Heading north along the Grand Canal from Guangling, the barbarian army's warships came and went on the river.
The dragon was swimming silently at the bottom of the river. Shi Hao, Yue Yaotai, and Xu Xiaoyan rode on the dragon and headed north.
The climate had already turned cold. Shi Hao sat in the middle, practicing Xuan Mei Gong, and the hot air in his body circulated.
Xu Xiaoyan sat in front of him, with her back against his broad chest, and was hugged by his arms, so she was not afraid of the cold.
Little Emerald sat on his shoulder, motionless.
As for Yue Yaotai, she was already a fourth-rank master, so this little bit of chillness was nothing to her.
Although they were in a river, the water flow was separated by the dragon's water control technique and they were not flooded.
At the same time, they also took water-repelling pills to keep their breathing smooth.
But there is actually nothing to see at the white river bottom.
It can be said that every section of the Grand Canal is made of corpses.
I don’t know how many people were captured, forced to do hard labor, and never able to go back.
Many refugees also fled south to escape hard labor, but now the south is also in chaos and war is raging.
The dragon swam very fast. They set out early in the morning and arrived in Gaoyou near dusk.
The three men quietly went ashore, while the dragon continued to stay at the bottom of the Grand Canal, catching fish on its own.
At this moment, Shi Hao was wearing a brocade robe and had a sword on his waist... In a place like this, if you dress nicely, you won't be easily captured by soldiers as a conscript, and it can also save you a lot of unnecessary trouble.
Yue Yaotai still made some disguises, but she looked kind and benevolent, which was completely different from her original image.
Xu Xiaoyan changed into a chest-length skirt, looking like a lady who had mastered martial arts.
Although it was already dusk, many able-bodied men were still busy under the supervision of officers and soldiers. From time to time, some of them fell down exhausted under the whip.
Xu Xiaoyan bit her lip. Although she was angry, she couldn't do anything.
When entering the city gate, although there were soldiers guarding it, Shi Hao was wearing a brocade robe and looked unrestrained and confident. Yue Yaotai and Xu Xiaoyan followed behind him, chatting and laughing.
The officers and soldiers who were supposed to come forward to question them just glanced at them and didn't ask any more questions.
I chose a restaurant that looked pretty good, picked a seat, and ordered some dishes.
Before the dishes were served, there was a sudden clapping sound from the next table. They turned their heads and saw a young man in a fur coat slamming the table and standing up: "What does he mean by this? When did that guy have the final say in Gaoyou City
"Even a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake. He is a royal family, and so are we. My father is the marquis here. Who the hell is he? How dare he arrest my people?"
A middle-aged fat man nearby said with a bitter face, "Second Young Master, if this continues, no one will be able to do anything. And the silver donated by those wealthy families should be returned as usual, but they were robbed on the way."
The young man in fur coat angrily said, "He was robbed? Who robbed him? Why didn't the Six Gates arrest him?"
The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and said, "The Six Gates know who robbed the place, but they don't dare to arrest anyone."
The man in fur coat glared at him: "No matter what his origin is, just catch him. I will be responsible if anything goes wrong..."
The middle-aged man whispered, "Second Young Master, the one who robbed the money and said it was going to be used as severance pay for the conscripts was the daughter of the Yue Ketai family."
The fur-covered young man paused for a moment, then cursed, "Damn it, it's that stinky girl again!"
Chapter 254 Yue Chongliang
The man in fur coat was called Su Tuhong, Su Tu being his surname in the royal family.
At this moment, Su Tuhong's eyes were filled with anger, and he cursed, "Damn it, that stinky girl is relying on the ancestral altar and her brother to show off her power and cause trouble everywhere. Does she really think that no one can do anything to her? And that guy Yue Chongliang, this must be another bad idea from him. With the support of the prime minister, does he still care about everything?"
The middle-aged man next to him said helplessly, "Second Young Master, they are arresting people and robbing silver. If this continues, what else can the people do? Especially the silver. It's fine if we can't make any money, but we can't take back the silver we took out. It's unreasonable to do this even if we travel all over the world."
