The Huainan Prince's Mansion is like a treasure house, and the amount of silver that was not recovered is really astonishing. Qin Ning secretly thought that the Huainan King's methods of amassing money are really amazing, but if he thinks about it carefully, he has been receiving gifts from the court for decades. There are quite a few rewards, and with the search for grease, it is not surprising that he has accumulated this huge fortune over the past few decades.
But he immediately realized that the Huainan Wang family was rich, and the common people did not know it, but the Beijing officials must know it. Even if the Beijing officials did not know the details of the Huainan Wang family, Sima Lan must know it.
Of course, a person like Sima Lan will not fight an uncertain battle. Since he has listed King Huainan as his opponent, he certainly has an extremely clear investigation into King Huainan. Moreover, as a veteran of three dynasties, Sima Lan has more seniority in the court than King Huainan. As one of the most important political ministers in the court, Sima Lan naturally knows everything about the movements of the Huainan King's hands over the years. Therefore, Sima Lan also knows exactly how much property the Huainan Prince's Palace has.
Leaving aside the rare treasures in the treasure room of the Buddhist temple, the property found so far alone is as high as three to four million taels. With such a huge property, Qining would not dare to actually swallow it, no matter how big his appetite is. If you go down and swallow half of it with your mouth wide open, there will still be one or two million taels that will go into the treasury of the household department.
If this huge sum of money goes into the Ministry of Household Affairs, then Qining's biggest worry is that the meat will fall into the tiger's mouth, and the Sima family will find an opportunity to get involved in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and then control the finances of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Dou Kui frowned slightly when he saw Qi Ning. After all, he was also a cunning person. He understood Qin Ning's thoughts and lowered his voice: "Master Marquis, we are just counting the property list. The cash that was confiscated from the palace is only a few hundred thousand taels of silver." , we can't move this cash. However, I know how much money should be reported for other items, but...!" He hesitated, and then whispered: "There are too many properties, and if the disparity is too big, it will inevitably Someone will cause trouble. It is currently estimated to be worth more than three million taels of silver. How much does the Marquis think should be paid to the Ministry of Accounts?"
"I have no experience with this kind of thing." Qi Ning whispered: "What do you think Master Dou should do?"
Dou Kui thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said: "Master Hou, I will try my best to make the accounts flawless and free up two million taels of silver for Master Hou...!"
Qi Ning's heart trembled. He thought to himself that Dou Kui was really brave. He frowned and said, "Is it too much?"
Dou Kui said softly: "Other officials in the court dare not get involved. Even if they investigate, only the Sima family may become entangled. However, the Sima family has never been involved in the household department, and they do not understand the regulations of the household department. It will be done flawlessly, and they won't let them see any flaws."
Qi Ning thought for a while and then said: "Master Dou, I don't know what to do about the matter. You can just figure it out." He leaned slightly closer and whispered: "Actually, there is a way that I think is good. I don’t know if it’s appropriate or not, Master Dou will help me check the details.”
"Master Marquis, please tell me." Dou Kui whispered: "The method that Master Marquis thought of must be extremely clever."
"You also know that the Emperor has always been very concerned about the reconstruction of the Black Scale Battalion." Qi Ning sighed softly: "The Black Scale Battalion is not an infantry. It has been trained according to the cavalry from the beginning. But as far as I know, currently The Blackscale Battalion doesn’t even have a single war horse.”
Dou Kui listened attentively and understood, and said: "This is the negligence of the lower official. I am extremely ashamed." A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Master Marquis, Black Scale Camp has a thousand braided horses. Now there are really good horses on the market. Young Master It is said that there are two hundred taels of silver per horse, and one thousand horses is equivalent to two hundred thousand taels. Moreover, the cavalry often has to rotate two or three war horses on long-distance campaigns. To equip the Blackscale Battalion with good horses, five to six hundred thousand taels of silver are needed."
Qi Ning smiled and said: "If Master Dou can solve this matter for the Black Scale Camp, everyone in the Black Scale Camp will be grateful."
Dou Kui said: "There are also weapons. In addition, the camp of the Black Scale Camp is too simple. To train a brave and good fighting cavalry, it will cost a lot of money. Mr. Marquis, I am going to steal the silver from the palace." I wonder what the Lord Marquis wants to do with the 800,000 taels of silver and hand them over to the Black Scale Camp?"
Qi Ning waved his hand and said: "This is your household affairs, I will not interfere." He added: "Yes, the princes in the Northern Han Dynasty are competing for the throne. Although the court and the central government have not yet discussed a strategy to deal with the Northern Han Dynasty, After the emperor's wedding, this matter will definitely be put on the agenda. The three armies have not moved, and the food and grass go first. Our Qinhuai Army may send troops to cross the Huaihe River at any time, so the food, grass and military pay on the front line must be fully prepared, and there can be no mistakes. "
Dou Kui was cheerful and said in a low voice: "When the Marquis says this, the official will understand what to do."
Qi Ning waved, and Dou Kui came over. Qin Ning whispered: "Of the more than three million taels of silver that were confiscated, 800,000 taels were given to the Black Scale Camp, one million taels were given to the Qinhuai Army, and the remaining more than one hundred taels were given to the Qinhuai Army. Ten thousand taels, free up one million taels of silver. After all, the emperor has given us the opportunity to make a fortune, and we cannot live up to the emperor's kindness. For these one million taels of silver, add two to one to make five. Mr. Dou will take his share. .”
Dou Kui said hurriedly: "Don't dare, Lord Marquis, I will never dare to move an inch...!"
Qin Ning knew in his heart that in order for the horse to run, he had to feed the horse, and to make Dou Kui willing to complete the job, he had to get some oil and water: "You don't have to say much, I always do things." We all share blessings and hardships, so since there is such a good opportunity to make a fortune, I will naturally not ignore you."
