C99

Zhang Prefecture, the main rudder of the Hing Long Society.

Even though the corpses had been dragged away, the eye-catching bloodstains and the nauseating pungent smell that filled the air still made people feel extremely uncomfortable and terrified.

Jin Lao You slowly walked into the hall, yet he was completely unaffected by the scene in front of him. It was as if he had walked into a warm place full of memories. Look here, touch there, straighten the fallen table and chairs, pick up and arrange the items on the floor, and only stop when one's fingers inevitably become stained with a pool of blood.

He took out a handkerchief made of ordinary materials and carefully wiped off the blood on his hand. However, he did not throw it away. Instead, he folded it carefully and put it away. Then he raised his head and for the first time officially looked at his nephew, who was kneeling on the floor with a trembling body at one end of the hall.

The sound of Golden Old Oil stepping on blood made Jin Yang feel as if there was a dagger slicing his own flesh. His body trembled even more violently as his adam's apple moved with great difficulty, unable to utter a single word.

Jin Lao You stood by his side, looking at his frightened appearance. He did not feel happy at all, nor did he feel disappointed. All he felt was a little loneliness, a loneliness that belonged to him.

"Do you know why I didn't kill you?"

Jin Yang was unable to speak and could only stiffly shake his head. Today, he had secretly summoned the elders who were willing to support him for a meeting. Originally, he wanted to make a move against this uncle of his.

After the failure of the business plan in the Southern Prefecture, Jin Old Oil returned to Zhang Prefecture in a rare occasion. He was not angry at himself in the rare event that he did not take any swift and decisive actions. However, the more he thought about it, the more scared he became. He was so scared that whenever he thought of his uncle in Zhangzhou, he would be unable to sleep at night.

He regretted that he shouldn't have listened to the elders and used his sect head's power to end Jin Lao You's funds; regretted that he couldn't be a playboy in peace; regretted that he shouldn't have received the letter from his benefactor. He felt that with a backer, he would be able to defeat Jin Lao You!

Since he had made the wrong move, he couldn't turn back now. Hence, he hardened his heart and gathered his supporters, deciding to finish the last strike …

And then it was all wiped out by the old oil.

Jin Yang finally understood why his uncle chose to remain silent after returning to Zhang Prefecture. He had only been waiting for these people to gather together before killing them. He didn't want to die, but he couldn't think of a reason why he could.

Goldbiter sighed again.

"The reason I'm not killing you isn't because I don't dare to kill you, nor is it because I don't think you deserve to die, much less because my uncle is soft-hearted!"

Jin Yang was only a listener.

"Until today, I've been in the martial arts world for 45 years. I can't remember how many times I've escaped from death, and I can't remember how many people I've killed with my own hands. It can be said that I've paid too much for my prosperity, but I've never regretted it …"

"..."

"When your father left, you were only five years old. I gave you the position of Sect Master so that you wouldn't need to lift a finger to enjoy wealth and glory. "But in the end, it ended up like this. I'm not sad at all. I can only say that I'm a bit sad, and feel sad for myself …"

Elder Oil Jin spoke a lot, but a lot of things seemed to be said for himself, as if he was completely immersed in a kind of chatter that was not affected by external factors and was talking to himself.

Jin Yang looked at the figure that had already turned its back to him and gradually realized that it wasn't actually that tall. In fact, it was somewhat thin and frail. It was just an ordinary old man. Perhaps after a long ordeal, he had already adapted to this terrifying environment. Perhaps, at this moment, he had already completed the transformation of his life. Perhaps, everything from before was just a smokescreen for this skinny old man. Perhaps, this was an opportunity …

There was a dagger hidden in his boots, and this was even the old man in front of him giving him a present for his tenth birthday. Jin Yang gently grasped the hilt of the dagger, and the corners of his mouth curved into a smile.

He looked at Jin Yang with a gentle gaze, as if he had forgotten about the unpleasantness between them. Laughing, he said, "After talking so much, I'm a bit tired. Let me tell you one last thing, I didn't want to tell you. Do you know how your father died?"

Jin Yang put his hand on his boot, not daring to move. He regretted it again, but soon enough, he no longer had the mind to care about these things. He could clearly hear Jin Lao Oil say, "Your father, my elder brother, was killed by me!"

"What?" "You, you!"

Jin Yang's mouth was wide open as he looked at his uncle in terror. Golden Old Oil began to laugh. His laughter was somewhat crazed, somewhat uncontrollable, and even brought tears to his eyes.

"I won't kill you for no other reason, because you look very much like your mother! Your mother is the woman I love the most and respect the most in my life. Your father didn't even consider her to be a human and casually hit her, so your father deserves to die. If it wasn't for your mother asking me to take care of you before she died, you wouldn't have been able to sit in the position of Sect Master. I didn't marry anyone all these years just to fulfill my promise to your mother.

