Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 46 The real show has only just begun.

"Fight in!"

Tian Ergeng finally issued the order for the general offensive.

The Imperial Guards and soldiers of the New Army poured into the Fan family mansion like a flood bursting its banks, bursting through the broken gates and scaling the courtyard walls with grappling hooks.

A crushing defeat with no suspense whatsoever.

Although the Fan family's guards were numerous and held a strategic location, they were very familiar with the terrain of the mansion.

However, it is in the face of a well-equipped, well-trained, and highly motivated state apparatus.

Their resistance seemed so ridiculous and powerless.

A burly guard rushed out from around the corner, raising his broadsword, only to be instantly surrounded by three or four Imperial Guards in a highly efficient formation. Several long, narrow embroidered spring knives, like the fangs of venomous snakes, pierced his body simultaneously from different angles. He didn't even have time to scream before collapsing limply to the ground.

A desperate servant attempted to ignite the kerosene hidden in the woodshed, intending to perish together with the soldiers who stormed in.

But just as he lit the tinderbox, a quick-thinking new army soldier, from a distance of more than ten steps, accurately threw a long spear, pinning him to the wall. The tinderbox fell to the ground and was stomped out by a military boot.

Blood stained the exquisite floor tiles paved with precious bluestone.

The corpses filled the courtyards that were usually used for appreciating flowers and the moon.

The screams of women, the cries of children, the agonizing screams of men dying, the crisp clang of weapons clashing...

All the sounds mingled together, like the whispers of Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

Meanwhile, the same bloody and efficient purges were also being carried out simultaneously in the courtyards of seven other Shanxi merchants, including the Wang, Liang, and Jin families.

These local tyrants, who usually wield immense power in Zhangjiakou and throughout Shanxi, believing they have established an independent kingdom that is impenetrable.

Finally, faced with absolute state violence, I experienced what true despair is!

Fan Yongdou ultimately failed to burn the ledger.

When he stumbled into the study, relying on his memory, he fumbled to open the mechanism on the wall to reveal a hidden compartment and took out the box made of the finest sandalwood.

The heavy door to the study, made from a single piece of nanmu wood, was kicked to pieces from the outside in an extremely violent manner.

Several Imperial Guards, covered in blood and exuding a murderous aura, rushed in like demons crawling out of hell.

Fan Yongdou was so frightened that the box in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

He didn't even have the courage to look at the faces of those Imperial Guards. He turned around and tried to crawl behind the antique shelf on the other side of the study into the secret escape passage that he had prepared for himself long ago.

The secret passage wound its way through the streets, leading to an inconspicuous house outside the mansion—his last resort.

However, his obese body had only taken two steps.

I suddenly felt a chill in my back.

A blood-stained knife tip was already pressed silently against his waist. The chill instantly pierced through the silk and satin, penetrating his skin and freezing his blood.

"Master Fan," a sinister voice, seemingly tinged with amusement, whispered softly in his ear, "where are you in such a hurry?

Fan Yongdou's body froze instantly, as if he had been frozen in place.

He turned around inch by inch and saw a face he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Tian Ergeng.

“Commander Tian…” Fan Yongdou’s teeth chattered uncontrollably, and the fat on his face forced a smile that was more like a grimace. “Misunderstanding…Sir, it’s all a misunderstanding…Do you remember? I even treated you to a meal!”

Tian Ergeng ignored his explanations and attempts to get closer to him; his gaze fell on the sandalwood box on the ground that had already been smashed open.

He walked over, bent down, and picked up the black leather booklet that was lying quietly on the ground next to the box.

He flicked the dust off the cover with his finger and then flipped through it casually.

The booklet contained shocking transactions meticulously recorded in tiny, handwritten characters.

"In the third month of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, Wang Dengku, the person in charge, sent ten top-quality pearls to Wang, the general of Xuanfu, worth ten thousand taels of silver."

