The wind was very strong and a storm was about to come. The county officials were inexplicably terrified and their legs went weak and they collapsed to the ground.
The suffocating silence lasted for a few seconds. Zhang Boqian turned around suddenly and swept his sharp eyes over Yang Yanzong, Ji Yan, Ji Lin, Ji Yuanhao, Mr. Fang and other representatives of the Fourth, Sixth and Seventh Princes' Palaces.
Yang Yanzong, Ji Yuanhao, Mr. Fang and others were fine. They were too cunning. Even though they were terrified in their hearts, they did not show any fear or surprise on their faces. But Ji Yan was not like that. After all, he was too young. Moreover, he had done some tricks on the silver ship without the knowledge of the Six Kings. He had something to hide and was caught off guard. When he was glanced at by Zhang Boqian's sharp eyes, a bit of panic appeared on his face.
Yang Yanzong frowned, but before he could say anything, Ji Yuanhao, who was standing in front, stepped forward, blocked Ji Yan, and said coldly to Zhang Boqian: "General Zhang, what do you mean by this?"
It was not because Ji Yuanhao had a good relationship with Ji Yan's six palaces that he stood up for Ji Yan at the first time, but from Zhang Boqian's sharp glance, it was obvious that he had tied the three major palaces together and put them in the same suspect position.
Not to mention that the three royal palaces are still in a state of cooperation, even if they are not, it will not prevent them from standing on the same side and fighting back immediately.
Zhang Boqian smiled coldly, but before he could say anything, "Hey!" Uncle Kun raised his hand to stop him.
"Now is not the time to talk about this!!"
Kun Guojiu's face was gloomy, his brows were knitted tightly, he raised his hand to interrupt the tense situation between the two sides, and brought the topic back to the point: "Fifty-six million taels of official silver!! Where is it now?!"
Each of them had talented people under their command, and they had just sent their trusted men to conduct a thorough inspection. The results of the inspection came out quickly, and it was clear that the silver box had not been tampered with.
"So, it doesn't mean that something went wrong during transportation?"
Mr. Fang spoke.
As the chief confidant of the Sixth Prince, Mr. Fang did not hold an official position in the court, so he had been silent all this time, but he could not care less at this moment.
Out of nowhere, 56 million taels of silver disappeared, an amount that was almost enough to cover Daqing's annual tax revenue. The disappearance of this huge amount of silver cast a shadow over everyone including the Six Princes' Palace, and he could not help but feel anxious.
——Normally opening a silver box requires breaking the sealing wax and wax seal. When these large camphorwood silver boxes were fished out, it could be seen that they had not been tampered with. As for abnormal opening, upon inspection, there were no signs that the silver boxes had been pried open and reinstalled.
As a result, everyone's eyes were simultaneously fixed on the upper reaches of the Sujiang River - the starting point for loading the silver boxes was in Wuchuan Shang County, the uppermost part of the Sujiang River. Since there was no problem during the transportation, the problem must have occurred during the packing process of the official silver!
Was the problem when the goods were shipped out for recasting, when they were cleared and shipped out of the warehouse, or when the problem occurred during the final packing and sealing process?
unknown.
But the only thing that can be confirmed is that no matter which of the above links, there are more than one person or more than one group of people involved, and there is a strict process for the handover of official silver and taxes. The handover must be checked repeatedly and the signatures must be confirmed to be correct before it can be considered completed.
Fifty-six million taels of silver, what a shocking and shocking piece of news! !
The result of salvaging the sunken silver was something no one had expected. Zhang Boqian looked gloomy and said coldly, "What are you waiting for?"
No one wasted words or had time to pay attention to the local officials who were so overjoyed, sad and happy upon hearing that there was no problem during transportation. They quickly got back on the ship and set sail upstream at the fastest speed!
…
Su Ci didn't even have time to say a word to Yang Yanzong before she hurried to board the ship. At this time, no one dared to show their heads or laugh or talk nonsense. No human voice could be heard on the huge three-story official ship. The atmosphere was as tense as a fully drawn bow string that was about to break.
Even people with low political sensitivity would probably feel that things are going to get bad.
However, no one present at the scene expected that the situation would develop to this point!
The imperial envoy's team spent three days, working day and night, to reach the Shangzhou Silver Mint as quickly as possible.
