Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

that?

"Which one?" Rong Youtang asked cautiously, he stared at the other party's meaningful eyes, and touched his nose with little confidence.

"Jade box." Zhao Zeyong pointed out clearly.If he didn't have the ability to kill and make decisions, how could he be crowned prince because of his military exploits?So, he either didn't say anything, or he was outspoken.

Rong Youtang shook his head subconsciously, shaking his head heavily!

"If you don't like it, you still look for it?" Zhao Zeyong asked in a leisurely manner.

"I just want to know how you deal with it." Rong Youtang replied awkwardly.

"Burn."

"Oh~"

Rong Youtang breathed a sigh of relief, he put a hundred hearts on King Qing, and said helplessly: "Oh, His Highness the Seventh Prince is really true! If someone sees that thing taken out outside the Imperial Academy, they will not be able to argue with it."

Zhao Zeyong comforted: "You don't need to pay attention, the old seven is probably itchy again, and this king will take care of him."

Rong Youtang couldn't help laughing, it was really embarrassing to discuss the erotic pictures in the jade box, so he waved his hands indiscriminately and said: "Forget it, forget about him!"

Zhao Zeyong nodded, went to the book case, turned to the serious business, and said: "Qi Zhiyang is courageous, resourceful, and quite righteous. This king has already explained to him. After you arrive in Guanzhou, you must discuss everything and take care of each other. Work together, and don't be instigated and suspicious by villains."

"Yes."

"The Hejian stretches with high mountains, deep forests and dense grass, and the terrain is extremely complex. It has been known as chaos since ancient times." Zhao Zeyong felt a headache, and solemnly warned: "Especially in Guanzhou. You must be careful. It is important to thoroughly investigate the turmoil, but Life is more important. In the face of life and death, only by keeping the green hills can we plan for the future. Do you understand?"

"clear."

Rong Youtang was close to the desk, thoughtfully, rubbing the ink for a while, then took a page of paper, dipped the pen in the ink, drew a steady line, and said softly: "This is the Yanhe River, which crosses Hejian Province. In the southeast, there is an official road leading to Guanzhong." Then he drew a vertical line: "Yanhe to the west, the waterway is three hundred miles, and it flows to the Grand Canal that runs through the north and south."

Zhao Zeyong went to Hejian to suppress bandits, so he is quite familiar with the terrain.He took the Langhao pen held by Rong Youtang, drew a few small circles along the river, and carefully marked the place names. It is bounded by the Grand Canal with Ningwei Province."

"So, Riverside Chaos is 'blessed'."

Rong Youtang took a deep breath, and said wryly: "Hejian is definitely the favorite hiding place for criminals who are wanted, people from the rivers and lakes who are fleeing with vendettas, etc.: retreating can hide in deep mountains and old forests, entering can flee to the ends of the earth along waterways, even if the government No matter how capable you are, you have no ability to pick them out from countless merchants and travelers from all over the world!"

"Although the topography of mountains and rivers is predetermined and cannot be changed, the imperial court should not let it flow."

Zhao Zeyong frowned, pointed to Guanzhong in the northwest of Hejian, and said in a deep voice: "This king mentioned a few years ago that some of the Guanzhong Army stationed here can be stationed between Shangnan and Lushui. Too many, about [-] soldiers are enough, enough to deter the lawless sects."

"If you want to garrison the army for defense, you have to designate a place and build a military camp. Who will pay for it? How will the food be supplied?" Rong Youtang immediately heard the key question.

"The imperial court has laws: the standing garrison is supported by the imperial court. If the local government invites some soldiers to guard according to the actual situation, it will have to bear the entire cost of building the barracks, and the food and salary will be provided by the imperial court and the local government in half." Zhao Zeyong quickly explained, pausing , Said with great regret: "When the proposal was offered back then, the emperor adopted it and the court agreed, but the governor of Hejian said that the province could not afford the huge cost of building a military camp, so he shelved it."

