When Li Yingxiang heard what Ji Qianyun said, he felt extremely happy. With military rations, you can make achievements as soon as the commander-in-chief of the Ministry of War arrives. He didn't care at all about Luo Jiutian's life at the moment.
The jade horse that Luo Jiutian gave him had been hidden long ago. He wished that Luo Jiutian would be dragged out immediately and interrogated, so that no one would reveal the corruption of ink.
Xu Yuantai's heart was beating wildly. Ever since he took the poison given by Luo Jiutian, he had been frightened every day.
He thought: "Once Luo Jiutian dies, my life will also be taken. No matter what, it is the best idea to take over this person from King Duan first."
Suddenly, he thought, "Prince Duan must have some agenda, how could he hand him over so easily." He moved his eyes to Ji Qianyun's face and continued to listen to his words.
Ji Qianyun said: "The second course may come later. The third course that the prince has prepared for you is called World Peace."
Lu Wannian drank a glass of wine and said: "The world is at peace. Your Majesty, please invite us brothers to come and take the criminals back. We don't care about other things. It is indeed peace in the world."
King Duan smiled and said: "Everyone is eating the emperor's salary and worrying about the emperor. The best thing is peace in the world if the river is clear and the sea is clean."
Suddenly he changed the topic and asked: "However, I have smoothed this matter for you. How can you thank me?"
Lu Wannian frowned and said, "What does the prince want?"
King Duan smiled and said, "Master Lu, what if your people want to throw dirty water on me?"
The corners of Lu Wannian's eyes twitched, his face changed slightly, and he turned to smile and said: "Jin Yiwei's actions are naturally favored by the Holy One. The Holy One has shown great favor to the prince. How can we subordinates dare to stroke the prince's tiger beard?"
The two looked at each other for a long time, then suddenly looked at each other and smiled. King Duan said: "What Mr. Lu wants, I will give it to you. I want and hope Mr. Lu will take care of me." Lu Wannian said: "Okay, Pei Zheng, let's go escort the prisoners." He stood up and left.
After the Jin Yiwei men left, King Duan looked at Xu Yuantai and said, "Sir Governor, how do you plan to thank me?"
Xu Yuantai said: "Then what does the prince want from me?" Zhou Guanghao sneered: "The prince keeps saying that he will share the worries of the Holy One, why do you care about it now?"
Ji Qianyun stood up and said, "Master Zhou, the prince is talking to the governor now, how can you interrupt?"
These words undoubtedly mean to repay the other person with his own way. Zhou Guanghao's eyes widened and he was furious. He stood up and pointed at Ji Qianyun and said, "You..." Xu Yuantai waved to Zhou Guanghao and said, "Guoyong, sit down."
Prince Duan said: "Master Zhou has an upright character, and I admire him very much. Mr. Ji, please sit down as well. Sir Governor, what I want from you is tax money."
Xu Yuantai said with a smile: "I am sorry that I am too stupid to understand what Your Majesty said. Please explain it to Your Majesty."
Prince Duan picked up a glass of wine, looked at the glass and said calmly: "Sichuan has been hit by disasters for many years, and I have donated a lot of money and food. And the daily expenses of this palace are huge. I want you to divide the tax money earned in Sichuan. Thirty percent will come out and laugh at me."
When Zhou Guanghao heard this, he became angry and shouted loudly: "Taxation is the responsibility of the Ministry of Household Affairs. The tax collected every year is approved by the emperor and the cabinet. How can it be changed at will?"
Every 10% increase in taxes is like placing a heavy mountain on the heads of the people. The prince has thousands of acres of fertile farmland and thousands of mansions, so how can he compete with the people for profit?
You are the prince of the Ming Dynasty, and you should work for the benefit of the people of the Ming Dynasty. Now you keep forcing the governor to take bribes and bend the law. What is your intention? "
His words were so impassioned that King Duan's face changed drastically after hearing this, and Xu Yuantai and Li Yingxiang's hearts were in their throats. There have only been a few people who openly contradicted the emperor's relatives since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
Prince Duan laughed and said, "Master Zhou, do you want me to be my second Haibi holder in the Ming Dynasty?" (Haibi holder was the nickname given to Hai Rui by people at that time.)
