When Yang Yuanpu hurried to Jinyun Tower and saw Feng Liao, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong, he didn’t listen to their pleas for mercy. He simply ordered them taken elsewhere and imprisoned first.
“Master Han, what should be done with these three?” Yang Yuanpu fixed his gaze on Han Qian and asked. Since Han Qian had captured them, naturally he should be asked first about how to dispose of them.
Han Qian glanced around. Actually, the problem of how to deal with Feng Liao, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong was quite simple. The most direct approach would be to drag them to the Court of Judicial Review to claim credit.
The difficult part was what to do with the dozen or so blood-stained property and land deeds on the desk.
Turn them over, or keep them?
Besides this, the Feng family most likely still had some hidden assets. If the Commandery Prince’s mansion wanted to obtain these, they would need the Feng brothers’ cooperation to transfer them over without leaving traces.
The Feng brothers were truly mobile human treasure vaults!
Everyone gathering here was concerned about this.
After pondering briefly, Han Qian said, “Han Qian suggests His Highness immediately enter the palace to plead with His Majesty on behalf of the Feng brothers.” At this point, he asked Shen Yang, “Master Shen Yang, my suggestion to His Highness has no problems, does it?”
Shen Yang sighed softly. After all, Feng Yi and Kong Xirong had once been his students. He naturally knew that if they were sent directly to the Court of Judicial Review for public trial at this time, they would likely be unable to escape death. Now Han Qian was suggesting the Third Prince enter the palace to plead for the Feng brothers. On the surface, this returned the decision-making power to His Majesty, but mainly it still depended on His Majesty’s attitude toward the Commandery Prince’s mansion.
If His Majesty agreed to the Third Prince’s plea for mercy, he would actually be agreeing to let the portion of hidden wealth controlled by the Feng brothers bypass the national treasury and be controlled by the Commandery Prince’s mansion instead.
Many people believed that the estates, residences, and shops directly sealed by the three bureaus could not possibly be all of the Feng family’s assets.
If His Majesty’s attitude didn’t soften and he insisted on severely pursuing the Feng brothers’ crimes, then they would obediently send the Feng brothers along with these property and land deeds to the Court of Judicial Review and have no other ambitions, to avoid damaging His Majesty’s favor toward them.
Although Han Qian’s suggestion didn’t conform to state regulations, under heaven there was no land that wasn’t the Emperor’s, and within the realm there were no subjects who weren’t the Emperor’s. Shen Yang couldn’t say Han Qian was wrong.
Seeing that no one else opposed Han Qian’s suggestion at this time, Yang Yuanpu declared, “I’ll enter the palace right now and try to plead for the Feng brothers. It won’t be in vain that we once had dealings.”
Han Qian saw that the Third Prince was speaking more and more impressively, though he didn’t know whether this was good or bad for a youth who was only fifteen this year.
With Zhang Ping accompanying the Third Prince directly into the palace, Han Qian and the others didn’t leave the Commandery Prince’s mansion.
After all, whether Emperor Tianyou would allow the Commandery Prince’s mansion to take advantage of this was a matter of a single thought. They could quickly await the result by staying at the Commandery Prince’s mansion.
Yang Yuanpu entered the palace before noon and returned from the palace in the afternoon. Seeing that Han Qian, Shen Yang, and the others still hadn’t left, he directly gathered everyone at Jinyun Tower and said:
“Feng Wenlan and Kong Zhou should be executed by slow slicing according to the law of high treason, but Father Emperor, remembering that the old Minister Feng Yue was utterly loyal during his lifetime, specially permitted their punishment to be reduced by one degree. He has now sent Shen He with an edict to the Court of Judicial Review, granting Feng Wenlan and Kong Zhou the poison to commit suicide, sparing them the humiliation of having their corpses exposed in the streets. After confiscating their family wealth, their wives, concubines, and close relatives will all be reduced to commoner status. As for Feng Liao, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong, who are legitimate sons, they are to be handed over to this side to be strictly guarded in a selected residence and may not freely come and go without cause—Master Han, Feng Liao, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong are entrusted to you for disposition.”
