Li Longxin wondered: "If you don't count the accounts, how can you repay King Tiandu and explain to other ministers?"
Luo Fan smiled slightly, took out a memorial from his arms and handed it to Li Longxin, smiling: "I have prepared it for you. In a moment, you will use the carriage to transport all the gold and silver to the palace. As for the accounts, I have already written them Once the memorial is ready, you can just hand it over to King Tiandu."
Li Longxin was very puzzled. The gold and silver were not counted. How could Luofan write the memorial? When he opened it, he saw that it was written in the memorial: Chen Luofan was ordered to investigate the case of smuggling illicit salt and tea by Tianqing Tao Feng, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The stolen money investigated so far is about (empty number) 10,000 taels and 20,000 dans of illicit salt. Eighty thousand catties of tea.
Li Longxin took a look and saw that the number behind the stolen money was actually empty! He was confused for a moment and then figured it out immediately. According to the regulations, Tao Fengxing's family property must be handed over to Tianbaosi for disposal, and cannot be returned to the hands of King Tiandu. Luofan wrote blank accounts, which meant that King Tiandu could fill in the numbers himself. Then King Tiandu has the final say on how much gold and silver he wants to keep.
Li Long thought for a while, then hid the memorial in his arms, nodded and said: "I understand. I will ask King Tiandu for instructions as soon as possible."
At this time, Luofan waved his hand and called his secret guard, then pointed at the two big boxes of gold on the ground and said with a smile: "Come here, bring these two boxes of tattered clothes to my house. I am short of clothes." Wear it!”
Immediately, the secret guards brought a dozen strong men who had been prepared long ago and began to move the gold.
Li Longxin took a look, frowned and looked at Luofan: "What do you mean?"
Luo Fan chuckled, took a stack of banknotes from the pile on the ground, stuffed it into Li Long's heart, and said with a smile: "What do you mean? We are scared, so we always have to have some reward. If I don't take it, why are you so embarrassed to take it? You If you don’t take it, how can you implement the numbers in the memorial I wrote?”
Li Longxin frowned even more when he heard this. Luo Fan was filling his pockets in front of him, but he couldn't stop it. Because if Luo Fan is stopped, then Li Benxin will not be able to take the money. After thinking about it, he had no choice but to let Luofan go, took away two large boxes of gold, and waited to report to King Tiandu.
Tao Feng sat on the ground and saw Luo Fan stealing two large boxes of gold from him. He raised his head and laughed loudly: "All the officials of the Tiandu Dynasty have the same moral character. Yesterday the gold and silver were in my house, today they were moved to your house, and who knows what will happen the day after tomorrow?" Whose house are you at? What happens to me today is what will happen to you tomorrow! Haha, haha!"
"That's different. I am alone in my family, and if I die, only I will die. But if you die, your whole family will die. Your warehouse in the western suburbs of Longcheng has been confiscated by me. Where can you find the 20,000 rock salt you hoarded? There must be tens of thousands of kilograms of tea leaves, and they are going to be sold to the Xijiang tribe. Just this one, I can destroy all nine of your tribes! Not to mention, your family has committed many other crimes." Luo Fan sneered coldly.
Hearing this, Tao Feng knelt down and cried again: "I, I surrender. I beg you, have mercy on my Tao family. I am willing to give you all my property. Please spare the lives of my children and grandchildren! Our Tao family cannot be defeated. On my hands. Although I, Tao Feng, have done many evil things, at any rate, our Tao family is very kind to the Tiandu Dynasty. Please, Luofan Shenquan, don’t embarrass my descendants, Tao Feng is here for you Kowtow and beg for mercy.”
"It's not me who wants to kill you and your children and grandchildren. It's the evil you have done. It's the law of the Tiandu Dynasty and the righteousness of the world. Don't worry, I am fair in my work and will not kill innocent people. If your children and grandchildren If there is no crime, I will definitely save their lives and let them have no worries for the rest of their lives. As for your ending, sir, you should know what to do. I hope you will not make things difficult for me and make things difficult for King Tiandu. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being cruel. Come on. People, put all the prisoners in prison." Luo Fan.
Seeing that he was about to be taken away, the housekeeper Hou Xiang hurriedly rushed to Luofan and kowtowed: "Sir, you said you would let us go, but you can't just keep your word."
Luo Fan chuckled and said: "Of course it counts. The Tao family's case has not been tried yet, and you are still required to be witnesses. You go to the prison first, write down everything you know and hand it in as a testimony. Once the case is concluded, you will be allowed to leave. , I will also give you the money that is due to you.”
"Thank you, sir!" Hou Xiang burst into tears and smiled, and immediately followed him with great swagger.
Tao Feng's family was tied up with chains and sent to prison. His sons Tao Yi, Tao Xiang, and grandsons Tao Qianji and Tao Baiwen were all soon locked up by the Foreign Affairs Department.
