Jiangdu
Zhao Fu
The living room of the Zhao Mansion is very large, but it is still overcrowded. Fang Xie invited all the top-ranked people in Jiangdu City to discuss matters in the Zhao Mansion early this morning. After Fang Xie arrived yesterday, he directly lived in the Zhao Mansion to rest and did not meet any guests. He didn't even attend the banquet held by the good restaurant Hefengju.
It was reported that Zhao Tiankui, the young father-in-law of the Zhao family, stayed in Fang Jie's room for a long time last night, and it is said that Zhao Tiankui even brought hot water to deliver it himself. It's like serving an elder, very polite. The two talked for a long time, and it is impossible to know what they talked about.
Fang Xie's guards blocked the surrounding area of Zhao's mansion, and the eyeliner placed by other people in Zhao's mansion could not send much news.
"Zixiao talked to me for a long time last night."
Fang Jie sat on the main seat, with his legs crossed, sipping tea, looking very relaxed and leisurely. Seeing him like this, these people who hurried over early in the morning also relaxed a little. Fang Jie now has a strong army and a strong horse, and he came with a loud voice from Dongjiang. Those soldiers of the Black Banner Army still have a murderous look on them, and the coldness makes people feel very uncomfortable.
Fang Jie seemed to be resting well, with a kind smile on his face.
Zixiao is Zhao Tiankui's nickname.
"Last night, he kept saying that he was still young, inexperienced, and unable to take on important responsibilities. He said that these uncles and uncles in Jiangdu City took great care of him. When the Zhao family was fighting bloody battles in Eastern Xinjiang , thanks to your support, otherwise the Zhao family would have orphans and widows, and their lives would not be smooth."
"I have a special admiration for Zhao Linggong. I still remember that when the Meng Yuan from the west came to attack the Zheng State, General Zhao Huicheng of the Zheng State led 30,000 soldiers for thousands of miles to fight against the Meng Yuan people. In that battle, Including Zhao Huicheng and his three sons, more than a dozen Zhao family members died in the battle. Although they were defeated, they also severely damaged the morale of the Mongolian people. Compared with Zhao Huicheng of Zheng Guo, his deeds are even worse."
"My lord said so!"
A group of people quickly agreed.
Cui Xiaoan, who was sitting at the front of these people, said with a smile: "In the battle of the Eastern Border, the prince was planning a strategy, and someone like Zhao Linggong was fighting with his life. Naturally, the barbarians who came from such a tiny place would not succeed. The prince gave orders Now, the Black Banner Army will be as unstoppable as boiling soup and snow."
"oh?"
Fang Xie glanced at him: "According to you, foreigners are nothing more than minor troubles?"
Only then did Cui Xiaoan realize that there was a flaw in his words, and quickly shook his head: "No, I just think that no matter how powerful and fierce the enemy is, as long as we work together, we can still defeat it."
"That's a good thing to say."
Fang Jie didn't seem to really care, and smiled and said, "But what you said before was wrong. When Gu arrived in Eastern Xinjiang, Zhao Linggong had already fought bloody battles for more than a year. His outstanding military exploits have nothing to do with Gu. But if there is no In the situation that Zhao Linggong defeated, Gu would not defeat the foreigners so quickly."
"So, your contribution is not small."
Fang Jie said: "Zixiao said that he was young and stupid, not good at socializing, even if he felt grateful, he was too embarrassed to say it. So I asked you to come here early this morning, just to say this for Zixiao. When the Zhao family was fighting and killing the enemy at the front, the Zhao family dare not forget all the things you did at home."
Fang Jie looked at Zhao Tiankui: "Is that what you mean?"
Zhao Tiankui nodded: "Yes."
Fang Jie hummed, and pointed to Cui Xiaoan: "I heard that when Zhao Linggong went to the expedition, Master Cui contributed the most. He used nearly 100,000 taels of silver from his own assets to use as military funds. Such a righteousness is admirable. Go back and look at the accounts, if it is true, I will ask the court to reward Master Cui."
