The second day after the Double Ninth Festival was a day of rest. Early in the morning, Ergou stood outside the Qianqing Palace with a few memorials in his sleeves, and approached Yiji when he came out.

"Chicken Boss, your Majesty doesn't look like he's going to get angry today, does he?"

Yiji ordered a young eunuch to deliver a message to Changchun Palace for the emperor, and then turned to look at Ergou's sleeves.

"But what's the bad news?"

Ergou nodded lightly: "The Jin Yiwei sent to Dengzhou have returned. It is indeed what Chen Shouzhang said. Many people in Dengzhou abandoned their fields and fled their homes because they could not pay the grain tax in full."

When speaking, Ergou pointed the fingers of his left hand downward, first making a sign of "two", and then making a sign of "seven".

The chicken immediately understood that the gang of dogs had actually set up twenty-seven kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

He turned around and glanced at the emperor who was reading a book in Dongnuan Pavilion, and felt a little hesitant in his heart. It was rare for the emperor to have a moment of relaxation these days. If his good mood was ruined again, he was afraid that there would be another bloody storm.

Before Yiji could think of what to say, he saw Ergou bend down and take out a roll of banknotes from his boots.

"Who gave this?"

"Yesterday afternoon, the soldiers of the British Royal Palace sent me to the house outside the palace. They put it down and left. My mother was scared to death."

Among the four eunuchs, only Ergou's father and mother are still alive. Ergou made a contribution when he captured Zhang Wan two years ago. The emperor specially showed mercy and allowed Ergou to bring his father and mother into the palace, and also gave him a mansion. .

"Four thousand taels of silver." He flicked his fingers on the roll of banknotes that smelled like his own socks, "This is one piece for each of the four of us. Boss Chicken, do you think we can take this money?"

Ergou was born strong and powerful, but his eyes were not small. He looked at the chicken eagerly, quite like a big dog.

Yiji knew that this silly-looking dog had a lot of thoughts, so he asked him if he would accept the money, but secretly asked the emperor what he thought about the Yingjun Wang family.

As the leading eunuch, the emperor did not hide the fact that he summoned the Four Rats alone. Even if Yiji didn't know what the emperor ordered the four rats to do, he knew in his heart that those few times must have been for the Yingjun Palace.

But he couldn't say these words to Ergou.

"The Emperor just dismissed the supervisory censor of Jiangxi a few days ago, and sent Yao Qian, the most famous and ambitious among the censors, to Jiangxi. Do you think we can accept the money?"

Hearing what Yiji said, Ergou suddenly felt that the banknote in his hand was hot to his touch: "Then I will quickly find a grandson to send it back."

"There is no need to send it back." Yiji glanced at the emperor from afar, "The emperor has to decide how to deal with the money."

When Ergou heard this, he quickly put the banknote into Yiji's hand, but Yiji raised his hand to block it.

The handsome eunuch leader couldn't hide the disgust on his face: "Next time you wash your feet, use more soap balls. If that doesn't work, sprinkle some fragrant dew on them. Even a pair of stinky feet dare to serve in front of the emperor!"

As he spoke, Yiji raised his hand and fanned himself with his sleeves.

The second dog suddenly had a sad look on his face after giving birth to a pair of stinky feet.

Without saying a word to him, he found a young eunuch and took a small incense burner burning white sandalwood to smoke several banknotes, and then sent them to the emperor together with the money.

Seeing the results of Jin Yiwei's investigation into Dengzhou Mansion, Shen Shiqing was really surprised even though he had expected it.

A total of twenty-seven kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes with clever names were used to crush the bones and marrow of the people of Dengzhou. However, the Jinyiwei searched the homes of seven people including Zhou Shu, the magistrate of Dengzhou, and could not get away with thirty thousand taels of silver.

Speaking of greed, these people are indeed greedy, but the amount is far from commensurate.

Zhou Shu and others knew that they were going to die, so they confessed all the crimes they had committed under Jinyiwei's methods, but they all said that they only wanted the money and did not hide any money.

What about the money?

Where has the public support and sacrifice of the people of Dengzhou gone over the past few years?

Shen Shiqing licked her fingers and suddenly smiled:

"Chen Shouzhang wrote to me to reduce taxes and reduce the army, but he did not report corruption by Zhou Shu and others. If you ask someone to bring Chen Shouzhang... No, you two pack up and accompany me to Beizhen Fusi. "

Hearing that His Majesty was about to leave the palace again, the two eunuchs quickly knelt down.

Ergou took the opportunity to take out the banknote sent by the Prince of Yingjun: "Your Majesty, the Prince of Yingjun has given me so much money, and I really don't know what to do with it..."

Looking at the roll of banknotes with a faint aroma, Shen Shiqing waved her hand. She had offended Zhao Qinyang so much yesterday, and he would naturally try his best to please those around her:

"Since he is willing to give them away, you can ask for more, and they will all be used to make firearms."

After saying that, Shen Shiqing stood up and planned to change out of the straight robe with cloud and dragon patterns on her body. After taking two steps, she stopped again and looked at the two eunuchs who had been serving her:

"The Yingjun princes are dominating Jiangxi and their gains are just ill-gotten wealth. Sooner or later, I will make them all spit it out. This is the case for all his vassal kings surnamed Zhao. When you see the money, you will feel in your heart Also weigh it."

The emperor's words seemed to be spoken casually, but there was no doubt that this was the most straightforward warning.