The streets were crowded with people, including people watching the theater, as well as spies sent by the four major families and various wealthy families. They watched dozens of carriages carrying gold and silver being delivered to the palace. They also saw that the usually arrogant and domineering Tao Feng family looked like they were defeated. The rooster, with his head hanging down, was taken to the prison of the Imperial Guard. The situation was turbulent and people all over the city were frightened.
Hundreds of officials from the outer government led by the four major families, as well as hundreds of officials led by the inner government, have gathered outside the palace, waiting for the summons of King Tiandu. In the palace, Li Benxin was also restless, waiting for Li Longxin's return. Although Li Longxin had already sent someone to say that they had found evidence of Tao Feng's crime, he was still worried, fearing that something might happen.
It wasn't until Li Longxin personally escorted a cart of gold and silver into the palace that Li Benxin became happy. At the same time, it was also unexpected. I didn't expect that a little Tao Feng's family would collect so much gold and silver.
"Long Xin, you have gained so much this time. It seems that your trip with Luo Fan was not in vain. Please tell me carefully whether you have caught any evidence of Tao Feng's smuggling. Now the officials from the inner and outer government have been waiting outside. Impatient, if there is no real evidence, I have no way to convince them." Li Benxin asked eagerly.
Li Longxin immediately took out some letters and reported: "The evidence of the crime is conclusive. Luofan sent people to search Tao Feng's warehouse on the outskirts of the city, and found 20,000 pounds of illicit salt, 80,000 pounds of tea, and dozens of people from evil sects in Western Xinjiang. Name. This is Tao Feng's confession, as well as the testimony of Tao's housekeeper and servants. Luofan asked me to send it first for the king to read, so that he can deal with the officials of various ministries. As for the detailed testimony, it will be sent after the interrogation tomorrow. "
"Well, how could an old thief like Tao Feng write a confession so easily? This is not like his style?" Li Benxin asked, looking at the confession in his hand.
"He knew that he would not escape death and wanted to save the lives of his children and grandchildren, so he wanted to bear all the charges. Also, the gold and silver here is only a small half of what was seized by the Tao family. Because the amount is too huge, if I directly transport them all When I come to the palace, I'm afraid of causing criticism. So I plan to bring it back at night."
"This is only a small half? How much money did the Tao family copy?" When Li Benxin, the king of Tiandu, heard the news, he seemed to have come from the countryside, and his eyes were opened.
Li Longxin took out Luo Fan's memorial from his arms, handed it over and said, "Please see King Tiandu. This is the general ledger Luo Fan gave you."
Li Benxin hurriedly opened it, only to see that there was a space in front of the total number of gold and silver. Li Benxin immediately understood that Luofan wanted to watch and fill it in by himself. Sure enough, he understands his own thoughts. By doing this, Luofan took on the responsibility, but kept all the benefits to himself.
Li Benxin smiled knowingly: "I didn't expect that this Luofan is quite good at getting things done. Long Xin, what do you think is the appropriate number for this account?"
Li Longxin shook his head and said: "Everything is subject to King Tiandu's orders. However, I made a rough estimate and found that the Tao family's gold and silver should total seven to eight million taels. Including other antique jades, it should be worth more than ten million taels. And the Tao family's gold and silver should be worth more than 10 million taels. There are still dozens of shops, houses, and properties that have not had time to be liquidated."
Li Benxin thought for a moment, frowned and hummed: "A small Tao Feng has tens of millions of wealth, and the wealth of the four major families is probably immeasurable. Now it is time for us to deal with the four major families with money. These The money must be used properly. However, the amount found this time is huge. If the people know about it, they may make unreasonable comments about the government. So from now on, we will tell the outside world that we only copied two million taels of silver. Do you understand?"
Li Longxin naturally understood it and said with cupped hands: "I know, I'll tell Luo Shenqi in a moment. By the way, there's one more thing."
As he spoke, Li Longxin took out the stack of banknotes given to him by Luo Fan from his arms, held them in both hands and said, "Luofan gave this to me from Tao Feng's family's belongings. He also received it from Tao's family. , took away two large boxes of gold, the amount is not small, estimated to be thirty or forty thousand taels of gold. I wonder, how should this matter be handled?"
"That's three to four hundred thousand taels of silver. This Luofan is really bold. He dares to line his own pockets in front of me. However, this also shows that he is indeed a useful talent. Luofan is a sharp weapon against the four major families. , there is no need to pay attention to these extraordinary behaviors of his, those money lunches are a reward for him. You can keep the money he gave you. Long Xin, before, I, the king, had no real power and could not take care of the people around me. Now I have Naturally, I will not forget you because of your abilities. And if you want to lead the secret guards, it will be convenient if you have more money. When the water is clear, there will be no fish, do you understand what I mean?" Li Benxin looked at Li Longxin and said seriously.
Of course Li Longxin understood, and immediately handed over his hand: "Thank you, King Tiandu, I understand. Then, I will send the imperial army now to continue searching for the Tao family's remaining power and evidence of crimes."
"Go. Now, it's time for me to give some explanations to the officials from the outer and inner governments."