The Shangzhou Silver Mint was built on the bank of the Sujiang River, with the surging river and the Wuchuan Plain on one side and rugged mountains on the other, making water and transportation convenient. As mentioned earlier, Wuchuan is rich in mineral resources, and there are many refining and processing factories for all kinds of rough and fine processing, including those for casting silver. There used to be a large state-owned silver mine near Shangzhou - the one managed by Feng Shang, with a large output. This silver casting bureau was responsible for melting the irregular silver blocks refined into silver ingots of equal weight with the words "official silver" on them.
After this process, the silver officially becomes registered official silver.
Based on this state-owned silver mine, the Liu Ying brothers discovered a new super-large silver mine. It took them a full ten years, and they followed the mountains for an unknown distance. However, after converting the distance into a straight line, they found that this super-large silver mine still belonged to Shangzhou.
The Liu Ying brothers already had a complete set of mining, refining and transportation channels, which were already very mature and could be used immediately after taking over. The silver blocks could be directly transported onto rail cars from there, and then arrived at the Shangzhou Silver Mint in a few hours to be re-melted, registered, and then shipped out.
So in order to trace the source of the problem, the group rushed straight to the Shangzhou Bank Office.
"Are we there yet?"
Su Ci looked up and saw a row of blue brick houses and tall blackened chimneys in front of her. She guessed the place. She stood on tiptoe and saw Shangzhou ahead. She never expected to come again so soon and in this way.
She asked a few questions but didn't hear Yang Yanzong's answer. She turned back in surprise and found that he was staring down at the green water where a big ship was breaking through the waves.
Su Ci lowered her voice: "What's wrong? What's wrong with the water?!"
She quickly looked down again and again, but the river water was green and began to become a little turbid near the dock, but she didn't find anything wrong!
Yang Yanzong shook his head.
He didn't say anything. The Silver Mint's dock was dug very deep, and the big ship could dock very quickly with a "bang"! The big iron anchor was dropped, and the person at the front jumped down and rushed into the silver mint!
But the scene that happened when they rushed in was something no one had expected!
The imperial guards knocked on the door heavily, but the foundry was slow to open. The furious Zhang Boqian cut the chain with a knife. The imperial guards quickly pushed open the two large iron doors and a group of people rushed in.
But after rushing in, everyone was stunned and silent.
Blood was flowing all over the ground. There were corpses lying everywhere. There was a worker who was filling coal into a blast furnace. His shovel fell and his body was half hanging on the edge of the stairs. The blood from his neck flowed from the top of the blast furnace platform all the way to the ground. The man was already stiff, with his eyes wide open and a look of horror on his face.
There were also workers pushing carts and patrol managers. Some were killed and fell into the cooling pool, and more were lying on the ground in groups of three or five. Some were killed unexpectedly, but more were caught up and killed while fleeing in panic, so there were most corpses near the door.
The entire Silver Mint was silent, and the smell of blood filled the air. Everyone was dead, from top to bottom, not a single one was left alive!
This scene caught Su Ci off guard and she gasped.
I felt a chill running from my tailbone all the way up to the top of my head!
Everyone's breath was held. They came to investigate the substitution of government silver, but all the staff in the Foundry were killed. Was this an attempt to silence them?
Who did it, who dared to do it? !
Zhang Boqian turned around suddenly, and his sharp eyes like lightning suddenly cast towards everyone in the prince's palace. Uncle Kun's face was gloomy, and he shouted: "Don't say anything, don't make a noise!!! No matter who they are, with 56 million taels of silver, they can't get far!! Find them quickly, chase them!!!"
Yes, because there are silver mines and silver mints here, the deep-drafted ships in the Shangzhou section of the Sujiang River are strictly inspected, and there are multiple water checkpoints on the river bank and the river surface!
They just passed by and found no problems with the water checkpoint. The personnel at the checkpoint came on board for interrogation and confessed that they were unaware of anything and there had been no abnormalities recently.
Let's just believe them for now. In fact, according to common sense, it is really not easy to transport so much silver in a short period of time through the waterway that transports official silver. After all, there are not only official water cards on the water, but also many villagers who live by the water. They make a living by fishing, and their homes are built in rows of stilt houses by the water, which can be said to be there day and night.
After all, with so many big ships passing by, not to mention small boats, there would be as many as bees leaving a nest. So even if the people stuck in the water were dealt with, it would be impossible to cover the eyes of so many water residents and fishermen.
