Chapter 38 Misfortunes continue, one after another
An hour later.
"Your Majesty."
The man in black came in a hurry, with a solemn look on his face. He saluted, but he hesitated a little and did not dare to speak directly.
King Chen closed his eyes slightly, took a deep breath, and then asked: "How is the situation?"
The man responded in a low voice: "Thirty-five plumbers and craftsmen, and fifty soldiers were all killed. No one was spared. The other party did not leave any traces."
King Chen clenched his fists and looked over, his expression gloomy and uncertain.
The man's tone was lower and he said bitterly: "All the records that have been surveyed in the past few days have been taken away."
King Chen remained silent.
The Dongsheng Dynasty had a vast territory and rich resources, and it was a peaceful and prosperous time. For many years, the court was stable and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.
Under such a peaceful situation, capable people emerge in large numbers in all walks of life.
It was a pity that the thirty-five plumbers and craftsmen under his name died, but if we recruit more people, we can easily gather another group of capable people.
However, these survey records were also taken away.
In other words, his efforts these days have been wasted.
To him, eighty-five lives are not important.
The important thing is that even if another group of people are invited, the survey will have to be done again, which will waste precious time.
"Have you found out who it is?"
"No clues."
"Those thirty-five plumbers and craftsmen are rough people at first, not weak scholars. However, even if we don't mention them, these fifty elite soldiers alone are by no means weak." King Chen said with a solemn expression: "
To be able to annihilate these fifty elite soldiers, the opponent must have used a lot of manpower, and the fact that they were able to clean up so cleanly proves that they did not suffer many casualties. Presumably, most of these people are experts."
"The prince is in the court, with a big tree attracting the wind, and many enemies, both covertly and covertly." The man whispered: "Could it be that one of them used the elite to annihilate our manpower to delay us? After all, this is the emperor's order.
If there is any delay, the prince will inevitably be blamed by the emperor..."
"It's not like the old ghosts in the court." King Chen said: "These old ghosts stir up trouble in the court, using various laws and regulations within the Dongsheng Dynasty, and setting up conspiracies and tricks.
When necessary, we will never use military force to intercept and kill these eighty-five people... The so-called "seeking the enemy in vain" is the end of the road and is the worst policy."
"This..." The man vaguely understood something.
"These eighty-five people are all members of the government. They take action without permission. Once caught by this king, they will not be able to escape." King Chen paused and said: "The most important thing is that they have no reason to take such risks.
Big risk, just for these 85 lives."
"What the prince means is..."
"At this moment, if we kill these eighty-five people, if they are found out, their homes will be confiscated and their families will be exterminated. For me, this matter will only delay me for a few days. How much benefit will it bring to them?
"
"If it's not the old ghost in the court, who is he?"
"I also find it strange."
The atmosphere in the pavilion was solemn.
Whether it was King Chen or the man in black, their first thought was that they were the officials in the court who also controlled power and were opposed to King Chen.
They thought of many people, including local officials from the Sixteenth Prefecture of Huai'an.
The only thing I never thought about was Zhuang Ming, a little person like an ant.
Even though this young man is extremely wealthy, in terms of background, he is just a businessman and a mere commoner.
The so-called people do not fight against the officials!
The gap between the two is really huge, almost like a cloud of mud.
He is the prince of the current dynasty, he is as high as a god.
As for Zhuang Ming, he is just a common man like an ant.
Many people behind the scenes appeared in King Chen's mind, but Zhuang Ming's first thought was not there.
Zhuang Ming has no courage, no selfishness, and no status.
The previous crackdown on private salt was not because Zhuang Ming was bold, but because Zhuang Ming may not have known that behind him was a king with a different surname. Moreover, Zhuang Ming relied on the power of the government to get rid of his private salt business.
What's more, although Zhuang's Trading Company has strong financial resources and has recruited several martial arts masters, they are ordinary people after all and cannot support private soldiers. How can they have the strength to ambush eighty-five people?
What's more, in everyone's mind, they can't help but think, how can a common man who is doing business have the courage to ambush someone from the government?
——
Half an hour later.
A white dove flew from the sky.
The man in black took it off, his face changed slightly, and he whispered: "Your Majesty..."
King Chen said in a deep voice: "What's wrong?"
The man in black said solemnly: "The three hundred war horses during the escort died suddenly on the way."
King Chen suddenly turned around and looked at him fiercely.
The man in black whispered: "There are more than a hundred elite soldiers escorting the war horses. There are no casualties and there are no foreign enemies. It seems that they suddenly fell ill... However, judging from the current situation, they are probably poisoned."
King Chen took a deep breath and said: "Eighty-five human lives were lost, various records of waterway surveying were lost, and three hundred war horses died suddenly?"
He looked ugly and said in a cold voice: "Either this king is really having a bad time, or... someone has taken action against me."
He dared to openly ambush the government officials and secretly poisoned three hundred war horses.
This was a blatant provocation to him.
The other party is definitely not a human being.
And to be able to do this, after all, the power is huge and there are many elites under his command.
In the court, who is crazy and dares to be so heartless? Could it be that he wants to completely rip off his face and fight to the death with himself?
"Report!"
At this moment, someone else stumbled and hurriedly came to report.
