Imperial capital, inside the imperial palace.

Father-in-law Mu's expression always seemed to be so cautious, and to those who didn't know, it seemed as if he was always worried about something.

The eunuch waiting at the door did not make a report, and under his gesture, he bowed silently and carefully stepped aside.

The courtyard was very quiet, and the room was also quiet, Zhang Meng was holding a book in his hand, looking at it with relish, feeling that someone was coming in, he looked up and put down the book.

"Grandpa Mu, is there something wrong?"

Mu Gonggong sat down directly, glanced at the book on the desk, picked it up and looked at the cover, and threw it aside.

"You set up such a big game, but you are as stable as Mount Tai, so you are not worried at all?" asked Grandpa Mu.

Zhang Meng was slightly stunned, then smiled slightly, and did not deny it: "What kind of situation is this, tomorrow Gu Wei will argue in Yangzhou Academy and explain to the world the necessity of the imperial court to implement a new tax system, this is very good, is the new tax system bad?"

"I don't know if the new tax system is good or not," Mu Gonggong said in a deep voice: "This world is the world of the Yan family, and it is also the world of the scholar clan, what I see is, you also know that the new tax system will be opposed by the Shi clan, so, you hide in the back, let Gu Wei's fool go to the charge, failed, there is the emperor in front, there is Gu Wei below, you Zhang Meng has nothing to do, I am right." ”

After speaking, Gonggong Mu stared at Zhang Meng deadly, Zhang Meng did not flinch at all, stared at him unequivocally, and the eyes of the two were like two knives touching in the air.

"My father-in-law is wrong, the scholars are sucking the blood of the world, making it difficult for the world to breathe, if you don't clean it up, the erosion of the world is just around the corner. Zhang Meng's expression was calm, looking at this old man who had been in the palace for most of his life, he couldn't help but wonder a little in his heart, the ministers of the central government, the local officials, and the wealthy families, were afraid of this father-in-law to the bones, but how did he feel a little out of shape today.

"Alarmist!" Father-in-law Mu sneered, his eyes were still sharp: "How can the world be corrupted, isn't it just a few homeless, except for the period of Taizu and Taizong, there were no homeless people that year, and the world was in chaos!"

"It's not impossible to have homeless people, but please think about it, has there ever been such a scale?" Zhang Meng said unhurriedly, and then sighed: "It is said that Taiding Zhongxing, but the first emperor made a big mistake, Xianbei invaded, secluded and Jiyongliang, several states were eroded, hundreds of people were killed, leaving countless borderless lands, all of which were purchased by the scholars.

The father-in-law controls the internal guards, when he knows how much land the Wang Xu family occupies in Jizhou, only these two families account for nearly forty percent of the land in Jizhou, and the number of shade households attached to them is as high as hundreds of thousands, and their private soldiers are only three thousand in name, but in fact, how many are there, and the two families together are probably tens of thousands.

In addition to Jizhou, there is also Yongzhou Liangzhou, the land lost in the war, ninety percent fell into the hands of the wealthy scholars, the king of Qin is in Yongzhou, there is a shortage of food every year, the soldiers on the border can't even pay the military salary, and the father-in-law is in the palace, do you know these situations?

All this is because of the emptiness of the imperial court treasury, and the root cause of the emptiness of the imperial treasury is that the land is in the hands of the scholars, look at the most serious land annexation of Jizhou and Qingzhou, the princess is in the palace, when you know the tax revenue of Jizhou Qingzhou and Yangzhou in the past 20 years, Jizhou and Yangzhou are equally famous and rich, but last year's tax was only how much? It was less than two million taels of silver, and 20 years ago, it was 7 million taels of silver, where did the missing silver go? Twenty years ago, how many people in Jizhou paid taxes to the imperial court? How many are there now?

Gonggong Mu didn't answer, lowered his head silently, and sighed for a long time: "You are poking a hole in the sky, don't forget what happened to Zhaoyang back then." ”

Zhang Meng sighed heavily, from the Great Zhou to the Great Jin, there were many people who wanted to get rid of this bad habit, but none of them succeeded in the end, and those fallen ancestors were still notorious in the history books, the most typical is an emperor of the previous dynasty, and he still has the reputation of a faint monarch.

Father-in-law Mu left, Zhang Meng was stunned for a moment, shaking his head slightly.

"Godfather, why is this?" Father-in-law Lin was puzzled, served tea to Father-in-law Mu, and asked.

Father-in-law Mu did not go to the Heart Cultivation Palace, but came to the inner guard, and after hearing what he said, Gonggong Lin was very puzzled.

"I'm warning him, Liangzhou for five years, hehe, this Zhang Meng is getting more and more powerful. Father-in-law Mu lowered his head, Zhang Meng laid such a big game under his nose, and put everyone into it, he didn't notice it at all, which made him admire and secretly frightened.

