Emperor Que Shaohua

In the eighth month of the year, Qin Su sent a message from the northern border that food, grass, and military pay had arrived safely. He had seen King Yun and Xuanji Pavilion Master Su Yan, and Xuanshuang would join Hengdao in one place to help Yu and Zhou's army defend against the Northern Liao Dynasty.

In addition, Xu Dingzhen, who had already returned to King Yun's tent, was secretly guarded by Xuanshuang's dark guards on his return journey to report that along the way, there were a few spies pretending to be businessmen stalking along the same road, looking for opportunities to approach , showing great admiration for General Xu in fighting for the country.Xu Dingzhen and Wei Snake dealt with each other wonderfully. At the beginning, they were indifferent and arrogant, and then they were moved by the sex and money during the flattery of the other party. They gradually became warmer and their eyes grew brighter. When they arrived in Shao'an, they bid farewell temporarily, and the information they had prepared in advance was revealed seven Seven or eight.

King Jing's fingers lightly brushed the last two words: "An Hao", he read it again, then lit the thin silk script on the oil lamp, and watched it gradually turn into ashes.

He never doubted that Luo Wenxiao would choose to reveal the secrets of the Guiyan Peak Rift Valley to Beiliao. Han Guifei's mother and son were unscrupulous people.After a series of incidents that happened not long ago, the crown prince, who had suffered in the open and in the dark, would only plan more carefully to facilitate the defeat of King Yun and bring back the court.

While thinking about it, he turned his head and saw a large snow-white pompom on the cushion of the armchair beside him, and the little fox Zhenshi was lying there comfortably, looking at him with black glass-like eyes, as if thinking about it. Come here, afraid of offending the small flame on the oil lamp.

King Jing smiled and picked it up: "Ping Yuan went to Prince An's Mansion, and when he comes back, he will come to pick you up."

Luo Pingyuan is indeed in Luo Junping's mansion at this moment, if it was normal, he would have returned to the mansion already.

Seeing that he couldn't invite him in the next post recently, Wang An decided to come to the door to block people in person at the right time.There was no one in the Hubu lobby, so he drove straight in. When he arrived at King Ning's office, he leaned against the door with folded arms, and said with a smile: "Why, the fifth emperor has received the emperor's order, and he doesn't even recognize his elder brother. Difficult to ask."

Luo Pingyuan saw that he was still wearing a bright red brocade suit, standing leisurely, but the smile on his face did not reach his eyes, so he knew that the visitor was not kind.

He got up to pay respects, and said with a smile: "Brother Sanhuang, it's true that things are busy here. Besides, I'm renting at Brother Dahuang's place. I have invited Brother Sanhuang many times in vain, but I have nowhere to go. Please return, how dare I bother you again."

Luo Junping heard that his tone did not seem to be perfunctory, and there were indeed piles of paperwork and account books on the case, so his expression softened a lot, and he said with a smile: "It's just a brother's talk, and I can't make it if I'm poor. The second brother is the prince , Monarchs and ministers are different, you and I should walk around more and get closer."

After hearing this, King Ning agreed: "I still have some unfinished chores today, and I want to go back to the guard. Since Brother Sanhuang is here, I will naturally put aside other things and listen to the arrangements."

King An said: "That's right."

The two princes left the household department, got on their horses and rode away together.

Luo Junping's mount was about the same height as Wuyun Taxue, with a white body, except for a touch of black on the tips of his two ears.The two horses walked together, their coat color was just as they looked, it was quite interesting, Luo Pingyuan could appreciate it in his eyes.

When King An saw it, he said: "These two famous horses are about the same age and teeth, and they were both brought back from the Western Regions by the caravan. Does the fifth emperor like riding them?" He pointed casually to both sides of the street, "Look at Luo There are a lot of shops in the city, and the rare artifacts, precious medicinal materials, weaving blankets, frankincense, borneol, and amber on display are not these caravans going back and forth, and where did they come from. Now that you are a director of the household department, you will gradually see them all. "

Luo Pingyuan heard what he said meaningfully, and smiled and said: "I am not as comfortable and unrestrained as Brother Sanhuang. I don't care about practical affairs. I hear all the accounting figures every day, thinking that there will be no delay and no mistakes. , is already very satisfying.”

Luo Junping had been sulking for more than ten days since he learned that King Ning had led the order to check the household department, but now seeing that he was calm and composed, he had no choice but to suppress his temper.He discussed with the prince, no matter how he behaved to stay out of the matter, he had to find out what kind of attitude Luo Pingyuan had.

After walking for a while, he asked: "Five emperors have been checking for days, only to see that your people are busy running around, but I don't know how it is going?" He smiled and said: "Who doesn't care about such important matters, I I'm too lazy to go around in circles, I didn't see it mentioned in the mansion newspaper, and I didn't see you in the memorial book, if there is someone who can help you as a brother, just ask for people or things. If there is no discernment in the household department, I will teach you a lesson."

