I took a breath of air. Although Liu Zhenming's words were explicitly pleading for Tao Qian and the other three, in fact, they wanted to put them to death. My original intention was to punish them a little first. It seemed that they were cruel to hit them like this. However, they were defending themselves.

Otherwise, according to the laws and regulations of the Great Wu, such behaviors that are similar to deceiving the emperor will probably lose their heads.

"Liu Aiqing, I know that you have a deep friendship with Tao Qian and other ministers." I pretended not to understand and snorted coldly: "But they really didn't take me seriously this time. I'm just giving them a warning. Liu Aiqing, don't worry, I won't take their surname."

Then, I glared at him fiercely again. Liu Zhenming also understood the meaning of my look and hurriedly stepped back without saying anything more.

In a moment, Eunuch Mu asked the imperial guards to return to the hall with the three men who had finished the five-stick court sticks. He came to me and said, "Your Majesty, the court stick has been punished."

I looked at the three people, and the words were already on the butts, especially Xie Zhongyi, whose face turned pale. I immediately shouted to Eunuch Mu in a deep voice: "Who told you to beat me so hard?"

Eunuch Mu was so scared that he took two steps away, knelt on the ground and said, "My servant should die, slave should die."

"What should I die? Why don't you go and ask the imperial doctor?" I said angrily: "If they have any problems, I will take your life."

In the court, there was a moment of elegance and no one dared to respond. In fact, I said this to Liu Zhenming. Don’t think that I spoiled you, but I wanted to take the opportunity to exclude other ministers. I also favored Tao Qian and others. If I beat me up with a court stick, the status of Tao Qian and the other three in the court will inevitably be reduced. At that time, the weather vane of the ministers may point to Liu Zhenming, which is a situation that I don’t want to see.

"I am grateful for the concern of the Emperor. I am safe. I am also asking the emperor to show my advice." Although Tao Qian and others were sweating coldly on their foreheads, their chests were still straight.

"Hmph, you three. I will write it down this time first and then commit it again in the future. I will never let you go so easily." I said ruthlessly.

"I will never dare to do it again." The three of them shouted together.

I slowly walked back to the golden dragon chaise, looked coldly and glanced at me and said, "All my beloved officials should take it as a warning, and do not be arrogant if you favor."

"Xie Zhongyi, tell me the whole story." I glared at him and said, "No one is allowed to hide it at all."

"I obey the order." Xie Zhongyi staggered forward and walked forward two steps: "Report to the emperor, this is the case. The old minister, Lord Tao, and Qi San are classmates and friends. Since they were young, they have each set their own way. They said that the three of them, including Chen, and others, vowed to change the fate of the Great Wu, and set off a new grand plan. At that time, the three of them, like Lord Tao and Lord Jian, had infinite passion." Xie Zhongyi said this and looked at Tao Ziying, Jian Lingtai and others enviously.

"However, fate always teases others." Xie Zhongyi sighed: "After the success of his studies, there were differences between the three of us. Lord Tao and I always insisted that we should enter the government and use the means of becoming officials to improve the current situation in the world. However, Qi San was not the case. He insisted that we should vigorously develop the economy in the opposition and improve the standard of people's lives from an economic perspective. Alas, Qi San always did not believe in the court, and it was me who killed his surname."

"When Shujun was young and energetic, he bet on what means to use to truly revive the country. He went his separate ways and found a way out. He agreed to meet again after twenty years. See if he did the best in the wild or whether he did the best in the court." Speaking of this, Xie Zhong couldn't help but feel a little sad: "Unexpectedly, in less than ten years, Tao Qian and I finally climbed to the imperial court, but there was a bad news coming. It was said that Qi San violated the maritime ban policy and engaged in a large number of cross-border and cross-regional trade at sea, including private salt and other smuggling prohibited items."

I did not express my opinion, but listened quietly to him. The little fox also came out of my arms and watched the old man telling stories with interest.

After Xie Zhongyi calmed down, he continued: "At that time, the old minister and Lord Tao were both very annoyed when they learned about this. They rushed to the coastal areas and found him with specific contact information. I still remember how Lord Tao and I accused him of the fault and dared to openly disobey the court's ban. However, Qi San was not angry, but explained to us. He also took us to patrol the coastal areas. To my surprise and Lord Tao and I, the people there, lived a very good life. No family starved to death because they had no food. It is many times better than the lives of the people in the hinterland of the Central Plains."

