Chapter 053 Huaian Cao Gang IV
"Unjustly accused?" Xu Hongji frowned and sneered: "Did I ever blame you for the opening of the Yangzhong Canal last year?"
Wang Yiqing trembled all over. He didn't know what was going on: "My lord, the last general...the last general..."
"Wei Guogong is still very well-informed..." Yang Yipeng is not under Xu Hongji's control, and he is not afraid of Xu Hongji.
Chen Cao felt that this guy was a bit slanderous. Xu Hongji stared at him sideways: "I am a garrison in Nanjing. What about such a big thing? Do you still want to hide it or not?"
Xu Hongji has become very slick in the officialdom for so long. This sentence put Yang Yipeng's hat on him, but he did not dare to accept it: "Wei Guogong misunderstood. Such a major matter cannot be concealed. The lower official has already sent an official document to the capital. It’s just that Wei Guogong is far away in Jinling, and he came so quickly, but the official is a little confused."
"Hmph..." Xu Hongji snorted coldly: "I inspect the Caojiang Navy as usual and inspect the military equipment in various places in South Zhili. I heard about this as soon as I arrived in Huai'an. Why, my schedule has to be reported to Can't you report to the governor's office of water transportation?"
Yang Yipeng quickly handed over his hand: "Wei Guogong has been defeated. This is not what he meant when he was demoted. No, so many water transport colleagues were recruited today just because of the robbery of summer grain in Taoyuan County."
"Have you discussed anything?" Xu Hongji stared at Wang Yiqing: "You should get up too."
"Thank you, Duke Guo," Wang Yiqing stood up: "The general has mobilized the guard posts along the way and the Qianhu Post to gather troops to prepare for the encirclement and suppression of this group of horse thieves."
Xu Hongji nodded and looked at Chen Cao: "Yaozhong, do you Jin Yiwei have any valuable news?"
Chen Cao bowed: "My lord, my disciples have deployed Tiqi around Taoyuan County, and I heard..." As he spoke, Chen Cao stared at Yang Yipeng and Wang Yiqing with ill intentions.
This sight made the two of them feel very angry. Who didn't know that Jin Yiwei and the imperial censor in the capital had a bad habit? The censor liked to gossip about things, while they liked to catch people based on gossip.
"Master Chen, what do you mean?" Yang Yipeng spoke first: "The news you hear is often not true."
"Who said it can't be true?" Chen Cao asked back: "Don't we Ming adults like to hear rumors and solve cases?"
"Say." Xu Hongji said coldly.
"According to the local fishermen in Taoyuan County," Chen Cao handed over, "this group of thieves is under the banner of the Cao Gang."
"Caogang?" Xu Hongji frowned: "Do the people in Caogang want to rebel?"
Yang Yipeng knew that what came out of Chen Cao's mouth was definitely not good, so he interrupted: "Master Chen, please don't be arbitrary on this matter. The Caobang has been working loyally for the Ming Dynasty since Emperor Taizu. If they want to rebel, , it was time for the rebellion when Emperor Yingzong was emperor, why did he wait until this time? Wasn’t the country in more danger at that time? "
Wang Yiqing also said: "My lord, this group of horse thieves are just trying to confuse the public under the banner of the Cao Gang. They cannot be taken seriously."
"Sometimes things that everyone thinks are not true are often true." Chen Cao joked disapprovingly.
Xu Hongji nodded: "It makes sense, Yaozhong, go on."
Chen Cao handed over his hand: "The fishermen along the water transport have many contacts with the Cao Gang. Since the fishermen can recognize them as members of the Cao Gang, they must have certain connections with them. We have already arranged manpower. If we can capture these people One of them, if you ask carefully you will know its origin."
Xu Hongji very much agreed with Chen Cao's words: "This matter must be handled strictly. No matter who is involved, we must not tolerate it. This matter also involves Xia Liang. If this group of people cannot be found out," he said, staring at Yang Yipeng and said: "Yang Sir, do you think you can escape unscathed?"
Yang Yipeng was shocked: "I know how powerful this is."
"It's good to know," Xu Hongji sneered, and then looked at Chen Cao: "I can't mobilize your Jinyi Guards, but your Jiang Navy and Nanjing Right Guards are my Nanjing garrison. Immediately mobilize troops to Huai'an to assist me. Catch the horse thieves.”
As he spoke, Xu Hongji raised his hands towards the capital and said righteously: "I have already submitted a memorial to Your Majesty. I am solely responsible for the robbery of summer grain. You just have to listen and handle the matter."
Chen Cao immediately saluted: "I obey the order..."
Seeing Xu Hongji's appearance, Wang Yiqing couldn't help it. He glanced at Yang Yipeng, meaning that he had no choice, and then he said yes.
