Old Five is a Goose.
Chapter 21: Drag Him Out and Execute Him
The old man was none other than Han Shengan, the First Lord of Cheng Yu Kingdom. The noble ranks of the Stellar Transformations Empire, aside from the Emperor, were divided into nine levels: Duke of the Nation, Regional King, Marquis of the Nation, Earl of the Nation, King of the Commandery, Duke of the Commandery, Marquis of the Commandery, Marquis of the County, and Earl of the Commandery.
A Duke of the Commandery in a fiefdom might seem below a King of the Commandery, but in fact, within the great hall of the fiefdom, the position of the Duke was definitely higher than that of the King. It was like Situ Qian, a Regional King, who seemed second only to the Duke in the Stellar Transformations Empire. However, if he were placed in the golden hall of the Stellar Transformations Empire, a Regional King's position might not even compare to that of an Earl of the Nation.
The only difference between them and the Dukes, Marquises, and Earls was that the Regional Kings and Commandery Kings could be considered powerful figures in their own right, with their own armies and voices. As long as they were not in the Imperial Golden Hall, their power far exceeded that of those Dukes and Marquises.
Han Shengan immediately stepped forward and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, a few months ago, Danhan Pharmaceuticals heavily advertised a new drug in the royal capital of Raozhou. They developed a new healing medicine called Nine Lives Healing Liquid."
Situ Qian nodded. He had heard of this matter, but he didn't take it seriously at the time. Danhan Pharmaceuticals had contributed to the Cheng Yu Kingdom to some extent. Although the name was a bit boastful, it wasn't considered a violation.
Han Shengan continued, "The advertisement for Nine Lives Healing Liquid was very ambitious, claiming that as long as someone was injured and had a breath left, Nine Lives Healing could save their life. This matter caused quite a stir at the time, and it is rumored that Nine Lives Healing sold extremely well because of it. This old minister also ordered people to buy some, but I did not check further, because I also believed that the rumor was false. General Flying Tiger's words today suggest that the healing effect of this medicine is real."
"General Flying Tiger, are Lord Han's words and your words true?" Situ Qian's eyes turned green.
As a Regional King, once he became aware of something like this, his sensitivity was far beyond what Mo Wuji could belatedly realize. He immediately grasped that this healing medicine was definitely a valuable asset to the army. He had to use this medicine to obtain more benefits for the Cheng Yu fiefdom before the Empire reacted. More importantly, he had to block the spread of this medicine's refining method and confine the pharmacist.
"The situation is completely true. This matter was reported to me by the Iron Character Army Camp based on facts," Zhao Feihu said affirmatively.
"Someone, immediately control all relevant personnel of Danhan Pharmaceuticals. Immediately bring the pharmacist who researched the Nine Lives Healing Liquid from Danhan Pharmaceuticals here," Situ Qian ordered without hesitation after confirming the facts.
"Your Majesty, wait a moment." A fat man suddenly came out and bowed, saying.
Situ Qian paused and stopped the guards who were about to carry out the order. He suppressed his anger and asked, "Minister Ji, what do you have to say at this time?"
The fat man carefully took out a piece of paper filled with words from his sleeve and handed it up tremblingly, saying, "Your Majesty, when I came to court this morning, someone was spreading this everywhere. It says that the recipe for Nine Lives Healing Liquid, developed by Mo Wuji, is being given away for free to commemorate his parents and accumulate merit for the benefit of the poor and needy."
"What?" Situ Qian hurriedly unfolded the paper and saw that it was indeed densely written. The content was the refining method for Nine Lives Healing Liquid, not only was the method extremely detailed, but even the principle was explained clearly. Even he knew where to start producing this thing at a glance.
The paper also detailed why Nine Lives Healing Liquid could kill bacterial infections, and it also had another name: Penicillin.
"Slap!" Situ Qian slapped the paper down and said angrily, "Someone, go and bring that Mo Wuji here immediately, and also investigate how long this recipe has been distributed and to whom. If possible, control all those who have obtained the recipe."
