Mr. Yangui

Chapter 68
The Zhang family once again paid a heavy price for Zhang Yanbo's recklessness.

The loss of 20 taels of silver hurt the vitality of the Zhang family, and only Zhang Jincai, who had only half his life left, finally put things down.

After the matter was over, Zhang Xiu reprimanded Zhang Yanbo severely in private, saying that if he provoked that Li Wuchang again, he would break his legs.

The frightened Zhang Yanbo trembled, unable to utter any words of resistance, the hatred for Li Wuchang deepened in his heart.

In the Li family, Li Wuchang said in front of everyone that he wanted to trouble Steward Qian. Li Lingwu said that he would handle it himself. I don’t know what Zhang said. After a few days, Steward Qian was assigned to a Zhuangzi outside the city.

Mrs. Zhang barely managed to get through.

Li Lingwu pulled Li Wuchang aside, said that the matter was over, don't pursue it anymore, and warned Li Wuchang not to be so impulsive in the future.

Li Wuchang accepted it when he was happy, saying that if no one took the initiative to provoke him, he would be more honest than anyone else, but he was happy in his heart. This time he not only hit Zhang Yanbo, but also gave Zhang a soft knife.

This matter is not glorious, and it is not good for Zhang and Li if it spreads. Li Lingwu and Zhang Xiu have a tacit understanding, and they both deliberately told their family members to keep their mouths shut.

So it didn't cause much trouble.

On the other hand, many major events have happened in Dayan recently, attracting most people's attention.

In the first ten days of February, Zhou Sheng, who had just returned to Jizhou, organized [-] elite troops to fight against the Khitan elite in Anle County. After four days of fighting, both sides suffered numerous casualties. The Khitans abandoned Anle County and fled back to Khitan.

Although Anle County was taken back, Anle County was almost destroyed, the people were displaced, and ten rooms were empty. This battle is hard to say.

After the war, Zhou Sheng had numerous injuries and illnesses, and countless people were waiting for relief. There was a shortage of medicine and food. Zhou Sheng asked the court to support him as soon as possible. At that time, not only Anle County would not be able to keep food and grass, but even Yuyang County would be lost.

At the same time, Lu Yuanke, King of the North Sea on the other side of Jizhou, led the army and the Khitan-Korean coalition forces to confront the city of Liaodong. Numerous small-scale battles had occurred, causing heavy casualties.

The situation in Jizhou is getting worse.

In addition to Jizhou, Yangzhou also encountered foreign aggression.

Since August last year, the coastal areas of Yangzhou, such as Donghai County, Jiangdu County, Wu County and other places, have been invaded by Japanese Japanese pirates. There is no way, Zheng Hai, the prefect of Wujun, died under the sword of Japanese pirates.

Yangzhou is the largest state among the nine states of Dayan, with more than 40 counties under its jurisdiction, of which more than a dozen are coastal counties, most of which have become the targets of Japanese pirates.

Because of Japanese pirates, Yangzhou, which has always been the largest taxpayer in Dayan, suffered heavy losses. Taxes were greatly reduced, and the revenue of the imperial court was greatly reduced. Due to wars and natural disasters in Dayan, the national treasury spent a lot last year, and the income from Yangzhou was reduced. It can only be barely supported, and Jizhou is like a bottomless pit, and it will soon be unable to make ends meet.

Once the logistics cannot keep up, the situation in Jizhou may collapse completely.

The situation is extremely critical.

In addition to various external aggressions, Dayan is also unstable internally.

Last year, many places in Yongzhou, Jizhou, and Liangzhou were hit by drought and snowstorms, and the people were displaced.

The government has been suppressing it with all its strength since last winter. The wealthy households who were robbed recovered and organized their own forces to hunt down the grasshoppers. This is a two-pronged approach.

For a while, blood flowed into rivers, which aroused even greater resistance.

