People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 763: Comparing the truth and starting to arrest people

All night.

The morning light shines on the handsome manor, but for some reason it cannot bring much warmth.

Li Xuan wore a black robe with gold silk and sat in front of the stone table, having breakfast, a simple bowl of white porridge and a few plates of pickles.

A burst of hurried footsteps came in from outside the courtyard. When Li Zhu saw Li Xuan, he immediately raised his hands and said: "Return to the prince, Li Ming, please see me."

Li Xuan put the clean porridge bowl on the table and said, "Your Highness, are you up?"

"No, His Highness drank a lot after coming back last night." Li Zhu immediately handed over his hand.

Li Xuan nodded. What happened last night indeed aroused a lot of sadness in Li Xian. After returning from the state capital, he drank a lot of wine himself.

This time, even Li Xuan didn't try to persuade him.

Li Xuan let out a breath and waved to the other side, and someone immediately came over to help Li Xuan put away the dishes.

At this time, Li Xuan looked up at Li Zhu and said seriously: "Okay, let him come in."

"Here!" Li Zhu immediately turned around and walked out. Soon, Li Ming, wearing a green suit, had already walked out.

Standing three steps in front of Li Xuan, Li Ming cupped his hands and said, "Li Ming, the Marquis of Tan'an, has met the prince."

"It is said that in Taozhou, a duke is born every three steps, and a prince is born every five steps. It seems that this statement is true!" Li Xuan's expression was very calm, but Li Ming shivered inexplicably.

He quickly cupped his hands and said: "Return to the prince, everything is a reward from Emperor Taiwu, the great ancestor, and I am only able to have the glory I have today because of the shadow of my ancestor."

"You know the importance." Li Xuan raised her head lightly, glanced at Li Ming, and then said softly: "It's not like some people who have been favored by the emperor in this life, but they resell the national grain, sell it to the enemy, and finally assist the enemy. He buried the traces for a while, and then helped open the city gate, attack the ancestral graves, and finally destroy the ancestral temple. It is simply crazy."

Li Xuan slammed her palm on the stone table beside her. With a "bang", the stone table immediately fell into pieces and collapsed.

"Your Majesty..." Li Ming was stunned.

At this moment, countless light and dark sentries appeared from everywhere, holding swords and staring at Li Ming coldly.

Li Xuan looked at Li Ming, who was at a loss, and waved his hands to the surroundings. Countless sentry guards, both bright and dark, immediately retreated silently.

At this time, Li Xuan raised his head and looked at Li Ming.

The corners of Li Miao's mouth twitched, and his face was very ugly. He wanted to say something several times, but in the end he never spoke.

After a moment, Li Ming said in a jerky voice: "Your Majesty, I know everything!"

Li Xuan looked at Li Ming and said coldly: "I really didn't expect that you would be so courageous. I and His Royal Highness King Ying have already come to Taozhou, and you dare to lie to me. You are afraid of me. I will never die with the King of England."

"What?" Li Ming was stunned. Then, he, who was still holding on, knelt down on the stone slab and said with excitement: "Your Majesty, I really don't think so."

"You didn't think so?" Li Xuan couldn't help but sneer and said: "Yesterday, you told me that Ma Zhi was suspected of collaborating with the enemy, and then you personally led people to keep an eye on him. Why didn't you tell me that you had tried to They teamed up to intercept and kill Ma Zhi, causing Ma Zhi to run for his life around the city, panicking all day long... But why is Ma Zhi now eating and drinking well in his own yard? Come and tell me, Why is this, what is going on?”

Li Ming was really shocked. How did the King of Nanchang know about this extremely secret matter that few people in Taozhou knew about?
Li Ming subconsciously raised his hands and wanted to speak, but he didn't know what to say.

After a moment, Li Xuan spoke coldly again: "Tell me, this is your last chance to speak. What is all this about?"

"Prince Qi!" Li Ming's mind was still in chaos, but his thoughts had calmed down a bit. Seizing this calmness, Li Ming said carefully: "Ma Zhi was introduced to the lower official by Chen Xia, Zhang Shijun's brother-in-law. , he was originally a horse dealer who traveled between Tubo and Tang Dynasty, and later he started reselling grain. Last autumn, he started to buy grain at high prices from Taozhou and several nearby states. Many wealthy households and aristocratic families , sold a lot of grain to him, and some even paid attention to the state treasury."

Li Xuan frowned slightly, and then said: "You continue!"

Li Ming took a deep breath and continued: "After the Chang'an imperial meeting at the beginning of the year, the imperial court wanted to launch war against Tubo and asked the states to start rectifying the state treasury. At this time, the major families finally realized that something was wrong and began to search for Ma Zhi, but they were never able to catch him. Catch him,"

Li Xuan's cold voice sounded again: "Keep talking!"

"Well, not long ago, people from the Ministry of War, Dali Temple and Yushitai came to inspect the state treasury. There may be problems with the state treasury in Taozhou and several nearby states, so we and other companies had to take the initiative to raise funds. Grain is used to replenish the state treasury, and the Li family has transferred grain from the clan to replenish the state treasury."

"When did you target Ma Zhi?" Li Xuan's voice became increasingly angry.

"Not long ago, I accidentally discovered that Ma Zhi was secretly interacting with Chen Xia, so I continued to stare at him." Li Ming looked ugly and even said helplessly: "The Chen family is Zhang Shijun's brother-in-law. Need to be a little more cautious.”

