Chapter 469
(Thanks to the reader "lenei" for the reward, and congratulations to "lenei" for becoming the leader of this book.)
There is another important reason why Han Ruzi insisted on going east along the river. Jing Yao had already found the whereabouts of Yang Feng's family, in Hu County, east of Yunmeng Ze.
Jing Yao worked very hard during this time. He had accused the Empress Dowager Shangguan without reservation, but the emperor did not take action. He was a little surprised, but not completely surprised. After working in the palace for many years, Jing Yao too understood the rules here. Ordinary people are often the same. It is always better to have less than one more thing. If the incident of the Empress Dowager Shangguan poisoning the late emperor was made public, it would make the world agitate, but it would not benefit the emperor himself.
According to the usual practice, the emperor will definitely think of other reasons to deal with the empress dowager Shangguan. Jing Yao inquired that the Cishun Palace had indeed strengthened the guards. In name, outsiders were not allowed to disturb the sick empress dowager. In fact, she was placed under house arrest.
Jing Yao understood that what he had to do was to wait patiently and act indifferently, so as not to be considered by the emperor to have ulterior motives.
He was really looking for Yang Feng's family wholeheartedly. The only clue was that Yang Feng had written a letter to the family, and the person who delivered the letter must have been to the Yang family.
Yang Feng rarely left any loopholes in his work, except for the half letter, there was no trace left.
Jing Yao suspected that the cook in Zuixianlou was the original messenger. He found out that he and Yang Feng had known each other for a long time, and their friendship was extraordinary.
But Dooming disappeared completely. When Yang Feng was in Yunmengze, Dooming appeared once in a while. After Yang Feng died, Dooming seemed to go underground and never showed up again.
Jing Yao did not give up and changed his direction a little. He guessed that the empress dowager Shangguan, who was so suspicious, would never easily believe Yang Feng's confession.
Following this line, Jing Yao digs deep again.
The palace is not Yang Feng, and there will always be a lot of records left in his work, and these records are now owned by the King of the East China Sea.
The King of the East China Sea has a mansion in the capital. He has been to the palace of the East China Sea Kingdom several times, but he has never regarded it as his home, nor has he ever hid anything that is shameful, so he wrote an order to let Jing Yao check all the books in the mansion. , ask everyone.
Jing Yao found out that it was just a simple sentence, which recorded that a certain eunuch went to Hu County and returned. The strange thing is that there is no official connection between Donghai Kingdom and Hu County. It was only this time, and he did not bring or bring back any something different from other records.
"A certain eunuch" has been dead for many years, Jing Yao did not give up, continued to investigate, and finally found one of the eunuch's entourage at the time.
The entourage had already left the palace and started a family in the East China Sea. He was extremely cautious in the face of inquiries and refused to disclose a word.
Jing Yao took out the order of the King of the East Sea, slightly coerced and lured, and obtained extremely important information, and narrowed the address of Yang Feng's family to a street in Hu County.
After many years, I don't know if the Yang family has moved or not, Jing Yao did not go to investigate immediately, but wrote a secret letter to the emperor asking for instructions.
The emperor ordered him to stay in the East China Sea.
Han Ruzi's patrolling team was not large, only about 3,000 people, either on horseback or by boat, went down the east of the river, took a half circle in Yunmengze, summoned officials and people, and observed the customs.
What he saw and heard made Han Ruzi quite satisfied. The bandit's lair in the past has now become a fertile land, but it is still difficult to be self-sufficient. There is not enough cattle and the grain output is not high.
This kind of thing cannot be done by only relying on dozens of people around the emperor, and it must be coordinated with the power of the imperial court.
Han Ruzi stayed in an ancient city for ten days, gathering his accompanying ministers and local officials, discussing matters openly, making solutions openly, and placing some young officials selected by him in the locality to examine their abilities.
There is only one thing that makes Han Ruzi slightly dissatisfied. He thinks that there were a lot of displaced people, which almost threatened the survival of Da Chu. Now that the wasteland needs to be reclaimed, the number of displaced people recruited is not as many as he expected.
The official replied that the people were homesick and reluctant to leave as long as they had a bite to eat after returning to their hometown.
In the late autumn, the patrolling team came to Hu County, stationed outside the city, only stayed for one night, and set off normally the next day, without adding too much burden to the local area.
Jin Chunzhong came to Hu County many days in advance, without official uniforms, with six or seven entourages, pretending to be a merchant from the east, carrying a cargo of goods, and suspended the city.
Lake County is not big, there are only three streets in the city, the main street is more spacious, and the other two streets are similar to alleys.
This afternoon, Jin Chunzhong walked out of the inn alone, strolled around, and quickly turned into the back street.
The back street is relatively deserted, but there are also some shops open, and hawkers stand on the corners, listlessly selling wilted fruits and vegetables.
The information provided by Jing Yao was vague, only that it was a family in the backstreet, and there was a teahouse across the street.
To be honest, Jin Chunzhong didn't quite understand the emperor's persistence. Yang Feng was Yang Feng, and his death was a bit strange, but that's all, his family might not be able to provide the truth.
