Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 307 Plan
The sound of horse hooves could be heard on the streets of the capital. The people showed no fear of the sudden appearance of troops and horses. Instead, they excitedly looked at the army through the doors and windows.

They recognized that they were troops from the Beijing Garrison. Such a large-scale mobilization of troops from the Beijing Garrison must mean that some officials had committed a crime, and the Beijing Garrison was dispatched to search their homes.

On that day, more than a hundred officials of all ranks from the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing were arrested, and there were even more minor clerks and yamen runners.

This is just the first batch. In the following joint trials by the three courts, more and more people will be involved in major grain cases, and the number of people arrested will continue to increase.

The six leaders of the families gathered again. They lost their usual demeanor and their eyes were red.

The matter of the several major granaries in the Ministry of Revenue was the result of their joint efforts, and they were the only ones in Beijing capable of doing this.

In order to overthrow the crown prince Li Qiang, they committed such a big crime in order to cause chaos in the capital and let people see the consequences of the crown prince holding power.

Afterwards, he asked all the ministers to impeach the crown prince, and even the emperor emeritus could not suppress it.

Nothing can go wrong with Datong Money House, as it involves huge interests. Every year, six large merchants can get huge profits from Datong Money House, as well as a network of relationships that cannot be measured in terms of money.

Why were they able to mobilize people from the Ministry of Revenue to commit such a big crime? It was because Datong Money House had the leverage over many officials and controlled them, forcing them to cooperate.

"How did the prince do it?" the Wu family leader asked puzzledly.

Eight granaries in the city and twelve granaries outside the city were emptied without anyone noticing in one night.

These are not the granaries of the Ministry of Households. Emptying those granaries took a lot of effort from the six families, and the number of people mobilized alone was huge.

Even if the six families joined forces, it took them quite a while to empty the granaries of the Ministry of Revenue.

But these twenty granaries were located in different locations, and they were puzzled as to how they could be emptied in one night.

"Think about the fact that the Palace of Prince Beijing, the Palace of Prince Yi Zhong and several other Duke's Mansions were emptied out before, the Crown Prince must have mastered some kind of magic!" said the leader of the Luo family with a worried look on his face.

He no longer had much confidence at this moment, as the failure of this operation was a huge blow to him.

It's not the loss of money. Even if all the grain in the twenty granaries were divided equally among the six big merchants, it would not be a serious loss.

What dealt him a blow was Li Qiang's ability. Before, he had only heard rumors about how miraculous this prince was.

But when he really went against Li Qiang, he felt how powerless he was as Li Qiang's enemy.

"Now we should discuss what to do next?" said the person in charge of the Feng family.

"Now that the prince has food in his hands, there is no possibility for us to deal with him through this method." The leader of the Ning family shook his head.

This time, Li Qiang used the original price of the grain in his hands to suppress the grain price, which greatly increased his reputation among the people in Beijing.

The six families set up a trap to deal with Li Qiang, but it actually gave Li Qiang a push instead.

"The prince will be watching the martial arts performance at Chengtian Gate in a few days!" the Shu family leader reminded softly.

He didn't finish his words, but the others understood what he wanted to say.

"If this fails, our family will be wiped out!" The leader of the Mu family shook his head repeatedly.

"Ninety million taels of silver in cash, and there is still a month left. How can we get it together? We will be retaliated by the prince!" said the Shu family's leader in a deep voice.

“Can’t we talk to the prince and see what his requests are?” The leader of the Luo family still preferred peace talks.

"The prince is in the upper hand now. We are at a disadvantage if we negotiate with him at this time!" said the leader of the Wu family.

As businessmen, they treated the conflict with the prince as a business dispute.

Therefore, everything must be based on interests, and for the greater good they must take actions that are beneficial to them.

"In this matter, the six of us must advance and retreat together. Each of us has death warriors. My Shu family will provide 500 death warriors!" The leader of the Shu family said directly.

"The Ning family also sent out 500 assassins!"

"The Mu family sent out five hundred assassins!"

"The Feng family sent out five hundred assassins!"

"The Wu family sent out five hundred assassins!"

The leaders of the five families all looked at the leader of the Luo family, waiting for his decision.

"Hey, my Luo family will also send out 500 death warriors!" said the leader of the Luo family helplessly.

It has come to this point that I can no longer quit even if I want to.

The next step is to discuss how to act, and someone needs to take the blame so that it does not affect the six companies.

The reason why they dare to use death squads is because they will not betray them and will commit suicide if they fail to complete their mission.

The food crisis in the capital was soon over after grain was distributed to various government offices.

