I have 800,000 private soldiers. The emperor forces me to hand over military power?

"Report--"

"Report to the deputy commander, the spy from the Zhongshan Palace has reported!"

In Guangling County, in a three-courtyard house that is not very conspicuous, Lu Jiang, the loyal and brave Marquis who was promoted by Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian to the deputy commander of Longcheng Inner Guard, suddenly received a report from his subordinate, the captain of Longcheng Inner Guard;

The captain said: "The steward of the Zhongshan Palace, after disguising himself, secretly contacted the major grain merchants in Guangling County and raised the price to purchase grain;"

"In addition, the grain merchants were asked to rush to various places in Jiangnan to spread the news that someone in Guangling County was buying grain at a high price!"

Hmm?

Hearing this, Lu Jiang, the loyal and brave Marquis, raised his eyebrows and immediately realized that this Zhongshan King Su Muchen was planning to use this to hoard grain and disrupt the grain price market of the Tang Dynasty!

Hum!

Lu Jiang snorted coldly and said unhappily: "Your Majesty is right. The King of Zhongshan is indeed secretly in contact with the rebels of Goguryeo;"

"In my opinion, his move is not only to disrupt the grain price market of our dynasty, but also to secretly send the purchased grain to the Goguryeo Peninsula to support the rebels in the name of overseas trade;"

"This Su Muchen, as a vassal king of the previous dynasty, is not grateful for the emperor's grace, but he is also a traitor. It's simply shameful!"

The loyal and brave Marquis Lu Jiang pointed out the trick of King Zhongshan Su Muchen.

The captain of the Dragon City Internal Guard immediately asked: "Mr. Deputy Envoy, then, then should we go to the Zhongshan King's Palace to arrest him now?"

"Anyway, the evidence is now conclusive. If we arrest the owners of the grain stores and the housekeeper of the palace for trial, it will be clear that Zhongshan King Su Muchen secretly assisted the enemy!"

"No--"

Lu Jiang decisively rejected the proposal of his captain and said: "We can't act rashly now. Don't alert the enemy. We have to wait until Su Muchen loads all the grain on the truck or ship before we attack. Only then can we catch him red-handed and make him unable to defend himself!"

After speaking, Lu Jiang waved his hand and ordered: "You continue to monitor. No one is allowed to act rashly without the order of this envoy. Go!"

"Yes, Mr. Deputy Envoy!"

Three days passed.

The steward of the Zhongshan Palace had already prepared the 200,000 shi of grain purchased from the major grain merchants in Guangling County and the grain merchants in the surrounding cities. The grain transporting caravans gathered outside Guangling County, and Zhongshan King Su Muchen went to take over in person.

"Your Highness, the 200,000 shi of grain is all here, please take a look!"

A middle-aged man wearing a Hangzhou-woven long gown, with a group of grain merchants dressed in the same way, bowed to Zhongshan King Su Muchen, pointed to the endless carriage convoy on the official road outside the city and said: "Your Highness, should the grain be shipped and loaded now?"

"No hurry, wait a little longer!"

The romantic Su Muchen was dressed in a white dress, shaking a folding fan in his hand in the cold weather, and he looked very romantic.

A pair of icy eyes were still spinning around, as if waiting for someone.

"Don't move, don't move at all!"

At this moment, a loud shout rang out, and then a large number of Dragon City Internal Guards wearing flying fish uniforms suddenly rushed out from the mountains and forests on both sides of the official road.

"Dragon City Internal Guards are investigating cases, and outsiders are not allowed to move recklessly!"

Then, the newly appointed Deputy Commander of Dragon City Internal Guards, the Tang Dynasty Loyal and Brave Marquis Lu Jiang, rode a tall and long-legged white horse and looked at Zhongshan King Su Muchen and his party with cold eyes.

Lu Jiang looked down at Zhongshan King Su Muchen, and said with a fake smile: "My lord, long time no see, how are you!"

Hmph!

Su Muchen snorted coldly and said unhappily: "Thanks to you, Marquis Zhongyong, I am so happy!"

"Why, Marquis Zhongyong led a large group of people to surround my caravan this time, what is the purpose?"

"Or does Marquis Zhongyong want to learn from the fierce bandits who have become bandits and robbed people on the road, and want me to pay him some money to let my caravan pass on the official road of the Tang Dynasty?"

Haha!

Lu Jiang still had that fake smile on his face, and said: "Your Majesty, please don't accuse me. I received a tip-off that someone was trying to raise the price of grain and support the rebels, so I brought people here to investigate;"

"But I never thought that I would meet your Majesty!"

