Chapter 180: Wealthy but Not Martial

But everyone had to follow; who knew if this was the meaning of the palace?

Ke Jihai's worried expression disappeared, and he bowed to the guests in all directions: "Ke thanks all the lords for their generosity on behalf of the soldiers on the front line!"

Once these hundreds of thousands of stones of grain and military supplies were in place, the official army could hold on for a while longer.

Everyone naturally said it was polite, but Ke Jihai turned to the subordinate officials behind him: "Record the military grain donated by all the lords! If there is a mistake, I will only ask you."

The He brothers looked at each other, both seeing the smile in each other's eyes. Ke Jihai was afraid that the nobles present would speak without thinking and not admit it later, which showed his determination to get grain.

He Chunhua also spoke: "Coincidentally, my He family is also willing to donate..."

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Ke Jihai: "What are you donating! You also have to recruit troops and buy horses after going to Xiazhou; where is the money in your pocket enough? Don't forget that your old rival Nian Zanli is in the north! I see that the battle there is no easier to fight than Wuzhou." He refused to accept his donated grain no matter what.

He Chunhua had no choice but to give up, and took his two sons back to their seats.

Next, the host smoothed things over, and soon the unexpected incident was muddled through. The silk and bamboo music creaked, and the singing and dancing entertainers went on stage, soon attracting everyone's attention.

As expected of the feet of the Son of Heaven, the figures of these entertainers were much more graceful than those in Heishuicheng, and their singing was more gentle and beautiful, and even their eyes were affectionate.

He Lingchuan watched without blinking, but He Yue poked him with his elbow: "Hey, look at General Ke there."

Ke Jihai had just drunk a few cups of wine when a youth came over from behind to pay his respects, and the two chatted.

Although it was "chatting," it was more like the youth talking endlessly, while Ke Jihai held his wine glass and listened, occasionally frowning and asking a few questions.

After a cup of tea, Ke Jihai ordered someone to get a glass of wine for the youth.

The youth choked after one sip and coughed for a long time.

The banquet had female guests, so the wine supplied was soft and slightly sweet, which everyone could use. But Ke Jihai was used to drinking strong liquor and had long since asked the waiter to change it.

Seeing the youth choking on the wine, Ke Jihai laughed and said a few words. He Lingchuan recognized the lip shape as "wet behind the ears."

The youth was in his early twenties, with slightly dark skin, a square face, and a simple and honest appearance, but his eyes were very round and bright. Unlike the others at the banquet who were covered in silk and satin, his robe, although the fabric was not bad, had been washed until it faded. He Lingchuan also found an inconspicuous patch on his hem.

This guy was completely out of place with the Deer-Calling Garden.

Afterward, the youth handed a booklet to Ke Jihai and stood up to leave after paying his respects.

Ke Jihai didn't open it to look, but handed it to the subordinate official behind him.

After another half an hour, he stood up, toasted Zhu Xiyan, and then walked out.

It looked like he was preparing to leave.

He Lingchuan confirmed again that the main reason General Ke came to the Deer-Calling Garden for the banquet tonight was to raise money and pay for the front-line official army. Now that the goal had been achieved, he was going to slip away.

Just at this time, Lady Ying covered her stomach and whispered to her husband: "I have some abdominal pain."

"Do you want to change clothes?"

"No, it's just dull pain, for a good while." Lady Ying was embarrassed. "Probably these delicacies are not easy to eat."

This banquet was very grand, with flying in the sky, swimming in the water, and running on the ground, all in the plate. But Ying Hongchan was used to the few home-cooked dishes in the frontier, and at this time, tasting all kinds of flavors, she felt she couldn't handle it.

"You." He Chunhua had no choice but to stand up and say goodbye to the Zhu family, taking his wife and children to withdraw first.

Walking to the outside, Liaison Officer Liu was sitting there with his legs crossed, drinking wine with two small dishes.

Such a small person naturally didn't have the qualifications to enter the banquet hall.

Seeing the He family come out, he greeted them and hurriedly went out to arrange the carriage.

The night was deep, most of the ten thousand lights below the mountain had gone out, and snow began to fall in the air.

The carriage wheels rolled on the new snow, *creak, creak*.

He Lingchuan looked at the scene below the mountain again, no longer praising it, but remembered that the night view of Shi Huan City he saw earlier was beautiful, but the surroundings of the city were pitch black, and the further out, the sparser the lights, not at all like the feet of the Son of Heaven.

He asked Liaison Officer Liu: "Are there not many residents around Shi Huan?"

"Many, how can there not be many?" Liaison Officer Liu explained. "Five counties and thirteen townships, either farming or living by Shi Huan City."

Shi Huan City was such a prosperous place, and the residents of the surrounding counties and townships mostly relied on serving it diligently to earn a living.

"Then why are the lights sparse?"

"Busy during the day, and nothing to do when returning home at night, so why not go to sleep?" Liaison Officer Liu laughed. "Besides, candles are expensive, so why light them?"

He Lingchuan immediately remembered what Zhu Xiyan had just said.

He Yue said in a low voice: "Compared to what we saw along the way, the lives of the villagers around Shi Huan are already better, at least they have food to eat and can survive."

They walked from Heishuicheng to here and truly witnessed the hardships of the people. He Yue had read ten thousand books for seven or eight years, but it was not as good as what he had seen in the past twenty or thirty days, all kinds of unbelievable and shocking things.

