Precise information led to a precise attack.
Precisely because Xu Bing had interrogated the real Han Gui for many days and conducted targeted intelligence investigations, Zhou Qingfeng immediately ordered a merciless attack on anyone who could harm him the moment the fake Han Gui stepped onto the stage. This included not only the bailiffs under Han Gui's command, but also the holdouts in Han Gui's jurisdiction.
All of this was completed within a day and night. About a dozen covered carts were pushed out of the city early the next morning and sent to the Leaky Garden to be buried. The soldiers guarding the city gate secretly spread a rumor that the carts personally escorted by Constable Han were all corpses.
As soon as this rumor spread, the fear of Constable Han in the marketplace deepened. The rumor that he was haunted by a vengeful spirit soon dissipated. The common people had to be careful even if they talked about him behind his back. His colleagues also felt that after Han Gui's misfortune this time, he had become extraordinarily ruthless, so they were even more on guard against him.
However, the person who paid the most attention to Han Gui's actions was Wang Kai, Wong Yuanwai, who was doing business in Fushun. On the second day after Constable Han cleaned up the western part of the city, Wong Yuanwai's eyelids kept twitching in his private residence in Fushun. His trusted steward stood at the side and reported in a low voice, "Master, that Constable Han has really caused quite a ruckus this time."
Wong Yuanwai sat on an armchair in the hall with his eyes closed and a purple clay teapot in his hand. He only nodded slightly at the steward's words. Hence, the steward continued, "Han Gui's actions this time were very different from usual. If it was to vent his anger, it would have been fine if he chose a few lively ones to deal with. However, after he recovered from his illness, he arrested more than a dozen of his original subordinates.
Not only did he arrest his own people, but his power increased instead. Overnight, the western part of the city changed. The new bailiffs were all new faces, but they were very decisive and efficient. They were much more capable than the previous batch of ruffians. I even sent people to the Qianhu yamen to inquire about it. The yamen runners who were killed were actually filed and left behind files. It was well-organized and watertight. "
Wong Yuanwai took a sip from the teapot and rubbed his fat belly. He shook his head and said, "Han Gui doesn't have that kind of brain. He must have changed the person behind him. His new subordinates must have been sent by someone else. The mastermind behind this is ruthless, meticulous, and secretive. No matter how I look at it, it seems to be the work of the Brocade Guards. "
The steward was shocked. "Could it be that the imperial court wants to move against our Fu Shun?"
Wong Yuanwai shook his head. "I can't say for sure. I'm just guessing."
The butler continued, "Last night, the dozen or so streets in the west of the city were quite rowdy. That was Han Gui's territory, and no one else could interfere. Today, I personally went to inquire about it, but those neighbors refused to talk about what happened last night. All of them were frightened. Even those in the streets didn't dare to say a word. Many people simply left the city early in the morning and ran to the countryside to hide.
But this time, Han Gui made a huge profit. In one night, he raided more than a dozen houses and earned at least two thousand taels. He also raided more than a dozen real estate shops. I just got the news from my family's silver shop that Han Gui sent people early in the morning to withdraw the money that was previously deposited in our counter. He also took away the money of the dozen or so bailiffs that had their houses searched. "
Hearing 'Han Gui withdrew money', Wong Yuanwai felt his heart ache. Merchants were the most sensitive to changes in power. A few days ago, when Constable Han was about to lose power, he immediately ordered his subordinates to delay Han Gui's money, thinking of a way to swallow it all. But now, Han Gui was once again in power, which meant that two to three thousand taels of silver had flown away from his hands.
Who was behind Han Gui? What did they want?
Wong Yuanwai was puzzled. Just as he was worrying, the door to the hall was pushed open. A gust of cold wind blew the flames of the stove in the room, making Wong Yuanwai shiver. Seeing that it was a servant who pushed the door open, Wong Yuanwai immediately cursed, "Damn bastard, are you trying to freeze me to death?"
The servant bowed and reported, "Master, it's not that I'm being rash, but there's something difficult to decide. I need you to make the decision yourself."
"What is it?" Wong Yuanwai stared at him and asked.
The servant said, "Constable Han Gui personally came to our rice shop to buy rice. He asked for five hundred dans and even wanted us to give him a twenty percent discount."
Pfft …. Wong Yuanwai couldn't help but laugh in anger. Even the housekeeper said angrily, "That Han Gui used to be a ruffian, and now he's throwing his weight around in front of us. It's fine if you want grain, but a twenty percent discount is impossible. "
The profits of grain merchants were all generated during the grain shortage season. It was now the coldest winter, the best time to sell grain at a high price. Not to mention five hundred dans, they could even sell it for five thousand dans. But grain merchants were not philanthropists, so it was impossible for them to give a discount, not even in this lifetime. In order to prevent grain prices from falling, they would even stop the government from opening the warehouses to provide relief.
As for how many people would freeze and starve to death in the winter? The Daming Empire had no shortage of people, and now was the best time to buy land, property, and even people at a low price.
The servant who reported said, "Master, that's what I told Constable Han. But Constable Han said that if we were willing to sell grain at a fifty percent discount, he would be willing … "
"Fifty percent discount?" This time, even Wang Kai and Wong Yuanwai were angry. They angrily sat up from the armchair and scolded, "He's just a small Fushun Constable, and he dares to ask me to sell grain at a fifty percent discount? Did he eat a bear's heart or a leopard's gall? "
In normal years, the grain price in the Daming Empire was three to four dans, or even two to three dans per dans. The northern border towns were short of grain, so the grain price was about twice as expensive, but it was still less than one liang.