As he spoke, Lu Jiang asked word by word: "I would like to ask your Majesty, do you know the person who bought grain at a high price in Guangling County and surrounding areas?"

"Loyal and Brave Marquis, we are all smart people, so don't beat around the bush!"

Su Muchen said straight to the point: "The person who bought grain in Guangling County and surrounding areas was me;"

"But--"

As he spoke, Su Muchen changed the subject and sneered: "This The king bought grain at a high price, but he was not the one who raised the grain price and secretly aided the enemy as the loyal and brave marquis said; "

"This king has survived until now thanks to the emperor's grace. I heard that the king of Jin had rebelled. As a minister of the Tang Dynasty and a former criminal who had received the grace of the current emperor, I also wanted to contribute to the court's suppression of the rebellion; "

"The 200,000 stones of grain here are donated to the court by the king in the name of the Zhongshan Palace to suppress the rebellion!"

"What, the loyal and brave marquis also has an objection to this?"

"The Minister of Revenue, Lord Jiang, has arrived--"

Just when Su Muchen and Lu Jiang were on the verge of a fight, a loud announcement suddenly came from the official road outside the city of Guangling County. It was the Minister of Revenue, Jiang Xiao, of the Tang Dynasty, who had arrived!

When Jiang Xiao, who was sitting in an eight-lift sedan chair, lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, he was shocked by the scene in front of him.

He looked at the loyal and brave Marquis Lu Jiang who was riding on horseback, and then looked at the fearless King of Zhongshan Su Muchen who was standing surrounded by people, and then looked at the endless grain transport convoy on the official road;

He slapped his head and immediately realized what was going on.

Hahaha!

The Minister of Revenue Jiang Xiao laughed and walked down from the eight-lift sedan chair.

As he walked, he said: "Oh, Prince, Marquis, this is really a flood that has washed away the Dragon King Temple. Look at my memory. It's all my fault. I didn't inform the prince and the marquis in advance;"

Jiang Xiao came to the two of them with a smile and explained: "Marquis, this batch of grain, if I remember correctly, should be 200,000 stones. This is the military grain that the King of Zhongshan specially donated to the court for suppressing the rebellion;"

As he said, he turned his head and said to Su Muchen: "Prince, recently since the news of the rebellion of the King of Jin was announced to the world, more and more people have come out from all over the country Many profiteers who drive up prices and hoard food supplies;"

"As the deputy commander of the Dragon City Internal Guard, it is also the responsibility of the Marquis to crack down on profiteers and investigate and punish collaborators and aid the enemy;"

Finally, Jiang Xiao looked at the two and said, "I think it should be that the Marquis was investigating the profiteers who drove up prices, and accidentally found the prince who raised military rations for the court as a profiteer;"

"It's really a flood that flushed the Dragon King Temple!"

Jiang Xiao smiled again, and the two people who were originally on edge also eased their faces under his words.

Zhongyong Marquis Lu Jiang's face turned black with anger, and he waved his hand and said, "In that case, let's retreat!"

After that, he left with hundreds of Dragon City Internal Guards without looking back.

As soon as Lu Jiang left, the King of Zhongshan hurriedly said, "Lord Jiang, all the 200,000 shi of grain is here. I will give it to you. I hope you can convey my respect to the emperor."

"I have something else to do here, so I'll take my leave first!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Su Muchen didn't care about Jiang Xiao who was standing there in a daze. He turned around and got into his 16-car sedan and left in a hurry, as if there was something really urgent.

In the end, only the Minister of Revenue Jiang Xiao was left standing there in a daze, confused.

That night.

Guangling County, in the office of the Dragon City Inner Guard.

The face of the loyal and brave Marquis Lu Jiang no longer had the cold expression when he was defeated outside the city during the day. Instead, he was confident and excited.

As expected, in the second half of the night, a thousand households under his command came to report.

"Reporting to the deputy envoy, King Su Muchen of Zhongshan left the palace under the cover of night!"

"Oh?"

Lu Jiang raised his eyebrows and said to himself: "Humph, Su Muchen, Su Muchen, you want to hide this little trick from me? You thought you were pretending to be a traitor;"

"Little did you know that it was actually a case of the mantis behind the oriole catching the cicada!"

"The old ones are still the best!"

After saying that, Lu Jiang waved his hand and said sternly: "Pass the order down, all the inner guards of Longcheng will assemble and set off immediately!"

"I have received the order!"