Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

In Dading Prefecture, the accumulated snow revealed the secrets hidden underneath. Patches of fertile black soil appeared before the eyes of the world. In places where the sun could not reach, there were large piles of snow. From a distance, they looked black and white, quite beautiful.

The team coming from afar was carrying the flag of the Northern Frontier Protectorate, and the fatigue and dust on their faces and bodies were clearly visible.

He walked into the military camp with a banner with the Chinese characters "Niu" and "Wang" on it. He got off his horse tiredly, slapped his waist a few times, and handed the reins of his warhorse to the soldier who was walking over. Niu Gao looked at Feng Tai who was coming over and said with disgust: "Why are you, an ugly guy, here to pick me up?"

"You're not that good looking!" Feng Tai rolled his eyes, then walked up to Niu Gao and punched him on the arm: "Okay, I haven't seen you for a while, and you seem to be a bit calmer now."

Looking at Niu Gao's face, he curled his lips and said, "This face is as black as charcoal. I wonder if the herdsmen in your area will think they have seen a ghost in broad daylight."

"You can't spit out ivory from a dog's mouth." Niu Gao kicked angrily, but Feng Tai dodged. He was too lazy to chase him. He looked at Wang Jun and his son Niu Tong coming over and said to Feng Tai, "Okay, stop dawdling. We are the last ones to arrive, right?"

"Except for the troops of the Right General who went to the northwest to establish the Protectorate, the rest are almost all here." Feng Tai stroked his beard and said, "But you are a little far away, so it is normal that you are late."

"So it's time to go in." Wang Jun also looked tired, with one hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist: "Let's not stand here stupidly, let's go to the central army to say hello and go back to sleep."

"That's right." Feng Tai looked at the three of them and turned around: "Let's go, the generals of the central army are here now."

As he took a step, he turned his head and said, "Wait for you to rest for a day. His Majesty will probably hold a court meeting the day after tomorrow."

Niu Gao and Wang Jun looked at each other and followed slowly: "I haven't seen Your Majesty for several months..."

Niu Tong watched his father talking to his uncles from behind and scratched his head. He hadn't seen Yang Zaixing and the princess for a long time. He wanted to go and see them this time. They wouldn't lose so badly...

Right?
He hesitated for a moment.

Forget it, let’s look for Sun Yue, Huyan Yu and the others first. The Yang guy is too strong.

In front of us, the central army tent with weapons racks outside came into view.

……

The skylight gradually became brighter, then dimmed, moving towards the west.

In the harem, the snow on the trees and eaves had disappeared. People's footsteps stepped on the blue bricks, and in sight were the burly guards of the Right Guard, wearing black armor and white cloaks, holding spears and crossbows on their waists. They looked over for a moment at the approaching figures, then looked away.

After knocking on the door of the imperial study, Qiao Lie walked over and said, "Your Majesty, Niu Gao is here too."

Lu Bu put down the book in his hand and asked: "Have all the soldiers arrived safely?"

"all the best."

Qiao Lie smiled, walked over and sat down: "The Ministry of Revenue has prepared the money and grain, and is just waiting for His Majesty to attend the court meeting."

The figure opposite smiled, stood up from behind the desk, and walked around the table: "Actually, there is nothing much to say. It's a matter of life and death. According to my previous temper, I would just kill them directly."

Qiao Lie didn't dare to sit there any longer. He stood up, smiled sideways, and didn't say anything.

"But people always have to change." Lu Bu sighed, picked up a manifesto from the side, patted it in his hand and said, "Let Zhang Lin draft a manifesto. You can take a copy later and spread it out as soon as possible after reading it out."

Qiao Lie cupped his hands and said, "I obey your command."

Lu Bu opened the window, but the cold wind still blew on his face. He seemed not to notice it. He looked outside for a while, then turned his head to look at the Phantom Demon Lord: "How many years has it been since we met in Liao?"

Qiao Lie thought for a moment and smiled, "It has been three decades since we met in Nanjing Road in the fourth year of Daguan."

"It's so fast in the blink of an eye." The hard lines on Lu Bu's face softened a little. He leaned his head on the windowsill with one hand, and then slapped the window frame in front of him. "I fled Nanjing Road in a panic because I was confused again. Today... I should return the humiliation I suffered in the past to the Liao people."

Huo Ran turned around, his eyebrows raised, "Xiao Haili and Ma Ling are the generals in the army, so don't worry about them. You and Deng Fei should put down your work and follow the army south this time." He waved his arm, "Let's go back to the old place and take a look."

"Yes." Qiao Lie's eyes lit up instantly, and he bowed to Lu Bu: "I will send a message to Brother Deng Fei to come back."

"Yeah." Lu Bu nodded, then looked at him curiously: "Where is Deng Fei now?"

