Because the rumor that "Shen Changmao sent someone to assassinate Zhao Junchen" spread everywhere and became more and more intense, Shen Changmao personally led Huang Yourong to visit Zhao Mansion, hoping to counter the rumors with his own actions, and also hoped that Zhao Junchen could take the initiative to stand up Help Shen Changmao clarify the rumors.
However, Shen Changmao still underestimated Zhao Junchen's greed and ambition. Taking advantage of Shen Changmao's request, Zhao Junchen opened his mouth and directly proposed the terms of the deal, so that Shen Changmao would no longer object. His disciple Zhang Jizhi served as the magistrate of Yanzhou!
You must know that Taierzhuang is located in Yanzhou, which is the choke point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Its prosperity is no less than that of Suzhou and Hangzhou. It is not only the key to the success or failure of commercial and tax rectification, but it is also a position full of oil and water, and the most important thing.
However, to give up such an important position to Zhao Junchen just to get rid of rumors and all the troubles caused by them, in Shen Changmao's view, it is not worth the gain.
The most important thing is, according to Shen Changmao, under the full pursuit of all the major government offices in the imperial court, the murderer of Zhao Junchen will soon be caught, and the person behind the assassination of Zhao Junchen will soon be identified. , at that time, the rumors will naturally be self-defeating, and I just need to wait patiently. Why would I cede such a huge benefit to Zhao Junchen in vain just for the sake of being in a hurry?
Therefore, Shen Changmao would naturally not agree to the deal proposed by Zhao Junchen.
Just when Shen Changmao made up his mind to reject Zhao Junchen's proposal, he was about to speak when he suddenly saw Zhao Junchen's eldest son, Xu Qingyan, hurriedly entered the main hall of the Zhao Mansion with a serious expression on his face, and hurriedly came to Zhao Junchen's house. Next to Junchen, he bent down and whispered something in Zhao Junchen's ear.
After hearing Xu Qingyan's report, Zhao Junchen also had a solemn expression. After thinking for a while, he told Xu Qingyan: "This matter is too bad. It just so happens that Shen Shoufu and Huang Ge are both here. You should also tell them Mr. Ge, please report it again."
Seeing this situation, Shen Changmao and Huang Yourong looked at each other, their expressions were a little surprised. Could something big happened again?
On the other side, after hearing Zhao Junchen's instructions, Xu Qingyan first turned to Shen Changmao and Huang Yourong and bowed, and then said: "Two pavilion bosses, we just received the news that not long ago, the Xichang finally discovered the assassination attempt. The traces of Zhang Wei, the murderer of Mr. Zhao, have been traced, and Zhang Wei and several of Zhang Wei’s accomplices have been arrested and brought to justice..."
After hearing Xu Qingyan's report, Shen Changmao suddenly beamed with joy.
According to Shen Changmao, as long as Zhao Junchen's assassin is caught, the rumors will be disproven and his innocence will soon be proven.
However, Shen Changmao just felt some joy in his heart when he heard Xu Qingyan continue: "However, on the way to Xichang while escorting Zhang Wei back to Xichang Yamen, he suddenly encountered an ambush. More than twenty people Men in black of unknown origin suddenly appeared, all armed with military crossbows, and attacked the team escorting the criminals in Xichang. Xichang was caught off guard and suffered serious losses. Two Xichang fans were shot with crossbows. He died, and a stall owner from the West Factory was seriously injured. The most important thing is...the men in black obviously wanted to kill people and silence them. Zhang Wei, the murderer who assassinated Mr. Zhao, as well as several of Zhang Wei's accomplices, and a A witness named Jiang Qing was killed during this period!"
"What!?"
As Xu Qingyan finished speaking, both Shen Changmao and Huang Yourong looked horrified and stood up together!
Especially Shen Changmao, who originally thought that the rumors would be shattered and the suspicion on himself would be cleared away, but he did not expect that such a change would occur!
The assassination of Zhao Junchen's murderer means that the real murderer behind the assassination of Zhao Junchen will not be discovered for a long time. As the rumors become more and more intense, the suspicion on Shen Changmao will also become more and more serious. Seriously, how much trouble will Shen Changmao encounter in this way? How much of a blow will his reputation be hit? How will Emperor Deqing and all the officials in the court view him?
