On the eastern outskirts of Luoyang City, the emperor, along with hundreds of civil and military officials, built a three-foot-high earth platform to burn incense and read the edict to Li Xiaofei.

The content of the edict was to serve the barbarians, make good friends with other countries, protect Daliang's overseas trade, pursue pirates, etc.

In order to show the importance of the imperial court, Li Xiaofei was assigned 500 people from the forbidden army in front of the palace to accompany him, and 500 supplies and vehicles.

The most obvious one is the appointment of Li Xiaofei as the patrol envoy of Daliang Coastal Defense and the general manager of Haixi City Shipping Department, the governor of Dongyi Prefectures, and the title of Duke of Fuhai County.

The coastal defense patrol allows the three navies along the coast of Daliang to be mobilized, the Beihai Navy, the Jiangnan Navy, and the Nanhai Navy;

; The Grand Governor of the Dongyi States is a new official position. In the emperor's impression, there is a continent to the east of the sea, and these places that will be explored and discovered in the future will have Daliang prefectures and counties. The newly established prefectures in the future will be temporarily held by Li Xiaofei.

Governor.

But these are all false. The real thing is to find the elixir and the magic of immortality for the emperor. If he can't find it, he must follow the edict, "If trade is not smooth and the new prefectures and counties are not satisfied, Li Xiaofei will stay in the local area without returning it."

towards!"

However, the vast majority of court officials did not know the truth. In their view, this was to let Li Xiaofei expand his territory.

In order to prevent the emperor from resorting to violence and depleting the treasury, there were officials on the spot who made suggestions, but they were all dragged away by the emperor's order.

The emperor helped Li Xiaofei offend a group of people, many of whom supported the prince.

As a result, most of the accounts of the national treasury deficit were recorded in Li Xiaofei's name. Previously, many ministers participated in the impeachment of the third prime minister Zuo, accusing the third prime minister Zuo of squandering the national treasury's savings for several years. However, most of the ministers who participated in the impeachment of the third prime minister Zuo

They were all dismissed and demoted for interfering in imperial military affairs and not following national policies.

After seeing off Li Xiaofei and the team of 500 forbidden troops, the emperor sent a team of secret envoys to the west.

Starting from Luoyang, the Forbidden Army soldiers kept complaining along the way. Li Xiaofei knew that these people were asking for rewards, but he deliberately pretended not to know and ignored them.

Antonio, who was in the team together, didn't know what was going on. After drinking several times with the Imperial Guard soldiers, he came to Li Xiaofei to ask for reward on their behalf.

"Master Li, they are about to leave home and go to the vast sea. Why are you so stingy and refuse to give even a little reward? I don't understand. You were not like this before! Have you changed since you returned to Daliang?"

Li Xiaofei looked at the drunken Antonio and smiled, "We in Daliang have a saying, no reward will be given without merit, and your hometown also has a saying, no oats will be eaten until the horse is on the road! Rewards cannot be given without reason, let alone indiscriminate rewards. We even

If you start giving rewards before they even leave the sea, then ordinary rewards will not be enough to satisfy them once they reach the sea!"

"But they work really hard, you can't do this to them!"

Li Xiaofei looked at the guards around him and coughed, "You are right. I will come back tomorrow to reward everyone one by one according to their merits!"

However, Antonio refused to give up and insisted on rewarding him tonight. Liu Zhong, the captain of the imperial army who heard Antonio was making trouble, also brought several people over to watch.

If this matter is not handled well, it may lead to a mutiny. The imperial army and these guards also wanted to take the opportunity to ask for rewards, so they did not try to dissuade them. Some people even shouted outside the camp, "Reward for money! Reward for money! Reward for money!"

Since ancient times, scholars have encountered soldiers, and there is no reason to explain it. Moreover, it has not been long since they set off. If they kill people to establish their authority, it will chill everyone. If they do it once, there will be another time, and they will not be able to lead this soldier in the future.

.

"Well, since everyone wants to get a reward, that's fine. However, I still say that no reward will be given without merit. If you can give me a reason that convinces me, I will never be stingy with the reward!"

