Most of the properties of the White Lotus Sect are brothels.
First of all, brothels are a hugely profitable business, and everything you do requires money.
Secondly, there are many high-ranking officials and dignitaries who come in and out of Fireworks Willow Alley. Mixing with these people can not only make friends with court officials, but also inquire about information, which can be said to serve multiple purposes.
Li Chun Yuan is the branch of the White Lotus Sect in Huai'an Prefecture, and it has always been in charge of Yang Xiong.
He originally thought that it would be easy for hundreds of thousands of people to get together and want to do something.
Unexpectedly, a month has passed and there has not been any minor friction, let alone rebellion.
In front of him, more than a dozen people were kneeling, their heads lowered and not daring to speak.
"What do you do for the Holy Cult to support you? How can such a trivial matter not be done yet?"
The leader, named Zhang San, said with a helpless look: "Guardian Yang, please calm down. My subordinates are spreading rumors every day and looking for opportunities to incite the people to cause trouble, but, but..."
"But what?"
Yang Xiong became even more angry after hearing his sophistry.
"I don't believe it. Will those ignorant people see through your scheme? Or are all the officials innocent, not deducting food and salary, and not oppressing the people?"
"Returning to the Protector, according to the investigation by my subordinates, I learned that some officials are indeed unclean. The strange thing is... the rumors spread by my subordinates are trying their best, but the common people ignore them. They talk about the Cuju competition every day after dinner. My subordinates
I really...can't figure it out..."
"What...game?"
Yang Xiong looked confused. Why are there still competitions if we are not building river embankments?
"After that Yu Qian came, he issued an edict to hold a Cuju competition every ten days, and also set up a silver reward. The first place was worth two hundred taels of silver. Now, in addition to working, the people study Cuju every day.
During the competition, my subordinates tried every means, but these people remained indifferent..."
Zhang San is also helpless. He still can't figure out why...
After hearing this, Yang Xiong was stunned for a long time and then asked: "I don't believe it anymore. Are those common people unable to play Cuju?"
Although Cuju is an entertainment game, it is only popular in the upper class. Ordinary people don’t have enough to eat every day, so how can they have time to play football?
"You are right, there are not many people who know how to play Cuju, but there are many who like to watch the fun. Most of them can't play, but they like to watch. By the way, some people have set up a private court, and one copper coin is a gambling ticket.
, you can earn some money if you win, and you can enjoy it if you lose, it’s very lively!”
Yang Xiong was silent for a moment. After a while, he said: "No matter what, I can't wait any longer. Go down and find someone to make a stone man!"
"Stone man..."
Zhang San was a little confused, but he immediately reacted and said excitedly: "Is it engraved with one eye of the stone man to stir up rebellion in the Yellow River?"
"You don't have to be so deliberate, just make it an eye!"
"This plan by Protector Yang is very clever, my subordinates will prepare it now!"
"In the past few days, I found a few people who had some conflicts with the officials responsible for river management. Three days later, the stone man was dug out!"
"Yes!"
Yang Xiong said with a gloomy face: "If it doesn't work out this time, just jump into the river yourself!"
Everyone looked at me and I looked at you. They were all so silent that they didn’t even dare to express their anger.
…………
Along the Qinhuai River, the wind blows on the willow banks, which is cool and pleasant.
Zhu Qizhen poured and drank by himself, which was very comfortable.
In front of him, the thin woman was babbling and singing a ditty for a while, playing a pipa for a while, almost using all her strength.
What puzzled her was that this young man was generous and chartered the flower boat for a month, but he did nothing every day except drink and listen to music.
In just three days, she had already sung all the songs she knew, and there was really no new program.
In desperation, I had to sing what I had sung before again.
But the other party didn't show any displeasure at all. It seemed that they didn't care at all about what he did.
At this time, Zhu Qizhen picked up the wine pot, only to find that it was empty.
The woman hurriedly said: "Sir, please wait a moment, the boatman has already gone to buy wine."
Zhu Qizhen raised his head and said, "It's okay. I see you've been singing for a long time. Let's have something to eat!"
The woman smiled and said: "My family has already eaten."
"You just ate half of the pancake, aren't you hungry?"
The woman shook her head and said: "My family has had a small appetite since childhood and cannot eat much."
Zhu Qizhen sighed, this is not a small appetite, he is clearly hungry.
At this time, Fan Zhong came to the inner cabin and said: "Master, Mr. Yuan is here!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded and said: "Let us come in, that... girl, could you please sit outside for a while while I talk to my friends about something."
