"Why haven't you reported it? My grandfather would write a memorial to the court almost every time he caught something. However, the court's decree every time was to hope that my grandfather would fight well. Local officials have their own affairs, so my grandfather should not do anything about it. Distracted. Later, my grandfather never reported it again. He once drank too much and sighed and said that he had fought in wars all his life and knew the art of war and strategy. But he could not understand the strategy of employing people in the imperial court.
Prime Minister Zuo Ban wrote him a secret letter that time and said that it was not that the emperor and officials in the northwest did not want to withdraw, but they could not withdraw at that time. On the one hand, there was a war in the northwest. If the officials in the northwest were to be punished from beginning to end, I am afraid it would still be difficult. Before being dispersed by the enemy, one's own side would be overthrown by the victims. If we evacuate one by one, we are afraid that those who evacuate will be well-fed dogs, and those who will come are wolves who have not eaten. Life is even more difficult for ordinary people. In addition, the feudal officials in the northwest are all important ministers who hold military power. The emperor is afraid that they will be pushed into a hurry and rebel when the time comes. The imperial court's hundreds of thousands of troops were attacked from both sides and would collapse thousands of miles away. By then, let alone rectifying the northwest, I am afraid that the entire imperial court will not be able to preserve its power.
Therefore, the emperor is patient, the prime minister will be patient, and I hope Marshal Du will also be patient. As long as the war in the northwest is over, the court will naturally clean up the yamen in the northwest. I couldn't understand it at all when my grandfather told me. I just thought that this adult was really roundabout and complicated. But later, I seemed to understand that the most important thing for the royal family was their own country, and the common people were just doing long-term work for the royal family. Du Jie replied
Chu Mu frowned after hearing this and looked at Kong Miaozhi. Seeing that the little guy Kong Miaozhi was only focusing on drinking, he didn't listen to what Du Jie was saying at all. On the contrary, Wu Qi beside him seemed to enjoy listening. After seeing Du Jie finish speaking, his eyes were still thinking about something.
Chu Mu had never thought about this problem before, and he had been complaining about the local government's inaction ever since he learned about it. Today I suddenly heard Du Jie finish this call, and I couldn't help but rub my nose and think about it. Kong Miaozhi, who was next to him, drank a glass of wine and said to himself: "Elder brother, it's best not to make trouble for yourself and think about these things. The imperial court has its own officials to make the decision. What we have to do is to find a cult."
Chu Mu was stunned after hearing this, then shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "Lao Liu is right, I still don't want to worry unfounded. Lao Qi, in all these years, have you ever heard that Li Wenyuan has offended any serious enemies? You also said just now His home is heavily guarded, and people with poor martial arts skills would not be able to get close to him, and he was robbed in his own home, which is even more unusual."
"A terrible enemy? This is really a question for me. I haven't had much contact with Mr. Li. He is just an ordinary friend of my grandfather. My grandfather and I have met dozens of such people. But let's talk about it. I really remember one thing about the Li family. A few years ago, the Li family seemed to have discovered a gold mine to the west of Yongzhou. The Li family kept the information secret very strictly. Later, when the gold mine was about to When the digging was completed, the news was leaked. At that time, the imperial court was afraid that the imperial envoys would come to question Mr. Li. Senior brother, you know that this gold mine can only be mined by the imperial court. If the Li family really mined the gold mine privately, that would be Everyone in the family was executed. But in the end, I don’t know why the matter was settled. The Li family had a great business, and many people said that it was because Li Gong gave half of the gold mine to the imperial minister that he escaped this disaster. But this gold mine It has never been found. I don’t know if it is true or if it is fabricated." Du Jie thought for a while and suddenly had an idea.
"Gold mine? This is a clue." Chu Mu nodded, and then fell into thinking again.
No one disturbed him. After a while, Chu Mu raised his head and asked Kong Miaozhi: "Lao Liu, what do you think?"
Kong Miaozhi raised his little head and showed an expression like "Why are you asking me now?" Du Jie wanted to laugh. Chu Mu pretended to bow to him and said, "Just tell me if you have anything. This time, senior brother, I will It’s all counting on you.”
"Since senior brother asked me, I must tell you, but master said that I am young and can drink up to three glasses of wine a day, but I have drunk three glasses now. I can't think of anything when I am addicted to alcohol." Kong Miao He knocked on the wine glass in front of him and said
"Ah! You brat dares to threaten senior brother and rebel against you!" Before Chu Mu could say anything, Wu Qi got angry and walked up to Kong Laoliu and gave him a violent shudder: "You Even if you don’t say anything, you still want to grab a drink from us, that’s a pretty idea.”
Kong Miaozhi hid behind Chu Mu again, and said with an aggrieved face: "Senior Brother, look at him, how can he beg for help like this? If you don't beat him up this time, I won't do anything for you."
Chu Mu hurriedly stopped Wu Qiyi and said, "Stop causing trouble. It's not enough to make trouble every day. Let's talk about business. The third brother goes and stays aside." When Wu Qi saw Kong Miaozhi telling him about the situation, the senior brother took him She scolded him, gave him a hard look, and then stepped back.