"In the seventh month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, Liang Jiabin, the person in charge, presented Zhou, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, with a copy of the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi from the previous dynasty, along with a pound of ginseng from outside the Great Wall and five thousand taels of silver notes."

"In the winter of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, Fan Yongdou, the person in charge, presented a piece of purple coral from the South China Sea to Grand Secretary Feng for the one-month celebration of his grandson. The coral was three feet tall and valued at 30,000 taels of silver..."

Each entry, detailing the time, place, people, event, and amount, is recorded clearly and explicitly.

A genuinely satisfied smile appeared on Tian Ergeng's face.

He carefully closed the booklet, as if it were a rare treasure, and gently tucked it into his warm bosom.

Then he turned his gaze back to Fan Yongdou, who was now ashen-faced and trembling like a leaf. "Take him away."

Two Imperial Guards immediately stepped forward, one on each side, and lifted Fan Yongdou's limp body, dragging him out like a dead dog.

When Fan Yongdou was dragged out of the study and saw the scene in the courtyard again, which resembled a slaughterhouse,...

His nerves, which had been taut with the last shred of hope, finally snapped completely.

There are corpses all over the ground!
Warm blood flowed into streams, quietly passing through the exquisite drainage ditches in the courtyard, emitting an intensely sweet and pungent odor.

The Jinyiwei and New Army soldiers, as fierce as tigers and wolves, were carrying out the final purge, room by room.

They used spears to pry open the space under the bed and knives to cleave open the wardrobe, leaving no corner unexplored as to where people might be hiding.

Occasionally, a few short screams would come from one of the rooms, then quickly fall silent.

"No—! No—! Ah—!"

Fan Yongdou finally let out a desperate, inhuman roar.

"I am a royal merchant! I have transported grain for the court! I have met the late emperor! You cannot touch me!"

"I want to see the Grand Secretary! I want to see Grand Secretary Feng! I want to see Lord Zhou Yanru! Tell him to come see me!"

He struggled and roared like a complete madman.

He placed his last and only hope on the high-ranking officials in the court whom he had fed with mountains of money.

Tian Ergeng slowly walked up to him.

He extended the scabbard of his embroidered spring knife, still stained with someone's blood, and with an almost humiliating gesture, gently patted Fan Yongdou's fat and distorted face, which was streaked with tears.

Tian Ergeng's face held a hint of mockery, like a cat toying with a mouse.

"Master Fan, don't be in a hurry."

He smiled, his tone as gentle as if he were comforting a friend who had been wronged.

"You'll see them soon."

Tian Ergeng paused, then leaned close to Fan Yongdou's ear and whispered:

"On the road to the underworld."

Fan Yongdou's roar came to an abrupt halt.

All his struggles, all his roars, all his hopes were shattered in that instant by those words.

All the light in his eyes went out instantly.

It’s over.

Those behind him are finished too.

The emperor wanted more than just the lives of the Fan family.

It's the entire network!
……

A bloody massacre finally came to an end before dawn.

The Imperial Guards began to tally their spoils and confiscate property.

The eight major Jin merchants, led by the Fan family, were all captured. Each patriarch was bound and made to kneel in the center of the courtyard, awaiting their final fate. The others who had left quickly should have already reached the Bridge of Helplessness.

The gold, silver, land deeds, and antiques confiscated from the cellars and countless secret rooms of their mansion were carried out box after box and piled up in the entire front yard.

The golden, dazzling light reflected the rising sun, creating a mesmerizing glow that made even the seasoned Imperial Guards gasp, their eyes gleaming with a complex mix of greed and awe.

Rich enough to rival a country!

These four words were most clearly demonstrated at this moment.

Tian Ergeng was toying with the "black ledger" in his hand.

He felt that this booklet was heavier than the mountain of gold and silver beneath his feet.

He knew that once this booklet was delivered to the capital and into the hands of that young emperor, it would be a great loss.

It will trigger a massive earthquake that is a hundred times more violent than the massacre in Zhangjiakou.

The good show has just begun!
(End of this chapter)