In the Hall of Cultivation of the Heart, Xiao Cheng was crouching down, concentrating on playing with the wooden blocks in his hands, not knowing what he was building.
After hearing Feng Bao's report, Xiao Chenglei paused his hand, raised his head and said:
"Such a big movement?"
Feng Bao bowed and said:
"Yes, word has spread throughout the government and the public today. Wang Xiao sent his army and wiped out more than a dozen large tribal villages in the country within a month. In the past few days, he even sent government guards to arrest people responsible for affairs in the capital.
Officials are causing a heated discussion."
When Xiao Cheng heard this, he narrowed his eyes, gently tapped the round piece of wood in his hand, and said:
"Are you frightened by the assassination?"
"Your Majesty, the guards at Guo Duyi outside the palace are afraid that they will have to hibernate for a while. They are afraid that if they are not careful, they will suffer an unreasonable disaster." Feng Bao reminded.
Xiao Cheng thought for a moment, narrowed his eyes, but shook his head and said:
"No, we can't lie dormant! Wang Xiao's reputation in the country is so high, I still have a headache to find a way to attack him. Now that Wang Xiao has been stimulated and made a stupid move, I can't turn a blind eye!"
Wang Xiao has been in power for twenty years, and the people have become rich, and the country has become more and more powerful, sweeping through the surrounding countries. Many people in the government and the public regard him as the mainstay of the Yun Kingdom.
Of course, people with good intentions knew that Wang Xiao wanted to usurp the throne, but the people were guided so well that no one thought that he was an ambitious person who would usurp the throne.
Xiao Chengyou made a mental calculation without any intention, and it is very likely that he would directly eliminate Wang Xiao. But at that time, there must be a lot of discussion among the people.
On Wang Xiao's side, the people who were promoted by him were all over the Yun Kingdom.
As for Xiao Cheng's men, there are only two or three available at the moment. Including the forbidden army controlled by Cheng Bushi, there are only more than 10,000 troops. It is impossible to quickly suppress all parties in the Yun Kingdom just by removing Wang Xiao.
power.
It is simply wishful thinking to get rid of Wang Xiao by some thunderous means, and then capture the remaining Wang Xiao's confidants without any help!
The most likely possibility is that Wang Xiao's confidants will come forward, create a reputation as a Qingjun, instigate public opinion, and raise troops to Beijing.
This is a situation that Xiao Cheng is unwilling to see no matter what. Therefore, before Wang Xiao's prestige is reduced, Xiao Cheng is really unwilling to take action directly unless it is absolutely necessary.
When Feng Bao heard this, he immediately understood Xiao Cheng's thoughts and bowed:
"In this way, this slave will understand! Then let Guo Duyi's envoy send people to add fuel to the flames."
Xiao Cheng nodded, continued to lower his head, and stacked the wooden blocks in his hands.
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"Alas~" Someone in the teahouse let out a long sigh.
Immediately, the sound of sighs sounded in the teahouse one by one, as if it was contagious.
This incident actually made the old storyteller on the teahouse table pause, and couldn't help but wonder if the book he was talking about was not good.
"Ahem, if you gentlemen are tired of hearing this, how about I tell you a story instead?" the old storyteller said helplessly.
In the teahouse, someone immediately said:
"It has nothing to do with you, just keep saying it..."
A guest on the side chimed in:
"This brother looks like he is living in distress. Why are you sighing?"
Sighing, the man was dressed like a businessman. Hearing this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said:
"My life was prosperous before, but it will be hard to say in the future!"
"Why don't you talk about it? Maybe all of you here can help?"
"Yeah, let's talk about it." Someone echoed.
When the merchant saw this, he followed the trend and said:
"I am a businessman from the Central Plains. I collect delicacies, medicinal herbs, and fur goods from the Yun Kingdom and sell them to the Central Plains. Although I have to manage it from top to bottom, I can still make some profits to support my family. But when I came to the Yun Country the day before yesterday, I suddenly discovered that the people who cooperated in the past
The village was wiped out by officers and soldiers for unknown reasons. I couldn’t find anyone to cooperate with me. Not only did I get nothing, but I also had to pay for travel expenses and manpower. It was a huge loss. Moreover, without this route, I don’t know what business to do in the future...
"
As soon as these words came out, there was a sudden silence in the teahouse.
"When I talk about this, I get angry. I am from the Nu tribe, and one of my relatives was arrested this time. I don't know why this Grand Master got so angry!" A strong man followed suit.
"I thought the Grand Master was a good official, but I didn't expect that he would also treat the common people like nothing, hahaha!" A man dressed as a down-and-out scholar said.
"Hey, please be careful! The Grand Master is a famous official in the world, caring for the people, and benevolent. He behaved like this just because these tribes joined forces to assassinate the Grand Master!" someone retorted.
"Regardless of whether the assassination is true or not, even if it is true, it was done by the tribal leaders! What can ordinary tribesmen know?"
"Well, speaking of this, when I went to the tribe I worked with before, I was shocked! The village was burned down by a fire and was in a mess. Not far away was a terrifyingly large graveyard. It is said that there were buried people inside.
No less than thousands of people!" the businessman interjected.
At this time, another man dressed as a rich man stood up, glanced at everyone, lowered his voice and said:
"My uncle works under the Shaofu, but he knows some news. It is said that this time the Grand Master sent troops to conquer the Li Dynasty, the country's manpower and wealth were exhausted. This time, more than a dozen villages were wiped out, probably for the Qing Dynasty.
It’s for the strength, money and food.”
As soon as these words came out, everyone present immediately took a breath of cold air.
"really?"
"Of course it's absolutely true! Moreover, it is said that the purpose of the army's expedition against Li Dynasty is to obtain favorable geographical conditions for attacking the Central Plains. We don't have enough money and food in the treasury, so we have to ask the people for it!"
"But these tribes are located in deep mountains. How much food do they need? How many troops can they support?"
"Hey, not all tribesmen are living in the mountains! When the time comes, find a wealthy businessman who is a tribesman and accuse him of any crime, and the money will come, right?"
Listening to what others said became more and more frightening, the faces of all the tea guests became extremely ugly.
Conspiracy theories are actually very popular at home and abroad in ancient and modern times.
What's more important is that there are many people from tribes in this teahouse.
"Everyone, gentlemen, don't talk about state affairs, don't talk about state affairs!" At this time, the teahouse owner couldn't sit still, and quickly stood up and apologized to everyone.
The teahouse owner is dressed in gorgeous clothes and looks short, fat and kind. He looks like a businessman at first glance.
For some reason, the shopkeeper always carries a gold abacus under his arm. It looks very dazzling. I don’t know if it is made of pure gold.
"Okay, shopkeeper Jin still has business to do, so you'd better stop talking here!" someone said to smooth things over.
Seeing this, everyone also shut up and remained silent.
The few people who had spoken most enthusiastically pretended to drink tea, and then glanced at the second floor of the teahouse.
On the second floor, Guo Xie leaned on the railing, stood with his sword in hand, and nodded imperceptibly to a few people.
A moment later, several people left the teahouse respectively, and under Guo Xie's arrangement, they were sent out of Zhongqing City by his trusted followers.