Return to the Qing Dynasty(25)

Li Xu was completely isolated.

There was no place for him in the Datong Shop at night. However, the little eunuch next to the fifth elder brother appeared in time when he was left hanging, "Hey! My Lord Li, why are you here? Where are you?

A place to stay? It’s easy to find a place like this one for you! Come on, come on, the beds have been arranged for you, and the best tiger skin mattress was brought to the fifth elder brother by the empress before going out.”

It turned out that the place was nice. Although it was not spacious, it had a bed, a couch, a table and a chair, which was much better than Datong.

There is tea on the table, the snacks are still steaming, the small charcoal stove is burning brightly, and the bed is indeed covered with a tiger skin mattress. I don't know if the queen brought it to the fifth elder brother.

Li Xu looked at the pen, ink, paper and inkstone that were still on the table, and his eyes froze. Even if he was in high spirits now, I'm afraid no one would believe him. So what can he do? Everyone says that he is an old minister.

, but the old minister is the one who is in danger. Being an old minister means that he has no friendship with the new emperor, and no friendship means that he has no privileges.

If you want to save your life, if you want to save the lives of your whole family, it seems that you don't have many choices.

This fifth elder brother is not very old, but he is also very vicious-hearted, and he is a master who can be ruthless. Now he is being given a toast, and if he doesn't eat it, it will become a penalty drink.

So I sat at the table and ate all the snacks and tea. Then I started grinding the ingredients. If I didn't dig out the ingredients, I was afraid that the fifth elder brother wouldn't let me go.

Don't talk about settling the debt and canceling the debt. After all, this person is only twelve years old. If you say "naughty boy" or "nonsense", this promise will not count at all. It is pure nonsense to tell people from the royal family that a gentleman is not a gentleman.

Xiao Luzi came over to collect the snack plates and tea. He glanced at what Li Xu had written and then took it back. When he returned, he said to Hong Zhou: "After all, he is an old minister of the late emperor, and he is aware of current affairs."

Hong Zhou curled his lips, turned over and fell asleep. The boat was rocking and he wanted to sleep for a long time.

The path was covered for the master, and then he turned around and came out. He had to guard the outside every step of the way.

Li Wei waited for Xiao Luzi to come out, asked about his little master, and was extremely polite to Xiao Luzi, "...if anything happens, just call out, there are people guarding outside, no one can disturb the little master..."

Xiao Luzi quickly thanked him. He glanced towards the deck and saw three posts, one post, five steps and one sentry. There were people guarding even the windows of the cabin. He couldn't help but exclaimed, "What's going on? Are you afraid of running away?"

"But where can this person go? It's floating on the lake. Can it really swim back? It's such a cold day and it's in the center of the lake. Who has such good water skills?

Li Wei waved his hand, "It's not that I'm afraid of running away, it's that I'm afraid that some people will think too much and just seek death."

Xiao Luzi was stunned, let's not talk about this. The debts will be wiped out after death! Some people guessed that they could not afford to repay the shortcomings, and some people probably wanted to die clean and leave their family wealth to their children and grandchildren.

But little did they know that Mr. Li had blocked their way to death.

"You're busy! You're busy!" Xiaoluzi nodded and bowed, feeling deeply that Mr. Li was also a person worthy of awe.

After he went back, he thought about it and whispered the matter in his master's ear. Hong Zhou just said "hmm" to express his understanding. This slave only knew one thing but not the other. Li Wei asked so many people to guard him.

, I see it’s not just for this. On top of the governor and chief envoy, there is also the governor-general.

The governor and the chief envoy are just important officials of a province, but the governor is a feudal official. He holds the military and political power of several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, and has the power to deploy troops to the Green Camp and others.

All the officials have sneaked out and floated on the lake. If the governor can't get the news today, he will probably get the news tomorrow. Maybe even faster. If he gets the news tonight, he might be able to arrive in the morning.

What should I do when I meet someone who wants someone? It's unethical to go beyond someone's control and deal with someone else's subordinates. But if you follow the rules, it won't happen. This happened under the eyes of the governor, and he himself has a problem with not investigating.

'It's his fault. No matter how much he is an imperial envoy or a prince, he is still a bald brother who is still a young boy under twelve years old. Is it true that others will not force him in the future? That would be too naive.

So this matter can only be resolved quickly.

"After midnight, wake me up." Hong Zhou turned over again and finally fell asleep.

Xiaoluzi didn't dare to sleep, he looked at the pocket watch in his hand. He didn't forget to go out quietly and told Li Wei and Hongzhen.

As soon as midnight came and the sound of Xiao Luzi's footsteps sounded, Hong Zhou woke up on his own.

Xiao Luzi brought a hot handkerchief and came over to cleanse his master's face. "Master Li and the three masters are waiting outside."

"Bring people." Hong Zhou wiped his face casually, "Go back to Beijing before dawn."

"How to bring it?" Hongxuan heard it from outside and asked in a loud voice, "According to the roster in our hands?"

"No!" Hong Zhou came out and raised his hand to straighten his braids without combing them again. He pointed outside and motioned for others to follow, "Ask one by one and see what they can say."

But he kept asking questions from early in the morning to almost dawn. Even after he finished asking, he felt worried.

Why?

The people on the list did not run away. Seeing that they were betrayed by colleagues or superiors, they did not deny it, and there was no point in denying it. In the end, the fifth elder brother just wanted money. Once he took the money, the account was settled.

I’ll talk about it later. Even though it doesn’t sound true, one is that Jiangnan really needs stability, and the other is that there is no other way but to believe. After all, it’s just a matter of luck.

