The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 46 Qingfan's People
"How could I have given birth to two beasts like you!"

Inside the Li family residence in Yan'an Prefecture, Li Shichang stood in the hall, glaring at his two sons kneeling on the ground, trembling with anger.

He pointed directly at his eldest son, Li Liyuan, and began to hurl insults:

"I thought you'd be more mature after getting married, but I never expected you to do something so stupid after being instigated by your brother!"

"Have you gone mad from spending too much time in the government office?!"

"Are those people people someone we should mess with?"

Li Shichang's voice echoed in the hall, making the window frames vibrate and his forehead veins bulge, as if he were about to explode at any moment.

Li Liyuan lowered his head, his hands clenched into fists, his face full of shame.

As the head of the archives at the Yan'an government office, he spoke fluent classical Chinese and considered himself a scholar; he often compared himself to Zhuge Liang, but deep down he was incapable of taking on any real responsibility.

Li Lihui, who was kneeling to the side, couldn't hold back any longer and stuck out his neck to interject:

"Father, this isn't my eldest brother's fault. Blame that Jiang guy..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Shichang suddenly grabbed a teacup from the table and smashed it hard at his feet.

Tea splashed everywhere, porcelain shards flew, and Li Lihui shrank back in fright.

"Shut up! You're an even bigger idiot, you can't stand to lose even the slightest bit!"

Li Shichang roared, his eyes almost spitting fire, his chest heaving violently.

"What do we do now? Tell me, what do we do now?!"

"That guy surnamed Jiang blocked all the official roads in Yan'an Prefecture. After several months, not only did the goods disappear, but the people escorting them also vanished without a trace!"

"The prefect and the Prince of Qing's family have been delaying their monthly allowances for months. I don't even want to think about what will happen to our family if this continues!"

Li Shichang paced back and forth in the hall in a panic, muttering to himself.

Li Liyuan raised his head and suggested in a low voice:
"Father, if all else fails, why don't we go find Commander Zhang and ask him to mobilize the garrison troops from the surrounding areas to suppress the bandits?"

Li Shichang sneered:
"Suppress bandits my ass! Those guards are so hungry they can barely hold their swords, how can they possibly suppress bandits?"

Li Liyuan swallowed hard, then forced himself to say:
"If we can't wipe out the bandits, we can hire them to clear the trade routes and help us transport goods. That should work, right?"

"Let's hire more people to make a bigger show of force, and maybe that Jiang guy won't dare to come back."

His tone grew weaker and his voice grew softer.

"Fuck your shit!"

Li Shichang slammed his fist on the table in anger, causing the vase on it to shake.
"Do you know how much food it costs to mobilize the Imperial Guard?! They send five hundred men and dare to ask you for the rations of three thousand!"

"You should do the math. How much silver will you have to throw in to clean up the trade routes?"

His voice was almost hoarse, his eyes were bloodshot, and he wished he could slap those two idiots to death.

Just then, a servant stumbled in, panting, and shouted:

"Master, someone from the Prince Qing's mansion has arrived!"

"I heard it's an eunuch surnamed Wang who's at the prefectural government office, specifically looking for you!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shichang's face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his back.

Why are all the people from the Prince's Mansion here? They're so far away, it seems they haven't submitted their monthly allowances for several months. The people from the Qing Prince's Mansion finally couldn't sit still any longer.

He didn't have time to reprimand his two sons anymore, and hurriedly took Li Liyuan and Li Lihui to the prefectural government office.

Upon entering the main hall of the prefectural government office, Li Shichang saw Prefect Zhang Nian seated high at the head of the table, silent, with a grim-faced eunuch beside him. The atmosphere in the hall was oppressive, making it hard to breathe. Li Shichang's heart tightened, and he hurriedly stepped forward to apologize:
"Lord Zhang, I am late, please forgive me, please forgive me!"

He then turned to the eunuch, bowed humbly, and asked:

"This humble servant greets Eunuch Wang. Eunuch Wang has come from afar and must be tired from your journey. What are your instructions?"

But to everyone's surprise, Zhang Nian and Eunuch Wang didn't even lift their eyelids, sitting in their chairs chatting away, completely ignoring the Li family father and his two sons.

Li Shichang stood awkwardly in the center of the hall, bowing his head, his hands raised in front of his chest, sweat pouring down his forehead. His two sons behind him didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

After standing for almost half an hour, Li Shichang felt like his back was about to break, and his legs were so sore and numb that he almost had to kneel down.

Finally, Eunuch Wang slowly spoke, his voice high-pitched and chilling:
"Oh, isn't this Master Li? What an honor to have you here! I'm so sorry I didn't greet you properly!"

Although he spoke, his sinister tone sent a chill down the spines of the Li father and son inside the room.

Li Shichang knew this was a sarcastic remark, but he dared not refute it at all, and quickly forced a smile:

"No, no, you're too kind, Eunuch Wang."

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Wang sneered twice, put down his teacup, slowly stepped down from his chair, and approached Li Shichang step by step:
"Dare not? I think you, Li Shichang, are quite bold!"

"The royal family's and Lord Zhang's allowances haven't been paid for three or four months. You're really cunning!"

His voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"What else are you afraid of? Rebellion?"

Li Shichang was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, his legs went weak, and he knelt down with a thud.
"Eunuch Wang, Lord Zhang, it's not that I'm being cunning, I truly have my reasons!"

"Jiang Han cut off all the official roads around Ansai and became a bandit, robbing my Li family's caravans."

"My family's caravan can't even leave Yan'an Prefecture, let alone reach Yulinwei. There's nothing I can do; I'm simply broke."

Li Shichang's voice was choked with sobs as he shook his head repeatedly.

Upon hearing this, a ferocious glint flashed across Wang Gonggong's face, and he slapped Li Shichang hard across the face:
"How dare you! What does your lack of money have to do with my Prince Qing's mansion?! What does it have to do with Prefect Zhang?!"

"I'm telling you, even if you have to sell your ass today, you'd better get me the money!"

Li Shichang covered his burning cheek, lowered his head and dared not utter a sound. A trace of anger flashed in his eyes, but more so, he felt aggrieved and helpless.

But Li Lihui, seeing his father humiliated, was overcome with rage. He pushed aside his elder brother and father, rushed to the front, shoved Eunuch Wang aside, and roared:
"You wicked eunuch, how dare you insult my father!"

Wang Gonggong stumbled from the push, his face filled with disbelief. Instead of getting angry, he laughed and turned to look at Li Shichang, who was covering his face.
"Excellent! I never expected there to be such a tough guy in Yan'an Prefecture! I admire him!"

His voice was as cold as a snake's, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.
"Come on, drag him away and smash his balls. I want to see if he can still get hard!"

Upon hearing the commotion, the guards of the Prince's Palace stepped forward and menacingly tried to drag Li Lihui away.

Upon seeing this, Li Shichang's eyes were filled with despair, his body went limp, and he almost fainted.

His eldest son, Li Liyuan, behind him, didn't dare to utter a sound, only keeping his head down, as if shrinking into a ball would allow him to escape this disaster.

At this critical moment, Prefect Zhang Nian, standing behind, coughed lightly, breaking the silence:
"Eunuch Wang, wait a moment."

"This is Yan'an Prefecture, not Ningxia, and certainly not the Prince Qing's Mansion."

"Such disregard for human life is probably inappropriate, isn't it?"

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(End of this chapter)