"It's even more impossible now!"

Rong Youtang said with emotion: "The Northern Camp is under construction, and it will cost more than ten million taels, and the treasury is tight. In the next ten years, even if He Jian has the ability to spend its part of the money, His Majesty will not agree to do so." Yes." After the demolition and construction, the country needs to recuperate.

"They missed the best time to get out of the predicament." Zhao Zeyong regretted.

Rong Youtang thought for a moment, then suddenly asked: "When suppressing the bandits, I heard from the locals that 20 years ago, the Yanhe River was only used for two medium-sized ships, and there were many twists and turns. , Only then has today’s unimpeded flow.”

"That's right." Zhao Zeyong stood up, walked towards the bookshelf against the wall, and said calmly, "You Guanying was promoted to governor because of his achievements in the Yanhe River. He has been sitting for 20 years and has not yet paid off the treasury money he owes."

what?

I have borrowed treasury silver for 20 years and have not paid it off?

Rong Youtang was stunned, and hurriedly asked: "How much do you owe?"

"About 100 million taels."

Rong Youtang gasped in amazement, trying to remain objective and calm, and counted on his fingers: "There are many disasters in the river, floods every year, water bandits make troubles, droughts, locust plagues, and occasionally plagues—really, really...some troubles."

Zhao Zeyong walked to the bookshelves that occupied the entire wall, opened one of the cabinet doors, and said in a flat tone: "If it weren't for the frequent disasters in Hejian, how could my father tolerate You Guanying's arrears so far? Beiying consumes money and water, and the court has tried every means It's really not easy to increase income and reduce expenditure." He opened the cabinet door, reached out and took something out.

In this way, Hejian was poor from beginning to end?

Rong Youtang picked up his pen again, looked down at the crude topographic map, and couldn't help but question: "Because of the developed water transport and the rampant water bandits near Guanzhou, the original intention of excavating the river channel was very good, but the government's defense has not been able to keep up and cannot maintain it. The stability of the local area has caused visitors from all over the world to fear and evade, and would rather take a large circle along the canal north to Ningwei to enter the official road, rather than take the Guanzhou. At present, the Yanhe River is only convenient for water bandits to go to and from the canal to plunder?"

Ridiculous, simply ridiculous!

"That's why I don't worry about you going. Qi Zhiyang is highly skilled in martial arts, brave and good at fighting, at least he can protect himself, but you are a scholar." Zhao Zeyong couldn't hide his worry.

Rong Youtang smiled when he heard the words, and said with high fighting spirit: "Although there are risks, if you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch a tiger? Now there is a rare opportunity, how will you know your strength if you don't try? The best is the best, and the best is the best." It doesn't matter if you lose, just open your eyes."

"Okay! Before dealing with a strong enemy, the morale must be high first, otherwise it will be useless in a confrontation."

Rong Youtang turned his head, put down his pen, looked closely at the object in the other's hand curiously, and asked, "Your Highness, what is this?"

"Shark clothes."

Zhao Zeyong unfolded the light robe that was almost transparent in white, and suddenly there was a bright and cold light in the room, dazzling people's eyes.

Rong Youtang instinctively turned his head to the side and closed his eyes to hide, and asked in surprise: "Shark clothes? Is it made by the legendary South Sea shark weaving yarn?"

Zhao Zeyong smiled: "The myths and rumors are groundless. The mermaid is a fabrication. This thing does not drink water and is extremely buoyant. The craftsman named it after the sea shark. You put it on, and it will surface quickly after falling into the water. You can slowly move ashore even if you don't know how to swim." As he said, he put the shark clothes on Rong Youtang, and urged: "Try the size. It happened suddenly, it's too late to teach you how to swim, so let's do this first."

He De He Neng?What can I do?

Rong Youtang was filled with emotions, he stood there blankly, dazed for a while, and then he opened his arms as he said, and said sincerely: "Thank you Your Highness! This thing relieves my worries, and I don't have to be afraid of falling into the water and drowning day and night when I arrive in Guanzhou."

