Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 106 My rules are just rules! [Please subscribe]

"He is not qualified, am I qualified?"

Hearing this, everyone in the court was slightly stunned.

The officials who reacted immediately changed their expressions and stood up from their seats.

Not everyone can call themselves lonely.

The person who came dared to call himself "I am alone", which showed that his identity was definitely not simple.

Moreover, the fact that the prince came to Jiangling was no secret to the Jiangling government.

So someone quickly reacted and shouted loudly, "It's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here!!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked.

Soon, a weak but noble figure, surrounded by a group of majestic black-clad guards, walked into the court slowly.

Upon seeing this, Liu Li hurriedly left the high desk in the courtroom and walked towards the weak figure. He bowed and said, "Your Highness, I am Liu Li, here to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Haha, Mr. Liu, no need to be polite!"

Li Chengqian smiled, then turned to look at Pei Xuan and others.

Pei Xuan and the others' faces were gloomy and uncertain, but they finally bowed reluctantly under Li Chengqian's gaze: "Your Highness, the Crown Prince!"

"See His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Following Pei Xuan and others' salute, the rest of the people followed suit.

Although they didn't know why the prince came to Jiangling, it was not difficult to see from what had just happened that there was going to be a good show to watch.

But Li Chengqian smiled faintly: "No need to be polite, everyone, please stand up!"

"Your Highness! Please make the decision for me—"

As soon as Li Chengqian finished speaking, Ma Zhou's sad and angry voice followed.

"Ok?"

Li Chengqian frowned, then asked coldly, "What happened?"

"Your Highness, this matter..."

"I didn't ask you!"

Before Ma Zhou could report the details, Pei Xuan, who realized something was wrong, immediately interrupted him.

However, before he could finish his words, Li Chengqian interrupted him again: "Does Governor Pei know what it means to respect the order of superiors and subordinates and to be polite to the ruler and his subjects?"

"minister"

Pei Xuan was about to open his mouth to defend himself when he saw Du Caigan holding the sword at his waist with a fierce look in his eyes, as if he would chop him to death if he dared to interrupt again.

"The level of our Tang Dynasty officials really needs to be assessed."

Glancing meaningfully at Pei Xuan, who seemed to be hesitant to speak, Li Chengqian slowly turned to look at Ma Zhou: "I am the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty. If you have any grievances, please tell me!"

After he finished speaking, he glanced at everyone present and said in a resounding voice, "I have the qualifications to make the decision for you! For the people of the Tang Dynasty!"

"boom!"

The whole place was shocked.

Countless people were so excited that their faces flushed. Perhaps today was the best time for them to change their destiny.

Countless officials turned pale, and a bad premonition arose spontaneously that the situation in Jiangling Prefecture was about to change.

But Ma Zhou said with tears of gratitude: "Thank you, Your Highness, for taking care of me!"

After saying this, he kowtowed heavily to Li Chengqian, and then continued, "I am a merchant from Chang'an. I originally wanted to buy grain in Jiangling and transport it to Guanzhong for sale, but it's difficult to contact the four great families in Jiangling.

Therefore, I settled for the next best thing and decided to grow my own food. So I bought a barren mountain twenty miles away from the government office and started growing crops!"

"Of course, clearing the wasteland requires manpower. I have no relatives in Jiangling, so I can only pay Jiangling locals to do the clearing. Who would have thought that an unexpected fortune would come my way. One of the locals dug up gold while clearing the wasteland!"

"Oh?"

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows and said in surprise, "You are so lucky?"

"Yes! Thanks to God's kindness and the prince for bringing blessings to Jiangling!" Ma Zhou flattered Li Chengqian.

Everyone present looked at each other in surprise.

But Li Chengqian waved his hands cheerfully: "No, no, go on!"

"Originally, digging up gold would have been a great achievement for me. However, the common people ignored my attempts to stop them and secretly dug up the gold on my barren mountain. I tried to stop them several times but to no avail. Later, I learned that the reason they acted so recklessly was that they weren't ordinary people at all, but tenants of the four great families of Jiangling!"

At this point, Ma Zhou roared indignantly, "The four great families of Jiangling sent them to steal my gold! They are thieves!! They are robbers!"