Luo Pingyuan said with a smile: "Thanks to the kindness of the third brother, all the ministers are doing things for the country, so they will violate the emperor's orders. Is it because I found out something to hide?" It’s just that there are so many things here, and they are all trivial things. You can’t bother the emperor one by one. Although the rare treasures are good, we should not take the merchants who come and go with them lightly. Recently, it was found out that several grain merchants in Zhangzhou were the traitors of the Northern Liao Dynasty, and Brother Sanhuang may not have known about it yet."

King Jing mentioned this to the emperor earlier, and Emperor Tianyi attached great importance to it. After a few days, he summoned Luo Yanhua again to ask about the inside story, and then handed it over to Jing Yuwei for investigation.The deputy commander, Shen Ling, had already been ordered by King Ning to take Guan Fang and a group of subordinates to secretly rush to Zhangzhou. According to the plan, he would capture and copy him tonight.

Luo Pingyuan and King An walked slowly, telling the situation slowly, and finally said: "Businessmen are prosperous, and it is a good thing to connect the north and the south. However, merchants are chasing profits, and sometimes it is inevitable that profits will make them lose their wits and do things that are in vain. History records Qiang Huluanhua, they have been outside the Great Wall for a long time, originally lacking food, rice, and ironware, but it is the merchants in our Central Plains who sold a large number of supplies to the Hulu for profit. The country is no different from treason. Now the two countries are fighting at an extraordinary time, so I have issued an order to temporarily detain the caravans going to the Western Regions in Beijing, and they must be checked carefully before they can be released. I know Brother Sanhuang I was in charge of business documents in the early years, and I have old relationships with many people, so I don’t think I will be blamed for this.”

Luo Junping didn't expect that King Ning would bring up such a big piece of truth, as if he had done poorly in the past, but it seemed that he didn't miss brotherhood in his words, so he couldn't refute it for a while.This time, Jing Yuwei served a secret order in order to prevent several grain merchants from escaping after hearing the news in advance, so it was indeed the first time he had heard of it. , occupy the position of the temple, do not think about the principles of time, seek selfishness with position and power, disregard the safety of people's livelihood, deeply owe the king's favor, I hate him, he will be removed from the official position, his family property will be confiscated into the official, eat fifty sticks, and die Equipped with two thousand miles.The following officials lock and take it together, and handle it accordingly.

Luo Junping has always attached great importance to making money. Emperor Tianyi used to reprimand him for being greedy for small profits and forgetting about big things. Seeing that Qian Chongyi was reprimanded heavily, he inevitably felt uncomfortable. Only now did he understand the key to it.He only thought that Jing Yuwei was responsible for finding out the traitors, and when he glanced at Luo Pingyuan, he felt a little more apprehensive.In the old days when Wu Tingzhou was still around, Jing Yuwei did not have such abilities. King Ning had only been in command for a few months, but he was so famous and made many achievements.

He was puzzled, but he still smiled casually and said, "Fifth Emperor Brother, you underestimated me. Don't say that those businessmen had their identities checked by the household department. It has nothing to do with me, even if it is my subordinate, it is related to the war between the two countries, of course it needs to be thoroughly investigated. If you let me say, you have done well, you must investigate him to the bottom. There is no need to explain anything to the third brother , I have already put aside the affairs of the Ministry of Finance. Today is a rare gathering, and Xu Xu's brotherhood is justified, and those things can also be discussed on the stage."

Seeing that he started to lose his temper again, Luo Pingyuan just smiled and ignored him.The two talked about it, and they arrived at the mansion of King An in a while.

Of course, the regulation of Prince An's Mansion cannot be compared with that of the Prince's Mansion, but it is also very spectacular.Luo Pingyuan came to the door, and Luo Junping personally led him through the hall with carved beams and painted buildings, to the back garden, and said with a smile: "Because the summer is over and the autumn is not yet cool, the weather is so refreshing, let's have a few drinks in the courtyard today Cup, so as not to always be stuffy in the room."

Naturally, Luo Pingyuan would not object to visiting the mansion as a guest.

Different from Prince Jing's Mansion, Prince An's Mansion is the same as the East Palace. To prevent thieves and robbers, there are not many trees, but there are still a few towering old trees at the hanging flower gate between the front garden and the back garden.Luo Pingyuan followed King An around the veranda, and saw three or four ancient cypresses, all of which were as thick as a few people's arms, with vigorous branches and thick shade covering the sky and sun, and they were always hundreds of years old.While he was admiring, he saw that there were people tied up with hemp ropes under every ancient tree. They were all stripped of their clothes, and their naked upper bodies were covered with bloodstains from whipping.

