Liang Ruyuan went to the capital to defeat Yan.
Along the way north, Liang Ruyuan only saw people dying of hunger everywhere. From Huaihe River to Shandong, and then to the capital, there were groups of refugees everywhere.
Taking a boat, the road to the capital became more and more crowded. Li Zhi was a judge. He called the boatman and asked:
"How much distance is there to the capital?"
The boatman quickly replied: "In front of us are large water transport ships transporting beams. These ships have blocked the river going north."
"Is transporting beams for construction work?"
"Exactly. It is said that the Ministry of Industry has recruited civilians near the capital to use manpower to transport these beams and camels to the capital."
The boatman said with a sad face: "My dear husband, the boat really can't go any further. Now we can get off the boat and take the land route. If we ride horses, we can reach the capital in less than three days."
Liang Ruyuan and Li Zhi looked at each other. The boatman was indeed right. It was not far from the capital. Li Zhi looked at the densely packed timber ships in front of him and couldn't help but ask:
"Where did all this wood come from?"
The boatman was also well-informed: "I heard that this piece of wood was shipped from Yunnan. The transportation cost for just one piece of wood is one hundred taels of silver!"
One hundred taels of silver!
Liang Ruyuan and Li Zhi also took a breath.
To rebuild the three main halls, more than a thousand pieces of wood like this would be needed. Just transporting these pieces of wood from Yunnan to the capital would cost a hundred thousand taels of silver!
The boatman continued: "Silver is just an expense. It is said that such a beam, cut down from the mountains of Yunnan and then transported to the dock, can exhaust several strong men to death."
"The water flows along the way, and there are not many innocent souls among them."
"The journey from here to the capital is only three days on horseback. This section of the road will be entirely transported by manpower, and several lives will be lost along the way."
"I heard that people on the outskirts of the capital began to flee. Even the elderly were tied up with ropes to carry wood."
The boatman hurriedly said: "You two are traveling by land. If you meet the jailer who arrested you, you must speak kindly and give some money as appropriate. Last time, I heard that a scholar went to Beijing and was arrested and ransomed by his classmates. By that time, everyone was already dead.”
Liang Ruyuan said angrily: "Under the emperor's feet, these subordinate officials are actually doing such harm to the people!"
The boatman sighed and said, "I heard that Yan Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry has said that the major work must be completed this year."
It took Liang Ruyuan a long time before he finally uttered: "The Yan family's father and son are really traitors to the country!"
Li Zhi said quickly: "Be careful what you say!"
The boatman turned pale with fright, fearing that he would be implicated by Liang Ruyuan's words, so he quickly drove them off the boat.
The two bought horses at a nearby market, and as expected, they met the government officials who were arresting Ding, but Li Zhi showed them proof of their meritorious service and paid bribes to avoid them.
Some merchants were not so lucky. From the caravan shop owners to the gangsters to the escorting thugs, they were all shackled to carry the wood.
After seeing the towering city walls of the capital, Liang Ruyuan said:
"Brother Hongfu, let's be honest, the purpose of my coming to the capital this time is to bring down the law!"
Liang Ruyuan took Li Zhi to a remote place and said:
"I am a disciple of Master Taizhou. I have a good friend named Lan Daoxing who serves as a Taoist official in the palace and has won the trust of His Majesty."
"Now the Ming Dynasty is in dire straits, the top and bottom are greedy, and the people are suffering. This is all the result of the strict party in power!"
"So I want Lan Daoxing to speak harshly in front of His Majesty!"
"As long as the Yan family and his son are overthrown, and a clear figure like Mr. Xu Ge becomes the chief minister of the cabinet, he will surely be able to persuade His Majesty to be considerate of the people and restore the world's purity!"
Liang Ruyuan looked at Li Zhi and said: "Brother Hongfu, this matter is of great importance. The father and son of the Yan family are powerful, so if you leave now, you can still have peace. If you follow me into the capital, if you fail to defeat Yan, you and I will Everyone is worried about their lives!”
