At dawn the next day, Yang Gao, escorted by Yuwen Chengdu and Shen Guang, escorted Dou Xianniang, the female prisoner, back to Jiangdu in a grand manner.
Because the Central Plains had just been conquered, there was a shortage of talents within the imperial court. Therefore, most of the officials in many counties and counties were appointed after Li Mi occupied the Central Plains. Their character and ability were blank in Yang Gao's eyes, so Yang Gao borrowed This is an opportunity to secretly examine the character of officials.
Along the way, many officials heard that the emperor was coming and tried their best to please Yang Gao, not to mention fine wine and food, and even offered maids to sleep with him.
Yang Gao watched these officials desperately putting on a show to express their loyalty, and he had already secretly evaluated them in his heart.
Of course, not all officials are such groveling and flattering villains. There are also many county magistrates and prefects who are concerned about the country and the people. Because the Central Plains has been in war for many years and the people have no income, they not only did not hold a banquet to welcome Yang Gao, but instead directly advised him He advised Yang Gao to enforce military discipline and not disturb the people.
Yang Gao wrote down the names of these officials one by one, planning to promote them to important positions after Jiangdu. As for those who offered flattery, of course they should be dismissed immediately after returning to Jiangdu, and smart and capable people should be selected to fill their vacancies.
After walking like this for more than ten days, Yang Gao entered Yingchuan County without knowing it.
Three thousand internal guards escorted Yang Gao as he walked on the official road of Yingchuan County. General Shen Guang, dressed in animal-faced wonton armor and holding a sky-breaking spear, led the way.
Suddenly, more than a dozen people poured out of the official road on one side, bowed to Yang Gao's head not far away, and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, the common people have great grievances that I want to report to Your Majesty!"
The loud crying shocked Yang Gao, who was resting in the car with his eyes closed. He immediately raised the curtain of the car and asked in a deep voice: "What's going on? Why is there someone blocking the road to complain?"
"Foolish King, you are ignorant and ignorant, and the people will naturally suffer unspeakably!"
Dou Xianniang, whose hands and feet were bound, sneered and said sarcastically.
After many days of getting along with each other, Dou Xianniang discovered that this little emperor was not as sinister and vicious as she imagined. The so-called pretending to be a camp prostitute was just to scare herself.
After confirming that she would not be used as a camp prostitute by Yang Gao, Dou Xianniang gradually began to become bolder, and she would cynicize Yang Gao from time to time.
Seeing the now fearless Dou Xian Niang, Yang Gao shook his head helplessly, turned to Fang Xuanling and said, "Xuanling, go up and have a look!"
"Wei Chen obeys the order!"
Fang Xuanling bowed his hands on his horse, then immediately moved his horse forward, walked to the front of the team, and asked in a deep voice: "If you have any grievances, you might as well tell me."
The leader, a middle-aged man, saw a hint of disappointment in his eyes when he saw Fang Xuanling coming forward. However, he still hurriedly rushed forward and said with sobs: "Sir, the common people want to sue Xiao Rui, the governor of Yingchuan County. Since he took office, he has imposed excessive taxes and extortion, and we, the people of Yingchuan County, have never had a good life."
Fang Xuanling glanced meaningfully at the middle-aged man kneeling in front of him, and said without changing his expression: "Just wait, I will report back to Your Majesty and give you justice."
After speaking, he winked at Shen Guang, hinting that he should be careful. Afterwards, he turned his horse back to Yang Gao's carriage, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, if my prediction is correct, these people may not be ordinary people blocking the road to complain, but assassins who have been waiting here for your Majesty for a long time."
"Assassin? Fang Xuanling, I thought you were a good official, but I didn't expect you were the same person. In order to protect your colleagues, you actually framed the common people who were blocking the road to complain about injustice as assassins!"
Before Yang Gao spoke, Dou Xianniang gritted her teeth and said coldly.
Yang Gao ignored Dou Xianniang. He could still trust Fang Xuanling's character, but there were some things that should be clarified. He immediately asked: "Xuanling, how did you determine that they were assassins?"
Fang Xuanling cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, Xiao Rui, the governor of Yingchuan County, is the eldest son of Prime Minister Xiao Yu. He has good conduct. I believe that he will never do anything to harm the village. What's more important is that although these people who block the road and complain about injustice are wearing It was shabby, but they were all burly, middle-aged men, and there were no old, weak, women or children. This was absolutely unreasonable. I also found that the hands of the strong man in the lead were covered with calluses, and he looked like he had practiced martial arts for many years, so He must be an assassin."
Yang Gao sneered when he heard this and said to Yuwen Chengdu: "Chengdu, just come with me to see this farce!"
Yu Wen Cheng agreed. He clenched the gold-plated phoenix wings in his hand and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. A few assassins and minor ministers haven't taken it seriously yet."
Yang Gao nodded with satisfaction, got off the horse and climbed onto his snow-hoofed black horse. He picked up his Fangtian painted halberd and rode forward.
When he was about twenty or thirty steps away from these assassins, Yang Gao slowly stopped and said with feigned indignation: "Is what you said true? Xiao Rui is really running rampant in Yingchuan County. , wantonly exploiting the people!"
The strong man at the head saw Yang Gao, who was dressed in dragon robes, riding his horse forward. He smiled sinisterly and said, "Of course it's a lie. Otherwise, would you, the little emperor, be willing to come out? Brothers, kill!"
After saying that, he took out his weapon from his waist and rushed towards Yang Gao. A dozen people behind him also showed their weapons and went to kill him.
At the same time, nearly a hundred masked assassins in black emerged from the dense forests on both sides, waving sharp swords to kill Yang Gao's internal guards.
"Every man is looking for death!"
Yu Wen Chengdu roared angrily, and in his hand, he used a gold-plated phoenix-winged hammer to crush the top of the mountain and hit the head of the strong middle-aged man leading him, causing blood to flow and his brains to burst out, killing him.
"There are assassins protecting His Majesty!"
Shen Guang, who had received a hint from Fang Xuanling, was well prepared. He swept the Heaven-breaking Spear in his hand and left a bright blood mark on the throats of the three assassins who rushed forward.
"Kill!"
The soldiers of the Internal Guard who had been prepared quickly formed a formation, fought side by side, and massacred the assassins in black who came out.
"Help! Yang Gao, come and save my aunt!"
Just as a group of internal guards were massacring the assassins in black, a discordant voice suddenly sounded. Yang Gao looked sideways and saw two assassins in black attacking Dou Xian Niang. Dou Xian Niang was unable to fight back because her hands were tied, so she could only dodge desperately.
"What an awesome woman. She dares to treat me like this even though she is a prisoner!"
Yang Gao shook his head helplessly, clamped his legs under the horse's belly, and the snow-hoofed black horse spread its hooves and rushed in front of Dou Xian Niang in the blink of an eye.
"You can hurt the first prisoner I captured with my own hands?"
Yang Gao roared angrily, and swept out thousands of troops with Fang Tian's painted halberd in his hand. There was a flash of blood, and the heads of the two black-clothed assassins flew out from their necks and rolled away a long way.
Seeing the two assassins killed, Dou Xianniang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I was really scared to death!"
Yang Gao smiled faintly and said rather teasingly: "I originally thought you were fearless, but I didn't expect that you only have this little courage. Just now you desperately shouted for me to save you, and I thought there was a second person in the army. Where’s the female general!”
