This time, I directly obtained the certificate of appointment as a third-grade military general from the Ministry of War. With the right servant Wang Zhuoqing secretly taking care of me, everything must have gone smoothly.
Luo Chong was named a third-rank general, Ma Hanzi was named a fourth-rank ranger general, and Yue Hu and others also became fourth-rank generals, but they were still Luo Chong's subordinates. He was not transferred elsewhere.
It is obvious that Emperor Jingyu is expressing his trust in Luo Chong in this way, but it is not certain how long this trust can be maintained.
Three more days later, Luo Chong took Princess Yongning's motorcade on its way home, but this time it was not an escort, but an accompaniment.
The journey was not just over three hundred miles, but two thousand miles across two provinces.
Her Royal Highness¡¯s carriage has been changed to a carriage more suitable for long-distance travel. The level of luxury and comfort will definitely be reduced. Moreover, there are no royal imprints on the carriage. Of course, she does not want to disturb local officials along the way.
She originally thought that only three carriages would be enough, so as not to add too much burden to Luo Chong, but Luo Chong said: To me, three or five carriages make no difference, but for you, it is better to be as comfortable as possible. .
Seeing that he cares about her so much, Yongning feels happy. At least it can show that he doesn't hate herself
Hit the road, go home!
A few days ago, Yongning's mood was full of expectations and quite happy. Although the scenery along the way was not much different from when he went to Muyang County, the main reason was that his mood was different. This time, not only was he beside him, but he also had the feeling that the sky was high and the sea was vast. Relaxed and excited, like a caged bird finally free.
But then, once outside the boundaries of the capital, from time to time you can see the people who were looted by the Qingyuan cavalry and turned into refugees. They were in groups and in ragged clothes. Many of them were walking barefoot on the official road, confused. There is no trace of vitality or hope in the eyes
Yongning¡¯s mood gradually sank.
The bird-like joy disappeared. Luo Chong could guess her mood change and knew what she most wanted to hear from him. Unfortunately, none of those promises could be given to her. This country wanted to fundamentally change. It must be fundamentally overturned, and all her efforts will be in vain.
The further down she went, the more miserable scenes she could see, especially the once-in-a-century desolation in Jinzhou, countless refugees, and all kinds of misery. Luo Chong decided to change to the waterway in advance, and there was no way. She needs to see that again.
She can't change anything anyway.
Sure enough, the scenery on both sides of the canal can indeed change a person's mood. Luo Chong hired a large ship with only a dozen soldiers on board, as well as Princess Yongning's personal attendants and several guards.
The cavalry team handed over Ma Hanzi and asked him to escort more than 2,000 war horses and a large amount of property back to Guangling by land. It was expected that he would be three or four days later than Luo Chong and the others.
The canal is an artificial river. There are basically no winds and waves. The boat ride is smooth. Most people will not get seasick. It is smooth sailing all the way south.
However, smooth sailing refers to natural factors, and troubles caused by man-made things are not included in this list. We also encountered trouble on the second day of the boat ride.
This morning, Yongning was admiring the scenery on the front deck, with tables, chairs and a tea set neatly placed around him.
In the words of the personal maid: Your Highness is acting wild like him. It¡¯s so windy on the river that you can¡¯t drink tea. You¡¯ll catch a cold if you stand for too long.
Not long after, two clippers caught up from the side and behind. Yongning couldn¡¯t understand the signals they sent. Anyway, our ship began to slow down until it stopped close to the shore.
what happened?
Yongning recognized the two ships painted with the logo of the Canal Salt Division. They did have the power to inspect passing ships, but didn¡¯t they only inspect cargo ships? Why did they also intercept passenger ships like ours?
At the stern of the ship, the inspectors from the Salt Division had already contacted the boss of the ship, shouting: Routine inspections, passenger ships are no exception!
"My lord, what is there to investigate about the passenger ship? There are distinguished guests on board. Don't disturb the distinguished guests."
The boat boss smiled and made some kind of gesture, implying that he was willing to give us a small amount of money and not to make things difficult for us for no reason.
The boss of the ship did not know the specific identities of Luo Chong and Yongning, but he still had the most basic eyesight. He knew at a glance: with so many guards accompanying them, they must be stewards.
<p "What happened to the passenger ship? It needs to be investigated! Recently, there have been many cases of using passenger ships to smuggle smuggled salt. Your ship is not small. Can it carry a thousand tons?"
The inspection captain of the Salt Class Department may have been promoted from the deputy rank of the sixth grade. He has a rough face and a fierce appearance. When he speaks, his demeanor and tone are not like an official, but he is more like an official.The mountain king who blocks the road and robs.
"How dare you, how dare you."
The captain of the ship, Dalian, waved his hands. The crime of smuggling thousands of tons of salt was too great. Confiscation of the house and exile would be a minor crime.
There are two types of people who traffic in smuggled salt. One type specializes in this business. Over the years, they have established connections with all the salt departments in various places. Although more than half of the money earned every year is used for bribes, relatively speaking, The food can be regarded as a stable meal.
