Chen Gong led his people back to the General Army Yamen.
When he approached the back office, he heard the laughter of Commander-in-Chief Wang Bao coming from inside, and at the same time, another person's voice came out.
"Who is with Mr. General Bing?" Chen Gong asked the officer guarding the door.
The yamen servant whispered: "This is Mr. Zhao from the Tiger Flag. Not long after you left, Mr. Chen, this Mr. Zhao came."
"People from the Tiger Flag." Chen Gong frowned slightly. The people from the Tiger Flag came to visit Commander-in-Chief Wang Bao at this time, which was beyond his expectation.
He paused for a moment and then walked into the back office.
As soon as he entered the back office, he saw a middle-aged man wearing a long gown, sitting on the lower right seat of General Wang Bao.
He had met this middle-aged man several times and knew that his surname was Zhao, that he was a scholar and a member of the Tiger Flag.
"See Dong Weng." Chen Qinggong first saluted Wang Bao, the commander-in-chief.
Wang Bao saw Chen Gong coming back and asked with a smile: "Did you see Tian Shenglan when I went to the Tian family this time? How did he explain the Tian family's affair with slaves and thieves?"
After hearing the question, Chen Gong hesitated.
Dongweng asked Tian Shenglan about Tian Shenglan's affair with slaves in front of outsiders, which was beyond his expectation.
He looked at Zhao Yutu who was sitting beside him, hesitating whether to say something or not.
Wang Bao noticed Chen Gong's little movements and naturally knew what Chen Gong was worried about, so he said: "It doesn't matter. If you have anything to say, just tell the truth. Mr. Zhao is not an outsider."
"Yes." Chen Gong saw that Wang Bao had no intention of avoiding Zhao Yutu, so he no longer hesitated and said immediately, "After the student saw Tian Shenglan, he told him about someone accusing the Tian family of liaison with slave thieves. Tian Shenglan said in front of the students He screamed injustice vigorously, saying that he did not know that those people were slaves and thieves from Liaodong."
After speaking, he glanced at Zhao Yutu secretly.
The Tian family is a member of the Xuanfu Chamber of Commerce, and Liu Heng of Tiger Character Banner is the president of the Xuanfu Chamber of Commerce. This made him curious about Zhao Yutu's attitude after hearing about the Tian family's slave trade.
What made him regretful was that Zhao Yutu was drinking tea with his head down, so he could not see the expression on Zhao Yutu's face.
Wang Bao, who was sitting in the front seat, stroked his beard and asked, "So Tian Shenglan admitted that she had seen slave thieves in the Tian family?"
"Yes, Tian Shenglan has admitted that he has seen the slave thieves." Chen Gong nodded.
Wang Bao's face suddenly darkened, and he said in a cold voice: "The Tian family is so brave. Since they are secretly colluding with slaves and thieves, someone is here!"
As his shout ended, a government servant walked in quickly from outside.
"What are your orders, sir?"
Wang Bao said to the government servant who came in: "The evidence is now conclusive that the Tian family is collaborating with slave thieves. I order you to immediately take people to arrest Tian Shenglan and the Tian family criminals."
"Yes." The officer agreed, turned around and left.
Chen Gong, who was standing aside, opened his mouth in surprise.
Before he went to Tian's house, Wang Bao had not had this attitude. But when he came back from Tian's house only once, Wang Bao's attitude changed drastically.
Thinking of this, he glanced at Zhao Yutu who was sitting not far away.
Although he didn't know what was going on here, he was sure of one thing. Wang Bao's change in attitude must have something to do with Zhao Yutu.
Wang Bao turned his head to look at Zhao Yutu and said with a smile: "For anyone who colludes with slaves and thieves, no matter who is involved, if one is discovered, one will be dealt with."
"It is a blessing to Xuanfu and the people of Xuanfu to have such a loyal and patriotic minister as the Chief Soldier in Xuanfu." Zhao Yutu praised.
"Haha!" Wang Baoshi laughed while stroking his beard.
Zhao Yutu, who was sitting next to him, also laughed together.
The laughter between the two people made Chen Gong understand that there must be some deal that he didn't know about.
The General Military Mansion sent people to arrest the Tian family members, but Zhao Yutu did not stay long. He quickly said goodbye and left the General Military Mansion.
After sending Zhao Yutu away, only Wang Bao, the general soldier of the Xuanfu, and Chen Gong, the staff member, were left in the Houya.
"Dong Weng, why do you want to arrest people from the Tian family? Didn't you say you have to wait?" Chen Gong looked at Wang Bao who was sitting in his seat in confusion.
Before, Zhao Yutu, an outsider, was here, so he couldn't ask too many questions. Now that he was gone, he naturally had to ask Wang Bao why he changed his attitude towards the Tian family.
Wang Bao pursed his lips and said, "Do you know who took action against Wang Denku and the slave thieves?"
Chen Gong was stunned for a moment when he heard this.
Then he thought of Zhao Yutu not long ago, and he asked tentatively: "Could it be that behind these things are all related to the Tiger Flag?"
"Not bad." Wang Bao nodded lightly.
Chen Gong frowned and said: "Why did the people of Tiger Character Banner kill Wang Denku and those slave thieves? This will not do them any good. Moreover, the Tian family is a member of the Xuanfu Chamber of Commerce, and can barely be counted as Tiger Character Banner." Qi’s own people, students can’t figure out why Tiger Character Banner wants to deal with the Tian family.”
"I don't understand as well as you do." Wang Bao said, "However, this time, I will give him Liu Heng a face. It's just a Tian family. If it's gone, it will be gone."
Chen Gong said: "When the student came back from Tian's house, Tian Shenglan had promised to come to visit you, Dong Weng. Now that the tiger character flag has intervened, Tian Shenglan may not be able to come to see you, Dong Weng."
"It doesn't matter, Liu Heng is not a stingy person." Wang Bao waved his hand disapprovingly.
Chen Gong understood in his heart.
Dong Weng must have benefited from the Tiger Flag, and he no longer looks down on the Tian family's benefits.
But he had already received the benefits of the Tian family, but he could not keep the Tian family. Naturally, he could not keep those golden leaves, otherwise it would easily cause a rift between himself and Dong Weng.
Thinking of this, he reached into his arms, grabbed a few gold leaves, and placed them respectfully on the table next to Wang Bao. At the same time, he said: "These gold leaves were forced by Tian Shenglan to the students when they went to Tian's house." thing."
The book with gold leaves had been thrown away by him.
Wang Bao glanced at the gold leaves on the table, there were seven or eight pieces, and said in a warm tone: "Mr. Chen has been with me for many years and has worked hard and made great achievements. It's better to keep these things for yourself! They are the property of the Tian family anyway, so put them away. Bar!"
A few gold leaves add up to only a dozen taels, and if converted into silver, they are less than a hundred taels.
"Student, thank you Dong Weng." Chen Gong saluted Wang Bao and put the gold leaves on the table away again.
His Dong Weng didn't even like these gold leaves, so he understood that the benefits of giving the Tiger Flag to Wang Bao would only be greater.
This didn't surprise him at all.
The Tian family is just an ordinary Shanxi merchant in Xuanfu, and Huzi Banner is indeed the largest business house in the Taiyuan and Datong prefectures of Xuanfu. Even the Fan family at its peak was far inferior to today's Huziqi.
Compared with the Tiger Flag, the Tian family is like a firefly competing with the sun and the moon.
Wang Bao picked up the tureen on the table and said, "When everyone from the Tian family is imprisoned, go and see Tian Shenglan. The Tian family has been operating in Xuanfu for several generations, and they must have left behind a lot of good things."
"Student understands." Chen Gong responded.
