Chapter 241: Dog and Wolf

Wang Fu, the night is thick.

Liu Yin knelt on the ground, his legs had long been numb and lost all sensation, his waist and back were aching, and every breath seemed to be re-perceiving the pain. Perhaps it would feel better if he adjusted his posture slightly?

But he didn't move. He didn't even make a slight adjustment to his posture.

He just knelt there respectfully and humbly, motionless.

After an unknown amount of time, the Prince of Badong walked out, wearing a white silk sleeping robe, carrying that ring-headed long saber, and sat down lazily.

Liu Yin moved his body with difficulty and bowed his head.

"Speak, why does this Prince want to see you, this stray dog, instead of chopping you up to feed the dogs?" The Prince of Badong's slightly impatient voice sounded.

Liu Yin took out a register from his sleeve and presented it with both hands:

"This is all the secret property of the Prince of Luling in Jingzhou over the years, a total of seven items and thirty-nine locations. Every year on the second day of the second month, the villain reconciles the income from all places and hands it over to the Supervisor of Transport, Sima Peng Yannian, and the Imperial Censor of Transport, Xu Wujiu, and enters the capital with a fleet of grain ships."

"You even bought off Imperial Censor Xu? Amazing, amazing!

And you even used the official grain transport to ship money, that's fine, that's fine!

My third brother has such a big hand in Jingzhou, no wonder the birth mother said he could accomplish things, but this Prince cannot.

Yes, looking at it this way, isn't he capable of accomplishing things? This Prince is absolutely incomparable."

The Prince of Badong said with an exaggerated expression and a yin-yang tone.

Liu Yin slowly straightened his waist, and then his forehead smashed heavily on the ground:

"From today on, these properties are all the Prince's!"

A look of mockery appeared on the Prince of Badong's face. He waved his hand, and an attendant who had been hiding in the dark stepped forward, took the register, handed it to the Prince of Badong, and then retreated silently to his original position.

The Prince of Badong unfolded the register, glanced at it, and his eyes widened, and he sat up straight.

"You bastards are still mining! And enclosing mountains to build villas and open mines! How come this Prince doesn't know there are mines in Longshan?"

Liu Yin said: "Building villas is to cover up the eyes and ears. The name is for producing stone green, sappanwood, and hemp flowers, and the profit is not small."

"Are the Yongning mansions also your doing? Good, good, good, this business is really big, how many did you open..." The Prince of Badong looked excited and looked carefully at the back.

Liu Yin replied: "There are three large mansions, and small mansions are—"

"You even set up a temple specifically for lending money? Talented!"

The Prince of Badong laughed when he saw the back. After laughing for a few times, his face turned cold, and his tiger eyes glared:

"Liu Yin, you have such great courage! You helped Xiao Ziqing gather wealth and act as a traitor, and secretly act against the law! How many laws did you break, say it yourself! This Prince is the Governor of Jingzhou, how can I sit by and watch you collude and break the law! This Prince wants to put you in prison for interrogation, and report all your collusion and law-breaking matters to the imperial court!"

Liu Yin's expression remained unchanged, he looked up at the Prince of Badong, his tone calm:

"Your Highness, Liu Yin can go to prison, and can also testify against the Prince of Luling. It's just that the Prince of Luling has always been cautious in his actions, never touches related matters, leaves no words, and does not use seals. Even when receiving money, he lets others collect it on his behalf. Not a single coin has entered the Prince of Luling's mansion. So even if I bite the Prince of Luling, it is very difficult to have direct evidence to corroborate it. Biting to the end, I might only be able to bite out a few scapegoats.

More importantly, even if the Prince of Luling falls, what good is it for Your Highness? The Crown Prince is still there, the virtuous Prince is still there (the second prince, the Prince of Jingling), the Prince of Jin'an is brave and strategic, and the Prince of Suijun is talented and handsome. Falling one Prince of Luling, what benefit is it to Your Highness? It's just cleaning up for others."