Hearing these words, Cui Xiaoan's face immediately turned pale.
Where is there such a thing as a hundred thousand taels of silver
When Zhao Tiankui's father was about to go to war, he did forcibly expropriate some food from their families. It was because the amount of food and grass needed by a 100,000 army was too large, and Jiangdu's inventory could not afford it. How could it be possible for them to give out one hundred thousand taels of silver even though it was painful for them to take out these grains
Besides, for a family like Cui Xiaoan, even if all the assets are put together, it is only this amount. Looking at the entire Central Plains, even among the truly famous and super-rich families, there are not many who can directly take out one hundred thousand taels of silver. Who has nothing to do with saving so much money at home? Even if it is a real family, it is not a day and a half to raise one hundred thousand taels of cash.
If it is used as military funds, it must be in cash.
How can I use bank notes
"This... is what I should do, what I should do."
Cui Xiaoan said quickly.
His face was extremely pale, and his forehead was covered with sweat in an instant. Now he finally knew how terrifying the knife hidden in the cotton was. Fang Jie is not praising and thanking him, but he is clearly extorting money! One hundred thousand taels of silver, where can he find one hundred thousand taels of silver? What did you say to look at the accounts? There is no such thing at all. Where did the accounts come from? !
"I can't lose you."
Fang Jie said with a smile: "It's a matter of loyalty, filial piety and righteousness for you to use your own money to fund the army. But this is a national crisis, and the country's court can't pretend that you don't know about it. My orphan said that at that time Zhao Linggong issued an IOU for you? Later, you bring the IOU, and Gu will send someone to check the accounts, and later the money will be allocated from the state treasury to you."
"No no no!"
How could Cui Xiaoan still be able to sit still, stood up and waved his hands repeatedly: "This money should be paid by the minister, and the minister is willing, and dare not let the court allocate funds. Don't dare... IOU... The IOU has already died, because I never thought about getting this money back."
"oh… "
Fang Jie sighed and said, "How can I tear up the IOU? What will you do if you tear up the debt?"
"It can be counted!"
The corners of Cui Xiaoan's mouth twitched, and the sweat on his back soaked his clothes.
"The accounts are definitely correct. I'll go back and check it... However, it may be a long time, and there may be slight deviations in some details."
He took out a handkerchief, kept wiping his sweat, and tentatively asked Fang Jie while wiping.
"The important affairs of the country and the righteousness of the nation can't be missed, can't be missed."
Fang Jie waved his hand: "Zixiao, you arrange someone to check the accounts with Master Cui. If there is something missing from him, don't pretend to be confused. He took out such a large sum of money, and if he was short of a copper coin, he would have lost his money." Gu is absolutely unacceptable to his wish."
"I understand!"
Zhao Tiankui leaned over and said: "The minister will ask someone to cooperate with Master Cui to check the accounts carefully."
…
…
Fang Jie's smile became more and more gentle. He cleared his throat after taking a sip of tea and continued: "I heard that all of you have contributed money and food, and some of you are poor. Is there a land? I just don’t know, how did this land come out?”
He looked at Zhang Man who was sitting next to Cui Xiaoan, how could this Zhang Man still sit? Taking advantage of the fact that most of the men from the Zhao family were dead and that the Zhao family was weak, he forcibly occupied the Zhao family's land of several hundred acres outside the city. The Zhao family was struggling without money and food, so he came to the door and said that he wanted to buy the land for a price. It was originally the Zhao family's Xuntian, and according to the rules, it could not be bought or sold. But the Zhao family had no choice but to agree.
But up to now, the agreed price, not even a single copper coin has yet been delivered.
