Chapter 310: That Day, Heavy Snow Covered Nanjiangzhou
Capital city!
The situation is very tense.
Even ordinary people can feel that the atmosphere in the capital has been a bit weird recently.
The doors of the houses of the dignitaries were all closed. No matter they were powerful officials or nobles, their homes were no longer as crowded as before, and they seldom visited each other to keep in touch.
This strange atmosphere was caused by the fact that not long ago, the official sent by the emperor to Qingzhou came back to report that it was true that Marquis Zhenwei had occupied the Dahan Trading Company, and that Marquis Zhenwei was killed by Lin Ye, the owner of the Dahan Trading Company.
However, Lin Ye killed Marquis Zhenwei because Marquis Zhenwei sent his men to kill more than a dozen shopkeepers of Dahan Trading Company. According to the laws of Dahan Trading Company, Lin Ye's behavior was legitimate defense.
If it were just that, it would be fine. However, according to the official's investigation, in addition to the crime of occupying the Dahan Trading Company, Marquis Zhenwei also committed many other crimes.
Marquis Zhenwei was in Qingzhou, where he trained his own soldiers and wantonly seized the land of the people of Qingzhou, making the people miserable.
In addition, Marquis Zhenwei forced merchants to offer rare treasures under the pretext of selecting treasures for the royal family, but all these rare treasures were embezzled by Marquis Zhenwei.
The most serious point is that Marquis Zhenwei also colluded with Zhenwu Palace under the name of the royal family.
These three sins, especially the last one, are taboos.
Seven days later.
On the seventh day after the Qingzhou officials returned to the court, the current emperor issued an order to execute the entire family of Marquis Zhenwei, stripped Princess Changning of her status as a royal princess, and Princess Changning's mother was also banished to the cold palace, never to be allowed out for the rest of her life.
Meanwhile, news had leaked out in the capital that, after the Qingzhou officials had reported to the court, Prime Minister An wrote to the emperor asking him to severely punish Marquis Zhenwei and even Princess Changning in order to prove the royal family's innocence.
However, Princess Changning's mother is the emperor's favorite concubine. For this reason, the current emperor did not agree to Prime Minister An's request and temporarily suppressed the matter.
It was not until the seventh day that the current emperor suddenly changed his mind and agreed to Prime Minister An's request in the court, which led to such severe punishment of Marquis Zhenwei and Princess Changning.
It is said that the reason was that on the fifth day, five martial saints came to the capital.
These five martial saints came from martial arts sects in different states. They came to the capital to demand an explanation from the royal family. Was the collusion between Marquis Zhenwei and Zhenwu Palace the royal family's idea or was Marquis Zhenwei acting on his own in order to pursue personal gain?
Faced with the pressure from the five martial saints, the current emperor had to severely punish Marquis Zhenwei and Princess Changning to make it clear that this was Marquis Zhenwei's personal behavior and had nothing to do with the royal family.
The weird atmosphere in the capital is related to this incident.
Some people believe that the emperor's tearful disposal of his favorite concubine, including being forced to abdicate by the Martial Saint, was all caused by Prime Minister An.
If An Chengxiang had chosen to handle the matter privately at the time, it would not have had such a great impact. At most, he would have just punished Marquis Zhenwei, and it is even possible that Marquis Zhenwei would not have to die.
In the eyes of everyone, Prime Minister An did this because of his relationship with the young master of Dahan Trading Company.
Ever since Prime Minister An mentioned the matter of Marquis Zhenwei in the court, someone started to investigate the relationship between Prime Minister An and the young master of Dahan Trading Company. This investigation revealed that the young master of Dahan Trading Company was indeed Prime Minister An's savior.
The savior was threatened, and Prime Minister An, in order to repay the favor, disregarded the emperor's grace and his face, and exposed the matter. The emperor was very angry with Prime Minister An.
For those officials, they didn't understand why Prime Minister An did this. As long as they talked to the emperor in private, they could save their savior from danger.
His Majesty and Prime Minister An, this model of monarch and minister, will probably have a rift from this moment on.
"Estrangement. I was afraid that I would become a thorn in the side of His Majesty a few years ago."
Prime Minister's Mansion.
An Zisheng sighed.
In his hand he held a list of rare treasures that had been discovered by officials who had gone to Qingzhou.
"Zihou, thank you for your hard work." An Zisheng looked at the young official standing in front of him.
"It is not hard for a disciple to serve my master." Xu Zihou listened to his master sighing and said, "Master, why do you think the emperor did this?"
Xu Zihou looked at the list in his mentor's hand. This list was obtained from the businessmen and dignitaries who were blackmailed by Jiang Beiyu when he was in Qingzhou.
There are many priceless treasures in this list, but these treasures were not brought into the marquis's mansion. According to the clues he found, these treasures were sent north to the capital.