"Since we served the emperor in the capital, we have never walked such a long way. Now we are exhausted and there is no place to bathe. Can't we ask for some reward? The emperor always rewards us first when he sends us. How can you, Mr. Li?

Not a minister of the emperor?"

"Yes, we slept in the open and slept in the open on this journey. We ate dry food. How could we not have good food and wine in the capital? Even the emperor doesn't need hungry soldiers, but you, Mr. Li, only want us to suffer. How can there be such a reason in the world?"

"Master Li, if you don't give me a reward today, we won't leave!"

"Yes! I'm not leaving!"

"If you don't give me the reward, I won't leave!"

Li Xiaofei glanced at everyone, "Have you fought for Daliang before? Or have you made any great achievements?"

"I know that you, Mr. Li, have fought in the north and south before, and our military achievements were all made by our fathers. We were all personally selected by the emperor. Protecting the emperor these years is our greatest contribution!"

"Master Li, now that the world is at peace and there are no wars, isn't it difficult for you to force us to make military exploits?"

"It seems that you are all the nephews of officials and generals in the court, and you have never suffered hardships. No wonder it is like this! I'm sorry, Mr. Li is the Duke of Fuhai County granted by the emperor, and the official position of a great governor is also the first grade.

Just don’t show off your family background in front of me! Li will say it one last time tonight, no reward will be given to you for no merit, and you should go back to camp to rest, otherwise Li’s eyes will recognize you, and Li’s sword will not recognize you!”

"Master Li, are you threatening the brothers? Well, let's go back to the camp. We won't ask for rewards, and we won't leave either!"

"Master Li is so powerful! We are just asking for rewards, and we have not violated military discipline. Do you think Master Li wants to kill his subordinates indiscriminately and harm the soldiers?"

"Now you are my subordinates. The first rule of this general is that no reward will be given without merit, and rewards and punishments will be clear! Don't make me draw my sword and establish rules!"

"We have not violated the laws of the imperial court, Mr. Li, don't mess around! We will stay outside your tent tonight!"

"Yes, we are not leaving! We are not leaving!"

"We want to see how Mr. Li oppresses us Forbidden Army brothers."

"Yes, let's see how Mr. Li sets the rules?"

Li Xiaofei didn't want to kill anyone, but at this time, he could no longer establish his authority if he didn't kill people. It was useless to tell them any rules and principles.

With a bang, Li Xiaofei's long face was pulled out, and everyone continued to laugh and shout, "He doesn't dare, he can't kill all of us!"

"If he dares to kill us, the court will punish him tomorrow!"

"Hahahaha, he dares to draw his sword against the Forbidden Army!"

Antonio was sober at this time and shouted, "Don't anger him! It's wrong for you to humiliate him like this. You must apologize to him!"

No one paid attention, Li Xiaofei already held the sword with both hands and started to raise the sword.

But in front of everyone, this was just a short black old man showing off his sword, and they laughed even crazier.

Hearing the noise from the crowd, Hong Rui also came out. Seeing this situation, she quickly ran over to Li Xiaofei, "Husband, don't kill them, they are young and ignorant!"

"Haha, Mr. Li, if it weren't for your age, we would like to let you see the power of the Imperial Army!"

Li Xiaofei looked at Hong Rui and said, "Don't worry, I won't kill them. I must teach them a lesson today!"

"Did you hear that, brothers, he is going to teach us a lesson!"

Everyone burst into laughter, and Antonio blushed extremely: "Please apologize to Mr. Li quickly, it will be too late!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiaofei swung his sword to cut down the flagpole and held it with one hand. Some of the Imperial Guards began to exclaim, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, you are so strong, it seems that you still know some martial arts!"

"kneel!"

Li Xiaofei swept the flagpole with his backhand, and more than a dozen people were thrown to the ground. A few of them jumped out of the way alertly.

The people who got out of the way were still rejoicing that Li Xiaofei's sword was already pressed against the neck of one of them, "Do you realize your mistake?"

Most people knelt down and admitted their mistake, but a few people still shouted "He

You don’t dare to kill us, the most you can do is bully us with your martial arts prowess! You cowards!”

Li Xiaofei touched his nose and said, "I'm sorry! I've already given you a chance!"

