It was night, the stars were densely covered, and dark clouds hung over the imperial capital, lingering for a long time.
At the Dongchang Yamen of the Imperial Palace, a man wearing a blue shirt walked slowly from the direction of the Imperial Palace.
There was no one within three feet of him.
Three feet away, dozens of people wearing different official uniforms were following. The younger ones looked no more than seventeen or eighteen, while the older ones had white beards and hair.
These people are of different ages, have different official positions, have different identities, and have different purposes.
The only thing that was the same was that they had been waiting outside the Dongchang Yamen for several hours.
Because of the rebellion outside the city, the city was restless, and the memorials that turned over the table came into the East Factory like snowflakes.
Countless people choose to backstab their colleagues at this moment.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Civil servants are not monolithic, they also have their own factions.
For example, Zhejiang Party, Guangdong Party, etc.
They are all divided into factions based on different regions.
These people usually seem to live in peace, but in fact there are countless dirty things behind their backs.
For example, the youngest person in the group right now is the only son of the current Minister Zuo of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
When he was only sixteen years old, he was promoted by Emperor Xu Yang to join the Ministry of War and participate in politics due to his extremely high literary talent. He was promoted within a year and is now a member of the Ministry of War.
With such achievements at such an age, his future achievements are limitless.
But now he personally handed over a complaint, and the person he wanted to sue was the current Minister of Rites.
The reason was that the son of the Minister of Rites had robbed his childhood sweetheart, and there was a blood letter from the childhood sweetheart as evidence.
At the same time, the childhood sweetheart had committed suicide by drowning in the river, and his body was still parked outside the gate of the imperial city.
Although anyone with a discerning eye knows that this is a game between the left minister of the Ministry of Rites and his boss.
And this case is just the first piece in this game.
Next, there will be back and forth between the two parties, each with their own methods.
I just felt sorry for that woman.
And such a game happened to dozens of people in front of them.
Everyone's game methods and the objects they want to game are different.
But in Mi Yusong's eyes, these methods are not worthy of publicity.
He has to participate in these dozens of games alone, and he also has the means to win.
This is not to say that his IQ is far beyond these people.
But the resources that both sides can use are not at the same level.
These people came to beg him just to become his vassals.
This time anyone with a discerning eye can tell that the rebels outside the city are most likely the work of the group of people in the south.
Therefore, many original neutrals chose to stand up at this time.
The most important thing about being an official is to stand in the right position.
By the way, the sky will rise.
If you get it wrong, you will be doomed.
These people who were originally number two or three were even low-class people.
I can only seize this opportunity and try to climb up.
"How long have these literati been here?
Still going around in circles. "
Wearing a green shirt, he stepped into the Dongchang Yamen, and an old Dongchang official at the Yamen Gate said very rudely.
Even though the Qingshan in front of him is the number one master in the Zhengyang court.
He is the admiral of the entire East Factory.
He still said so.
Even the green shirt stopped and nodded to him.
"Old Dongtou, you really understand.
It's a pity that they don't understand. "
Mi Yusong smiled lightly and said softly.
The old concierge Dongtou nodded with deep approval, and then looked at the group of scholars who did not dare to cross the thunder pool.
He laughed out loud.
When those literati saw such an old official, they dared to sneer at them, but they could only dare to be angry but dare not speak.
He didn't even dare to show any look of dissatisfaction on his face.
"What a bunch of idiots who don't know what to say."
The old Dongtou cursed angrily again, turned around, leaned on the edge of the yamen door, took out a dry cigarette and started smoking.
Smoke rings were blown out, and for a while the entire entrance to the east factory was filled with smoke.
However, the eyes of this group of literati still fell on the entrance of Dongchang Yamen.
Trying to look through the layer of smoke.
Wearing a green shirt, he passed Yuan Dongxiang's apartment along the corridor, and then continued walking inside.
And during this process, there were clerical officials from Dongchang within three feet of him, and they were reporting all kinds of information to him.
An old official reported from a booklet:
"Information sent from Duke Wu's mansion.
The rebels outside the city have all been defeated. A total of more than 20,000 coalition troops were dispatched, with 63 casualties and more than 100 injuries.
Thirty-three thousand were recruited and more than 14,000 were beheaded. "
"well done!"
Mi Yusong praised expressionlessly as he walked away.
The old official wrote Mi Yusong's compliment in the document.
After the old official left, there was a man in black clothes.
His face was covered with a black scarf, making it difficult to see his true appearance.
This is the intelligence department of Dongchang. It has a small number of people and is directly under the jurisdiction of Mi Yusong.
This person did not salute after coming up, but spoke directly.
"Jin Yiwei Qian serves Liu Xin and recruits more than 18,000 people.
Six castles were destroyed and six families of landowners and gentry were killed, with 244 people.
The total amount of food expected is three million shi. "
Mi Yusong stopped moving forward and turned to look at the man in black.
"Three million stones, just six households?"
"yes."
"How many big families like this are there outside the city?"
"One hundred and forty-three families, big and small."
Mi Yusong stopped and thought for a moment, then slowly spoke.
