As for whether this county prince is really sick and can't afford to go to bed, or whether he doesn't want to come to greet him, he will know in a moment. It was only when Huang Qiong walked into the Duke's mansion that she realized that the Duke was really sick and could not even get out of bed. Seeing Huang Qiong walking into his bedroom, the county prince tried to get up with the help of his two concubines, but he failed after several struggles.
The prince's face was now severely swollen. Huang Qiong knew that this man must have a heart problem, and it was very serious. But Huang Qiong was a little curious about where his disease came from. I just heard that the prince said that the time when he fell ill was when the food relief was coming last year. Could it be that he had really guessed correctly that the current illness of Duke Fushi was caused by some heart disease?
Huang Qiong gently pushed him back to the bed, and he took a breath to calm down. He looked at Huang Qiong, who was sitting in front of him, and after a simple greeting, he fell silent. Duke Fushi, who had already guessed his purpose of coming, said with a straightforward smile and a bitter smile: "Your Highness, you must come to this Duke's Mansion to see me, a dying person, because of that. Ten thousand shi of food must come.”
After saying these words, he did not look at Huang Qiong's expression. Instead, he lay on his back on the bed and looked at the tent on the bed. He was silent for a long time before continuing: "King of England, you are now the Prince of Bingzheng in charge of the supervision of the country, and the dignified envoy of Shaanxi and Longyou. The emperor has awarded you the second rank. The following officials have the right to kill first and report later. This is what I did wrong. You can just handle it according to the laws of your ancestors."
"Giving white silk to those who deserve it, giving wine to those who deserve it, and banning it to those who deserve it. I will never have any complaints against the King of England. There is just one thing, and I would like to ask the King of England to make it clear. This matter is what I did. , It has nothing to do with others in the Duke’s Mansion. Please also ask Your Majesty the King to have mercy on the lives of the hundreds of people in this Duke’s Mansion, and not to implicate the innocent people in this mansion. It is a huge crime, and I can bear it with all my strength."
In response to the Duke's words, Huang Qiong did not answer him immediately, but stood up. In the Duke's bedroom, he paced back and forth for a long time before he said: "It's precisely because I don't believe it that I came to visit the old Duke today. If I believed what Magistrate Zhuo said, I would The king will not come to the house in person today. It is I, the king, who leads the 3,000 imperial guardsmen who are coming to the county palace."
"In my opinion, the old prince is not the kind of person who is so ignorant and greedy for money that he doesn't care about the life and death of the people and robs food at that critical moment. I don't know that the old prince did such a ridiculous thing. What is the reason, but I believe that the old county man must have taken great pains. I am here today to give the old county man a chance to defend himself, and also to give the county government a chance. "
After Huang Qiong finished speaking, the old prince lying on the hospital bed let out a long sigh: "The King of England thought wrong this time. There is no hidden secret in this matter. This is what I did. , I robbed those 10,000 shi of food. I just can’t stand those people trying to gain fame and reputation under the guise of loving the people. I did such a despicable thing because of my heat of the moment. "
Although this county official did not have any explanation. But when he said these words, his tone was full of helplessness and sadness, and even a hint of irritation or regret. Listening to the Duke's words, Huang Qiong's brows wrinkled slightly. The Duke's attitude and tone also told him clearly that it wasn't that he didn't want to explain, but that he couldn't or didn't dare to explain.
Listening to the extremely desolate tone of the county prince, Huang Qiong felt even more that this matter was indeed not what he had expected. After thinking for a moment about how to pry open the mouth of the county prince, Huang Qiong said: "Today we don't care about titles, we only talk about seniority and relatives. According to seniority, you are my uncle. You are slightly younger than Father, I will respectfully call you uncle."
"Uncle, my nephew can tell from your tone that you are full of grievances. As for why you don't want to, or say you don't want to say it, the reason is clear in my heart. But my nephew can talk to you today. You promise, as long as the Fushi County Duke's crime is not a major crime of treason, my nephew will not be held accountable. Even if my father does pursue him afterwards, my nephew will bear all the consequences."
"But uncle, my nephew needs you to tell the truth today, and more importantly, the cause and effect of this matter. Uncle, I don't want my own personal experience to happen again to my cousin or nephew. Once the cousin or nephew My son, because he is being coerced and does something irreversible, even if my nephew wants to take care of everything, there is nothing he can do. Uncle, I don’t want to ruin the lives of my descendants."
Huang Qiong's words seemed unintentional, but they were to the point, and they hit the heart of Duke Fushi. But after hearing what he said, the old prince fell silent. Thinking of his personal experiences in the past few years, and not wanting his own experiences to happen again to his children and grandchildren, he gritted his teeth and said, "Since the King of England is so straightforward, there is no point in hiding it."
"These things have been weighing on my mind for four years, and it's time to let them out. In fact, this matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface. The reason why I did this is to snatch food relief. I was forced to do so by that Zhuo Ruxiao. Moreover, I didn’t steal even a single grain of the 10,000 stones of relief food after snatching it back. Instead, I used all of it where they should be used.”
"Your Majesty, this matter is like a joke. In other places in the Qi Dynasty, because the clan holds some of the responsibilities of supervising all the officials in the fiefdom, the officials are actually afraid of the clan. In my fiefdom, it was originally the same It's the same. It's just that my family has been cautious since my grandfather was granted the title of King Guang during the reign of Emperor Sejong and came to Yan'an Mansion. He has always been cautious, and his upbringing has been strict.
