After Ye Xiaotian heard Wang Zhubu's words, he suddenly raised his head, glanced out of the window, and said thoughtfully: "Yes! It's already this hour, if everything goes well, then your Wang Zhubu really won."
Master Wang's cheeks twitched twice suddenly, and a chess piece he picked up in his hand almost fell back on the board. He grabbed the chess piece, slowly raised his head, stared at Ye Xiaotian, and said with a half-smile: "What is it?" Everything is going well? Could it be that Master Ye still has some trump card?"
Ye Xiaotian looked down at the chessboard, as if he was thinking about how to counterattack, and replied casually: "At night, I sent someone to arrest Chen Muyan, and Hu Qifeng fled just after dawn. How did he know who was arrested last night? What charge? Just because he was hypervigilant?"
Ye Xiaotian shook his head, and said again: "Hu Qifeng took an outhouse in Hu County, and his concubine was already pregnant, so he ignored it like that. Well, those who make big things don't care about small things, Liu Bang was on the way to escape. He even pushed his own flesh and blood out of the car time and time again, which is nothing. However, since he didn't even want women and children in order to save his life, it's a little incomprehensible that such a panic-stricken person still has the time to burn his account books gone."
Ye Xiaotian raised his head slowly, looked at Master Wang with a smile, and said slowly: "He has been exposed, why burn the account book? Unless, this account book will also involve some people who have not been exposed, and he needs protection That person, or... the person who secretly warned him and told him to flee, specifically told him to destroy the account books that implicated others. Master Wang, don’t you think so?”
The look of horror in Master Wang's eyes was fleeting. He smiled calmly, stroked his beard and said, "Oh? I didn't expect Master Ye to have such a discovery!"
Ye Xiaotian said: "The county magistrate cares about whether Hu Qifeng was caught or not, he doesn't care about anything else. I was talking too much, so I asked Su Butou a few words, and only then did I know that there was a pile of fire in the brazier in the Hu family's study. the ashes of the past, and found a page of the account book that has not yet been burned."
As Ye Xiaotian said, he took out a piece of paper from his sleeve that was mostly burnt, even its edges were blackened, as soon as he let go of his fingers, the piece of paper twirled and fell to the chessboard.
Ye Xiaotian said: "I, Ye Xiaotian, like to double-check everything. From Sun Rui and Shi Jin's confession, we know that the private goods picked up by Chang's Car and Horse Company are all sold to the Central Plains by Hu's Commercial Company , I was extra careful, and checked when this Hu's firm appeared in Hu County.
As a result, I found out that Hu's company only appeared in the past two years. In the era when Chang's car and horse company was Qi's car and horse company, who did they do business with? So I asked someone again, and it turned out that before Hu's Trading Company, Lu's Trading Company had the most frequent transactions with Qi's Chariot and Horse Company, and their owner was called Lu Mo. "
As soon as the name was uttered, Master Wang's eyes shrank suddenly.
Ye Xiaotian said: "I'll check this Lu's business again, it's terrible, before our Huxian county was established, it was still called Huling, and there were two chieftains in charge. At that time, Lu's business was the boss of Huxian. It's a customer. Now, Ye Mou doesn't understand some things."
Master Wang smiled slightly, the wrinkles on his face seemed to be carved out with sharp knives, the texture was exceptionally clear, his eyes were slightly squinted, and the eyes exposed in the slits were cold and sharp: "Oh? What don't you understand?"
Ye Xiaotian said: "I find it strange that Lu's firm has established itself in Hu County many years ago, so why didn't they think about finding a backer? It is convenient for him to do business. Besides, since he has a close relationship with Qi Mu, he may have some ulterior secrets, so he is not afraid of problems in the business?"
Master Wang smiled and said: "Lord Ye's words are wrong. How do you know that Lu's firm has no backer? Since he does business with Qi Mu, he must find Meng Qingwei for a backer. Isn't that normal? "
Ye Xiaotian nodded, and said: "It's indeed normal. But after Meng Qingwei's death, Lu's firm did not seek refuge with Xu Boyi, nor did he seek refuge with Master Wang, and he never came to my office, as if he was afraid of being noticed. To him, the low-key can no longer be low-key, which is a bit abnormal."
Master Wang couldn't help laughing, and said, "Master Ye, you must be too suspicious."
Ye Xiaotian smiled and said: "What's wrong with being suspicious? Zhuge has been cautious all his life, while Cao Cao and Sima are suspicious. In the end, it was Cao Mengde and Sima Yi who achieved great success."
Master Wang said indifferently: "Then, what did Mr. Ye suspect from the abnormality of Lu's firm?"
Ye Xiaotian shook his head and said: "What else can I guess, of course I got nothing. However, there is an old saying that planting flowers with intention will not live, but planting willows and willows without intention will make shade. It really makes sense. When I investigated this Lu's firm, I found that Some interesting things happened."
Master Wang looked at Ye Xiaotian with a smile, and when he continued speaking, the chess piece was flipping gently between Master Wang's fingers. Master Wang's old hand was shriveled and fleshless, but his fingers were extremely flexible. He flew up and down between his fingers, but he couldn't fall down.