What's even worse is that this time Zhang Meng calculated the emperor, obviously he took into account the counterattack of the scholars, so he pushed the emperor to the front.

But, the emperor can move the scholars?!

Grandpa Mu sighed deeply.

"Order the Yangzhou internal guards to strengthen the monitoring of Lu Yu and Zhang's families. ”

Mu Gonggong was a little fortunate and added a new tiger guard to Yangzhou, and also transferred Liu Han, a general, to Yangzhou.

----------------------------

Two children stood in front of a small shop, and while the child was not paying attention, they grabbed two steamed buns and threw them to another child on the side, who took the steamed buns and quickly slipped into the crowd.

The child ran through the crowd, and in the corner of the street, there were several other children, led by a tall, thin child.

"It's steamed buns again, damn it, you can't get anything else, and bun fritters are fine!" The tall and thin boy scolded and handed the steamed bun to the two children, who quickly took it, divided it into several pieces, and distributed them to the younger children in the back.

"Master Tiger, let's fight for it next time. The child nodded and smiled.

Tiger Master is naturally Brother Tiger, since that yard was sealed, he and Xiao Qi have become beggars, Xiao Qi is now in the city, he is outside the city, in the area of the dock.

Full-time thief, part-time beggar.

This industry is familiar to him, he quickly got in touch with the local beggar gang, with the three-legged cat kung fu learned in the Hanhai business society, he actually mixed well in the beggar gang, and also obtained a piece of land, which is the north wharf of the city.

Brother Tiger soon gathered more than a dozen little beggars and firmly occupied this territory.

"Alas, why haven't there been any big fish lately. A dirty little hairy boy next to him sighed.

"That's it, the last time the tiger master made a move, he got five taels of silver at one time, and that's a silver ticket of five taels of silver!" The little kid squatting on the side was full of envy in his tone, the clothes the child was wearing were so dirty that they couldn't see the original color, they didn't fit, they were quite long, and they were obviously stolen from there.

The little hairy children sighed, but Brother Tiger was happy, staring at the inn diagonally opposite, and at the end of the small street, there was a warehouse that was almost completed.

The owner of the inn was scolding the fellow, the guy was chubby, dressed in a robe made of fine cotton, and was pointing fingers, and his voice was so loud that the whole street could hear it.

"Don't worry, there will always be fat sheep. Brother Tiger smiled, not worried at all, this is a job of waiting for the rabbit, the big head said very clearly, maybe it will take a few years, maybe there will never be a chance, but it may be a month or two.

The child who was guarding in front of the stall ran back, this dock is not very lively, it is barren in the territory of the beggar gang, there is no way, Brother Hu's qualifications are too shallow, and those oily and watery territories have long been occupied.

"Alas. The little kid sat on the ground, sighing weakly, his little face imitating that of an adult.

There are no ships docked today, and no ships dock means fewer people, and fewer people have no income.

"It's a big deal to go up to the Zhuangzi again. ”

If they can't steal something, the nearby Zhuangzi is their next target, in fact, this is also arranged by the big head, in this way, the surrounding Zhuangzi are checked one by one.

Most of these children were boys, only a few were girls, and most of the girls were sold, but they were lucky enough to have at least survived.

"Are you hungry?" asked Brother Hu casually.

Several children suddenly looked up at him, their eyes full of anticipation, Brother Tiger took out a few copper plates from his tattered clothes, and commanded magnificently: "Go buy a few meatloaf and satisfy everyone's hunger!"

The children cheered away, and Brother Tiger sat bored on the ground, leaning against the wall, and glanced at Xiao Qi who was mixed in the crowd at the dock.

Xiao Qi chatted with a few porters, and after a few years, Xiao Qi grew taller, black and thin, and he was no longer suitable for being a beggar, so he became a porter here.

Brother Tiger and Xiao Qi did not hide their relationship, but they did not deliberately interact closely, occasionally said hello and sat together to chat, Xiao Qi also deliberately persuaded Brother Hu to go to the porter, and this matter was accidentally known to the people in the inn.

A ship on the dock slowly approached, and the porters looked at it and ignored it, it was obvious that this boat was a passenger ship, and it was a passenger ship of the kind of nobles, although there were only a few boatmen on board, but they could not hide their eyes.

But the little beggars rejoiced, for the cargo ship was of little use to them, but these nobles could pass the day if they were only to impress them to give them a few copper plates.

Two horses were pulled out of the rear cabin, and several strong men lifted the carriage off the boat, Brother Tiger's eyes narrowed, and Xiao Qi in the crowd exchanged glances, Brother Tiger got up silently, and the two little beggars around him immediately ran over, and the group of little beggars was immediately scattered throughout the street.