Kong Miaozhi's little face showed a little fox smile. Chu Mu also smiled when he saw it: "Are you satisfied? Tell me what you thought of."
Kong Miaozhi walked back to the wine table, happily poured himself a glass of wine, drank it all, and then said calmly, "I haven't thought of anything."
Seeing that Chu Mu was about to fall out, Kong Miaozhi hurriedly added: "I haven't thought about the cult thing, but I have thought about the Li family thing."
"Then tell me, if you want to fight with me again, Third Brother, you will give me a good beating today."
"Okay, senior brother!" Wu Qi happily agreed.
Seeing that Chu Mu was really anxious, Kong Miaozhi said quickly: "No, no, no, I say. First of all, Mr. Li Wenyuan has disappeared. Whether he is missing or not is what the man himself said. After so long, the kidnapper has also No conditions were proposed.”
After hearing this, Chu Mu nodded: "You mean, this is not a simple kidnapping?"
Kong Miaozhi continued: "I'm not sure about this, and this brings me to the second point. The Li family's reaction is a bit strange. Logically speaking, no matter what, we have to organize people to find out the whereabouts of our master. I don't believe that such a successful one The businessman raised all the ungrateful people at home. But according to his adopted son, the Li Mansion never sent anyone to look for them, they just reported them to the official."
"And the strangest thing is that his adopted son actually sent the news to our Tianji Sect. Our Tianji Sect is located in the southeast, thousands of miles away from the northwest. I'm not sure that our teacher's sign can be so bright that his adopted son is so far away Come to us.”
After listening to Kong Miaozhi's words, the others looked at each other. Du Jie said uncertainly: "As far as I know, Mr. Li is an extremely stable old man. Sixth, you said he disappeared on purpose? This doesn't seem like what he did. group."
"I am speaking according to common sense, but whether it is true or not, we still need to think more about it. Senior brother, if you listen to my opinion, you can send two groups of people to the northwest at the same time, and one group of people will stay in the open and follow Li Wenyuan's adopted son. Let's take a look around and collect the news that can be seen in his mansion. The other group of people can go a few days later to collect the news about his adopted son near Li's mansion. But it must be quick, I'm afraid it will be a little later, even if It's useless to find Li Wenyuan. I don't think we have time to return to Tianjimen." Kong Miaozhi finally put the wine glass on the table and said
Zhuo Bufan interrupted at this time: "My thoughts have been a little confused just now. I have something to ask Lao Qi. Lao Qi, you said that you have been to the Li Mansion with your grandfather, and more than once?"
"That's right, Uncle Thirteen, is there anything strange about this?"
"Why would your grandfather, the great marshal, take you to the Li Mansion as a guest?"
"Why? Aren't friends visiting each other?"
"It seems that your grandfather has been leading troops in the north, and Li Wenyuan has also been doing business in the northwest. It seems that the two of them had little contact before your grandfather went to the northwest."
"That's right. How did my grandfather know Li Wenyuan? I didn't hear him mention it before. What was he going to do?"
"When your grandfather went to visit Li Wenyuan, didn't anything happen in your army? Think about it carefully."
"In the army? When my grandfather went to visit Li Wenyuan, it was two years after the army had been stationed. The soldiers should have been in no other condition except being a little tired of fighting. By the way, the imperial court's military pay could not be allocated here during that time. "The soldiers are a little unstable. Uncle Master, are you saying that my grandfather went to Mr. Li's house to borrow military pay?" Du Jie replied nonchalantly at first, but after he thought about it carefully, his eyes lit up and he said with an uncertain expression. said in tone
"That's right. Li Wenyuan is one of the four major merchants today, and he is located in the northwest. Your grandfather's military salary was tight at that time, and the court could not allocate it. There was no way to collect it privately, so he had to borrow it from Li Wenyuan's house. Although I also made a guess about the matter, it should be close to ten. As for whether I borrowed it or not, I don’t know." Zhuo Bufan nodded with a smile and said.
Du Jie thought for a while and replied: "I remember that my grandfather was very happy for a while every time he went back. I'm afraid he borrowed it. Otherwise, he would never have let the soldiers spend two winters. Not only did the imperial court's military pay be deducted, It only comes every spring. If we had waited for their military pay to arrive, we might have starved to death. Uncle Thirteen, why do you ask this?"
"I'll give you a clue, which may help you. There is no wealth in the world today than these four major merchants, but outsiders will never know how much gold and silver they have. Your grandfather has been there several times and supported ten How much silver do tens of thousands of people need for one winter of food, grass and bedding? He, a businessman, was actually willing to take out such a large amount of silver, and he even took it many times. As far as I know, this Li Wenyuan is quite stingy. Your grandfather must have used What kind of guarantee made him willingly take out such a huge amount of money? You can ask your grandfather, maybe there will be an unexpected gain." Zhuo Bufan took a sip of tea and said calmly.