Yang Yuanpu was actually entrusting Feng Liao, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong to Han Qian’s charge for confinement. The Feng family’s hidden wealth that the Feng brothers knew about would also be searched and confiscated by Han Qian leading Left Division personnel.
“This is a weighty responsibility. I should request Director Zhang and the two senior masters Jiang and Yuan to assist,” Han Qian said, cupping his hands toward Zhang Ping, Jiang Huo, and Yuan Guowei.
Zhang Ping controlled the Inner Residence. The income and expenditure of the Commandery Prince’s mansion’s private treasury was within Zhang Ping’s jurisdiction. The wealth confiscated this time outside the three bureaus would all enter the Commandery Prince’s mansion’s private treasury, so the entire matter should rightfully be led by Zhang Ping.
As for striking down and killing the Feng family retainers and capturing the Feng brothers to bring them to the Commandery Prince’s mansion, the disciples that Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei had placed in the Left Division had all participated in the operation. This time Han Qian still insisted on having Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei participate in the subsequent confiscation.
The Third Prince had given him full responsibility, and perhaps the Third Prince wouldn’t mind him embezzling some wealth from it—this might even be a form of compensation to him—but Han Qian had no intention of reaching his hand into this matter. He thought it better to pull all three of them in, as this was also the proper regular procedure.
Since Han Qian had already spoken, Yang Yuanpu agreed and had Han Qian, Zhang Ping, Jiang Huo, and Yuan Guowei take people to handle this matter.
After Third Prince Yang Yuanpu left, Han Qian had people bring Feng Liao, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong to Jinyun Tower.
Feng Liao and Kong Xirong were fairly composed. Feng Yi still looked terrified, his face deathly pale without a trace of color.
Having asked Zhang, Jiang, and Yuan to oversee the matter, but with Han Qian still leading it, he invited Feng Liao, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong to sit and first told them Emperor Tianyou’s final disposition of the Feng family:
“His Majesty has already sent someone to the prison to grant wine to Director Feng and General Kong…”
Feng Yi and Kong Xirong were still somewhat dazed and didn’t immediately catch Han Qian’s meaning. They looked up at Han Qian somewhat bewildered. But Feng Liao, as if struck a heavy blow, saw his previously calm face suddenly turn deathly pale as he murmured deliriously, “Imperial grace is vast… imperial grace is vast!”
At this moment, Feng Yi and Kong Xirong collapsed as if a tendon had been pulled from their bodies.
The weather outside was somewhat overcast, making the light in the tower even dimmer. This made Han Qian’s pupils appear even more shadowy, like a deep lake with undercurrents surging.
After a long while, Han Qian continued speaking to the Feng brothers: “…His Majesty has graciously decreed that all other members of the Feng family be reduced to commoner status without further prosecution. You three may not be as free to come and go in the future, but otherwise need not worry about anything. With Director Zhang, Director Jiang, and Director Yuan here, regarding what secret vaults or private residences your Feng family has in Jinling besides the estates, shops, and properties sealed by the three bureaus—I will have each of you communicate separately with these three directors. I hope you will not have any concealment when giving your statements!”
Han Qian asked Zhang Ping, Jiang Huo, and Yuan Guowei, “I’m doing it this way—do the three directors have any objections?”
Zhang Ping looked questioningly at Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei. The Third Prince had just given this matter entirely to Han Qian’s charge with the intention of compensating him. This might even have been directly approved by Emperor Tianyou. Yet Han Qian was being so cautious about avoiding suspicion—could he really be frightened by what happened to the Feng family?
Regardless of Zhang Ping’s speculation, since Han Qian had spoken, he and Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei each took one person to independent rooms for questioning. Then the three written records would be combined and cross-checked to see if the three had any hidden places.