It goes without saying where to send it.
Marquis Zhenwei was not really collecting treasures privately under the banner of the royal family, but he was really collecting treasures . These treasures were mainly precious medicinal materials and some martial arts techniques.
Marquis Zhenwei did not lie about this. So, is the emperor also behind the collusion between Marquis Zhenwei and Zhenwu Palace?
Xu Zihou shuddered at the thought of this; he didn't understand what the emperor was going to do.
"Your Majesty, you are a wise ruler, but you want to be an emperor unprecedented in history."
An Zisheng looked at his disciple and knew what was confusing his disciple. He didn't know why the emperor did these things.
"Throughout the dynasties, the longest one lasted no more than 500 years. In addition to the reasons of the royal family itself, another major factor was the existence of martial arts sects. These martial arts sects were born in the secular world but were higher than the secular world. They were not controlled by the court. Even if the dynasties changed, the sects still existed. Your Majesty wants to change this."
Xu Zihou was shocked when he heard his mentor's explanation. He didn't expect that the emperor had such great ambitions.
Martial arts sects, the top martial arts sects in any state have a history of more than 500 years, far exceeding the existence of a dynasty, and the Great Shang Dynasty has been around for less than 30 years at most. He doesn't understand where His Majesty gets such great confidence to be able to do it.
"Our Majesty is a man who has a long-term vision. This is why he trusts me to be the Prime Minister and even allows me to control the government. Because even if I control the government, it will only be for a few decades, and what I can bring to him is a stable country."
An Zisheng felt a little disappointed. He thought the emperor really trusted him. However, one thing after another told him that the emperor was just using him.
If it had not been for Master Lin's reminder, and he had not set up an office to monitor the merchants, I am afraid that at that time, the emperor would have raised his butcher knife and seized the wealth of many merchants for the royal family.
At the beginning, he elevated his status as a businessman and offended many powerful people. At that time, these powerful people would attack him together without the emperor having to do anything, and all the emperor had to do was to go with the flow.
His establishment of the Commercial Supervision Bureau had already disrupted the emperor's plan, and a rift began between the two of them.
Just because the king wanted his subject to die, but he did not die.
Now, the rift is only being widened and even exposed.
"Teacher, what should we do next?" Xu Zihou looked at An Zisheng with some concern, fearing that his teacher would misunderstand him. He then explained, "The safety of my students is nothing. I am just worried about you, teacher."
"Don't worry, it won't be that easy for His Majesty to take action against me now, at least not in the short term." An Zisheng then changed the subject: "Zihou, I heard that your wife and child are pregnant, and have returned home?"
"Well, I have an old mother at home to help take care of my wife." Xu Zihou nodded. His marriage was arranged by his mentor.
"The soil and water environment in Canglan County are good and suitable for living. If you are willing, let your family live there."
Xu Zihou raised his head and glanced at his mentor with some surprise.
Canglan County was not originally well-known, but because of the recent events of Dahan Trading Company, this county town appeared in the vision of all officials. The owner of Dahan Trading Company is from Canglan County.
"I'll listen to my teacher." Xu Zihou realized something and nodded.
An Zisheng watched his disciple leave with a wry smile on his face. Master Lin had been right about everything he had said. The conflict between him and the emperor was irreconcilable.
The emperor wants to be a powerful ruler and to make the royal family last forever, but all he wants is for the people to live a prosperous life.
Changing the long-standing world situation is not a blessing for the people.
…
…
Palace!
Bedroom!
Emperor Shang Yuan had a gloomy look on his face. The ground was covered with broken pieces of porcelain, and the eunuchs and palace maids were quietly cleaning it up.
After a while, hurried footsteps were heard at the door. When the sound reached the door of the bedroom, the person slowed down and walked in quietly.
"Your Majesty, good news, that person has agreed to come to the capital."
An old eunuch came in. As soon as he said this, Emperor Shang Yuan's gloomy face immediately brightened up. He glanced at the eunuchs and palace maids around him and said, "All of you retreat."
Soon, Emperor Shang Yuan and the old eunuch were the only ones left in the palace.
"Tell me the details ."
"He made three requests. The first one is that Your Majesty provide him with one million taels of gold."
The old eunuch did not dare to look at Emperor Shang Yuan, and lowered his head while speaking. Emperor Shang Yuan frowned, and the next moment he said in a deep voice: "What about the remaining two?"
"The second requirement is to establish a crown prince and let the crown prince marry his daughter."
Perhaps fearing the wrath of Emperor Shang Yuan, the old eunuch immediately made a third request: "The third request is for Your Majesty to appoint him as the Imperial Master."
After saying this, the old eunuch knelt on the ground, not daring to move.