Li Zhi originally thought that Liang Ruyuan was going to the capital to give lectures, but he did not expect that he actually planned to overturn Yan.
Li Zhi was also a madman. When he heard Liang Ruyuan talking about such a plan, he said without fear at all:
"The traitorous party is harming the country! I will be counted among them!"
"Sure enough, I read it right! Brother Hongfu is indeed a member of my generation!"
Li Zhi was impressed by what Liang Ruyuan said, but when his passion passed, he suddenly asked:
"Brother Zhugan, with the arrival of the strict party, will the government really get better?"
Liang Ruyuan was stunned.
However, he was also a determined person. He immediately said: "When I first took over the throne, I also worked hard to govern. I am a rare wise master. In recent years, the imperial court has been declining day by day. It is because Your Majesty was deceived by traitors!"
"As long as the Yan Party is gone and Qingliu comes to power, things will surely be better for us!"
Li Zhi was actually somewhat influenced by Su Ze's teachings. He was actually a little confused about Liang Ruyuan's statement. If the emperor was wise, why would he appoint Yan Song and his son?
However, he did not say this. The scenes along the way, including those seen in South Zhili, cannot simply be explained by the traitorous party and the harm of the country.
Li Zhi even felt that it was inappropriate to simply blame any one person, or even think that it was the emperor who had the problem.
So what went wrong?
The two went to the city together. Lan Daoxing was given a residence in the east of the capital near the palace because he was deeply favored by the emperor. Liang Ruyuan handed over the invitation and was introduced to a luxurious mansion by a servant.
Fang Wanghai's residence in Nanzhili is an official residence, which is impressive enough. For a Taoist like Lan Daoxing, the residence he lives in is even more impressive than Fang Wanghai's official residence.
Lan Daoxing accompanied the emperor to practice in the palace on weekdays, and only returned to the mansion in the evening.
He and Liang Ruyuan were considered brothers, and they immediately grabbed each other excitedly when they met.
Li Zhi looked at Lan Daoxing and saw that he had a delicate face, a majestic air, and long beard and hair. He did look a bit like a Taoist master.
It's no wonder that Lan Daoxing was favored by the emperor and pulled him to practice Taoism together every day.
It is said that Lan Daoxing is also very proficient in the art of divination. It is said to be an ancient secret skill inherited from Jizi of the Shang Dynasty.
Ji Xian's method of divination uses natural black and white stones to form hexagrams and fortune telling, thereby observing the celestial phenomena and understanding the movement of the stars, the four seasons of heaven and earth, the yin and yang, the five elements, and the laws of change of all things.
Emperor Jiajing believed in his divination skills very much. Every time there was an important event in the court, he would summon Lan Daoxing to do divination.
Liang Ruyuan and Lan Daoxing came to the secret room and began to discuss how to use Lan Daoxing's identity to advise the emperor through divination and alienate Yan Song and his son. In this way, the emperor would hate Yan Song and his son.
Li Zhi, who was on the sidelines, suddenly felt that all this was a bit funny. Liang Ruyuan's method of overthrowing the strictness was actually carried out through the Taoist priests trusted by the emperor, and through the fuji divination that even Confucian scholars dismissed?
Li Zhi also remembered that his brother-in-law Fang Wanghai once said that Yan Shifan made his fortune by writing Qing Ci for Yan Song, and Mr. Xu Ge was also good at writing Qing Ci, so he was able to serve as the second assistant in the cabinet.
This is absolutely hilarious.
Li Zhi said nothing. What impressed him was that Lan Daoxing, a Taoist priest favored by the emperor, had a sense of justice better than many officials.
After Liang Ruyuan told him about his experiences along the way and how Yan Song and his son harmed the people, Lan Daoxing actually said:
"We are responsible for getting rid of these national thieves! Brother Hongfu, as long as I have the chance, I will definitely punish them!"
