Shen Ao didn't know his identity. His idea was that once the crime was confirmed, he would use the tunnel to escape. At that time, the sky was high and birds could fly, and the sea was wide and fish could leap, and he could go wherever he wanted. Where to.
Before that, what needs to be done is to cash in all the properties and leave Daliang City with as much money as possible. In this way, no matter where he goes, he will have enough development funds to establish himself.
The preparations made by Shen Ao were not known to the outside world. No one thought that humans could communicate with animals. No one thought that a mouse would help a young man in this way.
The preparations were in full swing. Without much bargaining and even giving up some of the benefits, the eldest princess, on behalf of the emperor, purchased 40% of Guochanglong's shares from the Zhongguo Palace, for a total price of 80 million taels.
Ordinarily, with Guochanglong's current rate of making money and being the only imperial merchant in Daqian, the 40% value of them without having to pay commercial tax is far more than that. But Shen Xing still followed Shen Ao's wishes and offered it at such a price and price. The eldest princess made a deal.
The next step is to sell the toll rights of the road. After all the businessmen have seen the various benefits that the smooth flow of Liang-Liao Road can bring, the toll rights of this road have also become a sought-after thing. All powerful dignitaries and wealthy families All joined in.
In just five days, all seven sections of the road were transferred, earning a total of fifty million taels of silver.
This value naturally greatly underestimated the price of this road, but at this time, the Zhongguo government did not seem to care about such a matter. They just wanted to get cash quickly.
Next, the Zhongguo Government transferred its interests in the Chamber of Commerce and received another 20 million taels of silver. At this point, the three items totaled 150 million taels, all of which were exchanged for gold and deposited in the Zhongguo Government. among.
This huge wealth also attracted the red eyes of many people.
Even outside the Duke Zhong's Mansion, there are many strangers staring here every day. Whenever there is a carriage going out from here, someone will follow it. Surrounded by a pack of wolves, the atmosphere on the street outside the Duke Zhong's Mansion has always been very tense. nervous.
This place is like a powder keg that seems ready to explode at any time.
If anyone can't help but take the lead at this time, I'm afraid this place will soon become a chaotic battlefield. At that time, all the forces will take advantage of the chaos to take action, just for the daily amount of silver stored in the Zhongguo Duke's mansion.
Under the strange atmosphere, no one wanted to walk on the streets near the Zhongguo Duke's Mansion. It seemed to have become a vacuum, and even the team of Silver Armored Guards were usually unwilling to patrol nearby.
The matter of Duke Zhongguo Shen Ao has not been resolved for a long time. It also attracted the attention of many important officials in the court.
The first person to make a move was Du Jin, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy who never took sides, a contemporary scholar and the post of internal minister.
An article called "Records of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty", which was enough to arouse a huge response among scholars, was finally published in volume. With the help of Shen Ao's movable type printing technology, it appeared in the book column of Guo Changlong.
The whole book restores that period of history in a documentary way and uses history as a mirror, which is enough to achieve thought-provoking purposes.
In this era, some ancient books are still based on bamboo slips, which are easier to preserve. However, it is very troublesome to read. It is troublesome for anyone to carry tens or hundreds of kilograms of bamboo slips when going out.
The "Chronicles of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" is made entirely of high-quality rice paper. The paper is light and easy to carry. There are also some simple illustrations in it, which were edited by Shen Ao himself to ensure that the required explanations are explained in the simplest way. The content of the description is so that even people with little literacy can understand it and understand it clearly.
Naturally, the value of such a book would not be too low. However, at a time when there was a shortage of books, the appearance of "Chronicles of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" was quickly sold out, and it has deservedly become one of the most influential books today.
When the fully prepared thousand copies of "Chronicles of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" were published, and when everyone was praising the exquisite content and the image of the illustrations, a bigger discovery also shocked the world. That was the signature on the book. One column was clearly printed with the names of Du Jin and Shen Ao.
Although Shen Ao's name is mentioned below, the fact that his name appears here is enough to make people marvel and make countless scholars envious.
The appearance of "Records of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" actually showed the name of a condemned prisoner in the signature, which immediately aroused opposition from many people. In their view, Duke Zhongguo was suspected of liaising with foreign countries and wanted to subvert the imperial power of the Qian Dynasty. , such a person is already a sinner and cannot appear in the signature of such a work that can be handed down from generation to generation. This is a stain on scholars.
For this matter, many scholars spontaneously went to the Du Mansion and gathered outside the Prime Minister's Mansion, demanding that the bachelor's degree remove Shen Ao's name. There were even some powerful disciples who expressed their willingness to contribute money to print " "Chronicles of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty", and does not require the right of authorship.
