At dawn, Plum Blossom Guard Yan Xin hurried to the palace, and Emperor Zhao Gou gave him a face-to-face instruction.
Zou Shuan, who was on duty in the palace, immediately told Wei Yanzong the news.
Before noon, Lu Gang arrived at Changfeng Teahouse early, and not long after, Wang Mu also hurried over.
He walked into the elegant room and happened to see the chief shopkeeper Dong An reporting something to Lu Gang. Lu Gang nodded repeatedly, "Let Zou Shuan continue to monitor and report at any time!"
Dong An smiled and nodded to Wang Mu and left quickly. Wang Mu sat down and asked in a low voice: "What happened?"
Lu Gang smiled slightly and said, "The emperor is going to attack the Shi family."
Wang Mu was shocked, "The Shi family are truly powerful people in the Song Dynasty. If they attack powerful people, the emperor will not be afraid of shaking the foundation?"
"This matter was promoted by His Highness King Yong, so that the emperor would feel the danger and at the same time see the benefits. He would naturally think that killing the Shi family was a blow to the powerful, and at the same time he would make a lot of money himself.
"
Wang Mu sighed, "I can take care of the Shi family today, and I can take care of other powerful people tomorrow. Even if he temporarily suppresses the restlessness of the powerful people, he will also lose the support of the powerful people."
Lu Gang said with a smile: "His Royal Highness King Yong told me a story about boiling a frog in warm water. You can't boil the frog with boiling water, it will escape, but if you use warm water, the frog will be cooked unknowingly. The emperor is this frog.
, once he completely loses the support of the powerful and the Jiangnan family, it is time for him to be cooked."
"The story is interesting, but I won't publish it in the newspaper, lest he wakes up after seeing it."
Wang Mu smiled and said, "How do you plan to deal with the Shi family that day?"
"Early this morning, the emperor summoned Yan Xin, and I think he will make a fuss about the Wan Qixi assassination case."
Wang Mu asked curiously: "Can you find evidence that the Shi family is involved in the case?"
Lu Gang said lightly: "You underestimate Yan Xin's ability. I heard from Zou Shuan that he has found a breakthrough. He will definitely come to the newspaper in the next two days and ask the Beijing News to publicly announce the evidence."
"I will report it to him truthfully. In fact, there is no point in reporting it or not. It can only fool ordinary people, but it will cover up the powerful people!"
At this time, the waiter brought the food, and Lu Gang said with a smile: "Let's eat first! We will talk in detail after the meal."
Yan Xin already has evidence of Shi Guangping's involvement in the case. As Lu Gang said, Yan Xin is indeed outstanding as the commander of the Meihua Weidu.
He was as meticulous as a hair, and discovered that when Wan Qixi was stabbed, he happened to be walking out of the gate of the cabinet shop and before getting on the carriage. The assassin's timing was so precise that if no one informed him, he would never have been able to do it.
When Wan Qixi entered the cabinet, someone notified the assassin, who was hiding not far away. As soon as Wan Qixi went out, the assassin launched his attack.
So who informed the assassin, this is the key to the whole case. Yan Xin locked up three people, the accountant Gao Hongde, the steward Liao Bin, and Shi Guangping's coachman, all three of whom had left the cabinet shop one after another.
Yan Xin used the elimination method to eliminate Gao Hongde and Liao Bin, because these two people were at the level of minor stewards and were not Shi Guangping's confidants. Shi Guangping would never leak the secrets of such an important arrangement, so only Shi Guangping's coachman was the biggest suspect.
people.
In the morning, the Plum Blossom Guard captured the coachman's son. When his son's life was in danger, the coachman collapsed and told the details of how Shi Guangping arranged for him to notify the assassins.
At noon, Shi Guangping was sulking in the cabinet shop. He had just received the news that Wanbao Cabinet Shop and Jiangnan Cabinet Shop had reached a loan agreement with the imperial court, and the court had borrowed 1 million yuan from the two cabinet shops.
But what made him angry was not the borrowed money, but the court's collateral. Those lands, houses and shops, 30% of which had been mortgaged to him by merchants who had borrowed money, ended up being mortgaged by the court again.
