Lord of Puro

Chapter 725 Knowing the Sin
Prince Pingyuan said that the slave system should be abolished.

No one present understood.

The two ministers in charge, Yu Yunqiu and Ao Shuangqian, looked at each other. They were trying to guess what the abolition of the system of slaves meant.

Will we no longer be called slaves from now on?
What's appropriate about that?
Or maybe slaves can’t buy and sell at will?
Will the new city lord increase taxes?

Li Qi also guessed that they might not understand, so he asked the "Three-Headed Qiao Yi" beside him to explain:
"All ministers, scholars, and commoners, please hand over the list of slaves to His Royal Highness. From today on, all slaves will be given the status of commoners. They can leave or stay as they please, and no one is allowed to interfere.
All matters in Xiaocheng will be handled by Prince Pingyuan from now on. If you have any objections, you can ask Prince Pingyuan to make a judgment."

Now I have made it clear.

All the ministers and scholars were dumbfounded.

The common people were also very frightened. They also had slaves in their families, but their numbers were limited. Except for some wealthy businessmen, most common people's families only had three or five slaves.

A scholar's family might have more than ten servants, and a slightly wealthier scholar might have hundreds of servants.

Not to mention the ministers, people of status like Yu Yunqiu and Ao Shuangqian had countless slaves in their families. Without slaves, they didn't know how they would survive. They couldn't imagine what Xiaocheng would become.

The one who was more shocked than them was Qiao Yi.

Qiao Yi wanted to rush downstairs, and Nian Shangyou could hardly hold him back.

"This is our ancestral rule! We cannot break it! Such words cannot come out of my mouth!"

"My lord, just pretend that this is not what you said. This is not what you said in the first place!"

"He put on such a show, and now it's my fault, get out of here!"

Qiao Yi pushed and shoved, and Nian Shangyou couldn't bear it anymore.

"Well, my lord, I'll get out of the way and you go."

Nian Shangyou stepped aside.

Qiao Yi walked to the first floor, reached out his hand towards the door, and then retracted it.

I can't go out. If I go out, everything will be over.

Even if I get out now, not only can I not clear myself of everything, but there is no room for redemption.

There were shouting and cursing coming from outside the attic.

"The slaves are my family's private property. Why should I hand them over? Who will compensate me?"

"Xiaodu is the former capital of the Shang Dynasty. Why should it be enfeoffed? I think the cabinet has gone crazy."

"Who is he? He is a Protestant. Protestants are born slaves. What kind of prince is he?"

"If His Majesty were still alive, he would still be so rampant!"

"Everyone, go away! We are here today just to listen to the croaking of frogs!"

Qiao Yi stood on the first floor for a while, then returned to the second floor and said to Nian Shangyou, "They seem to still miss that fake king."

Nian Shangyou said angrily: "This is all Li Qi's fault. It was because of his wrongdoings that he caused public outrage and forced these people to bring up old scores."

"No," Qiao Yi looked towards the main hall. The "Three-Headed Qiao Yi" in front of the main hall did not have any flaws. "Just now, quite a few scholars followed suit and cursed. One scholar dared to mention the fake king in front of the Prime Minister. This proves that the old account was not opened today. This account has always been in their hearts."

Nian Shangyou said: "I think this is just a momentary outrage..."

Qiao Yi shook his head and said, "It is true that I am angry, but it is not temporary. Maybe this is not a bad thing."

Nian Shangyou didn't know how to respond.

This is not a bad thing. Is Lord Qiao so angry that he is confused?
Qiao Yi was not confused, he calmed down: "I haven't been to Xiaodu for many years. Someone told me before that Xiaodu and Chaoge are not of the same mind. Now it seems that this is true.

This is fine, let them fight Li Qi first, let me see what Xiaodu is like, no matter who wins, I will have to wait for them to close the net in the end."

……

The minister Yu Yunqiu moved his cheeks and looked at Aoshuangqian.

Ao Shuangqian gently tapped the pliers in his left hand.

The two of them bowed respectfully to Li Banfeng, and then left the imperial city without saying a word.

These two people had been in charge of Xiaodu for many years. Once they left, everyone else followed suit. Before long, the imperial city was empty.

Despite the respectful attitude of these two men, they were making one thing clear to Li Banfeng: they were still the two who made the decisions in Xiaocheng, and Prince Pingyuan's talk of abolishing the slave system was pure empty talk.

After everyone had left, Qiao Yi walked out of the attic. He did not comment on what happened at the ceremony, but said goodbye to Li Banfeng: "The remuneration promised to His Royal Highness has been fulfilled, and it is time for the two of us to return to Chaoge."