Just as Zhang Man opened his mouth to speak, he saw Fang Jie slap his forehead: "Look at Gu's memory, Zi Xiao said it last night. At that time, the Duke of Ling was going to fight, and there was a lack of military funds. The elders in Jiangdu City rushed to donate. Zi Xiao said, Mr. Zhang is a good and honest official, and he was so anxious that he couldn't get the money for a while, so he had no choice but to sell his family's hundreds of acres of fertile land outside the city, and exchanged the money for military funds."
"Although the imperial court ordered the prohibition of land trading, when the country is in great trouble, these trivial matters are naturally not pursued. It is very comforting for Mr. Zhang to have such a heart. Zixiao also said that Mr. Zhang has met a good man Said it was a wealthy local businessman who heard that Mr. Zhang was going to sell the land, so he immediately approached him and bought the land at three times the price, which can be regarded as a different way to contribute to the country."
He looked at Zhang Man with a smile: "Is there such a thing?"
Zhang Man swallowed hard and didn't dare to speak at all. He dared not say no, let alone yes.
"The land still needs to be kept. Why does a businessman have to go around such a big circle if he wants to contribute to the country? If he directly finds Mr. Ling, Mr. Ling should be very happy."
Fang Jie laughed and said, "But since it's sold, we won't pursue the matter. It doesn't matter if you don't pursue it or not, but the sale of land violates the laws of the country after all. I will send someone to investigate this matter in detail and record it. Don't worry, it's just that you need to report this matter to the court at that time, if you are alone, no one will make things difficult for you."
Zhang Man's shoulders were trembling, he didn't hold on for a while, and fell to the ground with a plop, but he didn't have the strength to stand up again.
"Look at you, why are you so excited?"
Fang Jie waved his hand: "Go, help Mr. Zhang go back to rest. Liao Sheng, you will take the people from the Xiao Riding School to Mr. Zhang's mansion early in the morning to check this matter and record it."
Liao Sheng, who was standing on one side, quickly bowed his head: "I take orders."
Fang Jie hummed, and glanced at everyone: "You all talk about it yourself, and Gu will point out one by one. Gu is a little tired all the way, and his memory is not very good. Last night, Zixiao talked about Gu. I have memorized most of them, but after all, my brain power is limited, so it is impossible to remember so clearly and accurately. Some of you have contributed money and some have contributed your energy, talk about it, listen to it alone, such a good thing, listen to it and feel excited .”
A person sitting in the back seat suddenly stood up and stammered: "The minister's family is poor. At that time, he only contributed a little. He didn't give out a copper coin for financial support. I feel ashamed!"
"Um?"
Fang Jie squeezed out his nose, and turned his head to look at him: "In the face of a national crisis, every man is responsible. You are wearing a fifth-rank official uniform, and your salary is quite a lot. You said that you only worked hard, and a copper coin is worth a lot of money." Didn’t come out? Gu can’t believe it, you can’t even take out a copper coin?”
"Liao Sheng!"
Fang Jie pointed at the man and said, "Fork out such a person who has no family and country in his heart. I don't want to see such an ugly face! Donating military funds does not matter how much it is, it only depends on the heart. If you don't donate a copper coin, you will be Wuxin Wuxin! Go check it out, if his family is really that poor, I am willing to apologize to him!"
"Here!"
Liao Sheng immediately stepped forward, leading a few wolves and tigers from the Xiaoqi school, and dragged out the person who thought he was smart, but was frightened stupid at this time. The man recovered a little after leaving the house, howling all the way.
"well."
Fang Jie sighed, "It's really chilling."
He got up and said, "Marquis Lu Feng, leave an army of 12,000 troops from your team, and choose a capable general to garrison Jiangdu. By the way, help Zixiao stabilize the place and rectify law and order. After hearing that Zhao Linggong left, Jiangdu has been on the ground. It’s not peaceful either. As for the accounts of you people, write a statement yourself, and after reading it alone, let the imperial court allocate funds from the treasury and return it to you.”
After saying this, Fang Jie turned around and left.
There was a room full of people who were frightened and dumbfounded, looking at each other in blank dismay.