I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 128: Traveling the Country, Talking about Civility

Since the death of Emperor Longping, the reign of Dayong was changed from Qianyuan to Jingzhi.

Now that Zhao Rong has ascended the throne, he feels that he is the ruler of the revival of the country. When Emperor Longping was alive, the court and the country were prosperous, and the ministers only reported good news and not bad news. Even if there were disasters and banditry, they were just minor problems and nothing to worry about.

Emperor Longping liked to hear these things, and Emperor Jingxing liked them even more.

In Zhao Rong's eyes, his father, who was over eighty years old and had dim eyesight, was able to govern the country into a prosperous and peaceful country with the people living in peace and prosperity. He was only in his sixties, nearly twenty years younger than his father. Wasn't he in his prime?
How could such a young and promising man govern the country worse than the previous emperor?
"I am a wise ruler. My country is thriving. Who dares to say that I am incompetent in governing?"

Zhao Rong lives in his own world. He worked hard until he was sixty years old to reach this position. Shouldn't he enjoy himself?
In addition to enjoying himself, Zhao Rong was not idle either. During these days in power, he was busy eliminating hidden dangers that might threaten him.

Those who spread rumors that he was unscrupulous and fighting against his own people were traitors to the country with evil intentions and impure motives, and they must be eradicated.

There are also some old prince's party, and even those of the Fourth Master's party who want to support the idiot Fourth Prince. None of them can be let go.

On this day, Emperor Jingxing Zhao Rong was furious in the imperial study.

"What are you all for? You can't even take care of a brat. What use do I have for you?"

Cai Shichun stepped forward with a folded hand. "Your Majesty, rest assured. I have already set up checkpoints along the route to the north, and the soldiers of the Shenji Camp are also obeying orders. Even if he manages to escape for a while, he will definitely not reach the northern border."

Zhao Rong suppressed his anger and asked again about the matter of the old Prince's Mansion.

The eunuch standing beside Cai Shichun stepped forward and said, "The young prince of the Shouqin Prince's mansion suddenly fell seriously ill the other day. Although he is still alive, he has become an idiot. This old servant went to see him yesterday. The young prince was drooling and his lower limbs were paralyzed. He even needed to be fed. When I spoke to him, he didn't know anything."

"My eldest brother suffered at the hands of the Tianxin Cult rebels, and now my brother's only son has fallen into such a plight. It truly pains me! Pass on my oral order and have the best imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital come to treat him. We must ensure that my nephew is free from his suffering as soon as possible."

Zhao Rong walked up to the chief eunuch, grabbed his wrist, and slapped his arm hard.

The old eunuch looked at Zhao Rong, who had a smile on his face, and felt a chill on his back.

"Old slave obeys the order."

Shortly after the old eunuch left, two cabinet ministers, Pan Song and Shi Jinzhong, came to see him with a memorial.

In front of the imperial desk, Zhao Rong looked through the memorials, most of which were articles praising the prosperous and peaceful times and the king's good governance. For example, there were auspicious signs from the sky in such and such a place, and heavy snow in June, which has been an auspicious sign since ancient times.

For example, when two suns appear in the same sky and a phoenix sings in the sky, it indicates that the monarch is wise and the queen is virtuous. It is like two bright suns hanging in the sky, illuminating the mountains and rivers, making the world peaceful and prosperous. It is indeed a good omen.

Zhao Rong reviewed it with pleasure.

"Such an auspicious sign, doesn't it just prove that my ascension to the throne is truly favored by heaven and earth, and supported by the people?"

The two elders looked at each other and responded in tacit understanding.

"Your Majesty has been appointed by Heaven, may you live long and prosper!"

Pan Song and Shi Jinzhong were high-quality "capable ministers" selected by the elderly and confused Emperor Longping after strict screening.

Although the current Emperor Jingxing is somewhat different from the previous emperor, his character of valuing merit and despising fault is exactly the same.

Now that Your Majesty believes that the country is on the rise, then it is on the rise, and no one will have nothing better to do than to sing a different tune.

After all, everyone has gotten used to it over the years. If a king who makes drastic reforms really comes to power, they will be the ones who will be restless.

Here, Zhao Rong was singing and dancing, enjoying the world he had finally won. Thousands of miles away, three down-and-out monks were experiencing the torture of the prosperous times.

"Where are you monks from? Do you have a pass or certificate?"

Gongsun Jin, who was over fifty years old, took out his certificate of ordination and explained, "We are monks from Yunshan Temple. We have returned from our travels and are about to return to the temple."

At the city gate, a group of soldiers guarded the main road and interrogated and examined everyone one by one.

The soldiers were holding portraits, saying that a nobleman from the south was attacked by gangsters and his whereabouts were unknown. They were holding portraits of the nobleman and his entourage in order to find the missing nobleman and protect him.

Gongsun Jin brought two dusty little monks with him, and Zhu Huaian followed behind him. When passing by the doorman, he glanced at the portrait, which showed the wealthy face of his own son, Prince Zhu.

Unfortunately, he is now hungry and full, and has lost a lot of weight. Not to mention looking for him by following the map, even if his mother comes, she may not be able to recognize him.

