Ludu, Juxianzhuang.

Deng Zhi, the owner of Juxian Village, the younger brother of Deng Hui, the governor of Ludu, and the direct disciple of Xinchen Legalism.

Deng Zhi, who has three titles on his head, is undoubtedly the local emperor of Ludu. Except for his brother Deng Hui, the governor, he is not afraid of anyone. Just the scene on the street today, if he hadn't been worried about Han Zhan's identity, he would have taken action long ago.

At this time, Deng Zhi was sitting in the hall of Juxianzhuang, with a huge word "Fa" behind him. It can be seen that in his heart, the majesty of the law is absolute. His subordinate, the bald man, sat aside and said:

No words were spoken.

After a long time, Deng Zhi looked back at the word "Dharma", then stood up and said: "It's your sixtieth birthday, sir. As an apprentice, I want to celebrate. You go down and prepare. Remember, you must be sincere."

"

"Don't worry, owner, I'll leave it to you." The bald man backed away with his hands.

As soon as the bald man left, Deng Hui walked in and said, "Second brother, the prince has sent a letter, saying that Ning Xiaochuan, the fifth young master of the Duke Li's family in Yindu, has arrived at the territory of Ludu. Please treat him well. Brother, I am the prefect and I can't come forward.

I can only trouble you."

Deng Zhi frowned and turned to look at Deng Hui, "Brother, you have been doing all the good things for so many years. I have been blamed for this in Juxian Village. Do you know how bad my reputation is among my brothers and sisters now?"

?"

Deng Hui smiled, walked to Deng Zhi, and hugged Deng Zhi, "My brother, who among us brothers will follow whom? Besides, think about it, if it weren't for the support of the prince, you would be able to go to Xinchen to become a disciple.

How can I achieve the status I have today? The prince’s great kindness to us must be repaid.”

"Yes, we have to repay it, but brother, you have to think clearly, this person is the young master of the Liguo family. If something really happens in Ludu, will the prince help us excuse ourselves?" Deng Zhi said with a frown.

Deng Hui stroked his beard and smiled softly, "Don't worry, as long as something happens to him in Ludu, my elder brother will still have some means."

Deng Zhi stood up, looking extremely serious, "Do you have a portrait?"

"Hehe, of course..." Deng Hui waved his hand, and the attendant behind him handed over a portrait. Deng Hui slowly opened the portrait and said, "This is the person."

"Huh?" Looking at Ning Xiaochuan's portrait, Deng Zhi became more familiar with it and frowned, "This person..."

"What? Have you seen my second brother?" Deng Hui also became nervous.

The figure of Han Zhan appeared in Deng Zhi's mind during the day today, and wasn't the person behind Han Zhan exactly the person in the portrait?

"No wonder you dare to tear up the notice in the street. It turns out he is the son of Duke Li." Deng Zhi suddenly laughed, and then there was a different look in his eyes.

Deng Hui also frowned, "It turns out that this is the person who tore up the notice during the day. It's true that there is a road to heaven but you don't take it, and there is no door to hell for you to surrender. This is blatant disobedience to the government, and according to the law, you will be punished with a rod."

"Okay, brother, please leave this matter to me. I met him once, and this matter is quite sensitive, so please don't come forward." Deng Zhi put away the portrait and said calmly.

Deng Hui nodded and smiled again, "Okay, then I'll leave it to you. I believe you won't let the prince down, hahaha."

…

At this time, Ning Xiaochuan did not expect that asking for directions would be effective so quickly. At this moment, he was resting in the inn.

The heavy taxation and corvee in Ludu all year round has caused half of the shops in the city to close down. The prices of some of the remaining shops are extremely high, and even the prices of inns are much higher than in ordinary places.

While helping Ning Xiaochuan clean the house, Susu complained, "This Ludu Inn is too expensive. Just one room costs five taels of silver. It's like robbery."

"The taxes in Ludu are heavy. If the price is not raised, this inn will close down." Ning Xiaochuan said slowly, sitting at the table, looking at the jade pendant in his hand, and thinking of Kong Zhenxuan's words.

…

"Sir, this jade pendant is high-quality deep forest jade. This kind of jade is only found in the North. It is unique to the North. The price is extremely high. People who can use this kind of jade are either rich or noble.

Behind this jade are plum blossoms, Hanshuang proud plum blossoms. This plum blossom is particularly highly praised by the Legalists. In Xinchen, almost every household has plum blossoms, and every household has winter plum blossoms.

And those who can engrave their surnames on the jade pendant with plum blossoms, I dare not say that people in the entire northern region, at least only one place in Luzhou dare to do this." Kong Zhenxuan said while looking at the jade pendant.

Ning Xiaochuan looked at Kong Zhenxuan doubtfully, "Grandpa Kong, you are not talking about Legalism, are you?"

"Yes, it is the Legalist family, and it is only the lineage of the Legalist giant Han. This Han Zhan is most likely the direct descendant of the Legalist family after the Legalist giant." Kong Zhenxuan returned the jade pendant to Ning Xiaochuan and said with a frown.

"I see, it's so powerful. I didn't expect that when I first arrived in Luzhou, I met a giant of the Legalist family. It's really interesting. Then this new young master Chen Ben has to go there anyway." Ning Xiaochuan curled his lips and said with a smile.

.

Ning Xiaochuan took back the jade pendant, came to the window, looked at the bright moon above his head, thought for a moment, and murmured to himself, "Second brother, what would you do if you encountered this situation?"

…

Yindu.

Since Ning Feng returned to Yindu, the atmosphere in the entire court has become subtle.

