The Great Bandit of Journey to the West

Chapter 22 Eight soldiers rush to the north slope

These days, Jiang Feng used his transformation magic to become the head of various powerful families, wandering around all over the place. Today he would write a rebellious poem, tomorrow he would curse the emperor. He didn't even have to pay for his meals, as everything was recorded in the accounts of the powerful families. He lived a carefree and happy life.

Today, when he saw Yuwen Shu come to report to Yang Guang, he knew that his plan had succeeded, so he showed himself to Yang Guang.

Jiang Feng's words were full of seduction: "Your Highness, the gentry of Jiangnan intend to rebel. I can help you quell their rebellion."

Yang Guang looked him over with interest and said, "So what if they rebel? I have 200,000 elite troops under my command. Do you think I'm afraid of them?"

Jiang Feng said, "Of course Your Highness can defeat them, but after defeating them, the throne will be far from your reach."

Yang Guang's playful expression vanished, replaced by a solemn look as he asked, "Why is this? Why, having won the war, am I disqualified from inheriting the throne?"

Jiang Feng smiled and said, "Your Highness, please don't pretend to be ignorant. If winning the war could solve all the problems, Your Highness wouldn't have needed to go through the trouble of winning over Lu Zhiming back then, nor would you have needed to become a disciple of the monk Zhiyi."

"What the current emperor wants is a stable Jiangnan region. You've ravaged it, leaving it riddled with holes. The court will have to clean up the mess then. Do you think the throne will still be yours?"

Yang Guang sighed slightly: "Alas, even a hermit monk could see that I coveted the throne. It seems I haven't hidden it well enough!"

Tell me, what can you do to help me, and what do you want from me?

Jiang Feng said, "I can not only win over the Jiangnan gentry to Your Highness, but I will also send 100,000 people who pay taxes to Your Highness."

"Your Highness only needs to provide me with enough food for 100,000 people for a year, and incidentally, send someone to register them as free people."

Yang Guang sneered, "In the end, you've all come asking for grain. Why won't you give up?"

Jiang Feng did not refute, but continued to analyze: "The grain stored in the granary of the Yangzhou General Administration is enough to feed 100,000 people for 100 years."

"Giving up one percent of the grain in exchange for peace in Jiangnan, and your chance to contend for the throne—isn't that a fair trade?"

Jiang Feng stared intently at Yang Guang and continued to tempt him, "Moreover, the most crucial point is that the grain in the granary, strictly speaking, does not belong to you, but to the current sage."

As the saying goes, "A son sells his father's land without a care in the world." But if Your Highness fails to seize the throne, who knows who will benefit from this grain!

Yang Guang was already somewhat tempted and said, "Then how can I be sure that you have the ability to persuade the gentry of Jiangnan?"

Jiang Feng smiled confidently.

Why try to persuade them? They're not planning a rebellion, so why bother?

They're the ones racking their brains to convince me to go easy on them!

"Your Highness has been staying at home and refusing to see anyone these past few days. You have also granted me the authority to act as I see fit. I swear in the name of the Buddha's disciple that I will surely quell this turmoil!"

If I fail, may all Buddhist disciples in the world suffer a terrible death and never be reborn!

Yang Guang gasped in shock. This monk was a ruthless man!

He was genuinely shocked by this oath, and hesitated as he looked at Jiang Feng, saying, "I believe this oath, but you also need to let me know how you intend to act, right?"

Jiang Feng said, "Of course. This evening, I will take eight hundred fully equipped swordsmen and axemen to meet with Lu Zhiming at the north slope outside the city to discuss matters."

If he agrees to my conditions, that's fine; but if he dares to say even the slightest no, I'll smash the cup as a signal.

At that time, eight hundred fully equipped swordsmen and axemen will rush in, pin him down, and take turns flicking his head!

I call this plan—"Eight Hundred Soldiers Rush to the North Slope!"

Yang Guang: "..."

Does a flick on the forehead really require fully equipped axemen? No, wait, does it even need axemen? No, wait...

Yang Guang was speechless. Looking at the confident Jiang Feng in front of him, he felt that he must have gone crazy to agree to cooperate with this mad monk.

However, it's good to test the attitude of the Jiangnan gentry. If he causes trouble, they can just kill him.

Soon, Jiang Feng, in his capacity as the "Executive Deputy Chief Administrator" of the Yangzhou General Administration, sent someone to deliver a letter to Lu Zhiming, and then ordered eight hundred axemen to set up camp on the north slope.

Time passed by, and as the appointed time approached, Jiang Feng set off first and arrived at the North Slope Camp.

The tent was brightly lit, and there were thoughtful people preparing drinks and snacks.

What surprised Jiang Feng even more was that there was a freshly roasted lamb on the table. He, a temporary worker, received such treatment, which gave a glimpse into Yang Guang's daily life.

Just as I was eating my lamb leg, I heard footsteps.

A gray-haired man entered with guards, bowed to Jiang Feng, and said, "Lu Zhiming of Wu County greets the Executive Deputy Chief Steward!"

Jiang Feng glanced at him sideways: "Take a seat."

"You're being rude!"

One of Lu Zhizhi's guards tried to step forward to argue, but Lu Zhizhi stopped him by raising his hand and sat down without changing his expression.

After finishing the lamb leg, Jiang Feng wiped his mouth, took out a piece of paper, and read aloud: "My heart is in Shandong, my body in Wu, adrift on the rivers and seas, sighing in vain. If one day I achieve my lofty ambitions, I dare to laugh at Huang Chao for not being a true man!"

"Mr. Lu truly has excellent writing skills!"

Lu Zhizhi was slightly taken aback: "Who is Huang Chao?"

Jiang Feng slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Who cares who Huang Chao is? Someone saw you reciting this rebellious poem while fishing in the middle of the river! How do you explain that?"

Lu Zhiming sighed slightly: "This poem was not written by me. To be honest, in the past few days, thieves have been impersonating gentry and writing seditious poems in various parts of Jiangnan, slandering the current emperor."

I have ordered men to search everywhere for the imposter, but with little success.

"Our Jiangnan gentry have long served the Sui Dynasty, and the Emperor has treated us with great courtesy. We have absolutely no reason to rebel."

"I urge the Deputy Chief Steward to explain the situation to His Highness Prince Jin, and lest he do something that would cause pain to his loved ones and joy to his enemies!"

Jiang Feng glanced at him and said, "Then let's just drop this matter. Doesn't anyone need to give Prince Jin an explanation?"

Lu Zhizhi frowned slightly: "What explanation does the Deputy Chief Steward want?"

Jiang Feng said, "Over the years, you have annexed the land of the people, seized their fields, and then driven them out of their homes, resulting in a large number of refugees in various places."

Even if you aristocratic families don't rebel, they will! You tell me, how should the Prince of Jin deal with them?

Lu Zhizhi fell silent for a moment.

He had received advance notice of the banquet and learned about Jiang Feng's background, understanding that Jiang Feng had been sent by the Prince of Jin to test their attitude.

But to his surprise, Jiang Feng immediately presented him with a difficult problem.

He had a knack for dealing with displaced people. He could send them to build palaces, the Great Wall, or dig canals. If all else failed, he could wage war. Any one of these tasks would surely result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of laborers.

However, Jiang Feng is now representing the Prince of Jin. If he were to say this out loud, and the Prince of Jin were to record it in the history books, he would likely be remembered by future generations as a disgrace to the Lu family...