A Clash of Gods

Chapter 44: fief

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"How different?"

Duan Canghai said: "Although everyone in the Rising Sun Escort Bureau is dead, the escort cars are still there, but the goods in the cars have disappeared, leaving nothing behind."

"The goods flew away?" Yang Ning frowned and said softly: "This is strange. If the goods were to be robbed, the car would just be taken away. Why would the escort car be left behind? Could it be that the goods were exchanged for them? In your own car?" He shook his head and said: "If you want to rob a escort, you must do it quickly. The sooner the better. It takes a lot of time to move the goods again. Are those robbers out of their minds?"

"Oh, Prince, what does it mean to have water in the brain?" Duan Canghai felt that this sentence was very fresh, and he immediately humbly asked for advice.

Yang Ning glanced at him and said: "The brain is full of brain matter. After entering the water, the brain matter mixes with the water and becomes mushy. If it soaks for a long time, there will be no brain. Don't you understand?"

Duan Canghai admired in his heart, secretly thinking that the metaphor of the prince was really novel and interesting, but he felt strange in his heart. He secretly thought that the prince's mind was not very bright before, but this time he hit the nail on the head and could find the key in an instant. This brain It is much easier to use than ordinary people.

Since the prince returned to the house, he has become very different from before. I wonder if it is because the prince was kidnapped once and was stimulated, which actually made the prince smarter? If this is the case, then it is really a blessing in disguise, and bad things have turned into good things. Somehow, perhaps it is the Jinyi Marquis and the ancestors of the Qi family who are blessing this prince.

"Your Majesty is right, this is the problem." Duan Canghai said: "The escort car is still there, but all the goods have flown away. This is really strange." He added: "Qi Feng heard people talking about it, and many people also said I suspect that these two escort teams were robbed by the same group of people, but I don’t think it’s possible.”

Yang Ning nodded and said: "The methods of committing crimes are different, and for such a big case, once one is completed, the first thing to think about is to hide it immediately, and rarely think of continuing to do the second one." But in his heart, he was thinking, Sihai Escort Bureau They were in trouble, but their fate was bad. The group of Fei Chan Mi Ren did not really want to rob the escort. After that, the escort car disappeared. Naturally, Fei Chan Mi Ren dealt with the aftermath. They wanted to hunt down Xiao Guang, so naturally they could not go to Xuri. Trouble with the escort agency.

I remember that when I left, the gray-robed elder was still fighting with Fei Chan, but he didn't know whether he was dead or alive.

Duan Canghai gave a thumbs up and said, "Master Shizi has hit the nail on the head." Then he said: "It's really strange things happening now. So many people have died. Although these two escort agencies are strong, they are going to suffer a lot of bleeding this time."

Yang Ning thought about the words "the goods flew away", a light flashed in his mind, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly.

However, the escort shunted the goods. This was of course illogical. In Yang Ning's view, there were only two possibilities. Either the escort robbers were worried that they would be chased by someone chasing the escort truck, so they shunted the goods. Moreover, the premise is that the goods are easy to move and will not be delayed for too long.

However, even if they change cars, a slightly smarter robber will never be able to delay at the scene of the incident. They will definitely pull the escort car far away from the scene of the incident and then change cars.

In addition to this possibility, there is another possibility, that is, as Duan Canghai said, the goods can fly by themselves.

If it is just ordinary goods, of course this is not possible, but if the goods are alive, of course they can move around on their own.

Thinking of this, Yang Ning's body trembled slightly.

If this is the case, then the Rising Sun Escort Agency is most likely the agency that contacted Xiao Yishui, and Xiaodie was taken away from Huize City by the Rising Sun Escort Agency.

Then it is possible for the goods to fly away.

Yang Ning's heart was beating fiercely. He hoped that his judgment was not wrong. According to this, Xiaodie and the others were probably not sent to the capital, but escaped halfway.

He was both happy and worried. If someone killed the people from the escort agency and rescued Xiaodie and the girls, it would naturally be the best result. But if it was just about taking advantage of others, Xiaodie would fall into the trap of a wolf as soon as she left the tiger's mouth. If the situation is still extremely dangerous, it would be better to be taken to the capital by the escort.

The Escort Bureau brought Xiaodie to the capital. With the help of the Hou Mansion, he secretly inquired about Xiaodie's whereabouts. After all, the Rising Sun Escort Bureau had already been found in this short period of time. It would not be too difficult to investigate Xiaodie in detail. through difficulties.

But if Xiaodie falls into the hands of another group of people, it will be really difficult to find her.

"Master, what's wrong with you?" Seeing Yang Ning's uncertain expression and strange look, Duan Canghai naturally didn't know what Yang Ning was thinking and became worried.

Yang Ning came back to her senses and said: "It's okay, I just wanted to see if anyone would come over today."

Duan Canghai said: "The days that should come have come. If anyone comes, they will only be from other places. When the general goes to the funeral, there will be more people."

Yang Ning nodded and asked, "Where has Mr. Qiu gone? I haven't seen anyone for a long time. By the way, has he borrowed the money?"

"It's not difficult to borrow thousands of taels of silver from a bank using a pawnshop as collateral."

Yang Ning said "Oh", "Did you borrow the money from the bank? Uncle Duan, you said that our Hou Mansion is so big and can be regarded as a first-class wealthy family in Da Chu, how come we don't even have enough money? Even if we don't lend a hand for a while, There’s no need to use the pawnshop as collateral to borrow money, right?”

Duan Canghai said: "I don't know much about these things, but the rules of the bank are that even for one tael of silver, there must be something as collateral, not to mention thousands of taels of silver."