But now that there was a shortage of grain in the winter, the price of one dans of rice immediately soared to three to four liang per dans. It should be known that poor families might not even earn one liang a month, so one could imagine how expensive the grain price was and how many people starved to death.
Now that Han Gui wanted to sell grain at a fifty percent discount, Wang Kai naturally jumped up and scolded.
"Tell him to get lost. Don't even think about buying a grain from me." Wang Kai was Fushun's largest grain merchant, and his backer was Fushun's guerrilla commander, Li Yongfang. Moreover, he was also very powerful in Shenyang, and had befriended the Liaodong Army Commander Zhang Chengyin and the Liaodong Inspector-General Li Weihan.
But the housekeeper was calmer and asked the servant to continue, "Han Gui wants us to sell grain at a fifty percent discount. What is he willing to do?"
"Constable Han said that he is willing to help us recruit farmers to open up fertile land around Fushun. He also said that if we are willing to cooperate, it won't be a problem to open up five thousand mu of fertile land in a year." The servant said.
Hiss … A word immediately appeared in Wang Kai's mind — extremely daring!
This Han Gui really ate a bear's heart and a leopard's gall!
Was Liaodong short of land? Not at all.
Was Liaodong short of people? Not at all.
But was Liaodong short of farmers to open up fertile land? Extremely!
The generals of the border towns were all hereditary, and they ordered the military households under them like slaves. So many military households fled, and there were countless abandoned fields — don't think that the fleeing military households could survive, it was just that they would die later. They would die on the road, in the wilderness, or in some unknown corner.
And the lives of ordinary farmers were also not good. They faced all kinds of exorbitant taxes, and if they wanted to survive, they had to rely on someone with power. The biggest landlord in Fushun was Li Yongfang, because the land under his name did not have to pay taxes.
Speaking of whether Wang Kai Wong Yuanwai was envious or not? Naturally, he was envious. He also had a lot of land under his name, but he could only offer it to someone with power — the majority of it was handed over, and he could only earn hard money.
Han Gui said that he wanted to recruit farmers to open up fertile land, so Wang Kai was naturally interested. But how to operate it to ensure his interests needed to be carefully discussed.
The housekeeper waved his hand to dismiss the servant, and turned to Wang Kai and said, "Master, as you say, this is not Han Gui's idea, but the idea of the person behind Han Gui. In my humble opinion, the person hiding in the dark is absolutely not an ordinary person. He is vicious and merciless, and his thoughts are meticulous. He might really be able to accomplish this. "
"This person is very capable. If he can rope me in, he can naturally rope in others." Wong Yuanwai frowned and said, "If I rashly refuse, I'm afraid it's still a little inappropriate. But selling grain at a 50% discount is too absurd. No, no. "
Once his greed rose, and he was unwilling to be taken advantage of, Wong Yuanwai was also worried.
The door of the hall was pushed open again, and another servant came in to report, "Master, someone just came to deliver a door invitation, saying that a friend of Master Ma Chengta from the Jurchen Jin Kingdom has arrived in Fushun."
Delivering a door invitation was to build a relationship, and if necessary, even to take advantage of them. Ma Chengta was a businessman from Jianzhou, and could be considered to be familiar with Wang Kai. He had to give him face.
Wong Yuanwai took the door invitation and saw that there was a letter attached. The letter was written by Gu Yuanwei, and it was full of lies. He only said that his friend had arrived in Fushun, and he wanted to ask Wong Yuanwai to take care of him and make things convenient for him.
Wang Kai frowned and handed the letter to his housekeeper. The housekeeper also seemed to be confused, and so he asked the servant, "Is this person still here?"
"He's gone," the servant said.
"When did he say he would come again?"
"He didn't say."
"What does he look like?"
"He's medium height, and his face is covered up so I can't see what he looks like. But when he talks, he always cackles, and it sounds crazy. "
"Is there anything special about him?"
The servant scratched his head and said, "He also asked me if there was anything special in Fushun recently. He also asked me for a person's name. About half a year ago, he brought a group of bumpkins to rob our Fushun horse market, stole Master's goods, and made Master pay a large sum of money. What's his name … Zhou, Zhou … "
"Zhou Qingfeng!" Wong Yuanwai and the housekeeper shouted this name at the same time. The two looked at each other again, their eyes filled with fear. The battle in the horse market half a year ago had almost caused Wong Yuanwai to lose his life. Now that this troublemaker had been asked, it was most likely that … he had returned.
The housekeeper immediately lowered his voice and said, "Master, I suddenly have a guess."
Wong Yuanwai gritted his teeth and shouted, "What guess is there? The mastermind behind Han Gui must be him. I've been doing business for so many years, and I've seen many courageous people, but he's the only one with boundless courage. This kid attacked the horse market and made me lose a few thousand taels of silver, and he still dares to appear? I'm not done with him. "
"Master, do you want revenge?"
"Of course."
"Master, you still need to be careful. This Zhou kid is bold, and his thoughts are strange. He's not easy to deal with."
"What do you mean?"
"I heard that this Zhou kid doesn't seem to be on good terms with his master. This Dajin has just established a country, and they've already sent people over. Could it be that they also want to get rid of him? Why don't we set a trap and draw the snake out of its hole? "
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