After leaving the city, the three of them walked along the official road. During the journey, Zhu Huaian saw a convoy of cavalrymen wearing the armor of the Beijing Guards. In the prison carts escorted by the other side, there were several prisoners with black hoods on their heads, chained and detained in iron cages.

Zhu Huaian's eyes showed shock, but Gongsun Jin pulled him to the side of the road.

The people imprisoned in the prison car were not others, but his uncle's family who had parted ways with him.

After the cavalry left, Zhu Huaian broke free from Gongsun Jin's hand, his eyes red as he said, "I have to go save them!"

Gongsun Jin pulled Zhu Huaian to him and said in a low voice, "You can't even save yourself, how can you save them!"

"For now, the only way to go is to head north. If Your Highness goes back, you will disappoint them!"

"This journey will be difficult, as we anticipated. As long as His Highness survives, our lives are of no concern."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Huaian was struck by lightning, as if he had lost his soul, and was unable to speak for a long time.

Wang Liang followed silently behind him. Not long after, another group of soldiers arrived.

The leader was carrying two swords and a knife, his face was dark and his expression was solemn and stern.

When he saw the three men disguised as monks, he raised his hand to stop the soldiers behind him, pulled the reins and came forward.

"Where are you masters from and where are you going?"

Gongsun Jin answered the questions one by one according to the old arguments, and waited for the other party to take out the portrait and look at the three people for a while.

The general on horseback suddenly said, "The north is no longer the territory once guarded by the Changting King. Now this place is full of dangers, and many bandits and villains roam the land. Since you are monks from the north, you should return early and never travel far again."

After saying this, the general reined in his horse and returned to the formation, leading his troops to set off again.

Zhu Huaian said with some fear: "Who is this person? I thought he recognized us."

Gongsun Jin's thighs trembled as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He said in a hoarse voice, "This man is a general from the Shenji Battalion, named Zuo Zixiong. The prince and I met him before when we were in Beijing."

"Could it be that he recognized you?"

Gongsun Jin hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "Probably not. I only met him once, and it's been several years. Besides, how could he recognize me in this outfit?"

"If he really recognized me, I'm afraid you and I would already be his prisoners."

The three of them walked and stopped, and when it was evening, masked bandits suddenly rushed out of the forest in the distance and surrounded them.

Wang Liang reached into his bosom, where he found a short knife.

Upon seeing this, Gongsun Jin immediately shook his head.

Those bandits came with great force and did not even spare the monks.

When the leader heard Gongsun Jin come forward to speak, he immediately narrowed his eyes and interrupted: "I'm already a bandit, you think I would believe in Buddhism?"

The bandit leader sneered, as if he had seen through everything.

"I've seen countless people, and I can tell at a glance that you don't look like serious monks. You're probably just some swindlers!"

"You three have been drifting all the way here, and you must have scammed a lot of people and taken a lot of money, right? Hand over all the valuables on you, and I can let you go."

A bandit came forward and stripped off all the clothes of the three people. Except for some strange talismans, all the other small amounts of silver and money, some gold beans, and short knives and daggers that were hidden in their possession were looted.

"You still say you are monks? It seems you have been deceived a lot along the way." The leader spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on Gongsun Jin's head, then laughed and led everyone away on horseback.

Gongsun Jin was disgusted. Wang Liang, standing beside him, said aggrievedly, "They are just some bandits. I am confident that I can handle them. Why is Master being so cowardly?"

Zhu Huaian explained on Gongsun Jin's behalf, "A little impatience can ruin a great plan. Master has his reasons for doing this. If you were battling these bandits and the pursuing soldiers happened to pass by, wouldn't that ruin everything?"

Gongsun Jin wiped the dirt off his head and said with a smile, "Now that we have no money, we have become beggars."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Huaian looked at Gongsun Jin and then burst into laughter.

Only Wang Liang, who had experienced hard times, looked at the two men in confusion. Now they had no silver or dry food, and they would have to go hungry for the next meal. He really couldn't understand what the two were laughing at.

By noon the next day, the two people who had been laughing at first could no longer laugh.

These days, you can't get anywhere without money.

By the third day, those who had only been given a few mouthfuls of brown rice porridge had lost all interest in talking.

At this time, the three people's clothes were not much better than those of the beggars on the street.

Once they entered the city, the street vendors treated them as beggars and drove them away one by one, fearing that they would defile their stalls if they came any closer.

"Junior brother, we have to find some food." Zhu Huaian pulled Wang Liang's sleeve, and the latter understood. When passing by a bun shop, Wang Liang was quick-eyed and quick-handed. While no one was paying attention, he took two trays of buns and disappeared into the crowd.

At the corner of the street, three people gathered around a steamer, smelling the fragrant white flour, and their noses felt inexplicably sour.

But before they could take a few bites, a dozen refugees and beggars came out from the opposite alley.
Wang Liang narrowed his eyes slightly. Some pedestrians on the street looked at him sideways, but these people seemed to be used to it and no one stepped forward to stop him.

Zhu Huaian held Wang Liang, and the latter could only watch with frustration as the refugees overturned the steamer and rushed forward to fight for food like hungry dogs.

