It's early August, the fragrance of osmanthus is floating in the sky, and Tokyo is filled with fragrance.
An unprecedented grand triumphal ceremony was held outside Nanxun Gate. Two hours later, Zhao Tao entered the city.
I went back to the palace first, settled everything, and entered the palace in the afternoon.
Five horses drove straight up the Imperial Street. The soldiers with golden spears cleared the way, and the soldiers with long swords followed closely. The ceremonial guards with axes and axes on both sides sang and retreated, and a hundred guards with red cloaks and red horses began to follow.
Instead of going through the east gate of the imperial city in the past, you go straight to the Xuande Gate in the south, walk through the steps through the palace, and arrive in front of Yanfu Palace.
Zhao Tong clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the plaque of Yanfu Palace. Two young eunuchs hurried over to greet him.
Not far in, Zhang Di came again, with a smile on his face and said in his mouth: "Congratulations to the prince, congratulations to the prince, for wiping out the thieves and making great achievements."
Zhao Tong nodded: "It's such a trivial matter."
As he talked, he arrived in front of Yanfu Palace. This is the main hall of Yanfu Palace, with five doors and ten leaves, and red sandalwood frames. Zhang Di quickly stepped inside and announced, and came out after a while: "Your Majesty, the official family has announced their royal homage."
Zhao Tong smiled and Zhang Di held the door leaf respectfully. He lightly dusted his robe and walked in with four steps.
A scarlet blanket is spread on the ground in the middle of the hall. It is real scarlet, the color dyed with the blood of a hundred orangutans.
"Book of Rites" records: Parrots can speak and are inseparable from birds; orangutans can speak and are inseparable from beasts.
At this time, there were still orangutans in the world of Kyushu, but because the orangutans were bright red and gorgeous, they were valuable, so they were slowly hunted and killed, and they were no longer alive in future generations.
On both sides of the red carpet, there is a huge beast stove for incense. The heavy wood inside exudes a faint scent, refreshing the mind and doubling the spirit.
Zhao Tong walked forward and saw Emperor Daojun sitting behind the imperial desk, busy with something and seemingly not paying attention to his arrival.
But Zhao Tong had such sharp eyesight that after taking a quick look, he discovered that Emperor Daojun had just moved the inkstone on the left to the right, and the brush on the right was washed over to the left. A mountain and river hair was neither on the left nor on the left. Finally, he reached out to touch the small wine cup next to him. .
What is this nonsense? He didn't speak, and neither did Emperor Daojun. They continued to fall back and forth, pretending not to know that he was coming.
Zhao Tong pursed his lips, and the two of them just spent time like this. Finally, a palace maid came to see Xiao Juhong. Emperor Daojun had to raise his head and his eyes fell on Zhao Tong.
Zhao Tong hurriedly saluted: "Ah, daddy!"
Emperor Daojun's throat rolled: "Second brother, are you back?"
Zhao Tong raised his eyebrows slightly: "It's daddy, the child is back!"
Daojun Emperor...
The two stared at each other, feeling a little embarrassed at the moment.
Zhao Tong's contribution was so great that he could not be bestowed or rewarded, but there had to be an explanation. Emperor Daojun was troubled in his heart.
Zhao Tan didn't know what to say. Tong Guan put down the rebellion. He and Zhao Kai sat on both sides. He defeated one of the rebels and regained Hangzhou. Then he defeated Fang La again in Hangzhou. He then discovered Fang La's plot to fake his own death and pursued overseas. Not only did he kill Fang La died, and even Fang Qifu and Lu Shinang, the real second and third figures in the bandit army, fell into his hands.
Tong Guan and Zhao Kai suppressed the bandits and suppressed Lonely. No matter how many bandits were killed, the bandit chieftain was not trapped in their hands.
Emperor Daojun promised in the Golden Palace that day that for capturing and killing the generals at all levels of the bandit army, there would be increasing rewards, but how should they be awarded and how should they be rewarded now?
Emperor Daojun coughed dryly, poured himself a cup of orange juice, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Daddy!" Zhao Tong said, "My child brought a gift for daddy."
"Oh?" Emperor Daojun held the wine glass: "In addition to offering the head of the thief chief Fang La, my son, do you have any other gifts?"