Li Zhi had some admiration. There was no conflict between Lan Daoxing and Yan Dang. He had the emperor's trust, was well-fed and well-fed in the capital, and had countless people who fawned over him.
The court ministers all saw what happened to those who rebelled against Yan Song before, and even the officials did not dare to write casually about Yan Song's faults.
But Lan Daoxing was actually willing to take risks and betray Yan.
Next, Liang Ruyuan began to connect many parties, and his method also made Li Zhi find it a bit funny.
His method was also very simple, which was to take advantage of Emperor Jiajing's trust in Lan Daoxing's divination skills and use the divination to make the emperor dislike Yan Song.
The method is to liaise with the officials of the Fifth Chamber of the Cabinet and the General Affairs Department, and when Yan Song enters the palace to deliver the memorial, he asks Lan Daoxing to predict whether the next minister will be a traitor.
Li Zhi was speechless about this method, but it was implemented very smoothly.
On February 20, Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet, asked for the secret. Officials from the General Affairs Department immediately informed Lan Daoxing of the news.
Lan Daoxing was about to prepare a divination for Emperor Jiajing. After pretending to be a ghost, he said to the emperor: "Today there is a treacherous minister who will cause trouble."
By the time Lan Daoxing finished speaking, Yan Song had already asked to see him with the secret document. Emperor Jiajing's eyes flashed thoughtfully.
A few days later, the emperor asked Lan Daoxing again about the results of Ji Xian's divination. Lan Daoxing said:
"The Ming Dynasty was full of wars, natural disasters and famines, all caused by treacherous ministers in the court who held power and caused chaos in the world."
The emperor asked: "Who is the traitor in the cabinet?"
Lan Daoxing said: "Yan Song is a traitor."
The emperor asked again: "Guoer, why doesn't Shangxuan kill him?"
Lan Daoxing said: "Leave it for the emperor to rectify the law."
Just when Liang Ruyuan thought it was about to happen, things immediately changed.
Yan Song has controlled the government for so many years and has eyes and ears in the palace.
Lan Daoxing's words reached Yan Song's ears, and the old-looking old man Yan Ge stretched out his tiger claws again.
On March 1st, Yan Song wrote a letter saying that Lan Daoxing was deceiving the public with his evil words and interfering in the government affairs. Then the imperial officials controlled by Yan Song also wrote letters one after another, listing all the disadvantages of Lan Daoxing's prayer for rain. The memorials overwhelmed the emperor's imperial cases.
In particular, Lan Daoxing was recommended to the emperor by Xu Jie. Many memorials directly stated that Xu Jie was Lan Daoxing's backer and that Xu Jie instigated Lan Daoxing to slander the emperor.
The emperor was furious and ordered Landao to be imprisoned.
He also ordered Jin Yiwei and Dongchang to search for people who colluded with Lan Daoxing.
All the people in Lan Daoxing's house were taken to prison and tortured. Fortunately, Li Zhi took Liang Ruyuan and left Lan Daoxing's house in advance.
"Thank you, Master Lu!" Li Zhi thanked Lu Er with his hands. If Lu Er hadn't suddenly appeared this time and asked him and Liang Ruyuan to leave, they would have been arrested together.
Li Zhi himself was not afraid of death, but he was also afraid that he would harm Fang Wanghai and Su Ze.
Lu Er put on the black scarf again, handed them two more and said:
"Don't waste time, get out of the city quickly!"
Lu Er took the two of them into a water transport ship in Nanzhili, and finally left the capital.
After leaving the capital, Li Zhi felt relieved and asked quickly:
"Second Master Lu, why are you here?"
Li Zhi knew Lu Er. When he went to Su Ze's house to see Fang Ruolan and the children when he was in Nanzhili, he often saw Lu Er as a guest at Su Ze's house.
Lu Er smiled softly and said, "It was Xianggong Su who asked me to follow Mr. Li to Beijing."