The entire
Just when the old eunuch seemed unable to bear this silent torment any longer, the heavenly sound he wanted to hear finally came.
"Reply to him. I have agreed to all his requests, but I have one request. In order to prove his strength, I want him to kill someone!"
The old eunuch did not dare to look up, and asked tremblingly: "Your Majesty, who do you want him to kill?"
"Lin Ye, the owner of the Dahan Trading Company." Emperor Shang Yuan said expressionlessly, "Tell him to bring Lin Ye's head to the palace. I will agree to his three requests one by one."
"I will notify that person right away."
The old eunuch kowtowed three times and retreated respectfully, not daring to look up at the emperor from beginning to end.
"An Zisheng, I wanted to give you some respect because we were once kings and subjects, but you forced me to do it."
The old eunuch who had just left the bedroom turned pale when he heard the words of Emperor Shang Yuan in the bedroom, and hurriedly quickened his pace. He didn't dare to guess whether the emperor said this on purpose for him to hear it, but even if he heard it, he could only pretend not to hear it.
…
…
Time flies, and three years of spring and winter have passed.
Canglan County.
The most prosperous county town in the entire Nanjiang Province, its prosperity far exceeds that of the provincial capital.
Three years ago, the Dahan Trading Company was no longer low-key and invested a lot of money to rebuild Canglan County. In addition to the influence of the trading company, many trading companies opened branches here, which made the business in Canglan County extremely developed.
For ordinary people, they only know that Canglan County is prosperous because of the Dahan Trading Company, but for people in the martial arts, the reason why Canglan County surpasses the state capital and enters their field of vision is because of one person.
Snow Swordsman——Jing Yu.
More than two years ago , the martial arts sects in Huizhou, Anzhou, Jinzhou, the three states adjacent to Nanjiangzhou, sent disciples in one after another. Perhaps because of the failure of Zhenwu Palace in Nanjiangzhou, the martial arts sects from these three states were led by Half-Step Martial Saint himself.
The god-level sect in Nanjiangzhou used to have the strongest one being only a half-step Martial Saint, but now three of them have come at once. From the perspective of the warriors in Nanjiangzhou, Nanjiangzhou might be divided up by these three sects.
But what no one expected was that these three Half-Step Martial Saints were all defeated in Nanjiang Province, and all at the hands of one person.
Snow Swordsman—Jing Yu.
After these three Half-Step Martial Saints entered Nanjiang Prefecture, they acted extremely domineeringly. If there were any sects unwilling to submit to them, they would simply occupy their mountain gates and drive them out. Several sects that were unwilling to move were exterminated by these three.
That month was the most frustrating month for the warriors in Nanjiang Province. It was under such circumstances that Jing Yu took action and killed three half-step Martial Saints in one day. That day, heavy snow covered the entire Nanjiang Province.
After the three Half-Step Martial Saints were killed, the warriors from these three states no longer had their original arrogance, because Jing Yu left a word after killing these three Half-Step Martial Saints.
If the martial arts sects in Nanjiangzhou voluntarily submit to him, he will not care, but if they dare to force the martial arts sects and warriors in Nanjiangzhou, he will kill them one by one.
Kill the warriors of Nanjiangzhou without reason, kill!
Force the martial arts sects in Nanjiangzhou to kill!
Those who disobey will be killed!
These three sentences allowed Nanjiangzhou's martial arts to remain stable for three years, and the martial arts sects from the three states of Anzhou also began to change their strategies, using benefits to lure Nanjiangzhou's warriors and martial arts sects to join them.
As a result, the entire Nanjiangzhou martial arts maintained a rather strange stability.
But everyone knows that whether this stability can last depends on one question.
Did the Snow Swordsman ever become a Martial Saint?
Some old men think that the Snow Swordsman Jing Yu has not yet entered the stage of Martial Saint, but is only at the peak of Half-Step Martial Saint, and is only one step away from becoming a Martial Saint.
There is another important factor. The three sects that lost a Half-Step Martial Saint will definitely not let it go. The reason why the Martial Saint has not taken action yet is because the Martial Saint is in seclusion.
When a Martial Saint is in seclusion, he generally won't care about external affairs, unless someone attacks his sect and reaches the mountain gate, then he will come out.
"Snow Swordsman Jing Yu, right? In three days, my sect's Grand Elder will come to take your life!"
In Anzhou, the Martial Saint of Tianjian Sect came out of retreat, and a disciple from Jingzhe Realm came to deliver a letter, and his voice echoed throughout the entire Canglan County.
The next moment, the body of the Jingzhe realm disciple from Tianjian Sect was nailed to the city gate by a flying sword.
All the warriors in the city were in an uproar. The Tianjian Sect issued a declaration of war, and the Snow Swordsman also responded.