One chicken and two dogs wish they could bury their faces in the ground.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I'll give the slaves a few hundred more guts, and the slaves won't dare to take what they shouldn't!"

After saying that, Yiji glanced at Ergou.

Ergou's face was already covered with sweat.

Seeing this, Yiji frowned deeply.

When he was summoned and taken out of the prison, Chen Shouzhang was even a little happy. Ever since he was brought to Beizhen Fusi by the Jinyi Guards like a dead dog, except for the first few days when someone came to interrogate him, he had been tortured day after day. He was locked up in a dark cell with no one to talk to.

If he had known earlier that the corner of the sky he looked up at at the entrance of Fusi in Beizhen would be the last time he stood under a sunny sky in these dozens of days, he would have looked twice at everything he said.

But what surprised Chen Shouzhang was that the jailer did not take him to the black room used for interrogation. As he walked along the black corridor, Chen Shouzhang suddenly felt a pain in front of his eyes.

Several jailers quickly took out a black cloth bag and slapped it on his head:

"I haven't seen the sun for so many days. I'm afraid I'm going blind."

Chen Shouzhang struggled a bit, but his eyes were still covered in the end.

But even so, he could still feel the sun shining on his body, bringing a slight warmth.

The jailer led him forward, walking east and west for a while, and someone else took over. This time, the two people walked solidly and moved well. Chen Shouzhang knew from the sound of their footsteps that these people must be Jin Yiwei. .

"Lord Qi, people have been brought here."

There was silence in the room, only the sound of the door closing could be heard.

Chen Shouzhang tentatively took a step forward, but heard another crisp sound coming from the room.

It was the sound of the tea cup being placed on the table.

"I heard that Mr. Chen is from Huzhou, so I specially prepared some purple bamboo shoot tea. Mr. Chen, why don't you try the taste of this tea?"

Chen Shouzhang listened attentively and felt that the person speaking was very young and had an official accent, but he was not like the Jin Yiwei he had seen.

"I'm just a detained criminal official. How dare I sit and drink with you? I wonder what you want me to do?"

There was a sound of water pouring into the teacup, and Chen Shouzhang tilted his head again.

After staying in the rotten and smelly prison for so many days, just smelling the fragrance of tea made him feel thirsty.

"Master Chen, I'll tell you the truth. I'm here to inquire about something, not for interrogation. Master Chen doesn't need to be restrained."

There were many sons of princes and nobles among the Jinyi Guards. Listening to this man's tone, Chen Shouzhang thought it was another dude from another family who was coming to play with him. He paused for a moment, his heart skipped a beat, and finally took another step forward.

:

"In this case, it would be disrespectful for me to refuse."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately came forward and led him to sit down. First, he slightly rolled up the black cloth bag on his head to expose his mouth, and then placed a three-inch high lamp into his palm.

The fine porcelain was as warm and moist as jade. Chen Shouzhang took a deep breath until the aroma of tea filled his lungs, then he raised the tea cup and drank the tea in one gulp.

Comfortable!

He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, and felt much relieved.

Putting the teacup on the table, he was about to ask the other party why he came, but he heard the sound of tea being poured again.

Unable to hold back, Chen Shouzhang picked up the tea again and poured it into his belly.

As a result, the other party poured three cups of tea in a row, and he drank three cups in a row.

After drinking, Chen Shouzhang smiled.

"If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. For the sake of these three cups of tea, I, Chen Shouzhang, will accept your offer of tea even if I die in Yanjing this time!"

The other party still filled up his tea cup and finally spoke:

"More than 30 members of the Jin Yiwei team went to Dengzhou. After such a long investigation, they found that the people of Dengzhou had to pay more than 50,000 taels of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes this year. However, officials from all over Dengzhou only found a total of more than 30,000 taels of silver. I'm here.

I just want to ask Mr. Chen, where did the rest of the money go?"

After hearing what this person said, Chen Shouzhang laughed first:

"Why are you asking me, sir? Do you think that I, Chen Shouzhang, dare to even write down tax cuts and disarmament in my memorial? There must be nothing I dare not say, right?"

"No." The young man sitting across the table from him poured himself a cup of tea, "I came to ask Mr. Chen, not because Mr. Chen is grateful for tax cuts and disarmament, but because Mr. Chen only wrote about tax cuts and disarmament.

, but did not write about the greed and accumulation of money in Dengzhou Prefecture."

Chen Shouzhang fell silent.

After a while, he picked up the fourth cup of tea:

"At the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order to defend against the northwest, the DPRK established a strategy to raise horses in various regions. Five families along the Yellow River raised a horse, and ordered the Taipu Temple to take charge of horse administration in various regions. However, since Shenzong was defeated in the northwest, all dynasties

He did not dare to mention the war anymore, but he still let the people raise horses. If the young horses bred from the stallions were not good, the people would have to pay a fine to Taipu Temple. Mingzong sympathized with the people and allowed them to exchange money for horses. Taipu Temple took care of the horses.

He also became a money manager. Since the late emperor, when there was trouble in the court, he had repeatedly allocated the money in Taipu Temple to defend against Japanese pirates in the east, and the northwest and northwest in the west. Floods in the south, severe drought in the north, and the state capital had no money, so he sent money to the state capital.

The pastoral supervisors, even the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, all reached out to Taipu Temple when they had no money, and all the money for the decades of peace and prosperity of the Great Yong Dynasty came from this. Until His Majesty made the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition, asking for horses from various places..."
To be continued...