By early morning, only Wei Zhuang, Han Jun and Zhou Ziqing were left in the house.
The atmosphere is still heavy.
Although there is no concrete evidence in front of him to prove Wei Zhuang's conjecture, after logical consideration, it can be regarded as a certainty.
Deliberately causing floods and concealing the discovery of the coal mine, these two things together were enough to kill Su Mingchang and others hundreds of times.
"After discussing it for so long, what are you going to do?" Zhou Ziqing asked.
Wei Zhuang gently rubbed his temples, with a look of tiredness on his face, and said: "Since I came to Tianzhou Mansion, I have been trying to understand the people's sentiments here, and now I have a general understanding."
After hearing this, Zhou Ziqing turned his face to one side, his expression a little unnatural.
Wei Zhuang looked at her and said softly: "I know, you have prevented me from understanding the situation here from the beginning, probably because you are afraid that I will do something to the knights in the future."
Hearing this, Zhou Ziqing frowned, clenched his fists and said nothing.
However, Wei Zhuang smiled and added: "Of course, there is another possibility for you to do this, that is, you are worried about me and are afraid that I will be involved in the battle in Tianzhou Mansion and be in danger."
"Nonsense! I'm not worried about you!" Zhou Ziqing shot back unceremoniously.
Wei Zhuang shrugged, not surprised by Zhou Ziqing's reaction. From the bottom of his heart, he was certainly more willing to believe in the second possibility.
But what Zhou Ziqing was thinking...only she knew.
Wei Zhuang said this just to tease her and appreciate the blush on her face. However, he didn't notice that Zhou Ziqing's clenched fists suddenly relaxed.
Han Jun's eyelids twitched at the side and he closed his eyes knowingly, with an expression that it doesn't matter to me what happens to you.
"Okay, let's get back to the topic." Wei Zhuang's expression became serious. He stared at Zhou Ziqing and said in a serious tone: "After understanding the situation here, my conclusion is that the gangs in Tianzhou Mansion must be eliminated. Including your knight gang!"
After saying this, the scene was somewhat beyond Wei Zhuang's expectations. Zhou Ziqing did not fall out, but was very calm.
"Aren't you angry?" Wei Zhuang asked in shock.
"I just have one question." Zhou Ziqing asked, "When you say purge, do you mean to kill the people from the Knight Gang?"
Wei Zhuang shook his head, "The situation in Tianzhou Mansion is special. Some people are both civilians and bandits. We cannot simply kill people to clean them up. The most important thing is to appease them first and then settle the accounts. If the crime is minor, we will be treated leniently. If you have any If one's life is on the line, one must pay with blood."
"Okay." Zhou Ziqing agreed.
"Do you agree with what I'm doing?"
"Yes. I understand them. These people in the Xia Ke Gang have always robbed the rich and given to the poor. They have never done anything to kill people."
Speaking of this, the image of the people of Jing'an Prefecture supporting Wei Zhuang suddenly flashed in Zhou Ziqing's mind.
She suddenly exhaled softly and her voice became deeper, "If you really have the ability to make the people of Tianzhou Mansion live a peaceful and contented life, I would like to thank you."
Wei Zhuang was a little embarrassed when he heard this: "Ahem, this is what I should do."
"So, how do you plan to deal with the Tian Gang and mobilize the army?" Zhou Ziqing raised his head and asked.
Wei Zhuang was stunned for a moment by the sudden conversation. He came to his senses, pondered for a moment and said: "I also thought about mobilizing the army, but considering that the integration of the people and bandits in Tianzhou Mansion was too deep, doing so would easily hurt innocent people, so I gave up. This idea, but as our understanding deepens, this approach needs to be reconsidered.”
"Xiao Han, tomorrow you take my token and rush to the nearest city, and ask the city-defending general to inform Su Mingchang that the army will be training in the past few days and will be stationed in Tianzhou Mansion. Remember, you must abide by the rules after entering Tianzhou Mansion. We need to keep a low profile, this is a trump card we can only use as a last resort.”
"I humbly obey my orders, but... if I don't use the army, is there any other way?"
"Haha, next is my real plan." Wei Zhuang smiled and said, "I heard that in addition to the Tian Gang, Tianzhou Mansion also has an Earth Gang."
Zhou Ziqing frowned, "Indeed, their boss even invited me to join them."
"Oh?" Wei Zhuang asked in surprise, "How much do you know about the local gang?"
"The Di Gang was once the largest gang in Tianzhou Mansion. After the Tian Gang was born, it has been suppressed continuously. Now it has shrunk to the south of the city, accounting for only a quarter of the city."
"What's the strength of the underground gang members?"
"The eldest brother of the underground gang is called Pi Chengzheng. He is the only first-class master in the entire gang. There are no more than five second-class masters left, and I don't know who is third- or fourth-class."
"It's really unexpected." Wei Zhuang couldn't help but sigh, "It's such a pity that so many experts have gathered in the small Tianzhou Mansion. It would be great if all these people can be used by me."
"What are you asking about?" Zhou Ziqing asked.
Wei Zhuang smiled meaningfully, "I'm going to join the underground gang."
Zhou Ziqing's expression froze and he said nothing.
Han Jun was so anxious that he spoke like Lin Bao: "Your Majesty, this, this... this is not okay! You are the emperor, how can you join those lowly gangs!"
"Han Jun, what do you mean by this? What is a lowly gang?" Zhou Ziqing said in a bad tone.
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, Wei Zhuang quickly intervened and explained: "Of course I don't really want to join, I just want to use the power of the underground gang to fight against the heavenly gang."
"Kill someone with a borrowed knife?"
"That's right, not only do I want to join, but Han Jun will also join when he comes back, and you, my dear wife, will come too."
"Why did you pull me in?" Zhou Ziqing asked with a frown.
"Pi Zhichang and Han Jun can just deal with the eldest and third eldest members of the Tian Gang. The remaining two of us will work together to deal with Yan Li. In this way, the combat power will be basically equal."
At this point, Han Jun scratched his head and suddenly interjected: "Your Majesty, you are humble and stupid. In the final analysis, this method relies on struggle. What is the difference between this and military intervention?"
"Of course there is a difference." Wei Zhuang explained, "If the army directly intervenes, the gangs in the city will inevitably unite to fight together. Thousands of bandits will fight against thousands of troops. By then, the scale of the struggle will be no less than a small counterinsurgency war.”
"However, if we use the power of the local gangs, the scale of the struggle will be reduced to two gangs, and there are regulations among the Tianzhou Mansion gangs that any struggle cannot harm the lives of innocent people." Zhou Ziqing glanced at Han Jun with a slightly mocking look. At a glance, he added an important piece of information.
"I am the emperor's personal guard. It is normal not to understand this."
"Oh, the dignified bodyguard of the emperor is not going to join the underground gang and become someone's younger brother."
"You..." Han Jun wanted to fight back, but when he thought that the emperor seemed to care about her, he swallowed his words.
"Okay, okay." Wei Zhuang smoothed things over with a headache, "In the next few days, we are all comrades in the trenches, so we need to be more united."
"Let's all go back and rest. It will be dawn soon, and we will officially start taking action!"