Dou Kui cupped his hands and said: "Master Hou has taken such good care of me, and I will never be able to repay the official with death. But I will never dare to have sex with Master Hou." He said in a low voice: "Master Hou is open-minded, and I will be bold. When the time comes, Leave two hundred thousand taels of silver behind, and the rest will be given to the Marquis."
Qi Ning sighed: "In that case, I won't force you. The days are long. As long as Mr. Dou works hard, I will never treat you badly."
Qining was prepared for a rainy day, knowing that this arrangement was the best way at the moment. After the money was put into the bank of the household department, he immediately transferred it out. Of course, he was bound to get the money from the Black Scale Camp. If one million were allocated to the Qinhuai Army Two pieces of silver not only allowed the front line to be prepared, but even if Sima Lan wanted to stop him, he would not be able to.
The most lacking thing in Sima Lan's hands is military power. If he prevents the Ministry of Revenue from allocating money to the Qinhuai Army, it will definitely offend the Qinhuai Army, and the military's attitude towards the Sima family will be even more disgusting.
The discussion was over, and the two of them didn't talk much. After more than an hour, most of the palace's belongings had been confiscated and registered. Dou Kui ordered people to pack the trucks and transport the palace's belongings out one by one. .
After Dou Kui left with the last cart of confiscated items, Chi Fengdian came over to Qining and said, "Master Hou, today is going well. When I came, the emperor had explained that after the confiscation, the Hou I must be working very hard. Tomorrow is the emperor's wedding, and the emperor will not receive his ministers tonight. The marquis just needs to go back to the palace to rest, and the general will return to the palace to report to the emperor."
Qi Ning asked: "Can the Emperor arrange for someone to protect the Huainan Palace?"
Chi Fengdian nodded and said: "The Emperor has told me that everything will be arranged by the Marquis. If the Marquis wants to call the Yulin Camp to guard here, I will let him stay."
Qi Ning raised his head and looked at the sky before saying: "Tomorrow's big wedding in the palace is very unusual. The Yulin camp has to protect the safety of the palace, so naturally it cannot deploy brothers from the Yulin camp. Commander Chi, do you think this can work? Send I will first go to Kyoto Prefecture to transfer a team of officers to take over the guarding here from the Yulin Camp. The brothers from the Yulin Camp have worked very hard today and will be on duty tomorrow. Let's go back and have a rest. I will send someone to the Black Scale Camp tonight. Send a team of troops over, and until the emperor has other orders, let the people from the Black Scale Battalion guard the palace for the time being to protect the prince from being harassed."
Chi Fengdian said: "The arrangements have been made well by the Marquis. I take note of the brothers' hard work. I would like to express my gratitude to the Marquis on behalf of the brothers."
Qi Ning laughed loudly and said: "We are all doing errands under the orders of the emperor. My brother, please don't say thank you." He looked around and then whispered: "Commander Chi, there is one small thing I want you to help me with. Can you help me with it?" Let’s talk somewhere else.”
Chi Fengdian raised his hand and said: "Master Marquis, please!"
Qi Ning didn't waste any time and led the way. The two of them arrived outside a house one after another. Qi Ning opened the door and let Chi Fengdian in. Then he closed the door and went to the side room. Chi Fengdian followed Beside him, he didn't know what kind of medicine Qi Ning was selling in his gourd, but he saw that Qi Ning had walked to the corner of the room and raised his hand to lift a piece of black cloth. Under the black cloth, there were two boxes.
Chi Fengdian vaguely understood something, but still asked: "Master Hou, this is...!"
Qi Ning opened a box and Chi Fengdian took a look. It was filled with rare utensils. He was also a man who had seen the world. At a casual glance, he could see that all the rare utensils in the box were of the highest quality.
Although the antique treasures in this box are not as rare as those in the treasure room, they are naturally much more precious than the other treasures outside. Qining closed the box and said with a smile: "Starting early in the morning today, Commander Chi I brought my brothers from the Yulin camp here to work. Everyone has worked hard at the end of the day. Just before I left, Mr. Dou mentioned to me that I couldn’t lose all my brothers. After thinking about it, this is indeed the truth. , so I left some trinkets behind, Commander Chi will take them away later, and give some wine money to the brothers."
Chi Fengdian has actually estimated in his mind that if these two boxes of treasures are really sold, it will cost at least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Although Chi Fengdian is the commander of the Yulin camp and has a key position, his annual salary is not much, hundreds of thousands. Two silver coins was undoubtedly an astronomical sum for him.
"Master Hou, this... this is not appropriate, is it?" Chi Fengdian's eyes twitched slightly.
Qi Ning said with a smile: "If someone wants to bribe Commander Chi, don't say Commander Chi will not accept it. Even if Commander Chi is tempted, I will stop Commander Chi from accepting it. But after all, these are confiscated things, and many of them are stolen. Even if the ill-gotten wealth is turned over to the household department, it will still be divided among the various departments and yamen. Those who are closer to the water will get the moon first. Since there is an opportunity to let the brothers in the Yulin camp take advantage of it and let everyone have a few more bottles of good wine, then that's okay It’s not a bad thing, what do you think, Commander Chi?”
Chi Fengdian smiled and said: "The Marquis has taken such good care of me. If I refuse, it would be hypocritical." He saluted and said, "Thank you very much, Lord Marquis, for taking care of me. I would like to thank you on behalf of my brothers."
"Don't say such things, otherwise you will be betrayed." Qi Ning patted Chi Fengdian's arm: "Share the blessings together, this is what good brothers are, Commander Chi, is this the truth?"
"Yes, yes...!" Chi Fengdian also laughed, and the atmosphere was harmonious.