This little youth finally understood what "the rise and fall are both the suffering of the people" meant.

As soon as this remark came out, even the smile on Liaison Officer Liu's face couldn't hang on. He swallowed his saliva: "The Wang Ting issued an order ten days ago, and taxed again; this is the second time this year, so everything is expensive now."

Lacking money, lacking grain, lacking pay, so they have to ask from the people.

If the people are asked too harshly, then someone will rise up, and there will be a second, a third Hong Xiangqian.

This kind of topic couldn't be chatted about anymore.

After the carriage wheels started rolling, He Lingchuan lifted the curtain and looked forward: "The General's carriage is in front, not far from us." It was only five or six zhang away, separated by flying snowflakes.

This snow seemed to be getting heavier.

He Yue said: "General Ke came to collect pay from the nobles of Shi Huan City this time; did Lord Zhu know in advance, or was it a temporary cooperation?"

He Lingchuan scoffed: "This group of nobles in Shi Huan City is so fat that they can donate tens of thousands of stones, hundreds of thousands of stones of grain without blinking."

He Chunhua nodded: "General Ke didn't ask for much grain and pay in the Wang Ting, I see someone gave him a trick to ask Shi Huan City to raise it."

He Yue muttered: "Forcing a general who leads troops on the front line to rush back to the capital to beg for pay, a spectacle of the world." His words were inevitably a bit indignant.

He had long known that the national affairs were rotten, but seeing it with his own eyes, he still felt uncomfortable.

He Lingchuan patted his head: "You kid, still too young."

He Chunhua shook his head: "I suspect General Ke has another purpose in returning to the capital."

He Yue's face changed: "Y-you mean he also has..."

The last word "heart" didn't come out, and He Chunhua interrupted and scolded: "Nonsense!"

"I suspect he rushed back to plead for Lord Fu Ju."

"Fu Ju..." He Lingchuan launched the "ignorant" skill. "Which one is he?"

He Yue knew: "Attendant Fu, who was once a General of the Cavalry, I remember he fought several battles in the south and west, and later retired at home due to illness and old age. His children are also officials in the court, without great prospects."

He Lingchuan: "Retired? What big thing did this old man commit that General Ke had to rush back to plead for him?"

He Yue was also very confused.

"I only heard about it when I arrived in Shi Huan; someone secretly informed that Fu Ju was on good terms with the former Grand Marshal Dong Haoming, and had private financial dealings with Wuzhou." He Chunhua had collected a lot of information and gossip while dealing with officials over the past few days.

The He brothers looked at each other, and a chill crawled up their backs.

Being pointed out as colluding with Dong Haoming at such a time, there is only a dead end.

"Did the King believe it?"

"If he didn't believe it, why would General Ke rush back in a hurry? Fu Ju fought side by side with him on the battlefield and saved his life more than once; the two have a very good relationship." He Chunhua sighed at his two sons. "Do you know that although the Fu family's official position is not big, the family foundation is exceptionally rich, and it can rank in the top six in the entire country."

"The Fu family produced famous generals and made contributions beside the Yuan Gao Zu, receiving a large number of rewards. Although his descendants are not good at martial arts and are not outstanding in officialdom, their ability to operate is very excellent. They have engaged in more than a dozen trades. The family property is getting bigger and bigger. When Fu Ju was a General of the Cavalry, he couldn't do business with his official status, but he hung all the business trades under the names of close relatives. I heard that nearly 30% of the pharmacies in the capital belong to his family; six whole streets in the west of the capital are also the Fu family's land. In such an inch of land and an inch of gold, heh! Think about it, how rich is the Fu family?"

He Lingchuan supported his head: "Can they be richer than the King?"

He Chunhua smiled without saying a word.

If you are richer than anyone, others will be jealous; if you are richer than the monarch, then...

He Yue's eyes flickered. Why did his father suddenly mention the Fu family's money? He Chunhua added: "The late Emperor once punished and confiscated a large amount of property from his family because the Fu family's children relied on wealth and were not benevolent, bullying the commoners. Everyone thought his family was hurt, but didn't expect it to recover in a few years, but since then, they have kept a low profile."

He Yue tilted his head: "With the astonishing wealth of the Fu family, can it support a war until we defeat Dong Haoming?"

He Chunhua said softly: "Who knows."

This was his catchphrase, and both brothers knew the next sentence was "Why not try it"? Liaison Officer Liu was still sitting in the carriage, so he couldn't make it clear, but both brothers understood.

The Fu family is too rich, but they couldn't produce a powerful minister in the court, but the country is howling for money and grain to fight, so...

So whether Fu Ju actually rebelled or not, the fact itself is not very important. The Fu family thought that keeping a low profile could avoid disaster, but unfortunately, the crime of harboring a treasure is an unbreakable truth through the ages.

He Lingchuan laughed: "Doesn't our Qiansong County have an old saying: Wealthy but not martial, circle as a fat pig."

Even if you are super rich, what of it? When power sharpens the knife, you have to obediently stretch your neck to be slaughtered. He Chunhua said softly: "The Grand Marshal failed to kill the King and fled back to Wuzhou. He is free, but the officials and merchants involved in the court don't know how many there are. It is said that the guillotine at the vegetable market has been chopped dull, and the confiscated family property had nowhere to be placed, so it was piled up in several large warehouses behind the Pinghe Temple, and it took more than two months to deal with it."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 181 =====