Of course, this was only preliminary.
Besides Feng Wenlan and Kong Zhou, who had probably already committed suicide by drinking poison at this time, the Feng family still had several key figures detained at the Court of Judicial Review. If the Feng family had hidden wealth, even if they didn’t know the details, interrogation would still yield clues that could be used for further verification.
The land deeds that Feng Liao, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong had brought when fleeing represented nearly twenty thousand mu of farmland in Runzhou and Xuanzhou hidden under others’ names. Adding the residences attached to these estates, this was a terrifyingly huge fortune. After all, selling these lands at low prices would yield at least one hundred thousand strings of cash.
However, when Han Qian, Zhang Ping, Jiang Huo, and Yuan Guowei led a squad secretly out of the city and entered the northern foothills of Mao Mountain again, opening a secret vault the Feng family had hidden in the northern foothills of Mao Mountain, everyone realized just how foolish those treacherous Feng family retainers had been.
In the northern foothills of Mao Mountain, there was actually an estate the Feng family had concealed under someone else’s name. Feng Liao, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong, fleeing the city with over ten household soldiers, had originally intended to hide in this estate to observe the situation. They hadn’t expected those retainers to suddenly seize them before even entering Mao Mountain, wanting to trade with Han Qian for merit and rewards, only to ultimately be eliminated by Han Qian.
The cave where Feng Liao and the others were imprisoned was only four or five li of mountain road from the estate.
The estate wasn’t large. Usually only a few deaf, mute, and illiterate old people guarded it. Feng Liao and Feng Yi knew of this place. They had previously been brought into Mao Mountain by their father to hunt. Before the Feng family met with disaster, they had only thought this was a temporary resting place for hunting. Only after the incident were they told this was one of the Feng family’s ancestral properties.
Crossing over a mountain ridge, in a valley the estate had over twenty stone buildings hidden in dense forest. Riding horses close, they saw the stone walls covered with moss and vines, showing considerable traces of age. Pushing open one of the stone buildings and lifting the broken and incomplete brick flooring, removing a layer of sand and soil revealed a stone slab.
Lifting the stone slab, underneath was the Feng family’s treasure vault hidden at the estate.
They found two leather bellows to evacuate the foul air inside before Han Qian accompanied Zhang Ping, Jiang Huo, and Yuan Guowei down. Perhaps due to dampness, the copper coins visible to their naked eyes were all covered in green patina.
Basket after basket of copper coins—the secret vault converted from the cave was only about two zhang high and seven or eight zhang deep. Many of the bags holding coins had already rotted. Who knew how many years ago the Feng family had begun using this estate as a secret vault.
Besides copper coins, the secret vault also had a batch of neatly stacked copper ingots. No one knew where the Feng family had collected them from, but since the Qin and Han dynasties, all dynasties had used copper coins. Even in eras when private minting was strictly forbidden, copper ingots, like gold, were hard currency.
However, what drew even more attention were the thirty red gold balls and over two hundred silver-cast balls piled in the corner.
Tian Cheng walked in, grabbed a heavy red gold ball, and said to Han Qian with amazement, “This should be a red gold ball weighing a full thousand taels. One red gold ball alone is worth ten million!”
The Feng family’s century of accumulation—everyone knew the Feng family was extremely wealthy, but no one had imagined that just this one private vault would contain such considerable wealth.
Most of the strings for the copper coins had rotted. The quantity was too vast. Han Qian had only brought thirty or forty people secretly into the mountains and didn’t have the leisure to count them one by one. In the end, they weighed and recorded one hundred thirty thousand jin of copper coins and copper ingots. Adding the red gold balls, silver-cast balls, and other hidden treasures, this one secret vault’s haul converted to copper coins reached over six hundred million qian, equivalent to six hundred thousand strings.
The Linjiang Money Shop had made such a huge commotion, raising over thirty million qian in loans before and after, which only converted to just over thirty thousand strings…