Captain Wan stayed in Danyun City for a full month before leaving, always saying that he was looking for Chen Yong.
But he has never been seen leaving Danyun City.
He dug deep underground near Danyun City to look for money, and every day he had people monitor the income of pawnshops and money houses. As long as there was a little money, he would take it away.
After enduring for more than a month, he was finally called back by Minister Jiang.
As a result, not long after Captain Wan left, Minister Jiang sent another secret letter.
He didn't even need to open the letter, as it was most likely asking for money.
Magistrate Wen pursed his lips, frowned and stared at the letter on the table.
He really couldn't understand what Minister Jiang meant by torturing him like this.
Anyway, his family had successfully escaped to the south and hid there, so he had nothing to be afraid of.
The reason why he didn't dare to quit and run away was that he was afraid of attracting the attention of Minister Jiang.
It's worth it to exchange his life for the lives of his entire family.
But so much time has passed, and there is still no news from the capital about removing his official hat.
Captain Wan, sent by Minister Jiang, wandered around, took some money and left.
Now Minister Jiang has sent another letter separately, probably asking for money again.
Could it be that Minister Jiang suspected that he still had hidden treasures that he hadn't taken out, so he kept him hanging like this?
Prefect Wen sighed, picked up the letter on the table, frowned and opened it to read.
"Why!!!"
After reading the contents of the letter, he sighed heavily.
Master Zhang looked at Prefect Wen and asked carefully, "Sir, what is Minister Jiang doing?"
He and Prefect Wen are now on the same page, and their families are together.
So he could only follow Magistrate Wen closely and didn't dare to escape alone. He lived in fear every day, which was really annoying.
"Take a look---" Prefect Wen slammed the letter on the table speechlessly.
Master Zhang stepped forward, picked up the letter on the table, and looked at it with a frown.
"Five hundred thousand taels of silver!!!"
Master Zhang stared at Prefect Wen with eyes wide open, his face full of disbelief.
"Where can we get five hundred thousand taels of silver?"
"The wealthy families in the city who can fleece me have already paid me tribute several times. If I ask them to give me money again, it will be..."
That face is so ugly.
In less than half a year, half of the property of those rich families was taken away, and the rich families in the city had already complained.
Those who have connections don't dare to say this, and the rich people without connections can't stand such a hassle.
If this continues, the wealthy families in the city will definitely move away en masse. What will they do then?
"Ah!" Prefect Wen sighed heavily, slumped in his chair and closed his eyes helplessly.
"Cutting flesh with a blunt knife is even more painful."
"Killing the chicken to get the eggs isn't the right way to kill. If you want me dead, why not just do it directly and quickly?"
Anyway, his family had been sent away, and he hadn't originally planned to survive.
Now I am stuck in this situation, I dare not run away, and it is so torturous to stay.
Silver and money---silver and money. He comes to ask for silver and money every now and then.
Is he able to make money or something that makes Minister Jiang have so much confidence in him?
Prefect Wen sighed, raised his hand and rubbed his head twice, feeling extremely irritated.
Master Zhang frowned and looked at the contents of the letter in confusion.
"Could it be that Minister Jiang still doesn't believe that the lord's money was stolen by thieves?"
If your private vault and those shops had not been stolen, it would be no problem to come up with 500,000 taels of silver.
Although it would be painful to pay out such a large sum of money, it would not be a major blow.
But----Prefect Wen is now really the poorest prefect.
There is no prefect in the entire Great China whose pockets are cleaner than Prefect Wen.
Moreover, they have already told Minister Jiang about the matter, so why is Minister Jiang still asking them for money?
Prefect Wen opened his eyelids and looked at Master Zhang weakly.
"Whether you believe it or not is another matter. The key point is that Minister Jiang never wrote to ask for money in previous years. Why is he asking so frequently this year?"
"This is very strange. I even suspect that Minister Jiang sent someone to steal the silver, and then wrote to ask for it to test me, worried that I might have hidden something else..."
This is what troubles him the most.
Minister Jiang saw that he had so much gold in his private treasury, so he kept testing him.
If this happened to him, when he saw his men hiding so much silver, he would definitely suspect that he had hidden more, after all, a cunning rabbit has three burrows.
However, he is now really penniless, and these five hundred thousand taels are simply costing him his life.
Master Zhang frowned helplessly.
"Yes, Minister Jiang is indeed acting strangely this year. He seems to be very short of money..."
"But I haven't heard that Minister Jiang's residence has any important matters to deal with."
Why does he need so much money when he is not marrying a wife or a daughter?
Master Zhang couldn't figure it out, frowned, looked at the letter and then looked at Prefect Wen.
"Then—what shall we do with the money?"
"What should I do..." Magistrate Wen muttered, his mind racing.
It's the end of the year, and he also wants to know what to do.
"How about----let's run away!" Master Zhang was very panicked.
Seeing that Minister Jiang is asking for more and more money, it won't be long before he takes action against them.
It would be better for them to run away before Minister Jiang takes action.
"Run!?" Prefect Wen frowned and looked at Master Zhang. "The whole land belongs to the king. If the prefect of a city runs away, do you think the emperor will let me go?"
"Sir!" Master Zhang stepped forward and whispered, "We can escape with our lives."
"Aren't there death row prisoners in the prison? Pick two who look like us, knock them unconscious and put them in the prefectural government study, then burn them..."
Master Zhang made faces and muttered to himself as he explained his plan.
Anyway, I just want to escape and be done with it once and for all.
During this period of time, they can take away a little more money and run away.
The end of the year happens to be the busiest time in the capital, and Minister Jiang may not have the time to take care of them.
After they fled to the south and hid in the mountains with their families, Minister Jiang could not find them even if he tried to look for them.
There are many mountains and forests in the south, so it is not difficult to find a secluded one.
The main reason is that the emperor is far away and it is impossible for Minister Jiang to go to the south to look for them in person. When the orders issued by the capital reach the local areas, the local officials will not try so hard to look for them if there is no benefit.
Prefect Wen's eyes flickered and something in his heart moved.
This is indeed a good idea.
"That....."
Just as Magistrate Wen said a word, he heard a "squeaking" sound.
The study door, which was clearly locked, was forcefully pushed open.
Wen Zhifu looked at the broken door bolt, his pupils trembled with fear, he stood up nervously and took several steps back.
“Who is it?!”
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