Chapter 158 Zhu Di: Is this still my problem? ! (Second update)
Yan Prince’s Mansion.
Zhu Di put down the wild goose wing knife with sweat all over his body.
He picked up the hot towel handed by the attendant and wiped the sweat stains on his body. Zhu Di wiped it hard, almost turning his body red, then threw the hot towel on the shelf aside, and finally sat down. He sat on the chair and drank the warm tea.
“Say it.”
"What else did you find out?"
Zhu Di lowered his head and asked while drinking tea.
Yao Guangxiao nodded with a smile, continued to hold the Buddhist beads in his right hand, and said with a smile: "Yesterday, Xia Zhibai went to find these fifteen salt merchants in Peiping, and he asked these salt merchants to voluntarily give up the salt market. At the same time, these salt merchants were given two choices. "
"Either they finish selling salt and find another way to make a living."
"Or just follow him."
< br>
"Salt merchant?" Zhu Di raised his head and glanced at Yao Guangxiao without much interest.
He has no good impression of businessmen, and has no intention of intervening in the affairs between Xia Zhibai and the salt merchants. He has long known the news that Xia Zhibai has taken over the entire northern salt market. Having made no progress in the iron ore industry, it is normal to settle for the second best and show off as a salt merchant.
“Let’s get to the point.” Zhu Di put down his tea bowl, a little impatient.
The beads in Yao Guangxiao's hands were spinning faster.
He smiled and said: "These salt merchants are related to the generals in the hands of His Highness."
"What?" Zhu Di suddenly raised his head, with a look of surprise in his eyes, and then a look of anger, and said: "You mean that some of my generals have colluded with salt merchants?"
Yao Guangxiao nodded. .
“Who?!” Zhu Di’s eyes turned cold.
Yao Guangxiao shook his head and said: "Who is not important, what is important is that Xia Zhibai knows."
"We all underestimated Xia Zhibai."
"He really calculated this time, and he did bring only one entourage."
"He has never been to Peiping in the past, does not know the situation in Peiping, and does not know the people in Peiping, so he cannot understand the things in Peiping." The insight was so quick, and this may be Xia Zhibai’s intention to let us relax our vigilance, and we were all careless.”
“Xia Zhibai didn’t bring any extra people.”
< br>"But the young man next to him has become one with the beggars in the city in just a few days."
"Right now." Yao Guangxiao paused and said with a solemn expression: "The beggars in the city, Many of them have become Xia Zhibai's eyes and ears. With these eyes and ears all over Peiping, Xia Zhibai has mastered a large amount of information in just a few days, including the collusion between military attachés and salt merchants. "< br>
Speaking of which.
Yao Guangxiao also sighed secretly.
Xia Zhibai is so cunning and knows how to take advantage of loopholes.
A few days ago, I pretended that I had no one to do anything, but in just a few days, a big thing happened.
This method of winning over people is too scary.
It’s also unsettling.
Zhu Di sat up from his chair suddenly.
He hadn't realized the problem before, but after hearing Yao Guangxiao's words, he suddenly woke up.
Didn’t Xia Zhibai have no extra manpower?
How did you check these messages?
beggar!
Zhu Di had a gloomy face and said coldly: "Xia Zhibai bribed all the beggars in the city?"
Yao Guangxiao shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "I don't know, because of the war in Beiping City, There are also refugees from further north, as well as some displaced people. These people have formed an army of beggars in the city, numbering nearly a thousand people. With such a huge number, I don’t know who is listening to Xia Zhibai’s orders. "< br>
“But many of them have indeed become Xia Zhibai’s eyes and ears to monitor the whole city.”
“If I hadn’t discovered some clues during my private investigation, I might have been kept in the dark. I still think that Xia Zhibai has nothing to do now and can only wait for the court to send people over. If he continues to be so careless, I am afraid that everyone in Beiping will see through it. "
"My lord, you are also in danger."
A killing intent flashed in Zhu Di's eyes, but he quickly hid it, and said impatiently: "What news did Xia Zhibai use these beggars to find out?"
< br>"I don't know." Yao Guangxiao shook his head again.
Zhu Di was a little annoyed.
He glared at Yao Guangxiao dissatisfied and said angrily: "I don't know?! Then tell me, what do you know?"
"Xia Zhibai has done so many things under my nose, and you just told me that you just realized it? You only know that Xia Zhibai is not honest at all?"
Yao Guangxiao gave a bitter smile. .
He really doesn’t know.
Before this, who could have guessed that Xia Zhibai was so good at sneaking into the camp? Did you do these things secretly?
Yao Guangxiao had no intention of coiling Buddha beads anymore. He clasped his hands together and said 'Amitabha', and then continued: "Your Highness, Xia Zhibai's matter is too secretive, and it is difficult for the outside world to notice it. Even if you tell Your Highness, Your Highness may not have cared about it before. The homeless and beggars in Peiping have come and gone and died again. They have never stopped. It is impossible to prevent them.”
"Based on the current news."
"Xia Zhibai found these salt merchants and used the collected information to force them to withdraw from the salt market."
"At the same time, let them take the message. Warn the military attachés involved."
"Let them give up the occupied fields."
"The attitude is very tough."
