Chapter 76 I heard
The one kneeling on the ground was the Minister of Revenue. He was the one who took the lead in preparing the things to be delivered to the State of Hu this time.
At that time, he took half of the bribe and gave it to other officials. He knew that others would secretly reduce the amount to make a profit, and that the things sent to the Hu State were impossible to count.
At that time, he thought that the Hu Kingdom and Ganzhou should fight each other, and both sides would be defeated in the end, and the people of the Hu Kingdom would kill the deposed prince before they starved to death.
Until now, there has been no news of the deposed prince being killed, but last night, he heard some not-so-good news before the emperor.
Things have been unsettled in Longzhou recently. In the past few months, they have been purchasing grain and cloth from the mainland frequently. Although they did it very covertly, news still got through.
At first he thought that it was bought by someone sent by the Hu Kingdom. Later, his subordinates found out through investigation that it was not from the Hu Kingdom. He was obsessed with his new concubine at the time and didn't pay much attention to it.
Now facing the questioning of the emperor, he had a hunch that something bad was going to happen, and he was afraid. He was also an old man who had experienced a lot of things. Now after analyzing the situation comprehensively, his back was soaked with sweat.
He was kneeling there, his back soaked through with clothes clearly visible to the emperor. Xiao Rui's gaze fell on his back, his eyes full of disgust.
"Go down. Before sunset today, I want you to find out the cause and come up with a solution. If you can't do that, then..."
The person kneeling below was shocked. Xiao Ruihu's eyes flashed, and he continued with a cold face, "When the time comes, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
The Minister of Revenue thanked him tremblingly and retreated. Xiao Rui wiped his forehead irritably. He didn't want to admit that he was worse than Xiao Heng.
So he called in a few more senior officials to discuss the affairs of Yiganzhou. By nightfall, they finally had some clues.
He was so busy that he forgot about the matter of the Minister of Revenue. When he remembered it at night, he felt something was wrong. He sent someone to check it out that night. Soon the news came back that the old man had disappeared from the capital with his family in just half a day.
In a rage, Xiao Rui was about to punish the nine clans of the old man, but he found that the nine clans of the old man had also disappeared.
Xiao Rui was furious and ordered the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to conduct a thorough investigation. A few days later, the news presented to them shocked him again. It turned out that this old guy had been accumulating wealth and taking bribes since his father was alive. He had almost swallowed up 30% of the silver in the Ministry of Revenue. This time when he disappeared, he also took away 20% of the silver in the Ministry of Revenue. He left with a fortune of millions.
Now faced with matters of all sizes, if the whole country were to search for him, it would only cause the national treasury to suffer even greater deficits.
Xiao Rui sighed deeply. In addition to being angry, he only asked the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to send people to slowly track down the whereabouts of the old minister. Now the most urgent task is to deal with Xiao Heng.
As long as he is there, he is a threat to me.
As long as I can sit firmly in this position, the country can still develop again.
But if Xiao Heng is not dealt with, he will ultimately be a threat.
This effort lasted two years.
In the past two years, not only did he fail to get rid of Xiao Heng, but he heard news that made him increasingly angry.
It is said that not only did the Hu State not attack Ganzhou, but it reached a cooperation with Ganzhou. The Hu State purchased large quantities of grain, silk, salt, and pottery from Ganzhou every year. Ganzhou became a prosperous city and a trade market with the border of the Hu State.
It is said that within two years, the Southern Wilderness was transformed from a barren land into a wealthy place that everyone yearned for. A dock was built in the south to exchange goods with overseas. In the interior, there were hundreds of shops, roads leading to all directions, and houses scattered everywhere. Even the mountains were reclaimed and used to the fullest extent to build roads and houses.
I heard that any one of the seven counties under Ganzhou is richer and more powerful than the capital. Roads and houses are being built in Ganzhou, children are being educated, the elderly are being taken care of, young and strong men and women have something to do, and everyone is doing their best to exert their strength.
It is said that Ganzhou not only attaches great importance to learning, but also to martial arts. Any man picked out at random can fight three people at once, and the more powerful ones can fight ten people at once.
It is said that not only Ganzhou is prosperous and powerful, but even Longzhou has switched sides and automatically cut off ties with the court to join Ganzhou. Not only that, in the past two years, many martial artists from various states in the court have brought their families to Longzhou and Ganzhou, and settled down there.
I heard that under the leadership of Xiao Heng and Gu Xiyue, Ganzhou and Longzhou welcomed people to come and join them. Everyone could get good arrangements there, with food to eat, a house to live in, things to do, and money to earn.