Zhao Tong smiled and said, "The child brought back one million taels of silver to his father, ten boxes of gold, pearls and jade articles, as well as several title deeds for land gardens and shops in Suzhou and Hangzhou, Jiangnan."
When Emperor Daojun heard this, his hands immediately shook and he almost dropped the wine glass. His eyes shone faintly, it turned out to be money! What does he lack most right now? Isn’t it just money?
In the past two years, the state treasury was almost empty due to the attacks on Tianhu and Wang Qing. Even Gen Yue had no money to continue filling and repairing. The attack on Fangla had to draw out all the bottom of the treasury before barely providing grain, grass and other supplies. As for the previously promised I don’t know what to give some rewards, so I can’t just exchange them all for official positions, right? Promotion also requires an increase in salary!
"One million taels of silver and ten boxes of jewelry?" Emperor Daojun smacked his lips and felt relieved.
This is just timely help. It seems that it is right to send the second brother to Jiangnan. Not only is the second brother good at fighting, but he is also good at plundering... No, no, he is also good at making money. Unlike the third brother, who was in despair a few days ago. Returning to the DPRK from Hebei, I didn’t even receive a large amount of money, which is really disappointing!
"Yes, dad!" Zhao Tong said: "Those land deeds are also worth a lot of money. It doesn't matter if dad is willing to keep them and add them to the royal family, or he is willing to sell them and turn them into cash."
"Okay, okay!" Emperor Daojun was just about to say a few words of praise when he suddenly became suspicious. Even if this second son had a good fortune again, not to mention some frivolous wealth, where did the land deeds for the land and garden shops come from?
Couldn't it be from the families of those killed nobles? Those things are immovable, and no one can do anything if a person is killed by the bandits. However, these lands will not change their surnames. After all, those nobles still have children serving as officials in the court, and they are not dead.
"Second brother, where did you get these belongings? Could it be from the Jiangnan nobles..."
Zhao Tong knew that Emperor Jun had this question. At this moment, he spread his hands and said with a smile: "Dad, I killed Zhu Meng!"
The fact that he and Tong Guan killed Zhu Meng was not reported in the report, because they were afraid that it would be discussed in the court and cause problems, so they had to tell the Taojun Emperor personally.
"Ah?" Emperor Daojun was stunned when he heard this, and said with a slightly unhappy look on his face: "You, why did you kill Zhu Meng?"
Zhu Men was still very fond of him, and he had spared no effort in doing things for so many years. Whatever strange flowers, plants, lakes, and rocks he wanted, Zhu Men would go to great lengths to get them and transport them to Beijing. No one else could replace them in this regard.
"Alas..." Zhao Tong sighed and said, "I have to kill the kid. This Zhu Meng wants to rebel!"
rebel? Emperor Daojun couldn't help but tremble when he heard the word "rebellion". He was most afraid of hearing this word now. In the past two years, rebellions have become more and more powerful, almost killing half of his life.
"Zhu...Zhu Meng rebelled?" Emperor Daojun said with an ugly expression.
"Exactly!" Zhao Tong said in a loud voice: "Not only did Zhu Meng's family raise armored soldiers, but he exceeded the rules at every turn. His son Zhu Ruli, who was white, actually wore armor and led troops. His rebellious behavior was witnessed by everyone, and... Jiangnan Ying Fengju has a nickname, have you ever heard of it?"
"What nickname?" Emperor Daojun thought in his mind. The armored soldiers might not be there for a reason. After all, Suzhou was also besieged by the thieves. The Zhu family originally commanded some soldiers. Although they were demoted to white bodies, they couldn't kill the thieves. , this is a crime that does not lead to death, let alone the destruction of the family.
"Dad, that should be called...the Southeast Little Court."
"What!" Emperor Daojun was thinking, but when he heard this, his face changed suddenly and he slammed the table: "What did you say, second brother?"
The corners of Zhao Tong's lips twitched, wondering why he was called the second child? It sounds ugly, I'm afraid that's not what I call it in my heart on weekdays!
He said loudly: "Dad, that Ying Feng Bureau is known as the small imperial court in the southeast. Everyone in the south of the Yangtze River knows about it. Everyone from the eighty-year-old rotten old man to the babbling children knows about it!"
