The Dumb Prince of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 89 The track for executing nine generations of relatives was crowded with people.

The autumn wind rustles along the Qinhuai River.

Li Jinglong faced the wind and arrived at the agreed meeting place on the riverbank. He looked up and saw that the three adults had already arrived.

Wang Huidi, the Minister of Justice, was admiring the chrysanthemums on the riverbank. Guo Huan, the Vice Minister of Revenue, and Mai Zhide, the Vice Minister of Works, stood together, chatting animatedly about something.

Li Jinglong strode forward, smiling and clasping his hands in greeting: "The three of you have arrived early. I am late, please forgive me."

Today, Guo Huan is hosting, so Li Jinglong naturally has to come.

He also wanted to learn more about the beggar leaders from Guo Huan.

Guo Huan looked him up and down, then asked with a smile, "Young Duke, are you Li Chongliu or Li Jiujiang today?"

"Lord Guo, please don't! Li Chongliu is just an alias I use to make money. Please don't let this get out of my name," Li Jinglong said, waving his hand.

Guo Huan laughed heartily: "Don't worry, everyone here is one of us."

""

Wang Huidi: "Don't worry, Young Master."

Mai Zhide: "We keep our mouths shut."

Just then, a small boat docked at the shore.

The four boarded a small boat, which then left the shore and drifted towards the painted boat in the middle of the river.

"Lord Guo, what joyous occasion is it that you're personally hosting this banquet for us?" Li Jinglong asked with a smile.

Guo Huan shrugged: "There's nothing to celebrate, I just wanted to have a drink with the three of you."

"Lord Guo, I don't believe your reason. Wanting to drink is a pretense; what you really want is to see a girl, isn't it?" Li Jinglong laughed.

"We agreed beforehand that the lady who played the piano last time is mine today."

The four looked at each other and burst into laughter.

The small boat approached a painted boat, a footboard was lowered, and the four people boarded the boat.

The painted boat has two decks.

Zhang Liangbi stood by the window, watching the four people board the small boat, and frowned slightly.

Because he saw Li Jinglong.

He hated two kinds of people the most in his life: one was the civil officials in the Yuan court who only knew how to kowtow, and the other was the handsome, always smiling pretty boy.

The former harmed the country, the latter harmed the young woman.

"That young man is Li Jiujiang, son of the Duke of Cao," a woman in white beside her said with a smile. "And those three are Wang Huidi, Minister of Justice; Guo Huan, Vice Minister of Revenue; and Mai Zhide, Vice Minister of Works."

Zhang Liangbi was greatly alarmed.

What surprised them was not the three adults, but Li Jinglong's identity.

He then learned that Princess Baihua's master was actually the son of Duke Cao.

"This pleasure boat of yours, Master Manager, is frequented by important figures." He smiled slightly.

The woman in white bowed and said, "General Zhang, please have a seat. The head manager will be here shortly."

Zhang Liangbi nodded and sat down.

The woman in white left, and the curtain fell.

Only then did Zhang Liangbi have time to carefully examine the furnishings of the private room.

Upon seeing this, my heart stirred once again.

The three private rooms on the second floor are arranged in a triangular shape facing each other. Each room has a curtain hanging on the door. You can vaguely see shadowy figures moving on the other side through the gaps in the curtains, but you can't see their faces or make out their shapes.

You can tell there's someone on the other side, but you don't know who they are.

This head manager is a cautious person.

A short while later, people entered the other two private rooms.

Zhang Liangbi's gaze swept across the curtains on both sides. He couldn't see anything clearly, not a single thing.

As they were looking around, a sound came from the private room in the middle.

The voice wasn't loud, but it was full of energy, indicating someone who was skilled in martial arts.

"The presence of Manager Li and Manager Zhang is an honor to my humble abode."

Zhang Liangbi cupped his hands in greeting: "I am honored to meet the head manager."

A voice came from the private room on the right: "I, Li, have been in the capital for many years and have finally met the head manager."

Zhang Liangbi felt a chill run down his spine. The voice sounded somewhat familiar. Manager Li was clearly speaking in a low, muffled voice.

He glanced at the curtain on the right and could vaguely see a figure through the gap.

But I definitely wouldn't recognize that person.

He withdrew his gaze, becoming secretly alert.

He didn't know who the head manager was, but this Manager Li was probably no ordinary businessman either.

"Both of you are people who do big business," the head manager of the private room said. "I have met with you both today to discuss a major deal."

Zhang Liangbi also changed his voice, using a high-pitched tone: "You're just going to talk like this, through the curtain?"

"That's safer," the head manager asked. "Manager Li, what do you think?"

Manager Li's laughter rang out: "That's even better. We only want to make money, nothing else."

In a private room on the first floor, after several rounds of drinks...

Li Jinglong slammed his wine glass on the table and let out a satisfied burp.

Mai Zhide leaned closer and said, "Lord Li, when will your estate be built? I've already negotiated with all the timber and stone merchants for you. I heard that the Young Duke is building an estate, and they're all willing to supply goods at cost price, not making a single tael of silver more than necessary."

"Then let's get started next month!" Li Jinglong said with a beaming smile. "I'll give you the blueprints later, and Mr. Mai can give me his opinion."

"This is something I'm good at," Mai Zhide laughed heartily.

Wang Huidi laughed and said, "Now that Lord Li's estate is finished, you must invite us to visit."

Li Jinglong winked at him, a mischievous look on his face: "Don't worry, Lord Wang, once my estate is built, it will definitely have more features than this pleasure boat."

"Then it's settled!" The three of them burst into laughter.

Guo Huan raised his wine cup: "Come, may Lord Li's estate have a smooth journey and be completed soon."

"Yes, to Lord Li." Wang Huidi and Mai Zhide also raised their glasses.

Li Jinglong picked up his wine glass, downed it in one gulp with great gusto, and glanced at them.

They're all people on the path of "exterminating nine generations of their families"!

Next year, the Guo Huan case is going to explode.

Guo Huan, the Vice Minister of Revenue, colluded with local officials and powerful figures to steal and sell government grain and embezzle taxes. He turned the entire bureaucratic system of the Ming Dynasty upside down, and in the end, Zhu Yuanzhang beheaded 30,000 of them.

Zhu Yuanzhang hated corrupt officials so much, how dare you be corrupt right under his nose?

However, it seems that Guo Huan is just a vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

His official rank was the third grade, which wasn't low, but he was still under the supervision of the Minister above him, and a bunch of junior officials and assistant ministers below him were watching him closely.

How could he, all by himself, lead a group of high-ranking officials, local officials, and powerful local figures to engage in collective corruption?

How much skill does that take?

"Hey, where's the girl? Why hasn't she arrived yet?" Guo Huan called out.

As soon as he finished speaking, the curtain was lifted.

A woman in white led the way in, followed by seven or eight girls dressed in red and green, a lively and charming sight.

Li Jinglong snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the woman in white.

"Young lady, aren't you playing the zither today?"

The woman in white smiled and approached gracefully: "You can just call me Qinglian, sir. Last time, Qinglian was so busy playing the zither that she neglected you. Today, Qinglian has come specifically to keep you company."

With such a beautiful woman before me, matters of state take a back seat.

Li Jinglong unceremoniously put his arm around Qinglian's waist: "Okay!"

Half an hour later, feeling quite tipsy, he pushed open the window to get some fresh air.

A small boat was just heading towards the shore, and when he looked closely at the people on the boat, he was astonished.

Isn't that Zhang Liangbi? What's he doing on this pleasure boat?

"My lord, let Qinglian have another drink with you." Qinglian pulled him back.