Li Banfeng was startled: "Is it appropriate to leave so quickly?"

Qiao Yi had a blank expression on his face, and Nian Shangyou sneered inwardly.

Now you feel it's inappropriate? You want Mr. Qiao to help you stabilize the situation?
Why would Lord Qiao help you? Where did your previous arrogance go?

Li Banfeng added: "I think you should stay a little longer."

Qiao Yi remained silent.

Nian Shangyou bowed and said, "Your Highness, Chaoge still has many affairs waiting for my master to deal with. If we delay for too long and let others see the flaws, it will be disadvantageous to both of us."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "It will be disadvantageous for me if you leave now. You want to leave before you have paid all the remuneration. How can it be so easy?"

Nian Shangyou was startled: "Hasn't it been paid yet?"

Li Banfeng said, "What do you think? You promised me twenty pieces of new land, but you only gave me ten pairs of deeds. Where are the remaining ten pairs?"

Nian Shangyou had forgotten about this matter. "Your Majesty, can you please take your time? I'm sure you know that something has happened to our altar, and it's difficult to gather 20 new plots of land in a short time. Please give us two days, and we will definitely offer all the plots of land to you by then."

Li Banfeng was generous: "It's not that I can't extend the time. Just write a promissory note first, clearly stating the principal and interest."

Nian Shangyou pursed his lips and said, "What...I want interest?"

Li Banfeng sighed, "For the sake of our friendship, I don't need to charge interest. I'll just charge a late payment fee. If you don't pay it back within ten days, I'll add an extra pair of deeds."

Nian Shangyou was anxious: "An additional couple in ten days? Your interest rate is a bit too..."

Qiao Yi said, "It's okay. I agree to this. I will write the IOU right away."

Since the lord had agreed, Nian Shangyou naturally had nothing to say.

Li Banfeng took the IOU and asked, "I've troubled you to prepare the ceremony, but you haven't told me where the three weapons are."

Nian Shangyou took Li Banfeng to Jinghe Palace first, opened a secret door on the ground of the palace, and entered a dark room underground.

There is an old radio in the dark room.

In other states, radios are no longer common. The radios that remain in our memories are either the size of a palm or as big as a brick. Only the older generation knows how big a floor-standing radio is.

Li Banfeng had seen a floor-standing radio in Old Lady Wu’s room. It was bigger than the professional audio equipment on the stage.

The overall size of this radio is extremely similar to the one that Old Lady Wu had. Li Banfeng, standing next to it, is only a head taller than this radio.

When I turned on the switch, the radio was full of noise and no matter how I tuned it, I couldn't receive any programs.

Nian Shangyou explained: "I arranged this first-class weapon, but it is the same as the one in Tianyi City. I only arranged it and don't know how to use it. Your Highness needs to study it carefully."

"I'm not afraid of research," Li Banfeng turned off the radio, "The key is whether this thing is a first-class weapon? Don't just use something to fool me."

Qiao Yi said: "Even if Your Highness doesn't trust me, can you not trust the contract?"

After leaving Jinghe Palace and arriving at Wan'an Palace, Nian Shangyou opened a dark room under the hall. Inside the dark room was a table with an old grandfather clock on it.

Nian Shangyou introduced: "Your Highness, this clock is also a first-class weapon."

Li Banfeng touched the clock, which was covered in dust, opened the sliding door of the clock, and took out a clock key from under the pendulum.

Most young people from other states don’t know what this key is used for. Li Banfeng knows that it is a tool for winding up the clock.

Inserting the key into the spring hole on the dial, Li Banfeng wound up the spring, pushed the pendulum, and the clock started ticking.

After walking for a long time, there was no change in the clock. Nian Shangyou was about to explain, but Li Banfeng waved his hand and said, "Don't say anything. You definitely don't know how to use this weapon."

Nian Shangyou smiled modestly: "Your Highness is very insightful, I really don't know."

Li Banfeng was not too worried about the restrictions in the contract. He thought that he would let the bloody pendulum and the clock talk to each other in the future and they would probably get along well.

After leaving Wanfu Palace, Li Banfeng asked Nian Shangyou: "Could it be that the third weapon is also underground?"

Nian Shangyou was stunned: "Your Highness, we have given you three weapons, and the other one is a dragon bone waterwheel, which is in Tianyi City, you have seen it."

"Nonsense!" Li Banfeng lifted up his hat and said, "That waterwheel belongs to Tianyi City. Tianyi City belongs to me. How can I take out the waterwheel and count it separately?"

Nian Shangyou blinked his fish eyes and said, "Yes, but that waterwheel is indeed a first-class weapon. It was not originally in Tianyi City. I specially arranged it..."

