Chapter 333: Hexi (I)

"General, you don't know that King Qing is now..." Cui Huan couldn't say anything. He suddenly remembered that when Li Qing investigated the Cabinet case in Suzhou, he took King Qing's old nest in one fell swoop. The two had a deep grudge. Do he want to do it again? Thinking of this, Cui Huan was anxious. He finally transferred to Beijing to control the real power of the Ministry of Revenue. Never be implicated by him anymore. But Li Qing's hand was already holding his arm, and the force was clearly dragging him outward. Cui Huan was so anxious that he almost cried, "General is leaving tomorrow, but I still have to take office under King Qing's nose. This... General, this is really a tough problem!"

Li Qing was not moved by his plea and just laughed: "I just need Mr. Cui to get a certificate and watch. At that time, Mr. Cui can say that he is unable to resist me. It is better than escaping in the battle now."

Perhaps Li Qing's last words touched Cui Huan. His old face turned slightly red, and he shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly: "You guy! You really can't do anything to you."

Shanghe Township is about ten miles away from the county town, Li Qing and more than a dozen officials from the Ministry of Revenue were in front of him. His 300 cavalry followed him from afar, and the group walked on the endless plain. The continuous shadows of the mountain in the north were the Qinling Mountains. The towering mountains blocked the cold currents going south, making the climate here warm, and with the irrigation of the Wei River, the Guanzhong Plain became a veritable land of treasures and heavenly flowers.

"Sir, it's there. It was a village, but now it has become a manor." Zhang Zhubo pointed to the forest with green smoke.

Li Qingshun looked at him and saw hundreds of towering trees in the middle of the vast farmland, covering an area of ​​more than ten hectares. The eaves of the roof were faintly visible. The outermost part was a stretched low wall surrounding it. Seeing that Li Qing was a little puzzled, Zhang Zhubo explained again: "It was originally a village. Later, King Qing converted it into a manor, and moved all the thousands of slaves in Gaoling County to live there. Another wall was built, and it was like an independent kingdom inside, which the government could not control." At this point, Zhang Zhubo was also extremely annoyed. He had been the chief clerk in Gaoling County for three years, and he never stepped into this manor.

The spring plowing had not yet begun and the land was solid. Cui Huan and more than a dozen civil officials, including the master, got off their horses and walked from the ridge of the field to show their compassion for the farmers, but Li Qing ignored them. He rode his horse and led 300 iron cavalry into the field, speeding up towards the gate.

Zhang Zhubo was stunned. He quickly turned around and asked Cui Huan in surprise and suspicion: "Mr. Master, is the Jiedushi going to use force?"

"Do you know now?" Choi Huan touched his nose and said with a wry smile: "Or how could he agree to transfer you to Anxi?"

At the gate, five or six Zhuang Dings were sitting at the door basking in the sun and talking about women. Suddenly, they heard a loud noise, as if a thunder rolled through the air. Several of them looked at each other, all looking up at the sky. But just as they were stunned, the black iron cavalry had already appeared on their side, the sword was unsheathed, and the murderous aura was emitted in the sun. Several Zhuang Dings were so scared that their faces were pale and stumbled into the door. With a 'bang', the Zhuang Dings closed heavily, and the sound of a giant wood covering the door came from inside.

"Roar in! Take all the managers and Zhuang Ding out for me. Those who dare to resist will be killed without mercy!" As soon as Li Qing's order fell, two thick ropes flew towards the beams and pillars of the gate. More than a hundred cavalrymen stepped forward to pull the ropes and put force out together. 'One, two, three!' The gate shook three times, and there was a loud bang, and the gate fell to the ground, stirring up a large area of ​​dust. Through the dust fog, more than a dozen Zhuang Dings in gray were fleeing in a mess. Before the dust could be dissipated, Li Qing's iron cavalry rushed in like a python entering a cave.