"The last time he was sent a message, he was still in the Liaoyang Prefecture area. He is on his way back now." Qiao Lie thought for a moment and then continued, "But he has always been followed by a capable spy from the prefecture, so he won't lose his whereabouts. He also has three hundred wolf riders accompanying him. Your Majesty, don't worry."

"This guy has gone wild now." Lu Bu laughed and scolded, "If your legs are not good, you should stay in the capital and have a baby. It's more important. There is no one like him who stays away from home all day."

Qiao Lie also smiled: "He ran away because he was afraid that Your Majesty would keep urging him to have a baby. If Your Majesty says less this time, I think he will behave himself for a few days."

"...Damn it." Lu Bu smiled bitterly, "It makes me worry about his descendants like his father."

Qiao Lie smiled but said nothing.

……

Anchang City, southwest of Jinzhou.

The weather was still cold. Under the low eaves, pedestrians and vendors stood closely on both sides of the street, looking at the police officers controlling the street in front of them with curiosity on their faces, and the sound of buzzing discussions was heard.

Since last month, the price of grain in the city has been changing every day and gradually rising, causing the people in the city to gradually complain. Fortunately, the days when grain prices are soaring are not long, and there are people who cannot afford to eat, but it has not reached the point where people are starving to death.

The rise in food prices has also led to an increase in prices for places like taverns and hotels. Although people who can afford to eat in these places don't mind paying for the meal, some still complain about paying the extra money.

"I heard that the wealthy families in the city said that the price increase of rice was manipulated by the bigwigs in the capital. They said that His Majesty was going to march south this year, and all the food was taken away by the army. There was no surplus food, so the price started to rise."

"Isn't this nonsense? The harvest last year was very good. I heard that it was 20% more than in previous years. Many farmers outside the city were very happy. I heard from tenants two days ago that life is much better this year. Aren't you afraid that Your Majesty will chop off their heads for confusing right and wrong like this?"

"I'm afraid they're here to arrest someone this time. I heard that it was some imperial censor who went to question him, and that Mr. Li Cheng was arrogant and insulted him..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard a rumbling sound in his ears and felt a faint vibration under his feet. The voices of people talking suddenly stopped, and he could hear the cracking of whips and the occasional neighing of horses. The sound of horses' hooves stamping the ground came from a distance and galloped past him along the street.

Boom boom boom——

The cavalry, wearing black iron armor and holding fine iron spears, galloped past in a trail of dust, followed by infantry wearing leather armor, trotting past in the same pace.

Pedestrians and vendors waiting to see the excitement on the entire street were craning their necks to look over there: "Wow, they're sending troops directly into the city."

“Is driving up food prices such a serious crime?”

"…I'm afraid we're not really going to have to fight."

"That would be a great sin."

The rumbling troops ran across the long street and surrounded a large house. A plaque with "Li's House" was hung on the door, which showed that it was obviously a wealthy house.

On the long street outside the house, the sound of wooden wheels rolling past was heard. Soon, a wooden wheel cart was escorted by five sturdy figures. Deng Fei stretched out his hand to straighten the felt covering his legs and said softly, "Break the door and arrest everyone."

He turned to look at the people following him and said, "Get the confessions from the people you have followed. From Changqing to Anchang, several counties are driving up grain prices. I want to know who is behind this."

The five men looked at each other and nodded, and three of them walked out in silence.

In front, a cavalryman urged his horse forward, and when he approached the door, he reined in his horse and stood up. "Bang", the horse's hoof stepped on the door, and the tightly closed door shook violently. Then the knight reined in his horse and walked away, followed by another knight behind him.

bang——

bang——

boom--

The closed door burst open with a loud bang, and many figures inside were holding sticks and pointing them at the broken door, swaying in panic.

The knight in black armor waved his hand and stepped forward: "The order of the Chief Censor, enter the palace and arrest the man!"

"Why? We are all good citizens."

"You are breaking the law!"

A figure in the yard shouted at the soldiers rushing in like wolves and tigers, and the servant holding a stick subconsciously threw it away.

The woman and the man of the host family struggled with the shackles and screamed: "Why do you arrest people at random? If it is to increase the price of food, we are just businessmen, just to make money. What's wrong with it? What crime have we committed?"

The armored soldier remained unmoved. He glanced at the captured prisoner and waved his hand: "Take him away!"

The sounds of wailing and crying spread from the courtyard to the street.

Deng Fei reached out and patted the felt on his legs: "Next one."

Someone behind him responded, and the war horses started galloping in the city again, roaring loudly.

……

In the sky, dark clouds gradually swallowed up the clear sky and shrouded the city. The prison cell in the county government seemed even darker.

Deng Fei sat in a wheelchair, reached out to grab a few beans and put them into his mouth, chewing slowly, then picked up the wine bowl and took a sip.