The sword light flashed several times, and Li Xiaofei chopped off the left arms of several people who had been shouting just now. They fell to the ground and screamed in pain.

"Not killing you is my promise, and cutting off your arms is the lesson I give you! Of course, the next time someone disobeys the general's order, they will lose their heads! Carry them down for treatment, and send them back to the capital, obviously

Tell their father in vain that I was the one who chopped it off!"

There was silence at this time, everyone knew that this old man really dared to kill people, and these people couldn't beat him, and there was nothing they could do to him.

After walking for a while, they encountered a convoy blocked on the muddy road. Li Xiaofei gave an order and everyone helped pull out the broken car of the convoy and unloaded it to repair it.

After meeting the people from the motorcade, they discovered that it was Xiao Sheng's motorcade.

Xiao Sheng wanted to thank Li Xiaofei, but Li Xiaofei was not polite this time, "These are all forbidden army brothers of the imperial court. They always love the people like sons and are willing to help others. If Mr. Xiao wants to thank you, Li will thank you for them. Don't let them refuse this reward."

, just accept it!”

After everyone received Xiao Sheng's reward, Li Xiaofei took out some cloth and gave it to everyone, "Any meritorious service must be rewarded. You have done well today, and this will be the rule from now on!"

Everyone was so convinced that they flattered Li Xiaofei one after another.

Li Xiaofei exchanged greetings with everyone and then went to find Xiao Sheng again.

"We meet everywhere in life. Last time, thanks to Mr. Xiao's ingenious plan, Mr. Li was able to reunite his family. Before Mr. Li could thank Mr. Xiao, Mr. Xiao went out again. Today, Mr. Xiao spent money again, haha. It's rare.

If I meet Mr. Xiao again, this time when I get to Jinling, I will let Li act as a host and treat him to a meal!"

Xiao Sheng put away his fan and clasped his fists, "Master Li, you are too polite. I am doing it for my own business. I am a businessman and I am on the road at least 300 days a year. I only need a simple meal!"

"Li admires the young master's ability very much. If you become an official in the court, you will definitely surpass your father!"

Xiao Sheng shook the fan in his hand, "Master Li is too flattering. I don't have this ambition. I have been fond of settling accounts and doing business since I was a child, and have no interest in being an official. Besides, the dangers of officialdom are not something that people like me can deal with. If the business is lost, I will pay back."

There is a chance to make a comeback, but if the head falls off, there is no chance it will grow back!"

Li Xiaofei couldn't help but admire, "It's rare for the young master to see so clearly at such a young age. Mr. Xiao is not a mortal! Jinling is in front of us. I wonder how many days the young master will stay in Jinling?"

"Spent tonight in Jinling, and tomorrow morning we will cross the river to Qiantang!"

"Young Master is working so hard, so you still have to be careful about your health. Li thought I was in a hurry. Compared with Young Master, I am just sightseeing. I plan to stay in Jinling for three days before leaving!"

"There is no way. We businessmen are very loyal. I can only arrive early on the appointed day and never be late. Mr. Li is so lucky that he happens to have a lot of fun in Jinling with his wife. To be honest, I have been to Jinling countless times.

But I haven’t taken a good look at Jinling City, so every time I come here it feels like I’m here for the first time!”

Looking at Xiao Sheng's pale face and dark circles under his eyes, Li Xiaofei suddenly felt a little pity.

Who said that the prime minister's son and the children from aristocratic families are all playboys and useless people? This Xiao Sheng worked harder than many children from poor families. The hardships he put in were difficult for ordinary people to achieve.

Xiao Sheng is taking care of all the business east of Luoyang and south of the Huaihe River. Xiao Sheng also has to worry about shipping matters.

Thinking of this, Li Xiaofei took out a bottle of Heart-Rescue Pill from his arms and handed it to Xiao Sheng, "Sir, this is the Heart-Rescue Pill refined by Li himself. If you have sudden fainting or palpitation, you can take a Heart-Rescue Pill for emergency relief! But I

I advise you, Master, to take more rest in the future!"

"Thank you Mr. Li, I will accept this heart-saving pill. When my brothers are older, I will find a place with beautiful scenery to rest!"
Chapter completed!