The capital city has convenient water and land transportation. If the six big merchants had not intentionally suppressed it, the grain flowing in from outside alone would be enough to meet the capital city's consumption in a short period of time.

There are a lot of things going on these days, but Li Qiang has some free time.

During the trial of the three courts, he only needed to look at the memorials submitted by the three courts and grasp the direction of the interrogation. He did not need to consider other details.

What he was most concerned about was the upcoming martial arts performance, because that was what he wanted all the officials to see.

Li Qiang was wearing a Buddhist robe and holding Buddhist beads. She walked towards the Crown Princess's bedroom while comprehending the Buddhist teachings.

Except for the palace maids and eunuchs who stayed in the Eastern Palace, the rest were people he brought with him, and these palace maids and eunuchs were all arranged in unimportant places. The most important thing was that the safety of the Eastern Palace was the responsibility of the 100% loyal and brave generals.

He didn't have to worry about his strange attire being spread out of the East Palace and known to officials in the court.

After this period of time, he has made the East Palace as solid as a rock.

"Why is the prince wearing this?" Jia Min couldn't help but shake her head when she saw Li Qiang coming in.

"He said that this was a way to practice Buddhist techniques, so let him do it!" Lin Daiyu chuckled.

Li Qiang didn't care. The practice of the 'divine power' took too long. If he didn't take time to study, it would take who knows how long to master it.

"I heard that there was trouble in the capital. Is it all right?" Lin Daiyu turned to Li Qiang and asked.

Even she, who was recuperating at home after giving birth, had heard about what had happened in the capital recently.

"It's just a small matter, just the nonsense of some wealthy businessmen. Our Daqian needs a large amount of silver, and these businessmen came to give us silver!" Li Qiang explained casually.

Perhaps for the six major merchants, they are fighting for survival, but for Li Qiang, it is just taking advantage of the situation.

Taking advantage of the matter of Academician Deng, several of Daqian's largest merchants were taken over, providing Daqian with a steady stream of support.

"That's good!" Lin Daiyu said with relief.

Li Qiang has picked up his son. He cast a 'Healing Spell [Advanced]' on his son to prevent him from having any accidents.

The medical conditions in Daqian were extremely poor, and even among the royal children, many died young. He looked at his son and hoped that he would grow up soon. When his son grew up, he would hand over the government affairs of Daqian to his son.

His son suddenly started crying. Although Li Qiang had extraordinary fighting power, he had no way to deal with this child. No matter how he coaxed him, the little guy still didn't give him any face.

"Give it to me, the child has peed!" Jia Min shook her head and smiled at Li Qiang who looked embarrassed rarely.

She gently took the child and brought him aside. With the help of the maid and the nanny, they changed the child's diaper.

"Brother Qiang, I want to go to the Imperial Garden to appreciate the flowers!" Seeing Jia Min go to the side, Lin Daiyu gently pulled Li Qiang's arm and begged.

Li Qiang rarely saw Lin Daiyu like this, and couldn't help but laugh.

He also knew why Lin Daiyu was like this. According to traditional rules, a woman has to live in a closed room for a month after giving birth. This is called confinement.

Lin Daiyu seldom went out when she was pregnant, and she stayed in her room after giving birth. She couldn't help it.

"You're still smiling. Help me think of a solution!" Lin Daiyu saw Li Qiang smiling, patted Li Qiang gently and said.

"Let's go. I haven't visited the Imperial Garden yet!" Li Qiang said with a smile, pulling Lin Daiyu.

"What are you doing? Yu'er has just given birth for a few days, and you're planning to go out?" At this time, Jia Min, who was standing next to them, finally noticed the couple's little action and hurriedly stopped them.

"Don't worry, Sister Lin has actually fully recovered!" Li Qiang explained with a smile.

Jia Min was about to refute, but then she thought of Li Qiang's peculiarity.

When she was poisoned that year, it was Li Qiang who saved her. Even Lin Ruhai's weak body was cured by Li Qiang.

"Are you really okay?" Jia Min asked, still a little worried.

"It's really okay. How could I possibly harm Sister Lin!" Li Qiang nodded solemnly and assured.

"Then let's go out for a walk, but don't walk too long!" Jia Min finally felt relieved and nodded in agreement.

"Mom is the best!" Lin Daiyu happily hugged Jia Min and said coquettishly.

Since I need to leave the East Palace, I can't be too casual.

Xueyan brought a few maids to help Lin Daiyu put on makeup. They moved very quickly. Li Qiang waited for a while and saw Lin Daiyu, fully made up, walking out accompanied by a group of maids and palace maids.