Qiao Yi stopped Nian Shangyou.

Don't try to reason with Li Qi at this time. The more you talk, the more you'll suffer.

But some things must be made clear. Qiao Yi said, "Although the two weapons I saw before are in Xiaodu, they were specially prepared for Your Highness by my two brothers. They cannot be regarded as gifts from Xiaodu."

Li Banfeng asked, "You mean they just moved in? Why is there dirt all over the old clock?"

Nian Shangyou waved his hand quickly and said, "I really don't know. When I placed the clock here, Lord Xie specifically told me not to wipe it."

Li Banfeng nodded: "Now that you've let this matter go, where is the third weapon?"

Nian Shangyou looked at Qiao Yi.

Qiao Yi frowned and said, "Why are you looking at me? Whether it is true or not, quickly reply to the prince!"

Nian Shangyou figured it out, and Qiao Yi now wanted to get out of Xiaocheng as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty, please come this way! This weapon is not on the ground."

Nian Shangyou took Li Banfeng to the Silijian and entered a room.

The room was not big, estimated to be only about five or six square meters. There was a roll of mat, an octagonal table, and two benches in the room.

This is the house where the eunuchs live.

Li Banfeng looked at Nian Shangyou and asked, "Where is the first-class weapon?"

Nian Shangyou pointed to the Eight Immortals Table and said, "Your Highness, please pay attention."

"Is this table also a weapon?"

Nian Shangyou bowed and saluted, saying, "First-class weapon, guaranteed to be genuine."

Li Banfeng sat close to the Eight Immortals Table and listened for a long time. He could sense some spirituality, but could not hear any sound.

The key point is that he couldn't figure out how this Eight Immortals Table could be used in battle.

After explaining the three first-class weapons, Li Banfeng asked Nian Shangyou, "Are there any other first-class weapons in the imperial city?"

"No more." Nian Shangyou's catfish face remained calm.

Li Banfeng did not ask any more questions. Nian Shangyou took Qiao Yi on a merchant ship and left Xiaocheng.

When they reached the Imperial Garden, Li Banfeng used his bridal chamber skills to exchange for his wife, and the two sat on the rockery to enjoy the flowers. Knowing that Li Banfeng wanted to abolish the slave system, his wife was a little worried: "My dear husband, the slave system of Shang State has been in place for many years, and it cannot be abolished by a decree. You are too hasty, and I am afraid that the nobles of Xiaocheng will harm you."

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "Nobility is not the point."

Upon hearing this, the record player became even more worried: "Sir, don't underestimate them. The nobles and scholars have been operating in Xiaocheng for countless years and are deeply rooted. They can use thousands of means. Sir, you must be careful."

"I don't underestimate them. I know they are not easy to deal with." Li Banfeng pondered for a moment and summoned twelve shadows.

These twelve shadows are all from the Earthly Branches. They have a talent for home cultivation and are not easily detected.

Li Banfeng instructed: "Banfengzi, Banfengshen, each of you patrols one level of the city. If you encounter servants who want to leave the master's house, bring them to the imperial city. I will settle them first.

Banfengyou, Banfengxu, Banfenghai, the first, second, and third cities are vast, so you should help out more. If anything unusual happens in other places, you should also respond in time."

After sending out the shadows of the Earthly Branches, Li Banfeng sent out the shadows of the Heavenly Stems: "You should familiarize yourself with the Imperial City as soon as possible, figure out all the secret passages, think of a good defense strategy, and be prepared for a fierce battle."

The shadows of the Tiangan system were also sent out. Li Banfeng and his wife studied together the usage of three first-class weapons.

……

The official Yu Yunqiu returned home and drank a few cups of wine. His son Yu Daoquan, who was brewing wine beside him, consoled him with two words: "Father, don't worry. How can you take the lies of a common inferior person seriously?"

Yu Yunqiu glanced at Yu Daoquan and originally didn't want to pay attention to him. He had more than thirty sons, and Yu Daoquan was not a legitimate son, so Yu Yunqiu didn't care much about him.

But today, such a big thing happened, and only Yu Daoquan dared to bring it up on his own initiative. Maybe he can really accomplish something.

Yu Yunqiu thought for a moment and gave Yu Daoquan some advice: "I didn't take Li Qi's words seriously, but I'm afraid someone else might take them seriously."

Yu Daoquan asked, "You are talking about the Ao family. Are you worried that they will defect to Li Qi?"

Yu Yunqiu shook his head and smiled bitterly: "You still don't have enough experience. Ao Shuangqian has fought with me all his life. Although I look down on his character, I have never looked down on his bloodiness.
It is impossible for him to join Li Qi, but in our family, someone might have believed what Li Qi said."