A new title deed was made.
This means that the thick stack of land deeds in his hand has become useless paper, and all the two million guan he borrowed was wasted. In addition to the 600,000 guan he borrowed from Pingjiang Prefecture and Yuezhou,
He lost 2.6 million pounds.
This news was like a bolt from the blue, making him want to cry without tears, and also made him deeply realize the despicability of the court.
Shi Guangping had a sleepless night and rushed to the cabinet shop the next morning. He wanted to calculate how much money he had in the cabinet shops in various places.
The chief steward reported: "Proprietor, there are a total of twenty branches, four in the Jiangnan area, two on Guangnan East Road, and the other sixteen are all within the area controlled by the Yong Kingdom. The land value of each store adds up to thirty
About 50,000 guan, and my own money is about 400,000 guan, all in other areas except the main store."
Shi Guangping pressed his twitching temples and said, "If I package Baoji Cabinet Shop and sell it to King Yong, can I sell it for one million yuan?"
The big manager shook his head and said, "The maximum price is 200,000 to 300,000 yuan!"
"Why?" Shi Guangping was stunned.
"Have you forgotten, proprietor? Pingjiang Prefecture and Yuezhou still owe 600,000 yuan!"
"ah!"
Shi Guangping grabbed his hair fiercely and said for a long time: "Did you find out what I asked you to check this morning?"
"I found two families. The No. 17 warehouse belongs to the grain merchant Luo Guisheng, and the No. 21 warehouse belongs to the maritime merchant Liang Qi. They are both medium-sized warehouses. Both of their families are not in Lin'an, so they did not have time to withdraw the money."
"How much money is there?"
The big manager shook his head, "We can't know. The proprietor also knows that there are three doors. The key to the innermost door is in the hands of the guests. We have never entered, but both families have fifty large boxes. We will count them when we move in.
Pass."
After a moment's hesitation, the chief steward added: "If we touch their wealth, and they come to denounce us, it will seriously affect our credibility!"
Shi Guangping sneered and said: "It is said that it was confiscated by the emperor. How can they still go to confront the emperor? Let this stupid emperor take the blame."
At this moment, noisy footsteps were heard outside, and a steward shouted: "This is an important place in the inner chamber, you can't break in!"
Shi Guangping was startled, "What happened?"
The door curtain opened, and a dozen Plum Blossom Guard sergeants walked in, headed by a commander. He said coldly: "Dr. Shi, someone has given evidence that you assassinated Wanqi Xiangguo. Please come with us to the Plum Blossom Guard for investigation and questioning.
"
Shi Guangping was furious, "I am a dignified Duke of Wei. Without the emperor's will, no one has the right to take me away!"
The commander raised a gold medal and said, "This is the emperor's gold medal. With this gold medal, we can detain all ministers below the king's rank!"
Shi Guangping never dreamed that the emperor would issue an order to arrest him. He suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. Only then did he suddenly realize that the emperor had taken action against him. He panicked a little, "This is a misunderstanding. I did not assassinate Wanqi Prime Minister. No."
I did it, what a huge misunderstanding!”
The commander said coldly: "Please come with us. As long as you cooperate with the investigation, we will treat you with courtesy. If it is indeed not the owner, we will naturally release you. Please go ahead!"
Shi Guangping had no choice but to stand up and wink at the chief steward, asking him to notify his family immediately.
But Shi Guangping didn't know that his mansion had been surrounded by a thousand plum blossom guards led by the governor Yan Xin himself, and not a single male of the Shi family escaped.
Immediately afterwards, the Meihua Guard soldiers seized all the shops, houses and warehouses of the Shi family, including Baoji Cabinet Shop and Fengle Building. The army went to the countryside to seize the Shi family's twelve manors scattered throughout the Yangtze River, as well as those in Pingjiang.
Three Baoji cabinets in Yuezhou and Jiankang Prefecture were also sealed.
At the same time that Shi Guangping was arrested, a pigeon letter was urgently sent to Jingzhao City by special envoy Lu Gang, reporting the purge of the Shi family to King Yong Chen Qing.