As soon as the news came out that the emperor had properly arranged for the layoff of personnel in the palace, the panic-stricken palace suddenly felt a lot calmer.
On the early morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year, Li Ruolian, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, also asked to see the emperor and reported the results of the inspection.
A total of 125,876 taels of cash were seized this time, and the total amount of land, houses, shops, etc. was estimated to be around 860,000 taels. It can be seen that Jin Yiwei's side is obviously not as profitable as the Royal Horse Supervisor's side.
Looking at the details in the memorial, Emperor Chongzhen always felt that he had forgotten something, but he just couldn't remember it.
After leaving, Li Ruolian came to see him again and said to him: "Your Majesty, Fan Fu, the shopkeeper of Fan Ji Bank, accompanied his boss Fan Yong to fight for it."
Previously, Emperor Chongzhen had ordered the Jinyiwei captain, who was watching Fan Ji Bank, to notify him immediately if he saw Fan Fu going out.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly remembered something he had forgotten. So, he picked up the imperial pen, took out a piece of white paper on the imperial desk, and wrote the word "bank" in large letters.
Then he immediately changed his clothes and changed into the flying fish suit of the Jin Yiwei. Under the cover of Li Ruolian, he slipped out of the palace quietly.
In a private house not far from Fanji Bank, Liu Yue, the general banner of Jinyiwei, was taking command here. From time to time, the captain of the Imperial Guard would come back here to report Fan Yongzheng's movements.
Suddenly, one of his men asked: "Brother Liu, aren't you just monitoring a businessman? Why do you need to report it to the commander?"
"You ask me, who should I ask?" Upon hearing this, Liu Yue replied angrily, "Don't worry about this, just be patient. It will be your turn to take some brothers out next time!"
The New Year has just ended, and the weather is getting cold. Just listening to the howling of the cold wind outside can make people feel chilly all over.
If we were not here to wait for further instructions from the Jinyiwei Yamen, the manpower dispatch would be greatly reduced. We only need a few people to follow, and there is no need to return here to report the target's whereabouts.
Therefore, Liu Yue's men just asked and he understood what they were thinking and directly gave the order to his men.
In fact, he himself was a little confused.
Although Fanji Bank has many backstages, you can tell just by looking at the movements of the owner when he goes out. But why he wanted them to stare here secretly, he still couldn't figure out.
While I was thinking about it, suddenly there was a burst of chaotic footsteps outside, as if many people were coming.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yue immediately became alert. Just as he was about to take action, he heard Fang Feng's men shouting in a low voice, "Master Commander!"
He went over to take a look and found that it was indeed Li Ruolian who came in person. He hurriedly clasped his fists and responded: "It's just a small matter, why did the labor master come here in person? If there is anything, I can just ask someone to tell you!"
Li Ruolian, who was in plain clothes, smiled bitterly in his heart when he heard this. If you ask me, I don't know what's going on! The person next to me knew what was going on, but if he didn't tell me, it wouldn't be easy to ask.
Li Ruolian had already received instructions before coming, so Li Ruolian did not look at Emperor Chongzhen who was pretending to be his entourage. He just asked Liu Yuedao: "Then where is the owner of Fanji Bank?"
"My lord, I have just received my report. Fan Yongzheng should have come out to pay New Year's greetings. There are many large and small bags. They have already gone to Yangge's house and are now at the house of Master Zhong, the censor of Zuodu." Liu Yue immediately reported.
When Li Ruolian heard this, he hesitated for a moment and asked again: "If this time passes, will he have left Zhong Mansion?"
The reason why he asked this was that he was afraid that he would take Emperor Chongzhen there and rush to the next place. In such a cold weather, I was afraid that the emperor would be frozen.
Liu Yue made an estimate in his mind and immediately replied: "Your Excellencies are still in the Yamen at this time. It will not take more than half an hour for him to go to the house to pay New Year's greetings. It is estimated that if this time passes, he should be out soon."
Upon hearing this, Li Ruolian pretended to look at Emperor Chongzhen inadvertently. When he saw him nodding slightly, he turned and left. At the same time, he said: "I will go to Zhongfu now. You guys stay here. If you miss it, come here immediately." Report Fan Yongzheng’s movements."
It was luck. When the group of them arrived outside the Zhong Mansion, they saw someone coming out.
The Jinyi Guardsman who was watching outside quickly pointed to the people over there and introduced that that person was Fan Fu, the shopkeeper of Fanji Bank, and this one was Fan Yongzheng, the owner.
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen at the side spoke again to confirm: "The man wearing a gray brocade robe and a long beard, are you sure he is Fan Yongzheng, the owner of Fanji Bank?"
Upon hearing this, the Jinyi Guards Captain looked at this stranger and was a little stunned. He thought to himself that even the commander didn't speak. Do you have the qualifications to speak?
But when he saw Li Ruolian looking at him, as if he wanted to ask this question, he didn't dare to neglect, and quickly replied: "Yes, that's him!"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he recovered the Class C eavesdropping seeds from Li Ruolian and "rewarded" them to Fan Yongzheng within sight. Then, he nodded to Li Ruolian and said, "Okay, it's okay. Let's move out!"
Li Ruolian was stunned for a moment and didn't understand. Wasn't there a lot of secret surveillance going on before? Why did the emperor come over to take a look, recognize his face and then withdraw, or did he mean to withdraw all the royal guards?
He was a little unsure, so he asked for instructions: "Fan Ji Bank has also withdrawn?"
"Well, we've all withdrawn. Don't worry about Fanji Bank!" Emperor Chongzhen ordered, then turned and left.
The weather is really cold, but it’s still warm in the palace!
Li Ruolian got the clear order and hurriedly followed. At the same time, he ordered one of his subordinates: "Go and inform General Liu Qi that everyone has withdrawn and go back to the Yamen!"
These Jinyi guards were all shocked when they saw that the commander listened to a stranger like this. However, they quickly came to their senses. There was probably only one person in the world who could make the Commander obey.
Thinking of this, when they looked at the strange young man walking in front, just looking at his back, they suddenly felt that something was different. Walking like a dragon and walking like a tiger, with an imperial demeanor, this... this must be the day of today!
After reaching this conclusion, they couldn't help but wonder how the emperor could leave the palace incognito? At the same time, I was secretly excited that I, a little captain, had the opportunity to stand so close to the emperor for a while! I've got some dragon energy. It seems I can't take off these clothes for sleeping tonight!
After returning to the palace, Emperor Chongzhen despised the stinginess of the eavesdropping system and reorganized the eavesdropping seeds he already had.
There are currently three Class A seeds, one in Jinyiwei Baihu Wu Zhong, the eunuch Wang Chengen, and the Dongchang Warden Jiang Dong; two Class C seeds, one in the Dongchang Admiral Cao Huachun and the owner of Fanji Bank, Fan Yongzheng.
After sorting out the situation of the eavesdropping seeds, Emperor Chongzhen felt that the eavesdropping seeds on Jiang Dong were a bit wasted, so he looked for an opportunity to recycle them. Li Ruolian's position is very important, so one eavesdropping seed must be planted.
Yeah, I hope there are more eavesdropping seeds. It’s best if everyone has one. Well, that’s the best!
After longing for the beautiful future in his heart for a while, he lowered his head and looked at the two words written on the paper.
