The collision occurred late at night. The ship that collided with one of the three "treasure ships" of the Qin family was a medium-sized warship from the Longcheng naval fleet.
At this moment, Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin, aboard the lead ship "Destroy the Japanese", had just fallen asleep.
"Report—"
"Your Highness Prince Jin, urgent military news! Three ships flying the flag of the Prime Minister's Mansion have collided with our Longcheng naval fleet. General Qi has led the naval forces to control the situation!"
Um?
Inside the warship's cabin, Chen Huai'an, who was sleeping fully clothed, was awakened by the announcement from Xiao Po, the commander of the Imperial Guards, outside.
Upon hearing that the warships of the Dragon City naval fleet had collided with the Prime Minister's ship, Chen Huai'an was instantly wide awake. He got up from the bed and asked outside, "Xiao Po, who were the people on the Prime Minister's ship?"
Xiao Po replied, "Your Highness, the people on board the ship are Qin Tianchao, the eldest son of the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui, along with the prime minister's family members and the accompanying Red-Clad Guards, totaling 1,237 people!"
"In addition, General Qi led his naval officers and soldiers to discover a large amount of gold and silver jewelry on the ship carrying the Prime Minister's family!"
"A rough estimate shows that there are 12 million taels of gold, 97 million taels of silver, and countless jade artifacts, jewelry, and calligraphy and paintings!"
"What?"
As they spoke, Chen Huai'an pushed open the wooden door of the cabin and looked at Xiao Po outside with a surprised expression, asking, "Xiao Po, such a huge amount of gold and silver jewelry was all seized on the Prime Minister's ship?"
Um!
Xiao Po nodded firmly.
hiss--
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, even Chen Huai'an, the Prince of Jin, who was used to grand occasions, couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
Regardless of the value of the jade, jewelry, and calligraphy and paintings, the sheer amount of gold and silver seized was enough to leave Chen Huai'an speechless.
This is roughly equivalent to more than ten years' worth of tax revenue for the entire Xin Dynasty!
It should be noted that even the late King Chen Polu, who held the title of "First-Rank King," had managed his fiefdom of Longcheng for over twenty years and inherited a considerable amount of property from the previous dynasty's Duke's Mansion. Yet, the amount left for Chen Huai'an to raise an army to quell the rebellion was only a mere seven or eight million taels of silver.
Meanwhile, the officers and soldiers of the Longcheng Navy discovered such a huge amount of gold and silver on the Prime Minister's ship, which made Chen Huai'an sigh in his heart. This was not a ship collision, but a treasure trove!
It's obvious without even thinking that this was the wealth that the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui had plundered from the people, which he wanted to transport elsewhere and leave to his descendants before the Jingnan Army of Longcheng broke through Jinling City!
Chen Huai'an immediately ordered, "Go, Xiao Po, quickly take me to see!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
After an hour had passed, Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin, who had boarded the Qin family's treasure ship in a small boat, finally saw the face of Qin Tianchao, the eldest son of the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui, clearly from the deck at the bow of the ship, by the light of the torches held by the naval officers and soldiers.
At this moment, Qin Tianchao was bound hand and foot with ropes by the naval officers and soldiers. His face was swollen like a pig's head, as if to tell Chen Huai'an that he had just experienced a "great memory restoration technique"!
"Your Highness, this man is Qin Tianchao, the eldest son of the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui!"
At this moment, Qi Jiguang, the armored and sword-wielding admiral of the Longcheng navy, stepped forward and reported to Chen Huai'an: "Qin Tianchao's trip is on the orders of his father, Qin Ruhui, to take a huge amount of gold, silver, and valuables to Chengdu for refuge."
"Fortunately, our naval officers and soldiers were alert. After clearly seeing the flag of the Prime Minister's residence flying on the mast, they decisively ordered the helmsman to turn and ram the ship, ultimately forcing the three treasure-carrying ships of the Prime Minister's residence to stop."
"Otherwise, the wealth that the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui has been frantically plundering from the people in Nanjing will be transported all the way to Chengdu and hidden away along the waterways!"
After a pause, Qi Jiguang continued, "At first, this kid pretended to be crazy and tried to fool him!"
"However, I saw through it at a glance. The naval guards on this ship are all skilled in martial arts, and there are also assassins with swords and knives on guard in the shadows. This cannot be an ordinary ship."
"Finally, we managed to recover this enormous amount of gold and silver jewelry without any major incidents!"
Um!
After listening to Qi Jiguang's report, Chen Huai'an nodded in satisfaction and first encouraged Qi Jiguang: "General Qi, you handled this matter very well and promptly."
"It not only recovered the losses for the people of Jinling City, and even the entire Great Xin Dynasty who were oppressed and plundered, but also stabilized the economy of the entire southern region for me!"
"With these twelve million taels of gold and ninety-seven or ninety-eight thousand taels of silver, what can Qin Ruhui and Hong Xi's puppet regime use to fight against my Longcheng Jingnan Army?"
Then, Chen Huai'an strode up to Qin Tianchao, squatted down behind him, stared at Qin Tianchao's face which was swollen like a pig's head, and said with a smile, "Young Master Qin, it's been many years, how have you been!"
It turns out that Qin Tianchao and Chen Huai'an were old acquaintances.
Three years ago, when Chen Huai'an was still the heir apparent of the Prince of Jin, he accompanied his father to the capital to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Zhenwu, Zhao Mang. On the banks of the Qinhuai River, he heroically rescued Liu Shujun, the daughter of the Prince of Wuning.
The person behind the scenes who instigated the lackeys to try to humiliate Liu Shujun was Qin Tianchao, the son of the current prime minister Qin Ruhui!
snort!
Qin Tianchao snorted coldly, glaring at Chen Huai'an with a ferocious expression, and said viciously, "Chen Huai'an, today I've fallen into your hands, I admit defeat. Kill me or do whatever you want with me;"
"I only regret, I only regret not having gritted my teeth and made a ruthless decision to eliminate you, this scourge, three years ago!"
"If I had known, I should have ordered all this gold and silver to be sunk into the river just now, so that it wouldn't have benefited you, you traitorous scoundrel!"
Hahaha!
Hearing the impotent rage of the prisoner Qin Tianchao, Chen Huai'an suddenly burst into laughter.
After a long while, he finally stopped laughing and said to Qin Tianchao, "In that case, I should thank Young Master Qin?"
"With the military funds sponsored by Young Master Qin, how can I not wipe out the treacherous officials of the Hongxi regime?"
"Chen Huai'an, you—"
This is the ultimate act of destroying someone's spirit. Unable to bear the provocation, Qin Tianchao immediately prepared to attack Chen Huai'an, attempting to jump up and headbutt Chen Huai'an's knee.
However, how could Xiao Po, the commander of the Imperial Guard of Prince Jin, allow such a thing to happen?
Xiao Po raised his foot and kicked Qin Tianchao, who was tied up, sending him sprawling face-first into the dirt.
He drew his ring-pommel sword and placed the sharp blade against Qin Tianchao's neck.
All that's needed is for His Highness Prince Jin to give the order, and the head of that scoundrel Qin Tianchao will roll to the ground.
However, Chen Huai'an did not order Qin Tianchao's execution. Instead, he smiled meaningfully and instructed, "Xiao Po, take Young Master Qin into custody and treat him well."
"I will be of great use to you in the future!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
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