For safety reasons, Wen Qingzhu asked Lei Shuo to quickly pack his things and set off early the next morning.
Lei Yan was worried and decided to escort him personally.
After seeing them off, Wen Qingzhu turned around and walked towards the city.
She didn't go far when she met Shen Yu head-on. He had already changed into a scholar's gown and was neatly tidied up.
"See Mr. Wen." Shen Yu saluted.
Wen Qingzhu, however, looked around him and praised him: "It's true that people need clothes. When you dress up like this, you are really different from before."
Shen Yu remained modest and smiled lightly.
Seeing his reaction, Wen Qingzhu became more and more satisfied and took him to the Yamen.
After meeting Tang Qin and Lu Tao, Wen Qingzhu introduced Shen Yu to them: "This is Shen Yu, the owner of the lumber shop in the north of the city. From now on, you will leave all matters related to the business to him."
"Congratulations, Boss Shen." Tang Qin stepped forward to salute and said hello, but his smile did not reach his eyes.
Shen Yu cupped his hands and returned the greeting: "I should have congratulated Mr. Tang first, but now I have to add it. I hope Mr. Tang doesn't mind."
"Of course I don't mind. I will need to rely more on Boss Shen in the future." Tang Qin became more and more polite.
When Wen Qingzhu took a look, it seemed that these two people knew each other.
Looking at the agility between them, I am afraid that they know the details of the other party.
Like this, very good.
After the greetings, Tang Qin took Wen Qingzhu to the house to see how many people were left in Yunzhou.
Everyone in the whole house was busy, and no one looked up when they heard the sound at the door.
Wen Qingzhu followed Tang Qin to the inner room. The official who was checking with his subordinates turned around and saw that adults were here, so he hurriedly came forward to salute.
"I have met Mr. Wen, Mr. Tang."
Wen Qingzhu nodded: "How is the verification here? Have you calculated the total number?"
The clerk hurriedly went to get the booklet, handed it to Wen Qingzhu respectfully and said: "Sir, please see, the current population of Yunzhou in front of you is 9,367 people, and the population of people over the age of 15 and under the age of 50 is 9,000 Eighty-eight people, plus the population of farmers outside the city and servants on the village, is initially estimated to be more than 3,000 people."
"What about the total population of good people?"
The official replied: "There are five thousand six hundred and thirty-two people in total."
"Why are there so few? The total number of good people is less than half of the people who stayed?" Wen Qingzhu began to look through the book, which recorded the places where most of the population lived.
After reading it, Wen Qingzhu directly returned the book to the official, turned around and walked out.
Then she went to check on the fifth room where she gave birth.
Taken together, the situation was worse than she imagined.
Sitting in the living room, Wen Qingzhu looked at the two people in front of him and asked, "What are your plans here? Now Yunzhou is the first defensive line after the most popular plan. Such a small population is simply not enough!"
"If Dingyuan falls, Dingyuan's 30,000 people will definitely migrate here. Most of them are military guards and will not abandon their homes at this time."
As soon as Tang Qin finished speaking, Shen Yu immediately retorted: "No, there will definitely not be 30,000 people. The first thing is to break through the Yonghe Pass. There will definitely be a big war. The people in Dingyuan, Mr. Tang is afraid that he has left Yunzhou for too long. Do you know too much?"
Tang Qin, who was trying to keep a smile, asked, "What do you think Mr. Shen has to say?"
Shen Yu cupped his hands and replied: "Sir, since Wen Qingzhu Yonghe can be destroyed, then the Xiongnu must come out in full force. According to your Lord, the Xiongnu are different from the past, so our Daqi must also suffer heavy casualties.
The second front is Dingyuan. Although the people will be evacuated, those who can fight will definitely join the army, and the rest will be the family members of the soldiers who have no fighting ability.