Emperor Daojun looked at Zhao Tong with a pale face. If anyone else in the court said this, even Cai Jingtong Guan, he would not believe it. He just wanted to be jealous of Zhu Tong and criticize each other, but his own children would never tell this lie. Because this country belongs to the Zhao family, only the family pays the most attention to this kind of thing.
Zhao Tong continued: "The children were afraid of long nights and dreams, so they kept doing nothing. Only two of them were left alive and secretly escorted to the capital. The rest were all executed on the spot and killed!"
"As for the one million taels of silver, as well as jewelry, land deeds and other items, they were all found from Zhu Meng's house, and the child even heard that..."
"What did you hear?" Emperor Daojun asked hurriedly.
"My child heard that the Zhu family has far more wealth than this, but it was not found during the search. My child is suspicious..."
"What are you doubting?" Emperor Daojun pricked up his ears.
"My child suspected that the Zhu family had colluded with the demon sect of the thief chief Fang La, and all the extra money was given to Fang La's soldiers! Otherwise, why did Zhu Meng not report it to Fang La for such a long time, but kept hiding it? Isn’t it just to delay the time for the thief chief!”
"It's so true!" Emperor Daojun took a breath, and the more he thought about it, the more he thought about it: "Then...Wang Fu also concealed the truth, wouldn't it be..."
Zhao Tong slightly revealed his thoughts and said, "Wang Fu's child doesn't know. Maybe he is on good terms with Zhu Meng? There is no evidence that he is a thief."
Emperor Daojun finally breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself: "But it can't be used anymore, it can't be used anymore."
Zhao Tong glanced at Emperor Daojun from the corner of his eye, and continued: "And there is another reason why the boy killed Zhu Meng, for the sake of his father and the third brother!"
Emperor Daojun wondered: "How can you say this?"
Zhao Tong said slowly: "Most of the Jiangnan nobles were slaughtered in Jiangning. Someone must be held accountable for this matter. Although Wang Hanzhi was the pacifier of Jiangnan East Road, above the Golden Palace, my father once ordered the third brother to sit in charge of Liangjiang. He is no longer there." During the war, they guarded Jiangdong Road to stifle the thieves, but instead led their troops to flee to a safe place in Jiangxi. Isn't this dereliction of duty? It would be fine if no nobles were killed, but now so many people died, it is hard to blame them. "
Emperor Daojun frowned when he heard this: "This..."
Zhao Tong said with a serious expression: "Moreover, so many noble clans have died this time, many of them are from the families of high-ranking ministers, and some local officials are among them. These people will always ask for explanations. How do you plan to deal with it?"
Emperor Daojun frowned: "This matter..."
Zhao Tong said: "The Fang La Jiangnan banditry was probably caused by Zhu Meng's clever plundering and violent extortion from the common people. Or he was one of the thieves' leader, deliberately disrupting the place, instigating civil unrest, and alienating the Li people from the imperial court. The Jiangnan nobles were massacred." For one thing, he is the real culprit. Without him, there would be no chaos in the south of the Yangtze River, and without the chaos in the south of the Yangtze River, there would be no death of the nobles. Only by killing his entire family can dad deal with the officials in the court!"
"That's right!" Emperor Daojun pressed his hands on the side of the case: "What my son said is absolutely true. This is just what happened. Zhu Meng is the culprit. I will immediately issue an order to tell you the whole story. Besides... I ordered you to check Zhu Meng. Deal with it on the spot and avenge the officials!"
"Father Shengming!" Zhao Tongli said, and then fell silent.
Emperor Daojun looked at him and opened his mouth. At this moment, he couldn't help but think of the reward again, and he immediately felt embarrassed again.
"My son has made great achievements in suppressing thieves. What reward do you want?"
Zhao Tao looked at Emperor Daojun and felt that he had to bite the bullet. He was also helpless. He had no chance of getting promoted. As for giving money, do you, old man, have any? If I hadn't brought back one million taels of silver and jewels, I'm afraid the Western Army wouldn't be able to appease them.
"My child... I don't want any reward!" Zhao Tong said this sincerely, but he really couldn't get anything out of him.
