The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 5: Ren Bo'an, the Salt Patrol Officer of Jiangnan
Li Yan nodded with satisfaction. No wonder old man Kangxi liked to go to court. This feeling of being high above everyone else, holding the power of life and death, and towering over everyone else was quite intoxicating!

Li Yan squinted his eyes and enjoyed it for a while. He didn't say anything, and no one spoke below.

"Tell me your families so we can get to know each other!"

Li Yan spoke slowly.

The officials below took turns introducing themselves!

A middle-aged man in his forties, wearing an official robe and a mustache, stepped forward to salute with a bright smile on his face, fearing that Li Yan could not see his admiration for the Tenth Master: "I am Ren Bo'an, the Jiangnan Salt Inspector, and I kowtow to the Imperial Envoy, the Tenth Prince!"

"Um"

Li Yan smiled and nodded without saying anything.

Seeing that Li Yan did not ask any questions, Ren Bo'an retreated into the crowd. Another person stepped forward and said, "I am Che Ming, the governor of Yangzhou. I kowtow to the imperial envoy, the Tenth Prince!"

"Um"

Li Yan still smiled and nodded, but still didn't say anything.

Che Ming stepped back, and another person said: "I am under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture."

"Humble position."

"."

After everyone had been introduced, Li Yan had a general idea of ​​who these people were. They were officials at all levels in Yangzhou and its subordinate counties.

"cough"

Li Yan coughed and everyone looked at him quietly.

"Do you know who I am?" Li Yan's words stunned everyone below.

Aren’t you the Tenth Prince Yin? Of course, everyone knew that Li Yan definitely didn’t ask this question for this answer, so everyone was silent and no one answered.

"I'm the imperial envoy appointed by the emperor to inspect Jiangnan and handle all matters. I hold the imperial sword and have the power to make decisions on the spot and execute first and report later!" Li Yan pretended to be powerful by pulling the tiger's skin.

"Longkodo, bring the people up!"

"嗻"

Longkodo waved his hand, and two people brought in the middle-aged man captured outside the city!

Li Yan pointed at the person who came and said to Ren Bo'an and Che Ming, "This person took advantage of the flood in Jiangnan to buy women in distress. He said that he bought them on the orders of Master Che Ming and gave them to Ren Bo'an as prostitutes. Is this true?"

"Your Excellency, the Imperial Envoy knows this clearly. This is absolutely not the case."

"Your Excellency, you don't know that every time there is a disaster, there are unscrupulous businessmen from all over the place who use the name of officials to do such dirty and vile things. I catch several of them every once in a while, and we hate such people!" The two men shook their heads and waved their hands, anxious to explain.

As Che Ming spoke, he glared at the visitor fiercely: "You, a traitor, are not telling the truth in front of the imperial envoy. If you quibble, I will skin you alive and tear out your tendons as an example to you!"

The man could not resist Che Ming's ferocious gaze, and his legs softened in fear. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed hurriedly, saying, "Please spare my life, sir. I am actually a servant of Mr. Shen, a sea merchant from Suzhou. I came here to buy women under the order of the master. I used your names to scare the common people. Please forgive me, sir!"

Ren Boan breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly, "Reporting to the Tenth Prince, I know this Shen Gui. He made his fortune by smuggling and shipping. He has always bullied the people in his hometown and done all kinds of evil. He has committed illegal acts in the name of the government and sent people to do such things more than once or twice. I have to catch a few every year, and this time is no exception."

"Um"

"So that's how it is. I can't blame you for that."

"Such unscrupulous merchants took advantage of the flood and instead of serving the country and the people, they added insult to injury. This imperial envoy was ordered to go south to deal with these villains. Now that we have ascertained the facts, we will detain this man and deal with him later." Li Yan looked at the performances of the people in front of him and nodded in agreement without exposing them!

Ren Boan and Che Ming both breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Tenth Master was indeed one of their own and was obviously protecting them. If that was the case, then this mission would be much easier.

"Tenth Prince has come a long way, thank you for your hard work!"

"We have prepared some wine to welcome the Tenth Prince. Please don't refuse!" Ren Boan said enthusiastically.

decline?

Why refuse?
Li Yan looked at Ren Boan strangely. There were more than 20 of them who traveled thousands of miles in ten days just to enjoy the Jiangnan style. How could he refuse!
Li Yan laughed: "Well, you are all so kind, how can I refuse your face? As the saying goes, the guest follows the host's wishes. Now that we are in Yangzhou, I will follow your arrangements."

Surrounded by the crowd, Li Yan chatted with the officials with a smile on his face. The atmosphere was warm and friendly.

After some toasts and clinking of glasses, when everyone got down from the table, Li Yan, Ren Boan and Che Ming already looked like family.

Arriving at the reception room of the imperial envoy's office, they drank some tea to sober up and then started chatting.

"Bo'an, Che Ming!" "To be honest, we are not outsiders. We are all Eighth Brother's people. You, Ren Bo'an, are Ninth Brother's disciple, which means you are my disciple as well. Don't you think so?" Li Yan said slowly, his face flushed and he burped.

Che Ming and Ren Boan were both delighted: "Master Ten, just tell us what you want us to do this time, and we will listen to you. Master Eight has already sent us a letter, asking us to fully cooperate with you!"

Li Yan nodded in satisfaction. "You all know my mission in Jiangnan this time. It is to raise funds for disaster relief and repair river embankments. Both of these require money! The emperor asked me to bring the imperial sword. Do you understand what this means?"