"If calculated according to this calculation, it is conservatively estimated that the grain storage of these large households exceeds 50 million dan.
We already have 10% of the internal treasury and 20% of the national treasury.
This food is enough to feed all the people in the five provinces of the Central Plains for three days.
They are really capable! "
After calculating all this, Mi Yusong's eyes flashed with cold light.
Just over a hundred landowners were able to feed an entire five provinces of the Central Plains, with more than 40 million people for three days.
There are so many such landlords in the world.
If all their granaries are confiscated, perhaps the general trend of the world can be reversed.
It's a pity that the emperor is the biggest landlord in this world.
There is absolutely no way to attack the landlords.
It can only attack a small part of the area.
Even this will cause a lot of trouble.
"Liu Xin, Liu Xin, I don't know if you are causing trouble for me or giving me an opportunity."
Mi Yusong strode into his office.
And behind him, the man in black was still following closely.
He had to wait until Mi Yusong gave instructions before leaving.
“Investigate all the remaining big players in detail.
Find out the network behind them.
Always be ready to close the net. "
There was obvious hesitation on the face of the man in black behind the black scarf, but this hesitation was only for a moment.
The next moment, he saluted respectfully, said yes, and left Mi Yusong's apartment.
With the departure of the man in black, all Mi Yusong's official duties came to an end.
He returned to his seat and could no longer remember how many official tasks he had completed today and how many orders he had given.
But before he had time to relax and rest, his eyes were caught by an unmarked envelope on the desk.
He picked up the letter. It was impossible for such a letter to appear directly on his desk.
If it is a secret message, it will reach him through special channels.
If it's just ordinary letters, people in the Dongchang Yamen will sort them out first. There are hundreds or even thousands of such letters every day.
What is finally delivered to Mi Yusong's desk is often less than the number of hands.
But the letter in front of him appeared on his desk out of thin air.
Therefore, his origin must be extraordinary.
Being able to come to the imperial city quietly and to the Dongchang Yamen where there are dense guards.
It was sent to the desk of him, the top master of the Zhengyang court.
This ability is definitely not something ordinary people can achieve.
There are not many people like this in the whole world.
And Mi Yusong knows exactly these few.
He opened the envelope and took out the letter paper inside.
He didn't care at all whether there might be any poison in the letter.
With his cultivation level, even the worst poison in the world with the name "Dragon" cannot harm him at all.
Even at the master level, there are upper and lower levels.
Mi Yusong opened the letter paper, and there was very little content on it.
"My brother:
Seeing words is like meeting each other,
My people have followed the group of Western barbarians all the way.
This is definitely not their first time coming to Zhengyang.
In other words, it is definitely not the first time for the people behind them to come to Zhengyang.
He might even be from Zhengyang country.
Be extremely careful, this group of Western barbarians has a very big plan.
You must not underestimate anyone in this group of people.
Even if it's just a groom.
A thousand-mile embankment collapsed in an ant nest.
Remember, remember! "
Putting away the letter, Mi Yusong threw it and the envelope directly into the brazier.
As the charcoal burned, the paper slowly ignited, and finally turned into a fiery red shimmer. When the shimmer dissipated, the paper had turned into gray-white dust.
"Western barbarians, northern barbarians.
You have always called these places barbarians.
But this is exactly what the other party wants to see.
It can already be seen from the windows that we underestimate these people in our hearts.
This kind of mentality is really unacceptable. No way! "
Mi Yusong sighed and began to close his eyes and rest.
At the same time, the imperial capital city gate finally reopened after being closed for three days.
People inside and outside the imperial capital can finally communicate with each other again.
Every village, town, and military town outside the imperial capital had official announcements of the good news that all the rebels had been killed.
"I'm just saying, if the rebels dare to rebel, they are seeking death."
"Yes, yes, it caused me to close my shop for three days. The loss is not small."
"Then you, old man, go and ask for it from the rebels!"
"Go to your court and deal with these rebels. The old man's losses are equivalent to military expenses."
"It sounds nice. My losses can be linked to military expenditures. Old man, you are really good at talking nonsense."
"Hahaha."
"Look, the team escorting the rebel leader has entered the city."
"Where where?"
"Go and see it quickly."
"Don't squeeze me!"
At this time, Zhengyangmen and the nine-foot-wide Zhengyang Street were empty.
The street cleaning drum has just sounded, and no one is allowed to step on this Zhengyang Street.
When the gate of Zhengyang slowly opened, a general wearing a silver mask appeared in front of all the people.
Seeing the Zhengyang gate open, the general gently pinched the horse's belly, and the seated horse immediately started slowly.
And following his movements, the troops neatly lined up behind him also began to advance.
And behind the hundreds of frontline troops were prison vans one after another.
When the prison car drove into the Zhengyang Gate, rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs began to pour down like a downpour.
All of them were smashed into the prison car.
The rebel leaders here were still congratulating themselves that they were lucky enough to survive for a few more days.
Unlike those of his colleagues, they are probably almost eaten by wild wolves and dogs now.
But the joy before has now turned into regret.