"Did His Highness notice something was wrong?"
Yao Guangxiao raised his head and looked at Zhu Di.
Zhu Di was stunned. He looked at Yao Guangxiao suspiciously, not understanding what he meant.
“Something’s wrong?”
"What's wrong?"
"Isn't it normal that the salt merchants don't want to hand over the salt market and seek the protection of some officials?"
"But what exactly are there in the army? The military attache is involved."
"Have you checked it out?"
Zhu Di asked.
Yao Guangxiao shook his head and said with a serious expression: "His Highness has been plotted this time, by Xia Zhibai from beginning to end. Everything that is happening in the city is to some extent facilitated by His Highness. Xia Zhibai just did some inducement. "
Zhu Di's pupils were slightly dilated, and he couldn't understand it.
He raised his hand and said: "Wait."
"What did you say?"
"Did I cause these things?"
"Monk, are you really not talking nonsense? When did I do these things? How have I ever cared about these things during this time?"
Zhu Di looked surprised.
He was also confused by Yao Guangxiao.
Ever since the incident with the Chief Secretary of Peking, he has been trembling with fear, fearing that he would do something wrong again and make His Majesty dissatisfied. He has always been cautious in his words and deeds. When Xia Zhibai came, he felt really unhappy. He and Xia Zhibai exchanged cold expressions a few times, but it wasn't too much.
Why did this suddenly become his problem?
What’s the point!
Yao Guangxiao smiled, with a flash of helplessness in his eyes, and said: "Your Highness heard you right, the root cause of this incident lies with Your Highness."
"Because Your Highness heard that Xia Zhi If Bai starts to investigate corruption in the military, His Highness will start to investigate corruption, the generals in the military will inevitably panic, and they will try to cover it up or solve it, which will give Xia Zhibai an opportunity to take advantage of. "< br>
“He just caught the military attaché doing things simply, rarely going through too many circles, and directly discovered the collusion between the military attache and the merchants.”
“Then by intimidating the merchants, he made the merchants panic. Next, I went to see the military attaché again.”
"With all this going on, doesn't it become clear that there is collusion between government and businessmen?"
"Xia Zhibai relied on His Highness's pressure and his own active coercion to make these military attachés make mistakes while busy, exposing more and more secrets. The more problems there are, in just seven or eight days, I am afraid that Xia Zhibai will have a large amount of evidence of corruption among His Highness’s generals.”
“If Your Highness had not been persuaded in the first place, he would not have investigated. The idea of corruption in the military."
"Beiping is still a backwater."
"But His Highness moved."
"After His Highness became interested, it means that His Highness fell into a trap and was used step by step by Xia Zhibai, which led to the current situation."
Zhu Di's face darkened.
He already understood.
After all, he was persuaded by Xia Zhibai to actually investigate corruption in the military.
This allowed Xia Zhibai to take advantage of the loopholes. Xia Zhibai was inherently treacherous. Taking advantage of the panic of all parties, he continued to tear open these loopholes, and finally created a completely altruistic situation.
He was plotted by Xia Zhibai.
"These scholars are indeed treacherous and cunning." Zhu Di slammed the table angrily.
Immediately, he looked at Yao Guangxiao and said puzzledly: "But corruption does exist in the army."
"This can't be fake, right?"
Yao Guangxiao smiled bitterly and said: "It is because it is true that His Highness was fooled and allowed Xia Zhibai to succeed. This is where Xia Zhibai's cleverness lies. The words he said are both true and false, and they are extremely inflammatory. If you don’t pay attention, you will be deceived and tricked step by step.”
"His Royal Highness is not to blame."
"Because he is right."
"Corruption in the military is indeed serious."
"It is even worse than His Highness imagined." It’s even more serious.”
“As far as we can tell, most of the military attachés are corrupt and oppressive.”
"The military attachés bullied ordinary military households, those with many males bullied those with few males, and those with few males bullied orphans and widows. As for those who spoke uprightly, they were jointly targeted and directly kicked out of the army. Many of them even did extreme things. , cooperate with merchants and landlords to sell these people who want to sue into slavery, or directly break their legs."
"There are countless such cases in the army."
"It is really shocking. ."
"Collusion between government and businessmen is, to a certain extent, a good thing."
"Because it is only about making money."
"Even Zhang Yu, who is relatively clean, often bullies and dominates the market. For example, Qiu Fu, Li Bin and others who climbed up from the bottom. They are really greedy, and they are even more unscrupulous. And all of this stems from His Highness's trust. Get close to him."
"To a certain extent, Xia Zhibai is right."
"His Royal Highness has a problem in running the army."
"It's still a big problem. Problem."
"It is true that they know how to fight, and they dare to fight hard, but it is also true that military discipline is lax."
"Especially His Highness is too strong in Peiping, and even the soldiers in his hands are a bit arrogant and domineering. In this kind of atmosphere, how can there be no problems with military discipline?"
"His Highness was open-minded in the past. , ignored these. "
"In His Highness's heart, as long as he can fight and win the war, he is a good general. As for the general's greed, he doesn't take it seriously. But now this layer of window paper. He was stabbed by Xia Zhibai."
"Your Highness should consider how to deal with it properly."
(End of this chapter)