After hearing Fan Xian's analysis, Haitang felt slightly reassured. She thought that as long as he grasped this point, with the secret connivance of the Qing Emperor, as long as he made detailed plans and careful arrangements, then the fall of the Ming family was only a matter of time. No matter how powerful a local noble family was, in the face of the powerful machinery of the country, it was still a weak egg next to a rock.
"This year's goal is to eat up the Ming family's silver," Fan Xian said. "The palace treasury bidding needs to be pressured by the Ming family. Furthermore, after winning the bid, it needs to reserve 40% of the base price. This spring opening, I will have people compete with the Ming family and raise the price so that the Ming family will have to pay a lot of blood. They will no longer have the ability to compete with me for the position the Cui family has vacated. At the same time, I will raise some quick silver and quickly fill it into the national treasury."
"How high are you going to raise it?" Haitang asked seriously.
Fan Xian smiled and said, "As high as I can go. You know I am a very greedy person."
Haitang furrowed her brows and said, "Since you don't plan on directly clashing with the Ming family, then you can only use the matter of opening the bidding to attack them. However, raising the price is not like shouting numbers into a dice box in a gambling den. If you raise the price too high and directly take it from the Ming family's hands … 16 items in the three large workshops of the palace treasury, 40% of the silver … calculate how much silver you will need. How will you get it?"
"It is clear bidding," Fan Xian explained. "In order to prevent officials and merchants from secretly colluding, the palace treasury has always used clear bidding for the spring opening. Coincidentally, this has given me an opportunity. Since everything is done in the open, naturally I will …" He thought for a bit and did not continue to hide anything. In a quiet voice, he said, "I will have Xia Qifei name a suitable price and then let the Ming family know."
"Xia Qifei?" Haitang was slightly surprised. "The head of the Jiangnan water bandits, a famous figure on the jianghu. How could he listen to your arrangements to fight against the Ming family? You have to know that he was born and raised in Jiangnan. "
As for Xia Qifei's past, Fan Xian would not continue to explain. He only indicated that Xia Qifei was already one of his people. He then explained the problem of silver. "Just as you said, the silver we have on hand is not enough to completely swallow up all 16 items of the palace treasury. Naturally, a portion of it has to be left for the Ming family. For one, it is to appease the other party. For another, it is to use that enormous sum of silver to trap the Ming family in Jiangnan and make it impossible for them to escape."
Haitang asked curiously, "How can you be sure the Ming family won't cut their losses? These past few years, they have already earned too much money. This time, anyone with a discerning eye knows that you have come to Jiangnan to deal with them. If you let Xia Qifei shout out a jaw-dropping high price, what if that old Ming master claps his hands and decides to stop playing? Wouldn't you suffer a loss in silence? Without a deposit, the Qing court will certainly not let Xia Qifei off easy. "
Fan Xian smiled coldly. "Even if the Ming family vomits blood this year, they must still win the palace treasury bid. So what if their family has tens of thousands of acres of fertile land? In the end, they are just inanimate objects. How can they compare to the living water, fish, and grass of the palace treasury? Furthermore, this matter involves the interests of the members of the royal family in Jingdou. If the Ming family wants to send out silver and protect the Eldest Princess' face and interests, they must continue to stay in the palace treasury. "
He gazed at the slowly rising black smoke in the forest and narrowed his eyes. "Merchants, in the end, are just puppets. The Ming family produces pirates to rob the treasures of the palace treasury and then turn around to take money from the court. They are vicious and merciless. Once they stop, those people in Jingdou will have no income. How could they let them go in their anger and humiliation? At that time, I won't even have to make a move. They will collapse. "
Thus, no matter what, the Ming family must control a large portion of the palace treasury goods this year. First, they will stabilize for a year or two. Then, they will see how the bloodless but particularly sinister struggle in Jingdou will develop.
"That sum of silver, are you going to transfer it to Xia Qifei?" This was a question that Haitang was very concerned about.
Fan Xian nodded. "A portion. Although father has prepared some for me, once the palace treasury opens, everyone is watching me and the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue. The Eldest Princess has probably long guessed this source of income of mine. If I truly use the Ministry of Revenue's stored silver to fight this battle with the Ming family … I'm afraid if I'm not careful, I will lose everything."
He self-mockingly said, "Using the silver of the national treasury is a crime that can get my entire family beheaded. I'm cowardly."
Haitang heard him admit he was cowardly and shook her head noncommittally. In a quiet voice, she asked, "But using Taiping money house to transfer silver over … the background of Taiping money house is Dongyi. Aren't you afraid they will notice something?"