Wow!
The whole place was in an uproar!

It's chaos, everything is in chaos, and the situation is almost out of control.

Some people were enlightened and their thoughts became clear.

Someone was stepped on and started cursing wildly.

What Ma Zhou said can be said to have directly defined the nature of those involved in this matter.

You should know that under the current laws of the Tang Dynasty, the crime of fraud would at most result in a fine and a few days in prison, but crimes such as theft and robbery could result in heavy penalties or even the death penalty.

Is this guy crazy?
Doesn't he know how many people are involved in this?

Not to mention the people present, I'm afraid that half of the people in Jiangling Prefecture participated in it, and some even went to the barren mountains with their entire families to dig for gold.

If this is investigated, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"Prince."

As if realizing the seriousness of the situation, even Liu Li, who was always fair, strict and fearless, couldn't help but whisper to Li Chengqian to stop.

However, Li Chengqian pretended not to hear and shouted, "Silence!"

"Crash!"

Du Caigan and other black-clad guards drew their swords at the moment Li Chengqian finished speaking.

The entire court was as silent as autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves.

But then Li Chengqian said solemnly, "You said they were tenants of the four great families of Jiangling. Do you have any evidence?"

"Have!"

Ma Zhou responded loudly, "I have a list of their tenants, and also a list of those who have signed up to participate in the land reclamation. Comparing the two, it's clear at a glance!"

"What!?

Ma Zhou's words were like throwing a huge rock into a calm lake, immediately causing huge waves.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The Cai family's patriarch was the first to stand up and argue, "How could you possibly have a list of my tenants?!"

"Who is so presumptuous?!"

Li Chengqian glanced over coldly.

Without a word, Du Caigan strode forward, grabbed the Cai family master by the collar, and shouted, "Are you seeking death?!" The Cai family master's face turned pale, but he still bravely argued, "Your Highness, please spare my life. I am Cai Shi, the Cai family master. This person claims to have the roster of my tenants, but it is actually a forgery! Please investigate!"

"You can tell if it's fake or not by looking at it!"

After saying this, Ma Zhou immediately pulled out a pile of papers from his bosom, found the Cai family's roster, handed it to the Cai family's head, and sneered, "Don't lie! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise and powerful. Don't think you can hide it from him!"

"This"

The head of the Cai family raised his eyelids, feeling that something was wrong.

But before he could react, Du Caigan threw him next to Ma Zhou.

He gritted his teeth in pain but did not cry out. Instead, he hurriedly took the roster from Ma Zhou's hand and looked at it carefully.

In just a moment, he felt as if struck by lightning and his mind went blank.

At the same time, Ma Zhou handed the rest of the roster to the three heads of the Pang, Huang, and Ma families.

After reading it, they also turned pale.

It is clear!
The roster that Ma Zhou took out was exactly the same as the one they had!
“What is going on?”

The Cai family patriarch muttered to himself, and suddenly caught sight of the silent Pei Xuan and the other two from the corner of his eye. He reacted instantly and shouted angrily, "It's you! You teamed up with this person to harm us!!"

Upon hearing this, the other three family heads also reacted and were filled with righteous indignation towards Pei Xuan and the other two.

"I was wondering! Why didn't you send someone to investigate?! So you were plotting against us!"

"Great! You're so good, Pei Xuan! You took so many benefits from my family! And yet you teamed up with outsiders to harm my family!"

"Zhang Ping! Have you forgotten what happened back then? How dare you plot against me!"

"absurd!"

Pei Xuan was furious when he heard the four family heads accusing him and the other two of them: "You were tricked by someone else! Not us!"

"Idiots! You are all idiots!" Zhang Ping was so angry that he cursed.

For a moment, the entire court was filled with accusations and quarrels.

Li Chengqian, Ma Zhou, Liu Li, Gou San, Liu Wu, and the people outside all looked at them strangely.

Such a scene is really rare to see.

You know, these people are absolutely high and mighty in Jiangling.

On weekdays, it is difficult to even see them, let alone see them quarreling.

Now they are like shrews, cursing each other in court. It's really interesting.

However, he was a prominent figure in Jiangling after all, and their abuse did not last long.