King An frowned when he saw this, and reprimanded to the left and right: "You know that the fifth emperor brother is coming, why did you put this murder here? Are you old enough to live like pigs, or are your memories eaten by dogs?"

The steward of the mansion hastily pleaded guilty: "The little ones were careless and negligent, because His Highness let you be tied under a tree for three days and be whipped every day, so that everyone in the house could come and see what happened to the ungrateful and deceitful Lord. I actually forgot what I should do today. Drag them down and ask His Highness to punish them."

Without waiting for orders, several servants hurried forward to untie the punished person and take them away.

Luo Pingyuan saw that the ropes on these people's bodies had been stained dark red with blood, all of them were bruised, and their faces were gray and tired.

Luo Junping's expression turned gloomy, and he waved his hands suddenly and said: "Wait a minute, I get angry when I see these disgraceful things, I will give this king a good blow before pulling them down and locking them up."

The manager murmured back: "Your Highness, today's number has already been counted, I don't know..." Halfway through speaking, seeing the third prince's face, he quickly fell silent.

Several strong servants quickly walked up with the whips, the whips were thrown high in the air, and fell on the flesh, making a dull beating sound, accompanied by a changed tone of wailing, for a while But seeing blood splashing everywhere, it turned out that the whip had spikes on it.

Luo Pingyuan didn't expect such a scene to happen, he frowned greatly when he watched from the side, and said: "I don't know what did these servants do wrong, to deserve the anger of Brother Sanhuang?"

Wang An was waiting for his question, and said with a sneer, "The most taboo in my life is ungrateful deceit, secret hands and feet, it's not that I treated him too harshly, but I asked him what kind of good deeds he has done in collusion! Seeing Luo Pingyuan's puzzled face, he sighed, "Don't be afraid that the fifth emperor will laugh at you. This is a family matter. In two months, it will be my mother-in-law's birthday. I heard that the big Buddha in the main hall of Huangjue Temple has recently been remodeled." I also want to cast a Buddha statue to pray for blessings, so your sister-in-law asked me to bring some brass from the southeast to pay tribute. I told these thieves to do it. I thought I would pay for some copper ingots, but they Greedy for money, actually violated the imperial court's ban on sea, and bought a ship of oriental copper ingots from Ryukyu smugglers at a low price from pirates, so as to deceive me to earn the difference, and borrowed the name of the king, please Dao helped escort, and when I knew about it, I had already sailed to Jinzhou ferry under the banner of the navy. Minzhou even came to ask for credit in private, just as a big help, how can you not be angry?"

When Luo Pingyuan heard this, he already understood that King An put on a big battle for himself today, just for this matter.The Jingyu Guards usually stay in the capital, but recently they were ordered to check the granaries and warehouses in various places. After more than ten days, some news has been sent back from the state capitals near Los Angeles. Copper ingots for sea ships.In fact, the person in charge of that ship was an official from the coastal defense of Minzhou, who was ordered by the navy general, but the sailors on the ship were not wearing navy uniforms, and their breath was sturdy. They were more like swords than sergeants. A blood-licking deadly pirate.

Sea-going ships loaded with copper ingots had too deep a draft, and had to unload and change ships at the Jinzhou Ferry before entering the inland river.Jing Yu's cavalry guards who passed by here saw it, and went to question it suspiciously, but the other party refused to say where the brass came from, nor what it was used for, and after some conflicts, the boat and its cargo were detained at the ferry.The Jinzhou government office neither wanted to offend the Minzhou sea defense bandits, nor did they want to disobey the emperor's order, Jing Yuwei, so the matter came to a stalemate, and Jing Yuwei urgently reported to King Ning for disposal.

"There is such a thing." He saw that the few people tied to the tree trunk had been whipped to death, and the whip-wielding servants were still beating down. It seemed that if King An didn't speak, this whipping would not be over. will stop.

"Brother Sanhuang calm down, although it is abominable, there is no need to worry about this kind of people." He said implicitly, "Since it is a villain who pretends to seek profit, he has his own national law to deal with it. If someone is killed in private, it is difficult to explain clearly. If we continue to fight, it will break the auspiciousness of the mansion."

"If I don't kill others, I won't know if I will be betrayed by this group of unscrupulous servants someday." Wang An's anger still persisted, "There is no auspiciousness, it's all smoky, and they will all be beaten to death!"

Luo Pingyuan said: "I did receive a report from my subordinates from Jinzhou the day before yesterday, saying that a ship was detained at the port, but I didn't explain what happened. It turned out that the dragon king was washed away by the flood. Temple, Brother Sanhuang don’t want to get angry, it’s not a big deal.”

He understood in his heart that it would be a joke to say that Luo Junping didn't know anything about it, that Minzhou Shuiying was also kept in the dark, and that all the people working below were hiding the truth.King An's way of speaking is not only a deterrent, but also a test of his own attitude. If he is ruthless and still holds the ship, or even continues to investigate and hold him accountable, then he and the prince will be confronted head-on.