Situ Qian didn't say the rest of his words: After these people are controlled, kill those who can be killed, and throw those who can't be killed into the medicine refining workshop he was about to found, to specialize in producing Nine Lives Healing Liquid.
The hall was silent, and no one spoke at this time. Only a fool would not know that the Lord's approach was completely unfeasible.
When was the morning court? It was when the sky was not yet bright. Now it was almost lunchtime, and half the morning had passed. It would be a strange thing to be able to collect all these things back.
Sure enough, in less than a quarter of an hour, the commander of the imperial guards hurriedly came to report, "Reporting to Your Majesty, that Mo Wuji hired several printing workshops. He had tens of thousands of copies of this recipe printed overnight, and hired hundreds of people to distribute them inside and outside the four city gates of Raozhou before dawn today. In addition, he also hired dozens of people to go to other traffic arteries away from the city to distribute them for free. At this moment, both inside and outside the city, and those merchants coming in and out, probably most of them have obtained this recipe."
Situ Qian's hand dropped weakly. How many merchants and miscellaneous people entered and exited Raozhou every day? Could he catch them all? To take a step back, even if he caught them all, what use would it be?
How could there not be spies from other countries in Raozhou? This epoch-making healing liquid, Nine Lives Healing, must have already been sent back to their respective countries by these people through various means. What's more, this hateful Mo Wuji also hired people to leave Raozhou City to distribute it. Even a god could not recover it.
"Your Majesty, could it be that Mo Wuji realized something and deliberately did this?" A white-faced man stood up and said.
Situ Qian frowned slightly. It was not impossible. But since he realized it, why did he wait until today to distribute the recipe for this healing medicine?
"Probably not, right? If that Mo Wuji was so sensitive, he wouldn't have waited until today to do this. He would have done it when Nine Lives Healing started selling well. Or even, he wouldn't have taken out Nine Lives Healing at all," Han Shengan disagreed with this view.
Lord Situ Qian's emotions completely calmed down. He said in a deep voice, "Don't control Danhan Pharmaceuticals for the time being. What is the background of Mo Wuji, who researched the Nine Lives Healing Liquid? Most of the pharmacists in my Cheng Yu fiefdom also have backgrounds, right?"
The commander of the imperial guards quickly said, "Mo Wuji's original name was Mo Xinghe. His father is Mo Guangyuan, and his grandfather is Mo Tiancheng."
"Mo Tiancheng? Is he the King of Bei Qin Commandery?" Situ Qian finally remembered. He was very familiar with the name Mo Tiancheng.
The commander of the imperial guards replied, "That's him. Twenty years ago, Mo Tiancheng came to Raozhou and then disappeared. Later, Mo Guangyuan came to Raozhou with his wife and children. A few years ago, Mo Guangyuan and his wife died of illness, leaving behind Mo Xinghe. Mo Xinghe wanted to become the King of Bei Qin Commandery, which eventually led to madness. A few months ago, Mo Xinghe seemed to be showing signs of improvement and went to the Raozhou Guild to look for a job. He changed his name to Mo Wuji and joined Danhan Pharmaceuticals, becoming a pharmacist at Danhan Pharmaceuticals and developing Nine Lives Healing Liquid."
The commander of the imperial guards spoke in general terms, but most of the people in the hall knew the reason. Mo Guangyuan gave many gifts after coming to Raozhou. There were not many people in this hall who had not received gifts from Mo Guangyuan. As for Mo Guangyuan's son, Mo Xinghe, going crazy, they had all heard of it. The only thing they did not expect was that Mo Xinghe had made such an amazing move after recovering.
Situ Qian did not speak. He also knew about the Mo family's affairs, which were somewhat complicated. To put it bluntly, the Mo family lost the position of King of the Commandery, and he was also somewhat responsible for it. He had also heard about Mo Tiancheng's grandson, Mo Xinghe, going crazy. What he did not expect was that this Mo Xinghe had not died yet.
At this moment, a voice came from outside the hall again, "Mo Wuji has been brought here."
"Don't bring him up, just push him out and behead him," Situ Qian said coldly.
(That's all for today's update, good night friends!)