About a quarter of an hour later, more than a dozen civil servants arrived panting. There was a large area of ​​village heads kneeling outside the gate. The two managers were so weak that they could not say a word. The slaves living in the farm climbed up the wall and looked out secretly. At this time, several personal soldiers whispered to Li Qing. Li Qing nodded, pointed to the two managers and said, "Where is Tian Qi and the contract for selling their bodies?"

"Everyone is in Chang'an!" The two managers looked at each other and replied in a trembling voice.

"I really don't cry until I see the coffin."

Li Qing sneered coldly, turned around and said to his personal soldiers: "Take these two people in separately. Those who speak first will survive, and those who speak later will kill!"

More than a dozen personal soldiers rode up, leaned over and grabbed a manager and rushed into the manor. In just a moment, the personal soldiers carried a box and carried a manager's head, while the other was scared to faint. A personal soldiers stepped forward to report to Li Qing: "General, we found Tian Qi and everyone's contract in the cellar."

Li Qing smiled and rode his horse to Cui Huan and said, "Let me ask Mr. Cui to do good deeds for me, I'll take a step first."

After saying that, he bowed to Cui Huan, regardless of his bitter look, turned around and shouted to his personal soldiers, "Go back to Chang'an!"

The personal soldiers urged the horses to follow Li Qing and quickly ran away. Soon the cavalry team turned into a group of black shadows and gradually disappeared without a trace.

"Brother Cui, what should I do about this?" Zhang Zhubo kept looking at Li Qing disappearing, and then asked Cui Huan in fear: "Do we want to write a memorial?"

Cui Huan glanced at the chief clerk who dared to call him brothers and sneered slightly, "If Zhang Zhubo wants to write, please give in, I will not see anything."

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After King Qing Li Cong failed to attack the Eastern Palace again and again, he gradually felt Li Longji's thoughts. His father had always wanted to be a successor for thousands of years and had no idea of ​​establishing an heir. In this case, the more he worked hard toward the Eastern Palace, the further he would be from the Eastern Palace. From the eighth year of Tianbao, he gradually changed his strategy and made no struggle. On the one hand, he worked hard to do good deeds and gained a good reputation among the people. On the other hand, he made friends with poets and established academies to win the hearts of scholars all over the world. But more importantly, he tied himself firmly with the Yang family, and did his best to offer huge offerings to the Yang family during festivals, or to share interests in the officialdom.

In front of Li Longji, he was low-key and forbearing, making Li Longji unable to see his figure in the government affairs, but he could hear his name from time to time. Hard work pays off. Li Longji grew older, and his eyes slowly turned to the eldest son. This was a patient son who might succeed him in a hundred years. So, at the 20,000-country pilgrimage ceremony on the 20,000 countries on the first lunar month, Li Longji let him play the role of the crown prince. In the following days, whether it was a New Year banquet or a report on the sidelines, Li Cong appeared repeatedly, as if he was a crown prince.

The more critical Li Cong had reached the critical moment, the more cautious he was. Although his father had acquiesced to the kings to communicate with all officials, Li Cong still conservatively followed the old system, and no officials who came to pay him New Year's greetings were seen, and all the gifts were handed over. In his opinion, nothing was more important than his move towards the position of crown prince.

Today is the sixth day of the first lunar month. Li Linfu passed away last night. Like all the royal princes, he sent eulogies in time, but people could not go, which would cause unnecessary discussion.

Li Cong didn't go anywhere, but locked himself in the study and studied history books hard. From time to time, he heard his loud readings in the yard,'.

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Then, if you take Liuhe as your home and Guhan as your palace, if you have a man who has suffered difficulties and falls into seven temples, you will die and be a man who has a hand. Why is it because he laughs at the world? If you don’t do good deeds, your offensive and defensive momentum is different.’

It is said that when Li Heng was the crown prince, his father had placed someone beside him, and his every move was under the control of his father. It is unknown whether there were secret searchers around him, but for the sake of caution, Li Cong still had to act as ambitious.