I heard that there are not even thieves there, and even the bandits in the mountains have found their conscience, come down the mountain to apologize, and join the labor.
…
A lot of news reached Xiao Rui's ears. The more he listened, the more unbelievable it became. He ignored it every time. Finally, he watched the national treasury become increasingly depleted and capable people gradually disappeared. Every time he went to court, there were only some fawning scholars and students in the court, and there was not a single masculine and capable person.
There are many people who talk a lot, but too few who can do practical work.
Xiao Rui became more and more anxious, feeling helpless, like a good cook without rice.
At this time, someone offered him a suggestion: he should pretend to call Xiao Heng back first, wait for him to develop Yu Dynasty, and then find an opportunity to kill him.
Xiao Rui was originally feeling depressed, but he immediately became excited after hearing this proposal.
Yes, placing him thousands of miles away would actually benefit him. He is so powerful. If he is kept by my side, he can be my puppet. Then I can let him control the government and develop the country on the surface, but in fact I will be the one in control of the overall situation.
The more I think about it, the better the idea becomes.
The next day, an imperial edict was sent to the Southern Wilderness.
The imperial edict arrived in the Southern Wilds half a month later. The traveler traveled under the stars and moon, changing horses countless times along the way. He was exhausted and finally found Xiao Heng in a resort on the seaside of the Southern Wilds.
When people arrived, Xiao Heng was lying on a bench that looked very comfortable, and the beautiful and delicate Gu Xiyue was lying in his arms. The two of them were talking softly and whispering to each other.
The man wanted to step forward, but was stopped by several guards. Wei Lin stepped forward with a cold face, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
After saying this, he looked at the visitor with a series of warnings, "Our prince and princess have just started their honeymoon. Don't disturb them if there is nothing wrong."
It was Meixiang who told him the word "honeymoon", and Meixiang said it was the princess who said it.
Speaking of the word honeymoon, Wei Lin felt warm in his heart, because the princess said that he and Meixiang would get married in a few days, and then they could go out and have a good honeymoon.
The prince and princess have been very busy in the past two years and have rarely been together. This time, they have finally settled everything and can relax and spend their sweet days together. Unexpectedly, someone came out of nowhere and dared to disturb their good days.
As a result, Wei Lin's face almost turned into ice.
The man looked at Wei Lin tremblingly. He knew Wei Lin, but Wei Lin didn't recognize him. In the past, he looked down on him, but he didn't expect to be in such a fairyland now. Looking at Wei Lin's majestic appearance, he wanted to tell him who he was, but was embarrassed to say it out loud. He had to lower his head and took out the imperial edict from his arms, walked forward, and handed it to Wei Lin respectfully.
Wei Lin looked at him doubtfully, took the imperial edict, opened it and took a look at it before handing it to Xiao Heng.
Xiao Heng took a quick look at it and threw it to Wei Lin, then waved his hand and asked him to go away. After there was no one around, he pulled her into his arms and whispered the contents of the edict in her ear.
Gu Xiyue's body was numb from being ironed, and her voice was rarely soft. She closed her eyes and said lightly, "Merchants and skilled craftsmen from all over the place have come here. What are you going back for? Let those literati and scholars who despise merchants save the country."
Xiao Heng kissed her gently on the side of her face, laughter coming out of his chest, "You little devil! What about the people of Yu Dynasty?"
Gu Xiyue opened her eyelids, her sparkling eyes flickering. She turned over, facing away from him, and muttered, "What are you afraid of? Apart from those self-righteous people in the capital, people from other places will turn against us sooner or later. We just need to spread the news like before."
After saying that, he rubbed the person behind him twice, and with just these two rubs, Gu Xiyue was instantly frozen.
For a moment, her face turned red and she wanted to slap herself.
Feeling her own embarrassment and not hearing anyone behind her, she quickly stood up and prepared to run away as if nothing had happened.
Unexpectedly, just when she was halfway through, a hand grabbed her waist, and then, as the world spun around, she was held horizontally in his arms.
Xiao Heng held her in his arms and strode towards the house hidden behind a rockery not far away.
That was where they stayed during their honeymoon.
In order to hide her shame, Gu Xiyue kept squinting her eyes. She secretly looked at him with half-closed eyes, but then closed them quickly out of fright.
She felt a strong murderous aura.
This murderous aura is different from any other aura at any time.
Suddenly, I felt a little excited and a little scared.
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