coobybook Chapter 1057 Investigating the Treasures of Noble Families
Chapter 1057 Investigating the Treasures of Noble Families
After a brief moment of warmth inside the imperial carriage, tranquility returned.
Yelü Xian leaned against Li Che, playing with the bow and arrows she had just wiped clean, her eyes sparkling as she pondered where to go hunting next.
Luo Yueniang sat upright on a soft stool a little further away, her gaze calm, lost in thought.
Li Che exchanged a few more pleasantries with her about the scenery of Sichuan, then turned his gaze to the view outside the carriage window.
The summer fields are lush and green, the distant mountains are like dark eyebrows, the rice seedlings in the paddy fields are already a fresh green, and farmers are working in the fields.
Upon seeing this grand royal procession, most people stopped at a distance, their faces showing more awe than curiosity.
Li Che was not surprised. The south had just been recovered, and the people were unaware of their situation, so it was normal for them to be afraid.
If this were in the north, the people would probably have already swarmed around by now, and while they would be enthusiastic, it would be even more troublesome.
"Where are we?" Li Che asked.
Qiu Bai, who was riding closely behind the imperial carriage, immediately spurred his horse to approach the window and leaned down to report: "Your Majesty, we have seen the boundary marker of Chuzhou ahead. After traveling another ten or so miles, we will reach the city of Chuzhou."
Li Che nodded slightly: "Have we entered Anhui Province?"
“That’s right,” Qiu Bai confirmed.
As he got closer to his hometown, Qiu Bai's face remained expressionless throughout the journey, except for a hint of complex emotion that would flash deep in his eyes when his gaze swept over the hilly landscape of Jiangnan.
Li Che hummed in agreement, then looked away and at the two women in the carriage: "Sitting in this carriage for too long is getting stuffy. Would Xian'er like to get out with me and inspect the convoy?"
Upon hearing this, Yelü Xian immediately perked up: "Great! Great! Xian'er will accompany Your Majesty!"
She couldn't sit still anyway, so being able to get out of the car and move around was something she was naturally eager to do.
Li Che then looked at Luo Yueniang: "General Luo, why don't you come along too?"
Luo Yueniang immediately stood up, bowed, and said, "This humble general obeys the order."
"Very good." Li Che nodded with a smile and gestured for the car to stop.
Qiu Bai and the other accompanying generals were not surprised by the emperor's order.
Even during his southern tour, His Majesty maintained the style he had developed in the army, always taking time each day to personally inspect the front and back of the entourage and check the carriages and supplies.
More importantly, we need to see if the convoy has caused any disturbance to the residents.
In Li Che's family, the only two ancient armies with discipline close to that of modern armies were Yue Fei's army and Qi Jiguang's army.
The Qing Army can do this now, and the former Fengtian Army troops among them can do it even better.
Therefore, when the imperial carriage stopped, the emperor, accompanied by his concubines and female generals, dismounted and inspected the area on foot. This did not cause much of a commotion, and all departments remained orderly.
However, when passing by the emperor, the soldiers would straighten their backs and their eyes would shine even brighter.
Li Che got out of the car, took a deep breath, and stretched his limbs.
Yelü Xian and Luo Yueniang followed half a step behind him, one bright and lively, the other calm and valiant, creating another beautiful scene.
The three walked slowly along one side of the group.
Li Che observed carefully, sometimes inquiring about the condition of a passing general's troops, sometimes checking whether the supply wagons were securely tied, and sometimes stopping to nod and greet some familiar veterans.
Overall, the southern inspection team appeared disciplined and orderly, showing no signs of chaos.
Li Che nodded inwardly, reassuring himself about Yue Yun's military leadership abilities.
"The allocation of carriages and horses for this tour is quite sufficient," Li Che said to the two women beside him as they walked. "I remember that some emperors of previous dynasties only cared about the comfort of their own imperial carriages when they went on tours, and the soldiers accompanying them often had to walk, and many even died along the way."
