Drive the RV back to Datang

Chapter 317 Chapter 327: Undercurrent
Of course, the words in Li Hao's heart can't be said out loud, otherwise he doubts whether he can get out of Cui's mansion, so he can only say with a smile on his face: "It's really urgent, otherwise I wouldn't dare to disturb Master Cui, please forgive me .”

"Tell me, what's the matter?" Cui Wentai picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Li Hao said: "Master Cui, the King of Jin has arrived in Dingzhou, do you know?"

"Oh, the King of Jin is here." Cui Wentai acted very flat, as if he was not a prince, but an ordinary commoner.

Li Hao continued: "The king of Jin came here this time, following His Majesty's orders, to patrol hunting on behalf of the heavens and deal with snow disasters."

Cui Wentai put down his teacup and said, "What does this matter have to do with the old man?"

Li Hao smiled and said: "The king of Jin just arrived in Dingzhou yesterday. When he entered the city, he saw the mourning crowds outside the city. Now, I have no choice but to send me to ask Master Cui for help, hoping that Master Cui can donate some money and food to save the people from the fire and water, and after returning to Chang'an, the King of Jin will definitely ask for credit for the Cui family."

"There's no need to ask for merit." Cui Wentai said lightly, "I don't have any money or food. Don't worry about my husband's big business. The daily consumption is astonishingly large. It is not easy to manage such a large family business." thing."

Li Hao deliberately showed embarrassment when he heard the words, and said: "Master Cui, the King of Jin came to ask for help very sincerely. I hope that Master Cui will raise his noble hands and save the people. This will not only accumulate virtue for the Cui family, but also be rewarded by the emperor." ,Why not do it."

"This old man also has more than enough heart but not enough strength." Cui Wentai said slowly, "A catastrophe has struck the sky, and the people have suffered. Is my Cui family going to be better? My family, do you know how many crops our Cui family has destroyed in the fields, if His Majesty wants to help the disaster, my Cui family should also share the relief money and food."

Li Hao was stunned when he heard the words. He already felt that he was very shameless. He didn't expect that Cui Wentai was even more shameless than himself. Nima, are you disaster victims?I have never seen such an awesome disaster victim like you, the luxury house is almost catching up with the Tai Chi Palace, and you still want money and food for disaster relief, shameless.

Cui Wentai said so far, the chat could not continue, Li Hao got up and cupped his hands and said: "Master Cui's meaning, this junior understands, this junior will go back and reply to King Jin."

Cui Wentai ignored him again, and continued to play chess. Li Hao was used to bumping into walls in Cui's house, so he turned and left on his own. When he walked out of the garden, Cui Wenjing stood guard outside the garden gate, leading the way for Li Hao again, and sent him out of the house. .

As soon as Li Hao left the garden, the lake surface suddenly became rippling, and a painted boat slowly swam out from under the waterside pavilion. It was rowed by a strong man, and an old man with snow-white beard and hair stood at the bow.

There is a pier in the water pavilion, and the painting boat stops beside the pier. The old man leans on crutches, and with the support of the boatman, he slowly walks up the water pavilion. Cui Wentai immediately got up, bowed to the white-haired old man, and said respectfully: "Master." The old man is Cui Chongzhi, the old man of the Cui family.

Cui Chongzhi waved his hand, signaling him to excuse himself, and then said slowly: "I heard what you just said."

Cui Wentai hurried up to help him sit down, and said: "Father, the outside world has passed on Li Hao like a god, and in my child's opinion, it's nothing more than that."

"But that's it?" Cui Chongzhi raised his head and sneered, "Do you think that his words and deeds escape impetuosity, and he is a frivolous person?"

Cui Wentai was stunned: "Isn't it?"

"Hmph!" Cui Chongzhi suddenly glared and snorted coldly, "If you think so, I'm afraid you will harm our Cui family. Have you forgotten what the military master said about this son?"

