Chapter 546: Rebellion
Li Erlang couldn't help but sit up straight and asked with a smile, "So do you think the King of Yizhou is a good official or a bad official?"
"I haven't even met him, so how can I know if he's a good official or a bad one?" Man Bao said matter-of-factly, "I'll tell you when I meet him."
Bai Shanbao couldn't help but glance at Manbao without saying anything.
Li Erlang obviously didn't get such an answer, so he asked with a smile, "Based on what you've heard, is the King of Yizhou a good official or a bad official?"
Bai Shanbao couldn't help but say, "He's not a good official."
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
Bai Shanbao said, "Excluding the year of the flood, two years have passed. Yizhou was only exempt from taxes for three years, and taxes will be collected again this autumn. As a result, even now, Yizhou's grain prices are still high, and the difference is huge compared to three years ago."
Bai Shanbao said, "Yizhou is his fiefdom, which shows that he is not a good official."
"This is an official from Yizhou, appointed by the imperial court. The King of Yizhou has no power to appoint or dismiss him. If he mismanages the situation, it can't be considered the King of Yizhou's fault, right?"
"Since the King of Yizhou has no power to appoint or dismiss officials, nor can he manage local affairs, why did the court grant him an imperial fief?" Bai Shanbao asked, "If he was only after money, wouldn't it have been better to simply confine the royal family to the capital?"
Li Erlang was slightly surprised and speechless.
The four people beside him couldn't help but look at each other, looking at Bai Shan with complicated expressions.
Manbao nodded. "They say the royal children who were granted fiefs are forbidden to do this or that, but in reality, the fiefdoms are their territory. So whether a king is good or bad can be determined by looking at the people in the fiefdoms."
Li Erlang said with a puzzled expression, "Wang Jujun was considered by the people to be the best official in the world, but he eventually rebelled."
Manbao quietly ate a piece of dessert from his plate and laughed when he heard this. "He can't be the King of Yizhou like Wang Mang. At best, he can be like Liu Bi."
Bai Shanbao nodded, "If he can become the King Jujun, then the people of Yizhou can enjoy a few more years of happiness."
Manbao nodded repeatedly, "Especially my family, we will definitely enjoy more blessings."
The four people sitting nearby were sweating profusely.
"Why?" Li Erlang asked calmly, "If someone treated you like Wang Jujun did, wouldn't you be unwilling to follow him in rebellion?"
Manbao shook his head. "Why rebel? The emperor isn't so foolish as to make my whole family go to war, nor does he want us to risk our lives filling the canal. If he wants to be the king, he must respect our choice."
Li Erlang: "...After receiving someone's kindness, it would be bad if I didn't repay them, right?"
Manbao looked at him in surprise and said, "This is the fief of the King of Yizhou. Everything he eats, drinks, and uses is provided by us. How much of our annual taxes and contributions should be allocated to his residence?"
"So it's only natural for him to be nice to us. We will like him and be grateful to him, but forget about rebelling. If you're not careful, people could get killed." Manbao thought for a moment and said, "But I don't have to worry about this because I have my father at home."
Her father is not stupid, so he would not let his family members rebel. If there were really people in the village who formed gangs to rebel, her father would definitely take them to hide in the mountains first.
It was the first time that Li Erlang heard such words, and it took him a while to react.
Bai Shanbao, Manbao and Bai Erlang all looked up at him suspiciously, and even Zhou Silang stared at him motionlessly.
Li Erlang raised his heart and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
"No," Manbao said, "Mr. Li Er, let's not talk about rebellion. There have been so many people who rebelled throughout history, but how many of them succeeded in the end? So we should just live our lives in peace."
Li Erlang couldn't help laughing, "What if the king is stupid?"
"Heaven will strike him down," Manbao said calmly. "Even if Heaven doesn't, the virtuous officials in the court will scold him. If they can't wake him up, the people will naturally change the emperor. But the current emperor is okay, so we don't have to worry about it for now. So don't even think about rebellion or anything like that. It will hurt both you and others."
The food came up quickly. Li Erlang didn't know what to say, so he fell silent and everyone ate quietly together.
After they were full, Manbao said, "Mr. Li Er, what you just said is a thank you gift for treating us to a meal. If we meet again in the future, just pretend we don't know each other."
Li Jilang: ...
Four followers: ...
Bai Shanbao nodded, bowed and said, "We'll never meet again."
Bai Erlang also bowed, then left with Bai Shanbao and the others. After they were far away, he asked, "Why do we have to say goodbye forever?"
Manbao said: "Because they look too complicated. We are still children and weak, so we should not associate with such people."
Bai Shanbao nodded: "Besides, they don't look like good people."
"How can you not be a good person?"
"Good people don't ask questions like rebellion." Bai Shanbao felt that they got along quite well, but also felt a little regretful. He warned Bai Erlang, "Don't spread what we said in the box today."
Manbao also warned Zhou Silang, "Fourth brother, don't tell anyone, don't tell our parents either."
"I know, I know," Zhou Silang said, "don't worry, I know what's going on."
Li Erlang stood at the entrance of the restaurant and watched them walk away. He couldn't help but turn around and said to the four of them with a smile: "We have become the poisonous creatures that are avoided as much as possible."
The attendant following behind was about to joke when he saw a carriage coming from the street. The people in the carriage lifted the curtain and saw them.
The two sides' eyes met. One was stunned for a moment before smiling slightly, but the person in the carriage widened his eyes. The carriage stopped immediately, and a man hurriedly got out of the carriage, lifted up his clothes and was about to kneel. Li Erlang reached out to support him and said with a smile, "Why be so polite?"
"Saint, Saint!"
Li Erlang smiled and said, "Since we have seen him, let's go to his mansion and take a look."
The newly appointed Jiannan Road Jiedushi, Lord Zhang, had sweat on his forehead. He bowed and stepped aside, then quickly invited him to get in the car.
Li Erlang looked back slightly at one of his followers, then helped Mr. Zhang get into the car.
The follower took two steps back, hid in the crowd, turned around and disappeared. He was going to find someone to clean up the mess.
Manbao and the others, who knew nothing about it, returned home. Mr. Zhuang was still out visiting guests and had not returned yet. The three little ones yawned and decided to take a nap.
When I woke up, I found a ladder and climbed onto the wall, watching the Yan family across the street joining in the fun.
County Magistrate Tang, who was on an inspection tour, walked around the garden with his hands behind his back. Noticing the gaze, he looked up. Manbao met his gaze and waved cheerfully, "Sir Tang, are you repairing the wall?"
I overslept and woke up at half past five.
The next chapter will be around 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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