For the sake of those soldiers who shed their lives and blood on the battlefield, your Excellency will definitely arrange for their evacuation, at least from Linzhou. Therefore, it is impossible for the people of Dingyuan to make up for the lack of the people of Yunzhou. "
Wen Qingzhu praised: "It seems that you have been paying attention to these things. If it really comes to that point, Dingyuan's population will indeed not be able to replenish it, so we must find another way."
"My lord, you have actually thought of it. If I guessed correctly, we should start from Texas and Linzhou. According to the current situation, it should be mainly Texas."
Wen Qingzhu nodded with a smile and praised him a few words, while Shen Yu was humble.
Tang Qin, who wanted to express himself at first, now clenched the hand in his sleeve, and the smile on his face was a little stiff.
After the general direction is determined, the only thing left is to actually take action against Yunzhou.
Wen Qingzhu looked at Shen Yu and asked, "How much do you know about Tao Wanwan?"
Shen Yu was silent for a while and said: "This person is not easy to deal with. It depends on how you want to deal with him."
Wen Qingzhu stood up, walked to the door, looked at the sky and said: "Behind Tao Wanwan is Jiang Yuancheng. According to my plan, I want to take him down directly, but I am a little worried about alerting the enemy, so I want to make a game. "
When she turned around, the person she looked at was Tang Qin.
"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions." Tang Qin stepped forward with a wink, expressing his willingness to take part in the mission.
…
In the evening, the backyard of Tao's drug store.
Tao Baiwan walked around the house, extremely anxious.
After a while, a boy rushed in and reported: "Sir, Mr. Yan still hasn't gone to the Yamen today. The concierge of the Yan family won't let the villain in. No one from the Yan family has come to buy tobacco. I don't know what the situation is yet." .”
"Go away!" Tao Baiwan was restless now. After hearing his words, he directly drove the person away.
In this situation, whether it is good news or bad news, the last thing we want is no news.
Tao Wanwan was so anxious that he got angry, but he could only sit down.
He hasn't been so worried for a long time, and this is the first time he has encountered such a situation.
Thinking of the current situation in Yunzhou, Tao Baiwan slapped the armrest hard and said bitterly: "What a Fu Jiajun! How dare you directly put an official of the imperial court under house arrest! You really don't take the emperor seriously!"
As soon as he finished speaking, an old servant walked in hurriedly from outside.
He walked to Tao Wanwan and stopped, whispering several words in his ear.
"What you said is true!" Tao Baiwan stood up immediately in shock, "Don't talk nonsense about this kind of news!"
The old servant nodded and said: "It's absolutely true. I went out of the city today and contacted Mr. Jiang. His people couldn't get in. He said that the most trusted person of the emperor was here, so the Fu family army came here. .”
"It's her!" Tao Baiwan's hands began to tremble involuntarily.
This woman is someone even the master above her is afraid of. How can he, a small businessman, be her opponent!
Tao Baiwan immediately ordered: "Pack your things! Get ready to leave! We can't stay here any longer!"
After taking two steps outside, he suddenly stopped and said, "By the way, is there any news about Tao Xin? Isn't he always in Dingyuan?"
"It's still the news from last time. It is said that Mr. Zuo found him and suspected that he was selling tobacco. However, Tao Xin is very smart and has destroyed all the evidence. Currently, the Yamen can't find any evidence, so he is still assisting the Yamen. Survey."
The old servant's words made Tao Wanwan appreciate Tao Xin even more: "It seems that I was right about him. Please dare me. Now is a special time. Don't let me know. Even if you lose your business, keep an eye on him." It’s also good for people who work in the yamen.”
Half an hour later, Tang Qin sent someone to deliver news to the inn.
Wen Qingzhu was discussing with Shen Yu about building an observation tower.
After listening to what the visitor said, Wen Qingzhu asked doubtfully: "At this time, Tao Wanwan still wants to leave Tao Xin in Dingyuan? Are you sure the news is correct?"