Fan Xian glanced at her and slowly said, "This is the arrangement of your Emperor. Perhaps even you would not have thought of it. A month after the Niulan Street incident two years ago, the silver of the Northern Qi palace treasury began to flow slowly and unobtrusively into the Taiping money house through dozens of channels. No one knows how many twists and turns there were before the silver was moved to Jiangnan."
Haitang was startled and speechless.
Fan Xian continued, "I had the help of the Overwatch Council and the Ministry of Revenue, but I still did not detect the direction of these dozens of sums of silver. Furthermore, although that sum of silver was large, it was not particularly eye-catching in Taiping money house, the number one bank in the world. I think Dongyi certainly did not notice it."
Haitang shook her head in disbelief and said, "Wait, you're saying … this sum of silver was moved two years ago by the Emperor to Jiangnan? How is that possible? I only learned of this in September last year, and there has been no news of it in Shangjing. "
"Correct." A glimmer of admiration and wariness flashed through Fan Xian's eyes. "I only went to investigate again after you told me everything. In the end, I didn't find anything. I only faintly found that the time when those dozens of sums of silver entered Taiping money house was two years ago."
"Two years ago?" Haitang furrowed her brows. "You had only just entered Jingdou. How could the Emperor guess that you would be in charge of the palace treasury in two years? How could he know that he would join hands with you and gobble up the palace treasury's marketing rights?"
Fan Xian said self-mockingly, "At that time, I was just a nameless illegitimate child in Count Sinan's manor."
He sighed faintly and said, "Perhaps it was the Niulan Street incident that made your little Emperor confirm that the Eldest Princess wanted to kill me. Furthermore, from various intelligence reports, he determined that I would be in charge of the Qing national treasury. As for what happened afterward, perhaps it was just his analysis. Since there was no way for the Eldest Princess and I to work together, then I had to cut off the Eldest Princess's arm. The Cui family? The Ming family? No wonder at the end of last year, our two sides were able to deal with the Cui family so smoothly. "
Fan Xian furrowed his brows and said, "But your Emperor … how could he have guessed that I would use this move against the Ming family? If you want to say that he calculated to this point, I can only give him one sentence. "
Haitang had still not shaken off her shock. She had truly not thought that the young Emperor with whom she had grown up and who often called her aunt disciple disciple "aunt disciple disciple" would have such deep and far-sighted plans. As far back as two years ago, he had already begun to make arrangements to deal with Fan Xian or other possible variables.
Hearing Fan Xian's words, she unconsciously asked, "What sentence?"
"It seems that your Lord's wisdom is truly close to that of a demon," Fan Xian said gently.
Fan Xian said in a gentle voice, "He began planning two years ago. The development of the world has not deviated much from his guesses. Even if the Emperor had decided to clean up the palace treasury and had not used me, the me that you Northern Qi can fully trust … I'm afraid he still had a way to change the face of this silver and participate in the opening of the palace treasury bidding this time."
It was not until now that Fan Xian somewhat gloomily admitted that he had indeed underestimated the young ruler in the North. Regarding the palace treasury, the most dazzling golden pheasant in the world, because the Qing Kingdom guarded it very closely, no other country could do anything about it. They had tried to steal its craftsmanship for a dozen years without success. Who would have thought that the Northern Qi Emperor would be so unconventional and play such a trick?
For the Northern Qi Emperor, since he couldn't steal your family's treasures as a thief and couldn't beat your family's guards as a bandit, then he would shake his body and become a nameless capital merchant. He would mingle in the process of your family's treasures. Although he wouldn't be able to get the first bite, he wouldn't just eat scraps. However, in this arrangement of the world, Fan Xian, a variable that surprised the Northern Qi people, later appeared, so the Northern Qi Emperor became more and more generous and steady.
Fan Xian sighed. In this world, there were many extremely intelligent and astute people. In comparison, he, an internationalist, carried too much of an idealist.
…
…
"Are you angry?" Haitang looked at his expression and asked probingly.
Fan Xian smiled slightly and shook his head. "If your Emperor had been hiding this matter from me, of course I would be angry. But now he must cooperate with me, so what is there for me to be angry about? Right now, it is as if he has used all of this money as a hostage and handed it into my hands. This … is enough to exchange for my trust in him. "
Haitang sighed and said, "You are not a person who trusts others easily."
Fan Xian lowered his head and slowly said, "Trust is mutual. I am just curious as to why your Emperor trusts me so much. You have to know that in the future, if the two countries become hostile or if I have other thoughts, then I can eat his silver at any time and cut off his goods. He has no chance of turning the tables. "
He raised his head and looked into Haitang's eyes that were as bright as a clear lake. In a quiet voice, he said, "I have some misgivings about this sudden trust."
