeng Hu could only bite the bullet and replied: "Yes, that humble official will arrest people now."

Ding Xiu said coldly: "Remember, anyone who resists will be killed on the spot!"

"Follow your orders!"

Zeng Hu responded and left.

As soon as he left, Pei Lun couldn't help but glance at Ding Xiu and asked, "Do you believe him?"

Ding Xiu smiled: "This is not a question of belief or not. Even if he doesn't think about himself, he still has to think about the dozen or so members of his family.

If he persists in his stubbornness, he will face the fate of being slaughtered. What do you think he will choose? "

"Well, let him rush to the front first, and we will clean up the mess later."

Ding Xiu nodded, and then asked a little uneasily: "Brother Pei, are you sure everything has been arranged there?"

"Brother Ding, are you still worried about me, Pei, doing things? Our people have been deployed at all the important roads outside the city. The family named Fan will never be able to escape."

For this operation, Shen Lian secretly dispatched [-] elite troops to the outside of Datong Prefecture to stand by.

Moreover, Ding Xiu also brought a secret order with which he could mobilize the local garrison to help quell the chaos in an emergency.

That night, Datong Mansion was destined to be unstable, with roaring winds and cranes, chickens flying and dogs jumping, the sound of killings shaking the sky, and people panicking.

From time to time, the sound of horse hooves, sounds of pursuit, and screams could be heard on the street...

The people woke up from their sleep and were so frightened that they used tables and benches to block the door tightly. At least they felt a little more psychologically safe.

"The crossbowmen will guard the door for me, come out and shoot one by one!"

Zeng Hu stared with blood-red eyes, waved his knife and shouted orders.

He and the Fan family were once on the same boat.

But the current situation does not allow him to have two different things, so he can only target the Fan family and strive to atone for his sins.

Suddenly, the sky turned white.

In the past, there were already many people getting up early on the street at this time, and the shops selling breakfast would also open their doors early to welcome customers.

But today, everyone seemed to have agreed upon it. The streets were deserted, and a group of officers and soldiers could be seen hurriedly passing by from time to time.

At this time, Ding Xiu, together with Pei Lun, led a group of subordinates to the Fan Mansion in a hurry.

It is no exaggeration to say that the grandeur of the Fan Mansion is not even comparable to that of the royal palace in the capital.

In front of the main entrance is a square of about thirty acres, which is also the property of the Fan family.

In the south of the square, directly opposite the gate of Fan Mansion, stands a tall stone archway with four characters engraved on it: Fan Family Courtyard.

There is a high stage on each side of the east and west sides. Is this a hint that he wants to compete with the imperial court?
The courtyard walls are tall and strong, and the main entrance of the courtyard is even more majestic, like a city gate tower, making the entire courtyard feel like a small city.

There are large courtyards and small courtyards in the courtyard. There are five gardens alone, and there are as many as four to five hundred houses of various sizes.

With its scale and momentum, it is enough to despise the royal palaces of most countries.

"See you, my lord, for a humble position!"

As soon as Ding Xiu and Pei Lun arrived, Zeng Hu and all his subordinates came forward to pay tribute.

Last night, Zeng Hu thought he would encounter fierce resistance from the Fan family. In fact... he did encounter fierce resistance from the Fan family.

Fortunately, another team of guards appeared at the critical moment, and with a volley of crossbows and muskets, the guards were reduced to pieces.

Zeng Hu quickly led people into the mansion to search everywhere, fearing that he would miss the opportunity to make meritorious deeds.

A lot of people were arrested, including some relegated disciples of the Fan family, but some key figures have never been found, such as Fan Zhimin and several of his sons.

"Master Zeng, has Fan Zhimin been caught?"

Zeng Hu looked uneasy and murmured: "I'll lead the whole city to search for you."

Ding Xiu waved his hand: "No need, that old guy is not stupid enough to wait in the city to be caught. He must have escaped from the city last night."

"That humble official will take people out of the city to arrest him right now." "Master Zeng, does he know where the old guy fled to?"

"This..." Zeng Hu hesitated for a moment and replied: "If the old guy really wants to escape, he will probably go all the way north, first to Mobei, and then to Houjin via Mobei."

"You're right, he does want to defect. But..." At this point, Ding Xiu smiled jokingly: "I'm afraid it's not that easy to escape."

After saying this, Zeng Hu suddenly realized that a dragnet must have been laid outside the city.

At the same time, he was secretly glad that he didn't get dizzy and follow the Fan family to the end, otherwise he wouldn't know how he would die.

"Alright, Mr. Zeng, leave some people to guard the surroundings and not allow anyone to approach Fan's house. In addition, you will personally lead the search throughout the city. Anyone who has any connection with the Fan family will be arrested."

"Yes!"

Soon after, Ding Xiu and Pei Lun led people into Fan's house and started one of their favorite actions: checking property.