After reading for about half an hour, he was upset and threw the book down and went to the yard. He picked up a piece of Hu cake to feed the carp in the pond. But he was thinking about An Lushan's affairs. An Lushan had a rebellion and he also heard about it. However, An Lushan supported him as a culprit, which made him very embarrassed. The support of ministers in the court was important, but local support should not be underestimated, especially the major military governors who held military power. Their attitude was still important. An Lushan, Zhang Qiqiu, Geshuhan, An Sishun, Li Qing, Feng Changqing, and Xian Yu Zhongtong. If he got more than half of the support, then his father would have to think twice if he wanted to make others as a culprit.

An Lushan is undoubtedly the oldest and most powerful military governor. Li Cong also knows that he can no longer shake him now. His attitude will originally directly affect the final decision of his father, but now, who dares to get too close to him?

At this point, Li Cong felt a little distressed. An Lushan spent a lot of money to pull over. Just one rumor became a bubble. He couldn't help but secretly hated him. Now he only had the weakest Xianyu Zhongtong, who was the weakest, but only supported him for Yang Guozhong. Zhang Qiqiu supported Ying King Li Mai, Geshuhan supported Yong King Li Lin, and An Sishun supported Yan King Li Yu. The princes all took one of them, but they refused to be the queen. As for Feng Changqing of Beiting, there was news that he actually supported his brother Li Wan, but he didn't know whether it was true or not. In the end, only the upstart Li Qing was left. In recent years, he was very glorious in the Western Regions and his father repeatedly rewarded him. Now he has become the third largest military governor second only to An Lushan and Geshuhan, and his sphere of influence controlled even exceeds the previous two.

Li Cong sighed. Li Qing originally supported the former crown prince Li Heng. Now, after Li Heng fell, his attitude was unknown. King Yong pulled him several times but failed.

If he could use him for himself, Li Cong shook his head and smiled bitterly. How could he be? He had been assassinating him repeatedly, and he had already become deeply hatred.

As he was thinking, a family member walked over quickly, holding a bowing post in his hand, Li Cong frowned and scolded: "Didn't I say that I won't see anyone? Why do you still have to bring the post here!"

The family member said tremblingly: "I say the same, but he said that the prince must meet him, so I have to bring it."

"I will definitely meet him!" Li Cong sneered, "Who is he? Yang Guozhong or Chen Xilie?"

"It was Li Qing, the governor of Anxi," the family whispered.

"What!" Li Cong stood up suddenly, his hand shook, and half of the Hu cake fell into the pond. He was so surprised that he couldn't speak for a long time. He said one last time: "Please hurry up! Please come to my study." After thinking about it, he pushed his family away and ran towards the gate in person.

"The general actually came to the customs mansion, which is unexpected!" Li Cong came out of the gate with a spring breeze on his face. Seeing Li Qing smiling, he was even more excited. He stepped forward and held Li Qing's hand and sighed, "The general has been promoted. Xiao Wang wants to go to the mansion to congratulate him several times, but he doesn't have the courage, but he didn't expect the general to come to me. I didn't expect! I didn't expect!"

He said a few times in a row, but he couldn't imagine that the joy ended, but a hint of suspicion arose in his heart. Li Qing had a grudge with him yet, so he wouldn't be uneasy when he came to his house today!

Li Qing bowed to him as if he had seen through his thoughts and smiled: "No, I will return to Anxi tomorrow. Today I will visit some old people."

"Old man?" Li Cong was stunned. He should be his old enemy. He was thinking a lot, but he could not lose his etiquette. Li Cong grabbed Li Qing's wrist and dragged it into the mansion. He smiled and said, "The General chose this time to come. It is obviously to beat me Qiufeng. I also have a bottle of 100-year-old Gaochang wine, which I just happened to drink with you."