Ye Xiaotian said: "I heard that the reason why Lu Mo was able to gain a foothold in Huling at the beginning was because he had a close relationship with the two chieftain masters at that time. It is strange to say that the two chieftain masters were at odds with each other, but But Dongzhu Lu can be inseparable. Dongzhu Lu is able to handle things with ease between them, which shows his ability. Isn't it strange that such a long-sleeved and skillful person has been unknown since then?"
Master Wang lowered his eyelids slightly, and said indifferently: "People's thoughts will always change. Maybe one day, he will suddenly realize that he will stop chasing profit and fame, but it is not impossible."
Ye Xiaotian smiled slightly, instead of arguing with him on this topic, he continued: "At this time, I suddenly thought of another thing, a thing that seemed to have nothing to do with Lu Mo on the surface. It was the severe drought in Hu County , I went to Gaoli Liangzhai to mediate, and when I had wine with the two village owners, I heard a story they told.
When the two chieftains were still the lords of Hu County, the two village lords Gao and Li were their officials, so they knew something about them. According to Gao and Li, the two chieftains said that at that time, Master Wang was from Huling, and he was the guest of the two chieftains in a commoner coat. It was very beautiful! It is said that Master Wang is the official who is most familiar with the local area, and has a good relationship with the local Yi and Miao people. It must have started from then? "
Master Wang's eyes twitched, but he smiled and said nothing.
Ye Xiaotian frowned slightly, and said: "Ye thought it was strange when he thought of this. Lu Mo is a businessman, and he can make friends with the two chieftains, maybe because his business can bring benefits to the two chieftains, then Wang The chief secretary was just a poor scholar at the beginning, how could He De become the guest of honor of the two arrogant chieftains
Coincidentally, Ye also heard from two village owners that the so-called two chieftains fought over a piece of land back then, and even ignored the warnings from the court. It is a way of making money.
Is that land worth much? It's just a new field formed by the alluvial river. The two master chieftains rely on the mountains to eat the mountains. They don't pay attention to farming. How could they brazenly do it for a piece of land, let alone still relentless when the court came forward to stop it. Unless... the profit makes the mind faint, how much profit will it take to make them do something irrational? "
Ye Xiaotian shook his head and sighed, and said: "Hu County is poor, how can there be a big source of wealth for them to fight? It's a pity that the two village masters, Gao and Li, don't know, so I just listened to it and didn't go into it. But what happened this time made me connect two irrelevant things at once.
Qi Mu rose suddenly after the ruin of the two chieftain masters, so before him, were there people who were smuggling and selling bans? If there were people doing the same thing at that time, who were they? Could it be... just Lu Mo, the two master chieftains, and your master? "
The chess piece that was flipping and jumping between Mr. Wang's fingers stopped suddenly, and was tightly held by Mr. Wang's two skinny fingers.
Ye Xiaotian smiled slightly, and said: "Maybe, it's because the two chieftains didn't share the loot equally, or maybe it was because one of the chieftains wanted to monopolize this source of wealth. In short, the two chieftains were obsessed with money, and they fought each other. Taking the opportunity to intervene, the result was that the families of the two chieftains were ruined, and Huling was reformed and returned to the exile.
Maybe because of this incident, you became more cautious, and you dare not show your face like before, so Lu Mo retreated behind Hu Qifeng. You have also retreated behind Chen Muyan, and to support them, you may not even need to show up in person, you just need to make the best use of the situation, and it is enough for them to be used by you. "
"Snapped!"
The chess piece in Master Wang's hand fell on the chessboard, and Master Wang applauded lightly: "Great! You are really smart! I thought that I had given you a very high regard, but unexpectedly I still looked down on you, hehe, You guessed all of these based on some clues?"
Ye Xiaotian shook his head and said: "Of course the inference was not so complete at the beginning, such as the reason for the two chieftains fighting, such as whether your master Wang and Lu Mo became cautious because of this matter, and then retreated behind the scenes. You can't guess.
I just suspected that you, Lu Mo and the two former chieftains were Qi Mu's former smugglers, so I started to pay attention to you and monitor your and Lu Mo's every move. It was reversed afterwards. "
Master Wang smiled wryly and said, "The future generations are awesome! The future generations are awesome!"
Ye Xiaotian said: "Back then, Qi Mu was able to monopolize the Huxian post road, and he was in cahoots with Meng Qingwei. You should have secretly created opportunities for them, right? The one that Sun Rui said took the initiative to find Qi Mu and discuss cooperation with him in smuggling Man, you sent it, didn't you?"
Master Wang's eyes flickered, but he still smiled and didn't answer.
Ye Xiaotian sighed, and said: "Unfortunately, when the two chieftains fought, you failed to mediate between the two, otherwise the court would have no excuse to intervene, and this place is still dominated by chieftains. Although you, Mr. Wang, can't be the chief secretary. , but it is still flourishing, so there is no need to be cautious and retreat behind the scenes."
Master Wang also sighed, and regretfully said: "It's a pity that the princes of the court are still too hasty. If they can wait patiently for a while, the war may not only be in Huling, then the court won more than just one What about Hu County?"
Ye Xiaotian laughed back, and said: "So, your lord Wang has worked so hard to accomplish something, and you have worked so hard for the Ming court?"
Master Wang smiled slightly, and then asked: "Have you sent someone to keep an eye on Chen Muyan's coffin?"
Ye Xiaotian said: "That's right, at this hour, the fish... should be about to bite the hook, right?"