Chang'an, the time has come to May, there is already a bit of summer feeling in the air, the branches and saffron have faded, the trees have become more thick and lush, under the blue sky, xt look

But some people's hearts are not illuminated by the sun, and they are still as cold and dark as a winter night.

A horse-drawn carriage drove into the Wubenfang in a rage, and Ga! Stopped in front of Li Mian's house, anger made the movements of Li Chenghong, the king of Guangwu, ten years younger, flexible and full of strength, without waiting for the carriage to stop, he jumped out of the carriage, a stagger, staggered forward a few steps, the guards next to him hurriedly dismounted to help, but he was thrown away, "Get out!" ”

Generally speaking, there are three things that attract men the most: power, money and women, Li Chenghong, the king of Guangwu, has little interest in power, of course, he once dreamed that he was put on the throne by the Tubo people, but after waking up from the dream, he found that the throne was too far away from him; And he was originally interested in women, but this year he is almost seventy years old, in order to live a longer life, this sexual interest has to be given up, but the love for money has never changed, since he was a teenager he fell into the eyes of money, to this day, money has simply become his second life, for money he even dared to kill people and set fires.

Today is the day when he is out of anger, he just got an express from Guangling, Zhang Huan sealed his four stores in Guangling, no! It was to strangle his second life.

Zhang Huan wanted to ascend the throne, and Li Chenghong once wanted to be his eyes and ears, so he insisted on being Li Mian's supporter until he found that Zhang Huan was not interested in his flattery, and he officially ended his allegiance to the Queen Mother.

But now he took the initiative to join the camp against Zhang Huan, and the desire was so strong, so strong that he gave him a horse and a sword. Maybe he will be able to pick up his sword and rush to Jiangdu to fight with Zhang Huan.

Hatred blinded him, so that he did not see the carriages parked outside Li Mian's mansion, let alone two men staring closely at his carriage in an alley a hundred paces away, and then wrote on a booklet: Li Chenghong, King of Guangwu.

Li Chenghong strode into the door, no need for him to report, Li Mian's housekeeper hurriedly welcomed him into the inner mansion, one morning, almost everyone who came was the same as Li Chenghong, angry and angry, and his eyes burst out with bitter hatred. Book * bar =

"Lord Wang. Please come with me. The housekeeper led Li Chenghong through the door quickly, and met Li Mian's eldest son Li Ping hurriedly and almost collided with Li Chenghong.

"The second master is also here!" Li Ping hurriedly saluted Li Chenghong.

"Where are you going?" Li Chenghong saw that he was dressed up for a long journey. More than a dozen family members in the back carried the cages. I asked in surprise.

"There was a case of fraud in the township test in Taiyuan Prefecture. It involves this year's local imperial examination. The imperial court ordered me to go to Taiyuan to investigate the matter strictly. The matter is urgent. So I had to rush to Taiyuan. ”

Li Chenghong frowned. Li Ping is a waiter in the Ministry of Rites. In charge of this year's imperial examination. The case was indeed within his jurisdiction. It's just that these are extraordinary times. He's gone. Wouldn't Li Mian have lost a little help.

Li Ping seemed to know his thoughts. smiled slightly: "The second master will know when he enters the inner mansion." It doesn't really matter if I'm not there. ”

Let's talk about it. He bowed his hand to Li Chenghong and hurried away.

Li Chenghong looked at his back. The brow furrowed. What does Li Ping mean by this? Far away. He had already seen the halls of the Inner House. There seemed to be a figure shaking inside.

Li Chenghong strode into the hall and couldn't help but be surprised and delighted. I didn't expect that there would be so many people, and there were many like-minded people, and everyone could take risks together, and the law would not blame the public.

In the hall of the inner mansion, there were nearly a hundred powerful clans in the black press, and they were in a group of three or two who were telling about the major events that happened in Jiangdu, talking about hatred, clenching their fists and clenching their teeth, no wonder. Since the Kaiyuan period. Caoyun brought the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and the business in the Jianghuai area was prosperous. Especially in Yangzhou, every inch of land is gold, countless powerful clans flocked to Yangzhou to open shops, and the huge profits rolled in, Tang Xuanzong had three orders and five voices strictly prohibiting officials and businessmen from opening shops in Yangzhou, strictly prohibiting the annexation of land, but it was only lip service, never touched the real character, to Emperor Suzong was to brutalize the people and merchants, and the officials and merchants were not moved, and even after the implementation of the salt and iron monopoly system, it was decreed that the people and merchants should not engage in the trading of salt, iron, tea, oil, rice and other bulk materials, and the designation could only be operated by officials and merchants. In the Qingzhi years, although the private trade has been relaxed, but the trend of monopolizing bulk trading by officials and businessmen has become a trend, and the majority of people and businessmen can only eat a little leftovers, but now Zhang Huan is actually taking the official and business knife in Jiangdu, which is their core interests, which is tantamount to a sword piercing the delicate heart of these officials and businessmen, although they know that the risk of opposing Zhang Huan is extremely great, but the anger in their hearts has blinded their reason, as long as someone is willing to stand up and take the lead against Zhang Huan, they will fully support, and there are more than 100 people, they are accomplices, The risk taken will be much less.

