The Ministry of Revenue Taicang was the national treasury of the Ming Dynasty, divided into two parts: Taicang Granary and Taicang Silver Vault. The Taicang Granary was located in the capital and Tongzhou, generally referred to as Jingcang and Tongcang, the so-called "the capital's reserves are all in Taicang"; while the Taicang Silver Vault was located in the capital, generally referred to as Taicang and Taicang Silver Vault.
The Taicang Silver Vault is said to be located in the capital, but due to considerations of flood control, waterproofing, theft prevention, and safety, its location is still quite remote.
Zhu Ping'an and Gao Rui were on their way to Taicang Silver Vault.
"Last year, when the Ministry of Works was repairing the city wall, I was ordered to come to the Taicang Silver Vault to withdraw the materials. It's about an incense stick's worth of walking ahead to the Taicang Silver Vault. I'm familiar with this route, so Lord Zhu, don't worry."
Gao Rui, a doctor in the Office of the Ministry of Works, slowed down his horse slightly, stretched out his whip, pointed into the distance, and said to Zhu Ping'an.
"Then I'll have to trouble Lord Gao to lead the way." Zhu Ping'an, riding on a Shamatte black horse, thanked Gao Rui.
Of course, even without Gao Rui's guidance, Zhu Ping'an would be able to find the location of the Taicang Silver Vault. After accepting the task of inspecting the Taicang Silver Vault, Zhu Ping'an had already consulted relevant books and had memorized the location of the Taicang Silver Vault by heart.
"Master Zhu, you are too polite." Gao Rui smiled heartily, holding the horse's belly and riding slowly, he rode side by side with Zhu Ping'an, and reminded Zhu Ping'an, "The Taicang Silver Vault is the national treasury of our Ming Dynasty, and the defense is strict. Zhu Ping'an, do you have the relevant documents? If you don't have the relevant documents, I'm afraid they won't let us in even if we talk our mouths off."
"Ever since I took on the job, I have been carrying the relevant documents close to my chest." Zhu Ping'an said, patting his chest.
"Haha, it's reassuring to work with Lord Zhu." After hearing this, Gao Rui spoke highly of Zhu Ping'an.
Zhu Ping'an naturally said this modestly.
"Oh, by the way, the last time I went to the Taicang Silver Vault to withdraw silver, I heard a strange thing. You said that the Taicang Silver Vault is heavily guarded, so strict that not even a fly can fly in, but a theft case still occurred." Gao Rui said as he rode his horse.
Upon hearing that there had been a theft in the Taicang Silver Vault, Zhu Ping'an could not help but become very interested. He rode his horse closer to Gao Rui and listened carefully with great interest.
"It happened about the year before last. It rained heavily in the capital, and many places in the capital were flooded. Of course, the Taicang Silver Vault had been prepared for this situation when it was located. It was located on a high ground and there were many water conservancy measures to prevent flooding. However, we didn't expect that two fingers of rainwater would still accumulate in the reservoir area. This shouldn't happen, so the officials of the Taicang Silver Vault began to check various water conservancy measures, and then found that the drainage hole was blocked." Gao Rui said slowly, "Since the drainage hole is blocked, we have to clear it quickly to prevent waterlogging from eroding the silver vault. Guess what was found when dredging the drainage hole?"
"Oh, what did you find?" Zhu Pingan asked curiously.
"We found two bodies when we were dredging the drainage hole. The two people were leaning against each other with two gold ingots between their heads." Gao Rui said, holding up two fingers.
"Two thieves? People die for money, birds die for food." Zhu Ping'an understood, but was still a little puzzled. How could these two thieves die head to head in the drainage hole? Was it because the loot was not divided equally
"Mr. Zhu is worthy of being the top scholar. He guessed it right away." Gao Rui praised.
Zhu Ping'an touched his nose and smiled bitterly. A theft had just happened. It was obvious that the person in the drainage hole was the thief.
