Chapter 1502 The Sudden Change in Suzhou——The Decision of the Li Family
"What's going on? Who's rebelling?" Hearing the words of his entourage and the sound of firearms coming from outside, Xiao Zhuo took a few steps forward and asked his entourage to stand up before asking.
He was very calm, without any trace of panic.
"Sir, it's the Dan family who's rebelling!" The entourage immediately said: "The Dan family turned out to be the White Lotus Cult. This time they were found out by the local Jinyi Guard commander and the royal guards. After His Highness King An learned about it, he contacted the Jinyi Guard Qianhu, Suzhou
After discussion, the prefect and others decided to inspect Dan's house tomorrow."
"But this matter was somehow known to the Dan family. The Dan family then rebelled and wanted to capture His Royal Highness An Wang, Suzhou magistrate, Jin Yiwei Qianhu and others alive. Later, they tried every means to defraud the Donghai Navy stationed in Liujiagang.
The squadron fled to the area in Jiangbei where the White Lotus Sect was rampant."
"After the prince learned about this, he quickly sent people to inform all the yamen in the city, and then sent people to tell you, the prince. After hearing what the people sent by the prince said, the young man immediately ran in and told the prince."
"Sir," Li Taiyuan's own servants also came to their senses at this time. They didn't care whether they were rude or not, and shouted loudly: "Sir, there is chaos on the streets now. People are shouting 'Mingzun comes to the world' everywhere.
Or the 'Unborn Mother', the sound of muskets rang out from the police station's yamen, and I don't know what's going on now. Master, our family needs to make a decision early."
"Brother Guan Gao, what do you think we should do?" Li Taiyuan asked Xiao Zhuodao in a panic. Although he is the head of the family and his family has run overseas business, he has always been based in Suzhou, and even other cities in the Ming Dynasty have
He had never been there a few times, let alone experienced the chaos, so when he heard about the Dan family's rebellion, he panicked and didn't know what to do. Xiao Zhuo, who happened to be next to him, had been a pirate overseas in his early years, and had been a knifeman.
On the day of licking blood, I hurriedly asked.
"Immediately order all the doors of the mansion to be closed. No matter who calls, the doors will not be opened. Prepare a few more ladders and place them on the walls of the courtyard. Watch from a distance to see if anyone is coming to attack your mansion; all the doors in the mansion will not be opened.
All the young and strong men gathered together, some were assigned to guard the four walls, and some were left in the middle to come to the rescue if someone came."
"Take out all the big pots in the mansion and boil water. If someone wants to attack the mansion, pour hot water down from the wall... Don't worry about anything now. The most important thing is to defend the mansion." Xiao Zhuo
Finally said.
"Quick, follow Master Xiao's instructions." Li Taiyuan hurriedly ordered the servants, and immediately took out the things he had on him as tokens and handed them to several servants, adding: "You take the tokens. Also, if anyone doesn't
Listen to my words and take them down on the spot, don't worry about anything, even if the second master doesn't listen, take him down."
"Yes, sir." Several servants agreed and went separately to pass on the orders.
Li Taiyuan ordered a few more things, and after telling himself and Xiao Zhuo everything they could think of, he accidentally fell down on the chair. He struggled for a while and couldn't stand up, so he didn't get up at all and wiped himself with his sleeve.
With sweat on his forehead, he muttered: "Tathagata Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Sanqing, Jade Emperor, Mazu, you must protect my Li family from this crisis. If my family survives this crisis, I will
Go to the temples and Taoist temples outside the city to fulfill your vows, and buy 10,000 yuan worth of incense and candles to offer to you."
He muttered this several times, and then said to Xiao Zhuo: "Brother Guan Gao, it's a good thing that you are in my house now, otherwise we really don't know what to do. If the thieves really come to attack my house in a while, we will still have to rely on Guan Gao."
Brother, take command. Don’t worry, my family will definitely listen to the orders you give. If anyone dares to disobey, I will definitely punish them."
Xiao Zhuo shook his head and said: "No need to thank you. Our two families have been friends for two or three generations. How can I not help if something like this happens? But I won't stay in Brother An Xuan's house. There should be no such thing now.
If someone comes to attack your mansion, please ask Brother An Xuan to find an unobtrusive corner gate and let me and my followers out."
