"Yes, yes." Zhu Xi nodded in agreement with Zhu Biao, then turned to look at Han Du, and said: "Han..."
After saying just one word, Zhu Xi quickly stopped the rest of his words. It seems that he is the one who needs help from Han Du now, so it would be inappropriate to call him by his first name.
Zhu Biao looked at it and said directly: "Just call him Han Du. What's wrong with it?"
"No." Zhu Xi shook his head and smiled, first denying Zhu Biao's words. Then he said with a smile: "Anqing is also my king's sister. According to the popular saying, I should call you brother-in-law, and you should call me second uncle."
After saying that, he looked at Han Du with a smile, as if he was convinced.
Han Du sighed helplessly, which was why he agreed to follow Zhu Biao. King Qin is An Qing's biological second brother. If he stands aside and does nothing, An Qing may not even have the face to face her second brother in the future.
"Would King Qin be willing to explain in detail what exactly is going on?" Han Du could only ask.
Know yourself and your enemy and you will never be in danger. No matter what you do, you must first understand the detailed process, otherwise it is very easy to make mistakes in judgment and be caught by others.
Zhu Biao also nodded in agreement. Some things were impossible to describe in detail in the report. At most, they could only give a rough outline. Even this is inevitably artificially exaggerated.
Zhu Fang looked at Han Du, then at Zhu Biao, pondered for a moment, and slowly told the details.
"...That's what happened. Deng and I did go too far at that time, but..."
Zhu Feng Nuonuo opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end he didn't say it. Who asked him to sew the queen's clothes privately for Deng to wear, and also built a five-clawed dragon bed for himself. These two things are indeed exclusive to the emperor and empress, and his move is indeed overbearing and rude.
After Han Du heard this, he didn't express anything and just glanced at Zhu Biao lightly.
Zhu Biao nodded slightly, knowing what he was thinking.
He smiled and nodded towards Zhu Xi, patted his hand and said, "Second brother, don't worry, I will definitely try my best to save you in front of my father."
Zhu Xi opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end he just swallowed the words silently. He said anxiously: "Thank you, Prince, and please rescue Concubine Deng. You must..."
"Second brother, don't worry." Zhu Biao was not sure that he could save Deng, so he could only comfort Zhu Ping.
Compared with Zhu Xi and Deng, no matter who they are, they will almost not hesitate to sacrifice Deng and put all the blame on her. This is the most appropriate way to deal with it in the eyes of the world.
As for Zhu Xi's love for Deng, will Lao Zhu take it to heart?
Seeing that it was almost done, Zhu Biao took Han Du and left.
When the two returned to the East Palace, Zhu Biao couldn't wait to ask Handu: "How was it? Have you thought of any solution?"
After Han Du pondered for a moment, he said tentatively: "This matter is not small, but it is not big."
"Oh? If you have any ideas, please tell me quickly." Zhu Biao thought for several days but couldn't think of any way to help Zhu Ping reduce his guilt. I didn't expect that Han Du would find a solution so quickly. Gu Guo really didn't misjudge him!
Han Du had already expected Zhu Biao's questioning, and said without surprise: "What King Qin did was nothing more than two parts. One was to collect money wantonly, build pavilions and pavilions, and torture the palace people for fun. The other was to He overstepped his bounds by letting Deng wear queen-style clothes while he carved a five-clawed dragon bed for enjoyment."
Zhu Biao thought for a moment and said, "That's true."
Han Du nodded, pondered, and collected his thoughts before saying, "Things with the common people are nothing more than money-related. If we can compensate these common people, it is very likely that we will regain their forgiveness."
"How to compensate?" Finally seeing some hope, Zhu Biao quickly grabbed Han Du's hand and asked with a look of surprise.
"Repay the money stolen from the people twice as much." Han Du responded succinctly, without being wordy or even showing the slightest emotion.
In Han Du's view, as long as the trouble can be solved with money, it is not a trouble!
Obviously, Zhu Biao also had this idea of Han Du, and he immediately smiled and said: "This is easy to handle. I will send someone to go and return the people's money to them in double the amount."