In the end, Yang Yipeng himself was left. Seeing that many officials in the hall responded one after another, he also handed over his hand and said helplessly: "Yes, I will obey the orders of Wei Guogong."
As soon as Xu Hongji came, all the power of the Huai'an Mansion was concentrated on Xu Hongji. At least the hereditary Duke of Wei could not lie in front of many officials at the Governor's Office of Water Transport, and it also involved the emperor.
"Sir, invitation." As soon as Chen Cao left the governor's office, Xu Kaixian came up to him.
"Who is it?" Chen Cao took it and opened it to read: "Hey, Pan Yourong, the leader of the Cao Gang, invited us to drink wine. It's interesting and saves a lot of money."
"You want to go here too?" Xin Zhao frowned: "Sir, you are soft-spoken."
"It's a joke," Chen Cao scolded: "Your Excellency, I charge money to do things. If you treat me to a meal, you will give in. At worst, I will treat him to a better meal."
Xin Zhao: "..."
...
I don't know when the rumor of Chen Cao's love for beauty spread to Huai'an, but it is estimated that the entire southern Zhili knew it. At this moment, he did not shy away from it, and he was touching a beautiful girl, feeling very happy.
Pan Yourong was very puzzled. His original intention was to say something. Normally, in this situation, the beautiful woman would have sex only after the matter was settled. How could he know that Chen Cao was not worried about the routine and seemed to have been suppressing it for a long time. As soon as he came, he let the old bustard They brought a seventeen-year-old You Lian who didn't even drink much.
"Hehe," Pan Yourong said with a smile, "Mr. Chen...Mr. Chen?"
"Ah?" It took a while for Chen Cao to react, then he let go of You Lian and asked, "Gang Leader Pan, call me if you have something?"
The flesh on Pan Yourong's face trembled: "Hey, Mr. Chen, don't just play around with women. You'll take your time later. Let's drink and eat first."
"Oh..." Chen Cao suddenly realized, and then he picked up the wine glass: "Gang Leader Pan, please..." Then he drank it all in one gulp without waiting for Pan Yourong to say anything, and then touched You Lian again, feeling so happy.
Pan Yourong felt like scolding someone, but whether the other person was an official or a royal guard, others did not worry him at all. If it were other officials in Huai'an Fucheng, who would dare to be so disrespectful to Pan Yourong on his territory: "Hey, Mr. Chen, I am actually There are some things that I would like to discuss with Mr. Chen.”
"Oh, that's it..." Chen Cao then put down his hand, waved You Lian away, and then pretended to be careless and said: "I thought Gang Leader Pan invited me to dinner just for a simple meal, you should have told me earlier... ."
As he spoke, Chen Cao put on a serious expression: "Gang Leader Pan, please speak, I will listen."
Chen Cao's sudden change of attitude made Pan Yourong somewhat uncomfortable, but now he was ready to speak and had to say: "To be honest with Mr. Chen, I want to ask Mr. Chen for help this time."
"Help?" Chen Cao frowned: "Although this is Nanzhili, within the jurisdiction of our Nanzhen Fusi Jinyiwei, my officer is always in Jinling, and I usually don't reach out to Huai'an," he said jokingly. Looking at him: "Besides, your water transportation matters are too involved. If you don't have to," Chen Cao said the four words repeatedly: "I don't want to get involved, as I will offend too many people."
Pan Yourong heard what he meant and asked, "Don't you know what Mr. Chen means?"
Chen Cao found it a bit funny that Pan Yourong, who was not an official, dared to kick the ball to him and let himself be fooled, so he asked in return: "I really don't understand what Gang Leader Pan means."
Pan Yourong suddenly understood, stroking his hands and smiling: "I understand, I understand, come on..."
Pan Yourong's men outside the door opened the door gently, carried a small wooden box through the door, and put it on the coffee table aside. Pan Yourong stepped forward and opened the box: "Master Chen, this is my wish. Please accept it, Master Chen."
Chen Cao raised his eyebrows and looked at it. They were all banknotes and other things, but he didn't see any gold or silver. "What good things are there?"
Pan Yourong was a little frightened, thinking that Chen Cao really dared to ask, so he said: "This is my greeting to Mr. Chen on behalf of the Caobang. There are one hundred thousand taels of silver notes from the Wantong Bank in the capital, and some of the best in Qinghe County, Huai'an Prefecture." Ten thousand acres of paddy fields.”
Oops...
Chen Cao was moved. To be honest, these things are all good things: "Although an official's lifetime income cannot compare with these things, whoever doesn't want them is a fool."
Pan Yourong was extremely happy when he heard Chen Cao's words. Being able to say this obviously made things happen: "These are just the beginning."
"Only the front?" Chen Cao was curious: "What about the back?"
Pan Yourong sat down, looked at Chen Cao, and said earnestly: "There are also gifts of gratitude from my colleagues in the water transport industry, including five hundred thousand taels of silver notes and twenty thousand acres of paddy fields."
