That year, that cicada, that sword

Chapter 216

In the early morning, the dark clouds that had been covering for many days finally dissipated completely, and the long-lost sunshine shines on the earth. The Jiangdu, which has just cleared up after the rain, has a fresh meaning from the inside to the outside, which makes people feel refreshed.

Xu Beiyou stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror of the same height, arranging his clothes. Glass is a rare thing, and this kind of glass mirror, which is completely different from the bronze mirror, is even more difficult to find. Not such a precious thing, and such a large-scale mirror, looking at the entire Jiangdu, there will not be more than ten mirrors.

Xu Beiyou straightened his crown, and asked without looking back, "Is there anyone coming to the door today?"

Song Guanguan stood beside Xu Beiyou, and replied: "Of course there are. They are all the stewards of the Jiangnan states. They got the news late and left later, so they came later than the major stewards of Jiangdu."

Xu Beiyou hummed flatly, his face pale.After this period of experience, he also learned to be low-key in front of his elders without a teacher, pretending to be a petty person in front of outsiders, and not showing his emotions in front of his subordinates. Sometimes Xu Beiyou would laugh at himself and think, maybe this It is the inevitable process of becoming a master.

Song Guanguan hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Your Master, do you want to see them?"

Xu Beiyou stroked the folds on his sleeves, and said directly: "No, just send Zhang San to send them away."

Song Guanguan responded softly, turned and left.

The gatehouse of the former mansion was full of people dressed in silk. Seeing Zhang San coming in, everyone got up, and a leader said flatteringly: "Guard Zhang, we are no closer than those stewards in Jiangdu City. Come on!" It's not easy to go to the river, please be sure to let us know, let us meet the young master."

"Yeah, it's not easy to come here."

"It's got to be a meeting between us."

"In the final analysis, they are all our own people, so there is no reason to hide behind closed doors."

Everyone around him cheered.

"Everyone, everyone." Zhang San put on a smile and said, "Master, he said that he has been checking the account books these days, and he has been busy with business, and no one has been seen. Everyone should go back."

"We won't see the young master, so we'll stay here!" Another tall steward said angrily, and sat back in his seat.

"Okay, okay." Zhang San was still smiling, and said: "If you don't leave, you won't leave. Since you are willing to wait, then sit here, and I will order someone to bring you tea."

After finishing speaking, Zhang San winked at the concierge, turned and left the concierge.

After Zhang San left, the tall steward said: "The mistress has been in power for so many years, why did she suddenly hand over power? The new official took office three times, and she was afraid of burning us little fish and shrimp."

The leader sighed and said: "That's right, the mistress knows our difficulties, she will turn a blind eye to some things, and don't care too much, but I'm afraid that this young master is young and energetic, and she won't tolerate us. The sand cut off our way of life."

The tall and tall steward said, "If it wasn't for this, we wouldn't have traveled hundreds of miles a day to come to Jiangdu to be rejected."

A thin steward lowered his voice and said: "It's all light. There is an old saying that once the emperor and the courtiers, the power is still in the hands of the mistress, the Lafayette. The young master is away from the 'personal government' It’s still far away, and the mistress’s attitude should not be ignored, if you only want to please the young master but forget the mistress’s side, I’m afraid it’s a big sin!”

Everyone was shocked and nodded their heads in agreement.

In the Houfu, Xu Beiyou had just finished his breakfast and was washing his hands in a copper basin. Song Guanguan walked in with a lacquered invitation card and said, "My lord, the invitation card just sent by Prince Qi's army."

After wiping his hands, Xu Beiyou glanced at the invitation card, raised his brows slightly, and said, "His Royal Highness Qi Wang is really vigorous and resolute in his work. He will call many wealthy businessmen to discuss matters when he arrives in Jiangnan."

Song Guanguan whispered: "Actually, I just want money."

Xu Beiyou put the invitation in his hand aside, "The imperial court, even if you want to rob money, you have to weave a good name and give it a righteous name. Asking for money is flattering you."

Song Guanguan smiled and said: "It's still the young master who speaks thoroughly, hits the nail on the head, and hits the nail on the head."

Xu Beiyouxu pointed her, and joked: "Don't pour me the ecstasy soup, if I stumble, I will be flattered and killed by you."

Song Guanguan smiled, remembered something again, and asked, "Do you want to communicate with Mrs. Luo and Mrs. Tang?"

Xu Beiyou nodded, and said, "You should be more thoughtful. I'll take a walk on both sides later. After all, I'm also the junior of these two people, so there's no reason to wait for them to come."