Han Du was a little surprised by Zhu Biao's generosity. You don't need to calculate Handu to know that this amount of money will not be a small number. The money that Zhu Xi collected from the people was at least hundreds of thousands of guan, or even millions of guan.
If he repays it twice as much, it means that Zhu Biao may have to pay millions of dollars, or even millions of dollars.
Han Du chuckled, looked at Zhu Biao and said in surprise: "I can't believe that His Highness is so rich, and he took out millions of dollars without blinking an eye."
Unexpectedly, Zhu Biao smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Where can I have so much money? But there is no other way now. Regarding money, we can only take it one step at a time and then talk about it."
Han Du's expression suddenly changed, and he had a deep feeling in his heart that he might bleed violently by now.
He shook his head and put aside the thoughts in his mind for the time being, and continued: "If we can appease the people, it will be easy to handle. Although the palace people were seriously injured, there were no dead people after all, and the matter was not out of hand yet. As long as they are compensated, whether it is money or official positions, they can be appeased."
Zhu Biao nodded and agreed with Han Du's statement.
"As for wearing the queen's clothes and privately making a five-claw dragon bed..." Han Du looked up at Zhu Biao and saw him looking at him with the same doubtful eyes, and said: "The act of transgression is indeed against the principles. , but the severity of this matter still depends on the emperor’s wishes.”
After finishing speaking, Han Du immediately turned his head to look at Zhu Biao.
To transgress is to provoke the emperor's dragon power. If it were any other person, the nine tribes would have been exterminated long ago. But Zhu Ping's identity is very different. He is the emperor's biological son. From another perspective, whether he oversteps or not is a matter of the emperor's words.
If the emperor says it is overstepping, then it is overstepping. If it says it is not, then it is not.
Zhu Biao instantly understood what Han Du meant. This matter still depends on his father's wishes.
"Okay, you really didn't disappoint me." Zhu Biao praised overjoyed, looking at Han Du with extremely satisfied eyes.
What originally seemed to him to be extremely difficult to handle and where he couldn't find a starting point was suddenly solved with Han Du's analysis in a few words.
Although things are still difficult, at least there is hope for a solution.
"Let's go, now you and Gu go to see your father." Zhu Biao picked up Han Du and started to walk towards Fengtian Palace.
As Han Du walked away, he said helplessly: "Your Highness already knows what to do. It's the same when Your Highness goes forward. Why do you need to drag me away?"
Zhu Biao paused, looked back at Han Du, smiled slightly and said: "You have many evil ideas, it will be more peaceful to go alone together."
Lao Zhu is in Kunning Palace. Although he is accompanied by Queen Ma, Lao Zhu has been in a bad mood these past few days due to Zhu Ping's incident. He always has an old face and makes everyone in the palace hold their breath. , He didn’t even dare to express his anger.
When the old eunuch got the news, he lightly flicked his fingers and asked the eunuch who had reported the news to leave. He turned around and entered the door, came to the emperor, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Marquis of Zhenhai would like to see you."
Lao Zhu's face became even more ugly when he heard this, he turned to Queen Ma and sneered: "Sister, I bet that Han Du must have been dragged here by Biao'er, and it must be to plead for the traitor.
Yes or no? "
The last sentence was asked towards the old eunuch.
The old eunuch smiled and hurriedly bowed again and said: "Your Majesty, it is indeed His Highness the Crown Prince who brought the Marquis of Zhenhai here. His Highness the Crown Prince did not say what happened, so this servant will not know."
Empress Ma was a little helpless. Zhu Ping was also her son. While she was annoyed that Zhu Ping was ignorant, she couldn't help but worry about him and even begged the emperor for him.
Lao Zhu snorted coldly, threw down the things in his hands, and then said with a straight face: "Come in, I want to see how they plead for the traitor."
Soon Zhu Biao came with Han Du and paid homage: "My son, I pay homage to my father, and I pay homage to my mother."
"I pay my respects to the Emperor, and to pay my respects to the Queen."