Su Tuhong sneered, "It's just because he is from the Yue Ketai family that we give him some face. Aren't we all just dealing with the things the Prime Minister told us to do? Why did he choose us over here? Is he trying to use us to scare the monkeys
"Don't be afraid. Gather everyone tonight. Tomorrow morning, I will lead you to make trouble. If you have the guts, ask the prime minister to dismiss all the officials here. Damn it, let's see who is afraid of who."
Seeing that he was willing to take the lead, the middle-aged man was overjoyed and said, "With the Second Young Master leading us, what are you guys afraid of? Don't worry, Second Young Master, I will go and tell everyone right away, and tomorrow morning, everyone will follow Second Young Master to do it together."
After saying this, he turned and hurried downstairs.
Su Tuhong looked around and looked at the three people at another table. There were only three of them, but they ordered a table full of food and drinks, and he didn't know where they came from.
Su Tuhong ignored them and turned around and sat down, drinking and having fun with the others around him.
After having a full meal and a drink, he went back and had a good sleep. The next morning, he got up with the help of his maid, and on the way he used the maid to cool down.
After having breakfast, we went outside and found that the middle-aged man and others had arrived as promised.
These people were all wealthy locals. When they saw Second Young Master Su Tu coming out, they all accused the young master of Yue Ketai of atrocities, cried and begged for the Second Young Master to take charge.
Although Su Tuhong was only the second son in the Su Tu family, he was young and promising. Unlike his elder brother, he spent his days in debauchery. Although he also liked drinking and having fun, he also helped the county marquis to manage all the affairs, big and small.
Many things that the county marquis could not handle openly were handed over to him. At the same time, he was also a disciple of the famous general Fu Wanduan in the army, and he himself was also a good fighter of the seventh rank.
Su Tuhong changed into a brand new, shiny fur coat, stretched out his arms, and looked very vigorous: "Is everyone here? Let's go! Let's go talk to him."
He stepped forward, and behind him, dozens of wealthy people followed him aggressively.
They walked through a long street until they came to a mansion, in front of which were guarded by soldiers. Su Tuhong waved his arm, and the wealthy gentry shouted and wanted to petition the son of Yue Ketai's family.
Soon many people gathered around, all of them were recruited by these wealthy gentry. For a moment, the whole street seemed to be excited.
Su Tuhong led the team forward, and two centurions led soldiers to try to stop them.
Su Tuhong pushed forward with both arms, and his energy burst out. The two centurions did not dare to hurt him after all, and were not his opponents, so they retreated in panic.
They broke into the courtyard and saw Yue Chongliang, the son of Yue Ketai family, sitting in the main hall. Eighteen strong men were guarding the door of the hall. They were the Eighteen Thunder Chasers of Yue Ketai family.
The 18 Thunder Chasers lined up on the steps, looking down at the crowd. Under their strong pressure, the rich gentry did not dare to move for a while, but just kept shouting.
But then Yue Chongliang's voice came from inside the hall, "Young Master Hong is here? Please invite him in!"
Su Tuhong snorted and said, "You guys wait here and see what he says. If he doesn't know what's good for him, I'll make him pay even if we take him to Haojing." He stepped onto the stairs without any hesitation and passed through the eighteen riders of Zhui Lei.
Yue Chongliang is in his early twenties, dressed in fine clothes, quite handsome, sitting at a square table, but with a calmness that is not what one should have at his age.
He looked at Su Tuhong who was coming aggressively, and he was neither angry nor polite, but just asked calmly: "Second Young Master brought so many people here, what are you going to do?"
Su Tuhong cupped his hands and snorted, "I didn't bring them here. During the days when Master Chongliang came here, he controlled everything and made it impossible for us to do anything, but we just put up with it. Now he's arresting people everywhere and even wants to take away the money we collected."
"Everyone can't survive, so I have no choice but to plead for the people and come here to ask Master Chongliang to give me a way to live."
Yue Chongliang smiled mockingly, "Pleading for the people? Second Young Master Hong, the jade belt around your waist is quite nice. I wonder how much it is worth?"