Pei Xuan was the first to speak to Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Highness, this matter is extremely suspicious. In my opinion, it would be better to investigate it in detail before making a decision!"

"Yes, Your Highness, there are still many doubts in this matter. How about..."

Zhang Ping echoed the voice, and the meaning was very clear: they had given in and wanted to negotiate.

In fact, from the moment Ma Zhou took out the roster, they knew that they were being plotted against by Li Chengqian.

To be specific, not only them, but the entire Jiangling was plotted against by Li Chengqian.

At this moment, they realized how stupid they were when they faced Li Chengqian.

They actually treated him like a child.

However, when Li Chengqian heard what the two said, he just smiled noncommittally, then turned to look at Ma Zhou: "Boss Ma, do you think there is anything suspicious about this matter?"

"Now that we have all the witnesses and evidence, if they can't produce any evidence to defend themselves, they will have to compensate me for my losses and return my gold!" Ma Zhou said resolutely.

Li Chengqian smiled, then looked around at everyone and said, "Did everyone hear clearly? It's not that I don't want to conduct a detailed investigation, but there's no need for it!"

As he spoke, he turned to look at Liu Li and continued, "Liu Changshi, how do you think this case should be judged?"

"minister"

Liu Li hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Pei Xuan and the others, then at the surrounding people, and said, "In my opinion, if the person involved in this matter voluntarily returns the gold and compensates Boss Ma for his losses, then he will be given a lighter punishment. If he cannot return the gold and does not compensate Boss Ma for his losses, he will be severely punished according to the law!"

"Liu Changshi!"

As soon as Liu Li finished speaking, Pei Xuan's face darkened: "Are you going to break Jiangling's rules and force them to rebel?!"

These words were said to both Liu Li and Li Chengqian.

The meaning is very clear: if we follow the law, both sides will be destroyed.

But Li Chengqian smiled faintly when he heard this: "I am here by the order of His Majesty to take charge of Jiangling. I don't know what the rules are in Jiangling, but from today on, my rules are the rules."

After saying this, he turned to look at Du Caigan and said calmly and majestically, "General Du, immediately take the military order and mobilize all the surrounding troops to station in Jiangling to quell the rebellion. Anyone who disobeys the law will be treated as a traitor and killed without mercy!"

"Boom!"

The whole place was shocked.

Even Zhang Ping, the governor of Jingzhou who held military power, was stunned with shock.

He never imagined that Li Chengqian actually had military power!
However, he clearly remembered that the court documents did not say that the prince had the power to mobilize troops!
Seeing that the situation was about to spiral out of control, Liu Li hurriedly stepped forward to stop Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Highness, please calm down! This matter hasn't reached that point yet. Please don't escalate it. Let me handle it. I promise to handle it impartially!"

After saying this, he angrily scolded Pei Xuan: "What rules! I will abide by the laws of the country!"

He naturally knew that the rules Pei Xuan mentioned were the tacit basis of their political achievements as officials in Jiangling.

On the surface, the four great families of Jiangling are local big families, but in fact they are closely related to their political achievements.

It can be said.

Their outstanding political achievements in Jiangling are closely related to the four major families in Jiangling.

Therefore, they established an unwritten rule that the four powerful families in Jiangling could not act rashly unless they were involved in treason.

However, Li Chengqian was ready to go on a killing spree at the slightest disagreement. He didn't care about the rules at all. He immediately scolded Pei Xuan and shouted at the four great families of Jiangling: "What else do you have to say!?"

"us."

The head of the Cai family opened his mouth, seemed to want to say something, but stopped himself. Then he looked at the other three heads of the family and said dejectedly, "We are willing to compensate Boss Ma for all his losses!"

"it is good!"

Liu Li was delighted and quickly looked at Ma Zhou. "Boss Ma, how much compensation do you plan to ask them to pay?"

"This"

Ma Zhou glanced hesitantly at Liu Li, then at Li Chengqian, and said weakly, "This is a gold mine. I don't know how much has been lost. I only know that there is no gold left in the mine."

I’m fucking——!!!

After hearing Ma Zhou's words, everyone in the audience vomited blood.

There is obviously no gold mine!
It's the gold you buried!

Do you really think we are stupid?!

Do you really think we haven't reacted yet?!

(End of this chapter)