"Such a harmful act is unacceptable to me."
Li Che was still being tactful in his statement; when Emperor Yang of the previous dynasty went on tours, many elderly officials accompanied him.
Exhausted from the long journey and the hardships, many fell ill and could not recover.
They requested rest from Emperor Yang, but he refused. Several senior officials died of illness during one of his tours.
It's unclear whether he deliberately eliminated dissidents or was simply malicious.
Li Che pointed to the endless convoy of horses and carriages: "Fortunately, Daqing has many places to raise horses on the grasslands and in Fengguo, and the Mohe and other tribes are good at herding, so the army is not short of horses now."
"During this southern tour, apart from the necessary ceremonial guards and carriages, the other soldiers and laborers were also provided with carriages and horses as much as possible, or took turns riding in carriages to rest."
Yelü Xian only vaguely understood what was being said, but he felt it was always good that His Majesty could be considerate of the soldiers.
Luo Yueniang, on the other hand, felt this deeply. Having led troops, she knew all too well the toll long marches took on soldiers.
As they were walking, they suddenly saw a thick plume of black smoke rising from somewhere in the middle of the group, and a foul, burnt smell wafted through the air.
There seemed to be quite a crowd around, including soldiers and artisans dressed in Ministry of Works uniforms.
Li Che frowned slightly and turned his steps in that direction: "What's all the commotion about?"
Qiu Bai had already noticed the abnormality. He stepped forward and whispered, "Your Majesty, it seems that Prince Fu's self-driving car has malfunctioned again."
Upon hearing this, Li Che smiled helplessly and quickened his pace to walk up.
In a temporarily cleared open space, the oddly shaped self-driving car was indeed lying there, several wheels tilted, and black smoke still lingering on one side of the vehicle.
Several craftsmen were sweating profusely as they disassembled and inspected the parts, hammering and banging away.
Li Tan stood beside the car, his once fair face now streaked with black and white, whether from anger or from the smoke, it was hard to tell.
Upon seeing the emperor's arrival, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Li Che waved his hand: "Get up, everyone, no need for formalities."
He strolled over to the self-driving car and looked at the big guy, who had been on strike many times, with great interest.
Seeing his tenth brother's smeared face, he couldn't help but laugh loudly, "Tenth brother, I saw the billowing black smoke from afar and guessed that your precious carriage had stopped working again."
Li Tan's face showed even more embarrassment, and he said dejectedly, "Your Majesty is wise, the carriage has broken down again."
"The transmission gears seem to be damaged, and the boiler pressure is unstable. It can't be repaired in a short time. I'm afraid we'll have to let the horses pull us along first, and then find a safe place in Chuzhou City to carry out major repairs."
At the start of the trip, this car certainly attracted a lot of attention.
Rumbling and billowing white smoke, it slowly followed the main procession, astonishing the people along the way, and the soldiers and officials in the procession also marveled at it.
Li Tan was also full of vigor at that time, feeling that his years of hard work had finally paid off.
However, this good fortune did not last long; this massive mechanical creation could not withstand long-distance travel.
Not long after they hit the road, problems began to arise one after another.
Sometimes the boiler pressure valve malfunctions, sometimes the transmission connecting rod breaks, sometimes the wheel bearing overheats and seizes up...
The most dangerous incident occurred when a loosely secured flywheel suddenly came off during the journey, nearly injuring a nearby soldier.
Most of the time, this self-driving car was in an awkward situation of being pulled forward by several strong horses.
Li Che looked at Li Tan's dejected appearance without blaming him.
He stepped forward, patted his younger brother on the shoulder, and said gently, "Don't be so discouraged. Everything is difficult at the beginning. How can such a pioneering undertaking be accomplished overnight?"
"The more problems we discover now, the better we will know where to improve in the future."
