Chapter 294 Clever tongue
Zhao Yushu was stunned.
In his understanding, the ancients only used a few routines, such as a prince tearfully denouncing the prince for not considering the feelings of brotherhood, or an old minister using all his strength to let out a long sigh, and then it was he who came over to take over the conversation.
Unexpectedly, this guy just took off his hat and went barefoot, using his head to grab the ground.
Shenjin, it almost made me laugh.
Suddenly I felt that the bold words I had prepared were not so powerful.
The prince's face turned green.
He had known that someone would come out to cause trouble. After all, this was the unspoken rule set by Prime Minister Di that both sides would not engage in a major conflict. However, he did not expect that this group of people would be so shameless that they would directly call him a tyrant in front of all the civil and military officials and ancestors.
But he also had a little bit of admiration for the young man in the audience who could act so sincerely in front of so many people. He cried as if all his nine clans were killed. Well, he would kill all his nine clans after he ascended the throne.
It would be too embarrassing for a prince to compete with such a lunatic at this time, so he looked at a figure far away under the altar.
Mr. Chen was old and his eyes were blurry, so he naturally could not see the prince's gaze, but that did not prevent him from knowing that it was time for his people to appear, so he coughed lightly.
Zhao Yushu raised his head, it was time for him to show off.
"Hey, you rat, you are standing in front of Emperor Taizong's mausoleum with your clothes untidy, are you trying to blaspheme Emperor Taizong?"
The scholar glanced at Zhao Yushu, who stood out from the crowd, and instantly switched from crying to sneering with disdain: "I am just disheveled today, but tomorrow I am afraid that everyone in the world will be naked!"
Zhao Yushu sucked in a breath of cold air, thinking to himself, this kid is quite eloquent. If I ask him why he said that, he will definitely start listing the prince's crimes. If I don't ask, then it will just become a case of you saying yours and I saying mine, and I'll have come here in vain.
The most important thing in a debate is not to fall into the trap of self-proof. Zhao Yushu decisively gave up the strategy they had discussed before and changed the direction of attack.
"Brother, what you said is absolutely right. I totally agree with you." Zhao Yushu stepped forward and grabbed the other's hand and shook it twice, with deep affection.
There was an uproar, Mr. Chen's eyes rolled back and he almost fell over; the prince's face turned from blue to red, and he felt as if he was about to touch the threshold of the seventh heaven.
The crazy scholar just stood there in a daze. After a long time, he quickly turned around to look at his teammates, but all his teammates lowered their heads and pretended not to see his gaze.
You say someone is a bastard, and then he says you are right. How the hell do you respond?
But he couldn't agree with Zhao Yushu directly, what if the other party set a trap, so he stammered: "Brother, brother, why do you say that?"
Zhao Yushu sighed: "The Red Lotus Sect is wreaking havoc in Jiangnan, and the people of the four counties are in danger, right?"
The other party thought about it carefully and felt that there didn't seem to be any trap in this sentence, so he nodded.
"Some noble families pretended to obey the imperial orders but secretly disobeyed the imperial court's tax revenue and enriched themselves, right?"
He wanted to say southeast, right? The other party wanted to scratch his head, but his hand was grabbed by Zhao Yushu. Moreover, this guy was extremely strong. He struggled several times but failed, so he had to continue nodding.
"The Liao Kingdom has deployed its troops on the border with evil intentions. They want to take advantage of the Tang Dynasty's crisis and take advantage of its weakness, right?"
"That's right!" The other party nodded vigorously.
"At this time when the country is in trouble both internally and externally, there are people who do not care about the world but only pursue their own selfish interests. What should I say to such people, brother?!"
The other person was about to cry again: "This is simply outrageous to both humans and gods!"
The prince felt that he was about to lose his footing. Why did this damn Chen find such a traitor? Was he trying to make a show of loyalty to those princes who were almost laughing out loud? !
Zheng Pan was about to faint. It was over, all over. This guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes named Bai had such good acting skills that he deceived all the people on his side.