"This..." Ren Boan was a little panicked.

"The Yellow River is flooding this time, and the emperor is furious. He has given me the imperial sword and asked me to come to Jiangnan to kill a group of corrupt officials. As the old saying goes, when the emperor is angry, blood will flow for thousands of miles and countless heads will fall to the ground!" Li Yan's words were stern and murderous.

Ren Boan and Che Ming didn't dare to sit there any longer, and quickly stood up, looking at Li Yan nervously.

Li Yan smiled and said, "Sit down. We are all family. I will naturally consider you. But you have to do things well so that I can explain to the emperor. Don't you agree?"

"In addition to the Emperor's affairs, I also have to help Eighth Master sort out the officials in Jiangnan. Some people now think that Eighth Master is too far away from the Emperor, and they use his name to bully others and even affect his reputation. Even the Emperor has heard about it, which makes Eighth Master very angry! So let me take this opportunity to go to Jiangnan to severely deal with a group of people."

"You have to know that officials come and go, but the prince remains. There are many officials who want to work for the Eighth Master. If you take over today, there will be countless people waiting to serve the Eighth Master tomorrow!"

"Yes, yes. Master Shi is right," the two said trembling with fear.

"Car Name"

"I am here"

Li Yan looked at Che Ming seriously and asked, "Are you capable of raising funds for disaster relief?"

"Your subordinate. Your subordinate." Che Ming stammered and couldn't utter a complete sentence. He was in a panic and didn't know how to answer.

waste!

Seeing Che Ming's timid look, afraid of offending others, Li Yan knew that he couldn't rely on him for this matter, so he made arrangements directly: "Call Tian Wenjing tomorrow, I have something to tell you."

"Yes, Master Shi."

Che Ming didn't dare to ask more questions and agreed quickly.

"You go down first, I still have something to discuss with Master Ren!"

Che Ming glanced at Ren Boan, said yes, and stepped back!
Li Yan took a sip of tea, looked at Ren Boan with clear eyes, and said softly: "Boan!"

"I am here"

Ren Boan didn't know what Li Yan wanted to talk to him about. Just now there were two people together and he could still resist, but now he was alone. When he heard Li Yan's call, he quickly straightened up and served carefully.

"Notify the wealthy salt merchants in Yangzhou tomorrow that I will hold a banquet at the imperial envoy's residence at noon the day after tomorrow, and no one is allowed to be absent." Li Yan ordered without any doubt.

"Yes, Master Shi, I will definitely notify everyone."

Ren Boan promised carefully. It was said that the 10th prince was honest and rude. I didn't expect that after just a short contact for half a day today, I found that the rumor was quite untrue!
The Tenth Prince is a thoughtful and dignified person. He handles things with both firmness and flexibility, and pays equal attention to kindness and severity. He knows just the right amount of priorities. It seems that the rumors are not credible.

The emperor's sons are all very troublesome!

Li Yan glanced at Ren Bo'an and said, "Bo'an, the flood in Jiangnan is a serious matter. Millions of hungry people are displaced, and the people in the two provinces are homeless, while the national treasury is empty and can't pay the money."

"The Emperor was furious in the Qianqing Palace. The Crown Prince, the princes, and all the civil and military officials were severely scolded. Before leaving, the Emperor told me that if the hungry people did not receive relief, they would become refugees, which might lead to civil unrest. So he gave me the Imperial Sword. If the situation is critical, I can use this sword to go to the Jiangnan camp and mobilize General Fu Cha's army to suppress the situation in order to stabilize the situation in Jiangnan!"

"So, as long as I can keep Jiangnan stable and avoid any chaos, no matter what I do in Jiangnan, the emperor will not blame me. Do you understand?"

Ren Boan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly said, "Master Ten, you know me well. I am Master Nine's servant. No matter if it's Master Eight or Master Nine, or you, I will never dare to disobey your orders!"

"The day after tomorrow we will gather the salt merchants and wealthy families to raise funds. I want you to take the lead and set an example. Lead everyone to donate no less than 200,000 taels of silver. You can do it."

Li Yan made a request, and his meaning was very clear: if you are willing to donate money, you will be one of us; if you are not willing, then I will have no choice but to force you with a sword, and even if you donate the money, you will still be branded as someone who is against the imperial court.

Ren Boan obviously understood this truth and said decisively: "Don't worry, Master Shi, I will definitely not let you down."

"In addition, Master Ten, you have come all the way here at the cost of your hardship. This is my gift to you. Please accept it!" After saying that, he took out a stack of banknotes from his sleeve and handed it to Li Yan.

Li Yan took it and looked at it. There were ten dragon head silver notes, each worth ten thousand taels. He nodded with satisfaction.

"Umm Boan!"

"I know you. When I was with my ninth brother, we often talked about you. He said you were capable and hardworking. This time when we went south, he told me to take good care of you. I thought so too. You worked tirelessly to help the victims of the flood. You devoted yourself to helping the emperor and lost a lot of weight."

"On the contrary, look at this Che Ming, he is slick in his dealings, has no sense of responsibility, and lacks a sense of the overall situation. In this situation, he is still taking advantage of the opportunity to gain benefits and ruin the reputation of Master Ba for a little profit. I didn't care about it in front of everyone just now. I was giving face to Master Ba and you. After this matter is over, I will report to the emperor and Master Ba truthfully when I return to the capital."

(End of this chapter)