There were large-scale riots in Fengyi, Shangluo, Beidi, Tianshui and other counties in Yongzhou. They stormed government offices, looted official warehouses, even murdered and set fire to them, mutilating good people, which was tantamount to rebellion.

The court finally paid the price for the indiscriminate killing.

Faced with such internal and external troubles, the emperor was furious at the court meeting. He first accused the Khitan and Goryeo of wolfish ambition, and then accused the officials of being unfavorable in handling affairs, and a group of rioters could not suppress it.

After the fire, the emperor asked all the officials what to do about the Jizhou issue.

The Ministry of Household said that the imperial court has no money and is unable to support it. Can it ask for peace first?

The emperor went into a rage on the spot and scolded Dou Shangshu, the Ministry of household affairs, bloody.

Dayan has been established for more than 200 years, and has experienced countless wars. It is not uncommon for people to ask for peace, but most of them are in a situation where both sides are evenly matched and no one benefits if they continue to fight.

Now that Jizhou is clearly at a disadvantage, asking for peace at this time is tantamount to surrendering. The Khitan and Koryo will definitely bite off a large piece of meat in the negotiation to prepare for the next invasion.

After the emperor got mad, he directly asked Tai Fu Lin Yong for advice.

Lin Yong said that the location of Jizhou is important, and it is also the place where Dayan started. There must be no mistakes, and we must fully support the King of Beihai and General Zhou Sheng to stabilize the situation.

There is not much money in the household department, and the imperial court can ask wealthy households to donate and sell officials and titles to raise wages.

Baiguan was taken aback by Taifu Lin.

The system of wealthy households donating money and accepting millet to obtain official titles has existed since ancient times, but the consequences are mostly serious, and it will exacerbate official corruption, which is not a good thing.

Lin Taifu explained that in order to prevent malpractice, the imperial court can only give false names and no real power.

There are groups of wealthy households in Chang'an, most of whom are businessmen with no status. They are discriminated against and yearn for respect in their hearts.

In this way, not only can the difficulties of Jizhou be solved quickly, but also the wealthy households can return to their hearts, and the cohesion of Dayan can be improved. The court just paid some false titles, which is no big deal.

The emperor thought for a while, nodded and agreed, and let Lin Yong take full power to deal with it. He must get together the silver and grain to support Jizhou in the fastest time.

Then there's the mob problem.

Taiwei Lu Shiqing said that the mob's attack on the government office is no different from a rebellion, and they should be killed to show their power. Lu Shiqing has always been a tough man, so it is not surprising to have such a proposal.

As soon as this statement came out, it won the support of hardliners from all sides, mostly the royal princes.

Han Guang, the Duke of Langye, said that the means of dealing with the mob problem should not be too aggressive, otherwise it will cause greater conflicts, and suggested that imperial envoys can be sent to various places to appease the people.

As soon as Han Guang's words fell, Tang Zhifeng, the imperial historian, seconded his words and expressed his strong support. Then Li Lingwu, the commander of the imperial guards, Zheng Heng, the servant of the Ministry of rites, and Xue Shanglin, the governor of Yongzhou, also supported Han Guang.

As the governor of Yongzhou, Xue Shanglin was ordered to suppress the mob by force. Not only was the matter not resolved, but it became more serious, so he thought what Han Guang said was reasonable.

As a result, opinions on how to deal with the mob issue diverged. The hardliners headed by Lu Shiqing clashed with the Huairou faction headed by Tang Zhifeng.

Tang Zhifeng and Lu Shiqing are both important cabinet ministers, they don't usually get along very well, and they hate each other.

Tang Zhifeng thought that Lu Shiqing was arrogant and domineering because he was an uncle of the emperor, and his actions were too direct and violent, aggressive, without leaving room for him, and he did not have the demeanor and mind of an important court official.

Lu Shiqing, on the other hand, believed that Tang Zhifeng was too pedantic, and he was too principled in his work, procrastinating and often delaying good opportunities.

The scene is chaotic.