Two people in cotton robes got off the boat, and the three little beggars went up with bowls and called the uncle to do well, but the people in cotton robes ignored it, and the three little beggars were very depressed and stepped aside, and then two little children ran from the corner, carrying dirty and broken bowls, chasing for money.

The man who set up the carriage came and drove the little beggar away, the man in the cotton robe got into the carriage, two men sat behind the carriage, and one man rode a horse to the side.

The little beggars were very disappointed, and gathered at the door of the inn to curse in a low voice, and the men of the inn came to drive the little beggars away, and then shook the ashes on their bodies and went in.

The two little beggars returned to Brother Tiger, and Brother Tiger's eyes followed the carriage until the carriage disappeared, he stood up and sighed: "Let's go, that's it for now." ”

The little beggars whistled, and the little beggars scattered all over the dock came running one after another, and a group of little beggars walked outside.

This scene is very familiar, every day, and the people in the shops near the dock are very familiar, and almost at this point of the incident, the little beggars on the dock are gone.

The little beggars lived in the woods not far away, and built a few straw huts there, barely sheltering them from the wind and rain.

The little beggars were noisy along the way, and they didn't notice that Brother Tiger was taking them and following the traces of the carriage, but soon, Brother Tiger gave up, and the carriage was heading towards the city.

At night, Xiao Qi quietly went to the grove, Brother Tiger was waiting for him at the edge of the forest, the two did not speak, Xiao Qi gave the steamed bun in his hand to Brother Tiger, Brother Tiger whistled, a little beggar ran out of the woods, Brother Tiger handed him the steamed bun, and the little beggar ran back to the grove excitedly.

"Is that him?"

"Surely it must be, if you hadn't dug me up for this trick. Brother Hu's tone was very affirmative.

The two of them did not speak again, but walked to the other side of the forest, sat on the edge of the new reeds, and silently looked at the swaying reeds.

After a while, a dark shadow quietly walked into them, and was about to tease them, when Brother Tiger had already spoken: "Okay, just your three-legged cat's kung fu, you can hear it from afar." ”

The big head smiled, came over and sat beside him, Xiao Qi frowned and asked, "Just you?"

"How come, Uncle Song and Uncle Qiang are outside. ”

The big head is not high in cultivation, and he is still struggling among the martial artists, and he is now accompanied by guards when he goes out shopping, let alone tonight.

The man appeared, but went into the city. Brother Hu introduced the situation very simply.

Under the moonlight, the big head looked serious: "How many of them are there?"

"Five guards, two people, the carriage is still the same one. ”

"Out of stock?"

"Nope. ”

"So, this time he came because of something. The big head quickly sorted out the veins: "Into the city? No, he shouldn't go into the city." ”

"Will he enter the city and come out again?" asked Xiao Qi.

"There is such a possibility," the big head said: "The master said that this guy is very cautious, and he has a grandmaster cultivation, so he is not even allowed to follow him." ”

"If he will go out of the city tomorrow, will he go out of the city through that gate?" asked Brother Hu.

"It's useless, he's definitely going to change carriages. Xiao Qi said.

"Where did he go up to find a carriage?" his eyes lit up: "It can only be a few car rental companies in the city, yes, for sure." ”

"That's right, let's send someone to guard the car rental shop and find out, just send someone to pretend to be a driver, don't you know." Brother Tiger patted his thigh and said excitedly.

"No, they definitely won't ask for a coachman," the big head shook his head and said: "They enter the city from here, and most of them will not go out of the city from here, otherwise it will be too attention-grabbing, Brother Hu, in this way, tomorrow you and Xiao Qi will each take two people to Xinkaimen and Jianyang Gate, and stay there, no, you can't guard the city gate, you must be at the first three-way intersection outside the city, remember, you have to pay attention to the car rental company, in addition, aren't they five people, but tomorrow there may not be five people, it may be three or four." ”

"Okay, that's all. Brother Tiger and Xiao Qi both nodded in agreement, and Brother Tiger said triumphantly: "To spare him like a ghost, you have to drink Lao Tzu's footwashing water." ”

"Don't be complacent, this guy is raping, and the master has a headache. The big head reminded that he knew that this guy dared to open a dyeing workshop if he gave three points of dye, and he could only use the master to scare him if he admired the master's five-body throw.

"Don't worry, when did I do things go wrong. Brother Tiger laughed dryly.

The big head shook his head: "You forgot about the alley before the rain." ”

Brother Hu laughed dryly, if it wasn't for Liu Han that time, he and Xiao Qi would probably die.

The big head didn't stay long, and after making the deployment, he got up and said goodbye, Brother Tiger and Xiao Qi sat on the edge of the reeds, and the two discussed the details again before returning to the grove, Xiao Qi didn't go back, just lived in Brother Tiger's shack.

The next day, at dawn, they woke up the four little beggars, and they each took the two little beggars to the east and west of the city.

(End of chapter)