First, the day after Ning Xiaochuan left, Ning Feng impeached Jingzhou Mu in court, saying that Jingzhou Mu had set up private soldiers, made false accounts, and deceived Yindu.

This impeachment exploded directly in the court. It is very simple. Gao Zhen, the pastor of Jingzhou Liu Sheng, overcame all the opinions and personally sent it to him. This blatant impeachment was a naked slap in the face.

After Ning Feng spoke, Xiao Jun, the admonishing doctor, also spoke. He was impeaching Liu Wei, the Minister of War at that time, saying that Liu Wei secretly transported ordnance to Jingzhou with evil intentions.

As a result, the entire court was in complete chaos. Zhongxian, the usually calm Prime Minister, could not sit still and began to persuade Gao Zhen to let Liu Sheng return to the capital.

However, as soon as he opened his mouth, Wen Zhe, the jade-faced minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, became anxious. This prime minister, who had always shown humility, actually began to accuse Ning Feng, whom he had single-handedly promoted, saying that Ning Feng did not know the reason and had slandered the important officials of the dynasty.

With Wen Zhe taking the lead, there was a huge quarrel in the court for a while. In the end, Gao Zhen got angry and stopped the dispute, and they ended up unhappy.

Not long after Ning Feng impeached Liu Sheng, Kong Zhenqing, the master of the Imperial College, resigned from his post as master, retired and returned to his hometown. In addition, the prison warden, Zheng Chongguan, reported that unknown forces had infiltrated the prison and asked the Ministry of Punishment to intervene and conduct a thorough investigation of the prison.

Prison warden.

One incident after another caught Gao Zhen off guard. At this time, Gao Zhen was sitting in the study rubbing his eyes. Next to him, Han Zhongxuan lowered his head and said nothing.

"Your Majesty, it's getting very late now, please rest quickly." Han Zhongxuan said in a low voice.

Gao Zhen said a little tiredly: "How can I sleep? This is what you told me. No one knows, how did Zheng Chongguan know, and how did Liu Wei transport ordnance be known? Huh?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. It's my fault that this old slave has neglected his duty." Han Zhongxuan knelt down and bowed his head and said, "This old slave will investigate the matter thoroughly and give an explanation to Your Majesty."

"Humph, you'd better hurry up. The civil and military officials of the court are watching. If this thing doesn't go well, it will ruin my big event." Gao Zhen said coldly, and immediately threw down the brush in his hand.

Han Zhongxuan trembled in fright, quickly picked up the brush and handed it to Gao Zhen, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will do it as soon as possible."

…

Inside Ning Mansion.

Ning Zhi and Ning Feng, father and son, were sitting in the lobby. Ning Zhi frowned, sipped his tea and said, "Feng'er, you'd better not go to court these days and openly impeach Liu Sheng. You are bold enough.

That old fox Xue Xun didn't say anything for so many years. You went out and came back without consulting dad before talking nonsense in the court. Fortunately, His Majesty has a good temper, otherwise dad wouldn't be able to protect you."

Ning Feng coughed twice in embarrassment, "Dad, I have been in Yindu before and felt that the situation outside is just like everyone said. The country is peaceful and the people are living and working in peace and contentment. Everything is beautiful and happy. If the master hadn't let the child go out for a walk, the child would be

I never imagined that the outside world would be like this."

"It has been a centuries-old tradition for great officials to promote martial arts. However, in recent years, military attachés have been suppressed, exiled, assassinated, and civilians are in power. This is the case in Yindu. It can be seen in other places." Ning

Zhi said helplessly.

"Dafeng is indeed a mess now. I have experienced a lot along the way. In the northern region, the criminal laws are harsh, taxes are heavy, and the people are miserable.

Although the land of the East China Sea is rich, there are many wealthy families. The Gongsun family of Jiangnan and the Du family of Jiangxia are not economical. They only care about their own power and profit, regardless of the life and death of the people. Beggars are everywhere and the people are displaced.

The three southern states are plagued by poverty and are constantly harassed by mountains and rivers. Even now, there is still talk of human sacrifice.

Needless to say, Sichuan and Shu, after the death of King Anxi, the Miao territory rebelled, and it has not yet been quelled. Dad, tell me, how can such a great favor allow the people to live in peace, and how can the country be peaceful and the people be peaceful?" Ning Feng said sadly.

Ning Feng had been feeling aggrieved for so long and had spoken out everything. After saying this, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Ning Zhi sighed helplessly, "The wine and meat of Zhumen are stinky, and there are people freezing to death on the road. Feng'er, you should know that the current situation in Dafeng cannot be reversed by removing one or two officials. If you want to completely change the current situation in Dafeng, how can you

It could be a matter of one or two years."

"Hey, Dafeng looks peaceful now, but actually the inside is already in tatters. If it encounters a national disaster at this time, I'm afraid Dafeng will suffer a disaster." Ning Feng said helplessly.

Ning Zhi naturally understood the meaning of these words, "What we can do now is to guard Xiangzhou. As for other places, we are powerless even if we want to."

"I don't know where Chuan'er is. I've been gone for so long and I haven't even sent a letter to my family." After a long silence, Ning Zhi suddenly mentioned Ning Xiaochuan.

Ning Feng took out a small note from his sleeve, "The letter just came back. They have arrived in Ludu, Luzhou, and are now in Ludu City."

"Fei Ge passed the letter, have you arranged someone around Chuan'er?" Ning Zhi looked at the small note in his hand, shook his head and smiled.

Ning Feng sighed, "It's not me, it's my father-in-law."


Chapter completed!