Li Zhi exclaimed: "How could Rulin know that I would be in danger?"
Lu Er looked at Liang Ruyuan who was as downcast as a dead man and said:
"Last time Mr. Li came back from writing a letter home and said that he would go to Beijing with Mr. Liang. Mr. Su immediately sent me to catch up with you."
"You, Mr. Lu?"
Lu Er said directly: "Lu Er, I used to be a Jin Yiwei, and I have some skills in tracking and investigating. However, it took a lot of hard work along the way, and I exhausted three good horses before I could catch up with the two gentlemen."
"How did Rulin know something would happen to me?"
At this time, Li Zhi was no longer surprised by the identity of Lu Erjin Yiwei. What surprised him was why Su Ze could cleverly predict that something would happen to him.
Lu Er touched his head and said, "Xiangong Su didn't say anything about this. He told me that if these two gentlemen live in the Blue Immortal Mansion, let me keep an eye on them and bring them out at any time."
There was one thing Lu Er didn't say. When he returned to the capital this time, one task was to protect Li Zhi and Liang Ruyuan. The other task was to use his old connections to open up connections in the Jinyi Weidong Factory.
The last time Su Ze went to Beijing to rescue Yu Dayou, he bought a printing workshop in the capital.
The printing workshop also made a lot of money by printing Su Ze's "Three Dreams" and "Jin Ping Mei".
Lu Er took Su Ze's letter and seal and asked the printing workshop to take out all the profits and exchange them for one hundred taels of gold and two thousand taels of silver.
Lu Er took the money and quickly established relationships between Jinyiwei and Dongchang.
Lu Er is now considered a ghost among the Jinyi Guards.
The order to monitor Su Ze was issued by Lu Bing who contacted him through a single line. This order was not recorded in the Jinyi Guards Cabinet. The only person who knew about this order, Lu Bing, died suddenly.
All the top leaders of Lu Bing's faction were also purged.
Since Lu Bing's death, Lu Er has not sent any more reports to the capital, and no one has come to question him.
It stands to reason that at this time Lu Er should return to the capital to report, then find someone to prove his identity and return to Jinyiwei.
But after Lu Bing's death, the power struggle between Jinyiwei and Dongchang, and the chaotic handover turned everything into muddy water.
This time Lu Er returned to the capital and soon got in touch with some of his old brothers.
But Lu Er still did not return to the Jinyi Guards to report, but started to make friends with his old brothers with a lot of money.
Although Lu Bing's cronies were purged, the entire Jinyiwei and Dongchang were a large organization, and Lu Er was originally a hereditary family member, and could only be considered a middle-level organization.
The middle-level people in large organizations are usually the people who work. In political struggles, as long as they change teams in time, they can often survive.
Therefore, many of Lu Er's companions are still in key positions.
It was normal for someone like Lu Er to suddenly disappear for a long time among the Jinyi Guards. No one asked where he had gone or when he would be back.
Jinyiwei Lu Er became the boss of the Capital Printing Shop. He spent his days drinking and drinking with his old friends, and quickly became close.
After Lu Er learned about the arrest of Lan Daoxing from Jin Yiwei's companions, he immediately sneaked into Lan Daoxing's home and took away Li Zhi and Liang Ruyuan.
"Xiangong Su said that Mr. Liang has been exposed and he can go south to Fujian to avoid trouble."
"Mr. Li's name has not been exposed, but Jin Yiwei also knows your face, so we should return to Fujian quickly."
"This is my disciple. He will escort you to Dengzhou. Naturally, there will be a fast boat to take you to Fujian."
Liang Ruyuan was confused and heard Lu Er suddenly say: "Xiangong Su said that Mr. Liang can be renamed He Xinyin."
Li Zhi asked: "Where is Mr. Lu?"
"Me? Mr. Su asked me to stay in the capital. You two should go to Dengzhou quickly!"
(End of chapter)
