Dandu Gu asked: "Sir, do you think this letter is fake?"
Qi Ning pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "Since Langchatulu kept it secretly, there shouldn't be any lies." He sighed: "It's just that Langchatulu could believe Li Hongxin so easily. I really didn't expect it."
Dandu Gu solemnly said: "The Li family has been in Xichuan for many years. There are a large number of gentry and officials in Xichuan who rely on the existence of the Li family to enjoy their glory and wealth. After Li Hongxin surrendered to the court, although the court did not treat these officials They will kill them all, but the days under the Chu State are far less happy for them than when the Li family was in power." He picked up the wine bowl, took a sip, and then continued: "These people have always been there. Wait and see, the imperial court has been preparing for Li Hongxin's comeback in Xichuan for many years, and these people also know in their hearts that Li Hongxin cannot just surrender and accept his fate. Maybe Li Hongxin has been waiting for the opportunity to make a comeback."
Qi Ning sneered: "So these people are waiting to join forces with Li Hongxin to rebel?"
"Your Majesty is wrong." Dandu Gu shook his head and said, "They are waiting to enjoy the glory and wealth with Li Hongxin, not waiting to rebel with Li Hongxin!"
Qi Ning was slightly startled, but immediately understood what Dandu Gu meant, and said with a faint smile: "What King Damiao means is that if Li Hongxin conspires to rebel, this group of people will not follow immediately. They will wait and see which way the wind blows, and they will only wait for Li Hongxin to rebel." If Hongxin has hope of success, will these people follow him?"
"That's exactly what I mean." Dan Dugu said: "There are many of these people, and they will wait and see which direction the wind will turn. But once they follow Li Hongxin, they will form a powerful force and pose a greater threat to the imperial court than before."
"More than before?"
"Sir, when Da Chu was founded, the Li family dominated Xichuan and established themselves as kings." Dandu bone said: "When Da Chu was founded, several generations of the Li family had ruled in Xichuan for decades, and they had With an extremely solid foundation, the reason why the Jinyi Old Marquis was able to pacify Xichuan was of course because the old Marquis commanded his troops well and the Chu army was brave and good at fighting, but in addition, there are other reasons." After a pause, he continued: "Your Majesty should know that when the Chu army defeated Shu, the seventy-two black caves of the Miao family contributed to the Chu army, but other than that, the other villages stood still and did not assist the Chu army. It didn’t help Li Hongxin either.”
Qi Ning nodded slightly. He naturally knew this. When the Chu army conquered Shu, the Miao King ordered the Miao people not to get involved in the war in order to protect the Miao family's seventy-two caves. However, Heiyan Cave was punished by the Miao family for assisting the Chu army. Seventy-two holes of exclusion.
"The Miao family was not involved in that war, and I believe that Your Majesty can understand our difficulties." Dandu said sternly: "In that war, the Chu and Shu armies were actually about the same strength. At that time, no one could judge the outcome. Who can win in the end? If the Miao people are involved, it will definitely bring endless disasters to the Miao family after the war, so the choice made by the old Miao King at that time was the most correct choice, and it would be the same if it were me."
Qi Ning nodded and said, "I can understand."
"The Miao family did not follow Li Hongxin, not only to protect themselves, but also because when the Li family ruled Xichuan, they were unkind and unkind to the Miao family and tried their best to exploit them." The Miao King said with a stern look: "In fact, if the Li family had If you are kind to the Miao people, the Miao family may not help you in times of crisis."
Qining knew that Damiao King said this and was very honest with him. He picked up the wine bowl and saluted Damiao King. Both of them drank it in one gulp. Qining picked up the bamboo tube and poured wine for Damiao King and himself. .
"Back then, not only the Miao family did not help the Li family, but also the gentry families did not fully support the Li family." King Damiao said: "In order to stabilize the rule of the Li family in Xichuan, all important positions were occupied by their own relatives. In order to prevent the gentry from threatening the Li family, they suppressed them. Therefore, when the Chu army attacked Xichuan, the Li family and those who had received favors from the Li family would resist with all their strength. Most of the gentry had actually become disloyal. , with all due respect, if the Xichuan gentry had fully supported the Li family, even if the Chu army could still win in the end, the war would have been postponed for at least several years."
Qi Ning frowned and said: "Those aristocratic families were half-hearted about the Li family back then. Do they still have the intention to support Li Hongxin now?"
"After Xichuan became under the rule of Da Chu, the imperial court did try to appease the families of Xichuan at the beginning and win over the people. At that time, Li Hongxin had no chance or hope of making a comeback." King Damiao said: "But after that, the Chu State and the Northern Han Dynasty Years of fighting, especially the Qinhuai War, cost both sides hard to calculate. The taxes collected by the imperial court from Xichuan in those years were extremely heavy. Under the family's rule, the taxes collected by the Chu State are now even worse than those of others."
The struggle between Chu and Han was all about unifying the world. Both sides tried their best to annex each other. During this period, the consumption of both human and financial resources was of course astronomical.
Qining knew that Xichuan was a prosperous land, and the battle between the Chu State and the Han army was all about money and food. It was of course essential to collect taxes from Xichuan.