Yue Chongliang suddenly changed the subject, which made Su Tuhong stunned. The jade belt tied around his waist, the exposed part was decorated with gems, the gems sparkled, making him look more energetic.
Su Tuhong was quite proud: "It only cost five hundred taels to order it from Bao Shang Zhai in the capital."
"Five hundred taels!" Yue Chongliang said slowly, "A belt is worth five hundred taels. I wonder which people you are representing, Second Young Master? Haha, it's you and these people outside who have made Gaoyou people's lives miserable, and now you keep saying that you represent the 'people'?"
"The Prime Minister ordered that the Grand Canal should no longer be dug, and that the conscripts should return to their respective villages, and the homeless should be resettled with land. But you have come up with a conscription fee and resettlement fee, so that only those with money can return to their villages, and those without money will continue to do hard labor for you and help you build palaces."
“There have been many wars south of the Chang River, and you have been hoarding grain. You have piled up large amounts of grain in the warehouses of various households and refused to release it. You have also arbitrarily increased various taxes and labor fees, forcing the people to sell their land so that you can enclose and occupy it.
"The newly cultivated land of the imperial court has fallen into your hands. The official land of the imperial court has fallen into your hands. If the common people have one or two acres of land, you will feel uncomfortable if you don't occupy it. Now, even the few copper coins and rations that the prime minister has worked so hard to distribute to the returning soldiers, you have found ways to find excuses to take them away."
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and it was unclear whether he was laughing at these people or at himself: "I don't know, do you think the lives of ordinary people are too long, or do you think your own lives are too long? Can't you be like your eldest brother and live an honest life of eating, drinking, whoring and gambling with your wealth that you can't spend in several lifetimes?"
Unexpectedly, he would compare himself with that incompetent elder brother. Su Tuhong was extremely annoyed: "Yue Chongliang, we are taking you seriously because we are giving face to the Prime Minister. This is Gaoyou. If everyone is unhappy, they will expose you sooner or later. Even if they report it to the Prime Minister, Gaoyou is united, what can the Prime Minister do?"
Yue Chongliang sighed, "That's right, you are really of one mind, greedy and filthy."
He leaned back and said calmly, "The silver we robbed will not be returned to you. Just think of it as the money you took and distributed to the laborers to go back home. You also have to give up the land you occupied so that the laborers who are homeless can have a place to stay."
"Labor money, resettlement money... haha, originally they should be distributed to the people by the imperial court, but you are actually asking for them in the same name. If the people don't pay, they will continue to do hard labor, or their families will be destroyed. It's hard for you to do such a thing."
"Oh, right? There's also the grain that the court sent over for disaster relief. You've been hoarding your own grain for too long because you're selling it. You need to release it as soon as possible. And the grain that you've hoarded is also..."
Su Tuhong said angrily: "Yue Chongliang, don't be so arrogant. You don't have the final say in Gaoyou. If you want to make everyone suffer, we are not afraid of you. Be careful or you will not be able to leave Gaoyou."
Yue Chongliang smiled and said, "Looks like there's nothing to talk about?"
Su Tuhong sneered: "Yes, there is nothing to discuss..."
Yue Chongliang raised his head and said loudly: "Since there is nothing to talk about, let's do it."
But then a long roar was heard outside the palace, and the high walls on both sides were pushed down, and a large number of soldiers and horses rushed out.
Su Tuhong shouted, "Yue Chongliang, what are you going to do?"
Yue Chongliang said: "Since there is nothing to discuss, let's just be direct."
There was a cry of grief outside. The rich men outside were beaten until their heads were covered with blood. They were thrown to the ground and were put in shackles and chains.
Su Tuhong said angrily: "Yue Chongliang, you dare to do it? With just your few men..."
Yue Chongliang was too lazy to talk nonsense with him: "How few people are there? Let's see what kind of troops are outside before we talk."
Su Tuhong's face changed slightly, and he looked outside, and then he was moved: "Baiyang Army? You actually mobilized the Baiyang Army without authorization? Now even the Prime Minister can't protect you."