"What are you doing out at this time?" Li Taiyuan asked very surprised: "There is a lot of panic outside now. If you walk around outside, your life will be in danger. Why go out? You should stay in my mansion and wait for the panic to pass before going out.
."
"My little brother must return to the palace immediately!" Xiao Zhuo said in a very firm tone.
"Well, what are you doing back to the palace? You are not an official of Prince An?" Li Taiyuan asked again.
Xiao Zhuo did not answer, just shook his head. Although he was not an official of Zhu Ying, King of An, he returned to the capital with Zhu Ying. If Zhu Ying really made a mistake, he was not at the place where Zhu Ying stayed at the time, and he would definitely be arrested.
His Majesty expressed his anger. After analyzing his Majesty's thoughts for so many years, he had roughly guessed some of your Majesty's thoughts. He probably understood that Yun wanted to "rule the world with the nobles", just like the Han Dynasty and the hereditary nobles who had been granted the title of ruling the world together. Their Xiao family
Whether he can be counted as a 'noble' or not is a very difficult thing to say. If his family is excluded from the nobility because of this, he will regret it. Therefore, even if he has to risk his life, he will rush back.
'I am over fifty this year. As the saying goes, you know your destiny at fifty. When I was young, I fought with others at sea. Some injuries were not completely cured at the time, leaving behind root causes. Over the years, they have become more and more severe. I can still have a few more years.
A good life? It doesn't matter even if he dies. It would be better if he dies. Considering that he has lost his life, His Majesty may still give preferential treatment to my Xiao family, at least to Xiao Yong.' He thought.
Li Taiyuan tried to persuade him a few more times, but when he saw that Xiao Zhuo insisted on going back, he could only say: "Brother Guan Gao, I will personally escort you out of the house." He then ordered his servants: "Give Mr. Xiao the short bow and waist knife that we have hidden at home.
"The attendants." Crossbows, armors, and firearms are weapons that the imperial court strictly prohibits private possession by private citizens. Although the Li family always secretly hides a few crossbows in caravans traveling outside, this is Suzhou City. Since their family has never thought of rebellion, they
They will not keep prohibited weapons secretly in the city, but can only give Xiao Zhuo bows, swords and guns.
"Thank you, Brother An Xuan." Xiao Zhuo saluted him.
"Hey," Li Taiyuan didn't know what to say, so he could only sigh and bow in return.
Xiao Zhuo held his hand again and said a few parting words. Li Taiyuan was about to answer when he suddenly heard a woman's voice in his ear: "Dad, our family can't let Uncle Xiao leave like this!"
"Niece-in-law, I must rush back to the prince." Xiao Zhuo said to Li Yonglin who had just spoken. He was not dissatisfied with Li Yonglin's sudden interruption, and was dissatisfied with her calling him 'Uncle Xiao' instead of calling him 'Uncle Xiao'.
He was not angry when he was called by his identity, and explained: "No matter what, I can't wait for things to calm down in the Li family."
"Hey." Li Taiyuan sighed again and looked at his daughter. His meaning was very clear. It's not that I want to drive Xiao Zhuo out, but that he insisted on leaving. I can't order someone to tie him up and prevent him from letting go.
Let's go. Besides, although Xiao Zhuo is over fifty, his body is still very strong. Three or five ordinary strong men are still no match for him.
"Uncle, that's not what my daughter-in-law means." At this time, Li Yonglin also realized that the title she just called was not appropriate, and hurriedly said: "My wife's meaning is that I can't let you go back with only a few followers, uncle." She turned her head to look.
To his father: "Dad, our family should send someone back with Uncle Xiao to protect His Highness Prince An!"
"This, this, this," Li Taiyuan was stunned by her words. He didn't know what to say for a moment. He didn't say "this" for a long time. However, Xiao Zhuo was stunned for a moment and then realized what Li Yonglin meant.
, shook his head and said: "The Li family is no better than me. I came back from Nanyang with Prince An. Even if Prince An had an accident, the Li family is not at fault, and your Majesty will not pursue the Li family. You don't have to persuade your father to do this.
.”
"Uncle, you can find wealth in danger!" Li Yonglin was speaking to Xiao Zhuo on the surface, but actually she was talking to her father. "Uncle, you also know that the Li family is now the largest merchant in Suzhou, and no one dares to provoke it.