"The servant is waiting outside. If necessary, you can give me orders at any time."
The woman stood up and gave a blessing salute, then walked out of the cabin with green lotus steps, and gave another salute to Yuan Bin.
Yuan Bin was a little confused. When he learned that the emperor did not enter the city, but hid in the flower boat, he was very puzzled.
However, all men can understand...
It's just that the emperor went out to stay in prostitution. If word spread, it might damage his reputation. This matter should be kept secret and the news must not leak out.
He walked into the cabin and was about to salute when he saw Zhu Qizhen wave his hand and wink at Fan Zhong.
Fan Zhong understood, went out of the cabin, and stood guard at the cabin door.
Zhu Qizhen gestured at him, meaning that walls have ears, and then asked in a low voice: "How is the situation now?"
Yuan Bin also lowered his voice and replied: "The White Lotus Sect could no longer sit still. They failed to incite the people to rebel. They made a one-eyed stone man overnight and buried it on the embankment. Seemingly, they were preparing to repeat the same trick."
Zhu Qizhen couldn't help but be startled, a stone man with one eye, White Lotus Church is playing with it!
The overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty was based on the one-eyed stone man who built the Yellow River.
This also shows that these people are really at their wits end.
"How did Yu Qian do it?"
Yuan Bin smiled mysteriously and said: "Master Yu sent people to quietly dig out the stone man and threw it into the river!"
"Haha!"
Zhu Qizhen couldn't help laughing. Yu Qian's approach was straightforward. The props he had carefully prepared were thrown away. What would he use for acting?
"By the way, do you have any clues about Shi Heng?"
"Yes!"
Yuan Bin took out a letter from his body and handed it over.
After Zhu Qizhen opened it, he looked at it carefully under the oil lamp, and then lit it and burned it.
"Are the three thousand battalions here?"
"I have received news from Duke Rui that the three thousand battalions have been assembled and can take action at any time."
"Very good!" Zhu Qizhen nodded and asked, "Tell me, how are you going to fight this battle?"
Yuan Bin thought for a while and said: "According to Shi Heng's information, the Japanese pirates have gathered more than 20,000 people. The White Lotus Sect has been lurking in Nanjing City for a long time. The specific number is unknown. It is estimated that there are thousands of people. About a thousand people have entered the city.
Others also gathered on the outskirts of Nanjing, waiting for an opportunity. What's more, they even dragged some officials into trouble. Most of the people on the list I showed the emperor last time were suspects."
"These people must have been well prepared. According to my speculation, by the time the Japanese pirates landed, Nanjing's city defense guards should have mixed with their people, and then they would open the city gate from the inside and let the Japanese pirates into the city.
”
"We simply resorted to a trick and let Shi Heng's vanguard troops enter the city, and then the main force of the Japanese pirates behind them will land. The three thousand battalions will guard the seaside. When all the Japanese pirates come ashore, we will launch a surprise attack from the rear and cut off their retreat!"
At this time, Zhu Qizhen asked: "Have you discussed it with Li Zhen? If three thousand people fight against twenty thousand, can the three thousand battalion be confident?"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I have seen the Type 15 rifles equipped by the Three Thousand Battalion. Duke Rui said, let alone 20,000, it is one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand. As long as there is enough ammunition, it will not be a problem!"
Zhu Qizhen smiled knowingly and said: "Look at what he can do. If Wang Gongchang develops the Sixteenth Form, he won't go to heaven?"
"What are the sixteen postures...?"
Zhu Qizhen just said casually that according to current technology, the Type 15 was already the limit. The Type 16 design he left to Li Shulin used smokeless gunpowder and copper-cased bullets, and was a rear-loading percussion rifle.
A truly modern rifle, but whether it can be successfully developed depends on luck.
"Let's not talk about this yet!"
Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and continued: "Just hand over the Japanese pirates to the Three Thousand Battalion. What about the White Lotus Sect in the city?"
Yuan Bin replied: "I have sent people to secretly monitor all the suspected officials in the city. They will only wait for the gunfire outside to control them immediately. In this way, the White Lotus Sect will not be able to get support from the Japanese pirates outside the city."
, and without the support of city officials, they became a lone army. All they had to do was blockade the whole city, close the doors and beat the dogs, and it was only a matter of time before they were completely wiped out."
Zhu Qizhen went over Yuan Bin's ideas in detail and felt very satisfied.
