Mentioning the past events and the initiator of such trouble, the seriously ill old county prince still had a face full of anger. After breathing for a long time, he managed to calm down and said: "This traitor, in order to get a little profit, is almost gambling with the lives and future of the whole family. You must know that he secretly sold stone fat to Beiliao. Once he is caught by the court, Discovery is a death."
"The whole family even had to be buried for him and imprisoned within a high wall. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Emperor Taizu personally formulated the family law. If there are collaborators or conspirators in the clan, the chief culprit will be punished with death, and the rest of the family members will be imprisoned. , no pardon will be given. What scares me even more is that he not only sold stone resin to Bei Liao, but also secretly sold ironware to Bei Liao. In the early days, he only sold large quantities of pig iron to Bei Liao."
"In the following years, I became more and more courageous. In those years, I even started to directly sell ordnance. Especially fine steel arrowheads, hundreds of thousands of which were sold privately to Beiliao every year. Because Fushi County Government had its own coal mines and iron ore, so iron-making has always used pebbles as fuel. The refined steel produced is not only cheap, but also of excellent quality, far exceeding the steel smelted by the Ordnance Supervision Office of the Ministry of War."
"The fine steel arrowheads made by our iron factory can penetrate three layers of leather armor within fifty feet. The sabers we make can chop off a horse's head with one blow without curling the blade. The Ministry of War and the Privy Council, every year We need to purchase large quantities from Fushi County Government. These things are also strictly prohibited from being sold to any tribe by the imperial court. Selling to Bei Liao, not to mention ordnance, even fine steel is not allowed."
"And this Fushi County Government, not counting other things, has an income of nearly one million from the imperial court's ordering of stone resin and weapons every year. Including the rent of more than 20,000 acres of land, there is no need to violate any of the imperial court's regulations. The laws and regulations are enough to provide enough food and clothing. However, this traitor just wants to make a little money and petty profits, and takes advantage of the opportunity to manage two mines and iron yards alone in Yanchuan.
"Behind my back, regardless of the safety of the whole clan, he secretly sold these things to Beiliao. As for the money he obtained, he squandered it all by engaging in prostitution and gambling. After learning about this, I killed this traitor at that time. He has all his thoughts. But even if I really kill him, for the sake of the safety of the whole family, I can only do my best to cover up the matter for this traitor. "
"If this matter is spread out, not only this treacherous son, but also the entire Fushi County Palace will face disaster. Although his death is not a pity, there are a large family of young and old in this County Palace, nearly a hundred As for the Kouzi people. Although I know that this matter violates the laws of the imperial court, I really have no choice. I can't watch the whole family being implicated by that evil obstacle."
"In order to shut up the mouth of that magistrate Zhuo, I had never bowed my head in my life, and I tolerated this person again and again. But the magistrate Zhuo used this incident to repeatedly threaten me to bow my head. Not only did he take away his belongings one after another, The stone fat mine and iron mine in the mansion also extorted a large amount of money from the mansion. In the past few years, he has sent his master every year to ask for at least one hundred thousand guan from me. "
"Last year there was a severe drought in Longyou and Shaanxi. This man came directly to me and asked for twenty thousand shi of grain under the pretext of disaster relief. Although I have been persecuted by him repeatedly over the years, I still hold a grudge. But I also know that in that place At this time, the hundreds of thousands of victims in Yan'an Prefecture are more important. As long as he can really help the victims with that food, let alone 20,000 dan, even more will be fine."
"I belong to the clan, and it is inconvenient for me to come forward to provide disaster relief. It is a taboo matter. He already has the handle in his hands, how can I dare to do anything out of line? It doesn't matter to me, but I can't take advantage of a family. I want to gamble my life. If I can lend his hand to help the victims, it will settle my worries. Even though I was blackmailed by him, I admit it.
"But who knows, I borrowed the 20,000 shi of grain, but I didn't know where he took it. Anyway, the victims did not see a grain of grain, but he persuaded them to flee in large numbers and went to Shanxi Road To make a living. Although I am threatened by him, I cannot leave the house on weekdays. But my ears are not deaf, and the servants in the house who can go out are not blind either."
"Twenty thousand shi of grain, how many lives could have been saved in the famine years like last year? I took it happily, but it disappeared like this. I don't know if he resold it or resold it. It was used in other places. Anyway, what I know is that not a single grain of the twenty thousand shi of grain he extorted from me fell into the hands of those victims who are in urgent need most."
"At the end of last year, the imperial court allocated food for disaster relief, but this guy was only willing to give out 10,000 shi of food. I was really angry, so I led people to snatch 10,000 shi and sent people to directly give relief to the victims. The King of England didn't know that this The three prefectures and sixteen counties of Yan'an Prefecture are all the hardest-hit areas. To escape famine, those prefectures and counties along the Yellow River are better off. Across the river is Shanxi. Even if he doesn't send food, not many people will starve to death."
"But in those prefectures and counties to the west, the people don't even have the food to reach the bank of the Yellow River. How can they go to Shanxi to seek a way out? It's not that they don't have food in their hands, but they are withholding the food and not distributing it. That's not to live. Will the people starve to death? The people around me came back from the three counties of Baoan, Ansai, and Anding in the west, and the scene I described is really too miserable."