"Then how much does Governor Zhang know about the fact that you resold the grain in the warehouse, causing a large shortage of grain in the warehouse?" Li Xuan's words became more and more sharp.

Li Yi had no choice but to continue speaking and said: "Shijun has always known, but he didn't know that the shortage of grain in the warehouse is so big."

Li Xuan's face turned completely cold. After a moment, he turned around and asked, "Who is Chen Xia?"

"Chen Xia is a member of the Hou Mo Chen family. The Hou Mo Chen family is also a well-established family in Longxi and has a lot of land in Taozhou. He was the one who introduced Ma Zhi to everyone, and he was also the first to sell the family's grain. Give it to Ma Zhi and make huge profits from it. In addition, he is the city gate captain of Taozhou. It was him who allowed Ma Zhi to successfully escape from being chased by other families." Li Ming sent Chen Xia's The identity and origin were revealed.

Li Xuan nodded and said, "If you were asked to arrest Ma Zhi and Chen Xia, would you be willing to do it?"

"Yes!" Li Ming said firmly. "Well!" Li Xuan suddenly stood up and said coldly: "Wait!"

"Here!" Li Ming quickly handed over his hand. When he raised his head again, Li Xuan had disappeared.

But Li Ming was still kneeling there with a respectful expression and did not dare to get up.

Before I knew it, the sky was already setting in the west.

……

Thousands of horses are hidden in the hidden mountain valley.

Row after row of stables that have been built long ago are filled with high-quality fodder, and the horses are eating the horse feed obediently.

In the open space in front of the stables, thousands of warriors were relaxing and resting.

Some were sharpening their knives, some were chatting, and some were competing in strength, with a leisurely look and no sign of being anxious at all.

In the deepest wooden house, soldiers were coming and going quickly, and flying pigeons took off quickly and flew in all directions.

In the high altitude, a flying pigeon had just flown far away, when a pigeon hawk swooped down from the high altitude and completely tore the flying pigeon apart.

Blood flowed across the sky, and a small bamboo tube was pulled out from inside.

After turning around, Dove Eagle looked at the thousands of Tibetan cavalry hidden in the mountains and valleys, and then headed towards Taozhou City in the northwest without lingering at all.

Under the high altitude, beyond the mountains, a mountain road spreads from Hezhou to Taozhou, and finally crosses the Tao River and enters Taozhou City.

A group of pigeon hawks quickly flew by, and a dozen pigeons landed in different locations in Taozhou City.

A small bamboo tube fell on the west city wall and fell into Li Zhu's hand.

Soon, the bamboo tube had been sent to the deputy marshal's mansion by Li Zhu and fell into Li Xuan's hands.

Li Xuan opened it and saw that it turned out to be Chinese characters, just four words: What day?when?

Li Xuan originally didn't know what this meant, but after what happened last night, he understood. Someone was asking when Li Xuan went from Taozhou to Hezhou so that the Tubo cavalry could attack him. After that, he took his head and killed him in Taozhou.

The Tubo cavalry hid in the secret valley where horses were hidden in the mountains when Ma Zhi sold horses earlier. Only there could [-] horses be hidden silently.

Three thousand Tubo elite cavalry are not easy to deal with. Although Li Xuan now has the upper hand, if he rashly starts a war, he may not have a few of these cavalry left.

Can't be hard.

Li Xuan thought about various ways to deal with it and left the official house at the same time.

Near the broken stone table not far away, Li Ming was still kneeling on the ground. Two people were standing aside at the moment, seeming to be asking something.

Li Xian, as well as Shi Yao Lingzhang, the governor of the Royal Palace, both looked very unhappy after listening to Li Ming's report.

Li Xuan came out from behind. When Li Xian saw Li Xuan, he couldn't help but said, "Uncle Wang, please let Marquis Tan'an stand up first."

"Stand up, he still has the nerve to stand up. Taozhou, as well as the six states near Taozhou, all have problems with their state treasury."

Li Xuan walked up to Li Ming, looked at him coldly and said, "If the Langan and Gan states hadn't been preparing for war all year round, I'm afraid there would have been problems with the state treasury there. If the compensation was not enough, the entire western expedition of the army would have been affected. Even if he is discovered now, if he is not discovered now, once the war starts, the supply of food and grass will be insufficient, and the entire frontline army is in danger of collapse. He still wants to stand up, so it is good that I have not killed him now. "

"Uncle Wang, things have to be resolved. Letting him continue to kneel like this is not an option." Li Xian persuaded again.

Li Xuan took a deep breath and said, "Okay, for His Highness's sake, stand up."

"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief, then stood up with some staggering support on his legs.

After kneeling for a whole day, it meant that he was in good health, otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago.

Li Xian looked up at Li Xuan and asked in a low voice: "Uncle Wang, is there any way to make up for this matter now?"

"It's difficult." Li Xuan looked at Li Xian, who was half a head shorter than him, and said in a deep voice: "First of all, we must find out all of Ma Zhi's properties in Taozhou and other nearby states, as well as the Chen family's properties in nearby states. All the property will be thrown away in one pot, and their family property will be used to make up for all the food shortages.”

Li Xian turned to look at Li Ming and asked, "Can you do it?"

"It can be done." Li Ming said it very neatly.

Li Xianyou turned to look at Li Xuan. Li Xuan nodded slightly and said, "Since you can do it, let's start doing it. Tonight, we will start arresting people and make up for the losses quickly."

Li Xian pondered for a moment and nodded: "Okay! Then arrest them."

(End of this chapter)