Uncle Kun quickly ordered people to collect information along the river. The speedboats sped up and gongs were struck. Some people were in official uniforms and some were in secret clothes. Before dark, the news finally came back, and the results confirmed their judgment that the official silver did not leave Shangzhou by swimming.
And Yang Yanzong and his men have already entered the mountains!
Such a huge amount of silver, if not transported by water, would definitely leave some traces. As soon as the people who were collecting information along the river set out, they immediately launched a carpet search of the Silver Mint and its surrounding areas, and finally obtained some clues.
First of all, it was confirmed that the substitution of official silver did occur in the Shangzhou Silver Mint!
A large number of fresh traces of heavy boxes being moved were found at the west gate. The freshest stone marks were clean white in color, and it was estimated that they happened in the past few days.
We chased out from the west gate and conducted a carpet search. Soon we passed the swept area and found traces of ruts left by heavy vehicles, which had been repeated over and over again. As a result, the road is now muddy after being washed away by rain.
These wheel tracks eventually led to a remote large manor. After breaking open the gate of the manor, there was nothing inside, but dense traces of heavy vehicle tracks appeared at the back door.
All these wheel tracks point to the West Mountain!
That is the large stretch of mountains connected to the Silver Mint.
It was drizzling and the sky was overcast. Ji Yuanhao wiped the rain off his face and said in a deep voice: "Oh no! The rail car!! They are going to Brother Liu Ying's dock!!!"
Let’s talk about the rail car first. In order to facilitate transportation, the silver mine garrison hammered fine iron mortise and tenon joints at appropriate locations in the mountains. Wherever there could be rails, they were installed with rails, and where not, they were installed with hanging baskets. In this way, transporting by rails can save a lot of manpower and material resources.
The Shangzhou Silver Mine is the state-owned large silver mine, and its rail cars are of course connected to the Shangzhou Silver Mint. The private super-large silver mine owned by the Liu Ying brothers had been developed for more than ten years and also had a very complete rail car system. Later, after it was confiscated, the National Mining Bureau and the Silver Minting Bureau discovered that the nearest point of the private mine's rail car was actually not very far from the national mine's track, so they ordered people to connect it.
As the cabinet's instructions and imperial edicts had very tight deadlines, a large number of craftsmen and laborers were urgently summoned before the New Year, who worked day and night to connect the two rail car lines in the shortest possible time, and it was put into use before the New Year.
Now these ruts point directly to the rail car tracks! !
Anyone who has been to Wuchuan in person last year knows that the supporting facilities surrounding Liu Ying's large silver mine are very complete. It not only has trams and silver warehouses, but also docks. On the other side of Shangzhou and the border with Huangzhou, on the west bank of Lingshui, there is a mountain dock dedicated to transportation, and there is more than one!
Lingshui is connected to another big river, Aoshui. Both Lingshui and Aoshui are very prosperous, transporting all kinds of goods by water. It can be said to be one of the major transportation arteries in the southwest. It is different from Shushui. So many large and small passenger and cargo ships come and go every day, and it is impossible to visit and inspect like in Shushui.
Everyone's faces were as gloomy as the rainy day. As soon as they noticed the direction of the wheel tracks, their hearts sank!
Zhang Boqian gritted his teeth, turned his head and stared fiercely at the people in the Third Prince's Mansion, and shouted: "You can't go far! It's only been a few days, even if there is a tram, you can only go halfway at most!!!"
How easy is it to cross the entire Shangzhou Mountains? It's only been a few days.
The silver was only minted in the first month of the year, and then it was shipped out of the warehouse, signed, sealed and loaded onto the ship. The substitution could only have been done at this stage, otherwise there would be no need to kill to silence the witnesses. Even if they started taking action on the first few days of the first lunar month and gradually transferred the swapped silver from the west gate to other villages for temporary storage, the sunken ship was suddenly exposed, and they had no choice but to kill all the people in the Silver Mint, and then carry out emergency large-scale transportation!
From the degree of corpse spots on the bodies at the Seal Mint and the freshness of the wheel tracks, it can be confirmed that the sudden accident happened just a few days ago!
The time is too short, there is still time. Such a huge amount of silver should still be halfway to the other side of the dock and has not had time to get on board! !
Zhang Boqian's expression was too naked. Ji Lin's personal guard stepped forward angrily, but was grabbed by the fourth prince: "Don't be impulsive!!"
