Chapter 346 Do you still want to make trouble?
The sky gradually brightened, and the orange-yellow light slowly climbed up the sky.
During the morning court session, Jun Li Luo and all the officials discussed the matter of the Worry-Free Pill again.
"Your Majesty, according to the intelligence I have obtained so far, the business of Worry-Free Pills is active in Youzhou and Qinzhou, and there are more than 500 victims. Nearly 100 households in the cities adjacent to the two cities have also been harmed."
"Someone previously reported to me that the Wang family of Youzhou made a fortune by selling this medicine. I sent people to Youzhou to bring the Wang family to the imperial city for interrogation, but they were killed on the way. This shows that the person behind the scenes is cruel and lawless."
Song Yunchu bowed to Jun Liluo and said, "I think that the investigation of these cities should be intensified, and the governors of Youzhou and Qinzhou should also be suspended and put on trial, so as to calm the public anger."
"Your Highness Prince Ning is right." The Supreme Court Justice seconded, "Hundreds of families have been harmed, but the news has not yet come. If the Worry-Free Pill had not flowed into the Imperial City, I don't know how long these state officials would have delayed the news."
"The prefecture officials did make mistakes, but they are not necessarily fully responsible. Perhaps the local officials concealed the facts for fear of being held accountable by the court and were reluctant to report them. Moreover, they were unable to handle the situation properly due to their limited abilities, which made the situation even more serious. Worse still, they may have accepted bribes from unscrupulous businessmen and disregarded the safety of the people for their own selfish interests."
Song Yunchu's expression became more serious as he spoke, "Your Majesty, why don't you let me go to these two places and conduct a thorough inspection. Your Majesty can send other officials to accompany me and supervise me."
As soon as Song Yunchu finished speaking, the Minister of Personnel on the other side took over the conversation, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go with His Royal Highness Prince Ning."
Assessing and supervising officials is one of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Personnel.
"Your Majesty, Qinzhou is my hometown. I know a little about the local customs and people there. I am also willing to assist Your Highness Prince Ning."
Song Yunchu glanced at the person who was speaking. It was Minister Zhou from the Ministry of War, who had been promoted by Minister Huo.
Ever since Concubine De passed away, Minister Huo had a look of decadence in his eyes for several days, and was far from being as energetic as before.
He spoke less, but his men were still full of energy and not afraid of the Song Party at all.
"I understand your intentions."
Jun Li Luo looked at the enthusiastic crowd and said slowly, "Youzhou and Qinzhou are both in the south. Since I ascended the throne, I have not traveled far to inspect them. I have decided to tour the south at the end of the month to understand the people's sentiments along the way. When I arrive at these two places, I will personally hold the local officials accountable. I will never allow anyone to be corrupt and derelict in their duties and do things that endanger the country!"
"Your Majesty is wise." Song Yunchu was the first to speak, "The matter of the Worry-Free Pill has caused people to be uneasy. Your Majesty's visit may be able to calm the people."
"I think so too." Jun Liluo said, "As for the list of accompanying officials, I will make a decision after discussing it with Prince Ning."
…
"Southern Tour?!"
King Kang was originally standing by the pavilion feeding the koi in the pond. When he heard the report from his subordinates, he almost dropped the fish food in his hand.
"It is absolutely true. His Majesty announced in person at the morning court that he will go south at the end of the month. The previous emperor also made many southern tours during his reign, and he always brought his relatives and concubines with him. So, Your Majesty, you will probably go with His Majesty on this southern tour."
King Kang looked a little ugly.
The emperor's southern tour was not only to understand the people's sentiments, but also to investigate the matter of the Worry-Free Pill.
If the emperor had sent a minister to investigate, he would not have panicked, but it happened to be a southern tour... If the emperor went personally, how could he give up until the investigation was thorough?
It would not be enough to just push a few merchants out to die. The emperor should be able to see that there are powerful people backing these merchants.
He needs to find a scapegoat as soon as possible.
While he was thinking, a guard came to report, "Your Majesty, someone tied this letter to a crossbow and shot it outside our mansion."
Prince Kang took the letter from the guard, opened it, and his face suddenly darkened.
It was Jun Tianyi who invited him to meet him in the bamboo forest at the foot of Cuifeng Mountain at 5 p.m.
Perhaps because he was afraid that he would not go, Jun Tianyi added a sentence at the end - if the fourth brother did not come, the third letter of accusation would be sent to Prince Ning's Mansion at night.
"This bastard must be trying to use me to do things for him again."
King Kang sneered and slammed the letter paper on the table.
He couldn't help but wonder whether there was anyone among his men who had close contacts with Prince Yi's Mansion. If not, how could Jun Tianyi get hold of anything against him.
Now that things have come to this, he can only go and meet him first to see what unreasonable demands the guy wants to make.
