klisemfg Chapter 189 The four southwestern states are all in my hands!
Chapter 189 The four southwestern states are all in my hands!
Baili Luochen was confused by Wen Yanzhao's words:
"Zhao'er, what do you mean by three years of military pay? Where does that come from? Explain it to Grandpa!"
Wen Yanzhao pointed at Baili Chengfeng, who was training soldiers in the distance.
"Grandpa, my uncle is the Crown Prince after all. Let him hand over this small task to a few of the captains. We can go back home and talk about it slowly!"
Baili Luochen pondered for a moment, then said loudly to Baili Chengfeng:
"Chengfeng, let General Luo Qian and the military instructor do it. Now come back with me. Zhao'er has something important to tell us!"
Baili Chengfeng immediately handed over the task of training the soldiers according to Baili Luochen's request.
The three of them mounted their horses and returned to the Marquis of Zhenxi's Mansion in a moment.
……
The scene shifts to Xitang Street in Chaisang City, where sounds of swords cutting through flesh and throats can be heard from the Gu family's Longsheng Money House.
The neighbors and passers-by around hid far away, fearing that they would be in trouble.
Gu Jianmen, with murderous aura and blood-stained clothes, walked out stepping on the bank signboard that was smashed into several pieces by Ying Tianxi.
What was shocking was that he was holding a head with its eyes open, dripping with blood...
Looking closely, they found that the head was Ying Tianxi, who was used as a spear by Xue Daocheng.
The reason why Gu Jianmen did not kill Xue Daocheng, the main culprit, was because he led his men to Xitang Street.
It happened that someone came to the government office and said that the Inspector of the Southwest Road had come to Chaisang City to inspect the collection of taxes and silver.
When Xue Daocheng heard that it was his immediate superior, he immediately left Ying Tianxi behind and rushed back to the government office, thus temporarily saving his life.
Of course, this is only temporary... Gu Jianmen threw Ying Tianxi's head down and let it roll to the side of the road to be taken away by a passing stray dog as lunch.
"Li Suli...why didn't you see that bastard Xue Daocheng?"
Gu Jianmen sheathed his sword, turned around and asked.
Li Suli was standing on the body of a Ying family thug, wiping the blood that was about to solidify on the blade of his sword. He looked up when he heard the question:
"Master, when you killed Ying Tianxi, didn't he say that Xue Daocheng had to go back to the government office for something? I think he must have heard the news and is hiding now!"
Gu Jianmen leaned over to pick up the broken plaque of Longsheng Bank and said coldly:
"Tell the shopkeeper to find someone to make a new plaque and clean the floor. How can you do business when it's covered in blood?"
"Take your men home and prepare for defense to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation. I will go to the government office and personally chop off Xue's head!"
Li Suli clasped his hands together:
"My lord, be extremely careful on this trip and don't be too aggressive. I'm afraid the Bingzhou garrison will hear of this and rush over!"
Gu Jianmen smiled contemptuously:
"Come on, just come. It's a good opportunity to feed my Yuexue. It hasn't seen so much blood in a long time!"
After saying that, Gu Jianmen leaped into the air and headed straight for the government office...
……
Qiandong City, Zhenxi Marquis Mansion.
Wen Yanzhao followed Baili and his son all the way back to the Marquis' Mansion.
Before the father and son had time to take off their armor, Wen Yanzhao pulled them to the main hall, and also called his aunt who was tending the flowers and plants (Datura, Gelsemium elegans, Poinsettia...) to come along.
"This is an urgent matter, Zhao'er will keep it short..."
"The prefect of Chaisang City in the Southwest Road is oppressing the local people and has teamed up with the Qing King's brother-in-law to plunder the wealthy and powerful families. Coincidentally, this wealthy family is an old acquaintance of Dongjun and me—Master Lingyun, Gu Jianmen!"
"Zhao'er saw this and came up with a plan! Originally, I went to Zi, Meng, Jian, and Bingzhou to investigate the tax revenue of these four wealthy regions..."