"Don't talk nonsense." Zhao Zeyong lowered his head to help fasten one of the belts, and reminded: "There are a lot of belts, and you have to fasten them. Only by fitting your body can you exert your buoyancy as much as possible."

This thing is extremely thin and soft, an adult man can hold it in the palm of his hand, and shake it open to reveal a top and bottom trousers, with a row of belts on the front.

Filled with joy beyond words, Rong Youtang carefully touched the shark clothing: the material seemed to be cold, but the tentacles were comfortable, without any feeling of coolness.

"Your Highness, what is this made of? I have been in the cloth shop for many years, but I have never seen such a miraculous cloth!" Rong Youtang raised his face excitedly, his eyes sparkling.

"I don't know the details. It is said that a small amount of silk is mixed with a kind of tempered bark, which comes from Nanyi. Don't worry, the doctor has tested it, and it will not harm the body."

"Bark?" Rong Youtang couldn't imagine, looked at it repeatedly, gently rubbed the shark's clothes, and muttered: "There is such a tree in the world? It shows that I am ignorant, and I thought it was real cloth."

However, Zhao Zeyong reached out to help take off the shark clothes, and pushed the man towards the hot spring at the foot of the mountain behind the palace. He said vigorously, "Let's go! I'll take you there to try and see if the shark clothes are useful."

"Ah good."

Before Rong Youtang could react, he was pushed out of the study room. He subconsciously wanted to stop, but after a short pause, he could only grit his teeth and move forward.

in no time

Zhao Zeyong pushed away the water pavilion built around the hot spring, the interior was warm and warm, the spring water gushed out, and the inside and outside of the water pavilion was filled with a unique pungent smell.

The warm and hot water mist filled the air, and the depth could not be seen clearly.

Rong Youtang squatted down and tried the water temperature: Well, it's not too hot.He tried his best to look into the water, but no matter how he couldn't see the bottom, he couldn't help but feel fear: bottomless?How big is the spring?Can people fall in and not get out?

"Get up and put it on, you won't be able to see it, go down and try it." Zhao Zeyong pulled him up.

"Oh."

He dawdled, as slowly as possible, but Rong Youtang finally put on the shark clothes, he swallowed quietly, and firmly nailed his feet to the ground.

"You dance by yourself? Or should I push?" Zhao Zeyong asked seriously.

"No no! Don't push."

Rong Youtang hurriedly waved his hands, and said with a wry smile: "I'd better jump by myself." After a pause, he reminded very nervously: "Your Highness, if I don't surface after jumping for a long time, it means that the shark clothes have not worked. , please catch me in time—uh, ah!"

Zhao Zeyong smiled, without saying a word, suddenly picked up the person horizontally, rushed out with a stride, and jumped straight into the hot spring.

After a loud bang, they both fell into the water.

"Hmm, cough... wait!"

Caught off guard, Rong Youtang was so frightened that he almost lost his wits. He instinctively hugged King Qing tightly, drank several mouthfuls of hot water, and coughed continuously.

"My lord, you are hesitating here. If you go to Guanzhou and you need to abandon the ship to escape, what should you do?" Zhao Zeyong asked feigned anger.With one stroke, he stepped on the ground firmly with both feet, and stood up straight above his chest above the water, with the trembling Master Xiao Rong hanging in his arms.

After entering the water, the buoyancy of the shark was really strong, and he lifted Rong Youtang to the surface of the water - unfortunately he didn't know it, he was shocked, and wanted to imitate King Qing to stand upright and struggle against the buoyancy of the shark.

"Don't panic, calm down." Zhao Zeyong gently stroked the back of his hand, and persuaded him gently: "Let go and try? In fact, you have already floated up."