"Well, let me think about it..." Emperor Daojun rummaged through his intestines, and then he coughed and said: "My son has made great military achievements. If he has reached the twelfth rank, I will confer the title of Shangzhu Kingdom on my son."
Zhao Tong hurriedly thanked him, knowing that this was all, and there was nothing else he could do.
"As for..." Emperor Daojun wanted to reward more gold and silver, but the gold, silver and jewelry were originally sent by Zhao Tong, so it would be a bit embarrassing to reward them again.
"The child doesn't want anything else." Zhao Tong said hurriedly: "It is the child's duty to contribute to the country and share the worries of the father. What's more, there is no shortage of other things in the family, which is the girl from the Zhu family of Shezhou mentioned in the memorial. , if she wants to be admitted into the palace, she also asks her father to give her a royal decree, and she also wishes her family brother to issue a general judgment to show her father's...favor for the noble clan!"
"This is a good thing, a great good!" Emperor Daojun nodded and said, it doesn't matter what the title is, but he is embarrassed to take out the money, and he is really reluctant to give it up. It doesn't cost any money to give this title to a general judge. It can also win people's hearts, which is a good thing.
Seeing that Emperor Daojun agreed, Zhao Tong immediately resigned, and then went to Zhengyang Palace to see Empress Zheng, leaving the young ones free to play in his house, and then left the imperial city.
It was just past mid-afternoon and it was still early in the sky. After returning home, Zhao Tong asked if there was anything else to do. They all reported well, so he ordered a banquet to be held in the evening and asked his men who were going on the expedition with him to come and drink.
Then I went to the back house, talked to my mother for a while, and had an interesting conversation about what happened on the way. My mother then went to see Zhu Xiuniang, and said that if you are pregnant, you must take care of the materials carefully and not slack off at all. , she is usually free and can take care of her.
Zhao Tong looked at her gloomily, knowing that she had not been pregnant for a long time, and he was worried, so he said that it was not urgent, there was only a long time to come, and there was no rush to meet now.
After coming out of his mother's place, Zhao Tong thought for a while. He was a kind-hearted woman. He didn't know that Zhu Xiuniang had hatred for his family. It seemed that he had to tell her the truth about the matter. Otherwise, the words would inevitably be awkward. As for Zhu Xiuniang, he had to Go over and take a look to see if there are any evil spirits.
When they arrived at the yard over there, Zhao Tao walked in and saw Hexiang picking flowers in the garden, green apricots gathering soil, and the two newly recruited maids who were also busy.
It turned out that He Xiang Qing Xing had been restored to good status by him, and he wanted to let them go when they returned to Beijing, but they were unwilling, saying that they had no relatives in Hangzhou, so they brought them back.
At this moment, Zhao Tong saw that the four of them were actually in the garden, and he couldn't help but frown slightly. He had told Zhu Xiuniang not to leave anyone around, so why did they all run out?
When the four of them saw the gift, Zhao Tong asked. The four of them looked embarrassed, but it was Zhu Xiuniang who sent them out. Zhao Tong said that it was not allowed to happen again and no one was left in the house, so he took the four of them back to have a look.
When they opened the door of the main room, they were all stunned. They saw Zhu Xiuniang standing on the flower table, more than three feet above the ground, with one hand on her belly, hesitantly wanting to jump down.
When the maids saw this, they were so frightened that they said "Ahhhh" and went over to help her down.
Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "You are not allowed to help her and let her jump!"
Zhu Xiuniang turned pale when she saw Zhao Tao, bit her lips, closed her eyes slightly, and said nothing.
Zhao Tong said: "Xiu Niang, just jump down. If the child's life is not damaged and he can be born safely in the future, I will tell him that his mother didn't want him back then, wanted to abandon him, and didn't want him to come." In this world!”
After speaking, he looked at the maids and snorted coldly: "No one is allowed to care about her!"
Then, he turned around and slammed the door.
Zhu Xiuniang stood on the flower table, staring blankly at Zhao Tong's back, and shed two tears of grievance.
She was silent for a moment, carefully got off the table, and then returned to the couch in the back room, with her hands on her belly, her expression full of regret, and said to herself: "It was my fault, you are the one I love most, mother, mother, mother." This will never happen again..."
(End of chapter)