Gongsun Jin saw this and immediately reminded them, "Eat quickly!"

After saying that, the old man took the bun that was still in his hand and started to eat it.

The three men had just finished the buns in their hands, and before they could swallow the last bite, the refugees who had snatched all the food from the steamer surrounded them.

Countless dirty hands rummaged around, but seeing no other food, some extremely hungry refugees reached into Gongsun Jin's mouth to grab food.

The old man had bad teeth and the food in his mouth was bulging and he hadn't chewed it clean yet, so he became the target of everyone's attack.

After the commotion, the three disheveled people fell completely silent.

"I'll go get some water." Wang Liang came from a poor family and was used to these things, so he was the first to calm down.

Only Prince Zhu and Gongsun Jin could not calm down for a long time.

"My father once said that he had lived through a peaceful time when doors were left unlocked at night and no one stole anything. Now, only a few years have passed, and how could the world have become like this?"

Gongsun Jin licked his cracked lips and said, "The road north is still long. Shishiming and I will encounter many things in the future. This can also be considered a kind of practice. As the saying goes, it is better to travel the world than to rule it. Only by measuring the length of the country step by step can we rule it well and govern it well."

"Why were there no descendants who surpassed Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong? It was because they had traveled extensively and witnessed what the world was like before."

Zhu Huaian reached out and touched his sleeves. His monk sleeves were obviously thicker than ordinary sleeves. When he touched it, there seemed to be something inside.

Ever since he came from Tianjin, whenever he encountered something, he would subconsciously touch his sleeves.

The road to the north is destined to be turbulent.

On Jingxia Street, Xu Qing was training a rooster in the coroner's shop.

Ever since he was able to understand the sounds of birds and beasts, he could always hear the golden phoenix breathing out sweet fragrance.

In order to discipline Jin Luan, he made a rule that anyone who said a dirty word in the coroner's shop would have a hair pulled out, and no one was exempted.

Xuanyu had no objection to this. As a cat fairy, he never swore unless he was extremely angry.

"How many times has this happened? If you admit defeat, come on your own!"

Jin Luan pecked off a feather and put it aside, cursing, "Fuck you, wait for me, I don't believe you won't swear."

"Xu Xianjia, it's swearing again!"

"."

Jin Luan stared at the black cat who was enjoying the fun and didn't mind getting involved. She was silent for a long time and finally had to pluck out another feather.

Just like that, in just one hour, Xu Qing had a handful of golden rooster feathers in his hand.

Later, two people came to the coroner's shop. They were the uncle and nephew of Zhao Zhonghe from the patrol office.

As soon as he entered the shop, Zhao Zhonghe couldn't help but curse: "Wow, this chicken is really fat, it must weigh at least 50 or 60 kilograms, right?"

The next moment, the golden rooster swooped down.

Zhao Zhonghe raised his sheathed sword to block, but he didn't expect a force comparable to that of a Ning Gang martial artist to hit him and directly kicked him to the ground.

Jin Luan was quick-eyed and quick-spoken, and by the time the other person came to his senses, a tuft of hair was already missing from his head.

"This chicken?" Zhao Zhonghe was surprised and confused.

Xu Qing stepped forward and explained, "This is a rooster raised by the street coffin shop, not by me. This rooster is quite fierce. If anyone says something foul, it will peck at their hair. Captain Zhao needs to be careful."

"The coffin shop's rooster?"

Zhao Zhonghe was quite surprised: "It will peck people just by scolding them? How can this beast be so humane?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the bald chicken swooped over again.

Zhao Yuan, standing next to him, widened his eyes. He watched his uncle being pecked and asked curiously, "Can this chicken really understand human language?"

"I'm not familiar with this chicken. Maybe it just understands dirty words." Xu Qing decisively drew a line between himself and Jin Luan.

"Let me try!" Zhao Yuan was in his twenties, still somewhat youthful. He cautiously approached Jin Luan and said tentatively, "Hey, little bastard!"

Jin Luan was furious when she heard this. "Damn it! Your whole family is a bunch of little bastards! You're the big bastard!"

Several clumps of hair fell to the ground, and Zhao Yuan covered his head with his hands and grimaced.

Xu Qing looked at Jin Luan expressionlessly.

The next moment, the bald chicken, which had just pecked at the person, began to pluck its own feathers.

"Okay, stop provoking it!"

Zhao Zhonghe approached Xu Qing somewhat stiffly. He was a rough man to begin with, and there were many bad things going on in the yamen. He could be said to be full of shit and fart on a regular basis. It was a bit awkward for him to restrain himself from swearing at this moment.

"Manager Xu, I'm here because of Brother Shi's matter."

Shi Quan from the yamen jumped into the water and drowned in order to save Zhao Zhonghe's uncle and nephew. Their bodies are still kept in the coroner's shop.

Xu Qing remembered this incident. He patted a thin-skinned coffin in the shop and said, "The burial clothes have been put on, and the remains have been repaired. If Captain Zhao has time, he can bury him at any time."

"Then let's set it for today. Thank you, Manager Xu."

(End of this chapter)