The second type is an occasional adventurer who has no special relationship with the Salt Division. It is purely gambling. If he loses, he will lose his fortune, and if he makes a fortune, it will be a huge windfall.
The inspection force of the Salt Class Department only investigates and catches the second type of people.
Normally, in this situation, as long as Luo Chong reveals his third-grade official position, the other party will neither be able nor dare to make things difficult, and will definitely let him go immediately.
However, a soldier went to the side of the deputy captain and whispered a few words, but was met with a cold sneer: "A third-grade military general is nothing. Those private salt dealers just throw a village girl in the cabin." Even though she has a veil on her face, she dares to pretend to be the rich daughter of the prime minister's family. I have heard this kind of thing all too often."
¡°Well, he doesn¡¯t believe it yet.
Of course there are ways to make him believe it, but Luo Chong is unwilling to take any further action, which just allows Yongning to see with his own eyes how corrupt the officialdom is today.
"Search!"
The mate waved his hand, and a dozen of his men set up the planks and jumped onto the plywood of the ship. Each one of them had a sword hanging on his waist. There were people on the two clippers holding crossbows, and they were quite ready. It can be seen from his posture that he often encounters various situations of violent resistance to the law on weekdays.
Since Luo Chong's soldiers and Yongning's bodyguards were all wearing casual clothes and not military uniforms, and there were no flags representing any official positions on the ship, the deputy captain mistakenly thought it was an out-of-town passenger ship hired by a wealthy family. Just like those thoughts.
This guy has been on the canal for a long time, and you can tell at a glance that it doesn't look like a passenger ship smuggling smuggled salt, but that doesn't matter, it's still a good target for them to extort property.
The right way is to be rich and not to fight with officials. When wealthy businessmen from other places encounter this kind of thing, they often spend money to ward off misfortunes. There is no place to redress their grievances later, because the unspoken rule of today's officialdom is that officials protect each other, and those who are officials will make a fortune together. There is no People would offend their colleagues for this kind of thing.
How to blackmail?
"It's very simple. There are just a few sacks of illegal salt on the two speedboats. When the time comes, just throw it on Luo Chong's boat and say it's stolen property. What can you do?"
"I don't want to cause trouble, so I just threw away a hundred and eighty taels of silver. This matter is over. It would be great to spend a little money to eliminate the disaster. Otherwise, hum
In the cabin, Luo Chong told Yongning the inside story in the simplest few words, and she asked: "Are there many cases like this? Why do those wealthy businessmen from other places still take the boat and are willing to be blackmailed?"
"It's much better than encountering bandits frequently on land. You may not be able to save your life every time you encounter bandits."
Luo Chong replied: "Today's world is more chaotic and more serious than you think. The rich exploit the poor, the officials exploit the rich and the poor, and your royal family exploits everyone. One They all look like crazy dogs with red eyes"
With this said, Yongning was speechless.
Bang bang bang bang¡
At the stern of the ship, the group from the Salt Department had blatantly moved several sacks of salt and threw them on the deck of the ship. The sacks were broken, and ashes of coarse salt mixed with a lot of sand were scattered.
Planting stolen and extortion is reluctant to the whole grade of stolen goods. It can be seen how mad people are these people.
"My lord, you can't be so mean."
The boss of the ship is still trying his best to dissuade him: "There are really noble people on the ship. You really made a mistake this time, and you may make things get out of hand."
"Tell me, what will happen if you can't handle it?"
The deputy Tiju sneered darkly and said to himself, if your ship really has an official background, you should know the rules on the canal. The flags and official documents should have been produced long ago. In that case, everyone will respect each other, and I will too. It's impossible to do that.
Yongning was in the cabin on the top floor and saw this scene through the half-open porthole. He was so angry that his delicate body trembled slightly. It is said that hearing is worth seeing once. I had only heard about it before, but now that I have witnessed this kind of thing with my own eyes, I realize how miserable and helpless it is for an ordinary person to live in this kind of world.
They dare to blatantly extort money from foreign wealthy businessmen who can afford to hire such a big ship. So, how should they treatOrdinary people who have almost no ability to resist can be bullied at will?
No wonder, people from all over the country appear to rebel at every turn, and they can respond to hundreds of responses, and they can reach a large scale in a very short time
"The minister of the country's subjugation!"
The extremely gloomy mood made her voice hoarse for a while, and she said in a low voice as if talking to herself: "If the whole country is a minister of subjugation, no matter how wise the monarch is, he will inevitably become a king of subjugation."
"It's not what it is, it's the truth."
Luo Chong couldn't bear to hit her, but he still wanted to remind her: "This tree in the Jin Dynasty has rotted from the roots. It is impossible to save it. There is no time to save it. The best way is to knock it down by the roots." , and plant a new and healthy sapling.¡±
Then he said to her: "If you don't want to give up your royal status, at worst, I will support you and establish a new dynasty under another name. You can just be the founding queen who will be famous forever. However, this is something to talk about later. Well¡¡"
After saying such shocking words, regardless of how she reacted, he looked at the stern deck and said calmly: "These guys actually blackmailed us, no matter what, we must deal with them properly."