…
At 3 p.m., King Kang, accompanied by several guards, arrived at the bamboo forest marked on the letter paper.
There was a bamboo house about three meters ahead. The man outside the house saw him and came forward to pay his respects.
"I am Du Zhong, honored to meet His Royal Highness Prince Kang."
As Du Zhong spoke, he glanced at the people behind King Kang and said with a smile, "There are only three of us, but the prince brought so many people with him. Are you worried that we will do something to you? In the words of the master, we currently have a common enemy, so we should unite as one."
"What a united front."
King Kang sneered, "Before he became a traitor, I'm afraid he never thought of associating with me, his fourth brother? Now that he's down and out and hiding from place to place, he thinks of using me to help him get revenge. He makes such a high-sounding statement about his villain's intentions, aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
If it were in the past, Du Zhong would have frowned and retorted a few words when hearing such harsh words, but after experiencing many setbacks with Jun Tianyi, his temperament has become much calmer and he is unwilling to engage in verbal arguments.
"I understand that the prince is angry, but the most urgent thing is to find a way to solve the current predicament. The master is willing to help you, please go to the bamboo house to discuss in detail."
The people behind Kang Wangchao said, "You wait here," then got off their horses and walked towards the bamboo house.
Jun Tianyi wanted to help him? Ridiculous! The trouble he had now was all caused by Jun Tianyi.
If it weren't for Jun Tianyi, the merchants under his control might not have been exposed. Even if the government in some places found clues about the Worry-Free Pill, the merchants would have found a scapegoat. As long as they were willing to pay money, the people in the yamen might not be unwilling to cooperate and the case would have been closed quickly, and there would have been no worries.
But the letter of accusation had been sent to Prince Ning's mansion. With Song Yunchu's intervention, which government office would dare to deal with it perfunctorily? They didn't even dare to delay arresting people, for fear that they would be held accountable if they were slow to act.
King Kang arrived outside the bamboo house and kicked the door open without any hesitation.
A burst of wine aroma wafted into the air. In addition to Jun Tianyi, there was also a burly man sitting at the round table in the room.
"Is this King Kang? He is truly heroic."
The man laughed loudly, then picked up the wine jar, filled the third bowl on the table with wine, and pushed it in the direction of King Kang.
King Kang didn't recognize him, and he didn't bother to exchange pleasantries with him. He just cast his eyes on Jun Tianyi, "What do you want to do by calling me here today? I don't like beating around the bush. Just say what you want to say!"
"Fourth brother, now that you are here, let's sit down and have a good talk. I know I have caused you trouble, but no matter how much I apologize, the trouble has already happened. You might as well calm down and let's work together to solve the problem and solve our common enemy."
"Then I'd like to hear what you have to say." King Kang took a step forward expressionlessly and sat down at the table.
"Before solving Fourth Brother's problem, let me introduce you to a friend."
Jun Tianyi smiled faintly at King Kang, "The one next to us is General Dale from Mobei."
"People from Mobei?!" King Kang frowned and looked at Jun Tianyi with even more contempt.
Is this guy addicted to being a traitor? He wants to make friends with everyone!
Mobei had once invaded the border of Tianqi, and is now a powerful enemy of Xiling. The people of Mobei should not have set foot on the territory of Tianqi, but now they can chat and laugh with Jun Tianyi here...
This guy has already been defeated miserably, does he still want to make trouble again?
"Why do you have to look at me like that, Fourth Brother?"
Facing the contempt of King Kang, Jun Tianyi was not annoyed, and just said lightly, "In fact, you and I have both made mistakes because we had to, but in terms of harming the world, I am not as good as Fourth Brother."
"What a joke!" King Kang scolded, "How dare you, a traitor who collaborates with the enemy, say that I am more evil than you!"
"Even if I really did collude with the enemy and betray my country, I didn't kill many people. I'm not like Fourth Brother. Although you didn't kill anyone with your own hands, those people paid the price of their lives because of your greed. Isn't this against the will of heaven? In fact, you and I have both committed capital crimes. No one should look down on anyone else."
Jun Tianyi stated a fact quite calmly, "It's just that you are luckier than me..."
"So you can't stand seeing me having such good luck and living a carefree life! Do you have to drag me into the quagmire so that you can feel more balanced?!" King Kang said angrily.
"Brother, you are too serious. If I hadn't been desperate, why would I have planned to plot against you? At this point, scolding me won't solve the problem. Once your crimes are exposed, everyone will call you a criminal, and the consequence you will face is the death penalty. The emperor has never valued family affection, and he won't let you off just because you are the emperor's uncle."
"He went on this southern tour to investigate the Worry-Free Pill, and understanding the people's sentiments was just a side job. As one of the clan members, you should go with him. Generals Ye and Zhao were ordered to go treasure hunting with the Princess of Xiling. They will not have the chance to appear on the imperial ship. Without these two great generals by the emperor's side, it is a good opportunity for you."