Zhou Guanghao said loudly: "Hai Gangfeng, who served the country and the people, is a role model for our officials in the Ming Dynasty. What if I, Zhou Guanghao, follow in his footsteps?"
Luo Jiutian, who was sitting on the ground, thought to himself: "This man is upright and a good man. I plotted against him before, but now I think about it and I feel really ashamed."
King Duan sneered and said: "What a follow in his footsteps. I will share my worries for you, and you should always think about me. Since everything has been said, then I will not care about anything else.
My request for 30% of the tax is extremely gracious. I advise the governor to think carefully, otherwise you will not be able to walk out of this door today. "As he said that, he drank another glass of wine, took a piece of fish and put it in his mouth.
Zhou Guanghao said sternly: "How dare you threaten the imperial official?"
King Duan said calmly: "Even if it's the Jinyi Guards, I have my own way to make them obey.
To put it nicely, he is an official of the imperial court, but to put it worse, he is my Zhu family’s dog. Does a dog still want to show off its power in front of its master? "
Cold sweat broke out on Xu Yuantai's forehead. He stretched out his sleeves to wipe it, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, all I want from you is your promise. Please calm down, Your Majesty, and forgive Guoyong for his offense."
Zhou Guanghao said anxiously: "You Xian, after all, we are also disciples of the Emperor. How can you use the interests of a country to make deals with others?"
Xu Yuantai closed his eyes and sighed: "Guoyong, do we have any other choice now?
If someone reports to Heaven about the missing imperial prisoner, once Long Yan becomes angry, both of you and I will be thrown into jail. If your official career is ruined, how can you benefit the people? "
Zhou Guanghao pointed at Xu Yuantai and cursed: "You Xian, you are confused. If we are greedy for life and afraid of death, wouldn't we put the people of the world on the chopping block and let others slaughter us?"
Xu Yuantai opened his eyes, raised his head and looked at him and said: "The people of the world are important, but without officials there is no government.
If we are just ordinary people, how can we help the country? Only with the power in our hands can we save the world and the people.
It's okay to be a scholar and a master of writing, but it's still far behind to be an official. Guoyong, I am the governor of this province, and I still make the decisions on everything. "
At this moment, a burst of laughter came from above everyone's heads. King Duan said: "Who?" There were several soft sounds.
As soon as the lights in the room dimmed, Xiao Yunfan spotted the two big men behind Luo Jiutian and reached out to pat open the acupuncture points on his body.
In the darkness, Ji Qianyun said in a deep voice: "Xiao Yunfan, you are indeed here." He took out the fire coins from his arms, took a breath, and pointed his fingers in three directions.
The lights in the room came on again, Xiao Yunfan and Luo Jiutian stood side by side, each holding a hand on King Duan's shoulder.
Li Yingxiang opened his posture and stood in front of Xu Tuesday, and the three of them looked at King Duan.
King Duan felt his limbs go numb. He forced himself to calm down and said, "Are you Xiao Yunfan?"
Xiao Yunfan reached out and gave him a sharp blow on the back of his head, and laughed loudly: "I'm not Xiao Yunfan, are you Xiao Yunfan? I have never seen such a stupid person."
King Duan became angry and said with a red face: "How dare you hit me. I think you are tired of living?"
Xiao Yunfan flicked the back of his head with two fingers and said slowly: "So what if I beat you, I'm not happy and I'll use your head as a chamber pot.
Don't say you are a prince, even if you are the Jade Emperor, now you are in my hands and manipulated like this. Why do you still show off your majesty? "
Prince Duan's face turned pale and he said angrily: "You... you two are so bold, you dare to hold me hostage, aren't you afraid that I will kill your nine clans?
As long as I give the order, the armored guards outside will chop you into pieces. "
Xiao Yunfan said to Luo Jiutian Nunu: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, brother, look at how cute Duan Wang is.