"Remember." Cui Wentai bowed his head like a child who has done something wrong, "The military adviser said that if this son is an enemy, he will be in serious trouble."

Cui Chongzhi stroked his beard slowly and said: "At first, when I heard the military master say this, my father also felt that the military master had filtered it out. Now that I have seen it myself, I know that this statement is true. You just intended to show him off, but this son Is it possible for a frivolous person to accept everything and blindly tolerate it?"

Cui Wentai thought about it carefully, and felt that what Cui Chongzhi said made sense. Then, Cui Chongzhi said again: "Since his debut, this son has overcome all powerful enemies, even the Tubo wise star Lu Dongzan has been defeated by him." , The military adviser also suspected that Tubo’s failure to marry Princess Wencheng was all controlled by this son, such a powerful person, but you think he is a frivolous person, Wentai, you are very disappointed as a father.”

Cui Wentai didn't dare to show his anger, and hurriedly said: "My child knows that I made a mistake, please punish my father."

"Punishment will be avoided." Cui Chongzhi said leisurely, "Fortunately, my father was worried and came here in person, so I didn't make a big mistake. You send someone to inform Qin Miao that Li Hao will be dragged to Dingzhou no matter what. Don't let him go any further, this game has been planned for three years for my father and military adviser, and I finally waited for this heavy snow, so I may not have such an opportunity in the future."

"Yes." Cui Wentai nodded to accept the order, and then asked, "If Qin Miao is exposed, how should we deal with it? Should we send someone to kill him at that time, lest he talk nonsense?"

"He won't talk nonsense." Cui Chongzhi said coldly, "His family of more than 20 people is under our control. Even if he falls into Li Hao's hands, he will solve it by himself. You don't need to worry about it."

Cui Wentai asked again: "What about the money and food for disaster relief? Do you want it?"

"Of course." Cui Chongzhi stood up tremblingly with a cane in his hand, and said, "If you want to make a big deal, money and food are the most important. Although my Cui family has a lot of money and food, this snowstorm has caused us a lot of losses. We They are also victims of the disaster, so it is only natural to ask for money and food from the court for disaster relief."

"My son understands." Cui Wentai asked slightly worriedly, "Father, what chance do you have of winning this big event? Is it worth it if we do this?"

Cui Chongzhi waved his hand and said: "There is no such thing as a complete chance of winning in the world, but this time, it is still somewhat certain. The military division has gone to Xue Yantuo and Western Turks to persuade their Khan to send troops. Once the water in Hebei is disturbed, Xue Yantuo At the same time as the Western Turkic army was suppressing the country, under the internal and external troubles, why did Li Shimin resist; as for whether this matter is worth it, I have thought about it as a father. The dead dog cooks, demotes my Cui family's important ministers in the court one by one, and weakens our power in the court. Hmph, since he is not benevolent, he can't blame us for being unrighteous. I have already thought about it as a father. Seeing that the situation is not good, let's get out as soon as possible, so as not to let Li Shimin take advantage of it. Even if he knows the truth, as long as he has no reason, he will not dare to touch us. After more than ten or 20 years, Li Shimin passed away, and the limelight will pass. It’s just a waste of time, we can afford it.”

He paused, and continued: "Life is like gambling with money. If there is double the profit, even if it is only [-]% sure, you have to try it. This time it is more than double the profit. Since then, there have been no five surnames and seven surnames in the Tang Dynasty, and only our Boling Cui family can take the lead."

Cui Wentai cupped his hands excitedly when he heard the words: "My boy wishes my father to follow the dragon for the second time, which is unprecedented in our ancestors. From then on, in the Central Plains, I, the Cui family of Boling, will be the only one to lead the way."

Under the leadership of Cui Wenjing, Li Hao finally left the Cui Mansion. Seeing Li Hao coming out, Chen Song also heaved a sigh of relief, and stepped forward to ask, "Are you all right?"

"What can I do." Li Hao smiled relaxedly, "At most, it's just a little bit of embarrassment."