"Yes, it just allows Tao Xin to ignore the tobacco business, but Tao Xin must be allowed to guard Dingyuan."
Wen Qingzhu thought for a while and felt that Tao Wanwan's purpose was not with Yan Ye.
Why on earth did he want to stay in Dingyuan
At night, when Wen Qingzhu was seeing Shen Yu off, he suddenly asked him: "Why do you think Tao Wanwan refused to evacuate Tao Xin? There is going to be a war soon, and he also knows the news that Dingyuan may not be able to hold on."
"Tao Wanwan regards wealth as his life. If he does this, it must be because he can get more money. Maybe the tobacco leaves are just a cover-up."
Shen Yu has been immersed in business since childhood and has always stayed in Yunzhou.
He has learned about any changes here in time.
Wen Qingzhu still felt that his words made sense.
But she was still a little curious: "When you met with Tang Qin today, you didn't seem to be getting along well? Do you have any grudges between you? It won't affect cooperation, right?"
Regarding the matter between him and Tang Qin, Shen Yu had no intention of hiding it: "Don't worry, sir, it's just some personal matters. Speaking of which, Tang Da and I were good friends before. But then my father passed away and the Shen family had many problems. estrangement."
He mused: "Tang Qin and I, to use an inappropriate analogy, it's probably the case that there's no better way to be good than to be bright."
Wen Qingzhu nodded and watched him leave.
At the same time, she remembered that she had asked Tang Qin the same thing when she was still at the Yamen during the day.
Tang Qin also had a high opinion of Shen Yu, but the lack of communication between words was still obvious.
It was obvious that they were familiar with each other.
Wen Qingzhu shook his head and entered the room. How could he be so happy if he was bright
Then let her wait and see.
Early the next morning, Yan Yongzhang finally left Yan's house.
He dressed neatly and walked to the Yamen with a serious expression.
Usually at this time, he would either ride in a carriage or a sedan.
So he suddenly walked on the road and immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Wen Qingzhu had just left the inn when he received the news.
She didn't say anything and rode directly to the Yamen.
In order to wait for Yan Yongzhang, she could stop for a while.
About two-quarters of an hour later, Yan Yongzhang arrived at the door and knelt down directly toward the capital.
After prostrating three times, he turned to Wen Qingzhu and knelt down, taking off his official hat: "Your Excellency, please punish me."
Wen Qingzhu said calmly: "The punishment is not now. There are only two ways I can give you, either go to Beijing now, or make meritorious deeds."
Without waiting for Yan Yongzhang to reply, she added: "But don't forget, after your death, the investigation will continue. If it reaches the point of killing the Nine Clan, then it will be the Killing of the Nine Clan."
When Yan Yongzhang heard this, his body trembled and cold sweat broke out all over his body.
It wasn't that he had never thought about punishing the Nine Tribes, but now that he heard Wen Qingzhu say it so clearly, he couldn't bear it any longer. He knelt down and said, "The guilty minister is willing to atone for his sins."
Wen Qingzhu then walked up personally and helped Yan Yongzhang up.
At the same time, he took his official hat and put it on his head again.
"Mr. Yan, others don't have such a good opportunity as you, so you have to cherish it. Not to mention the distant ones, just Mr. Yan, you only have one son.
Although he is a dandy, his nature is not bad. The most important thing is, even if you die, Mrs. Yan is not an ordinary woman, she will change your son. "
Yan Yongzhang thanked him again.
Wen Qingzhu didn't say much and took him inside.
In the lobby, Tang Qin and Shen Yu had gathered everyone else in the government together.
As soon as Yan Yongzhang appeared, everyone immediately saluted and said hello.
"I've met Mr. Yan."
Facing these people, Yan Yongzhang felt annoyed and blamed himself. It would have been better if he had not joined those people in the first place.
In this case, his daughter will not die.
His wife will not be separated from him, and his son will not fall into depravity, so that now he himself cannot escape the death penalty.