After the immortal disappeared

The person named Ke really killed them.

But everyone still has to follow, who knows if this is what the palace means?

Ke Jihai paused with a sad look on his face, and bowed to all the guests with clasped fists: "Ke, a frontline soldier, thank you all for your generosity!"

Once these hundreds of thousands of stones of food and military supplies are in place, the officers and soldiers will be able to hold on for a while longer.

Of course, everyone was polite, but Ke Jihai said to the subordinate officer behind him in a blink of an eye: "Please note down all the donations of military rations from your lords! You are the only one who made the mistake."

The He brothers looked at each other and saw the smile in each other's eyes. Ke Jihai was afraid that the nobles present would make irresponsible remarks and turn around and refuse to admit their mistakes, which shows how firm he was in asking for food.

He Chunhua also spoke: "It just so happens that my He family will also donate..."

At this point, Ke Jihai interrupted: "What are you donating? Even if you go to Xiazhou, you have to recruit soldiers and horses. How can you have enough money in your pocket? Don't forget that there is your old enemy in the north. Nian Zanli! Let me see, there are The war is no easier than Wuzhou." He refused to accept his food gift no matter what.

He Chunhua had no choice but to give up and take his two sons back to sit down.

Next, the host tried to smooth things over and quickly got rid of the accident. With the squeaking of silk and bamboo music, the kabuki came on stage, quickly attracting everyone's attention.

As worthy of being at the feet of the Emperor, these singers' figures are much more graceful than those from Blackwater City, their singing voices are softer, and even their eyes are very affectionate.

He Lingchuan watched intently, but He Yue nudged him with his elbow: "Hey, look at General Ke."

Ke Jihai had just drank a few glasses of wine when a young man came from behind to greet him, and the two started chatting.

Although it was said to be "chatting", it was more like a young man talking endlessly, while Ke Jihai raised his glass and listened, occasionally frowning and asking a few questions.

After a cup of tea, Ke Jihai ordered someone to get the young man a glass of wine.

The young man choked after taking one sip and coughed for a long time.

There were women at the banquet, so the drinks served were soft and slightly sweet, and everyone could enjoy it. But Ke Jihai was used to drinking strong alcohol and had already asked the waiter to change him.

Seeing the young man choking on his drink, Ke Jihai smiled and said a few words, which He Lingchuan recognized as "still young".

The boy is in his early twenties, with slightly dark skin, a Chinese-character face, and a good-natured face, but his eyes are round and bright. Unlike the banquet robe, which was covered with silk robes, his robe, although made of good quality, had been washed and faded. He Lingchuan also found an inconspicuous patch on his hem.

This guy is totally incompatible with Lu Mingyuan.

Then the young man handed Ke Jihai a brochure, saluted, stood up and left.

Ke Jihai didn't open it to look at it, and handed it to the subordinate officer behind him.

After another half an hour, he stood up, toasted Zhu Xiyan with a glass of wine, and then walked out.

It looked like he was ready to leave.

He Lingchuan was once again convinced that General Ke's main reason for going to Lumingyuan for the banquet tonight was to get money and pay for the frontline officers and soldiers. Now that the goal has been achieved, it's time to get away.

At this moment, Mrs. Ying held her stomach and whispered to her husband: "I have some abdominal pain."

"Do you want to change clothes?"

"No, it's just a dull pain that's been there for a while." Mrs. Ying said sheepishly, "Maybe she's not used to eating these delicacies."

This banquet is about presentation. Everything that flies in the sky, swims in the water, and runs on the ground is all on the plate. But Ying Hongchan was used to home-cooked food in the border areas. Now she tasted all kinds of flavors and felt that she couldn't bear it.

"You." He Chunhua had no choice but to stand up and say goodbye to the Zhu family, leaving first with his wife and children.

Walking outside, Assistant Liu was sitting on his feet, eating wine with two side dishes.

Of course, such a small person is not qualified to enter the banquet hall.

Seeing He's family coming out, he said hello and hurried out to get a Roman carriage.

The night was dark, most of the lights at the foot of the mountain had been extinguished, and snow was falling in the air.

The wheels crunched on the fresh snow.

When He Lingchuan saw the scene at the bottom of the mountain again, he no longer admired it. Instead, he remembered that the night view of Shihuan City he had seen before was beautiful, but it was dark all around the city, and the lights became sparser as he went outside. It was not at all like the emperor's feet.

He asked Deputy Liu: "Aren't there many residents around Shi Huan?"

"A lot, why not a lot?" Assistant Liu answered, "There are five counties and thirteen townships, either farming or living off Shihuan City."

Shihuan City is such a prosperous place, and most of the residents in the surrounding counties and villages earn their living by diligently serving it.

"Then why are the lights so sparse?"

"You are busy during the day, but you have nothing to do when you go home at night. Why don't you fall asleep?" Assistant Liu said with a smile, "Besides, candles are expensive, so why light them?"

He Lingchuan immediately remembered what Zhu Xiyan had just said.

He Yue whispered: "Compared to what we have seen along the way, the life of the villagers around Shi Huan is much better. At least they have food to eat and can survive."

They walked here from Blackwater City and truly saw how difficult people's livelihood was. He Yue has read tens of thousands of books in seven or eight years, but nothing is as good as what he has seen and heard in the past twenty or thirty days, all kinds of weird and shocking things.

This little boy finally understood what it means to "rise and fall because of the suffering of the common people."