I can arrogantly enter his Prince Shu's palace, but his idiot guards have long been defeated by me. Even now he is still like a goose. "
Luo Jiutian smiled and said, "Okay, you kid is always a talker. When you didn't show up, as a brother, I was sweating. I thought you had also fallen into Mr. Trick's trap."
At this moment, King Duan was in a state of confusion and shouted loudly: "You...you are talking nonsense. How can you defeat the three thousand soldiers in this palace by yourself?"
Xiao Yunfan patted him on the shoulder and slowly imitated his tone: "You... you are wrong. All three thousand guards under your command were transferred to other places for patrol by Mr. Ji. There are only a few guards under the Wangyue Tower. .”
King Duan turned his gaze to Ji Qianyun and said, "Mr. Ji, please save me quickly."
Ji Qianyun looked at his palm and said coldly: "Why should I save you?" King Duan's face darkened and he said: "Are you on the same side as him?"
Ji Qianyun put his hands behind his back and said, "I worked hard to set up this trap, and all the big fish tonight were finally hooked."
Prince Duan looked at Xu Yuantai again and said: "Governor Xu, if you save me tonight, just pretend that I didn't tell you about the tax and silver."
After thinking about it, Xu Yuantai hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, these two are very skilled in martial arts, I'm afraid I can't do anything about them."
Xiao Yunfan patted the King of Shu on the shoulder and said slowly: "You'd better save your energy." As he said that, he stared at Ji Qianyun and said: "Your Majesty, you can create such a big formation just to lure me out. It's too much." Mr. Xiao lost face."
Ji Qianyun said: "You don't need to put gold on your face. As the saying goes: a mouse droppings spoils a pot of soup.
You are such a piece of shit, I will send you on your way today. "
Xiao Yunfan said calmly: "Now that the prince is in my hands, if you want to do anything random, be careful."
Ji Qianyun looked up to the sky and laughed: "Hahaha, do you really think you can threaten me with such an idiot?"
Xiao Yunfan was shocked and thought to himself: "Could it be that he wants to defraud me?" Then he thought something was wrong, so he said to Prince Duan: "Foolish Prince, did you hear that?"
Prince Duan was taken aback and said, "Mr. Ji, I am so trusting of you that you want to betray me?"
At this moment, the sound of fireworks bursting outside the window. Ji Qianyun snorted coldly and said: "Hmph, you are worthy of being my master. Xiao Yunfan, you can't fly tonight."
As he spoke, he took a few steps back, reached out and twisted a candlestick in the room. The ceiling opened, and a huge iron cage fell from the roof, trapping everyone in it.
Ji Qianyun looked at Xiao Yunfan stroking his beard and smiled and said: "Xiao Yunfan, everyone in the world says that you are extremely witty. But you are not going to die in my hands.
All princes, governors, envoys, and generals will be wiped out tonight. "
Xiao Yunfan immediately came to his senses and said: "The counter-book case was your own fault, and your intention was to use the counter-book case to involve everyone in it.
In this way, everyone's control will fall into your hands. This royal birthday banquet is your real goal.
If I guess correctly, you are the leader of the Forty-eight Villages in the Southwest, and your real purpose is to raise troops to rebel. "
When everyone heard this, their hearts trembled. They never expected that this ordinary Confucian scholar was actually the leader of the Forty-eight Villages.
Ji Qianyun clapped his hands and smiled: "Wonderful, you are not too stupid after all.
Although you have seen through all this, it is a pity that it is too late. I was looking for someone to bury gunpowder in the walls of this building a few months ago. There were fireworks just now, and you couldn't call for help. There was only death.
If you die tonight, Sichuan will be in chaos. When Sichuan is in chaos and has no leader, it is the best time for us to raise our troops. "As he spoke, he took out a bamboo tube, opened the fuse, and threw it on the ground. Pungent yellow smoke immediately floated out of the bamboo tube.
Following him, he jumped out of the window, put his toes on the tiles, and disappeared into the night.