King An's expression turned pale when he heard the words, and he waved his hands and said, "Stop it, since the Fifth Emperor's heart is soft and can't bear to see it, it's good luck for them, I will pull them all down and lock them up, waiting to be punished."

After saying this, he didn't even look at him anymore, he took Luo Pingyuan to the back garden, and said as he walked: "It is said that I am narrow-minded and mean. No matter how many problems I have, Luo Junping, I always have clear grievances and grievances. If you can't get along with me, if you lie to me and harm me, then you will pay every penny, and you will get revenge, and you will never let it go lightly. If it is an unintentional mistake, no matter how big the mistake is, as long as you solve the misunderstanding, this king will not care about it."

As he said that, he turned his head and called the steward: "Fang Delu, last time you accidentally broke the glass inlaid vase that my father gave me, did I ever punish you?"

The steward took two quick steps, bowed and smiled apologetically, "Back to Your Highness, the little one was scared out of his wits at the time, but His Highness didn't blame him, he just said that the little one didn't have enough experience and was impatient, so he sent him to kneel outside for two hours, then I ordered to drink bitter tea for three days to clear my heart."

"Brother Sanhuang is not a person who makes trouble out of nothing, I understand it," Luo Pingyuan said with some helplessness, "I heard that the imperial court has issued bans on the sea over the years because they are worried that the frequent business exchanges between the people will make pirates rampant , it is easier to attract Japanese pirates, and it is difficult to govern. In the future, when the northern border is pacified, there should be a Shibo Department. Originally, all the smuggled sea goods should be confiscated, but since Brother Sanhuang has already spent money to buy them, it is another In order to fulfill my filial piety, I will pass the letter and release the ship later, and I will bear this relationship."

Luo Junping didn't expect him to agree so simply, obediently meant that he didn't intend to pursue the cause and effect of the ship of copper ingots, most of the suspicion that had been in his heart dissipated immediately, and his face turned pale.

Just as he was about to speak, Luo Pingyuan said again: "After I return to the mansion, I will write a letter to explain the misunderstanding, but I must say it first. This kind of thing can never happen again. Brother San Huang, you must be careful when you do something again. These villains, so as not to harm myself in the future."

How could King An take his persuasion to heart, the ship of copper cost tens of thousands of taels of silver, and if he turned it over, he would gain two or three times.He was quite proud in his heart, but felt that although Luo Pingyuan appeared to be a tall cliff on the surface, and acted as if he was upright for the country, he was no different from others, because he was afraid of going against the prince and himself, so he had two more thoughts in his heart. Very contemptuous.Although he heard his tone of sincerity, he just smiled casually: "It's natural, but whoever deceives me, how can there be a next chance?"

Luo Pingyuan was still thinking about it, and said: "There is one more matter that needs to be discussed with Brother Sanhuang. After my Jingyu guards detained me from the ship, it was unavoidable that I had hurt my friendship with the Minzhou navy, and I have never boarded the ship to check. Now that Knowing that the goods on the ship are all brought in from outside, I want my subordinates to stop, and I also need to take into account their face. I want to ask Brother Sanhuang to write me a letter, so that I can let my subordinates board the ship and check it out. Fan, it's just a formality, both parties can get along, if the people in charge carry some prohibited private goods under the name of Brother Sanhuang, it will just be a proof for you. How about that?"

Luo Jun said calmly, originally he wanted to gain face in front of his subordinates, and also let Jing Yuwei have a decent step.He thought about it for a while, and felt that it was reasonable, and then smiled and said: "I thought your people had already boarded the ship to see it. It's not a big deal. I will write to you after the banquet. I only bought copper. If there are other private goods on the boat, you can ask someone to take them away." While talking, he reached the pavilion in the back garden, and he said again: "Drink a few cups first, today I also found a few clean-up customers. Come and talk with me."

Now that the battle between the two of them was over, the next small banquet was considered harmonious. Sure enough, there were several guests in Prince An's Mansion discussing poetry and papers.Luo Pingyuan's left ear is the persuasive voice of "drinking a glass of wine, may you live forever", and the right ear is the lingering and melodious singing of a woman.He declined but drank a few cups of old wine, took the letter written by Wang An when he was half drunk, got up and said goodbye.

King An wants to keep guests again, he said with a faint smile: "It is easy to go from simple to extravagant, and difficult to go from extravagant to simple. Brother Sanhuang, you are intoxicated by your gentle and rich hometown. I will abide by the clear rules of my teacher, and you have to fulfill me." It is."

"Forget it, I voted for the Hanshan faction, a good young man cultivated an ancient well, and he didn't even know how to enjoy himself in time. Let's see how many years you can keep it." Wang An said with a smile, "I'm drunk and dreamy, and you clean up yourself. It tastes just like that.”