Invincible Zhengde

Chapter 464 The Big Secret

Hangzhou, by the West Lake, Zhu Houzhao's residence.

Looking at the person kneeling in front of him, Zhu Houzhao waved his hand lightly, signaling the people next to him to back down, and then slowly said: "It seems that you really want to tell me something, so let's talk about it." Bar."

This man has just been caught.

Yes, he was caught, not by himself.

Because a lot of people came over before, and most of them were people who the gentleman had contacted.

Some people came here to confess their crimes, and some people came here to report.But basically a trend has been formed in Hangzhou City now, that is to confess guilt.

Under such a trend, it is even more difficult for that gentleman to hide.

As a result, many actions against the husband were launched, such as arresting people, seizing supplies, and so on.

Everything went very smoothly, and many people were caught, but only two or three big fish and small fish.

It seems that the rebellion has been ruined and no one wants to rebel with this gentleman.

The situation in Hangzhou is very good, and it can even be celebrated in advance.But Zhu Houzhao felt more and more that his guess was not wrong. These were all given to him by this gentleman, and he hoped that he would think so.

Zhu Houzhao waited calmly, and things finally turned around today, because the Black Dragon Guard captured a senior manager next to this gentleman.

The other confessors also knew about this arrested person. It seemed that this person was responsible for delivering the food, and many people had contact with him.

After this person was arrested, he was brought in front of Zhu Houzhao immediately.

It seemed that he knew what was going to happen to him, and this person didn't resist or force it, and directly said that he was willing to cooperate.There is only one condition, and that is to hope that he can be spared.

The terms he used in exchange are said to be a big secret.

So he was brought in front of Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Hou took care of the man in front of him, looking him up and down.

This is a man in his 50s, with a thin body and a dark face. It can be seen that he is a person who often travels; the beard is not very neatly combed, and it can be seen that he does not pay too much attention to details.

Hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, the man asked quickly, "Your Highness, what do you mean?"

"Okay, you don't have to worry about what Bengong means, just say what you want to say. If you don't say anything, I'll have someone pull you out and chop you up. As for your identity, Bengong will be able to find out soon Come out. You don’t have to think about your family, you should also know about the charges of rebellion.”

"His Royal Highness, the villain did not rebel, and the villain was wronged!" The man cried and said.

"Then tell me how you were wronged." Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "If you can prove that you were wronged, I will naturally not wrong a good person. So tell me."

"Yes, His Royal Highness." The man said quickly, "The villain's name is Wang Yan, and he is a grain merchant in Jiangxi. He didn't do much business at first, so he can only be regarded as a small family fortune."

"However, a few years ago, the villain received an order. The person who placed the order at that time just asked the villain to transport grain from Jiangxi to Zhejiang. At first, the villain was unwilling to accept this business, but there was no other way. The price given was high. The businessman was making money, so the villain brought it here. Fortunately, along the way, I made a lot of money without any accidents or dangers. More and more are shipped to Zhejiang, and more and more are earned.”

"I also have some contacts with Zhejiang, that is, I transport the basic food back. I also watched them continue to buy land in Zhejiang and turn the land into mulberry trees for silkworm rearing. Various places have also established The weavers are all weaving."

"The villain once thought that this matter might be different. But it has nothing to do with the villain. The villain is a businessman."

Zhu Houzhao nodded, and then asked, "Then what's the big secret you're talking about?"

"The villain is also curious. Where does so much food come from every year? Jiangxi itself does not produce any food. The food that those people give to the villain can be recognized by the villain. It is not Jiangxi's grain. It can be seen that these grains are Not from Jiangxi."

"So the villain wanted to know where the food came from. They were wary of the villain and refused to tell the villain where the food came from. The villain had no good way."

"But as time gets longer and more business contacts, the villain knows more and more. The more important thing is that they may trust the villain more and more, so let the villain know more things."

"About the year before last, they began to let the little people go to the sea to carry grain, and the little people knew that those boats were all unloaded from the big boats on the beach. When the boats came, they were full of grain, and when they left, they were full of silk. "

"That's when the villain found out that the food was shipped from overseas. At that time, the villain was shocked. They were going to sea, but the court did not allow it. At that time, the villain was terrified, so he was a little at a loss. "

Zhu Hou looked at Wang Yan, and said with a blank face: "You don't have to tell me these things, do you think I don't know? There are people who go to sea everywhere here, and the court knows about it, but they didn't pursue it for a while. .So there is no need to say these words. If I hear you say such things again, I will kill you directly."

Wang Yan was taken aback by Zhu Houzhao's words, and he quickly said, "Yes, yes, His Royal Highness. It turns out that the villain still has some worries, but they told the villain that there is no need to worry at all. There are adults behind this matter, let us Just do what you should do, nothing will happen.

It was that gentleman who said these words to the villain at that time. "

"It's just that I never knew who the adults behind this were. It was probably last year when I realized that this gentleman was actually an aide to King Ning, just like his father. It was also at that time that I knew who their father and son were. who."

"Their father and son were originally from Huizhou, and it is said that they were in the salt business. After the salt case in Yangzhou was discovered, the two of them had no livelihood, so they ran to Jiangxi to find King Ning, and became King Ning's side. staff."

"The father of this gentleman is called Wang Gan, and it is said that he is the teacher of King Ning's son. As for this gentleman, his name is Wang Huai. Both of them have won the trust of King Ning. They are responsible for the external business of Prince Ning's Mansion outside. The silk and food are made by them."

"It was also at that time that I realized that they were actually King Ning's people. At first, the villain was quite happy, thinking that with a big backer, this business could go on for a long time in the future. But who would have thought that What happened?"

"After His Royal Highness arrived in Nanjing, panic has already started here. Because the things in Zhejiang can't be hidden, the imperial court will definitely investigate the source of food."

