Chapter 81 I'm here to dance for you
"Probably at the Court Judge's place..."
Chen Mai, the only one among the group of wise men who had some knowledge, said hesitantly.
He wasn't quite sure either.
Liu Chang looked at Zhou Shengzhi who was standing aside, "Who is the Tingwei?"
"Well, Your Majesty, do you remember that before you left, I called a group of people to come and pay you a visit? The one among them, Xuanru, is the second son of the Minister of Justice."
"Xuan Ru?"
Liu Chang pondered for a moment and asked, "Is it the one with the mole on his face?"
"Yes, that's him!"
Hearing this, Liu Chang's eyes lit up, "Zhou Yafu, go and get that man for me!"
"Yes, my king!"
Zhou Yafu jumped away, and Liu Chang continued to say to his brothers: "Prepare the chariots and weapons. This time, we have to rescue the prime minister!"
Xiahou Zao subconsciously took a few steps back and said tremblingly: "Brother, this is a serious crime... Besides, the soldiers who were ordered to detain the prime minister are all elite soldiers. How can we be their opponents?"
"What? Are you scared?!"
Fan Kang frowned and said angrily: "If you are afraid, then go back home! Don't embarrass us!"
Liu Chang stopped Fan Kang and said seriously: "Don't worry, I have thought about it. Although those soldiers are elite, they may not dare to attack us! My uncle Lu Shizhi has always been kind and righteous. We can send the prime minister to his house and hide him. If my father still wants to punish him, then my mother will definitely not allow it... She will have to intervene even if she doesn't want to!"
"Uh... wouldn't that harm Marquis Jiancheng?"
"It's okay. He has his mother to protect him. He won't die anyway."
At this moment, Jiancheng Hou Lu Shizhi was in his mansion, sneezing several times in succession. He sat in the study, looking out the window helplessly. He had been really unlucky during this period. His former ally Zhao Yao had gone crazy for some reason and directly impeached him. After impeaching him, he impeached the prime minister. He was so scared that he couldn't even leave the house...
He wrote a letter to ask his eldest sister, who scolded him again and told him to discipline the servants in the house well. If he didn't know how to discipline them, she would do it for him.
Why have I been so unlucky recently?
When the son of the Chief Justice Hou Xuanyi followed Zhou Yafu to Zhou's mansion, he was also shocked.
Seven or eight children surrounded him, all with unfriendly looks. The leader, Liu Chang, even raised his head with a wooden sword in his hand.
Xuan Ru, who had long heard of Liu Chang's "reputation", was almost frightened to death when he saw this scene.
Liu Chang also realized that his appearance was somewhat scary, so he put away his wooden sword and asked with a smile: "I heard that your father is the Minister of Justice, I wonder where Prime Minister Xiao is?"
…
In the past few days, many people came to plead for Xiao He. Even Zhao Yao, the imperial censor who impeached Xiao He, came once and said that the prime minister was indeed guilty, but hoped that in view of his past achievements, his life could be spared and he could return home to spend his old age in peace.
Liu Bang's attitude was very firm. No matter who came to plead for mercy, he would ignore them.
Liu Ying originally wanted to kneel outside the palace for a long time to beg for mercy, but he was also captured by people sent by Empress Lu.
Liu Bang frowned and for several days did not meet with his ministers or summon the ladies in the harem. He just read the memorials from various places alone. Few people knew what he was thinking.
It was not until someone from the Shangfang came to report that they wanted to show Liu Bang Prince Chang's latest achievements that Liu Bang left the palace. He did not bring any ministers with him, but only asked the Weiwei to follow with armored soldiers. He also gave an order requiring the Weiwei not to let anyone in, not even Empress Lu!
The people from Shangfang looked very excited.
They demonstrated it to Liu Bang six times, and only once was successful. The sound of thunder really scared Liu Bang, who was in a trance.
"That bastard made this?"
"That's exactly what Master Chang did. As long as the amount is enough, it can easily blow up the mine and can be used for mining and coal mining... According to Master Chang, this thing can also be used to injure people... It's very dangerous..."
Listening to Shang Fang's report, Liu Bang was overjoyed. He hurriedly said: "Quickly send an order to Shangjun, not allowing them to disclose it to outsiders! Anyone who leaks it will be beheaded! Also, quickly give it to the prime minister and let him..." Liu Bang suddenly stopped speaking halfway, and the joy on his face disappeared for the most part.