With a confession, this matter will be easy to handle. If you want to go back on it, it will not be so easy. The boats are sending out news one after another, and there are people arranged by Li Wei outside to collect the money. These things

Don't worry about Hong Zhou.

What worries him is that many people who were fine in the first place are not on the list. He thought they were good officials but their psychological quality was not up to par, so he gave up before even asking.

An old county magistrate made a particularly deep impression on Hong Zhou. He knelt down when he came in and said, "...I was wrong. I was sorry for the late emperor. I am ashamed of the emperor. I will never be able to atone for my sins even if I die..." Then he burst into tears.

He said how much salt merchants he collected every year, how much silk merchants he collected, etc. Hong Zhu's hands hurt when he remembered it, "These people... some of them are very close to my superiors. They are the people that Shangguan has told me to take care of over and over again."

, what can I do? If I don’t take care of it, it’s not my turn to come and sit here. But if I take care of it, I will be sent a gift. If I don’t accept it, I will offend the person. I should think more about it. But I swear,

Not a single cent of that money comes from the people’s fat and the people’s anointing…”

But taking bribes is also a crime!

Hongtun couldn't bear it. After the person left, he whispered: "We have heard about this person before when we inquired about Jiangnan officials. Among the people, he has a good reputation." This person was not on the list, so,

He always thought he was an upright official. Who would have thought?

Hong Zhou scratched his head and looked up and down. When he heard that people could pass by without paying any attention to the money, everyone was able to take out the money and kept shouting that after today, they would definitely change their minds and never do it again.

But they were too agile, and the agile Hong Zhou couldn't react at all.

Is it possible that everyone from top to bottom can be brought back?

This is absolutely not okay.

It's impossible to avoid chaos.

How to do it?

Li Wei asked someone to take the note to get the money, and then turned to look at Hong Zhou, "Brother Five, it will be dawn in just one hour."

what to do?

Get an idea!

Hong Zhou looked at the box of things that Hong Zhu and the others took turns to write down, gritted his teeth and said: "Take away the people on the list, and put all the people not on the list on another boat. Let them go first and let them go to their posts."

Ask them to spread their policy that only money will not be settled to the ears of certain people. "As for the people on the list, they will be escorted directly back to Beijing through another waterway."

Hongxuan said anxiously: "Fifth Brother, there are no honest officials here!"

I still don't know this.

Hong Zhou couldn't explain it to him, so he gritted his teeth and said, "That's it, I'll bear it if anything happens."

Li Wei nodded, "I will send the young master across this section of the river, and then return to collect the silver. I will return to Beijing with the silver soon."

As long as we reach the boundary of the canal, we will be safe. No one dares to act wild here.

After all, we are now on someone else's territory.

Hong Zhou had no objection, "Arrange it immediately, don't delay."

They drove quickly and entered the canal. Standing on the deck, Hong Zhou could still see several speedboats chasing after him.

Hong Yan finally realized the problem, "What kind of ship is this? How fast?"

Hong Tun is a kind boy, and when he saw Li Wei saying goodbye to the two guards and leaving in a boat, he was a little worried, "Is he okay alone?"

Hong Zhou shook his head. Huang Ama dared to call Li Wei out, which proved that this humble guy must have some abilities.

He showed a somewhat relaxed smile, "This river food is good, but it's hard to eat it so fresh when I go back to the capital." After saying that, he asked someone to bring the boom, "Bring the charcoal basin and the copper pot, and eat while you're there."

Shabu-shabu tastes really good."

Hongxuan immediately jumped out and responded, "Bring out another iron rack and bake it."

When it comes to eating, drinking and having fun, this is all in good hands.

The four of them ate and drank, completely forgetting about Li Wei.

Xiao Luzi stood on the bow of the boat, looking at Mr. Li's boat slowly turning into a black spot from a distance. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this Mr. Li Wei... can he do it?

"He can do it!" Fourth Master took the urgent memorial sent by Li Wei and answered Lin Yutong decisively. After saying that, he got up and went to the desk.

"What to write?" Lin Yutong followed over and started grinding it for him.

"The imperial edict to Tang Wenyao, the governor of Liangjiang." The fourth master said, but his hand did not stop.

Lin Yutong glanced at it twice and saw that it was a decree of reprimand. Then she understood what it meant. The governor-general of Liangjiang was in charge of the military and political affairs of the three provinces, and Jiangsu was the most important. Jiangsu was not only the richest place in the south of the Yangtze River, but also the most important place in the entire Qing Dynasty so far.

It is not an exaggeration to call the richest granary so far a 'money bag'. This time, Hongzhou captured almost all the officials in Jiangsu. This matter was not only huge, it was about to break the heavens. Did Tang Wenyao have any idea?

Responsibility? This is a huge responsibility. If he had been informed of the news first, it would have been impossible for Hong Zhou and Li Wei to handle the matter smoothly. Regardless of whether Tang Wenyao had any problems himself, as an official in charge, he would not be able to reveal anything.

The lid may be much bigger. What is he most afraid of now? What he is most afraid of is that it will be taken down with him.

At this time, a rebuke is more effective than a comforting one. Officials are not afraid of scolding from above, but they are afraid that the superiors will not even scold them. If they are scolded, the superiors will be angry, and even if the matter has not passed, it will not matter.

It's a big deal. But if you don't scold me, you're holding back your big move.

Therefore, Fourth Master used a reprimand to appease Tang Wenyao, which was to relieve Li Wei from the siege.
To be continued...