The only thing is the past friendship between my daughter-in-law and Her Royal Highness Princess Huainan. But this friendship is nothing; as for the jewelry, if Her Royal Highness Princess Huainan spreads the word, I don’t know how many merchants are willing to buy jewelry for the princess, let alone nothing."
"So if the Li family wants to maintain its existence, it must do something, either to care more closely with Her Royal Highness the Princess, or to share the worries of the imperial court and make contributions. And sending someone to protect His Royal Highness Prince An is to share the worries of the imperial court and make contributions.
Credit. Based on this, the daughter-in-law's father can at least get a hereditary minor title (titles other than princes, princes, uncles, sons), and become a small aristocratic family. Only then can the status of the Li family be consolidated. This is an opportunity to make contributions to the court's worries.
It doesn't happen often, so the Li family must send someone to protect His Highness."
"Moreover, even if the Li family is not involved in this matter, if the Dan family becomes successful, how can the Li family be spared? My father once humiliated the Dan family like that, and the Dan family has also offended the Li family. Even if Dan Mo has no time to care, the rest of the Dan family
They will also come to deal with the Li family, and the Li family still cannot escape disaster."
"So, the Li family should send people to follow you, uncle, to protect Prince An." Li Yonglin finally said. After finishing speaking, she glanced at her father.
"Uncle, please help with some persuasion." Xiao Tong also approached Xiao Zhuo and said softly. He fully supported Li Yonglin's suggestion.
"Brother An Xuan," Xiao Zhuo thought for a while, and just as he was about to say something, Li Taiyuan said: "Brother Guan Gao, you don't have to say anything, I already know what to do!"
He immediately shouted: "Let Xingxiao come over!"
Not long after, his eldest son Li Xingxiao came over and took a look at Xiao Zhuo, Xiao Tong, Li Yonglin and others in the room. Seeing their different expressions, he couldn't help but feel a little strange.
"Exerting filial piety, how many young people are there in our family now?" Li Taiyuan asked.
"Dad, including all members of our family, there are a total of 739 people in the house at this time." Li Xingxiao replied.
"Divide two hundred people from them and follow your Uncle Xiao to protect His Highness Prince An!" Li Taiyuan said.
"Dad, this is it!" Li Xingxiao looked at his father in disbelief. More than seven hundred people were not considered too many, but two hundred people were actually assigned to protect others?
Li Taiyuan explained the reason for doing this as quickly as possible, and then ordered: "Xing Xiao, you personally take these two hundred people and follow your Uncle Xiao to protect His Highness Prince An, and bring all our weapons.
I also took off the door panels of the inner courtyard and carried them as shields. Then put on the helmet." Whether helmets are actually allowed to be owned by the public is a matter of opinion, but at this time Li Taiyuan didn't care about that much.
"Yes, dad, my son understands." After hearing the explanation, he understood why he did this and hurriedly agreed.
"Be careful when you go here." Li Taiyuan gave a few more instructions and finally said to his son.
"Dad, my son will definitely be careful." Li Xingxiao agreed and turned to leave. Li Yonglin walked up to him again and said: "Brother, you must be careful. The Dan family committed the crime of annihilating the nine tribes. In order to seek death,
I will definitely do my best. The most important thing is to save His Highness’s life. There is such a big commotion in the city, and His Highness will definitely send people outside the city to ask for help. As long as we hold on for a while, we can wait for reinforcements to arrive. So there is no need to fight head-on with the Dan family.
"
"Brother knows." Li Xingxiao smiled and said: "Don't worry, as a brother, your life is very precious and you won't throw it away easily. However, after the Dan family's rebellion is extinguished, the nine clans will definitely be exterminated.
, although you were avenged for being humiliated by the Dan family, it was not avenged by our family. This time, my brother will kill more people from the Dan family to avenge you. If Dan Mo or his son is also attacking.
Among the people in the palace, my brother will definitely kill them and take revenge for you." After saying this, Li Xingxiao turned and left the room.
"Brother, my sister doesn't need you to avenge her, as long as you come back safely!" Li Yonglin shouted. I don't know if Li Xingxiao heard it.
"Niece-in-law, don't worry, my uncle will definitely bring Xingxiao back safely." Xiao Zhuo said a few words and walked out of the house with his entourage.