The Prince of Badong snorted coldly: "This Prince is dedicated to loyalty and eliminating traitors for the country. As for how much personal benefit there is, I don't care much."

After speaking, a slight smile appeared in his eyes: "However, tell me, how much is the benefit?"

Liu Yin bowed and reported: "Back to Your Highness, the average annual income is 56 million coins. After deducting the expenses of various places, the actual net profit is no less than 35 million coins."

"So much!" The Prince of Badong was taken aback. Then he regretted his slip of the tongue, his face sank, "How can the expenses use so much? You are raising private soldiers!"

"The mines are black mines, the mansions are hidden mansions, many businesses cannot see the light, and transportation and resale are not easy. All joints need to be managed, and there is no shortage of manpower everywhere. The account books for each year are at my home. If Your Highness wants to see them, I will go get them immediately."

Liu Yin's speaking speed was slow, and every word was as clear as the beads of an abacus.

The Prince of Badong's voice became more majestic:

"Is it the truth?"

Liu Yin knocked his head again:

"I dare not deceive Your Highness!"

The Prince of Badong was silent for a while, then asked:

"What if he wants to take back these industries?"

Liu Yin naturally knew who the "he" the Prince of Badong referred to was:

"The Prince of Luling acts cautiously, rarely leaves traces, and is not easy to catch handles. But precisely because he is too cautious, he has insufficient control over these industries. All the secret properties in Jingzhou are managed by me, and the people in charge of each place were also selected by me. Plus, these are all secret properties, and Jingzhou is Your Highness's territory. As long as Your Highness is willing to stand behind me, I guarantee to take back all the industries for Your Highness!"

The Prince of Badong thought intently, and asked again:

"If he hates this Prince for swallowing his industries and instead reports this Prince for breaking the law, what should I do?"

"No. First, although there is little direct evidence to testify against the Prince of Luling, there is too much indirect evidence. Once it is uncovered, it will be a major case, and the Prince of Luling will find it difficult to get out unscathed. Second, the Prince of Luling is a smart man and never takes a path that hurts both sides, so he can only swallow a secret loss and bury his hatred in his heart. But Your Highness holds troops abroad and guards Jingzhou. Even if the Prince of Luling hates Your Highness, what does Your Highness have to fear?"

The Prince of Badong looked at Liu Yin, his eyes unkind: "You bastard want to provoke this Prince to deal with my imperial brother!"

"Liu Yin dare not. Liu Yin holds heavy wealth, but his life is as light as a mustard seed, so he can only seek refuge with Your Highness. If Your Highness is worried about the Prince of Luling's hatred, it is simple. Send my head to the Prince of Luling, and return all the industries. The Prince of Luling will naturally remember the brotherly affection with Your Highness and will not hate Your Highness."

The Prince of Badong didn't speak, stared at Liu Yin for a while, his expression suspicious: "Why choose this Prince?"

Liu Yin answered frankly: "Within Jingzhou, besides Your Highness, who else can protect my cheap life from the Prince of Luling?"

The Prince of Badong closed the register, tapped his palm a few times and stopped, looked at Liu Yin, and his tiger eyes showed murderous intent:

"You have already shown these industries to this Prince. What if this Prince kills you and takes over these industries himself?"

Liu Yin's voice was steady:

"You can. With Your Highness's strength, even without me, you can control some businesses."

"Some businesses? What do you mean?"

"These are all secret properties, and there are too many places that cannot see the light. Some secret joints involved in business operations are only known to me, Liu Yin. Only I, Liu Yin, can make these industries produce the same profits as in the past in an orderly and continuous manner. Even if Your Highness sends someone to take over by force, it will be difficult to figure out the way in the short term, and it will be difficult to keep the business from being chaotic. Furthermore, over the years, in order to keep these industries, I have left behind hands in various places. If Your Highness kills me, you will lose at least half of the profits in a year, and the expenses will also increase greatly..."