"Find the silver first!!!"
Su Ci couldn't help but look at him. This was the first time she met the Fourth Prince. She had to say, judging from the scene of crisis just now, Ji Lin was much stronger than Ji Yan.
The drizzle was heavy and fast. It didn't hurt when it hit my face, but it was cold. However, no one cared about it at that moment. Everyone rushed to the railway terminal and then followed the track into the mountain!
We chased all the way to the state-owned silver mine and rushed to the top of the mountain. We saw wet rocks and mossy puddles everywhere. Looking down, we saw that the railway track ended here, and the next step was a cable bridge between two mountain canyons.
Since this iron chain bridge was not originally intended for pedestrians, seven or eight huge iron chains were connected and reinforced with rattan frames hanging underneath. They were originally used to transport silver ore. The mountain was very high and straight, and the wind was blowing at the vents. The rattan baskets swayed wildly in the mountain wind!
This road is not something that ordinary people can take, so when they get here, most people have to stop, including Su Ci.
Yang Yanzong thought quickly and asked Yang Yanzhen and his brothers to stay behind. He selected seven or eight people with the best light body skills to chase after them with him, while the rest of them first found a place to stay.
It was drizzling, and Yang Yanzong's forehead and nose were covered with a dense layer of water drops. His sharp eyes swept around for a moment, and whispered to Su Ci: "The road ahead will be difficult, you and Yanzhen should find a place to stay nearby and wait for my news."
He lowered his voice and said, "If you see anything wrong, run immediately. Turn left and run to where the imperial guards are stationed!"
Today's incident is full of weirdness, with one development after another that is too fast to keep up with. It is so confusing and I don't know where the answer is.
Yang Yanzong was a man who had been involved in conspiracies and intrigues for many years. He keenly sensed that something was very wrong and that the person coming was not well-intentioned!
But no matter what, there are hundreds of imperial guards, and no matter what happens in private, the imperial guards will not openly do anything to Su Ci and others, so if necessary, they can seek refuge there.
Su Ci nodded heavily, "I understand! Don't worry, I will definitely take good care of myself."
She pulled out the water bag, unplugged it and let him drink some water first: "Be careful."
Yang Yanzong nodded, without further ado, he took the water bag and took a sip, then turned around and rushed towards the hanging basket!
Zhang Boqian, Ji Lin, Ji Yuanhao, Zhang Yanzong, and several other outstanding military generals led their men to chase after them. Even the eunuch Tong Jie'en, the imperial envoy, Kun Guojiu, the Sixth Prince Ji Yan and others had their trusted guards either carrying or protecting them and followed closely behind!
The group checked the rope of the hanging basket, jumped up quickly, were quickly pulled to the other side, and disappeared into the vast inky forest as soon as they jumped down!
The further in we went, the harder the road became. There were fewer and fewer tracks and more and more ropes, but everyone present was an expert and went very fast. The sky gradually darkened and the rain became heavier. A line of black shadows broke through the misty rain and rushed up!
Finally in the second half of the night, they arrived at their destination! !
Seeing that the traces of transportation were becoming more and more obvious, everyone's spirits were boosted. They turned a corner and dived down. A large transit warehouse built on the flat land in the valley appeared before their eyes again.
In this warehouse, they found lights!
arrive! !
Caught up! !
Zhang Boqian wiped the rain off his face, looked up at the transit warehouse not far away, and finally curled his lips to reveal a smile. Finally, they arrived!
"Hurry! If nothing unexpected happens, the lost silver is inside!"
When everyone swooped down, they first discovered a gatekeeper. Unexpectedly, this man was already dead, and had been dead for several days. He was originally dozing off under the thatched pavilion. Judging from his attire, he was of high status. He was knocked to the ground by a knife, but when they rushed down and saw his face clearly, Yang Yanzong frowned immediately. This man looked familiar. He was actually a mid-level military officer who joined the Six Kings in his early years!
Then he crossed the pavilion and rushed out of the door. Another twenty or thirty people fell to the ground. Yang Yanzong saw from his peripheral vision that Ji Yuanhao and the seventh prince Ji Ying, who were closest to him, both frowned.
His eyes flashed across the twenty or thirty corpses. Could there be someone among them that Ji Yuanhao and Ji Ying knew?
How could that be?