When Queen Ma saw Han Du, she couldn't help but smile on her face. She was very satisfied with Han Du, the consort. Anqing is her youngest child and only daughter. Empress Ma is very relieved that she can entrust Han Du to her.
"Get up." Lao Zhu said with an unkind expression and a somewhat stiff tone.
Zhu Biao and Han Du stood aside. Zhu Biao kept gesturing Han Du to come forward with his winks. Han Du sighed helplessly when he saw this.
Lao Zhu couldn't help but snorted coldly when he saw the two people's little actions, and asked directly: "Don't you just want to plead for that traitor? I want to see what tricks you can come up with."
This is a bit embarrassing... On the way here, Han Du thought of several sets of opening remarks, but in the end they all lost their effect in front of Lao Zhu and became worthless.
Since Lao Zhu had taken the initiative, Han Du had no choice but to say truthfully: "Your Majesty, I think that although King Qin is guilty, his crime will not lead to death."
Han Du deliberately made King Qin's crime so serious that it would not lead to death... On the other hand, if Lao Zhu opposed him, wouldn't it mean that King Qin's crime was serious enough to cause death?
Han Du was just betting that Lao Zhu would not want to kill Zhu Ping!
Don't look at Lao Zhu, he is a traitor to Zhu Ping when he opens his mouth, and he is a traitor when he shuts up. But in Han Du's opinion, Lao Zhu had no need to think about killing Zhu Ping. There are two reasons for Han Du's estimation. One is Lao Zhu's nature, that is, he is a very protective person. Whether he bans Zhu Cang or asks him to be punished in the future, all this is for the officials to see. If the officials don't keep an eye on this matter, Han Du can guarantee that Lao Zhu will release Zhu Ping the next moment and at most scold him.
The second is, as Zhu Xi said, tiger poison cannot eat its seeds. Even though Lao Zhu was the founding emperor, the death penalty for the prince was too bad. If he did this, he would not be able to escape Qingshi's record in the future. This was something Lao Zhu would never agree to.
For these two reasons, Han Du dared to bet that Lao Zhu had never thought about letting Zhu Ping die.
Sure enough, Lao Zhu said angrily after hearing this: "I have warned him a long time ago that the people in the pass have been exhausted since the fall of power in the former Yuan Dynasty. I asked him to recuperate with the people, but he turned a deaf ear to my will and insisted on going his own way, wasting the people and hurting the money. "
Even though Lao Zhu looked angry, what he said was nothing more than old memories, and he had no use for expressing his position on current affairs. It was typically some heartbreaking nonsense.
From this point, Han Du knew that Lao Zhu really had no intention of killing Zhu Ping.
With this guarantee, Han Du suddenly had an idea in his mind.
"Your Majesty, although His Highness the King of Qin has wasted the people and money, fortunately he also cherishes the people's strength, and no people have died. I think the matter has not reached the point of no return."
"Why?" Lao Zhu asked with a rather rich voice, his brows twitching.
Han Du confidently bowed his fist to Lao Zhu and explained sternly: "The King of Qin lost money, but he did not work for his life. People cannot be resurrected after death, and if they work for their lives, it is naturally irreversible. However, it is only a waste of money, but it can be recovered. room."
Lao Zhu straightened his sleeves, leaned back in his chair, and asked with a firm tone: "Do you want to use money to compensate those people?"
Han Du smiled and nodded slightly.
There was no emotion or anger on Lao Zhu's face. He looked at Han Du's words carefully, cleared his throat and said, "Because of Lao Er's misbehavior, I don't know how many people in Xi'an have sold their sons and daughters because of him. Do you think this is compensation?" Can the people’s money be enough?”
Han Du shook his head and said: "Then find their children and return them to them. People love their children, and even if they are sold, they will not be sold too far away. Most of them should still be in Xi'an now." Even if there are a few who leave Xi'an, most of them follow the caravans. It is not difficult to find them as long as you search hard.
No matter how many people there are, they have lost something in this process, including their houses, which can be redeemed for them or even rebuilt for them. If they lose their land, then give it back to them. In short, restore everything to its original appearance. "
"Father, I can double the compensation for the people's losses. No matter how big their grievances are, they should be put to rest." Zhu Biao interjected appropriately.