"At that time, my grandfather, King Guang, had a different temperament from the other sons of Emperor Sejong. Because of the strict requirements of his mother and concubine, he developed the habit of studying. Therefore, since he became a vassal, my grandfather has always been strict with his family, and they must not bully men, dominate women, or abuse them. The people of the fiefdom are not allowed to insult the officials of the fiefdom. Since Prince Guang's Mansion became a vassal in Yan'an Prefecture, he has passed down his poems and books to his family, which is well-known in the court."
"Even the Prince of Huaiyang, who almost killed all the clan back then, had to admit it. The Prince of Huaiyang held great power at that time, and regarded the children of the Tian family as cattle and horses. He killed so many clan members, and had no influence on the lineage of King Guang. It was just a prison sentence. Although my grandfather died in depression in prison, most of the people in the Guang Palace still survived, and no one found an excuse to become a target because of the common people. "
"After regaining power today, I once intended to restore my father's title of Prince Guang. However, in other clans, even the restoration of the title is just a case of being demoted to the county king according to the usual practice. If the Prince of Guang's Mansion does not reduce the title, it will be restored directly. The title of King Guang is bound to arouse the jealousy of other clans. My father, who is well aware of the principle that a tree that is beautiful in the forest will be destroyed by the wind, has repeatedly declined the good intentions of the emperor. "
"I still insist on reducing the title to Fushi County Prince according to the ancestral family law. Anyway, the restoration of the title is just a false name. After joining the vassal, the prince only has Yongye land but no salary. The restored prince The title has no benefit at all, it is just to attract people's attention, so why should I bear that false name? Later, in order to make up for my father, I rewarded him with the iron mines in Yanchuan County."
"In addition, Yan'an Prefecture is rich in stone resin. In some places, if you dig down for more than ten feet on the ground, stone resin will flow upward from the ground. Even if you dig a few bamboo poles connected together, the stone resin will flow out along the bamboo poles. Not only can these petroleum resins be burned, but the ink produced is far more durable than pine ink, the ink color is also more glossy, and most importantly, the price is also quite cheap."
"Because the output of stone grease is large, although the process of making ink is a bit more complicated. But because of the large output, mining is much simpler, so the price is much lower. It is also more popular among literati. What's more, those stone grease It is also very useful on the battlefield. Using stone grease to set fire is much cheaper than sulfur and rapeseed oil, and the fire is more fierce and more difficult to put out."
"You must know that the fire ignited by stone fat cannot be extinguished with water except sand and soil. This kind of stone fat, which is called kerosene in the army, is in great demand by the border armies in the North. Therefore, the Ministry of War every year , they have to purchase a large amount from Fushi County Government. Even at the most, 80% of the stone fat mine here has to be handed over to the Ministry of War. With that stone fat mine, it is equivalent to a golden rice bowl. "
"The original Fushi County Prince, and the current Fushi County Government, relied on the 20,000 acres of land that Emperor Sejong gave back to me during the vassal period. There are also the iron ore and stone lipids in Yanchuan. Mines, as well as the coal mines developed by the county government, do not need to be plundered, and the annual income is enough to support a family of dozens of people. Among the clan, it can be regarded as better than the superiors and more than the inferiors. "
"You don't need to collect as much as other clans, but it is enough for the whole family to live happily. Therefore, since my father was restored to the title, he has never been harsh on the tenants in the mansion. The land rent of Fushi County Duke's mansion can only receive 50% at most. . In times of famine, he was often exempted from renting food. In addition, since my grandfather came to the vassal, he has always passed down poems and books to the family, so the reputation of Fushi County Government is not bad. "
"It's just that I never thought that when the Fushi County Mansion was passed to my hands, it would one day be destroyed by the iron ore and stone fat mines that had brought huge income to the government. I am more I never expected that this county government, which has always prided itself on passing down poetry and calligraphy, would actually have a scoundrel who only cares about money. He will do whatever it takes to get money, and he will even take risks."
Having said this, the old prince let out a long sigh: "I also know that the stone fat mine, which can be said to be making a fortune every day, has become a favorite in the eyes of many people. If it weren't for me or this clan, There is also the tablet of Duke Fushi on him. If some people were to throw a taboo at it, this mine would have been taken away by force. But even so, there was no way to escape in the end."
"Just five years ago, that was the second year after Zhuo Zhifu took office. The prefect, who had never had any contact with me, suddenly came to our door one day with his government servants. He said he was the second son of the old man who was in charge of business in the government. , privately sold kerosene to Beiliao, which has always been strictly prohibited from leaving the customs, and secretly transported ironware to Beiliao, which the court has always strictly investigated and dealt with, and even directly sold ordnance."
"How could I believe what he said? I consider myself to be quite strict in my upbringing. Even though there are a few mines in my house, I can still be considered a half-businessman. But after all, I am a member of the clan. What should I do and what should I not do? , we are all clear about it. Even if there are one or two scum in the house, we will definitely not dare to do such things as collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country. You must know that this is a serious crime of treason. "
"Even if I am a county prince, once I am confirmed, the best result is that the whole family is imprisoned. How can I do such a thing? But the evidence he produced makes me have no choice but to believe it. And When I brought the traitor back, I found out after interrogation that it was all true. This traitor was greedy for Bei Liao's huge sum of money and smuggled a large amount of stone fat to Bei Liao every year."
