After a while, there was no movement in the room.
Wang Qingzhi walked over the staggering officials and walked out of the room. Master Lu, who was waiting outside, bowed respectfully to him.
"Have you dealt with all the people they brought?"
"Yes. The effect of the incense is very good, no one in the group can detect it." Master Lu glanced into the room, "How do you plan to deal with them, Master?"
"Keep the governor and meritorious officers, feed them with medicine to make them fools, and kill everyone else." Wang Qingzhi had already deduced what he was going to do several times, "But you have to pay attention to the method when killing, especially the prefect. . After all, they were all good officers who fought bravely against the pirates and unfortunately died in the end. As for the two who survived, it was more shameful. They were greedy for life and afraid of death, and escaped from the battle. In the end, because of fear of responsibility and punishment, they turned into crazy people. .”
Master Lu swallowed his saliva, "Do you really want to go to this step?"
"Um?"
"No, I'm not questioning the young master, but... they have also taken care of the Wang family..."
"They are concerned about salt merchants and salt taxes, but not the Wang family." Wang Qingzhi shook his head, "You don't think that at this point, they still have any way to survive, do you?"
"Jinxia City was raided by pirates, and the princess died in the chaos. Who bore the brunt? Of course, the officials of Jinxia City. The second person who needs to be responsible is Shenzhou Mu and the garrison general."
"The good result is to be stripped of his official position and exiled to the border; the bad result is to be sentenced to death and beheaded in public. Nine out of ten officials in Jinxia City will have the latter result. Compared with the pain and humiliation caused by torture, sleeping peacefully It would be kind to them to die silently."
"I... understand." Master Lu lowered his head and said.
"It's not that I have no choice, and I don't want to be like this." Wang Qingzhi patted him on the shoulder, "When a fire breaks out in the forest, how can we stop the fire? The only way to put it out is to separate the woods and fight the fire with fire. As long as they are alive , they may talk nonsense during the trial and drag down everyone around them. Since they are going to die anyway, of course it is better to let them die in a way that is more beneficial to the Wang family."
In addition, the Wang family is not the only one who can benefit from this matter.
The academic department that proposed this plan, Li Xingyuan, was probably aiming to kill two birds with one stone.
Officials from the Six Ministries believed that the Privy Council should never interfere in local government affairs. As a result, a sudden raid by pirates caused the government to lose ground and lose face. Wang Qingzhi could guess how much trouble the Privy Council would cause by this, even with his eyes closed.
When these big shots muddy the waters, who will care about the truth
Compared to the two behemoths, the Six Ministries of the Imperial Court and the Gyeonggi Privy Council, the Wang family is still too inconspicuous after all...
"Master Lu, if you follow me... you won't regret it, right?" Wang Qingzhi asked sincerely.
"Master, the Wang family has treated me with great kindness. No matter what happens in the future, I am willing to live and die with the Wang family." The master replied without hesitation, "What's more, in you... I have already seen some shadows of the master. .”
"I was trained by him. I am not like him." Wang Qingzhi smiled slightly, "It's just that my father is old. He will understand this when the dust settles."
…
Between Jinxia City and the beach on the north bank, there is an ancient stone tower.
It was built a hundred years ago and is now used by the Qi Kingdom as a sentry tower to monitor ships entering the sea and as a warning beacon.
Tian Shi is responsible for garrisoning here.
With him were three soldiers and a corps commander.
Although guarding the guard tower is boring, the task itself is very easy. During the month-long garrison period, there is no need to perform drills and there is no need to worry about being reprimanded by the superior. During the day, he passed the time by throwing dice, and in the evening, he went to a wine shop for a drink after the handover, and his life was quite comfortable.
Although the stone tower was stationed to monitor the rivers and seas, no one would actually stay at the top of the tower for this purpose. That place is like a steamer during the day, and even though it's much cooler than it was in mid-summer, it's not difficult to sweat all over in a short period of time. When the sweat and lining are mixed together, not to mention how uncomfortable it is, the smell alone is enough to intoxicate you.
Therefore, those who want to go up and have a look will be disliked by everyone.
"Hey, Shitou, why don't you come over and play?" The Wu leader happened to be named Wu, so everyone called him Boss Wu. I heard that he is a native of Jinxia and has some connections behind the scenes, so he is considered a regular user of this job.
"No, I lost twenty copper coins yesterday. If I lose any more, I won't have any money to give to my mother-in-law." Tian Shi waved his hands repeatedly.
"What if we win back today?"
"Yes, maybe I can even give your wife an extra piece of cloth!"
"You play, you play, I just watch."
A new round of betting begins.
Three dice and one bowl, simple but exciting. The corps leader would sometimes come up with other things, such as Pai Gow and lottery counting, but in the end, what everyone loved to play was betting on big or small.
"I heard that your wife is giving birth?" Boss Wu chatted casually while shaking the bowl.
"It's coming soon, it should be this year." Tian Shi said cheerfully. He can only go back every two months, and the next vacation will happen after the station ends.
"I think Brother Shitou is saving money!" someone laughed.
"All good men are like this. Unlike you, all the money you win is spent on the kiln sister."
"Why, I'm not courting my mother-in-law, so I'm not allowed to have fun."
"Pan Houhou, you don't have a single coin in your pocket, how can any girl like you?"
Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Tian Shi grinned. The guy who was being squeezed was named Pan. He was the youngest in age and size in this round of garrison. Everyone liked to call him Pan Monkey.
The latter had no consciousness of being ridiculed, and had an expression that said the money would not be spent in vain.
"Okay, I'm going to open the lid, buy it and leave!" Mr. Wu slapped the bowl and shouted loudly, "Whether you sleep in a stone tower or a soft bed tonight depends on your luck -"
Before he could finish speaking, a muffled sound suddenly came from above his head.
Something seemed to have fallen on the top of the tower.
Everyone couldn't help but look at each other. There was only one entrance to the sentry tower. If you wanted to climb the stairs, you had to pass by them. Now everyone was sitting on the bottom floor. How could anyone run to the top.
But if it wasn't their words, then who made the noise above? Seabirds probably don't have this ability.
"Don't move, don't move. You can't take back your bets after they've been placed." Boss Wu glared, "Looking at your dazed expressions, isn't it because the wind blew something down? Shitou, you weren't playing anyway. Let’s go up and have a look for everyone.”
"Okay." Tian Shi climbed up, hung the straight knife on his waist, and walked up the stairs.
Arriving at the top floor, the tower was still empty.
He thought for a moment, then simply pushed open the movable cover on his head and stuck his head out from the patio.
It doesn't matter if you don't see it, Tian Shi was shocked when he saw it.
I don’t know when there was an extra person on the top of the sentry tower!
"Who are you and how did you get up here?" He kicked off his feet and rushed to the top of the tower, his right hand already pressed on the handle of the knife. If it weren't for the fact that the other party was well-dressed and looked like a kid from a rich family, he would probably have struck him with this knife.
The other party turned to look at him and said with his usual expression, "I am just passing by here and want to do a simple divination."