"Yes, these two were thieves, and they died at the scene of the theft. As for the head on top of the head, that's more interesting. It turned out that one of the thieves wanted to steal the silver from the Taicang Silver Vault, but because the Taicang Silver Vault was heavily guarded, he tried all kinds of tricks but couldn't get in, so he had to set his sights on the drainage hole. However, the design of the drainage hole took this into consideration and was designed to be relatively narrow. But the thief was originally relatively thin and was also very ruthless. He starved for two days and tried his best to squeeze in through the drainage hole. His clothes were worn out and his body was covered in blood, but he really squeezed in.
The thief was lucky enough to find two gold ingots after he squeezed into the vault. The thief was very happy, but he knew he couldn't be too greedy, so he put the two gold ingots on his head and went back through the drainage hole.
Unfortunately, his luck had run out. When he was halfway up, he found that there was another person climbing in from the opposite side. This was another thief who also wanted to climb into the silver vault through the drainage hole to steal silver. Unexpectedly, someone had already got there first, so the two thieves met in the middle of this drainage hole.
The drainage hole was too narrow. They had to work hard to get in by crawling forwards. Climbing backwards was even more impossible. The drainage hole was narrow and they couldn't turn around. The two men died in the drainage hole with their heads against each other, holding two gold ingots.
If it hadn't been for the heavy rain that blocked the drainage hole, the treasury officials would have sent people to dredge the drainage hole, and the two thieves would not have been discovered. They would have had to endure the pain of being in there for who knows how many years. You tell me, why bother? You have hands and feet, why not do anything else but become thieves..."
Gao Rui led the way and preached to Zhu Ping'an in a vivid voice, mocking and sighing at the plight of the two thieves.
yes.
But money can move people's hearts.
Zhu Pingan narrowed his eyes slightly. Through this story, Zhu Pingan found the problem. These two thieves stole two large ingots of gold and died in the gutter for so long. How come the Taicang Silver Vault was not discovered to have been stolen? Two large ingots of gold are not a small amount.
It seems that the Taicang Silver Vault is heavily guarded only for external purposes. There are many problems with its internal management. If the management is as strict as the guards, why were the two gold bars missing and not discovered until it rained heavily and water accumulated
"Master Zhu, after we pass the ditch ahead, the Taicang Silver Vault is just around the corner. I know there is a path that can go through the ditch. Master Zhu, please follow closely. I will lead the way first, hurrah..."
Gao Rui stretched out his whip and pointed at a deep ditch in front of him. As he spoke, Gao Rui pulled the reins to the left and right, swung the whip with his right hand, increased the speed of the horse and rushed forward.
"Hurry, urry, urry..."
The sound of Gao Rui riding the horse was accompanied by the sound of horse hooves, and he almost reached the state of unity between man and horse, and he rode faster and faster.
Crack the whip and pull the reins.
He is handsome and dashing, with the might of a tiger.
If Gao Rui had given up literature and taken up military service, he would surely have been a powerful general on the battlefield.
Zhu Ping'an followed Gao Rui closely behind, but his riding skills were not as good as Gao Rui's, and his Shamatte dark horse was no match for Gao Rui's big horse, so he was soon left behind by Gao Rui.
"This path is a bit narrow, Lord Zhu, please be careful." Gao Rui's voice came from the front.
"Thank you, Mr. Gao, for the reminder." Zhu Ping'an thanked Gao Rui from behind.
Gao Rui jumped on his horse and whipped it, showing his superb riding skills. By the time Zhu Ping'an rode his horse to the path, Gao Rui was about to cross the ditch.
When the horse was about to cross the ditch, Gao Rui pulled the reins and the horse leaped forward, with a grace and demeanor similar to that of Liu Bei when he leaped over the Tan River.
Ma Rufei
Well
People are flying too.
Maybe the horse stumbled or for some other reason, but when it was about to jump over the ditch, Zhu Ping'an only heard a horse neighing, and then saw Gao Rui and the horse under him fall into the ditch.
There was a loud bang.
The next second, the man and the horse were already at the bottom of the ditch, with one of Gao Rui's legs pinned down by the horse. Both the man and the horse looked in agony...
All right.
Zhu Ping'an pulled the corners of his lips speechlessly.