Haitang was silent and thought for a moment. Suddenly, she smiled and said, "When I mentioned this sum of silver to you in the letter … it seems that is when the rumors of your past will appear in the world."
"Hmm?" Fan Xian looked at her with confusion. "What is the connection?"
Haitang smiled slightly and said, "Perhaps in the Emperor's view, since you are a descendant of the Ye family, then you will not be satisfied with being a powerful official of the Qing Kingdom. Furthermore, your vision will not be limited to the borders of the country. Everything that the Qing Kingdom can give you, the Qi Kingdom can give you. The Emperor probably has other intentions …"
She didn't finish her words, but Fan Xian already understood. He shook his head self-mockingly and said, "Thank you for your Emperor's good intentions, but I don't want to frown and face thousands of fingers."
Haitang smiled and said, "It's rare for me to be in the mood to write poetry."
"I will not bow my head and be a willing ox," Fan Xian said lightly. Fan Xian lightly said, "Besides, your Emperor should have known later that I was also a genuine Qing prince …"
"There are many princes in this world, but of the descendants of the Ye family, there is only you," Haitang said lightly and gently, but she clearly understood Northern Qi's meaning.
Fan Xian smiled and did not continue this topic. He was at the height of his glory in the Qing Kingdom. Although there were a few women in the Palace and two princes in Jingdou, which he had some difficulty dealing with, the Emperor was playing the role of a loving father. He could not find a convincing reason to consider Northern Qi's invitation.
…
…
"Let's go back to the beginning," Fan Xian said. "Why can't you like me? Why can't I like you? "
Haitang was dumbfounded and angry. She wondered why this person was always entangled in this matter. In a cold voice, she said, "Duoduo has never cared about the matters between men and women. In the realm of love, there is no difference between big and small, but there is a difference between up and down. I do not seek to destroy my feelings, but I will not consider this problem."
Fan Xian understood that the girl was expressing the meaning of putting the people of the world first. With slight mockery, he said, "Worrying about the worries of the world first? Isn't it too boring to live like this? Your Emperor still has a hat to play with … "
He didn't say what color the hat was. Suddenly, he smiled brightly and said, "Duoduo."
"Hmm?" Haitang stopped her steps and tilted her head to look at him. She was dazzled by the gentle smile on Fan Xian's delicate face. She couldn't resist sighing and asked, "What is it?"
"It is also possible that the Hu people don't kill," Fan Xian said seriously.
Haitang knew he was talking about the words she had used to shut Sisi's mouth in the carriage earlier. She couldn't help feeling bitter, but she still replied quietly, "Is that so? Perhaps neither the people of Northern Qi nor the Qing Kingdom will believe it. "
Fan Xian said gently, "Of course, it is possible that the Hu people don't kill people if they have all been turned into dead people by us."
Haitang was startled and laughed in spite of herself without rhyme or reason.
Fan Xian said quietly, "Using the same logic, it is also possible that I like you, and it is also possible that you like me."
Haitang mockingly said, "Wait until we are all dead?"
"No," Fan Xian explained seriously. "Wait until everyone else in this world is dead."
Haitang had no choice and said, "Everyone is dead, leaving just the two of us standing by the river enjoying the wind?"
Fan Xian raised his head and thought for a while before nodding. "It does seem to be meaningless."
Then, he took out both hands from his pockets and held Haitang's hands. Under the girl's slightly startled gaze, he gently rubbed them. He smiled warmly and said, "Since it is meaningless, then don't think about it. The weather is still cold, and you're wearing a servant girl's clothes. I'm afraid your hands will freeze."
Their four hands clasped together. Firmness and gentleness melded in a patch of warmth. The rumbling of the carriage wheels came from behind the two of them.
There was a glimmer of amusement in Haitang's eyes. She didn't pull her hands out. On the contrary, she tilted her head slightly and looked at Fan Xian. "Are you purposely letting others see?"
Fan Xian half-lowered his head and blinked his eyelashes slightly. In a quiet voice, he replied, "In order to convince my Emperor that I brought you to Jiangnan for a reason, in order for the mutual trust between your Emperor and me to have a firmer foundation, we must both be closer."
Haitang looked at him with a not-quite-there smile.
In the end, Fan Xian said seriously, "Of course, your hands are still very comfortable to hold. You often do farm work, but … there are no calluses."
(Student Kitty has already arrived in Guangzhou, but everyone, don't worry. The updates will not stop these two days. ^ ^ At the same time, he also wants me to express sincere and strong thanks to everyone on his behalf. His monthly votes have soared overnight. He can be at ease, haha — — by jessaphy)
(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. COM. There are more chapters. Support the author and support genuine reading!)
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