When Liu Yin said this, a self-deprecating smile appeared on the corner of his mouth:

"Is my Liu Yin's head worth 20 million coins? Why does Your Highness have to give up the big for the small? And letting the villain commit crimes in front, and Your Highness collecting money in the back, isn't it good? Why does Your Highness have to do it yourself, dirtying your hands and working hard?"

The Prince of Badong laughed lightly: "Interesting. But..." His expression turned cold: "This Prince still cannot trust you."

Liu Yin slowly raised his head:

"There are six corpses in my house now. Five were sent by the Prince of Luling, and one is my wife. She was originally a maid of the Prince of Luling and his eye. I have already killed these six people."

The Prince of Badong hissed, a flash of shock on his face:

"Even killed your wife? Ruthless enough..."

The candlelight jumped in Liu Yin's eyes, but couldn't reflect a trace of waves:

"Your Highness can send someone to see now and leave evidence. In fact, Your Highness doesn't have to be so troublesome. Liu Yin has lost his official position and rebelled against the Prince of Luling, so there is no way to live. Your Highness can take Liu Yin's life at any time. It's just a matter of one sentence. If Liu Yin wants to live, he can only rely on Your Highness in this life, and there is no second way."

The Prince of Badong's eyes were like torches, staring at Liu Yin:

"You are not a dog, you are a wolf, a wolf that dares to bite anyone. But this Prince is not afraid of wolves, and this Prince is also good at beating wolves."

The Prince of Badong stood up abruptly, grabbed the scabbard, and walked to Liu Yin in big strides.

Liu Yin immediately lay low at the Prince of Badong's feet, his figure like a dog, showing his submission.

The Prince of Badong's wrist sank, and the scabbard "thumped" against Liu Yin's spine.

"Your wolf life will be kept with this Prince for now. This Prince promises you, temporarily not letting others take it away. But if this wolf dares to bare its teeth at this Prince—"

The scabbard slid down Liu Yin's spine and stopped at the back of Liu Yin's head.

The Prince of Badong grinned and said: "Then this Prince will smash your wolf head!"

——————

Note: What is the concept of tens of millions? "Book of Jin, Biography of Xi Jian" says Xi Yin "loved to gather wealth, accumulating tens of millions of coins." During the Liu Song Dynasty, Xiao Huikai was the Governor of Yizhou, "returning from Shu, with assets of more than 20 million" ("Book of Song, Biography of Xiao Huikai"). During the Southern Qi Dynasty, the Prince of Yuzhang was dismissed as Governor of Jingzhou, "the treasury caught fire, burning the assets returned to Jingzhou, evaluated at more than 30 million" ("Book of Southern Qi, Biography of Prince Wenxian of Yuzhang, Yi"). Cao Hu was the Governor of Yongzhou, "in his later years he loved wealth and bribes, was stingy, and obtained 50 million in cash in Yongzhou" ("Book of Southern Qi, Biography of Cao Hu"). The folk proverb in the Qing Dynasty said "a clean magistrate for three years, 100,000 snow-white silver." If moved to the Southern Dynasties, it is "a term as a provincial governor, returning with tens of millions of assets."

Generally, the total assets of a rich and powerful family in the folk are tens of millions. Zhang Jing'er of the Southern Qi Dynasty used to work for a rich family, had an affair with a maid, and only escaped after being discovered and hiding in a coffin. Later, after he succeeded, he came back for revenge, saying that the family was rebellious, and confiscated their home, "the servants and wealth were worth tens of millions." ("History of Southern Dynasties, Biography of Zhang Jing'er") "Book of Song, Biography of Favored Officials" says: "There is a Chen Zai in Shanyin, whose family is rich, with 30 million coins."

So the Prince of Luling's Jingzhou black industry producing more than 30 million steadily every year is quite good. ===== CHAPTER 242 =====