"Qi San at that time painted us a grand blueprint. Under the suppression of the sea ban, he could also drive the rapid economic development of coastal areas. If the national sea ban was lifted and free trade with other countries, wouldn't the overall living standards of the people in the country be improved a lot? At that time, Lord Tao and I were also very moved. However, reason restrained us. In the following five years, Qi San's trade route became bigger and bigger, and the living standards in coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang were also getting higher and higher. Not only that, Qi San also told us that he was actively suppressing the Japanese pirates who caused harm to our sea thrones, and even several times, he had counterattacked Japan. He threatened and tempted the king of the Japanese and pirates who claimed to be ronin." Xie Zhongyi couldn't help but become energetic when he said this.

"Qi San used force, financial resources, and means to control his economic lifeline. He firmly controlled the king of Japan. When he vigorously surrounded and suppressed the Japanese pirates, he controlled several islands near Japan and established them into the largest trading distribution center in the surrounding areas. He gradually transferred the money obtained from trade to the mainland of Dawu through the coastal areas." Xie Zhongyi said this, his eyes shining: "Facts have proved that Qi San's methods were very effective. When he developed to his peak, a rare prosperity occurred in Dawu. In those years, people who starved to death were much less than any other person for a period of time, and the lives of the people were also improved to a certain extent."

"Next, let me talk." Tao Qian stood forward and said, "Mr. Xie and I finally admitted our failure in the 20th year. We agreed that Qi San's methods were correct and effective. So we decided that the three of us would join forces again to create the prosperous rule of the Great Wu. Master Xie and I used the connections we had accumulated for many years and moved around. We wanted to encourage the late emperor to lift the maritime ban and open up the trade market in an all-round way. The late emperor did think about this issue at that time and showed signs of agreement, so we asked the then governor of Zhejiang Hu Zongsui to first put Qi San down." Tao Qian said this and sighed softly, "Our Qi San brothers have a very stubborn temper. He did not trust the court. He threatened that unless the court lifted the maritime trade ban first, he would never surrender to the court."

Tao Qian continued: "At that time, the late emperor was very angry and decided to send troops to encircle and suppress Qi San. However, Qi San had many years of crossing the sea and had rich experience in naval battles. The base was deep from the Fusang Sea to the Nanyang Sea. The Dawu Navy Chief failed to suppress the enemy, but he suffered a lot of losses."

"Then Qi San is really so powerful?" Tao Qian said this, and I couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "My Great Wu Haijun is really so incompetent?"

Tao Qian looked at me deeply and said, "Don't say, the late emperor said this, and then he withdrew his troops. Not long after he withdrew, the late emperor suddenly summoned Lord Xie and I to meet him. Because the late emperor learned from somewhere that the three of us were fellow villagers and classmates. Originally, Lord Xie and I thought there was no way out. Unexpectedly, the late emperor changed his mind at this time. He said that as long as we can convince Qi San to surrender to the court, the court will not only not make things difficult for him, but will also grant him the governor of the Coast Guard Division and be in charge of our country's coastal areas."

"Is this a good thing?" I clapped and said, "If Qi San is really appointed as the governor of the Coast Guard Division, my great Wu Zhongxing will be hopeful."

"My lord is wise." Tao Qian and Xie Zhongyi both cheered up and knelt down heavily and said, "If the emperor was in power at that time, my dynasty would have been truly prosperous and strong."

I stood up from the Golden Dragon Chair, and helped Xiaoyaoxu and said, "You two beloved ministers are injured, get up quickly."

"Thank you, Emperor." Tao Qian and Xie Zhongyi staggered and were about to get up.

"Now that our dynasty has not revived, is there something wrong?" I asked in confusion, but muttered to myself that it was really a good thing. Qi San had completely established an overseas trade route. As long as he could be recruited and appointed as the governor of the Haiwei Department, he would definitely greatly increase his national strength. If he was not worried about the rebellious Qi San, he could secretly send his favored person and gradually erode his power.

"Report to the emperor, there was something wrong." Tao Qian suddenly burst into tears and said, "It should be said that the old minister went to persuade Qi San to surrender. Qi San naturally trusted us and agreed to recruit us. However, as soon as others arrived in the capital, they were immediately discharged and imprisoned in the heavenly prison."

"What?" I stood up heavily and exclaimed in surprise, secretly surprised and confused. At this time, it was a great advantage, so why was he suddenly released into the prison? As for what he said, Qi San probably won't have a good ending. Moreover, the trade routes that were spread all over the world were not inherited at all. How did the bastard emperor do things before? I cursed fiercely in my heart.
Chapter completed!