This was also the reason why Ding Xiu sent Zeng Hu away, leaving only his own people.

At noon, Ding Xiu received a message that Fan Zhimin and his gang had been captured by the brothers ambushing outside the city.

On the other side, Zeng Hu was also trying his best to arrest people, including some officials from Datong Prefecture, who were arrested without mercy.

With such a big move, not only Datong Mansion, but the entire Jinzhong began to be turbulent.

Those who were doing business honestly were fine, but the other few profiteers who were secretly dealing with the Jurchens were panicking.

Especially the Tian family, their banks, warehouses and other properties in the capital have been sealed up, and I'm afraid it will be their turn next.

It seems that we need to prepare early.

Ding Xiu had already expected these situations. If one family was touched, the other seven families would definitely be on guard or even run away after hearing the news.

It’s probably impossible to catch them all in one go.

But as the old saying goes, a monk who can run away cannot run away from the temple.

Ding Xiu's purpose was not necessarily to arrest everyone, but to fundamentally cut off the Jurchens' source of supplies.

What's more, after copying these eight companies, his benefits will be less?
Even if only [-]% is taken away, I'm afraid there are tens of millions of taels of silver, enough to raise the banner.

Of course, the brothers under his command should not be treated badly. Anyway, it is not Ding Xiu's own money. He has not only done a favor and won people's hearts, why not do it?
"Sir, we found a pair of stone horses..."

"Well..." Ding Xiu glanced at the pair of golden and heavy "stone horses" and smiled: "Since they are stone horses, there is no need to record them."

"Yes, my lord!"

"What's your name?"

"Back to my lord, I'm in a humble position, Li Si."

"Well, that's right. You are very smart in doing things. I will promote you to Xiaoqi after returning to Beijing."

Li Si was so surprised that he immediately raised his hands and thanked you: "Thank you, sir. I will do my best in this humble position and live up to your kindness in nurturing me."

"Sir, I found two boxes of jewelry in the study...no, two boxes."

"Well, record it, a box of jewelry."

……

This investigation took more than a month.

After all, the Fan family has too many properties and involves a wide range of areas. For example, some of their subordinates and relatives also have many properties in and outside the city.

These must be checked, cleaned up, and registered one by one.

At the same time, Pei Lun was not idle and had already led people to check other companies.

It took almost a year from Cha Fan's house to Ding Xiu and others returning to the capital.

The harvest is quite amazing.

The properties of eight profiteers, including Fan, Wang, and Tian, ​​were spread all over the country. It was estimated that the gold, silver, jewelry, land, houses, shops, and other properties confiscated exceeded [-] million silver.

Once the news came out, the government and the public were shocked.

At the same time, the case also involved many local officials, resident and border generals, implicating nearly a thousand people, and became a sensational case.

This was enough for Ding Xiu and Pei Lun to show mercy.

If we really want to dig deeper, I'm afraid half of the officials in the Ming Dynasty are involved, and I don't know what kind of chaos the court will become.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen and the academicians in the cabinet did not want to escalate the situation. As long as they found out these eight typical families and punished three of them, it would be enough to serve as an example to others and shock people's hearts.

As for how much Ding Xiu was secretly greedy... God knows.

In short, some people wish that he could be reduced to ashes, but there are also many people who are grateful to him.

For example, Liu Juren.

When Liang Yu accepted the benefits from the Fan family, he had nowhere to redress his grievances.It's better now. Liang Yu was not only stripped of his black hat, but was also sent to the border to do coolie work.

Not to mention Fan Jicheng, he had already turned into a headless corpse.

The day after returning to Beijing, Ding Xiu, Shen Lian, and Pei Lun were summoned to the palace.

It seemed that Emperor Chongzhen was in a good mood. He set up a table of wine and food in the imperial garden and called Han Kuang, the chief minister of the cabinet, to accompany him and entertain the three heroes.

"The humble ministers see the emperor and the chief minister!"

"You three beloved ladies, there is no need to be polite, please sit down!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The three sat down one by one.

"The three of you have made great achievements this time and enriched the national treasury. I am very pleased. Come here, I would like to toast the three beauties. I hope that the three beauties will share my worries and make more contributions to the Ming Dynasty!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty..."

"This is the responsibility of Weichen..."

The three of them couldn't help but be polite and express their gratitude.

After drinking a few drinks, Emperor Chongzhen said with a serious face: "The three beloved ministers have made great achievements. They not only cut off Houjin's source of materials, but also seized a huge amount of silver for the court.

I discussed with Mr. Han Ge and decided to promote the three beloved ministers in an unusual way.

Shen Aiqing was promoted to Fusi Town, North Town, and Ding Aiqing and Pei Aiqing were promoted to Fusi Qianhu, North Town! "

……

(End of this chapter)