Chapter 68: Thank You, Brother
"This tent is so big." Junior Brother Qin said in amazement.
"Look at the material, it's different and durable." Tang Wen immediately pulled out the sword that Tie Wenjing brought with him and chopped at the tent. Master Qin took a look and opened his mouth wide, saying, "What a sturdy tent!"
"It can't be cut by a knife. What is this tent made of?" Tie Wenjing was also surprised.
"This is from the West. What's more, it's very convenient to put up and fold. It only takes a few thousand breaths to set up one." Tang Wen said. Luo Yiwu immediately ordered his men to quickly put away the tent and set it up again.
"Convenient, durable, and strong, it's a great thing, ten times better than our military tents." Tie Wenjing exclaimed.
"This thing comes from the West, so it shouldn't be cheap." said Master Qin.
"Of course, two thousand taels of silver for one hat." Luo Yiwu answered casually.
"Two thousand taels a hat, it's a bit expensive." said Master Qin.
"Master Qin, you don't understand this. I just went to the northwest battlefield this year and saw our tent.
I feel that this kind of thing is not expensive. This Western one is so big that it can accommodate dozens of people to rest.
But we don’t have a tent as big as yours in the Chu army. One tent can accommodate at most thirty people.
It is quite troublesome to set it up, and it takes half a day or even a day to complete.
Each hat costs more than 1,000 taels of silver, and the cloth is not as durable as yours, and its sturdiness is not as good as that of the Western ones." Tie Wenjing said.
“This is the gift I give you. You have come here, and you cannot leave empty-handed .
So, in order to express my sincerity to Lord Fu Yi.
I have decided to donate 50 large tents to Jiangzhou Prefecture first, so I'll have to trouble you, Brother, and Master Qin to take them back." Tang Wen said.
"Junior brother, you are truly of high character and loyal to the court. I will definitely report your kindness to Lord Fu Yi. Moreover, I will recommend you for merit." Tie Wenjing was immediately delighted.
Because, he calculated, these fifty tents alone were worth one hundred thousand taels.
Tang Wen donated only 170,000 taels to Yanling County. If he could rescue Qiao Xiao, and Tang Wen donated another 300,000 taels, his contribution would be great.
Because, Lord Fu Yi said that if it was done, the position of Tongzhi of Jiangzhou Prefecture would be his.
Otherwise, why would Tie Wenjing rush to this remote place to ask for donations?
After all, the war in the northwest was tense, and the court sent a large amount of food, fodder and horses to all the major prefectures.
Jiangzhou Prefecture is the provincial capital, so naturally, the tasks assigned to it are much greater than those of Yanling County.
Yi Qin Botong of Jiangzhou Prefecture was in a hurry. If he couldn't raise enough money for the military pay, he would have to go to jail.
"Thank you, senior brother." Tang Wen bowed.
Tie Wenjing was really anxious. He packed up the tent and immediately took his men back to the provincial capital.
"If the people in Jiangzhou Prefecture can't do anything, I will go to Yanling County prison to break out the prison. Qiao Xiao has suffered a lot since he followed my Gu family. I can't let Kang Qingfeng kill him." Afterwards, Gu Hanyan said coldly.
"Prison break is the worst option. If Lord Qin can't do anything about it, we can only take another approach." Tang Wen said.
"Just kill Kang Qingfeng. Without him, who would imprison Qiao Xiao?" Gu Hanyan said.
"It is not difficult to kill Kang Qingfeng with your ability. However, Kang Qingfeng is the leader of the Yanling Division of the Six Gates. A slight move could affect the entire body. When the Six Gates investigate, the entire Gu family will suffer." Tang Wen said.
"I didn't expect you to be so cowardly that you don't even dare to kill Kang Qingfeng.
I think it's a pipe dream to count on you to avenge my Gu family.
At the beginning, I, Gu Hanyan, really followed the wrong person." Gu Hanyan looked at Tang Wen with disdain.
“It’s not that we don’t want to save them, but we have to find a way to do it.
If Qin Botong can't do anything, I have another way to deal with Kang Qingfeng.
Hanyan, sometimes you don't have to kill the enemy to deal with him." Tang Wen said.
"Do you have a solution? It's been several months. Have you thought of any solution?" Gu Hanyan said sarcastically.
"This method should not be used unless it is absolutely necessary, so now it all depends on Tie Wenjing." Tang Wen shook his head.
"Coward! Coward!" Gu Hanyan spat angrily and walked away.
"Or, we can just agree to Kang Qingfeng." Li Liao said.
"Absolutely not! If there is a first time, there will be a second time. If Kang Qingfeng thinks we are soft persimmons, we will always be soft persimmons in the future.
This is a topic that cannot be opened. Once opened, it will be hard to stop. Moreover, if other officials see Kang Qingfeng doing this, they will follow suit.