After hearing this, Yu Daoquan understood: "Father, I will go and gather some people to take care of the family affairs first."

Yu Yunqiu had more than 3,000 servants under his command, some of whom worked as servants in the mansion, some farmed in the fields, and some worked in shops.

The servants in the mansion naturally did not dare to act rashly. The servants working in the fields were too far away from the city and had no idea about the abolition of slavery. Only the servants working in the shops had some ideas.

Yu Yunqiu opened a porcelain shop in Sanchong City. At night, the shopkeeper closed the shop and the employees went home to rest. Only the servants had to live in the porcelain shop. The door was locked with an iron chain and they were not allowed to leave the shop.

There were a total of thirty-eight servants in the shop, all crowded in one shed to sleep. Around the hour of Chou, a servant named "Bei" quietly woke up and touched another servant next to him.

The servant's name was "Shun". He had not slept yet and was waiting for Bei to call him.

The two men walked towards the exit of the shed. The slave Gong, who was sleeping next to the exit, suddenly stood up and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Among this group of slaves, Gong was the oldest and had the most experience, and all of them were afraid of him.

Shun quickly explained: "Let's go pee together."

"Isn't there a urine bucket?" Gong stretched out a leg and pointed at the bucket in the corner. "It's so big, isn't it enough for you to pee?"

Bei replied: "We not only want to pee, but also want to poop, and we are afraid of stinking you."

Gong stared at the two of them for a moment: "Pooping together? How can it be such a coincidence?"

Bei replied, "We both feel sick because we had a bad stomach tonight."

Gong sneered, "You don't have to eat tomorrow. It won't be uncomfortable to be hungry for a day."

Bei Heshun didn't dare to say more. He lowered his head and quickly left the shed and walked towards the toilet.

The two brothers made a plan and planned to crawl out of the porcelain shop tonight, escape to the outside of the city, and hide in a forest.

If the city lord keeps his word, they will come back to work. If not, they will become savages in the woods.

When they arrived at the toilet, Bei and Shun dragged out two stones from the clay pile. They had originally hidden three stones in the clay pile, but one of them could not be found.

The walls of Neizhou were very high, and the slaves had iron shackles on their bodies. Two stones stacked together were not enough to climb over the wall.

Shun whispered, "Why don't we just forget about it tonight and think of a solution tomorrow night."

Bei shook his body and said, "No, by tomorrow night, the city lord's words may not count, and then we won't even be able to leave the city gate."

Shun lowered his head and said, "I'm afraid that we won't be able to leave the city gate tonight. The city lord is just bragging. If we get caught after we go out, we'll be dead. At least we're still alive now!"

Bei looked at the shed in the distance and shook the iron shackles on his body: "Is this considered living? Being whipped from morning to night, working harder than animals, eating worse than animals, and dying in that shed when I can't work anymore, is this how I'm going to live my whole life?
I heard that there are slaves who ran to the forest, built their own houses, planted their own fields, earned their own food, and even married wives. That’s what it means to be alive.”

"That's all groundless. Who can see the slaves who fled to the mountains? I don't know whether these things are true or false. I also heard that all the slaves who left the city died outside."

"You won't know until you try. The day before yesterday, Xiaomo spilled a bowl of soup from the young master and was beaten to death. You know about this. This is true, right? No matter how bad our lives are, they are better than now, right?"

After Bei said this, Shun also made up his mind: "Okay, you wait here for me, I'll go find some stones."

"Go quickly and come back soon!"

After he left, I waited under the wall. After waiting for a long time, I suddenly saw someone coming towards me with a torch.

Bei was so frightened that he wanted to hide in the toilet, but it was too late.

A guard came up, raised his spear, and pierced Bei's body, pinning him to the ground.

Standing behind the guard was Yu Daoquan.

Behind Yu Daoquan stood the oldest clerk in the porcelain business, Gong.

Gong said to Yu Daoquan, "Master, I could tell at a glance that these two guys were up to something. They said they were going to take a shit together in the middle of the night. It turns out they were planning to escape."

Bei refused to admit it and struggled on the ground, saying, "We are not trying to run away, we just want to shit."

"Bullshit!" Gong shouted angrily, pointing at the stone at the base of the wall, "Where did this stone come from? Can't I see what you are thinking? Is there a stone missing? I collected it for you!
You bunch of ungrateful people, did your master give you less food or drink? You listened to the evil words of that lowly Pu Luo and dared to betray your master. Are you still human? Shun, where is he? "

Bei shouted, "We really didn't mean to run away. Shundu has already returned to the shed."

He shouted so loudly for Shun to hear.