"The second uncle is also here." Li Shen saw Li Chenghong walk into the hall in a corner of the conversation, and hurriedly came forward to greet them, their brothers have business in Hedong, Shuzhong, and Jianghuai, and there are five shops in Jiangdu alone, and the scale is very large, among which Wu Yuetang specializes in maritime trade with Persia and Dashi, and the daily income is 10,000 gold, and the profits are extremely rich, and the Li Shen brothers have annexed more than 100,000 hectares of land in Guanzhong and Luoyang for decades, and have 30,000 slaves, just because they have strong financial support.

This time, Zhang Huan seized their five stores in Jiangdu in the name of fundraising and tax inspection, and seized the money they stored in the major cabinets in Jiangdu, causing them to suffer a loss of millions, although this has not shaken their foundation, but Zhang Huan showed this strong posture to make them deeply worried, and they showed a fierce face before they ascended the throne, once they ascended the throne, their wealth will become the meat on Zhang Huan's caseboard, it is based on this consideration, Li Shen brothers resolutely decided to support Li Mian against Zhang.

Li Chenghong sighed, "Everyone is the same, rabbits will bite people when they are in a hurry, for their own vital interests, let's unite!" ”

"Second uncle said it well!" There was a burst of applause from the side, I saw Li Mian coming out of the side door next to him, with a comfortable smile on his face, he had just learned what Zhang Huan had done in Jiangdu, he had undoubtedly become the biggest beneficiary of this Jiangdu incident, he sent people to contact the people involved in the Jiangdu incident overnight, he thought that twenty or thirty people would come to win a big victory, but he didn't expect nearly a hundred people to come, which made Li Mian surprised, but he also knew that most of the people were angry for a while, and the fever might subside in a few days, so he discussed it with Duan Xiushi just now, It's important to do it as soon as possible before the crowd is hot.

Li Mian greeted everyone one by one, and saw that most of the people who came were from the clan, and there were some retired old officials and idle officials, he suddenly saw Wang Ang in the crowd, so he happily stepped forward to say hello, "Even the elder Wang Ge is here." ”

Most of the Wang Ang family's real estate is in Xiangyang, when Cui Qinggong attacked Xiangyang, it has been looted by the rebels once, and later Zhang Huan occupied Xiangyang and cleaned it again, the Wang family has been defeated in Xiangyang, fortunately, he still has three shops and a transport fleet in Jiangdu, especially the transport fleet, which was loyal to their Wang family's Jianghuai transit envoy protection, and has become the leading fleet in Jianghuai water transportation, with more than 500 cargo ships of all kinds, and it is the huge profits brought by these shops and fleets that barely maintain the huge expenses of their Wang family.

Now, the last pillar of support for the wealth and nobility of the Wang family has also been broken, and the new hatred and old hatred made Wang Ang resolutely participate in the group against Zhang Huan, but he didn't want to show his face, so he shrank in the crowd and wanted to keep a low profile, but Li Mian suddenly pointed him out, and everyone looked at him together.

Wang Ang had no choice but to bow his hand to Li Mian, and said with an embarrassed smile: "I hate what that guy did as much as everyone else, and everyone should work together to protect their own interests." ”

Li Mian nodded, he strode to the front desk, waved his hand and said loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet." ”

The hall suddenly fell silent, more than 100 pairs of eyes stared at Li Mian, and only Li Mian's impassioned voice echoed in the hall.

"You must have seen that Zhang Huan single-handedly produced the Jiangdu incident this time, but I think this is something he has been planning for a long time, have you thought about it, why did he close the shop, is it really for the so-called disaster victims? No! No, he is amassing wealth in the name of disaster relief, in order to support his huge military expenditures, to prepare for his expedition to the west, and we powerless clans are his targets, do you know why? Because his surname is Zhang, he doesn't think of himself as the Li clan at all, and now he is seizing our shop, and the next step is to confiscate our land, in order to protect himself, I can only unite to prevent his ascension, and I, Li Mian, am willing to lead everyone in the struggle. ”

Li Mian's incendiary words deeply stung these rich and powerless clans, after the family was in power, they had no right to speak in politics, they could only bow their heads to collect money, and now the wealth and land they had accumulated for decades were going to be taken away by Zhang Huan, how could they be willing, how could they be restrained, as soon as Li Mian's words were finished, Li Shen raised his arms and shouted: "No one can rob us of our finances, Datang is the world of our Li family, and it is not his turn to be controlled by Zhang Huan." ”

Li Chenghong was also excited, he stepped forward and said loudly: "Please Li Shangshu instructed, we have the money to contribute, and we will never shirk at all!" ”

"Good!" Li Mian nodded solemnly, and he said solemnly to everyone: "I already have a plan, and I need everyone to contribute money and people." ”

(The first battle, ask for monthly ticket support!) ）