King Chen's heart sank.
Having learned from the past, he did not think that this urgent report would be good news.
"Why are you panicking?" The man in black wanted to hide away, but when he heard that the voice belonged to the prince's entourage, he breathed a sigh of relief and shouted: "Come in and talk."
"Your Majesty..."
The servant ran in in a panic and shouted: "Just now news came that the ore shipped to Huai'an was robbed. None of the thirty elites who escorted the ore survived..."
After he finished speaking, he suddenly found that the atmosphere was extremely quiet.
Both the prince and the man in black were silent, but their expressions were extremely ugly.
This man had been following King Chen for five years. His heart skipped a beat and his face turned extremely pale.
At this moment, the prince seems to be very angry, and now he has added another irritating thing. With the prince's temperament, he is extremely angry, and he may be so angry that he will draw his sword and kill himself to vent his anger.
"This king knows."
King Chen's voice was unexpectedly calm.
It's just calm and a little tired.
The servant didn't know why he was like this, but he felt like he was going to survive a disaster, so he hurriedly bowed and left in embarrassment.
The man in black's face changed slightly, and he said cautiously: "Your Majesty..."
King Chen reached into his arms, threw something out, and said: "Before leaving, the emperor gave me a military talisman that can mobilize the Zhennan Army. With this military talisman, the fifty thousand Zhennan Army in Huai'an can be mobilized."
When the man in black saw this, he was slightly shocked and said: "This..."
King Chen said: "The other party is so arrogant and arrogant. I am afraid that he will not give up and avoid the next change. Therefore, the Zhennan Army will be dispatched to protect all the people on this trip."
The man in black said seriously: "I'll do it now."
King Chen said: "The Zhennan Army has been transferred. No matter how many people there are under the opponent's command, no matter how powerful the masters are, it will be difficult for them to destroy it. However, I will never give up on this matter. I must investigate it carefully. I want to take a look.
Who is this bastard who doesn't follow court rules and dares to be so unscrupulous?"
Before he finished speaking, he saw a white dove falling from the sky.
King Chen's voice suddenly stopped.
He looked at the white dove in front of him and couldn't bring himself to pick it up.
"Come and see."
King Chen's tone was slightly lower, as if he was very tired.
The man in black sighed, then stepped forward, took the letter from the pigeon's feet, glanced at it, and paused suddenly.
After a while, the man in black looked up at King Chen, but stopped talking.
King Chen forced himself to calm down and finally asked: "What happened again?"
The man in black smiled bitterly and said: "A fire suddenly broke out over the weapons shop. It is said that there was a mistake during the smelting, and many things were ignited. The fire spread, and the weapons shop that was just created has become a ruin...
"
King Chen suddenly punched the stone table in the pavilion and shouted angrily.
"Mistake? What a mistake!"
"Things happen one after another within one day. Do you really think it's a coincidence?"
"Even if the year goes by unfavorably for me, I can't possibly lose all the important things I have to do in one day, right?"
"Check it out for me! We must find out which bastard is behind it, who is so determined to use such a barbaric method to stop me from doing anything?"
"If he is found out, no matter who he is, I will definitely report it to the emperor and punish his nine clans!"
He roared angrily for a while, but still couldn't get angry. He stretched out his hand and swept all the tea utensils on the stone table in the pavilion to the ground, smashing them to pieces.
The man in black was trembling with fear. He had followed King Chen for many years and had seen King Chen lose his temper. However, in recent years, King Chen had become more serious and steady, and rarely lost his temper like this in recent years.
"Your Majesty..."
There was another sound coming from outside.
Whether it was King Chen or the man in black, they couldn't help but mention it again in their hearts.
King Chen gritted his teeth and said: "What's going on? I came here under orders. Three of the four major events were implemented and all were destroyed. But one of the new policies has not been implemented yet. How can the other party sabotage it?"
The man in black wanted to dismiss the man outside the courtyard, but the voice he heard was not one of King Chen's confidants who came with him, but one of Mr. Zhao from Fengcheng. He fell silent immediately and hid behind the rockery without showing up.
King Chen calmed down a little and then said: "Come in."
The man outside the door hurried in, and it turned out to be the same servant again.
But after what happened before, he seemed a little timid at the moment, and he was even more frightened to see the fragments of the tea set all over the floor.
The officer felt a lot of uneasiness at the moment. He was in awe before, but now he is mostly afraid.
"What's wrong?" King Chen asked calmly, "It was about the ambush and killing of eighty-five of my people earlier. Have you found any clues?"
"Report to the prince." The officer responded hurriedly: "There are no other clues at the scene, but in another area, some burned paper ashes were found, and there was something in the paper ashes."
"What thing?" King Chen felt even more uncomfortable when he heard the word "paper ashes". These are most likely the records of the thirty-five craftsmen surveying the waterway.
"This thing is very strange, but..." The guard was very hesitant.
"But what about it?"
"However, Zhuang's Trading Company came to report this morning. A few days ago, a cart of their goods was robbed by a group of thieves in Huaibei. The tokens left behind at that time are quite similar to the tokens in the ashes." The guard was careful.
road.
"What did you say?"
King Chen suddenly stood up and shouted: "Zhuang's Trading Company?"