The people from Shangfang dared not say anything and just lowered their heads.
Liu Bang was silent for a long time before he said, "Send someone to the Pepper Room to tell the chief not to tell anyone the secret recipe."
"Also, take back the mine in Shangjun... and arrange for the few people who know the formula to work in Shangfang..."
Without Xiao He's help, Liu Bang had to arrange these things by himself. Although the power of the thing in front of him was not as great as Liu Chang boasted, Liu Bang still saw its usefulness. This thing was not like a spinning machine, whose structure could be seen at a glance. Such things were better kept in the hands of the royal family and not easily passed on to others.
Moreover, many of the things Liu Chang made were semi-finished products. It would be better to send someone to study them and see if they can be improved.
Liu Bang arranged all the affairs of Shangfang, but he looked a little haggard.
His illness has not been cured, and when he is busy, he still feels a little lack of energy.
Just as Liu Bang got on the car and was about to return in a depressed mood, Wang Weiwei, who was responsible for Liu Bang's safety, suddenly asked: "Your Majesty, what crime did the Prime Minister commit? Why did you suddenly lock him up?"
Liu Bang glanced at him and said calmly, "I heard that when Li Si was the prime minister of Ying Zheng, he attributed all good things to his master and took responsibility for his mistakes. Now the prime minister has accepted a lot of money from those lowly merchants, but he has come to ask for my gardens for the people, trying to please the people. Isn't this imitating Li Si? So I want to lock him up and punish him!"
Wang Weiwei was stunned and said helplessly: "Every time your majesty went to war, the prime minister stayed in the rear for many years. If he wanted to make a profit for himself and accept bribes from merchants, why would he wait until now? When your majesty was fighting Xiang Yu, if the prime minister had ulterior motives, I am afraid that the land inside the pass would have long ceased to belong to your majesty. How can your majesty doubt the prime minister like this?"
"Besides, your merits and wisdom far surpass those of Ying Zheng, and the Prime Minister's talents and virtues are not comparable to Li Si. How can you compare these two people? Please forgive me for being frank, but Your Majesty is so hasty to put shackles on the Prime Minister and imprison him. It is really inappropriate!"
Hearing this, Liu Bang's face darkened. He stared at Wei Wei and asked, "So, I am wrong?"
"I heard that the reason why Ying Zheng lost the world was because he didn't know his own mistakes and didn't allow others to point out his mistakes."
Wang Weiwei was not afraid and answered seriously.
When Liu Bang heard this, he immediately waved his hand and said, "Let's go! To the Tingwei Prison!"
The prime minister, who always had a smile on his face, finally couldn't smile anymore.
The elderly Xiao He was wearing prison clothes, chains all over his body, disheveled hair, bare feet, and looked extremely dirty. He stood trembling in front of Liu Bang, and before he could say a word, two tear marks appeared on his face.
Seeing Xiao He like this, a trace of pity flashed in Liu Bang's eyes, and he didn't know how to start.
Xiao He was about to bow to greet Liu Bang, but Liu Bang grabbed him and untied the chains on him, saying , "Prime Minister, don't bow to me. This time, you were petitioning on behalf of the people, but I didn't allow it."
"This is enough to prove that I am nothing more than an unjust emperor like Xia Jie and Shang Zhou."
"But you are a truly virtuous prime minister. When I imprisoned you, the people knew your ability and saw my faults!"
"I will give the order right now to give the vacant land in Shanglin Garden to the people of Chang'an, so that they can cultivate it... I will obey your orders."
Xiao He sobbed softly, wiped his tears, and said nothing.
Just as Liu Bang was holding his hand and comforting him earnestly, and taking him out of the Tingwei prison, there was a loud shout, and a group of naughty kids rushed over shouting.
Wang Weiwei was able to protect Liu Bang closely, so he was certainly no pushover. Hundreds of soldiers suddenly rushed out from the prison and from all sides, surrounding the place. Seeing this scene, the children immediately started screaming and running around.
The man in the lead still kept his sword raised, staring at the father in front of him motionlessly.
"You brat! What do you want to do?!"
"I... I heard that my father was in a bad mood today... so I came here to dance with him with the sword..."