Everyone thinks that the reason why Duke Zhongguo's name is on this masterpiece is that Shen Ao funded the internal minister. Even so, they can completely contribute this amount of funds in order to prevent it from being used. People have defiled this masterpiece that can be passed down from generation to generation.
More and more scholars who thought they were sage students gathered outside Du's mansion and demanded an explanation. At their request, Du Jin walked out of the door under the protection of Ding Huyuan, and then announced an announcement that caught everyone off guard. The inside story. "Chronicles of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" is a masterpiece written by Shen Ao in the lead and assisted by Du Jin. Strictly speaking, Du Jin took advantage of the other party. If it weren't for Shen Ao's request, If you put your name at the end, the order of signature rights has to be reversed.
Du Jin's words made all the protesting scholars instantly mute. Then, Du Jin ignored everyone's performance and turned around and returned to the mansion, leaving everyone with a back view and endless reverie.
Can Du Jin tell lies?
Maybe. But in the face of such a major event that can be remembered forever, he will never tell lies.
There is a lot of controversy in whether "Chronicles of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" was signed by one person or two people. If it was not a last resort, I am afraid Du Jin would not give up his talent and name. This kind of masterpiece that can be passed down through the ages, far away. It cannot be measured by money.
In other words, what Du Jin said can only be true. In this way, the loyal Duke Shen Ao, who is still in prison, has gained an invisible reputation - a great literary giant and a great contemporary Confucian.
If it was just a duke, he would just kill him. There might be records in the history books, but at most it would be just a passing act, and there is a high possibility that there would be no records at all.
But now, with the identity of a contemporary great scholar, it is completely different. If he is killed in such an identity, there will definitely be enough chapters in the history books, and future generations will not know what will happen. talk.
Just like Xie Jin, the most talented man in the Ming Dynasty, even after many years after his death, legends about him are still circulating among the people, and multiple versions are discussed endlessly by generations of people. Even the then king Zhu Di would also Be discussed, and sometimes even be smeared.
As Shen Ao became one of the great Confucian scholars of the time, his life and death naturally attracted more attention. It was precisely because he understood this truth that Du Jin, the internal minister, launched the "Records of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" at this time in order to remind the emperor and other ministers .Shen Ao cannot be killed casually.
Du Jin took action, and then Rui Butong, the Minister of Household Affairs and Shen Ao's direct supervisor, also stood up and expressed that matters related to Shen Shilang must be carefully investigated and the evidence must be conclusive, otherwise he will not be able to convince the people. The heart of a minister.
There are too many doubts about Shen Ao's question. If the investigation is serious, some of the charges may not be established. As soon as Rui Budao's revelation was revealed, it aroused the fear of King Qing, King Xiang and others.
Shen Ao is known as Crazy Shen. If he can't be killed this time, once he comes out of the prison safe and sound, what kind of revenge will they take? If that happens, who is it? Life won't be easy either.
As Rui Butong raised questions, he felt that something was wrong. Due to the situation, King Qing, King Xiang, the fifth prince, the sixth prince, Zuo Youpu She, Zong Zheng, as well as the generals Wuyong Hou Qiu Chun, Yong'an Hou Zhang Zhenhe Yuanding Hou Zhu Ke and others all stood up and united as one, demanding that the loyal Duke be punished quickly to calm the people.
When the royal family, important ministers, dignitaries and generals all came forward one by one, Emperor Qianwen came under unprecedented pressure. What's more, King Zhong, King Qi, King Jin, King Nanwu, and King Xishu all expressed their desire to Punish Shen Ao severely to prove his innocence.
Although none of these vassal kings said that they wanted to clear the emperor's side, and no one would say that they would send troops. But the fact that they could express their stance on this matter was enough to explain their attitude. If Emperor Wen couldn't give everyone an explanation, I'm afraid he won't be able to secure his position as emperor.
Even if you, as the emperor, ignore the attitude of the vassal kings, wouldn't that force us vassal kings to oppose you?
Everyone knew about Emperor Qianwen's greed for imperial power, so they all reported it. They believed that under such pressure, just throwing away a duke's chess piece was nothing.
What Shen Ao did was like reforming a country, which could help Da Gan become stronger. But because this strength also threatened other vassal kings, this was why they all came together to report to the public. After the vassal king's report was handed over, the theory of killing Shen Ao became more popular, and Emperor Qianwen had to take a stand.
"Come on, Marquis Xuan Zhongcheng enters the palace." Sitting on the golden dragon chair, Emperor Qianwen made a decision with some headaches. But before implementing it, he still had to discuss it with Shen Yunyi. Things involving Shen Ao were indispensable. Let Aoxue know that this Marquis Zhongcheng is the best middleman.