"Those three counties are already barren, and they are the most barren places in the three prefectures and sixteen counties of Yan'an Prefecture. Even in good weather years, one acre of land can't produce more than 100 kilograms of grain. Most of the land can only produce less than 100 kilograms of grain in a year. We could only manage forty or fifty kilograms of grain. In normal years, we couldn't even eat enough, let alone last year's severe drought. People who could move in the three counties all fled to Ganquan and Yanzhou where conditions were better.
"Those who couldn't walk starved to death one by one. Even in Bao'an, many villages were starved to death. A servant from the government went to the security to do some work and came back to report to me. In addition to the occasional fireworks in the county, Bao'an also , I saw a little fireworks when I walked for hundreds of miles. The bark of the trees on both sides of the road was peeled off and eaten. There was even a case of cannibalism there. "
"King of England, this is not an alarmist statement. It actually exists. In normal times, he would have extorted 20,000 shi of food from me. But in these famine years, under the banner of disaster relief, he I extorted so much grain from me, but not a single grain was distributed to the victims. How could I bear this feeling? So I simply took action myself."
After hearing what the old prince said, Huang Qiong did not say anything immediately, but fell into deep thought. After a long time, he said: "Let's not talk about the food issue today. Uncle, you will hand over the iron ore and slate mine in Fushi County to him. Do you know that the two mines will produce In addition to meeting the needs of the imperial court, where did he sell all his products?"
In response to Huang Qiong's rhetorical question, the Fushi County Duke shook his head and said: "I really don't know about this. Since the two mines fell into his hands, I heard that he didn't know where he got them from. A man from Jiangnan is managing things for him. All my people in the mine were purged by them for various reasons. And after he took over, he sent people to surround the two mines. "
"Not to mention that people from outside can't get in, even if people inside want to come out, they are not allowed. Whether they are miners or iron-smelting people, their families are all taken to the mine and are closely guarded. As for the so-called guards who guard the two mines and the iron factory, they look like ordinary people at first glance. The fierce aura about them is very similar to that of the people in the military camp."
"In this case, besides himself, I am afraid that only his confidants know where he transported those things. It's not that I don't want to help, it's just that I really can't help with this matter. That person Insidious and cunning, he looks gentle on the surface, but in fact he is very ruthless. In just a few years, he has managed the entire Yan'an Mansion like an iron barrel."
"Not to mention ordinary people, even me, a county prince, can't even get out of the county prince's mansion. Fortunately, he still cares about my status as a clan member, so he won't go too far. Before seizing Shizhi Mines and iron mines, and after extorting a large amount of money and goods from me, they didn’t force me too much. Apart from not being able to leave the county government’s mansion, I can barely live a normal life.”
After the old prince finished speaking, Huang Qiong stood up. With his back to the old county prince, the rosary beads in his hand were spinning rapidly. And although he didn't say a word, he still didn't know how this ruthless King of England would deal with the family after learning his secret. The old county prince, who was already a little worried, felt even more stressed at this moment, and felt extremely uneasy.
But at this moment, Huang Qiong, who had finally revealed some of the mysteries of the matter, felt not only no joy at all, but also unexpectedly heavy. It turns out that Magistrate Zhuo, who was unwilling to be transferred, actually hid so many secrets. According to the old prince's words, the two mines were roughly estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars just from the imperial court's order. If he is doing something fishy, I'm afraid the income will be even more than this.
The second son of Duke Fushi could not withstand the temptation of huge profits and secretly sold kerosene and ordnance to Beiliao. So will Magistrate Zhuo withstand the test of huge profits? Huang Qiong didn't believe it at all. What's more, after he took over the mines and iron works, the security was so tight, and there was something wrong with them. There is no ghost. Why is he so cautious? What is he afraid of?
Now Huang Qiong can be regarded as a leader. He still knew how powerful the fire oil, which was called stone grease among the people, was on the battlefield. Feng Zhoushan attacked the rebel camp at night in Qingyang Mansion. He used the kerosene tank he carried to set fire to the rebel camp, and then took advantage of the situation to cover up and kill, and finally defeated the strong with the weak. If Beiliao, which is already weak when it comes to sieges, does something powerful, it would be strange not to do everything possible to buy it off.
As for the prefect, who can unscrupulously devour a clan's property, it may not be as simple as just grasping the handle. If there is no expert guidance or assistance behind the scenes, even if he is clever, he may not be able to find evidence that the second young master is selling kerosene and ordnance in private. No matter how stupid that second young master is, he will still be able to hide this kind of thing.
Just when the atmosphere in the room seemed a little depressed because of Huang Qiong's silence. Huang Qiong suddenly turned around and faced Justice Fushi: "Uncle, I don't know if the second young master of your mansion is still in the mansion now. If he is in the mansion, can you please come out and let my nephew see you? See you? Please rest assured, uncle, since my nephew just said to forget about it, he will definitely do what he said. "
Hearing that Huang Qiong wanted to see his second son, the old prince hesitated slightly. But in the end, the eldest son was asked to bring his younger brother over. But when the second young master was brought back, even Huang Qiong was shocked when he saw this person. This second young master's legs were actually empty from his knees down. The two hands were also bare, without a single finger.