Chen Cao couldn't help but trembled, wondering how rich the Caobang was, or whether the oil and water in the entire canal transport was even greater than this: "Your Caobang is rich..."
Pan Yourong's expression was full of pride, but when he realized that it was Chen Cao across from him, he restrained himself and said: "It's not that the Cao Gang is rich, it's mainly to thank Mr. Chen."
"What do you want me to do?"
"All it takes is a word from your grown-up."
Chen Cao raised his eyebrows: "How do you say that?"
Pan Yourong smiled and said: "Master Chen, it's enough not to get involved."
"Hahaha..." Chen Cao laughed loudly.
Pan Yourong also laughed when he saw this, but Chen Cao stopped laughing immediately, making the scene extremely embarrassing.
"Gang Leader Pan, the terms are very tempting. No one can refuse, and I can agree." After Chen Cao finished speaking, he continued: "But don't worry, there are conditions for my agreement."
Pan Yourong raised his hand and said, "Master Chen, please speak."
Chen Cao turned around and stared into Pan Yourong's eyes: "The conditions are very simple. I can agree to your release if Weng Shijie and his family are released."
As soon as Chen Cao said these words, Pan Yourong's expression quickly changed and he became embarrassed: "Mr. Chen, this condition is not simple. Although Weng Shijie is the leader of our Cao Gang, you must know that he has violated the national law. , and his children, all of them are prisoners of the imperial court, there is no way to take action."
Chen Cao smiled and stared at Pan Yourong with disdain: "My request is very simple, and it is not difficult to operate. I already had a bad relationship with Yang Yipeng this morning, so I would like to meet him for a while. If I hadn't seen him In the past, Gang Leader Pan, you have come to my house, but I will not come to the banquet today."
Pan Yourong looked very embarrassed. He didn't know at all that Chen Cao and Yang Yipeng had a falling out. If he knew, the conditions would definitely be increased: "Master Chen, I think Master Yang is just doing things impartially."
"Do things impartially?" Chen Cao raised his head and said with a smile: "You, Gang Leader Pan, know exactly what happened to the Weng family. The reason why I don't expose it is because I want to give you another chance. There are some things that you must not do. Hold on to your illusions, otherwise you won't be able to catch anything in the end, so why bother?"
"Master Chen, are you warning me?" Pan Yourong asked.
"Presumptuous," Xin Zhao scolded: "Don't forget who you are. My adults are attending your banquet just for the sake of your Cao gang. Don't be shameless."
"Hey Xin Zhao," Chen Cao pretended to scold: "Gang Leader Pan's status in Huai'an is not ordinary, so don't talk nonsense." As he said this, he raised his hand to Pan Yourong and said, "Gang Leader Pan, don't be as knowledgeable as my subordinates."
Pan Yourong didn't know this kind of thing: "It doesn't matter, I'm being rude."
Chen Cao added: "I didn't want to get involved in your matter. I asked Yang Yipeng to help me after saying all the good things this morning, but he ignored me at all and thought he was right. For the sake of my past reputation, I would like to remind you, Chen Cao stared at Pan Yourong: "If you have the ability to persuade them, then keep these things. I will collect them as hard work. If you don't have the ability, I advise you to stay less involved in this matter, otherwise you will be gone." At that time, you didn’t even know how your whole family died.”
Pan Yourong's whole body trembled, and then he took a deep breath: "Master Chen, is he really capable of this?"
Who doesn't know how to be a forward?
Chen Cao picked up the food and took a bite: "Don't forget, one of your men attacked me and was arrested."
Pan Yourong really didn't take things away. A big shot like him usually makes bets in many ways. Money is a trivial matter, and whether he can protect his family is the key. If one party fails, the other party will definitely take care of them if they receive the money. The entire army will not be wiped out.
After Zhao Xin sent Pan Yourong away, Chen Cao started to eat happily. The Huai'an food tasted good, but something was missing. After Zhao Xin came in, he said, "Sir, do you want to send someone to monitor them?"
"There aren't any of us in Huai'an City yet?" Chen Cao looked askance.
"There are so many," Zhao Xin said with a smile: "This is Southern Zhili, and there are our Tiqi in every prefecture and county."
"By the way, how are things going with Weng Linzhi?" Chen Cao put down his chopsticks and whispered: "Is Zhao Tianlin here?"
Zhao Xin also sat down and whispered: "Sir, Weng Linzhi has done a good job. He has transported the intercepted summer grain away according to your instructions. Zhao Tianlin took over the summer grain and then led a team to suppress the real thieves in Taoyuan County according to your instructions. Stolen."
"Well," Chen Cao nodded: "Let's see how things develop tomorrow. I want them to understand that it is also good for us to eunuch the party."