Several old and feeble princelings pointed at Zhao Yushu with trembling fingers, wishing they could pounce on him and tear him to pieces with their few remaining teeth.
The old eunuch standing under the altar looked at Zhao Yushu for a long time, suddenly laughed, glanced at Wan Qiming beside him and General Wang in the distance, and clasped his hands gently.
General Xue, the father of Young Master Xue, frowned so hard that his brows were almost twisted into knots. There was something wrong with this kid's performance.
Zhao Yushu patted the other person's shoulder and said, "I'm glad you understand me. At this time, it's fine if some people lost their fiefdom in Jiangnan, but they fled back to Chang'an and wanted to covet Dabao regardless of the chaos in the world and the lives of the people. Even if they were lucky enough to become the king, they would still be a tyrant who is hated by both humans and gods."
The whole place was silent, with only the wind making some noise.
The scholar stopped crying, the old men stopped shaking, General Xue's brows relaxed, the princes stopped laughing, and Zheng Pan hurriedly helped Old Chen to stand firmly. Only the prince's face became even redder with excitement.
The scholar blinked, not quite reacting: "Well, I didn't mean, no."
Zhao Yushu also blinked: "Nothing? Didn't you say that those princes who couldn't even protect their own fiefdoms would be destroyed if they became emperors?"
Prime Minister Di stroked his beard and smiled. What you said makes sense. You can't even protect your own one-third acre of land, and you are chased back like a dog. Then you say that you are a good emperor when you become emperor. Who will believe you?
The scholar turned pale: "No, I meant Southeast..."
Zhao Yushu laughed. If you were in an offensive posture all the way, it would be fine if you talked about the southeast, but now you haven't even involved the prince. Is it worth talking about the southeast?
"What happened to Southeast? Southeast doesn't pay taxes? Southeast rebelled?"
The scholar stamped his feet anxiously: "Salt tax in the southeast!"
"What happened to the salt tax in the southeast? I am a commoner like you, and I haven't heard any news. Brother, tell me, what happened to the salt tax in the southeast?"
The prince was stunned by the Southeast Salt Tax Case, but that was a matter of high-level officials. Such matters would neither be reported in the court gazette nor would there be any official certification.
Everyone knows that half of the princelings have fallen, but who dares to say that these people are princelings? These are all ministers of the Tang Dynasty! The late emperor was still alive at the time, but he did not accuse these people of forming a faction.
Prime Minister Di arranged for both sides to send people to debate. That was also an unspoken rule, and everyone knew it, but no one would admit that these young people who took the lead were their people.
So, how did you, a commoner, know the inside story of the so-called Southeast Salt Tax? Do you have any evidence? Are you planning to expose the big boss behind you, or are you slandering the current crown prince without any evidence?
The scholar looked back again and saw several princes, some of whom lowered their heads, while others had murderous eyes.
It was over. The scholar, with a deathly pale face, collapsed to the ground, his eyes rolled back, and his hand was still held by Zhao Yushu.
Old Zhao let go of his hand and scratched his head. This little brother’s fighting ability is not good enough.
"Who's in the audience?" Seeing that no one on the opposite side dared to show up, the prince let out a sigh and spoke in a dignified tone.
"This is Bai Jintang."
"Bai Jintang, don't talk nonsense. The princes are my brothers. How could you have the intention of usurping the throne? But I am grateful for your loyalty and will spare your death. Come, drag him away and give him twenty strokes of the cane. Then follow me into the mausoleum and listen to the teachings of our ancestors. Don't speak without restraint anymore."
Zhao Yushu bowed to express his gratitude. The prince was in a good mood and did not care why Zhao Yushu did not kneel. He just waved his hand and asked the guards to drag him away.
The copper-headed staff was raised high and then dropped gently, and Zhao Yushu cooperated with it by letting out a series of fake screams without any acting skills. The three animals and nine livestock were laid out, the Si Tianjian came on stage, the sun was at its zenith, bells and drums rang, and the prince, along with a group of royal relatives and high-ranking officials, walked into the imperial mausoleum.
Zhao Yushu limped closely behind.