We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Li Che was dismissive of Yang Ling's words.

Maybe Yang Ling had a tragic past, maybe he was forced to become a bandit, but... so what?

A bandit is a bandit. When he was willing to become Chen Wenrui's running dog and swung his knife at the people, his fate was already doomed.

Just because you have a miserable life doesn’t mean you can persecute the people!

I was forced to join the Liangshan bandits and become a rebel, but I still want to clear my name by amnesty. Do you think I am the second emperor Huizong or Qinzong?

As for the noble person behind Chen Wenrui, Li Che also roughly knew what was going on.

Places like Fuzhou are far away from the imperial capital, and the ruling local faction is far more powerful than the officials sent by the court.

How many people from Fuzhou's aristocratic families are there in the Fuzhou government office, and how many in-law relationships are there between these officials?

Of course, Li Che would not care about these bad things.

If he had followed his personality when he first came here, he would have pulled all these people out and killed them with a few slashes.

But people grow up, and now he knows very well that this is not how politics is played.

Not to mention how much bad reputation this would bring to him.

For example, he swept away all the officialdom in Fuzhou, leaving no one to handle daily government affairs. The aristocratic families became more unscrupulous, and the lives of the people became even more difficult.

The primary purpose of politics is balance.

All Li Che could do was to catch Chen Wenrui and his gang in one fell swoop, and then report to Emperor Qing, asking him to send a capable person to take over the affairs of Fuzhou.

Daqing is not without capable people. As long as the most arrogant group of people are eliminated, someone will naturally be able to regain control of the Fuzhou officialdom and severely suppress the local officials.

The smoke from the gunpowder on the peninsula has not yet completely dissipated, and the air is filled with a strong smell of blood and the smell of gunpowder.

The personal soldiers of Prince Fu's palace were cleaning up the battlefield and counting the seized supplies in an orderly manner.

Xiahou Xian's command was calm and efficient. The commander of Prince Fu's personal guards had the demeanor of a great general.

Li Che stood in front of the largest rammed earth tile house, his face as gloomy as water.

Qu Jinshan walked over quickly and whispered, "Your Highness, we've completed a preliminary inventory of the thieves' den. In addition to gold, silver, and valuables, we've also discovered quite a few...unusually made weapons, as well as some incomprehensible documents."

"Lead the way, go take a look at those things, and then interrogate Yang Ling." Li Che replied calmly.

"Here."

In a shack that served as a warehouse next to the tile-roofed house, Li Che saw the weapon that Qu Jinshan had mentioned.

Several long narrow knives were placed separately on a wooden board, one of which was surprisingly long, almost as tall as an adult.

There are also a few knives that are relatively shorter, but their shapes are also very different from the common knives in Daqing.

Li Che picked up the longest knife and felt it was heavy in his hand, with the blade shining coldly.

He picked up a shorter one and examined its curvature, the style of the hilt, and the way the handle was wrapped.

The knowledge from his previous life and the various weapon patterns he had come across in the Fengguo workshop in the past two years flashed through his mind rapidly.

"Hmph!" Li Che sneered coldly, and the coldness in his eyes became even brighter.

He slowly put down the knife, turned and walked towards the stone house where Yang Ling was imprisoned.

The stone house was dark and damp. Yang Ling was tied up tightly and leaned against the cold stone wall. The scar on his face looked even more hideous in the dim light.

Seeing Li Che come in, he raised his head with a complicated look in his eyes.

Li Che didn't waste any words, walked straight up to him and looked down at him condescendingly.

"Yang Ling, you're lurking here pretending to be Japanese pirates. Are there any real Japanese behind this? What exactly is your connection with the pirates?"

Yang Ling's eyes flickered and he licked his cracked lips: "Your Highness, I don't understand what you are talking about."

"We're just a bunch of poor people who can't make a living. We gather together to make a living and occasionally take orders from Chen Wenrui. How could we know anything about the Japanese?"

Li Che sneered: "To make a living, do you need to use these Japanese swords? To make a living, do you need to learn the Japanese fighting methods?!"

"The one with a three-foot blade is called a 'Uchika,' and the one with a five-foot blade shaped like a door panel is called a 'Nodachi.' Am I right, my king?"

Yang Ling's expression froze, and he looked at Li Che in disbelief.

"You think I don't know them?" Li Che's smile turned even colder. "These swords are all standard weapons commonly used by Japanese warriors. Only those dwarf dogs know how to use them!"

He didn't have a Japanese pirate girlfriend in his previous life, but he watched a lot of Japanese comics!

Japanese weapons are very distinctive. A 1.2-meter-tall warrior carries a 2-meter-long sword, creating a contrast.

"The forging method and shape of the Japanese sword are completely different from our Daqing weapons. No one in Daqing knows how to use this type of weapon."

"You still dare to say you have no connection with the Japanese pirates? Tell me, where did these swords come from? And who taught you that crude yet Japanese-inspired combined attack method?"

Yang Ling lowered his head. When Li Che accurately called out the names of Japanese weapons such as "tachi" and "nodachi", he no longer had any hope.

He was already going to die, but he didn't care about the crime of colluding with the Japanese.