Listening to Jun Tianyi's words, King Kang frowned even more tightly, "What good opportunity?"
Although he asked this, he vaguely sensed Jun Tianyi's intention, and his heart couldn't help but skip a beat.
"Brother, why do you ask when you already know the answer? Even if those local officials who accepted bribes have never seen you, they have close contacts with the merchants under your command. Once they fall into the hands of the emperor, do you think you can still hide well? You are already this old, don't hold on to any more luck."
"Since there is no way to stop the emperor from his southern tour, let him go without returning. One of you and him will have to suffer the consequences."
As soon as Jun Tianyi finished speaking, King Kang slammed the table and stood up, "Are you crazy? You want me to kill the king?"
"I'm not crazy, but you, Fourth Brother, have been so short-sighted from the beginning to the end."
Jun Tianyi stared at King Kang and said expressionlessly, "You obviously have all the money and connections, and you dare to do the business of Worry-Free Pills. It shows that you are also a bold person. Why can't you be a little bolder? If you can kill that tyrant king and treacherous ministers, there will be no one to suppress you. Who can punish you?"
"That's easy for you to say!" Prince Kang sneered, "Even if General Ye and General Zhao are not accompanying him, the Yulin Army around the emperor is not a pushover."
"The Yulin Army is indeed powerful, but not all of them are theirs. If I remember correctly, the Wu family father and son, who are on good terms with the Duke of Jin, hate the thief Song. The young master of the Wu family is also one of the officers of the Yulin Army. Besides, except for the imperial ship that the emperor is on, the Ministry of War has the right to mobilize the guards on other accompanying ships."
Jun Tianyi paused and said, "The Ministry of War and Song Yunchu are at odds. I don't need to remind you, Fourth Brother. They may not commit regicide, but they would definitely like to see Song Yunchu suffer. In fact, they don't need to do anything big. You just need to convince them to do nothing when the chaos occurs and just watch Song Yunchu's predicament with a cold eye."
"Fourth brother, I believe that there are many officials in this court who don't care who is the emperor. Moreover, there are rumors of an affair between the emperor and Song Yunchu. Many officials despise the two but dare not show it. There are many people in this court who have been suppressed by Song Yunchu for a long time. If you can let Song Yunchu go to see the King of Hell, they will be more than happy. Maybe they will even thank you."
After Jun Tianyi finished speaking, General Dale, who had been silent for a long time, took over the conversation, "Brother Tianyi's words are very reasonable. The guards in the palace are as strict as a copper wall, but it's different outside the palace. The wider the space, the better the opportunity to attack. The emperor's royal ship, even if it is well guarded, is not as good as the palace. At that time, we can attack from the water and underwater respectively. If the prince can arrange his own men around the royal ship, our chances of winning will be higher."
Upon hearing this, King Kang subconsciously asked, "How to attack underwater?"
"This, of course, depends on me and my brothers."
Dale smiled and said, "I have a group of soldiers who are very familiar with water. Your Majesty has probably never seen us fight a water battle with the Xiling Kingdom. Although both sides did not end up well, their casualties were much higher than ours. Leave the underwater attack to us."
Seeing that Dale responded readily, King Kang narrowed his eyes and said, "You are a foreign general, but you are so eager to help me. What do you want from me?"
"What I want is not difficult for the prince. We have been fighting with Xiling for a long time and have suffered heavy losses. Now Xiling is cooperating with Tianqi to search for treasures. Once the treasure house is found, Xiling's strength will be strengthened, and we Mobei people will have no place to stay."
"So I would like to ask Your Majesty, if I help you, you will help me ambush Xiling's treasure hunting team and prevent them from taking any treasure."
When mentioning Xiling, Dale's eyes flashed with coldness. "The treasure trove left by the Fengyun Dynasty is a huge fortune. Even if the two countries have agreed to divide it equally, they may not keep their promises when faced with huge interests. The people of Xiling have always been cunning. Instead of betting on their character, it is better for us to take the initiative and eliminate all possibilities of causing Tianqi to suffer losses."
King Kang listened to his words, sneered in his heart, and asked coldly: "How much do you want to share?"
"Two-for-one is good. As long as we can destroy the Xiling army, Tianqi will decide the external explanation. The families of Generals Ye and Zhao are in the imperial city. For the sake of their family's safety, we are not afraid that they will not cooperate. By then, Tianqi's national strength will be greatly increased, and with Mobei as an ally, Xiling will have to consider its own capabilities even if it wants to go to war."
"What's the point of two countries being equally powerful? In my humble opinion, we should fight to see who is the strongest! I believe that if you, Your Majesty, rule the country, it will be better than the sickly man you are now."
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