For a moment, Shen Changmao felt confused and confused.
After all, Huang Yourong was a bystander. He was a little calmer at this time and immediately asked Xu Qingyan: "Someone dare to attack the West Factory and intercept and kill the criminals?! They are so bold! What are the origins of those men in black who attacked the West Factory? ?Did Xichang capture them?"
Xu Qingyan shook his head and said: "These men in black suddenly appeared. After shooting Zhang Wei and others with powerful crossbows, they immediately scattered and retreated. Their actions were extremely neat. After the attack in Xichang, it was inevitable that they would be a little panicked. When everyone in Xichang After finally stabilizing our position, all those men in black have disappeared, so Xichang has not been able to catch them, nor has it obtained any evidence, so it is impossible to identify their origins."
After hearing Xu Qingyan's answer, Shen Changmao slammed the table, regardless of the fact that Zhao Junchen was still the director of the West Factory, and cursed angrily: "The West Factory is too incompetent!"
On the other side, Zhao Junchen said coldly: "It seems that the forces in the DPRK and China that oppose the rectification of business and taxation are more unscrupulous and lawless than imagined. Not only did they send people to assassinate me, but when the murderer who assassinated me was caught, , they even sent people to attack the West Factory, killing people and silencing them... Well, I want to see how long they can be arrogant! Even if I can't do anything to them, will your Majesty let them do whatever they want?"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Shen Changmao suddenly reacted - according to Zhao Junchen, when the murderer Zhang Wei assassinated him, he once said, "If you want to please the emperor, you can't block everyone's financial path." "In this way, Zhao Junchen's assassination was obviously due to the imperial court's rectification of business taxes!
Today, the murderer Zhang Wei was finally caught, but before he could be interrogated, he was ambushed and silenced. The mastermind behind this incident was obviously also from the DPRK and China's opposition to the rectification of business and taxation. power!
In this way, as this matter intensifies and its nature becomes more and more serious, wouldn't Shen Changmao, as the leader among officials who oppose the rectification of commercial taxes, become even more troubled?
It is conceivable that first Zhao Junchen was assassinated, and then the Xichang was attacked. These things had completely touched the back of Emperor Deqing, so Emperor Deqing would definitely react violently in the future, killing chickens to scare monkeys, and frightening the government and the public. It is one of Emperor Deqing’s methods!
Under such circumstances, Shen Changmao's top priority is to extricate himself from this matter, otherwise he is likely to become the primary target of Emperor Deqing's anger!
After thinking about this, Shen Changmao could no longer sit still. He immediately stood up and said goodbye to Zhao Junchen, planning to go back and prepare countermeasures.
However, before leaving, Shen Changmao suddenly said to Zhao Junchen: "Just now, Mr. Zhao thought that Zhang Jizhi was the best candidate for the prefect of Yanzhou. I thought about it and agreed. Tomorrow, I will personally Recommend Zhang Jizhi to your Majesty as the governor of Yanzhou!"
Obviously, as the situation became increasingly serious, in order to remove himself from Zhao Junchen's assassination as soon as possible, Shen Changmao finally agreed to Zhao Junchen's conditions and planned to use his position as the prefect of Yanzhou in exchange for Zhao Junchen's support, allowing Zhao Junchen to take the initiative Help Shen Changmao clarify the rumors.
After hearing Shen Changmao's words, Zhao Junchen smiled slightly and said meaningfully: "Shen Shoufu is indeed a talent-loving person. From this point of view, those rumors in the market are indeed caused by villains. Please rest assured that Shen Shoufu, I will definitely sternly rebuke the rumors when I come to court tomorrow morning and do my best to protect Shen Shoufu's reputation!"
Zhao Junchen stood outside the Zhao Mansion and personally sent Shen Changmao and Huang Yourong off. Seeing the sedans carried by the two elders going further and further away, Zhao Junchen suddenly turned to Xu Qingyan and asked, "Wei Huai is here." Already?"
As he spoke, Zhao Junchen's expression was quite calm, and he seemed not to care at all about the attack on the West Factory.
On the other side, Xu Qingyan nodded and replied: "Master Wei is waiting for the young master in the study."