Chapter 183: The Third Encirclement and Suppression (I)
"I heard that you dare to show your displeasure to the master?" Qian Qing sat opposite Lei Hu and asked curiously.
Lei Hu looked at Qian Qing's beauty and immediately felt happy. Even so, the things that once made him very unhappy became acceptable, not to mention that Lei Hu actually understood that he had no reason to be unhappy.
"Commander Qian, I'm not unhappy. I was just unhappy at that time." Lei Hu explained.
Qian Qing had no intention of letting Lei Hu go, "Sir, you are very magnanimous, of course you won't be bothered. But I can't just ignore it. Lei Hu, what were you thinking at the time?"
Lei Hu shook his head. "It was mainly because many people died and were injured on the road. I heard from the master that he intentionally did not send anyone to help transport the goods, and I was angry at the time. Now I understand that I was angry because I was useless, so I was ashamed to see the families of the dead and injured brothers. In fact, it has nothing to do with the master."
Qian Qing lowered his eyes slightly when he heard this, then raised them again, stared at Lei Hu and said, "Lei Hu, those of us who follow the master regard him as our backbone. When the master gave an order, we couldn't do it, but we never annoyed the master. If you annoy the master again, I don't know what to say."
It was the first time that Lei Hu felt the huge pressure from Qian Qing. It was a feeling that only a man-eating tiger could have, both beautiful and dangerous. For a moment, Lei Hu was a little confused by this feeling.
Qian Qing didn't say much, he stood up and left Lei Hu to meet Huo Chong. "Sir, this time we have gathered more than 10,000 people, plus the more than 2,000 people sent by Taoist Priest Chang, we have more than 24,000 people available."
"No, I would rather think that it is 20,000 combat troops and at least 200,000 transport personnel." Huo Chong was very happy.
Qian Qing also knew about the feat that Mengyin County had accomplished. For the first time, they were able to purposefully mobilize the people to provide transportation services. This really made the troops march like they had wings.
After hearing Huo Chong's satisfaction, Qian Qing asked, "Sir, Lei Hu looked at you coldly at that time, and many people said they wanted to deal with him."
"What do you think?"
"I think Lei Hu is too arrogant. It's not a good idea not to teach him a lesson."
"I can actually understand that, and I said it at the time. So Lei Hu has to be beaten."
"Sir, everyone is angry with him because they don't regard you as their backbone. If not, he would have just laid on the ground and cried, saying that you lied to him and that you made things difficult for him. No one would have taken it seriously. Didn't Lao Liu do that?"
Huo Chong felt amused when he heard Qian Qing, the eldest sister, bring up the past of the sixth child, Wan Qian. If Wan Qian was around at this time, and heard Qian Qing, the eldest sister, bring up her embarrassing stories like this, she would probably rush over and beat Qian Qing... But Wan Qian really couldn't beat him.
Sighing , Huo Chong could only say: "Let's leave it at that. I know the thoughts of people like Lei Hu, they are different from you. In fact, Qing'er, if you were two years older when you met me, you would be almost the same as Lei Hu."
Qian Qing didn't refute what he said. Finally, she just sighed, "Oh, sir, I understand. I will try my best to help Lei Hu."
While Huo Chong was busy with internal issues, the Jinan Prefecture had already captured "suspicious people who escaped from Jining City" and found out some things through interrogation.
Shandong Governor Saileng'e found that things were beyond his imagination, so he could only temporarily release the derelict officials who were imprisoned and wrote an imperial edict to send to the court.
When Yongzheng saw the edict, he was furious and murderous. The prefect of Jining who had committed suicide and some other officials chose to take action against the 200,000 taels of tax silver in order to repay the silver they owed. Using Huo Chong's name, they colluded with others to rob the tax silver.
The most amazing thing is that these people are really thieves. They know that they can't really rob, and even if they rob, they can't take it away. At least they will leave a lot of traces.
So these corrupt officials first played a trick to get the silver out, and then replaced a large part of it with other boxes.
That way, when they attacked the useless escort officers, all the thieves had to do was open the boxes of stones, dump the stones out, and throw the boxes into the canal.
This was a very clever design, and there was really no evidence. Even Saileng'e said in his memorial, "The above matters were obtained by me after severe torture, and whether they are true or not cannot be proven."
Yongzheng issued an order, "Those who owe money should pay it back immediately. Officials in all regions should strictly monitor such officials under their jurisdiction..."
After ordering the officials to be tortured again, Yongzheng still felt unhappy. Suddenly he remembered a few people and issued a new decree.
In the prison, former Shandong governor Chen Shiguan sighed when he saw the generous gifts from his family. The cellmate next to him had already received the gifts and was delighted in a moment, "Brother Chen, this is a Song edition book! Your family is really... amazing!"
Chen Shiguan, the former governor of Shandong, knew that his cellmate was being polite, saying "powerful" but not rich. Because in the Qing Dynasty, the rich basically became rich by plundering the people's blood and sweat. Chen Shiguan's family was undoubtedly one of them, and a pretty powerful one at that.
Seeing his cellmate pick up the book and start reading, completely immersed in the joy of reading, Chen Shiguan couldn't help but sigh: "Brother Li, your courage is really made of iron."
The inmate didn't care about being praised by Chen Shiguan. He just waved his hand and said, "Don't talk about these nonsense. Read a book, read a book."
Life in prison is like this. If you want to live longer, of course, the days will feel like years. If you want to live faster, then time will pass in a flash. With his cellmates as role models and the weather gradually getting warmer, Chen Shiguan can slowly settle down to study. The feeling he had in his youth has passed too long ago.
The feeling of being ecstatic when you understand a truth while reading has been forgotten for too long. While reading, Chen Shiguan suddenly put down the book and wiped the tears from his face with his dirty sleeves.
This feeling of returning to youth is so touching that it makes people cry unconsciously.
Not long after he was moved, he heard the footsteps of many people walking into the prison. Chen Shiguan quickly put down the book, but saw that his cellmate was still reading the book with great interest, not caring about what was happening .
Those people finally stopped in front of Chen Shiguan's cell door. The leader took out an official document and read it loudly: "Former Northern Zhili Governor Li Fu, colluded with his cronies..."
The more Chen Shiguan listened, the more frightened he became. This official document was full of accusations against Chen Shiguan's cellmate, the former Zhili Governor Li Fu.
At the end of the vicious accusation, Li Fu was sentenced to beheading. Chen Shiguan's hand trembled, and the book fell to the ground.
Li Fu, on the other hand, just raised his eyes, looked at the officials outside the door, and asked, "Is it tomorrow?"
After getting a definite answer, Li Fu lowered his head and continued reading without saying anything else.
