Chapter 315 Catching a Turtle in a Jar
In prison, Zhu Changning accused the Chen family and Xie Zhan, saying that they sold Xiaozhuya Island to the Zhu family, and that they might have secretly dug the gold mine before, and hoped that the imperial envoy would investigate the matter.
In the end, Zuo Anmin rejected his inference because it was not in line with human nature. He said that no matter who knew that there was a gold mine on their territory, how could they sell the land containing gold mines to others? He also said that the Zhu family's counter-accusation was suspected of revenge for personal grudges and was not credible.
This made Zhu Changning furious.
After the Zhu family was imprisoned, the Gu family made arrangements, and Gu Huaisheng, the young master of the Gu family, came to the prison to meet Zhu Changnian in person.
After a conversation, he left with a heavy heart.
After leaving the prison, he looked up at the sky in the south and sighed in his heart, it was really a tree that wanted to be quiet but the wind did not stop.
At this time, the Zhu family's property was being confiscated by the government.
Not long after, the list of confiscated property was in Xie Zhan's hands.
Xie Zhan opened the list and saw that it was recorded that the Zhu family had 113 shops, 1,000 hectares of land, 700,000 taels of silver, and 300,000 dan of grain in six warehouses...
Xie Zhan frowned more and more as he read. According to his estimation, the Zhu family's wealth was about 3 to 4 million taels.
Let alone other things, the amount of grain was wrong.
"Patriarch, what's wrong?" Xie Nan asked.
Xie Zhan replied, "Before, the Zhu family had 500,000 dan of grain in ten warehouses on the surface. After taking two warehouses, which is 100,000 dan of grain and Ji Wuyin as collateral, there should be 400,000 dan of grain left on the surface. But now the Zhu family only has 300,000 dan of grain in six warehouses on the surface?"
In addition, Xie Zhan felt that the Zhu family should have grain in secret, at least 200,000 to 300,000 dan.
The Xie family used to be a big family, and he knew the family's nature very well. The property on the surface should be on the surface, and the property in secret should be at least one-third of the property on the surface, anyway, it is in the range of one-third to half.
But they didn't confiscate this part of the property from the Zhu family?
Xie Zhan was very concerned about the grain hidden by the Zhu family.
The Zhu family's wealth in public belonged to the emperor, and he could not touch it.
Xie Zhan had spent so much time and effort to plan, naturally he wanted to eat the meat of the Zhu family in secret. So when investigating, he did not use government officials, but his people were investigating secretly.
The problem now is that after the Zhu family was searched, not only did he not find the grain hidden by the Zhu family, but the grain in public was not as expected.
The Zhu family had a lot of silver on its books, but now to solve the crisis in the south, grain is more useful than silver.
Xie Zhan knew that these grains would definitely stay in the south. The emperor also knew that the Zhu family had a huge amount of grain. If it was transported back to Chang'an, it would be a long way, and the loss on the road would be nearly half, which was not cost-effective.
He thought that with the Zhu family's grain, the problem in the south would be solved by half. Unfortunately, something went wrong at present.
Xie Zhan flipped through the information again and found relevant records. Two of the remaining eight warehouses of grain in the Zhu family were actually taken by Zhu Changnian to be mortgaged with Ji Wuyin the day before the Zhu family was surrounded?
Two warehouses of grain, 100,000 shi, mortgaged for 180,000 taels. What is the difference between this grain and selling at a low price?
He realized something was wrong and ordered Xie Nan, "Let Zuo Anmin ask Ji Wuyin for the contract."
Xie Nan took the order and left.
When he saw that the contract had only one day, he laughed angrily.
Xie Zhan stood up expressionlessly, came to the window, and looked at the mountains in the distance, but his mind was constantly running and sorting out his thoughts.
The fruits he had worked so hard to get were not as big as he had imagined.
He did not believe that the Zhu family did not hide grain.
The more he reviewed it, the weirder the expression on Xie Zhan's face became.
This matter was similar to the Qin family's exile when they directly lost two or three percent of their property.
It just so happened that this matter was related to Ji Wuyin, Ji Wuyin - Xue Guangxian - Liaodong County...
Xie Zhan narrowed his eyes slightly, a thief came in and stole the fruits of his hard work.
Now they are in the Zhu family, and they have taken away most of his fruits. The remaining half belongs to the emperor, and he can't touch it.
In other words, he used a trick to overthrow the Zhu family, but he didn't get anything? How can this be?
Regarding Xie Zhan's reaction, Lu Songli and Xue Xu had deduced it before they set out for the south, and also discussed how to deal with it if they were exposed. After all, as a planner, Xie Zhan probably has a good idea of the fish in the target fish pond.
If they steal too much, Xie Zhan will definitely notice it.
What Xie Zhan didn't know was that Xue Xu and others could also use a method to siphon off the Zhu family's silver. It was just that they didn't do it because they were concerned that the Zhu family's apparent wealth had been watched by the emperor.
They thought very clearly that it was okay for them to pick peaches, but at least they had to ensure that the emperor was well fed.
Under this premise, they can only rob Xie Zhan of his spoils. As for what will happen to Xie Zhan after being robbed, they don't care. If not, he will just starve.
Xie Zhan has always remembered the lesson he learned from helping Song Mo win the throne last time. After a heavy blow, he must return to help.
This time he has a backup plan to prevent those who come to disrupt the situation and compete with him for interests.
He just didn't expect the person who picked the peaches to come so quickly.
Lu Songli, Lu Songli, you are worthy of it. You have already reached out before others have reacted.
Xie Zhan began to issue orders one after another.
"Come on! Send someone to secretly monitor the Ji Mansion!"
He wanted to see who came this time!
Xie Zhan felt that Lv Songli would not come in person, and even if she wanted to, she would be stopped. Lv Songli was obviously the wise leader of the Liaodong County. It was a consensus that a son of a rich family should not sit in the hall.
But he felt that the person who came to Zhu Changnian would definitely not be a small figure!
"Let Zuo Anmin order the county governor to block all the major city gates and all the docks!"
"Also, send someone to the dock to inquire whether there are any large quantities of goods shipped out in the past two days?"
"Yes!"
Not long after, the person who inquired about the news came back. Through the news reported, Xie Zhan judged that the grain should not have been moved away.
Xie Zhan sneered, Lv Songli, what if your people took the benefits? What if they grabbed a piece of fat meat?
He wanted to catch the turtle in the jar, and he wanted this piece of meat to rot in the south. In addition, it would be better if the people who came to the south were not from the Qin family, otherwise he would let them die here!
That day, Ji Wuyin returned to Ji Mansion from Xue Xu.
One of his subordinates whispered to him, "Master, someone is watching the Ji Mansion."
"Huh?"
Later, when he received the news that the city gates and docks were blocked, Ji Wuyin subconsciously thought, Xie Zhan reacted really quickly!
Thinking of Xue Xu who had moved out of the Ji Mansion and lived in a secret place, Ji Wuyin secretly thought that the old man was right. Xie Zhan was too smart, and he probably realized something.
It seems that he has to be more cautious the next time he goes to find them to prevent being followed.