However, Liu Fu's request to summon troops is different from that of Prefect Liu.
Prefect Liu was going to call for reinforcements, after all, this matter concerned his life and fortune, and he dared not delay for even a moment.
Liu Fu's request for reinforcements was different; it was mainly for a prank.
Liu Fu wanted to make things even bigger, so he simply brought his father into the fray. What kind of big news would happen if the reigning emperor were to be hunted down by a regional official?
This is interesting.
That night, Qiongqi flapped its wings and quietly descended into the palace. Then, the treasure-hunting rat came to Liu Laowu and slapped Liu Fu's handwritten letter in front of him.
A large rat with golden fur appeared before Liu Laowu, which made him feel strange. Fortunately, Liu Fu had opened the animal breeding ranch when he confessed to him that day, so Liu Laowu had seen this guy before.
So Liu Laowu was only slightly surprised, but he quickly came to his senses and opened the letter to read it.
"Father, there's a great opportunity to go on an incognito visit and observe the people's conditions. We can also catch a few corrupt officials along the way. Come over and have some fun. I've sent Qiongqi to pick you up."
Liu Laowu thought to himself, "What am I supposed to do? There are so many memorials to submit every day, how could I possibly have time to play?"
But as soon as he heard that Liu Fu had sent Qiongqi to pick him up, he immediately seemed to have been bewitched.
Last time, just seeing these strange beasts had left Liu Laowu in a daze, and he kept envying Liu Fu.
Now Liu Fu has sent Qiongqi to pick him up. That's a truly enormous creature! If he could experience riding Qiongqi, then being an emperor would be worthwhile!
Upon thinking of this, Liu Laowu became extremely excited and followed the treasure-hunting rat to Qiongqi.
When Liu Laowu saw the enormous figure of Qiongqi, he was immediately stunned. Even after he actually sat on Qiongqi's back, he pinched himself hard, thinking he was dreaming.
Liu Fu's Qiongqi was much faster than Prefect Liu's letter. When Liu Laowu met Liu Fu, he found it unbelievable.
In the middle of the night, they arrived in Liaodong from the capital?
"Eighth Brother, you called us here to play with you. Let me tell you, there are so many memorials to review in the palace every day. If you only encounter trivial matters, we'll go back. We can't waste our time here with you."
Liu Fu did not immediately tell his father everything that had happened. Instead, he took him to Jinjiazhuang, to the old man's house where he had given him water at the beginning, and then took Liu Laowu to see the large amount of vacant black soil there.
"Dad, it's such a waste not to grow crops on such good black soil, isn't it?"
Liu Laowu squatted by the edge of the field, cupped some black soil in his hands, smelled it, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:
"Back when we were still farming, if we had such good land, we would have been ecstatic! We would have been so happy that we would have been sleeping soundly with snot bubbles coming out of our noses!"
Liu Fu nodded:
“Father, come and see. The poor people here have paid money to farm, but the wealthy landowners won’t let them. In fact, these wealthy landowners would rather let the land lie fallow and grow overgrown with weeds than let the common people farm it. Tell me, how can our great Han Dynasty be strong and prosperous when there are such bloodsucking things that are harming the local people?”
Upon hearing his son's words, Liu Laowu was filled with resentment:
"Investigate those who need to be investigated, arrest those who need to be arrested, and kill those who need to be killed. We refuse to believe that these parasites of the nation can't be eradicated."
Seeing his father's reaction, Liu Fu knew his chance had come. He nodded and said:
“I know that we should investigate when necessary, but some things are simply impossible to investigate. We should arrest those who should be arrested, but we don’t dare to arrest those who should be arrested. We should kill those who should be killed, but we can’t kill those who should be killed.”
Upon hearing Liu Fu's words, Liu Laowu was furious!
"fart!"
"I am the emperor of a country, and you have the imperial sword bestowed upon you by me. What do you have that you wouldn't dare to kill?"
Liu Fu shook his head:
“Father, I do have an imperial sword, and you are indeed the emperor of a country, but there is only one you and only one me in the entire Han Dynasty.”
"The area that the two of us can govern is only a tiny patch. The entire Han Dynasty has so much land and people, so many prefectures and counties. How can the two of us possibly manage it all?"
When Liu Fu finished speaking, Liu Laowu understood. This kid was implying something, and it seemed that there was quite a bit of resistance involved!
"Old Eight, what exactly do you want to say? Why are you being so polite with us? Just say what you have to say."
Liu Fu didn't speak directly, but instead planned to have his father experience it firsthand along the way.
“Dad, there are some things you have to experience for yourself before you can know how deep the water is.”
Chen Jiulin, the Grand Commandant of the current dynasty, was Liu Laowu's sworn brother, a friend he had risked his life for, and also the godfather of Liu Fu and others, whom Liu Laowu had appointed when they were children.
Liu Fu knew that there was definitely more than one Chen Jiulin in the court. Among the old heroes who fought alongside Liu Laowu to establish the empire, there were definitely more than just one or two who had become corrupt.
He had to make his father walk among the people himself to see for himself the hardships involved.
"Dad, why don't you come with me around for a while? It won't take up much of your time, and there won't be any real danger to your life. You've already seen the strength of my companions, so don't worry."
After saying that, Liu Fu produced two more dragon horses, and he, Xiao Ying'er, and Liu Laowu each rode one of them, heading straight for Chunhe County.
Before they even entered the county town, they were discovered on the main road by men sent by Magistrate Fei:
"Quickly! That man is the criminal Niu Er, and the two men next to him must be his accomplices. Everyone, follow me and grab these men. Let's tie them up and go to the county magistrate to claim the reward!"
Liu Laowu was taken aback:
"Niu Er?"
"When did you become a criminal?"
Liu Fu rolled his eyes as well:
"Father, you didn't expect that a prince of the current dynasty would become a criminal, did you?"
Liu Laowu was completely taken aback. At this moment, with Shi Lianmengbi in tow and Liu Fu holding an iron rod, the three of them had already reopened the checkpoint and escaped from Chunhe County on a dragon horse.
"Eighth Brother, what exactly happened? Why are they arresting you?"
Xiao Ying'er immediately recounted her ordeal in Chunhe County to Liu Laowu. At this point, Liu Fu produced irrefutable evidence of corruption in Chunhe County, as well as evidence of Zhou Chunxuan, the prefect, committing murder, and taking the blame for the magistrate's nephew...
After reading it, Liu Laowu was furious!
"This is outrageous! This is absolutely outrageous!"
Liu Fu then interjected:
"Dad, don't rush to yell and curse. The really upsetting thing is yet to come."
Liu Laowu glared:
"besides?"
"Of course."
After saying this, Liu Fu led Liu Laowu straight to Yanshan Prefecture, where they broke through three checkpoints in succession.
Meanwhile, news of the three men's successive succession of the trials had already been reported, and Liu Qianglin, the prefect of Yanshan Prefecture, personally led a thousand soldiers to arrest them.
When Liu Laowu was besieged by one of his own subordinate prefects who was seriously ill, he began to curse loudly:
"What have those bastards done this time? They've really gone too far, daring to even arrest the emperor!"
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