"Yes, is it?" Rong Youtang was dubious, held his breath, looked down at the shark clothes, and then very slowly released his left hand, laying on the water surface, and tried to press down—it was quite laborious, It takes a lot of movement to get into the water.

After a while, he said in a good voice: "Your Highness, I let go, please don't wander away."

"Okay." Zhao Zeyong was very patient, staying still, his eyes were soft.

Soon, Rong Youtang was lying on his back with his hands and feet spread out, trying to stretch his neck to let his whole head out of the water, trembling with fear for a long time, finally said happily: "Hahaha, I can really float!"

"If not, the craftsman is maliciously deceiving, taking the life of a person who may have an accident to cheat money, how can he be lightly forgiven?" Zhao Zeyong was drenched all over, with water dripping from his forehead and dripping from the tip of his tall nose, he was very handsome.

He pushed hard, and Rong Youtang struggled frantically, and quickly lay down again, repeating this over and over again.

"It must be worth a lot." Panting, Rong Youtang looked up at the top of the water pavilion, and murmured: "Your Highness... I will not be able to repay it in this life."

The pillars of the water pavilion are very high, but the wall is only half built. The setting sun is projected obliquely on the water surface, and the flowing spring water reflects it into a swaying and mottled crystal light in a room, which is dazzling.

Zhao Zeyong waded closer, looked down at Rong Youtang's upturned face, bent down and kissed the other person's forehead, then backed away, and said seriously: "There is no need to pay back. As long as you return safely, you will be rewarded."

Rong Youtang closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curled up in joy, then he opened his eyes suddenly, and tried his best to paddle towards him!

A few feet away from each other, Zhao Zeyong's eyes were full of smiles, he caught the clumsy approacher, and quickly swam back to the shore, what was he going to do——

"Retreat, don't enter!" Suddenly came the guard's blocking sound from outside.

"But, the housekeeper asked us to dig out the hot spring. He will come to check it tomorrow morning." A group of handymen explained helplessly.

The confidant guards were hesitant to speak, they knew King Qing's intentions well, but no one said anything, they just pretended not to know.

Inside the waterside pavilion, the two looked at each other, King Qing was expressionless, but Rong Youtang suddenly laughed. He wiped the water from his face, took off his shark clothes in twos and carefully folded them into his arms. Sweeping away the cover-up fear in the past, he walked over to open the door with his head held high, and said loudly: "Everyone is here to clean up the hot spring? Please go in and do your work."

"Yes."

"Hey, okay."

Rong Youtang swaggered out of the water pavilion, turned his head and smiled and asked, "Your Highness, have you gone back?"

Zhao Zeyong had a stern face, but suddenly he also laughed, and said majesticly, "Oh."

A pair of wet and dripping people walked side by side.

at night

Tomorrow morning, I will go out for a long time, so I will go home for dinner naturally.

The carriage stopped in front of the cloth house, and the driver said respectfully, "Master Rong, we're here."

"Okay." Rong Youtang was in a good mood, jumped out of the carriage in good spirits, forced a few dimes of silver to the three coachmen who were actually guards, and said earnestly: "It's really not right to bother you all to send me."

After talking and joking in a friendly manner, Rong Youtang walked briskly, with a smile on his face, and walked home from the back door of the cloth village.

"Father, I'm coming back—" Rong Youtang stepped into the living room, before he finished shouting, he stopped abruptly, and eye-to-eye with Zhou Renlin who got up after hearing the news.

"Why are you here?" Rong Youtang frowned instantly, his good mood was gone, and he scanned again: uncle and cousin were also there.

"Aren't you going to Guanzhou tomorrow morning? I'm here to see my father off." Zhou Renlin said.After he got off duty, he didn't want to go back and face the restless backyard, so he rushed to the Rong's house alone - finally had a legitimate reason, how could he miss it?

"Tang'er, wash your hands first, and eat right away." Rong Kaiji hurried over to persuade him, fearing that another noise would break out and affect his son's mood when he went out to do errands.