Li Qiang gently took Lin Daiyu's hand, and the two of them held hands and got on the prince's carriage.

"Does every trip have to be such a grand affair?" Lin Daiyu asked Li Qiang softly, looking at the eunuchs and palace maids who were surrounding her.

"You can do whatever you want in the Eastern Palace, where everyone is your family. But once you leave the Eastern Palace, you will be the Crown Princess and will be the Empress in the future. Naturally, you will have to be the mother of the country!" Li Qiang explained with a smile.

Although Lin Daiyu was born into a family of officials, she only received some temporary training in palace rules after entering the palace and was not used to such pomp and circumstance.

"If I had known this would happen, I would have stayed in the East Palace to play!" Although Lin Daiyu said this, her little hand was tightly holding Li Qiang's hand, her face full of happiness.

She really liked the feeling of traveling alone with Li Qiang.

"There are too few places to play in the Eastern Palace. When I become emperor, I will change the rules and allow you to go wherever you want freely!" Li Qiang said with a doting smile.

"How could such a thing happen!" Lin Daiyu didn't believe it and replied with a chuckle.

Wherever the imperial carriage passed, all the palace maids and eunuchs immediately knelt by the side of the road.

All the palace maids and eunuchs were surprised to find that the Crown Princess, who was supposed to be in confinement in the Eastern Palace, had gone out.

Some people with ulterior motives have already run to the Daming Palace and the Cining Palace to report the matter.

The imperial carriage arrived at the Imperial Garden. Li Qiang helped Lin Daiyu down, and the two of them admired the royal garden together.

Only after seeing the Imperial Garden can you understand what the world's greatest wealth is like.

Li Qiang and Lin Daiyu were born into wealthy families, so their horizons were much broader than those of ordinary people. Every blade of grass, every mountain and every scene in the imperial garden was filled with rare and precious species.

"This is Xiaoxuesu. There are so many of them!" Lin Daiyu said in surprise, pointing to a cluster of inconspicuous orchids beside the road. Then she pointed to another place and shouted, "That's Baihexian!"

Li Qiang was also surprised. It was not easy to gather so many precious species in the imperial garden. The rarer the plant, the higher the requirements for survival.

However, considering that this is the imperial palace, it is easy to explain why the best gardeners in the world should be here.

When Li Qiang and Lin Daiyu were strolling in the Imperial Garden, the Empress Dowager of the Cining Palace heard the news. She did not go to the Imperial Garden, but came directly to the East Palace and waited in the main hall.

As for the retired emperor, when he heard the report, he just smiled faintly.

The emperor first thought of Li Qiang's ability. Considering his importance to Lin Daiyu, it was impossible for him to ignore Lin Daiyu's body.

In other words, Li Qiang was absolutely sure that this trip would not cause any harm to Lin Daiyu.

The retired emperor sent away the eunuch who brought the news. He then came to a set of armor and gently wiped the armor plates with his hands.

This set of armor has actually been wiped very clean and carefully polished by the craftsman, but he still wants to avoid any flaws.

This set of armor accompanied him in his battles and he experienced countless life and death situations. In a few days, he will put on this set of armor again to see the strongest army of Daqian.

"Dai Quan, is your armor intact?" The emperor suddenly turned to Dai Quan and asked.

"Master, the armor is well preserved, but my belly is a little big now, so it's a little tight for me to wear!" Dai Quan replied embarrassedly.

"Haha, you haven't had time to practice in the palace all these years, so of course you became rich!" said the emperor with a big laugh.

He also looked at his belly with pride. Even though he drank every day, he didn't gain much fat in his stomach.

Of course, there was another important reason why he did this, which was that he had suffered a serious illness and the little fat on his body had been consumed.

Li Qiang and Lin Daiyu played for an hour and only circled one corner of the Imperial Garden. They agreed to play slowly later and then returned.

As soon as Li Qiang and Lin Daiyu left the Imperial Garden, Jin Dong came to Li Qiang and whispered something.

"Sister Lin, we have to go back quickly!" Li Qiang greeted with a smile.

"But what happened?" Lin Daiyu asked.

"The Queen Mother is waiting to teach me a lesson!" Li Qiang spread his hands helplessly.

The two of them got on the imperial carriage. Knowing that the empress dowager was waiting in the East Palace, the carriage moved at a slightly higher speed.

"You won't be scolded, right?" Lin Daiyu asked worriedly.

She was very familiar with the Queen Mother, who had always been a very friendly person. She played with her sisters and did not put on any airs at all.

But that was the Queen Mother, the one who controlled the entire harem. She didn't really think that what she saw was all about the Queen Mother.

(End of this chapter)