PDLP Chapter 185: The Power of the Dragon
Chapter 185: The Power of the Dragon
By the time Guo Yian's wounds were bandaged, a quarter of an hour had passed.
At this time, Gu Li threw a token from her arms to Guo Yian and said:
"You previously guarded the frontier, repelling foreign enemies. His Majesty couldn't bear to kill you, but your Guo family committed an unforgivable crime. His Majesty asked Li Lai to come here and agree. Do you harbor any resentment?"
"I dare not." Guo Yian answered respectfully.
Gu Li stood up and looked him over. "If I hadn't arrived in time tonight, General Guo, do you know what would have happened to you?"
Guo Yian's eyes darkened.
Of course he knew that the people sent by King Yong this time were all experts, which was different from the previous arrangement of Li Daniu to test him.
Prince Yong was planning to kill him and silence him.
After thinking for a moment, he bowed to Gu Li and said, "I cannot repay you for saving my life. If General Gu wants my life in the future, please come and take it anytime."
Gu Li sneered, "Why would I want your life? As a fellow soldier, I just can't bear to see you make the same mistake again and again, wasting your life in vain."
Although Guo Yian was a member of the Guo family, Gu Li had to take advantage of him. He was indeed a rare general in leading troops in battle. This was why the emperor spared his life.
"If you are willing to serve the court, I promise to help you fulfill your wish and set you free. How about that?"
Hearing this, Guo Yian suddenly looked up and stared straight at Gu Li.
After a while, he smiled self-deprecatingly: "Guo has no more wishes in this life. I'm afraid General Gu has misunderstood."
Gu Li raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Oh? Are you willing to continue to lead this place, facing assassination and poisoning at any time, and even if you make contributions, they will be claimed by others in the blink of an eye?"
After the initial shock, Guo Yian quickly felt relieved.
He knew that the emperor had secretly arranged for someone to monitor him.
Having said that, there is no need for both parties to test each other anymore.
He stood up and bowed to Gu Li, saying, "I am willing to serve the court, but once this matter is over, I hope His Majesty will release my sister and give her freedom."
Her father had been executed, her mother and sisters had been exiled, and only the queen was still struggling to hold on in the palace. But it was obvious that her life must have been extremely difficult.
Using his military achievements to exchange for the safety of his family is the only thing he can do.
……
At the same time, the merchants who had been annexed by King Yong before united together and compiled all the evil deeds that King Yong had done into operas and nursery rhymes, or asked storytellers in teahouses to make up one story after another and spread them.
Things like seizing people's land and embezzling other people's property caused public resentment and led to punishment from heaven. As a result, on a thunderstorm day, the plaque in front of the gate of Prince Yong's Mansion, which symbolized honor and status, was shattered by a thunderbolt.
This scene further confirmed everyone's guess that King Yong must have done something that angered God and the people, and even God could not bear to see it, so he struck the door with a bolt of lightning.
To make matters worse, that night, several other places in the palace caught fire. It was said that even a corner of the room where Prince Yong lived was burned.
Then, some people said that Prince Yong had offended the people and attracted thunder from the sky. Common people and students gathered at the gate of the imperial palace, asking the emperor to punish Prince Yong for his crimes.
When Prince Yong learned about this, he was so angry that he slammed several cups. At the morning court the next day, the imperial censors criticized Prince Yong verbally and in writing.
Even though Prince Yong repeatedly protested his innocence, saying that someone must have been behind the incident and wanted to ruin his reputation, he was unable to produce any evidence at the time and was still reprimanded by the emperor. He was also ordered to return the silver that had been embezzled from the merchants.
Prince Yong returned to the palace in disgrace and immediately ordered his confidants to investigate the rumor to find out who spread it and vowed to kill that person.
After a thorough investigation, the confidant quickly identified the Wan family, Wan Zilang, and Qiu Ning.
"Your Majesty, I have learned that these two have been very close to the Ge family and some other merchants recently. In name, they are discussing business cooperation, but in reality, I have learned that the Ge family has already donated half of their property to the Wan family.
This Wan family is the one with the real wolfish ambitions."
When Prince Yong heard this, his eyes kept flashing.
Behind the Wan family are Concubine Wan and the Sixth Prince. I had really underestimated them before. I didn't expect that the Wan family would have such ambitions.
At this time, the confidant said again: "Your Highness, you are the purest bloodline of the late emperor. If it weren't for the late queen mother's obstruction, you wouldn't have been unable to return in time when the late emperor passed away, allowing the current emperor to sit on that throne.
"If you think about it, the late emperor was particularly fond of you when he was alive. The chair that His Majesty sits on now was stolen. In my opinion, His Majesty must have tacitly approved of this rumor. Otherwise, how could the descendants of the Qiu and Wan families dare to confront you, Your Highness?"
After hearing the words of his confidant, a feeling of unwillingness gradually surged in King Yong's heart.
Yes, if it wasn't for his "good brother" who plotted to leave the capital, how could the Empress Dowager and the late Emperor have passed the throne to him given their love for him?
Seeing the hesitation on Prince Yong's face, the confidant said again: "In my opinion, this matter is probably just the beginning."
Sure enough, after hearing this, Prince Yong's face instantly became suspicious.
"Then in your opinion, how should we break the deadlock this time?"
The money that was previously embezzled from those merchants had long been used to build private armies and manufacture weapons. Where would the money be left to repay them now?
The confidant frowned and thought for a while, and soon came up with a solution...
Afterwards, Prince Yong presented a list of assets to the emperor, falsely reporting some industries that did not actually exist or whose values were seriously exaggerated, such as some mines in remote areas that had not yet been fully developed, fictitious commercial cargo ships for overseas trade, etc., claiming that he would repay the loan on time after these assets were liquidated.
At the same time, he also threatened some officials in the court with the leverage they had over their assets, asking them to obstruct or conceal the emperor's investigation of his assets, in order to delay time and prepare for rebellion.
Furthermore, he had people spread rumors among the people, saying that the emperor's punishment was unfair and that he was deceived by treacherous people and intended to suppress the royal family. He also arranged for some people who had been oppressed by merchants to plead for him, claiming that the prince was cracking down on those merchants to punish them for their ill-gotten gains and for the benefit of the people, but that the method was inappropriate.
The court should not force the prince to repay the money in a hurry, as this would affect the local people's livelihood and economy. In this way, it could put pressure on the emperor and delay the repayment process.
As a result, some officials who did not understand the situation also petitioned the emperor to give Prince Yong more time.
Of course, most of these officials who spoke for King Yong were representatives of aristocratic families.
Because when you pull out a radish, you bring out the mud. No official in the court has a completely clean backside. The reason why everyone helped Prince Yong to plead for him was actually because they were dissatisfied with the emperor's attitude of paying too much attention to businessmen.
Among the four classes of people, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants are originally the lowest class. If the court had not given them peace, how could they make a lot of money in business?
Therefore, the court quickly split into two factions, one supporting Prince Yong and the other supporting the royalists.
At the Prime Minister's Mansion, Qiu Yao once again found an opportunity to return home to visit her relatives, and told Prime Minister Qiu directly that she wanted him to stand on the side of Prince Yong.
"Father, the prince said that if this is successful, he will make me a noble concubine, and the Qiu family will have the merit of following the dragon, and Hao'er will also be the future crown prince."
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, father, you must not miss it."