"Then disturb your highness!" Li Qing was not polite, and followed him into the mansion. Li Cong let him into his study and ordered people to prepare some side dishes. He tiptoed to take a thin-necked blue and white porcelain bottle from the top of the cabinet, and smiled at Li Qing: "My bottle of wine is given by the late emperor, and it is the best among wine. It has been stored for decades. How many people want to drink it but cannot. Today, let me and the general get drunk together!"

Li Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled faintly: "I'm afraid Li Qing won't have the blessing to enjoy your highness."

As soon as Li Qing said this, his smile froze on Li Cong's face. At this time, several family members were carrying small vegetables and about to enter the room. Li Cong suddenly waved to them and shouted angrily: "Get out!" Then he pulled the door and closed it.

He returned to his seat, slapped the wine bottle on the table, and said with a gloomy face: "Tell me! What's wrong with you?"

"Actually, there is nothing big." Li Qing's smile was still kind. He took out a list from his arms and pushed Li Cong, saying, "This is the five hundred households that the Ministry of Revenue has picked out from the landless farming in Gaoling County and moved westward. I went to Gaoling County in the morning and learned that at least four hundred households here have different identities from the official records. They have all become His Highness's slaves. This matter makes me embarrassed!"

Li Cong's nose was already slightly sweating. Although Li Qing's smile was kind, his words were sharp. In the eighth year of Tianbao, the court introduced a slave restriction order, which stipulated that each household could have a certain number of slaves according to their title. He was a prince and could own five hundred slaves. But in fact, the number of slaves he owned in various places was nearly 10,000. In order not to catch people, he planned to sell all the slaves in his hands after the beginning of spring. However, before he started, Li Qing caught him.

"The General is wrong! Although they live together, the tenant is a tenant and the slave is a slave. The identities are completely different. I have always abide by the laws of the court. This matter must be wrong! I made a mistake!"

At this point, there is only one who denies it. Before the court investigates the matter, it will take the lead in destroying their body sale contract, leaving them dead without evidence.

Li Qing seemed unmoved. He took out a piece of yellowed tissue from his arms and spread it beside Li Cong and said, "Your Highness, please take a look. This Wang Shilang ranks fifteenth in the list, but I got his contract for selling his body from the manor. How do you explain this?"

"You, you!" Li Cong stood up suddenly, his face turned ashen, and his whole body was trembling. He pointed at Li Qing and shouted: "You are bold! You dare to break into my farm, come here!" A fierce footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.

Li Qing sneered coldly, holding tea in his hand and said slowly: "Your Highness, there are three hundred iron cavalry at the door. If you dare to touch a hair of my hair, I will kill all your family."

He untied the sword in his waist, slapped it hard on the table, stared at his eyes and said, "It starts with you!"

Li Cong looked at the cold sword edge that was exposed, and he felt timid in his heart and shouted out of the door: "It's okay, retreat!" The footsteps stopped abruptly at the door, and then retreated gently.

"That's right. I like to deal with people who know the current affairs." Li Qing took over the contract for selling his body, and then smiled at him: "Your Highness, you might as well think about it. If I were in the emperor's imperial study at this time, what would happen to you?"

Li Cong gradually realized that Li Qing came to him to negotiate conditions. He felt a glimmer of hope in his heart and asked him hesitantly: "What are the conditions for the general? Please tell me!"

Since he had already chosen the white words, Li Qing said without hesitation: "I only have one condition. I want to serve as the governor of Hexi. You go and tell Yang Guozhong and let him give advice to the emperor."

"This..." Li Cong looked puzzled. The Hexi Jiedushi is An Sishun now. Not to mention that he is difficult to deal with, even if An Sishun is removed from office, it is not his turn to Li Qing. Are there many people who want to be the Jiedushi?

Li Qing understood his embarrassment and smiled again: "If Your Highness can achieve my wish, I will not only return everything to you, but also wish you another step forward."
Chapter completed!