"Go." Rong Zhengqing also urged, trying his best to put away his hatred, he had just scolded his enemy severely.

"Don't go too far!" Zhou Renlin couldn't bear it anymore, and said angrily, "No matter how much you deny, Tang'er will always be my son, and no one can change it! Now I just want to say a few words to him, and you have to stop him? "

"I'm just stopping you, how about you?" Rong Zhengqing sneered and jumped up.He hated Zhou Renlin to the bone, and when he thought of his parents and sister, he was extremely angry. In addition, his scientific research and official career had been suppressed for more than ten years.

Rong Kaiji only wanted his children to eat dinner happily, have an early rest, and set off in good spirits tomorrow.But he couldn't drive his son's biological father away with harsh words, so he could only persuade him sternly.

"Uninvited guest, please leave and don't disturb our dinner." Rong Rong said righteously.

Zhou Renlin couldn't look directly at the son of a mentor who was close to him when he was young, so he turned his face away in embarrassment, and said sternly: "Youtang is my child, you work together to instigate him to be unfilial, what is your intention?"

"Hmph." Rong Zhengqing made no secret of his disdain, and said meaningfully: "Thanks to my elder brother's good teaching, the child is so smart and motivated."

The sword was on the verge of breaking out, Rong Zhengqing clenched his fist, his gaze was like a torch.

Rong Youtang raised his hand decisively and shouted:

"Master Zhou!"

"You, what did you call me?" Zhou Renlin was extremely annoyed, exasperated, and said in a low voice, "I am your father! You have acted willfully and recklessly changed your life experience, so you will not be held accountable as a father. But in private, you also deny?"

Rong Youtang's heart was as calm as water, and he was extremely firm. He said calmly: "Master Zhou, you must have come here quietly again, hiding things, why bother? You'd better go back quickly, lest the honored lady knock on the door, and then no one will be ashamed."

"It's true that she has something wrong, but we are a family! If you have any grievances, you can bring it up and try to solve it for your father. Besides, she can't handle you anymore, so what are you afraid of?" Zhou Renlin eagerly promised .

Now that things are going on, you still want me to forbear and give in?

Rong Youtang smiled lightly, shook his head and said: "You are a family, what have you got to do with me? Mr. Zhou, please go back and settle your house's housework. It's useless to talk about breaking the sky here."

"Ah!" Zhou Renlin saw that the concubine would not eat hard and soft, and would not eat oil or salt. He sighed helplessly, and gave way: "You should think about it calmly, and don't be in a hurry to get rid of the blood relationship. Come on, tell the father A few words from you will save you from getting into trouble rashly at Xiaguan State Trade Center."

Rong Youtang went to pour a cup of tea, and forced himself to treat his biological father as calmly as possible, and asked slowly: "Are you willing to leave after you have finished speaking? If you don't tell me, you won't leave?" It was nothing more than telling me and Simu to whitewash the peace.

really

Zhou Renlin approached and whispered to his son: "You are young and ignorant, and you thought you got a good job? Actually, it is not. The situation in Hejian is complicated and has never been peaceful. After the people and the government turned their faces and fought, they killed a few people and chose to fall into the grass. Otherwise, how did the Jiufeng Mountain bandit den come into being? You, don’t be serious, go down and have a few meals with the governor of Hejian and the prefect of Guanzhou, and they will tell you the 'truth', so don't bother to investigate." He finished speaking , Waiting for his son to respond gratefully.

However, there was no response from the other party, with a look of wandering in the sky.

"What's your attitude?" Zhou Renlin was extremely dissatisfied and wanted to reach out and slap him.

Rong Youtang quickly avoided, and called out unbearably: "Uncle Shun?"

"Hey!" Li Shun rushed out from the dining room next door, rubbed his fists and asked, "What are your orders, young master?" Is it possible to drive people away?

Rong Zhengqing couldn't help sneering, sitting and watching the treacherous white-eyed wolf reap the consequences.

