The Great Seminary

Chapter 198 Public Display with Pierced Collar Bones

As the old saying goes, "When things go wrong, there must be something fishy going on; when people act strangely, there must be a knife in the hand."

This Wu Ritu, a lone man from Yuanshan, strangely offered such a great deal to his men, leaving the guards momentarily stunned.

After a long pause, he used his little finger to pick at his ear and said:
What did you just say?

"I sell fine rice for one tael of silver for twenty-five catties, and it's delivered to my door."

"Then you're not an idiot, a slut, a piece of trash with shit in your brain..."

The guards hadn't received much education and had grown up among the common soldiers, so their mouths were naturally very dirty.

Furthermore, nowadays, anyone who is from the Ming or Song dynasty would surely want to curse Yuan Shanren's ancestors for eight generations.

So even though his mind is still a bit slow, what he says is far more offensive than cursing.

Hearing this, Urtu could no longer maintain the composure of an envoy and gritted his teeth, saying:
"You little grass rat's offspring, you hole rabbit's thing, shut up right now!"
In short, I'm giving this to your family…

at this time.

A figure darted out from the main hall of the government office and slapped Uritu hard across the face.

This 'Ding Shang' eighth-rank Baturu monk from the Great Grassland was sent flying more than ten steps away without any chance to fight back.

After falling to the ground, his head seemed to be lying on his back, but his body was actually facing upwards.

If it were an ordinary person, assuming such a bizarre position, their neck would surely be broken into several pieces, and they would lose their life.

Although Urtu had fainted, his mouth was still opening and closing, indicating that he was still breathing.

"This is a madman who came all the way from Yuanshan to provoke our Ming-Song Southern Kingdom."

Since he wasn't dead, they pierced his collarbone with a thin steel cable and tied him to the lighthouse at the dock, displaying him in the street.

what.

They actually dared to use such a clumsy and divisive tactic against me, Zhang Gui.

They're clearly underestimating my intelligence!

As he spoke, Zhang Gui's temper grew increasingly fierce.

He stepped forward and kicked Uritu away like he was playing football.

"Given the current situation, selling twenty-five catties of fine rice for one tael of silver? You'd be asking for trouble!"

He finally let out a sigh of relief.

He then returned to the main hall feeling refreshed.

As evening approached, Ding Chengqi, having finished distributing the porridge, came to report:

"Young Master, the porridge has spilled today; a total of thirty bushels of rice were used..."

"Alright, alright, you don't need to tell me about these trivial matters."

In short, the daily limit is one hundred shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice. Use as much as you like; I guarantee you'll have an inexhaustible supply.

Zhang Gui waved his hand dismissively and said:

"By the way, Chengqi, people now call me 'General' as a sign of respect."

But why do you always call me 'Crown Prince'?

"Your Highness, please allow me to explain. They call you 'Great General' because you now have the identity of the heir of the Stone Corpse King of the Ming-Song Foreign Lands."

Equivalent to a first-rank official in the imperial court.

His rank is comparable to that of a prime minister who "regulates yin and yang" and a general who "commands all the troops under heaven".

Since you are a military general, if you want to flatter me, you should naturally call me 'Great General'.

I call you 'Crown Prince' because, according to the Great Edict established by Emperor Taizu Zhao Zhusha, 'soldiers follow their generals.'

You open the gates of Zhihai Town as a barbarian general.

Since I am now serving under your command, my status has essentially transformed into that of a barbarian soldier or general.

But you were the opening general at the time, and no matter how high your status was, you were not qualified to 'call yourself the king' or 'the queen'.

Therefore, we still maintain the relationship between 'master' and 'subordinate'.

But now you have become the heir of the Stone Corpse King, with a dragon pattern on your chest, and you have a separate state.

My relationship with you has now changed to that of a 'monarch' and a 'subject'.

Of course, we should address you as 'Your Highness' to show respect. Just like the advisors of Prince Zhen when he was in the imperial court addressed him as 'Prince Zhen.'"

Zhang Gui stared at Ding Chengqi for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.

“Da Ding, you are, after all, a remarkable person whose inner and outer selves are completely opposite to his outward appearance.”

Although he refused to admit the fate of the Ming-Song state even when the time came, half of it had already fallen apart.

In reality, he was already thinking of not even becoming a 'Ming-Song person' anymore.

"You have that much confidence in me?"

Upon hearing this, Ding Chengqi opened his mouth, and said somewhat flusteredly:

"Your Highness, please forgive me, no, I truly did not only begin to curry favor with you now, I mean, I mean..."

With a voluntary change of status, the original superior-subordinate relationship, which was only half genuine, became a 'ruler-subject' relationship.

Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger.

Even someone as intelligent as Ding Chengqi was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

Finally, when all else failed, he remembered Zhang Gui's straightforward and direct nature when speaking and reasoning.

With a gritted tooth and a stomp of his foot, he spoke as if telling the truth:

"Actually, it's not that I have much confidence in Your Highness."

I imagine how much power you could rise to in the chaos of the Southern Song Dynasty.

After all, in a time of great strife, fortune is more important than talent, ability, or power.

Moreover, Your Highness is indeed the most extraordinary man I have ever seen, the one who excels in discovering divine treasures, the one with the greatest talent in cultivation, and the one with the greatest potential for rise.

But I am, after all, just a frog in a well in Zhihai Town, where even pork was not a common food before the town was opened to foreign trade.

How much value can the "first place" in one's eyes really have?

Wow, that's a really apt description of its high quality and value.

"Your Highness, in terms of 'word-making' alone, you are the best I've ever seen."

"Go down. Don't take inventory of your grain storage anymore."

So that it wouldn't be difficult to cover up.

"Your humble servant understands. I will now withdraw to prepare for tomorrow's porridge distribution."

"And what you were saying earlier about me, going on and on about how I was number one in this and number one in that."

That shows honesty, but don't do it again.

Upon hearing this, Ding Chengqi said nothing more, but solemnly knelt down on the ground.

But before he could even bow, Zhang Gui said again:
"Don't kneel or kowtow to me anymore."

"If you really want to be my subject, you can't do this."

Ding Chengqi immediately got up from the ground without any objection.
"Yes."

He turned and strode out of the Dragon Tiger Bureau's office.

"It was a matter of timing and circumstances. The original plan was to completely isolate the forces in Zhihai Town from the True Dragon Kingdom."

But we can't just watch them, their whole family, live in constant fear and anxiety, waiting to die.

Moreover, aside from what others have said, Ding Chengqi is indeed quite capable and loyal.

Speaking of loyalty, all the people in the Dragon and Tiger Bureau of Zhihai Town have actually passed the test of loyalty during the last power struggle between Prince Zhen and me in the "temporary capital".

I shouldn't give up on them even more.

At the very least, their families should be relocated to the True Dragon Kingdom.

And what about Amu, her aunt, and her cousin? Staying in the Eastern Continent is becoming increasingly dangerous. How can I persuade Amu to stay...?

Zhang Gui, who remained in the lobby, gazed at the night outside the door, his mind racing with thoughts.

In the end, it was decided that since he had already dealt with the most troublesome matter in Zhihai Town, Ding Chengqi could handle the remaining miscellaneous tasks.

I should hurry back to Pingyang Town to see how my mother is doing.

(End of this chapter)