——Jiangzhou, Xie Yuan.

Qi Wang Xiaobai sat on the main seat in the main hall, his legs were slightly spread outwards, his hands were placed on his knees, his back was straight, and his dragon and tiger were crouching like a typical army general.

Several high-ranking officials of the dark guards in black brocade robes stood in front of him, with their heads bowed and their hands hanging by their sides, their respectful posture reached the extreme.

It has to be said that people are different, and kings are also different.

The dark guards are known as the emperor's internal guards, they are not only superior to civil and military officials, even ordinary kings and grandsons are not looked down upon, like the governor of the dark guards in Yuzhou, Shi Yang Shihe, who oppressed the county king Xiao Qu in a grand manner Xiao Quji couldn't think of anything but impeachment. From this point, we can see the power of the dark guard.

It's just that in front of Xiao Bai, none of the high-ranking officials of the secret guard dared to show their dignity. Although Xiao Bai has not been canonized as the crown prince, since ancient times, there are only four points in the canonization of the crown prince. Xiao Bai was born in the current Yuan Dynasty, he is the eldest son and the eldest son, the eldest son and the eldest grandson of the Xiao family, and he is by no means a mediocre clan like Xiao Quji, both military exploits and governance are quite unique, In this way, the three points of establishing a concubine, establishing a leader, and establishing a virtuous person are all in place. Now His Majesty is a sage and enlightened monarch, and he will definitely not do the thing of establishing love. Therefore, everyone in the government and the opposition regards Xiao Bai as the crown prince.

The prince of the prince, the prince of the reserve, is simply a backup king, the person who will inherit the great line in the future, with this status, even the three governors of the Dark Guard Mansion must be respectful.

Xiao Bai raised his hand and said, "Don't stand still, sit down."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Several high-ranking officials from the Jiangnan Dark Guard Mansion responded in unison, and took their seats according to their official positions.

Xiao Bai said slowly: "I think you all know the purpose of this king's visit this time. Everyone here is from my own family, and I will say something clearly. This king is asking for a word of money. But the red mouth and white teeth Asking people for money is the most difficult thing in the world, even this king is very worried, so I ask all the adults to help me."

Everyone here dare not even say.

Xiao Bai narrowed his eyes, and his tone turned cold slightly: "Don't dare, or don't you want to? It's said that the magistrate who destroyed the family, the magistrate who destroyed the family, I don't want anyone to destroy the family and confiscate the house, I just want these rich merchants to donate some money, you third-rank Could it be that the big official is not as good as the little seventh-rank magistrate? How about his usual skills?"

Xie Suqing, who was sitting next to Xiao Bai, said: "After all, it is an imminent event. Millions of disaster victims are waiting for disaster relief. Your Highness invites His Majesty to come to Jiangdu to raise money and food. Since our Dark Guard Mansion is known as the emperor's inner guard, we should treat it as the emperor's inner guard." Your Majesty and His Highness share concerns, there is no reason to shirk and hesitate."

Several high-ranking secret guards looked at each other, and Jiang Bin, the governor of the Jiangnan Dark Guard Mansion, got up and said, "Report to Your Highness, I have a plan."

Xiao Bai glanced at him and said, "Master Jiang, please tell me."

Jiang Bin said in a deep voice, "Take an early bird to scare the chickens and monkeys, and the others will naturally know that they will spend money to eliminate disasters."

Xie Suqing twitched her beard and said, "I'm afraid it will hurt the court's face to act like this."

However, Xu Beiyou said with great interest: "The great imperial court has already lost face to the point where it has to raise money and food from wealthy households today. It's okay to lose a little bit more. According to Master Jiang's intention, who should be used as a warning to others?" where's the chicken?"

Jiang Bin pondered for a moment, and said: "If you go back to your Highness, if you just deal with an ordinary wealthy businessman, it will not be effective in shocking people's hearts. Therefore, in my humble opinion, we still have to start with the three largest families in Jiangdu City, so that we can make an example of others."

"Oh? The three largest families." Xiao Bai couldn't see any joy or anger on his face, and asked Xie Suqing beside him, "Which three families are they?"

For Xiao Bai's knowing question, Xie Suqing could only answer truthfully: "The Tang family, the Qin family and the Zhang family."

Jiang Bin lowered his head, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

Xiao Bai narrowed his eyes, and whispered to himself, "Choose one of three."

(End of this chapter)