The war will certainly bring a burden to the people of Xichuan, but the court will certainly not make it easy for the gentry of Xichuan.
After the Great Chu pacified Xichuan, it had made proper arrangements for Li Hongxin, the king of Shu. As for the gentry and the wealthy families, the court would naturally not be too embarrassed. However, this did not mean that the court would just let these wealthy families go. The court would use the war to attack the wealthy families of Xichuan. Although the purpose of imposing heavy taxes was to support the war effort on the front line, it was also to weaken the strength of the Xichuan wealthy family. It was an act that killed two birds with one stone.
It is only natural that the Xichuan wealthy family would be dissatisfied with the imperial court under heavy taxes.
Qi Ning understood and sneered: "They feel that paying taxes is too heavy, so they have the idea of making a comeback for the Li family, but they dare not blatantly support Li Hongxin. But once Li Hongxin really makes trouble in Xichuan, They will follow Li Hongxin and provide strong support."
King Damiao nodded and said: "That's right. There are many wealthy people in Xichuan gentry. As long as they fully support Li Hongxin, there will be no shortage of money, food, troops and horses, and a climate will be formed in a short time. So don't look at what Li Hongxin seems to be now. He does not have great power, but as long as he seizes the opportunity, he can easily form a force and pose a huge threat to the court."
Qi Ning was thoughtful, pondered for a moment, and then said: "From this point of view, the person who most hopes that Xichuan will fall into turmoil is Li Hongxin. As long as Xichuan is in chaos, he will have a chance." Looking at Damiao King, he said: "He secretly The purpose of hooking up with Langchatulu is to hope that Langchatulu will be the first to provoke unrest, so that he can take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos."
"Langchadulu knows Li Hongxin's influence in Xichuan." King Damiao said: "Langchadulu knows that if he can really get Li Hongxin's support, he will gain huge benefits. Li Hongxin promised him to be the king of Xichuan. He believed it."
Qining sneered and said: "Langchatulu underestimated Li Hongxin. Li Hongxin planned carefully and secretly. Even if it succeeds, is he making wedding clothes for others and handing over the position of King of Xichuan to Langchatulu?"
"Once the ambition is too great, it is easy to be blinded." King Damiao sighed: "In Langchatulu's view, after he becomes King of Damiao, he can control the seventy-two holes of the Miao family, which is hundreds of thousands of people. , he feels that with such strength, he may not be able to become the king of Xichuan." Pointing to the letter, he said: "Actually, Langchatulu is not too stupid. This letter is actually a token of his alliance with Li Hongxin. If you have it in your hand, Without getting hold of Li Hongxin, Langchatulu will not believe Li Hongxin easily."
Qi Ning was also relieved: "Li Hongxin personally wrote this letter to Langchadulu, which is actually a guarantee. Li Hongxin does not have much real power in his hands now, and he cannot convince Langchaduulu with just one mouth. Lu asked him to write this letter in his own hand as evidence for the future. In order to take advantage of Langchatulu, Li Hongxin knew that this letter would be a lever in Langchatulu's hands, but he had no choice but to write it down. Give this letter to Langchatulu.”
"Only when Langchatulu has this letter in his hand can he trust Li Hongxin, and can the two of them join forces." King Damiao said: "Perhaps Langchatulu is still thinking in his heart that if his affairs come true, Li Hongxin will break his promise and betrayal." Promise, he can use this letter as evidence to make Li Hongxin keep his promise." He smiled coldly and said: "It's just that he doesn't want to think about it. If he really waits for Li Hongxin to become the leader, how can he care about a mere letter? , nothing more than a piece of waste paper.”
Qining thought for a while and then said: "King Damiao, when did you find this letter?"
King Damiao said: "After that incident, it didn't take long for me to get it."
"Why has King Damiao kept hiding this letter?" Qi Ning frowned slightly: "Li Hongxin conspired to rebel. You should have told me earlier."
King Damiao looked solemn, shook his head and said: "If it hadn't happened tonight, I'm afraid the Lord would never see this letter."
"This...?" Qi Ning was stunned, but instantly understood the reason.
The Miao King sighed: "Li Hongxin and Langchatulu colluded, but the plan failed, then Li Hongxin's purpose of using Langchatulu to control the Miao family would have failed. After I got this letter, I also thought about whether to report it to the court. But after thinking about it carefully, it is better to hide it. The old Miao King does not want the Miao family to be involved in right and wrong. I have the same thought, but I will not object to the Miao family's 72nd hole causing trouble. Will do it.”
"Does the Great Witch know the existence of this letter?"
"The great witch does know, but the great witch only lets me decide how to handle this matter." King Damiao's eyes were bright: "Sir, don't blame me, you have a saying that is right, you can do something in your position, since I bear the responsibility of King Damiao , I can only consider the interests of my Miao family." His face was slightly cold: "I thought I would not pursue it any further, but they refused to let me go. This time, they have actually threatened the safety of the great witch, so I can no longer pretend to be deaf. You are dumb and turned a deaf ear to this matter."