By then, we will be eaten by them." Tang Wen shook his head firmly.
"Alas... Kang Qingfeng himself is nothing special, the key is that the entire Six Gates is standing behind him. Among the civil and military officials in the court of the Great Chu, how many people dare to provoke the Six Gates?" Li Liao couldn't help but sigh.
"If he doesn't let Qiao Xiao go, what's wrong with me going to provoke him?" Tang Wen flicked his sleeves coldly and went back to the house.
The next afternoon, there was a noise outside and Dongfang Ming came in to report that a spy had been caught.
When the person was brought back, Tang Wen was stunned.
Because, of the two people who were brought in, one was Zhan Junru, and the other was a man with disheveled hair, and no one knew who he was?
"Master, it's all my fault. It has nothing to do with him. Just kill me!" As soon as Zhan Junru saw Tang Wen, she immediately knelt on the ground and cried.
"What's going on?" Tang Wen frowned.
"Master, you asked about Zhan Junru yesterday, so I was on guard . I sent people to keep an eye on them this morning, and found that these two people were hiding in the bushes on the other side of the mountain and doing shameful things. It's so despicable." Dongfang Ming said.
"Master, please spare me, it's all my fault, I'm not a good wife.
Spare him, kill me, kill me, spare him.
Please, Master...I deserve to die..." Zhan Junru slapped her mouth desperately, blood gushing out.
"No! I seduced Junru, Master Tang, just kill me.
Don't talk about Zhan Junru. She is loyal to the Tang family. I was the one who asked her to come with me.
She still won’t, it’s all my fault.” the man shouted.
"You still dare to talk back? Beat you!" Dongfang Ming snorted, and two of his men walked over with whips.
"Show mercy!" At this time, Zhan Dongwen rushed in hurriedly and shouted from a distance.
Later, father Zhan Shixian and other family members came and all knelt on the ground to beg for mercy.
"Zhan Dongwen, don't think that you can do whatever you want just because the master pampers you.
Zhan Junru is your biological sister. Since she sold herself to the Tang family and is the master's personal servant, she actually did such an immoral thing.
She has severely damaged the Tang family's reputation. According to the rules, she should be thrown into a pig cage." Dongfang Ming shouted.
"I didn't! My family is all from the Tang family, and the master has been very kind to my family.
We are not pigs or dogs, how could we possibly hurt the master?
Sir, everything happens for a reason.
The one with my sister, he... he is my former brother-in-law Fan Zhili." Zhan Dongwen said.
"Isn't your brother-in-law dead?" Tang Wen asked in surprise.
"Back then, my sister married into the Fan family. Zhili was already a successful candidate in the imperial examination, so soon after the marriage, she went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. However, on the way to Beijing, she was robbed by bandits and fell off a cliff and died.
The Fan family said that my sister was born under the White Tiger, and that she would bring bad luck to her husband, and that she would kill her husband as soon as she arrived.
So, I divorced my sister. My sister always believed that her husband was dead. Later, a disaster occurred, and I must have fled to Yanling, and finally met you, Master Tang, who took me and my family in.
However, things have changed. Not long ago, Fan Zhili actually showed up.
Moreover, he actually wanted to bring my sister with him. My sister was afraid that you would know, so she kept it a secret.
Originally, Fan Zhili had nothing to do with my sister anymore, so I told him to leave quietly and not cause trouble. I didn't expect that he agreed on the surface but didn't leave behind. Today, the two of them were caught meeting.
My sister is a member of the Tang family and your personal servant, so it is wrong for her to meet Fan Zhili in private.
However, it is absolutely impossible for him to do anything to let the Tang family down.
Therefore, please find out the truth, Master Tang. If my sister really did something shameful, Master Tang, I will not hesitate to deal with you, even if it means being thrown into a pig cage.
"Sister, tell me, have you done anything indecent with Zhili?" Zhan Dongfang said.
"I...I I..." Zhan Junru choked.
"You're still trying to quibble! We found the two of them doing something shameful at the time. We caught them on the spot. Zhan Dongwen, you ask your sister yourself to see if I, Dongfang Ming, have wronged her?" Dongfang Ming snorted.
"Sister, have you done it?" Zhan Dongwen stared at his sister sternly.
"Brother! I...I'm lying to the master, please let me be put in the pig cage." Zhan Junru cried.
"You...you really did it..." Zhan Dongwen was shaking with anger.
"Yes, we did it. Junru, if we have to die, we will die together." At this time, Fan Zhili said.
"Someone, prepare the pig cage." Dongfang Ming shouted.
"Sister...you are confused...brother can't protect you." Zhan Dongwen knelt down and cried.
"Master, please spare him." Zhan Shixian begged, and immediately, the Zhan family burst into tears.