"I never thought that this incident involving the Gu family, the most prestigious family in Chaisang City, would give us a legitimate opportunity to seize one million in tax silver!"
Baili Luochen frowned and suddenly asked when he heard this:
"Zhao'er, you said we can legitimately seize the tax silver? How legitimate is that?"
Wen Yanzhao smiled wittily:
"Grandpa, what are the responsibilities of the Zhenxi Marquisate?"
Baili Chengfeng's expression changed:
"Zhao'er, how do you talk to your grandfather? Do you even need to ask... Of course, it's to defend the borders and maintain internal peace!"
Wen Yanzhao glanced at his uncle and then asked:
"My uncle is right... If a rebellious lunatic appeared in the four southwestern states and dared to resist arrest and kill an imperial official, would the Zhenxi Marquisate have any responsibility to intervene?"
Hearing this, Baili Chengfeng hesitated.
When Emperor Tai'an conferred the title on Baili Luochen, he issued an edict ordering Baili Luochen to lead 100,000 Pofeng troops to guard the southwestern corner of Beili to resist foreign aggression and protect the territory and the people!
Logically speaking, the four states of Zi, Meng, Jian and Bing naturally belong to the north and southwest, but these four states also have their own judicial organs and garrisons.
So if we really take this too seriously, when we encounter a "rebel" like Gu Jianmen, the Zhenxi Marquis Mansion is indeed qualified and responsible to send troops to suppress him!
At this moment, Wen Luoyu suddenly said a key sentence:
"That Lingyun Master Gu Jianmen that Zhao'er mentioned, didn't he really kill the local prefect?"
"If that's the case, it would be reasonable for us to send troops to suppress it, and then collect the tax silver at the same time... Zhao'er, is what Auntie said right?"
Wen Yanzhao gave Wen Luoyu a surprised look in return:
"Sure enough, no one is smarter than my aunt!"
Baili Luochen, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke and asked:
"You little rascal, how could you come up with such a sinister plan?"
"But Grandfather, let me ask you, even if we pocket the tax money, how will you, the Marquis of Zhenxi, explain it to the Emperor when he asks about it?"
"Are you asking me to rebel against Beili directly? The timing isn't right yet. Armaments are still being built, and the newly recruited soldiers can't go straight to the battlefield. So it's not the right time yet..."
Wen Yanzhao shook his head and said:
"Of course not. Xiao Chongjing can't demand the tax silver from you, so he should thank you!"
Baili Chengfeng frowned and asked:
"How do you say this?"
Wen Yanzhao: "Even if the emperor asks, we can say that we kept the tax silver in a safe place to protect it from being robbed!"
"If he asks us to hand it over, we'll just give him a procrastination tactic!"
"I just don't believe he'd dare to force the world-renowned Marquis of Zhenxi and his 100,000-man Pofeng Army to rebel just for a few million taels of silver!"
Baili Luochen laughed loudly upon hearing this:
"Hehehehe..."
"My dear relative Wen Lin, how could you, an old poisonous creature, give birth to such a sinister and vicious little poisonous creature!"
"Good plan. Let's do as you say. When should we set out?"
Wen Yanzhao stood up and clasped his fists towards Baili Luochen and said:
"Grandpa and uncle can gather an army now. They don't need a lot of people, just bluffing will do!"
"Zhao'er, return to Chaisang City immediately. With my strength, I can protect the Gu family. I expect Grandpa and Uncle to arrive before sunset tomorrow."
"Then we'll use the same trick again, using the pretext of Huang Ming Zhenxi Hou protecting the tax silver of each state to pocket the tax silver of Zi, Meng, and Jian states!"
Baili Luochen suddenly stood up and clapped his hands:
"Good good!"
"This way, all the tax revenue from the four states will be in our hands. Zhao'er, what you gave to Grandpa is far more than just three years' worth of military pay!"
"With these four to five million taels of tax silver, Grandpa is confident that with the 100,000 Wind-Breaking Army at his disposal, he can sweep away the remaining 500,000 to 600,000 troops in Beili!"
……
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