The Japanese pirates and Bai Lian have always been a serious nuisance to the imperial court. If they can be completely eliminated in one fell swoop, it will not be in vain for me to come all the way and hide in this small boat drinking all day long.
However, he vaguely felt that he was missing something.
Ever since he came out of the capital, he had a feeling that the Japanese pirates and Bai Lian suddenly colluded together. It seemed...that someone had deliberately arranged it...
Although there is no evidence, this feeling has always existed.
It's like there is an invisible hand hiding in the dark planning this conspiracy.
Before this, although the Japanese pirates often landed on shore to harass the people along the coast, they did so in small-scale operations and would never gather in such large numbers because they knew their own strength, strengths and weaknesses, and would never compete with the imperial court.
Soldiers and horses confront each other head-on.
The White Lotus Sect has been operating secretly. Their daily job is to use deception to lure ignorant people into deceiving them in order to collect money. If they encountered officers and soldiers, they would have disappeared long ago.
But this time, the two forces suddenly formed an alliance and planned to attack Nanjing as soon as they took action, which was beyond everyone's expectations.
If I hadn’t gotten clues from Song Guxi...
Wait a minute!
Suddenly an idea flashed in Zhu Qizhen's mind, Song Guxi?
No, no...
All this seems reasonable, but it doesn't make sense.
Why did the White Lotus Sect want to assassinate themselves? Aren't they afraid of making things worse?
Killing the king in broad daylight will inevitably cause an uproar, and the consequence will be that the entire White Lotus Sect will be put into a passive position.
To say the least, even if he is really shot to death by someone else, whether it is the succession of King Yin or the succession of the crown prince, it will not be beneficial to the White Lotus Sect.
It stands to reason that they should carry out trouble quietly, without the court being prepared, so that they have a greater chance of success.
The more Zhu Qizhen thought about it, the more troubled he became, so he simply stopped thinking about it. Anyway, if the soldiers came to block it, the water came and the soil covered it, it would be over!
…………
Huai'an Prefecture, Yellow River Embankment.
Zhang San mingled among the crowd, with an imperceptible smile on his face.
The one eye of the Mo Dao Stone Man stirred up rebellion in the Yellow River world.
Today, the history of the fall of the Yuan Dynasty is about to repeat itself!
Zhang San stared closely at the place where the stone figures were buried in advance, watching the people over there talking about yesterday's game and digging down bit by bit.
Bang!
I heard someone's head being knocked open, as if they had dug something hard under the soil.
At the same time, a stone emerged from the soil.
At this moment, Zhang San felt that his heart was in his throat, and finally...
Snap!
He was staring intently at the dirt in front of him when someone slapped him on the back of the head.
"If you don't work, what will you do?"
Zhang San was a little confused. He turned around and saw that it was the foreman standing behind him.
He was about to agree, when he suddenly thought that the stone men had come out, and he just took this opportunity to do something.
"Damn it, it's such a hot day, why don't you let me take a break?"
Now, the worker is confused. It’s autumn and it’s almost winter, but you still find it too hot?
"What are you looking at? I'm done with it!"
Zhang San threw down the shovel in his hand and started shouting.
When the foreman saw him making trouble, he was not polite and whipped him directly.
"I'll fight with you!"
Zhang San felt that the movement was not big enough, so he rushed towards the foreman.
When everyone saw someone making trouble here, they gathered around to watch.
Zhang San stood up to resist, but was knocked to the ground again by the foreman.
At this time, more and more people gathered around, and the supervisors from a distance were also attracted.
Now!
Zhang San rushed to the place where the stone man was buried and shouted: "Look, everyone, what is this?"
Everyone was stunned, and the foreman stopped the whip in his hand. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the stone held in Zhang San's hand.
"You...what are you going to do? Put down the stone!"
The foreman took a step back unconsciously and raised the whip in his hand.
Zhang San looked at the stone in his hand and suddenly fell into deep thought.
This is a very beautiful stone, very round and smooth. It seems to have experienced tens of thousands of years of erosion, a bit like the ball in the Cuju competition yesterday!
That's right, this is not a Cyclops, just a relatively round pebble.
Zhang San reacted, threw away the stone, squatted down, and dug hard with his hands.
Seeing his crazy look, the foreman did not dare to come forward and said from a distance: "I advise you not to make unnecessary resistance and just go back to work with me!"
Zhang San was almost crazy and murmured: "Where is the stone man? Where is the stone man?"
The foreman looked confused, looked at the whip in his hand, and thought to himself, could it be that he hit the person too hard and beat the person stupid?