Li Tan, still somewhat annoyed, said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I am incompetent. This carriage has repeatedly caused problems, bringing shame upon you."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Li Che laughed and scolded, then casually ruffled Li Tan's hair. "For my brother to have such ingenuity is already a remarkable achievement."
Do you know how many people in the team privately praise you, saying you are "the reincarnation of Lu Ban"?
Li Tan's face finally brightened after his elder brother's words: "Your Majesty flatters me. I was just following your instructions and exploring with the craftsmen."
"Being able to find the actual object is a great achievement," Li Che affirmed, then changed the subject, "Alright, the craftsmen are taking care of things here, so you don't need to stay here all the time."
"Xian'er hunted some game tonight, so don't bother with anything else, come and have dinner with us."
Li Tan quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "Your Majesty, I accept the decree and thank you!"
After comforting his younger brother, Li Che offered a few words of encouragement to the craftsmen present before continuing his inspection.
They walked around, looked around, asked questions, and investigated until they had roughly finished inspecting the middle and rear sections of the procession before returning to the vicinity of the imperial carriage.
On the horizon ahead, the outline of Chuzhou City was already in sight.
The city walls were majestic, and banners were faintly visible, indicating that local officials had already received the news and were preparing to receive the emperor.
Li Che stood on a slightly elevated earthen slope, reached into his robes, and pulled out the small booklet he always carried with him—"A Record of the Secret Treasury of the Huan Family at the End of the Reign."
He gently flipped through the booklet and quickly found the pages marked 'Chuzhou' and the surrounding areas.
“Chuzhou.” Li Che murmured to himself, his gaze sweeping over the surnames listed in the register. “Let me see which families in Chuzhou have accumulated good deeds.”
The carriage started moving again and slowly headed towards the city gate of Chuzhou.
. . . . . .
Three days later, outside Chuzhou city.
The southern tour team set off again, and its size seemed to be even larger than when it arrived.
The many empty supply wagons that came here are now fully loaded, their wheels leaving deeper ruts on the official road.
The cart was loaded with real hard currency: boxes of gold and silver ingots, pearls, jade, antiques, and fine silk.
These are naturally the heartfelt wishes of the prominent families of Chuzhou.
Upon arriving in Chuzhou, Li Che's first task was to investigate taxes and new policies.
The powerful families in Chuzhou were relatively honest and did not commit large-scale harm against the people, but they could not withstand investigation, especially when it came to issues involving farmland.
These powerful families had previously acted blatantly, seizing land and levying excessive taxes without any attempt to conceal it; any investigation would uncover them.
Li Che used this as an excuse to make them return their land, and they then began to plead poverty.
Seeing that the emperor did not believe him, he acted as if he were a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, letting the emperor investigate as he pleased.
Li Che, seizing the opportunity, used the pretext of "verifying family assets to prove innocence" to dispatch capable personnel to investigate one by one in cooperation with local officials, following the clues in the booklet.
The result greatly shocked Li Che.
Not only were huge amounts of gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, and paintings discovered, far exceeding the amount they had declared, but an astonishing number of armor, swords, spears, and crossbows were also seized from several hidden locations.
Although most of these armors and weapons are old-fashioned and rusty, they are clearly relics from previous dynasties or even earlier.
However, the crime of illegally possessing military equipment was a serious offense that could lead to the confiscation of property and the extermination of the entire clan in any dynasty!
Thus, the aristocratic families, who had been feigning composure, panicked and begged for mercy.
Li Che didn't care about any of that. You keep saying you're from a family of scholars and poets, so why are you hiding so much armor? Are you planning a rebellion?!
However, the emperor was benevolent and, considering that their ancestors had rendered meritorious service to the local area and that they had actively cooperated with the investigation, allowed them to atone for their sins with their family property.
The land properties that were discovered during the investigation naturally became part of the ransom.
As for the other treasures found along with the armor...
Hmm? What gold and silver treasures? I don't see any.