Yue Chongliang stroked his forehead, speechless: "Can I mobilize the Baiyang Army without authorization? You idiot, if I don't have the talisman in my hand, will they listen to me?"
Su Tuhong was stunned for a moment: "You, you mobilized the Baiyang Army to arrest people just for this kind of thing? Just for this little thing?"
He was furious: "Yue Chongliang, don't think that you can act recklessly just because the Prime Minister is on your side. The Great Jin Dynasty is not ruled by the Prime Minister alone. This is Gaoyou, even if it is the Baiyang Army, they cannot arrest people without authorization..."
Yue Chongliang stood up and extended a hand to him.
Su Tuhong originally had the strength of the seventh rank, and was considered a good fighter.
Compared to his older brother who has no skills and is full of greed, he is considered a young and promising man.
But at this moment, he felt that as Yue Chongliang's hand reached out to him, everything he saw turned into darkness.
The rolling darkness pressed towards him with a fierce murderous aura.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he didn't dare to make any rash moves.
His eyes were filled with fear and his back felt cold. He felt that if he moved even a little, he would die instantly.
The hand pressed on his forehead, but then slowly moved away and gently patted his shoulder.
"A very beautiful fur coat, a very shiny jade belt!" Yue Chongliang sighed softly, patted the dust off him, and said, "When will you understand why the Prime Minister and I work so hard? Just so that in the future of our Great Jin Dynasty, even a fool like you can live well."
He had a mocking look on his face, and he didn't know whether he was mocking the idiot in front of him or himself.
Chapter 255 The Girl on the River
As he was talking, a fast horse galloped over from a distance. A warrior jumped off the horse, carrying a wooden box. He ignored the rich gentry who were beaten to death and dragged away by the soldiers, and stepped in: "Master Chongliang."
The warrior knelt on one knee and held up the wooden box.
Blood was oozing from the cracks at the bottom of the wooden box.
Su Tuhong blurted out: "What is this?"
Yue Chongliang said: "Head!"
Su Tuhong's face was pale and ugly: "Whose head!"
"Don't worry!" Yue Chongliang glanced at him and said calmly, "It's not your father's."
He took the wooden box, sat back in the big chair, and opened it without paying attention to the blood on the edge of the box.
Su Tuhong looked and saw that the eyes of the human head in the box were glaring. Even after death, it still looked mighty and ferocious.
He asked, “Who is this man?”
Yue Chongliang said: "Zhang Jiusi!"
Su Tuhong was stunned: "Zhang Jiusi?"
Yue Chongliang raised his head and glanced at him: "A former leader of the Dark Thunder Society, after the Dark Thunder Society was disbanded, he led a group of people to hide in Longqiu Ridge, together with the 29 camps of Longqiu Ridge, and prepared to kill officials and rebel in Liujing County in the east today, and then stir up chaos and capture Gaoyou.
"The Baiyang Army came here because they got this information. They suppressed them before they could gain momentum and killed Zhang Jiusi."
Su Tuhong was stunned for a while, and subconsciously wiped the cold sweat off his forehead: "Longqiu Ridge? Just those bandits, do they dare?"
"What are you afraid of?" Yue Chongliang sneered, "Over the years, we have given you so much money and food, and asked you to lead so many soldiers to wipe them out, but we have not seen those mountain strongholds destroyed, but we have only seen more and more bandit strongholds. Every day and night, I don't know how many people have been forced to become bandits by you."
"In Longqiu Ridge alone, we suppressed wave after wave of enemies, from five villages to eleven, and from eleven to seventeen, twenty-three, and twenty-nine."
He looked down at the angry head in the box with a helpless look on his face: "Actually, it's not their fault. If I wasn't a member of the Jin clan, I would have rebelled against this damn court a long time ago."
Su Tuhong opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
—
"Don't underestimate Gaoyou City. After the completion of the Grand Canal, it has actually become a top priority!" Shi Hao sat on the back of the dragon and analyzed the map based on his memory. "Since ancient times, it has always been extremely difficult to fight from south to north."