The people have not yet developed their wisdom, and all they want now is survival. Just exchange the house and land to them, and then get back the children you sold. Not only would the people not have the slightest resentment towards King Qin, they would even be grateful to King Qin in turn. There is no way, the demands of these people are so low.
Even Lao Zhu didn't think there was anything wrong with Han Du's method. And he can now think that if it can really reach the point the two people said, the people will not have the slightest resentment.
But... Lao Zhu glanced at Zhu Biao with interest, and asked curiously: "Do you know how much this costs? Do you have it?"
Zhu Biao suddenly looked embarrassed, and his face slowly turned red, but he still nodded bravely: "I know, it will cost at least one million yuan. I don't have that much money, but I will find a way." .”
Han Du was a little angry and didn't want to look at Zhu Biao. What he said was really nice. Can you think of a way to do this? In the end, it doesn’t have to fall on you.
Han Du felt panicked at the thought of paying for Zhu Biao to pretend to be a big-tailed wolf.
Lao Zhu chuckled twice and glanced at Han Du subconsciously. Obviously he also knew who Zhu Biao was planning.
Empress Ma couldn't bear Han Du's effort and money. She glanced at Han Du appreciatively, turned back to Zhu Biao and said, "My mother has saved some money in the past few years. You can use it."
"Thank you, Queen Mother." Zhu Biao quickly thanked her. The Queen Mother's move indeed greatly reduced his pressure.
Seeing this, Lao Zhu sighed helplessly and said: "You can forget it. If a son doesn't teach his father how to live, I am also responsible for this rebellious son. If I repay the people's money, it will come from my heart." Let Ku transfer it."
"Thank you, father!" Lao Zhu's words made Zhu Biao even more overjoyed. Originally, he was prepared to make the East Palace live a tight life, but he did not expect that his father would be so generous and give out all the money.
As for Zhu Feng's treason, neither Lao Zhu nor Queen Ma even mentioned it. In the eyes of ordinary people, the crime of annihilating the nine tribes was not as important as the common people's affairs in Lao Zhu's eyes.
As long as the people's affairs are solved, it is not impossible for Lao Zhu to forgive Zhu Ping this time.
However, Lao Zhu was still a little unhappy and said solemnly with a straight face: "However, death penalty can be avoided, but living crime cannot be escaped. If not punished, how can we convince the people of the world! As the second concubine, Mrs. Deng did not persuade her in time, He even instigated the King of Qin to have fun, and also put the Princess Wang under house arrest, which is an unforgivable crime!"
Seeing that Lao Zhu was about to issue an edict to make the final judgment on Deng. Han Du spoke quickly, "Your Majesty, I still have something to say."
"What do you want to say?" Lao Zhu was very unhappy when Han Du interrupted him. But seeing Han Du running around for Zhu Ping's affairs, he spared him again.
Han Du found it difficult to speak, "Your Majesty, I see that the relationship between King Qin and the Deng family is very deep. If the Deng family passes away, I am afraid that the King of Qin will suffer an unbearable blow."
"What do you mean?" Lao Zhu disagreed with Han Du's warning.
Seeing that the warning had no effect, Han Du thought of a new way: "I dare to ask the emperor, I heard that King Qin was extremely intelligent, strict in self-discipline, perseverance, and extraordinary in martial arts when he was young. Has the emperor ever thought about why King Qin became what he is? What does it look like now?"
Sure enough, as soon as Han Du's words came out, not only Lao Zhu, but also Queen Ma was stunned. They knew better than anyone what happened to King Qin when he was a child. He was indeed a very outstanding child. At that time, both Lao Zhu and Queen Ma liked him very much.
But now when asked by Han Du, the two of them lowered their heads in thought. Even they didn't know when the heroic and extraordinary son in the past had disappeared and turned into the disgusting and disgusting person he is now.
Lao Zhu turned around and looked at Queen Ma, then looked back at Han Du, took a deep breath and said, "Say, keep talking."