Shun did not return to the shed. He hid behind the kiln. When he heard Bei's shout, he hurried back to the shed.

Yu Daoquan held a knife in his hand and cut Bei's face twice: "Li Qi just said something casually, and you really took it seriously? You are alive today because our family gave you a life. What's the point of keeping a traitor like you?"

"Master, I am innocent, innocent!" I was still begging for mercy.

Yu Daoquan ordered: "Beat him to death with sticks."

Shun fled back to the shed, curled up and dared not move.

He could hear Bei's wails, each one very clearly.

……

Bei's body was hung in front of the porcelain shop. Ban Fengzi happened to pass by and leaned against the wall to watch the situation.

Yu Daoquan asked someone to invite his father. Yu Yunqiu rushed over and listened to Yu Daoquan's account of what had happened.

Yu Yunqiu nodded repeatedly: "You did a good job, you deserve a reward. I will pick a shop in Sanchong City tomorrow and leave it to you to manage."

Yu Daoquan hurriedly thanked him and mentioned, "Li Rengong has made a great contribution this time. Please give me some reward, father."

Gong lay there beside him, not daring to make a sound.

Yu Yunqiu glanced at the clerk Gong and said, "Under normal circumstances, he should be rewarded, but now Li Qi is using the clerk to write articles, so it is not appropriate to reward him. I will just record this contribution for now."

Just these words "Please remember this for now" moved Li Ren Gong so much that he burst into tears and kowtowing repeatedly on the ground.

Yu Yunqiu also ordered: "First, hang the body in the porcelain shop for a day, and then send it to each shop to show the servants what the end of such a person is."

Fish knife rights are claimed.

Yu Yunqiu added: "I think there are more than one slave who want to escape."

Yu Daoquan immediately understood: "Father, I'll check somewhere else."

Yu Yunqiu went back to Yachong City to rest. Yu Daoquan led his men to continue checking various shops. The Yu family had a lot of businesses in Sanchong City. When they arrived at a silk shop, they suddenly saw several men coming over.

These men had hunched bodies, long beards, and hopped as they walked, looking a bit like shrimps.

Seeing that they were carrying weapons, I had no idea whose guards they were.

Is it from the Ao family?

Yu Daoquan originally wanted to go up and say hello, but when he smelled the scent on these guards, he felt it was a bit strange.

They don't have the shrimp smell of the Ao family, but instead have the unique sweetness of cantaloupe.

"You are..."

Before he could finish his words, a guard swung up an iron rod and hit Yu Daoquan on the leg.

Click!
Yu Daoquan's legs were broken and he immediately knelt on the ground.

"You..." Yu Daoquan screamed in pain. Several guards around him rushed up and fought with the melon people here.

The two sides were evenly matched. Ban Fengyi said, "For such a trivial matter, you have to use these melons. They are totally useless."

Li Banfeng said, "You are useful, go ahead."

Ban Fengyi really went there and walked among the crowd, and all the guards around Yu Daoquan were knocked down.

"Lock them up!" Ban Fengyi gave the order, and the Xianggua people locked up Yu Daoquan and his guards, and escorted them to the imperial city.

That night, a passerby on the street saw Yu Daoquan being arrested and quickly informed the Yu family. Upon hearing the news, Yu Yunqiu immediately went to the imperial city to ask for the person.

The gates of the imperial city were closed and Li Banfeng refused to see him.

Yu Yunqiu wanted to force his way in, but he had no idea of ​​Li Qi's true strength. He didn't even know the origins of that group of shrimp people last night.

In desperation, he went to the imperial city again the next day and waited for Li Qi at the gate.

Around noon, Li Qi came out and Yu Daoquan also came out.

All the ministers and scholars were called in and gathered in front of the imperial city gate.

Yu Daoquan, who was covered in wounds, and a dozen guards were pinned to the ground.

Yu Yunqiu wanted to step forward to argue, but Li Banfeng glanced at him.

This sight made Yu Yunqiu shudder and he couldn't open his mouth for a moment.

Li Banfeng asked Yu Daoquan: "You know your crime of taking human life so lightly?"

Yu Daoquan shouted: "The slaves are my family's private property, I have the right to dispose of them."

Li Banfeng said, "I said yesterday that the slave system has been abolished. Do you know your crime for openly disobeying my order?"

Yu Daoquan then shouted, "I am innocent! Which family in Xiaocheng doesn't have slaves? What are you using to convict me?"

"That means you don't plead guilty," Li Banfeng nodded slightly and then pronounced the sentence, "Being beaten to death and having your body exposed for three days."

PS: Ban Feng, a fierce battle is coming!

(End of this chapter)