But Yang Ling considered himself a good man, and the only thing he didn't want to admit was the skills he learned from the Japanese.

A dignified Qing person uses a Japanese sword and learns Japanese fighting methods... How shameful!

Yang Ling's psychological defenses completely collapsed, and he sighed:

"Your Highness is indeed very observant... I did have contact with the Japanese, but it wasn't me who actually colluded with them. It was that bastard official Chen Wenrui!"

He seemed to have found an outlet, and he poured out all his deeply buried secrets:

"The story dates back to seven or eight years ago. At that time, Chen Wenrui had just become the governor of Fuzhou and his foundation was not stable."

"Chen Wenrui originally came from a small, impoverished aristocratic family in Fuzhou, with no significant backing. How could he have secured the position of prefect?"

"Back then, Fengguo's warships weren't sailing on the sea every day like they are now. Occasionally, some Japanese merchant ships would secretly dock to do some small business."

"It was around that time that there was a Japanese leader, I think his name was... Yamamoto, or Shimazu? I can't remember..."

"Anyway, that Japanese man brought his men and boxes of gold to find Chen Wenrui."

Li Che frowned and asked, "What deal did they make?"

"They're using gold to exchange for books!" Yang Ling sneered. "The Japanese are foolish too. They don't want women or treasures, but they're using huge piles of gold to exchange for our Daqing books. And they want all the books."

"Especially agricultural books that talk about how to farm, medical books that talk about how to treat illnesses, and engineering books that talk about how to build things."

"For the sake of gold, that bastard official Chen Wenrui copied every book he could get his hands on, even the ancient books left by his father, and sold them to the Japanese."

Upon hearing this, Li Che's pupils suddenly contracted, and a cold murderous intent instantly swept through his body.

Selling out technology is aiding the enemy and treason, which is a hundred times worse than simple collusion between officials and bandits.

The Japanese had their sights on books from the beginning, and took away a large number of books and advanced technologies from Daqing.

But Li Che knew that this was useless.

The emperor of Japan had control over books, but he would only allow a small number of people to study them, and would not distribute them to the people.

They did not dare to allow the people to become civilized, fearing that they would not be able to control their own people. If the people became civilized, the emperor's position would be unstable.

What really worried Li Che was whether Chen Wenrui had told Japan about the information about the Daqing fleet.

Especially the clipper, as the main escort ship, the clipper often travels with the fleet.

Yang Ling didn't notice Li Che's rage and continued:

"The Japanese leader even offered to send some Japanese warriors to serve as Chen Wenrui's private soldiers to help him eliminate dissidents."

"With these Japanese warriors as his thugs and a large amount of gold to pave the way, Chen Wenrui quickly secured his position as prefect."

"Later, he felt that using Japanese warriors was too conspicuous and afraid of being discovered, so he wanted to build up his own power, and that's when he found me."

He smiled bitterly and continued with self-mockery:

"I had committed a crime at the time and was wanted by the government. I had nowhere else to go."

"Chen Wenrui found me and promised me money and women, and asked me to recruit a group of desperate criminals to do his dirty work."

"We were just a bunch of ragtag bunch. We had no fighting power at first. He invited instructors from those Japanese people."

"Those Japanese instructors taught us how to use Japanese swords, how to fight in combination, and how to plunder at sea..."

Li Che asked, "Where is the Japanese instructor? Is he still here?"

Yang Ling shook his head. "They were there for the first two years, but then the Feng Kingdom's fleet became more frequent. They seemed to be afraid of being exposed, so they all withdrew."

"As for where exactly he went, I really don't know. Chen Wenrui wouldn't tell me such things."

Li Che pondered for a moment, asked Yang Ling a few more questions, and then walked out of the stone house.

Xia Houxian, who was waiting outside, immediately came over and bowed respectfully, "Your Highness."

Li Che looked at him and said, "General Xiahou, are you from Fuzhou?"

Xiahou Xian was slightly startled, then said sternly, "Your Highness, there is no need to test me. His Highness Prince Fu has already instructed me to obey your orders."

Li Che smiled slightly.

It seems that my tenth brother has not been hiding in the house doing carpentry work every day in the past few years. At least Xiahou Xian, the commander of the personal guards, has been won over.

As expected of Emperor Qing's bloodline, he knew that he must always keep the gun firmly in his hands.

"What I'm going to ask you to do is very dangerous." Li Che added, "You might lose your head afterwards, or even today!"

Xia Houxian said the same thing: "Your Highness, please give your orders."

Li Che looked at him and said word by word: "I asked you to attack the Fuzhou government office, do you dare?!"

Xiahou Xian was stunned for a moment, and a hint of hesitation flashed across his eyes.

Then he gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness has ordered me to do this. How dare I disobey?"

Li Che laughed out loud: "Good! How brave!"

"In that case, tell your men to take the things here and escort these bandits back to the city with me to confront Chen Wenrui face to face!"

"I will obey your orders!"

After Xiahou Xian left, Li Che stood at the door of the stone house, looking towards the direction of Fuzhou City, with murderous intent in his heart.

Just live a nice life, just live a nice life, why did you bother me?

I've tolerated you for five years. That's long enough. It's time to send you to Siberia to grow potatoes!