Countless rotten eggs and rotten leaves covered them, followed by countless insults and reprimands.
An overwhelming force came towards them.
This kind of coercion is not stingy with a grandmaster standing in front of them.
After this wave of baptism, the crowd began to cheer.
Their vociferous abuses had been directed at the rebel leaders.
The cheers and praises now are directed at those soldiers.
All the soldiers raised their heads and held their chests high, with a majestic and inviolable look on their faces.
They just felt that this time's military exploits and the praise from the people came too easily.
Someone had already investigated every move of the rebels outside the city for them, even where they were stationed, the deployment of their troops, their morale, etc.
When the rebels came, they were just like chickens and dogs, and they could be easily defeated by their generals.
From beginning to end, they never encountered any decent resistance.
Wherever they passed, the rebels fled.
And their escape speed is also very slow, making it almost effortless to catch up.
The most troublesome thing is that most of the rebels are refugees. When these people see the army coming, they first scream at the top of their lungs.
Really, when the army approaches, they will disperse in a swarm.
The speed of these people's escape was not very fast, but their escape was too scattered.
And once they are caught up, they will kneel on the ground and kowtow desperately, telling them their miserable experiences, and then begging them not to kill them.
Faced with such a situation, Shangguan has already given his request.
As long as it can be roughly determined that he is a refugee, if he surrenders voluntarily, he must be allowed to live.
Because their main purpose this time is to suppress the chaos outside the city.
Although the rebels are the creators of this chaos, the refugees among the rebels are innocent people who were brought here.
Killing them will not bring any benefit to the morale of the army.
On the contrary, it may cause some hidden dangers to the future situation.
And then, the rebels who were recruited must be identified for a round.
There is also a way to tell whether rebels are refugees.
That is to bury the pot and make rice.
A large amount of food was transported from somewhere outside the city. Every time the military defeated a rebel army, someone would transport food.
The military only needs to leave a small number of people to make rice.
This group of rebels will squat there honestly.
Even if you ask them to do anything at this time, they will not resist.
And the method to identify whether you are a refugee is also very simple.
That is to see how much they can eat.
Everyone who ate less than a bowl of rice was a refugee pretending to be a bandit.
And using this method is indeed successful time and time again, and even hits every target.
Suddenly, many bandits hiding among the refugees were caught.
And these people are also the main force that makes up the current prison van.
Otherwise, even if they return victorious, they may not be able to gather so many bandit prisoners.
The information Liu Xin gave was really too accurate.
There is even a description of how many bandits there are in the army and the strength of this group of bandits.
The silver-faced general at the head was the one who gained the most credit from each other's actions.
His thousand light cavalry killed more than a thousand bandits. Such a record was definitely the most powerful of all the armies that left the city.
Of course, this all relied on besieging Liu Xin and Fang Zihang. The bandits gathered almost all the power they could muster.
In the end, everything was fulfilled by the general with the silver mask.
Although no one else in the military knew who this man was.
But they all knew that this person had a close relationship with Zhu Shuai.
If it weren't for knowing that several of Wu Guogong Zhu Guangxiao's sons were guarding one side outside.
And the only one who is around is currently at the Ministry of War.
Moreover, this silver-faced general is really not similar to Zhu Shuai's young master.
Even the soldiers under his command were guessing his identity, and judging from his voice, he was not the Third Young Master Zhu.
However, this general was decisive in killing and had clear thinking, leading them to gain many military exploits, so all the soldiers no longer cared about his identity.
As long as you can help them survive on the battlefield and gain military merit at the same time, you will be a first-rate good boss.
And shortly after the army entered the city, another small group of people entered the imperial city from other city gates.
They were the members of the Imperial Guard who had returned to perform their duties.
Xiao Qi and others have successfully blended into the crowd of people, and they can leave the vicinity of the Imperial City as soon as the imperial court issues an order.
This time, they recruited more than 75,000 civilians from the rebels, as well as those captured by the military.
In fact, among the 100,000 rebels outside the city, the number of bandits was only 10%.
The remaining people are innocent people. They are all refugees and were brought here.
And on the long road, countless people fell asleep halfway.
In order to gather 100,000 people, this group of rebel bandits also arrested many people in villages near the imperial capital to make up the number.
It is a pity that the White Lotus Sect Liangshan behind them was even the deeper mastermind behind them and escaped early.
The Jin Yiwei led by Liu Xin did not find many clues, and the military did not capture any White Lotus or Liangshan gangsters during the sweep of the cave.
This matter seems to be over.
It seems like a huge farce.
Returning to the Imperial City, Liu Xin first went to Nanzhen Fusi to report on his work and received praise from Dai De'an.
The latter even hinted that the credit for this time will be withheld and will be handed down together after Liu Xin obtains a good ranking in the Zhengyang Martial Arts Competition.
At that time, it is very likely that the youngest conductor in history will appear.
Dai De'an also laughed and teased Liu Xin.
“In the near future, maybe you and I will no longer be superiors and subordinates.
I will have to call you Master Liu in the future! "
"My lord, you are just kidding me. Your subordinates will always call you your lord."
Liu Xin is very humble.