Elder Oil Jin walked step by step towards the astonished Jin Yang, squatting down and carefully observing his face.

"Do you know why I'm telling you this? "Because today, I discovered that you don't look like your mother at all …"

He slowly pulled out the dagger from his boot's mouth, and then slowly raised his stiff arm. Slowly, he placed the dagger in front of Jin Lao You, his eyes filled with fear, and his mouth was like a fish out of water. He opened and closed his mouth, unable to make a sound. Goldbiter gently held the dagger in his hand and said in a low voice, "I used this dagger to kill your father."

Jin Yang's eyes were filled with fear as he slowly stabbed the dagger into the man's chest.

"I didn't want to kill you, but from the moment you tried to draw your sword, I couldn't think of a reason not to kill you!"

In the capital, in the Palace of Qian Ming.

Empress and King Zhao Qisheng.

"The reason Little Boat wants you to go to He Zhou is also because he wants you to expand your influence in the scholar's forest! "Hurry up and go, don't miss anything!"

"Understood, Imperial Mother!" This son and Fu Xiang will leave together! When he heard that he was going to be a grandfather, he was extremely excited. This son is also worried now, I don't know what gift to give him! After all, being a father is nothing! "

"Little Boat's letter to the Queen Mother saying that he doesn't need any gifts, as long as you keep an eye on the Twin Clans for him!"

"Mother, Little Boat has left the capital for two months. Your son really misses him!"

"Mother understands, he is your good friend, but the time is not right yet, it is impossible to make him come back. You are still young, and there are plenty of chances to reunite with him!"

The empress saw that her son was a little lonely and smiled. "Next year, you will get married! Do you like it or are you afraid? "

"Hehehe, what's there to be afraid of!"

"Marriage is marriage. They won't be as free as they were in the past! "Look at the small boat, no matter how much trouble it has gone through, it would always think of running home!"

"There's nothing you don't know about being afraid of your wife in Hezhou!"

"It sounds like a joke, but I don't know how many women in the world are envious of it!"

"Indeed, his methods are extraordinary. It is definitely a blessing to be able to marry him!"

"..."

"How's your plan for Sai Prefecture going?"

"Whether the plan succeeds or not will depend on the attitude of the Sima family. We need to do it step by step. But with a clear direction and action, there will be a day when the flowers bloom and the fruits bear fruit! A few days ago, he received the northwest news, causing his father, the Emperor, to be overjoyed. "Then the topic shifted to the army at the edge of the Dragon Continent. The Ministry of Revenue had already written several times that she wanted the land to be reclaimed in the Dragon Continent. Father didn't know …"

The empress knew the whole story and sighed softly, "Your royal father's considerations must be deeper and more stable for the nation's affairs. You should learn better!"

Seeing that Ping Wang nodded, the empress continued, "Your royal father's mind is resolute. A battle with Bei Yan should be inevitable! You have to be more considerate and properly support your royal father! Do you understand? "

"This son knows! That's right, today we have a report about the heavy rains in Yuejiang and Kui Prefectures in the southwest, which led to many mountain torrents and water disasters. The losses were very serious, and the local officials didn't handle them well, causing civil calamity in some places, as well as forming a few large bandits and sailing across the Ying Prefecture Lake to the Ying and Wu Prefectures for looting! royal father intends to send someone to pamper them, Empress thinks …? "

The empress shook her head. "Just help Little Boat keep an eye on the two of them, after all, your royal father has already decided on this matter. Southwest is not something you should be concerned about right now. It doesn't matter who goes there, without enough benefits and means, it would be very difficult to balance the interests of those clans. In the end, they might have to put in effort to gain favor, offend both sides, plus we don't have any foundation over there, so it's impossible to get involved in this matter! Furthermore, the various calamities that have plagued the Southwest Prefectures in the recent years have never subsided. The officials below usually exaggerate the facts to avoid responsibility and to get more silver taels as well! "

"This son understands. Oh right, Mother, Little Boat is in the north. He will inform me of anything that happens, so I don't want to place anyone north of Hezhou. If Little Boat finds out, he will be unwell, and so will I! "I think we can just concentrate our efforts on the layout of the Southern State."

"Yes, we have a small boat for you to watch over the Northern Six Prefectures. We should focus more of our energy on the south now."

The Queen took out a few letters from a box and handed them to Zhao Qisheng, saying, "These rich people in Jiangnan can all be used by me! You have to know what's good for you! "

Ping Wang looked carefully, the empress added, "Even though those people are plotting nonstop and your mother and grandfather aren't idle either, you are still young and there are some things that you don't want to get involved in. After your wedding, your mother will think of a way to let you have more chances to gain more experience. Since you have grown up, there are many things you need to learn personally. "You have to remember that when merchants fight for profit, officials fight for power, and the clan strives for development. This is an unchangeable rule, only by learning to use the power in your hands can you make them work for you. You have a good grasp of the Flying Flood Dragon Gang …"

"..."

