12dz Chapter 582 Both Sides Are in the Dark
Chapter 582 Both Sides Are in the Dark
Shen Yuan went to the county town and went to see Huo Xiangxi first.
Huo Xiangxi was still in a coma. This poison would not kill people. He was sometimes conscious and sometimes unconscious, and he could not move. But there was no need to worry about his life.
After waking up Huo Xiangxi, he told him the news calmly:
"The entire Huo family has been executed. Even without you, the Huo family can't escape the blame. Minister Chen betrayed you, but those people didn't kill Minister Chen for you to silence him."
To say that there were no ripples is not entirely true.
After all, that is the Huo family. My grandfather is still under house arrest. I don’t know if he can withstand this blow.
Huo Xiangxi gently opened his eyes. When he heard the news, he felt a dull pain in his throat. He looked up at Huo Yuan's expressionless face. He didn't seem to be sad at all. He couldn't help but feel angry:
"You... that's the Huo family, and also your family. They are all your relatives. How can you be so cruel..."
Even if the Huo family treated him badly, he still had Huo family blood in his veins. How could he be so cruel?
Huo Xiangxi felt that Huo Yuan was much more hard-hearted than him.
"Isn't it you, Second Uncle, who caused all this? I can't compare to you in terms of cruelty. For that person, you didn't hesitate to drag the entire Huo family to be buried with you. I wonder if that person appreciates your loyalty!"
Shen Yuan still couldn't figure it out until now. He felt that his second uncle was not the kind of person who could do such a thing for someone.
The more ruthless and ambitious a person is, the more they value their life.
Second uncle has never been a man who would die bravely. He is more afraid of death than anyone else.
Why on earth would a person who is so afraid of death be willing to keep a secret at all costs?
If he wasn't unable to move and someone was watching him, he wouldn't have the chance to commit suicide. He might have really committed suicide to save that person.
Huo Xiangxi heard what he said, and a smug smile flashed across his lips:
"I don't need his gratitude, as long as it's him, hehe... You will never know...
Do you think that after dealing with the Huo family, confiscating the iron mine, and taking away so many people, you can rest easy? No, it won't happen. If you don't let me die, you just want me to watch that person succeed, right?
Huo Yuan, as long as you don't let me die, I might see that day, and when that day comes, you won't be able to kill me, hehehe..."
Huo Xiangxi looked at Shen Yuan like a madman, as if to irritate him.
"You want to force me to eliminate future troubles? Ha, then I'll let Second Uncle see who will win in the end. You have to live to see the end."
Shen Yuan would not be easily angered.
Huo Xiangxi cannot die, otherwise the person behind the scenes will never succeed.
From the outside, it seemed that Huo Xiangxi had confessed his guilt and committed suicide.
However, Huo Xiangxi is an important witness who identified the person behind the scenes.
He also needs to figure out why Huo Xiangxi is so protective of the person behind the scenes.
He and His Majesty were already on guard, and the people behind the scenes would only think that they had relaxed and were unaware of their existence.
Now, they have gone from open to covert, with both sides in the dark, and their chances of winning are greater.
"Make sure you keep an eye on him. I won't be here during this period of time to avoid being discovered. You should also be careful and try not to go out. Someone will bring food to you."
Shen Yuan decided that he would never come again and would wait until the matter was settled before taking Huo Xiangxi back to Beijing to confess his crime.
After leaving the dungeon, he went to see Magistrate Xu.
Xu Huaiyuan did not stay in the iron mine all the time. After all, there were a lot of things to do in the government office. Now Jiang Shun was sent to guard it.
The people in the iron mine had been cleared out, leaving only weapons and food.
His Majesty has already issued an order that part of the weapons be used to replenish Wei Yuanxiong's troops, and part be temporarily stored in the iron mine.
As for food, it was all sent to the severely affected areas in the south.
Xu Huaiyuan was arranging these things. There were also many innocent people among the rebels who were forced to become rebels, and all of them were used for labor according to the order from their superiors.
They can return home only after three years of labor.
Arranging corvée labor was also a big deal. Tongxu County happened to have recently been developing water conservancy and road construction, so part of the labor was retained in Tongxu County, and part of it was handed over to other prefectures.
"The county horse is here, come in."
Xu Huaiyuan stood up from the desk, holding the labor list in his hand.
He also wanted to ask the county horse something, but he didn't expect the county horse to come.
After the two of them sat down, he asked first:
"My Lord, I wonder when the court will send someone to take over the mine? The government office is short-staffed right now, and the autumn harvest is coming soon. This is the key period for promoting agricultural crops, and we can't delay it."
He was a little overwhelmed.
Shen Yuan curled his lips and looked at the list on the table.
He came here for this very purpose.
"Have these labor services not been taken away by other states?"
When he asked this, Xu Huaiyuan was stunned and slapped his forehead:
"Look how busy I am! These are ordinary people who were selected. They were also forced to join the pirate ship. But they are also rebels after all. Your Majesty is merciful and only allows them to participate in three years of corvée labor."
Shen Yuan nodded:
"Well, the autumn harvest is coming soon, so let them participate in the harvest. I happen to have a lot of land there, so I can send more people to help."
This year their family planted sweet potatoes and corn, and the terraced fields were also full of corn.
Although the yield of corn and sweet potatoes is high, it is not easy to harvest them.
After harvesting the corn, you have to peel the husk, remove the seeds and dry it in the sun, which is really troublesome.
It would not be too much to ask these corvées to help out.
"Okay, I'll send someone over then. I'll write to other counties and ask them to pick them up after the autumn harvest."
Xu Huaiyuan put his worries aside and discussed the rebellion with Shen Yuan.
Xu Huaiyuan is a smart man, he seemed to have guessed something.
As he spoke, he lamented the ending of the Huo family, remembered the old man's bravery, and talked about the reputation of General Huo.
Shen Yuan just smiled faintly in response and said nothing more.
Seeing that the time was almost up, he left the county government office and went to pick up Shen Zhao.
Shen Zhao hadn't seen his elder brother for a long time, and was relieved to see that he was safe and sound.
"Brother, I heard about the things in the capital at the academy. You and sister-in-law didn't actually leave Tongxu County. Did you go to the iron mine?"
There were only two brothers in the carriage, so Shen Zhao asked without any hesitation.
When he learned that there were thieves illegally mining iron ore and rebellion in the Daxin Mountains over there, he knew it must have been done by his eldest brother.
Hearing that the process was extremely dangerous, he couldn't help but worry that his elder brother and sister-in-law might get hurt.
Shen Zhao was always smart, so Shen Yuan was not surprised at all that he could guess this:
"Don't worry, we're all fine."
Knowing that he was worried, Shen Yuan responded.
Shen Zhao didn't say anything.
His eldest brother was driving the carriage in front, and he sat behind him, leaning against the carriage shed, staring at his back quietly.
His eldest brother left home when he was very young and could not remember anything.
He has never had any impression of his elder brother.
However, he knew from a young age that he had an older brother, and that he would definitely be a man of great stature when he went to the battlefield.