For seven consecutive days, from the morning bell to the evening drum, a large number of fast horses galloped in Mingtai County, Xizhou Prefecture, and the Imperial City of Hejing. The Jianwu Gate in the southeast was wide open for this purpose.
Since Li Ji came to Hejing, he has never been so active and sleepy as now. He has been in Yanguang Hall and never stepped out except for morning court.
Another team of fast horses arrived, and this time there were seven people dismounting.
Five of them brought weapons and handed over all their weapons. After a search, they entered the imperial city.
The one on duty tonight is Chiang's newly appointed eunuch last year.
Chiang Kai-shek led them into Yanguang Hall, where there were also the Ninth Prince Li Shou and the Minister of Rites Di Zian.
Several people entered the inner hall. The first two people, Li Shou, did not know their names, but they were strangers. They knew they were the leaders of Tianrong Guards. The five people behind them were completely unfamiliar faces.
It wasn't until they knelt down and announced their names that Li Shou raised his thick eyebrows and focused his eyes on the strongest of the five people behind him.
Di Zian was also sizing him up.
Hong Yuanjie is a warrior who has suddenly risen in recent years.
He should be Yun Bozhong's subordinate. In the Gengyin year, he was the one who fought back Tian Dayao's Ji Di.
In the battle of Pingyu County, he killed 300 people with one man and one horse, and was once said to have unparalleled power.
Emperor Xuan Yan's eyes brightened: "Although I have lived in the palace for a long time, I have heard about General Silver Dragon Qilian for a long time. I never expected that you, General Hong, are so young."
"The last general cannot bear the word 'dragon', but your majesty is the real dragon!" Hong Yuanjie said loudly.
Emperor Xuanyan was overjoyed.
Li Shou and Di Zian looked at each other, then looked at the others.
Hong Yuanjie is famous, and he should be as famous as Lu Meihui.
And Bi Ying came from Bi Jiajun and was Bi Xiao's cousin.
If we add Bao Suwei and the always unruly Li Xiao, Emperor Xuan Yan would have so many current generals under his command.
This should be a good thing, but Li Shou just came back from Huazhou and after a battle with Cao Yijun's attacking camp, his morale has not improved yet.
He looked at Hong Yuanjie and suddenly felt scared, not from Li Ju, but from himself.
He couldn't even get excited about the addition of such a general, and he couldn't feel inspired anymore.
Although Hong Yuanjie came late at night, the news spread like wildfire the next day.
The tea house and restaurant that got the news the quickest had a lot of articles related to General Silver Dragon's Seven Links the next evening.
Hong Yuanjie's famous battles were only a few in total, but the storytellers could boast a hundred thousand flowers in various ways.
Word spread throughout the alleys, and of course the nobles and celebrities knew about it earlier.
Mu Tingyu had just returned from Guihe and was ready to sleep well for a few days, when the housekeeper came to report that Lu Mingfeng was here.
Mu Tingyu was in dire straits and did not want to pay attention to it, so he asked the housekeeper to report his illness.
Previously, he was asked to take money and grain to buy Li Xiao to send troops.
He did as he was told, and what else could he do?
Moreover, he did as he was told, and Li Xiao arrived in time. As a result, Li's cavalry fought with others and both sides suffered losses.
He can't be blamed for this.
Unexpectedly, the butler came back not long after he left.
The door was opened directly and footsteps came in. Mu Tingyu became irritable and sat up from the bed. He saw Lu Mingfeng and Tianrong Guard Chief Jia Fei stopping five steps inside his door.
Mu Tingyu was startled, then became angry and shouted in a deep voice: "Commander Lu."
"Young Master Mu, you sleep well." Lu Mingfeng said calmly.
"Now that you know that this prince is the prince, Commander Lu should at least knock on the door!"
Lu Mingfeng raised his hand gently, and Jia Fei immediately went to bring the stool.
Lu Mingfeng sat down in Mu Tingyu's bedroom and looked at Mu Tingyu: "Since the eighth day of the first lunar month, Mrs. Hu from the Zhenguo General Mansion has been sitting in front of your gate."
Mu Tingyu swallowed the anger in his chest: "Commander Lu, most of my family's wealth has been lost, so I asked Li Xiao to send troops. But if I go too late, then..." Mu Tingyu stopped, glad that he did not continue, and continued
He said, "What else does Commander Lu want from me? Our Mu family is almost ruined now."
"Mingtai County." Lu Mingfeng got straight to the point.
"I heard about it on the way here," Mu Tingyu raised his eyebrows, "Meng Xiaochuan has gone, and Qian Ri'an is still there. The Bi family army is always ready to listen to orders, and a large number of Xuanwu army troops are there. Commander Lu came to tell me
What do these three words do?”
"In troubled times, meng Xiaochuan is a man of honor. He prides himself on being a benevolent and righteous man, but he can't lose his face. Qian Ri'an is a good-for-nothing and a vengeful loser. What's the use of the Bi family army? The Xuanwu army has a good sword, but the best weapons are there.
What can a mediocre person like Meng Xiaochuan do in his hands?"
Mu Tingyu's eyes deepened. He didn't expect that Lu Mingfeng could completely summarize these people in just a few words. What's more important, he told himself without hesitation.
Lu Mingfeng regards him as one of his own?
Mu Tingyu didn’t believe it.
"You have to go to this matter," Lu Mingfeng said calmly, "Mingtai County is not peaceful every day, and the emperor rarely has peace. Meng Xiaochuan went there with the imperial edict, but it was in vain."
Mu Tingyu said nothing.
Because of Princess Yangping's outrageous actions, the people of Mingtai County did not rebel, so they should be lucky.
The emperor punished Princess Yangping severely. It is said that she has been locked in the palace since she came back. Princess Yangping cursed loudly every day and was almost going crazy.
But when he turned to Mingtai County, the emperor's approach was not to appease, but to suppress him even more furiously.
The imperial edict brought by Meng Xiaochuan contained a decree that almost drove everyone crazy. The entire county was taxed heavily.
The people throughout Mingtai County are full of complaints, but what they have heard in the past few days is that several wealthy businessmen from outside are purchasing large amounts of farmers' fields and properties.
The officials turned to deal with these wealthy merchants, but after they bought the fields and industries, they immediately took over the tea, sugar, silk, etc. that had been produced, and secretly transported out of Xizhou and Li Qian.
The fields and workshops that couldn't be moved were left there, ignored, just like... buying and playing.
So now, very few people in the entire Mingtai County are still engaged in farming and production. Now it seems that Mingtai County has collapsed, and tax revenue is even non-existent.
This is because I am determined to confront and confront the emperor.
"Actually, there are no so-called wealthy businessmen," Lu Mingfeng said quietly, "it is all Mingtai County's own chamber of commerce that is doing this."
Mu Tingyu was puzzled: "Commander Lu, are you saying that these chambers of commerce will pay large sums of money to support farmers in Mingtai County?"
"I confirm that it is them, but there is no direct evidence. They seem to have changed."
"changed?"
"Exceptionally slippery."
Mu Tingyu still couldn't understand: "But it won't last long. They still have to work. If they don't work, won't they starve to death?"
"They don't farm or raise silkworms, but they secretly do handicrafts." Lu Mingfeng actually couldn't understand where those handicrafts came from. "And, you were right just now. If this continues, they will still be hungry."
Even if they die, they themselves will not know it. Right now, they are fighting the court to see who gives in first."
"And your Majesty, he will never give in." Mu Tingyu said thoughtfully.