No one would have thought that the disaster in the southwest was just the beginning. The development that followed was completely unexpected for the entire imperial court! When the capital truly realized the seriousness of the situation, the six prefectures of Yingzhou and Huzhou had already fallen into a state of erosion! In the end, it caused millions of refugees to move east, creating an unprecedented impact on the most prosperous Southern Domain!

Yingzhou Lake, the largest inland lake in the Tang Dynasty. From countless snowy mountains in the southwest, the melting of the ice and snow forms the source, converging into a torrential upstream section of the Lan River; because of the basin terrain, Yingzhou Lake was formed; after that, the "Raging Gorge" at the Jin-Kui boundary was released and flowed for a thousand miles until it was blocked by the misty cloud mountain range at the Zhangzhou boundary; then the Xinghu Lake was formed again, which was the middle section of the Lan River; the lotus lake flowed north for three hundred miles, which was the downstream section of the Lan River.

All in all, Yingzhou Lake has plenty of water sources. There was also Shiyun: "Entering into the prosperity, leaving a gorge is tiring"! It shows that Yingzhou Lake has more water source head and less outflow outlet, so it is easy to produce water hazard.

Yingzhou Lake is surrounded by YueYue, Kui, Ming, Shi, Jin and Wu. The Ming and Ying prefectures, located in the northwest, have the lowest topography, so they are heavily affected by the water of Qianzhou. Relying entirely on the construction of the river embankment to deal with the rise of Yingzhou Lake.

Every August, the imperial court would distribute silver specifically to be used to repair the riverbank. The Mingzhou River Dike line was several times better than the Governor, so naturally, the amount of silver they received was much greater. However, this year had changed. He had not obtained a single tael of silver for the embankment construction in Mingzhou. As a result, the embankment construction in Mingzhou had not been completed throughout August.

The reason was Zhao Qili.

Although Zhao Qingrui was an external emperor, he had once been the crown prince after all. Who could be sure that he wouldn't rise up again in the future? In addition, the officials who were being pinched by Zhao Qili had taken care of her. Although Zhao Qili had been demoted to Yingzhou, the power he had was completely different from that of other emperors. He possessed a lot of power.

Zhao Qingrui's mansion was located near the Ying Prefecture Lake. Naturally, she placed great importance on river defense. We will actively carry out large-scale renovation and reinforcement of river embankments. However, he had used his methods to cut off all the silver on the banks of the Xiuming Prefecture and used it all on Tianxin Prefecture.

In the beginning of August of the fifteenth year of the Great Wu, a torrential rainstorm struck Yuezhou and Quai Prefecture, causing a great number of counties and counties to be affected by the torrential rain. Local officials dealt with the situation unfavourably, leading to the formation of countless refugees and bandits, as well as the formation of a large number of bandits. At the beginning of September, Ming, Yue, Jin, and Kui Prefectures experienced another rainstorm that only happened once every hundred years. As a result, most of the water had already been poured into Yingzhou Lake, causing the lake's water level to rise sharply.

However, they had already missed the best time to repair the dike, and the water flow was growing too fast. Finally, in the middle of September, a large area of the river bank in the Ming Prefecture collapsed, and the Ming Prefecture, which had already been ravaged by the torrential rain, fell into the vast ocean overnight, no longer able to struggle.

Compared to the two prefectures, Ming Prefecture was the biggest grain producing prefecture in the interior of the Tang Dynasty and the largest prefecture in the southwest, with a household register of 500,000 inhabitants. This time, the number of people affected by the southwest water disaster increased by more than ten times in one night.

After Zhao Qi Rui received the news, she joined forces with Ying Prefecture officials to destroy the evidence of the stoppage of silver and ordered the people to be stopped from entering the country. At the same time, she went to Ying Prefecture's giant grain merchant to raise the price of the grains and sell them to Ming Prefecture at a high price! At the same time, he reported the situation to the imperial government!

Chen Miao, the governor of Ming Prefecture, wrote down the grievances on the wall in despair and then committed suicide in the magistrate's office. Chen Miao, the governor of Ming Prefecture, did not help the refugees, but instead raised the price of food several times over.

When the news spread, the victims were enraged! The Ming Prefecture's local warlord Li Kuan and the head of Ying Prefecture's lakewater bandits, Shi Jiang, had joined forces to incite the angry victims, gathering troops and armory for the patrol and the yamen, then gathering refugees from all over the city, transforming into bandits, and quickly forming into almost a hundred thousand people. They were looting and looting in Ming Prefecture, and after confirming that there was nothing more to be done, they used the cover of the refugees to directly break through the defense of the soldiers and horses of Shi Prefecture.