Li Mu still has some elements of a passionate young man in him.
It's just that his blood... is very limited.
For example, he is a member of the clan, a cousin of His Majesty the Emperor, and is qualified and indeed the "successor" to the throne. With such a sensitive status, he cannot do anything too outrageous.
Therefore, during his journey south, Li Mu strictly required himself to do things within the scope allowed by his clan status and never did anything out of the ordinary.
However, within this allowed range, he was able to smoothly fight against the Japanese on the coast, and charged forward very passionately, even taking the lead to confiscate the properties of those wealthy families who were involved in the Japanese.
Some even ransacked their homes and exterminated their families.
You must know that such a large local family has more or less civil servants behind it. After all, as long as it is a noble family, there is no one who does not have a master, and some even have a master.
These Jinshi masters' classmates, fellow villagers, and the same year may be very talkative in the court.
Of course, if they rely solely on friendship, any official in the court will try their best to draw a clear line when it comes to communicating with Japan. However, many of these big families have to "go to court" on time for local officials or capital officials.
"tribute".
This kind of interest bond is obviously deeper than the human bond.
Li Mu had robbed at least more than 20 large businesses along the way. It was impossible to measure how many civil servants had lost their money.
This is what offends people the most.
It was also for this reason that Prince Jin in Jiankang City was very opposed to Li Mu serving as an imperial envoy in the south, and wrote many times asking him to return to Jiankang.
However, His Highness the Crown Prince was still very enthusiastic and chose to return to Beijing only after finishing his affairs. Even during the Chinese New Year last year, he did not return to Jiankang. He only asked Shen Yi to bring a letter home.
After spending a morning with Shen Yi in Yueqing, in the afternoon, the voice took the nominal commander of the anti-Japanese army to the dock and visited the first large ship that had been launched.
After Li Mu saw the big ship, he was so excited that he almost danced. After getting on the warship, he refused to get off and slept on the ship all night. It was not until the next morning that he left the dock and asked Shen Yi
Say goodbye, pack your bags and go back to health.
Shen Yi escorted him ten miles out of Yueqing City. The two of them said goodbye reluctantly. Shen Yi cupped his hands at Li Mu and said, "Your Majesty, take care of yourself along the way."
Li Mu reached out and patted Shen Yi's shoulder, and said with emotion: "It doesn't matter whether I take care of myself or not, but Zi Heng, you must take care of yourself."
His Royal Highness the Prince smiled and said: "See you in Jiankang in the future. I'll treat Ziheng to have a good meal at Shibazilou."
The two separated on the official road.
After bidding farewell to Shen Yi, Li Mu returned to Jiankang without stopping.
Because he only had about a dozen or so guards from the royal palace around him at this time, and everyone was on horseback and traveling in light carriages, he was traveling very quickly. After traveling more than a thousand miles, the group only took five days to reach Jiankang.
city.
When they arrived in Jiankang, it was already evening. Li Mu did not rush to enter the palace. Instead, he went back to Prince Jin's Mansion to meet his parents. He had a good meal at home and had a good night's sleep.
Early in the morning, he put on a purple royal robe and entered the palace to meet the emperor.
After all, he was on an imperial mission. Since he had returned to the capital, he should go to the palace to meet the emperor anyway.
Li Mu's status was extremely high, so he naturally had no problem entering the palace. In fact, he entered the Manna Palace with almost no obstacles and met His Majesty the Emperor.
After meeting the emperor, Li Mu knelt down respectfully, kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, Li Mu, kowtow to your Majesty."
Because there was no court meeting today, His Majesty the Emperor was practicing calligraphy in the Manlu Hall. He seemed to be so absorbed in practicing calligraphy that he did not notice Li Mu coming in. It was not until Li Mu saluted that His Majesty the Emperor woke up from a dream. He left
He took off the brush in his hand, walked down the imperial steps himself, stretched out his hand to help Li Mu up, and sighed: "There are no outsiders here, what are you doing, Brother Wang?"
Li Mu smiled, lowered his head slightly and said, "The etiquette cannot be discarded."
His Majesty the Emperor shook his head slightly, then walked behind Li Mu, looked at Li Mu's back, and asked: "I heard that Brother Wang was injured by Japanese pirates in Taizhou Mansion. Where was the injury? Is it serious?"
"The injury is on the shoulder..."
Li Mu grimaced and sighed: "Your Majesty, I came back to Jiankang this time because of this incident. I was able to contribute to the country and your Majesty, but I should die with my heart and brains shattered. But I don't know these days."
Why, the injury that had healed well last year has recurred again, and sometimes the pain in my shoulder is unbearable."
"The slight pain I feel is naturally nothing."
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince bowed his head slightly and said in a deep voice: "It's just that the imperial court's great cause of suppressing Japanese invaders cannot stop. Therefore, I rushed back to Jiankang to apologize to Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to send a new imperial envoy south as soon as possible to continue the great cause of suppressing Japanese invaders!"
When the emperor heard this, he frowned subconsciously.
He looked at Li Mu and asked, "When did Brother Wang's injury recur?"
"It's been more than a month..."
Li Mu lowered his head and said: "Originally, I was planning to return to Beijing at the beginning of the year, but I still had some errands to deal with. A few days ago, I finally dealt with all the traitors who were colluding with the Japanese, and then I rushed back to Jiankang.
Return to Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, please grant me permission..."
His Majesty the Emperor looked at Li Mu and let out a long sigh: "Brother Wang, tell me the truth. Are you coming back to Beijing because you can no longer do the patrol work, or because you don't dare to do it anymore?"
His Majesty the Emperor is now nearly 20 years old, and his words and deeds are very different from those of the children before. He said with a serious face: "If it is the latter, then there is no need. Brother Wang should know that I am not jealous.
Xingzi, I can safely leave such an important job as Jian Kang Yin to Uncle Jin, so there is no need to say more about Brother Wang."
Li Mu quickly lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, I would never dare to deceive you..."
"My old injury has indeed relapsed. I can no longer shoulder the heavy responsibility. If I can still contribute to the country, I will die!"
"I will die in the south too!"
His Majesty the Emperor remained silent.
After a long time, he sighed slightly: "Brother Wang, how is the situation in the south? How is Shen Qi's errand going?"
"this…"
Li Mu lowered his head, hesitated for a while, and then stuttered a little: "Your Majesty, forgive me, sir... Along the way south, I have been searching for Japanese traitors. I don't know much about the anti-Japanese army, but the anti-Japanese army last year
There have been several great victories. Not long ago, I heard that a group of Japanese pirates were also wiped out on Wusha Island. It should be..."
"It should be done well."
"Um."
The emperor nodded: "I have also heard about the great victory on Wusha Island. It seems that Shen Qi, a civil servant, is quite good at leading the army."
After saying that, His Majesty the Emperor looked at Li Mu and asked with a smile: "Brother Wang is really unwell, so I can't force him to continue going south on errands. Brother Wang thinks who else in the court can take over your errand." ?”
Li Mu quickly shook his head.
"Your Majesty is so arbitrary that I dare not comment..."
The emperor smiled and said: "We are all members of the same family. Brother Wang, it doesn't matter what you say."
After Li Mu hesitated for a moment, he lowered his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I feel that the candidate for the new imperial envoy should be carefully considered..."
This sentence means that the new imperial envoy will not be sent south for the time being.
The emperor glanced at Li Mu with a smile and asked, "It seems that Brother Wang has a good relationship with Shen Qi?"
Li Mu quickly shook his head.
"Your Majesty, what I say is only for the sake of the country and not for personal gain."