But before he could think about it, Zhang Boqian's face changed. Ever since he found the first corpse, his face changed drastically. The hint of hesitation and satisfaction that was faintly suppressed in his chest disappeared in an instant as if he fell into an ice cellar!
how so? !
How come everyone is dead? !
What about Kuyin? What about the 56 million taels of silver? !
Everyone rushed forward and headed straight for the transit warehouse. Zhang Boqian rushed the fastest among them. He chopped the brass lock with his knife, sparks flew, and the chain broke and fell to the ground with a clang. He kicked the door open!
With a "creak", two heavy iron doors slowly opened. The lights in the huge warehouse were still on, but the inside was empty, with nothing in sight!
“Boom—”
The first spring thunder of this year rolled silently, rolling over everyone's heart. Something is wrong. How could this happen?
Uncle Kun panted a few times and quickly ordered his trusted guards to follow the railway carriage to chase after it, but not long after, the guards turned back and found that there was no trace of transportation ahead.
Everyone's heart dropped!
What's going on?
In the frowning silence, Yang Yanzong suddenly noticed that Zhang Boqian's breathing was particularly heavy. He glanced at him calmly, but keenly discovered that the other person's hands were shaking, and beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead and face!
Everyone had been drenched in the rain all the way, and their faces and bodies were all wet, but if you looked closely, you could still tell that each other was sweating.
Yang Yanzong lowered his eyes, and suddenly he remembered a sentence he had mentioned to Su Ci before - "Do you think the old emperor will have any other actions?"
——The words are still fresh in his mind, and his judgment at that time was that, according to common sense, the old emperor would definitely not put all the treasures on him.
The ship sank, all the staff in the Silver Mint were killed, and the rail cars were smuggled a few days ago. The most important thing is that this large transit warehouse belonged to the Sixth King's Party, the Fourth King's Party, and the Seventh King's Party. These people joined the various royal palaces very early on, and they would definitely not be able to explain themselves if they were picked out.
There was a loud thunder and the sky suddenly brightened. In just a short moment, Yang Yanzong connected all the things together!
——The so-called case of silver sinking in the river was actually a good show directed by the old emperor himself, targeting the three royal palaces!
The director Yang Yanzong, who was lurking in the imperial envoy's team, moved his eyes and glanced at Zhang Boqian, who was sweating profusely and trying to remain calm, but still had some abnormality on his face.
The purpose is of course to create a huge wave and try to wipe out the three royal palaces in one fell swoop!
But something went wrong in the middle of this good show.
The mantis is in front, unaware of the oriole behind.
This group of people whose origins were unknown killed all the witnesses and criminals arranged by the transit warehouse, and 56 million taels of silver in the warehouse were truly missing!
Who is it?
Lightning flash - Beirong!
Yang Yanzong suddenly thought of the traitor who had not yet been found out.
With such a huge amount of money, the Northern Rong must be very poor and miserable, otherwise, they would not have invaded the south and plundered every few years. The war two years ago ended in a draw, and the Northern Rong did not harvest much, and there was also a severe drought - the drought affected both those inside and outside the Great Wall, and the drought on the grasslands was also very serious. It was said that in some places, people had to eat their own children.
Beirong urgently needs a large sum of money to purchase exchange supplies, and it has even reached the point of being on the verge of collapse.
After realizing this, Yang Yanzong broke out in a cold sweat!
——He immediately thought of Su Ci, Yang Yanzhen, Akang and others who were left in the mountain halfway!
His newlywed wife, his two brothers, and a group of confidants who have been through thick and thin with him over the years!
Oh no!
Oh no!
Since this batch of silver is so important to Beirong, the other side must have sent out all their masters. The 500 imperial guards and the only dozens of men left behind were caught off guard. How could they be a match for the Beirong masters! !
Besides, they might have already set an ambush! !
After all, all their actions are under the control of others! !
Yang Yanzong rushed out like lightning and bent down to check the wounds on the neck of the corpse on the ground. He had been dealing with the Northern Rong soldiers for many years and was very familiar with their scimitars. He soon found some traces of the Northern Rong people's common method of harvesting from an upward angle on the second corpse!
Instantly his heart sank to the bottom!
Ji Yuanhao rushed out right after him, and it was obvious that he had also reacted, but Yang Yanzong was too busy to care about anything else. He threw all the Treasury Silver and Beirong aside and shouted, "Quick, go back!"
He shouted at his men: "Turn around and go back immediately!!!"
"quick!!!"
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