As soon as these words came out, even Assistant Liu couldn't keep the smile on his face. He swallowed: "The royal court issued an order ten days ago and increased taxes. This is the second time this year, so everything is more expensive now."

If you are short of money, food, or wages, you have to ask for it from the people.

If the people are too harsh, someone will rise up again, and there will be a second and third Hong Xiangqiang.

This topic can no longer be discussed.

After the wheels started rolling, He Lingchuan lifted the curtain and looked forward: "In front is General Ke's carriage, not far from us." It was only five or six feet away, separated by flying snow flakes.

The snow seems to be getting heavier and heavier.

He Yue said: "General Ke is here to collect wages from the dignitaries of Shihuan City. Did Lord Zhu know about it in advance, or did he cooperate temporarily?"

He Lingchuan snorted: "These nobles in Shihuancheng are so fat that they can donate tens of thousands of stones or hundreds of thousands of stones in food without blinking an eye."

He Chunhua nodded: "General Ke didn't ask for much food and salary from Wang Ting. I think someone gave him some advice and asked him to find Shi Huancheng to raise funds."

He Yue murmured: "Forcing the generals leading troops on the front line to rush back to the capital to ask for pay, it is a wonder in the world." There was inevitably some anger in his words.

He had known that the country was corrupt, but he still felt uncomfortable after seeing it with his own eyes.

He Lingchuan patted his head: "You are still too young, kid."

He Chunhua shook his head and said: "Asking for pay is just a pretext. I think General Ke has another purpose in returning to the capital."

He Yue's face changed color: "You, you mean he also has two..."

Before the last word "heart" came out of his mouth, He Chunhua scolded him: "Nonsense!"

"I suspect that he rushed back to plead with Master Fu Jufu."

"Fu Ju..." He Lingchuan activated the Confused Skill, "Who is it?"

He Yue knew: "Sanqi often served Master Fu. He was originally a ranger general. I remember that he fought several battles in the south and west. Later, he suffered from injuries and old age and ended up at home. His descendants also If you are an official in the court, you will have no great future."

He Lingchuan: "Already retired? What big thing did this old man commit? Do you want General Ke to come back to intercede for him?"

He Yue was also confused.

"It was only when I arrived in Shihuan that I heard that someone had secretly reported that Fu Ju was on good terms with the former chief minister Ma Donghaoming and had private financial transactions with Wuzhou." He Chunhua has been dealing with officials of all sizes in the past few days and has collected a lot of money. Pile of information and gossip.

The He brothers looked at each other, and a chill ran down their backs.

At this time, being accused of colluding with Dong Haoming would lead to death.

"Your Majesty, did you believe it?"

"If you don't believe it, why would General Ke rush back in such a hurry? Fu Ju used to fight alongside him on the battlefield and saved his life more than once. The two have a very good relationship." He Chunhua looked at his two sons and sighed, "Do you know , Although the Fu family is not a big one, its wealth is extremely rich, and it can be ranked among the top six in the entire country."

"The Fu family has produced famous generals who have made great contributions to Yuan Gaozu's side and received a lot of rewards. Although his descendants are not good at martial arts or outstanding officials, they are all very good at business. They have engaged in more than a dozen businesses, and the family property has grown more and more. The bigger. When Fu Ju was a cavalry general, he could not engage in business as an official, but he put all his business in the name of his close relatives. I heard that nearly 30% of the medicine shops in the capital were owned by his family; the entire six streets in the west of the capital were also owned by Fu Ju. The family’s land. In a place like that, where every inch of land is precious, hey! Think about it, how rich is the Fu family?”

He Lingchuan tilted his head: "Can you be richer than the king?"

He Chunhua smiled and said nothing.

If you are richer than anyone else, everyone will be jealous; if you are richer than the king, then...

He Yue's eyes flickered, why did his father suddenly mention the Fu family's money?

He Chunhua added: "The late emperor confiscated a large sum of property from the Fu family because the children of the Fu family relied on wealth and oppressed the common people. Everyone thought that the family's vitality was damaged, but they did not expect that it would take only a few years for it to recover. , but will keep a low profile from now on.”

He Yue tilted his head: "With the Fu family's astonishing wealth, can it sustain a war until we defeat Dong Haoming?"

He Chunhua said softly: "We still don't know."

This was his catchphrase, and both brothers knew that the next sentence would be "why not give it a try"?

Deputy Liu was also sitting in the car, so he couldn't speak clearly, but both brothers understood.

The Fu family is too rich, but they have no powerful ministers in the dynasty. However, the country is crying out for money during the war, so...

Therefore, whether Fu Ju was involved in treason or rebellion is not important in itself. The Fu family thought they could avoid disaster by keeping a low profile, but unfortunately the crime of having a jade is an unbreakable and eternal truth.

He Lingchuan smiled and said: "Isn't there an old saying in our Qiansong County: Being rich but not powerful will make you a fat pig."

So what if you are a very rich man? When the power sharpens its sword, you still have to be obedient and accept the slaughter?

He Chunhua said in a low voice: "The Great Sima fled back to Wuzhou after his regicide failed. He is at ease, but the number of officials and businessmen who were implicated in the court is unknown. It is said that the guillotine at the entrance of the market was blunted, and the confiscated family property was temporarily gone." The space was piled up in several large warehouses behind the Pinghe Temple, and it probably took more than two months to process it."