"Don't we, the Marquis, know any rich people?" Yang Ning said, "The capital is the most prosperous place, with so many princes and nobles, we... we at least know some people, right?"

Duan Canghai shook his head and said: "Of course there are not a few people in Beijing who have friendship with our Marquis Mansion, but the old Marquis has set a rule and must not have any financial transactions with any officials."

"Ah?" Yang Ning asked curiously: "Is there such a rule?"

"The prince didn't care about these things before, so he didn't know." Duan Canghai said seriously: "The old Marquis is an upright man. Even if he is knighted, he is honest and honest. According to what the old Marquis said back then, if you have any money dealings with anyone, There is a relationship of interest, and it is inconvenient to do things. When the general was still alive, he strictly abided by the rules set by the old marquis and did not have any financial dealings with the princes and nobles. "

Yang Ning sighed: "So, even if someone gives money to honor the Hou Mansion, they can't take it?"

"That's natural." Duan Canghai said solemnly: "Not only that, the general is fighting on the front line, but the court has rewards, and the general also rewards all his subordinates, never leaving a penny." He added: "But the general is a thousand Huhou, starting from the old Marquis, we have been granted 3,000 households with fiefdoms and hundreds of hectares of fertile farmland, so we can have enough food and clothing on weekdays."

"Oh no!" Yang Ning couldn't help but yelled, "Three thousand households, hundreds of hectares of fertile land, all you need is food and clothing? Uncle Duan, are you kidding me?"

He had seen the Jinyi Hou Mansion worrying about a few thousand taels of silver before, and was puzzled, thinking that the Hou Mansion was really poor. Only then did he realize that the financial resources of the Hou Mansion were really not weak.

With three thousand households in a fiefdom, the annual income must be high, plus hundreds of hectares of fertile land. Although the Hou Mansion has hundreds of people, old and young, it is really easy to support these people.

"I'm not kidding." Duan Canghai knew that the prince knew nothing about money, so he patiently explained: "Although our Marquis Mansion has a lot of income, its expenses are also huge."

"Expenses?" Yang Ning said, "I don't see any expenses that can use up all that money."

Duan Canghai smiled bitterly and said: "The prince doesn't know. Three thousand households and hundreds of hectares of fertile land may sound like a lot, but the amount of money entering the Hou Mansion is very small."

"What does this mean?" Yang Ning frowned and said, "Is there anyone out there who wants to steal silver?"

"That's not true." Duan Canghai lowered his voice: "The feudal city of the Hou Mansion is in Jiangling, which is the ancestral land of the Qi family, and the old marquis came from Jiangling. The feudal city is in his hometown, and the taxes collected by the old marquis every year are It's very small, so this income is far less than that of other princes. Moreover, the old prince made a rule when he was still alive for the taxation of the fief, among which the income of 500 households was given to the third old man's room. "

Only then did Yang Ning suddenly realize. No wonder Gu Qinghan and Manager Qiu mentioned Jiangling's money. It turned out to be the income from the fiefdom.

But he didn't expect that out of the 3,000 households in the fiefdom, 500 would be transferred to the third old man's house. It turned out that the third old man's house was actually supported by the Hou Mansion.

"Even so, it's impossible that we don't have enough money, right?"

Duan Canghai said softly: "The old marquis and the general are both kind-hearted people who value love and justice. They fight on the battlefield and treat their soldiers like brothers and sisters. When soldiers die on the front line, the court's pension is never too much, leaving orphans behind. It is natural for a widowed mother to be miserable. The old Marquis set a precedent when he was still alive. Many of the soldiers who followed him and died on the battlefield were too poor at home, leaving the old and the weak to live alone. The Marquis government allocates money every year to support them. Although It’s not too much, but it can still keep them alive. The general has also inherited the methods of the old Marquis. Prince, you can do your own calculations. In this way, how much income can the Marquis’ Mansion make?”

Yang Ning was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect such a thing to happen.

There are not a few soldiers who have followed the two generations of Jinyi Hou on the battlefield. Even if only a small number need assistance, it is still a huge expense for the Hou Mansion.

"Um... The Battle of Huai River has been going on for three years, with countless casualties. The people who died in the past few years have not been included, right?" Yang Ning said: "You won't have to support the families of these people in the future, right?"

"In that case, another three thousand households will not be enough." Duan Canghai shook his head and said: "And if there are too many people, our Marquis Mansion will help them one by one. I am afraid some people will say that our Marquis Mansion is buying people's hearts, which is not good. We helped before There are not too many people in the court. Someone in the court has already spoken about the general behind his back. Fortunately, the emperor has great trust in the general. He knows that this is because the old marquis values friendship and just turns a blind eye." He lowered his voice and said, "This Once a general passes away, there is no order coming from the palace, and I am afraid no one will think about the families of those soldiers who died in battle."

Only then did Yang Ning understand why the Hou family's income was high, but the government's financial resources were stretched thin, but it turned out that this was the case.

However, it can also be seen that the two generations of Jinyihou are deeply popular, and it is not accidental that the soldiers are willing to follow them through life and death.

At this moment, a voice was heard from outside: "The Marquis of Wuxiang has come to worship!"

In the sound, Manager Qiu suddenly appeared, hurried to Yang Ning's side, and whispered: "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Wuxiang has arrived. This is the second time he has come here. I'm afraid he also came to see you."

"Look at me?" Yang Ning frowned and said, "What's so good about me?"

Mr. Qiu said: "The Marquis of Wuxiang is the future father-in-law of the prince, and you are his future son-in-law. Knowing that you have returned home safely, it is only natural for me to come to visit."