The emperor had a headache from the quarrel, and hurriedly asked Tai Fu Lin Yong to express his opinion.

Lin Yong first said that the actions of the Taiwei and Lord Tang were both reasonable, and that the problem of the rioters could be appeased first, and it would be best to appease the people.

The proposal was quite satisfactory, it gave Tang Zhifeng a face, and also gave Lu Shiqing a step up.

The most important thing is that the emperor expressed his satisfaction, and praised Taifu Lin as a pillar of the country because of his general knowledge.

Lin Yong once again showed his influence.

……

The important affairs of the court have nothing to do with Li Wuchang, even if he wants to care about it, it's useless, he just wants to live his small life in peace.

Make a fortune, practice martial arts, and live a good life.

This was Li Wuchang's ambition set early in the morning.

The trouble in the restaurant was solved, and they got an extra 20 taels. Li Wuchang was of course very happy, and distributed 6 taels to Zhao Xun and Jiang Minglun. Down.

During the period when Li Wuchang was arrested in Nanshan, Li Wuchang was very moved by the friendship shown by Zhao and Jiang.

Jiang Minglun knew the dense forest of Nanshan and its dangers, and he would die anytime if he entered it. In order to save Li Wuchang, he entered the dense forest alone, regardless of his own safety, without hesitation.

Zhao Xun also contributed a lot. On the night of the accident, he was shot twice in the body to save Li Wuchang. Afterwards, he also wanted to enter the dense forest to find Li Wuchang, but was stopped by Jiang Minglun and stayed in Chang'an City to watch Dongli Restaurant and Luji Clothing Store. With various forces at play, including the third prince Lu Xuanming, one can imagine the pressure they are under.

In addition, Li Wuchang also took out a sum of money as a bonus. The shopkeeper Chen of Dongli Restaurant, the chefs, guys, the tailors of Luji, guys, etc., each received a lot of rewards.

The nanny Xiaoru, the three Zhou family members and Jiang Minglun's mother also received a sum of money.

Zhao Xun also suggested that the rascals in Dongshi could be bought, and if there were any more gangsters trying to make trouble, they would be handed over to these rascals.

Jiang Minglun thought the proposal was very good.

The East City is very prosperous, and there are many rascals who do nothing all day long, doing things like oppressing good people, eating bully meals, and collecting protection fees.

If you can spend a sum of money to buy them off, in addition to helping Dongli Restaurant and Lu Ji solve some minor troubles, you can also serve as eyes and ears and listen to news.

Once these scoundrels have serious jobs, they won't engage in activities that oppress good people. This can be regarded as maintaining the law and order of Dongshi and doing a good deed.

Li Wuchang thought for a while, and said: "Alright, Brother Xun will make up his mind on this matter. You have been in the Jianghu for so many years, and you should be very good at dealing with this kind of people."

Zhao Xun nodded and said: "With money and fists, I will make them obey."

Li Wuchang said again: "There is one more thing, I need you to analyze it for me."

Seeing Li Wuchang's serious expression, Zhao Xun and Jiang Minglun sat down quickly and signaled Li Wuchang to continue.

Li Wuchang told about the secret stronghold of the Hanshui Gang.

After Zhao Xun finished listening, he asked: "Mr. Ye from the Hanshui Gang said that there is a stronghold in Jinchangfang in the east of the city, and there are a lot of treasures in it. There are several 10 taels. ,is that so?"

Li Wuchang hummed.

Jiang Minglun frowned and said, "Could it be a trap?"

Li Wuchang said: "According to Mr. Ye, only Zhu Changxing's people know about that stronghold. Zhu Changxing's people came out in force that time, and now they are all dead. I remember that Mr. Ye was eager to save his life and spoke in a hurry. Like lying."

Zhao Xun said: "No matter what, it's better to be careful. We can keep an eye on it for a while. If there is nothing unusual, we will go."

Li Wuchang nodded, making up his mind that if Mr. Ye hadn't lied, he would definitely get the money.

(End of this chapter)