He heard screams of "Ah!" "Ah!" coming from the other side of the wooden door. He just picked up the hot wine and poured it into the bowl, with no change on his expression.

crackling——

There was the sound of firewood popping in the bronze brazier, and the sounds of groaning and screaming gradually died down. Soon, the wooden door of the interrogation room in front creaked open.

"Mr. Deng." The man who came out had a few drops of blood on his face. He bent over and said, "I found out."

Deng Fei raised his fiery red eyes.

"There are several merchants who are loyal to Liao. They received orders from there and wanted to create trouble by using grain prices. They also deceived others by saying that merchants have no household registration and should make money." He paused and looked at Deng Fei. "Among them, Li Cheng is the merchant who came up with this excuse. He was the one who deceived the nearby cities. Many wealthy merchants really fell for his trick, which caused the grain prices in these cities to rise. Fortunately, the Minister discovered it early and prevented them from causing trouble."

"Merchants...will not do anything without profit." Deng Fei snorted coldly, then drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp: "Merchants have no household registration, how dare he say that."

He threw the empty wine bowl on the table and said, "Send this information to the capital. Also, take those Liao loyalists back to the Dali Temple and tell Gao Shangshu to punish them severely."

"Here."

……

In early mid-spring, a grand court meeting was held in the Zhongjing court. The ministers and doctors of various government offices and the generals in the army gathered in the court. An edict titled "Questioning the Liao Lord on His Ten Crimes" was issued from Zhongjing, which immediately caused an uproar in the court and the country.

Naturally, there were people in Dading Prefecture who read this manifesto aloud on the streets. The gist of it was that Yelu Yanshi was an extremely licentious person who only knew how to appoint treacherous ministers and stay away from virtuous officials, causing chaos in the court and among the people; as an emperor, he had no dignity at all and only knew how to exploit the people of all ethnic groups and extort money for his own squandering; he allowed his soldiers to plunder the property of his own people and so on.

The ordinary people who heard it were deeply touched, but more people realized that a war was about to break out.

The soldiers and horses made a noisy sound in the military camp, and the soldiers coming and going kept looking up at the moving figures. It was their generals guarding the emperor.

"I don't have much to say to them before the war. The manifesto has already been sent to the army, and everything that needs to be said is in it."

Lü Bu, wearing a golden armor and a fur coat, raised his head and exhaled a breath of white air, saying to Du Fu, Xiao Haili and others beside him: "The soldiers are fed and their purpose is to defend the country and expand the territory. In the Qin and Han dynasties, the army was happy to hear about the war after hearing a letter of proclamation. I naturally hope that they will be as brave and fearless as the Qin and Han people at that time, instead of needing generals to encourage them to kill the enemy every time."

He took a deep breath and said, "All I can do is give them military merits, titles, and land. I can't give them anything else."

Du Fu and several other generals looked at each other in the back. Xiao Haili smiled and said, "Your Majesty has given enough. Looking at all the countries today, who has an army like ours?"

"...The world is huge." Lu Bu was silent for a moment before saying, "I also thought I was extremely brave, but unfortunately..."

The generals in the rear scratched their heads and looked at each other.

Lu Bu in front turned around and smiled: "In short, it's good to be proud, but you also have to be cautious."

"Here."

A group of generals bowed, and Hua Rong was about to speak when a long-drawn "report" came from the back. Everyone turned around and saw a horse galloping over. It stopped, and the soldiers on the horse jumped off the horse and bowed: "Your Majesty, the Chief Censor sent back a message that the Liao people wanted to disrupt our rear city, but they were destroyed. Now the main criminals and others have all been taken to the capital. Gao Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice went to the palace to look for Your Majesty but did not see him. He is waiting."

"Huh?" Lu Bu was a little surprised. He turned around and looked at Xiao Haili, who also had his eyes wide open. He laughed and said, "It seems that Deng Fei has grown a lot in the past two years. He can even catch spies in the rear."

"This is really unbelievable." Xiao Hai scratched the edge of his eye mask: "That rough piece of work actually became so refined."

"Back then, there was an allusion in the Eastern Wu, that the governor Lu Meng left behind a soldier who had been away for three days, and one should look at him with new eyes." Du Fu couldn't help but stroke his beard, "This time, I feel the same way."

"Let's go back and take a look."

Lu Bu waved his hand enthusiastically, and these generals were all people who were eager to get involved, so they followed him to the palace.

In mid-spring, news spread throughout Qi that some wealthy merchants were colluding with rich merchants to drive up grain prices. Naturally, there were people who were suspicious, but at the end of the month, the news that thirteen merchant families in Zhongjing were beheaded and more than three hundred people were killed on the banks of the Dading River immediately shocked many people.

Afterwards, the imperial court sent out a dozen imperial inspectors to investigate each city. When the news came out, those who had the same idea as the businessman Li Cheng immediately stopped their activities.

The rising prices of grain and meat also began to fall. (End of this chapter)