"As far as I know, they have enough grain overseas, but they have to buy grain from the grain depot of the household department in Nanjing. I was very puzzled at the time, but I later learned that they actually used this trick to pay bribes, and the effect was very good In the words of that Wang Huai, if you don’t do something bad with him, he won’t accept your bribe.”

"So things went smoothly. At this time, there was a problem in Nanjing. After His Royal Highness arrived in Nanjing, Wang Huai prepared this plan. He needed to eliminate the people in Nanjing's household department and killed several insiders at the same time."

"However, as far as I know, the few insiders in Nanjing only know some small things. There are many more people who have accepted bribes from Wang Huai, and they hide very little. And it's not just the household department, There are many other officials. Every year, Wang Huai goes to Nanjing to live for a few months.

After arriving in Nanjing, some cultural meetings will be held, and even cruise ships will be organized. "

"Wang Huai has a lot of flower boats on the Qinhuai River, and even a lot of brothels, all of which he uses to bribe officials. In his words, only beauty and money can't be let down."

"At first I thought he was just doing business, but now the villain knows that he is not just doing business."

Zhu Hou took care of Wang Yan, and saw that he was crying, but he was not moved at all in his heart.

Zhu Houzhao didn't really believe what Wang Yan said, because he knew many things passively.

In other words, all he knows is what someone wants him to know, or what someone wants to tell him.

The accuracy of these messages is in doubt.If my guess is correct, this is what Wang Huai wanted him to know, and what he wanted him to tell himself.

From his news, I can conclude two points:
One is that King Ning of Jiangxi was instigating the rebellion.Sure enough, he pointed the finger at King Ning, which was not wrong as he had guessed before.

The other is that Wang Huai buried a lot of foreshadowing in Nanjing.

Is this news true?

Half true and half false?

It can be seen from the affairs of the Nanjing household department that this Wang Huai does have a lot of hands and feet in Nanjing, and he does have many diehard loyalists.But it's definitely not like what he said.Many officials in Nanjing will take bribes from him, but they are just bribes.

In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, collecting bribes itself was not something to be too careful about. It can be said that corruption was common from top to bottom.It is not surprising that many officials have no scruples at all.

But it is impossible for these people to rebel against him after taking bribes.

He told himself the news, on the one hand, to let himself know about King Ning of Jiangxi, and to point the finger at King Ning of Jiangxi.In a word, he forced King Ning to rebel, and he didn't want King Ning to stay in Jiangxi any longer.

Maybe if he didn't come to Nanjing or Zhejiang, he might still have to wait.

But once they carry out their own reforms in Zhejiang or in the whole of Jiangnan, they can't help it, because their hard work will go to waste.At this point, it's time to give it a go.

Their way of fighting is to let King Ning raise the flag to rebel in advance.

All the previous actions were illusions. The second thing they want to do is to constantly create crises for themselves, the prince, so that they no longer trust future officials and generals, and let them become their own completely. objects of suspicion, or even dispose of them.

This will make people panic.At that time, these officials will be used by them, making these people think that they have reached a dead end.

The trick is very effective. If I didn't have insight into their plans and their ideas in advance, it would be hard not to be fooled.

But in fact, I have long been mentally prepared.

I know that King Ning will rebel, and I know that the frequent fighting has something to do with them.

After I arrived in Hangzhou, I knew everything they did and what their final goal was.

So they can't hide it at all, and they can't deceive themselves.

Glancing at Wang Yan, Zhu Houzhao said, "Okay, take him down."

"His Royal Highness, should you be locked up?" Yang Lian said with some hesitation.

Glancing at Yang Lian, Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Just find a place to lock him up. Don't let him have contact with outsiders, give him good food and drink, and don't let him die. This is quite interesting."

Zhu Houzhao is now unable to determine Wang Yan's true identity.Maybe he is really as he said; it is also possible that this is a diehard rebel who came here to play a fake surrender, just like Zhou Yu and Huang Gai deceived Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

But this is not important, as long as I know what the main contradiction of the matter is.

After the person was detained, Zhu Houzhao turned his head to look at Liu Jin beside him, and then asked, "Is there any news from Nanjing? Zhu Fu hasn't arrived in Zhejiang yet?"

This is what Zhu Houzhao is more concerned about.After Zhu Fu led his troops to Zhejiang, he had enough manpower to deploy.

Although there is a black dragon army by my side, the fighting power is relatively strong, but the number is not many after all.If something really happened, I couldn't cover it up.

But with Zhu Fu's men, at least the place can be stabilized.Although they may not be used to fight wars, they can do a lot for themselves.As for Nanjing, Zhu Houzhao was not worried at all.

Wei Guogong's mansion will do things well, it is their family's lair, there is no room for them to turn around

With the addition of those officials in Nanjing, nothing will happen there.Even if there are villains causing trouble, nothing will happen.

The most important thing now is Zhejiang. As long as Zhejiang is brought down, other things will be easy to handle.

"His Royal Highness, there is no news yet." Liu Jin said hastily.

Zhu Houzhao nodded. If there is no news, there will be no news. Think about it, there will be news soon.

Just when Zhu Houzhao was about to send someone to contact again, a young eunuch ran in outside. He came to Zhu Houzhao and said, "His Royal Highness, the person who went to the capital has returned."

"Let him in." Zhu Houzhao was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.

The [-]-mile express in the Ming Dynasty is quite fast.I really don't know what the person who gave Emperor Chongzhen the idea of ​​dismantling the post station thought.

The most important thing is not what that person thinks, but what Emperor Chongzhen thinks.Can he agree to this kind of idea?
If everything is not good and everything is abolished, what should we do if it is good?
It's just a waste of food because of choking.

(End of this chapter)