But the imperial decree is the imperial decree. Jin Chunzhong acted in accordance with the decree, without the slightest slack. He walked from the street to the end of the street. Every time there was a shop, he had to go in and inquire. He didn't get much useful information, but he bought a lot of things and let them all. Merchant delivered to the inn.
He passed by two teahouses. Opposite one was a newly married couple who inherited their ancestral home and lived here for several generations. They had nothing to do with the Yang family. Opposite the other house is a vendor who moved in a few years ago, and no one remembers the previous residents.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Jin Chunzhong returned to the inn and planned to check on the other two streets tomorrow. When the emperor arrived, he had to provide a clear statement.
For three days in a row, Jin Chunzhong walked all over the streets and alleys, but did not find the Yang family, but gained the reputation of a "rich man", and even the shopkeeper came to visit the inn in person, hoping to sell something.
The followers did not know the purpose of Jin Chunzhong, and thought that the emperor was going to visit the local production and customs unannounced, so he carefully classified and registered the various things he bought.
Jin Chunzhong didn't say much. In the next few days, he was still wandering around the city alone, walking several streets again.
Jin Chunzhong did not find the Yang family, but he was found.
This evening, as soon as he returned to the inn, the shopkeeper greeted him with a smile, "Master Jin is back."
The inn was billed every day, Jin Chunzhong thought that the shopkeeper was here for this reason, "Is the bill not settled yesterday?"
"It's over, I told my buddy, I don't need to finish it every day from now on, and I'll talk about it when Master Jin has lived enough."
The more money you have, the easier it is to borrow money. Jin Chunzhong smiled, "As you like, we can't run away anyway."
The shopkeeper laughed and called out to the buddy, and set up a high-end banquet, which was given by the inn.
The entourage was very happy, but Jin Chunzhong was a little puzzled, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He had a delicious meal. If it wasn't for what happened next, he thought it was really just the kindness of the shopkeeper.
The next day, Jin Chunzhong continued to travel east and west, and found that wherever he went, he was always warmly welcomed, but if he wanted to ask anything, it was even more difficult. Youshe's situation is considered confidential.
But just yesterday, they still had to answer questions and had a good chat with the rich man.
After just one night, the attitude changed.
Jin Chunzhong returned to the inn early, the shopkeeper became more and more enthusiastic, and wanted to send a table of banquets, but Jin Chunzhong categorically refused.
Several entourages were in the room, and when they saw Jin Chunzhong, they all came up to them, and one of them smiled and said, "We can make a fortune."
"What's wrong?"
"A real rich man came just now, saying that he wants to buy all the goods we brought, and let us make an offer."
"What about people?"
"Not long after I left, I told the shopkeeper that I had figured out the price. He would send someone to deliver the money, and the goods would not be moved on the ship."
"Who's last name? What do you do?"
The entourage shook his head, "Only the surname is Song, nothing else is said, but the tone is quite big, saying that no matter how much we ask, he can pay for it."
Jin Chunzhong knew that something was wrong. He was making an unannounced visit for the emperor, and it was a mistake to attract so much attention.
When he came outside, Jin Chunzhong called the shopkeeper and asked, "What is the origin of this person today?"
"Song Daguan? A local rich man."
"There are no rare treasures on my ship, but some fabrics. Why does he have to buy them?"
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Song Daguan has a forthright nature and loves to make friends. Everyone in the county knows it. He must admire the name of the guest official, and he came here to show his love. The guest officer doesn't need to think too much. Wouldn't it be great to save the trip to the last one?"
Jin Chunzhong laughed, the Song official came to show his favor, but deliberately chose to visit when he was not there, there must be a problem.
"Okay, then I'll make an offer."
"Guest officer, please tell me, Song Daguan people are rich..."
"One hundred thousand taels."
The shopkeeper was stunned for a while, before saying, "How much?"
"One hundred thousand taels of silver."
"Hehe, that boat of cloth is worth a thousand taels at most, right?"
"It's up to me to ask, whether to buy it or not, it's up to you."
The shopkeeper was stunned for a while, then smiled: "Pass, of course, the guest officer will wait a moment, I will be back soon."
The shopkeeper came back very quickly, and his expression was even more strange than when he left, as if he had fallen hard on the road, and was about to scold, but he saw that the one who tripped over him was actually a piece of gold.
"One hundred thousand taels?" the shopkeeper asked.
Jin Chunzhong nodded.
"Tonight, someone sent a silver note, which can be exchanged in Luoyang, Linzi, and the capital."
Jin Chunzhong smiled and said, "Is it the first time I do business? I haven't even seen anyone, so why should I believe a few silver notes? If I don't see real money, the cargo won't be sold, and I won't leave."
The shopkeeper approached Jin Chunzhong, "The guest officer also stayed in the local area for a few days and met a lot of people. You might as well go to inquire about the details of Song Daguan's people. Maybe you won't have so many doubts."
"I've inquired." Jin Chunzhong asked his entourage to inquire, so he found a few merchants around the inn, and when he asked, he knew, "Ask the shopkeeper to tell the officials of Song, if you dare to give money, you must dare to show up."