Chen Song asked coolly: "Go back to Dingzhou?"

Li Hao looked up at the sky, shook his head and said, "It's getting dark, let's go to Anping City." After speaking, he went straight to the carriage, the team started, and went on the official road to Anping City.

Walking all the way outside Anping City, Li Hao lifted the curtain, poked his head out to look outside, frowned suddenly, and asked, "Chen Song, do you feel something is wrong?"

Chen Song said: "How come there are no disaster victims here?"

"That's right, this is what's wrong." Li Hao searched around, not even seeing a single victim.

Chen Song thought for a while, and said, "We didn't meet a single victim on the way here."

Li Hao pondered thoughtfully: "This Anping County, there is a problem."

"What's the problem?" Chen Song blurted out.

Li Hao said: "You have to go in and have a look to find out."

When a large group of people came to the city, the city gate had already been closed. Seeing the arrival of an army of unknown origin, it would be strange not to close the city gate. Li Hao walked up to the moat in person and said loudly: "I am the Marquis of Lantian County, the general of Zuo Xiaowei Zhonglang Li Hao, under the order of His Royal Highness the King of Jin, inspect the disaster relief matters in the counties of Dingzhou on his behalf, and open the city gate quickly!"

Everyone on the tower was surprised when they heard the words, and hurriedly sent someone to inform the county magistrate Fan Chao. Soon, Fan Chao came to the tower, Li Hao showed an official document and seal, and Fan Chao sent someone down to check it out. Not taking it lightly, he hurriedly opened the city gate to welcome Li Hao into the city.

After entering the city, Fan Chao led all the county officials to greet him on the street, and Li Hao waved his hands directly: "Don't hold back the courtesy, go to the county government office first to discuss disaster relief."

"Yes!" Fan Chao took the order and headed to the county government office with all the officials and Li Hao's troops.

When he arrived at the county government office, Li Hao sat directly on the county magistrate's post, which made Fan Chao very embarrassed. After all, Li Hao was not a deposed emissary, but a military officer. Although he was ordered by King Jin to inquire about the disaster situation, there was no response document. Logically, it is impossible for doves to occupy the magpie's nest, but Li Hao has already sat on it, so Fan Chao can still drag him down.

In order not to offend Li Hao, Fan Chao sent someone to move a chair and sat on Li Hao's side. Li Hao began to ask, "Magistrate Fan, how is the disaster situation in Anping County?"

Fan Chao cupped his hands and said, "Go back to Lord Hou, Anping County has suffered a lot."

"Oh?" Li Hao frowned when he heard the words, "Then why are there no victims inside or outside the city? Did you hide the victims?"

"I don't dare." Fan Chao was taken aback, and hurriedly said, "Even if I have the guts, I wouldn't dare to lie about the disaster."

There are all kinds of weird officials in history. In the years of famine, some people deliberately lied about the disaster in order to embezzle relief funds and food. It was clearly a small disaster, but it was reported as a major disaster. It was just to let the court allocate more money and food so that it could be stuffed into their pockets. .

But there are also officials who lie in another way. After a catastrophe, those officials hide the victims, and then report to the court that under his rule, the common people have surplus food and are not afraid of the disaster, so there are no victims. This is In order to reflect his political achievements, he wants to be promoted.

Anyway, no matter what kind of false reporting method is used, the unlucky ones are the common people, and the beneficiaries are the officials who lied about the disaster situation. They were all dismissed and investigated, and all their property was confiscated. If the circumstances were serious, they would be paraded in the streets for three days and beheaded to show the public, so as to make an example of others, so when Fan Chao heard Li Hao's words, he was very frightened.

Li Hao frowned and asked: "Since the disaster in Anping County is serious, where have all the victims gone?"

With cold sweat dripping from Fan Chao's forehead, he cupped his hands and said, "Forgive me, my lord... I don't know where all the victims have gone."

(End of this chapter)