"Is the food ready?" Rong Youtang rubbed his stomach.

"Okay, okay!" Li Shun nodded his head, glanced at the uninvited visitor and said, "The young master has been running outside for half a day, and he has to go out again tomorrow morning, alas."

Zhou Renlin fell back in anger, blurted out what was in his heart in a hurry, and scolded in a low voice: "Do you think King Qing can protect you? He is too hostile. He offends all the important officials every day. He is violent and rigid and unpopular, and he cannot protect himself." -"

"That's enough! Your highness is humble, upright and loyal. He has made great contributions to defending the territory, but he has no arrogance. How rare is it? But, how can a person like you tolerate being upright?" Rong Youtang suddenly changed color. , pointing at the door: "Go, go now!"

"I'm trying to persuade you, but you don't know what's good? Tang'er, don't offend everyone by pleasing one person. Once the backing collapses, you'll be done for! Is it worth it?" Zhou Renlin taught earnestly.

"I have my own principles in doing things, only like-minded, never to please anyone!" Rong Youtang said loudly.

Do you think everyone is like you?Can you do evil against your will for the sake of glory and wealth?

"Love is illusory, no matter how strong it is, it will be empty sooner or later. I think you have been poured into ecstasy soup, a foolish child who is determined, and you don't even have a way out? It's just stupid!" Zhou Renlin reprimanded with hatred.

Rong Youtang was so angry that he didn't want to hear a single word, and he could no longer calm down, so he ordered forcefully: "Don't speculate in half a sentence! Uncle Shun, see off the guests, and don't open the door no matter what he says in the future!"

"Yes!"

Li Shun and Lao Zhangtou teamed up and forcibly lifted Zhou Renlin who was struggling and screaming.

The Rong family finally regained peace.

Rong Youtang took a deep breath, stretched out his hand to invite him, and said apologetically: "It's my fault for coming back late, fourth uncle, younger brother, father, let's go and have dinner."

after a while

A table of people surnamed Rong sat around and had a meal, all of them left Zhou Renlin behind, and they adjusted their moods without saying a word.

After dinner, Rong Zhengqing happily informed: "Brother, the letter I sent a while ago, the letter from home arrived yesterday."

"Oh?" Rong Kaiji was startled, and quickly leaned over to ask, "What did the old man say?"

Rong Youtang also held his breath to listen:

"Of course I agree!" Rong Zhengqing clapped his hands happily.

"Grandpa was so happy, he asked carefully, and it filled five pages!" Rong Yu revealed cheerfully.

"That's great." Rong Youtang let go of his heart completely, and said awkwardly: "It's really embarrassing for the old man to be hasty and sudden."

Rong Zhengqing said with a smile: "Father has already recorded you as a son-in-law in Masahiko's first room. From now on, you can safely report the name of 'Rong Youtang' when you travel around the world!"

next day

It was dawn, and Rong Youtang was ready to go, standing at the gate of Buzhuang and looking around.

"Everything is ready." Rong Kaiji was so busy that he didn't touch the ground, he packed a well-packaged package himself, and said: "There is no hot food on board, you will eat dry food, don't buy outside, I don't know." Details. Here, here are your favorite sesame biscuits, three silk buns, and a bag of snacks, put them here, remember to invite General Qi to eat with you.”

"understood."

"You don't know martial arts, Shang Fang Sword should be kept by General Qi."

"correct."

"Collect the money well, and don't reveal your money when you go out."

Rong Youtang nodded seriously: "I remember."

"At the time of the appointment, does General Qi know about our family?" Rong Kaiji babbled, reluctant to let go.

"I know. In the past, we rode back to the city together several times. His family lives in Nancheng." Rong Youtang comforted his adoptive father.

"That's good." Rong Kaiji tied the bag carefully.

Rong Youtang estimated the time, staring at the street ahead.

A quarter of an hour later, the crisp sound of horseshoes was finally heard in the morning mist.