"Sir, I was wronged!"
The soldiers and horses in Xiangzhou looked puzzled. Is it a crime to step with the left foot first?
Everyone is confused. Even if you are the governor of a state and can control the military and administration of a state, you can't act like this, right?
Cao Bin directly picked up a lacquered wooden box from beside him, threw it towards the forehead of Inspector Qiu, and cursed:
"I'm so sorry, what do you mean by giving me a tiger whip? I have kidney deficiency... am I a bribe-taker?"
"Come here, put him in a prison car, lock him in a wooden cage, and send him to the capital immediately, and hand him over to the imperial court for disposal!"
When everyone heard this, they suddenly sweated profusely. They quickly looked at the Palace Chief, and at the same time secretly estimated the value of their gifts.
Although Inspector Qiu was not directly killed, his encounter in Beijing was extremely brutal. After all, few people present could withstand the investigation.
They were not afraid that Qiu Dujian would expose King Xiangyang's affairs.
He didn't think about his family, but he also had to consider whether the court would believe him.
After all, he doesn't know much inside information...
Even so, the face of Prince Palace Chief Shi also darkened and he asked:
"Uncle Cao, isn't this inappropriate? You remove officials so easily, aren't you afraid of our impeachment?"
Cao Bin glanced at him sideways and said, "Who are you?"
The general magistrate of Xiangzhou quickly introduced: "Uncle, this is the chief historian of the Prince of Xiangyang..."
Cao Bin stopped him without politeness and said:
"No introduction is needed. How I serve as an official will be decided by the court. When will the Prince of Xiangyang be able to intervene in the local military affairs?"
Prince Palace Chief Shi was choked and his face turned red, and he said hurriedly:
"Uncle Cao, I'm just giving you a suggestion. Don't talk nonsense and frame my prince!"
The current situation is that neither party wants to expose the fact that King Xiangyang is rebellious.
The King of Xiangyang was not ready yet and had no plans to rebel in the near future. He did not want to attract the attention of the court.
The emperor didn't want to let King Xiangyang gain momentum at all. It was best to seize his handle and take it down quietly.
Cao Bin's words almost revealed the truth and made everyone present nervous.
I don't know if he did it accidentally or on purpose.
Upon seeing this, the general magistrate of Xiangzhou quickly smoothed things over and said:
"Uncle Cao, please calm down. Our affairs in Xiangzhou have always been handled by local officials, and no prince has ever interfered."
Then, he tried again:
"Uncle Cao, I heard that you were attacked by robbers on your way to Xiangyang? It's nothing serious, right?"
As soon as Cao Bin came up, he took away the soldiers and horses in Xiangyang, which made them suspect that Cao Bin did this intentionally to control the military power of Xiangyang City.
It's even possible that Cao Bin already knew about King Xiangyang's plan.
Although Cao Bin acted very arrogant and greedy, like a dude with a missing piece of his mind, he had to be cautious.
Upon hearing this, Cao Bin snorted and said:
"He's just a robber, what can he do to me?"
With that said, he directly ordered: "Bring the bandit leader in."
When Lan Xiao was escorted into the room, Palace Chief Shi suddenly became nervous and said:
"This is the bandit leader, why not just kill him?"
If Cao Bin already knew about King Xiangyang's plan, he would probably send Lan Xiao to the capital. Unlike Qiu Dujian, he knew many inside stories about King Xiangyang's palace.
Once Lan Xiao says something, King Xiangyang is likely to fall into a passive position, and may be forced to take action in advance.
When Lan Xiao heard this, he immediately started to struggle. His mouth was blocked by the rag and he was whimpering. His eyes were full of anger and he looked at the Palace Chief.
Seeing this, Cao Bin pretended to hesitate and said, "This person seems to know you?"
Everyone's hearts tightened and they were about to say something, but Cao Bin waved it off and said:
"He's just a little thief. Come on, push him out and behead him!"
After hearing this, Palace Chief Shi immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
From this point of view, Cao Bin knew limited information and did not look like he was specifically investigating the King of Xiangyang.
The previous behavior seemed to be deliberately looking for trouble.
Thinking of this, he suddenly realized that it seemed that the prince had some personal conflicts with Uncle Cao a long time ago...
After all this trouble, no one cares about Qiu Dujian anymore.
Seeing the relieved expression on the face of the palace chief, Cao Bin couldn't help but smile. It seemed that his performance was quite spot on.
It does not require that the King of Xiangyang can completely believe him, as long as he has doubts in his heart, he will have achieved his goal.
After all, rebellion is not a trivial matter. As long as he has doubts in his heart, it will be difficult to make a desperate move.
Moreover, Xiangzhou's Military and Horse Supervisor has been captured by himself, which is a gap period.
As long as most of the troops stationed in Xiangyang City are unable to be mobilized, he does not have to worry about his own safety. Eight hundred personal guards are enough to cope with it.
The general magistrate of Xiangzhou wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said:
"Uncle Cao, can we enter the city now?"
Cao Bin then showed a kind smile and said:
"Since you sincerely invite me, then please go ahead!"
Everyone secretly complained, who cares about you...
Entering Xiangyang City, Cao Bin did not attend the reception banquet, but hid directly in the Yamen and never came out again.
Early the next morning, he took a group of family members and personal guards and went straight to the city's military camp.
For Cao Bin, the sooner he takes control of the local armies, the safer he will be...
Xiangyang Palace.
Zhao Jue listened to the report from the general judge of Xiangzhou and asked solemnly:
"You said he went to the military camp?"
As he spoke, he slapped the table and said:
"As expected, yesterday he suddenly arrested the military commander, and I felt something was wrong."
"It seems that he is really here to target me. He wants to seize the military power of Xiangyang City."
Xiangzhou Tongpan explained:
"I'm afraid the prince has misunderstood. It's one of Uncle Zhongjing's concubines who wants to watch Cuju."
"So he took his family to the military camp and planned to let the soldiers have a competition."
As he spoke, he laughed and said, "Uncle Cao is a well-known dandy in Bianjing. He should not be able to lie."
King Xiangyang said with a look of loneliness and doubt:
"Let the soldiers play Cuju to make his concubine happy? Do you believe it?"
As he spoke, he shook his head and said, "I don't believe it anyway."
The general judge of Xiangzhou hesitated and said:
"But Uncle Zhongjing did go with his family. How can he organize an army like this?"
King Xiangyang struggled for a long time, looked at the counselor beside him and said:
"Mr. Shen, what do you think?"
Mr. Shen frowned and said thoughtfully:
"Judging from the events of the past two days, Uncle Zhongjing is often unexpected."
"It's best for Shen to meet him in person so that we can understand his thoughts."
King Xiangyang pondered for a moment, then stood up suddenly and said:
"In that case, I will go see him. I want to see what he is going to do?"
"If he really comes for me, I will take action immediately..."
